The Selling Of The Christ Part #6

False teachers have risen up and many are trying to strike fear in the Children of God thru threats of annihilation by God if they open their mouth against them.   (1^st John 4:1)  Beloved, believes not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.  When the Devil approached Eve in the garden professing to know the word of God, he made promises by twisting the scripture.   When that old Satan approached Jesus on the mountain, he was quoting the scripture, twisting it and professing to understand the Word of God.  He offered Jesus all of the richness of the world, Jesus condemns him.  Yet, when they come to us in the name of God promising prosperity in a sin-cursed and dying world, we are quick to follow.   Jesus said for you not to lay up your treasures upon earth.  (Matthew 6:19)  Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal.   There must be a part of this simple scripture that many don’t understand as we demand that Jesus grant us the natural blessings of Abraham. The church that was paid for by Jesus Christ, that should exist within our Heart should not hesitate to cry out, “Devil you are a liar.”   

There would be such false teachers the apostle expressly states in that verse, and elsewhere in the chapter, he noted for his readers some of their characteristics or some of the doctrines which they would hold.  They would deny the Lord that bought them.   A proper understanding of this statement is, they would deny God his rightful place.   How do we deny God, his rightful place in our lives? 

There are many damnable peculiar doctrines that deny God, his rightful place.   In the simplest form, we are taught that God is busy every day directing the affairs of men.  It is based on the thesis that God is in control and taken to the 'N’’ degree', he is controlling every aspect of human endeavor.  Therefore, when the young child dies a horrific death at the hands of a drunk driver, we say it was the will of God.  It is hard for many to believe this concept when we look at the condition of the family, community, nation and world.  Paul referred to other powers at work and these powers were different from the power of God.  (Ephesians 2:2)…the prince of the powers of the air, of the spirit that now worketh in the sons of disobedience;  It must be understood that God allows things to happen, things that man brings upon himself.  Another scenario was played out in the Book of Job, God allowed the Devil to test Job, his friends blamed Job’s affliction on God and God was angered and punished them.   Why?  They denied God, his rightful place.

Denying God is more than saying, “I do not believe in God,” the Children of Israel denied God at the base of the Holy Mountain all the while they were dancing, shouting and praising ‘God’ for delivering them.  The story unfolds in Exodus 32:1-10 when we misdirect our praise and honor we are denying God his rightful place.  Many worship services are designed around the concept of heaping praise and honor upon the creation rather than the creator. 

Paul said, even denying the Lord that bought them. This must mean that they held doctrines which were, in fact, a denial of the Lord, or the tendency of such things which would be a denial of the Lord. We cannot suppose that, while they professed to be Christians, they would openly and avowedly deny the Lord.  To "deny the Lord" is to withhold from him, in our belief and profession, anything which is essential to a proper conception of him.

To make false promises in the name of God is to deny the power of God.  To trivialize the name of God is to deny the supremacy of God.  To reference God's power to make you look impressive is the same as denying the very existence of God.  Many public speakers once again have begun to play the ‘somebody card’ on television and on the social media to impress and gain followers.   Statements are made such as, “During any given month, somebody will be blessed with a huge sum of money, somebody will be blessed a new car.”  Is this a true representation of God at work?  Even a drunk could pull off this act.  If all of the promises made in the name of God were true, the world would be scrambling to find a seat in a neighborhood church. 

What are we to believe?  Are we to believe that the numerous doctrines and split denominations are all apart of God's plan?  What about the changing values of Christianity that are designed to make Christianity more relevant in a modern society?   Why are Christians so eager to embrace every new wind and doctrine? These are questions that should be seriously considered when engaging in serious Bible studies.  The answer to these questions will aid us in understanding our purpose and what we are seeking in the study of God’s Word.

(2.) That they would introduce destructive errors in the scripture, leading many astray through peculiar doctrines; 

These peculiar doctrines are numerous in today's society and they are all built upon a twisted interpretation of the scripture. These destructive errors many times are nothing more than making numerous false promises in the name of God based on a lack of knowledge of the Word of God.  To attempt to teach the Word of God without a true knowledge of the Word of God is a direct violation of God's laws and is a form of denying the true power of God.  Many are led astray by promises that God is moving in a particular way that embraces the 'feel good' aspect of human nature.  It’s easy to be blinded by the twisted promised, thereby failing to see the direction that we are being led in.  

Money has become the key to salvation as professed by those who seek to get rich at the expense of the people of God.  The doctrine that many teach and preach is that if you give money, God will open the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing that you will not have room to receive.   This is a misreading and misapplying of the scripture that if it were true, I will say it again at the risk of being redundant, Christians would be rich and sinners would be poor.  The money game is a play on Malachi 3:10.  The tithes were never intended to be used to fatten the purse of the priest or the local pastor and bishop.  The above scripture is probably one of the most misquoted scripture in the bible. Unfortunately, it is being quoted out of dispensation and context and is used as a weapon of mass intimidation, manipulation, extortion, oppression, cajolery and outright lies and deceit used by some church leaders to collect ten percent of the gross income of their church members who have been hoodwinked and indoctrinated into believing that they are doing God’s will.   From circumcision to the Sabbath, why does every custom of the Mosaic Law get a pass, except the one that says bring me ten percent of your money?  A literal translation of the Old Testament caused a church congregation to stand on the bank of a river praying for God to part the waters.  

To understand what tithes really mean one would have to understand the social reasons and cultural / religious setting within which it was situated.  The concept of tithes was properly explained in the laws of the tithe which can be found in the books of Leviticus 27: 30 – 34, Numbers 18: 25 – 31 and Deuteronomy 14: 22 – 29. Upon reading these passages, one would understand what tithes really mean, but, unfortunately, most prefer to neglect these passages that tell us the true meaning of tithes and emphasize on Malachi 3: 8 - 10 which was directed to the Levites priests.  The priests were guilty of robbing the temple by failing to remit to the temple, its share of the tithes they collected.  They were, as many of the leaders are today, guilty of robbing the church.

Peter’s concern was they would introduce destructive errors into the Gospel.  The money game has invested itself in church worship services.  Worshippers are encouraged to throw money on the altar (stage) as the blessing of God is invoked upon them.  

To be continued