Grace Bible Church
Pastor teacher
Robert R. McLaughlin
Thursday September 13, 2018
Pastor Rick Bettez.
Psa 5:4 For you are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness, nor shall evil dwell with You.
The Bible is clear that God loves the whole world and does not take pleasure in our sins and failure.
Hab 1:13 You are of purer eyes than to behold evil, and cannot look on wickedness. Why do You look on those who deal treacherously, and hold You tongue when the wicked devours a person more righteous than he?
Isa 59:2 But your iniquities have separated you from your God; and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.
Deu 32:20 God will hide His presence from evil.
Sin & evil (lifestyle) are like oil and water is analogous to Christianity. God being pure water won’t absorb the oil (sin/evil) therefore the two never merge as one, yet the oil remains in the water but never part of the water.
Jer 5:25 Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have witheld good things from you.
Free will is the answer when someone asks about sins or evil. We all have a level of responsibility in this life.
Satan & Demonic influence use counterfeit systems to confuse and lead people astray from PPOG. This is a crucial factor and often overlooked by Bels.
People are intrigued by demon possession, satanic cults… yet they pay little or no attention to the one area Satan has used as his most powerful weapon- religion & pseudo spirituality.
2Joh 1:7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist.
Jesus Christ is the center, He is the issue concerning salvation, eternity, angelic warfare …everything!
1Joh 4:1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
Understanding spiritual warfare means the Bel has a comprehensive grasp on counterfeit systems.
1Joh 2:18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
(Last hour is reference to anytime after Christ ascended back to heaven.)
2Pet 2:2 Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned.
The false doctrine is introduced secretly, subtly & slowly, it touches the emotions which is a form of mental seduction.
After the fall in the Garden, Satan set into motion a counterfeit system of false gods & idols to compete with the one true God. Many were developed from the worship of fallen angels & their offspring (Nephilim) Gen 6.
2Tim 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
2Tim 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths (mytohs).
Religion & pseudo spirituality was established by Satan & his legion in the early church and they have perfected it for 2,000 years.
2Tim 3:5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power. Avoid such men as these.
This denial of power speaks directly to the saving ministry of Christ & the filling power of the Holy Spirit.
Judaism & philosophy (Gnosticism) crept in quickly during the time Peter & Paul established early churches.
It was the seeds of where denominations and secular spiritual programs would spring up from later on.
Amp- Col 2:8 See to it that no one carries you off as spoil or makes you yourselves captive by his so-called philosophy and intellectualism, and vain deceit (idle fancies and plain nonsense), following human tradition –men’s ideas of material (rather than the spiritual) world – just crude notions following the rudimentary and elemental teachings of the universe and disregarding (the teachings of ) Christ, the Messiah.
Judaism entered the church through Bels who could not shake the legalistic system of the Pharisees. They insisted upon faith with works - circumcision and the Law was cemented into their hearts.
Gnostics (intellects) were steeped in Hellenistic (Greek) philosophy and a mixture of Oriental mysticism which denied the resurrection or fully embracing Christ as the only savior. They also dabbled in the worship of angelic beings.
The mix of ideas & beliefs never really got purged from the early church though the founding fathers like Paul, Peter, Luke & Timothy worked hard at keeping the majority focused on Christ. By the 2nd Century denominations began to gain strength.
Marcionism took root around 120-140 A.D. Marcion rejected the God of the Hebrew people who he considered filled with wrath and opposed to the teaching of Paul. He also considered Jesus Christ a spiritual entity not the Jewish Messiah (God).
Cerinthus had an Egyptian background, he taught that Jesus was a gifted man that was touched by God at His baptism and God left Jesus at the Cross. Denying the Trinity and many pertinent doctrines.
Valentinus was a widely respected scholar & developed a school of theology in Rome. He was affiliated with the early foundation of the Catholic movement. (140-160 A.D.)
Valentinus believed in divine knowledge & spiritual secrets that only a chosen few could understand. Therefore church leaders had to have this gift of (Aeons) divine wisdom and only they had the insight to teach Biblical concepts.
Basilides, also from Egypt followed similar doctrines that lined up with the teaching of Valentinus though they were considered rivals in the local circles of Gnostics. His belief relied strongly upon intellect which led to purity which then led to salvation…not faith!
1Tim 6:3 If anyone advocates a different doctrine and does not agree with sound words, those of our Lord Jesus Christ, and with the doctrine conforming to godliness, 4 he is conceited and understands nothing; but he has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words, out
of which arise envy, strife, abusive language, evil suspicions,
1Tim 6:5 and constant friction between men of depraved mind and deprived of the truth, who suppose that godliness is a means of gain.
(power, wealth & prestige)
1Tim 4:1 But the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons,
John Dewey a New England based philosopher and psychologist who became instrumental in educating the educators of the modern American school system. He was a self-proclaimed Christian whose mother was deeply involved in church activity all her life.
John Dewey respected and taught European psychology principles that were often anti-Christian at their core and he is responsible for introducing Darwin’s theory of evolution into our school system.