Christian Indebtedness, No.3
RO103-02

Considering the Holocaust

As all of you are well aware, President Reagan has bestirred a hornet's nest with his decision to visit a German military cemetery in Europe. The particular cemetery at issue contains the bodies of some seventy-five soldiers of Nazi Germany. They were part of what was known as the S.S. Squad, which stood for the word "Schutzstaffel." The Schutzstaffel, from which they brought the letters "S.S.," and which they put in the forms the stylized form on their collar of two lightning bolts in the form of "S.S.," which stand for the dreaded organization the Schutzstaffel, which meant "Protection Squad." It was Adolf Hitler's personal army and its black uniform with its stylized, twin lightning bolts resembling the letter "S" were a thing to strike terror into the hearts of those who had to deal with the Schutzstaffel. And this organization was used primarily in the death camps to execute the Jewish population which was being wiped out in all the areas which the Nazis had conquered. So, the Jewish people are loudly indeed protesting a presidential visit to a cemetery which includes the bodies of S.S. troops. The protest, of course, is based upon the brutal slaughter of millions of these Jews by the S.S.

The Holocaust which was endured by the Jews is the shocking example to us of exactly the thing we're talking about currently in the book of Romans: the capacity of the sin nature for evil. However, as always, when you bring a biblical perspective to an event like this indignation over the president visiting a German cemetery where S.S. troops are buried, when you bring the Bible to bear, you get a little different perspective of the ultimate reality and the ultimate issue that is at stake here. It occurred to me as I heard about this how ironic it is to note how little difference there is going to be for the victims and the survivors of the death camp ultimately. The Jewish people who died so brutally at the hands of the Nazis forty years ago at the Holocaust, they who died without Christ are now suffering in Hades. Hitler himself, along with many, I believe, most of the S.S. troops, has joined them in that suffering in Hades. The Jewish survivors over this forty-year span, and those who still survive the Holocaust, will die and have died subsequently without Christ, and they too will join the victims of the Holocaust in the confines of Hades and ultimately into the Lake of Fire. An eternal suffering.

Today's Jews, without Jesus Christ, remember, understandably, the great concern of the World War II Holocaust, but they have no regard for the great Holocaust which is before them in the Lake of Fire in which victim and survivors, after all, will end up in the same tragic condition. Now when you stop and think about saying something like that to the average person, you can imagine what his reaction will be. As we are watching on television these impassioned, understandably impassioned, pleas not to honor such a cemetery, when you bring the Word of God to bear, there's something greater at issue. And that is, the great Holocaust which is still ahead for the Jewish people.

How marvelous, indeed, is the Bible, which today will attest to view things in a true life. How indeed privileged we are to be in that select company of people to be enlightened. We must ask, "Why us, and not others? Why us, and not all these people who have suffered in the tragedy of the Holocaust passed, and those who will suffer in the one in the future?" The Jewish people, of course, there, and they don't like to hear this, and people don't like to hear you say this, but it is nevertheless true - they bear upon them the burden of the rejection and the murder of their Messiah, Jesus Christ.

Matthew 27:25 bears those terrible words which their forbearers uttered before Pilate when they shouted to him, "His blood be on us, and on our children." Indeed, the judgment of the blood of Jesus Christ has been on the Jewish nation since. And while the Jewish leaders are making public pronouncements of their determination never to permit such a Holocaust to happen again, and I'm sorry to say that they are sadly mistaken. If the Bible means anything at all, it has made it very clear that the worst Holocaust of all is yet ahead for the Jewish people at the hands of the antichrist.

In Jeremiah 30, way back here in the Old Testament, God was trying to warn the people to prepare them for what was coming down the line for their nation. Jeremiah 30:7, we read, "Alas! for that day is great [speaking of the tribulation era], so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble." It is the time of Jacob's trouble. In Matthew 24, the same line of warning is picked up by the Lord Jesus in the Olivet Discourse. Matthew 24, beginning at verse 21, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

So, there's the verse that clearly tells you that the Holocaust - and it was a horror, it was a nightmare what they did to people in those camps - but that is nothing compared to what is yet going to be done to the Jewish people by the antichrist. Verse 22, "And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake, those days shall be shortened." Because as in Nazi Germany, when the ruling authorities went after the Jews, people who are not Jewish did not speak up. When they went after the Catholics, the people who were not Catholics did not speak up in protest. When they went after the Protestants, they did not speak up in protest. Finally, when they went after everybody else, there was nobody to offend. And what's going to happen here is that indeed the same thing is going to happen in the tribulation until finally, people will be at each other's throats. So that the Word of God says unless that period of the tribulation is shortened a little bit, there wouldn't be anybody left alive on the face of the earth. They'd have destroyed and blown themselves off completely.

In the book of Romans 10, a part of the book of Romans which deals specifically with the Jewish people, we read, Paul says, "Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is, that they might be saved. For I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness are going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." Now, you could not have a more explicit declaration from the Word of God - if the Bible means anything at all - that having rejected Jesus Christ, a Jewish person doesn't have a chance. He is headed for the Lake of Fire. So when you hear the concern about the Holocaust today, remember how the Bible can get even that event in a broader and truer perspective. It is only the Bible that can give us the perspective on what we should think and what we should do.

The Deeds of the Sin Nature

The works which we should mortify are those which are explicitly described in the Word of God. They are laid out in different place in the Bible, and they are laid out profusely. There are many places in the Word of God and in the New Testament of Christians which tell us what we should not do, what we should not do with our minds that we eventually do with our physical bodies. And while these things we perhaps know about, like Peter says, it is necessary that we refresh our pure minds to bestir our memory and the point at which we need to bestir our memory is the point at which we are about to use our bodies in one of these illicit ways. The very thing that we know is the thing that we will so often do.

Now it is necessary for us to look into the Bible for the things that we should put to death in ourselves in order that we do not let the sin nature make up its own list. You know that the number one quality of the sin nature is arrogance, and that arrogance makes up its own beautiful list of things people should do or should not do, and it is often far removed from what the Word of God has to say. It is the righteous people, as a matter of fact, that come up with more hogwash about what a Christian should do and should not do, than the unbeliever has ever dreamed of making up. So we've been looking at the Bible lists.

We began last time with Titus 3:3. There we found certain things that we should put to death in ourselves. 1: We should reject having a foolish mind which thinks in terms of human viewpoint. Number 2: We should reject the attitude of disobedience to the truth. Number 3: We should reject being a patsy who is able to be deceived by clever people. Number 4: We should reject acting with viciousness and envy to destroy what others have that we don't want them to have. [He skips number 5!] Number 6: Reject indulging in evil, sensual desires. Number 7: We should reject being an offensive person to people who are honorable. And number 8: We should reject the spirit of hating other people to do them injury. We should reject the spirit of hating other people to do them injury. This is a very sobering list in Titus 3:3.

Lying

For example, if you want to say something about the principal at Berean Christian Academy came to school sober today. Now, is that the truth? Are those the facts? It is the facts. However, there's a truth that is being implied there which is not true.

Or like the man I think I once told you about whose grandfather was hanged as a horse thief and who was ashamed to say that. So when people asked what happened to his grandfather, he was attending a public function, was on a platform; the platform collapsed, and he was killed. Are those the facts? Is that the truth? No, it's not the truth. The best kind of lying is done when you give the facts, because then it's hard for people to distinguish the subtlety of what you're doing. And don't think that you and I don't subconsciously do this and have the capacity to do it. Now this is the kind of things that this word is speaking of. Christians, don't do this. Don't give the facts in such a slanted way that you convey such a falsehood with it.

The members of the body of Christ are not to lie to one another, and there are disastrous consequences when we do it. Ananias and Sapphira, of course, in the New Testament church, are a prime example of that in the Word of God. But the Bible is very clear that here is one thing that the sin nature constantly encourages us to do: to lie. And the Word of God says, "Kill it. Don't let that exist in your body."

Colossians 3:9 says, "Lie not one to another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his deeds." It was ok for you to be a liar when you were an unsaved person because that was natural to be expected then. When we deal with unbelievers, we don't trust them. We keep in reserve that they're not going to tell us the truth. But when you deal with Christians, you should not have to be on your guard. You should be able to trust them.

Naturally, the Proverbs, the great book of wisdom, is not silent on this subject either. Proverbs 12:19 puts it this way, "The lip of truth shall be established for ever: But a lying tongue is but for a moment." That's a good bit of wisdom. You could achieve some short-range objective by telling the facts and conveying falsehood, but the Word of God says it's only going to be for a moment. But I can assure you, that sweet morsel in your mouth at that moment is going to turn to ashes before you're through. But the truth, that's an honorable thing that will be a morsel that you'll delight in for all eternity. Proverbs 19:5 says, "A false witness shall not be unpunished, And he that speaketh lies shall not escape." Now either the Bible is true and we believe that or it is false and we don't believe it. But you take the Bible seriously and then it behooves us to say, "Yes, I can get away with it seemingly with people, but I'll not get away with it with God. The book of Proverbs tells me that I will bear the consequences." Even when you think you're not bearing consequences now, I can assure you, you will ultimately in eternity. Then, in Ephesians 4:25, "Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbour: for we are members one of another." Speaking here to us as Christians.

Anger

James 1:20 says, "For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God." And unfortunately, here's one of the places that we are tempted and decide we're going to get very angry. And we're going to act in anger because we're going to achieve some righteous objective that God has. The Bible says, "No, no." It is the stable, thoughtful Christian who understands that vengeance is God, that waits upon the Lord, that gives a true and honest testimony, and that he remembers with David of old that the battle is the Lord's. And you call upon the tremendous Hebrews 4 principle of faith rest. You make the issue, you make the declaration, and you leave it with God. But anger is put out of the picture.

In James 3:18, we may add, "And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by them that make peace." It is not the anger of man that achieves the righteousness of God. We are tempted to think that. That's the sin nature talking to us. The Spirit of God says if you want to achieve something that God approves in terms of righteousness, you do it under the context of peace. The minute you have stepped into anger, you were wiped out. Now here the Bible means something or it does not. But that is very clearly what it says. Anger which is not guided by the Word of God of course easily becomes a tool of the devil, and so, we conclude that Christians should reject the sin nature's appeal to anger which does not achieve godly results.

And again, we go to the great book of wisdom in Proverbs, and it tells us something about this. Proverbs 14:17 says, "He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: And a man of wicket devices is hated." That's a very perceptive piece of wisdom. "He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly." Here is a person that has a just and righteousness and significant cause. He has a real point, and the devil comes along and say, "Uh-uh. I don't want you to make that point. I'm going to cut you down at the knees by getting you to hit the thing with anger. Once you do it with anger, you've acted foolishly, and I neutralize you." "He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly." Once you lose your cool, you start doing dumb things. You start saying dumb things, and you undermine the very cause that should be sustained.

Proverbs 15[:1] puts it this way, "A soft answer turneth away wrath: But grievous words stir up anger." And that's another thing. When somebody has belted you with their anger, the sin nature says, "Belt 'em back." Now here's real wisdom, folks, to say, "Uh-uh. I am not going to retaliate with the same harsh, rough treatment that was given to me." "A soft answer turns away wrath: But grievous words stir up anger." You have to take the longer view on life and to remember what is really in the long-range of importance and what is not.

Proverbs 22:24 says, "Make no friendship with an angry man; And with a furious man thou shalt not go." That's the dating advice of the Bible. For those of you who are still dating: make no friendship with an angry man, with a furious man thou shalt not go. Cause you'll live to regret it.

And Proverbs 19:11 says, "The discretion of a man defers his anger; And it is his glory to pass over transgressions." Isn't that great? The discretion of a man. A man of discretion passes over his anger, even when he's got something to get mad about. And it is to his glory that he does not retaliate; he passes over the transgression. So the Word of God says, "Put to death this kind of illegitimate anger in your experience."

Stealing

In Proverbs 13:11, we read, "Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: But he that gathereth by labour shall increase." Wealth gotten by deceit is going to slip away, but wealth which is gotten by legitimate means will build up for your blessing. So God prospers the person that seeks material gain by honest means.

That's why it's wrong to gamble. The state of Texas says, "Well, let's have some gambling." We're all under debating about having pari-mutuel betting. People should be able to gamble. As you can see on television, here are legislators sitting in the state legislature arguing how we will have fewer taxes to pay if we would just have pari-mutuel betting, if you will legalize betting in this state. And yet we have people who come from other states where they have gambling, and they sit and they look these people in the eye, and they say, "No, you're wrong. We have learned by sad experience that once you bring gambling in, it brings in a host of evils with it so that your society in drained with money paying for the consequences of those evils. What's wrong with gambling? Because it's taking things by stealing, in effect, not something that you have legitimately earned.

You can also see it by not paying your debts. That's a favorite technique. Charge somebody something for his services or his possession and don't pay him. You can also steal by not paying fair wages or by not paying wages which are earned. Or you can steal by fraud, selling something that is fraudulent. You can multiply this in many ways. Stealing is not just walking up and taking things overtly; there are subtle ways that you can do the same thing. The Word of God says the reason we have to be careful of this because there is within the sin nature this obsession with getting money, with getting possessions.

1 Timothy 6:6-10 says, "But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. Having food and raiment let us be therewith content." That's God's logistical grace, his basic permission for our existence, for our service. Verse 9, "But they that will be rich [obsessed with getting more] fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some have coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows." How many Christians are willing to compromise the principles of the Word of God and their own integrity in order to gain some material benefit? The sin nature says, "Go for it. Do whatever you have to to get the money."

One of the lowest kinds of stealing in the world which many Christians engage in is appalling. You'd think they would recoil with horror from doing it. One of the lowest kinds is that which God hath a warned the Jews of the Old Testament of in terms of their personal financial contributions to the work of the temple - to the sustaining of God's work. In Malachi 3:8-10, you have that classic passage, "Will a man rob God?" You betcha. The sin nature says, "Do it." "Yet have ye robbed me. But ye say, 'How have we robbed thee?' In tithes and offerings."

You see, some of these people brought their tithe. They brought their 10% religious tax, and then they gave no offerings. Or some of them thought they'd give their offering, but they didn't pay their 10% tithe. So in either case, they were robbing God not only in the 10% religious tax but also in the fact of offerings which they would all upon provide. So what's the result? The Jews were told, "Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation." The Jews encouraged one another as a nation to do this. God says, "How foolish; look what I would have done for you." Verse 10, "'Bring all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house, and test me now herewith,' saith the Lord of hosts, 'if I will not open for you the windows of heaven and pour out for you blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.'"

Now, grant you, we cannot take this passage in Malachi as preachers love to do and apply it to Christians, but I can tell you that the principle of God that this represents is the same today as it was in the time of the Jews. God honors the people who are honest with financing God's work on the basis of His prospering of them. This is indicated for us in 2 Corinthians 8:7 where Paul is talking about special offering for the saints who are in need in Jerusalem. "Therefore, as ye abound in everything, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that you abound in this grace also." And he's referring to the grace of giving.

In 2 Corinthians 9 (and remember that 2 Corinthians 8 and 9 are the New Testament guidelines for Christian financing, Christian giving), in 2 Corinthians 9, beginning at verse 6, "But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall real also bountifully. Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a cheerful giver." And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work."

A little girl went to Sunday school. She had a penny, and she had a fifty-cent piece. When she came home, her mother asked her what she gave in the offering, and she said, "I gave a penny." She said, "I'm shocked! Why didn't you give the fifty-cent piece?" "Well," she says, "The Bible says that God loves a cheerful giver, and I was more cheerful giving the penny than I was giving the fifty-cent piece!" Got a lot of Christians like that too, and they rationalize it away what makes their cheerful. God the Holy Spirit leads, you'll be surprised how cheerful you will be to say, "I love that storing treasures in heaven." That's where it's all at. And one way to do it is integrity in my stewardship.

Christians who did not operate at churches which do not operate on a grace basis of receiving offerings are indeed guilty of theft. You have no right to put pressures upon people to collect finances, human manipulation. I've told you about the large that someone told me about recently where the offering is 30 minutes, and it is a special man who has the capacity to be a public spokesman for taking offering, and he starts at $500 and then comes down by increments and ends up asking you to scrape the change in your pocket and dump it in and then puts the "coup de grace" by asking you to turn to the person next to you and say, "Go ahead, put all the change you got in your pocket loose." And they've got the money, but I'll guarantee you they ain't got the spirit. They got the money, but they're not changing the records in heaven with that kind of a system. Well, what the Word of God tells us is that we Christians should reject the appeal of the sin nature that we should steal - whether from God or from man.

Corrupt Communication

It is a terrible thing for a Christian to use his mouth for foul mutation. To use words with degrade people instead of language which ennobles people who are in the royal family of God. Cursing is, in fact, foul communication is, in fact, calling upon Satan as your witness. And don't forget that. When you toss around your "hells" and "damns" and all of the worse words, you're calling upon Satan to be your witness to what you are saying. Foul language is ultimately defaming the righteousness of God. It ridicules His fury, and the level of foul language which is tolerated in society indicates the level of its rebellion against God. And you know where we've come today. Can you imagine what the talk must have been like before the flood? Can you imagine what the language was between people before the flood? Can you imagine what it's going to be like in the tribulation when it's bad as it is today even in public communication? Christians should reject the sin nature's appeal to foul communication. It is absolutely unbecoming.

Seven Things the Lord Hates

Proverbs 6:16, "These six things doth the Lord hate: Yea, seven are abomination unto Him." All seven are an abomination unto him, but this is put in these words to indicate that the seventh is the worst of all. And this is far dread against these evils.

A Proud Look

Proverbs 16:5 says, "Everyone who is proud at heart is an abomination to the Lord: Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished." Even if others join you in that arrogance, you will not go unpunished.

In Proverbs 16:18, "Pride goeth before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall." If you want to bring yourself down, you want to bring your cause down, righteous, or unrighteous as it may be, just hit it with arrogance, and God will bring you down.

Proverbs 29:23, "A man's pride shall bring him low: But honor shall uphold the humble in spirit." Pride is what leads a person to do many shameful things. Proverbs 11:2 says, "When pride cometh, then cometh shame: But with the lowly is wisdom." Pride leads a person to do terribly shameful, hideous things. A believer who acts in arrogance, who acts with pride, cuts himself off from God. And that's the greatest tragedy of all.

James 4:6 says, "But he giveth more grace. Wherefore he saith, 'God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.'" In 1 Peter 5:5-6, "In like manner, ye younger, submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time." You don't have to put on an air of arrogance to make it. God says, "Take the humble road; I'll exalt you." So, reject the sin nature's appeal to pride.

A Lying Tongue

In 2 Kings 5:15-27, you can read about Elisha's servant Gehazi. After Elisha had healed Naaman the Syrian from his leprosy, Naaman was so grateful he said, "What can I give you?" Elisha says, "Nothing. I serve the living God who can provide me. I do not serve Him for your reward." So Naaman said, "Thank you. I'll never worship anybody but the true God," and he left. Gehazi, Elisha's servant, is standing around listening to this, and he's saying, "Oh brother! What an opportunity missed! What a loss!" He gets up on his little donkey, and he goes trotting down the road, catches up with Naaman. Naaman turns around and says, "What's wrong?" He says, "Nothing's wrong but some young workers of God, some young prophets have come along. My master Elisha has said, "If you'd still like to give something, he'd like a talent of silver and some garments for them." Naaman says, "Hey, I'll give you two talents of silver and multiple garments," and Gehazi takes them back. But Elisha knew what was going on. Gehazi lied to Naaman to gain, and he did gain a lot, but he forgot that one of the things that God hates above all else is somebody who tells what is not the case, what is not true. So, Elisha said, "You're going to pay a terrible price. The leprosy I took off of Naaman is going to be placed on you," and Gehazi became a leper on the spot. Reject the sin nature's appeal to be a liar.

Hands That Shed Innocent Blood

We need not, of course, say that there are a variety of ways to murder. Abortion is a class of murder which obviously the Christian should reject. And while there are a variety of evidences that indeed it is murder, in Psalm 51:5, we have a significant one where David says, "Behold, I was shaped in iniquity; And in sin did my mother conceive me." What he is talking about there is that he as a human being was conceived in his mother's womb as a fetus with the sin of Adam imputed to him. He was conceived with imputed sin. He could not have imputed sin unless he had a soul. In Genesis 35:18, we are told that Rachel died. She died as a result of her soul leaving her body. If a human fetus was not a human being with a human soul, it would not be alive. If a child is born dead, it is because the soul has departed from that child. So I think it is strong evidence right there that indeed that baby, before it's born, is a human; to take its life is murder.

Capital punishment and warfare, they are not murder. They are authorized taking of life; Genesis 9:5-6 authorized that. Reject the sin nature's appeal to hate and to murder.

A Heart That Deviseth Wicked Imaginations

One of the popular games currently is a thing called Dungeons and Dragons. A lot of people think it's an innocent game, and they don't take into account how powerful is the programming of the imagination to what we do outwardly. Dungeons and Dragons is a game which you play by imagining yourself in various roles. You play various wicked creatures. You pretend to have several kind of occult powers. You pretend that you can perform certain acts of evil and certain acts of violence, and you imagine yourself in all of these activities. It is a very dangerous game, and it is playing into violating this principle of having a mind which devises wicked schemes. It should not be done.

Genesis 6:5, 11-13 tells us that there was a widespread mental attitude before the Noahic flood which was devising schemes of evil. Putting pressures upon somebody in some way or another for his destruction. Reject the sin nature's appeal to plot evil against someone else. The Word of God forbids it.

Feet That Are Swift in Running to Mischief

In Ephesians 5:6-7, we read, "Let no man deceive you with vain words [empty, nonsensical meaning words]: for because of things cometh the wrath of God upon the sons of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them." Now, smarten up, folks, and do not become partakers of evil enterprises. That's what the Word of God is saying. Reject the sin nature's appeal to seek out evil and reprise."

A False Witness That Speaks Lies

The Matthew 18:15-17 passage deals with the truthful testimony that Christians must use to deal between one another so that they have a true testimony. In Matthew 18, the Lord says, "Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee [some Christian does something of an injurious nature to you], go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother." Do not talk to anybody else; just go to that Christian, him - him alone - and say, "This is what you've done to me. You've wounded me. You've offended me, and I want you to know." And then seek to find resolution. "If the person will not listen, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." Take some spiritual people with you who have some smarts and bring them into the discussion. Then if not, you will not pursue that truth, "Then if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a tax collector" [one who is not a brother, though he is, but you treat him as if he wasn't].

Eye-witness testimony is the absolute basis for truth, whether it's between individual Christians with problems or whether it's in court of law, truth has to be spoken, and truth has to be brought to those who can make decisions with it. It is the basis for all proper dealings between believers. 2 Corinthians 13:1 says this, "This is the third time I am coming to you." Paul says, "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established." It is truthful witness that establishes the basis of justice. 1 Timothy 5:19 says this, "Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses." He made no accusations against spiritual leaders unless you make it on the basis of an authority of some who said, "Yes, I saw him do that, I heard him do that."

So, beware the interpretive liar who edits the words of others to support his own evil case. We are all easily guilty of doing that. The Old Testament penalty of course for perjury was punishment given to the victim - that the punishment that the victim received was given to the one who caused it (Deuteronomy 19:16-21). Perjury is a violation of the name of God; it profanes the name of God (Leviticus 19:12). The origin of perjured testimony will be malice toward the person, fear of the person, your own carelessness in speaking, boasting, making yourself look good, some profit you seek, by silence (not telling what is true), giving a half-truth, self-deception, indifference toward God. All these things make perjury easily. So, reject the sin nature's appeal to perjury.

He That Soweth Discord Among Brethren

In Ephesians 4, the basic guideline for all Christian relationships is that whatever else one does, this one thing must never be compromised. Ephesians 4:3, "Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." You notice that verse does not tell you to create a spirit of unity among believers. God the Holy Spirit has already done that. All the Bible says is you be very careful that you do not disrupt that unity. Verse 32 of Ephesians 4 says, "And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hast forgiven you." Verse 32 tells you how to execute verse 3, to tie the two together.

This work of the sin nature, we are told in Proverbs, is under the greatest of all divine wrath. The Bible warns us, furthermore, of associating with those who disrupt the unity of between Christians, the unity of the local assembly.

Romans 16:17-18, Paul says, "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them who cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own body; and by good words, fair speeches deceive the hearts of the innocent." Unity among the believers, the Bible tells us, is well-pleasing to God (Psalm 133:1, 1 Corinthians 1:10). And Satan uses disunity among believers. The Old Testament is filled with examples, as is the New Testament, of the consequences of disunity among believers, because that's one way to stop a work that is doing Satan's cause great damage. And when you are doing Satan's cause great damage, you can be sure you are in a high-priority list of being undermined with disunity. Getting the theme not to pull together. It's Satan's way of neutralizing the work of the Lord.

I Peter 3:8[-12], "Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous: not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing: but on the contrary blessing; knowing that ye are called to this, that ye should inherit a blessing. For He that will love life, He that will see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile: Let him eschew evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and ensue it. For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, And his ears are open unto their prayers: But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil." And the evil in this context is disunity among the brethren. So, reject the sin nature's appeal to undermine the unity of God's people.

There are many other lists in the Bible, many individual ones that we do not have time to go into. But it is enormously informative. You can pursue this on your own. One other great one is Ephesians 5:3-4, just a short one, but they have primary cautions about things that we Christians should put aside from us as unbecoming expressions from our minds and from our bodies as those who are members of the royal family of God. This is what Paul means by "mortify the deeds of the body."

Dr. John E. Danish, 1977

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