Mess With the Word and You Mess With Jesus

159 - Today's Prime Time Devo comes from 1Ti 6:3, “If anyone teaches otherwise and does not consent to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which accords with godliness, ( 1 Tim 6:3) Paul has dealt with the how to's of dealing with the elders (the pastors) who rule well and those who don't rule well in the preceding chapter. Now he spends some time on dealing with “ANYONE” who would teach things in the congregation that are contrary to the words of Jesus and the doctrine that accords with (is in agreement with) godliness. This dealing with false teaching in the church has been a major theme of this first letter to Timothy. A teacher in the church of Jesus Christ must be given to the wholesome words of the Bible, the words of Jesus Christ. These words are wholesome, they are healthy for the soul. Pr 4:20-22 says, “My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings. 21 Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart; 22 For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.” Peter put it this way in Joh 6:68, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.” It is so tempting for teachers to put their own spin on things as they wrangle over words and craft doctrines that tickle their ears and the ears of others. But the Bible has a strict warning against this tactic: Re 22:18, 19 “For I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; 19 and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.”And in De 4:2 "You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. The OT points forward to Jesus and the cross, the NT points back to Jesus and the cross, and both speak to the Final Day of Judgment. Don't mess with the Word of God. You mess with the Word of God....you mess with Jesus! He IS the Word! Joh 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.