For many years I have started my morning by drinking a tumblerful of warm water, with some added lemon-juice. This, I have been assured, is very good for the condition of my liver - an important organ in the human body. Yesterday, I followed my usual routine, but decided to put the lemon juice into the water prior to warming it. When I started to drink, I was instantly aware that there was a strange taste. However, I persevered, and drunk the lot - about 250mls!
This was followed by my customary bowl of porridge, with added prunes (!), and a tumblerful of fresh orange juice. Five minutes later, the porridge, prunes, and orange juice were being ejected into the toilet bowl!
It wasn't until our return from the worship service that my wife discovered what had happened. The bottle from which I had taken my tumblerful of water actually contained distilled vinegar!!! All that I can say is that it looked like water! All is not as it appears to be!
Israel has been in the news - again - over the past few days as the Muslim terrorist organisation, Hamas, fired almost 700 explosive rockets from the Gaza Strip, resulting in death, injury, and destruction. Understandably, the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) retaliated, carrying out air strikes on arms and ammunition warehouses located in the homes of Hamas terrorists in Rafah and Khan Yunis and a warehouse in Gaza City in the home of a member involved with Hamas’ rocket infrastructure. Yesterday, the IDF said that it was starting to attack arms and ammunition depots deliberately placed by the terrorists in areas populated by civilians, and that it was targeting terrorists themselves.
It was also widely publicised that a woman and child, in Gaza, had been killed in an IDF attack. There was little, or no, mention of the Israeli deaths as a result of the rocket barrage - nor of the later established, and now confirmed by the Islamic Jihad terror group, fact that the woman and child were not the victims of IDF action, but were killed by a misfired Islamic jihad rocket! This, of course, is typical of the propaganda distributed by these men of violence. All is not as it appears to be! (This paragraph has been updated: May 7th)
Sadly, the same principle applies to the church. My current personal devotions are based on the letters from Peter. He, like other of the New (2nd) Testament writers warns about false teachers who "... will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction." (II Peter 2:1). Not only do these false teachers bring destruction upon themselves, but "... many will follow their licentiousness, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled." ( II Peter 2:2). Indeed, "... they entice with licentious passions of the flesh men who have barely escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved." (II Peter 2:18-19).
All is not as it appears to be!
How we need the Holy Spirit gifting of spiritual discernment in the church today - especially in what is often referred to as "the West"! Warren Wiersbe, who died on Thursday - just two weeks short of reaching 90 years of age - comments: "The false teachers use our vocabulary, but they do not use our dictionary." In other words, the false teachers use all of the right words - but what they actually mean by some of those words is questionable! All is not as it appears to be!
It was Charles Spurgeon who said that discernment is not knowing the difference between what is right and what is wrong; but knowing the difference between what is right - and what is almost right!
May all of God's people have a measure of spiritual discernment in these last days. Drinking distilled vinegar instead of water may make one physically sick; fake news may confuse; but false teaching in the church can mean, quite literally, the difference between eternal life, and eternity cut off from the Father Who loves us enough to let us do our own thing!
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