False Christians and the Fear Mongering Gospel of Bigotry

 

This is a response to a Christian sermon preaching on the subtleties of modern day Babylon and how enticing Paganism, including Atheism and Secular Humanism, is to our youth because it emphasizes trust in self and self identity and personal understanding over God. How fear of speaking out and hurting feelings and being called a bigot silences Christians from declaring the Ultimate Truth, which gets lost in a subjective sea of personal truths. The Preacher denounced how the world accepts all religions, like Hinduism and Buddhism in its pursuit of “tolerance.” He began by saying it was God who defined marriage as one man and one woman.

How seductive it is to make apostate Christians feel victimized while emboldening them to vilify everyone who sees things differently. Are you addressing the doctrines that have been added to the faith because of tradition that are not found in the Law of God? The Torah is an affirmatively stated legal code, with thou shalt and thou shalt not removing ambiguity. Thou shalt only marry one wife is not found, and it cannot merely be inferred because God made Adam and Eve, a mere human interpretation that should not be enforced in place of the Law of God. The Torah allows polygamy, which was practiced in both Old and New Testament times, and it is expressly commanded in the case a man’s brother dies without an heir. Twisting the scriptures to imply one man, one woman is God’s definition of marriage is placing your own wisdom above God.

God’s people were always a minority living in a pagan world, a world of promise, since Peter’s vision meant that the pagan Gentiles were no longer to be viewed as unclean, but were to be preached to and invited to make a covenant with God. You have it right that we do not need to live in a time of comfort and peace where the Law of God rules. That is not why we are sent here, but we are sent to a world where Satan rules so that we can be tried and tested and have opportunities to grow through trials and service. You think Paganism is attractive? God’s good news is attractive and inspiring, but because it became corrupted by the doctrines of men, which “have a form of Godliness, but deny the power thereof,” it’s watered down version has put people off and made anything look like a better alternative.

Control your temptation to include your personal biases in your faith and then police your neighbors instead of teaching and inspiring. In other words, humble yourself and admit you do not know all things, as this is only a means of worshiping yourself or your interpretation of God under the name of God. Christians use threats and guilt to shame people into compliance. Jesus, on the other hand, railed only against the religious authorities that imposed their own interpretations on people, and he told those whom he served to go and sin no more without telling them everything they needed to repent of, leaving them to study Torah and figure it out for themselves with the Holy Spirit, to “work out their own salvation with fear and trembling,” or in another translation, with both reverence and anxiousness, which is infinitely more powerful than being told what to do and what not to do by mortals, well-intentioned as they may be.

Jesus did not even announce that he was the Son of God to everyone, but he waited for Peter to discover it by revelation, and said he was blessed because the information came from God and not man. God is power, not force. He inspires change, but He does not remove people’s agency. He never said to go infiltrate the government and force everyone to live by THE truth. Everyone has the word of God, but He said he would send people the Holy Spirit to “teach them the truth of all things.” He said “My sheep hear my voice.” If they are not his sheep, what do they need to hear his voice for? This is why he spoke in parable, so that those with ears to hear may hear, in other words, when the spirit teaches them. He said he came not to condemn, but to save.

The proud who have adopted a false Christianity as a means to serve their moral vanity leave nothing to the imagination. As the unprofitable servants we are, we need to inspire and share possibility and have faith that God the Spirit will work a change in people’s hearts, not us, not our political conniving. We are supposed to believe and have faith and not fear, and to serve and that is all.

A world of sin is a world of opportunity to serve and help find lost sheep. People are just mad because being outnumbered isn’t comfortable, but we aren’t here to be comfortable, for our kingdom is not of this world. Christians are mad because they think our rights are being violated. We have no rights but to serve and suffer in the name of God and return to him with nothing in our pockets, to hear him say “Well done thou good and faithful servant,” and you can do that just fine in the fiery furnace where they throw you, and say as you go, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

Christianity that does not follow the example of Christ is just another form of paganism, which is why it cannot compete with other forms of paganism. In fact it is worse, because it is harder than ever to be inspired by the true God with so many impostors being called the names of God and Jesus by people who never heard Him and were never called by Him and will be cast off for working inequity, jealous because many of those they deemed sinners will be called in to the feast to sit in seats that were originally offered to them. 

The Parable of the Embezzler, Luke 16

 

Firstly, in Jesus’s parables, the master is not always himself, but he compares and contrasts. For instance in the parable of the unjust judge, he is saying if the unjust judge will finally hear the poor widow and reluctantly give her justice, how much more shall God, who is actually just? In the parable of the Talents, like the Parable of the Unjust Steward, wisdom is respected by the unjust master and his unjust servant, but also by God, and should be by His servants. Just because your service is for the almighty, doesn’t mean your service should be bad. Jesus did not say the master is God, but like God, he is a master, and like the unjust steward, we are at best unprofitable servants, relying on our master’s good graces. This is all the more reason that we should be wise and shrewd.

Jesus laments that the wicked people are more active in achieving their goals than are the righteous, and as a result, the wicked rule the world and the righteous are at their mercy, and God’s kingdom suffers. God wants to oversee workers, creators, doers, not to be the welfare office administrator. Christ never said that the embezzler did a good thing, only that he was clever and shrewd, and that the master respected that because he is the same way. He never said that the master took him back, or that he complimented him as soon as his further embezzlement was discovered. In fact, it probably took a while to go over the books and discover it. Jesus most likely intended in his telling of the story that we understand that he dismisses the steward and thought he would face great hardship, but some time later caught up with him after he had been able to make use of the help of his business associates and merely commended that he did alright for himself. In other words, the unjust master acknowledged that his former manager was in the club of successfully corrupt business people, which is the perpetual habitation referenced.

Again, this is all in the comment of Jesus lamenting that the children of light are not as shrewd or worldly wise as the people of the world. Jesus also said he wants us to be as wise as serpents, but as harmless as doves, so if we take this parable to mean that he condones treachery, dishonesty or any other violations of the Torah, we are gravely mistaken. He is saying that although shrewdness is used by the wicked, it is not mutually exclusive of righteousness. The serpent is associated with the devil, so we should be just as wise as the devils, but as harmless as the angels or the Holy Spirit, who is associated with the dove.

R. C. Sproul, in preaching this topic, points out that while the Torah forbids usury or high interest, wicked businessmen would get around this by adding what would be interest to the sale price, even up to doubling the fair market value. Of course this only fools themselves into false security as this cannot excuse them with God, who sees right through the scheme and charges them with violating the Torah anyway, and even more tragically since they do not recognize their need to atone for it. As this was common, Sproul suggests that it was likely the case with the business the unjust steward managed, making his master also an unjust master, like he unjust judge. Again, not a direct stand-in for the Lord, as people are wont to assume.

Just as in the parable of the talents, as stewards of God, all our time, talents, abilities, resources and money belong to the Lord, and we own nothing, not the earth we stand on or the feet we stand with. When we pair this with Jesus’s words to the rich young man, we come away with a more practical application of his words for modern times. Since selling all that we have and giving it to the poor will not put a dent in the world’s poverty, but merely add one more poor person that needs to be cared for, it is better to live as though you are poor without actually becoming impoverished and needy, by not squandering anything on excess material possessions or luxury, but counting all you have as God’s which he has entrusted you with to further his kingdom and purposes.

This means serving, pooling your resources with others to create systems of aid and relief, to promote change for the better and benefit of the poor. This is being shrewd for our master. Like a man who was getting old without any heirs and sold his home to a young wealthy man for a very good deal on the terms that he would continue to reside there until his death and receive all the care that he should need. Or like the man who sold his business, but stayed on to manage it, we sell off our ownership of anything we think we own in this world for the pearl of great price, the knowledge of our salvation and a reward in heaven. We sell it to God, but we stay on to manage the assets as stewards, and if we are faithful stewards, rather than the unfaithful one who used his masters wealth and resources and business for himself and was fired, we will not be fired if we use his resources in our stewardship for his purposes, the benefit of the poor in both body and spirit. But unlike the unjust servant, whose perpetual habitation was with the wicked, ours will be with the just master.

Jesus then tells us to associate ourselves with the mammon of unrighteousness so that we can earn their respect. The only way to be respected by the wicked is to be too shrewd to be used and abused by them. Having earned their respect, we may be able to share with them salvation through Jesus Christ, so that by the time we enter into our eternal reward in heaven, they may greet us there.

He further adds to this parable the caution, that you cannot serve God and Mammon, so it will do no good to do this halfheartedly, or make a pretense to doing this but not actually doing it and indulging our pleasures with what is actually the Lord’s. In the unfortunate case that we cannot trust ourselves, just as it is better to pluck out your eye and be saved with one eye than to have two eyes in hell, it would be better to actually give away your wealth if it is too great a stumbling block and damns you to hell, and enter into heaven poor to become truly rich. You can serve God by your stewardship of mammon in this life, but if you serve mammon, whether it is the associations to wealthy people, the obtaining of wealth or the indulging in pleasure, if your heart is to it, you are no servant of God and will in fact despise him and be cast out.

Jesus’s words to the rich man, although they contain lessons for us like all this words and deeds, were also specifically instructions to this man who had the chance to become a disciple of the Lord and follow him in his ministry. We today have a much different global environment and many systems that we can use and work to reform to provide for the poor on a larger scale. We can hear him prompt us, “Take all your money you would have spent on things you do not need and give to the poor,” or in other words, since becoming a debt slave yourself won’t help the poor and all your money won’t put a dent in their poverty, use your money as a wise steward to both support your life so that you are not a burden on any, and give your time to the poor to bring them into the Kingdom of God, and work to better the world so that the larger scale means to provide for many the needs of the body will enable them the peace and security to fully hear the call to receive the needs of the spirit.

DON’T JUST FOLLOW THE PROPHET; AN EXEGESIS OF 1 KINGS 13

 DON’T JUST FOLLOW THE PROPHET; AN EXEGESIS OF 1 KINGS 13

 

The question was asked Alexei, what is the lesson of 1 kings 13? Is it that false prophets will get you killed? The following is his response, and it is suggested to read 1 Kings 13 and 14 before proceeding and ponder the meaning before taking this interpretation to Yahavah.

 

ALEXEI: The chapter in question did not say that any of them were false prophets.

INQUIRER: Yes it does. Well, a lying prophet.

ANSWER: Joseph Smith stated that "A prophet is only a prophet when acting as such." The lesson in this chapter is obedience to God and not man, and the messengers of the Lord are no exception. Where much is given, much is required. We should test everything the prophets say to make sure that it comes from the Lord, and to make sure that we understand correctly.  The parenthetical (in which it says that the Old Prophet lied) may be a later comment added into the text for clarity by a well meaning, but errant scribe. The Old Prophet said that the Lord told him to bring the Man of God home and feed him, and he may not have been lying at all. But the Man of God had already been given other instructions directly from the Lord and should not have departed from them. Had he tested what the prophet said to him, he would not have failed. This passage is cited by some theologians as further proof of the Man of God’s testimony since YHVY standing by every word that he said the Man of God, even making him pay with his life for departing from it, it is further proof that every other part of his prophecy would come to pass.

The prophets are only messengers, and should not speak of themselves. They hold no special rank or privilege with God that would give them such license, and whenever he establishes his church and kingdom and calls them to ruling authority, in other words, an actual position of authority, this is only to administrate according to the Torah and still does not grant them exceptions from obedience. In fact, they suffer the greatest penalties for violation, often paying with their lives. This is a great chapter for Utah Mormons who say, "Follow the prophet; God will never allow him to lead the people astray."

Verse 20 says, “While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back.” The text only calls him the old prophet, not the false prophet, and he was the very one who cried out against the Man of God. This means he was a true prophet, despite what followed. Additionally, if God had not sent him, how did he find the Man of God on the road? And why did he feel the need to go and bring him home and feed him, lie to him and get him killed unless it was all a test from God? If he had lied, as the parenthetical says, why did he escape any punishment? We see how he felt about it afterwards, even though he was only the messenger. He buried the man of God in his own tomb and asked his sons to be buried beside him, and affirmed that the Man of God’s prophecy will come true. As another prophet, he thought, “There, but for the grace of God, go I.” And as prophets, priests, teachers and disciples today, we should think the same.

The Man of God had traveled from Judah to Bethel. The "Old Prophet," for lack of a name in the text, must have lived someplace close by in order to hear the story and still be able to saddle a donkey and find him on the road. We should wonder why neither man is named in the text. Surely they had names, and since their tomb was known 300 years later, surely their names were known to somebody. The very next chapter begins with the king sending his wife to the prophet Ahijah in Shiloh. Shiloh is 10 miles from Bethel, part of a day's journey by donkey. Could they be the same prophet? Did an ancient scribe hide that fact by removing the name in the previous chapter due to the man of God trusting his words leading him to sin, costing his life, thinking that lying to another prophet would make the Old Prophet look false?

We must also ask, Does God speak through false prophets or liars? The second word of the Lord through the Old Prophet came true and the Man of God died as he prophesied. The Lord God did not sin by commanding the old Prophet to invite the man of God home and feed him and the old Prophet did not sin if he only repeated the words. The words were a test to see if the Man of God would obey what he heard from God himself or what he was told that God had said from another prophet, and he failed to obey and was punished. The Old Prophet was not punished because he did obey, but he had compassion and grieved for his fellow prophet.

The Man of God's prophecy was not fulfilled completely for 300 years until Josiah destroyed the shrine, leaving only the tomb of the two prophets. This book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel is believed to have been compiled in the seventh century BC, with a supplement added later in the sixth, when a redaction may have taken place. Is this when the names of the prophets were removed by those who did not fully understand the passages and were uncomfortable with the implications of sin or entrapment by either God or his servant? See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Kings_13.

This may feel like entrapment, and indeed it would be for any non-All Knowing, All just God, but since God has the authority to test his servants and the ability to recompense with an eternal reward, such as test falls under his purview. It is hardly unfair, for having paid with his life, there is no indication that the Man of God did not receive an eternal reward in Heaven. For evidence we look to the final revelation of Joseph Smith appointing James J. Strang as his successor, in which the Lord tells Joseph that he has sinned and his punishment is very bitter, in which he must offer up his life, but his reward is magnificent in an eternal world where the bands of the oppressor fall off.

It seems like a harsh test, because why shouldn’t the Man of God trust the Old Prophet? Is it inconceivable that the old Prophet had been given a new commandment for the Man of God? Again the harshness is related to the position of trust given to the Man of God. The lesson of the chapter is obedience and discernment. If the man of God had taken the new revelation to the Lord, he may have fulfilled enough of righteousness to be allowed to return and eat with the old Prophet, but this only God could to confirm to him. If he went the extra step and asked, and got no answer at all, he should be obedient to the former commandment he received. God tests his servants to prove their faithfulness, and all his blessings are predicated on obedience. The Lord made of his servant an object lesson for us, and his servant is in His hands.

In Psalm 146:3, we read: Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help. In Jeremiah 17:5-9, we read: Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord; For he shall be like the heath in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh; but shall inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is, for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

QUESTION: But Peter was told to kill and eat, which differed from prior law. Why is God so difficult to obey? We have the Book of the Law, but what part of it survives the New Covenant in Christ's blood?

ANSWER: In Matthew 5: 17-20, we read the Savior’s profession: Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish [do away with, set aside or abrogate] them but to fulfill them [completely obey them]. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear [as long as the earth stands and there are mortals to comprehend the Torah], not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Therefore anyone [from this day as long as the earth stand, not from this day until three years when I am resurrected] who sets aside one of the least of these commands, and teaches others accordingly, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven.

Even modern pharisees or church leaders and pastors are notorious for setting aside any commandments they personally do not wish to obey and claiming this is part of what Christ did away with, while vehemently emphasizing any commandment or interpretation of a commandment they have no natural inclination to break, thus accentuating their righteousness.

QUESTION: So what of grace and circumcision?

ANSWER: Grace is not permission to break commandments. Circumcision is of the heart. The scriptures say to be circumcised of heart, and this shall always be in effect. Peter did not receive a revelation that gives license to break the Law. He received a vision with symbolic imagery. Various foods represent different cultures, because every culture has different food practices, and people  consider other people's foods foreign, and sometimes strange or even taboo. In Peter's day,  Jews would not allow themselves to touch non-Jews because they were considered unclean. Peter's vision taught him to no longer see Gentiles as unclean because they are being sanctified and brought under the covenant.

"On the other hand, both the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the United Church of God argue that Peter's statement in Acts 10:28 indicates that the divine disclosure reflected only a teaching about people, and not one about food. The United Church of God argues that this is an "often-misunderstood section of the Bible", and that "the puzzling vision could not be annulling God's instructions." As such, Adventists and followers of the UCG traditionally observe the Old Testament dietary restrictions, which, like the still upheld Jewish dietary laws, forbid the consumption of pork, shellfish (including shrimps and lobsters), any carnivores, any herbivores that are not ruminants, and any ruminants that do not have split hooves, among others. Peter's triple refusal described in Acts 10:16 echoes the denial of Peter described in the Synoptic Gospels."

This would be a good example of the written Law from God through Moses telling us one thing, and the traditions of various churches telling us another. Who are we to believe, God or church leaders who tell us we no longer need to heed portions of the Law? Considering what happened to the Man of God who trusted the prophet over God himself, we should be careful of how we discern these matters.

QUESTION: Is the book of the law only for Israelites?

ANSWER: The Law is exists from all eternity to all eternity. It is for every child of God, because it is the eternal principle in which God abides. Those who covenant to be the children of God and live by his Law become Israelites.

QUESTION: But are we to keep the sabbath and stone bad children?

ANSWER: Look to Jesus's life and teachings to interpret the Law. We need to get back to Jesus, for He is the cornerstone of our faith.

I have said many times, so I do not know if you have not understood. The Old Testament was corrupted prior to the time of Christ, so there are false commandments recorded there. Jeremiah 8:8 says the scribes dealt treacherously with it. It is like the True Law is written in blue and the lies of Satan are written in red. Christ is the red lens that allows us to see the blue ink when it is held over the text. His life and his teachings are the lens through which to see the truth of the Torah. If it is not ratified by him, or aligned with his life and teachings, it is most likely a corruption. The book says to stone sinners, but Christ taught by his actions to forgive them, therefore the True Law that Moses received from the pre-mortal Christ, Yahavah, did not say to stone them, which means that was an addition from the scribes who were inspired by Satan.

“The letter of the Law kills, but the Spirit of the Law gives life.” To adhere to and trust the letter of the law as it was handed down to us is to trust the same church leaders who tell us how to interpret it and which portions to obey and which to disregard. It is nonetheless leaning on the arm of flesh. The only way to pass the test that the Man of God failed is to take both the scripture texts and the traditions and interpretations of men and study them in your mind and in your heart, diligently compare them with the acts and sayings of Christ, who is God, and ask God the Father in faith for the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth of all things. If you listen to the devil or to your ego and carnal desires, it is just as much leaning on the arm of flesh and disobeying God as it is to follow and obey church leaders who do the same, even if the tradition goes a thousand years back to the first leaders who did the same; so be sure to be sincere and wait on God for the answer. Some will speak truth to you by the power of the Holy Spirit, and some will speak falsely by the power of the devil, but the way to discern is the same and it is plain. As we saw in the story of the Man of God and the Old Prophet, the enticing notwithstanding, we will all be accountable for our disobedience. Jesus said of the errant church leaders of his day that the blind lead the blind into the pit. Many who say "Lord, Lord, we did many mighty works in your name" will be cast off by Jesus who will say, "I never recognized you. Depart from me, you workers of inequity."

Joseph Smith said, “Many of the things we think of as sin are not sin; I have come to break down superstition, and I will break it down,” but he did not write us out a list of what is and is not sin, nor should we, for then we would lean on the arm of flesh. Instead, after revealing all the revelations and the Book of Mormon and teaching Moroni’s charge, to go to the Lord yourself to obtain the answer, having removed the training wheels of scriptural interpretation and commandments, we are now responsible for the truth we receive. May we empty our vessel so that He may fill us. Amen.