Confusion of the Saints
by Dr. Ken Matto
1 Cor 14:33 KJV) For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.The above verse is in the chapter on tongues. The modern tongues movement has brought much confusion into Christianity. Of course, no one really needs to be confused. The only reason that Christians become confused is when they begin to accept teachings which are not based on Scripture. Since God is not the author of confusion, a person will be stabilized if they stay upon Scripture rather than accepting teachings from man. Now I am not going to speak about verbal tongues in this particular message instead I want to write about the written tongues which deceives the majority of Christians. What I mean by that, is that many Christians read books written by questionable authors that teach strange doctrines that are in opposition to the truths of Scripture.
If one goes into a Christian bookstore, they will find many teachings that are flesh based rather than Bible based. For example, one subject which sells millions of books is Christian Psychology. Psychology tends to get our eyes off of Christ and the Great commission, and to get them on to ourselves and our own “felt needs.” Psychology is on the order of a cult because people who go to counselors become dependent upon them which qualifies it as an addiction. If a person is addicted to something and they go to a Christian psychologist, their addiction will change from their habit to addiction of the psychologist. This is nothing more than the principle of being twice as much a son of hell.
(Mat 23:15 KJV) Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. This verse is simply saying that if a Pharisee converts a worshipper of Diana to the Pharisees religion, they are no more saved than they were before. The proselyte is still dead in their sins.The principle is that if a person depends on a psychologist to be freed from something, they will transfer the addiction to the psychologist and still be suffering from their sins. Psychology has become an idol in the Christian community and there is much trash in Christian Bookstores to feed the flames of carnal addiction. One only need go to the psycho-babble section and you will see books by James Dobson (friend of the Pope), Larry Crabb, and many others who try to amalgamate the Word of God and psychology. When you look at these books you will always find more psychology than Bible and when you read portions of Scripture, it will always be from a counterfeit version. As Nadab and Abihu offered strange fire before the Lord, this is exactly what these Christian psychology books offer. If you want to get to the root of the most confused Christian in a church, look at their library.
The majority of Christian Bookstores offer Roman Catholic writings because they want to draw the Roman Catholics into their store, not to evangelize them, but to sell them books. I receive the CBD catalog periodically, (which goes right into recyclables) and I noticed that they have incorporated both Roman Catholic and Jewish (unsaved) commentaries without one word of warning that they are false religions. In fact, they just place them in the line up of commentaries, so they look like they are Christian along with the others. This is nothing more than trickery and deceit for the buck. The same thing is also done in Christian bookstores whereby they place books by false religions in the shelves and make no warning about the authors. Books by Max Lucado who is a Church of Christ pastor. That denomination believes in baptismal regeneration. Millions of his books are in the hands of Christians and not a word of warning is ever offered to the people. If Pastors would warn their people about the dangers of these false preachers, then their job would be much easier.
(1 Cor 1:10 KJV) Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. In this verse we are counseled that there should be no divisions among the body of Christ. How can that happen if Christians go to these bookstores and then read books written by false teachers and on false subjects like the “Left behind” series. The Bible is very clear, one general, visible rapture, one final separation of unbelievers and believers (Parable of wheat and tares), and one Judgment day. Pastors need to be wiser than their congregation, instead of condoning the reading of these books, they need to warn them about the spurious teachings in them and then point out how dangerous and unbiblical they are. On TV Jack Van Impe said that he does not approve of the “Left Behind” series because it makes the Pope the Antichrist. He said he doesn’t believe that because he listens to the sermons by the Pope plus he loves all his Catholic brothers and sisters. Since when is a reprobate Catholic a brother or sister in the Lord? Why? $$$$$$$$
One of the main reasons there is confusion is because people read these books and then adopt their teachings without checking them out according to Scripture. (1 Cor 1:12 KJV) Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. This verse gives great insight into the confusion of Christians. Let’s modernize the meaning of this verse while not losing the teachings aspect of it. “Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I of Max Lucado; I of James Dobson; I of Tim LaHaye; and I of Christ.” Normally, the one who is of Christ will be the one that is told to shut up because many Christians love Fantasy Island theology. Biblical truth which is exchanged for a work of fiction theology is the death knell for growth of any kind in the life of both Christians and a church. Remember, a church grows only according to the truth it disseminates. If it advocates pluralistic theology and ideas, instead of Biblical truth, it is then a false church and true Christians will have to leave. Christians cannot grow apart from Scripture.
I hear many people decry the tongues movement, yet, they will read many books which are nothing but a tower of Babel in written form. Verbal tongues are a confusion in any church since the modern tongues are not the same as the Biblical tongues of the first century. Whenever we visit a Christian Book Store and see the plethora of authors and ideas, it is like walking into a written Babel. The person who works behind the counter is out to make a sale. They are normally uninformed as to what can help a Christian grow and merely hired help. Because a person works in a Christian book store does not mean they are adept at what is good and what isn’t. They will just as soon sell you a Catholic commentary and not think twice about it. I say this truthfully, if the Jehovah’s Witnesses ever decided to mass market their New World Translation version (NIV with a different name) you would soon see them in Christian Book Stores. God does not want His children confused as to the true Gospel. Here is a challenge which will never happen. I would challenge a Pastor to engage his congregation in a one month moratorium of reading those Babylonian books and replace it with Bible reading. I can guarantee that in just 30 days, the church will become stronger and more tuned to truth, so when they go back to reading those trash books, they may just trash them after they are well able to spot the false teachings in them. If Christians are confused, it is their own fault and nobody else’s. So many voices, whose are we hearing? (9/12/03)