{"id":2639,"date":"2021-02-25T22:17:25","date_gmt":"2021-02-25T22:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/?p=2639"},"modified":"2021-02-25T22:17:25","modified_gmt":"2021-02-25T22:17:25","slug":"divers-and-strange-doctrines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/allthecounselofgod.com\/index.php\/2021\/02\/25\/divers-and-strange-doctrines\/","title":{"rendered":"Divers and Strange Doctrines"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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, \u201cBe not carried about\u2026\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The old enemy of mankind, the devil, has no more subtle device for ruining souls than that of spreading false doctrine. \u201c\u2026 He was a murderer from the beginning \u2026\u201d<\/strong> (John 8:44); he never ceases going to and fro in the earth \u201c\u2026 seeking whom he may devour\u201d<\/strong> (1 Peter 5:8). Outside the church, he is ever persuading men to maintain barbarous customs and destructive superstitions. Human sacrifice to idols \u2013 gross, revolting, cruel, disgusting worship of abominable false deities \u2013 persecution, slavery, cannibalism, child murder, devastating religious wars; all these are a part of Satan\u2019s handiwork and the fruit of his suggestions. Like a pirate, his object is to \u201csink, bum, and destroy.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If any one ask me, \u201cWhat is the best safe-guard against false doctrine?\u201d I answer, \u201cThe Bible: the Bible regularly read, regularly prayed over, regularly studied.\u201d We must go back to the old prescription of our Master, \u201cSearch the scriptures \u2026\u201d<\/strong> (John 5:39). If we want a weapon to wield against the devices of Satan, there is nothing like \u201c\u2026 the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God\u201d<\/strong> (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.<\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"