• Scripture: II Tim. 3:8
• Broadcast Date: 09/07/2015

When Nicodemus came to Jesus by night for an interview, he said he thought Jesus was come from God: because, as Nicodemus put it, “thou art a teacher come from God:  for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.”  (John 3:2).  In other words, Nicodemus was saying, “I know you come from God because you can do miracles.”  Sounds logical enough, wouldn’t you say?  The only problem is that the dirty devil can also do miracles!  In Exodus chapters 7, 8, 9 we read of Moses and Aaron demanding that Pharoah let the children of Israel go.  To prove they were from God, Aaron cast down his rod and it turned into a serpent!  Thus he performed a miracle to show he was from God.  But lo and behold, two of the magicians of Egypt, named Jannes and Jambres, cast down their rods and they also turned into serpents! Now who do you believe? The answer came swiftly from God, Aaron’s serpent swallowed up the serpents of Jannes and Jambres!  So that problem is settled.  So far so good.  The only problem is that the devil is going to continue to do miracles.  In the last days Satan is going to deceive people with “all power and signs and lying wonders,”

II Thess. 2:9).  So now we have a problem.  If we believe something is from God because of some miraculous event, and then the devil can also do miracles, whom do you believe?  And the devil won’t have some little, shabby miracle, he will do some big things.  Like, for instance, St. Paul tells us, “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.”  Lord have mercy!  (II Cor. 11:14).  So, now what do we do?  Well, the answer is always in the Word of God.  A group of Christians, the Bereans, found it right after the birth of the church.  When the dirty devil wanted to deceive them, they turned to the Bible.  We are told that, “These were made more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.”  (Acts 17:11)  That is, if something from the pulpit didn’t sound right, they went home, got out there Bible, and checked to see if the pastor was squared with the Word of God.   And if not, that was the end of that teacher.  They were obedient to the admonition of St. Paul who commanded, ‘But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto to you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”  (Galatians 1:8)

So there we have the answer, if Jannes or Jambres or Reverend or Doctor or Professor or whatever, if what they preach does not square with the Word of God—–well as Paul says, let them be accursed of God.       And, the quicker the better!