Proverbs 21:16
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The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation of the dead.
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There is only one way to live. If you wander from that way, you give up a life of joy and peace for a living death of misery and trouble. You can die more than once. There is only one way to serve and worship the true God. If you wander from that strict way, you give up a church with spiritual life for one that is a mere form and carcass. You, as the dog and sow, have returned to the vomit and mire of human opinion (II Pet 2:21-22).
The only way to live is the straight and narrow way that leads to life (Matt 7:13-14). It is not exciting to the depraved lusts of the flesh; but it is right, and it rejoices the holy desires of the spirit. It is the way surveyed by the wisdom of Scripture and paved with the solid rock of God's sayings. Any other way is a slippery slope to hell.
If you build the house of your life on the Bible's teachings, you will have a life that easily stands amid the storms that batter others. It is the way of understanding. But if you build on the sands of human opinion, the storms will wash your house away (Matt 7:24-27). Heresies will come and show you never had a godly foundation (I Cor 11:19).
Of course, no man chooses to wander into the swamp named Death. He changes the name of the swamp to Right Way or My Way. He presumes his directions are better. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes (16:2,25; 21:2)! To stay in the way of understanding, you must hate your opinions and love God's precepts instead (Ps 119:128; II Cor 10:5).
Abram took his nephew Lot from pagan Chaldea to the land of Canaan. Lot saw firsthand the wonderful relationship between God and his uncle. But he moved his family toward wicked Sodom, and he ended up in a cave with his two daughters pregnant with his children (Gen 13:12-13; 19:30-38). These five were the congregation of the dead!
The only way to serve and worship God is by the Bible. Men have tried everything from burning their children alive to worshipping crows, dogs, and bugs (II Kgs 17:17; Rom 1:23). All of it is repulsive and disgusting dung, no matter how sincere the blinded pagan doing it. If it is not according to Scripture, it is not good enough, no matter the character or conduct of the worshipper (Gen 4:3-5; Num 20:7-13; I Chr 15:13).
Of course, no church chooses to wander into a swamp named Death. They change the name of the swamp to Right Way, Our Way, or New Way. They presume they are more pleasing to God than the old way of doing things. They call it contemporary and casual worship. They want to improve on the Bible and help the Lord. Their thoughts and motives stink. God demands they seek for the old paths (Jer 6:16; Jude 1:3).
The church at Corinth thought emphasizing spiritual gifts would cover their many errors (I Cor 1:4-9)! They allowed internal strife, preacher cliques, self-glorification, fornication, lawsuits, easy divorces, abuses of liberty, no tithing, association with pagans, short hair on women, long hair on men, contentions, casual use of communion, pride in gifts, little genuine love, speaking in tongues, women preachers, confusion about the resurrection, and little care of the poor. These are popular errors in most churches today! But God judged this apostolic church by striking members weak, sick, and dead (I Cor 11:30)! And Paul unloaded on them with his first epistle!
The church at Rome that Paul commended became the Great Whore of the Revelation, filled with every foul spirit and unclean and hateful bird (Rom 1:8; Rev 17:3-6; 18:1-8). It astonished John greatly! How did it happen? How could an apostolic church become the bloodthirsty, fornicating antichrist church of Rome? By leaving the precepts of Scripture, she started down a road to the swamp that now includes every abomination known to man. What does God say to any saints left in her or her daughter churches? "Come out of her, my people" (Rev 18:4)!
What happened? How did it get started? Did the pastor seek prestige because his church was in the empire's capital city? Did calling himself a priest comfort pagans? Did the title Pontifex Maximus make Caesar-worshipping Romans happy? Did a trial infant baptism comfort some mothers? Did pretending the bread was the literal body and blood of Christ increase attendance at communion? Did praying to Mary one Sunday morning bring tears to a few mothers' eyes? Did a new statute bring craftsmen as members? Did asking the women to confess to their priest bring voyeuristic pleasure? Did keeping the pagan holidays of Rome with Christian names bring in even more pagans? Did sprinkling for baptism save some embarrassment when he forgot to fill the baptistery? Did an organ bring the musically inclined?
The wanderer ends up in the swamp of Death by a single, wrong, first step! All sin starts with just one wrong thought. All heresy is by incremental compromise. All cults begin with one lie. All false arguments begin with one lying premise. Dear reader, where have you taken one or more steps from the right way? Repent! Where has your church compromised one precept of Scripture? Repent! For it is the only way back on the right way. If you do not correct it, you are lost.
Only Scripture can make the man of God, a pastor, perfect in every good work (II Tim 3:16-17). All the learning and innovations today are without truth (II Tim 3:7), for men have left sound doctrine for fables (II Tim 4:3-4). They have left off loving God to love the pleasures of life (II Tim 3:4). They have a form of godliness by meeting on Sundays, but they have no clue of His jealous authority (II Tim 3:5).
These churches are congregations of the dead, no matter how many fill their complexes to foam out their shame with Christian rap! The church at Ephesus had many things to commend it, but they had lost their first love and were about to lose the Spirit, which would leave them a dead carcass (Rev 2:1-5; 3:1; Jas 2:26). These modern mega-churches never had the good things Ephesus did; they have been dead a long time.
The new way they have found is the way to dead religion, no matter how lively it appears. The high they obtain from their ear crushing rock-n-roll, jump-up-and-shout services does not last. They are joyless shells chasing carnal pleasures; they do not even know the God of the Bible. God measures by doctrine, practice, and purity; they measure by decibels, popularity, and pleasure. They went out from apostolic Christianity, because they were never truly with us (I John 2:19).
If a man leaves the way of Christ's wholesome sayings at all, he does not know what he is talking about. He knows nothing at all (I Tim 6:3-5; Is 8:20). What are all wise persons to do with either a wandering man or a wandering church? Get away from them! Read II Timothy 3:5 for the words, "from such turn away." Read I Timothy 6:5 for the words, "from such withdraw thyself." They are living among the tombs! Get away!
They have good words and fair speeches to deceive the simple, but they are mere belly worshippers (Rom 16:18)! How can you know? If they do anything contrary to the teaching of the New Testament (Rom 16:17). What should you do about them? Mark and avoid them (Rom 16:17)! God's few true saints must stand fast and hold the traditions taught by the apostles (II Thess 2:15). This is the way of understanding.
Ah, faithful reader, should we gloat pompously that we have the truth and are secure in the way of understanding? God forbid. Our brother Paul would tell us not to be high-minded, but rather to fear (Rom 11:20). He would tell us to fear lest we should come short of God's promises as well (Heb 4:1). He would tell us that too much confidence in ourselves will bring a fall (I Cor 10:12).
The whole world has wandered out of the way of understanding since Eden, and they shall congregate with the hordes in hell for an eternal death. Many who wandered out of the way of understanding will appeal to all their religious activity, but the Lord Jesus Christ will declare that He never knew them (Matt 7:21-23).
Our nation has wandered out of the way of godliness, righteousness, and justice into the fatal swamp of abortion, child rebellion, divorce for any cause, euthanasia, evolution, labor unions, prohibition of prayer, prohibition of the Ten Commandments, sodomy, wicked entertainment, and witchcraft. The death knell is sounding, unless our nation repents, and God has mercy to forgive us our many heinous sins.
The Lord Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life, is the only way back to the Father. Cast yourself upon His mercy today! There is another congregation, in heaven. It is the congregation of the living. It is made up of all those blessed souls who have had part in the first resurrection (Rev 20:6; John 5:25). They keep the commandments of God and stay in the way of understanding (Rev 12:17; 14:12).
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