How do you tell right from wrong when so much sounds fine? In this Sunday teaching from May 21, 2023, Pastor Linda Reese continued a series on the world we live in. God made the world, but evil lives in it too, both in things people do and in teaching that looks Christian but isn’t.

If you don’t know the Word, you can’t tell the difference

Some churches teach things that are far from the Bible. Pastor Linda remembered joining a church, then reading what Scripture actually said and realizing it didn’t match. That little inkling in your heart that says “you shouldn’t be doing this” is worth listening to. The only way to know is to study the Word yourself.

No middle ground

Before Israel entered Canaan, Moses reviewed God’s law. Deuteronomy means “second law.” In Deuteronomy 18:9-11 God tells His people not to learn the ways of the nations around them: passing children through the fire, divination, witchcraft, charmers, mediums, and consulting the dead. These things are “an abomination unto the LORD” (18:12).

Thou shalt be perfect with the LORD thy God.

Deuteronomy 18:13 (KJV)

Today it looks like palm readers, fortune tellers, horoscopes, tarot cards and Ouija boards. Pastor Linda’s advice was plain: stay away from them. Only God knows how long you’ll live or what tomorrow holds, and He tells us what we need to know. What comes from the other side is likely to be false, and toying with it will slowly pull you off the Lord’s side.

She added a word about the path itself. Israel’s murmuring made their trip to the Promised Land far longer than it needed to be. Walk the way God shows you, day by day.

Greater is He that is in you

John uses the word “overcome” in his first letter more than almost any other book outside Revelation. False teaching belongs to the world, but “greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 John 4:4). The Word is light; false teaching is darkness. Our best weapon is knowing God’s Word and staying close to Him, so close that people can see a difference in us.

This message follows God’s Beautiful World and the Scars of Sin. Questions about something you’ve been taught? Reach out. We’d be glad to open the Bible with you.