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How the World and Christianity Were Deceived #6
Division of opinion within a group causes heresy to come in!
(Survey of 1st & 2nd Corinthians)
Fred R. Coulter—January 12, 2019
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Greetings, everyone! Welcome to Sabbath services!
{announcement left out of transcript}
Since we had in part six concerning Gerald Flurry, we need to advertise this booklet: Is the Ministry God's Government & The Nicolaitans of Revelation 2 by J.H. Allen combined together.
Col. 3 is where the Government of God comes in, and it comes directly from God to every individual! It does not come directly to the minister and then to you when you submit to the minister.
We are to obey those who are over us because of their example of love and service, not because they 'crack the whip.'
That's one of the main errors in the King James Version in Heb. 13. It says to obey your leaders. What if your leaders are wrong? If they are wrong, can you go up and tell them that they are wrong? You ought to be able to!
I had someone send me an e-mail about when I said that the Stone of Scone was in London, in part five of this series. I was mistaken; it's in Scotland. I sent her e-mail thanking her, because I don't want to be giving out information that's not correct. So, you can, should and ought to go to the minister and let him know. That will help nip things in the bud before they get started.
Colossians 3:14: "And above all these things put on love…" Love is something you grow into, and that comes from God first to you, and you have many practices where you fail. Why does that happen? You really need to learn love! Love is not something that comes instantly. It comes over a period of time.
"…which is the bond of perfection" (v 14). How are we to be perfected?
Matthew 5:48: "Therefore, you shall be perfect, even as your Father Who is in heaven is perfect."
That's the end goal! Everything else in between, from the time we're called until the resurrection, is all a matter of growing and overcoming.
Colossians 3:15: "And let the peace of God rule in your hearts…" Who rules in your heart and mind? God bringing us peace, because we're not fighting against God!
"…to which you were called into one body, and be thankful. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…" (vs 15-16). What does that do?
"…in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…" (v 16)—meaning to help mildly correct one another where you see an error. It also can mean encouraging.
"…singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And in everything—whatever you do in word or in deed—do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him" (vs 16-17).
Here's a deeper study of it. Ken puts together all these Transcript Books, and we want to get them out to everybody. We have done a lot of things before you ever come into contact with Christian Biblical Church of God.
Advertisement: Study Pack #9—The Church, God's Government and the Ministry.
Now then, Gerald Flurry and David Pack have new members, especially David Pack, sell all they have and give it to the Church. They want to know how much you make. I don't know if they want to see your tax returns or not.
- Why would they want that?
- Of what value is that?
- Can you think of what value it would be?
- To see if you're giving enough and if you ought to give more!
- What's another thing that they may not tell you?
- These can become assets on which you can go to the bank and borrow!
The way it should be is this: If we love God and keep His commandments, we will give tithes and offerings! You don't have to be beaten over the head for it.
Whatever God sends is what we should use. If He sends an abundance we can use that and have a little reserve in case there comes times when it can't be as much then we can draw on the reserves and see us over the hump.
That's the way it should be! At least that's the way we've operated in Christian Biblical Church of God. But we do have a sermon series on Tithing.
Book: The Christian Passover book is very important and a key thing. When you read Samuel Bacchiocchi's book—From Sabbath to Sunday—and you're benefiting through years of studying, reading and putting things together that needs to be done it's always the Passover, the 14th Passover, called the Chortle Desamun Controversy.
I got an e-mail from someone in Chili who have a Messianic group there—Israel Church of God—and they keep a 15th Passover. The pastor there bothers those who are in the Church with us saying that they should keep the 15th and not the 14th. The Christian Passover book tells you why the Jews keep a 15th Passover, and why we should keep the 14th.
I'll give you the quick answer: The Jews in the Diaspora cannot keep the Passover on the 14th since they don't believe in Christ. It says in Num. 9 that you have to be 'in the land' and if you're 'not in the land' you can take the second Passover. If you're not there, then you keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread without the Passover. So, what the Jews did, so they would not have to admit that they were so sinful they were exiled, they have made the 15th—the Night Much to be Observed—the Passover.
They justify it by going to Deut. 16, not understanding that those offerings that were offered on the day portion of the 14th[transcriber's correction] were the firstborn redemption for man and beast, so they could use that for the Night to be Much Observed.
Then it says in Deut. 16 that 'in the morning return to your tents.' So the Night Much to be Observed was kept all night. So, the Jews look at that and say that it was changed from a domestic to a temple sacrifice. Not so!
Why do we—not living in Galilee or Judea—keep a 14th Passover? Because Jesus did! He told the apostles to 'go into the world and teach all things I have commanded you.' What did Jesus command on the Passover night concerning the bread, the foot-washing and the wine? This do in the remembrance of Me! Foot-washing is so important, that if you don't have foot-washing you 'don't have any part' with Christ.
The Jews today do not have the advantage that they had during the Apostle Paul's day. What they had during Paul's day was the Old Testament. The Gentiles had nothing!
The Christian Passover book is the most important book you can get. This covers everything about the sacrifice of Christ and the plan of God in great detail. It has to be 500 pages because there are so many things, so many thoughts, so many contradictions and doctrines that people have that it has to be laid out step-by-step, and that's what we did in this book.
Remember the 66 churches that were supporting abortion? The report didn't tell you the reason why. The legislature in Iowa passed a law that you cannot have an abortion if you can hear the child's heartbeat, and that's within the first month. Most women don't know they're pregnant until about that time. That's what they were doing, and someone sent me a picture of a billboard where they had this nice looking woman on it who said, 'I'm glad I had an abortion,' not know that that's one of the main causes of our problems today!
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Let's come to the chronology in the back of The Holy Bible in Its Original Order, and see where we are in our series: How Apostasy Starts. Today, there's no excuse, because we have the whole Bible, the whole Word of God. We covered in Galatians in part 6 of this series—52-53A.D., and the problems with it.
53-57 AD—1st and 2nd Corinthians. This is based on the Calculated Hebrew Calendar and the chronology in the book of Acts.
The first epistle written was the Epistle of James, the brother of Jesus, to the 12 tribes scattered in the Diaspora. If they didn't know where they were, why would he write a letter to them and send it to them in Diaspora. They knew where they were!
One key thing, there was not one mention of anything concerning Gentiles in the Epistle of James. Therefore, that had to be before the giving of the Holy Spirit when Paul went to Cornelius and then subsequently the Church in Antioch. Then Peter's 'foopah' coming to Antioch.
Chronology: (The Holy Bible in Its Original Order pg 1406):
53-57 AD
4) Paul writes 1-Corintians in late winter of 56 AD before Passover of 57 AD
5) Paul writes 11-Corinthians in late summer of 57 AD
Here was a major thrust of all of the false teachings, and that which later became the teachings of the early Church fathers.
Gal. 4 is one place where those who hate the Sabbath, hate the Holy Days and do not want to keep them, point to:
Galatians 4:7: "So then, you are no longer a servant, but a son…. [because you're Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise] …And if a son, you are also an heir of God through Christ. Now on the one hand, when you did not know God…" (vs 7-8).
The Galatians were Gentile pagans with the exception where there were a few Jewish synagogues.
"…you were in bondage to those who are not gods by nature" (v 8). What is that? The demon gods of the Greeks!
Verse 9: But on the other hand, after having known God—rather, after having been known by God—how is it that you are turning again to the weak and impotent elements, to which you again desire to be in bondage?"
They are out of bondage, and now here they are going back into it. We've seen that in the Church of God in our lifetime.
Verse 10: "You are of your own selves… [your own choosing, not by command of God] …observing days, and months, and times and years."
The Protestants are saying that Paul is telling them not to keep the 'Jewish' or Biblical Passover or Feast Days. That's not true!
- Did Paul say Passover? No!
- Did he say Unleavened Bread? No!
- Did he say Tabernacles? No!
- What did he say? "…days, and months, and times and years."
Verse 11: "I am afraid for you, lest somehow I have labored among you in vain."
What you have here is a combination of Jews coming in wanting to bring circumcision, and the combination of the pagans wanting them to come back to their own religion. Yes, you even have pagan Jews! Did you know that there is a special little cult in Israel today that worships the 'queen of heaven'? Today!
- 2-Cor. 13—how bad was it getting? We can apply this today just as well! This summarizes 1st & 2nd Cor. covering all of the heresies that they had.
2-Corinthians 13:1: "This is the third time that I am coming to you. In the mouth of two or three witnesses every matter shall be established."
Note that division of opinion within a group causes heresy to come in! Especially among the Greeks who are very intelligent, smart and are philosophers and all of this. Here they are trying to combine the philosophies of the Greeks with the teachings of Christ. That's essentially what Catholicism is!
Verse 2: "I have previously told you, and I am telling you in advance the second time, as though I were present; but since I am absent now, I am writing to those who have continued to sin until now… [sin is the transgression of the Law and the Word of God] …—and to all the rest—that if I come again, I will not spare." This is pretty strong language!
Verse 3: "Since you seek a proof of Christ speaking through me (Who is not weak toward you, but is powerful in you… [Paul is week, but look how powerful we are] …for although He was crucified in weakness, yet, He lives by God's power; and we are indeed weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by God's power toward you), examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; prove your own selves. Don't you of your own selves know that Jesus Christ is in you? Otherwise, you are reprobates" (vs 3-5).
That's a summary of the whole thing in Corinth. That's pretty strong language!
1-Corinthians:
What we're going to do is summarize every chapter and maybe read a few verses.
- 1-Cor. 1—has to do with the wisdom of words that the Greeks love, and the foolishness of the Jews about Christianity. Whether Paul was baptizing, and then here is the sum of the whole thing:
1-Corinthians 1:12: "Now this I say, since everyone among you says… [here's a cause of apostasy] …'I am of Paul'; or, 'I am of Apollos'…"
Apollos makes an interesting thing in my mind, speculation; opinion and not dogmatic from the Word of God. Apollos came out of Alexandria, Egypt, which is notorious for making things a cross between Biblical Truth and philosophy of the Greeks. That's what Philo was famous for. Have you heard of or read the book of Philo?
Read them! Always read the works of the enemy so you know what they think! Philo was popular for taking the whole Old Testament and allegorizing it, meaning putting many different meanings to it that may or may not be true, but based upon philosophy. He did that to show that Judaism was superior to the philosophy of the Greeks. Apollos: I don't know about him! Remember that he came out of Egypt.
"…or, 'I am of Cephas'; or 'I am of Christ.' Has Christ been divided?…." (vs 12-13). This can be used in the right way and a wrong way.
An apostatizing church will say that 'Christ has not been divided, you are commanded to stay here.' Paul said that 'if they don't speak the sound words of Jesus Christ, remove yourself' (2-Tim. 6).
- What does that last part tell us?
- How do they know the words of Christ?
- They would have to have the Gospels!
"…Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? I thank God that I did not baptize any of you, except Crispus and Gaius" (vs 13-14).
Verse 17: "For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel—not with the wisdom of words…"
The philosophers were always looking at how the words were, how you parse them. Greek is very interesting because you can have a whole sentence and put the subject at the end. To us, we have subject/verb. In the Greek you can start out with a verb and all the different adjective and adverbs that go with it, and then put the subject at the end. That was part of their word craft. Remember when Paul got to Athens, remember what happened there.
"...lest the cross of Christ be made void. For to those who are perishing, the preaching of the cross is foolishness; but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will nullify the understanding of those who understand'" (vs 17-19).
This is quite a thing! Paul is telling these Greeks, 'You think you're so smart, God is going to destroy all the wisdom of all the wise!' It's going to happen in our day, too!
Are we going to live to see the society filled with robots and automatons and fantastic things done by science? Is that what we're looking at? They say that within four years artificial intelligence is going to take a lot of jobs away. What are you going to do with those people? They're so smart that they created artificial intelligence! It's going to destroy everything!
When the Church split up (in the early 90s) there were different ways of parsing the words to make it look right in the things that they were doing. Same way that we covered in part six of this series with Gerald Flurry and the rock. It's a physical thing! If a physical thing like that could inspire you spiritually, you'd fill your house with big boulders—wouldn't you? On the news it said that they're going to have robots replacing a lot of workers within 20 years.
- What are you going to do with the people coming?
- What's going to happen?
They're going to have 'pot' everywhere, so you won't have to worry about working, you just sit back and keep 'cool' with 'pot' and you pick up your check every month.
That's going to lead to greater sin! God says that's He's going to destroy!
Verse 19: "For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will nullify the understanding of those who understand.' Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world?" (vs 19-20).
If you don't think that's true, look at the streets of San Francisco and Los Angeles filled with drugs, human feces, etc. Here's what happens; Seattle: when the lawless get in power they define deviancy down! So, if a homeless steals you can't have him arrested! If they come into your house you can't get them for invasion of your privacy.
- What do you think that's going to do? That's going to go in other places!
- How is it going to be handled? Because people were made to work!
- God works!
- Christ works!
- We are to work in our occupation with God's Sprit and Christian growth!
- We are to have the works that God ordained that we are to do!
"…Did not God make foolish the wisdom of this world?" (v 20).
Then Paul talks about that what God has given us is of His Spirit, of His Truth that the world cannot receive!
- 1-Cor. 2—again, is wisdom vs men. It talks about what God has done for us in giving us the understanding.
- 1-Cor. 3—carnality, following different ones
1-Corinthians 3:4: "When someone says, 'I am of Paul,' and another one says, 'I am of Apollos,' are you not carnal?" All of those are avenues for apostasy! Every one of them!
Verse 5: "Who then is Paul? And who is Apollos? They are but ministers through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave to each one." Then Paul explains that and that you must build your spiritual house!
Christ is the foundation, and Paul gives six things of building; v 12: "Now, if anyone builds upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or stubble, the work of each one shall be manifested; for the day of trial…" (vs 12-13)—the fiery trial! That the reason we have trials!
I think if finally understand why Paul rejoiced in tribulation. It made him depend upon God even more! Therefore, that's a good thing! Going through a trial physically may be a bad thing, but you can overcome it one way or the other!
Verse 14: "If the work that anyone has built endures, he shall receive a reward. If the work of anyone is burned up, he shall suffer loss; but he himself shall be saved, yet, as through fire. Don't you understand that you are God's temple…" (vs 14-16).
Tie in with John 14 where it tells us that Jesus said that the Father and Christ would come and make Their abode with us.
Verse 17: "If anyone defiles the temple of God, God shall destroy him because the temple of God is Holy, which temple you are."
- 1-Cor. 4—they were so puffed up they were thinking that if Christ returns they're going to rule! 'We're so good that we're going to rule over all these other people coming in.' So, Paul told them:
1-Corinthians 4:5: "Therefore, do not judge anything before the time; wait until the Lord comes…"
Don't you think that people were thinking that a lot of these problems would be solved very soon, because Christ would be coming? I'll bet there were a lot thinking that! God didn't reveal to the apostles that it was going to be a long way off until close to the end of their ministries. That sets up the two other major points that we'll cover:
- Jerusalem was destroyed and Christ didn't come
- the Apostle John died and Christ didn't come
Think of the advantage that the antagonists had! He said He was coming, how come He didn't come? Were the apostles correct? or Were they liars? Maybe everything you believe you might as well throw out the window, because they were hoping for Christ to come before Jerusalem was destroyed! Now look, it's destroyed and the Romans had occupied the whole thing there. So, you can imagine that! That was quite a thing! How many people would fall for that? Think of that!
"…Who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the motives of all hearts; and then shall each one receive praise from God. Now these things, brethren, I have applied to Apollos and myself for your sakes; that in us you may learn not to think of men beyond what is written, so that no one among you is puffed up on behalf of one of us against the other" (vs 5-6). That is following this and puffing up against the other!
Verse 7: "For what makes you superior to others? And what do you have that you did not receive?…." That's a lifelong lesson!
What can you do that you can say that it's entirely something of your own? Jonathan draws plans for houses, and other buildings. You have to have plans before you can get a building permit to build. If you build a house without a permit they can tear it down!
- What do you build a house with? Wood, metal, rock, etc.!
- Where did that come from? God made it!
Look at just the things that we do everyday? The food we eat, the water we drink, the things that we do all comes from God!
Delores and I take fresh squeezed lemon juice every day. When I squeeze them out comes the seeds. I look at the top of it and sometimes there's a little bit of the stem from where it was picked. Think of that! Through that little itty-bitty stem came everything that made that lemon! All of those seeds, if you plant them, will replicate and make a new tree. It all comes from God! That's quite a fantastic thing!
I crack open a couple of eggs, where do they come from? Chicken! Who made the chicken? God did! It think that's one of the best thing He ever made!
Why? Because you can have them fried or baked, and then you can take the bones and make soup! If you get fertile eggs, you can put them under a light and you get a whole bunch of chicks and they will grow up to be chickens.
All of that, everything, comes from God! Every breath of air that you breathe, every drop of water you drink, and food you eat all comes from God!
That's what Paul is tell them here, v 6: "…so that no one among you is puffed up on behalf of one of us against the other. For what makes you superior to others? And what do you have that you did not receive? But if you also received it, why are you boasting as if you did not receive it?" (vs 6-7). That's why God is going to nearly destroy everything on earth when Christ returns!
Even though we understand as much as we do, we still don't have a clear picture of what it's going to be like for human beings to live in the Millennium.
(go to the next track)
The things that we're covering right now, all of the Churches in the first century the Churches were experiencing in one degree or another. Remember, they had no clue as to when Jesus was going to return. In fact, they didn't understand it until about the middle 60sA.D.
This set up a lot of things. People were thinking, as we read in 1st & 2nd Cor., that they were expecting Christ to return right away. Well, here's a little longer after that.
1-Corinthians 4:8: "Now you are satiated…. [filled with perfection] …Now you have been enriched…. [you know all things] …You have reigned without us…. [Paul is being very sarcastic!] …And I would that you did reign, so that we also might reign with you. For I suppose that God has made us apostles last, as it were appointed to death; for we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and tomen. We are fools for the sake of Christ, but you are wise in Christ; we are weak, but you are strong; you are glorious, but we are without honor" (vs 8-10).
They were so filled with vanity and things that was in the Church at Corinth. Why did God do it this way? Every wonder why? Because of free moral agency and because of what Jesus said:
Matthew 22:14: "For many are called, but few are chosen."
How many were truly converted in Corinth? We have no way of knowing! But reading from what we have so far, there was a lot of carnality going on that they needed to repent of.
- 1-Cor. 5—the incest, plus we have concerning the Passover.
- 1-Cor. 6—judging and going to court. Here's what's ironic, they were thinking they were so smart, so good and fantastic that they didn't even want to judge the difficulties between the saints.
- 1-Cor. 7—should you marry, not marry; have a wife, not have a wife. Should you not be married because Christ is coming soon.
- 1-Cor. 8—eating things sacrificed to idols. You had a distinct problem.
Not like we have today, because the Gentiles had animal sacrifices as well, and they had the little restaurants or shanties alongside the temple where people could go buy a meal and eat.
- 1-Cor. 9—Should you take tithes or not? Christ said that you should live by the Gospel!
- 1-Cor. 10 is a key important chapter in understanding what was going on.
- Do you suppose that they had animal sacrifices?
- Do you suppose that they had things like bread at the temple?
- What did the Gentiles have in their so-called sacraments?
Remember who is the great imitator? Satan the great counterfeiter!
1-Corinthians 10:1—Paul gives them a lesson: "Now, I do not wish you to be ignorant of this, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea. And all were baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea. And they all ate the same spiritual meat…. [manna and the teachings of God] …And they all drank of the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them. And that Rock was Christ" (vs 1-4).
That Rock was a type of Christ, and out of that came forth the water. Think about how much water that needed to come out of there to take care of all those people. Think about food, solved by manna! Think about water, solved by coming out of the rock! All coming from God!
Verse 5: "But with many of them God was not pleased…" Paul is giving a warning! God's not pleased with a lot of you!
"…for their dead bodies were strewn in the wilderness" (v 5).
Sidebar: How come we can't find any burial sites in the Sinai with the bones of the children of Israel who died? There should be a lot out there!
Well, there's a special eagle, a bone eagle, that gets the bones of even big animals, takes them up and drops them on rocks, and splits them in pieces and eats them.
I'm sure that God did away with all the bones of the children of Israel for the simple reason that men would say, 'They didn't come here, we couldn't find any bones.'
That's my opinion, so I'll ring the bell. I saw that on National Geographic about the bone-eating eagles.
Verse 6: "Now these things became examples for us, so that we might not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.' Neither should we commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and twenty-three thousand were destroyed in one day. Neither should we tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted Him, and were killed by serpents. Neither should we complain against God, as some of them also complained, and were killed by the destroyer. Now all these things happened to them as examples, and were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages are coming" (vs 6-11).
Think about that statement in 57A.D. The ends of the earth that are coming. They were anticipating Christ very shortly.
Verse 12: "Therefore, let the one who thinks he stands take heed, lest he fall."
The only assurance you have of standing is your relationship with God. If that is good, you can stand! If that is not good, you're going to have more trouble! If you're standing firm and difficulties come, then like everything else, we have to choose: Will we obey God always, in all circumstances, in everything without accusing God? Look at what Christ went through willingly so that we could be saved!
Verse 13: "No temptation has come upon you except what is common to mankind. For God, Who is faithful, will not permit you to be tempted beyond what you are able to bear… [Only 'God knows what you're able to bear] …but with the temptation, He will make a way of escape, so that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry" (vs 13-14). Idols were coming in!
What do you think the first idol that was to come in? The cross! To differentiate themselves from the Jews! They needed to be different from the Jews. But you don't do it by breaking the commandments of God! Of course, idolatry can consist of anything that you put between you and God! That covers a lot!
Verse 16: "The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not the fellowship of the blood of Christ?…. [the King James say communion] …The bread that we break, is it not the fellowship of the Body of Christ? For we, being many, are one body and one bread, because we are all partakers of the bread. Consider Israel according to the flesh. Are not those who eat the sacrifices partakers of the altar? What then am I saying?…." (vs 16-19). In other words, why am I telling you all this?
"…That an idol is anything, or that which is sacrificed to an idol is anything?" (v 19). So, you already have problems with the Passover and idolatry.
Verse 20: "But that which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons…" Anytime you see something happening with the Catholic Church, that the demons. It's that simple!
"…and not to God; and I do not wish you to have fellowship with demons" (v 20). Then Paul gives a strong warning, because remember how all of these things are always done. You have:
- thesis—the truth, the way things are
- anti-synthesis—we want to make changes and interpret things differently
- synthesis—bring the false things together and you have a new set of circumstances
Ephesians 4:11—Paul wrote this while he was in prison in Rome: "And He gave some asapostles, and some prophets, and some evangelists; and some pastors and teachers." That's the order in which they came in the Church.
Verse 12: "For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the Body of Christ." That's what it needs to be!
Every elder and minister needs to always be teaching, teaching, teaching! If you do then all the brethren will be equipped to correct themselves! How many corrective sermons have you sat through because one person in the congregation did something? Probably for some of you, a lot!
What needs to be is teach the brethren! That's what God gave us to do, to teach! How to yield to God and to correct their own problems themselves! That's what it needs to be.
Verse 13: "Until we all come into the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ."
That's the goal right there! Another way of saying Matt. 5:48.
Verse 14: "So that we no longer be children, tossed and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men in cunning craftiness, with a view to the systematizing of the error." That's what happened!
By the time that the Apostle John died, they had a whole systematized false Christianity, which was brought out by Ignatius. So, this shows you what was happening. Paul was telling them right here in:
1-Corinthians 10:21: "You cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of demons…."
Think of that in relationship to everything that the Protestants do; the Catholics do, and even independent groups and Jehovah Witnesses and Mormons. They don't want to be called Mormons, they want to be called Latter Day Saints.
"…You cannot partake of the table of the Lord, and the table of demons…. [Why? What happens?] …Now do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?" (vs 21-22). Those are really strong words!
- 1 Cor. 11—all about the Passover
- 1-Cor. 12—how there are different aspects of the body of Christ
- 1-Cor. 13—I guess Paul got tired of all the haranguing going on so he talks about love right in the middle of all this arguing back and forth
Let's see what the Church was becoming. I tell you that it was a combination of Stoics, Pentecostalism, new ideas, everything!
1-Corinthians 14:26: "What is it then, brethren? When you assemble together, each of you…" They're carried away with their own intelligence that they have naturally, with their own opinions that they think through, and since they didn't have the whole Bible like we do, it was easier to get into those heresies and problems.
"…each of you has a psalm, has a doctrine, has a language, has a revelation, or has an interpretation. Let all things be done for edification" (v 26).
It got so bad that they were thinking that they had new revelations from God. Have you heard that before? Yes, we just heard of one in part six of this series. 'A new revelation from God; this stone is going to make me popular.'
Verse 36[transcriber's correction]: "WHAT?…." Tie that together with everything that he wrote up to this point!
"…Did the Word of God originate with you? Or did it come only to you and no one else? If anyone thinks that he is a prophet or spiritual, let him acknowledge that the things I write to you are commandments of the Lord. But if anyone chooses to be ignorant, let him be ignorant" (vs 36-38).
- 1-Cor. 15—the resurrection chapter. There were some saying that there was no resurrection, and that Christ was not resurrected.
- Why would they say that?
- What does this tell us?
This is what is called Docetism! That Christ the Savior possessed the body of a man Jesus. When the crucifixion took place the man died, but the spirit went back to God and you don't need a resurrection. Isn't that what they would say? 'This agrees with what our gods have told us all along. When you die your soul goes back to God!'
In a sense that is partially correct, but totally misunderstood! You do not have an immortal soul that cannot die. You have a spirit of man that God has given to every human being. When you die that returns to God. Those who are the just made perfect (Heb. 12) are there at the altar of God.
- How much space does it take? Very little!
- When you were conceived, how much space did that take? Very little!
Then God puts that into a new body at the resurrection. They say that because 'the spirit goes back to God, that's the immortal soul.' But the soul that sins shall die! So, you can see all the problems that they were having right there.
1-Corinthians 15:12: "But if Christ is being preached, that He rose from the dead, how is it that some among you are saying that there is no resurrection of the dead?"
The whole purpose of Christianity is the resurrection!
Verse 13: "For if there is no resurrection from the dead, neither has Christ been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain, and your faith is also in vain. And we are also found to be false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that He raised Christ, Whom He did not raise, if indeed the dead are not raised" (vs 13-15).
Look how far away from the Truth that really was; 27-28 years later. That's amazing! Look at it today with the Church. What is it like today 28 years after the main man died? Scattered everywhere! Some have remained faithful in some degrees, some to more degrees than others. But we always have to remain faithful to the Word of God because it is the Truth! We have to prove all things by the Word of God!
Verse 16: "For if the dead are not raised, neither has Christ been raised. But if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain; you are still in your sins, and those who have fallen asleep in Christ have then perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most miserable. But now Christ has been raised from the dead; He has become the Firstfruit of those who have fallen asleep" (vs 16-20). Then Paul explains all about it!
With the immortal soul, or like the Mormons believe, we were in the stars up in heaven and in order for there to be human beings Adam and Eve had to sin so there would be procreation. That's a stupid doctrine! If there's man and woman is there going to be procreation? Of course! They didn't have to sin to procreate, but that's what they believe. In saying that they're saying that the spirit came first. Let's see what Paul says about that:
Verse 44: "It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body…. [the spiritual body did not come first] …There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body; accordingly, it is written, 'The first man, Adam, became a living soul; the last Adam became an ever-living Spirit.' However, the spiritual was not first, but the natural—then the spiritual" (vs 44-46). That wipes away everything concerning immortality of the soul!
2-Corinthians
- How do we understand the Word of God? By the Spirit of God!
- What did Jesus do to the apostles and the disciples after His resurrection? He opened their eyes/mind to understand about Him, the Law, the Prophets and the Psalms!
likewise, in the New Testament:
- How do we understand it?
- by proper Bible study
- by God's Spirit
- by obedience to Him
That's why people who don't keep the Sabbath have only a miniscule amount of understanding. Yes, they can have people live better physical lives in this world, that is true, but that doesn't mean salvation.
Salvation is a gift of God and we are to love God, keep His commandments and be faithful to the end. That's what God says, and everything hinges on that. So, people can pick up the Bible and they can read this, that and the other thing. They can also try and read their own ideas into the Scriptures.
Is that what these 'wise men' have done? Yes! They take a Scriptures and then they build a whole philosophical structure on top of it. All of these things can sew the seeds of apostasy.
What is it that people want to have more than anything else? They want to have it easy and broad! They don't want difficulty. But what did Christ say? Enter into at the narrow gate, for straight—difficult—is the way that leads to life! But broad is the way that leads to death!
I think it's interesting, and it's finally come out, that people in Hollywood, the more successful they are—there are some who are supposed Christians and they do better than others—the way to be successful in Hollywood is to worship Satan! It's coming out and all those crazy religionists in the back who said not to go to the movies because they're of Satan the devil, they were right.
It was brought out at the last Golden Globe Awards one of the main actors said, 'Thank you Satan!' What does that tell you? They're teaching them Satan's way from kindergarten up. That's true! Look at all the movies that are coming, they're all occult and satanic, and they're all fighting invaders from outer space.
We're going to be the invaders from outer space with Christ! The world doesn't have a clue as to what is going to happen when Christ returns. This earth is going to be literally shaken apart! It's going to be devastation, destruction and gloom and doom!
People look at God and God is love and 'oh that's wonderful, let's have love and be goody-goody!' God is also:
- Judge
- Executioner
- Ruler
He can take care of anything in this universe, anytime He wants to. But with human beings He gives free moral agency. What are you going to do?
Rev. 7—you have the 144,000 and the great innumerable multitude, because that's a whole group of people who repent during the Tribulation.
Paul talks about the suffering and all the difficulties and things that they would go through that they even distressed of living. But God delivered them.
2-Corinthians 1:18: "But God is faithful, so that our word to you was not yes and no. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Who was preached by us among you (by me and Silvanus and Timothy), was not first yes and then no, but in Him has always been yes" (vs 18-19).
In other words, the Truth of God always stands! This shows the vacillation back and forth that they had concerning their doctrines with all of their own ideas.
Verse 20: "For whateverpromises of God there are, in Him is the yes, and in Him the Amen, with glory to God by us. But He Who establishes us with you in Christ, and Who has anointed us, is God, Who has also sealed us and has given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. But I call upon God… v 24: not that we exercise lordship over your faith" (vs 20-24).
2-Corinthians 2:17: "For we are not like the many… [How far was the apostasy already going?] …who for their own profit are corrupting the Word of God; but we speak with sincerity, as from God, and before God, and in Christ."
That's why Paul didn't collect tithes and offerings, though he had authority to do it, because he was thinking that Christ was going to return, and the most important thing was to get them converted. But he had to repent of that and tell them that he made a mistake.
2-Corinthians 4:3: "But if our Gospel is hidden, it is hidden to those who are perishing." In other words, if you're closed-minded and don't understand, you are on your way to die! Whether you commit the unpardonable sin or not depends upon your choices.
Verse 4: "In whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of those who do not believe, lest the Light of the Gospel of the glory of Christ, Who is the image of God, should shine unto them. For we… [every elder and minister better look at this and understand] …do not preach our own selves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." (vs 4-5).
All the way through there were troubles and difficulties. In the next segment, part eight, I want to show how it intensified through the General Epistles. Everything really began to blow apart. We're going to experience a time like that ahead of us, but we have the Word of God to help us see it through.
2-Corinthians 11:1: "I would that you might bear with me in a little nonsense; but indeed, do bear with me. For I am jealous over you with the jealousy of God because I have espoused you to one husband, so that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds might be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (vs 1-3). All of this is orchestrated by Satan!
Verse 4: "For indeed, if someone comes preaching another Jesus…"—another version of Jesus! Look at how many Jesuses there are in the world! How many virgin Marys there are in the world!
"…whom we did not preach, or you receive a different spirit, which you did not receive…" (v 4)
- What happens with false prophets? Demons follow!
- What happens with idolatry? Demons follow!
If you ever have a chance to watch Morgan Freeman when he gets into Buddhism, which is really weird, strange and demonic! How many pagodas or temples do they have where the tops of them are overlaid with gold. The Buddhist are supposed to give up all the desire of the flesh: empty your mind of your thoughts and let nirvana take over the mind! That's all demonism and satanism!
Freeman went to one of the highest ranking Buddhist, and he was so powerful in demonism that he put himself into a trance. I saw this right on television and at a certain point it lifted him up about three feet off the ground and then put him back down. Seeing is believing!
So, he can tell you, 'Look at this, I'm telling you what's right.' But he's not telling you what's right concerning satanism and demonism! Satan's the one, a different spirit!
"…or a different gospel, which you did not accept, you put up with it as something good" (v 4). 'Oh this is nice that people have different thoughts.'
Did you know that Fox News owns 180 corporations, newspapers, television stations around the world? You watch Fox News and they say, 'We're smart, we're fair and balanced'—half truth/half lies! You watch some of them and these people are so brainwashed into what they believe that they're almost like automatons. This is what happens, 'Oh, this is wonderful, we want to hear both sides.'
Verse 5: "But I consider myself in no way inferior to those highly exalted so-called apostles."
Most commentaries think that Paul is talking about the other apostles of God. But he's not! He's talking about the false apostles!
Verse 6: "For although I may be unpolished in speech, yet, I am not in knowledge; for in all things I have demonstrated this to you. Now, did I commit sin by humbling myself so that you might be exalted, because I preached the Gospel of God to you freely? I robbed other churches, receiving wages from them for ministering to you. And when I was present with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone (for the brethren who came from Macedonia fully supplied my needs); for I kept myself, and will continue to keep myself, from being burdensome to you in anything" (vs 6-9).
Verse 13: "For such are false apostles… [that's what the apostles are in the other verse: so called apostles] …deceitful workers who are transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And it is no marvel, for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore, it is no great thing if his servants…" (vs 13-15).
Satan has ministers and servants, he has theology, philosophy and it's all set up and ordered the way it is in the world today! In all of the education and all of the government and everything that there is in the world under Satan the devil.
Scriptural References:
- Colossians 3:14
- Matthew 5:48
- Galatians 4:7-11
- 2 Corinthians 13:1-5
- 1 Corinthians 1:12-14, 17-20
- 1 Corinthians 3:4-5, 12-17
- 1 Corinthians 4:5-10
- Matthew 22:14
- 1 Corinthians 10:1-14, 16-20
- Ephesians 4:11-14
- 1 Corinthians 10:21-22
- 1 Corinthians 14:26, 36-38
- 1 Corinthians 15:12-20, 44-46
- 2 Corinthians 1:18-24
- 2 Corinthians 2:17
- 2 Corinthians 4:3-5
- 2 Corinthians 11:1-9, 13-15
Scriptures referenced, not quoted:
- Hebrews 13
- Numbers 9
- Deuteronomy 16
- 2 Timothy 6
- John 14
- 1 Corinthians 5-
- Matthew 5:48
- Hebrews 12
- Revelation 2
Also referenced:
- Book: From Sabbath to Sunday by Samuel Bacchiocchi
- Booklet: Is the Ministry God's Government? & The Nicolaitans of Revelation 2 by J.H. Allen
- Study Pack #9—The Church, God's Government and the Ministry.
- Sermon Series: Tithing
- The Christian Passover by Fred R. Coulter
FRC:bo
Transcribed: 1/16/19
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