Have you ever read these verses? 2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God; 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Look at 3:5! It says: “Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof“. Ever wonder what that means? I’ve thought on it quite a bit and can come to only one conclusion. The Christian wants to bask in the power of the Lord God, but they don’t believe it when the scriptures are actually fulfilled right before their very eyes.
They’ve been taught over the years that the written word is unchangeable. Through the fundamentalist movement, they’ve been taught a ridged explanation of the end days that is so unwavering, they refuse to see the evidence right in front of them. Yet they ignore that fact that the scriptures can be tampered with both in the natural world, and by the influence of the spiritual world. There’s even warnings in the word about what would happen if someone, either spiritual, or natural changes it. Revelation 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. They have some form of godliness yet refuse to accept the spiritual.
Oh, they remember those things they were taught like the Lord’s model prayer and will quote it as they memorized it. But when you point out the change, they say “Gee, I must have misremembered it”.
Here is a case in point…
A couple of years ago, I was asked to preach a funeral of a dear saint I had known for quite sometime. There was nearly 100 people there for the funeral. Her sons, daughters, grandchildren, great grandchildren, nieces & nephews, great nieces & nephews, etc. This precious Christian woman had a wonderful influence on all of these. Even to the point she most likely had led many of them to the Lord, or at least influenced their witness to salvation.
At the beginning of the service I asked everyone to stand as we quoted the Lords prayer. They all said the following: “Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.” This is the Lords model prayer from Luke eleven that certainly doesn’t look like this today. Compare them yourself.
Here’s how it reads now:
- Luke 11:2 And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth. 11:3 Give us day by day our daily bread. 11:4 And forgive us our sins; for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil.
Not the same, is it??? Not even where we’re to give give God the honor and the glory.
So I pointed this out to a few of the more “churched” of her family. Every one of them said, “Oh, I must have learned it wrong”. Even after I pointed out the words “in earth” had replaced “on earth”! Of the many churched folk I point this and many other things changed in the bible, they still refuse to believe. I believe it’s because they’ve let the prince of the power of the air (Satan) blind them. Go figure…
