Truth and error
Near Truth:
Departing from what God has said is
serious.
God's Truth: Genesis 2:16 - 17 "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of
every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat
of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
The temptation: Genesis 3:1 "Now the serpent was more
subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said
unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye
shall not eat of every tree of the garden?"
Near Truth: Genesis 3:2 - 3
"And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees
of the garden: But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the
garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die."
Consequence: Genesis 3:16 - 19 & 22 24
"Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy
conception; in sorrow thou shalt
bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule
over thee. And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of
thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou
shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground
for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the
herb of the field; In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou
return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto
dust shalt thou return
.
And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is
become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat,
and live for ever: Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of
Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man;
and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword
which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."
Lesson: That which sounds like Truth may
not be. If one simple
Truth (Do not eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil) cannot be held
in a more perfect mind than we have, how much more need do we have than Adam
and Eve to study the Word of God in order to not depart from it? We have been given much more Truth
and have a great need for the Holy Spirit to teach us.
Pragmatism:
Doing God's work our way can be
dangerous, methods do matter.
God's way: Numbers 4:14 - 15 "And they (Aaron and his sons)
shall put upon it all the vessels thereof, wherewith they minister about it,
even the censers, the fleshhooks, and the shovels, and the basins, all the
vessels of the altar; and they shall spread upon it a covering of badgers'
skins, and put to the staves of it. And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of
covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to
set forward; after that, the sons of
Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest
they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle
of the congregation."
Man's way: 2 Samuel 6:2 - 4, 6 -7 "And David arose, and went
with all the people that were with him from Baale of Judah, to bring up from
thence the ark of God, whose name is called by the name of the LORD of hosts
that dwelleth between the cherubims. And they set the ark of God upon a new
cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab that was in Gibeah: and Uzzah
and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drave the new cart. And they brought it out of
the house of Abinadab which was at Gibeah, accompanying the ark of God: and
Ahio went before the ark. ... And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God,
and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it. And
the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzzah; and God smote him there for
his error; and there he died by the ark of God."
Consequence: Departure from God's clear instruction can kill a
man.
Lesson:
Focusing on "what works" is not normally the right thing to do.
We know not what the future holds, therefore we know not "what
works". Man vainly imagines what is good and strives to acheive
it. God tells us to obey Him and trust Him for the results.
Carelessness:
God's way:
Exodus 28:40 43 And for Aaron's sons
thou shalt make coats, and thou shalt make for them girdles, and bonnets shalt
thou make for them, for glory and for beauty.
And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him;
and shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and
sanctify them, that they may minister unto me in the priest's office. And
thou shalt make them linen breeches to cover their nakedness; from the loins
even unto the thighs they shall reach: And they shall be upon Aaron, and upon
his sons, when they come in unto the
tabernacle of the congregation, or when they come near unto the altar to
minister in the holy place; that they bear not iniquity, and die: it shall
be a statute for ever unto him and his seed after him.
Man's way:
Numbers 3:2 4 And these are the
names of the sons of Aaron; Nadab the firstborn, and Abihu, Eleazar, and
Ithamar. These are the names of the
sons of Aaron, the priests which were anointed, whom he consecrated to minister
in the priest's office. And Nadab and
Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD,
in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar
ministered in the priest's office in the sight of Aaron their father.
Consequence:
Negligence of God's clear instruction can kill a man.
Lesson:
God does not depend on any man or group of men. If we are careless with our charge, He will use others.
(Note: I am not, in these two examples, advocating
that Christians should adhere to Levitical requirements; merely pointing out
that God is serious about telling us what He requires.)
Doctrine:
Compromising on God's established teachings is
evil.
God's way:
Ephesians 2:13 22 But now in Christ
Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our peace, who hath made both
one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us; Having
abolished in his flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in
ordinances; for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace; And
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having
slain the enmity thereby: And came and
preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh. For through him we both have access by one
Spirit unto the Father. Now therefore
ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints,
and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles
and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed
together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded
together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Man's way:
Galatians 2:11 14 But when Peter was
come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed. For before that certain came from James,
he did eat with the Gentiles: but when they were come, he withdrew and
separated himself, fearing them which were of the circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled likewise with
him; insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. But when I saw that they walked not
uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them
all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do
the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?
Consequence:
Polluting God's doctrine with traditions of men will be noticed.
Lesson:
Our public reputation and ego are of no consideration to God. His teachings His doctrine will be taught correctly or the false teacher will (sooner or later)
be disciplined.
Summary:
The Scriptures are full of instruction from
God to us as individuals and as a church.
Being cavalier with our personal walk or public service is sin. Each man should humbly submit himself to the
Holy Spirit of God for instruction and discipline, and be on guard to not let
his heart become hard. It is the nature
of deception for the one being deceived to be ignorant of his condition. Do not trust yourself. Submit to God. Study His Word.
Fellowship with others who are serious about their walk with the
Redeemer of your soul.