The prophecy was given
By REV. CARL G. RALSTON
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ
It was about 1913 B.C. Abraham was in a deep sleep when God said to Abraham that his seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, and shall serve them 400 years.
God called Moses, history says, in 1491 B.C. Moses was 80 years old, yet was called to lead the children of Israel out Egypt, where they had been in bondage 400 years. After they left Egypt and crossed into the wilderness, God called Moses up to Mount Sinai. There, he gave Moses instructions to build the Ark of the Covenant (Exodus 25:10).
Upon completing the tabernacle, God gave the children of Israel the Levitical law. If they were to be God’s people, there were things God required and expected from them. Call them what you may, but here we will refer them to be “godliness,” which must begin, continue and conclude in prayer. Failure of these always ends in the work of the flesh and complete failure at the worst.
The ignorance of the word of God today is a cancer that is causing Christianity to slip into apostasy. Everyone today has one or more Bibles in the home. Still, most Christians are biblically illiterate. Some rely on second-hand teaching from the radio or a T.V. preacher. They don’t become rooted and grounded in a Bible-teaching church.
God’s words are true and faithful; there is no guess work involved. The scriptures were written by “Holy men of old as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost” (2nd Peter 1:20-21). It is so easy for a person to put themselves in a situation of not being able to discern man’s ideas from Gods truth. This is one reason we should always stay with the King James Version of the Bible. We find twice, in the Book of Proverbs, “There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death” (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25).
Remember, Jesus warned his disciples about the apostasy that will come in the end times. He said, “Take heed that no man deceive you” (Matthew 24:4). This is why it is important for us to study and to “pray” for ourselves, knowing very well we will all stand one day before God to give an account for our life here. As it says, “So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:12).
If we do not study the word with discipline, there is nothing to prevent us from being spiritually seduced. We are admonished to “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed rightly dividing the word of truth” (2nd Timothy 2:15).
God gave Moses a sound doctrine to live by, when the Israelites entered the wilderness, and commanded him to teach the children of Israel this doctrine. They were to teach their children this same doctrine. The Lord said “For I am the Lord, I change not” (Malachi 3:6). Jesus said, concerning the law, “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5:17).
How can anyone, who does not read the Bible or study it, know what sound doctrine is? How can they know what constitutes sound doctrine? The consequences really are many. Ultimately, they cannot please the Lord. Jesus said “And why call ye me Lord, and do not the things which I say” (Matthew 6:46). John wrote, “And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandment. He that saith, I know him and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth in not in him.” (1 John 2:3-4).
We must remember, God destroyed the world when he saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). God made a plan and a doctrine for man to follow. He gave it to Moses, calling it the Levitical law.
Bringing man to Christ, when he was baptized John the Baptist said Jesus would fill us with “the Holy Ghost and fire” (Matthew 3:11). Jesus gave Peter the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 16:19), and Peter told “everyone,” on the day of Pentecost, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call” (Acts 2:38-39).