But He Lied Unto Him

A very interesting account takes place in 1 Kings 13, from which the titled quote comes. In the previous chapter, we see the sad split of the twelve tribes of Israel. Although Jeroboam clearly had an opportunity to satiate a stormy situation that Rehoboam created (cf. 1 Kings 11:29-39), he rather created a disastrous distortion in leading ten tribes away from Jerusalem and the temple. In an effort to control the people who followed him, he set up false places of worship at Dan to the extreme northern edge and Bethel to the extreme southern edge, building altars at both locations. Thus, in 1 Kings 13, an unnamed prophet from Judah travels up to the southern edge in Bethel and pronounces prophetic judgment on Jeroboam while he is offering incense at the altar (heaping sin upon sin). When the startled king invites him to stay overnight, the unnamed prophet explains that God charged him not to do so. The record continues to reveal another unnamed prophet, this one from Bethel, who hears of what has happened and rushes to meet this man of God out of Judah. Upon finding him, he urges him to deviate from his divinely-appointed plan and go to his house, which at first, he declines, but upon his insistence with a story about an angel telling him otherwise, he consents. The words then follow: “But he lied unto him” (1 Kings 13:18). As a result, God pronounces judgment upon the disobedient prophet and sends a lion to kill him in punishment for his wicked ways.

As a result, we note the following three things. First, he heard the lie (1 Kings 13:18). Second, he believed the lie (1 Kings 13:19). Rather than questioning within himself as to why God did not communicate with him about the change of plans, with which he was quite clear since he communicated such earlier to King Jeroboam (1 Kings 13:8-10), he chose simply to believe the lie that this false prophet gave. Third, he obeyed the lie. While sitting in the false prophet’s house, God spoke through him to the man of God out of Judah (just as he spoke through the mouth of Balaam and the donkey in Numbers 22-24) and said that because he had heard, believed and obeyed the lie, he would lose his life (1 Kings 13:20-22).

At the heart of all lies is Satan (cf. John 8:44). He is the great deceiver and tempter. We see the same thing happening with Eve in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3). Upon asking her about the instructions from God concerning the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, Satan lied unto her with the words, “Ye shall not surely die” (Gen. 3:4). She heard his lie, believed his lie (by noting the attractive qualities of the fruit as John portrays in 1 John 2:15-17), and obeyed his lie by eating of the fruit and sharing with her husband (Gen. 3:5-7).

In like manner today, false teachers are speaking lies. Every day, they spread forth their venom in hopes of gaining an audience and filling their wallets (cf. 2 Pet. 2:1-3). Every day, people hear their lies, believe their lies and obey their lies. This is why the following words from Paul are so important to ensure our love for the truth and to guard our hearts from believing a lie:

For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2 Thess. 2:7-12)

In closing, I believe the situation in which we find Jacob serves as a great warning. When the brothers of Joseph had sold him into slavery and brought back his coat of many colors drenched in the blood of a goat, they deceived their father into believing a lie when they simply said, “This have we found: know now whether it be thy son’s coat or no” (Gen. 37:32). For years, Jacob bought into their lie and believed that which was false. We must be very careful to guard ourselves from deception and lies. We should not hear, believe or obey anything unless we first search the scriptures for ourselves to see whether it is so (cf. Acts 17:11).

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Thoughts for Those Who Preside at the Lord’s Supper

As you walk into the building on a Sunday morning, what are your thoughts as you anticipate worship? Joyfully we think about how good it will be to see those special people who will be there, but what about the actual worship? Some may think about who will be leading singing or the choice of songs. Others the length and content of the sermon. Others are concerned about the temperature or their personal comfort. Nothing is wrong with any of these thoughts, but we might be blessed to see the emphasis the Bible places on our worship.

The Scriptures focus on the Lord’s Supper as the central aspect of worship. The disciples in Troas came together “to break bread” (Acts 20:7). The preacher that day was Paul, but the prime reason they assembled was to commune with Jesus. The church at Corinth also “came together to eat” (1 Cor. 11:33). We are in His house with His family to eat with Him around His table. Because of this truth, let’s take time to consider the following suggestions for those who preside at His table.

  • Plan what you are going to say ahead of time. A communion thought that rambles with little direction does little to help us eat the supper remembering Him.
  • Make sure that you focus on His death. The Lord’s Supper does not celebrate His resurrection. The bread and the cup send us to the cross, not to the empty tomb.
  • Keep your remarks simple. It is not a time for a complex sermonette. The reading of scripture is always good, and there are verses other than the one in 1 Corinthians 11.  Recently, someone read the words of a song as he lead the communion. It took less than a minute, but such a simple act carried all of us to the cross. Have you considered taking just one (not all seven) of His sayings on the cross as an opening communion thought?
  • Another thought to share might be focusing on the joy of knowing that Jesus is in our assembly right now and communing with us.
  • Remember that it was Jesus who died on the cross not the Father. When one is nervous, it is easy to address the Father and then thank Him for HIS body which was given for us. It was not HIS body; it was the body of His Son.
  • Speak loudly enough to be heard. A soft spoken voice cannot be amplified to a level where those who have hearing loss can understand you. Your thoughts and leadership are meaningless if they are not heard.

Let’s improve our worship.  Do you have some suggestions for those who preside?  I would be glad to hear them.

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The Most Important Things to Teach Your Children

She was pregnant and expecting her first child. Like all mothers, she was concerned about what others might think, but there was no way she could not be excited about what was about to happen. Then, it hit her. This gift from God was His, and she and Joseph were only caretakers with the responsibility to train up the child so this gift could be given back to God.

What do you teach that child? What values do you give to prepare the child for the trials which lie ahead? What expectant mother has not had these thoughts? As you think about these matters consider that these same responsibilities were faced by Mary, the mother of Jesus. Read Matthew chapter four to see what Mary taught Jesus as she trained Him in the way He should go.

A child must be taught the meaning of life. When Satan appealed to Jesus to live by the rule of self gratification, to fulfill the lust of the flesh and to make that the dominate force which controlled His life, He was ready! He had learned one important truth in His upbringing. “Man shall not live by bread alone.” If one lives by the rule of self gratification, he misses life. The only way for man to live is to understand that every word which God speaks gives life!

A child must be taught that God is more important than material things. The Lord was offered all the treasures of this world, but He turned them down. Those who had trained Him for life put in His heart that only God is to be worshiped. “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve.” Look at the two verbs used—worship and serve. They cover not just formal times of adoring God, but aspects of daily living. When one craves material things, they become his lord and he becomes subservient to them. A child must know that materialism cannot become a master!

A child must be taught about the nature of God. Satan’s misuse of the Bible did not confuse Jesus for a moment, for He knew God. He had not just been taught the Word of God, He had been taught the nature of God. He did not just know about God, He knew God!

Let me encourage all young mothers and fathers (the same could apply to “expectant” grandmothers and grandfathers). Look at that child of yours as Mary looked at the child God gave to her. He was simply a gift from heaven, loaned and entrusted to her for a short time, with the grave responsibility to prepare the child for the next time the child would see God. Prepare your child! Teach him the Bible. Teach him about life, about “things” and about Him!

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Has He Asked Too Much of Us?

Have you ever been given a task which seemed impossible to fulfill? Consider this one. There are, according to the latest census information, 1,286,461 people in Palm Beach County, and the Lord wants us to tell each one of them about the cross. How much time would it take to teach them? The only time referenced in the Bible to the conversion of a lost person is the one hour it took Paul and Silas to teach the jailor. Do you have the 1,286,461 hours remaining in life to do this (that’s 146 years)?

However, you are not alone in this responsibility to teach others. Suppose every active member at Palm Beach Lakes would devote one hour per day to talk to a lost person in Palm Beach County? (This is not to say our responsibility ends at a county line.) How long would that take? The answer is an astounding ten years! Now the reality is that not every member will do this, and that a single hour with a lost person is not usually long enough. Sounds like an impossible task, does it not?

There is another matter for us to consider. Not every person in this county will take the time to spend an hour with us talking to them about the Lord. We already know this from experience when we have tried to say anything to them about their spiritual life. You can remove them from the calculations above. That certainly allows us more time to talk to those who are interested who will give us more than an hour to tell them about Jesus. So the actual number of hours may not have changed that drastically. Sounds like an impossible task, does it not?

Before you get overwhelmed with this task, just remember that the Lord is greater than our trials. What He asks of us is nothing compared to what He asked of the apostles in the first century. A dozen men were told to preach the gospel to the entire world. Sounds like an impossible task, does it not?

Yet, they accomplished it because He was with them. Beginning at Jerusalem, the gospel went to Judea, Samaria and then to every creature on the planet (Acts 1:8; Col. 1:23). Oh, that we had hearts as devoted as theirs!

A very special opportunity lies before us with the upcoming gospel meeting with Sam Jones. The presence of visitors during that week is directly related to the number of individual invitations which are given. The more we invite, the more we will have in attendance.

As you think answering the question how do we teach every person in this county, think of the pigmy who was asked how he ate an entire elephant? His answer was, “One bite at a time.” Our answer is, “One soul at a time.” It is not impossible!

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Six Souls who May Keep America From Falling

I’m sitting trying to think of a single Christian I know in America who does not love this nation. I’m sure they exist, but I do not know anyone who does not salute the flag, think of veterans on Memorial Day or stand respectfully at the singing of the National Anthem. In fact, I cannot think of any I know who does not resent those artists who change the music to that part of the song which speaks of “the land of the free and the home of the brave.” They resent those singers who use the occasion to manifest their own voices.

Yes, we all are concerned about the future of this land. One cannot read the Bible without seeing how God deals with nations. His holy nature cannot let the ungodly prosper forever. Solomon said, “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Pro. 14:34). America has been exalted, but America is now far from righteous. Add to this the words of David, “The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God” (Psa. 9:17). Has America forgotten God? We are concerned about the future of this nation.

So what can we do about it? Some think that the cause is hopeless. America, founded on many of principles of the Bible, is faltering. Shall we throw up our hands and quit?               Others think that the answer lies in better government. They overlook the fact that the government is a reflection of the people who elect the officials. Corruption in Washington comes from voters who elect and send ungodly men to represent them. We need more godly men to lead us, but this is not the solution because the ungodly outnumber the godly.

There is a solution. The answer is found in Genesis 18. God was ready to turn into hell five cities which had forgotten Him. As He approached Sodom and Gomorrah, He revealed His intentions to Abraham. This friend of God knew the one thing which could alter His plan. Ten righteous souls would have caused God to spare the cities. There were only four righteous people in those cities. Sodom was destroyed because of a lack of six more souls!

So what about us? What about our land? If you knew that six more souls would insure your children and grandchildren could live in America, what would you do? Would you seek for six more souls?

This past Sunday we asked you to give us a list of six souls you want to lead to Christ. These names will become part of the daily prayer life of this church. Thank you for your response. Our next united effort is in just two weeks when Sam Jones is with us. Be part of this effort to find six more!

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