A tremendous Delusion is gripping the Christian World.
You need to know the TRUTH!
Today over four hundred different denominations and sects call themselves Christian. Yet they ALL disagree on certain doctrines and practices or they would not be divided!
Jesus said: "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbor, and hate thine enemy.
But I SAY unto you, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you" (Matt. 5:43-44).
Do all the professing Christians in our Western culture follow Christ by LOVING their enemies and turning the other cheek (Matt. 5:39) as He commanded?
Of course not!
That would not be practical, we are told.
The truth is that the greatest and most bloody wars in all human history have been waged primarily in Europe — the very heart of Western, "Christian" civilization.
In fact, the professing Christian church directly instigated a series of "holy wars" during the Middle Ages called the "Crusades." The Encyclopedia Britannica (11th ed., Vol. VII, art. "Crusades") describes the supposed BLESSING put on the murderous and bloodthirsty activities of the Crusaders: "The knight who joined the Crusades might thus indulge the bellicose side of his genius — under the aegis and at the bidding of the Church; and in so doing he would also attain what the spiritual side of his nature ardently sought — a perfect salvation and remission of sins. He might butcher all day, till he waded ankle-deep in blood, and then at nightfall kneel, sobbing for very joy, at the altar of the Sepulcher — for was he not red from the winepress of the Lord?"
Were THESE men true followers of the humble carpenter of Nazareth who said: "Love your enemies"?
Yet remember that these men called themselves by the NAME of Christ — Christian. It seems that nearly all Western religions, philosophies and sects must persist in applying the name of CHRIST to their ideas, teachings and practices. In ancient times, the pagans openly and honestly acknowledged their worship of the various "gods" and demon spirits of their own choosing.
Using the NAME of Christ Proves NOTHING!
But since the life, death and the resurrection of the Son of God, a great DECEPTION has resulted in the placing of Christ's NAME on every type of pagan, heathen, and perverted philosophy of man that has come along!
Shocking as it may sound, the fact that many churches, doctrines, ideas and practices of men are called "Christian" proves absolutely NOTHING!
Did Christ start these ideas and institutions? Do they follow His teaching and His example?
How can you KNOW?
Almighty God inspired the Apostle John to describe the Devil as "that old serpent, called the devil, and Satan, which DECEIVETH the WHOLE WORLD" (Rev. 12:9). Again, in Revelation 20:1-3, God describes how Satan will soon be restrained "that he should DECEIVE the NATIONS no more.
These inspired scriptures certainly show that most people and nations have been misled and DECEIVED by Satan the Devil! This, very frankly, is the "key" which explains WHY there are so many obvious contradictions in our supposedly "Christian" society. It shows WHY this world is so mixed up and CONFUSED about what the word "Christian" really means. It shows that our civilization has NOT been following Christ, but has been DECEIVED into going many different ways under Satan's confusing influence!
Strangely, yet at least honestly, some of this world's noted religious leaders and scholars have acknowledged that our professing "Christianity" has NOT EVEN SERIOUSLY TRIED to follow the literal teaching and example of Jesus Christ — its supposed Author!
A candid admission of the above fact was made by Dr. Rufus M. Jones. In his well-known work, The Church's Debt to Heretics, Dr. Jones acknowledges: "If by any chance Christ Himself had been taken by His later followers as the model and pattern of the new way, and a serious attempt had been made to set up His life and teaching as the standard and norm for the Church, Christianity would have been something VASTLY DIFFERENT from what it became. Then 'heresy' would have been, as it is not now, deviation from His way, His teaching, His spirit, His kingdom." [Emphasis ours]
This noted church historian here plainly acknowledges that church leaders did NOT take Jesus' life and HIS TEACHING as the standard for their so-called "Christian" churches!
Ask yourself, honestly: What other true standard COULD THERE POSSIBLY BE?
What IS a True Christian? Our dictionaries have preserved part of the truth about what a "Christian" is supposed to be. The American College Dictionary states: "Christian, pertaining to or derived from Jesus Christ or His teachings . . . believing in or belonging to the religion of Jesus Christ."
But what WAS the teaching of Jesus Christ? What was His religion — Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, "Mind Science" — WHAT?
The only authoritative ANSWER is found in the inspired record of what Jesus did teach and of the perfect EXAMPLE He set for us to follow. Your Bible contains this inspired record!
With the above questions in mind, let's look into it — honestly — openly — without prejudice.
What DID Jesus — the Author of true Christianity — actually TEACH and Do? And remember that a true Christian is one who follows Christ and His teaching!
What Jesus DID Teach
At the beginning of His ministry, "Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel" (Mark 1:14-15).
The word "kingdom" means government. Jesus was talking about the coming government of God over this earth. He commanded: "REPENT YE, and believe the gospel!"
To "repent" means to be so sorry that you are not only willing to quit — but to turn around and go the other way. Of course we must repent of SIN. But what is sin? God answers: "Sin is the transgression of the law" (I John 3:4).
So we must repent of DISOBEYING God's government — of breaking His LAW!
Again, notice Jesus' own inspired words on this subject: "Think NOT that I am come to destroy the LAW, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill" (Matt. 5:17) In other words, Jesus in His own life perfectly performed the spiritual intent and purpose of God's law. Why did He do this?
Let GOD answer! In His inspired prophecy about the coming Messiah, Jesus Christ, Isaiah wrote: "The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will MAGNIFY the LAW, and make it honorable" (Isa. 42:21).
To magnify does NOT mean to destroy, but to show forth and enlarge an object or a thing to the fullest possible extent. Jesus perfectly fulfilled and magnified God's law to show us its fullest spiritual application and also to set us an EXAMPLE that we should follow in His steps (I Pet. 2:21).
Jesus continued in this same discourse: "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall DO and TEACH them, the same shall be called GREAT in the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:19). So according to Jesus' literal teaching, you have to both DO AND TEACH even the LEAST of God's commandments if you are to become great in His Kingdom.
Isn't that PLAIN?
Throughout the rest of this teaching, commonly called the "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus continued to MAGNIFY God's law and bring out the spiritual intent and purpose of that law for Christians with God's Spirit.
How Jesus MAGNIFIED the Law
He showed that we are not only to restrain ourselves from literal murder, but that to even HATE a brother — involving as it does the spirit of murder — is bringing us into judgment before the spiritual law of God. He vividly illustrated how one can commit adultery not only by performing the literal act, but by LUSTING after another woman in his heart (verses 21-31).
Read these examples in your own Bible. Think about them. In every case, they obviously do NOT do away with God's law but rather make it all the more binding!
Matthew's fifth chapter ends with Jesus' instruction: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect" (Matt. 5:48).
Obedience to God and His law is the keynote in the entire Sermon on the Mount. Jesus declared: "Not everyone 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" (Matt. 7:21).
Later, notice Jesus' own words His teaching — on how to be saved. "And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, KEEP the COMMANDMENTS" (Matt. 19:16-17). Then (verses 18-19) Jesus proceeded to name some of the Ten Commandments.
God's Government Has Laws
Speaking about the New Testament Gospel which He preached, Jesus stated: "The law and the prophets were until John: since that time the kingdom of God is preached, and every man presseth into it. And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the LAW to fail" (Luke 16:16-17). Here Jesus clearly showed that God's Kingdom or GOVERNMENT — is inseparably connected with GOD'S LAW. He showed that that law would NEVER fail! Then He went on to show what law He was talking about (verse 18) by commenting on the commandment concerning adultery — one of the Ten Commandments!
So the good news of God's Kingdom is inseparably related to the LAW of God as contained in the Ten Commandments. Jesus always magnified and kept THIS LAW during His lifetime. He said: "I have KEPT my Father's commandments" (John 15:10).
After His resurrection, as Christ was commissioning His disciples to preach His message to ALL NATIONS — certainly including the Gentiles — Jesus commanded: "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit: teaching them to observe ALL THINGS whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28:19-20).
Here Jesus is clearly and plainly telling His apostles to go out to all nations preaching exactly the SAME message of obedience to God's LAW and His government as He Himself had taught them!
But carnal-minded men REBEL at the teaching of obedience to God's commandments. They say it is IMPOSSIBLE for human beings to obey God's law. They come up with many different excuses for disobeying the commandments of God and teaching that you are saved by a sentimental acceptance of Christ's NAME or PERSON without any real obedience to Him or God as your LORD and MASTER!