Jesus warned us to not be deceived. He warned of false prophets. We are told even the devil can transform himself into an angel of light. We live in a world with a multiplicity of doctrines and denominations. How can we know the truth?
2 Corinthians chapter 11:1-4, “Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.”
The Apostle Paul speaks of a fear that he has in his heart because that very first sin in the garden with Adam and Eve, the serpent came to Eve with a very crafty, deceptive message.
Genesis 3:1-6, “Now the serpent (nachash) was more subtil than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Y
You know the devil comes as a roaring lion in 1 Peter 5:8, he walks about seeking whom he may devour. He also comes as an angel of light in 2 Corinthians 11:14, but he also comes as a deceiver, as a serpent to deceive, and he comes questioning God, the authority of God. He comes questioning the nature and character of God and who God is. Striking at the very core with
Eve begins a dialogue with the serpent. She said unto the serpent, “we may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden? God has said, you shall not eat of it. Neither shall you touch it, lest you die.” And so the serpent, he’s also called a liar, and the father of lies and the serpent lied very blatantly to Eve. The serpent told the woman, “ye shall not surely die.”
That same lie has been one of the devil’s favorites. “You can disobey God. I’m not lying. You can disobey God and suffer no consequence for disobedience. In fact, if you disobeyed God, you will find that if you obey my voice, if you follow what the serpent says, you’re going to find wisdom. You’re going to find fulfillment. You’re going to find real meaning to life. You’re going to find life. You won’t die. You See, God is withholding something good from you because God knows that in the day you eat thereof and your eyes shall be opened and ye shall be as gods.”
The deceiver, the liar is still a liar today, on the character and the nature of God. He wants to get you to question the goodness of God, the wisdom of God, the Authority of God and choose your own way instead of God’s way. We haven’t seen too much of the devil in America in these last number of years as a roaring lion. Now, at times you do see that, but how many would agree, we have seen that old serpent, the liar, the deceiver, as an angel of light? Have we seen him stick up his head that way? Yes, we have.
Escaping deception. How do we escape deception?
Well, Eve began to reason and to question, and when she began that and began into a dialogue with the deceiver, the serpent, that was the beginning of going down the path to defeat and to sin. What do you think would’ve happened if Eve would have stood on the word of God and said, “I believe God, God has spoken and God has said and declared it, and I believe God. Get behind me Satan.”
The old devil, the serpent appears in Matthew Chapter Four. We have another day in which the devil, the serpent, appears unto the man, Christ Jesus. Matthew 4:1-4, “Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungred. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.”
How shall we overcome this sly, deceptive devil? By believing every word that God has written and spoken. By standing upon the promises of God, I shall not, I cannot fail. You know the test comes to all of us, will I trust God? Will I believe the word of God? Will I believe the nature and character of God and stand upon the written word of God. You see, we are all tested. The great temptation and testing of the serpent
“And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him,” Revelation 12:9
He’s after your soul, brother, sister, and we must be anchored in Jehovah. Stay secure in the word of God as obedient children. Standing upon the word of God. Will you trust God?
Now let’s go back to 2 Corinthians 11:2. Paul says, “For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.”
Jesus is coming back for a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all menTeaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world,“Titus 2:11-12 We should be sanctified, holy unto Christ Jesus, a chaste virgin.
What would you think if you were a bridegroom and you were about to be married and your chaste virgin is fooling around with other men? When we love the world, when we play at even a little sin, we are an unfaithful bride.
Anyone who names the name of Christ is to depart from iniquity. In the name of Christ, depart from sin. You name the name of Christ. You love God. You will lose sin. You will lose it and you will want to depart from it. And when you sin, it will grieve your heart. You don’t just smile and smirk about it. It grieves your heart and you are sorry with a godly sorrow. You will repent and turn away from sin. Sin grieves my Saviour. It’s a spot upon my life.
“I am jealous over you,” Paul said. Corinthians, you who name the name of Christ in Corinth. I am jealous over you, “lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ” and you begin to entertain philosophies of men to better your life, improve your life. There are myriads and multitudes of those kinds of teaching today, positive thinking, the power of the positive thought and all of that. I believe in the power of believing faith in God, but it’s very different from positive thinking. I don’t pull myself up by my own bootstraps. I don’t overcome by my own strength, but I have a mighty Saviour. He is able to deliver and save to the uttermost all those that will come to God by him. Do you know him? Has he delivered you from this present evil world, continuing to deliver you from this present evil world?
I fear less the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ
“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” I have to say this today, I have to warn you, there is another Jesus being preached today. There is another Jesus being preached and he’s not one that asked you to take up a cross and follow him. You just rely on this other Jesus and be so thankful that he died on the cross for your sins, but there is no requirement of holiness upon your life. There is no requirement of you to separate from this wicked evil world in your conduct and in your character and in your everyday activities. In all of these matters, there’s no need for self denial. No, this Jesus is just a good buddy. And you just believe on him and you’ll go, you’ll go sailing, right into heaven.
Jesus is coming back for a chaste virgin who has not soiled her garments. She has made herself ready. She’s dressed in white, she’s looking to see her bridegroom. She’s not fooling around. No, she’s no adulterous. She loves Jesus. The real Jesus.
“And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?” Matthew 24:3 They asked Jesus a number of questions concerning the end of the world, the end of the age. “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you,” Matthew 24:4 The very first words out of our Lord Jesus’ lips concerning the last days, the end of the age, the sign of his coming is “take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.”
Matthew 24:11-12, “ And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
They shall deceive many. The love of many shall wax cold, “but he that shall endure until the end, the same shall be saved,” verse 13. Here in is the patience of the saints. They hold fast, obedient to Jesus, steadfast onto the end. If you are walking faithfully with Jesus Christ today, he will keep you in the hour that temptation comes. He will keep you in that hour, but if we’re fooling around with the world today and we’re living in complacency and lukewarmness and indifference and in pleasures and with the character lies, I can’t guarantee you the promise that he will keep you in that hour.
Are you keeping yourself today in the love of Christ? Are you today mortifying the deeds of the flesh and of the bodies? Are you putting off the old man with his deeds? Crucifying the flesh today? That is grace that is carrying us through today and will carry us through in that day.
How shall we escape deception? “Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not. For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. Behold, I have told you before. Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not. For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be,” Matthew 24:23-27.
Jesus didn’t say, “you shall know them by their signs and their miracles.” No, “you shall know them by their fruits,” Matthew 7:16. It is so important today in order to escape the deception, that we know and abide in the words of Jesus. These deceivers, they speak great swelling words, having men’s admiration because of their eloquent speech.
Matthew 7:20-23 says, “Wherefore by their
You will know them by their fruit, through how they live a holy life. Are they putting off iniquity? Are they preaching against sin? Or are these just preaching an easy
How shall we escape that deception? We shall escape by holding fast to the word of Jesus Christ, to examine them by their fruits. You shall know them by their fruits. It’s very sad, but they make merchandise of the name of Christ by those who profess Jesus. Oh, the lavish mansions they live in with golden faucets from the monies they took of the people. And so with feigned words, fair speeches, they make merchandise of the people and tell them, to sow a seed of faith by giving of your pension check and your social security and rob widow’s houses. It’s awful. Oh, the judgement day is going to be an amazing, awful day when all these things are reckoned.
How
1 John 4:1-5, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.”
These false teachers come and they speak of material wealth, of health and happiness. They preach the good things of the world, not the good things of God. They deceive many. They fill mega-churches with thousands in attendance. They collect millions of dollars and live lavishly. They are expert deceivers.
But greater is he that is in us. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit and filled with God’s word, we can escape deception. By standing upon the written word of God just like Jesus did. “It is written.” By immersing and bathing ourselves in the word of God so that we know the truth and when we know the truth, the truth will expose the lie of the devil. That liar.
In today’s age you can get all manner of biblical teaching from all corners of the world so quick just by the push of a couple of buttons and I’m not opposed. There’s godly men and godly women who have suffered in their walk with Jesus and are sincere real Christians, but I tell you, it’s really good to check out their lives before you just listen because sometimes I’ve been very disappointed. Disappointed to find out this person later came out as gay, but he was writing Christian songs, singing Christian lyrics, but now he comes out as a homosexual. Or the preacher who preaches to huge crowds, builds a college and then is exposed as an adulterer.
It’s very important to know the life of who you’re listening to, to know their life message. Know their walk of life and the fruit of their ministry.
“And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved,” 2 Thessalonians 2:8-10.
We must love the truth. “Thy Word is truth. My word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against thee.” We must love the truth about God, who he is and what he says is true and tried and solid, and it will never fail. Heaven and earth will pass away, but God’s word will never fail. It’ll never pass away. We must love the truth. When the Holy Spirit of God speaks to me and says, “that was a prideful thought. That was very selfish of you.” When the Holy Spirit speaks into my heart and life about my sin, I must love the truth and embrace it and repent. 2 Thessalonians 2 talks of those who did not receive the love of the truth and they perished.
I believe according to scripture, if we will do this one thing, the other things will be added and we will be protected from deception. The truth sets us free from the wild and the lies of the devil. I believe the word of God is the authority that we have to stand upon. And then the name of Jesus and the word of God. We rresist the devil and he has to flee from us.
But if I’m living in secret sin back here, do you think the devil’s going to flee? I don’t think so.
A house divided cannot stand. Now. Did you hear what I said? Living in secret sin. I didn’t say you somehow tripped and fell and you were aggrieved in your heart that you fell. Then you got up again repenting. That’s a whole different story. What I’m saying is if you or I harbor a secret sin. Today, if you hear his voice, Harden, not your heart. Today is the day of salvation. Today is the day to repent. Today’s the day to love the truth and agree with God.
They perish if they fall to those lying signs and wonders that the devil does in the name of Jesus. It says it right here with all this evil in them that they perish because they received not the love of the truth that they might be saved.
“I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father. I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one,“ 1 John 2:12-14
That’s how we are going to overcome. That’s how we are going to avoid being deceived, by loving the truth and embracing the truth and being one with our Lord Jesus Christ and walking in obedience to our Lord Jesus Christ.
No, it’s not just the heathen, atheist, unbelievers that are going to cast into the lake of fire, but it’s those that obey not the Gospel. There is another gospel being preached today. It says you don’t need to obey the commands of the Lord. It says, “We’re not under the law, but under grace.” We are not under the law, but Paul said, I, “being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,” (1 Corinthians 9:21). We are not under the Law of Moses, but we are not lawless. We are under the law of Christ, the law that says, “love your neighbor as yourself.”
There are many deceivers today. Many falsehoods being taught. Many believing they are saved, but are believing a lie because they have never loved the truth. They never search God’s word, but follow the flowery words of gifted speakers. When the Bible contradicts their lifestyle, when it calls them to repent of sin, they reject the truth. We must be wise.
As it is written in Ephesians 5:15-20, “See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is. And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
We will escape the great deception by loving the truth and by the word of God.
Counterfeit Christianity: How Do I Know I Am Saved?
No one wants to waste his life. Everyone seeks a meaningful existence, but what do you hope to get out of your time on the planet? What’s your highest objective?
You see, my highest purpose is to know God, greater than my wisdom, greater than my might, greater than my riches. We recognize the truth of God’s existence, so when we reflect on the beauty and complexity of the world around us, some men willfully close their eyes and suppress the self evident and some inconvenient truths.
Romans 1: 18-19 “Romans 1:18-19 “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.”
The Bible highlights the lives of men and women who take the less traveled high road in seeking God since God’s ways are higher than man’s.
Isaiah 55: 8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord
He reveals himself more fully through nearly 800,000 words of scripture. Although God makes himself known in various ways in the Old Testament, we find only a shadow or outline of what he ultimately intends for us to know.
Hebrews 10: 1 “For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.“
Thankfully God willed that we see him more clearly in the New Testament era. God blesses us with literacy, Bible availability in our language and a super abundance of Bible related resources. Compare this to the limited knowledge even of the Jews under the old law compared to the Jews.
The
Are you one of the billions of people who claim to know the Lord today? In the first century many Jews would have said they did, but they did not pass the test. The Holy Spirit warns in Titus 1:16, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.”
When I discovered a book titled Christian Atheist, the oxymoron intrigued me. You likely share my first thought that is there is no such thing. The author, however, established his point when he based his title on Titus 1:16, “They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him”
After reflecting on this scripture, are you a Christian atheist? Are you a counterfeit Christian?
We find shocking examples of bogus believers in the Bible. You remember what the Israelites did when God gave Moses the two tablets of the testimony, written with the finger of God, on Mount Sinai? The Bible says in Exodus 32: 1, “And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.”
Instead of rebuking them as a godly leader would do, Aaron rounded up the people’s golden earrings and made a golden calf. The people blasphemously declared in Exodus 32: 4-5, “after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said,
The Bible says in Exodus 32: 6-7, “And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings
How could the people of God do something so offensive and worship a false god? You know what happened? They professed to know God, but in works, they denied him. They knew what God expected, but they offered a substitute while seemingly still wanting credit from Jehovah.
Way back in Exodus 17:14, the Lord said he would wipe out the amalekites for attacking God’s people. “And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven,” Exodus 17:14.
The wheels of justice grind slowly but exceedingly fine. Years later, God gave unambiguous orders to King Saul in 1 Samuel 15:3 “Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.”
The Israelites slaughtered the
Look at the first words out of King Saul’s mouth when he saw the prophet in 1 Samuel 15:13, “And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord: I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” When Samuel Confronts Saul about the sounds of the livestock, the king blames the people. After the prophet rebukes the king for his disobedience, like many today, Saul reasserts his innocence and insists that he did obey God. No, what happened is King Saul professed to know God, but in works he denied him.
In 2 Kings 17: 7-17, the Israelites reject Jehovah’s pleadings to serve only him and chased after the gods of the heathens.
“For so it was, that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God, which had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and had feared other gods, And walked in the statutes of the heathen, whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made. And the children of Israel did secretly those things that were not right against the Lord their God, and they built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. And they set them up images and groves in every high hill, and under every green tree: And there they burnt incense in all the high places, as did the heathen whom the Lord carried away before them; and wrought wicked things to provoke the Lord to anger: For they served idols, whereof the Lord had said unto them, Ye shall not do this thing. Yet the Lord testified against Israel, and against Judah, by all the prophets, and by all the seers, saying, Turn ye from your evil ways, and keep my commandments and my statutes, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers, and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets. Notwithstanding they would not hear, but hardened their necks, like to the neck of their fathers, that did not believe in the Lord their God.
And they rejected his statutes, and
When they asked the king of Assyria to explain why the Lord punished them, the king arranged for one of the priests they had carried away from Sumeria to dwell and Bethel and teach them how they should fear the lord, but instead of turning wholeheartedly to the god of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Bible says in 2 Kings 17:33, “They feared the Lord, and served their own gods, after the manner of the nations whom they carried away from thence.” Their half hearted devotion demonstrated again of people who profess to know God but in works denied him.
More people worldwide claim to know the God of the Bible today than ever before. Though many of them do not practice Judaism, 15 million Jews descend from Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Muslims claim Allah is the god of Abraham. They admit, of course, that the Allah of Islam is not the god of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, as we understand it as Christians. About 2.2 billion people consider themselves Christians today and claim to serve the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In a very general sense, as Jeremiah predicted, more people know God than ever before, over 4 billion people.
Knowing of God is available to all people.
When man refused to recognize and serve Him, God “gave them up” to their own wicked imaginations. In the case of Israel, he allowed them to be carried off by enemies in the Old Testament and in 70 AD, he destroyed the temple and the city of Jerusalem, ending their adulturous worship. Today, he allows numerous false religions to exist, but they too will be judged.
The Apostle Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.” Preaching from prophets in the Old Testament and the apostles in the New Testament help men connect the dots so they may truly know God and understand how to please God fully, by his daily life and in fulfilling his religious obligations.
God reveals himself most clearly though through Jesus’ life and teaching. Jesus tells the disciples in John 14:7-9, “If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him. Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?” By knowing Jesus, we also know the Father.
Jesus also said in Matthew 11:27, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the
True Christianity revolves around knowing the Father in the Son.
Jesus said in John 10:14, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine.” Jesus prayed in John 17:3, “And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.”
The two questions today are
- 1) do we truly know the Father and Jesus, the Son?
- 2) will we respond accordingly to his teaching through the apostles and prophets in the New Testament.
Pharisee Saul of Tarsus eventually got it the hard way. He wrote as the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:8, “Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ.” He adds in Philippians 3:10, “That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death.”
If we know Jesus, like the Apostle Paul will not straddle the fence separating the world and the church. No, we’ll be all in just like he was. You may know a lot about Jesus and not really know him. Some people diligently read and study the New Testament, but never dig in and apply these teachings properly. Some people claim to have memorized the entire Bible and have amazing that head knowledge. However, it does not guarantee that one pleases God. God has given us the scripture to reveal himeself to us. These writings demand a call to action. They force us to choose God or Mammon to build on the rock or on the sand, to take the narrow or the broad way.
Here is the challenge: which path are you on? Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny him.” One of the beauties of this
The Bible teaches in 1 John 2:3, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments..”
Notice the apostle says nothing about hearing the voice of God or seeing a vision of Jesus or angels. Nothing about goose bumps, hair standing on end or warm sensations flowing through your body. So what does the Holy Spirit teach is the test of whether or not we truly know him? It’s been there in black and white for 2000 years. If we keep his commandments.
People have it backwards. Their emphasis on a personal relationship with Jesus sounds reasonable, but that language often cloaks at defense for disobedience.
Many in churches today are clear examples of Titus 1:16, allow the subjective voices, visions, and vibrations to overrule the objective evidence of scripture. Instead of simply submitting to what the Bible says they live as if the voices, visions, and vibrations release them from obeying God’s word.
Watch though how pointed the Apostle John gets on the subject. He writes in 1 John 2:4, “He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” The spirit bluntly calls out those who say they know God, but disobey God as imposters charlatans, fakes broads and counterfeits.
If I disregard simple biblical teaching while claiming to know God, I’m only a cheap imitation, a knockoff and not the real thing for emphasis. The Spirit Inspires the apostle John to add in the very next verse, 1 John 4:5, “But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.” By this we know that we are in him.
In 1 John 4:6, the Apostle John restates the same truth. “We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.”
If you do not respond to the apostles’ teaching, you are not of God.
Not the professions, but the practices of men are the index of their true character.
Who wants God to view them as a counterfeit Christian? Yet this is the warning we hear echo from Titus 1:16, “They profess to know God, but in works they deny him.” The term counterfeit Christian may seem harsh, but Adam Clark explains in his commentary that the word translated as “reprobate” in the King James Bible means adulterated like a bad coin, deficient both in the weight and goodness of the metal and without the proper sterling stamp and consequently not currency.
If they did a good work, they did not do it in the spirit in which it should be performed. They had the name of God’s people, but they were counterfeit. The Prophet said, “Reprobate silver shall men call them, because the LORD hath rejected them,” Jeremiah 6:30. No wonder some translations render that word worthless. A counterfeit bill is not worth the paper it’s printed on and an imitation Christian is worse than worthless. He harms himself and those within his sphere of influence.
After his arrest in the garden, we find Jesus taken to the high priest’s house with Peter following at a distance. While Jesus was inside, being tried, Peter was outside by a fire. “Simon Peter stood and warmed himself. They said therefore unto him, Art not thou also one of his disciples? He denied it, and said, I am not,” John 18:25 Peter denied Jesus three times. He believed on jesus, but for his own safety, he pretended to be something else. Not only can we act like a counterfeit Christian, we can live like a chameleon Christian content to blend in with our environment. When we surround ourselves with Christians, we behave those who profess to be Christians like believers, but when we’re in the world, sometimes we just try to blend in.
If you’re a Christian, do you go incognito when you are away from other Christians? Dietrich B
Which is it with you? Are you fitting in with the world, in your fashion, activities
Jesus demands absolute surrender to him and to his
Back to Peter, after Peter’s denial and three times the rooster crowed was easily the low point of Peter’s life. Then we read one of the most pitiful interactions in the entire New Testament where in Luke 22:61-62, “And the Lord turned, and looked upon Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said unto him, Before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice. And Peter went out, and wept bitterly.” Right after cursing and swearing that he did not know Jesus, Peter’s eyes met the eyes of the son of God.
Can you imagine the agonizing pain of that disappointment? We look back with great disappointment at the apostle Peter’s repeated denials, but the Spirit teaches that we can deny God without even whispering a word, when our actions do not support our claims to be Christians. God takes it as a denial.
I hope that after reading and considering these words from scripture that you’ve determined that you want to be a genuine Christian. You want to be the real thing. You don’t want to be one of these Christian atheists. You don’t want to be one of these Christian counterfeits.
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Twisted Scripture: Rightly Dividing The Word Of Truth
Have you ever heard a skeptic say you can make the Bible say whatever you want the Bible to say. Well, that’s true, but the operative phrase is “you can make.” That’s just the problem. Too often people go to the scriptures trying to make the Bible say something that the Holy Spirit never intended. The Bible teaches in 2 Peter 3:15-16 “And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.”
Let’s note several important truths in 2 Peter 3:15-16
- First, the writer says that some of the material covered in the apostle Paul’s epistles is hard to understand. He does not say that it’s impossible to understand, but hard to understand.
- Second, Peter says nothing about an infallible interpreter. For this reason, we should approach the scriptures with great caution as well as respect.
- Third, the apostle Peter refers to the apostle Paul’s epistles as scriptures. When one reads the context surrounding 2 Timothy 3:16, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,” the Old Testament is clearly referenced. Some erroneously conclude that the term scripture does not include the New Testament at all. This passage in 2 Peter proves otherwise.
- Fourth, the apostle tells us that untaught and
unstabled people twist, distort, or pervert the scriptures to their destruction. The untaught individual would include the novice or others who are unaware of important Bible facts and perhaps because they’ve not been properly mentored by a more mature Christian stumble and miss a proper understanding of scripture. - Fifth, when I read about unstable people, twisting, distorting, and perverting the scriptures, I think of those in Ephesians 4:14 who were tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine. I’m also reminded of those described in 2 Timothy 3:7 who are always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Albert Barnes describes the unstable as those who have no stability in their character and of course nothing he says can be regarded as settled in their methods of interpreting the Bible. They are under the control of feeling and emotion and are liable to embrace one opinion today and another directly opposite tomorrow. Despite the views of some, this is not an accusation that merely the uneducated are the ones who rest the scripture. The truth being that some of the most tortured wresting of the scriptures ever seen on earth has been by men of the highest academic training.
Thus, the unteachable are persons whose passions blind their understanding and make them adverse to truth. All believers must diligently avoid this path because Peter says it leads to destruction. Additionally, division results when one twist the scriptures, even if he has the best of intentions.
Consider an extreme example of an unlearned and unstable person twisting the scriptures. Jesus teaches in Mark 9:43-45, “And if thy hand offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched.”
June 4th, 2018, Houston Chronicle article tells of
Proper Bible study involves exegesis, where one lets the Bible speak for itself by applying appropriate and consistent interpretation methods. Division and confusion result when Bible students come to a certain passage and arbitrarily assign a literal or a figurative meaning to the word or passage. Other confusion results when one imposes presupposed ideas onto scripture.
We hope to get a better handle on how to rightly divide the word of truth. We intend and become better equipped to comply with the admonition of 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.”
In general, when we let the Bible speak for itself, we first seek to understand it literally whenever possible. In his book titled, “Hermeneutics,” David R Dungan articulates fundamental rules in the science of interpretation. By establishing rules to determine the meaning of words and sentences, we avoid a haphazardly and indiscriminately choosing literal and figurative meanings simply to support a predetermined outcome.
Dungan’s rule number one regarding interpretation, “All words are to be understood in their literal sense unless the evident meaning of the context
forbids.–Figures are the exception, literal language the rule; hence we are not to regard anything as figurative until we feel compelled to do so by the evident import of the passage.” Great caution should be observed, according to Dungan, “We are very apt to regard contexts as teaching some theory which we have in our minds. And having so determined, anything to the contrary will be regarded as a mistaken interpretation; hence, if the literal meaning of the words shall be found to oppose our speculations, we are ready to give to the words in question some figurative import that will better agree with our
preconceived opinions.”
Many fanciful interpretations of scripture have been taught because things which are to be
When interpreting scripture, we must also determine who the original audience was and the purpose of the passage. In the New Testament, we have several letters. These letters were sritten to specific churches, people or individuals to address certain things happening in their lives. To understand the scripture, we must find how the original hearer would have uderstood it. Any interpretation of scripture that would be foreign to the original audience is foreign to the Bible and must be rejected.
An excellent example of how the Bible is misunderstood is the Book of Revelation and particularly, the “Mark of the Beast.” Many people today believe that the “Mark of the Beast” is a microchip. This idea was popularized 20 years ago and is still taught and believed by many today. Yet, the Book of Revelation was written to the seven churches in first century Asia. It was addressing the persecutions they were experiencing and things which “must shortly come to pass,” Revelation 1:1.
It is absurd to think those first century Christians read about the “Mark of the Beast,” and thought, “Wow! Two thousand years from now the Beast will be putting microchips in people. Don’t know what microchips are, but that is obviously what John wants us to know.” No, their thought would have instantly gone to other places in the Bible where people received a mark in their hand or forehead. For example, Ezekial 9:4, “And the Lord said to him, Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, a put a mark on the foreheads of men who sigh and cry over all the abominations that are down within it.”
I’m pretty sure Ezekial did not have microchip technology.
To understand scripture, we must interpret as the original hearer would. We must understand it as it was meant to be understood. We must not impose our idea onto scripture, but search for the meaning and let the Bible interpret itself.
Certain groups like the Seventh Day Adventists have twisted scripture into doctrines never imagined. They have made the “Mark of the Beast” to be Sunday worship, they have made Saturday Sabath-keeping imperitive to salvation and have made the Pope to be the Beast of Revelation. Their prophetess Ellen White invented new doctrine, such as the “investigative judgement,” to explain away false predictions of the return of Christ. Their false gospel from imposing new ideas onto scripture have lead many away from the truth and into the abyss.
Remember, “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation,” 2 Peter 1:20.
Let us not be named among those who twist scripture to their own destruction.
What Is The Narrow Way and The Broad Way?
One of the most
When Jesus has finished preaching this sermon, the people were astonished at his teaching for he taught them as one having
The Lord’s sermon on the mount is no exception. In fact, in the conclusion of his sermon, Jesus makes it abundantly clear why it is vitally important for everyone not merely to hear his words, but to obey them.
First of all, Jesus sets the stage by saying in Matthew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”
Now according to this passage, each of us are faced with a decision of utmost importance and there are only two options. The narrow way and the broad way. The broad way leads to destruction, while the narrow way leads to live. The broad way is easy to travel down and the narrow way is difficult. Because the broad way is easy, most people will travel down that way. Because the narrow way is difficult, only a few will find it.
The fact that the narrow way must be found implies that it must be searched for, but there are many dangerous obstacles along the way and Jesus points out in Matthew 7:15-17 what those obstacles are. He warns about some of them, namely false teachers which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Jesus then focuses his attention to warning us about the inevitable and inescapable day of
Matthew 7:15-17 “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.”
Indeed, one day we will all stand before God to give an account of the things that we have done. But Jesus is not merely warning us on the reality of judgment, he is instructing us on how to be ready for the judgment. In Matthew 7:21 Jesus says, “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.”
He is telling us that to prepare for the judgment. It takes more than words and wishes. It takes a compliance to the will of God. Now the people Jesus describes here, we’ll be surprised on the day of Judgment. He goes on and says in Matthew 7:22-23, “Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
Here Jesus is describing people who never had a real relationship with God, although they thought they did and they felt they did. Now that is a scary thought because Jesus is talking about self deception. He wants us to know that you and I can be deceived, that it is possible for us to go through life only to find out that on the day of judgment we were not really in fact doing the will of God. Now that is a warning.
So how do we avoid being surprised on the Day of Judgment? Will. Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:24-25 “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”
Jesus is describing a wise man. The reason he is a wise man is
Now when you turn over to Luke’s parallel account, Luke gives us something that is a little bit extra.
He adds an additional detail in Luke 6:47-48 where Jesus said, “Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like: He is like a man which built an house, and digged deep, and laid the foundation on a rock: and when the flood arose, the stream beat vehemently upon that house, and could not shake it: for it was founded upon a rock.”
Now notice that in order for the wise man to reach the Rock, he had to do some digging. In fact, he had to do quite a bit of digging because Jesus said he dug deep. It was not easy for him, but it required deliberate and diligent effort. In other words, it took a spiritual muscle and some and a shovel to reach that rock. Then I submit that for us to build upon that solid foundation that will stand on the Day of Judgment that we too are going to have to do some digging.
Now there are many foundations that we can build on that are unstable and dangerous and we’ve got to be able to determine today the difference between sinking sand and solid rock.
Let me give you some examples of sinking sand.
First, majority opinion is unstable ground and unfortunately we sometimes follow the crowd and we let the majority opinions sway our thinking. Large numbers can deceive us and lull us into a false sense of security. God commanded his people of old and he’s still warns us today, “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil,” Exodus 23:2
If we’re not careful, we can catch ourselves saying, “well, everyone else is doing it and that many people can’t be wrong.” But whenever you hear everybody else is doing it, that’s a red flag and it’s a good enough reason to run in the opposite direction, because the majority opinion doesn’t have a very good track record of being right.
Sometimes the majority opinion just means you’ve got a lot of fools in the same place. Look at the days of Noah, only eight souls were saved. Look at the days of Jesus after having thousands of people following him one day, they forsook him the next. During the last week of his earthly ministry, the people lined the streets shouting their accolades. “Hosanna. Blessed is the king.” But by the end of the very same week, the crowd had shifted from commendation to condemnation, as they shout, “crucify him.”
We must not be persuaded into believing something simply because a lot of other people are doing it. Jesus warns us not to be deceived by the numbers because wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction and many there be which go in there at. So don’t allow the masses to manipulate you into following them down the road to hell.
Dig Past what everyone else is saying, what everyone else is believing and practicing because the majority opinion is sinking sand.
Something else that is equally unreliable is our emotion or our feelings. Regrettably, many are building upon a foundation of emotionalism. In other words, as long as something feels good, makes you happy, and doesn’t bother your conscience. That is the standard that is often used to gauge whether something is right or wrong. But feelings are subject to change and feelings are subject to deception. What feels wrong one day may feel right the next. What is so dangerous about feelings is that they are so powerful they can make a lie seen true. When Joseph was sold as a slave into Egypt by his brothers, they took his coat of many colors, dipped it in animal blood and presented it to Jacob, their father with the lie that Joseph was dead. Now, Jacob believed that lie and he believed that for years and he felt the same way as if it had been the truth. He grieved. He wept, his heart was broken. In fact, his feelings were so real and powerful that even after they told him the truth, he did not believe them until he saw for himself.
Well, the Bible warns us about the deception of feelings. Proverbs 14:12, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” Our emotions are sinking sand.
The Bible also warns us of another deadly foundation that is the teaching or the traditions of men.
Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 2:5, “That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.” In Titus 1:14 it says, “Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.”
And then in Matthew 15:9, Jesus said, “But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
When someone is learning to fly an airplane, he is taught to rely on the instrument panel when learning to fly because it’s so possible to get jostled around in a storm, to lose visibility and experience vertigo and to lose equilibrium. And what seems to be, up may really be down. And if pilots are guided by their senses, they can crash. So they’re taught to rely and to trust the instrument panel even when it seems counterintuitive. Now it’s possible for us to get so jostled around by the what the Bible calls “every wind of doctrine,” that we lose our spiritual equilibrium. Our hearts can deceive us and what’s wrong may seem right and what’s right may seem wrong. And if we are swayed by the numbers or led by how we feel or, what seems right, we could be headed in the wrong direction and we may never know it until it’s too late.
The Bible is our instrument panel. It is a lamp unto our feet, a light unto our path, (Psalm 119:105). The Bible tells us that we are to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean not on our own understanding.
When we talk about our emotions, about the majority, about the doctrines of men, these three things have absolutely no authority to save our souls or to make our worship acceptable or prepare us for eternity. So what must we do? Well, we must dig deeper. We must dig deeper than sinking sand. The sinking sand of emotionalism that really has no foundation. Dig past what the majority opinion says or the doctrines of men teach and come to the words of Jesus Christ.
Jesus said in John 12:48 “He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.”
When we stand before God on the Day of Judgment, as we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, there’s going to be only one standard of judgment. The word of God. In Revelation 20:12, John The revelator, as he sees a picture of the judgment scene, he says, “I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.” And so we’re going to be judged on the day of judgment by the word of God. And that’s why Jesus said, “he who hears these sayings of mine and does them is a wise man.”
Now, there is a lot of misinformation and false doctrine in the world today and one particular area that we need to address is what the Bible teaches.
We need to dig past all of the doctrines of men to learn what the Bible teaches about the church. For example, some say the church is not important or necessary, but when we dig deeper into the word of God, we find several passages that highlight the great value that God places upon the church. First of all, notice a few ways the Bible describes the church. It’s described as the body of Christ, the family of God or the House of God, the Kingdom of God, the bride of Christ. In fact, Paul says in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it.” Jesus gave himself shed his blood for the church. He purchased the church. He owns the church.
In fact, before he died, he made this promise in Matthew 16:16-18 “And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”
Jesus is the builder of the Church and us, it belongs to him. Sometimes we hear the statement, “choose the Church of your choice.” But that idea is not found in the Bible because when Jesus established his church, there was only one to choose from. But in the process of time, men drifted away and began to denominate, designate, that is divided into differing groups. Denominationalism is nothing more than an attempt to justify a system of organized division. Today there are over 18,000 different religious groups that claim Christianity. All of these groups teach different things, have different names and worship in different ways.
We are told that that is okay because we can be doctrinally divided and still be spiritually united. But that idea is not found in the Bible either. Now, it is true that we read of congregations of the Lord’s Church that met in different locations, but they were all expected by God to follow the same teaching. When we take the word of God and when we dig into the truth, we see that the Lord’s desire for his church is unity. But what kind of unity does the Lord desire? Is it “unity and diversity” or “unity and conformity?”
Well, the answer to that question is found in the Lord’s prayer in John 17 when Jesus was praying for his apostles, he said in verse 20-21 “Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.”
Jesus makes it very clear that the kind of unity he desires for all believers is the same kind of unity that he shares with the father. Now, what kind of unity do they have? Do they agree to disagree? Do the Father and Jesus have unity and diversity? Do they disagree on doctrinal matters such as what a sinner must do to be saved? Do they differ on the kind of worship they like? No, not at all. That’s not the kind of unity between the father and the son, and that’s not the kind of unity that Jesus wants for the church. In fact, when you take a look at what happened when Paul addressed division within the Church at Corinth in 1 Corinthians 1:12-13, “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?”
You see, the church there had divided and had fractured and we’re calling themselves by different names, perhaps their favorite preacher, but Paul refutes such carnality by asking the rhetorical question is Christ divided? Notice Paul’s solution for division in verse 10, “Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.”
Now does that sound like Paul is telling the Corinthians that they can be doctrinally divided and be spiritually united? Not at all. Paul did not command, and Jesus did not pray, for a unity in diversity, but uniformity to the word of God. That’s why when we dig past all of the doctrines and the denominations of men.
We see in the Bible that each congregation of the Lord’s Church was alike in doctrine and in its practices.
So we must dig through the mantra of choosing the Church of our choice and go to the word of God and find the Church of God’s choice. Now that isn’t always easy. It’s going to take determination and diligence and a shovel to dig past and all of the sinking sand that is about us and come to the solid rock. But it’s worth it. Are you willing to do it? Are you willing to say, as we sometimes sing on Christ, the solid rock I stand? All other ground is sinking sand.
I hope that you consider these things for yourself. And if I can be of assistance, please let me know.
The “Mark of the Beast” is NOT a microchip
Imagine, in 65 AD, the 7 churches of Asia received John’s Revelation. As they read it they were astonished that 2000 years in the future, one of the two beasts of Revelation would require everyone to have microchips inserted in them. They were probably like, “Wow! Microchip technology! What’s that?” The Book of Revelation was written to, and to be understood by, the seven churches of Asia. ANY interpretation that would have been foreign to them is foreign to the Bible.
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Is A Millenial Kingdom Coming?
Will Jesus return to reign one thousand years on earth?
I can hardly think of a famous televangelist today who does not teach that there is coming a rapture of the church and a period of tribulation. Then upon the earth, a great battle involving Christ and then a literal period of a thousand years when Christ will bodily live here on the earth and reign over all of the nations. You may have read books to picture what it will supposedly be like when the church has been taken out of the world and the unsaved are quote “left behind.” Or you have heard the well known preachers on television and radio warn that the political events of our day are part of a countdown in the Middle East to the ultimate appearing of Jesus and the commencement of his kingdom reign on earth.
You don’t have to look very far at all to find that doctrine espoused. There are many views of eschatology today, but what I just described is by far the most widely accepted and popular theory in what is often coined “evangelical Christianity.” But it hasn’t always been so. John Nelson
Now, today, it’s hard to think of a popular and well known preacher who doesn’t preach some form of pre-millennialism. The theory hinges upon a literalistic interpretation of prophecy both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament Book of Revelation. In fact, the major proof text is found in Revelation 20:1-10.
“And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years. But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years. And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever,” Revelation 20:1-10.
Is this passage teaching that a millennial kingdom of Christ is yet to come here on this earth? Notice that no where does this passage even say Christ establishes an earthly throne.
Dispensational pre-millennialism is based upon the idea that all of church history can be broken down into seven periods of time beginning with the age of innocence then conscience, then human government, then promise, then law and so forth. And when we come to the New Testament, we supposedly have the “dispensation of grace” otherwise known as the Church Age, and we’re waiting on the final era of time to commence. And that is what proponents of this doctrine called the “kingdom age or dispensation.” In other words, we’re waiting on the kingdom to come and it has not come yet.
They tell us that Jesus came to Earth 2000 years ago preaching the Kingdom. The problem is the Jews rejected it, and since they rejected it, he delayed the kingdom until they get future time. And instead established the church. We’re currently living in that era where we as Gentiles can enjoy the blessings of God, but we’re told that God really has two plans.
He has a plan for the Gentiles and that God still has a plan in place to set up the Jewish kingdom and reign over it from the city of Jerusalem. The theory says that when the redemption of the Gentiles is complete, that the Lord will secretly rapture the church out of the world. And that will be the beginning of a seven year period of tribulation on the earth. The antichrist will arise, darkness will reign over the earth, but at the end of that seven years, Jesus will return with his saints and a great battle will take place at the valley of Armegeddon in the Middle East, that Jesus will win the battle. He’ll bind the devil and he will reign from Jerusalem over the whole earth for a thousand years. And at the end of that literal 1000 years, Satan will be loosed. He’ll unleash his fury and try one last time to get the upper hand. Then the last judgment of God will come. Satan and his forces will be cast into hell forever and eternity will begin.
You’ve likely heard some version of that scenario many, many times, but is it what the Bible teaches? Many televangelists preach that theory regularly. Many books that you can buy at just about any religious bookstore, advance that theory. There was a series of books written a number of years ago called the “Left Behind” series that advocates that theory. It was even made into movies. But does that match what Jesus and his apostles said about the kingdom?
We could go through the theory of dispensational, pre-millennialism point by point, and we could look word by word, phrase by phrase and verse by verse at Revelation 20 and learn a great, great deal, but the whole argument really comes down to a two or three major points of contention, so in our limited space, we’ll deal with those.
- Number one, how do we interpret Bible prophecy such as what we have in Revelation? Is it to be read literally or is it to be looked at figuratively?
- Number two, are the Jews still God’s chosen people? Does God still have a plan for the fleshly Jewish nation?
- Number three, what do plainer passages in the Bible,
non symbolic or figurative passages in the Bible say about the kingdom?
How we answer those questions will tell us whether or not there’s any truth to pre-millennialism.
Number one, how do we interpret Bible prophecy such as what we have in Revelation?
First, how are we to interpret prophecy and specifically the book of Revelation? Many people, including preachers, have a field day with the Revelation given to John when he was on Patmos, and if you don’t consider the timeframes, style and purpose of the book, your imagination can easily run wild.
In the very first verse of the book, it is called the Revelation, which is translated from the Greek word “apokalypsis.” That means an unveiling. It is the apocalypse and it belongs to a specific kind of literature that was popular leading up to the first century among the Jews. Now, there were many of these types of writings. Some of them were inspired and included in the Old Testament, such as the book of Daniel. And then there were many uninspired apocalyptic type writings. These were all visions that we’re steeped in, signs and symbols that were intended to convey a greater message. Now, don’t lose sight of that definition of this kind of literature. They were all one type or another. Have a vision that we’re all steeped in symbolic language and signs that were intended to convey a greater message.
Now in the case of Revelation, it was written in code, so to speak, in order to smuggle a message of hope to the rest of the world that its Roman persecutors would not be able to understand and Revelation signaled their victory over the crushing forces of earth, but if it had fallen into the hands of the emperor and the Roman authorities will, they would have decimated the church for suggesting such a thing.
So Revelation was written in the symbolic language of an apocalypse that Jews in the early church would be very familiar with. It’s language, it’s signs, it’s symbols. They would understand it, but the pagans specifically the Romans would not. What that means is that the specific prophecies of Revelation are not to be seen as literal events, but rather as symbolic of something else.
How can a person read the book of Revelation and not immediately recognize that the things spoken are not literally what they’re pictured as, but that they represent
It says in verse four that those who were beheaded for Christ’s sake reign with Christ. What does that mean? That if a person was not martyred and more specifically by beheading, that they cannot be part of Christ? Reign will of course not. There’s a symbol of the dragon, the serpent, the chain, the key, the bottomless pit, and the numbers in Revelations. Especially in the numbers we find all throughout apocalyptic type literature, they’re all symbols that are employed to draw a larger picture for the persecuted Church of the first century.
One thousand for example, is not to be taken as a literal quantity anymore than 144,000 in chapter 14. Now the Jehovah’s Witnesses try to make the 144,000 a literal number and some who argue with them. It’s very ironic that some who argue with them over that, then turn around and try to make Revelation 20 mean a literal 1000 year reign on the earth.
The number 1000 is used throughout scripture to measue the immeasurable. It merely symbolizes a great amount. This reign of Christ isn’t talking about a literal earthly government because Jesus said in John 18:36, “my kingdom is not of this world.” it is not like earthly kingdoms. It doesn’t have the characteristics of an earthly kingdom. It didn’t originate with this world and it’s not headquartered here in this world. Revelation 20 is simply talking about the unfettered spread of the Gospel and as long as the Gospel exists and is preached in this world, Satan has no power over your heart and mind that you don’t give him. That is a critical point. There is no excuse for being deceived as long as we have access to the word of God.
Now, there may come a time and it seems this may be what John is talking about when he says that Satan will be loosed for a short season when faith will virtually vanish from the earth, but this is all symbolically referring to the Christ mastery over sin and evil to the reality and availability of redemption to the whole world who will turn to Jesus and be saved. I hope that if you did not see my study about the nature of the kingdom and the timing of the kingdom, that you’ll go back and review it. Study it because it’s critical to understand that in view of Revelation chapter 20.
So number one, prophecies like revelation are written in symbolic, not literal language. The premillennial theory about the kingdom requires a literal reading and interpretation of revelation. And yet, they actually pick and choose what to take literally and what to take symbolically.
Number two, are the Jews still God’s chosen people?
That’s really the crux of the matter. What dispensational pre-millennial suggests is that God has two different plans or programs for two different groups of people. The promises made to Abraham in Genesis and later expanded to David in 2 Samuel. Those are physical promises for the racial Jews or the Jewish nation. And then the church in this age has received other promises from God that are spiritual, so says the dispensationalist. God is supposedly working these two plans, one for the church, one for the Jews, and this church age that we’re living in is sort of a parentheses in God’s plan. The church is a stopgap measure that came about after the Jews rejected Jesus and is here until Jesus comes and fulfills the plan pertaining to the Jews.
Pre-millennialism says that God deals with the Jews in the millennium. When Jesus comes and sets up his kingdom, the Jews will finally have all of the promises fulfilled and the Old Testament system of worship will be resumed and the temple reestablished and even animal sacrifice will be resumed. Sacrifices will be resurrected in Jerusalem during this purported era to come.
That’s really what the pure doctrine of a dispensational pre-millennialism says.
First of all, according to the Old Testament, all of God’s promises to Israel were fulfilled. The Nation Promise was fulfilled. God made them a nation. The Land Promise was fulfilled. God brought them into the land that was promised. Solomon reigned over all of the promised land according to 1 Kings 4:21. The seed promise was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus through their lineage.
Joshua 21:43-45 “And the Lord gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And the Lord gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. There failed not ought of any good thing which the Lord had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.”
Read that again…. not one of God’s promises to Israel failed to be fulfilled. There are no promises left unfilled.
None of God’s promises were left unfulfilled, but we should also remember that their enjoyment of God’s promises to Abraham was conditional and all of God’s promises to us are conditional. Pre-millennialism says the promises were unconditional. That despite the Jews rejection of God, that he will still fulfill all of the promises made thousands of years ago.
God placed conditions on those promises such as the promise to give them a land conditions that ancient Israel did not keep.
Deuteronomy 28:63 says “And it shall come to pass, that as the Lord rejoiced over you to do you good, and to multiply you; so the Lord will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou goest to possess it.”
You see, the promise of the land was conditional. According to 2 Chronicles 36:14-17, they did in fact lose the land because they didn’t obey the Lord.
Chronicles 36:14-17 “Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people, transgressed very much after all the abominations of the heathen; and polluted the house of the Lord which he had hallowed in Jerusalem. And the Lord God of their fathers sent to them by his messengers, rising up betimes, and sending; because he had compassion on his people, and on his dwelling place: But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused his prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, till there was no remedy. Therefore he brought upon them the king of the Chaldees, who slew their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion upon young man or maiden, old man, or him that stooped for age: he gave them all into his hand.”
Now they had a kingdom. The Jews had kingdom and they lost it. There is no prophecy of the Jewish kingdom to be found in the New Testament. The Bible teaches that upon God casting them off as his people that the promises were given to the new Israel instead.
So what is this new Israel? What is the new Israel as compared to the old Israel? Paul says, ” For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise,” Galatians 3:26-29.
Well, there you have it. Now, preachers may try to explain it away but that’s what your Bible says. There is no such thing in God’s sight as a Jew or a Gentile. We are all one in Christ Jesus in this era of time. That is those who are in Christ Jesus by being baptized into Christ Jesus.
Now number three, what do the nonfigurative passages plainly say about the kingdom?
The whole debate boils down to when did the kingdom come and what is the kingdom?
Is the kingdom yet to come? Are we in the church age and still waiting on the kingdom, as the pre-millennialist alleges? Is the Kingdom a literal earthly kingdom to come or is Christ reigning in the hearts of his subjects from the right hand of God today?
Let’s quickly notice these comparisons.
Christ is the head of the church
Ephesians 1:22 ” And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.”
The church is an everlasting institution.
Ephesians 3:21 “ Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”
Daniel
The parables in Matthew 13 have long been understood to refer to the church, but all seven of those parables are said to pertain to the Kingdom of Heaven.
The church was established in the lifetime of the apostles when they received power from the Holy Spirit according to Acts 2, and yet Jesus said, the Kingdom of God would come in the disciples’ lifetimes with power.
Mark 9:1 “And he said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That there be some of them that stand here, which shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power.”
We are in the kingdom now:Colossians 1:13, “Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:”
Revelation 1:6,9, “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Finally the Church of Christ is called the Israel of God in Galatians 6:16, “And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.”
Well, that all tells us the Kingdom of God has come. It is a spiritual reign now, as long as the Gospel is preached and obeyed in this world. Pre-millennialism says that Jesus will take up his reign when he comes back to Earth, but Paul said, Christ will deliver up the kingdom to his father. The kingdom is not coming, it is here and it will be delivered to the Father at Christ’s second coming.
1 Corinthians 15:22-24, “For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at his coming. Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.”
The doctrine of dispensational pre-
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