“Can the blind lead the blind? Shall they not both fall into the ditch?” (Luke 6:39–45)
Because they have eyes yet do not see, and ears yet do not hear, today’s churches are filled with the reality of blind teachers and blind learners—ignorant and unknowing guides leading one another astray.
1. “Young People, Have Ambition!”
Instead of teaching the wisdom and ways of Christ, which bear the love of the cross and lead to true salvation, they preach human life stories and worldly sayings as though they were the wisdom of God. Though they appear to be grace, they are in fact worldly wisdom that only stirs up greed. Though they seem to provide comfort, they are nothing but vain lessons that inflame ambition and desire, causing people to heap up more sin.
Most of them teach: “Young people, have ambition and dreams! A person without dreams is like a dead man. Those who have dreams have a tomorrow.” Yet this is a shameful teaching, a man-made commandment that betrays God’s deep grace and holy will, and stands as an enemy against Him. It is neither the Word of God nor the word of the apostles, but merely worldly sayings invented by worldly men—misused and falsely taught as though they were holy words worthy to lead to salvation. This corruption has become the norm in most churches today.
God revealed the love of the cross throughout the earth so that we might be made children of love, resembling Him who is the source of love, and so that we might be formed into the divine nature—the temple of the heart—necessary for mankind to receive the eternal glory of becoming God’s everlasting children. This is our eternal covenant, the way, the truth, and the life. Therefore, any faith without the love of the cross is dead faith, a faith that makes one an enemy of God.
All of Scripture, the Sabbath, the holy days, the tithes and offerings, the pastors, the apostles, the gifts, and the grace—all exist for the purpose of building the love that makes us resemble God, which alone is worthy to lead to salvation. Yet today, the beautiful faith of Christ that follows the love of the cross has been abandoned. Instead, churches cling only to the outward shell of titles and pretexts, which inevitably stand opposed to God’s holy will and the deep grace of the cross. By stirring up worldly desires—success, happiness, and material wealth—they lead people to pile up sin and greed, teaching nothing more than man-made commandments that are abominable, worldly doctrines. This is the greatest reason Christianity today is bound to corruption and downfall.
Thus, one of the clearest proofs that today’s pastors are not united with the Word in God’s holy will, but are merely teachers of worldly lessons and inspirations that cause believers to repeat sin and greed like the rest of the world, is their teaching: “Young people, have ambition.” This is plainly a worldly leaven and teaching. It directly opposes the holy will of God, which calls us to build the beautiful temple of the heart that resembles Him by following the love of the cross. Instead, it inflames vain dreams and ambitions, driving people to pile up nothing but sin and greed, making them enemies of salvation.
The fact that pastors themselves cannot even discern whether they are teaching the wisdom and Word of God that is worthy to lead to salvation, or whether they are guiding believers with foolish wisdom and teaching that only makes them heap up more sin and greed, is itself proof that they are blind teachers. And among the blind teachings of today, one of the most deceitful is precisely this: “Young people, have ambition!”
Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And he called the multitude, and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But he answered and said, Every plant, which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.(Matthew 15 : 7~14)
Stay yourselves, and wonder; cry ye out, and cry: they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the LORD hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers, the seers hath he covered. And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed: And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned. Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid.(Isaiah 29 : 9~14)
Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, And knowest his will, and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; And art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light of them which are in darkness, An instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes, which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law. Thou therefore which teachest another, teachest thou not thyself? thou that preachest a man should not steal, dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery? thou that abhorrest idols, dost thou commit sacrilege? Thou that makest thy boast of the law, through breaking the law dishonourest thou God? For the name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles through you, as it is written. For circumcision verily profiteth, if thou keep the law: but if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision.(Romans 2 : 17~25)
The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace. Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us: we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness. We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes: we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men. We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but it is far off from us.(Isaiah 59 : 8~11)
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge, I will also reject thee, that thou shalt be no priest to me: seeing thou hast forgotten the law of thy God, I will also forget thy children. As they were increased, so they sinned against me: therefore will I change their glory into shame. They eat up the sin of my people, and they set their heart on their iniquity. And there shall be, like people, like priest: and I will punish them for their ways, and reward them their doings. For they shall eat, and not have enough: they shall commit whoredom, and shall not increase: because they have left off to take heed to the LORD.(Hosea 4 : 6~10)
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful: Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.(Romans 1 : 28~32)
It is a teaching and inspiration that appears to be truth but is not truth, for it has nothing to do with salvation; instead, it only inflates human vanity and values while stirring up more greed and sin for worldly things. Though it seems to provide hope and comfort, it is like dough swollen with leaven—momentarily puffed up with fleeting emotion and consolation, only to collapse and vanish in emptiness.
The greatest reason why countless souls and people today cannot help but be deceived by this vain leaven is because their faith is not aimed at a life of sacrifice in the Spirit—that is, the life of a true Christian who follows the love of the cross—but rather at fulfilling worldly ideals, desires, and ambitions, no different from unbelievers in the world.
Because their faith is grounded in pursuing and fulfilling their worldly ambitions, ideals, and desires, it inevitably stumbles, breaks, and wavers according to circumstances and interests. Their reasoning, judgments, and claims—rationalizing such foolish faith—are exalted as faith and even as the Word. Yet in truth, they are excuses and justifications that oppose the Word, and most believers today are taught and learn from these abominable human teachings and inspirations.
Thus, instead of receiving the true Word of Christ that leads believers to abandon vain desires, satisfactions, and greed, most receive teachings and inspirations that only cause them to heap up more sin and lust—teachings that seem to rekindle hope after worldly desires and ambitions remain unfulfilled, bringing only despair, disappointment, hardship, and frustration. One of the most representative examples of such leaven is the message: ‘Young people, have ambition!’
Such teachings, like sweet talk or empty promises, stir up believers’ worldly ambitions, desires, and dreams, making them believe that all their hopes will soon be fulfilled. But they are nothing more than vain teachings, lessons, inspirations, and consolations that stimulate and incite worldly lust. Thus, believers spend their entire lives repeating the same cycle of sinning and regretting according to their interests, rationalizing sin and greed with excuses and justifications, until even their consciences—by which they should discern good and evil—are deadened. For this reason, there is almost no true faith today that knows God rightly and centers on the love of the cross.
For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.(2 Peter 2 : 20~22)
For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God: But that which beareth thorns and briers is rejected, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned.(Hebrews 6 : 4~8)
Though it seems to provide hope and comfort, in reality it only stirs up the greed of believers even more. It is by no means the faith of Christ that carries the hope of Christ, following the love of the cross. Rather, it is a faith that chases after worldly desires, satisfactions, and ideals, seeking only their own fullness, selfish gain, comfort, joy, and happiness. Thus, the testimony and fruit of Christ can never appear, and most are inevitably trained under sermons that are worldly, corrupted, and false—utterly different from the true gospel of salvation in Christ.
Because of this, the zeal of believers grows increasingly distorted, and their confidence becomes ever more twisted, so that the content of the Word drifts farther away. Instead, most chase after vain inspirations and fleeting emotions that only swell the heart for a moment. Therefore, the good conscience and the upright heart of believers gradually disappear, and their consciences inevitably become desolate. Such faith and such worship are vain.
And within these years of believing in vain, the conscience of believers—who grow weary and worn by the burdens of worldly life—testifies to this: Where then is the unfailing, eternal bread of Christ? Where is the everlasting peace and overflowing thanksgiving that does not vanish when one turns away?
It is nothing more than a vain faith that struggles year after year, month after month. The result is always the same—like a squirrel running in place upon a wheel, going round and round, only to return again to the same spot—a stagnant faith that never advances.
How is it that ye do not understand that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that ye should beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees.(Matthew 16 : 11~12)
When I would have healed Israel, then the iniquity of Ephraim was discovered, and the wickedness of Samaria: for they commit falsehood; and the thief cometh in, and the troop of robbers spoileth without. And they consider not in their hearts that I remember all their wickedness: now their own doings have beset them about; they are before my face. They make the king glad with their wickedness, and the princes with their lies. They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceaseth from raising after he hath kneeded the dough, until it be leavened.(Hosea 7 : 1~4)
He that speaketh truth sheweth forth righteousness: but a false witness deceit. There is that speaketh like the piercings of a sword: but the tongue of the wise is health. The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment. Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine evil: but to the counsellers of peace is joy.(Proverbs 12 : 17~20)
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless!(Isaiah 10 : 1~2)
Cease, my son, to hear the instruction that causeth to err from the words of knowledge. An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity. Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.(Proverbs 19 : 27~29)
Because believers grow weary and worn down by the burdens of worldly life, their faith becomes filled only with troubled and lacking hearts. How then can there remain the first love they had when they first believed? Where are the tears once shed in earnest supplication? Where are the wholehearted praises and prayers? There remain only drying tears and a heart growing ever more impoverished. Where is the abundant liberality of the heart that flows from the cross? Where are the beautiful praise overflowing with joy?
Instead, all that remains are titles and offices piled high with hypocrisy and pretense that deceive even their own good conscience—faith that clings only to outward appearances and words without bearing the fruit of Christ. Thus, they are misled, like dough swollen with leaven, always deceived by vain teachings and comforts that incite worldly desires, repeating the folly of seeking only selfish ambitions, satisfactions, and material gain, thereby piling up more sin. Thus, whether it is the shepherds who teach or the believers who learn, they all same, because their faith is one that pursues selfish desires, satisfactions, and values born of greed. Their excuses and rationalizations govern their thoughts and claims, which they exalt as though they were the Word of God and the will of God. Having cast aside the practice and deeds of following the sacrificial love of the cross, they cling only to words and theories. For this reason, none of the beautiful fruits and testimonies of God that come from a life pursuing the love of the cross unto salvation can ever be found in them. In this way, churches, pastors, and believers are endlessly producing heresies upon heresies, for through falsehood and obstinacy they distort Scripture, taking their own opinions and interpretations—shaped according to their desires and thoughts—and exalting them as truth.
Because they chase after perishable material wealth that can never satisfy, their teachings only increase the vain greed of believers. It is a distorted faith that seeks only to fulfill selfish ambitions and desires. God’s will, His holy Word, the cross, prayer—all of these are reduced to mere tools to gratify their own lusts. Their faith, their religion, their prayers, their words, and even their Christ have become nothing more than instruments of worldly desire.
How then, while clinging to worldly ambitions, values, and hopes, can they follow God’s holy will? How can they pursue the love of the cross that sacrifices everything? Truly, one of the greatest heresies is precisely this: chasing after worldly ambitions (success), satisfactions (happiness), and desires, along with the ideals, hopes, plans, and dreams born of them. God did not create mankind so that they might live well, eat well, and prosper. He created mankind to make them into His holy children, that they might partake in eternal glory and authority. Therefore, all worldly ambitions, satisfactions, desires, hopes, and dreams inevitably despise, oppose, and become enemies of God’s holy grace and will.
For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.(Ecclesiastes 5 : 7)
But if a man live many years, and rejoice in them all; yet let him remember the days of darkness; for they shall be many. All that cometh is vanity.(Ecclesiastes 11 : 8)
Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment. Therefore remove sorrow from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh: for childhood and youth are vanity.(Ecclesiastes 11 : 9~10)
Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart. But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.(2 Timothy 2 : 22~23)
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.(1 John 2 : 15~17)
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.(James 4 : 3~4)
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness! No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment?(Matthew 6 : 21~25)(Matthew 6 : 31~33)(Luke 12 : 29~30)
Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.(Romans 1 : 21~25)
For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith.(2 Timothy 3 : 2~8)
But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.(1 Timothy 6 : 9~10)
Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.(Matthew 6 : 31~33)
And seek not ye what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, neither be ye of doubtful mind. For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.(Luke 12 : 29~30)
Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for your miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are motheaten. Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days.(James 5 : 1~3)
Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.(Psalms 115 : 4)
Among the worldly teachings and inspirations of the blind—teachings that stir up only worldly desires (success), satisfactions (happiness), and lusts that have nothing to do with salvation, leading believers to pile up even more greed and sin, guiding them into the pit of the world and onto the path of sinners—is the lesson, ‘Young man, have ambition!’ This teaching urges people to harbor great ambitions. To those who chase worldly desires, satisfactions, and lusts like the people of the world, the phrase ‘Young people, have ambition’ may sound persuasive and reasonable. Yet in truth, it profanes the very purpose for which God created mankind and the love and sacrifice of the cross. It opposes God’s holy will and the precious love of the cross, and inevitably becomes the deceitful teaching of men whose lives are always driven to heap up more sin and greed according to their gain and interests, grounded only in worldly standards.
Despising the true foundation—God’s purpose in sending the love of the cross to this earth so that mankind might be made into children who resemble Him, the source of love—such ambition is nothing more than a goal and an ideal bound up with worldly desires and interests, producing only sin and greed. It is a life opposed to, an enemy of, and a betrayal of the life of Christ, which is meant to form a heart that follows the love of the cross, making us into the likeness of God worthy of salvation. This is why the Word commands us to deny ourselves, to put off the old self, to put to death our members, and to mortify the deeds of the body. God did not create mankind so they might live well and prosper in worldly terms, but so that, as His holy children who resemble Him, they might partake of eternal glory. Therefore, the Word, the shepherds, the Sabbath, the gifts, the prayers, the faith, the hope, and the love all exist for this purpose: to form within us the temple of the heart, bearing the divine nature we must have, which is the love of the cross.
Thus, faith without the love of the cross is dead faith. Faith that chases the world inevitably becomes a foolish religion, proven by sin itself, where one repeats the endless cycle of sin—repenting and regretting, only to turn back to sin again. Such people deceive even their own conscience with excuses and justifications, exalting their own assertions as if they were the Word of God Himself.
The greatest heresy, which began from the foundation of the world, is the corruption and falsehood put forward by those who claim to know and teach God. These are the ones who, while trying to serve both God and the world with material gain, thrust worldly teachings to the forefront. By their corruption upon corruption, and falsehood upon falsehood, they distort and pervert the essence of the Word, teaching it falsely in ways that have nothing to do with salvation and are utterly opposed to God’s holy will. This is why there will be a day of judgment, when the wheat and the tares are divided.
These churches, filled not with true Christians but with empty shells of believers—lacking the fruit and grain of Christ—are nothing more than congregations with outward forms, void of the love of the cross. Within them there is no true charity or service that feeds, gives, and cares for the sheep, no mutual love and sacrifice, no example of the love of the cross, no role as light and salt. Instead, they are overrun with pastors who preach only words that sway according to their own tastes, multiplying unlawfully. For this reason the Word testifies that these churches, built with bricks, shall be torn down until not one stone is left upon another, for judgment has been decreed.