Category: False Teaching

The Carpenter from Nazareth (and Heaven) #10

Monday, September 28, 2015

“Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; Who was faithful to him that appointed him, as also Moses was faithful in all his house. For this man was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he who hath builded the house hath more honour than the house. For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God” (Hebrews 3:1-4 KJV).

Have you ever stopped to consider why Jesus’ earthly trade was carpentry?

A very fascinating portrait has formed. The Lord Jesus’ foster father, Joseph, was a carpenter, and He followed him in the trade. His Heavenly Father, God, was also a Carpenter, and He followed Him in the “family business” also. Today’s Scripture declares Father God was building a house in His creation. Jesus was thrilled to work with His Heavenly Father!

Jesus had studied the “Old Testament” Scriptures to learn that Father God was forming a nation who would learn His Word and then take it to the nations. He also learned, however, that Israel had gotten lost along the way. A vain and corrupt religious system had ensnared her and drawn her away from God’s pure words. The Lord Jesus knew that He had to reteach Israel verses she should have learned and later shared with the nations. As it turned out, they were willing to hear Jesus as much as they were willing to hear Moses. As the years passed, Jesus came to understand that that house Father God was building also involved three iron spikes, a wooden cross, and His sinless shed blood. Israel had to be redeemed from her sinful nature and forgiven of behaviors.

After Jesus taught Israel advanced doctrine built on the “Old Testament” Scriptures, those words were recorded in Matthew through John. This teaching was further developed in early Acts and Hebrews through Revelation. Once our Dispensation of Grace ends, believing Israel is to remain faithful to that doctrine, that the Antichrist not deceive her during those last seven years (verses 5,6). And so, the Carpenter from heaven is there today, to one day come back and finish building His nation Israel! 🙂

Mark the Heretics—Mark the Faithful

Friday, September 18, 2015

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4:3,4 KJV).

My, oh my, most news items involving “Christianity” today can be summed up thus!

A news article currently circulating on social media involves a 103-year-old woman now banned from the Baptist church that she has attended all of her life. She disagreed with the “new” pastor’s actions and teaching in the local assembly. He would holler and those with him would roll around on the floor. She confronted him, telling him these types of charismatic activities did not belong in their Baptist church. Sometime later, she received a letter in the mail that forbade her from returning to the church building. When she did return, the police were called… but they could not do anything because it was a civil dispute. She plans to keep on going to that church.

Yes, Christendom is still sliding doctrinally. Apostasy—that is, turning away from God’s truth, and embracing error—is evident even in mainline denominations that did not historically support such warped views. Evidently, the local assembly—like tens of thousands of others—did not have enough Scriptural grounding to identify and run off the heretical pastor. He is still there!

“Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. 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” (Romans 16:17,18). Not only are we to “mark” those who are bad, but we are to also “mark” those who are good. “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an ensample” (Philippians 3:17).

We are to follow the Apostle Paul and those who follow him, for they are following Jesus Christ Himself (1 Corinthians 11:1). This is the sure way to avoid the spiritual disaster described in today’s Scripture… and in today’s religious news stories!

Baptized/Circumcised, But Not Necessarily Saved

Thursday, September 17, 2015

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15 KJV).

The Lord Jesus Christ was certainly not afraid to “rattle some cages” to free people many centuries ago. We will “rattle some cages” momentarily, for millions more need to be freed from today’s organized religion as well!

I recently read the back cover of a religious book: “A pastor for 47 years, Dr. [man’s name] served [church’s name] of [city, state] for 33 years. Under his ministry, this great church experienced a tremendous growth. Consistently listed in the top ten churches in baptisms in the state, the church baptized over 4500 people and grew from 2600 to 5000 in church membership.”

You can see how religion genders bragging rights. What is this church’s concern? How many people they got wet in some silly ceremony!!!! There is nothing about how many people heard a pure Gospel and how many people had a testimony of trusting Jesus Christ exclusively. They probably do not even know a pure Gospel to teach a pure Gospel so people can believe a pure Gospel! It has been said that monetary compensation in pastors’ retirements in this particular denomination is dependent upon how many people the pastor water baptized. We can see why there is big push for water baptisms in all denominations!!!

Friend, think about today’s Scripture. Has anything changed in religion these last 2,000 years? Nay! Israel’s religious leaders were mainly interested in getting Gentiles physically circumcised after the manner of Moses. There was no real faith in JEHOVAH God, no circumcision in the heart that that physical circumcision was meant to reflect. It was just some rite to boast ego, all done in the name of “God” of course. “Oh, look, we increased our membership roll. Who cares if they are going to hell? Just as long as we get those warm bodies into cold pews, have them give in the collection plate, and make them support the church program, that is all that matters!”

The solution to such nonsense? Back to Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon!!!!

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Is it ‘Pauline’ to call ourselves ‘Christians?’”

The Rainbow

Wednesday, September 16, 2015

“I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth…. And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh” (Genesis 9:13,15 KJV).

Why does the rainbow exist?

A dear Christian brother recently asked me if I had heard about the rainbow that appeared in the sky last week, the day before 9/11, in New York City. He proceeded, “Maybe God was trying to tell us something.” I silently waited as he explained, “Like the White House was bathed in colored lights in celebration of the legalization of homosexual unions, God had His own rainbow over the World Trade Center site to show us what He thought!” (My reaction was polite, but swift, once he finished, “God is telling us nothing!” Remember, “God” was a day early, and He had many other rainbows visible around the world on that day—what of those rainbows?!)

Dear friends, if you believe that you must look into the sky to hear from God, please throw away your Bibles. No, honestly. If you hold to continuing revelation from God, you agree with the cults! Whether looking for God’s Word to be communicated via angels, blood-red moons, rainbows over memorial sites, dreams, et cetera, you are well on your way to expanding the Bible’s canon of 66 books to include your very own pseudepigrapha (false writings, apocryphal books). If you need coffins, high unemployment rates, astronomical phenomena, hospital bills, and angelic visitations to hear a word from God, friend, religion has so robbed—yes, robbed—you of the true words of God.

The Bible says—notice this is not a hunch or an opinion—the rainbow is God’s promise that He will never flood the whole world again as He did in Noah’s day. If we are Bible believers, we should believe what the Bible says about the rainbow, rather than speculating. God has already spoken about where He stands with respect to homosexuals (Romans 1:27; 1 Timothy 1:10,11), so let us get our noses in His Book instead of having our eyes in the skies!

The Truth of the Gospel

Monday, September 14, 2015

“But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified” (Galatians 2:14-16 KJV).

What is “the truth of the gospel?”

The Gospel of the Grace of God is how God’s grace is manifested to us through Jesus Christ’s finished crosswork. “Christ died for our sins, He was buried, and He rose again the third day” (1 Corinthians 15:3,4). “Being justified [declared righteous by God] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God” (Romans 3:24,25).

“The truth of the gospel” (today’s Scripture) is that we are saved today by simple faith in Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary alone. Works are not the issue (water baptism, dietary laws, confession, commandment-keeping, and so on). Had our works been enough to give us a right standing before God, Jesus could have stayed in heaven!

Peter’s error in today’s Scripture was that he encouraged Law-keeping among Paul’s Gentile converts. Paul’s converts were under no such legalistic commands. Neither are we. “Ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14b). Paul rightly rebuked Peter. In our Dispensation of Grace, God has abolished Israel’s system of works, and ushered in the system of grace. Paul would sadly rebuke many Christians today, those who incessantly mix law and grace. His words to Peter would echo throughout Christendom, “Ye walk not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel!”

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Can you explain Galatians 2:11-16?”

Closed Minds, Closed Hearts, Closed Book

Sunday, September 13, 2015

“But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned” (1 Corinthians 2:14 KJV).

“Why do more people not see dispensational Bible study?” Today’s Scripture explains.

A few years ago, a Christian friend invited me to her house to give a Bible study for her friend stuck in a “Christian” cult. Others attended as well. It turned out to be almost three hours of teaching! (Search YouTube for three videos titled, “Intro to Pauline Dispensationalism.”) The woman was without excuse after hearing that clear Gospel of Grace and clear outline of the Bible dispensationally considered.

Sometime later, she told my friend, “I felt so sorry for you all. You are all so deceived.” (Strangely, she never told me that, never corrected anything I said, and never “blessed” the group with any of her “spiritual insight.” In fact, strangest of all, throughout the study, she smiled, cheerfully listening to the verses, and even declared, “I know JEHOVAH God is working here!” Despite her “compliments,” we have not seen her since!)

More recently, I had an online discussion with a Bible critic, atheist, and evolutionist. Several others soon joined in. Once I contrasted their “idle speculation and ever-changing hypotheses” with “the Bible’s clear testimony,” one individual grew ballistic: “The Bible’s plain and clear testimony?!” Even with a saint of the Most High God expounding the Bible for him, he still could not understand it. Why? The Spirit of God was there (with me), but the man did not “receive” the things of the Spirit of God. He was not willing to see. He was no different from the cult member mentioned earlier.

Lost people lack God’s indwelling Holy Spirit. They have no capacity to understand God’s Word. It is foolishness to them. What about genuine Holy-Spirit-indwelt Christians trapped in denominations? They too are guided by the flesh (church tradition perpetuated by lost people), hindering the Holy Spirit from working in them (1 Thessalonians 5:19). However, as Jesus Himself said, whenever they are willing to hear and see, “[they] shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself” (John 7:17).

Not That He Cared for the Poor

Thursday, September 10, 2015

“Why was not this ointment sold for three hundred pence, and given to the poor? This [Judas] said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein” (John 12:5,6 KJV).

We can only wonder just how much do “eleemosynary-oriented” church leaders actually care for the poor they often talk so much about?

Not too long ago, I listened to a world-famous religious leader who always enjoys talking about helping the poor. Today’s Scripture came to mind as I reflected on his words. This religious leader heads the world’s wealthiest political-religious organization—the Roman Catholic Church! Its vaults have billions in rare pieces of art, real estate deeds, and so on. For a denomination that cares “so much for the poor,” its actions speak louder than its words. They have hoarded material riches for nearly 2,000 years, never “spreading the wealth” that they urge others to do. Smugly, a church official declared decades ago, “Only God knows how much wealth we have amassed!”

One of the chief ways the Devil attacks God’s ministry is “the love of money… the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6:10). God’s Word constantly reminds bishops and deacons to be “not greedy of filthy lucre” (1 Timothy 3:3,8) and “not given to filthy lucre” (Titus 1:7). There is always the temptation for the minister of God to “suppose that gain is godliness” (1 Timothy 6:5).

The Bible reveals in today’s Scripture that one Judas’ predilections was to “alleviate” the weight of the apostles’ treasury bag. As the group’s “accountant,” Judas Iscariot was always willing to have people put cash in the apostles’ money-bag so he could swipe it and use it for himself. In today’s Scripture, he claimed that ointment could have been sold, converted to money, and the money could have been given to help the poor. All he really wanted to do was enhance his own bank account!

God is not mocked, beloved. Oh, the extortionists in religion will have to stand before God one day, and “give account” to Him… literally, for every last penny they pilfered. We can take that “to the bank!” 🙂

For Students This is Safe

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

“Therefore I esteem all thy precepts concerning all things to be right; and I hate every false way” (Psalm 119:128 KJV).

As a new school year dawns, let us awake unto spiritual truth!

The autumnal equinox is a few weeks away here in the Northern Hemisphere, and summer is finally beginning to wind down for most of us. Students—with long faces and deep sighs—have returned or are beginning to return to school. (Thankfully, I am finished with school. Exactly a month ago I finished nine years of college, obtaining a master’s degree in geology!) As students return to the classroom, they need to be particularly mindful of the following.

Firstly, learning in and of itself is not a sin. Moses was “learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians” (Acts 7:22). Luke was a medical doctor (Colossians 4:14). Daniel and his companions were skilled in science (Daniel 1:4). Adam was the first taxonomist (Genesis 2:19,20). The God of the Bible is never against learning new things—remember, He gave us His Holy Bible so we can have plenty to learn for all of eternity!

Secondly, what the God of the Bible opposes is when we believe/trust ideas that do not seek our best interests, that contradict the way He designed our lives to function. Certainly, we Christians should never go around believing anything and everything heard and seen. Just because the professor, preacher, pope, or president says it is true, that does not make it so. Scientific consensus has been wrong before, religion has been wrong before, politicians have been wrong before. Much of the ideas that permeate our world today are wrong.

Lastly, there are many wonderful, exciting ideas and concepts out there—medical advancements, technological breakthroughs, and so on—but there are equally detrimental ideas that will mess up your life—religious traditions, secular humanism, and other philosophies. Daily intake of the King James Bible rightly divided will cleanse our souls of the filth and foolishness that we hear and see day in and day out in this evil world system. We highly exalt God’s Word, we know it is right “concerning all things,” and we hate and ignore the error.

Have a wonderful school year in our Lord Jesus Christ! 🙂

Moses the Learned

Tuesday, September 8, 2015

“In which time Moses was born, and was exceeding fair, and nourished up in his father’s house three months: And when he was cast out, Pharaoh’s daughter took him up, and nourished him for her own son. And Moses was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds” (Acts 7:20-22 KJV).

Was Moses some “backwards hick?” Oh, certainly not!

Bible critics have a great hatred for anything and everything in the Scriptures. That includes doubters within the ranks of Christendom’s “scholarship!” One of their many attacks on the Old Testament is to deny Moses as writer of Genesis through Deuteronomy. They claim Moses was nothing more than an unlearned, illiterate buffoon who herded sheep, so he could not have penned one sentence, let alone five books! On the contrary, the New Testament (today’s Scripture) reminds us of what the Old Testament already said about Moses.

Moses’ birth and childhood are briefly described in Exodus 2:1-10. Moses was born of Hebrew parents enslaved in Egypt. His mother hid him three months, before placing him in a basket in the river. When Pharaoh’s daughter came to the river to wash herself, she noticed the basket and sent a maid to fetch it. She opened the basket to see three-month-old Moses inside! Moses’ older sister Miriam watched nearby, and asked if she could return the child to his mother for nursing. Pharaoh’s daughter agreed.

When Moses was weaned, perhaps as old as four or five years old, he was returned to Pharaoh’s daughter. For the first few years of his life, his mother Jochebed had instructed him in Jewish culture and the Hebrew language. Pharaoh’s daughter later adopted him, and he grew up as an Egyptian prince. As a member of the royal family, Moses was trained in history, literature, grammar, music, geography, philosophy, and particularly Egyptian hieroglyphics (word pictures). See today’s Scripture.

JEHOVAH God used Moses’ education to enable him to write down His words, Genesis through Deuteronomy, on papyrus, a rough paper used in Egypt. Using God’s wisdom, Moses was able to lead his people Israel into fulfilling God’s plan for them. And as they say, “the rest is history!” 🙂

Our latest Bible Q&A: “Was John the Baptist really Elijah?”

What the Bible Writers Knew

Friday, September 4, 2015

“Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come for ever and ever: That this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the LORD” (Isaiah 30:8,9 KJV).

Did the Bible writers know that their writings were divinely-inspired and perpetual? Yes!

A superficially clever—but actually ridiculous—defense used to try to deny the Bible’s constant authority, is to claim that none of the Bible writers knew we would read (or intended us to read) their books thousands of years later. (Oddly, the same people who use that argument still quote “2,000-plus-year-old” verses to support their denominational biases and they also cite the many-centuries-old writings of the “church fathers” who “also” did not intend for us to use their works centuries later!)

The Lord Jesus in His earthly ministry never said, “Hey, men of Israel, Moses never expected you to read his writings these 15 centuries later! They were only applicable back then so you can just throw away that old Torah!” (Imagine such rubbish anyway!)

Stop and think about today’s Scripture. The LORD is telling Isaiah to write down some words that will last forever and ever. In fact, we are reading those very words right now… some 2,700 years later! Isaiah knew exactly how long his divinely-inspired book would last because God Himself told him. People would read it for a literal eternity. In fact, we have 66 books of the eternal Bible today… amazingly, the same number of chapters in Isaiah’s eternal book!

David wrote, “The spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue” (2 Samuel 23:2). Paul recognized he wrote “the commandments of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 14:37). And we know the word of the Lord lasts forever, Isaiah 40:6-8 says (cf. 1 Peter 1:23-25). As Isaiah realized, “And in that day [the Millennial Kingdom beyond our present-day] shall the deaf hear the words of the book, and the eyes of the blind shall see out of obscurity, and out of darkness” (29:18). 🙂