Lesson 138 - Senior
Memory Verse
Cross References
I A Warning Against False Prophets in Israel
1. A prophet or dreamer may give a sign that comes to pass tempting some to follow other gods, [DEU:13:1-2]; [JER:14:14].
2. Let no one hearken to him, for God proves whether His people love Him with all their heart, [DEU:13:3]; [JER:5:30-31].
3. They are to follow Him, to obey Him, and are to put that prophet or dreamer to death, [DEU:13:4-5].
II A Case Where the Prophet is a Near Relative or Friend
1. He may be a brother, son, daughter, wife, or friend, enticing one secretly, [DEU:13:6-7]; [PS:41:9]; [MAT:10:35-36].
2. Let him not hearken to him, but his hand shall be the first upon him to put him to death, [DEU:13:8-9]; [ZEC:13:3].
3. Let him stone him, that all Israel may fear, and remember their deliverance from Egypt, [DEU:13:10-11]; [ACT:5:10-11].
IIIA Case Where the People of a City Go after Other Gods
1. The sons of Belial may have seduced the people to go and serve other gods, [DEU:13:12-13]; [DEU:11:16].
2. If true, Israel shall smite them, burn the city, and destroy the spoil, making it a heap forever, [DEU:13:14-16]; [DEU:7:25].
3. None of its curse shall be found, and the Lord shall have mercy if Israel keeps His commandments, [DEU:13:17-18].
IVA Curse Pronounced upon False Teachers
1. The Galatians were removed from the Gospel, which once they believed, unto "another gospel," [GAL:1:6]; [HEB:13:9].
2. There is no other gospel, but the Judaizers would pervert the Gospel of Christ, [GAL:1:7]; [ISA:8:20].
3. If we (the Apostles), an angel from Heaven, or anyone preach another gospel, let him be accursed, [GAL:1:8-9].
4. Have no fellowship with one bringing a doctrine other than the "doctrine of Christ," [2JN:9:11].
Notes
God's Attitude Towards Compromise under the Law
No one can thoughtfully read the thirteenth chapter of Deuteronomy without knowing that God hates Com-promise with a perfect hatred. The word "compromise" does not occur in the Bible, but it expresses very clearly the action of a man who turns away from the God of Israel, after having known Him and His teachings, to other gods and other teachings. That man is a compromiser. The prophet Balaam was a type, in Old Testament times, of such a character. There is evidence in the Bible that this man once knew God, but in order to win the renown and riches of this world, he forsook the God of Israel and turned to sorcery and divinations. For the sake of wealth he attempted to curse Israel, but on his way he met the Angel of the Lord who pronounced the state into which Balaam had fallen: "Thy way is perverse before me." But Balaam continued on his downward course, until he seduced Israel into the idolatrous worship of the Midianites, for which thousands lost their lives, and Balaam himself was slain.
As the Children of Israel approached the Promised Land, they were warned against entering into any league with the nations occupying Canaan. On the contrary, they were to destroy these nations, lest Israel should be partakers of their idolatry and abominable worship. "Thus shall ye deal with them; ye shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their groves, and burn their graven images with fire. . . . Know therefore that the LORD thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations; and repayeth them that hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him that hateth him, he will repay him to his face" (Deuteronomy 7:5, 9, 10). The fierce anger of the Lord was kindled without restraint against all manner of idolatry and the abominable iniquity connected with it, as He revealed in warning Israel against turning to other gods. If at any time the inhabitants of one of their cities should become seduced by the sons of Belial and turn to other gods, the Israelites were to smite them, burn the city, destroy the spoil, and make the city a heap forever. And then the Lord continued, "There shall cleave nought of the cursed thing to thine hand: that the LORD may turn from the fierceness of his anger, and shew thee mercy, and have compassion upon thee, and multiply thee, as he hath sworn unto thy fathers" (Deuteronomy 13:17).
God's Attitude Towards Compromise under Grace
Since God has unmistakably declared His anger towards compromise, in the thirteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, as well as in many other portions of the Old Testament, the thought arises, What is His attitude towards compromise in this our day under grace? Some religionists acknowledge that under the Law God's answer was revealed and that swift judgement was visited upon certain nations. But now, they maintain, we are living un-der grace; and He is presented as the God of love -" which is perfectly true. "For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ" (John 1:17). But it is equally true that He is still the God of judgement. He is a God of law as well as of love, and His attitude towards sin has not changed in the least degree. He never has tolerated sin, and never will tolerate it in any manner, shape or form. And judgement is going to fall upon this world of sin and iniquity as surely as God's Word is true.
Let us then see what the New Testament has to say about this subject of compromise. The Apostle Paul in his missionary journeys once visited the province of Galatia where the people heard him gladly. Under his preaching many of them believed and were added to the fold, and the Apostle established churches there also ([GAL:1:2]). The beginning was good, but presently certain Judaizers began canvassing Paul's field and diverted these young believers to the Law of Moses, even though its day was passed and its glory had vanished with the dawn of the Gospel, as the stars of heaven fade away with the rising of the sun ([2CO:3:7-8]; [2COR:3:11]; [HEB:8:13]). And a certain sect today is still preaching this doctrine of the Judaizers. Its leaders are at-tempting to subject Christians to the Law which passed away with the coming in of the New Covenant; and their teachings therefore are a false doctrine which the Apostle Paul denounced centuries ago. In his Epistle to the Galatians he says, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed" (Galatians 1:6-9). It is evident from this portion of Scripture that God's curse still rests upon the false prophet who would divert the children of God from the Truth.
Concerning the Gospel which Paul had preached to the Galatians, he said in his Epistle to the Romans, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ; for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek" (Romans 1:16). And in reference to the Law the Apostle wrote, "For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth" (Romans 10;4). "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight" (Romans 3:20). "Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith" (Galatians 3:24).
Whosoever, therefore, is brought into the liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, and then, he shall lend an ear to the cunning arguments of some emissary of the devil, and shall let down one tittle on the doctrines of the Bible which have been laid in his heart, that man is no longer in grace -" he is in disgrace and back again in the bondage of sin. And it is not an easy matter for such a man to get out of the entanglements into which the devil has entrapped him. That is just how serious it is to compromise in any degree the Truth which God has revealed. Upon this subject the Apostle John wrote, "Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds" (II John 8-11).
"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown" (Revelation 3:11).
The Falling Away of the Last Days
The Apostle Paul prophesied that shortly before the coming of the Lord there should come a "falling away" first and "that man of sin," the Antichrist, should be revealed: "Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come [that is, the day of the Lord's coming], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition" (II Thessalonians 2:3). And by a "falling away" is meant an apostasy or a turning away from the Faith. The falling away of which Paul prophesied is therefore upon us. Certain churches which once had the power and presence of God in their midst have, in recent years, denied the fundamental doctrines of the Bible which constitute the bulwark of the Christian Faith. And what is the result? These churches have lost the power of God, the Spirit has taken His flight, and they are dead. They have forsaken the Fountain of Living Waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. One of the denominations, which, in the beginning was on fire and whose revivals swept Europe and America, has in these last days discarded the doctrines upon which its churches were founded, and adopted modernism as its religion. And this falling away of the churches from the Faith is an alarming example of what any departure from the Truth of God's Word can result in.
Paul's final epistle contains a stirring message to Timothy: "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 long suffering 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" (II Timothy 4:1-4). We can say today, The time has come when men will not endure sound doctrine.
Questions
1. What was God's admonition to the Israelites concerning other nations when they entered the Promised Land?
2. What was the danger in affiliating themselves with these nations?
3. What was God's attitude toward one who forsook the God of Israel to serve other gods?
4. What penalty was to be meted out to the man who did this thing?
5. What was to be done to the prophet who enticed the Children of Israel to serve other gods?
6. Suppose this prophet was a near relative or friend; who was to be first to administer the penalty?
7. If a whole city went after other gods, what was to be done to the inhabitants, the city, and the spoil?
8. What is God's attitude under grace towards one who turns from His teachings to other teachings?
9. What is meant by the expression, occurring occasionally in the New Testament, "the doctrine of Christ"?
10. What must a Christian's attitude be towards one who comes and brings not the doctrine of Christ?