God Is A Jealous God

God is a Jealous God

False Teachings

Reflecting on the tragedy of the killings in Orlando, Florida, I cannot help but think, was God’s hand revealed in this or was it just people straying from Lord Yahweh seeking other gods which led to this horrible tragedy. People have strayed so far from God that I’m not sure they really understand who God is. For Christians, it may even be a bigger tragedy that are not truly worshipping the god of Abraham.

II Chronicles 7

12 Then the Lord appeared to Solomon at night and said to him: I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for Myself as a temple of sacrifice. 13 If I close the sky so there is no rain, or if I command the grasshopper to consume the land, or if I send pestilence on My people, 14 and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from their evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15 My eyes will now be open and My ears attentive to prayer from this place. 16 And I have now chosen and consecrated this temple so that My name may be there forever; My eyes and My heart will be there at all times. 17 As for you, if you walk before Me as your father David walked, doing everything I have commanded you, and if you keep My statutes and ordinances, 18 I will establish your royal throne, as I promised your father David: You will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel. 19 However, if you turn away and abandon My statutes and My commands that I have set before you and if you go and serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from the soil that I gave them, and this temple that I have sanctified for My name I will banish from My presence; I will make it an object of scorn and ridicule among all the peoples. 21 As for this temple, which was exalted, every passerby will be appalled and will say: Why did the Lord do this to this land and this temple? 22 Then they will say: Because they abandoned the Lord God of their ancestors who brought them out of the land of Egypt. They clung to other gods and worshiped and served them. Because of this, He brought all this ruin on them.

The reading of His Word makes me fear the Lord because we know what happened to the people of Israel. In Proverbs 4:19 it says, “But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble”.

I do not want to pass judgment on any individuals. We do know that the act in Olando was directed by evil and we cannot deny that. What we have seen with the mass killings by Islamic terrorists is that because they worship a false god, they are without the love of one true god. Those that follow Jesus do so because they understand God’s love for us and that Jesus taught us to love one another in order to win souls. How many souls do you think that a terrorist killer wins?

Jesus says in Matthew 4:10, “Worship the Lord you God and serve only Him”. What is so remarkable about that one verse is that Jesus is talking to Satan as Satan is trying to test Jesus.

Today we are worshipping a false gospel. Our attention has been directed toward the Islamic religion and its false teachings. At the same time, our churches are being led by another false gospel, the gospel of accommodation.

How many times have you heard after a worship service, “The pastor went a little long today”? I do not remember ever hearing, “ The Holy Spirit was with us today”.

As Christians were are being led by a gospel of success. We want to have a successful church by showing large numbers of members, or a bigger more grander church than neighboring churches. We want a preacher who does not step on any toes by preaching the gospel of inclusiveness.

We are being led by a false doctrine, the gospel of accommodation,  that appeals to the base instincts of man. Jesus was not running on a gospel of salvation to be popular, quite the opposite. Jesus was preaching what is diametrically opposed by the church culture today.

Luke 14:

26 "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters-yes, and even his own life-he cannot be My disciple. 27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.

… 33 In the same way, therefore, every one of you who does not say good-bye to all his possessions cannot be My disciple.

Jesus was not preaching hate, what he was saying that if you love anything more than me, you cannot be my disciple.

1 Timothy 6:

5 Now the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 6 Some have deviated from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion. 7 They want to be teachers of the law, although they do not understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on.

Paul is warning Timothy of those who are preaching a false doctrine.

"The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron...If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed" (1 Timothy 4:1-2,6).

1 Before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom, I solemnly charge you: 2 proclaim the message; persist in it whether convenient or not; rebuke, correct, and encourage with great patience and teaching.

"For the time will come when men 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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths"  5 But as for you, keep a clear head about everything, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 In the future, there is reserved for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that day, and not only to me, but to all those who have loved His appearing. (2 Timothy 4:3-8).

"but there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them - bringing swift destruction on themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed, these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping" (2 Peter 2:1-3)

In summary, let us be warned that in our own churches we can, and in many instances, be deceived by what is pleasing to the ear. Instead of being told things that makes us feel righteous, we should be hearing the Holy Spirit telling us what God expects from us if we truly trust Him and His word.

Yes, Islam is a false teaching and we need to remember that God is control and He will take care of those things that we cannot control. We must remember also that the church we worship in must have the Holy Spirit present and not some doctrine of what makes a successful life or church. If we hear from the pulpit that we are worshipping the same god, we need to know that this is blasphemy. That is something we can control. We need to stand for what is right and admonish those that seek a gospel of accommodation.