| THE FALSE TEMPLE There seems to be many different religions in this world today, with many new ones popping up at an alarming rate. Why is this? Are there more than one God? Are the different religions just man's way of trying to seek out the true God, to understand Him? And if so, why are there so many different beliefs? I think the answers to these questions lie in one common place, the heart of man. First of all, lets examine the other religions. Many will contend that they are all the same, that it is the same god that everyone is seeking, just different paths. Each path leads to the same place. Is this true? If you examine the different religions, you will find that they contradict one another. If they are all paths that lead to the same place, then how is it possible that these paths are so drastically different? Most religions believe that god is an impersonal force, who created everything, then left us to figure it out. Some contend that god, or gods, have orchestrated a great play, and all we can do is sit back as the gods move us about as chess pieces on a big board, that there is no such thing as sin, or right and wrong. Many believe that we live and then we die, and that is it, others say that if you don't get it right this time, don't worry because you will be able to come back and do it again through reincarnation. There are even some, and it has a big following at this time, that contend that we are actually the masters of our own destiny, in charge of our own plight, and over time, evolve into gods, or a higher being. It can get quite confusing to try to figure it all out. There are so many, so how can we be sure of the right one? Or does it matter? Perhaps we just pick a path and let it lead us to the real god, since all paths led to him, her, it, or them. I think we should pause and just examine what we have in front of us. First of all, lets think logically. Do all paths lead to the same place? Lets say that you are lost in the woods and you want to make it back to the lodge you came from? Would it matter which way you decided to go, north, south east or west? Lets say you wanted to go up a mountain. If the mountain is due east, are you going to accomplish your goal by going north? It is obvious to those who will be honest and objective, that all paths do not lead to the same place. They do not. But does that apply to spiritual matters as well? There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death. Proverbs 14:12 If we are not careful, we will take a wrong turn in the woods and never be heard of again. There is a right path and a wrong path, and we need to make sure we are going in the right direction. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it." Matthew 7:13-14 Have you ever been travelling down the road in your car, and eventually realize that you are going the wrong way, either by seeing a road sign or checking a map? What did you do then? Did you continue to travel the path that you knew was wrong, or did you correct your course to get back on track? I guarantee you that if you continued down the wrong path, you did not get to your destination until you changed course. How can we expect it to be any different in spiritual matters? Why would the Supreme Being, the Creator of all, give us multitudes of different, contradictory paths to take in order to reach Him, teaching us contradictory things about His nature, His expectations, His very being. Truely, a perfect God would not. We have to realize that God, the True God of the universe, has given us the directions, the very path that leads to Him, and the other paths lead somewhere else. The other gods cannot be real, in light of this. "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments. Exodus 20:4-6 For thousands of years, man has tried in his own way to make sence of God, to explain God, and to justify himself through God. And in the process, man has taken the Creator, the One who made us and everything else, and tried to make Him in our own image. Man has tried to mold a god that is more in fashion with their own lifestyles and beliefs, a god that suits their own needs. Instead of accepting the True God, a perfect God, for who He is and what He expects, they have taken their lives and fashioned a god that agrees with and condones the same things that they do. They ignore the right way in order to satisfy their own desires, and in the process, set themselves up as a god, being led by what they want to do, rather than what they are supposed to do. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, `You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, but God did say, `You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' " "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." Genesis 3:1-5 It is the oldest lie in the book. We know in our hearts the basics of right and wrong. God has put that in each and every one of us, but sometimes we will believe something that we know is not true, simply because it sounds good to us, it is enticing, and plays upon our own desires. In the process, man makes a choice to follow his own path to achieve greatness instead of God's true path and direction. And many even in this modern day and age, continue to believe that lie. Man enjoys sin, and in order to stay in that sin without consious, or conviction, they invent gods that will look the other way. Sometimes they base their religion on simply doing no harm, although the one that judges whether they have done harm or not is themselves. Some believe that if you do bad things that your karma will be messed up, and yet there is no real consequences to messing up the karma in the first place. Sin is non existant in these types of religions. This type of theology is very convenient, because it rules out the consequences of sin, and it allows the followers to do whatever they wish without accountability. There are others who have made a religion based on doing good works, hoping that they can do more good things than bad, somehow tipping the scales in their favor and achieving a place in heaven or whatever they may call it. They are relying on their goodness to achieve heaven. Many of us think that we are pretty good people, that all in all, we will make it to heaven, because we have earned favor with God by being good. But how good are we? Lets take a test. Have you ever lied, even if you consider it a 'little white lie'? Then what does that make you? Have you ever stolen anything, even a small or inexpensive thing, perhaps even something that you considered insignificant? Then what does that make you? Have you ever become envious of someone else for what what they had, be that a position at work, or perhaps a thing, like a car or a new home? Most people would answer yes to at least one of these questions, and those are only three of the ten commandments, the rules that God expects us to abide by. See, we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Our goodness is nothing, because none of us are truely good. And if God is truely good, and a just judge, then, when we stand before Him, and eventually we all will, is He going to look the other way, or is He going to deliver justice for our crimes? Lets say that a person were to get caught breaking the law of the land, perhaps stealing. The evidence is there, there is no denying that the person has stolen. When they face the ruling judge, if he is a just judge, ruling according to the law, he will find them guilty and pass sentence. The person that was caught stealing will have to pay for the crime. It doesn't matter whether that person doesn't agree that stealing is wrong or not, it doesn't matter whether or not they felt the crime was trivial, the fact remains that they have broken the law, and will have to pay. God is fair and just, and by that very nature He must be honest and fair in upholding justice, according to the law, and He will not look the other way to sin. with the LORD our God there is no injustice or partiality or bribery. 2 Chronicles 19:7 God is a righteous judge Psalms 7:11 Lets say that a man puts on a clean white shirt, and begins to walk down the road. A car approaches him and hits a mud puddle, covering him and the shirt with thick, red mud. So the man decides that he doesn't want to ever get the shirt dirty again, so he puts it on a hanger and puts in in his closet. For twenty years, he never wears it, and it is never exposed to any more dirt. After twenty years he finally pulls it out of the closet and looks at it. Although he has been extemely careful with the shirt, and not exposed it to any more dirt, the shirt is still extremely filthy, just as filthy as when he put it in the closet twenty years ago. That is the same way it is with sin. We have all dirtied ourselves with sin, and although we may try to be very careful not to dirty ourselves with sin anymore, even though we may avoid anything that would lead us to even the mere temptation of that sin, the fact is, that we still have the stain of sin on us, and we are not clean, no matter how long it was since we did the wrong thing. The stain of sin is on us, and a perfect God will pass judgement on that sin. For the wages of sin is death... Romans 6:23 Our sentence for sin is death, which means that we will spend an eternity out of the presence of the Creator, the Author of life, the very Source of life. Doing good works is not going to take that stain away, performing rituals, chants, or meditation techniques may make us feel good about ourselves, but it is not going to correct the problem of the sin stain. The shirt will remain filthy until it is properly cleaned, and it is the same way with sin. The sin must be washed clean from our lives. Lets go back to the courtroom. Let's say that the judge passed sentence, and your fine was something that you could not pay. Suddenly, someone came in to the judge and paid the fine for you, and you were let go, the fine was paid in full and you were free. How would you feel? Wouldn't you feel grateful that a person would willingly step up and do something like that for you, even though he didn't have to, even though you were guilty and didn't deserve it? That is what God did for us. He did not want any of us to have to pay for sin, because that would mean our destruction, so He came as a perfect man to take the punishment for sin in our place. His perfect blood was the price required and it completely satisfied the demands of justice. Now, through that blood, our sins can be forgiven, washed out of our lives, forgotten forever, and we can once again be clean and perfect in front of a perfect God, not because of our feeble efforts, but by the love of a gracious and caring God that does not want to see any of us perish (2 Peter 3:9). By Jesus Christ, our fine is paid in full. Even so, people needlessly go into eternity in their sin, and as a result, are sentenced to death, forever apart from the Living God, without a chance for an appeal, without a chance for paroll. They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 The sentence is final. They go to a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Luke 13:27-28), because they chose to continue down that road that leads to destruction instead of the one that leads to life. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen. Romans 1:18-25 They rejected the loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the lifeline that God has offered us that we may be saved, and instead chose the brief pleasure of sin. Apart from Him, there is no salvation. Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6 If you want to get clean, this is what you need to do: 1. Say the following prayer: Jesus, I have sinned. I know the consequences of that sin, but I want you to step in for me. I accept what you did for me on the cross, taking my place for the punishment of sin. I thank you, and I ask you to forgive me of the sin in my life. Come into my heart and guide me in truth. I turn away from sin this day, Jesus, and I turn to you. Help me to avoid sin and live the life you have designed for me. Thank you for saving me Jesus, Amen. 2. Read the Holy Bible starting in the new testament, preferably beginning in John, and do what is says to do. He will truely bless you with His word, if you open your heart to it and obey it. 3. Find a good bible-based church to fellowship and grow. Click here to check out God's laws TRUTH WORD MIRACLES BIBLE Q & A LAND OF THE GIANTS EVIDENCE MOONLIGHT GALLERY IN THE BEGINNING |
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