1Then some Pharisees and
scribes came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
2"Why do Your disciples
break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they
eat bread."
3And He answered and said to
them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the
sake of your tradition?
4"For God said, 'HONOR
YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,' and, 'HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE
PUT TO DEATH.'
5"But you say, 'Whoever
says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has
been given to God,"
6he is not to honor his father
or his mother.' And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of
your tradition (Matthew 15:1-6 NASB).
The divine Scriptures clearly teach a message of
binding on the conscience because of the nature of Scripture itself and the
testimony of Christ about Scripture. We
can say that it is truly timeless unlike any book because the nature of
Scripture is immutable. Christ supports
the Scripture as being the divine Word of God.
Christ is the Incarnate Word of God, and the Scriptures are the written
Word of God: alive and active. May
people submit to Scripture where we can plainly see the depths and riches of
the Word of the King! Scripture speaks
of the Words of Christ as nothing less then the Word of God. When Christ speaks, we can be absolutely sure
that it is God’s special revelation to man.
Let’s turn to the words of the divine Word where we see Christ rebuking
the Pharisees and scribes. They came to
Him, and He is the Living Incarnate Word.
They inquired about His very disciples who broke the tradition of the
elders. Christ is the Incarnate Head and
Master of His disciples. His disciples
look to Him to understand truth. We
should look to Him to understand truth.
We sho0uld not look to other religions.
It was not that Christ simply had a different opinion then the Pharisees
and scribes, but what He spoke is the literal Word of God. All of Scripture is the literal Word of God,
and it is to be treated as such. To say
it is the literal Word of God is not to say we pervert Scripture but claim what
it actually is: a noun as a noun, a
hyperbole as a hyperbole, a parable as a parable, etc. God has really spoken, and it is exclusively
in His Word. As Christ is exclusively
the divine Savior, and there is no other Savior (Acts 4:12), so too, is the Christian
Bible exclusively God’s only true revelation.
They referred to the disciples
of Christ who did not wash their hands.
Christ did not practice the traditions of the Pharisees and
scribes. He believed and practiced the
Law of God in the Word of God. Christ
was asked a question, and He responded with a question. The holy and blessed way of Christ is to
refute, rebuke and rightly counter His opponents. Christ answered them, and spoke the way of
His Holy Father. His response was not
merely like other teachers, but He spoke the Words from His Father in
heaven. His Words are priceless, pure,
divine and matchless. Here Christ stands
for the Word of God. But what Word did
He defend here? He defended the Word of
His Father, the very Scripture themselves (seen in the Old Testament). Christ answered by saying you sin against God
because of your tradition. Here tradition
is elevated above Scripture. The right
way is Scripture over any man-made tradition.
A tradition of men believes that man is basically good. Scientology is a clear example of adhering to
man-made tradition over against the clear testimony of Scripture (Romans
3ff).
Christ refutes them with a
divine question, from the very lips of Incarnate Deity. He immediately goes to what God said. Christ believed that Scripture is God
speaking to man, for He said “For God said…”
He refers to what divine Scriptures say, and contrasts what they say
that is in explicit error. They
nullified the Scriptures for the sake of their tradition. There are biblical traditions and unbiblical
traditions. Here Christ draws attention
to their unbiblical tradition, and He uses the Word of God to counter their
position. Will you believe God, or will
you believe what man has said? Choose
this day who you will serve: God or man.
Unbiblical traditions are seen in Freemasonry. To honor a “holy” book of Islam is to dishonor
Scripture. To be apart of a group that
honors the Koran as divine Scripture is a stench in the nostrils of God; for it
dishonors God. Did Christ honor book of
other religions as divine Scripture? You
will never find an example of such a perversion. To deny the deity of Christ is to deny your
soul salvation in heaven. To believe
that special revelation is something more then sacred Scripture is to rest your
hopes on the inspiration of man rather then the inspiration of God. Rest your hearts and hopes on holy Writ
alone: submit to the Christ of Scripture.
Their tradition was to
ceremonially wash their hands. It
clearly invalidated the Word of God. It
seems to our minds that ceremonially washing one’s hands is merely a small matter. But as small as this may seem, it was a
mortal sin against God and His holy Word.
If washing one’s hands caused Christ to rebuke them, and refer them to
the Scriptures as a divine and heavenly correction, how much more does the traditions
of mixed standards of authority, doctrines that speaks of the goodness of man,
and denial in practice of the Triune
God enrage the God of the Bible whom people claim to “serve” with their lips
but deny Him by what they practice? How
much more do their doctrines enrage the God of Scripture? Christ proclaimed that there would be people
who honored Him with their lips, and yet their hearts were far from Him. But the wise man is the man who puts into
practice the things King Jesus has declared.
Man is attracted to the religiousness of man-made designs that leads to
bondage of the soul. Good works are
done, not out of love for the all-sufficient Savior, but to merit heaven. Such works end in dust, and are equal to
filthy rages. No human works of men will
avail before God. Eternal life, in truth
is a gift, not to be earned. The tenets
of Freemasonry deny essentials truths found in holy Writ.
Only the merit and
righteousness and worthiness of Christ alone avail in the place of His elect
people only. Your works are tainted with
sin. How, then, will you stand before a
holy and just God who demands perfect righteousness? Turn to Islam, and you get the teaching to
adhere to the law to save us. Turn to
Hinduism, and you must practice yoga to break reincarnation. The schemes of men to enter heaven are at
best deception and at worst end in the second death. The man-made religions of men are inventions
of human free will, and the pride of man rises because they foolishly think
they control their destinies. Different
revelations provide different teachings that create foolish muddled teachings
on matters of religion. Understand the
Word of God as the sole infallible source for life, morals and faith. To understand Scripture properly, one must
interpret Scripture by Scripture: Scripture interprets Scripture. The ancient church fathers and the very
Reformers themselves taught this sacred truth.
What is implicit in Scripture must be interpreted in light of the
explicit in Scripture. The explicit
meaning of Scripture is not to be apart of approving or honoring other books of
religion.
To bring an assumption of all
religions serving the God of Masonry is to misrepresent the God of the
Bible. The presumption of Masonry is
that all religions that are represented must be honored the same as the
Bible. But I ask you: do you not realize
the sacred artifact of history you read and know as the divine Word of
God? It is far more then the errant
pages of Islam, or the ways of Hinduism.
It is the priceless truth, and it is the matchless Word. As Christ Himself is unlike any prophet, for
He was the Incarnate prophet, so too, is the Word of God: it is not comparable to books of other
religions. Christ believed and taught
that Scripture is the Word of God. He
believed the Scriptures were unbreakable, inerrant, infallible and divine. Go to the divine Scriptures to understand
religious truth, and embrace it as if your life depended upon it. Don’t be like Herod who liked the things of
God, and yet hated Christ, and wanted to kill Him. No, believe the Word and practice it. Honor the Word the way Christ did. He loved the Word of God for He was the Word
of God. Do you suppose He loved the
“holy” books of religions of men? No,
Christ detests books of the evil one, but He loves the Word, for it is pure.
What true Christians know
about Christianity has been revealed to us by God Himself. The God of the holy Scriptures has revealed
to us in an unveiling matter in His holy, blessed and heavenly written Word of
God. To reveal something involves something
in which is concealed. This is the same
thing in our knowledge of God.
Speculation about God’s knowledge is fool’s errand. If Christians wish to know God Himself,
believers must rely on the product from the source in what God says about
Himself. Holy Scripture demonstrates
that the Triune God reveals Himself in a variety of ways. But God does not reveal Himself through the
revelation of other religions. He has
not set-up a religion where men of all faiths can believe a worldly system of
views. His ways of doing things are not
the ways of human beings. He has a Word,
and it is both Old and New Testaments alone.
Scripture did not fall from heaven but was rightly written by holy men
of old.
God exhibits His glory and
majesty through creation. Even the God
of Masonry is not the God of creation, for Scriptures speaks of the God of
creation revealed in the sacred pages of holy Writ. Holy Writ provides the only true Word about
the true God of creation. The God of
creation is the God of the Bible, and the God of the Bible is the God of
creation. God has unveiled Himself
through visions and dreams. The marking
of His providence is demonstrated in the scripts of history. God has revealed Himself in sacred Scripture
in and through time in His chosen inerrant Scriptures. The peak of God’s most heavenly revelation is
found in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
Theologians call the peak of God’s revelation, the Incarnation
of Jesus Christ. No prophet can compare
with this divine Nazarene. God has
revealed Himself in various ways (Heb. 1:1-2).
The holy Scriptures identifies
various ways in which God Himself unveiled Himself. There are two distinct types of revelation:
general revelation and special revelation.
General revelation tells the people of the earthly knowledge that God
subsists, exists or is real. Romans
1:18-23 speaks to the truthful reality that there are no real atheists. To which God do you owe allegiance? Do you owe allegiance to the true God of Holy
Scripture? Surrender to Him alone. The God revealed in creation is Creator, and
the God revealed in Scripture is Creator and Redeemer. General revelation in creation does not
provide a complete revelation of God Himself.
General revelation does not provide us with God as Redeemer as is explicitly
revealed in divine Scripture. We
discover God as Redeemer in Scripture.
Do other “sacred” books show the true Christ, and do they provide
revelation as the Christian Bible?
Scripture has the presence of Christ as Redeemer, and creation has the
absence of Christ as Redeemer, but a sure fact of God being Creator. The God of general revelation is the same God
revealed in Scripture. Scripture tells
us about the God Who Created. God
created all things, yet He does not redeem all people. Religions speak of God being the Almighty
Creator. But the divine remedy for sin
is vastly different when compared to biblical Christianity.
1Then Jesus was led up by the
Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.
2And after He had fasted forty
days and forty nights, He then became hungry.
3And the tempter came and said
to Him, "If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become
bread."
4But He answered and said,
"It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT
PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"
5Then the devil took Him into
the holy city and had Him stand on the pinnacle of the temple,
6and said to Him, "If You
are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written,
'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU';
and
'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP,
SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'"
'HE WILL COMMAND HIS ANGELS CONCERNING YOU';
and
'ON their HANDS THEY WILL BEAR YOU UP,
SO THAT YOU WILL NOT STRIKE YOUR FOOT AGAINST A STONE.'"
7Jesus said to him, "On
the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE
TEST.'"
8Again, the devil took Him to a
very high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their
glory;
9and he said to Him, "All
these things I will give You, if You fall down and worship me."
10Then Jesus said to him,
"Go, Satan! For it is written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND
SERVE HIM ONLY.'"
11Then the devil left Him; and
behold, angels came and began to minister to Him. (Matthew 4:1-11 NASB).
What book did the Lord Jesus Christ (the Sinless
Incarnate King) turn too? Was it to the
Koran? It was not around at that time
but if it was, would Christ have turned to it?
Or was it to books of other ancient religions? Tell me, what book did He turn to? What source did He use to rebuke and subdue
Satan? He turned to the matchless and
Holy Word of God. He turned to the pure
Word, “And the words of the LORD are flawless, like
silver refined in a furnace of clay, purified
seven times” (Psalm 12:6 NASB).
God’s Word is flawless. What,
then, is equal to it? What depths of
divinity, what purity of words, what sense of awe, and what truth it
brings! What is the highest example we
ought to take? Isn’t the Lord Jesus
Christ the greatest example we can follow?
You believe that He is a great moral teacher. If this is so, why do you not heed what He
says when He turns to rebuke Satan?
Isn’t it sinful to do what is contrary to what Jesus did? Doesn’t He show you by what the Word of God
says: that He revered the divine Scripture as not a book among many books, but
the book of all books, the book that brings life to a dead soul? Have you not read? “…MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE,
BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD” (Matthew 4:4
NASB). It is the Word of God alone that
is the foundation of all Christian belief.
It is the Word of God alone that proceeds out of the mouth of God. It is the Word of God alone that binds the
heart and mind of a human being. It is
the Word of God alone that was written by holy men of God by the power of God
the Spirit. It is the Word of God alone
that is the Sword of the Spirit. It the
Word of God alone that brings a life-changing and transforming heart! Is it the Word of God alone that can
sufficiently counter Satan? We even see
Satan himself turn to the Word of God.
Why? Even he knows it is the
ultimate authority. He turns to it
because he knows that Christ is its Author, and he turns to it to try to
manipulate Jesus Christ. Satan knows
that the divine Word of God is sufficient for faith, life and morals. This is the reason he turns to it; not that
he really believes it, but because he knows it is the sole infallible authority
for Christ, and he turns to get the Lord Jesus Omnipotent to sin, but he
utterly fails, and his ways end in defeat.
It is by the Word of God alone that Christ defeats Satan.
Like Satan some human beings
interpret Scripture but they do so wrongly.
Satan is an angel of light, and according to the Craft in passing, he is
highly exalted by Albert Pike.[i] This author submits that Freemasonry is
heavily engaged in nature worship.[ii] Turn to Christ Who defeated Satan, and you
will find Christ in the spotless written Word of God. As the Spirit was with, upon and in Jesus
Christ as He went into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, so too, is
the divine and personal Holy Ghost solely
inspired the supernatural Scriptures, and the Spirit of protection is
surely with His beloved people. But when
Satan tempts the Lord Jesus He always goes
to sacred Scripture. Do you always go to
sacred Scripture as Jesus did? To always
go to Scripture means that you do not revere and honor errant books of
religions that are devoid of the Spirit of trustworthiness, truth and total
perfection. Turning to the book of all
books alone is to honor the Christ of Scripture. Honor, then, this Christ of Scripture Who
took the place of His people. Do you
suppose you honor Him by avoiding His deity, and putting other books of
religion along side of the sacred Book of Scripture? The question is, if the Spirit of God, the
Spirit of Truth, Authored the Christian Bible alone; doesn’t this conclusively
prove without a shadow of a doubt that the Christian Bible should be trusted
and revered alone? We see Christ who
turned to the Scripture; for did He not say?
"On the other hand, it is written, 'YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR
GOD TO THE TEST” (Matthew 4:7 NASB). And He said, "Go, Satan! For it is
written, 'YOU SHALL WORSHIP THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND SERVE HIM ONLY” (Matthew 4:10 NASB). The Old Testament was not a collection of
books that did not have primary authority in the ministry and teaching of Jesus
Christ. Rather the Old Testament has
primary and ultimate authority on matters of faith. When we look to the Old Testament we see
God-Breathed Scripture, and ultimately God speaking to man. This is so vitally important. If you understand that Scripture is God
speaking to man, you shall understand its eternal importance! The divine Word alone can bind the conscience
of depraved man. Christ turns to
Scripture to rebuke Satan, and give the most glory to God. Let us remember this precious truth of
Scripture, and model ourselves after the great Incarnate Savior-King. It shows that the Words of Scripture are
clear to use to rebuke Satan, sufficient to withstand attack, and ultimate in
authority in matters of faith, life and morals.
In the exercise of
His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we would be a kind
of first fruits among His creatures (James 1:18 NASB).
Christ brought His apostles forthwith by
the Word of truth. Christ is the Living
Incarnate Truth. He is the Incarnate
Word of Truth. He speaks the truthful
Words from God, and no one can compare with His matchless Words of truth. The Spirit of God is the Author of
Truth. The Father is the Author of
Truth. Therefore the Trinity is the
Author of Truth. But God the Father did
not become man, nor did the Holy Spirit.
God was manifested in human flesh as Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the Second Person of the
Trinity. He is the God-man who speaks
absolute truth. There was no man in
history that spoke like Jesus spoke. He
spoke with divine authority, and purpose.
Christ worshipped God perfectly by His mind in exalting the truth of God
by what He spoke, did and thought. And
the apostles were confirmed by the truth.
God the Father through His Beloved Son granted His people to be born
from above by the Word of truth. The
Word of truth is what changes the heart of stone. What other religious book could do this
perfectly, and sufficiently? God changes
the heart by the Spirit of God and the Word of God, the Word of truth. This is done under the control of the
God-man. No other book of man can change
the heart of stone except that which is God-Breathed. The Bible is the all-powerful Word of God
because God inspired it. God also
superintended the Holy Bible. Other
religions have the appearance of divine Scripture but the Christian Bible has
the actuality of divine Scripture. What
other does God call the Word of truth?
Tell me, what greater gift can God grant to a hopeless sinner then a
changed heart? Out of all the important
things in life this is the most important.
But how it is done? It is done by
the Spirit of God and the Word of God.
The Word of God is nothing less then the Word of Truth. The Word of Truth nourishes the soul. Christians stood on the Word of Truth as
their sure foundation and support. The
Christian whom God has bore does not turn to man’s ways of revelation but to
the Scriptures because of the internal testimony of the Spirit of God as the
Westminster Catechism states, and because Scripture is true. Put your faith in the Word of Truth to
experience the truth and rest in the truth.
Pilate asked “What is truth?” We
must turn to the Word incarnate and hear His Words of truth. The Word of truth is the Christian Bible.
For the word of
God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as
far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to
judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hebrews 4:12 NASB).
The Word of God divinely penetrates the soul and heart
of man. It is the living and active Word
of God. The Word of God is sharper than
any two-edged sword. It is the weapon of
the Christian. It is powerful,
effective, supernatural. What word of
man can compare to this reality of truth?
What “Scripture of man’s religion” is sharper then any two-edged
sword? How is it that God speaks of His
word as His own, and man uses other standards of revelation? How man should revere the divine Scripture,
and make it incomparable with other books and precious to their hearts! The Word of God reveals sin, and judges the
hearts and minds of the sons of men. Be
faithful to the Word of God, and God will be pleased with you. But disobedience to the Word of God is
disobedience to God Himself. The Word of
God penetrates the most deepest parts
of the human soul. The Word of truth
judges the thoughts and intentions of the human heart. No word can convict, radically change,
provide spiritual life then the Living Word of God.
The sum of Your
word is truth, and every one of Your righteous ordinances is everlasting (Ps.
119:160 NASB).
The sum and total of God’s Word is
truth. All of Scripture, from the
period, to the comma, to the sentences and paragraphs are God-Breathed. God superintended to preserve His Word. If God’s Word is truth, it follows that God
has a Word, and that it is eternal. So,
then, God’s Word is eternally preserved.
It will be studied in heaven. The
depths and riches of Scripture will never be exhausted. It is man’s follies that he supposes his ways
of revelation are true, but we must remember that God’s Word is sufficient,
true and totally divine. What “sacred”
book of man’s religion is like this?
The law of the
LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making
wise the simple (Ps. 19:7 NASB).
God’s law is everlasting because His Word
is timeless. God’s law shows the
character of God. It shows God’s whole
revelation to human beings. His law is
perfect, without spot, blemish, without wrinkle. The law of God restores and
revives the soul. The Lord has made this
an absolute surety. The Word of God is
the believer’s surety. God makes the
simple wise. What book of man can be
called perfect truth? Turn to the
perfect Word of Truth; how timeless, how precious; how eternal; how holy and
pure! Submit to the Word of Perfection
and live spiritually. Live by the Word of God alone, and please the
Trinity of Truth and Perfection. Be
submissive to the Word of Perfection, and honor God’s Word today by living a
life of obedience to Word and will. What
teachings from the book of man will avail before the Incarnate Judge on
Judgment Day? What supposed revelation
will God call perfect and will avail before His holy throne?
Every word of God
is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in him (Proverbs 30:5
KJV).
How do we know that Scripture is
pure? God speaks in His Word and thusly
declares His Word pure. But what is the
extent of this holy purity? The purity
of God’s word is every Word of God. The
divine Scriptures contain every Word of God.
And every Word of God is pure.
Based on the purity of God’s Word we see its unity and purpose. We see that the belief in Scripture is the
peace of God.
The characteristic
of the divine Word is purity. The pure
Word of God is tried and reliable. It is
reliable because it is infallible. The
Word of God is self-attesting and self-authenticating yet it is not left with
internal and external evidence of it being true.
If he called them
gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken… (John
10:35 KJV).
The Christian Bible refers to God as the
Author of divine Scripture. The meaning
of “the Scripture cannot be broken” means scripture is infallible. What book of man’s religion is infallible,
and to which book is He the Author? This
is the view of Jesus on divine Scripture.
If we turn to Jesus, we see the Sinless King using Scripture as the sole
infallible authority. He refers back to
Scripture in a place of Scripture saying “Have you not read…?” He rightly and divinely presumes the clarity
and perpetuity of divine Writ. Look to
the Scripture and understand that Christ is saying that the Bible is
matchless. We must submit to Scripture
because it can rightly correct us. Human
beings are always in need of correction.
The Word of God provides correction because it is God-Breathed. It is trustworthy and inspired. The Bible is true and authoritative that it
commands our obedience. It is not done
in an arrogant way; for it is God speaking to man. If it was man speaking to man, claiming
divine authority, then it would be arrogant.
Isn’t this exactly what Freemasonry does? When we turn to Scripture we see the Word of
God as truth and wisdom because God speaks through His Word. God exercises His rule over His beloved
people. His does this for His blessed
glory and for the edification of His people.
Divine Scripture is the exercise of the Lordship of Jesus Christ over
His beloved saints. Turn to the
God-Breathed Scriptures. In it you will
by God’s grace set it apart from the words of humanity. For Holy Write is “…God-breathed and is
useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so
that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy
3:16-17 NIV).
We
have seen that man’s tradition should not be place above Scripture. We have seen that Christ Himself used
Scripture in the highest and purest way in rebuking Satan. We have seen that Scripture is the Word of
God, the Word of Truth, the perfect Word of God, the purest Word of God, only
Word of God that it is infallible. The
error of man is the affirmation of honoring other books of men, elevating it as
God’s Word and dishonoring the matchless Word of God. It is in the Word of God that we find
ourselves seeing God in redemptive history.
God is at work in
His creation. He created by the power of
His Word. He spoke and it was. This is the utter powerfulness of God’s Word. No other word has the power of God’s
Word. We should turn to Scripture as the
only true Word of God. It is far from
the teaching of Christianity that other books of religion should be
revered. We saw Pope John Paul II revere
the Koran. Such activity flies in the
face of the divine Word of Good and what it teaches. It teaches the ways of God. The ways of God are not the ways of
mankind. His thoughts are not your
thoughts. His words are the farthest
from your hearts. This is because of the
fallen nature of man.
Sin will be
punished in hell. Hell is a real
place. If your revelation is
theologically wrong, it is likely your system of theology will be in error. Your soul is eternally at stake. The divine remedy for sin is through the
crucified God-man. He commands people to
repent for nullifying His divine, truthful and inerrant Word. Scripture interprets itself, and this is the
divine principle of the Reformation and from Scripture itself. Turn, mediate and memorize the Word of God,
and trust it as a gift from God so you may believe, and be forgiven. Understand the sinner’s need for the unified,
perfect righteousness of Christ imputed to them by faith alone. We are sure of the promises of God in
salvation because of His unchanging Word.
Will you submit, then, to His unchanging message of faith and repentance
to the great Incarnate Light revealed exclusively in His preserved Word?
…the Bible, so rich in
symbolism, is itself a symbol…It is a sovereign symbol of the Book of Faith,
the Will of God as man has learned it in the midst of the years…Thus, by the
very honor which Masonry pays to the Bible, it teaches us to revere every book
of faith…joining hands with the man of Islam as he takes oath on the Koran, and
with the Hindu as he makes covenant with God upon the book that he loves best.[iii]
This dark world in and of itself offers no certainty
of divine truth but muddled thinking, worldly philosophies, religious
absurdness and superstitious thinking.
It is a world that comprises of various understandings that do not avail
before God as being divinely true, authentic, biblical and compatible with
revealed revelation in Christianity found solely in the divine Word (both Old
and New Testaments). Turning to other
“revelations” of this spiritually perverse world fails to submit to true
revelation. But this true revelation did not emerge from this
world nor did it come from the prince of the power of the air. Rather true revelation came from the God of
all truth and grace. Think of the
revelation of the enemies of ancient Israel. Do you think the Hebrews led by Moses accepted
the revelation of their opposing enemies?
Would Moses accept the revelation of Balaam? Would David accept the revelation of the
Philistines? Would Jesus Christ accept
the revelation of the scribes and Pharisees in their traditions of men?
This God of truth and grace in
divine Scripture is not the God of Freemasonry but it is the God of the
Reformed faith. He is found in the
sacred pages of divine Scripture; He is the Truth itself. He is not a God Who is of Masonry but He is
the God who is divinely triune. The God
of Masonry is not the God who breathed out the Word. The different God of Masonry brings different
revelation, and a vastly different understanding of the sacred Scriptures. Does God reveal Himself as the Lord in other
sources of knowledge in Kabalistic doctrines?
Is the God who inspired falsehood worthy of trust? Christians know God-breathed out the Word of
God. The Word of God is not found in the Quran, but in the holy pages of the
Christian Bible alone (the Protestant
canon), nor is it found in the books of Jezirah, in Sohar nor in the teachings
of Zoroaster. Submit to true divine revelation, walk with God
and live in peace with Him. But those
who submit to Masonry revelation in a life-long matter will lend themselves to
the second death: eternal hell.
If
the Bible is treated as any other religious book, it degrades the Bible,
because the Bible is divine rather then human in origin. It is the very Word of God and Voice of
God. It is ultimately God speaking to
man. No other book is like the Bible in
terms of being a holy book from God. There
are other books that claim to be a holy book from God but in reality the Bible
is solely the authentic Word of
God. Turn to the Christian Bible and
submit to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Other
alleged genuine revelations do not
provide a harmonious presentation of divine truth taken as a whole, but it
lends to confusion, false theologies of God, His nature, the impeccable nature
of His Word and the nature of soteriology.
These matters of faith and life are hardly trifling but the very eternal
destiny of the soul is at stake. If you
wish to be zealous; be zealous in repenting and turning from the sin of Masonry
revelation, surrender to the supremacy of the divine Word of God. Lingering in sin is no small matter, and
repentance toward the Trinity is well-pleasing to God, and He gets great glory
from it, because it is from His Spirit and His Word who gives His people grace.
No
Christian can submit to an organization that uses the Quran as a holy book from
God. The Christian has his heart hanging
on the Words of His Lord and Savior. The
written Word of God is not simply Words from men but it is the living and
active Word. It is the Word of grace
that changes the heart; it is the Word of patience and comfort; it is the Word
of power by the Holy Spirit; it is the Word of conviction of sin. Therefore it is nothing less then the
all-encompassing Word of God, wholly sufficient in all respects. The Christian does not hang on the Word of
another that is foreign to the sacred text of Scripture. No Christian can submit to the ways of
Freemasonry who embrace the ways of a Hindu. It is impossible for the Christian
to submit to these ways; and at the same time serve His God in good
conscience. Do you not want to live in
good conscience before men and God? If
you claim to be a Christian, and you are a Mason, consider the Words of the
Incarnate Savior. He is the Truth
Itself, and He speaks the truth: submit, then, to Him and heed what He
says. Turn away from your traditions,
and embrace the truth of God’s Word.
Masons who submit to other “revelations” is sin; it bears the bad fruit
of adhering to spiritual irrationality. The
Christian Bible does not teach that we are to revere other holy books. Suppose as a
Christian you claim to adhere to the Bible, and you participate in a religious
group that has people of different faiths adhering to their sacred book. You have compromised the faith of
Christianity because you are saying that the Bible is not matchless. You are saying by being a Freemason, “Your
book is as good as mine.” Understand
that the Bible is matchless, true, and divinely unique. As the birth of Christ is matchless and no
other birth can compare, so too, is the Book of the true Christian people. God-breathed out His Word as is seen in the
Old and New Testament. Let’s turn to
what Jesus did when tradition interfered with God’s divine Word.
The Prevailing Masonic opinion
is that the Bible is the only symbol of Divine Will, Law or Revelation, and not
that it contents are Divine Law, inspired, or revealed. So far, no responsible
authority has held that a Freemason must believe the Bible or any part of it.[iv]
Is the Bible believable and
true? Does the Bible alone contain God’s divine and authentic
law? Is it inspired and did God produce
an authentic revelation? This author
submits to you that special revelation is contained in the Christian Bible
alone. It is true. It is inspired. It is the very Word of Christ Jesus the
Incarnate King! The holy Scripture of
the Christian Bible is known to be vox
Dei (the “voice of God”) or verbum
Dei (the “Word of God”). When
theologians call the Christian Bible the “Word of God” we do not mean that it
was God’s own literal hand that wrote it or that it came from the presence of
heaven. The holy Scriptures communicates
to us many authors. In a cautious
hermeneutical study theologians notice that each human author has his own style,
usage of words, unique emphasis and standpoint.
Scripture never contradicts Scripture but it is on harmonious and
unanimous content of truth.
Let Masonry understand: other “holy” books of revelation are not like
the Bible in that the Bible is set apart; it is holy and it is sacred. Believe, then, that the books of the Bible alone are true, and they are
reliable. What, oh man, will you say to
the Incarnate Judge on that dreadful day?
Your words will not be voiced but dread and terror will be what you
experience. As Christ said, “have you
not read...?” You are responsible to
heed what Scripture says. Is it not true
that you do not know the power of God and the sacred Scriptures? Escape judgment, and heed the Words of the
Savior. Believe in the matchless Savior
from His matchless Word.
Why do theologians call the
Bible the “Word of God”? This is vitally
important because if Masonry would understand true revelation it would be a drastic step in arriving at divine
truth. Having the Scriptures does not
mean necessarily that interpreters
will arrive at the author’s intended meaning unless a true and thorough interpretation
is achieved. But if people would only
realize the divine treasure of truth that the Scriptures are, and how they
should not reject the truth already revealed in the Holy Book of Christ. Why is it necessary to have other books of
revelation? Isn’t the Scripture the
prize of Christ, and didn’t Christ have the ultimate and true view of
Scripture? Shouldn’t that move our
hearts to accept it alone as true special revelation from God? And if it doesn’t, what does that say about
our hearts? The holy Scripture is called
the Word of God because of its proclamation about itself, and that it is shown
to be divine rather then human in origin because there is divine evidence to
support it as such.
Let Masonry understand: the
words of the human authors from Scripture were alone inspired by God. The other books of religions show themselves
to be historically novel or inaccurate, a loss of “Thus says the Lord,” and
contradictory understandings of divine truth; to name a few. The human authors of the Bible did not simply
state their own views independent from God the Holy Spirit’s inspiration. Nor did the authors write in conformity with other religions of the
world (e.g., Christ is the Only Son of the Father). A surface level examination of religions of
the world, reveal that they are not harmonious but vastly different and contradictory. Paul, the apostle, wrote in 2 Timothy 3:16: “All
Scripture is given by inspiration of God…”
The term inspiration refers to
that which is “God-Breathed.”
God-Breathed out the holy Scriptures known as the Christian Bible. Divine Writ is God communicating to us
through the inspiration of the human authors by the Holy Spirit of God. Scripture came to us through human
authors. Ultimately it is God speaking
to man. The Scripture show themselves to
be God’s Word because the ancient, holy authors of holy Scripture rightly
professed, “Thus says the Lord.” Jesus,
the divine Word of Life, proclaims and declared, “Scripture cannot be
broken…” (John 10:35). It refers to the infallibility of
Scripture. He speaks of the complete
truthfulness of God’s Word, “Your word is truth…” (John 17:17).
If God’s Word is truth, it contains truthful statements from God through
the pen of guided human authors by God Himself.
What divine evidence are there that other “holy” books were divinely
inspired? Do they offer truthful statements
regarding divine truth? Submit to the
God-Breathed Word and learn real divine truth!
Under the question “Are the V.S.L. (Volume of Sacred Law) and the Book
of the Law the same as the Bible?” it says,
In the Christian lands the
holy book of the prevailing faith is the Great Light. In American and English lodges that book is
the Holy Bible. A Masonic lodge cannot
exist without the V.S.L., the Book of the Law.
But in the lands where there are other religions, the sacred book of
those religions becomes their Great Light.
What is important is that some volume containing divine revelation be
part of the furniture of the lodge.
Inasmuch as Freemasonry is not concerned with doctrine or dogma or sect
or denomination, but only with “that natural religion in which all men agree”
(Old Charges), it is only necessary that the V.S.L. be sacred to the members of
the lodge. The on American Altars is not
to be considered only as a Christian or a Jewish sacred book; it is a symbol of
the revealed will and teachings of the Great Architect of the Universe—a name
under which any Freemason can worship that Deity in Whom he puts his faith and
trust.[v]
How is it that “in Christian lands the holy book of
the prevailing faith is the Great Light”?
Is it possible to be a Freemason and a Christian at the same time? Is it consistent to hold to the tenets of
Freemasonry and Christianity? If someone
is a Freemason my questions to him would be: are you ignorant of what
Freemasonry teaches concerning matters of faith? Or do you know what Freemasonry teaches about
matters of faith? If you are ignorant of
what Freemasonry teaches, this author exhorts you to consider the truth of the
matter. If you claim you are a
Christian, do you believe in the Triune God?
Freemasonry holds that their God is not necessarily a Trinity. What makes Christianity what it is, is the
Trinitarian nature of God. Christianity
is Trinitarianism. To reject the Blessed
and Holy Trinity is to reject divine and true revelation, and to forfeit your
soul. Do you consider the God of
Christianity Baalim? Freemasonry
does! We shall see what they teach on
this in the next chapter.
Who
or what is the Great Light? Is the Great
Light really each person’s own religious text?
Is it divinely preserved? But,
again, who is the Great Light? This
author submits that the Great Light is not a person’s own, man-made religious
text. Rather the Great Light is the Lord
Jesus Christ, and surely, only true revelation.
Christ is the Light of the World.
There is no Light that is the Supreme Light other then Jesus
Christ. He is the true Light of the
World. Satan masquerades himself as an
angel of light. His messengers of sin
imitate Satan as angels of light.
Reprobate human beings masquerades themselves as persons of true
light. But in reality the messengers of
true light are holy angels, and true saints.
Submit to the divine Scriptures because the Incarnate true Light bears
witness that it alone is the true final authority. Honor the divine Word as the Incarnate Word
did. Doesn’t Scripture tell us that Satan
is mankind’s ultimate enemy? Why
entertain beliefs that he has endorsed?
Later we shall see who Freemasons worship: are you prepared to embrace
the truth of Scripture about what Freemasons actually teach? May God open
your mind to understand His blessed truth!
Let’s continue to expound this vital issue.
The God of Christianity is
directly inferior to the God of Freemasonry.
The Great Architect of the Universe is alleged to be in all religions,
but this God is clouded by personal beliefs in different religions. The God of Christianity is approachable and
knowable, but the God of the Craft is unknowable and unapproachable. To serve a God who is unknowable and
unapproachable is to serve a God who does not exist. The God of Christianity is real and true, and
we must serve Him because He is the God who is true and real. This author understands that Masonry does not
reject or embrace the Trinity, but Masonry places it in a class of small
significance. Yet the Craft teaches that
the Trinity must be avoided, and Christian monotheism is incompatible with
historic Christianity. How is it if
Christians can be Freemasons, that the Craft denies a fundamental doctrine of
the Christian faith? You see, if one
does not regard the Christian Bible as infallible and inerrant, it is likely
that the doctrines in Scripture (provided by theologians in a systematic
fashion) will be of small importance, and avoided. How is this compatible with authentic
Christianity? To believe that the
Trinity is of small importance is almost as bad as rejecting it, and avoiding
the doctrine of the Trinity is almost as bad denying it. But, again, respectfully this author maintains
that Masonry denies it in practice.
If the Christian Bible is
placed with other books of religion it is showing dishonor to Scripture, and
ultimately to God Himself. Freemasonry
is saying that other books of religion are just as important as the Bible is,
and just as true. If other books of
religion show themselves to be inauthentic in terms history and matters of
faith, and spiritually devoid of the Spirit of God, how, then, is it acceptable
as the Christian Bible? The God of
Masonry does not provide a reliable understanding of divine truth. That is, what it teaches is contrary to
Scripture, and the historic Christian faith.
What of the acceptance of the possibility of attributing divinity to
other figures of other religions? Isn’t
the divinity of Christ a unique and special doctrine that shows that only Jesus
was the God-man? How do you suppose you show
honor to Christ by saying someone else could have been like Him? Doesn’t the Father have an only Son? Is not Jesus Christ the only Beloved Son of
the Father? Was God the Father pleased in another? How is it that the Scripture supports Jesus
as the only Son of the Father; being well-pleased, and He always did what was
pleasing to the Father, yet you say He was merely a great moral teacher, and
leave the possibility open to apply divinity to Him, and equate Him with other
figures of religion? The divinity of
Jesus is not a minor issue. In fact, it
is vitally essential to have eternal life.
No human being has eternal life if they say Jesus was merely a great
moral teacher. But Freemasonry goes
further then that. It is a matter of
Freemason doctrine that Jesus was not God, and to believe, embrace or trust in
Jesus as God, is a human invention. If
it is not Freemason doctrine what is it?
If the divinity of Jesus is a matter of eternal importance, and the soul
is lost without it, how shall we understand how a Christian can be a
Freemason? Freemasonry teaches the
universality of believing in the God of the worshipper. It does not matter which God it is. On the contrary, according to truth, Jesus
Christ is Incarnate Deity, and there is salvation in no one else. The Christian Bible teaches the exclusivity
of Jesus Christ. That is, one must put
personal faith in Him alone (Acts 4:12).
Do you suppose it is a novel doctrine from the sacred pages of Holy Writ
that Christ is Divine? No, in fact, this
doctrine of Christianity was taught from the very beginning. It was taught by the Old Testament saints
(Isaiah 9:6), God the Father (Hebrews 1), Christ Himself (John 20:28-29) and
His apostles (Hebrews 1:8). What a
daring religion to suppose the opposite of what God has revealed in His Word! How is it that it is not a religion when it
has denials Christian beliefs, and has affirmations on matters of
religion? If one turns to the Christian
Bible, and correctly understands it by the Spirit of Truth, there will be no
need for Freemasonry, but it rejects the Bible as the sole infallible source
even though it is strangely and allegedly revered.
[i] Pike.
pp. 321, 567.
[ii] Pike, p. 13-14.
[iii] Joseph Fort Newton. The Bible in Masonry, In The Holy Bible,
The Great Light in Masonry, Containing the Old and New Testaments. Masonic ed. Philadelphia: A.J. Holman Co., 1957, p. 5.
[iv] Henry Wilson Coil. Coil’s
Masonic Encyclopedia, (New York: Macoy Publishing and Masonic Supply
Company, 1971), p. 520.
[v] Eighty-One Questions About Freemasonry, Third Printing, (Issued
Under Authority of The Grand Lodge of Oklahoma, January 1967), p. 24.
