Month: February 2021

“Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein” (Hebrews 13:9).

The text here is an apostolic caution against false doctrine. It forms part of a warning which Paul addressed to Hebrew Christians. It is a caution just as much needed now as it was two thousand years ago. Never, I think, was it so important for Christian ministers to cry aloud continually, “Be not carried about…”

The old enemy of mankind, the devil, has no more subtle device for ruining souls than that of spreading false doctrine. “… He was a murderer from the beginning …” (John 8:44); he never ceases going to and fro in the earth “… seeking whom he may devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Outside the church, he is ever persuading men to maintain barbarous customs and destructive superstitions. Human sacrifice to idols – gross, revolting, cruel, disgusting worship of abominable false deities – persecution, slavery, cannibalism, child murder, devastating religious wars; all these are a part of Satan’s handiwork and the fruit of his suggestions. Like a pirate, his object is to “sink, bum, and destroy.” Inside the church, he is ever labouring to sow heresies, to propagate errors, to foster departures from the faith. If he cannot prevent the waters flowing from the Fountain of Life, he tries hard to poison them. If he cannot destroy the medicine of the Gospel, he strives to adulterate and corrupt it. No wonder that he is called Apollyon, the destroyer.

If any one ask me, “What is the best safe-guard against false doctrine?” I answer, “The Bible: the Bible regularly read, regularly prayed over, regularly studied.” We must go back to the old prescription of our Master, “Search the scriptures …” (John 5:39). If we want a weapon to wield against the devices of Satan, there is nothing like “… the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:17). But to wield it successfully, we must read it habitually, diligently, intelligently, and prayerfully. This is a point on which, I fear, many fail. In an age of hurry and bustle, few read their Bibles as much as they should. More books perhaps are read than ever, but less of the one Book which makes man wise unto salvation. Rome and new doctrines could never have made such havoc in the church in the last fifty years, if there had not been a most superficial knowledge of the Scriptures throughout the land. A Bible-reading people is the strength of the church.

A story is told of a school boy who was brought to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through that wonderful verse in John 5:24, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”

However, when that lad arrived home and was sitting on the couch by himself, the devil began to disturb him, and tried to make him think that Jesus had not really saved him at all. At length the struggle in his heart became so fierce it seemed as though the adversary of his soul was actually under the couch talking to him.

For a while he did not know how to answer Satan and his taunting charges; but finally the Holy Spirit reminded him of James 4:7 about resisting the devil, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

Opening his pocket Testament, he placed his finger on John 5:24, and then, reaching his arm under the couch, he said aloud, “There you go, Satan, read it for yourself!” In that moment victory was won, assurance of salvation was gained, and the evil one ” …departed from him…” (Luke 4:13).

Satan laughs at our powers and mocks at our wisdom, but he trembles at God’s Word!

“The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O LORD, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever” (Psalm 12:6-7).

God gave His Word to His children upon earth with the instructions to proclaim and practice it. It is not our responsibility to preserve His Word. God has promised to do that, and His is promises are sure.

“Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant” (1 Kings 8:56).

“For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us” (2 Corinthians 1:20).

1. God has not promised us a fragmented preservation. In the text we are told that “The words of the LORD…” will be preserved. There are no lost books of the Bible. They are preserved! There are no lost words of God to man. They are all preserved.

“But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matthew 4:4).

“That which is perfect” is the complete Word of God, and it is kept in tact and kept from injury or destruction and protected by God’s promise and power. We have God’s complete Word!

2. God has not promised us a remote preservation. If God’s Words were only preserved in Heaven, that would be of little value to us who are upon earth. God gave His Words upon earth and He has preserved them upon earth.

The Old Testament was given to the Jews, “What advantage then hath the Jew?… Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God” (Romans 3: 1-2).

The Old Testament with its completion in the New Testament was given to the church. “I have given them thy word…” (John 17:14).

God’s Words were not preserved in a cave somewhere, but God’s children have had them all the time. God’s Words were not inerrant in the original autographs only, but have been preserved to all generations. It is not a remote preservation but a present reality!

3. God has not promised us a mingled preservation. “…The seed is the word of God” (Luke 8:11). God has not preserved His Words mingled with the words of men.

Israel was not to sow mingled seed in their fields (Leviticus 19:19)

“Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds: lest the fruit of thy seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, be defiled” (Deuteronomy 22:9).

The results would be defiled fruit. The result of sowing the preserved pure Words of God is true faith. Faith does not come by hearing man’s words (Romans 10:17). It is not necessary for scholars to search tirelessly through Greek manuscripts in an effort to distinguish between the Words of God and the words of men. “The words of the LORD are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times” (Psalm 12:6).

4. God has not promised us a reasonable facsimile preservation. God has not promised to simply preserve His thoughts or doctrines. He has preserved His Words!

The doctrine of the inerrancy of the Scriptures is a major doctrine. It is continually under attack. Who do you suppose provokes such attacks upon God’s Words? Satan would gnaw this foundational truth away if he could, but he can’t because we have God’s promise of preservation!

CONCLUSION

To say that some of God’s Words have passed away is to charge God foolishly. “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away” (Matthew 24:35).

To say this promise of preservation has failed is an attack upon God. It is in essence blasphemy! A young Christian may for a time be confused and unsettled in his beliefs, but to say that God has not preserved His Words is to call God a liar!

God’s inerrant, infallible, inspired words are preserved in the authorized King James Version.

Thank the Lord for His promise of preservation!

These words were spoken by King Nebuchadnezzar, “And they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field: they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Daniel 4:32).

Perhaps never before in the history of the world (unless it was the “days of Noah”) has evil flourished and apparently “gotten by” us as today. Because iniquity (lawlessness) abounds, the love of many and the faith and faithfulness of many- waxes cold; and many people wonder, does it really pay to serve Jesus? Is the way of the transgressor hard? Is there any goodness, or selfishness, or love left in the world? Is a revival of true religion – Bible Christianity – possible, or has God turned everything over to the devil?

The fact is, God is Still on the Throne and rules the universe. He will never abdicate, nor share with another, the power and authority of that throne! Let us never forget that! God will stay on that throne forever.

His laws cannot be violated with impunity. The fundamental principle of The Word of God- it shall be well with the righteous and ill with the wicked- is unalterably and eternally true. The reprobate who thinks he is cheating the laws of God and nature will find out that “… God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7). Some time, some how, some where, the harvest will come and that transgressor will pay up. Be not deceived; God is Still on the Throne. It is a righteous throne; it is a throne that sees all, hears all, remembers all, and pays all-in time or eternity.

Seven times in the book of Daniel God is called the God of Heaven, or a similar title. In the text before us, we are assured that the God of Heaven rules in the kingdom of men. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had a great empire, a world rule. It turned his head, and he bloated with pride. He boasted, “… Is not this great Babylon, that I have built. .. by the might of my power, and for the honour of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:30). Were the heavens silent? No! “While the word was in the king’s mouth, there fell a voice from heaven, saying, O king Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken; The kingdom is departed from thee” (Daniel 4:31). The king lost his reason, turning insane. He lived for the next seven years in the wilderness as an asylum and ate grass as an ox, and his body was overgrown with hair like the eagle’s feathers, and his nails became like bird’s claws. He was humbled until, at the end of the days, his understanding returned to him, and he blessed the most High ” … whose dominion is an everlasting dominion … and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth …” (Daniel 4:34-35).

The Lord He is God! The Lord He is God! He sits on a throne which cannot be shaken. True prayer still can pierce the din and clamour and noise and confusion that prevails on earth and reach the throne! The eyes of the Lord are still running to and fro throughout the earth “… to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him …” (2 Chronicles 16:9). The promises of God have not been annulled or disannulled. Man’s unfaithfulness hasn’t changed God’s faithfulness one whit! He that sows good seeds today will surely reap an abundant harvest! Sow the Gospel, sow it in tears, and you shall surely come again rejoicing, bearing precious sheaves! (Read Psalms 126:6)

Dare to be a Daniel! Make your prayer steadfastly toward Jerusalem, though all earth, yea all Hell, be arrayed against thee. The darker the night, the brighter thy light will shine, and the more its glow will be needed.

Dare to be a John the Baptist. Witness fearlessly for thy Lord and against sin. Witness when the throngs crowd around thee; witness when thy head must be the price of they faithfulness.

Dare to be a Paul. Step out in faith in the midst of this godless and perverse generation to show that God lives! Exalt the Lord! Preach the Word! Pray with importunity! Seek and expect converts! Lengthen they cords, set out they stakes, enlarge thy borders for God, and remember that God is Still on the Throne!

His Word will never fail. His work will go on. The true church is invincible. The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it. Let faith prevail. Let steadfastness plod on, never looking back, for “… your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).

There is complete victory in Christ! Press on! Look Up! Walk with God! Be true! “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not” (Galatians 6:9).

Those faithful to the Lord will be vastly outnumbered in this day of apostacy, but stick to the right, be the crowds large or small.