The Gospel of Man,
Part I - Introduction
Part I of V
Matthew 15:9 KJV, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
1. In the study of the Word of God - the Bible, many consistent themes are frequently overlooked. One of those themes, rather doctrines, is the understanding of the difference between the physical and the spiritual. The Old Testament introduces many doctrines to us in the physical, with the intent of bringing us into the spiritual realization of that doctrine. The New Testament fully reveals many of these doctrines and emphasizes the spiritual application that was intended from the beginning. 2 Corinthians 3:6 KJV, "Who also hath made us able ministers of the new testament; not of the letter, but of the spirit: for the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life."
2.a. Let us mention several of these themes before we move on. In Genesis, the first born of Adam and Eve was Cain. Cain brought a grain sacrifice to God and because their was no blood his sacrifice was not accepted. Genesis 4:5-7 KJV, "5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And [Yahowah] said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him." The sprinkling of the blood of animals in the physical taught us that the sprinkling of Yahoshua's Blood was necessary to wash our sins away. Make no mistake about it, He died a horrible and tortuous death and spilled His physical Blood, but the application of that Blood is done spiritually. Satanic religions try desperately to deny the spiritual application of His Blood and invent ceremonies and ordinances in an attempt to keep our attention on the application of the physical blood. Hebrews 9:12 KJV, "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us."
2.b. Through the deluge, commonly known as Noah's flood, eight souls were brought safely through the waters, and now this water symbolizes baptism. 1 Peter 3:21 KJV, "The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of [Yahoshua the] Christ:”. The physical water no longer counts, but the spiritual application of baptismal waters, shows that we are publicly declaring our new belief in Christ Yahoshua (Matthew 10:33 KJV, "But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will I also deny before my Father which is in heaven.") and spiritually dying to our physical bodies and are spiritually raised to life and hidden in Christ. The water baptism itself does not save us, nor is it required to "complete" our salvation experience. Water baptism is a physical symbolic gesture of the change in heart that has already spiritually occurred when we became spiritually born again.
2.c. Abraham was not saved because of his physical acts of faith, such as his willingness to physically sacrifice Isaac, but he was saved by his spiritual faith. He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness - this is spiritual, his belief in God. Galatians 3:6 KJV, "Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness." However, spiritual belief will manifest itself in taking physical actions at times. The Book of James explains this. James 2:24-26 KJV, "24 Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only. 25 Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way? 26 For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also."
2.d. The Law (the Torah) and the Ten Commandments that were part of that Law, with the physical punishments meted out to those who would disobey, was physical. But now the spiritual has come, and the physical has been set aside. It is still there in the pages of Scripture, as a reference, as a reminder, as a teacher, to show us what sin is. Galatians 3:24-25 KJV, "24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25 But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster." But now that Christ Yahoshua has come, the physical requirements of that Law have been met, and the physical consequences of that Law have been paid by His shed Blood. Hebrews 9:12 "Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us." But only for those who have the faith of Abraham, only for those who believe God and in the One He has sent - Christ Yahoshua, the Son of the Living God. His pre-incarnate name was Yahowah of Hosts (Yahowah of Hosts is a teaching I have not read of or heard of anywhere else). Sabbath keeping was part of the Law and the most easily seen and experienced by man in the physical today. But the spiritual application of that Law, that teacher, that guiding light, is now with us. And that spiritual application shows us that we are to enter into the spiritual rest that God has prepared for those who will come, for those who will believe, for those who will believe in Christ Yahoshua, for those who will receive the shed Blood as atonement for their sins, thereby becoming born again. John 3:3 KJV, "[Yahoshua] answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
3. As we study the Bible and those religions that have sprung up, claiming to have formed their belief systems from the Bible, we came across a persistent theme. Many of these religions who claimed to believe the Bible, some even claim to be born again, did not understand the Bible and therefore did not believe its teachings at all. Why is this? It is because they have never moved from the physical to the spiritual. They are still keeping one or two feet into the Old Testament, the Torah, and the physical application of everything. They are attempting to put new (the New Testament) wine into old (the Old Testament) wineskins. Matthew 9:17 KJV, "Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved."
4. How have these groups become captive to such error? They are not truly born again, they have not been regenerated. They are unregenerate and therefore cannot understand spiritual mysteries. Many babes in Christ, do not understand the deeper spiritual doctrines of God either. But they understand beyond a doubt that Christ died and shed His Blood to wash their sins away. Also, they are hungry for more teachings. Also, they are teachable. They are teachable because their spirits are constantly wooed by the Holy Spirit which indwells them. The Holy Spirit bears witness to their spirit when they hear truth. Fallen men, unregenerate men, do not have the Holy Spirit bearing witness with their spirit and therefore do not understand. Hebrews 10:15-16 KJV, "15 Whereof the Holy Ghost also is a witness to us: for after that he had said before, 16 This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them;”. Jeremiah 31:31-33 KJV, "31 Behold, the days come, saith [Yahowah], that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: 32 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith [Yahowah]: 33 But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith [Yahowah], I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."
5.a. The most dangerous religions that are antichrist religions are not the ones that claim to oppose Christianity - such as Islam, Buddaism, Hinduism, and Satanism. These false religions make no pretense in where they stand. They oppose Christ Yahoshua and His claim to Diety. The most dangerous religions are those that claim to be Christian, when they clearly are not.
5.b. A little more dangerous are those that are easily recognized as not being Christian even though they hang out their Christian banner - LDS (Mormon), Jehovah Witnesses, and those in the faith movements that name and claim everything in the world for themselves, and talk about you and your needs incessantly and never have time to get around to talking about sin, judgment, and the righteousness of God Almighty. John 16:8 KJV, "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment."
5.c. The most dangerous groups of all are those that have been accepted by the world as Christians and are as far from Christianity as the east is from the west. They operate within the normally accepted confines of Christianity, yet are antichrists to the core. You can recognize them by their fruits. Are they teaching and operating in the physical or the spiritual? Without a doubt they are hung up in the physical as all fallen men are. These groups are the Roman Catholic organization; Calvinists, frequently called Reformed in an attempt to further legitimize themselves; Seventh Day Adventists (SDA); and the Hebrew Roots Movement.
5.d. The study of our Hebrew Roots is a worthy pursuit. But most all Hebrew Roots groups have been invaded by an antichrist spirit. Many of these groups will no longer submit to calling themselves Christian. They forthrightly deny being Christians. But those who still call themselves Christian, deny the Christian faith. They, as do the SDA, pull you back into legalism, they pull you back under the Torah, which Christ completed for you. They try to pour new wine into old wine skins and both are ruined. Luke 5:37 KJV, "And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish.”
5.e. Finally, we should not leave out the reprobate church businesses that would dare label themselves as protestant. The pew sitter might be deceived, but the leaders have no excuse for the carnage they foist upon the Christian religion. How dare they fail to identify themselves with Christ, but discard Him. Instead, they identify themselves with the satanic Catholic church business. “We protest Catholicism.” Fine, I protest abortion. But I am not a protestabortionist. I am a Christian. As the Catholics believe, protestants are merely temporarily separated Catholics from their mother church business.
5.f. These groups that I have mentioned here are not an exhaustive list of antichrist groups. Instead, they are the ones that the Holy Ghost has burdened us with. These groups have taken some Christians captive, and by the power of the Holy Ghost we desire to set the captives free. Jude 23 KJV, "And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh."
6.a. I used to wonder, how an apostate pastor could preach a born again message, call people forward, and pray for them to be born again, and sometimes those people would become truly born again. I would ask myself, "How can this be?" "Why does that antichrist pastor want to create enemies to his cause?" My Heavenly Father gave me the answer. These apostate pastors do not believe that "born again" is a spiritual and permanent change in a person's life. They do not believe that the Holy Ghost indwells this new creature in Christ. These apostate pastors think that being born again is a temporary, euphoric and emotional state of mind, brought on by their superb preaching and the manipulation of the music. Therefore, the apostates have gained for themselves another deception. They train up these new converts into worldly or even satanic religion, and all the while this convert is running around telling people he is born again. Now eventually, the true Christian will be set free, God is not mocked. He will not leave His children in captivity.
6.b. However, sometimes the apostate religion has changed the definition of "born again", so that its meaning is not supported by the Bible. Being born again is another way of saying that one has been saved from their sins. John 3:3 KJV, "[Yahoshua] answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God."
7. So, with all this being said, let us move into the main teaching. May God richly bless you as you study His word by the power of His Holy Ghost. John 14:26 KJV, “But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.”
8. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Please contact us by using the contact icon. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors.
The Gospel Of Man
Part II - The Bible Is Your Authority
Part II of V
Matthew 15:9 KJV, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
1. When I became born again in July 1985 and Sandy in June 1972, we continued in a teaching that we had been grounded in while we were drawn into the Kingdom of God. This teaching is that the Bible is the Word of God. The sixty-six canonical books of the Bible are the Word of God and the only Word of God given to men. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 KJV, "16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works." There are no oral traditions given to men and there are no extra-biblical books given by which we are to be instructed. I mistakenly thought that all Christians understood this essential fact. Let me repeat how important this is. It is essential. If you do not give the Word of God, the Bible, its proper priority - it has no equal - then you cannot legitimately call yourself a Christian. Any other text, any oral teaching, must be measured against the Bible. If these other sources contradict the Bible then they are false teachings and must be discarded.
2. Those that claim to be Christian and do not believe or understand John 3:3, are not born again and therefore are not Christian. John 3:3 KJV, "[Yahoshua] answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." They are not indwelt by the Holy Spirit and therefore cannot perceive that the Holy Scriptures are spiritually discerned. Many self-proclaimed Christians think they have merely decided to join a club, the Christian Club, or a denominational club, and they mistakenly believe they have now become a Christian because they have joined a club. These gospel of man seekers are not Christians, and they do not revere the Holy Bible. John 3:5 KJV, "[Yahoshua] answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." Sadly, it is not infrequent that I come across teachers and ministers of supposed Christian groups and churches that are not born again and therefore are not Christian. They teach from the Bible but do not properly discern it and they do not necessarily believe that which they teach.
3. It has become popular to declare oneself to be a Christian and it will soon become hate speech for another to challenge the first's declaration. It is all part of a sinister plot. But these self-declared Christians are not recognized by God. A Christian in name only is like a woman who tells her friends she is Mrs. Jones because she knows of a Mr. Jones. She is not married to him, she has no real relationship with him, she does not know much about him, and certainly does not know him intimately. However, she took on the name by joining the Mrs. Jones club, or she pretends to be Mrs. Jones to defame the real Mrs. Jones and Mr. Jones himself. A true Christian has surrendered his life to Christ in all areas, has accepted the work done by the sacrifice of Christ for his sins and continues to walk daily in His teachings. This is a true disciple of Christ. 1 John 2:6 KJV, "He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked." Calling yourself a millionaire does not make you one, any more than calling yourself a Christian makes you a Christian. Telling others that you have a college degree does not mean you really have one, except that you attended college and earned a degree. Calling yourself a Christian, a follower of Christ, does not make you one even if you go all the way to martyrdom. If you are not born of the spirit, you are not a Christian.
4. Without the Bible Christians have no grounding. You must read, study, discern, and memorize the Bible. When you add other books and teachings to the Bible, you water down the Word of God and disobey His commandments. Deuteronomy 12:32 KJV, "What thing soever I command you, observe to do it: thou shalt not add thereto, nor diminish from it." John 14:23-24 KJV, "23 [Yahoshua] answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. 24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father's which sent me." Many so-called Christian religions offer extra-biblical additions to their teachings. The Bible specifically deals with this in 1 Corinthians 10:21 KJV, "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils." Aaron tried to be a partaker of the Lord's table and the table of devils when he made a golden calf and declared a feast to Yahowah to celebrate this calf in Exodus 32:3-5. God wanted to destroy the camp and the people. Aaron could not mix two religions then and we cannot do it today. It is like being fed a piece of pie with a piece of dog doo on the plate. When you mix flesh and spirit you always have a losing combination. This extra-biblical literature will compromise the message of the Holy Ghost. It makes little difference if it is the Watchtower writings, or the Book of Mormon, or the Talmud, or the Key to the Scriptures, or the Koran, or the Midrash, or the Pearl of Great Price, or the Apocrypha, or any of the so-called lost books of the Bible, or any of a hundred other writings of men. The Bible is your authority and only authority on matters of Christian doctrines and beliefs. The Bible is also your only authority on the nature of God, His sacrifice for your sins, on righteousness, sin, and judgment. These other books are written by men without the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. The Bible is written by inspiration of God, as I wrote in paragraph one above - 2 Timothy 3:16.
5. There is a move afoot that would blend Christianity with Buddhism, Judaism, Hinduism, Islam, New Age and all others or any others as well. The only way to guard against this deception is to make the Bible be the anchor for your soul. Forsake all other books until this is so entrenched in your mind, soul, and spirit that it can never be dislodged. The gospel of man loves to use books and literature in addition to the Bible. The gospel of Christ can stand by itself on the Bible. And it must be a dependable Bible; for example, the King James Version or Jay P. Green, Sr.’s Interlinear Bible. Any versions written in roughly the last thirty years should be suspect and discarded, including the New King James and the New International Version. Go backward in time to find solid Bible translations, not forward. For example, use the Textus Receptus and the Masoretic Text. But being old does not make a translation more reliable; for example the Codex Vaticanus. I quit now, because bible translations are a very long subject and teaching.
6. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Please contact us by the contact icon. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors.
The Gospel Of Man
Part III - Mixing the Gospel of Man with the Gospel of Christ
Par III of V
Matthew 15:9 KJV, "But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men."
1. The gospel of man is a gospel of flesh and it is a gospel of the world. It is not the gospel of God nor His Messiah nor the Holy Spirit. The gospel of man does not accept the Bible as its only authority for learning about God and His doctrines. The gospel of man does not want to address sin, or righteousness, or judgment. The gospel of man hates judgment and one cannot call something righteous or unrighteous without judging. One cannot call something sin without judging. The Holy Spirit has been sent to us to teach us the way. The gospel of man preaches only part of a message, "God loves you and you must believe that God loves you", but it does not preach John 16:8 KJV, "And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment."
2. Even Peter was guilty of trying to preach the gospel of man at one time, before he understood the truth. The difference between Peter and the gospel of man preachers today is that Peter had a heart for God, not a heart for himself and Satan. Here is the exchange between Yahoshua as He preached the gospel of Christ, and Peter as he attempted to preach the gospel of man. Mark 8:31-38 KJV, "31 And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. 32 And he spake that saying openly. And Peter took him, and began to rebuke him. 33 But when he had turned about and looked on his disciples, he rebuked Peter, saying, Get thee behind me, Satan: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but the things that be of men. 34 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his [stake], and follow me. 35 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it. 36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? 37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? 38 Whosoever therefore shall be ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation; of him also shall the Son of man be ashamed, when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels."
3.a. Even James, the leader (and the brother of Yahoshua) of the apostles in Jerusalem after the death of the Messiah, preached the gospel of man. Listen to the exchange between Paul, who preached the gospel of Christ, and James, who bragged about the success he was having by mixing the gospel of Christ with the gospel of man. Acts 21:18-22 KJV, "18 And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. 19 And when he had saluted them, he declared particularly what things God had wrought among the [nations] by his ministry. 20 And when they heard it, they glorified the Lord, and said unto him, Thou seest, brother, how many thousands of Jews there are which believe; and they are all zealous of the law: 21 And they are informed of thee, that thou teachest all the Jews which are among the [nations] to forsake Moses, saying that they ought not to circumcise their children, neither to walk after the customs. 22 What is it therefore? the multitude must needs come together: for they will hear that thou art come." Paul was giving his testimony and was reporting of his success in evangelizing the nations. Now, even though James glorified Yahowah for this report, he continued and began to glorify the gospel of man. How did he glorify the gospel of man? He began to brag about the Jews that came to believe and added to that they were all zealous of the law. James and these Jews were pouring new wine into old wine skins - they were deceived into believing the gospel of man. They even went further and began to rebuke Paul for the reports they had heard that he forsook Moses.
3.b. Then James told Paul what he must do to placate the Jews who were zealous for the law. Acts 21:23-24 KJV, "23 Do therefore this that we say to thee: We have four men which have a vow on them; 24 Them take, and purify thyself with them, and be at charges with them, that they may shave their heads: and all may know that those things, whereof they were informed concerning thee, are nothing; but that thou thyself also walkest orderly, and keepest the law." Did Paul object? No, he did not. Why did not Paul, rather than acquiesce to James' demand, rebuke James and the elders for teaching the gospel of man? I believe the answer to this question is Paul's teaching from 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 KJV, "19 For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. 20 And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; 21 To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. 22 To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 And this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you." In other words, as a preacher and apostle of the gospel of Christ, Paul loved his fellow Jews and fellow man with a passion that could not be quenched, with the passion of Yahoshua. He would submit to them and undergo an unnecessary Jewish purification ritual so that he could win them from the gospel of man to the true gospel of Christ.
3.c. However, the Holy Spirit did not allow Paul to complete this purification ritual. The Holy Spirit, for the sake of the true gospel of God, prevented the completion of this ritual that had passed away and should have been buried with Christ. Continue the story with me in Acts 21:26-36 KJV, "26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day purifying himself with them entered into the temple, to signify the accomplishment of the days of purification, until that an offering should be offered for every one of them. 27 And when the seven days were almost ended, the Jews which were of Asia, when they saw him in the temple, stirred up all the people, and laid hands on him, 28 Crying out, Men of Israel, help: This is the man, that teacheth all men every where against the people, and the law, and this place: and further brought Greeks also into the temple, and hath polluted this holy place. 29 (For they had seen before with him in the city Trophimus an Ephesian, whom they supposed that Paul had brought into the temple.) 30 And all the city was moved, and the people ran together: and they took Paul, and drew him out of the temple: and forthwith the doors were shut. 31 And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul. 33 Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done. 34 And some cried one thing, some another, among the multitude: and when he could not know the certainty for the tumult, he commanded him to be carried into the castle. 35 And when he came upon the stairs, so it was, that he was borne of the soldiers for the violence of the people. 36 For the multitude of the people followed after, crying, Away with him." It is not recorded that Paul ever completed the purification ritual. His incarceration prevented it.
3.d. Now we will continue with Paul's defense of the gospel of Christ. Acts 21:37-22:3 KJV, "37 And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek? 38 Art not thou that Egyptian, which before these days madest an uproar, and leddest out into the wilderness four thousand men that were murderers? 39 But Paul said, I am a man which am a Jew of Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, a citizen of no mean city: and, I beseech thee, suffer me to speak unto the people. 40 And when he had given him licence, Paul stood on the stairs, and beckoned with the hand unto the people. And when there was made a great silence, he spake unto them in the Hebrew tongue, saying, 22:1 Men, brethren, and fathers, hear ye my defence which I make now unto you. 2 (And when they heard that he spake in the Hebrew tongue to them, they kept the more silence: and he saith,) 3 I am verily a man which am a Jew, born in Tarsus, a city in Cilicia, yet brought up in this city at the feet of Gamaliel, and taught according to the perfect manner of the law of the fathers, and was zealous toward God, as ye all are this day." Now, given the chance to witness to this crowd, Paul points out that he at one time due to his upbringing and training was zealous for the law to the point of persecuting Christians to death. If you continue to read the story on your own, you will see that a personal encounter with the Lord Yahoshua the Messiah changed Paul, from being zealous for the law to being zealous for the gospel of God. The gospel of God emphasizes the spiritual over the physical. We were taught in the physical and in the flesh in the Old Testament, now a better Testament has been given - Yahoshua.
4. The Old Testament taught to stone an adulterous person. Yahoshua forgave the adulterous woman. The Old Testament taught to repay a lost eye with the taking of an eye, and a lost tooth with the taking of a tooth. Yahoshua taught us to love, provide for, and pray for our enemies. Yahoshua is the new wine and taught us a better way than the Old Testament. He and His teachings, being the best, were saved for last. John 2:6-10 KJV, "6 And there were set there six waterpots of stone, after the manner of the purifying of the Jews, containing two or three firkins apiece. 7 [Yahoshua] saith unto them, Fill the waterpots with water. And they filled them up to the brim. 8 And he saith unto them, Draw out now, and bear unto the governor of the feast. And they bare it. 9 When the ruler of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and knew not whence it was: (but the servants which drew the water knew;) the governor of the feast called the bridegroom, 10 And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now."
5. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Please contact us by using the contact icon. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors.
The Gospel Of Man
Part IV - What Idol Do You Worship?
Part IV of V
1. Do you worship an ephod? The Hebrews did as told in Judges 8:27 KJV, "And Gideon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city, even in Ophrah: and all Israel went thither a whoring after it: which thing became a snare unto Gideon, and to his house." Do you worship a brazen serpent? The Hebrews did as told in 2 Kings 18:4 KJV, "He removed the high places, and brake the images, and cut down the groves, and brake in pieces the brasen serpent that Moses had made: for unto those days the children of Israel did burn incense to it: and he called it Nehushtan." These things were worshipped because leaders, appointed by God, made these items for a specific spiritual purpose, but then the Hebrews wanted something physical instead.
2. Do you worship a golden calf? The Hebrews did as told in Exodus 32:3-5 KJV, "3 And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron. 4 And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. 5 And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to [Yahowah]." Aaron, their high priest, the first high priest of the sons of Israel, even made this golden calf to worship and gave credit to the only real God, Yahowah. He led these people to dance and play around this calf. He was mixing two religions and obviously felt he was doing Israel and God a service. This is what people are still doing today. They are mixing two religions - the gospel of man and the gospel of God - and they think they are doing God a service.
3. What is the gospel of man? It is all religions that are practiced, without recognizing the one true God, and it is all religions that mix the worship of the one true God with any idols and other religious thought. The gospel of man is physically based, and the gospel of God is spiritually based. What is your golden calf today? What is your brazen serpent today? What is your ephod today? Do you feel good wearing your religious clothing? Are you stuck in this physical trap of the enemy? It makes little difference if the religious clothes are the robes of a minister, priest, an altar boy, an ephod, or simply a yarmulke (commonly called a yamaka), it is all used as a trap for your soul. Do you play with artifacts such as yods, shofar horns, and prayer shawls (does it make you pray)? These artifacts are no different than the man who followed the teachings of Shambalism and wore trinkets of all sorts and called them tools and helps as a point of focus. This is no different than the Catholics who call their statue worship a point of focus. Do you worship the Torah? Do you claim that the Torah is God? Do you keep a weekly sabbath as the cultic Seventh Day Adventist do? Perhaps you just carry business cards around that proclaim that you are an apostle. Do you put non-biblical books, such as the Midrash, Talmud, a catechism, the Book of Mormon, or the writings of the Watch Tower on equal status as the cannon of Scriptures handed down to us? Do you give more weight to one book of the Holy Bible above other books? Then these are your golden calves. You have forgotten that we have a new covenant, paid for with the Blood of Yahoshua. Look at what these Scriptures teach, please embed them into your memory. They teach the spiritual, not the physical. Hebrews 7:11-12 KJV, "11 If therefore perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received the law,) what further need was there that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be called after the order of Aaron? 12 For the priesthood being changed, there is made of necessity a change also of the law." Romans 3:20 KJV, "Therefore by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin." Look at Romans 3:20 again. By the law you will not be justified, you will go to hell. Hebrews 7:18-19 KJV, "18 For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. 19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God." Read Hebrews 7:18-19 again. The Law of Moses has been cancelled because it was weak, unprofitable, made nothing perfect, and we could not draw near to God by it. The gospel of man focuses on man, and man's fleshly desires, not on God.
4. Yet, there are more Scriptures that discredit the notion that Judaism can be mixed with Christianity. Christianity is the continuation and replacement of the Jewish religion, and the study and proper application of the Old Testament is every bit as important as the study and proper application of the New Testament. The New cannot be fully understood and properly appreciated and applied without the understanding of the Old. And the Old cannot be fully understood or completed without the New. Hebrews 8:6-13 KJV, "6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. 7 For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. 8 For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith [Yahowah], when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: 9 Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith [Yahowah]. 10 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith [Yahowah]; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11 And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know [Yahowah]: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. 13 In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away." Did you think that "the law" in verse ten meant the Ten Commandments and the Levitical Laws? The Ten Commandments and the Levitical Laws were given to the Hebrews in ancient times (circa 1450 BC, or three and one-half thousand years ago), and they have been done away with (about two thousand years ago), both for the Jew and the Gentile. Yahoshua taught, among other things, that nine of the ten commandments were in effect in the new covenant. He did not teach sabbath keeping. In fact, in verse ten, it states very clearly that these new laws (some are old as well) are to be written in our minds and hearts, not in stone. Stone is representative of the physical, the heart is representative of the spiritual.
5. Those lusting after the physical do not only belong to the heretical Hebrew Roots movements - and I mean, only those groups that want us to go back under the Mosaic and/or Levitical Laws. Some of those lusting after the physical and the flesh belong to the Satanic Roman Catholic Church organization. Are you into ancestor worship? Catholics pray to priests, saints (their unbiblical definition of saints), popes, they put clothes and jewelry on human skulls, and dress up stone statues in human clothing.
6. All of this can be summed up this way: The worshippers that do these things do not believe what the Bible says; they despise the canon of Scriptures that have been handed down to us. They are always looking for the physical and ignoring the spiritual. This is the devil's influence, he loves to keep you focused on the physical. The Hebrews were afraid to go to the mountain with Moses and encounter the real God who is a Spirit, but they were quite comfortable with constructing a golden calf (which has no spirit or soul or eyes or ears or brain or legs with which to walk) and worship it. What are today's golden calves? Well I just mentioned a few above, here they are again: Yamakas, yods, shofar horns, Torah worship, weekly Sabbath observance, the Midrash and Talmud, priests, a eucharist, saints, statues, popes, human remains, and stone statues.
7. Who are our man centered teachers today? Those that teach we should return to the Torah and live under its rules by putting old wine into new wine skins: Mark 2:21-22 KJV, "21 No man also seweth a piece of new cloth on an old garment: else the new piece that filled it up taketh away from the old, and the rent is made worse. 22 And no man putteth new wine into old bottles: else the new wine doth burst the bottles, and the wine is spilled, and the bottles will be marred: but new wine must be put into new bottles." Other gospel of man preachers and religions include Popes; Orthodox Churches; Seventh Day Adventists; Calvinists (one point or five points makes no difference); LDS; Islam; Messianic Hebrew Roots groups (and all that teach sabbath keeping under the Torah); Universalists; Annihilationists; Oneness groups; Buddhists; Theosophists; Satanists; pagans; Christian Scientists; Protestant churches and those that think that the communion elements have some life of their own or in them. And anyone who focuses on the physical and not the spiritual: such as the appearance of orbs, jittery manifestations of the body, public and ostentatious use of speaking in tongues (a language not your own and not understandable to you or those who listen), use of contrived and false tongues; slaying people "in the spirit", which has no Biblical support whatsoever; claiming healing for every internal non-visible malady in the room, yet those with missing limbs or visible boils and sores continue to be unhealed; those who preach with arrogance, ridicule, and pride (Calvary Chapel is but one glaring example) - these are all vanity and strive to tickle the flesh; and those who teach a multiplicity of gods, such as Jehovah Witnesses, Roman Catholics, Mormons, and Hindus. And any other religion and denomination that fails to believe, preach, and practice the doctrine of being born again as taught in John 3:3-8 and 1 Peter 1:23.
8. The gospel of man preachers that I have listed in the previous paragraph seven, are for the most part easy to identify for the average believer in Yahoshua. However, unless I specifically name the names of certain preachers and ministries, somehow those involved with those ministries have the attitude and mistaken ideas of, "Oh yeah, those gospel of man preachers are terrible, but the preachers I listen to are wonderful." Unfortunately, some of the most insidious and evil preachers and ministries continue to bloody the sheep with their gangrene. I will now give a partial list of those preacher who not only preach the gospel of man, but I am unswervingly convinced that they are inspired by the caverns of hell and a multitude of demons. They do not believe in the Bible, although they claim to preach from it incessantly. These men and women are deeply involved with spirit guides and many have blasphemed the Holy Ghost, which the Scriptures teach will not be forgiven. I cannot tell you the horror I feel when I hear these false preachers blaspheme and crowds and stadiums full of supposed Christians cheer at the same time. Here is a partial list: Jill Austin; Cindy Jacobs; Robert Schueller of the Crystal Cathedral; Rick Warren of Saddle Back Community Church; Joel and Victoria Osteen; Benny Hinn; Kenneth Copeland; Billy Graham; Paul Crouch and the Trinity Broadcasting Network; God TV; Rodney Howard Brown; Rick Joyner; Oral and Richard Roberts; Andrew Strom; Paul Cain; Kenneth Hagin; Hal Lindsay; Peter Popoff; Carlton Pearson; Eugene C. Scott; Joseph Smith; Charles Taze Russell; Herbert W. and Garner Ted Armstrong; Mary Baker Eddy; Patricia King; and Joyce Meyer.
9. John 3:3-8 KJV, "3 [Yahoshua] answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. 4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother's womb, and be born? 5 [Yahoshua] answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." 1 Peter 1:23 KJV, "Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever."
10. The spiritual man has come, and He was God in the flesh. His name is Yahoshua. He has made a new and better covenant with us. Then, Yahoshua said, in Matthew 5:17-18 KJV, "17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled." And fulfill He did. Heaven and earth have not passed, it is still here. But, He fulfilled it all when nailed to the tree, then He said, in John 19:30 KJV, "When [Yahoshua] therefore had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and he bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." He said it is finished. All the prophecies about Him had been fulfilled. All the requirements of the law and the prophets had been fulfilled. All of the sins for all of man for all of time had been paid for. It was finished. It was all finished.
11. We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Please contact us by the contact icon. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors.
The Gospel Of Man
Part V
by Sandy Mauck
Part V of V
Wake up! You're surrounded!
It's the sound of itching ears and the gospel of man. Everywhere within the ranks of "Christendom". It doesn't take much discernment anymore to recognize it. It is just that we get caught up in the spider's web because we are lured by our own flesh.
Ask yourself, "What are the preachers teaching out there?"
They are teaching about YOU. Wow! You can have a happy life, your purpose, your call, you can dance with angels, you can do something great for God, you can get delivered, you can get blessed, you can get rich, you can get healed, you can start your own ministry, and on and on!
What is WRONG with this picture?
Paul tells Timothy what to preach in 2 Timothy 4:2-4 KJV, "2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables."
So where is the "reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long suffering and doctrine" in the gospel of "you" (man)?
The gospel of man offers fable food, not table food and it is like a child who sits down to a table full of candy, cakes, cookies and ice cream and indulges until, guess what, they get sick! Imagine that! A child cannot live on junk food (or anyone for that matter) and not suffer the consequences any more than a child of the Living God can live on pampering and sweet talk and happy "spiritual" playtimes. Even if they speak truth intermixed, BEWARE, for it is as a vision I received once from the Lord.
God gave me this vision and I wanted to share it and expound on what He showed me about it.
In this scripture the Lord is contending with the religious leaders who wanted to kill him:
John 8:44 KJV, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.”
John 8:44 is an important scripture to remember because it tells us that the Devil is a liar and a murderer and that there is NO TRUTH in him.
There are many people who are pretenders that pretend to know God and preach His word but they are teaching unrighteous things.
Let's say a friend offered you a piece of pie—your very, very favorite kind of pie. Mmmmm. Picture that delicious piece of pie coming to you on the plate...But WAIT! There on the pie plate with the pie, is a pile of dog doo! No, really?
Oh, gross. So, I ask you, would you want to take your fork and dive into that piece of pie? Even if you thought to scrape part of it off the plate it would still smell like dog doo. Ewwww.
Get a good picture of that every time somebody offers you anything that is a mixture. It sounds good and looks good but there is yucky dog doo right along with it.
If a preacher teaches something from the Bible but then offers you something that is not of God right along with it, don't eat it!
If you see a movie or listen to music or read a book that you feel is not right in God's sight even in one area, throw it out, stop listening, reading or watching.
The world has a saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water." But that can be deceptive. Some people will tell you that you can listen, watch or read and sift or sort out all the bad stuff. Getting what you need. That is not true. Why? Because the devil has NO TRUTH in Him. The Word is pure truth so the word Satan gives you will be twisted, perverted, polluted.
When our Savior was put to the test in the wilderness, the devil used the word of God. Some people think it is okay if it is a little twisted if we toss out the junk. But that is not the truth. The devil changed the word of God and the Lord told him so, using the true word of God.
If we want to walk as the Lord did, we must resist the devil and he will flee.
No pie is worth eating if there is dog doo on the plate. Watch for that dog doo in what you see and hear and read and stand strong against compromise.
You may be offered truth on a plate with dog doo but it is unusable truth because of the way it is presented, therefore the whole plate is worthless to you.
We welcome constructive input supported by Scriptures from the Bible. Please contact us by using the contact icon. Copyright © 2010 Richard Douglas Mauck and/or Sandra Faye Mauck. All rights reserved. This material is copyrighted to protect the integrity of this work. Permission is hereby granted to copy this treatise in its entirety as long as no editing is done, no charge is made to those with whom it is shared, and full credit is given to the authors.