Wednesday, September 16, 2015
The prophet Hosea, who actively served the Lord more than 700 years before Christ’s birth, uttered a truth that is just as pertinent today as it was then. It is found in Hosea 4:6, and these are the words: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Beginning in the Garden of Eden, and still continuing today, the devil has always tried to deceive God’s people and he begins by twisting His word. He said to Eve, “Did God really say ‘you must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1) What God had really told Adam and Eve was that they were free to eat from any tree in the garden except one. (See Gen. 2:16-17) Not the same thing, right? Another thing that the devil inspires many people to do is to take the Word of God out of context or make them pick out only the parts that are convenient to them. Here is an example of that. Lets say that the preacher says something like “I am not a man who will run in fear when the enemy approaches because I know the Lord is with me.” A devil inspired person will say “Did you hear what he said? He said he is not a man!”
False prophets were prevalent in Old Testament times, and during Christ’s earthly ministry. Later, false teachers caused the Apostle Paul a lot of grief. Why would we think they are not around today? They are still here and will probably continue until Jesus comes back to earth. That is why it is so important to know the truth. The surest way to identify the false is by knowing the genuine. Experienced cashiers or bank tellers will easily spot a bogus bill because they see the genuine bills daily. It is the same with the word of God. Brother Mike reminded us yesterday of those folks who say that even though they don’t go to church, they see many preachers on TV. Therefore, they feel that they know all they need to know about God because of it. That’s the problem! A good number of the TV preachers I’ve seen are either preaching their own gospels or else they have been greatly deceived themselves. The sad part is that many of their followers trust them and believe their message, and one reason why they do is because they are being told what they want to hear. That is why Paul wrote: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Tim. 4:3)
Through the Apostle Paul, God charges His ministers to study His Word constantly so that they can rightly divide it. (See 2 Tim. 2:15) Then, those who listen and believe them will be safe. On the other hand, those who follow and believe in those who themselves are mistaken, are in danger of being destroyed. Finally, God wants all His children to read and study His Word. The more they know it, the better they will know Him, and if they do that, they will not victims of today’s false teachers and preachers. Like the ref tells the fighters at the onset of the boxing match, “protect yourself at all times!”
Memory verse for the week: (1 Corinthians 15:58 KJV) “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.”
