by Romans at
The 4 GospelsThe 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.
