The book we're writing.

When I was about 11 years old I discovered something amazing…to me anyway. I discovered books. I had always had picture books and had enjoyed them but it wasn’t until around age 11 that I discovered chapter books.

In the pages of those books I learned something that I had never known before. I could go anywhere, be anyone, do anything.

The stories on those black and white pages transformed my life from what it was at the time to just about anything I wanted it to be. I lived on the prairie in pioneer times, dressed in long skirts and lived without modern technologies. I suffered through the depression. I loved and lost. Explored caves, searched for buried treasure, survived kidnappings and time traveled.

Every time I opened a new book…I opened a new life.

At the time my love of books was a cross between entertainment and escape. Books helped me pass many hours in the years when I lived between childhood and the adult world. They gave me something to do when I wouldn’t have had anything to do. They were easy to carry anywhere I went and were always there when I needed them. But they also gave me an escape when I needed one. Illnesses that left me feeling awful were a little easier to get through when I could focus on the joys and trials of someone else’s life. Situations I found myself in that were too difficult to bear became easier when I escaped my life through the pages of a book.

And so books became my best friend.

I spent many, many hours with those friends.

Now, years and years after first discovering books, I still enjoy them. There’s something about reading about others, whether real or fictional, that can’t be found outside the pages of a book. Today I find it much harder to enjoy a book, not because the stories in them aren’t as good as the ones I remember from childhood but because I now know that so many of those stories go against my Lord.

As a child I didn’t care if a book contained time travel or magic. I didn’t care if it was about murder or other sin. I was simply looking for a story that could not only hold my attention but one that could transport me from my world to the world that existed only in the pages of that book. Now I have a higher standard.

In the pages of a book I now know that there’s so much more being played out than just what’s happening in the story. Depending on what the book is about and whether it was written based on Biblical principles comes through within only a few pages. Some books glorify sin, some degrade my Lord, others teach falsehoods while claiming to be Biblical, and a few speak truth. That happens in both fiction and nonfiction.

And what most people don’t know is that within the pages of a book, no matter what the story is about, the author’s views on everything in life is slowly being fed into us through tiny bite sized pieces.

There are books that are considered classics, books that most children have encountered at some point in their lives, whose authors dabbled in the occult. And once a person knows that it becomes easy to see it in the pages of the story. But you have to know it to really see it or else you have to be reading the book with a very discerning eye.

No child is going to read with that kind of discernment. Most adults don’t read that way. A book is seen as entertainment, something to pass the time. They can’t do any harm. Or so many believe.

But stories aren’t just written on the pages of a book. Those subtle influences aren’t penned only in the words portrayed in things of entertainment.

Stories are written every day, in every person’s life. They’re written in our minds and hearts with everyone we know. Each encounter we have with another person writes a story on our life. Some may be fleeting like the short picture books that passed through our hands when we were children, they may leave little or no impression. Others are long sagas with many chapters and hundreds of pages.

What may seem to be an innocent encounter with another person may indeed form ideas and opinions in our minds and hearts that will take root for all of our earthly life.

Our children are particularly susceptible to having their stories altered by encounters with other people and with each experience.

As a homeschooler I have encountered many different ideas on how to raise children, on how to bring them up in the Christian faith, on what to let them experience and encounter. There are those among the Christian homeschool world that believe that a child should never encounter anything that doesn’t teach them from a Christian perspective and there are those that believe children should be exposed to as much of the world as possible so that they know what it’s all about-in those that believe that way some will counter everything their child encounters with discussions on what they as a family believe and others let their children form their own ideas and opinions without trying to influence them.

As a Christian it has become difficult for me to find books that I feel are okay for me to read. It’s even harder to find books that I feel comfortable letting my children read. I know that the Lord will either save my children or not in His time and that there isn’t a book out there that will keep that from happening but I also know that the things we experience in life help set our foundation for what we will become. I have a responsibility to my children and to my Lord to help set the right kind of foundation for my children.

There were many years in my parenting life that I didn’t know that. Many years passed where we chose what came into our lives based on a much looser idea of what was okay and what wasn’t. I remember spending many, many hours reading chapter books to my oldest when she was too young to read them herself. Some of her favorite ones were a series about kids that time traveled with the help of a magician.

Yesterday that same daughter told me how her favorite books have always been the science fiction type with time travel, fairies, and other type situations.

Today as I think back on the many hours we spent with that type of books, as I remember the movies I let her watch and the play I encouraged, I must also think of the foundation we laid with each page we turned, with each movie we sat through, with the fairy houses I helped build and the toys I bought for her. The Lord used all of that in both her life and mine. He used it in the lives of each person in our family and I’m only now reaching the midpoint of the story. I’m still reading the book that is our life. I can’t see the end of the story, I can’t flip ahead to read the last page or the last chapter.

But I can see the influence those stories, movies, and play have had in my children’s lives long after the time when we stopped letting them through our front door. I see them when my children reminisce about the books and movies we once read, when they talk about the things they used to play. I see them in the smiles those memories bring.

And I see the failures of the ideas I wrote into our story when I didn’t yet know I was writing a story and I see the failures I write today when I do know that each day is another page in our story, when each moment is another sentence in our book.

And there is no delete button.

I can’t erase something once it’s been placed into the pages of the book of our life. Once a character comes into our story they are there forever whether they enter our story as real life people, fictional characters in books or movies, or ideas imparted through someone else. They are all there increasing the word count in the story that is our life, lengthening the pages of our book, adding to the story unfolding before our eyes.

As a Christian that now sees there’s a greater story going on than the story within my life, that now understands there’s a Book that was written that I never need to worry about the influence it has on my children, I find myself at odds with my thoughts sometimes.

I must wonder what in the story of our lives is building the foundation I want to put under my children and what is being written into my children’s lives that I may be opposed to but that the Lord has put there for their greater good.

I feel the need to protect them from all that goes against my beliefs, from all that might lead them astray, but today…so close to the discussion I had with my daughter yesterday….I must also wonder about the foundation that has already been laid.

And how that foundation has written words into the book that is my child’s life.

If our family story is a book then we are all characters in a continuing saga that will play out for many years to come, Lord willing. We are a series of books in which the characters are the same but the stories must eventually separate. We overlap because we have been given to each other for a time and our stories are all one but as our children grow they must, in time, move into their own books. Their stories must become their own and not merely a spot within the pages of the story of their parents lives.

What did they learn while they were in our book? What did they learn from the influence of the story we write in our own lives? What have we taught them through the encounters we have allowed them to have?

Was our story written based on Scripture? Can we hand them over to their own stories, to their own books, knowing that we have shown them, guided them, in the way that they should go or will we watch with bated breath as they jump from the pages of our book into the blank pages of their own without the proper safety net beneath them?

What are we writing on the hearts of our children while we have them within the pages of our life?

Contentment

Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need.…

Philippians 4:11-12

 

A while back I was sitting on our back porch while my husband worked outside. That day, as with many days, I took pleasure in just looking at the woods around our house. There’s something so basic, so simple, so right in seeing that much of creation stretched out around me. As I have many times in the past I marveled at what it took for the Lord to create something so everyday ordinary as a tree. It’s nothing short of a miracle and yet it’s just there, sometimes appreciated, sometimes despised, but just…there.

That day that’s what I was too, just there. I was content to sit and look at what was around me. Happy to just enjoy the creation that the Lord put here for my use and enjoyment. Grateful for all He had done for me.

I am that way in most things. I have more clothes than I need. Some I favor, some I really don’t care for. Some fit good, others don’t. But they’re there. I have them and they serve a purpose. Because they serve that purpose I find a certain level of contentment in simply knowing they are there. If I had reason to part with them today and replace them with new ones I would have no trouble doing it. There would be maybe one or two that I would miss but they would be easily replaced with something else.

 I have a sister that truly enjoys clothes. She enjoys shopping for them, enjoys adding new clothes to the collection she has, enjoys talking about them. I’m not that way. I get no joy from my clothes. They have a purpose in my life and I am grateful to have them, grateful to have easy access to replacements when I need them but I don’t find the enjoyment in them that my sister does.

We have acres and acres of woods. I find enjoyment in being in those woods, in looking at them, in just knowing they’re there. When I’m in town I’m content and often enjoy, at least to some degree, whatever I happen to be doing.

Contentment is something I didn’t always have. I have children that often wish for this or that, long for things they don’t have, want to be places they aren’t. I was that way too, once upon a time. Thankfully the Lord took that out of me and replaced it with a deep peace and contentment.

There is much to be enjoyed by being content in whatever situation I find myself. It isn’t always easy. I have moments when contentment escapes me. Thankfully it’s usually only moments and I can find contentment by once again focusing on the many blessings I’ve been given, focusing on the Lord’s creation, on His word, and not on me.

 

 

A cup of bitters

My Dear Sister in our precious Lord,

I sympathize with you in your trials. Do not think them strange. Your kind Father well prepared you for these exercises by that abundant love which He long manifested towards you. He let you rest long in His bosom; will you not be willing to work for Him now—yes, to suffer whatever He shall call you to? Oh, remember what obligation His boundless love lays you under to be entirely His! Remember but His love, in which He has given you Himself, and you will freely give up yourself to His whole will, and count nothing too much, either to do or suffer, that so you may glorify Him.

Has your kind Father given you a cup of bitters? Drink it freely! It is well sweetened with His love! The curse is taken out of it by Christ being made a curse for you; and lo! It is no other but a cup of blessing! Infinite love ordained it and infinite wisdom prepared it, and infinite power will work with and by it unto your present and eternal advantage. All your graces are to be tried, and by the trial of them to be increased here, and found unto praise and honor and glory at Christ's appearing.

You will not think any of the labors and sorrows of the wilderness too much when once you reach Canaan's land. You will bless God when you get to heaven for every step of the way He led you, and see it was all right. And will you not begin the work of heaven now, and go, not only patiently and cheerfully, but thankfully also, through all the trials of the wilderness into your everlasting rest?

Your tender, faithful Shepherd, who gave His life for you, will not allow you to lack any good thing. Into His arms I commit you; His grace be with your spirit.

http://gracegems.org/Dutton/bitters.htm

Hold fast

Trials and tribulations come our way. There’s nothing we can do about it but ride out the storm when it hits. We must simply get through it the best we can. I recently had a discussion with my daughter where I told her that it isn’t in the easy times that we grow and learn but in the midst of the hard times that we gain our greatest growth.

It’s in those hard times that so many cry out to the Lord, both the saved and the unsaved…the regenerate and the reprobate. Many people who won’t acknowledge Christ at any other time do so in the midst of trouble or despair. That seems to be something ingrained deep in our human hearts and minds. For many this reaching out to Christ in times of need is as natural as breathing even if they don’t acknowledge His existence at any other time.

For the regenerate though…what do we have to gain during the times of our greatest trials? It’s easy to hold onto our faith…whether real or only surface deep…when things are good, when life is easy. It’s during those times of great stress and personal pain that the truth is so often seen.

I know of at least one person that was saved, regenerated, during a time of deep personal pain. In crying out to the Lord in that pain this person was saved. It was instant. And this person felt the difference. How many people are saved by the Lord during their deepest moments of anguish?

But for those that have already been saved what do we have to learn and gain from that deep place of pain? The Lord has a purpose for all our trials and tribulations. There’s a purpose for everything we experience. What might He be trying to teach us in those moments of despair when we’d do anything to escape the troubles we’re going through?

He’s already saved us, already brought us to Him. That can’t be the purpose of the pain. There has to be something else there. Why would He put us in a situation to go through such hurt when our salvation can’t be the reason?

Is it to teach us a lesson? To punish us for something? To bring us to a deeper understanding of Him? To change something in us? To get us to do something that is in His plan?

We can’t know the answers to those questions until after the pain has passed, until after we have weathered the storm and come out on the other side. Even then we may never know the reason but we can know that there is a reason. We can know that He has a purpose and a plan. We can know that we are to hold fast to our Lord and our faith and ride out the storm.

And we can trust that He is taking us somewhere even if we would rather not go there at the time.

I am his weakness, he is my strength

I recently saw a quote that basically said…when a man loves a woman she is his weakness, when a woman loves a man she is his strength.

I found that quote fascinating, powerful, and sad all at the same time. Fascinating because it says so much about the love that should be between a husband and wife…and those that will one day become husband and wife. Powerful because there’s so much truth in it…or there should be. And Sad because it failed to acknowledge just why that saying was so fascinating and powerful.

For me that quote perfectly describes what the Lord put in place when He created the first marriage, and in each marriage since then.

Scripture tells us…

Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel… 1 Peter 3:7

That verse alone explains why a wife should be her husband’s weakness. I know in our fallen world that isn’t always the case. There are many married couples who seem to enjoy hurting each other far more than they do looking after the good of the other. Because my aim is to focus only on Biblical marriage (and because it hurts my heart to think of marriage any other way) I’m going to write this post with the thought of that Biblical marriage in mind.

And so, in thinking of the Biblical marriage…I can clearly see that the Lord intended for the wife to be her husband’s weakness. I can see that very thing in my husband. I can see it in the way he treats me, in the way he worries about me. When I think of my husband…I am honored to think of being his weakness.

My husband is the type of man that would do anything for anyone. He’d help anyone that needed help. But I also know that there’s something different in the way he would respond if I were to be threatened in some way. That’s normal. We all would respond just a little different when someone we love is in danger than we would for a stranger. Sad as it may be its our human nature.

The simple fact is that when someone we love is in danger we have more to lose…more at stake. And so our actions reflect that.

But even knowing all that…I think of what it means to be my husbands weakness. I think of what he would do for me. Never having put any of that to the test I know it to be true. In any situation I might care to imagine, I can see how I am my husband’s weakness. I know without ever experiencing it what he would do for me if need be. I also know that if ever I were threatened in any way my husband would not only respond in a way to protect me but also in a way to keep me safe, even if that meant going against his natural instincts.

Because I am his weakness.

 I am, by the Lord’s design, the weaker vessel in our marriage.

But that last paragraph has a flip side. Where I am his weakness, he is my strength. I know that in any given situation he gives me strength. There are times when I may not have the strength to face something…and I know I can draw on his strength. There may be times when my weakness is a hindrance and in those moments my husband is my strength.

There is something inherently understood throughout all of humanity. It is generally understood…and undeniable…that men are stronger than women. That strength shows up in both emotional and physical ways.

My husband recently moved our living room furniture around without showing any signs of it being the least bit heavy. If I had moved the same furniture I would have struggled with it and been forced to slide it across the floor where my husband lifted it. I am physically weaker than my husband is. That physical weakness is obvious and undeniable but that isn’t the kind of weakness and strength that that quote made me think of.

The strength and weaknesses that came to mind when I read that quote was emotional. It was a balancing of roles. A completing of two people that were once only one.

You see…in as much as I am my husband’s weakness…I am also his strength. Because I am a weak spot for him he knows he must be strong for me. He must stand in leadership. He be strong when he knows that I am weak. I make him weak, but I also make him strong.

I complete him in a way he would never be complete without me.

But again that has a flip side. Where my husband is my strength…he is also a weakness. Without my husband I know that I must be strong and face whatever comes. With my husband I know that I can lean on him, depend on him, let him be my strength and therefore I don’t have to. Whether it be in a physical way…I didn’t need to move the furniture because I knew my husband would…or in an emotional way…I can fall apart because he’s there to hold me together.

He completes me by allowing me to be the weaker vessel. He completes me because he fills places in my life, in my heart, in my soul, that would be empty without him.

I am his weakness.

He is my strength.

 

 

Head covering

What the Bible Says about Head Coverings

Let Your Light So Shine Before Men: What the Bible Says about Head Coverings

By Betty Miller

Pastors Bud & Betty Miller on Head Coverings

Let us look at the Scripture that speaks about “head coverings” and see what God’s Word says about it. The eleventh chapter of 1 Corinthians has caused many problems for the church around the world. The teaching that all women must be spiritually “covered” by a male is not the only one that has emerged from this portion of Scripture. Others have taken these verses to mean that a woman must have her head covered with some sort of wrap, such as a scarf, while she is prophesying or ministering. In some countries, the churches still hold to this teaching. Many of our traditional churches have a vestige of this teaching that has remained in the popular custom of women wearing hats to church on Sunday.

Recent teachings have gone forth that say a woman must be under a male’s headship, or “covering,” to be able to minister for the Lord. This has even been applied to women who are unmarried. These false teachings dictate they must be under the male leadership of some church if they are to speak or minister. This is far from the true teaching of God’s Word. In the Old Testament, Deborah is a perfect example of a woman acting independently of a male’s so-called “covering.” As judge over Israel, she acted under the leadership of God and gave orders to Barak. She had a husband, but she did not receive her instructions from him, but directly from God (Judges 4). (Please note here, that I am not advocating that women refuse to be a part of a local church, but rather saying she may be the leader of a local church.)

The True God Inspired ‘Covering’

What is God’s real meaning of these verses and what is the true “covering?” One way we can discern between false and true teaching is to examine the fruit of it. Does it bring freedom, or legalism and bondage? As we look at this Scripture, we must remember to examine it in the light of God’s total Word and not just these isolated verses.

But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; and the head of the woman is the man; and the head of Christ is God. Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head. But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven. For if the woman be not covered, let her also be shorn: but if it be a shame for a woman to be shorn or shaven, let her be covered. For a man indeed ought not to cover his head, forasmuch as he is the image and glory of God: but the woman is the glory of the man. For the man is not of the woman; but the woman of the man. Neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man. For this cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels. Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord. For as the woman is of the man, even so is the man also by the woman; but all things of God. Judge in yourselves: is it comely that a woman pray unto God uncovered? Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man hath long hair, it is a shame unto him? But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering. But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God. 1 Corinthians 11:3-16

For the sake of clarity we will deal with this passage verse by verse.

First, we need to understand why this chapter was written. Paul had received a letter from the Corinthian church regarding many problems it was encountering. This epistle was written to help straighten out some confusing issues. One of these was the question of whether a woman should veil, or cover, her head in church since the custom was that most women kept their heads covered in and out of the church. The reason this was a much discussed issue was that one of the oral Jewish traditions dictated that when entering the temple for worship, the males, or “heads of the house,” were to wear the Jewish tallith, or veil. According to the Jewish tradition this was a sign of reverence toward God and a condemnation of sin. Paul was very strongly against all Jewish legalism (circumcision being one of these) being imposed on new Christian converts. He was also opposed to the veiling or covering of men because they were no longer under any condemnation or guilt since Jesus took that away through His sacrifice.

Now the question had come up over women veiling or covering in church. What would he say for them to do? Paul seized the opportunity to teach them by presenting a spiritual analogy that would enable them to arrive at their own conclusion. We find Paul’s conclusion to their question of women veiling in verse 16, “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” He simply says this is a custom of the women, but it is not a church ordinance. This explanation clarifies the matter for us today, but we will miss a beautiful spiritual application if we fail to look at these verses further as every portion of the Scriptures contains some deep and eternal principle applicable to every age. We can see that Paul is using an analogy here. He is not discussing a cloth covering, or veil, when he speaks of a woman having her head covered, because in verse 15 he clearly says a woman’s hair is given to her for a covering. “But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.”

The Spiritual Covering

What kind of covering does he mean? He is not speaking of a literal covering at all, but a spiritual covering. Let us see what this spiritual covering is. Isaiah 30:1 says, “Woe to the rebellious children, saith the Lord, that take counsel, but not of me; and that cover with a covering, but not of my spirit, that they may add sin to sin.” We can see here that the Spirit of God is our covering. He warned those that sought any “covering” other than His Spirit. This should speak plainly to us that our covering is not to be found in men.

Another verse that tells us about God’s covering is Psalm 104:1-2, “Bless the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty. Who coverest thyself with light as with a garment: who stretchest out the heavens like a curtain.” We see that God is covered in honor, majesty and light. Where light is, there is no darkness and evil; where honor is, there is truth.

The covering God is talking about is the Spirit of Truth and Light. With an understanding of this covering, we can now look at verse 4 of 1 Corinthians 11 and see that it says, “Every man praying or prophesying, having his head covered, dishonoureth his head.” Verse 3 tells us who his head is, “But I would have you know, that the head of every man is Christ; …and the head of Christ is God.” If Christ is man’s head and God is Christ’s head, then if the man covers Jesus so that the light of God cannot be seen in Him, it is a dishonor for Christ. The Bible speaks that we are to let our light shine, not to cover it.

Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

If men are going to prophesy, pray and minister in the church, then they are not to dishonor their head, Jesus. They must let the light of God shine through them. Men are not to “cover” God’s glory and majesty, but let it come forth from them. This light will go forth with truth and honor.

In the Old Testament, it was a shame for men to cover their heads; that is why the Jewish tallith was worn (to represent the shame and guilt of their sins). Jeremiah speaks of men covering their heads because of their shame. “Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads” (Jeremiah 14:4). Whenever men do not allow Christ to flow out of them, but cover their head (Christ), it is a shame. Men do not have to defend their position as long as Christ is flowing from them, as Jesus will “cover” for them. They don’t have to “cover” for Him. The Lord will justify those that are shining for Him. The Lord’s mercy, love, kindness and goodness should be evident in those men who are in the ministry. They will be gentle to their wives, considerate and loving if they are truly letting God shine through them. Christ is the man’s head and should not be covered, or it will bring dishonor to the Lord.

Matrimonial Covering

Now what about women? 1 Corinthians 11:5 says, “But every woman that prayeth or prophesieth with her head uncovered dishonoureth her head: for that is even all one as if she were shaven.” Who is the married woman’s matrimonial head? Of course, her husband, the man. Now the list in verse 3 is not a chain of command because although God is at the top He shares His glory equally with Jesus, even though He is His head. The same should be true in the marriage relationship. If a man is truly the “head” after the pattern of Christ, he will support and lift his wife up to his own level of authority. The true “headship” is won by self-sacrificing love which is how Christ won His Church, not by rule and domination. The woman’s head is to be “covered.” How does she cover her head, that is, her husband? One way she is to cover him is by the words of her mouth.

David realized that the words we speak produce a blessing or a curse. Psalm 140:7 and 9 says, “O God the Lord, the strength of my salvation, thou hast covered my head in the day of battle… As for the head of those that compass me about, let the mischief of their own lips cover them.”

If a woman’s lips do not confess the Word of God and truth over her husband, she will be “uncovering” her head. If a woman tears her husband down with ugly and degrading words, and her lips speak negative things against him, she will find in her “day of battle” she will not be covered by the Lord. David was covered because he spoke those things pleasing to the Lord.

Women who pray or minister in public should not degrade their husbands in their private lives as this is a shame before the Lord. It brings shame to their matrimonial “heads.” Women should not uncover their “heads” as the Scripture says it would be the same if she were to go about with her head shaven. No woman would purposely shave her head, yet women are doing this spiritually when they expose their husband’s faults, malign them or degrade them in any way. We are to cover our husband’s weaknesses, not “uncover” them. There is a story in the Old Testament about Noah that shows us how displeased God is when His men are exposed and not covered.

And Noah began to be an husbandman, and he planted a vineyard: And he drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered within his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers without. And Shem and Japheth took a garment, and laid it upon both their shoulders, and went backward, and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were backward, and they saw not their father’s nakedness. And Noah awoke from his wine, and knew what his younger son had done unto him. And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto his brethren. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem; and Canaan shall be his servant. Genesis 9:20-27

Noah’s son, Ham, discovered his father’s nakedness, but instead of covering him, he went and told his two brothers. Shem and Japheth not only refused to look on their father in his exposed state, but covered him as well.

As wives, we should cover our husband’s faults and failures, not expose them to others. It’s a shame to leave our “heads uncovered.” We know that because man and wife are one flesh, for either of them to hurt or expose the other, it is the same as if they were doing it to themselves. We can see that after Noah discovered what had happened, he pronounced a curse upon the son of Ham (Canaan) and a blessing upon Shem and Japheth. When wives uncover their husband’s nakedness, they actually bring a curse against their heads and their marriages. A woman cannot talk about her husband without it affecting her because she, in essence, is talking about herself. If women expect God to bless their marriages, then they must “cover” their heads. A woman who is guilty of exposing her husband becomes uncovered too. The Lord cannot bless her with His anointing when she walks out uncovered by God. Husbands and wives are to lay their lives down for each other.

In conclusion, God is our covering spiritually, for both the man and the woman. Both husbands and wives should cover one another in prayers and with their devotion and loving deeds. The Lord is always teaching us about heart attitudes in the New Testament of the Bible and many of the parables of Jesus and the illustrations of Paul were used to point out these very things. Paul’s conclusion to the question of women veiling in 1 Corinthians 11:16, “But if any man seem to be contentious, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God.” He simply says this is a custom of the women, but it is not a church ordinance. Therefore, if in some cultures, the women are still covering their heads and it is their custom, it would not hurt us to honor that custom if we go there to preach by covering our head if we are a woman. (This could also pertain to our dress as western women when we are in a foreign land. We should restrain from wearing short dresses and shorts. Personally, I don’t think wearing skimpy clothes is a good witness, even in our own country, as it doesn’t represent Godly dress.) The people we are preaching to in foreign lands might be more open to receive our message if we are considerate of their customs. Paul made this statement:

And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 1 Corinthians 9:20-22

http://bibleresources.org/head-coverings/ 

Head or heart?

Anne Dutton's Letters on Spiritual Subjects For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6 There is a vast difference between a conviction of the doctrines of grace in the head, and an adoring the grace of those doctrines in the heart. A speculative knowledge of gospel truth, that goes no further than a mere outward notion of it, may be found in a natural man. This knowledge of truth is a cold, unaffecting, and unattracting knowledge, that leaves the will and affections just where it found them. A natural man, indeed, may have some natural pleasure in getting some new notions of truth, but he experiences no soul-attraction to the things known. A spiritual discernment of gospel truths is very different from a bare speculative knowledge of them; in that the glory of truth shines into the mind, which produces a sweet and strict adherence thereto, by all the inward powers of the soul. The understanding discerns the truth in its beauty, glory, and excellency; the judgment approves it; and the will and affections embrace and clasp about it. In a word, the whole soul unites with the truth, and is changed into the image of it. Oh! when the least beam of Gospel truth shines in upon the mind with such a ravishing beauty and majestic glory as draws the heart to love it, and makes the soul bow down before it, this is a saving illumination, set up in the soul of a vessel of mercy, which is the very beginning of its future glory. It is God's shining into our hearts by a new creating efficacy to give the light, not only of the knowledge of God, but of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ; which word imports the ravishing beauty and all-attracting efficacy of gospel grace darting in upon the mind as a supernatural revelation, which unites the soul to the things beheld, to the objects revealed. From this saving illumination the soul feels a sweet and strong attraction, by which, being drawn with cords of love, it comes unto Christ in its desires after Him, as beheld, altogether lovely. Wherever the truths of the gospel are known, and so known in their beauty and excellency as to knit and unite the heart to them, or to draw out the soul into desires after and adoration of the glories beheld—that man is a regenerate man. http://gracegems.org/Dutton/head.htm

False teachers leading false 'churches'

Not that long ago I wrote a post titled Peddling Christ. In that post I spoke about preachers and how they make Christ serve them rather than them serving Christ. Quite honestly this is a subject that I fell into rather than feeling any real need to write about. You see, that post was the result of someone asking me if I could take several verses and make a post out of them. This person did give me a general idea of what they hoped I could convey in that post. The rest…was up to me. It was a challenge but being as how the message they wanted conveyed was a belief I share I was able to actually pull it off.

 

From there I expected to be finished with the topic but found myself writing yet another post almost as soon as I finished that one. Then through discussions in life and comments on my blog I wound up writing even more posts. You see…it isn’t so much that I set out to speak against preachers but that I found myself sucked into a topic that had me doing just that. I have nothing against preachers in and of themselves. It’s what they’re teaching…or not teaching…and the way they’re doing it that bothers me.

 

Today…I was looking something up online and found myself reading someone else’s article on peddling Christ. And once again I got sucked into a topic I never intended to be in the midst of. But I write what’s on my heart and mind. I don’t foreplan anything, don’t usually do any research into what I’m writing about. I generally just sit down, put my fingers on the computer keys and…there’s an article. It’s that easy…and that confounding.

 

I don’t know where these things come from except to say that they’re given by the Lord…or at least the ability to do so is. And so today…I find myself writing on a subject I never thought to follow any further.

 

The more I think of what it means to peddle the Word of God…the more it hurts to even consider it. I don’t remember the days of true peddlers, have had very few encounters with door to door salesmen. I do, however, know the frustration of having people show up on my doorstep…usually when I’m trying to cook or something else that takes my attention…and try to sell me something I don’t want. I know the frustration of having them repeatedly try to convince me to buy what they’re selling despite the fact that I keep saying no. And I’ve learned the art of being rude by saying ‘we’re not interested’ and quickly shutting the door , cutting off their protests as I do so. It’s not ideal but sometimes it’s the only way.

 

I’ve had certain religious groups show up on my door and try to sell me their beliefs in much the same way. With these groups it seems that if you so much as say ‘hello’ they move in for the rest of the day. They tell you there stories, invite you to their worship buildings, give you there reading material, and…as I’ve had happen on one occasion…sit with you and tell you everything they believe and why, all while reading to you from their religious book.

 

As my grandmother is fond of saying ‘you can’t win for losing’ with them. If you’re nice to them in any way they take advantage of it. If you’re not nice to them…they take advantage of that too. And when you’re not nice you’re left feeling bad about whatever reaction you give.

 

As I think of those ‘religious’ people coming to my house peddling their beliefs…at least they aren’t actually trying to get me to buy them…I think of what it would be like to have someone actually come to my door and try to sell me ‘Christ’. I’ve seen the so-called preachers on television that tell you if you’ll just send them money ‘god’ will do x for you. And I can only imagine what my response would be if they were actually standing on my door trying to convince me to buy their ‘god’ and his blessings.

 

But that’s what so many are doing. They may not come to our door, they may not sit in our living rooms, they may not even stand in our presence but they’re doing it just the same. They’re peddling…selling…’Christ’ for their gain with little to no consideration for the souls of the people that buy into their ‘christ’.

 

It’s so easy…for most…to see the peddling that takes place by those television ‘preachers’…although the fact that they’re still on T.V. tells us that many fall prey to their peddling…but how many see the peddling that takes place within ‘church’ buildings every week?

 

Many years ago I was a regular in a ‘church’ that passed an offering plate every Sunday, they taught often on tithing and how it was required, they printed and mailed out little envelopes with your name on it and each weeks date so that you could ‘give’ your ‘offering’, and thy questioned you when they didn’t see your ‘tithes’ in the weekly ‘offering’. They went so far as to say that if you didn’t ‘tithe’ you weren’t ‘right with God’. But they didn’t stop there. Outside of your weekly ‘offering’ they had near weekly missions ‘donations’ where they profiled some organization that they felt the ‘church’ should financially support. And they put much pressure on each person to do just that. I have even seen them tell the congregation that a certain ‘offering’ for a mission organization wasn’t enough and pass around the ‘offering’ plate again, all while telling people to ‘dig deeper’ and ‘give more.’

 

Was that not peddling?

 

Unless it falls into the category of con artists.

 

The thing is…this kind of ‘peddling’ takes place every week, week after week, in ‘church’ after ‘church’.

 

I was a one time visitor in another ‘church’ building this past winter. My husband and I went for the sole purpose of listening to a quest ‘preacher’… that wasn’t really a preacher at all but a speaker…because he speaks Truth. Or mostly speaks it. While we sat on the pew, in the midst of hundreds of others, they passed an ‘offering’ plate. As expected many people put money into those plates. But like with the ‘church’ I attended so many years ago, they didn’t stop there. Once the ‘offering’ plates were collected, they passed around ‘offering’ baskets. This time was supposedly a special ‘offering’ so that the ‘church’ could use it to help their members that were in need. They explained how they used it to help those with financial problems pay bills, get to the doctor, buy medicine, clothes…whatever they may need.

 

And as I sat there watching this ‘offering’ being collected all I could think was…isn’t that what the regular ‘offering’ should be used for? And since it obviously wasn’t…what did they use it for?

 

About a year ago I was told of a preacher that told the members of his ‘church’ to give them the routing number on their checking accounts so that the ‘church’ could pull their tithes out of their account.

 

I have to ask…do any of these so-called preachers sound like men that are serving the Lord? Do any of the things I listed above sound like something Paul would have done? Do they sound like something Christ would have done?

 

Do they sound like men that are serving the Lord?

 

Or do they sound like men that are serving money?

 

For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ. 2 Corinthians 2:17

Paul clearly separated those that sincerely tried to preach the Word of God from those who were merely selling a product.  The Geneva Bible states that verse as…   For we are not as many, which l corrupt the word of God: but as of sincerity, but as of God, in the sight of God speak we in Christ.   Notice the word corrupt in place of peddlers. The KJV also uses the word corrupt. Either version clearly portrays the message that Paul was giving…these men were taking the gospel and using it to their gain. One implies the selling of it, while the other implies the twisting and changing of it. As I read those two different versions I can’t help but think of what we get if we combine them…Peddlers that corrupt the Word of God…or the corrupt peddling of the Word of God.   Is that not what we have today in the majority of ‘churches’?   Basically Paul was saying that he…and the others…was giving the true gospel, they were speaking Truth with no twisting or changing of it. They weren’t watering it down, they weren’t making it fit man but were giving it so that it might man might fit into it. This was Truth pure and simple. It was Truth as Christ gave it and it was Truth as they delivered it.   And it wasn’t being delivered out of some higher agenda, out of some idea that they might gain from the Word of God. It was being delivered from sincere hearts with the sole desire to deliver the Truth as Christ gave it. Paul said that it was the ‘power of…salvation’ (Romans 1:16).   Paul understood what that meant. He knew what he himself had experienced in his conversion and he sought to deliver the Word of God in Truth and nothing but Truth.   Why?   A question we should ask ourselves anytime anyone seeks to deliver the Word of God is…what motivates this man? Does he stand to gain from what he’s teaching?   Paul’s motivation was to save souls and he gave up everything to do it. He sought no personal gain.   If a preacher delivers a message while being careful what he says so as not to offend his listeners…is he not corrupting the Word of God? If he stands to gain financially in any way…is he not peddling the Word of God? If he leaves out anything of Scripture because it might offend someone or keep them from ‘coming to Christ’…is he not watering down, thereby corrupting, the Word of God?   And if we have a corrupted Word of God…is it truly the Word of God? Is it Truth as Paul taught or is it a mere facsimile of Truth…one that will pull many to the wide path but leave few to find the narrow gate?   What purpose does the wide path have if walking on it makes you run head first into a narrow gate that you can’t get through?   Is this not what the many ‘preachers’ of today’s ‘churches’ are doing? Are they not pulling many onto the wide path by giving them a ‘gospel’ with a ‘God’ they can accept and love, because the ‘Christ’ they’re peddling requires little of them?   And if the ‘gospel’ being given by these ‘preachers’ isn’t the true gospel as Paul preached it…then is it the gospel at all? And what of the preachers that are giving a false gospel…are they not false teachers?   And what happens to the ‘church’ when a false teacher gives them a false gospel?   I know so many people that get every bit of their ‘Christian’ beliefs from the mouth of their ‘preacher’. They say things like ‘my preacher said’ or ‘my preacher believes’, or ‘my preacher teaches’. They put their very souls into what a man is teaching them…and most of those men are false teachers.   What then becomes of the ‘church’ whose pews are filled with people whose very faith rests in the teachings of the preacher on the stage?   Instead of the Church as Scripture defines it we have false ‘churches’ packed with false believers being fed a false gospel by a false teacher. And the Truth that they think they’re getting and believing in is a truth that Paul wouldn’t recognize.   Jesus himself called such false ‘churches’ "synagogues of Satan" (Rev. 2:9; 3:9). Whether or not the ‘churches’ of today would actually fall under that definition wouldn’t any ‘church’ that teaches anything that differs from the Truth as taught in the Scriptures be teaching a lie? And if they’re teaching lies and calling it the gospel…have they not fallen into Satan’s domain? Scripture tells us that Satan is the father of lies. And no matter how you want to look at that we can’t deny that Paul warned many times of false teachers. We’re told that they’re wolves in sheep’s clothing.   These false teachers are peddlers…hucksters…that corrupt the Word of God. Whether they do it for money, for man’s acceptance, to bolster their own numbers of ‘conversions’ and therefore their own pride, or even just for their own (false) sense of security…the end result is the same…a perversion of the Truth. And many of them do it while claiming to be ‘called by God.’ Would God ever ‘call’ anyone to teach and promote anything short of the entire Truth of His Word? Would He ‘call’ them to sell it, whether for monetary gain or some man oriented reasoning? The reality is that most, if not all, of today’s ‘preachers’ aren’t called by God but rather by themselves. They have some interest in preaching and believe that means they have been ‘called’ by God to do that. They then follow their ‘calling’ into expensive seminaries to get man-made certifications that will allow them to send out resume’s to apply for a job and thereby a paycheck to put their ‘calling’ to work.   Does that sound like a calling by the Lord or does it sound like men following their own desires?   Once these preachers have gained their expensive certificates and earned themselves a job through their resume’s they may then begin to preach (and ‘earn’ their paycheck) by leading ‘God’s flock’ through the ‘gospel’ that they have been taught to teach by men. They can use the very Word of God to create and promote a ‘gospel’ that looks nothing like the Truth as its presented within the pages of Scripture. And they preach not the gospel but a ‘gospel’ that is found nowhere in Scripture. Paul himself saw this happening and warned against it.   For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough.  2 Corinthians 11:4 But it wasn’t just the false teachers he warned against. He clearly told those that accept it that they are putting up with it. In other words…by listening to it they are actually allowing it to happen. How many Christians sit in the audience of ‘churches’ and listen to a message being delivered that speaks something other than the Truth? How many sit idly by and listen as the very gospel our Lord gave his life for is corrupted and peddled…and do nothing. They put up with it readily enough. They put up with listening to a message being delivered that isn’t the Truth of Scripture. They put up with turning the solemnity of the Word of God into a form of entertainment designed to draw in crowds, to boost numbers, and to keep those crowds entertained so that they aren’t offended and will keep coming back. Was the Truth that Christ died for entertainment? Was it so inoffensive that it appealed to everyone? Was Paul beaten and imprisoned for a Truth that was careful not to offend? What of the many ways ‘churches’ fund their ‘ministries’ through worldly entertainments that are designed to draw in an even bigger crowd so that they can line their pockets for the purpose of continuing the perpetuation of the twisting and perverting of the true gospel? Did Christ die for that gospel? Did He teach that it’s okay to feed the carnal minds and hearts of people…rather lost or saved…at the expense of their pocketbooks to further any form of the gospel? And yet as Paul said…you put up with it readily enough. My husband just showed me a video about televangelists that buy multimillion dollar jets…now I ask…what possible need could anyone that’s supposedly concerned about the souls of the lost need with a high dollar jet. If…and I stress, if…they absolutely had to go somewhere that flight was required why wouldn’t they go by the cheapest flight available so as to put their ill-gotten gains to better use serving the people that they claim to care about? One of the ‘preachers’ in this news video is shown literally bragging of having bought not one but two very expensive jets and paying cash for it. I have to ask what the people that regularly give their money to this man think of his new ‘toys’. But that doesn’t happen in your average ‘church’ some might say. Maybe not in some but I personally know of a ‘church’ in a mid-sized town where the preacher owns multiple high end vehicles and his own airplane. And it was all bought with ‘church’ funds. And what of the ‘church’ that provides the funds for such extravagances? …you put up with it readily enough. These preachers peddle their versions of ‘God’ and the people put up with it. I can understand that when we’re truly talking about wolves in sheep’s clothes…or preachers that teach such subtle differences that a person would have to know the Scriptures well to know that what’s being taught is a lie but what of those that sit in the audience…or their living room…and listen to the blatant blaspheme of the Lord while hearing these men tell of ultra-expensive purchases? Even those that teach subtle lies as Truth are they not men who have a form of godliness while denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5). Are they not wolves in sheep’s clothing? Are they not teaching lies and therefore leading ‘churches’ that have fallen into the hands of the ‘father of lies’? I’ve heard many times…while sitting in the pew of a ‘church’…that Satan will attack the ‘church’ but I must ask…why would he need to attack the ‘church’ when lies are on the menu of every sermon? If anyone is saved out of such a ‘church’ it’s in spite of the ‘church’ and not because of it. The Lord can, and does, use all things to His glory. These false teachers and their false ‘churches’ may be responsible for the true salvation of some but it isn’t because of the false gospel given within its walls…it’s  in spite of it. It’s because that was the method the Lord used to save one of His own. But what of the false gospel being delivered week after week from the very men that claim to be working for the salvation of others?   They are false teachers delivering a false message that has no power to salvation except for that which the Lord gives to those that are his.   There is, in fact, a method to the madness that is preached from the pulpits. While these men are in their expensive schools earning their ‘calling’ they are actually taught to profile their targeted audiences and to tailor the message to those that will be listening.   They are in fact profiling their audiences straight into hearing a fake gospel that sends people straight to hell. But I’m saved, some might say. But I said the prayer, another will say. I chose Jesus is the reply of so many.   And that last part is the worst of all because it completely disregards the fact that Christ said you did not choose me but I chose you.   Even still…the sad reality is that most have no idea that Christ even said that. They don’t know because they’ve been taught the false gospel by the false teachers and they take those false teachers at their words. They lay their entire salvation into the hands of men. And those men hand them straight into hell.   They follow the wolf like slaves following their master. Where the wolf leads, they follow. And sadly enough heaven isn’t where those wolves are leading. They follow their masters (preachers) believing they are being given the gospel for salvation when in fact they are being fed lies that get them nothing but eternal damnation.   There are two very basic problems with what’s happening there…two things that are perpetuating the system. 1) those preachers have been so indoctrinated with the gospel that they preach that they don’t know they’re teaching lies to the very people they believe they’re leading to salvation, and 2) the people they’re leading don’t want to hear the Truth even if the preacher knew how to give it.   If a preacher actually got behind a pulpit and told his audience that the prayer they prayed didn’t save them, that their free will is a lie, that their salvation rests in the hands of the Lord and nowhere else…his audience would quickly disperse. If they made it through the first sermon, they wouldn’t return for a second.   Years ago I was given tickets to go and hear a classical pianist. I knew nothing about the woman but was told that I would love listening to her, that her music was amazing. I went to the concert and barely made it through it. What I had been told would be classical piano...which I don’t care for…was anything but. Rock and roll would have been a better definition. The next time that woman came to town I was once again given tickets to go listen to her. I made sure not to make use of those tickets.   How many people that pack the pews on Sundays would be sure to avoid those same pews if they ever heard the true gospel delivered from the stage they spend so much time in front of?   You see…most of those in the audience don’t want the truth. They want their false teachers giving them a false doctrine through an entertaining program that feeds on their own sinful desires.   They don’t want to be taught a gospel that teaches a saving faith. They want a false gospel that teaches they can have their hearts desires and still have faith. They want to be told that it’s okay that they think of movies and food before they think of Christ. They want to be told that it’s only normal for them to have reacted the way they did to a certain situation. They want to be told that ‘God’ loves the things they love. Because…they put up with it readily enough. Paul warned… For the time is coming when people will not endure sound[a] teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, 4 and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths. 2 Timothy 4:3-4 People of today have turned away from Truth and have followed myths. The biggest one that I can think of in the ‘church’ is the myth that man ‘chooses’ Christ or that he has the free will to do so. These same people have ‘itching ears’ that want to be give a gospel they can grab onto and because of that they ‘accumulate’ or follow teachers…preachers, authors, speakers, etc…that give them what they want to hear. They have turned away from truth and wouldn’t sit still to listen to it and they sure wouldn’t go back for a second helping. I sat in one such ‘church’ building about a year ago and heard the preacher tell the audience that whatever part of the Bible made them angry was the very part they needed to spend time in. I would have to agree with that preacher on that. But I’d also have to ask the question…why? Why does that part of Scripture make you angry? What is it about that part of Scripture that makes you angry? Are you scared? Threatened? Do you see something there that shakes what you believe? Why? I saw a headline online a few days ago that said a ‘church’ is ordaining homosexual ministers. I have to ask if that really sounds like a ‘church’ but then I would have to ask…is there any part of the Bible that makes those so-called ministers angry? And if so…why does it make them angry? Could those so-called ministers walk into a church of true regenerate believers and be allowed to preach or teach any sort of message? How long would they last before someone interrupted their message to correct them using the very Scriptures that probably inflame their anger? And so there are entire ‘churches’ that meet to support and encourage one another in the very sins that the true church would reject outright. The people that go to those ‘churches’ do so because their false teachers pat them on the back and tell them that what they believe is okay instead of telling them that they’re living in sin and they need to repent and beg the Lord to save them from their very sins. But it isn’t just the obvious things like homosexuality that falls into this category. There are entire ‘churches’ formed around certain lifestyles. The rich go to ritzy  ‘churches’, cowboys go to cowboy ‘churches’, country folks go to country ‘churches’. They all have their catagories and they pretty much stay within the ‘church’ that best supports their lifestyles. A farmer isn’t going to go to a ‘church’ that frowns on dirt getting on their fancy floor more than a time or two if he’s having to go straight from the field to the ‘church’. He will soon find a ‘church’ that welcomes him, dirt and all. Sin is the same way. The sinner is the farmer that’s looking for a ‘church’ that will welcome him sins and all. What does that say of the preacher of the church that welcomes the sin into their midst instead of rebuking the sinner and teaching him the Truth of Scripture? What does it say of the ‘church’ that embraces the sinner and his sins with open arms because ‘God would love him’? They are false ‘churches’ being led by false teachers and being fed a false gospel that caters to their wants instead of to the Truth.

 

Another gospel

Booklets and Pamphlets
by A.W. Pink

Another Gospel

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Satan is not an initiator but an imitator. God has an only begotten Son-the Lord Jesus, so has Satan-"the son of Perdition" (2 Thess.2:3). There is a Holy Trinity, and there is likewise a Trinity of Evil (Rev. 20:10). Do we read of the "children of God," so also we read of "the children of the wicked one" ( Matthew 13:38). Does God work in the former both to will and to do of His good pleasure, then we are told that Satan is "the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience" (Eph 2:2). Is there a "mystery of godliness" (1 Tim. 3:16), so also is there a "mystery of iniquity" (2 Thess 2:7). Are we told that God by His angels "seals" His servants in their foreheads (Rev 7:3), so also we learn that Satan by his agents sets a mark in the foreheads of his devotees (Rev. 13:16). Are we told that "the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2:10), then Satan also provides his "deep things" (Greek-Rev. 2:24). Did Christ perform miracles, so also can Satan (2 Thess. 2:9). Is Christ seated upon a throne, so is Satan (Greek-Rev. 2:13). Has Christ a Church, then Satan has his "synagogue" (Rev 2:9). Is Christ the Light of the world, then so is Satan himself "transformed into an angel of light" (2 Cor. 11:14). Did Christ appoint "apostles," then Satan has his apostles, too (2 Cor. 11:13). And this leads us to consider: "The Gospel of Satan."

Satan is the arch-counterfeiter. The Devil is now busy at work in the same field in which the Lord sowed the good seed. He is seeking to prevent the growth of the wheat by another plant, the tares, which closely resembles the wheat in appearance. In a word, by a process of imitation he is aiming to neutralize the Work of Christ. Therefore, as Christ has a Gospel, Satan has a gospel too; the latter being a clever counterfeit of the former. So closely does the gospel of Satan resemble that which it parodies, multitudes of the unsaved are deceived by it.

It is to this gospel of Satan the apostle refers when he says to the Galatians, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another, but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the Gospel of Christ" (Gal. 1:6,7). This false gospel was being heralded even in the days of the apostle, and a most awful curse was called down upon those who preached it. The apostle continues, "But though we, or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." By the help of God we shall now endeavor to expound, or rather, expose this false gospel.

The gospel of Satan is not a system of revolutionary principles, nor yet a program of anarchy. It does not promote strife and war, but aims at peace and unity. It seeks not to set the mother against her daughter nor the father against his son, but fosters the fraternal spirit whereby the human race is regarded as one great "brotherhood." It does not seek to drag down the natural man, but to improve and uplift him. It advocates education and cultivation and appeals to "the best that is within - It aims to make this world such a comfortable and congenial habitat that Christ’s absence from it will not be felt and God will not be needed. It endeavors to occupy man so much with this world that he has no time or inclination to think of the world to come. It propagates the principles of self-sacrifice, charity and benevolence, and teaches us to live for the good of others, and to be kind to all. It appeals strongly to the carnal mind and is popular with the masses, because it ignores the solemn facts that by nature man is a fallen creature, alienated from the life of God, and dead in trespasses and sins, and that his only hope lies in being born again.

In contradistinction to the Gospel of Christ, the gospel of Satan teaches salvation by works. It inculcates justification before God on the ground of human merits. Its sacramental phrase is "Be good and do good"; but it fails to recognize that in the flesh there dwelleth no good thing. It announces salvation by character, which reverses the order of God’s Word—character by, as the fruit of, salvation. Its various ramifications and organizations are manifold. Temperance, Reform Movements, "Christian Socialist Leagues," Ethical Culture Societies, "Peace Congresses" are all employed (perhaps unconsciously) in proclaiming this gospel of Satan—salvation by works. The pledge card is substituted for Christ; social purity for individual regeneration, and politics and philosophy, for doctrine and godliness. The cultivation of the old man is considered more practical than the creation of a new man in Christ Jesus; whilst universal peace is looked for apart from the interposition and return of the Prince of Peace.

The apostles of Satan are not saloon-keepers and white-slave traffickers, but are for the most part ordained ministers. Thousands of those who occupy our modern pulpits are no longer engaged in presenting the fundamentals of the Christian Faith, but have turned aside from the Truth and have given heed unto fables. Instead of magnifying the enormity of sin and setting forth its eternal consequences, they minimize it by declaring that sin is merely ignorance or the absence of good. Instead of warning their hearers to "flee from the wrath to come" they make God a liar by declaring that He is too loving and merciful to send any of His own creatures to eternal torment. Instead of declaring that "without shedding of blood is no remission," they merely hold up Christ as the great Exemplar and exhort their hearers to "follow in His steps." Of them it must be said, "For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God" (Rom. 10:3). Their message may sound very plausible and their aim appear very praiseworthy, yet we read of them—"for such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves (imitating) into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing [not to be wondered at] if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their works" (2 Cor. 11:13-15).

In addition to the fact that today hundreds of churches are without a leader who faithfully declares the whole counsel of God and presents His way of salvation, we also have to face the additional fact that the majority of people in these churches are very unlikely to learn the Truth themselves. The family altar, where a portion of God’s Word was wont to be read daily is now, even in the homes of nominal Christians, largely a thing of the past. The Bible is not expounded in the pulpit and it is not read in the pew. The demands of this rushing age are so numerous, that multitudes have little time and still less inclination to make preparation for the meeting with God. Hence the majority who are too indolent to search for themselves, are left at the mercy of those whom they pay to search for them; many of whom betray their trust by studying and expounding economic and social problems rather than the Oracles of God.

In Proverbs 14:12 we read, "There is a way which seemeth right unto a man; but the end thereof are the ways of death." This "way" which ends in" death" is the Devil’s Delusion—the gospel of Satan—a way of salvation by human attainment. It is a way which "seemeth right," that is to say, it is presented in such a plausible way that it appeals to the natural man: it is set forth in such a subtle and attractive manner, that it commends itself to the intelligence of its hearers. By virtue of the fact that it appropriates to itself religious terminology, sometimes appeals to the Bible for its support (whenever this suits its purpose), holds up before men lofty ideals, and is proclaimed by those who have graduated from our theological institutions, countless multitudes are decoyed and deceived by it.

The success of an illegitimate coiner depends largely upon how closely the counterfeit resembles the genuine article. Heresy is not so much the total denial of the truth as a perversion of it. That is why half a lie is always more dangerous than a complete repudiation. Hence when the Father of Lies enters the pulpit it is not his custom to flatly deny the fundamental truths of Christianity, rather does he tacitly acknowledge them, and then proceed to give an erroneous interpretation and a false application. For example: he would not be so foolish as to boldly announce his disbelief in a personal God; he takes His existence for granted and then gives a false description of His character. He announces that God is the spiritual Father of all men, when the Scriptures plainly tell us that we are "the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:26), and that "as many as received him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God" (John 1:12). Further, he declares that God is far too merciful to ever send any member of the human race to Hell, when God Himself has said, "Whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the Lake of Fire" (Rev. 20:15). Again; Satan would not be so foolish as to ignore the central figure of human history—the Lord Jesus Christ; on the contrary, his gospel acknowledges Him to be the best man that ever lived. Attention is drawn to His deeds of compassion and works of mercy, the beauty of His character and the sublimity of His teaching. His life is eulogized, but His vicarious Death is ignored, the all-important atoning work of the cross is never mentioned, whilst His triumphant and bodily resurrection from the grave is regarded as one of the credulities of a superstitious age. It is a bloodless gospel, and presents a crossless Christ, who is received not as God manifest in the flesh, but merely as the Ideal Man.

In 2 Corinthians 4:3 we have a scripture which sheds much light upon our present theme. There we are told, "if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world [Satan] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God should shine unto them." He blinds the minds of unbelievers through hiding the light of the Gospel of Christ, and he does this by substituting his own gospel. Appropriately is he designated "The Devil and Satan which deceiveth the whole world" (Rev. 12:9). In merely appealing to "the best that is within man," and in simply exhorting him to "lead a nobler life" there is afforded a general platform upon which those of every shade of opinion can unite and proclaim this common message.

Again we quote Proverbs 14:12—"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." It has been said with considerable truth that the way to Hell is paved with good intentions. There will be many in the Lake of Fire who commended life with good intentions, honest resolutions and exalted ideals—those who were just in their dealings, fair in their transactions and charitable in all their ways; men who prided themselves in their integrity but who sought to justify themselves before God by their own righteousness; men who were moral, merciful and magnanimous, but who never saw themselves as guilty, lost, hell-deserving sinners needing a Saviour. Such is the way which "seemeth right." Such is the way that commends itself to the carnal mind and recommends itself to multitudes of deluded ones today. The Devil’s Delusion is that we can be saved by our own works, and justified by our own deeds; whereas, God tells us in His Word : "By grace are ye saved through faith. ..not of works lest any man should boast." And again, "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us."

A few years ago the writer became acquainted with one who was a lay preacher and an enthusiastic "Christian worker." For over seven years this friend had been engaged in public preaching and religious activities, but from certain expressions and phrases he used, the writer doubted whether this friend was a "born again" man. When we began to question him, it was found that he was very imperfectly acquainted with the Scriptures and had only the vaguest conception of Christ’s Work for sinners. For a time we sought to present the way of salvation in a simple and impersonal manner and to encourage our friend to study the Word for himself, in the hope that if he were still unsaved God would be pleased to reveal the Saviour he needed.

One night to our joy, the one who had been preaching the Gospel (?) for several years, confessed that he had found Christ only the previous night. He acknowledged (to use his own words) that he had been presenting "the Christ ideal" but not the Christ of the Cross. The writer believes there are thousands like this preacher who, perhaps, have been brought up in Sunday School, taught about the birth, life, and teachings of Jesus Christ, who believe in the historicity of His person, who spasmodically endeavor to practice His precepts, and who think that that is all that is necessary for their salvation. Frequently, this class when they reach manhood go out into the world, encounter the attacks of atheists and infidels and are told that such a person as Jesus of Nazareth never lived. But the impressions of early days cannot be easily erased, and they remain steadfast in their declaration that they "believe in Jesus Christ." Yet, when their faith is examined, only too often it is found that though they believe many things about Jesus Christ they do not really believe in him. They believe with the head that such a person lived (and, because they believe this imagine that therefore they are saved), but they have never thrown down the weapons of their warfare against Him, yielded themselves to Him, nor truly believed with their heart in Him.

The bare acceptance of an orthodox doctrine about the person of Christ without the heart being won by Him and the life devoted to Him, is another phase of that way "which seemeth right unto a man" but the end thereof are "the ways of death." A mere intellectual assent to the reality of Christ’s person, and which goes no further, is another phase of the way which "seemeth right unto a man" but of which the end thereof "are the ways of death," or, in other words, is another aspect of the gospel of Satan.

And now, where do you stand? Are you in the way which "seemeth right," but which ends in death; or, are you in the Narrow Way which leadeth unto life? Have you truly forsaken the Broad Road which leadeth to death? Has the love of Christ created in your heart a hatred and horror of all that is displeasing to Him? Are you desirous that he should "reign over" you? (Luke 19:14). Are you relying wholly on His righteousness and blood for your acceptance with God?

Those who are trusting to an outward form of godliness, such as baptism or "confirmation!" those who are religious because it is considered a mark of respectability; those who attend some Church or Chapel because it is the fashion to do so; and, those who unite with some Denomination because they suppose that such a step will enable them to become Christians, are in the way which "ends in death"—death spiritual and eternal. However pure our motives, however noble our intentions, however well-meaning our purposes, however sincere our endeavors, God will not acknowledge us as His sons, until we accept His Son.

A yet more specious form of Satan’s gospel is to move preachers to present the atoning sacrifice of Christ and then tell their hearers that all God requires from them is to "believe" in His Son. Thereby thousands of impenitent souls are deluded into thinking they have been saved. But Christ said, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish" (Luke 13:3). To "repent" is to hate sin, to sorrow over it, to turn from it. It is the result of the Spirits making the heart contrite before God. None except a broken heart can savingly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ.

Again, thousands are deceived into supposing that they have "accepted Christ" as their "personal Saviour," who have not first received Him as their LORD. The Son of God did not come here to save His people in their sin, but "from their sins" (Matthew 1:21). To be saved from sins, is to be saved from ignoring and despising the authority of God, it is to abandon the course of self-will and self-pleasing, it is to "forsake our way" (Isa. 55:7). It is to surrender to God’s authority, to yield to His dominion, to give ourselves over to be ruled by Him. The one who has never taken Christ’s "yoke" upon him, who is not truly and diligently seeking to please Him in all the details of life, and yet supposes that he is "resting on the Finished Work of Christ" is deluded by the Devil.

In the seventh chapter of Matthew there are two scriptures which give us approximate results of Christ’s Gospel and Satan s counterfeit. First, in verses 13-14, "Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Second; in verses 22-23, "Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied [preached] in Thy name? and in Thy name cast out demons, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from Me, ye that work iniquity." Yes, my reader, it is possible to work in the name of Christ, and even to preach in his name, and though the world knows us, the Church knows us, yet to be unknown to the Lord! How necessary is it then to find out where we really are; to examine ourselves and see whether we be in the faith; to measure ourselves by the Word of God and see if we are being deceived by our subtle Enemy; to find out whether we are building our house upon the sand, or whether it is erected on the Rock which is Jesus Christ. May the Holy Spirit search our hearts, break our wills, slay our enmity against God, work in us a deep and true repentance, and direct our gaze to the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.