Isaiah 59:14 And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.
15 Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.
16 And he saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no intercessor: therefore his arm brought salvation unto him; and his righteousness, it sustained him.
The Internet is a powerful tool. It can be used for good and it can also be used for evil. Before the Internet became a “thing”, we had to go to books and we had to look at the glossary or at the index if we wanted to try to find something in that book in a quicker way. Otherwise you picked a book that might address the subject you were interested in and you read the book.
One of my instructors in Bible School had a novel idea that he passed on to us as his students. It was not a good idea but one he used for a course he took in his studies. He needed to read a rather large book and what he did was to read the introduction and then the table of contents for the different chapters of that book and then he read the conclusion. Based on that he wrote the assignment required of him and he said he did well on it.
I was quite surprised to hear an instructor telling his students to cheat to get ahead. Yet that is the attitude that many people have. The Bible tells us that in order to meet God’s approval we need to:
II Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
In order to be able to understand God’s Word, it is necessary to be saved first of all. There are many “churches” today that have unsaved leaders and they read from a perversion and they check out what some “famous” writer or speaker has to say and they either accept that or they develop their philosophy based on that and then they spew that to their audience. Most times their audience eats it up in haste because they are too lazy to check things out for themselves. They are just as lost as their leaders and they just want someone who will make them feel good in their deception.
There are a few people who are actually saved and they do actually study God’s Word in order to find God’s approval rather than man’s.
Again, when I was in Bible school I was already an adult, a married man with a wife and three young children. I did not go to Bible school because I had some time to waste or extra money to spend. I went because I was saved and I believed that God had something better for me than what I currently knew. I had known this for a number of years prior to going to Bible school. I fought with God over this for a number of years. However, thankfully God did not give up on me. He got through to me and I went to the best Bible school in Canada that I knew of at that time. That is not saying too much because I was a green horn and there was no Internet at that time so I could not google anything. I consulted with my pastor and we came to the same conclusion.
I was told several times, by different instructors that I should use more sources for information in the papers I was required to write. I did consult many sources, but my first and main source was the Bible. If I read someone’s book that was contrary to what the Bible said, I did not use it unless I wanted to point out an error. I could have maybe done more of that, but I was not that well versed in the Scriptures and thus did not believe it was my place to correct these men publicly.
God gives His children discernment. If we study His Word to seek His approval, we will find that. If we study to seek man’s approval we can do that as well, but we will lose God’s approval.
You notice in II Timothy 2:16 that if we study to meet God’s approval it will lead us to shunning false doctrine. That was a rare commodity in Paul’s day and it is certainly a rare commodity today. When a person rejects the absolute authority of God’s Word, they cannot have good discernment. Then they will find themselves rejecting the truth and defending error.
That is quite common today. As we see from our opening verses, there was a problem in Isaiah’s day. Truth was still around, but it was fallen in the street. It was not being accepted, thus the trouble Israel was facing.
Truth is still available today, but it is not accepted by most. Thus the many heresies that are being promoted. The Internet has made it easier for people to find heresies and most do not even realize they are heresies. It is not an asset to have an “open mind”. It is an asset to follow what Paul said:
Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
It is easy to be conformed to this world. We are all born as lost sinners. The flesh loves the world. It is going against the stream to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. You need to first of all be saved in order for your mind to be renewed. The lost have been blinded by the “god of this world”.
Currently Canada is facing a challenge from a group of people in Alberta who want to separate. I can understand the frustration they are expressing. Canada is a very corrupt nation. The rulers of this nation are self-serving liars. They have one agenda and that is to build themselves up. They do not care about the taxpayer. We are just pawns they are using to get where they want to go.
The liars are suggesting that the separatists in Alberta are being influenced by Russia. This is the same garbage that was used against Mr. Trump during his first term. It was developed and promoted by Hillary Clinton and her team. It was quite successful in his first term but not very helpful to their cause in this latest term.
The fact those desiring separation in Alberta do not realize, is that separation from Canada will not fix their problems. Whoever they would choose to run Alberta as a separate entity would also be a godless individual. It would just be a different brand of corruption. The days of Ernest C. Manning are long gone. His son Preston is not the man his father was. Furthermore, democracy is a corrupt form of government. You cannot have a home, a country, or a church run in a democratic manner if you want true success.
You see, except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it.
Sadly, we will never see a good government in Canada. We do not need a dictatorship. We need humble individuals who will turn to God in repentance and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation. When that happens the saved person will think differently and act differently. He or she will seek to honour the true God. They will seek to help others do the same.
Scare mongering is one of the tools of the ruling class. They have nothing good to offer, but they do not want to see the gravy train attacked. The wise person tunes out the junk and focuses on the truth. Unless a person is saved and studying God’s Word properly, he will never identify the truth. He will be swept up with the lies that are so common.
Each person needs to choose who you will follow. If you choose to follow God, you will be in the minority. If you choose to follow false teachers, you will find a willing crowd to join with.
Jesus warned us that the crowd is going the wrong way. The wise are few in number but they have THE MIGHTY GOD as their CAPTAIN. That is what we need. When that is in place, we will not be absorbed with the noise of this world, but will be intent on knowing the true God better and seek to help others to know Him as well.
Where do you fit in?
Pastor Bartel