MATHEW 24:4-8
Greetings in Jesus:
"Watch that you are not deceived" are among the first words out of Jesus. I believe that was said for a very good reason. If we look around us today the world seems to be filled with scholars in some way who are dedicated to a particular form of study. Even medicine today is broken down into the various types of specialty areas that lead us to believe that if we go to a specialist they will have all knowledge of a certain body part. That thought gives us confidence in that doctor to know all things regarding our problem. It is unfortunate that there is still human error involved in all facets of medicine. We need that human part of us in healing our bodies because it also takes compassion and mercy in dealing with people. We will never get completely away from the human element of this field therefore we will never find a time when there will not be mistakes made. We would not want a doctor to try to convince us we have a head injury when our feet hurt...in other words we need to make sure we are not deceived.
When it comes to our spiritual understanding the same thing is true, but even more the spiritual area, and the deception we have to deal with is much more cunning, and difficult to detect. I remember seeing a telecast about the Jewish scholars when they were interpreting scripture would labor over the smallest detail of names and events to make sure they could fill in all of the possible blanks that were left. In doing that many time they had to speculate as to what was being done or said to create a proper context of interpretation. Today we have a tremendous number of creeds and doctrines that lead us one direction or another in understanding God's word to us, and quite frankly only one of them can be right. It is for that reason that we must always come back to the source of truth ( which is God's word) to stay on track.
The word of God does not have a doctrinal stance attached to it , but a simple message of faith in what Jesus has done as God's Son and sacrifice for us. The word does not lead us to conclusions as to how to worship or what we should do always when we gather together, but instead gives us freedom to express our love and worship of God. In that expression are many different styles of worship, and what tends to happen is in following a particular style of worship that fits us we tend to by into the leadership and the teachings of the style and sometimes we lose the message. We can clearly see in Christ first words about this deception how important this first point was to Him. The claims made by so many today are that they are the only right way to interpret God's word...it is the "Here is Christ and there is Christ" that Jesus spoke of. There are indeed many people being deceived today who are absolutely convinced that their doctrines are the only truth.
I want to only say that in most of these cases the direction these doctrines lead are always in matters that do not affect our salvation. It is almost always in some tradition or gift area that is claimed as a special add on thing to God message. Always stick with the original message of Jesus Christ and you will not be deceived by men who claim they know something that you do not about Christ. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
"Watch that you are not deceived" are among the first words out of Jesus. I believe that was said for a very good reason. If we look around us today the world seems to be filled with scholars in some way who are dedicated to a particular form of study. Even medicine today is broken down into the various types of specialty areas that lead us to believe that if we go to a specialist they will have all knowledge of a certain body part. That thought gives us confidence in that doctor to know all things regarding our problem. It is unfortunate that there is still human error involved in all facets of medicine. We need that human part of us in healing our bodies because it also takes compassion and mercy in dealing with people. We will never get completely away from the human element of this field therefore we will never find a time when there will not be mistakes made. We would not want a doctor to try to convince us we have a head injury when our feet hurt...in other words we need to make sure we are not deceived.
When it comes to our spiritual understanding the same thing is true, but even more the spiritual area, and the deception we have to deal with is much more cunning, and difficult to detect. I remember seeing a telecast about the Jewish scholars when they were interpreting scripture would labor over the smallest detail of names and events to make sure they could fill in all of the possible blanks that were left. In doing that many time they had to speculate as to what was being done or said to create a proper context of interpretation. Today we have a tremendous number of creeds and doctrines that lead us one direction or another in understanding God's word to us, and quite frankly only one of them can be right. It is for that reason that we must always come back to the source of truth ( which is God's word) to stay on track.
The word of God does not have a doctrinal stance attached to it , but a simple message of faith in what Jesus has done as God's Son and sacrifice for us. The word does not lead us to conclusions as to how to worship or what we should do always when we gather together, but instead gives us freedom to express our love and worship of God. In that expression are many different styles of worship, and what tends to happen is in following a particular style of worship that fits us we tend to by into the leadership and the teachings of the style and sometimes we lose the message. We can clearly see in Christ first words about this deception how important this first point was to Him. The claims made by so many today are that they are the only right way to interpret God's word...it is the "Here is Christ and there is Christ" that Jesus spoke of. There are indeed many people being deceived today who are absolutely convinced that their doctrines are the only truth.
I want to only say that in most of these cases the direction these doctrines lead are always in matters that do not affect our salvation. It is almost always in some tradition or gift area that is claimed as a special add on thing to God message. Always stick with the original message of Jesus Christ and you will not be deceived by men who claim they know something that you do not about Christ. May you richly bless God through your life in Him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
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