Source:  The Israel of God Bible Study Class

In mainstream Christianity, when we try and correct someone with the bible and show them what the word of God says, some are quick to go on the defensive especially when what you say goes against what they are being taught and what they believe. That’s when the “Who are you to judge me?” comes out. Even my own mother told me that we serve the same God but in different ways. We were taught to be “opened-minded” and to tolerate other people’s beliefs and ideas. In a democratic and “multicultural” society, this approach has its merits, for people do not want someone else’s religion or other ideas forced down their throats. But there is a grave danger in this approach. Although it is good to be kind and to be “tolerant” of others’ ideas and religions, this approach can very easily degenerate into religious confusion—into a situation where millions of people begin to assume that there are no absolute truths, and that God will put up with anything and anybody.

 

We are at risk of reflecting the worldly cynicism that Pontius Pilate, Governor of Judah, showed when he examined Jesus Christ. (John 18:37-38) (v.37) Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. (v.38) Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all. Jesus is telling you that everyone that is of the truth hears his voice. Surely every doctrine that is being taught in the name of Jesus is not true. So how can you be absolutely sure the voice that you are hearing and following is that of the true and living God? (John 17:17) Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. That’s the only way that you can be sure that you are following the God of this bible and not some god created in the mind of this self-serving man. You must at all times stay close to the scriptures and don’t lean on the understanding of others, or even your own understanding for that matter.

(Pro 3:5) Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. If you truly believe in the God of the Bible, you must believe that there is absolute truth. For the inspired Word of God clearly indicates this, again and again. In our desire to be “nice” or “tolerant,” we may unwittingly water down our entire concept of right and wrong. In this “tolerant” spirit, some assume that all religions are equal—that God has not revealed unique truth through His Word or through Jesus Christ. However, if you truly believe the Bible, you will understand that this is wrong. Even the Apostle Paul—whom many think of as expanding the Christianity that Jesus preached—gave a pointed reminder to the uncircumcised Gentiles of Ephesus, describing their condition before coming into the Truth: (Eph 2:12) That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without God in the world. This same message is for the world today, whether you are a Gentile, Hamite, or Shemite you are without God if you don’t repent and come up out of this Roman Christianity and stop serving man and start serving God. How would that message be received in today’s “tolerant” society? Similarly, preaching to the Jews of his day, the Apostle Peter powerfully proclaimed the uniqueness of Jesus Christ’s name and authority, stating: “This is the ’stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:11-12). This inspired passage certainly gives no hint of “exclusivist” or “ecumenical” feeling, or that “all religions are the same.” And the Word of God repeats this point, again and again!

 

Millions of professing Christians attend church each Sunday, singing songs, clapping hands and wanting to “feel good” about their acceptance of The Person of Christ—at least their idea about Christ. Yet the true Christ of the Bible warns us all: (Mat.7:21-23) (v.21) Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. (v.22) 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? (v.23) And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. These are church people that Jesus is going tell to “Depart from me I never knew you, ye that work iniquity”.  Iniquity is just another word for sin and the bible clearly tells you that sin is that breaking of God’s law (1John:3:4). The problem is that no one wants to keep the commandments of God. Excuse me, I stand corrected-in these days of “Salad-Bar Christianity”  people think that they can pick and choose which of the commandments they will and will not keep.

 

That might work with man but I guarantee you it will not fly with God. In decrying lawlessness, Jesus was talking about mankind’s failure to keep God’s spiritual Law, the Ten Commandments. Many churches today give “lip service” to the commandments just as the word of God prophesied they would; (Eze.33:30-32) (v.31) Also, thou son of man, the children of thy people still are talking against thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from the LORD. (v.31) And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they show much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness. (v.32) And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not. You hear what thus saith the Lord but you aren’t going to do it. Oh, it sounds like a very lovely song and a pleasant voice when you hear it, you hear what the Word of God says but you do them not. Some churches are quick to say we teach and keep the commandments but their members become some what confused if they are reminded that the fourth commandment directly tells us to worship God on the seventh day of the week, which we know as Saturday not the ancient, pagan “day of the sun, Sunday.  “Oh, but that’s too strict,” some will say. “We don’t need to take Jesus’ statement so seriously.” Really? Perhaps we should not take Jesus’ statements about not killing so seriously, either. Perhaps we should not take Jesus’ prohibition of lying so seriously. Perhaps we should not take so seriously His condemnation of wanting divorce (except for the very few strict biblical exceptions). What about “Thou shall not steal”? Maybe we shouldn’t take that so seriously either?  Right?  Of course not! (James 2:10-11) For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all. (v11) For he that said, Do not commit adultery, said also, Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law. For he that said not to commit adultery is the same that said also, do not kill, and he that said not to kill said also remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. You can not pick and choose which of the commandments you are or aren’t going to keep, it’s either the Lord’s way or the highway, and that highway leads straight to the lake of fire.

 

The truth is that we have become, in large part, a society of Salad-Bar Christians. Many like to profess that they follow Christ, but few actually follow Him! Many like to profess that they believe in the Ten Commandments, but they are extremely quick to “water down” the commandments when it suits their purpose—and our modern “lifestyle.” We like to think that we stand for truth. But how many of us resort to lying “a little” when it suits our purpose? How many of us actually keep the dietary law of the bible. Again, the word of God is very clear. For the Apostle John quotes the word of God promising: (Rev 21:7-8) (v.7) He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. (v.8) But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death. The liar and the murderers along with the whoremongers and the abominable will receive the same reward. Let’s take a quick look at one way that you can make yourself abominable in the eyes of the Lord. (Lev 20:25) Ye shall therefore put difference between clean beasts and unclean, and between unclean fowls and clean: and ye shall not make your souls abominable by beast, or by fowl, or by any manner of living thing that creepeth on the ground, which I have separated from you as unclean. You mean you didn’t know that you could make yourself unclean and abominable by eating certain manners of food? Yes, what your diet consists of could very well have you tossed into the fire with the liars and the murderers and the whoremongers. Sisters and brothers, I urge you to read the bible for yourself and pray for some understanding. But since our western society is too “educated” and likes to “compromise,” we do not really want to believe do we? Sisters and brothers, I pray that as thousands have already done, more and more of you will open your hearts and minds and be willing study your bible and to understand and practice the full Truth.

 

We do need to take seriously the inspired Word of God! The Apostle Paul was inspired to tell us that; (2 Thess 2:10-12) (v.10) And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. In order to be saved you must learn and practice the truth; learn what thus said the Lord and do it. (v.11) And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: And if you keep playing games with the Word of God, he will give you a strong delusion and you will actually start to truly believe those lies that you deal with, and you know the ones that I’m referring to. If you keep finding reason to deal with the paganism of the Roman Catholic Church, you are going to wake up one day and find yourself stuck in the land of no return and it is called the Lake of Fire. (v.12) That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. When lessons like this are put before your face check it out and prove us wrong, or are you going to be one of the many that believe not the truth. Or are you going to do what the bible tells you to and; (1 Thess.5:21) Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. That’s what you are supposed to do – “Prove all things”. Get off into your bible and read it for yourself and quit letting someone dictate it to you. Read your bible and pray for understanding and the word will strengthen us, so that we can stand up against all the human argument and reasoning against the knowledge of God, and so that we can truly bring every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ!

 

Certainly, none of us are perfect. We all need time to grow and to change. But we must start somewhere. We must be willing. And we need to learn to go all out with a zeal and enthusiasm that shows God that we want to be in His Kingdom and to fulfill His will in our lives with all our hearts. We must learn to aim high. For Jesus tells us: “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48). We know as long as we are in the flesh we can’t be perfect but we must strive for it. We must try and be like God, after all God is recreating God. I hope that each of us can come to realize how easy and how dangerous it is to be a Salad-Bar Christian and just “go along” with this world’s society, for the attitudes of lethargy and compromise are all around us. God knew that this would happen! That is the reason He specifically described the last era of the Church the Laodicean era in this way: (Rev.3:14-16) (v.14) And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (v.15) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. (v.16) So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. The Lord is warning you that if you are neither hot nor cold then you are lukewarm. You shouldn’t be a lukewarm Christian. You are either with the Lord or against him, there is no in between.

 

You can’t straddle the fence. You can’t be a Salad-Bar Christian! The Lord has warned you (Jer.10th) about the paganism of Christmas and how it has nothing to do with the God of this bible and he told you don’t learn these ways. But you say, “I know that Christmas is pagan but I do it for the kids”. The Lord told you out of his own mouth that the sign that he was the Christ was the sign (Mat.12:40) of the prophet Jonah. Just as the prophet Jonah was to be three days and three nights in the belly of a whale, so was the Son of man (speaking of himself) to be three days and three nights in the heart (grave) of the earth. You know that you can’t get three days and three nights from Good Friday, bad Friday or any other Friday to Sunday. But just about everybody that calls themselves a Christian will keep this pagan holiday. When you go to church on the first day of the week (Sunday) instead of going on the seventh day of the week (Saturday) as commanded, you are compromising the word of God. Ash Wednesday, Lent, going to heaven, praying to the Virgin Mary, “you can eat anything as long as you pray over it”- these and many other things are ate up at the salad-bar that’s being served to Christendom. You won’t read, you won’t research, and you think that you are just going to waltz into the kingdom of God. (Pro.8:17) I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me. If you would only read the bible for yourself and not just the one or two scriptures that you are programmed to read by your pastor, then you wouldn’t be walking around deceiving people, telling them that God loves everybody. This one verse, if it was read in the church, would help many people clean their act up in a hurry. God doesn’t love everybody because if he did, then who are the people that going to end up in the Lake of Fire?  That’s a hellava way to show your love for someone!  God loves those that love him. Let’s take a look at how to love God. (John 14: 15) If ye love me, keep my commandments.  Jesus just told you how to love, by keeping his commandments and everything that comes up under them including; (Lev.20:13) If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them. I didn’t write the bible, I just read the bible and took it for what it said. God is all wise, he knows exactly what he is doing. He said that a man shouldn’t lay with a man as he lay with a woman and the same thing with a woman on woman. In other words, there is no such thing in the eyes of God as a gay Christian. And according to the bible, if you consider yourself a gay Christian it’s because you are following that other Christ that Paul so strictly warned you about. (2Cor.11:3-4) (v.3) But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. The word of God is as simple as you make it, learn what thus said the Lord and live it! I urge you, I even beg you in the name of Jesus; don’t be a Salad-Bar Christian. Keep the commandments of God and live, even eternally. (v.4) For if he that cometh preacheth 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. It is that other Jesus, that other Christ that allows you to get away with anything, but not the true Christ of the Holy Scriptures.

 

Please understand millions of lukewarm people are very nice. They may be good friends or family members. They may be pleasant and agreeable workmates. God may not have called them yet, but if he has or if he’s calling you, be sure that you do your part to; (2Peter:1:10) Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall. Certainly, one may compromise about which restaurant to visit, or which ballgame to attend. It can be good to be agreeable and let others decide in ordinary human situations. But when it comes to God’s law, you and I must truly learn to fear watering down or compromising God’s truth in the way we teach or live. We in this work cannot help you by telling you anything less. We can’t lie to you and attempt to smooth God’s word over. But we that know the truth must teach God’s word accordingly. May God help you to understand, and then to find a place where the full truth is being taught and to act on that truth with all your heart! (Luke 4:4) And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Every word of God is what man shall live by.

 

(Pro.30:5-6) (v.5) Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him. (v.6) Add thou not unto his words, lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. Who are we to add or subtract from the holy words of this bible, like we are on the same level as God? (Job:8:2-4) (v.2) I know it is so of a truth: but how should man be just with God? (v.3)  If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand. (v.4) He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath hardened himself against him, and hath prospered? God could ask you a thousand questions and you couldn’t answer one correctly. (Jer.26:4-5) (v.4) And thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; If ye will not hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before you, The Lord God sets his law (commandments) before every generation. (v.5) To hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending them, but ye have not hearkened; And generation after generation refuses to keep his commandments, attempting to hide behind his grace instead, which they obviously know very little about.

 

(Deut 30:19) I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live: What did the Lord set before you that contains life and death?  He set before us the commandments of God, all ten of them and everything that comes up under them. In this world of Salad-Bar Christianity you do have one choice, eternal life or eternal death. Sisters and brothers please choose life and live.

 

I believe therefore I speak.

Always remember that there is peace in Jesus.

May the Lord God give skill and understanding to all who truly seek the truth.

In Jesus name, A-MEN.

 

The Israel of God Bible Study Class

2515 E. 75th Street

Chicago, IL 60649

(773) 374-6413 or (800) 96-BIBLE