Not One Stone

GROWTH IN GODLINESS

The only way of avoiding defection from Christ is to place more importance upon His Word than the words of men.

Not One Stone That Leads Others Astray

"For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you [as] a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity [of devotion] to Christ." (2 Corinthians 11:2-3)

God created men out of benevolence. Men have never added anything to God, who is Holy, Complete, and in need of nothing. God asked Adam to eat not from one tree in the garden; you may have all the rest. By shrewd deceit, Satan said, "Has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?" His use of the word "any" (which conveys the idea of totality) suggested to the woman that God was holding something back from them. The woman pointed out that the one tree withheld was central to the garden. She was going right where the devil wanted her. She opened herself further to the devil by remembering God's warning that to eat of the tree would mean her death. This crafty serpent, having the woman where he wanted her, accused God of lying, which was true of the devil, not God. "You surely will not die!" What would sound like comfort to the woman was intended to do the very thing God warned her against.

It is so sad to read "When the Woman Saw" when, in fact, her trust in the devil blinded her to the truth first spoken to her by her creator and the lover of her soul. Eve betrayed the one being in the universe that could be trusted because faithfulness is intrinsic to His being. The best any created being can do is to receive faithfulness from God and then exercise it by being faithful to Him and others.

Psychiatrists tell us that the most profound hurt that people feel is the unfaithfulness of a spouse; it is even more hurtful than death because the betrayal does not end. In a Christian context, forgiveness is possible, but for this illustration, I am pointing to the seriousness of Adam and Eve's disobedience and the human race through them.

In betrayal, the one who hurts the most is the one who loves the most deeply and sincerely. God is infinite in all His ways, and His character is beyond comprehension. Therefore, we cannot comprehend the adultery that God felt when Eve and Adam, and all the human race with them, adulterated themselves against Him for the wickedness of God's highest and fallen angel, the devil.

Not One Stone of Adultery (Idolatry)

The Apostle Paul understood what was at stake when led astray from devotion to Christ. Satan tells believers all the time that no church is perfect, there has always been a division between minister and member, everyone is entitled to their own beliefs, denominations are good, they allow you to be true to your conscience, God wants you to love everyone and get along, etc., etc., etc.

Not One Stone of a Manmade Building

"Jesus came out from the temple and was going away when His disciples came up to point out the temple buildings to Him. And He said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly, I say to you, not one stone here will be left upon another, which will not be torn down." (Matthew 24:1-2)

The religion that God inaugurated through Moses on Mount Sinai and during the forty years of wandering became so corrupt that Jesus said, upon looking at the buildings built by men's hands and through the deceitfulness of the Dragon, not one stone will not be torn down.

My dear brethren, do you believe that all the warnings given to Israel for 1,500 years by the prophets were rejected, beaten, and killed were sent by God to a wayward people, but the church is good and safe?

Do you believe there will be no shame for believers at the Bema Seat of Christ? "Now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming." (1 John 2:28). The context is love not the world, which he speaks to the Gathering of believers.

My dear brethren, do you believe whoever calls themselves pastor and preaches a reasonably good-sounding message is called of God?

"I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not accept what we say. For this reason, if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not receive the brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and puts them out of the church." (3 John 9-10) The context is that the Apostle John was rejected by Diotrephes, who opposed the Apostles and put those who would not follow him but wanted to follow Christ out of the church.

With all the division in the church, my dear brethren, do you believe there is no defection from Christ to denominational teachings?

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