Dear Friends of "Dial Daily Bread,"
We know it's true that there is counterfeit money. Does that cause you to be so afraid that you refuse to accept any money? Very likely you are cautious, but not fanatical. Otherwise, you couldn't do business.
Are you afraid of the word "gospel," or "good news," because there are counterfeit gospels? It is true that Jesus warned us against "false christs" in Matthew 24:24, and Paul warned us against false gospels in Galatians 1:6-12. The danger of deception is very real. But that doesn't mean that there is no true Christ or true gospel! We are told in Hebrews 3:12, "Take heed, ... lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief."
The answer to the dilemma of distinguishing between false gospels and the true is to "take heed," to study, to be alert, to think, to ponder, to learn, to listen, to pray, to seek for truth as for hidden treasure. Peter encourages us, "Gird up the loins of your mind, be sober" (1 Peter 1:13). The New English Bible renders it, "Be mentally stripped for action," ready to study and think and understand. If you allow your mind to go to sleep, you will be on enchanted ground, and Satan can deceive you.
Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness" (Matt. 5:6). Since there is only one kind of righteousness, that is, righteousness by faith, what Jesus actually said was, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst to understand righteousness by faith more clearly." Those who do not sense this hunger and thirst are those who feel "rich and increased with goods, in need of nothing:" (Rev. 3:17). That's a very popular way to feel if you live in Laodicea; and even pastors, and church leaders are in frightful danger of feeling that way. "Didn't I graduate from the Seminary? Haven't I preached sermons, baptized many people? I'm not dying of hunger!"
That was precisely the way the scribes and Pharisees were 2000 years ago; they felt no hunger and thirst, and the teaching of this lowly Rabbi from Galilee did not appeal to them. Today is a time of crisis unprecedented in 6000 years of human history. Be alert, be thoughtful, study, pray, and don't repeat the sin of the ancient Jews. It's too late to do that again!
--Robert J. Wieland
From the "Dial Daily Bread" Archive: May 16, 1998-1.
Copyright © 2014 by "Dial Daily Bread."
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