2020-07-24
Good Morning Dear Ones,
Paul was assigned by the Lord to move forward with his apostleship to the young church, but false teaching was a temptation to the younger workers in the church. Paul knew this and concerned himself with doing something about it. MT 24: 24, “False messiahs and false prophets will appear; they will perform great miracles and great wonders in order to deceive even God’s chosen people, if possible.” False teachers are motivated by greed, profit, and lying [2 PET 2 & 3]. For the sake of popularity, position, and power, they draw attention to themselves and not to the word of God. Their followers can’t discern the truth.
It is useful to discuss the characteristics that make us vulnerable to false teaching. Even an ordinary person like me has experienced being told that my faith in the Lord is a “crutch to help me get through life’s challenges.” I found this description of my beliefs to be hurtful and disrespectful, but at the time, I didn’t know how to react effectively against it. 1) Denying the existence of Christ was denying the One Who gave His life on the cross to assure we have the chance for salvation, eternal forgiveness of sins, and justification by the Father. This is how evil is spoken of the Lord’s plan and our practice of faithful obedience to it [2 PET 2: 1-2]. Serial denial of the Holy Spirit is the one and only unforgiveable sin [LK 12 10]. We must have the courage of our convictions and stand up to this evil speaking. 2) Not being thoroughly familiar with God’s teaching makes us vulnerable to missing out on the truth. We never waste a single minute of our time when we are studying the Bible and/or putting its teaching into practice. We must know the word well and practice it. 3) Tolerating anyone who deceives by cleverly presenting false teaching, just as Eve fell prey to the serpent’s lies in the Garden of Eden, is another problem. Deceivers motivated by their own charisma, a desire for power, attention, and greed can tempt inexperienced believers in Christ, who are vulnerable to their attributes and false teaching [2 COR 11: 3-4]. 4) Belonging to a church which claims to accept Christ but teaches a message that is a mixture of Christian fundamentals on a substrate of lies and fairy tales makes one vulnerable. The way to identifying such a church is that there is no archeological evidence of its history and teaching. 4) A person who does things to make himself popular is serving Christ. One’s motivation needs to be faithful obedience combined with humility. The motivation for our actions must be one in line with Biblical truth. Otherwise this so-called “servant” is open to false teaching that serves his wrongful motivation. God’s approval is way more important that human approval [GA 1: 10]. Some examples of this notion are gang initiation, a mentally ill man’s attempt to assassinate Ronald Reagan to gain Jody Foster’s approval and bullying in school yards.
God is the sole Authority in our lives. He never asks us for anything from us to make Himself look better. He wants us to have the pleasure which comes from serving others and Him. Everything He does for us is for our eternal best interests. RO 8: 28, “We know that in all things God works for good for all who love Him, those He has called according to His purpose.” A life not in union with Christ is vulnerable to evil and barred from the blessings of obedient faith in Christ. This life is one leading to spiritual death [RO 6: 19-23]. A life set free from sin is one motivated by holy purposes, which will gain eternal life in heavenly fellowship with God.
IS 48: 17-19 describes a time when Israel was faithfully obedient “blessings flowing to her like a stream that never goes dry. Victory like waves rolling on shore with descendants numerous as the grains of sand is never destroyed.” God wants us to seek Him as never before. His love for us that great! [JER 29: 11-13]. REV 22: 9b-12, (Jesus speaking), “Worship God! Do not keep the prophetic words of this book (the Bible) secret, because the time is near when the events of the end times will happen. Those who do evil, or good and holy things will keep on at them. Listen! I am coming soon and will bring My rewards with Me, to give to each one according to what he has done.” Be consoled!
PRAYER: O Lord, we know that there are many false teachers, even in today’s world. That is why it is so important for us to don Your full armor against them. EPH 6: 12, “For we are not fighting against human beings but against the wicked spiritual forces in the heavenly world, the rulers, authorities, and cosmic powers of this dark age.” This armor is made of truth, faith, righteousness, the Good News of peace, salvation, the word of God, and prayer [EPH 6: 14-18]. These things will protect us from charismatic false teachers, such as those who taught Gnosticism and other heresies throughout mankind’s history. With faithful obedience to You, we can anticipate a future full of blessings and goes on forever in heaven. Our fellowship there with You will be sweet, as figs and honey. We acknowledge Your power to do good and wise leadership in our lives. We thank and praise You for what you do and who You are. Be with us always and guide us in the everlasting way. These prayers we offer up in the holy/mighty name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
NEXT WEEK: We will examine GA 2 with an eye to the power God’s truth has. I have observed the remarkable changes in a life which began rejecting God’s existence and was given the loving chance to recognize His holy presence later. The alteration that that life was enormous. From chaos, lack of direction, and misery, it went to recognition, inner peace, purpose, direction, and extraordinary regard for the truth. Truth’s power to bring goodness, kindness, love, joy, peace, faithfulness, patience, humility, and self-control-the gifts of the Holy Spirit [GA 5: 22-23]. That life went from continual loneliness and feeling ignored to never feeling alone again. That is because of God’s continual presence in the lives of those who love Him. These gifts are the greatest blessings available to mankind. They can only come from the God, Who we worship and Who says we can never be separated from His love [RO 8: 38-39]. Praise and thanks be to Him!
Grace Be With You Always,
Lynn
JS 24: 15
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