
But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
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. (Deuteronomy 18:20-22)
FALSE PROPHETS HAVE BEEN AROUND since there were prophets. Up front: everybody is NOT a false prophet who disagrees with me on a Bible topic. God’s approach to the people of Moses’ day (and to us today), was to be aware that there ARE false prophets who will not speak the Word of God but will speak their own words and try to deceive those who listen to them. In New Testament days, the false prophets went after money, prestige, and the weak women in the congregation they might be able to seduce.
I HAVE WRITTEN THIS BEFORE. I don’t believe we can be too careful about sorting out what is from man and what is from God. Dr. Bob Jones, Sr. said: “The Bible contains what God said; It’s true that He said it and what He said is true. The Bible contains what men and women have said. It’s true that they said it; What they said may be true or may not be true. The Bible contains what the Devil has said. It’s true that he said it, but what he said is a lie.” (Bob Jones, Sr.)
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. (John 8:44)
MOSES WAS A LAWGIVER AND A PROPHET. God appointed Moses to receive His law from His hands and to lead the chosen people for Moses’ full lifetime. God also placed the role of “prophet” upon Moses and told him that the ultimate prophet would be like him. That ultimate prophet was “the promised one,” Jesus. The standard that God set up for the prophet Moses and all those that were to follow him, was to speak what God had commanded them to speak; nothing less, nothing more.
JESUS QUOTED OLD TESTAMENT PASSAGES when in dialog with public figures and He always outwitted His opponents. People liked it because He knew the Jewish scriptures so well. In the gospels, He quoted Exodus 7 times; Isaiah 8 times; Deuteronomy 9 times; and the Psalms 10 times.
HE SOMETIMES REFERRED TO O.T. BOOKS WITHOUT SAYING WHICH BOOK. For example, in discussing divorce, He said: “Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered (allowed) you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. (Matthew 19:8) He referred to creation: But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. (Mark 10:6)
PAUL WARNED ABOUT FALSE PROPHETS: For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works. (2Corinthians 11:13-15)
AREN'T WE GLAD PAUL GOT RID OF ALL THE FALSE PROPHETS so we won’t have to deal with them? How awful it would be if we still had false prophets today, like, in our seminaries and bookstores and churches and TV and radio programs. How confusing it would be if false prophets were still hanging around to deceive folks today.
IF THE DEVIL WERE FREE TO DECEIVE PEOPLE TODAY, he might go after our children and young people and use their friends and their electronic gadgets and other things to attract them away from their families and God.
TRUTH IS.....FALSE PROPHETS HAVE INCREASED GREATLY IN OUR DAY! Jesus prophesied that one of the defining things of the last days would be the increase of false prophets. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. (Matthew 24:11) “Many false prophets.” “Shall deceive many.” If you were being deceived, would you know you were being deceived? (If you knew you were being deceived you would no longer be deceived…right?)
JESUS REPEATED THE WARNING IN V.24: For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24)
THIS IS NO TIME TO BE LAZY. People are working hard, and there is a sharp decline in reading today. Newspapers are struggling against smart phones. People want to see pictures and cartoons instead of reading words. Reading takes time and requires more effort at thinking. People are grasping for anything that avoids time-consuming reading.
BUT THERE'S NO SHORTCUT WHEN I COMES TO THE WORD OF GOD. Pictures help us in highlighting Bible themes, but there is no way to escape the need to read and think. I write more than some people want to read. But I’m supposed to write, so I leave it up to the individuals whether they want to take the time to read it.
DAILY BIBLE READING AND PRAYER ARE OUR SUREST MEANS of avoiding the deception of false prophets and false teachers and false TV preachers who make a pitch for you and your family every week. We are way ahead if we have found a good Bible-teaching, Bible-preaching church that faithfully proclaims the Word of God and has good Christians who provoke us unto good works. And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: (Hebrews 10:24) Ω
Read Through the Bible in a Year
AUGUST 8, 2019 – THURSDAY
A.M. Isaiah 62-64 P.M. 1 Thessalonians 5
(Bible Gateway will read this to you if you like. Look for the speaker icon.)
Good Verse to Memorize:
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient (fitting); (Romans 1:28)
Song for Today:
There is a Fountain (2:39) (Calvary Memorial Church Choir)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs6N8s1gPuI
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Health Hint:
The flu season is not far down the road. Hopefully, you will get nothing or just a garden-variety infection that is not too hard to manage. A flu shot might not be a bad thing, especially if it’s a match for the flu you might get. The authorities have to guess which flu bug its going to be. I can’t have them because I’ve had Guillain Berre’ (French Polio) and the shot could set that problem off again. Because of that, a doctor pulled me aside 30 years ago and gave me some suggestions for strengthening the immune system.
Drink plenty of water/liquids. Lighten up on heavy eating. Get enough sleep. Don’t get overly tired. Cut your sugar intake – waaay down! Keep on hand plenty of Vitamin C and plenty of garlic (fresh or powder or capsules) Plenty of Vitamin. C means keeping 1,000 mg capsules (NOT TABLETS) on hand. I buy them in large containers: (600 capsules).
When infection comes on, start taking 2-3 1,000 mg capsules of Vit. C Complex on-the-hour with 8 oz of water. It will produce gas. (Some things are worse than that.) There’s a drugstore, fruit-flavored powder: Emergen-C, that fizzes, that can help with the Vitamin C thing, but it’s not very strong. It’s like an Alka-Seltzer.
If you take Vit. C “to tolerance,” it means to up the dose until the bowels begin to loosen and then back off the dosage a bit. When infection hits you, it uses up all the Vitamin C in your body and it will continue to use a lot until the infection is subdued.
Vitamin C will not kill a virus. It will help you reduce the runny nose and other symptoms until your body can make a blueprint of the virus and begin to produce anti-bodies that will eventually subdue it. When that happens, mucus will thicken, and it will go through a full stage of war until the good guys win.
If you have the flu, you will know it’s not just another sneezing thing. Contact your doctor by phone or closest Emergency Room and get a “heads up.”
Virus infections are often followed with bacterial infections and they can be helped with anti-biotics. I don’t like the anti-biotics that are swallowed. It kills everything in the gut and takes weeks to recover from the drugs. So, I try to avoid the anti-biotics if possible. We used to get Penicillin shots, and they worked fine on bacterial infections; didn’t go through the gut, didn’t destroy everything in the gut. But doctors won’t give Penicillin shots these days. Some people are allergic to Penicillin and doctors don’t want to get dragged into that.
I’m not a medical person of any kind. This is just information I’ve collected from doctors, nurses, and reading and getting sick myself and listening to people tell their stories. Take care of yourself! (Whatever that is.) Ω