Prove All Things:

 by Romans at The 4 Gospels
The last time I was with you, I did conducted a Discussion called “The Significant Sevens of Scripture.” In that Discussion, we went through, in chronological order, many Book in the Bible and showed where the number Seven was involved and why it was important. I found it to be, as I was preparing it, an informative and interesting review of the whole scope of Scripture since so many important events involved the number Seven. I think it was well-received.

I was going to continue on that line this Evening with another number or two and allow it to take us through another chronological tour of Scripture where this number was involved, but I have something else that I need to discuss, tonight.

There have been, in the past month, several times during the course of, or immediately following one of the Bible Studies, and not just mine, that someone will ask a question like this: “Well, your Topic was very interesting, but how does it help me to be a better Christian?” That question could easily be applied to my Number Seven Discussion. And it is a good and a reasonable question that I would like to answer.

I have repeated many times in my Discussions, the importance and vital necessity of being familiar with the Word of God. And that familiarity is important because, in the words of Jesus, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” These words are recorded in both Matthew 24:5 and Mark 13:6. The more familiar we are, with as many facets and nuances of Scripture we are, the better off we are in understanding what is involved in living a Christian life. Even when we play Bible Trivia in here or with others at home or at Church, it expands our base of knowledge and reinforces and builds our faith. It can cause us to do a follow up Bible Study on a new term or concept or quotation with which we had no previous familiarity.

Jesus also said in Luke 21:8: “Take heed that ye be not deceived: for many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ;”

The Apostle John wrote in his 1st Epistle, in 1 John 2:18: “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists...”

The Apostle Paul appealed to his readers in Romans 16:17: “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”

Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:12: “Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle,” (which was a poetic way of saying in this flesh,) “to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;”

Remembrance of what?

Verse 16 answers the question: “For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.”
Then he refers to the prophecies in the Old Testament in Verse 21: “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”

Peter begins Chapter 2 with the following words: 2 Peter 2:1: “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”

In order to not be deceived, as Jesus warned us, in order to avoid the division and offenses of heresy that are contrary to the doctrine we learned, as Paul warned us, in order to identify the spirit of antichrist, as John warned us, and in order to not swayed by the false prophets and false teachers that Peter warned us about, we have to be familiar with, and come to know more and more what this Book says. And when we do, and someone makes a statement that contradicts the Word of God, or leaves out words or verses, or changes contexts, or adds meaning and intent that beckons you to follow it down a dark and foreboding path, alarm bells will go off, and flare guns will fire blinding projectiles into the black night illuminating the attempted deception.

Deceivers look and sound good... but only to the uniformed or under-informed hearer.

Let me give you a powerful example that will not step on anyone's spiritual toes.

Many years ago, before the age of the digital camera, I was in the market for a 35mm film camera. I had read buying tips in Consumer Reports, and other pointers from several Photography magazines regarding the cameras that were on my short list. So, I was in the camera department of a major department store. And I was listening to a very slick salesman folding, spindling and mutilating a potential customer by being completely honest with him. The customer wanted to see a particular brand of camera, and the salesman told him that would be a very bad choice because it was very difficult to obtain optional lenses of that particular brand. And that was absolutely true. But I knew what the customer did not know, and what the salesman was not telling him: that this particular camera had a camera body with what was called a “universal mount.” That meant that there was a number of very fine, available and affordable lenses, made by other companies than that camera brand, that would fit that camera perfectly.

As I said, that happened many years ago. And I will also tell you that if such a thing happened, today, I would not have remained silent as I did then. And I deeply regret, as I think back on that situation, that I did not interrupt that salesman's pitch, and burn it and his commission to the ground.

Post Discussion Note: As I thought more on my silence, it occurred to me that the camera that the salesman was steering the customer away from, was also the one that I dropped from my list of possible purchases because Consumer Reports had identified it as having the worst “rate of repair” of all the cameras they reviewed. But I still wish that I had pulled the plug on the misrepresentation that was taking place.

But I say all of the above to say this: I listen to television and/or radio preachers nearly every day. And I learn a lot from them. But I will also say this: very few days go by before I hear one making a claim, or tweaking a quotation, or fine-tuning a doctrine in the Word of God to make it say what he wanted it to say. And the people sitting there never gasp or indicate in any way that they recognize that liberties are being taken with the Word God. I believe that happens for two basic reasons: First, they don't know what the Bible actually says, so they have no reason to gasp or react; and Second, they trust him to tell them the what it says, instead of reading it themselves and then weighing all of his words against God's Word. Christians are not supposed to be in a position to have to roll over and play dead when they are being taught. When they do this, they enable their minister to step into the undesirable role of deceiver that Paul wrote of in Romans 16:18: “For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple.”

Notice how the Bereans responded to Paul's preaching when he first brought the Gospel to them. We read beginning in Acts 17:10: “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”

Did you see what the Bereans did? They received Paul's teaching with all readiness, but then they “searched the Scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” And that is what each of us need to do if our minister every introduces something new or unusual. Pray about it, and then test it. Research it. It may well be true, however unpopular it is. But don't just swallow it, verify it. Prove it!

Matthew Henry has this to say about the Berean approach: “The Jews in Berea applied seriously to the study of the word preached unto them. They not only heard Paul preach on the sabbath, but daily searched the Scriptures, and compared what they read with the facts related to them. The doctrine of Christ does not fear inquiry; advocates for his cause desire no more than that people will fully and fairly examine whether things are so or not. Those are truly noble, and likely to be more and more so, who make the Scriptures their rule, and consult them accordingly. May all the hearers of the gospel become like those of Berea, receiving the word with readiness of mind, and searching the Scriptures daily, whether the things preached to them are so.”

There are also cases where, instead of convenient omissions, convenient additions occur. Notice in the temptation of Jesus, after Jesus countered the first temptation with “It is written...” Satan decided to also quote Scripture. He cited a prophetic Psalm that spoke of Jesus. The Psalm he quoted was Psalm 91:11-12: “For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” But when he quoted it, he conveniently added a few words. Satan's quotation was as follows in Matthew 4:6: “If thou be the Son of God, cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.” Now, look back the original Psalm to notice that the words “at any time” are not there! Those three additional words that Satan slipped in, altered the Prophecy, and bolstered his deception. Jesus was not fooled. He countered with “It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God” (Matthew 4:7). Scripture does not contradict itself. Use its harmony and consistency to clarify the Verses that may be harder to grasp or understand.

There is a very interesting verse found in Deuteronomy 29:29: “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law.”

God reveals His Will in His Word. If someone, including me or anyone else, tells you that God commands a certain thing to be done or not done, and then is not able to support that claim with clear and indisputable Scripture, in context and from at least two separate chapters and verses, then I will not accept it. I don't care if they have a list of notable theologians and rabbis a mile long that agree with them. It means nothing to me.

I say at least two for two reasons: First I cannot think of any doctrine or command that we are to observe, that the Holy Spirit saw fit to limit its appearance in Scripture to one mention. And Second, from the Scriptures itself, we read in Jesus' own words in Matthew 18:16 “...in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.”

And then I say that the Scripture needs to be in context? Let me give you my best example of why context is so important: There was a very popular preacher in the Northeastern part of the US who started in New York, and then settled in Philadelphia. I was listening to his sermon one night on the radio. He was claiming, by quoting Scripture, that the United States, England, and Australia were prophesied to be great in the world, and accomplish mighty works. I won't tell you what Book of the Bible this is in, or when it was spoken. I will just read his “prophecy,” and you tell me if the minister's claim has any in-context merit: “And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.”

Is this a Prophecy of God Blessing the English-speaking peoples of the earth to rise to great and unrestrained greatness? They are all of one language and the preacher assumed this to be in reference to English as the one language. But let me point this out, first. What about Spanish? Spain, all of Central American and most of the countries in South America speak Spanish, and some of the Islands in the Pacific speak Spanish, but he said this one-language was English, and the Prophecy was about America, England and Australia. And his very enthusiastic crowd were hooting and hollering and shouting Amen and Halleluiah through the whole sermon.

My question to you is, in context, what is this Verse actually talking about?

It is found in Genesis 11:6, and it is in direct and exclusive reference to the world population that had grown from the survivors of Noah's Ark. Far from God Blessing these people of one language, the very next Verse goes on to say, “Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.”

But the minister did not read the next Verse, nor did he cite where in Scripture what he was reading could be found, so that a believer, with a noble Berean attitude, could search the Scriptures daily to see if these things be so.

If Scripture does not defend a particular claim, and only the quotations of men are cited in support of that claim, the alarm bells should ring and warning flares should be fired. The agreement or stamp of approval of a million noteworthy men is not a final test for Truth if it opposes Scripture, or is not supported by Scripture.

In the Book of Numbers, who did Satan inspire to challenge Moses' authority to lead the children of Israel?

Well, let's see: We read in Numbers 16:2: “And they rose up before Moses, with certain of the children of Israel, two hundred and fifty princes of the assembly, famous in the congregation, men of renown:
And they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said unto them, Ye take too much upon you, seeing all the congregation are holy, every one of them, and the LORD is among them: wherefore then lift ye up yourselves above the congregation of the LORD?”

Had Moses exalted himself or did God put Him in that position of leadership? God put him there.
But the princes, the famous and the men of renown rose up against him. And the Congregation would have been more willing to follow a lying somebody than a lying nobody. But God was not with them in their rebellion. He is not a respecter of persons, however famous, or renowned.

What was the result of this rebellion again Moses and Aaron? Let's take a look... We read in 32: “And the earth opened her mouth, and swallowed them up, and their houses, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. They, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit, and the earth closed upon them: and they perished from among the congregation.”

We should not quote as having authority, whoever they might be, to whatever level of recognition they have achieved, anyone who make claims about what you must do or stop doing to please God, that they cannot support with clear, consistent, unambiguous, and contextual Scripture. Jesus said in Matthew 4:4: “It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (And not the mouth of man...)

When His critics were trying to trip up Jesus with a hypothetical story of a woman married to seven brothers, and asked whose wife she would be in the resurrection, Jesus responded in Matthew 22:29: “Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.”

Not knowing the Scriptures results in errors. That is why Paul admonishes us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 to “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.”

So, if we only hold what is good, what are we to do with what is not good? We are to reject it.

Jesus spoke the following Parable in John 10:1: “He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep. To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.”

In Paul's day, at the very time he was writing and sending Epistles to various Churches, deceivers were also mailing letters to Churches, signing Paul's name to the heresies they were spreading. He even referred to it, and as he tried to calm his readers in 2 Thessalonians 2:2: “That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.”

In two places in his First Epistle to Timothy, Paul referred to the many heresies that abounded. We read in 1 Timothy 1:4: “Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.”

And then in 1 Timothy 4:7 he says, “But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto godliness.”

Paul had to devote most of an entire chapter in his First Epistle to the Corinthians to refute the idea that the there was no resurrection. We read in I Corinthians 15:12: “Now if Christ be preached that he rose from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead?”

Then he had to refute the heresy that was being spread that yes, there was a resurrection, but it had already past. Notice in 2 Timothy 2:15: “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.”

Today, there are far too many people who are not familiar enough with the sound of Jesus' voice made evident in the pages of the Bible, to not be lured away by the thieves, the robbers and the strangers that are out there. In this day and age, with the inexpensive availability of CD, DVD, and MP3 spoken Scriptures, and free Online spoken Scriptures, there is virtually no excuse for a lack of familiarity with what the Bible says.

Remember that Jesus said in Luke 11:28: “...blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.” And Paul confirmed this when he wrote in Romans 10:17: “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Hearing the Word of God is a valid means of familiarization.

We are at war. And we will be at war until we draw our final breath, or until Jesus returns, whichever takes place first. And if we are going to be a part of this battle we have to don the Whole Armor of God.

We read, beginning in Ephesians 6:12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God:”

My closing appeal to all of you is that you get into the Word of God, and get the Word of God into you so that you will be able to both hear and recognize the Voice of the Good Shepherd, and follow His voice, and not follow the voice of the thief and the robber and the stranger, and not be deceived, and not be bewitched, and not be made merchandise of, and not suffer spiritual shipwreck.

Let no man deceive you!

Live, instead, by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

This concludes this Evening's Discussion, Prove All Things.