July 26
2 Chron 17:1-18:34 | PS 20:1-9 | Prov 20:2-3 | Rom 9:25-10:13
Federal agents don't learn to spot counterfeit money by studying counterfeits. They study genuine bills until they master the look of the real thing. Then when they see the fake money they recognize it. Consider Jesus' words in John 8:31-32, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Commentaries can be wrong. Pastors and preachers can be wrong. But God and His Word are never wrong. God's Word is inerrant. We read in Romans 3:4, "Indeed, let God be true but every man a liar." There are no shortcuts, no ten quick ways to understanding truth. Become students of His Word, and like the federal agents above you will learn to discern truth from what is fake.
King Jehoshaphat did the right thing by tearing down what was fake, as we read in 2 Chronicles 17:6, "And his heart took delight in the ways of the Lord; moreover he removed the high places and wooden images from Judah." But to understand truth it took more than simply removing what was fake. So we read what he did next in 17:9, as he sent the leaders, Levites, and priests, "So they taught in Judah, and had the Book of the Law of the Lord with them; they went throughout all the cities of Judah and taught the people." He gave them the truth of the Word of God. We then see this played out in Jehoshaphat's ability to discern as King Ahab gathered together four hundred "prophets" who all spoke in unison advising the kings to go forward in battle. But King Jehoshaphat was able to spot the fake, after spending his life in the truth, states in 18:6, " “Is there not still a prophet of the Lord here, that we may inquire of Him?”
Many seminaries now go against the first eleven chapters of Genesis and though Jesus, Himself, quotes from this as absolute truth, they, whom deem themselves more enlightened speak of it as allegory. "Let God be true but every man a liar". Many pastors speak forth woke philosophies in the name of relevance, deeming society's truth more relevant than the Bible. "Let God be true but every man a liar". Many denominations recommend leaving the Bible either in part or in its entirety in the hands of the priests for interpretation, leaving the masses ignorant to its contents. "Let God be true but every man a liar". The Orthodox Jewish religion has raised the Talmud (the rabbinical commentary on the oral law, the words of men) over the Tanakh (God's actual Word in the Hebrew Scriptures or Old Testament) whenever the two conflict, leaving the masses following man over God's inerrant Word. "Let God be true but every man a liar". Discernment can only come from immersing ourselves in the truth, the truth of God's Word.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: