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Yes, as Jesus said, many cry out,
"Lord , Lord," but abso lu tel y
REFUSE to obey the
revea/ed wi/1 of
Almighty God.
How Christ Feels About
Lawlessness
Describing how he wi ll have to deal
with these self-appointed ministers
when he returns, Jesus said, "Many
wi ll 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 ?"
(Matt. 7:22.)
These ministers will tell J esus
how they used
his
name in preach–
ing to great multitudes of people.
They will explain how in the name
of religion and Christ they over–
came the "devils" of superstition
and ignorance in their mission
schools and in their dealings with
primitive people.
These men will wax eloquent in
describing the wonderful works
that they accomplished in the name
of rel igion and Christ. They wi ll
inform Jesus of the great hospitals
and clinics they establ ished around
the world.
T hey will tell Jesus of the bornes
for unwed mothers and battered
wives, the camps for wayward boys,
the missions they have establ ished
to feed and clothe the drunks and
down-and-outs in the skid row sec–
tions of many cities, and the
Christmas baskets and similar gifts
they take to
~he
poor on their reli–
gious nolidays.
Is Jesus Christ-the Christ of
the Bible-going to be pleased with
all of these accomplishments in his
name?
He answers, "And then will
l
profess unto them,
T
NEVER knew
you: depart from me, ye that work
iniquity" (verse 23). Jesus wi ll say
he
never- never
at any time–
knew these men as his servants! He
tells them to depart from him!
But notice what he says about
their "works." He says, "Ye that
work
iniquity."
The Greek word
here translated "iniquity" literally
means LA
w
LESSNEss--disobedience
to God's law!
Their religion is a futile attempt
to treat the effect of automatic
punishment caused by disobedience
to the law of God!
October 1983
Substltuting Human Devlces for
Obedlence to Divina Law
In regard to the thousands of hospi–
tals put up in the name of religion,
the Christ you read of in the Bible
supernaturally HEALED people of
sickness and disease. And he did
that without resorting to the terri–
bly expensive and too often painful
and unsatisfactory procedures now
employed in this "enlightened age"
in which we live.
The help of skilled doctors and
.nurses cer tainly is at times neces–
sary to perform sorne functions that
do not interfere with the natural
working of our God-designed bod–
ies. But Jesus will call the ministers
True Christianity is not
a dead belief, but
a vibrant way of life that
deeply affects our
standard of conduct.
to account for not teaching their
flocks real faith in Goo for the true
healing that he had promised. And
the medica! community will be
rebuked for neglecting to teach the
people the physical laws that would
prevent most sickness and disease in
the first place!
The rise of faith in man (and the
demise of faith in God) to heal,
caused too often by the limited and
limiting knowledge of the religious
and medical communities, is a
tragic substitute for obedience to
the physical laws of God that would
PREVENT SICKNESS in the first
place-or the divine healing if sorne
unwitting infraction or carelessness
does result in sickness or an acci–
dent.
You see, God's laws would STOP
most of our troubles befare they get
started!
What about the bornes for unwed
mothers, the camps for wayward
boys, the missions to take care of
the derelicts?
Christ's answer is that if every
professing min ister in the land
would proclaim God's LA
w
as a way
of life, there wouldn't EXIST the
need for any of these things just
mentioned!
Illegitimate, fatherless or run–
away chi ldren, who eventually often
end up as derelicts, exist as a result
of a lack of teaching of the basic
bíblica/ laws
concerning responsi–
bility to God, fellowman and to
self!
This is a LAWLESS age! The
rebel–
lion
of our society against obe–
dience to God's law is now reflect–
ing itself in disobedience to all the
laws of man and even the principies
of human decency!
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t is a mockery to proclaim the
name of Jesus Christ as " Lord" and
then deny the message of obedience
to the Jaws of Almighty God that he
brought to this earth and on which
he based his entire life and teach–
ing!
When will we WAKE UP? This
lype of lawless teaching is NOT
Christianity! Rather, what we now
see taking place in the breakdown
of our society is the end result of a
great APOSTASY from the truth of
God, which was prophesied to occur
in the Bible.
J esus warned of this falling away
from the truth. Now let us notice a
few more of the scores of scriptures
that warn that a
fa/se
"Christian–
ity" would arise and submerge the
real TRUTH of Christ and his apos–
tles.
Great Apostasy Prophesied
While he was yet on earth, Jesus
warned his apostles, " If they have
persecuted me, they will also perse–
cute you; if they have kept my say–
ing [they killed him instead], they
will keep yours also" (John
15:20).
Then Jesus warned his apostles
of even worse things to come:
" .. . the time cometh, that whoso–
ever killeth you will think that he
doeth God service" (John 16:2) .
The
truth
of God and
message
of
Jesus Christ has NEVER been popu–
lar! History tells us indisputably that
the early apostles of Jesus were per–
secuted and most ofthem killed . The
world did NOT accept the true mes–
sage from them any more than it had
from Christ himself.
Even within God's true Church,
the apostle Paul was inspired to
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