Exhorting with sound doctrine or Romancing the stone ?

Exhorting with sound doctrine
Paul has warned us that there will be be many unruly and vain talkers, not only those who are of the circumcision; but also those who are crafty in smooth and vain doctrines.

• Tit 1:9-16 KJV  Holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers.  (10)  For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:  (11)  Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not, for filthy lucre's sake.  (12)  One of themselves, even a prophet of their own, said, The Cretians are alway liars, evil beasts, slow bellies.  (13)  This witness is true. Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;  (14)  Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.  (15)  Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.  (16)  They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
• Eph 4:14 KJV  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

Romancing the stone (Twisting and turning God's command)

• Gen 2:16-17 KJV  And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:  (17)  But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.Gen 3:1-7 KJV  Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?  (2)  And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden:  (3)  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.  (4)  And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:  (5)  For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.  (6)  And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.  (7)  And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. 

Satan would love to twist and turn God's law and grace
In another words, Satan has a special supernatural skill in 'romancing' the law and grace of God too.

• Please think, If Satan knew how to twist and turn the command of God and make it more pleasant to the eyes of Adam and Eve,  
• can he twist and turn the grace of God and make it more appealing to the people today too ? Oh, you bet. He could do better than what we think without anyone realising it.

In his temptation to men in both cases above, Satan knew the command of God and the grace of God. He could certainly bring out or preach the topic of God's command and grace beautifully, but he would also add in his lawless conclusion and interpretation on God's words. To Adam and Eve, he would show them how God's command without obedience will open their eyes and make them wise as gods. To the churches, he would say that God's grace without repentance will prosper them effortlessly. When he is accused of rebelling against God's words, he would always know how to argue and say, "Did I say that ? No. Has God said that you cannot do this .. and that ..? No, I tell you, This is what God said (about His law or His grace). You don't have to obey ... and you don't have to repent. You would not die. You would not be condemned by God's command.. You would have grace without repentance.. You would prosper.. You would be righteous.. You would be anointed.. You would be wise.. You would be like God.. As Christ is .., so are you .. Haha .. Heh .. heh .. you will like it .."
Preaching grace without the preaching of repentance is 'romancing the stone'. It would appeal to most worldly sinners and believers, but it is not the grace of God. If you hear any preacher who is 'romancing the stone' or preaching like this as a law preacher, repentance preacher, or grace preacher, run for your life; he is not from God, he is trained by the 'beast'. You may ask, Who is the 'beast' ? Can you disclosed his name ? I will say, Of course, I can do it if I want to. But if I mention his name, there is no more fun for him and me. He would be jobless. Ok, joke aside, All I can say is: he has the number of sixes in his title and names. That number is not the number of his company, his computer, his country, his buddies, his inner circle, his church, or any kind of hidden codes; the Bible has mentioned it very clearly and openly that it is the number of a man. It is the number of his name:

• Rev 13:17-18 KJV  And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.  (18)  Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.

John could not mention his name even though he could have seen his name, clearly written under image of the beast as 'xxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxxx'. However, John could not record it for us. Why ? It's because John could not read or write English. At most, John could only count the number or show the number of the alphabets of his name.  

The beast would know how to twist and turn God's law and grace too
Many of us may think that he is a political 'Tyrant ...... ......', a medical 'Doctor ...... ......', legalistic 'lawyer ...... ......', 'Scribe ...... ......', or a mad computer 'Genius ...... ......' with the number of sixes and has the supernatural power to control our buying and selling with his banks and computers; but can we rule out the possibility that he could be a 'Pastor ...... ......' too ? While a lawless tyrant can only destroy our bodies and make us poor physically, but a lawless pastor can kill our souls and make us poor spiritually and eternally if he could control our mind, hypnotize us, and put his mark or doctrine of lawlessness into our brains:  

More about the beast: 

• Rev 13:15 KJV  And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. 

When I read the above, I found it difficult to interpret, how on earth could anybody have the power to give life unto his own image, and then he and his image could both speak? Wasn't it crazy ? Will there be monsters, beasts, or HeMan rising up in the end time, like some kind of monster movies ? VERY UNLIKELY ! No one could figure it out even after we have known that human figures and images could be projected to the wall or TV screen for the last few decades. But it has now become a common scene in many churches today where a pastor and his image can both speak, and cause many to worship God (or him - who knows ?) Very soon, we will have all our TV and LED screens in 3D images too. Hence, this could be the era when the beast could fulfil all the prophecies of Revelation 'effortlessly'. He or his cohort may not call fire to come down physically; but he could certainly call down the 'strange fire' effortlessly from heaven and shout 'Fire !' in the sight of millions through his satellite television. He may not look like the beast with much hair; but he could certainly speak like the dragon who had been wounded by the Lord's command:

• Rev 13:11-13 KJV  And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.  (12)  And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.  (13)  And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men,

He could certainly do more harm than we could imagine by taking away the mark of God (or the mark of God's commandments) from the believers and replace it with his mark of lawlessness. Why would a believer has the law of God in his heart and mind? It's because he would always meditate and think about God's law. Yes, we can say that he is law conscious in his mind about God's law; but he is not law conscious about the Jewish law or the law of Old Covenant. But what will happen if a believer would no longer think of God's law in his heart or mind ? He could lost the mark of God if he keeps listening to the lawless one who put his mark of lawlessness into his mind and work.

• Heb 8:10-12 KJV  For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people:  (11)  And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.  (12)  For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Do you realise that all our lawlessness and sins are remembered no more because we have God's laws in our hearts and mind ? If we have no more law, how can our lawlessness and sins be remembered no more ? This is common sense from the reading of God's words) 
• Rev 14:11-12 KJV  And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name.  (12)  Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.

Hence, Satan could remove the law of God from our mind if we believe in his lawless teaching and allow him to place his lawless reasoning into our mind. Can this happen to us who are saved by the blood of Jesus Christ ? You bet, or else Paul would not need to warn the believers day and night with tears:

• Act 20:28-32 KJV  Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.  (29)  For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock.  (30)  Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.  (31)  Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears.  (32)  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified. (Yes, Paul believed in the word of His grace and the blood of Christ which is able to save them and build them up. But Why would he still need to warn and do so much to prevent the believers from following the grievous wolves or false prophets ? Isn't it clear to everyone that the believers would still need to be warned because they could lose their salvation if they believe in the false prophets who preached perverted law and corrupted grace ?)
• Mat 18:32-34 KJV  Then his lord, after that he had called him, said unto him, O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me:  (33)  Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?  (34)  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him. (Many radical grace preachers have argued that those who are forgiven much will love much; however, it did not seem to work for this servant. Why ? It's because he only wanted to be forgiven and that was all he desired. He had no true repentance or compassion for others. Yes, he did think about forgiveness or grace, but only for himself; not for others. Hence, he was still a selfish man who did not truly repent, take up his cross, and die to his sinful self at all. The Lord has spoken: There are people who do not deserve grace even if they have prayed and asked God for forgiveness. They would expect God to forgive like the king in the parable above, with radical grace, but they would never have the desire to repent, confess, admit, or turn from their sins.)   
• Have you read the Bible ? Do you know that Satan would only tempt certain people ? He tempted Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden (Gen 3:1), he tempted Jesus in the wilderness (Mat 4:1), he will tempt the churches too (Rev 14:11-12, 2Co_11:3); however, he would never tempt the sinners? Why? He does not need to do anything because the sinners are already destined to perish. He would only tempt those who are righteous, who are without sin, who are forgiven, who have God's commandment in their mind and hearts, and would keep God's commandments. Hence, it would be a lie to say that the believers will never fall and never need to take heed to God's words and commandments when the Bible have warned us so clearly that Satan would tempt at the beginning of the Bible (Gen 3:1), in the middle of the Bible (Mat 4:1), and at the end of the Bible (Rev 14:11-12).
  

Of course, we believe in the power of the blood of Christ and eternal salvation; however, the Bible has also warned us that we should not underestimate the deceiving power of the beast too. We would lose our eternal salvation if we receive the mark of the beast. If Satan could tempt Adam and Eve who were sinless into sins, Satan could certainly tempt us into his lawlessness too, otherwise, all the warnings of the Lord and the Apostles would become lies and we would make them liars instead:

• 2Co 11:3-15 KJV  But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.  (4)  For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.  (5)  For I suppose I was not a whit behind the very chiefest apostles.  (6)  But though I be rude in speech, yet not in knowledge; but we have been throughly made manifest among you in all things. .. (13)  For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.  (14)  And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.  (15)  Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
• 1Jn 1:8-10 KJV  If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.  (9)  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (10)  If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us  ... 1Jn 2:3-6 And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.  (4)  He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.  (5)  But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.  (6)  He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Should we listen to the one with a sharp tongue or smooth tongue ?
I would rather listen to Him who has a short and 'sharp tongue' than the one who has a long and 'smooth tongue':

• Rev 2:12-16 KJV  And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;  .. (15)  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.  (16)  Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth.
• Rev 16:13-16 KJV  And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet.  (14)  For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty.  (15)  Behold, I come as a thief. Blessed is he that watcheth, and keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked, and they see his shame.  (16)  And he gathered them together into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon.

The 'frogs' have long curly tongues, because they loves to boast, twist, and turn with their words. They would twist and turn the law of God too. One moment they seemed to tell the people to love and obey the law of God but in another moment (probably in a same sermon), they would suddenly or subtly convince you that the law of God is infectious or contagious like sins, eg. "Under law, sin is infectious; under grace, holiness is contagious..", "law supplies; grace demands", "Under law, you must do this and that; under grace, you do nothing", "under law, you cannot prosper; under grace you would prosper effortlessly", "Under law, we feel condemned, dejected, and depressed; but under grace, we feel loved", "Under law ..;under grace .. " 

Who is under the law ?
I will ask them, Are you preaching to the Jews, the believers, or the sinners when you preach like the law or grace experts ? 

a. If you are preaching to the Jews, 
please take a good look at your own audience again before you blast off with the wrong teaching of the law. Very likely, you have preached to the wrong target audience with your bitter arguments against the law or the works of the law known and practised only by the Jews, Peter, and Paul when you are not even a Jew.

• 1Ti 1:7-8 KJV  Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.  (8)  But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
• 2Pe 3:1-18 KJV  This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:  (2)  That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:  (3)  Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts ..  (9)  The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance ..  (14)  Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.  (15)  And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;  (16)  As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.  (17)  Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked (lawlessness), fall from your own stedfastness.  (18)  But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen. 

b, However, if you are preaching to the believers,
you are still speaking to the wrong crowd too. The believers should have the law of Christ to do good, not the law of the Jews to circumcise themselves. They will argue, "No, we must expose all the legalistic believers who are under the law. Yes, they may not be Jews but they have been deceived by the Pharisees to believe in the law. When they teach others to do many things, to do good get good, and to think of any law, they are under the law.."
I will ask them, The lawyers are always thinking about the laws; are they under the law? After they have received Christ, can they still think of the laws ? Of course. Many welfare organisations, including those run by the Christian organisations, would always think of doing good too; are they under the law? Of course, we don't just accuse everyone as under the law just because they think of their laws, rules, and regulations.

• Joh 1:17 KJV  For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

I am sure you have always quote from the Bible verse above, but have you ever pause and ask yourselves: Who has truly received the law given by Moses? Of course, only the Jews. You and me CAN NEVER received the law given by Moses because it was the covenant only between God and the Jews. Hence, we can never be under the law; we are under sins. We may have many laws. Some religious bodies may think that they have the law of God to do good and do many things. But those are not the law given by Moses. In the eyes of God, we are still under sins as sinners, unless we have repented in the Lord to receive grace under His New Covenant. 

c. However, if you are preaching to the sinners, 
you would certainly confuse them because they have not read the Bible and would be deceived to think that they are under the law instead of being under sins and under the New Covenant to repent. You could be using the law and grace confusion as your 'cover' to excuse or exempt yourselves from preaching the unpopular command to the sinners to repent. However, your behaviour as God's preacher would only show that you have rebelled and rejected the Lord and His command in Luk 24:45-48 even though you may claim that you have done many wonderful works for the Lord in Mat 7:15-24. Yes, you are right to say that many sinners felt loved after coming to your church, but that was because they felt accepted in your church even if they sinned 'quietly' and would not repent. They could have felt condemned and dejected by their former churches because they had been asked to repent, to admit, and to confess their sins. However, they could just falsely accuse all their former churches for preaching the law and condemnation now. It could be just their excuses to hide their rebellion against God's commandments, their unwillingness to repent, and their unrepentant hearts. They felt condemned not because they were under the law; but because they were under sins and unrepentant spirit. 

I will tell them, You said that 'under law, sin is infectious' because it will spread or it will make others sinning too? Please think, If law will make sins infectious, then

• law is worst than SARS or poison, 
• law is the culprit, 
• God who is the lawgiver would be solely responsible for our sins. When we sin, it is God's problem; not our problem. And hence, God must find His ways and means to settle the sin problem which was caused by His laws,
• we would not need to repent from our sins, and 
• we would just need to reject any law or any poison from God ..  

Can you see it ? If you know their hidden agenda and reasoning, you will know that they are false prophets. You will also know that they are 'ding dong bell' preachers who would devise many long arguments and debates to hide their lawlessness. However, by doing so, they would also confuse the sinners, the believers, and those who question them. Hence, one moment, their biblical stand on the law of God was a 'ding', but it would become a 'dong' not long after they started to preach. They would just keep changing their biblical stand on God's words until their entire sermon is always the 'ding dong, ding dong, ding dong' between law and grace .. Please think, Does it look odd if a 'ding dong' preacher would preach radical doctrines from his 'rock star' outfits at one moment and then change into his normal pastoral outfit with a neat tie while preaching godly values and decent living at another moment? I would think that it looks odd because it is like putting on some kind of 'cover' to make his points without sincerity or simplicity in his biblical stand. 
Yes, his stunt may always captivate the audience who love God and God's prosperity, but they will have no intention to repent and would be jealous of others who have repented. Their pulpits have become the 'HorrorWood' platform for their actors and actresses who entertain themselves with their own popular show - 'Romancing their stones' with the Bible, where everyone is promised to prosper effortlessly without any preaching of repentance from their sins. Instead of preaching the gospel, they preach lies and stones. They have used the law and grace arguments to distract the people from believing in the gospel of repentance. However, I believe that we should preach the following clearly if we want the sinners to truly repent:

• Under the law, the Jews must keep the law and the works of the law that fulfil the law. 
• Under grace, the Gentiles will not need to keep the law and the works of the law.
• But under the New Testament, all those who are under the law or under sin must repent (Luk 13:2-5) and keep God's commandments. Jesus did not say that keeping no commandment is the gospel when He showed us Mat 5:28; but rather He proved to us that all must repent, including the Pharisees (Mat 5:20), otherwise no one can enter the kingdom of God. Hence, repentance is the gospel. 

Luk 13:2-5 KJV  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?  (3)  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.  (4)  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?  (5)  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Mat 5:19-20 KJV  Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.  (20)  For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. (Jesus did not say that we should be as righteous as the Pharisees, but He said we should be more righteous than the Pharisees who were hypocrites. In another words, 1. All the Jews must still repent even though they thought that they were as righteous as the Pharisees, 2. All of us, who are now in Christ should never follow the deceivableness of unrighteousness (2Th 2:10) that is in the Pharisees or hypocrites too.)
Mat 5:27-28 KJV  Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery:  (28)  But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.

It's a thin line between under grace and under fantasy
They will argue, "We will never admit wrong for 'romancing the stone'. God would be pleased to know that we are exalting and promoting Him, His grace, His favours, and His glory. Besides, promoting or boasting about the grace of God is not romancing the stone. Grace is not the stone. Grace is Jesus Christ. Grace is supernatural. Grace is effortless. Believing in grace is like sitting by the beach with your folded hands and enjoying the sun without doing anything, while watching God doing everything for you. Grace makes everything possible effortlessly. Hence, we pray effortlessly, worship God effortlessly, repent effortlessly, live effortlessly, and prosper effortlessly with all the favours of God. Gone were the days when legalistic preachers, repentance preachers, and spiritual warfare teachers would lay down many unnecessary rules and regulations for the people to many things. Of course, we will still pray and have spiritual warfare, but our spiritual warfare is to rest and do nothing, (ahem.., Of course, I mean), to rest in the Lord. Have you seen Star War and some Chinese Kung Fu movies ? They used laser blades and flying swords ! Why do we still use  the hard manual system to fight in the warfare when we can use high tech and effortless methods. However, many believers who are under the law are still living in their primitive world using their old weapons. We are not like them. We have found better thing and better way through the grace of God. Haha, we are not ashamed to boast that we are destined to reign. We are destined to do better. We will prosper .., we will do this.. and that.. We will .. this .. we will .. that .. we will .."
I will tell them, Yes, you can go on and on, and live in your 'grace land' or effortless world. But when you wake up, you will realise that you are not under grace. you are under fantasy. The grace of God does not make us fantasize and rest (or sleep upon) all His warnings and commandments. 
 
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