Skeptics

This is what the skeptic does. He makes a
caricature of Jesus, then he makes fun of the
caricature, all the time pretending that the
caricature that he has made is the genuine
article. That game plan finds utility
beyond the realm of religion. I would think
that it's a harmless game, except that I've
seen, up close and personalm, the consequences.
It's not harmless, because many folks can't tell
the difference. The end for them is a greased
chute to hell.


Jesus spoke to the religious skeptics of his
day. He saw clearly what they were doing. And
he warned them what was at the end of the road.
'Gehenna' means hell.


Mt 23:13 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites! For you devour widows` houses, and

as a pretense you make long prayers. Therefore

you will receive greater condemnation.

14 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites! Because you shut up the Kingdom of

Heaven against men; for you don`t enter in

yourselves, neither do you allow those who are

entering in to enter.

15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites! For you travel around by sea and

land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes

one, you make him twice as much of a son of

Gehenna as yourselves.

16 Woe to you, you blind guides, who say,

`Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing;

but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he

is a debtor.`

17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the

gold, or the temple that sanctifies the gold?

18 `Whoever will swear by the altar, it is

nothing; but whoever will swear by the gift that

is on it, he is a debtor.`

19 You blind fools! For which is greater, the

gift, or the altar that sanctifies the gift?

20 He therefore who swears by the altar, swears

by it, and by everything on it.

21 He who swears by the temple, swears by it,

and by him who is living in it.

22 He who swears by the heaven, swears by the

throne of G-d, and by him who sits on it.

23 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin,

and have left undone the weightier matters of

the law - justice, mercy, and faith. But you

ought to have done these, and not to have left

the other undone.

24 You blind guides, who strain out a gnat, and

swallow a camel!

25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup

and of the platter, but within they are full of

extortion and unrighteousness.

26 You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of

the cup and of the platter, that the outside of

it may become clean also.

27 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites! For you are like whitened tombs,

which outwardly appear beautiful, but inwardly

are full of dead men`s bones, and of all

uncleanness.

28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous

to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy

and iniquity.

29 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees,

hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the

prophets, and decorate the tombs of the

righteous,

30 and say, `If we had been in the days of our

fathers, we should not have been partakers with

them in the blood of the prophets.`

31 Therefore you testify to yourselves that you

are sons of those who killed the prophets.

32 Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers.

33 You serpents, you offspring of vipers, how

will you escape the judgment of Gehenna?


These days, people don't like to hear about
hell. The word 'Gehenna' that is translated
'hell' is only found 15 times in the Gospels.
And the word translated 'fire' is used 32 times.
Usually, 'fire' is used to describe the eternal
destination of the unbeliever.


Jesus did not spend a huge amount of time
talking about hell in the Gospels. The word
translated 'heaven' is used 141 times in the
Gospels. Jesus mostly had a message for
believers, that focused on the reality of an
eternal city of G-d. He preached to his
followers mostly, and not to the skeptics of
his day. He made it clear that they did not
want to miss the bus, because there was a
penalty. Not just the penalty of being excluded
from an eternity in the presence of Jesus, but
being confined for all eternity in a lake of
fire. That choice is a no-brainer.


Mt 25:41 Then will he say also to them on the

left hand, `Depart from me, you cursed, into the

eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and

his angels;


Just as there were those who mislead the people
in Jesus' day, there are those who do the same
in modern times. Jesus spent most of his time
preaching to those who wanted to know the way.
He saw that they did not have good shepherds.
The situtation hasn't changed much since.
That's why I spend time here, not just looking
at what Jesus preached, but also to take a look
at what is preached by the unbeliever today.
Be warned that there is a war going on for the
souls of men. There are those who wish to trick
you into rejecting the Gospel of Jesus Christ
and they wear all sorts of disguises. The
apostle Paul put it this way:


II Cor 11:13 For such men are false apostles,

deceitful workers, masquerading as Christ`s

apostles.

14 No wonder, for even Satan masquerades as an

angel of light.

15 It is no great thing therefore if his

ministers also masquerade as servants of

righteousness, whose end will be according to

their works.

--->

Eph 6:12 For our wrestling is not against flesh

and blood, but against the principalities,

against the powers, against the world`s rulers

of the darkness of this age, and against the

spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly

places.


'The secular doctrine of Everything is Equal is
a lame doctrine, useful only for speculation...'
is something I wrote yesterday. You're subject to
indoctrination. And it makes an appearance in
every modern media form. If you are not seeing
it, it's because you are being indoctrinated
without being aware. Do what Jesus says, He
who has ears to hear, let him hear.


In fact, the truth is that Everything is
Theological. Everything. Secularism is an
alternate religious doctrine. When you say that
religion has no place in public life, what you
really mean is we want to make sure christianity
has no place in public life. Secularism can't
exclude doctrine. It can only provide an
alternative doctrine. Every system of belief
has a basis in theology. Who's to say that
christianity or generic religion has no place in
public life. Whose authority? Who's G-d? When you
say, this is a fair policy, what do you mean?
Who decides what 'fair' is? Once you reject the
basis for law, which is the existence of a
higher authority, then there is no more order.
Everything is up for grabs. That's where we
are today, and that's why we are doomed, given
the present condition. When everything is up
for grabs, social order will collapse. It
always has in the past. It just takes time for
anarchy to work. Some might say, it's the
judgement of G-d. I might say, it's the normal
consequence of sin. At this stage in history,
you would think that it is obvious that there
are certain social orders that work and there
are certain social orders that don't work, just
from a pragmatic point of view. Yet, every
generation thinks that they're smarter than the
last bunch. They have a new and improved
version. I know my kids do.


At the end of the day, or the end of the year,
you may not be able to recognize the latest fad
in social doctrine. You may have no interest in
things like science. And not be able to see the
errors in the doctrine of 'evolution'. You
may not see pitfalls in all the social
changes that swirl around you. You don't have
to. All you have to do is listen to Jesus and
do exactly what he said to do. The message
hasn't changed in over 2000 years, because sin
hasn't changed in over 2000 years. Jesus came
to save sinners.


Mt 11:15 He who has ears to hear, let him hear.

16 "But what will I compare this generation to?

It is like children sitting in the marketplaces,

who call to their companions

17 and say, `We played the flute for you, and

you didn`t dance. We mourned for you, and you

didn`t lament.`

18 For John came neither eating nor drinking,

and they say, `He has a demon.`

19 The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and

they say, `Behold, a gluttonous man and a

drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and

sinners!` But wisdom is justified by her

children."