Posted on 08/22/2021 11:37:35 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell” (Proverbs 23:13-14).
The rod here is like the shepherd’s rod. That thing was like a club with a round end on it. David said, “Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me” (Psalm 23:4). No, the rod is not a baseball bat as modern psychology would like us to think of it as some sort of tool for abuse. It is not.
The sheep were comforted by the fact that that shepherd carried his rod. It was to beat the wolves and other dangerous predators off, and it was also to grab a sheep that had wandered away off the path and set him back on the way, back in the flock.
Where Christians get into trouble is that they too wander from the way and find themselves out in the world. This is where God’s chastening comes in: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth” (Hebrews 12:6). “Get back into the flock!”
You can put it down, a healthy Christian that stays out of church is in desperate trouble. That is where the wolves are. The wolves won’t come around the flock, at least in an open way—there are some wolves in sheep clothing in every Bible-believing church. But outside of the church, the wolves don’t have to disguise themselves. But as long as the preacher is preaching the Book and is preparing the people against the day of battle—those wolves won’t get away with much. What the wolves do is to peel folks off from the fringes and get them away from the flock where they are devoured.
That rod is a symbol of power and authority, and a source of comfort for the sheep.
Many do not know God's truth because they are being duped by commercial “preachers” and false religions. God warned us of “false prophets” and religious deceivers. Satan has many weird religions and a great host of shyster pastors who are working overtime to keep people away from the Gospel and biblical truth.
One such Texas pastor, Joel Osteen, who presides at the nation's largest church, was recently interviewed on Larry King Live. When asked what happens to those who do not accept and believe the Gospel, the flamboyant preacher replied, “That's up to God,'' and the interview was over.
Many other big “religious personalities” have had the same chance to tell Larry King and millions of those watching about the truth of salvation and Heaven and Hell. God says that if we warn not the wicked, “his blood will I require at thine hand” [Ezekiel 3:18].
Huge, religious, mall— like playhouses are being built to keep the lost entertained and in a state of utter confusion. God says, “False teachers . . . shall bring in damnable heresies . . . And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of” (2 Peter 2:1, 2).
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