The Communication of the Remnant (Part 5)

Home Bible Study- Lutz, Florida

Rightly Dividing the Word of Truth

(2 Timothy 2:15)

This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. 1Timothy 2:3-4

The Communication of the Remnant (Part 5)

A few years back, I decided to establish a Home Bible Study.

I did this for one reason first and foremost.  Based on my own personnel experiences it became rather obvious that the churches I was attending (I was a member and actively serving in a few of these churches) were not all that interested in teaching or preaching Biblical Truths.   I believe one of the problems for this is that these churches are too big. 

Big = too busy.  They had to keep up with the administrative details of running the business end of the church, the gathering of money is always a big concern, there were all the sub-departments of the church that required daily attention and problem solving, etc.  These churches forgot about or just mismanaged their primary mission which is teaching God’s Word – accurately. 

As I said, I served in these churches.  I taught Sunday schools, I coordinated an entire weekend church program for one mega church.  While teaching or leading these programs, I came across inaccurate Bible teaching time and time again in the purchased materials.   
I brought this to the attention of the Children’s Ministry Director each time I saw something out of line and showed her what the Bible said.  I was told she would have to check with the pastor who oversaw the Children’s Program before she could make a decision.  She always came back with the response, “The pastor agrees with you.  Go ahead and change it.” 

The church was spending the people’s money on this product that I would re-write or alter to make it Truthful.  Then I would have to print up multiple copies or email them to my co-workers prior to Sunday morning.  It was a lot of work.  This happened over and over again.  I suggested that the church STOP spending money on this teaching material because of its inaccuracy.  I was overruled.  I came to the place where I chose not to use their purchased Bible lessons any longer.  I began to research and write my own Bible lessons.

Some of these churches held beliefs that were blatantly contrary to Scripture.   

I talked to the pastors of these churches about their “opinions” and compared them to what the book actually said on these subjects.  But these men would not/could not see.  After some time, I left these churches.

We could not see eye to eye, I could not believe what they were preaching.

That’s not what the book says!  So I just decided to move on.  I dismissed these incidents as trivial until I continued to run up against the same “condition” no matter where I decided to park myself on a Sunday morning; and until I learned how destructive this “condition” is to Christ’s Church.

I spoke to a man I admire greatly.  I’d been a Bible student of his for many years.

I talked to him at great length about these things and we shared similar experiences.

That’s how common this problem this.  One just needs to open their eyes to it.

He suggested I start a Home Bible Study…

After prayer, and some careful deliberation, I took his advice.

Here we study what the Bible says and in some cases what it does not say.

Here we aim to study Bible Truths – not myths.

If we come up against something in Scripture that is unclear, we leave it right where we found it and move on.  Scripture says, “The secret things belong to God.”

Deuteronomy 29:29

Thanks for taking the time to be with us today.

God loves you.

*****

Following right up where we left off in the last lesson, let’s go right to the book.

The Apostle Paul writes concerning those who would misrepresent God’s Word,

2 Corinthians 11

12: But what I am doing (preaching Jesus Christ crucified) I will continue to do, so that I may cut off opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the matter about which they are boasting.

13: For such men are (what) false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ (to distort the Word of Truth)

14: No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

15: Therefore it is not surprising if his (Satan’s) servants of righteousness, whose ends will be according to their deeds.

Scripture warns us to be “on the alert” for false prophets and deceitful workers in the church who use the Bible (or a portion of it) not to support the cause of Christ here on earth but for their own personnel gain.

1 Peter 5

8: Be of sober spirit, be on the alert.  Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Therefore, we should not be surprised when we hear of people misrepresenting the Word of Truth or when we discover them ourselves.  We should expect them. 

The expression “be on the alert” was probably adopted from the military.

The only military in Paul’s day worth mentioning is the Roman army. 

Roman soldiers were garrisoned in almost every city and town of importance. 

This could be where Paul picked up this command.  But in any case when a sentry is posted to a guard station and ordered to “be on the alert” by their superior officer, this is done because command knows the enemy is near and an attack is imminent.    

Scripture commands us to be ‘on the alert” for these false teachers and deceitful workers in the church community because the enemy is near and an attack is not only probable, it is imminent. 

John MacArthur wrote:

“The outside forces that come against us demand us to be alert; vigilant.  The enemy, by the way, is very subtle.  According to 2 Corinthians chapter 11, he disguises himself as an angel of light and his ministers as angels of light.  He very rarely shows himself for who he is.  He almost always masks himself as a religious personality, almost always endeavoring somehow in some way to be able to approach you subtly so that you can't recognize who he is.  He is the devil. 

He is the slanderer.  He is the accuser.  He is the destroyer. 

And he is prowling about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

He's always active and he's always looking for an opportunity to overwhelm us.

His aim is to sow discord, to break fellowship, to accuse God to men, to accuse men to God, to accuse men to each other, to undermine confidence, to silence confession, to get us to stop serving God.  He's always after us. 

He is called in John's gospel three times the prince of this world.  He commands the human system. 

So as he is moving around seeking whom he may devour, it is not that you have to come into contact with him individually to fall prey because he orchestrates a whole realm of demon beings and he orchestrates and controls the whole world's system.  And so from his seat as prince of the world he orchestrates an environment which in and of itself can devour us. 

So, Satan is going after his prey.  He's going out to consume. 

He's going out to chew someone up.  That's his goal.”

When the Bible says, “be on the alert,” this is not a suggestion.

This is a command from the Lord Jesus Christ! 

This is a command from the Commander!

FYI: there are far more “commands” in Scripture than just the Ten Commandments.

Here’s another example.

1 John 4

1: Beloved, do not (what’s the next word) believe every spirit (pastor, minister, priest, prophet, worker, layperson, etc.), but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Far too many preachers, pastors, and Bible teachers behind the podium would rather “tickle” the ears of those in attendance then teach sound Bible doctrine.  Why? 

They find a receptive audience for one.  It’s also quite profitable.

People want to hear that God wants them to have “stuff.” 

This is why the prosperity gospel is so popular today.  It feeds this mentality.

Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, and Creflo Dollar are just three examples of prosperity pastors who are spreading their message that God does bless people with finances, health and all-around success.

Sound good to you too? 

What’s wrong with this message?

In the prosperity gospel, the Believers are told to USE God.

The Bible states just the opposite.  God uses the Believer.

The prosperity (a.k.a Word of Faith) teaching sees the Holy Spirit as a power to be put to USE by the Believer for whatever they desire (covet).

The Bible teaches that the Holy Spirit is a Person of the Trinity who ENABLES the Believer to do God’s will here on earth.

The prosperity gospel clearly contradicts Scripture.

Instead of stressing the importance of wealth, the Bible warns against pursuing it.

1 Timothy 6

10: For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils.  It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Some of you may remember the “Prayer of Jabez” craze that occurred several years ago.

An author by the name of Bruce Wilkinson took a little prayer that a Jewish man prayed in 1 Chronicles 4:9-10, wrote a book about it, and convinced many that this little prayer was the magical key to getting everything that you desire from God.

This author convinced people he had uncovered an untapped “gold mine” hidden deep within a relatively obscure book in the Old Testament.  When the masses heard of this “wonder” they flocked to the bookstores to buy his book; much like the 49’ers who made a dash to California during the gold rush era.

Seemingly, if you prayed this prayer, not only would God give you the “desires” of your heart, this prayer was backed by His promise.

Mr. Wilkinson’s little book (which sold millions) is not only a prime example of wrongly dividing God's Word; it is one more example of misrepresenting God’s Word.

This is the prosperity message and people fill the churches to get their weekly dose of it.

But the Creator God is not your personnel ATM machine or your bellboy.

But some preachers out there have convinced millions God exists to serve them.

Our life here on earth is not to be centered on acquiring wealth or “stuff” to fill up our garages and attics.

Jesus said,

Matthew 6

24: “You cannot serve both God and money.”

It’s not a sin to want money or to be wealthy.  God knows you need money to purchase your needs and to take care of your loved ones. 

But God knows the “love of money is a root of all sorts of evil… (1 Timothy 6:10).

Money in and of itself is not evil. 

The Apostle Paul is saying that to pursue “money” and ignore “contentment” is a recipe for disaster.  Paul is also saying putting your “trust” in money is “unreliable.”

That ought to go without saying.  Should a Believe trust money or their Savior?

Here’s another fact about the pursuit of wealth.  It corrupts the pursuer.

Once you have a pile of cash, it never seems big enough.  You must have more.

Jesus knew what He was talking about.  The love of money gets in your way.

The “Way” to salvation is a “narrow” path and “few” find it!

The way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are “many” who enter through it.

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GJ Heitzman’s Ministry

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