Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. The early church was played
with a false doctrine and philosophy that crept in and overthrew the
faith of some, which has never completely disappeared. It is
called Gnosticism. Gnosticism was a school of thought
that exalted the ability of men to know spiritual things. It
became mixed in with Christian doctrine and was spread by those
who were angels of light. Man is by nature attracted to
those who reinforce his natural ability and mindset, thus the
rise of the affirmers and positive thinking gurus of the present
day. Self-help is the order of the day, and there is a constant
barrage of it in the media and many so-called churches around
the world. It would be fair to say that
the Gnostics are alive and well, basically dismissing the idea
of the Spirit of God working in men to perform His will. They
always make the will of Almighty God subservient to the will of
men, or they exalt knowledge above faith and revelation, often
reducing the gospel to a definition which they can take pride in.
Paul wrote, 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. Apart from a divine
revelation and the new birth of a man, he will never be able
to comprehend, let alone receive, the truth of God. The truth and
glory of the gospel is outside the scope of man's innate understanding,
regardless of the skill or the persuasiveness of the teacher.
Most of today's affirmers totally bypass the gospel, preferring
to convince men that they can emulate Jesus Christ by learning
a few simple rules of conduct and principles of philosophy.
One can hardly argue with their success in selling books and
drawing crowds. However, their teaching is a
house built upon the sinking sand of man's free will, which
they assume he can exercise whenever he gets ready. Man's will would
be free were it not for one inherited problem. He is dead in trespasses
and sin and is a slave to that which has him bound. He will
not choose to set himself free from this malady because he loves
it. A man will always choose that
for which he has the highest affection. So unless the Lord
in mercy changes a man's affection, the man will continue to travel
the same path he has always trod. Gnosticism gives rise to will-worship,
which manifests itself in numerous schools of thought. Some of these
various ideas almost seem at odds with one another, yet they
all share this common ground of will-worship. One of the earliest
conclusions that this philosophy gave rise to was the touch-not,
taste-not, handle-not concept. Some had concluded that men could
make themselves holy before God by abstaining from various foods,
drinks, and activities or observing certain days and times. They
exalted the will and ability of men to perform acts of righteousness,
which could be contrasted with those of lesser character. Then
there was the idea that arose that in reality there was no
such thing as sin. The flesh was just the flesh
with no connection to the inner man, so that licentious behavior
was acceptable. John fought against this error
in his first epistle. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. These Gnostics
taught that sin was only an illusion and not a deadly enemy to be
fought against. Hedonism is an extreme form of this philosophy,
which in essence is the underlying notion of the carnal Christian
theory, which says that a man can be a true believer and yet
live as the world does. Any doctrine which seeks to excuse
sin or belittle those who would seek to identify sin in its many
forms has its roots here. It is will worship because it
exalts the will of men above the truth of God. There have
always been certain factions and sects that have arisen down
through time who have laid claim to special insight or favor,
and have determined that no one could possibly enter heaven except
through their little gate. They all use the Scriptures to
a greater or lesser degree in arriving at their conclusions,
but for the most part are easily distinguished from the pathway
of truth. Some seem to be fairly accurate in their scriptural
knowledge and correct in their understanding of vital doctrines,
yet they are convinced that knowing the gospel as they define it
is exclusively synonymous with the work of God in men. They
practice will-worship because, according to their logic, they
make a man's grasp of theology the basis upon which they judge
his salvation. God is able to draw men to himself
however and whenever he sees fit, based solely on his purpose
and power to deliver his own. Men are saved by Christ, not
their knowledge. The foundation of God standeth
sure. Having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are His. Are
you a seeker of the truth as it is in Christ? For a free CD
containing 15 of these radio broadcasts, send an email to
forthepoor at windstream.net.