Category: False Teaching

Your Right to Eat Meat

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

“For every creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with thanksgiving: for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer” (1 Timothy 4:4,5 KJV).

Before we advocate animal rights, let us understand that we have a God-given right to eat them!

An animal rights activist recently appeared on television to complain about the consumption of turkeys on Thanksgiving. He argued that turkeys “feel pain” when they are slaughtered, and thus we should not eat them. His line of reasoning was, “If we would not eat our pet dog, then we should not eat turkey.” Such people, despite their sincerity, are ignorant of today’s Scripture.

Originally, all people and animals were herbivores; they only ate vegetation. “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so” (Genesis 1:29,30).

Then, sin entered, and God incorporated meat into the human diet: “Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things. But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat” (Genesis 9:3,4).

When we ignore the fact that God gave us animals to eat, and we demand that others must also abstain from meat for religious (nature-worshipping) purposes, that is a “doctrine of devils” in this dispensation (1 Timothy 4:1-5). The creature should not be worshipped; only the Creator, the Lord Jesus Christ, should be worshipped (Romans 1:25). As long as we thank the Lord for whatever creatures we eat, consuming animal flesh is acceptable and godly. It does not sit well with the pantheists—who exalt nature as God—but it is approved of the living God, and that alone ultimately matters.

The Lip of Truth and a Lying Tongue

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

“The lip of truth shall be established for ever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment” (Proverbs 12:19 KJV).

Today’s Scripture illustrates God’s plan for creation versus Satan’s policy of evil. In the end, only one will triumph.

The LORD “cannot lie” (Titus 1:2). It is “impossible for God to lie” (Hebrews 6:18). Our Lord Jesus Christ prayed to His heavenly Father, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth” (John 17:17). The psalmist wrote, “I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments [God’s laws, the Scriptures] have I laid before me” (Psalm 119:30). He also wrote, “Through thy precepts [teachings] I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way” (verse 104). And verse 142, “Thy righteousness is an everlasting righteousness, and thy law is the truth.”

God and His Word, the Holy Bible, are the epitome of the truth. Neither can lie, and both will exist forever. “…[T]he word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever…. the word of the Lord endureth for ever…” (1 Peter 1:23,25).

Contrariwise, a “lying tongue” is one of the “six things [that] the LORD [doth] hate” (Proverbs 6:16,17). Consequently, its duration is short. However, the “lip of truth shall be established for ever” because God—who is “the truth” (John 14:6)—will always exist. Ultimately, the “lying tongue” will cause its own demise, and God’s truth will eventually overcome the lie.

Dear readers, our world abounds with injustice and dishonesty, but this is “for a moment.” Deception appears to be winning, and God’s truth is being suppressed, but remember “a lying tongue is but for a moment.” In the grand scheme of things, Satan’s policy of evil—which at its root is “a lie… worshipping and serving the creature more than the Creator” (Romans 1:25)—is reigning over the heaven and the earth only momentarily.

Until that day when Satan, his policy of evil, and its participants, are eternally confined to the lake of fire (Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:10,14,15; Revelation 21:8), God is allowing mankind to choose—follow Him or Satan.

The victory, however, will ultimately go to God’s side… “the lip of truth.”

The Common People

Saturday, November 10, 2012

“…And the common people heard him gladly” (Mark 12:37 KJV).

Today’s Scripture makes it abundantly clear that God’s Word is for “the common people.”

Upon recently reading a seminarian’s “Bible” study article, I conclude that that was more of a Hebrew study. It left me, a Christian, with more questions than answers. (I can only wonder what confusion it brought to the poor lost souls who read it!)

Oftentimes, theology (mis)leads us to believe that we must go to school for 10 years to learn Koine Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and/or Aramaic, in order to fully grasp the Bible’s concepts. If God required that from us, hardly any of us could ever be saved, or even know God’s will in the first place!!

Contrariwise, God’s Word, the King James Bible, is for the common people. Its 54 faithful, Holy Spirit-filled men who translated it in 1611 knew the Bible languages. They purified and perfected the language of the existing English Bibles to provide us—the common people—with a Bible we could own and read personally (rather than it being chained to a church altar, or “shackled” in Rome’s Latin “bible”).

Notice in today’s Scripture how our Lord Jesus Christ spoke to the common people. He did not depend on the “educated” religious leaders to reach the common people (these “scholars” were too corrupt, and would have perverted His pure doctrine!). Observe what Christ told His Father: “In that hour Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes: even so, Father; for so it seemed good in thy sight” (Luke 10:21).

Dear reader, the key to understanding the Bible is not a college or seminary education. If you have an ear to hear, an eye to see, and you are willing to study God’s Word and learn, the Holy Spirit will illuminate your mind: “Which things we speak, not in the words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual” (1 Corinthians 2:13).

After all, the Bible is for the common people! 🙂

Do We All Worship the Same God? #5

Wednesday, November 7, 2012

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat” (Psalm 115:4-7 KJV).

Two common misconceptions are: (1) everyone worships the same God, and (2) everyone will eventually make it to heaven. Today’s Scripture answers both with a resounding “NO!”

King David extols the LORD for His faithfulness: “If it had not been the LORD who was on our side; now may Israel say; if it had not been the LORD who was on our side, when men rose up against us: then the waters had overwhelmed us,…. Blessed be the LORD, who hath not given us as a prey to their teeth. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth” (Psalm 124:1-4a,6,8).

David understood that Israel’s military victories were because faithful JEHOVAH was on their side: “[Israel’s] help [was] in the name of the LORD,” because He “made heaven and earth.” Their Almighty Creator God was unlike the idols of today’s Scripture; those idols could do nothing, for Israel or for the heathen (who lost to Israel militarily because they served helpless idols). Thus, the context of today’s Scripture again exhorts Israel to trust in the all-powerful LORD, who “made heaven and earth” (Psalm 115:9-12,15, but especially 15).

Just as Israel was weak without the faithful LORD in physical battles, we have no spiritual victory apart for the faithful Lord Jesus Christ. Only the Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins, our unfaithfulness; in Him alone is there spiritual life. No religion or idol can provide forgiveness of sins or a way to heaven. “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Unless we bypass pagan idols and come by faith through the Lord Jesus Christ alone, we are neither worshipping the one true God nor going to heaven.

Do We All Worship the Same God? #4

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat” (Psalm 115:4-7 KJV).

Two common misconceptions are: (1) everyone worships the same God, and (2) everyone will eventually make it to heaven. Today’s Scripture answers both with a resounding “NO!”

Verse 8 continues, “They that make them [idols] are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.” God’s Word is very frank: those who make and trust in idols are just as foolish as the idols themselves. The idols can do nothing, so they can do nothing for anyone. Consequently, the Bible encourages Israel (and us) to trust in the true God, not those idols.

“O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. O house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. Ye that fear the LORD, trust in the LORD: he is their help and their shield” (verses 9-11). Observe how God directs Israel to put their trust in Him rather than trust in the idols that the heathen make and worship. God’s Word encourages us to do the same thing today—trust not in idols, but trust in the living and true God.

In 1 Thessalonians 1:9, former pagans “turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God.” Once the Apostle Paul and Silas preached the Gospel of the Grace of God to these Thessalonians in Acts chapter 17, they realized their idols could not save them from their sins. Their idols were worthless and useless, just as today’s Scripture affirms. They understood that the God that Paul and Silas preached was “the living and true God.” Unlike their dead idols, this God was living, and He was the true God. And, most importantly, they learned this God alone paid for their sins!

Do We All Worship the Same God? #3

Monday, November 5, 2012

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat” (Psalm 115:4-7 KJV).

Two common misconceptions are: (1) everyone worships the same God, and (2) everyone will eventually make it to heaven. Today’s Scripture answers both with a resounding “NO!”

Creation declares that there is a Creator God, His “eternal power and Godhead,” and we are all “without excuse” (Romans 1:20). We all know that God exists (however, we can choose to pretend He does not exist and ignore Him; verses 21-32).

Also, regardless of religion and/or denomination, we all commit sin, and we know that we will be held accountable to God for our unrighteousness. “Because he [God the Father] hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man [Jesus Christ] whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead” (Acts 17:31). “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment” (Hebrews 9:27). When the Apostle Paul spoke with Roman official Felix of this “judgment to come,” even pagan Felix “trembled” (Acts 24:25).

Each and every person is born with the general knowledge that there is a God, and that he or she has sins that offend Him. Those sins must be resolved. Thus, religion attracts mankind, who attempts to use religious performance (rites, rituals, ceremonies, prayers, et cetera) to make up for those sins.

Today’s Scripture describes the gods of the world religions as inanimate. They cannot speak, see, hear, smell, hold anything, or walk. How can they help us with our sins? They cannot! The Bible declares that in order to deal with our sins, we must rely on the Almighty God of the Bible, not the weakly idols of the world.

Do We All Worship the Same God? #2

Sunday, November 4, 2012

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat” (Psalm 115:4-7 KJV).

Two common misconceptions are: (1) everyone worships the same God, and (2) everyone will eventually make it to heaven. Today’s Scripture answers both with a resounding “NO!”

Today’s Scripture and its context (verses 1-9) briefly contrast the God of the Bible to the idols of the world. Surely, they are not one and the same, for verse 4 utilizes the possessive adjective “their” in reference to idols, and verse 3 uses the possessive adjective “our” in reference to the God of the Bible. Idols and their worshippers, and the God of the Bible and His worshippers, form separate crowds.

Again, when the LORD discussed the idols of the Canaanites, He cautioned Israel: “But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves: for thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land, and they go a-whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice unto their gods, and one call thee, and thou eat of his sacrifice; and thou take of their daughters unto thy sons, and their daughters go a-whoring after their gods, and make thy sons go a-whoring after their gods. Thou shalt make thee no molten gods” (Exodus 34:13-17).

If the Canaanites worshipped Israel’s God, why did God instruct Israel to destroy the Canaanites’ shrines, altars, and idols? Unquestionably, they were not constructed for the God of the Bible! God commanded Israel not to intermarry with the Canaanites, for the Canaanites did not serve Him. If we all worship the same God, why would God need to be “jealous?” Obviously, we should realize there are other things competing for the praise and worship He alone deserves.

Do We All Worship the Same God? #1

Saturday, November 3, 2012

“Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat” (Psalm 115:4-7 KJV).

Two common misconceptions are: (1) everyone worships the same God, and (2) everyone will eventually make it to heaven. Today’s Scripture answers both with a resounding “NO!”

“Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased” (verses 1-3). Today’s Scripture then follows.

Throughout the Bible, there are always two groups of people—those who worship the Creator God, and those who worship everything and everyone else (nature, self, idols, specific sinful acts of the flesh, et cetera). Here, in the context of today’s Scripture, there is Israel (verse 1), and there is the “heathen” (verse 2). The heathen (Gentiles) worship idols of wood and stone, which cannot see, hear, smell, walk, or talk. These idols just sit, doing absolutely nothing for the people who make and worship them. Israel, on the other hand, magnifies her (and our) God: “Our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased.” The God of Scripture, unlike the inanimate idols, actually thinks and reasons, and does things He desires!

“For though there be that are called gods, whether in heaven or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lords many,) but to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him” (1 Corinthians 8:5,6).

While there are many counterfeit gods (idols), there is only one “living and true God” (1 Thessalonians 1:9)—the God of the Holy Bible!

Arrayed in Hypocrisy

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity” (Matthew 23:27,28 KJV).

“Looks can be deceiving” is not only true during Halloweentime, but confirmed year-round within Christendom.

Today is Halloween, when children dress up and feign themselves to be creatures they are not. Likewise, many church leaders today wear “Christian” garbs, but their ministries do not bring the Lord Jesus Christ glory and honor. They promote their denomination, and seek to perpetuate it, rather than serve and exalt the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. The Bible manifests these who appear to be good, as “wolves in sheep’s clothing.”

In today’s Scripture, Jesus Christ exposed Israel’s corrupt religious leaders who misled the nation in His day. In His Parable of the Tares, Matthew 13:24-30,37-43, Christ explained how just as He had sown good seed (wheat, believing Jews) in Israel, Satan had also sown tares/weeds (unbelieving Jews). Tares resemble wheat; unbelieving Jews resemble believing Jews. The unbelieving Pharisees and scribes, for instance, looked like God’s people (believing Israel). Judas Iscariot was another example of Satan’s tares—the apostles never realized who Judas really was until it was too late!

But Satan’s counterfeit believers are not confined to Israel’s program. Today, within local assemblies of the Body of Christ, there are people feigning themselves to be Christians: For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15).

Beloved, beware of the church leaders who are arrayed in hypocrisy, “and avoid them” (Romans 16:17b). If their teaching does not agree with the rightly divided King James Bible, you have no business as a child of God to be following them.

*This is excerpted from a larger Bible study with the same name. The Bible study can be read here or watched here.

Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing

Sunday, October 28, 2012

“For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock” (Acts 20:29 KJV).

Saints, let us be mindful that today’s Scripture is truer today than ever before.

In the context of today’s Scripture, the Apostle Paul is bidding the Ephesian church leaders farewell. He is determined to return to Jerusalem, unsure if the Jews will kill him there (verses 22,23). Paul warns these church leaders to “take heed therefore unto [themselves], and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made [them] overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood” (verse 28).

They need to be on guard, for in the next verse—today’s Scripture—he cautions them that false teachers will come in and spiritually devour these Christian leaders and their local assemblies. Satan’s ministers, denominationalists/religionists/legalists, will devastate the spiritual health of God’s people. They will come in from the outside world, and infiltrate the church with heresy so Christians become ineffective.

But, the subsequent verse says, “Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (verse 30). Not only will people outside the local church come in and deceive, there will be false teachers within the church (already doing the damage subtly and hypocritically). They claim “Jesus is Lord,” they talk about God’s love and grace, and some will even go so far as to agree with us by teaching the special ministry and gospel committed to the Apostle Paul’s trust. But, when you read the King James Bible for yourself, and compare their teaching to it, you realize that their ministry confirms today’s Scripture.

“With tears,” Paul warned the Ephesians for three years about false teaching (Acts 20:31). By the end of Paul’s ministry, several years after that warning in Acts chapter 20, Ephesus and the rest of Asia (Turkey) went into apostasy (2 Timothy 1:15). Dear saints, how we would STRONGLY URGE you to be very careful about what preacher, ministry, and/or church you follow. “Many corrupt the word of God” (2 Corinthians 2:17).