CHILDREN OF
THE WORLD,
GOD,
AND THE DEVIL
By Pastor Hal Stultz
Children Of the
World, God And The Devil
By Dr. Hal Stultz
1580 Boone Gap Road
Boomer, NC. 28606
336/921-2927
www.biblebelieversbaptist.net
Acknowledgments
All Scripture
passages in this booklet are taken from the Authorized King James Bible 1611.
Any underlining in the bible verses is used for emphasis, not to change the
scriptures.
I would like to thank my dear wife
Cindy, for her faithfulness in praying, helping, and putting up with me during
the devil’s attack while writing this booklet.
Had it not been for Mrs.Debbie
Wells’ persistence, patience, and hard work proof reading and correcting my
mess, the book would not be readable or make sense.
I want to give credit to Evangelist
Harold Leak for his study in the word of God and for first mentioning this
subject to me twenty five to thirty years ago.
I do realize that there is nothing
original and if I used any material of others without giving credit, it was not
intentional.
Index
Chapter
Page
Introduction
1-6
Chapter 1
Children Of The World
7-18
Chapter
2
Children Of God
19-
37
Chapter 3
Children Of The Devil
38-60
Chapter
4
Children Of The Devil
Called By
The
Devil To Preach.
61-77
Chapter 5 The
Dangers Of This
Doctrine
78-79
Introduction
All my life I have
heard it said that you are either a child of God or a child of the Devil;
God is your Father or the Devil is. Sometime in the past the Devil twisted the
truth of God’s Word, in order to confuse eternal security, by teaching you could
be in one family, then get out of it and get into another. If this be so, then
there are some questions that I need answers to:
1. If a child
dies before the age of accountability, he
has not
been born again; does he go to
Heaven or Hell?
2. If you say
Heaven, then does a child of the Devil go to Heaven?
3. If you say
no, he is not born a child of the Devil, then how does he become a child
of the Devil?
4. When does he
become a child of the Devil?
5. If a person
is a child of the Devil, how does he
get out
of the Devil's family and into
God's
family
when saved?
6. How many
births would a person have, when he finally becomes a
child of God?
7.
A person cannot get out of
his or her physical
family,
and after being born again, he
cannot get out of God’s family.
Then
how
could
a
person
have more than one spiritual birth
8.
If
a person cannot unborn himself physically or spiritually, then once born into
the Devil's family,
how can
he be unborn?
9.
If
a person could get out of the Devil’s family what would keep him from getting
out of God’s,
seeing
they are both spiritual?
When I consider these questions, I
can see a major problem with saying a person is either a child of God or a child
of the Devil. By the time you
finish this booklet, I trust you will know that these questions are not relevant
and also know what the Bible teaches doctrinally on this subject.
Pastor, this study will answer the
age old question about people who are in your church that look so good and give
a testimony of a time when they were born again, and yet they are always carnal
in their motives, talk , and way of life. There is a vacuum when it comes to
loving the Lord, His word and being spiritually sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
If there is trouble in your church, they will be the leaders or at least
in the midst and when they leave your church they will be the same in the next
church.
It is my intention that if you read
this booklet and realize you are not a child of God, that you would accept Jesus
as Lord and Savior.
My prayer is that this
booklet will provoke your thinking and you will thereby come to the truth of
this neglected Bible doctrine. Pray and ask for the wisdom of God as we begin
this study. You must read these chapters consecutively in order to fully
understand the one on children of the Devil.
Chapter One
Children Of The World
In the beginning God created the
heaven and the earth. Then He made
a man without the aid of a man or a woman, to have dominion over all the earth.
After that, God said it is not good for man to be alone, so He made a
woman, without the aid of a woman but with the aid of a man, to be his help
meet. They were created in God's
image and likeness, which is three fold (God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit).
Man, in his original creation was three fold:
body, soul and spirit.
After Adam and Eve had sinned, Adam
knew Eve and she conceived, Genesis 4:1, but their children were born not in
God's image, but in Adam's image and likeness, which is two fold. In the day he
ate of the fruit, he died spiritually as God had said, "thou shalt surely die".
In his sinful state, he had a live body, live soul and dead spirit. Genesis 5:3
"And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat
a son
in his own likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:"
Matthew 10:28
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but
rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell."
We see the natural man's condition when he is cast into hell, he has no spirit
because he is dead spiritually.
Ephesians 2:1
"And you
hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins;"
The word quickened means made alive.
So when a person is saved; born again; he is made alive spiritually, and now he
is back in the original created state having the image of God: body, soul and
spirit.
From the fall of Adam until now, God has used a man and a woman to repopulate
the earth with children of the world. Luke16:8"Andthe
lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the
children of this world
are in their generation wiser than the children of light."
Luke 20:34
"And Jesus answering said unto them, The
children of this world
marry, and are given in marriage".
They are also called children of the flesh. Romans 9:8
"That is, They which are the
children of the flesh,
these
are
not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the
seed.”
As these children of the world
begin to mature, they are in a state of innocence.
Romans 3: 20
"Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his
sight: for by the law
is
the knowledge of sin."
Romans 5:13
" (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is
no law."
Therefore, if a child of the world dies before
he comes to the knowledge of the law (sin), he will go to heaven, and
this is called by most people, coming to the age of accountability.
There was a time that preachers
said that children could not be saved until they were twelve years old.
I remember when I was nine years old, I rode an old church bus to a
revival meeting at Grapevine Baptist church in Lewisville, North Carolina.
I do not remember what the preacher preached, but when the invitation was
given, I raised my hand to be saved.
The pastor of the church came back to where I was and asked me what I
wanted. I told him I wanted to be
saved. He asked, "How old are you?"
I told him that I was nine.
He told me I could not get saved, because I was not old enough and that I had to
be at least twelve. I remember
going home and crying, because I could not get saved.
My Mother did not know what to tell me, so I went to bed that night, lost
and on my way to Hell. The next
fifteen years were wasted on the flesh and the Devil. At the age of
twenty-four, a different pastor was pastoring that church, and he visited
me on a Thursday night. I did not get saved, but for the second time I was under
Holy Ghost conviction. The Devil said, " Get saved in church."
Then at church he would say, "Get saved at home.
There are too many people here to walk down the aisle and be saved."
This went on for four weeks, but glory be to God, the fourth Thursday
night I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour, and I have never been the
same.
From the Scriptures we learn that
the state of innocence does not end for a person at a certain age but with the
light (knowledge) that he is a sinner and needs the Lord Jesus Christ as Saviour
to pay for his sins. It is clear from Romans 4:15
"Because the law worketh wrath: for where no law is,
there is
no transgression."
Romans 5:13
"(For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is
no law."
Jesus lighteth every man that comes into the world.
John 1:8-9
"He was not that Light, but
was sent
to bear witness of that Light.
That
was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
Titus 2:11
"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,"
Jesus uses the Word of God. Galatians 3:24
"Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster
to bring us
unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith."
He also uses the conscience, Romans 2:14-15
"For when the Gentiles, which have not the law, do by nature the things
contained in the law, these, having not the law, are a law unto themselves:
Which shew the work of the law written in their hearts,
their conscience also bearing witness,
and
their
thoughts the mean while accusing or else excusing one another;"
to give us light. There is not a
person who will have an excuse for not being saved.
When a man lives by the light he has, God is obligated to give him more
light.. Romans 2:7
"To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and
immortality, eternal life:"
We can find an example of this in Acts
10 with a man by the name of Cornelius.
In verses 1-4 he was living by the light he had.
He was devout, feared God, gave much alms, and prayed to God always,
but was lost. God instructs
him to send for Peter, so he could get the light he needed to be saved.
Notice verses 34 -43, Peter preaches to them, and in verses 44 -46 they
believe and are saved.
Pastor Carl Lackey, who was a dear
friend of this preacher, talked with a former head hunter in Australia,
who was
saved after he had gone outside his village, climbed a tree and said, "God, if
your are out there, reveal Yourself to me."
Within a couple of weeks a missionary walked into the village, and for
the first time, the head hunter heard about the Lord Jesus Christ and was saved.
What a person does with the light he has, makes the difference in Heaven
and Hell.
When a child comes to this light
(knowledge) he must make a choice either to receive or reject the Lord Jesus
Christ as Saviour. If he receives Him, he becomes a child of God by the new
birth. If he rejects the Lord Jesus
Christ he becomes a child of disobedience.
Ephesians 2:2
"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according
to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience:"
Because of his disobedience, he is
called a child of wrath and disobedience.
Ephesians 2:3
"Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our
flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature
the
children of wrath,
even as others."
Colossians 3:6
"For which things' sake the wrath of God cometh on the
children of disobedience:
In the which ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them."
Ephesians 5:6
"Let no man deceive you with vain words:
for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the
children of disobedience."
Romans
5:12
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so
death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
As children of
the world, they are adjusted to this world system. Luke 16:8
"And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the
children of this world
are in their generation wiser than the children of light."
This is the only life they know, and if they never get saved, this is the
only heaven they will ever know.
Therefore, they are expected to be sinners.
Notice the characteristics that sinners have by nature.
Ephesians 2:3
"Among whom also
we all had
our conversation in times past in the
lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind;
and were by nature the
children of wrath,
even as others."
Jude 1:10
"But
these speak evil of those things which they know not:
but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt
themselves.
II Timothy 3:1-4
This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall
be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters,
proud,
blasphemers, disobedient to parents,
unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection,
trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are
good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
I Corinthians 6:9-10
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall
not inherit the kingdom of God?
Be not deceived: neither
fornicators,
nor
idolaters,
nor
adulterers,
nor
effeminate,
nor
abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor
thieves,
nor
covetous,
nor
drunkards,
nor
revilers,
nor
extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God."
Revelation 21:8
"But the
fearful,
and
unbelieving,
and the
abominable,
and
murderers,
and
whoremongers,
and
sorcerers,
and idolaters,
and all
liars,
shall have their part
in
the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
Take a close look at the characteristics found in the above scriptures.
You will see yourself before you were saved.
You also will see the lost sinners around you that will go to Hell unless
somebody reaches them with the gospel of Jesus Christ and they repent and
believe, thereby being saved. Sometimes people try to get sinners reformed
instead of born again. I have seen wives who wanted their drunkard husbands
changed, and when they got saved, they changed too much to suit the wives.
Do not worry about reforming a man. Get him saved and Jesus Christ will
reform him. II Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man
be
in Christ,
he is
a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
As children of
the world, they can not understand spiritual things.
I Corinthians 2:14-15
"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God:
for they are foolishness unto him:
neither can he know
them,
because they are spiritually discerned.
But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of
no man."
They can understand the historical part of the Bible and the scriptures
pertaining to salvation but the spiritual teachings are a mystery to them.
As sinners grow older their hearts
become harder and harder, and the chance that they will never get saved becomes
greater and greater. Proverbs 29:1
"He, that being often reproved hardeneth
his
neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."
Proverbs 28:14 "Happy
is
the man that feareth alway: but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into
mischief."
Hebrews 3:15 "While
it is said, To day if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts, as in the
provocation."
II Corinthians
6:2
For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation
have I succoured thee: behold, now
is
the accepted time; behold, now
is
the day of salvation.)
Eighty-eight
percent of professions of faith occur before the age of nineteen.
Sixty-eight percent of professions of faith occur between the ages of
nine and fourteen. Eighty percent
of teens who graduate without Christ will never accept Him. These are old
statistics, so I am sure the percentage is a lot higher now.
Because of the sinners’ nature and
actions, God's wrath and anger abide upon them. John 3:36
"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not
the Son shall not see life;
but the wrath of God abideth on him."
Psalm 7:11
“God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry
with the wicked
every day.”
They will stand before God at the White throne Judgment in their sins.
John 8:21 "Then
said Jesus again unto them, I go my way, and ye shall seek me, and shall
die in your sins:
whither I go, ye cannot come."
His wrath and anger will be poured out without mercy or grace.
Proverbs 1:24-31
"Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man
regarded; But ye have set at nought
all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh;
When your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a
whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you.
Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me
early, but they shall not find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not
choose the fear of the LORD:
They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled
with their own devices."
Revelation 20:11-15
"And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were
opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to
their works. And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were
in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and
hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the
lake of fire.”
Dear reader, if you are not one
hundred percent sure you are saved, then you need to settle that now before it
is too late. If you realize you are
lost, then you need to get saved now.
Tomorrow may be too late.
The following will help you receive Jesus Christ as Saviour.
The Bible says all have sinned, Romans 3:23
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;"
and that means you, my friend. You
might say, what is sin? The Ten
Commandments reveal God's righteous standard for mankind.
Now examine your life in the light of the Word of God.
Exodus 20:3-17
"Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any
graven image, or any likeness
of any thing
that
is
in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that
is
in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD
thy God
am
a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the
third and fourth
generation
of them that hate me; And shewing
mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD
will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day
is
the sabbath of the LORD thy God:
in it
thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant,
nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that
is
within thy gates: For
in
six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them
is,
and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and
hallowed it. Honour thy
father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the LORD
thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not
kill. Thou shalt not commit
adultery. Thou shalt not steal.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy
neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his
ass, nor any thing that
is
thy neighbour's."
#1
Verse 3 states you are not to have another god before Him.
That means from birth till
death. Can you say that is true in
your life, or are things of this world coming between you and God like houses,
farms, cars, etc? #2
Verse 4 says you are not to make any graven images.
#3 Verse 7 says, Thou shalt
not take the name of the Lord in vain.
Have you ever said, G.D., Oh Lord,
or
Christ as a slang word? #4
Verse 12 says to honour thy father and thy mother.
As a child did you always do this 100% of the time?
#5 Verse 13 says thou shalt
not kill. You may not have killed
anybody, but do you hate someone?
The Bible says you are a murderer.
I John 3:15
"Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath
eternal life abiding in him."
#6 Verse 14
says thou shalt not commit adultery.
To look on someone with lust is committing adultery in your heart.
You do not have to commit the act physically to be guilty. #7
Verse 15 says thou shalt not steal.
Have you ever stolen anything, I mean anything? #8
Verse 17 says thou shalt not covet.
Have you ever coveted what others have?
If you lie, you are a liar.
If you lusted after the opposite sex, you are an adulterer or adulteress.
If you have stolen, you are a thief.
Revelation 21:8
"But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and
whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part
in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."
If you answer yes to any of the above,
then you are a sinner in this respect.
You need to repent of your sins, and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ as
payment for the sins you have committed, thereby being saved.
Romans 6:23
"For the wages of sin
is
death; but the gift of God
is
eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
Romans 10:9-10; 13
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
I would like to explain this portion of scripture
for any
of you who might be reading this and truly do not understand God’s plan of
salvation.
First, in order to be saved, you must
see you are lost and going to hell because of your sins . You need to know
salvation is a free gift, through and by the shed blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Referring
to the above scriptures you must confess the Lord Jesus. This means you
want Him as the Lord of your life, thereby repenting of your sinful life.
Second, you must believe in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
for your sins. When you believe the previous, you will call on the Lord to
forgive you of your sins and save your soul. When asked, Jesus will enter the
heart thereby birthing you into the family of God. Please, if you are not saved,
do not let anything hinder you; turn from the hindrance and be saved today. I
could care less what the hindrance is; it is not worth going to hell over.
Believe God’s
Word,
not the Devil’s word of deception.
Chapter Two
Children Of God
As we take up this subject, there are many things we need to consider.
First, we must determine how a child of the world becomes a child of God.
Second, we will look at the "know so" of
being a child of God. Third,
we will consider the eternal security of the child of
God!
John 3:1-7
"There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:
The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that
thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou
doest, except God be with him.
Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How
can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's
womb, and be born? Jesus answered,
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and
of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
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."
In this passage we see that it takes two births to become a child of God.
One birth, called a water birth, puts a person on this earth as a child
of the world. The child receives
from its father and mother the image and likeness of Adam, the natural man.
The child has a live body and soul and a dead spirit.
In this condition he has no hope outside of God.
Ephesians 2:12
"That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of
Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, and without
God in the world:"
Ephesians 2:1
"And you
hath he quickened,
who were dead in trespasses and sins;".
To become a child of God; he must
hear the Word of God. Romans 10:17
"So then faith
cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Ephesians 2:8-9
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is
the gift of God: Not of works, lest
any man should boast."
He must see his condition as a lost Hell bound, Hell deserving sinner, repent of
his sins and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, thereby being born
again.
Some might say, “How is the new
birth possible?” God always takes
something that we know, to teach us things that we know not.
That is why it is important to always pay close attention to the words "like"
and "as",
because these are words of association.
Now let us look at the natural birth, of which we understand the basics,
and learn about the new birth.
The natural birth requires a male
seed to enter into a female womb and fertilize the egg found there.
The seed can enter, without fertilization taking place, due to the egg
not being ready or past the right time.
When this fertilization takes place, there is life, and the child begins
to grow in the mother's womb.
Now that we have a basic
understanding of the natural birth, let us consider the spiritual birth, seeing
that God compares them in John 3: 5
"Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water
and
of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
John 3:6 gives the interpretation of verse 5.
Flesh refers to a water birth. All children have a water birth.
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit
is spirit."
As to the seed, let us notice the following scriptures:
Matthew 13: 1 - 8 ; 18 - 23
"The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went
into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore. And he spake
many things unto them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow;
And when he sowed, some
seeds
fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up:
Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith
they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth:
And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no
root, they withered away. And some
fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them:
But other fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an
hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold."
vs. 18-23
"Hear ye therefore the parable of the sower.
When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth
it
not, then cometh the wicked
one,
and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received
seed by the way side. But he that
received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and
anon with joy receiveth it; Yet
hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or
persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended. He also that
received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh
unfruitful. But he that received
seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth
it
which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty,
some thirty. "
Mark 4 : 1 - 20
"And he began again to teach by the sea
side: and there was gathered unto him a great multitude, so that he entered into
a ship, and sat in the sea; and the whole multitude was by the sea on the land.
And he taught them many things by parables, and said unto them in his
doctrine, Hearken; Behold, there
went out a sower to sow: And it
came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air
came and devoured it up. And some
fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up,
because it had no depth of earth:
But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it
withered away. And some fell among
thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that
sprang up and increased; and brought
forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.
And when he was alone, they that were about him with the twelve asked of
him the parable. And he
said unto them, Unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God:
but unto them that are without, all these things are done in parables:
That seeing they may see, and not perceive; and hearing they may hear,
and not understand; lest at any time they should be converted, and
their
sins should be forgiven them. And
he said unto them, Know ye not this parable? and how then will ye know all
parables? The sower soweth the
word. And these are they by the way
side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh
immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.
And these are they likewise which are sown on stony ground; who, when
they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness;
And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward,
when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word's sake, immediately they are
offended. And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the
lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.
And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and
receive
it
and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred.
Luke 8:
4 - 15
"And when much people were gathered together, and were come to him out of every
city, he spake by a parable: A
sower went out to sow his seed: and as he sowed, some fell by the way side; and
it was trodden down, and the fowls of the air devoured it.
And some fell upon a rock; and as soon as it was sprung up, it withered
away, because it lacked moisture.
And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprang up with it, and choked it.
And other fell on good ground, and sprang up, and bare fruit an
hundredfold. And when he had said these things, he cried, He that hath ears to
hear, let him hear. And his
disciples asked him, saying, What might this parable be?
And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of
God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they
might not understand. Now the
parable is this: The seed is the word of God.
Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and
taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved.
They on the rock
are they,
which, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, which
for a while believe, and in time of temptation fall away.
And that which fell among thorns are they, which, when they have heard,
go forth, and are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of
this
life, and bring no fruit to perfection.
But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart,
having heard the word, keep
it,
and bring forth fruit with patience."
Matthew13:24-30
“Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is
likened unto a man which
sowed good seed
in his field: But while men slept, his
enemy came and sowed tares
among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought
forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.
So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not
thou sow
good seed
in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him,
Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? But he said, Nay; lest while ye
gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.
Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I
will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in
bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.”
Mat
13:36 -43
Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples
came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field.
He answered and said unto them, He that
soweth the good seed is the Son of man;
The field is the world; the
good seed are the children of the kingdom;
but the
tares are the
children
of the wicked
one;
The
enemy that sowed them is the devil;
the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. As
therefore the tares are gathered and tlineburned in the fire; so shall it be in
the end of this world. The Son of
man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all
things that offend, and them which do iniquity;
And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth. Then shall the
righteous shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears
to hear, let him hear.”
In the above
scriptures we know the following:
1.
seed
= word
good
seed
= Word
of God
evil seed
= word
of Satan
2. fowls
= the
Devil or devils, seeing it is plural
3. thorns
= cares
of this world, deceitfulness of riches and pleasures of
this world.
4.
choke
= to
hinder by obstruction or impediments
5.
ground
= heart
(see “The Heart” below)
6.
withered
= faded,
dried, shrunk
7.
ear - must hear
8.
root
= this
implies growth, Ephesians 3:17
"That Christ may dwell in
your hearts by faith; that
ye, being rooted and grounded
in love,.”
9.
fruit
=
outward action of the heart which is
evidence
of
salvation James 2:14-17
"What
doth it
profit,
my brethren,
though a man say he hath faith,
and have not works? can faith save
him? If a
brother or sister be naked,
and destitute of daily food, And one of
you say unto them, Depart in
peace,
be
ye
warmed and filled; not
withstanding ye give them not those
things which are needful to the
body;
what
doth it
profit? Even so faith,if
it
hath not works, is dead, being
alone."
10.
good ground
=
tender
heart
11.
stony ground
= hard
heart
The
seed enters the ear or eye then goes into the heart (womb), where it can be
believed or rejected. If it
is believed, then the will must surrender to God's Son, and the emotions
become sorrowful or no conception takes place.
When the Bible speaks of the
heart,
what does it mean? I remember when
the heart transplant first started, and I had some people ask if a person that
is saved had a heart attack and received the heart of a lost person, would he
have to get saved again? If you do
not understand what God means by the word heart, then this is a good question.
The first three times the word heart is mentioned in the Word of God
reveals what the heart of man consists of.
Let us look at Genesis 6 : 5
"And
GOD saw that the wickedness of man
was
great in the earth, and
that
every imagination of the
thoughts of his heart
was
only evil continually."
Notice the phrase
thoughts of his heart.
This is the intellectual part of a man, the mind.
Now, the second time the word heart is mentioned:
Genesis 6 : 6
"And it repented the LORD that he had made man on the earth, and it
grieved him at his heart."
notice, "grieved
him at his heart."
This is the emotional part of a man.
The emotions produce grief or sorrow. The third time the word heart is
mentioned is in Genesis 8 : 21
"And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I
will not
again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination of man's
heart
is
evil from his youth; neither
will
I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."
Notice, "The Lord said in his heart,
I will",
this shows God’s will is part of His heart, and man being created in His image
also has a will within his heart.
So man's heart makes up his total being:
emotions, mind, and will and all of these are involved in the salvation
process.
Let us look at
Romans 10 : 9 - 10 .
"That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in
thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation."
So we see the first thing in being saved is to hear, Romans 10:17
"So then faith
cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
the Word of God ( incorruptible seed) and believe with the intellect.
Now Romans 10:10 ,
"For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation."
the Scripture says “believe
with the heart,”
which implies the whole thing: intellect, emotions, and will.
So a person can believe with his mind and still not be saved.
If his emotions, have not been pricked, and his will surrendered there is
no
godly
sorrow in his heart and therefore
no conception
or new birth.
If the will is not surrendered to the Lord, there will be no obedience to
the word of God and therefore no repentance and no salvation.
II Corinthians 7:10
“For
godly
sorrow
worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the
world worketh death.”
In the parable of the sower, the
seed ( Word of God) must enter the ground (heart).
So a person must hear the Word of God with his ears or eyes.
Rom. 10:17
“So
then faith
cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Ephesians 2:8-9
"For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves:
it is
the gift of God: Not of
works, lest any man should boast."
Acts
28:27
"For the heart of this people is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of
hearing, and their eyes have they closed; lest they should see with
their
eyes, and hear with
their
ears, and understand with
their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them."
Hearing or seeing is to understand (Luke 8:10, John 8:43) and thereby
believe and be converted.
Just as the seed of a man can enter
the womb of a woman and bring forth no fruit, so can the word of God enter the
heart of man and the conception fail, due to a lack of understanding or
rejection. The man might hear with
his ear or eye and believe with his mind, but until the will is surrendered and
the emotions moved to
godly
sorrow, there will be no repentance and no conception.
This is a condition that preachers call “head belief and not heart
belief.”
When the Word has entered the heart
and brought forth fruit, then that person becomes a child of God by the new
birth, John 3. This new birth puts
him into the family of God, II
Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man
be
in Christ,
he is
a new creature:
old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."
he becomes a new creature, and he is back in the image
of God: body, soul, and spirit..
I Thessalonians 5:23
"And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and
I pray God
your whole
spirit
and
soul
and
body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.".
In this condition the saved man can have fellowship with God just as Adam and
Eve did before the fall.
Seeing he is a new creature, then
there are some characteristics that are common in born again saints of God.
Galatians 5:16-26
"This
I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and
these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye
would.
But if ye be led of the Spirit,
ye are not under the law. Now the
works of the flesh
are manifest, which are
these;
Adultery,
fornication,
uncleanness,
lasciviousness,
Idolatry,
witchcraft,
hatred,
variance,
emulations,
wrath,
strife,
seditions,
heresies,
Envyings,
murders,
drunkenness,
revellings,
and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told
you
in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of
God. But the fruit of the Spirit is
love,
joy,
peace, longsuffering,
gentleness,
goodness,
faith,
Meekness,
temperance:
against such there is no law. And
they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.
Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one
another."
This does not mean that a child of God
will not commit any of those fleshly acts mentioned above but that he has a new
nature that desires not to do them. I Corinthians 6: 9 - 11
"Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not
deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate,
nor abusers of themselves with mankind,
Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners,
shall inherit the kingdom of God.
And
such were some of you:
but
ye are washed,
but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and
by the Spirit of our God."
Saved people who are
in Jesus Christ have
crucified the flesh with affections and lusts therefore. Lost people have the
old nature which is referred to in 1 Corinthians 6.
A born again person has two
natures, the old man and the new man,
(in the following scriptures the
I's that pertain to the old man will have old in parenthesis
and the
I's that pertain to the new man will have new in parenthesis).
I am not trying to change the KJV or add to it, but have added these words in
parenthesis for clarification. Romans 7:13-25
"Was then that which is good made death unto me? God forbid. But sin, that it
might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good; that sin by the
commandment might become exceeding sinful.
For we know that the law is spiritual: but I (old) am carnal, sold under
sin. For that which I (old) do I
(new) allow not: for what I (new) would, that do I (old) not; but what I (new)
hate, that do I (old). If then I (old) do that which I (new) would not,
I (new) consent unto the law that
it is
good. Now then it is no more I
(new) that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me.
For I (new) know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwelleth no good
thing: for to will is present with me; but
how
to perform that which is good I (old) find not.
For the good that I (new) would I (old) do not: but the evil which I
(new) would not, that I (old) do.
Now if I (old) do that I (new) would not, it is no more I (new) that do it, but
sin that dwelleth in me. I (new)
find then a law, that, when I (new) would do good, evil is present with me.
For I (new)
delight in the law of God after the inward man:
But I (new) see another law in my
members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to
the law of sin which is in my members.
O wretched man that I (old) am! who shall deliver me from the body of
this death? I (new) thank God
through Jesus Christ our Lord. So then with the mind I (new) myself serve the
law of God; but with the flesh the law of sin."
So there is a war to be fought between
the old and new man. An Indian
chief, after being saved, likened this warfare to having two dogs on the inside
that were fighting continuously, one being black (representing sin) and the
other white (representing righteousness).
Someone asked him who won and he said, “The one I say sic him to.” And
how true this is! This does not mean a person will live perfect, but has a
nature that desires to; and when he does not, he will repent or be chastened.
It would not be proper to close
this chapter, without explaining how a person can know he is a child of God .
Look at I John. As we
consider the "knows"
in this book, it is very important to realize they are all in present tense.
You cannot have the assurance of salvation just on past experiences.
It comes from what you are doing now.
I John 3:19
"And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before
him."
(Now before you get too upset, I do believe in backsliding, but what some call
backsliding is just the fact they have never slid forward.)
1. I John 2:3-5
"And hereby we do know that
we
know him, if we
keep
his commandments. He that saith, I
know him, and keepeth not his
commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not
in him. But whoso
keepeth
his word, in him verily is
the love of God perfected: hereby
know we that we are in him."
Notice
the words "keep" and "keepeth". So
a person will not be a rebel against the Word of God as a manner of
life.
2.
I John 2:29
"If ye know that he is righteous, ye
know that every one that
doeth
righteousness is born
of him."Notice
the word "doeth". It is a
continuous
action word (that means not just on
Sundays but all the time.)
3.
I John 3:2 - 3
"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall
be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall
see him as he is. And every
man that hath this hope in him
purifieth
himself, even as he is pure. "
"Purifieth" means a person who is saved and looking for the rapture will
be a growing Christian, always trying to get things out of his life that are
wrong and hindering him from being his best for Jesus and adding things which
glorify the Lord Jesus Christ.
4. I
John 3:14
"We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love
the brethren. He that loveth not
his
brother abideth in death."
When you "love the brethren", you may not like their ways but you will
love them as brothers.
5.
I John 5:4
"For whatsoever is born of God
overcometh
the world: and this is the
victory that overcometh the world,
even
our faith."
"Overcometh" means you will get
victories over the things in the world that are always drawing
you
away from the standards of God's Word
.
Notice these other scriptures for
more evidences
of salvation, II Corinthians 5:17
"Therefore if any man
be
in Christ,
he is
a new creature: old t
hings are passed
away; behold, all things are become
new."
This shows that a per
son’s nature
is changed when
he is born again. This is
also stated in
Psalm 92:13
"Those that be
planted in the house of the LORD shall
flourish in the courts of our God."
They
will love to go
to church and amount to
something for
God. Psalm 92:14
"They
shall still bring forth fruit in old age;
they shall be fat and flourishing; "
They
will
have a fruitful life even into old age.
I Peter 2:2
"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow
thereby:"
Born again people have a desire for the Word of God, just like a new born
calf which will not stop looking for milk until it is found. A child of God can
only be satisfied with God's Word.
I read some Bible statistics that said 98 % of people who say they believe in
Jesus Christ have never read the Bible through.
(I was preaching in Florida and a young lady came forward to be saved and
she gave the following testimony:
She had made a profession but had no desire for God's Word.)
They also said that 90% of pastors had never read the Bible through.
That is called the blind leading the blind.
Tithing will not save you, but it
is an evidence of salvation. John
8:39
"They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them,
If ye were Abraham's children,
ye would do the works of Abraham".
Abraham was a tithing man. Genesis
14:20
"And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies
into thy hand. And he gave him tithes of all.."
We are the children of Abraham by
the new birth. Galatians 3:7, 29
"Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of
Abraham." "And if ye
be
Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
Therefore a saved person will tithe.
Dr. Billy Kanoy told me when
he found that one of his members
was not tithing, he did not pray for him to tithe, but to get saved.
The great commission of Matthew
28:19-20 tells us to win people to the Lord.
John 15:8 says God is glorified by us winning souls.
The greatest sure sign of salvation is the desire to see someone else
saved. Notice John 1:40 - 45, where
Andrew gets saved and finds Peter, then Philip gets saved and finds Nathanael.
If you have no desire to see others saved, then you are probably lost.
Charles Spurgeon said if you have no desire to see others saved you are
not saved. Be honest with yourself
and look closely at the above. How
do you match up? It
would be a real shock when you die and find yourself on the streets of coals
(hell) instead of a street of gold (heaven)!
As we close this chapter, I would like to deal with the eternal security
of the child of God. Just as a person cannot become unborn physically, John 3:4
"Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter
the second time into his mother's womb,
and be born?"
a person
cannot become
unborn spiritually.
John 3:16
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Jesus said that a person who is saved should never perish and have
(present tense) everlasting life.
How long is everlasting?
Romans 8:38-39
"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor
principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Paul lists ten
things that cannot separate us from God.
This is God's assurance of our security, ten being the number for
testimony, the list is complete so nothing can separate us from God. Ephesians
1:11-14
"In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to
the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in
Christ. In whom ye also
trusted,
after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom
also after that ye believed,
ye were sealed with that holy Spirit
of promise, Which is the
earnest
of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the
praise of his glory. "
We are told that when we are truly saved, we are sealed with the Holy Spirit,
which is the earnest (a pledge, that is, part of the purchase money or property
given in advance as security for the rest - definition from Strong's
Concordance) of our inheritance, until the redemption of the purchased
possession. Also Ephesians 4:30
states
"And grieve not the holy Spirit of God,
whereby ye are sealed
unto the day of redemption.",
we are sealed by the Holy Spirit.
From the above scriptures, the Holy Spirit does not only seal us, He is the seal
and cannot be broken. One more scripture on the eternal security of the believer
is John 1:12
"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:"
When we are born into God's family, we become sons (children) of God and
if I could become unborn and go to Hell, then a son of God would have to spend
eternity in Hell.
Chapter Three Children Of
The Devil
As I come to
this chapter, I will approach it very carefully, realizing there will be a lot
of skepticism. Some will not accept this teaching, but I will try
to make
the case in a way that a person cannot take the scripture and prove me in error.
Let us look at some of the
scriptures which deal with this subject:
John 8:44, Matthew 13:38, Acts 13:10, I John 3:12, Matthew 23:15, Hebrews
12:8, and Genesis 4:1-7. With this
many scriptures dealing with this subject, there has to be a truth here that the
Devil does not want exposed. In
covering this truth, Satan came up with the idea that you are either a child of
God or the Devil, and if a child of the Devil, then you can become a child of
God, which I have already proven cannot be right.
For a child of the world to become
a child of the Devil, there must be a spiritual birth, just as it takes a
spiritual birth for a child of the world to become a child of God. Let us
examine some scriptures, then put together what we learned and come to a
verdict.
1. John 8:44
"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."
Jesus said some
of the
Pharisees, to whom
he was
speak-
ing, were children of the Devil; he was their
father just
like God is a saved person’s fa-
ther. Was He using a figure of
speech or tell-
ing the truth? John 8:45
"And because
I tell
you
the truth,
ye believe me not."
2. Acts 13:10 -
"And said, O full of all sub
tilty and all mischief, thou
child of the
devil,
thou enemy of all
righteousness, wilt
thou
not cease to pervert the right
ways
of the Lord?"
Was Paul just using the term
as a figure of
speech or was he stating a fact?
He was stating
a fact, seeing that Simon was
an enemy of all
righteousness, so he
was a
child of the
Devil.
3. Hebrews
12:8-
"But if ye be without chas-
tisement, whereof all are partakers, then
are ye
bastards,
and not sons."
In the English
language the word bastard means an illegitimate child.
In this scripture the people to whom it is addressed have had a birth,
but it is not of God, or they would
be chastened
for their wrong doings. If they are
not of God,
then who is
their father? A child of the world is never referred to by God as a bastard.
4. I John 3:12 -
"Not as Cain,
who
was
of that
wicked
one,
and slew his brother. And
wherefore slew he him?
Because his own
works were evil, and his brother's right
eous."
Cain was of that wicked one. Some
say that
Eve had a sexual encounter with
Satan,
Cain therefore was born physically of
the Devil.
If that be so, then he would
have
been like the
giants of Genesis six, which
were a cross
between the sons of God
(angels) and
the daughters of men, and there
was no
salvation plan for them. If Cain
could have been
saved, then a child of the
Devil
could
have gone to
heaven
God,
being a just
God, would have been obligated to not only give the off spring of Genesis six a
chance to be saved, but Judas Iscariot also would have had a chance to be saved,
even though he was the seed of the serpent.
Genesis 3:15 -
"And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and
between thy seed
and
her
seed;
it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel. "
John 6:70-71 -
"Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is
a devil?
He spake of Judas Iscariot
the son
of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve."
(Notice:
a devil)
John 17:12
"While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou
gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but
the son
of perdition;
that the scripture might be fulfilled."
(the
son
implies a birth) II Thessalonians
2:3 -
"Let no man deceive you by any means: for
that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed,
the son
of perdition;"
This shows that Judas will be resurrected and be the antichrist.
It also means that Judas' father was the Devil, just as Jesus Christ's
father was
God, so
Judas, as the imitator of Christ, had an earthly mother and a spiritual father,
the Devil.
God offered
salvation to Cain in Genesis
4:7
"If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin
lieth at the door. And unto thee
shall be
his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."
It was a bonafided
offer. Had Cain been conceived of
the Devil physically, the offer
would have been bogus. Cain turned the offer down and became a child of the
Devil (of
that wicked one)
and ends up in Hell where all the Devil’s children go.
How Does A Child Of The World Become A Child Of
The Devil?
The first step is unbelief in the
true Word of God. Cain heard the
truth and rejected it; the Pharisees heard the truth and rejected it; Elymas, in
Acts 13, heard the truth and rejected it.
In all the above cases, the good seed ( the word) had entered the womb
(heart) but had been rejected by the mind, will, or emotions, so no conception
took place.
Let us examine Cain becoming
a child of the Devil. Cain and Abel
knew what would be accepted by God through their Daddy's testimony.
Hebrews 11:4
"By
faith
Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained
witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being
dead yet speaketh."
Romans
10:17
“So
then faith
cometh
by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Comparing
Hebrews 11:4 with Romans 10:17 proves that Cain and Abel had heard the truth as
to what was needed as a sacrifice to offer to God. So Cain’s first step toward
becoming a child of the Devil was rebellion. He then tries to get salvation his
way: good works. Then he hears
God's Word , and the good seed enters the heart.
He had seen it work for Abel so he had to believe. His emotions (pride)
hindered his will from surrendering to the truth.
He rejects God's Word for the Devil’s word.
Some may say, How do you know it was a word of the Devil?
When Abel talked with Cain,
no doubt he was trying to convince Cain to take a lamb to offer to God and Cain
probably started giving some of the excuses below.
After pastoring in three different
places and helping pastors visit where I have preached revivals, you get the
same remarks. The following is part
of the word of the Devil believed and used by those who are lost and do not
attend church.
1.
I live the best I can.
2.
One religion is as good as another.
3.
How do you know that the Bible is the
Word of
God?
4.
You've got your religion and I've got mine.
5.
You don't have to go to church to go to
heaven.
6.
We are all children of God.
7.
Do you think God could throw one of His
children into
Hell?
8. I can't live it.
9.
I don't have a feeling.
10. I've never
done anything bad enough to go
to Hell for.
11.
There is more than one way to go to
Heaven.
12.
I treat my neighbor right.
13.
I pay my debts.
14.
I have never killed anybody.
15.
I can worship God up on the mountain or
down at
the beach.
16.
I don’t harm anybody.
17.
I talk to the man upstairs.
18.
I get my prayers answered.
19.
I believe man came from a monkey.
20.
There
are too many hypocrites in the
church.
21. There are
so many religions; how do you
know which is
right?
22.
I believe the grave is Hell.
23.
That Bible will run you crazy.
24.
How do you know the Bible is the word of
God?
after
all it was written by men.
25.
I keep the golden rule.
26.
I will know when it is my time.
27. You think
you are right and everybody else
is wrong.
28.
I don’t believe there is a
Hell.
29.
I will get saved some day.
30.
I
believe that Jesus was a good man but...
31.
You have to dress a certain way. My
clothes are not
good enough.
32.
God healed me, so I know I am saved.
There may be some I missed, but
what you have just read is the
word, the seed of the Devil
called
old wives' fables, tradition of men, tradition from your fathers and rudiments
of this world. I Timothy 4:7
"But refuse profane and
old wives' fables,
and exercise thyself
rather
unto godliness."
Mark
7:8-13
"For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the
tradition of men,
as
the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do.
And he said unto them, Full
well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your
own tradition.
For Moses said, Honour thy father and thy mother; and, Whoso curseth
father or mother, let him die the death:
But ye say, If a man shall say to his father or mother,
It is
Corban, that is to say, a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me;
he shall be free. And ye suffer him no more to do ought for his father or his
mother; Making the word of
God of none effect through your tradition, which ye have delivered: and many
such like things do ye."
I Peter 1:18
"Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as
silver and gold, from your vain conversation
received
by tradition from your fathers;"
Colossians 2:8
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the
tradition of men,
after the
rudiments of the world,
and not after Christ. "
The Devil’s
word has been preserved orally and passed down from one lost person to another
and from one generation to another.
Many people, when they come down to death's door, having believed the Devil's
word for their salvation and have
never made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ, will tell you everything is
all right between them and
the man up stairs.
At death they become a child of the Devil and in Hell receive a body
(worm) just like their father’s.
Psalm 22:6
"But
I
am
a worm,
and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people."
(Jesus calls himself a worm when dying a sinner’s death for mankind.)
Mark 9:44-48
"Where
their worm dieth
not, and the fire is not quenched.
And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt
into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never
shall be quenched: Where their worm
dieth not, and the fire is not quenched. And if thine eye offend thee, pluck it
out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye, than
having two eyes to be cast into hell fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the
fire is not quenched. "
Isaiah 14:11
"Thy pomp is brought down to the grave,
and
the noise of thy viols: the worm is spread under thee, and the worms cover
thee."
When a person
puts off salvation, he is taking a chance of passing God's dead line. God says
His Spirit will not always strive with man. Genesis 6:3
"And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also
is
flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years."
Jesus taught that a person could miss his
day of visitation. Luke
19:41-44
"And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
Saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this
thy day,
the things
which belong
unto thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes.
For the days shall come upon thee, that thine enemies shall cast a trench
about thee, and compass thee round, and keep thee in on every side, And shall
lay thee even with the ground, and thy children within thee; and they shall not
leave in thee one stone upon another; because thou knewest not the time of thy
visitation. "
The people had passed their day of visitation therefore they could not receive
the things of
God.
Some may say, how long is the time of visitation?
These Jews, that Jesus was talking to, had three and one half years; the
people of Noah's day had one hundred and twenty years; Jezebel had fourteen
years; King Agrippa had one day,
and Cain had one day. We see there
is no set time that a person has, so he should get saved the first time God
deals with him. John 6:44
"No man can come to me, except the
Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day."
As a missionary said, "Should a person hear many times, when the majority of
people in the world have never heard one time?"
Some come to church and hear the
Word of God but reject it for the word of the Devil, as follows:
1.
I will live a good life.
2.
I joined
the church.
3.
I was baptized.
4.
I shook the preacher’s hand.
5.
I went to the altar.
6.
I shed tears while at the altar.
7.
I help the poor.
8.
I live the Sermon on the Mount.
9. I
give to the church.
10.
I
go to church.
11.
I gave
my life to Jesus.
12. I decided
to follow Jesus, (Judas followed Jesus three and one half
years and went to his own place and will end up in
Hell).
13. Some
will say when facing death, “ Lord,
14. if
you will let me live, I will live for
you”. Now they say, “He did
and I am
living
for him, so I am saved.”
14.
I am living out my purpose
.
15.
I gave my heart to Jesus.
16. I got
baptized when I was twelve years old.
17.
I speak in unknown tongues.
18.
I teach Sunday school and take an active part in
church.
Seeing they rejected God’s Word, they make a profession with no
godly
sorrow, no repentance, no faith and no receiving the Lord Jesus Christ as their
saviour. The word of Satan enters their heart and is accepted as truth by the
mind, the will and the emotions. Conception takes place, and the child of the
world is born again but into the wrong family. Hebrews12:8
"But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye
bastards, and not sons."
Now they will never see their true condition and repent of their sins II
Corinthians 7:10
"For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the
sorrow of the world worketh death."
Do
what you will, but they will stand in your face and tell you they are saved;
born again; and will never again realize they are lost, due to the experience
they have had! A person can either
believe God's Holy Word or believe the Devil's unholy word. Both lead to
eternity but to different locations.
The Characteristics Of The Children Of The Devil
It is hard to tell the difference
in a child of God and a child of the Devil, except for those who are part of the
demon inspired cults and those who are into Satan worship. Luke 11:44
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are
as graves which appear not,
and the men that walk over
them
are not aware
of them."
In the parable of the sower, the enemy (Devil) sowed his seed in the world, but
when they came up, they were mingled with the wheat; the good seed (the saved).
Matthew 13:24-30, 38-43
"Another parable put he forth unto
them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which
sowed good seed
in his field: But while men slept,
his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.
But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared
the tares also. So the servants of
the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy
field? from whence then hath it tares?
He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him,
Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?
But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the
wheat with them. Let both grow
together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the
reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn
them: but gather the wheat into my barn.
The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom;
but the
tares are the children of the wicked one;
The enemy
that sowed them is the devil;
the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels.
As therefore the tares are gathered and burned in the fire; so shall it
be in the end of this world. The Son of man shall send forth his angels, and
they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them which do
iniquity; And shall cast them into a furnace of fire: there shall be wailing and
gnashing of teeth. Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father. Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. "
Children of the Devil like to be in the church with children of God, having
received a religious
devil,
in order to look saved, feel good, and satisfy the demon who is controlling
them. They look like the children
of God, and you may not be able to tell the difference. The Lord said to let
them grow together and that he would sort them out, so they end up in the
church. The Devil always counterfeits God’s work, so is it any wonder that he
would cause his children to look
like God’s children?
In order to learn their
characteristics, we will study those in the Bible, that
were called children of the Devil.
Cain
Now let us look at Cain.
Cain was very religious. In
Genesis chapter four, Cain brought his offering to God (good works) before Able
brought his. He had worked very
hard to bring his own offering, but it was just religion done his way.
He had zeal, but not according to knowledge;
a rebel at heart. Cain was jealous of Abel, seeing Abel was accepted by
God, and he was rejected. He looked good on the outside, but within, he had a
wicked and stubborn heart against God.
Pharisees
In John chapter eight and verses
thirteen and following, Jesus is talking to the Pharisees, and when
you get
to verse forty-four He says they are of their father the Devil.
Taking what He said
literally, then at least some of them were children of the Devil.
Jesus instructed the Jews to do as
the Pharisees said but not as they did, for they say and do not.
Matthew 23:1-3
“Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, Saying, The scribes
and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat:
All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe,
that
observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not.”
Children of the Devil have a mouth religion but a heart that is against God and
the things of God! Matthew 15:8-9
"This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with
their
lips; but their heart is far from me.
But in vain they do worship me, teaching
for
doctrines the commandments of men. "
Children of the Devil make sure
they look good outwardly, but inwardly they are full of ravening and wickedness.
Luke 11:39-40
"And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the
cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.
Ye
fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within
also?"
Jesus called them hypocrites (an actor
under an assumed character). I
heard an old Church of God preacher say that all the play actors were not in
Hollywood but that he had several in his church.
When the truth comes out at the judgments, you will be surprised how many
people go to Hell, that you thought would go to Heaven.
The Pharisees did their works to be
seen of men. Matthew 23:5
"But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their
phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments,".
Matthew 23:23
"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and
anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier
matters
of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone."
They tithed only to impress men but left off the spiritual matters,
seeing they were the children of the Devil and not God’s.
They have a perverted Bible
knowledge; twisting the truth, so that others are hindered from being saved.
Luke 11:52
"Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered
not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered."
They make those they hinder, therefore, two fold more a child of Hell.
Matthew 23:15 "Woe
unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make
one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell
than yourselves. "
These children of the Devil will call Jesus master, believing they are
saved. Luke 11:45
"Then answered one of the lawyers, and said unto him, Master, thus saying thou
reproachest us also."
They will take communion with the saved as if they
are saved. Luke 13:26
"Then shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drunk in thy presence, and thou
hast taught in our streets."
They even call Him Lord but do not obey him, thereby trusting their own
righteousness, like Cain, who trusted in his offering by his works. Luke 18:9
"And he spake this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they
were righteous, and despised others:"
Sometimes their prayers even seem better than the true Christian's.
Luke 20:47
"Which devour widows' houses, and for a shew make long prayers: the same
shall receive greater damnation."
Barjesus
Now in the book of Acts, chapter thirteen, we see that when the Holy Ghost
called Paul and Barnabas to go to Paphos, the Devil already had his false
preacher ready to counter the truth. Let us notice some of the details of this
scripture. Acts 13:1-10
“Now there were in the church that was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers;
as Barnabas, and Simeon that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen,
which had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered
to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for
the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and
laid
their
hands on them, they sent
them
away. So they, being sent forth by the Holy Ghost, departed unto Seleucia; and
from thence they sailed to Cyprus.
And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues
of the Jews: and they had also John to
their
minister. And when they had gone
through the isle unto Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a
Jew, whose name
was
Barjesus: Which was with the deputy
of the country, Sergius Paulus, a prudent man; who called for Barnabas and Saul,
and desired to hear the word of God. But Elymas the sorcerer (for so is his name
by interpretation) withstood them, seeking to turn away the deputy from the
faith. Then Saul, (who also
is called
Paul,) filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes on him,
And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief,
thou
child of the devil,
thou
enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the
Lord?
Let us examine some characteristics of this devil called prophet. In verse 7,
Sergius wanted to hear the
Word of
God. In verse 8, the Devil uses
Barjesus to
turn him
from the faith. Then Paul describes
him as God saw him, not as the people saw him. Paul said he was full of all
subtilty, (Strong’s definition - to decoy, to trick.
Webster's 1828 definition, cunning).
Paul then says that he was full of all mischief (hurt, injury, damage,) ;
a child of the Devil. He is an enemy of all righteousness, making him an enemy
of Jesus, seeing that He is righteous and leads in righteousness.
He also tries to prevent (destroy) the right ways of the Lord.
Children of the Devil hate those who are truly saved and living a holy life.
1John 3:9-14
Whosoever
is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot
sin, because he is born of God.
In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil:
whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his
brother.
For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love
one another.
Not as Cain,
who
was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because
his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren.
He that loveth not
his
brother abideth in death.
This is
why they cause so much trouble in the church. They will try to destroy the
testimony of preachers and others with their long tongues. They will try to make
a man of God look bad, just as the Pharisees attempted to make Jesus look bad.
Children Of Belial
In the Old Testament, the children of the Devil were called children of
Belial. I realize that most
commentaries say, that in the Old Testament the word Belial does not mean the
Devil, but worthless, lawless, etc.
If that be so, and it is just an adjective describing a person, then why did the
King James translators capitalize it in both testaments?
II Corinthians 6:15
"And what concord hath
Christ
with
Belial?
or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?".
Before we go to the characteristics
of the children of Belial, let us
notice the first time the word is mentioned, in the fifth book of the Bible,
Deuteronomy, chapter thirteen and verse thirteen, notice that it is the sixth
word in the verse. If you have
studied the numbers of the Bible, you know the number five is the number of
death to a lost man. Notice Genesis
5:5, where that it says Adam died.
“Death” has five letters. “Devil” has five letters and he has the power of
death. The children of Belial (six
letters) die an eternal death in Hell.
The number six is the number for man and the evils of Satan, and the
number thirteen is the number for rebellion which is manifested in the children
of Belial. Checking out the
chapters thirteen and verses thirteen throughout the Bible, you will notice that
most pertain to bad or evil, and very few apply to good.
The
fifteen (3x5)
verses found in
the Old
Testament (Deuteronomy 13:13, Judges 19:22, 20:13, I Samuel. 1:16, 2:12, 10:27,
25:17, 25:25, 30:22, II Samuel 16:7, 20:1, 23:6, I Kings 21:10, 21:13, II
Chronicles 13:7) that have the words “sons of Belial” in them, show some of the
characteristics that need to be pointed out, which apply to children of the
Devil in our day.
1.
They
abhor
the
things of God.
Deuteronomy13:13
2.
They
lead men from
God.
Deuteronomy
13:13
3.
They
despise God's leader and will work
against him under cover.
II Chronicles
13:7
4.
They
cannot be reasoned with. Judges
19:23-25,
I Samuel 25:17
5.
They are fools. I Samuel 25:25
6.
They will be in the midst of the godly to
stir up
trouble. II Samuel 20:21
7.
They are associated with rebellion. II Samuel 20:21
8.
Some are sodomites. Judges 19:22
9.
There were temple prostitutes; daughters of
Belial
who came
to the temple drunk. I
Samuel 1:14-
16, and I Samuel 2:22 with I Samuel 2:12
10.
They are
liars against the righteous.
II Kings 21:10-
13
11. They
consider sex a part of worship. I Samuel 2:22
with I Samuel 2:12
12. They are an
abomination to God.
Deuteronomy
13:14
13. They are
infidels headed for
Hell. II
Corinthians 6:15
If you ever watch one of the mega church programs, and the TV has not
affected you to the point where you cannot think for yourself,
you will notice some of the same characteristics in the people who attend
and preform. This is why they are so popular with the worldly crowd, because
there is no difference.
Children of the Devil never receive chastening or scourging from the
Lord. Hebrews 12:5-13
"And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children,
My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art
rebuked of him: For whom the Lord
loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son
is he whom the father chasteneth not?
But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye
bastards, and not sons. Furthermore
we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected
us,
and we gave
them
reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits,
and live? For they verily for a few
days chastened
us
after their own pleasure; but he for
our
profit, that
we
might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to
be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit
of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Wherefore lift up the hands which hang down, and the feeble knees;
And make straight paths for your feet, lest that which is lame be turned
out of the way; but let it rather be healed."
They have had a birth (they are called bastards), but it is not of God.
They can live the hypocrite life and get by year after year.
If you confront them, they will tell you they have been born again, and
you cannot convince them other wise. They justify themselves, living contrary to
the preaching and the Bible. Since they are children of the Devil, no chastening
follows for their disobedience; they therefore convince themselves that they are
right, and the preacher and his interpretation is wrong.
They
reason that if they were wrong, they would be chastened, seeing that they are
saved. Try as you may, preach as
hard as you can, but you cannot convince them of their true condition.
As a rule, children of the Devil
cannot stand God’s
Word,
the King James Version, and the natural man cannot understand God's Word, and
this is why these new Bible versions are so popular.
John 8:43
"Why do ye not
understand my speech?
even
because ye cannot hear my word.”
I Corinthians 2:13-14
"Which things also we
speak,
not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth;
comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for
they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know
them,
because they are spiritually discerned."
Jesus Himself said that there are few who are saved.
Matthew 7:14
"Because strait
is the
gate, and narrow
is the
way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find
it."
The lost multitudes are trying to write a Bible that will read like a
newspaper so they can understand it.
They may get one they can understand, but it will be the Devil's Bible,
not God's.
Chapter Four Children Of The Devil Called By The Devil To Preach
The Devil calls a lot of his children to be preachers.
II Corinthians 11:14-15
"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.
Matthew 7:15
"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly
they are ravening wolves."
According to Matthew 7:22, they prophesy in Jesus'
name,
cast out devils, and do many wonderful works.
Jesus said of the false preachers, that He never knew them.
In these last days they preach a health and wealth doctrine and never
make a sinner uncomfortable. The Devil empowers them to use false gifts that are
counterfeit sign gifts that were for the Jews: (1) miracles (2) tongues, known
as vain babblings in II Timothy 2:16 and I Timothy 6:20 (3) interpretation of
tongues (4) gifts of healing (5)
prophecy. I Corinthians 1:22
“For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:”
These signs
were used during the ministry of Jesus Christ and the transition
to grace, to convince unbelieving Jews of the truth. All these sign gifts
will be used in the tribulation for the same reason.
These Devil-called preachers also make their followers children of the
Devil. Matthew 23:15
“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to
make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the
child
of hell than yourselves.”
For example, Rick Warren's church movement, that is sweeping the country, has no
convicting power of the Holy Spirit, seeing the preaching never makes a sinner
uncomfortable by preaching on Hell, sin and the need to repent. So sinners never
see themselves as lost, they just join the church and go to Hell thinking they
are all-right.
Then there is Benny Hinn, who has that following of people who cannot
think for themselves, deceived by thinking that those demon miracles are
biblical.
They could care less what the Bible says; they say they want to see the
power of
God, but
what they are really seeing is the power of Satan.
Benny Hinn is probably a child of the Devil, who is making multitudes of
people children of the Devil. He claims to be in a line of succession from A. A.
Allen, who died a drunkard’s death, in a motel, after having a healing meeting,
Kathryn Khulman, a woman faith healer, and Oral Roberts, who also claimed to be
a faith healer. (After he had gotten all the money he could from the Holiness,
he then became a Methodist and built a hospital.
Now that is a laugh.)
What a succession!
Kathryn Khulman was as phony as a
three dollar bill. About thirty years ago, I met a young man named Parker Rice.
Here is his testimony; Parker told me that he got saved at an early age, and
when he was about eighteen, he found himself, a backslider. He then went to
South Carolina and got a job cutting pulp wood. One day, while felling a tree,
it fell on him, breaking his back, leaving him paralyzed from his waist down. He
then got right with God and began
to live for God again. Listening to the radio, one day, he heard that
Kathryn Khulman was going to be in the area, so he talked his neighbor
into driving him to the meeting, because he believed she could heal him. At the
close of the meeting, she formed a healing line, and in his wheelchair, he took
his place in line. When it came his
turn, she hit him in the forehead, telling him to get up. He said he believed
that he could, but as much as he tried he found it impossible.
That lying sow, (II Peter 2:22) then told him that his faith was wanting
or he would have been healed. He
went back home broken hearted but determined to try again. For about two months
he read his Bible and prayed for faith to be healed. Believing he had the faith,
and hearing that Kathryn was going to be about two hundred miles away in a
meeting, he again talked his neighbor into driving him to the meeting. When the
healing line formed, he moved himself in his wheel chair into the line. He said
he knew he would be healed this time, because he had the faith. But again, after
she hit him on the forehead and told him to get up, he tried as hard as he could
but was unable. That old lying sow again told him his faith was no good; if he
had the faith he would have been healed. He said that he then knew that the next
time he walked, it would be in heaven. Considering this testimony of Parker
Rice, I have more respect for any crook than any faith healer. They both rob the
people, but the crooks do not do it in the name of the Lord.
In the Bible, if a person had the
sign gift of healing, the person who got healed did not have to have faith.
These hogs and dogs will tell you that Jesus is the same yesterday and today and
for ever, but they have to change their so called healing gift, (see the first
paragraph in this chapter), to make it the person’s responsibility to have the
faith to be healed. If you can
still think for yourself, you would know that if a person had the faith to be
healed, they would not need the faith healer. Now let us look at some scripture
to clear up this confusion.
Act 20:7-12
“And
upon the first
day
of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto
them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
And there were many lights in the upper chamber, where they were gathered
together. And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being
fallen into a deep sleep: and as
Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third
loft, and
was taken up dead.
And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing
him
said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.
When he therefore was come up again, and had broken bread, and eaten, and
talked a long while, even till break of day, so he departed.
And they brought the young man alive, and were not a little comforted.”
Here are some things you need to notice: Eutychus fell out the window, he was
taken up dead, therefore he could have no faith. The healing
rested on Paul’s gift of healing, not Eutychus’s faith. So we see how
these lying crooks cover their hypocrisy.
Pentecostal
Preachers
There are the Pentecostal preachers
that twist the scriptures to match their ungodly doctrine, in order to deceive
those people who could care less what the
Bible says. I was visiting
one day, knocked on a door, and the lady of the house came out and began to
talk. I asked her if she was saved,
and she said that she was a Pentecostal.
She began to try to convince me of their doctrine.
She would make a point and I would give her a verse which showed she was
wrong. She finally said, “I don’t
care what the Bible says! I will
take my experience over the Word of God anytime.”
A saved person does not talk that way.
The
Bible says “by their fruit ye shall know them.”
The following is taken from the web site
Interactive Bible Truth.
We
recognize that all men are sinners, however, there is a disproportionately high
rate of moral failure among the highest profile Pentecostal preachers.
We recognize that there are
a few of these kind of preachers in every church, our concern is that almost ALL
the most famous Pentecostal preachers have disgraced God in their moral lives.
These
leaders
claim a high degree of sanctification.
Each claims to either have met with Jesus personally, seen Him in an open
vision, been visited by angels, etc... Yet with only a cursory look into their
personal lives and lifestyles one quickly sees how fraudulent their claims are.
Some might want to say, “These people do not represent the movement.” or
that I have “stacked the deck.” The
sad truth of the matter is that these people are key people in the movement.
These are the acknowledged leaders.
If what they promote does not work in their own lives, why should anyone
else believe them?
Moral failures of Pentecostal Preachers
Allen, A. A.
(Divine Healer, Evangelist)
Moral Fault:
Drunkard died of alcohol abuse, arrested for drunk driving during a Tennessee
revival in 1955, the first of many alcohol-related
experiences.
Bakker, Jim
(Televangelist)
Moral Fault:
Adultery, lover of money, convicted felon.
Coe, Jack
(Divine Healer, Evangelist)
Moral
Fault:
Lover of money
Dowie, John A.
(Healer, First Restored “Apostle”)
Moral
Fault:
Lover of money
Gortner, Marjoe
( Divine Healer, Child Evangelist)
Moral Fault:
Lover of money, admitted fake
Grant, W. V. (Junior)
(Divine Healer, Evangelist)
Moral Fault:
Lover of money, convicted felon for tax fraud, a divorcee
Hagin, Kenneth,
Kenneth Hagin - a.k.a. “Dad” Hagin (Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Teacher) “Father
of the Word
of Faith
Movement”
Moral Fault:
Intellectual property theft: Kenneth Hagin has been proven to be a plagiarist,
a plagiarist is someone who steals another person’s writings and fails to
acknowledge the original author of
the work. D. R. McConnell proved beyond any shadow of doubt that Hagin stole
much of his theology from E. W. Kenyon,
the true Father
of the Word of Faith Movement in his most excellent book “A Different Gospel.”
It seems Dad Hagin also stole about 75% of John A. McMillian’sbook
entitled “The Authority of the Believer” written in 1932.
This theft was discovered by Dale Simmons while working on a paper at
Oral Roberts University. Hagin was
confronted about this theft
and made few changes in subsequent editions of that book. He has never
publicly admitted to stealing
anything from Kenyon. It
gets stranger! Hagain has also
made the claim to have had no less than eight personal
face-to-face visits with the Lord
Jesus Christ. His book “ Believe In Visions”
makes this statement
on the cover: “The fascinating
personal story of a man whose life and ministry have been dramatically
influenced by visions of Jesus.”
Hickey,
Marilyn
(Word of Faith teacher, Faith Healer)
Moral Fault:
shameless use of charismatic trinkets (blessed corn meal, oils, cloths,
seeds, coins, etc.)
Jenkins, Leroy
(Televangelist)
Moral Fault:
Convicted felon for arson and assault
Jones, Bob
(Prophet,
one of the main “prophets” of the
Kansas City Fellowship, the
other being Mike Bickel.)
Moral Fault:
Despite being discredited a sexual misconduct
scandal in 1991(Minister recovered after
confession of sexual misconduct, Olathe Daily News, 11/31/91), Bob Jones
remains a “prophet” within the Vineyard.
Jordan, Bernard
(Prophet, Bishop)
Moral Fault:
Lover of money
Khulman, Kathryn,
(Divine Healer, Evangelist, Pastor)
Moral Fault:
Adultery, divorce
McPhearson, Aimee S.
(Pastor, Evangelist )
Moral Fault:
She is controversial because she faked her own kidnaping in order to carry on an
adulterous affair in 1926.
During the outcry
against her over this affair, she incorporated The International Church
of the Foursquare Gospel, which
later grew into a large Pentecostal denomination.
The Foursquare denomination exists today.
Sister Aimee died of
barbiturate overdose in 1944.
Parham, Charles Fox
(Teacher)
Moral Fault:
In 1907, Parham was arrested and charged with sodomy in Texas and lost all
credibility with the neo-Pentecostal movement he started through his disciple
William Seymour! Seymour started the Azusa Street Mission. Parham was also a
racist.
Swaggart,
Jimmy:
(Televangelist)
Moral Fault:
Adultery with prostitute, hypocrite, opulent lifestyle while crying broke on
television
Tilton, Robert
: (
Televangelist, Prophet, Pastor Teacher )
Moral Fault:
lover of money, two divorces,
multiple law suits, caught in many
lies, utters many false prophecies.
In II
Corinthians11:3-4,13-15 Paul gives further details concerning these Devil-called
preachers.
“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.
vs.
13-15
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.”
They are subtle
and preach another Jesus, have received another spirit and preach another
gospel, and they think they are called of God; but being children of the Devil,
they are deceived by their father.
Paul said let them go to
Hell. Galatians
1:8-9
“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.”
We
have a warning about false prophets and teachers, that are lost
and
devil-called, that come in, pretending to be of God. II Peter 2:1
“But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be
false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even
denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.”
They
will preach damnable heresies (doctrines that will cause people to go to Hell).
Some examples are; health and wealth, name it and
claim
it, people should not fear the Devil, unknown tongues are evidence of salvation,
live the good life now, purpose
driven life, etc. These doctrines
of devils have crept into Baptist churches and are
gradually destroying them.
Peter
says in verse 2
“And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth
shall be evil spoken of.”
Many shall
follow their pernicious
(destructive)
ways
thereby causing the truth to be evil spoken of.
Today we see this happening as people turn against Bible preaching
preachers, calling them Bible thumpers, narrow minded, and legalistic, and
saying they think they are right and everybody else is wrong. According to verse
3 “And
through covetousness shall
they with feigned
words make merchandise of you:whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not,
and
their
damnation slumbereth
not.”
their fleshly motive is covetousness for money,
I Timothy
6:10.“For
the love of money
is the root of all
evil: which while some coveted
after
which while some coveted
after, they have erred
from the faith, and
pierced
themselves through with many sorrows.”
In order to get suckers to give to their
greed they use feigned (invented, imagined, assumed, Webster’s 1828 Dictionary)
words to make merchandise of these
unstable souls who follow them. God
compares them with Balaam, Jude 11
“Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily
after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.”
who was an unsaved prophet in the Old Testament who loved the wages of
unrighteousness.
Their followers are promised
liberty but end up in bondage to the Devil who has called these false prophets.
II Peter 2:19 “While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants
of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in
bondage.”
Take a look at God’s description of these false prophets and teachers.
In II Peter 2:12
“But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil
of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own
corruption;”
He describes
them as natural brute beasts. Their
only concern is living the good life now, sexual promiscuity, and having a lot
of money. They have no knowledge of a Holy God.
They do not realize they are going to end up in Hell with their
followers. In II Peter 2:22
, God
uses two of the dirtiest animals to describe these false preachers. He calls the
false men preachers, dogs, and women preachers,
sows.
Matthew 7:21-23
“ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in
thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart
from me, ye that work iniquity.”
The scriptures give the arguments that will be used by
false prophets, as to
why the
Lord
should let them in heaven. Notice the following:
1.
We have prophesied in thy name - they claim
to
preach Jesus.
2.
In thy name have cast out devils - one of their
ministries.
3.
In thy name done many wonderful works -healed
the sick;
strengthened the faith by
signs.
Then Jesus will say, “Depart , I
never knew you.” So they were
called of the Devil from the
beginning, and their Jesus is another Jesus.
God calls His men to preach His
incorruptible Word, the KJV. He has
never called, nor will ever call, a man to preach the corrupted word.
So all these preachers that claim to be called of God, who were called,
sitting under a preacher preaching from
false Bibles, did not get a call from God, for they too, will preach from
a corrupted Bible. Some would ask,
“Are you saying they are all called of the Devil?”
No. Some are mamma called and papa sent,
some make it a profession, and others like the preeminence they receive,
and I am sure there are many other reasons.
I may not have uncovered the reason, but God does not call a man to
preach another Bible. Lest I
confuse you, some of the Devil-called preachers do preach from a KJV and do not
claim to have the sign gifts. There are probably more Devil-called Baptist
preachers than God called, but this
is so the Devil can deceive the people.
In these last days of the lukewarm church, I believe, it is like it was
in the
days of
Elijah; there are most likely four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, the
Devil, to one God-called man. No charismatic preacher is God-called and Baptist
preachers, like Rick Warren, would
not know what salvation was if they fell over it. Because of the Devil using men
like, Rick Warren and Joel Olsteen,
to build large congregations, some of God's men have compromised in following
these preachers of Baal, and that also makes it hard on the God-called men who
will not bow to Baal. So, men of God, stand in the gap and make up
the
hedge. You are not completely alone and the best is yet to come.
Chapter Five
The Dangers Of This Doctrine
When truth is not used properly, it
becomes dangerous; as Dr Ruckman says, light rejected becomes lightning.
I feel the need to give some warnings about this truth.
It is not our place to know, nor can we know for sure, who
the children of the Devil are.
You can become pharisaical, by looking at some people who are not dotting
their I's and crossing their T's, according to your standard, and think, “Well
they are children of the Devil.”
Jesus said He would sort them out, and we are to let them grow together with the
children of God. This does not mean
we are to compromise God's standards by letting anyone remain a member of the
church who is living in open sin, condemned by the Bible, (1Corinthians 5:11-13
“But
now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a
brother be a
fornicator,
or
covetous,
or an
idolater,
or a
railer,
or a
drunkard,
or an
extortioner;
with such an one no not to eat. For what have I to do to judge them also that
are without? do not ye judge them that are within? But them that are without God
judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.”)
it does
mean we give people every reasonable benefit of
the
doubt that they are either carnal, backslidden or just not saved . We should
do our best to restore them, if they are saved
or reach them with the Gospel if they are lost. It will all come out at
the Judgment.
One more danger
is, that some might read this and say, I have already become a child of the
Devil, so there is no use trying to get saved.
If you think you are a child of the Devil but you have a desire to be
saved then you are not a child of the Devil. When a person becomes a child of
the Devil he receives a devil spirit, who keeps him deceived, thereby causing
him to believe he is saved. So do not wait; accept the Lord Jesus Christ as your
Saviour
as described in this booklet. Do it now, before it is too late, and you become a
child of the Devil.