LESSON 12
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Having made it this far in the correspondence course, you should be wondering WHY, if this is what the Bible plainly teaches, you haven’t heard it all these years! Where has it been hiding? Why didn’t YOUR preacher tell you this?
Did you realize that your Bible says millions today are worshiping and praising Christ IN VAIN? That they are doing all their worship, spending countless hours in church and having their social events, fundraisers, and church festivals all for nothing? Jesus said so!
Mark 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.
But how can this be? How could Jesus not be pleased by their praise of Him and their service to the church? Another translation clarifies:
Mark 7:7 (GWV) Their worship of me is POINTLESS, because their teachings are rules made by humans.
Jesus said if your worship of Him is based on the rules MEN made up, rather than the commandments of God, your worship is POINTLESS! An utter waste of time! And today, millions are sincerely worshiping Jesus, and it is all USELESS and meaningless, because that worship is based on teachings of MEN, not the commands of Jesus and the Bible!
Matthew 7:13 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:
It’s not the majority who find salvation! It’s the MINORITY! The “Little Flock” (Luke 12:32).
Verse 14 (NKJV) “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and THERE ARE FEW who find it.
Not the great, powerful churches but the despised few! Only a FEW find the gate, not the many, but a tiny handful! But why is that? How it is possible with so many exalting Jesus, and giving their heart to Jesus, praying and giving offerings and doing all sorts of things for Jesus, HOW is it that only a few of all those multitudes are saved? Listen to what Jesus says about how the vast majority of today’s professing “Christians” will fare on judgment day:
Matthew 7:22-23 MANY [a couple? One or two small groups? No! The MANY!] will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? 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.
MANY will come to Jesus and say, “But Lord, look at the charity drives we organized! Look at the homeless we helped! Look at all the good deeds we did!” Oh yes, MANY will say that to Jesus in that day! And those are fine things, but it’s all POINTLESS unless they ALSO do what Jesus commanded!
Luke 6:46 And WHY call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?
WHY do so many call Jesus their Lord, call Him their KING, and yet do CONTRARY to His every command! Jesus said IF you love Him, KEEP HIS COMMANDMENTS! (John 14:15). He said you are His friends IF you do what He commands you! And He will say “DEPART from Me”, to everyone who practices INIQUITY!
Notice that last word, “iniquity” – you’ll see that again and again as Jesus condemns the FALSE Christianity! What is iniquity, in modern English? Look it up in a dictionary and you’ll see it means “lawlessness” – acting and teaching contrary to the law of God! Another translation makes it clear:
Matthew 7:23 (NKJV) “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice LAWLESSNESS!’”
Jesus said He would declare this to the MANY, not to the few! He would command all those who practice lawlessness to DEPART from Him! But who practices lawlessness today? Who teaches the law of God is not binding today, contrary to the massive amount of scriptures I pointed out in Lesson 3?
Is it the BIG, POWERFUL churches who teach that – the ones that have MANY MEMBERS? Do THEY teach the law is against us, and bad for us, and to even TRY to obey it offends God? And what does God say to all those churches – and all those well-intentioned members – who practice lawlessness?
God said even though they call Jesus “LORD”, and gave their heart to Jesus, STILL, if they practice lawlessness and keep the commands of MEN instead of the commands of God, THEIR WORSHIP IS IN VAIN! It is ALL FOR NOTHING, because they are practicing a FALSE Christianity, for a true Christian follows Christ!
So how can you make sure YOU are not a part of a FALSE, counterfeit Christianity? Where did it come from, and how can you recognize it? That’s…
LESSON 12: A FALSE CHRISTIANITY
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through HIS SUBTILTY, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
As I’ve already said in these lessons, Paul wasn’t afraid they were going to be led off into voodoo, or back into Apollo worship. That was a clear difference, and once in the church they were very unlikely to be led away into something so obviously pagan and evil. No, the concern was a subtly different religion – one that was ALMOST like what Paul preached… but not quite!
Verse 4 For if he that cometh preaceth ANOTHER JESUS, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
Paul feared they would be deceived by a COMPLETELY counterfeit religion – one that worshiped the name of JESUS! One that had its own “holy” spirit, and its own GOSPEL! From a distance, it would look the same – but the Jesus at the head of this religion would be a DIFFERENT Jesus – a FALSE Jesus – an IMPOSTOR!
As verse 3 says, this false religion dates back to the Garden of Eden; Satan personally started it when he took the commandment of God (“thou shalt not eat of that tree”) and twisted it and said, “Oh, God doesn’t mean that! The commandment doesn’t really apply to YOU! YOU won’t die if you break God’s law!” (Genesis 3:1-6, especially verse 5).
Doesn’t every mainstream church teach the same thing – that if you break the commandment of God, “thou shalt NOT surely die”? But it was a subtle lie – he started by telling them the commandment wouldn’t kill them – that they weren’t under the law! (Genesis 3:5). Then he explained this commandment was AGAINST them, preventing them from having good things ! (Genesis 3:6). Sound familiar?
Paul was afraid lest the Corinthians fall into the VERY SAME TRAP Eve did – the exact same lie! By following a COUNTERFEIT JESUS, with a counterfeit gospel! This false Jesus comes with HIS OWN special “good news” message! His own way to achieve salvation, WITHOUT obeying the commands of God!
But before we get into what that gospel is, there is another key point to notice about that same scripture.
2 Corinthians 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through HIS SUBTILTY, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
This deceptive counterfeit religion will corrupt your mind from the SIMPLICITY that is in Christ! Because Christ’s message – the TRUE Christ – is very simple. It makes SENSE! These lessons you’ve studied have made a PACKAGE of the Bible, letting it explain and interpret itself and make it clear that the true religion must make SENSE!
But the false religion takes you AWAY from that simplicity into ANOTHER gospel – a gospel that is complicated, and incomprehensible, that man isn’t permitted to know. Here are a few examples:
Most, if not all, churches believe we can’t know God’s will. But the true gospel says… Ephesians 5:17. Most churches believe Jesus destroyed the law; the true gospel says… Matthew 5:17. All churches sing at Christmastime that Jesus came to bring “peace on earth, good will towards men”. The true gospel says… Matthew 10:34-36. Most churches teach that David is up in heaven right now. But the true gospel says… Acts 2:34. They also teach that ALL the righteous dead ascended to heaven immediately at death. But the true gospel says… John 3:13.
This is only to show there is a blatant contrast between the religion you’ve probably always known and the religion of the Bible; between the gospel you’ve heard, and the gospel Jesus BROUGHT!
THE MYSTERY OF GOD
The most important contrast of all is summed up by this maxim which is believed by nearly all churches today: “The Lord works in mysterious ways His many wonders to perform”. Incidentally, that maxim is not in the Bible – most people suppose it is, but it simply isn’t there.
It is true there are several places in the Bible where it speaks of the “mystery of God” (such as Revelation 10:7). But that mystery is NOT a mystery to those who follow God! It’s only a mystery to those who REJECT God!
Did God give it to His servants to understand the mystery? Mark 4:11. And did He say those others would NOT understand? (Same verse). Did He say He would do NOTHING without telling His servants? Amos 3:7. Did He say these things were hidden – were a mystery – to the so-called wise, but revealed to babes? Matthew 11:25. Did Paul want us to be ignorant of this mystery? Romans 11:25.
Has He made KNOWN to us the “mystery” of His will? Ephesians 1:9. Did Paul “make it known”? Ephesians 6:19. Even though once hidden, has it now been revealed? Colossians 1:26. Did Paul say the mystery was now REVEALED to us, and made OBVIOUS? Romans 16:25-26.
So you see that phrase is completely false. In fact, the phrase, “God works in mysterious ways” is the very essence of the false gospel – the counterfeit religion based in unknowable, secret MYSTERIES! But the true God works openly! John 18:20.
Jesus Himself identified that counterfeit religion, when He said those who “worshiped” Jesus, but did not do the things Jesus said were “workers of iniquity!” God’s will is NOT a mystery! It leaps off of every page of the Bible, clearly telling us what to do and what not to do. But the false Christianity takes that clarity, that SIMPLICITY OF CHRIST, and makes it into a MYSTERY, something we can never really understand.
It does this in order to conceal God’s will from the people. Conceal the clear commands like “if you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15) in order to DECEIVE the people. In order to lead them into a FALSE Christianity, where obedience is not required. In fact, in that false Christianity, obedience to the law of God is actually OFFENSIVE to the false Jesus! And when you learn who that false Jesus really is, you’ll understand why it is offensive to him!
Was this religion, based on mystery and iniquity, alive and working in the Church of God even in the time of Paul? What did he call it? 2 Thessalonians 2:7. Get that! It’s the MYSTERY of INIQUITY! The MYSTERY of LAWLESSNESS! What did God say about lawlessness? 2 Timothy 2:19. Whoever names the name of Christ – that is, whoever calls Jesus their Lord – MUST depart from iniquity! MUST cease their lawless ways!
Yet all of today’s mainstream Christian religions teach ALL you must do to be saved is call on the name of Jesus! That you can somehow KEEP your iniquity, and be saved IN your iniquity! That by some mysterious method of grace and nailing the law to the cross, you can KEEP SINNING and IGNORE the things Christ says, and merely call Him Lord, and still be saved! And yet the true Jesus will tell you to DEPART from Him if you believe that lie! (Luke 13:23-27).
If you want to be a true Christian, you MUST depart from iniquity! You MUST give up your lawless ways and lawless doctrines – you either depart from them, or Jesus will command you to depart from HIM!
Did Jesus prophesy that in the end time, OUR TIME, MANY false Christs would arise? Mark 13:22. And false prophets OF Christ, as well? (Same verse). Did He say MANY would come IN HIS NAME, calling HIM Lord, and deceive many? Matthew 24:4-5.
That last verse is vitally important! When the disciples asked Him about the end time – the time you and I live in – the VERY FIRST WORDS Jesus said were “Don’t let anyone deceive you!” because it is a time of GREAT deception! Why?
Because MANY shall come in Jesus’ name, saying HE IS THE CHRIST. Most people misread that verse. They assume Jesus’ warned us of people coming PRETENDING to be the Christ. But how many people are really deceived by wild-eyed prophets claiming to be the Messiah? A few, yes, but the MANY? And a deception so clever, that it might deceive God’s own elect?? Of course not!
That verse says many shall come IN JESUS’ NAME – that is, claiming to have His authority, calling themselves Christians, AND saying “JESUS IS LORD” –and deceive MANY! And that IS HAPPENING TODAY! It happens in nearly every church on every street corner in the land! And it is such a powerful deception that unless people are warned about it, that false Christianity could deceive the VERY ELECT!
It could convince EVEN THEM the law is done away, that grace gives us license to sin! It could convince even them the wicked are in hell and the righteous in heaven even now! Or despite what the Bible teaches, that we should worship God on Sunday! Even though those doctrines are the very OPPOSITE of everything the Bible teaches! And Jesus says even though they come in HIS name, and exalt HIM as the Messiah, DO NOT FOLLOW THEM! (Luke 21:8).
ANOTHER GOSPEL
What is this false religion like; how can you recognize it?
Do ministers for this counterfeit church appear as ministers for Christ? 2 Corinthians 11:13. When people are deceived away from the true church, what are they led away into? 1 Timothy 4:1-2. How can they be led into doctrines of devils? Doesn’t Satan have a pitchfork and horns and appear all red and everything? 2 Corinthians 11:14. So how does his counterfeit religion appear – holy and clean, or evil and insidious? Do its ministers seem to be sincere, and teach good things? Verse 15.
Get that! Satan appears as an angel of LIGHT, not as a pitchfork-toting devil! And he is a master of deception! The whole point of deception is to DECEIVE you – and no one is deceived by a devil that LOOKS like a devil! How many people would be deceived by Satan walking up to them and saying “Hey! I hate God! Let’s go sin so we can go burn in hell for eternity!”
Seriously! Who would be deceived by that? At best, one or two mentally challenged people. But is it just one or two who will be deceived? Matthew 24:4-5, 11. Is there even a possibility the very elect – God’s chosen people, those who know Him best – might be deceived? Verse 24. But do these false prophets led by the devil speak GOOD words? Romans 16:18.
No, the deception won’t be easy to spot – the deception won’t come from a church called “the Church of Satan”, but from a church called “the Church of God”. Its ministers won’t be witch doctors preaching sin is good, but respectable “ministers of righteousness”, who preach “sure, sin is bad… but nobody’s perfect!” And this false church won’t worship a serpent, or a golden calf, or a fallen angel – they will worship JESUS. Not the one the Bible teaches us about, but “another Jesus”!
And when these poor deceived people are supposedly “saved” and give their heart to this other Jesus, they’ll receive “another spirit” – not the holy spirit of the real Jesus, but the spirit of this false Jesus.
That spirit may well do miracles (Revelation 13:14, Exodus 7:11), and speak to them in the name of God (1 Kings 22:22), and even give them the power to speak in tongues (1 John 4:1) – but it is not the spirit of Christ. Those are plain facts from your Bible.
Regardless of how kind and wise they may appear or how they are dressed, what do such ministers teach? Lamentations 2:14. How do they handle the law, in particular? Psalms 119:126. What always stands out in this religion of iniquity that God hates so much? Zephaniah 3:4.
What does Jesus say to such preachers who teach against the law of God? Matthew 5:19. But don’t they honor Jesus, and exalt Him, and pray to Him? Matthew 15:8. How did Jesus feel about that? Luke 6:46. What is the end result of hearing, but not DOING, what He says? Luke 6:49.
These Pharisees who honored Him with their lips obeyed the commandments of men instead of the commandments of God; and what did Jesus say about their religion? Matthew 15:9. And what did He say about those who followed them, and were deceived by them? Matthew 15:14.
It is clear these ministers will appear in every way as the ministers of Christ would appear; they won’t be wild-eyed cannabis-sucking freaks; they’ll be straight-laced, suit-and-tie-wearing, well-educated and to all appearances ministers of righteousness – even though in reality they are ministers of the devil.
In fact, by sight alone, you CANNOT tell one from another! And shocking though it is, if Jesus and Satan were to stand side-by-side in human form, YOU COULDN’T TELL THE DIFFERENCE!
In fact, you’d probably prefer Satan and choose him over Christ, just as Eve did – because he spins a better tale, a sweeter version of “truth”! Satan is a master deceiver – so how could you tell the difference? Besides, Jesus was plain-looking (Isaiah 53:2), while Satan is unbelievably beautiful (Ezekiel 28:12). You’d naturally prefer him!
So, in the same way you can’t distinguish his ministers or his church from the true church just by how good they look on TV or how loving they appear on the outside, nor even by how many good deeds they claim to do; you have to tell it by what is on the INSIDE! By the doctrines they hold in their heart!
John 7:24 Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.
If you naively accept what you see and hear in a church, you are certain to be deceived; so you must ask what they BELIEVE? Do they teach for, or against, the law of God? Do they go to the Bible for their doctrine, or do they go to things like the Apostles’ Creed and church fathers for their beliefs? Do they live by EVERY word of God (Matthew 4:4), or do they ignore some parts and lean too heavily on others?
You’ve learned many things by now in this correspondence course that, at the very least, your church does not teach. Very likely you’ve learned many things your church actively teaches AGAINST, and yet they are plainly in the Bible. So where did this deception start?
THE BEGINNING OF THE FALSE CHURCH
Did God give Adam and Eve a commandment in the Garden? Genesis 2:17. Did the devil then twist that command and subtly contradict God, saying the exact opposite? Genesis 3:4. Did he say the command was bad for them? Genesis 3:5. And did Eve fall for it? Genesis 3:6. And did they die “in that day”?
So many people miss that obvious question! God said, quote, “for IN THE DAY that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die” – and the devil said, “No, thou shalt NOT surely die!” – and then they ate the fruit… the sun went down… and they DIDN’T die! In fact, Adam went on to be 930 years old! (Genesis 5:5).
You can be certain Adam and Eve heaved a sigh of relief after the sun went down that day, and they saw they were still alive! So then the devil was telling the truth, and God was bluffing! Right? Not exactly.
It is vital to remember that often times God is speaking metaphorically, and if the devil can figure that out and exploit it, he can make God appear to be a liar. God said in the DAY that you eat of the fruit, you will die, right? They assumed God meant in the 24 hour day – but is that the length of a day to God? 2 Peter 3:8.
So if a day is as a thousand years to God, and God said in the DAY you eat it, you will die… then God must have meant in the THOUSAND YEAR DAY that you eat it, you will die; and that is EXACTLY what happened! The oldest man in the Bible lived 969 years (Genesis 5:27) – not quite a thousand years, is it? So God DIDN’T LIE!
But the devil didn’t exactly lie either! Not that he’d have a problem lying, but to be a convincing liar you have to mix at least a bit of the truth with your lies! So the devil twisted God’s words to say something God didn’t intend, convinced Eve to trust him, Eve did, and lo and behold the devil appeared to be right! They didn’t die! And that began this mystery of iniquity that you’re going to hear so much about in the next pages. This false church grew, with such members as Cain and Lamech, and then after the flood, blossomed in the fertile soil at Babel.
I won’t focus on this here because much of the proof is historical and thus extra-Biblical, and beyond the scope of these lessons. For an excellent Biblical and historical treatment of the origins of this false church, request a free copy of “Satan’s Great Deception” by C. Paul Meredith. You really NEED to understand the history of this evil church – thoroughly documented in that article. For now, I will give you only the outline of what happened at Babel.
After the flood, God commanded man to spread out and refill the Earth (Genesis 9:1, 7). Then a great-grandson of Noah, named Nimrod, started to gather power to himself (Genesis 10:8-9). Men preferred to follow him and stay in one place rather than keep the command of God, so Nimrod built Babel for them (verse 10). It was built specifically so that they would NOT be spread out over the Earth (Genesis 11:1-4), and specifically to protect them from the well-deserved wrath of God.
Remember, many people were still alive who remembered the flood, when the entire world was drowned for disobedience against God. And although God had given them the rainbow for a sign of His promise that He would never destroy the world by a flood again (Genesis 9:11-17), they didn’t believe Him any more than men believe Him today. God’s word wasn’t good enough for them; they didn’t trust Him.
They knew they were rebelling against the commandments of God, so they naturally feared God would once again drown them all! So to safeguard against the flood, Nimrod constructed the tower of Babel (Genesis 10:10) to “reach unto heaven” to safeguard against the flood waters (Genesis 11:4).
So again you see God had given them a commandment – to spread out and refill the Earth – but the false church countered, and said “NO! We will stay here in one place! And we will build a tower, so God can’t kill us with a flood!” Again, the false church promising that you can reject the commands of God and “you shall not surely die!”
God naturally only put up with so much of this before He divided their languages, and FORCED them to spread out over the Earth as He had commanded at the first (Genesis 11:5-9). But the leader, Nimrod, was still to have a tremendous impact on history to this day.
Notice Genesis 10:9 calls him a mighty hunter “before the Lord”; this is an archaic expression, in modern English it would read “a mighty hunter in FRONT of the Lord”, that is, “in PLACE of the Lord”. Someone who eclipses God in the eyes of the people.
After the flood, God promised the beasts would fear men; Genesis 9:2. But like all of His promises, if you are disobedient to God, He will withdraw the blessings. When Nimrod began to be a “mighty one” on the Earth and the people followed him instead of God, the “fear and dread” of humans ceased to be in the animals; so Nimrod became a mighty hunter, to protect them from the beasts – since God refused to protect them because they rejected His commands!
This is all the Bible says about it, but from ancient records and Egyptian, Babylonian, Indian and Greek mythology we can piece together a very complete picture; “Satan’s Great Deception” lays out the proof, but I will summarize it here so you can have a better grasp of the missing pieces in history that the Bible doesn’t give us, which will help you understand what comes later.
Cush, son of Ham (Genesis 10:6) married a woman named Semiramis; they had a son named Nimrod. (Verse 8). After Cush died, Nimrod married his own mother, Semiramis! (Don’t forget this, it’s very important at the end of this lesson!).
Both Nimrod and Semiramis were much loved and considered heroes and benefactors of all mankind for protecting them from the judgment of God and killing the beasts they feared. To make a very long story short, they were deified, Nimrod representing the sun and Semiramis representing the moon; then Shem, a righteous son of Noah, killed the evil Nimrod.
Then Semiramis took the religion underground. It was the same religion, but now instead of openly worshiping Nimrod and the sun, they worshiped an innocuous symbol like a calf or a tree. They were afraid to worship Nimrod openly for fear of Shem’s righteous judgment.
To an outsider, these symbols meant nothing, but to the initiated they were the same old “mysteries of iniquity”. After Nimrod’s death, Semiramis developed a counterfeit church based on God’s promise of a Savior who would bruise the head of the devil (Genesis 3:15). To capitalize on that well-known promise, she claimed one of her sons, named Tammuz, was the promised savior of mankind, and actually Nimrod resurrected from the dead – a counterfeit Christ.
As the mother of the alleged son of God, she was worshiped as well; her worship grew and flourished under many names such as Venus and Isis (in fact, virtually every fertility goddess traces its origin back to her). Though worshiped under different names, her title was nearly always “the Queen of Heaven”. Nimrod too was known by many names, most war, father, or savior gods trace their origin back to him, including Apollo, Osirus/Horus, Mithras, and Saturn. Many of these gods have myths connecting them with death for mankind’s sin, going to hell, and resurrection from the dead – counterfeits of the coming Jesus, and the true origin of the doctrines of heaven and hell in modern Christianity.
Over time, the names changed, but the practices stayed the same; these false gods were always worshiped through symbols (statues, icons), and the religion was always a “mystery” to the uninitiated. And when you peeled back the deception the religion was always, always dedicated to “saving” people from having to obey the laws of God.
It was this counterfeit savior Tammuz that God criticized so vehemently in Ezekiel 8:14-18 and for whom thewomen of Israel were weeping. It was this Queen of Heaven who ultimately got Israel kicked out of the promised land (Jeremiah 7:18). It was Nimrod under the names of Baal and Molech and Chemosh that constantly led Israel astray. It was his doctrines that led to the priests of Israel being so corrupted that God said…
Jeremiah 7:8 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit.
God said they believed in LYING words – but what words “could not profit”? We know they were words they learned from this same “queen of heaven”, because Israel later said they had been serving her at this time (Jeremiah 44:16-18). So just what WERE these lying words the queen of heaven taught them? God tells us!
Jeremiah 7:9-10 Will ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods whom ye know not; And come and stand before ME in this house, which is called by my name, and say, WE ARE DELIVERED to do all these abominations?
God said THESE were the words they learned from that false religion! These lying words that said you can break commandments #8, #7, #9, #2, #1 (in the order quoted) and then come to GOD’S house, and claim to worship HIM, in the place (or the CHURCH) called by HIS name and say, “We are DELIVERED from that law! We are FREE to do all these abominations, because the Savior has DELIVERED us from the commandments!”
Isn’t that exactly what YOUR church teaches? These lying words that God said CANNOT profit you? The very same words that Israel learned from the Queen of Heaven, the same words Babel learned from Nimrod, and the very same words that Eve heard from the very lips of the devil himself!
These words got THEM kicked OUT of paradise, and yet all of Christianity believe those same words will get them INTO paradise! How deceived they are by that false church, even today! YES, that false church STILL LIVES. It was around in the days of Malachi, after they returned from Babylon (Malachi 2:17) – just as today it is believed that everyone who does evil (breaks the commandments) is GOOD in the sight of God – that God DELIGHTS in them, and even though they break the commandments “they shall not surely die”!
The “savior” that “delivered” Israel to do all of these abominations was NOT Jesus Christ; he was Tammuz/Nimrod/Molech/Baal – and ultimately, the being Nimrod truly served, the one Eve believed, Satan the devil! Satan is the SAVIOR of mankind – SAVING man from obeying God! Just as he saved Eve, HE WANTS TO SAVE YOU!
He wants to DELIVER YOU from the harsh restrictions God places on you! He will permit you to freely commit adultery, steal, go to war, work seven days a week, and live life to the full without that stern God looking over your shoulder! THIS is the savior most of the world calls Jesus! The COUNTERFEIT Jesus, who permits you to sin and doesn’t require ANYTHING from you except to say the words “I give my heart to Jesus !”
But the real Jesus DOES require things from you; He DOES insist on obedience. He DOES demand that you depart from LAWLESSNESS, and He says, “if you love me, keep my commandments”! All the things you’ve read so far in these lessons, and there are more to come, are REQUIRED – not optional, not something you just “try” to do, but firmly REQUIRED of anyone who wants to be a TRUE Christian.
That’s why the way is “hard” and there are “few that find it”. And that’s why the false church is so popular! It’s easy! Who wouldn’t rather just “give their heart to the Lord” and continue about their normal activities and expect salvation when they die! It is a very APPEALING LIE – all the good lies are – and that’s why Satan began that false church in Eden, and he has continued as the active head of it to this day!
THE WOMAN
But where is that false church today? When the Bible refers to a church, it always – without exception – refers to it as female. For example, see Revelation 12 where it speaks of the true church, and also Ephesians 5:23, and many others. This is also true of the false church. Any religious system is considered female, while any governmental or military system is considered male. There are no exceptions to these rules.
When Nimrod originally formed Babel (called Babylon in Greek), it was a militaristic institution – he was a mighty hunter. But when his wife took over after his death it became a secret religious institution – and hence female. It is this church that came out of Babylon – the false church. And because she came out of Babylon, and was the offspring of Nimrod’s original government, she is often referred to as the daughter of Babylon as you’ll see below.
What is the destiny of this church? Psalms 137:8. Does this church serve idols, statues, images? Isaiah 21:9. Is she revered by many kingdoms? Isaiah 47:5. Did she believe she would rule forever? Verse 7. Did she believe she was the ONLY real church? Verses 8-10. Did she do (or claim to do) miracles? Verse 12. And did she have enchantments – things which, when recited, would bring about good things? (Same verse).
All this was said approximately 800 B.C., or earlier. This referred specifically to the false church around at the time – the one that worshiped the sun, moon and stars (Jeremiah 8:2). But this daughter of Babylon was also a prophetic church, one alive in our time, and we find more information about it in Revelation 17.
Start reading in verses 1-2. Notice that she has committed fornication – God’s symbol for interaction with a false religion throughout the Bible – with “the kings of the Earth”. And the inhabitants of the Earth have been made drunken with her wine – her false doctrines.
When someone is drunk, they are in a fog – they can’t see straight, they can’t walk straight, they don’t make sense, and don’t really understand when you talk to them. But that is PHYSICAL drunkenness! But God here speaks of SPIRITUAL drunkenness – after drinking of the “wine” of her spiritual fornication!
Turn back to Isaiah 29:9-12. Notice they are drunk, but not with wine – and when they are drunk, they cannot understand what God has written! Their eyes are spiritually closed, and the Bible makes no sense to them! Why? Why are they drunken? What have THEY done that brought this drunkenness upon them? Verse 13 – their knowledge of God is taught by the precept of MEN!
They still honor God – they still call Jesus “Lord” – but they worship Him according to the dictates of MEN, so they cannot understand the Bible! They are deceived by her wine and don’t realize they are worshiping that OTHER Jesus!
They don’t realize they are part of a FALSE CHURCH – the daughter of Babylon! “Babylon” is from a Hebrew word which literally means “confusion”, so they are spiritually DRUNKEN! Spiritually CONFUSED because they are serving a concept of God delivered to them by false ministers! Oh, how many millions of poor people that describes in our day who say, “I just can’t understand the Bible!” And here God has told us why!
Now back in Revelation 17:3. Remember in Lesson 10 we discussed the beast in great detail; now notice that the beast is always considered male, and it signifies a powerful government or kingdom. But the woman rides this kingdom – she influences it, guides it, turns it to the right or to the left.
Verse 4 tells us she is exceedingly wealthy. And verse 5 finally reveals her name – this is what God calls her – not what she calls herself, of course! But notice several things; she is a mystery religion, just like began at Babel with Semiramis; this is that same “daughter of Babylon” referred to in Isaiah 47; and also that she is the MOTHER of harlots. This means she is a great church following the grand traditions of the Babylonian Mysteries, but it also means she has DAUGHTERS!
These daughters are other churches that came out of her, who ALSO teach those same mysteries – perhaps in a slightly different way, just as she herself teaches slightly differently than the original Babel sun/moon worship – but still at the core, they are all part of the same family of false churches that teach iniquity – teach mankind that it is OK to break the laws of God.
Verse 6 tells us this church existed AFTER the time of Jesus, and martyred the saints. Only one church ever martyred the saints of Jesus. It martyred over 50 million of them. Think about it – that’s the equivalent of 1 in 6 Americans slaughtered by this false church, because it suspected them of serving the true God.
Verse 15 explains the symbol of the “many waters” from verse 1 (the Bible ALWAYS explains its own symbols). So this church is not in just in one nation, but it guides the religious observance of MANY nations, speaking MANY languages, with MANY races. But verse 18 tells us this church is based in one GREAT CITY, and it reigns over the kings of the Earth.
HAVE YOU FIGURED IT OUT YET?
There is no reason for people not to clearly understand this, except that they are drunken with her deceptions. Only one church fits this description – Roman Catholicism. She has outposts in every nation on Earth, directly guiding a large percentage of those nations. She considers herself the only true church – which is why she calls herself the catholic, or “universal” Church. And she is based in the so-called “eternal city” of Rome.
She says she sits alone, and there is none like her; she is richer than most countries. And her entire doctrine is that the Bible alone is not sufficient for salvation – to be saved, you must learn and follow HER TRADITIONS, traditions of MEN!
And she has miracles, and enchantments – hail Mary’s, rosaries, catechisms – and she serves idols with such fervor that she ripped the second commandment out of the Bible because it was embarrassing to her!
This false church has existed under various names ever since Eden. Today it is known as the Catholic church. Once it was called merely the Christian church – the false Jesus Paul was concerned about. Before that it worshiped the various false gods of the Bible. But the old paganism was hit pretty hard by Christianity, so this church was working furiously to adapt to the new doctrines of the New Testament church even while the apostles lived.
Did people abuse Paul’s writings while he yet lived? Romans 3:8. Did Jude find it necessary to warn the church to EARNESTLY fight for the truth? Jude 1:3. Why? What deception were they in danger of believing? Verse 4.
Less than 30 years after the founding of the New Testament Church, Jude found it NECESSARY to remind them to EARNESTLY fight for the truth they had once received – ALREADY it was being corrupted by “certain men, crept in unawares”! And what were these “certain men” teaching? “Who pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality”(Verse 4, Weymouth). They were quoting Paul, and saying “let us do evil, that good may come”!
Do you recognize that?? They were turning GRACE into an EXCUSE to be immoral – saying that by GRACE, we no longer have to keep the laws of God! That now we can be immoral, break God’s commandments (which the Bible calls “sin”) all we want, and STILL be saved! Isn’t that what YOUR church teaches?
Isn’t that what God condemned in Jeremiah 7, what Nimrod taught at Babel, what Satan taught Eve? “Thou shalt not surely die”! The MYSTERY of iniquity! And this was happening in the first century, while the apostles yet lived! What do you suppose has happened since? Satan’s churches have had 1,900 years to improve their lies!
Were there false Apostles even in the time of Paul? 2 Corinthians 11:13. And what did God call those apostles? Revelation 2:2. Did Paul prophesy that in a matter of years, the church at Ephesus would start to fall apart? Acts 20:30. Did John find the true saints were being put out of a so-called “Christian church”? 3 John 1:9. Did Peter find people were abusing Paul’s writings (and the Bible in general, but especially Paul’s writings) to justify their sins? 2 Peter 3:16.
Baal and the Queen of Heaven did a pretty good job against ancient Israel, but they clearly were no match for the New Testament church. It was clear Satan needed to update his counterfeit to keep up with the changes in the true religion! He appropriated the name of Jesus; kept the words “gospel”, and “spirit” (2 Corinthians 11:4), but he changed the MESSAGE of that gospel! He changed the NATURE of Jesus! And the spirit was not the holy spirit of Christ, but the spirit of ANTICHRIST!
This church exalted Jesus; but it exalted, even above Jesus, His mother Mary – a person whom the Bible never exalts beyond saying she was an exceptionally righteous woman. And it gave Mary a new title – a name the Bible never gives her – “the Queen of Heaven”.
From the Catholic Encyclopedia (1917 edition), article “Litany of Loreto”, it recites a Catholic-approved prayer which lists many of the titles of Mary in the Catholic Church: “Holy Mary, MOTHER AND SPOUSE OF CHRIST, pray for me … Holy Mary, QUEEN OF HEAVEN; … Holy Mary, brightest Star of Heaven; … Holy Mary, Our Advocate; … Holy Mary, Immaculate Virgin”.
Mary was both the Mother AND SPOUSE of Christ? Did you read about that incestuous relationship in YOUR Bible? Where did they get these titles for Mary? Not from the Bible, to be sure! No, they copied and pasted them from the mother goddess in the Babylonian MYSTERY religion! Semiramis was both the MOTHER AND SPOUSE of Nimrod/Tammuz, the savior-god of ancient Babylon! Not Mary, but SEMIRAMIS is the one being revered here – the Catholic Church just pasted a new name over the same old goddess!
Semiramis was the original queen of heaven, and Israel was kicked out of the promised land for worshiping her! Do you suppose putting “Mary” in front of the title “queen of heaven” makes it OK in God’s eyes to worship her? Mary is also called the BRIGHTEST STAR OF HEAVEN by the Catholic Church – which was the title of VENUS, the morning star, the brightest star in the sky! And Venus can be directly traced to SEMIRAMIS again!
We have ONE advocate in the Bible (1 John 2:1). But in the old mystery religion, Semiramis was the advocate for her dead husband, Nimrod! She carried their prayers to him! She claimed to be a virgin, and that Tammuz was immaculately conceived!
So you see not ONE of Mary’s titles can be traced to the Bible and EVERY SINGLE ONE CAN BE TRACED TO BABYLON AND SEMIRAMIS! Mary, as worshiped by the Catholic Church is a FALSE GODDESS, and just one part of a FALSE Christianity.
HOW SATAN WORKS
Are you starting to understand how Satan works? He started with Mary – yes, Mary existed. Then he first ever-so-slowly deified her, then gradually promoted her above Jesus, and then gave her the same titles Semiramis had held for 2,000 years! The same titles Israel was kicked out of the Promised Land for worshiping! Semiramis, who also was the immaculate mother of a resurrected savior-god, and who was worshiped exactly as Mary is today!
Satan always starts with some actual truth; just as he did in Eden. Read Matthew 4:6. Satan quoted scripture at Jesus. And it was true, and it applied to Him! BUT! That scripture (Psalms 91:11-12) only applied to ACCIDENTS. There is a difference between “dashing your foot against a stone” (tripping)… and leaping from a cliff! And Satan well knew this!
Tripping can happen to anyone; but DELIBERATELY tripping just to see if God really IS there protecting you, is “tempting God”, which is a sin as Jesus promptly informed the devil!
So to deceive the world, Satan started with the name of Jesus, and ostensibly with the scriptures about Him; then he gradually pushed the doctrines from his old false church into the new false church. Gradually, more and more of “Tammuz” was incorporated into “Jesus”, and after a century or so had gone by, it became easier because no one was alive who remembered the original church, so he could move faster. Many doctrines were copied-and-pasted from his old “pagan” church, with the old names crossed out and new “Christian” ones painted over top.
For example, Satan’s church already observed the birth of the sun-god Tammuz, his old savior – the one that deceived the Old Testament Israelites. That obviously wouldn’t work now. This festival, called Saturnalia by the Romans (Saturn, after one of the names of Nimrod), was observed on the winter solstice, December 25th in those days.
This was observed CENTURIES before Christ, and it was a VERY popular festival among the pagans, because it was a lot of fun. They got to cut a tree out of the forest and bring it into their house, then deck it with gold and silver (see Jeremiah 10:1-4 for God’s opinion about that practice) and put presents under it. Not to mention there was lots of drunken revelry, just as there is at today’s Christmas parties.
So Satan’s church brought this pagan festival into Christianity intact; only the names were changed; instead of rebirth of the sun-god, it was for the birth of the Son-of-God; instead of Saturnalia, it became Christmas – the Mass of Christ.
They took an actual event – the birth of Christ. Then quoted a few scriptures about it; and then just applied those verses and names to a pagan festival. Satan always starts with the truth, but always ends in paganism. God never commanded us to remember Jesus’ birth, and if He’d wanted us to, He’d have at least told us when it was! But He did specifically command us, “learn NOT the way of the heathen” (Jeremiah 10:2), and NOT to go to the pagans and copy their religious practices and call them Christian!
Deuteronomy 12:30-32 (Douay) Beware lest thou imitate them … LEST THOU SEEK AFTER THEIR CEREMONIES, saying: As these nations have worshipped their gods, so will I also worship. THOU SHALT NOT DO IN LIKE MANNER TO THE LORD THY GOD … What I command thee, THAT ONLY DO thou to the Lord: neither add any thing, nor diminish.
God specifically commands you not to incorporate pagan rituals and heathen symbols into your worship of Him! How much clearer could He say it! DO NOT COPY BABYLONIAN RITUALS INTO CHRISTIANITY! And yet that’s exactly what all large Christian churches today have done, as you have proved for yourself through these last dozen lessons!
And yet when you ask the false church or a false minister for information about their pagan rituals, such as Christmas, they turn to the Bible! Those few verses only record the birth of Jesus, with no command to celebrate it, no instructions on how to observe it, no mention of three wise men, yule logs, Christmas trees, exchanging gifts, reindeer, Santa Claus, the north pole, or even exactly when it was!
Read the The History of Christmas and The REAL Reason for the Season! articles to get the full story on just where this festival originated and why it’s so popular today. You really need to know, because Christmas is one of the main tenets of this false Christianity. And while you’re at it, read The Real Origin of Easter article too – you’ll be dumbfounded to learn where all those bunnies, eggs, sunrise services, and hot cross buns originated!
Sunday worship also originated in paganism, and is only observed by the false Christianity; in fact, it is their main sign or symbol of authority, the very “Mark of the Beast”. If you have requested and read the booklet on Sunday you know that, if not get it now!
All of the so-called-Christian doctrines which are not taught in the Bible have a similar origin – paganism, tracing their roots back to the ancient Babylonian mysteries, with the pagan names crossed out and “Christian” ones pasted on top. If a doctrine is not clearly taught in the Bible, it does not come from the Bible. It comes from a false Christianity!
God is no dummy. When He wrote the Bible; He knew men are easily swayed into sin, and that we really aren’t that bright. If He wanted us to do something, He told us! And told us pretty clearly too – how many verses are there on the Sabbath? About 200? How many on Sunday? Eight or so? And of those, how many speak of it as a work day? Eight. How many speak of it as a Sabbath or a day of rest? Zero!
If God thought men or churches would someday need to add something to the Bible; or if He hadn’t thought the Bible was finished, and that the Bible contained all the information man needed for salvation, He wouldn’t have said…
“If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:” (Revelation 22:18), nor would He have said “What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it.” (Deuteronomy 12:32)
THE MAN OF SIN
Read 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4. Paul prophesied a GREAT falling away; not one or two people, but a GREAT MANY people deserting the truth and turning to this false religion. This wasn’t limited to the end time, this was happening in Paul’s own lifetime (2 Timothy 1:15). But who is this man of sin?
Where is this temple of God? Is it in Jerusalem? Revelation 11:8. So God thinks of Jerusalem today as He thinks of Sodom? (Same verse). So where is the temple? 1 Corinthians 3:16-17. And not only are we, individually, the temple… is the church of God, collectively, the new temple of God? Ephesians 2:18-22.
So the man of sin is not going to sit in some building which may be constructed in Jerusalem, but the man of sin sits in the CHURCH OF GOD. That is point one. But that same verse also said that he “exalteth himself above all that is called God”, and that He is “as God … shewing himself that he is God”. Did you know that, right this minute, there is a person on this Earth doing that very thing?
A person who teaches that he is above God; that he can overrule God’s commands. And he is the head of a church named “Church of God”. You know him as the Pope. He is head of a church, the full name of which very few know… “the Catholic Church of God”.
According to the Catholic Church, “The pope has authority and has often exercised it, to dispense with the commands of Christ… The pope’s will stands for reason. He can dispense above the law, and of wrong make right, BY CORRECTING AND CHANGING LAW.” (From Pope Nicholas’ time)
Notice that – only someone of higher authority than Christ can dispense with the commands of Christ! The Pope is ABOVE the law, and can make that which is wrong (for example, breaking the laws of God) “right”, by correcting and changing law!
This is why the Pope deleted the second commandment, split the 10th into two parts, and changed the 4th commandment from the Seventh day to the First – moving Sabbath to Sunday! Because he has exalted himself above all that is called God! Presenting himself as the Vicar of Christ, God on Earth! Again we see the MYSTERY OF INIQUITY at work! And the man of sin IS ALIVE TODAY!
Now continue in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-9. The Catholic Church has miracles all the time. At least, it claims to, and some of them may indeed be the workings of evil spirits doing legitimate miracles. Devils have power too, you know – within the limits God permits.
But now read HOW this man of sin deceives them! Verse 10. He deceives them with unrighteousness! Not with BEING unrighteous – remember, he appears as a minister OF righteousness! No, he deceives them by telling them that THEY can be unrighteous and still please God! They just have to do a little penance, or put a little extra in the offering, and all is forgiven! Or as many churches today teach, grace covers ALL unrighteousness, so there is nothing left to forgive! That, too, is a doctrine from the false Christianity!
And if that is what their heart desires, God will even encourage them to believe that lie! (Verses 11-12). Remember the lesson on grace – if someone isn’t going to obey the truth, God will help them be deceived again “that the spirit might be saved”, because where there is no law, there is no sin.
THE FALSE CHRISTIANITY TODAY
There is a false Christianity in the world today. In fact, most of what is called Christianity IS false Christianity.
Did not Jesus wonder about the end time today “when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Luke 18:8. Is it not the MANY which enter at the wide gate? Matthew 7:13. Is not the true church of God a LITTLE FLOCK? Luke 12:32.
The founders of Satan’s counterfeit church after the flood were Nimrod and Semiramis at Babel. The daughter of Babylon influenced mankind through the centuries, culminating in what is called by God “the great whore”, but who calls herself “the Catholic Church”. She counterfeited every one of God’s doctrines, and deceived practically the entire world.
But did you know that God prophesied the Protestant Reformation 2,000 years before it happened? Isaiah 47:8-9. God said she would lose her husband – her strong military support – and her children (the Protestant churches) at the same time, and that’s exactly what happened as history records. In the 1500s, the Protestant Reformation spawned many rebellious “daughters” of the great whore.
And they were on the right track, but they all had one fatal flaw! They all retained at least ONE doctrine from her – and it only takes one false doctrine to make a false church! The one doctrine most kept was Sunday observance. There was a tiny minority in the Protestant Reformation who kept the Sabbath, but they were drowned by the majority led by Luther, Calvin, and Wesley – who started the Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Methodist religions, respectively.
And so the whore had daughters – rebellious daughters it is true, but daughters who nonetheless had their mother’s lying eyes and adulterous ways. These daughters still cavorted with the devil’s doctrines by worshiping on the day of the sun; by teaching heaven and hell; and many similar things. And above all, they all carry the same stamp of evil – they all, in one way or another, teach that grace has done away with the law of God. That the Ten Commandments are not binding. And this mystery of iniquity is in every single mainstream church.
Most don’t even try to keep the law of God; and even of the best of them, every single one departs from the Bible in some key point of doctrine. Even those few who keep the Sabbath have at least one doctrine borrowed from paganism, and that is enough. Eve only had to eat ONE fruit, break ONE commandment, believe ONE LIE FROM THE DEVIL to be kicked out of the Garden! Read James 2:10. If you knowingly keep even one doctrine of the antichrist church, you are guilty of all her sins.
Revelation 18:4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, COME OUT OF HER, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
We are surrounded today by a false Christianity. Every Sunday millions of people get together, believing themselves to be Christians, and sing praises to Jesus, all the while rejecting the message He brought and believing instead the very first lie, “thou shalt not surely die”. They are drunk with the wine of the great whore.
Which is not to say they are bad people – just deceived. A deceived man doesn’t know he is deceived. If he did, it wouldn’t be deception, but rebellion. These false churches are filled with people who know no better – just as you, yourself, knew no better until recently – just as once I, too, was ignorant of these things.
Just because God has showed this to you and me, and not to them, doesn’t mean they are more wicked than we (Luke 13:1-5). In fact, it’s likely to be the other way around – God calls the unrighteous (Luke 5:32), not the wise, mighty, or noble (1 Corinthians 1:26). Why? 1 Corinthians 1:27-29.
Nevertheless God commands us very clearly to be separate from the whore and her daughters. See 2 Corinthians 6:14-16. You cannot be a part of a church that worships Baal/Belial/Nimrod/or that other Jesus, even in symbol, and also be a part of the true church of God. It simply cannot be done (Luke 16:13).
Ultimately, when you peel back the symbols, the lies, and the deception, and get at the real truth, comparing these religions to the Bible and it alone, the truth is they all actively teach rebellion against God. They all actively teach the commandments don’t matter, aren’t binding, can’t be kept, and to even try to keep them offends Jesus.
And they’re right – keeping the commandments DOES offend Jesus. THEIR Jesus, the false one. Because the whore and all of her daughters truly worship Satan the Devil. They don’t know it, because they call him “Jesus”; they are deceived, because to them the Devil appears as an angel of light. His ministers appear as ministers of righteousness.
But painting the devil white and writing “Jesus” on his forehead doesn’t make him the real Jesus. It just makes him the best deceiver the world has ever known, one so good that it is possible for him to deceive the very elect.
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION
2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come OUT from among them, AND BE YE SEPARATE, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
You MUST come out of them; you MUST be separate, or God simply won’t receive you. You MUST come out of the religious confusion, stop drinking that sweet wine of the false church, and SOBER UP and learn the truth of God – and you have much more to learn!
Most people never understand God even after a lifetime in church because most spend a lifetime attending a false church. After a few short months, you have learned more about God simply by reading your Bible and asking it questions than most ministers and evangelists know after a lifetime spent studying. Simply because you have chosen to believe what the Bible said. There was no mystery, no special gift, no particular trick to it – you simply had to believe what it said and obey it.
But you are faced with a hard decision. Are you able to accept the “Christianity” you’ve been a part of for so long is a complete sham? Can you simply believe the Bible when it says the devil “deceives the whole world” (Revelation 12:9)?
Are you willing to stand alone against your friends, your family, your church? You will have to do so if you haven’t already – God will see to that. He must know if you are going to serve Him. But while you must – absolutely MUST – “come out of her”, and “be separate” from the false churches, that doesn’t mean you just walk out of your church without a word. The Bible says…
Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: NOT forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
If you care about these people you’ve been going to church with, you owe it to them to tell them what God has shown you; PROVOKE them to good works. The same good works you’ve learned about. They may not listen, in fact I can guarantee that many will not, and they may hate you for trying – but wouldn’t you have wanted someone to show YOU the truth about the false church say, ten years ago? Wouldn’t a true friend at least try? (James 5:20).
So provoke them to good works; show them what the Bible says about the Sabbath, or heaven, or hell, or the plan of God; show them about the law, or faith, or grace, or any of a hundred things you’ve seen pointed out in your Bible. Exhort one another – and you won’t need to leave your church. They’ll help you out the door. But maybe, just maybe, you’ll take one or two of them with you, and into the Kingdom of God.
Read Ezekiel 33:1-20. It applies directly. You are now the watchman, because you have the word of God. Maybe they’ll listen, maybe they won’t – but you have to tell them (verses 8-9), as I have told you. You owe it to them, and God expects it from you.
Once that is done, once you have been a witness to them, you MUST be willing to “come out of her”, otherwise you will receive the plagues with them. You must be willing to walk away from that spiritual Sodom and never look back… or else… Genesis 19:26.
In 1 Thessalonians 5:21, Paul tells us to “Prove all things: hold fast to that which is good.” He doesn’t say “prove all things, hold fast that which you can’t disprove.”He says prove all things and ONLY keep that which you can prove is GOOD. It is impossible to prove most doctrines commonly believed from the Bible. It is possible to find a verse or two, sometimes even a dozen, that might imply it; but left alone for eternity, you would NEVER have developed the doctrine of an immortal soul from the Bible; you would NEVER have come up with purgatory; and you would NEVER have concluded that you should go to church on Sunday.
These cannot be proved from the Bible. You should observe only that which can be – that is the mark of a true Christian. All others are “Christians” in name only – and in reality, whether in ignorance or not, serve Satan and trust in his first lie, “thou shalt not surely die”.
1 John 5:19-20 And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. THIS IS THE TRUE GOD, and eternal life.
This “true God” is the one in the Bible; NOT the one taught by the doctrines of men, the traditions of any church, or the opinions of any man. But how can you know you’re not just crazy? How do you KNOW you’re on the right track?
1 John 2:3-4 (BBE) And BY THIS we may be CERTAIN that we have knowledge of him, if we KEEP HIS LAWS. The man who says, I have knowledge of him, and does not keep his laws, is false [a FALSE CHRISTIAN], and there is nothing true in him:
LESSON 12
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