TRUE AND FALSE

When I was born again, and left Roman Catholicism, I remember thinking that ingesting false teaching (false doctrine) is similar to drinking poisoned milk. The Bible tells us in 1 Peter 2:2 As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby. When the word of God is twisted by man, to mean something other than what God intends it to mean, then it is no longer “sincere milk”. As important as it is for a newborn baby to drink only pure wholesome milk, so it is for us to ingest only the pure uncorrupted milk of God’s Word.

Here are just a few terms that have been given new meanings by man …

FALSE Definition of Being Born Again:

Water Baptism

TRUE Biblical Definition of Born Being Again:

Born of God’s Holy Spirit

John 3:6, 7 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

FALSE Definition of Receiving Christ:

Receiving Communion

TRUE Biblical Definition of Receiving Christ:

Repenting and Believing the Gospel

John 1:11, 12 He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:

FALSE Definition of a Saint:

A few select dead people

TRUE Biblical Definition of a Saint:

All born again believers

1 Corinthians 1:2 Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

FALSE Definition of Holy Father:

The Pope

TRUE Biblical Definition of Holy Father:

God

Matthew 23:9 And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.

John 17:11 And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.

See also …

Romans 16:17 Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.

Ephesians 4:14-15 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

2 Timothy 4:1-4 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

Titus 1:9 Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.

Titus 2:7 In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity,

John 8:31 Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed;

John 16:13 Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.

SIGNS AND WONDERS

Is God the source of every supernatural occurrence?

What about miracles, is God the source of everything that we would call miraculous?

How does the Bible answer these questions?

1. In the following verse we are told that if what is prophesied (predicted) does not come to pass, then the source is not God.

Deuteronomy 18:21-22 And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.

2. In the next verse we are told that if a sign or wonder does come to pass but contradicts the Bible, then God is not the source of that sign or wonder. God will never contradict his own Word.

Deuteronomy 13:1-3 If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder, And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them; Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

In order to discern we must know what God’s Word, the Bible, teaches. Only then can we discern if God’s Word is being contradicted. Years ago I began to question the source of Marian apparitions. As I read the Bible, and became more familiar with God’s Word, I was able to discern that the apparitional messages and God’s Word did not agree. For example, one of the apparitions gave instructions to build a shrine, which thing the word of God forbids. Another apparitional message proclaimed that all religions are good and lead to God and to heaven, but God’s Word says that:

Acts 4:12  Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

John 14:6  Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Also, communication with the dead is forbidden:

1 Timothy 2:5  For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

The ultimate goal of demonic manifestations is the eternal damning of souls. We have God’s Word to safely guide us to Him, but if we stubbornly refuse God’s guidance we do so at our own peril.

NO FEAR OF DEATH

It was was our turn to do the Sunday morning service at our local nursing home. After the service when I asked Betty how she was feeling she said “I feel great”! She had a big smile on her face and I knew she meant it.

Betty was I think 96 on her last birthday. She lives in a nursing home and is confined to a wheelchair. Her eyesight is limited and when you speak to her you have to speak loud enough for her to hear you because her hearing isn’t what it used to be, nevertheless she is joyfully vibrant and as sharp as a tack. She is truly an example of 2 Corinthians 4:16 For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day.

Betty told me she began her walk with the Lord as a child at the age of 7. She also told me that she and her husband, a pastor, were in Christian ministry for about fifty years. She always tells me that she knows more people in heaven than here on earth because so many have gone on before her. That large group includes her husband and a son. She told me that every day now she joyfully thinks about the Lord taking her home. When it was time to say goodby we told each other that if we didn’t see each other again here on this earth, we would meet and fellowship again in heaven. Her faith is so contagious. What excitement! What a reunion! Heaven is so real to her, and it’s so real to me too. No fear of death, only joyful anticipation. And to think, all we’re doing is believing what Jesus our Lord told us.

 

John 14:1-3 Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

1 Corinthians 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

1 Corinthians 15:55-57 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

NO FEAR OF DEATH cont.

LOOKING FOR HEALING IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES

I was at the nursing home yesterday visiting with my elderly father. We were sitting in the small lounge by the elevators when another resident and her Italian family came into the room. The resident’s mother had just returned from a trip to Rome and France where she visited the Vatican and the Marian Shrine at Lourdes. She said she “went into the cold water” in proxy for her daughter. She also visited the shrine of a “saint” who was her daughter’s namesake. She pinned a medal on her daughter, put holy water on her, and gave her a statue and a bracelet. All this was done to petition God for healing through the “Church”, “Mary”, “Saints”, and various objects. The items, the mother believed, held supernatural power.

When you have family in a nursing home for a long time you get to know the residents and their families pretty well, and a kind of bond forms because you share similar circumstances. Although I don’t see this particular family often, my heart immediately went out to them. All their petitioning to God and not one mention of Jesus. I could relate because that was me twenty years ago, in my very own Italian family, before I came to know the Lord Jesus Christ.

I’m usually not shy about witnessing but this time I found it difficult. All I kept thinking was how firmly entrenched this mother and family were in their beliefs. What could I say in the few short minutes we would share together to point them to precious Jesus. As I began to pray inwardly, the one and only Italian song that I know came to mind. By then all but one family member had left the room. The resident’s sister stayed behind and began talking to me about her father’s death, and how temporary life is on this earth. I talked about my mother’s death, and how I sang a song with her in Italian before she died. Then, there in the little lounge, I sang the song. I sang it in Italian, and then I sang it in English.

This is the song …

English:

JESUS DRAW ME CLOSE

Jesus draw me close, closer Lord to you

Let the world around me fade away

Jesus draw me close, closer Lord to you

For I desire to worship and obey

Italian:

GESU PORTA MI VICINO

Gesu porta mi vicino, piu vicino a te

Fa il mondo intorno andare via

Gesu porta mi vicino, piu vicino a te

Perche desidero adorare e ubbediere

https://youtu.be/E8s6AiX-O7w

So there it is, it happened again, the Lord put another Roman Catholic family in need of salvation before us. These are heaven and hell issues. Should we, born again believers in Jesus Christ, be supporting churches and pastors who aren’t valiant for truth. I know I can’t.

2 Corinthians 11:2-4 For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. 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.

THE PASTOR WHO JOINED A MINISTRY ALLIANCE GROUP

Several years ago my husband and I spoke to the pastor of an Assembly of God church we were attending. The subject was Roman Catholicism. We told him that we were born again and that we left the Roman Catholic Church. He responded by saying that he belonged to a “Ministry Alliance” group who had just welcomed a Roman Catholic into their midst, and they were praying together for revival! The meeting ended with the pastor telling us that we probably wouldn’t be happy in his church. For me, after this type of meeting, a sort of numbness starts to set in and I just wonder what on earth is going on.

After we left the pastor’s office we went to visit my mother who was living in a nursing home. When we walked into my mother’s room the first thing I saw were the rosary beads by her roommate’s bed. Seeing those rosary beads grieved my heart. 

Another time an elderly man in the nursing home was proudly telling us that he prayed for his daughter. He said he had connections in heaven. I asked him who, and he said the “blessed mother” meaning “Mary” the mother of Jesus.

And just this past Saturday a resident of the same home told us that the Catholic bishop had just been there for a visit the day before. She said he gave everyone rosary beads.

Later, that same day, we visited a friend who had just had surgery. When we were in the hospital I noticed an elderly couple speaking to each other in Italian. The woman was praying the rosary.

It seems everywhere I look the Lord puts these people in front of me, and it breaks my heart. Why was the pastor we spoke with joining in prayer with a Roman Catholic? The man shouldn’t be a pastor!

Many years ago I was devoted to Mary, not Jesus. Then I became born again and knew, through God’s Word and Holy Spirit, that the Bible forbids such devotion. My heart turned to the Lord Jesus Christ. My devotion to “Mary” proved that I was lost and did not know Jesus. When I say lost, I mean that if I would have died at that time I would not have gone to heaven. I would have gone to hell. That’s the truth.

John 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

1 Timothy 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

Having been a Roman Catholic for almost forty years, my observation has been that “Mary” is the mediator for most Catholics. These are heaven and hell issues. Should we, born again believers in Jesus Christ, be supporting churches and pastors who aren’t valiant for truth. I know I can’t.