The Teachings of Timothy Jennings

An Evaluation by Eugene Prewitt

Introduction

I first heard of Timothy Jennings in connection with the Good News Tour. This was not, in my mind, a positive association. But it was not until a friend of mine suggested that my students listen to a series of his lectures that I took a personal interest in his teachings.

I listened to six hour-long lectures by Dr. Jennings while taking copious notes. From these notes I wrote a brief paper for the administrative committee at Ouachita Hills College. This paper strongly recommended that we not assign our students to listen to Dr. Jennings’ lectures.

Several months later I had, in one week, two individuals call me and ask about Dr. Jennings’ teachings. After writing the second response (to the two individuals) I concluded that I should place my paper to the executive committee in the public domain. I posted it on my website.

About three weeks later I was surprised to receive a call from Dr. Jennings himself. He kindly informed me that I had misrepresented him in my paper and had not acted in harmony with Bible principles by placing that paper in the public domain without having first contacted him.

That phone call persuaded me that I had not in all respects well summarized his teachings. It did not, however, persuade me that Brother Jennings was safer than I had first indicated.

This paper will replace the original. I hope to improve on that paper by more accurately representing what Timothy Jennings really teaches, by giving him an opportunity to see the paper before it is in the public eye, and by clarifying statements that were ambiguous or easily misunderstood.

But first, let me address the reason that I do not believe I must confront false teachers before exposing them. A false teacher neither offends me nor sins against me. I do not pretend to know his character. He is not ashamed of his teachings (if indeed he places them in the public domain). I oppose his teachings, not his person. And for that reason Romans 16:17-18 rather than Matthew 18, applies to my situation.

Yet I will admit that it is generally a good thing to talk to someone about what they believe before telling someone else what they believe. Misunderstandings are common. In the case of Mr. Jennings I felt that I well understood his position before writing. And after talking with him, I feel that I was fundamentally correct regarding what he teaches.

Initial Summary

Dr. Jennings’ lectures are content rich and are profusely illustrated. And if I am correct, Dr. Jennings is in grave danger.

Like Dr. Kellogg of yesteryear, he has been used by God to uncover a great deal of truth in his professional studies. His teachings regarding the relation of the various faculties of the mind (will, appetites, passions, reason, conscience, emotions, imagination, etc.) are profound and incredibly consistent with EGW’s teaching on the same.

And like Dr. Kellogg of yesteryear, he has woven into his presentations a deadly net of falsehoods that destroy the most fundamental of Christian virtues – faith.[1] I do not mean that Dr. Jennings teaches any of the same errors taught by Dr. Kellogg. Rather, I mean that both doctors eventually became icons of a dangerous mixture of truth and error.

In short, Dr. Jennings believes that God takes no initiative in causing prolonged pain during the destruction of the wicked, and that to prolong or cause punitive suffering is torture and that such a view of God (that he would cause prolonged pain as part of punishment) destroys love and trust.

More than this view, which is explained thoroughly in two of the lectures given at the Forest Lake church in Florida, and is alluded to in two others, Dr. Jennings has espoused a theory of the atonement that mirrors in some fundamental ways the moral influence theory[2].

He does not, for example, believe in substitutionary atonement. He makes light of the idea that sins must be “paid” for.

Jenning’s epistemology is troubling. He argues, when defending the views above, that we must reject any doctrine that requires us not to reason. But he explains this in such a way that if we believe that God is loving, and that God burns people for rebelling, such a dichotomy is not reasonable and the some point of it must be rejected.

Thus he, in his recorded lectures, inadvertently sets individual reason above inspiration. When a man’s reason can not grasp the harmony of two ideas (as Satan could not perceive any harmony between justice and mercy, a similar perplexity to the one facing Jennings), the man concludes that at least one of the ideas must be flawed. This has always been the essence of unbelief.

Jennings also repudiates ideas associated with the investigative judgment. He thinks not that sins are blotted from a record in heaven during the judgment. He mocks the idea that the our personal sins will be forever forgotten.

These views, woven into such a collection of profound insights into human nature, make for an extremely cogent parallel to the book Living Temple with its incredible insights into physiology interwoven around a philosophy of life-is-God.

And like the book Living Temple, which was critically evaluated by Jones, Waggoner, and several other notable messengers of God, and was pronounced harmless by them all, the lectures of Dr. Jennings seem to have elicited no protest from the audience. (This I gather from the 30 minute question and answer period at the conclusion of the final lecture.)

I must conclude that it would be irresponsible to encourage anyone to listen to his lectures.

The Doctrine of Justice

I have written elsewhere regarding the doctrine of justice. See, for example, my article on the draft.

There are several Bible facts about justice that relate to this discussion.

First, the angels (who are in the know) believe God’s judgments are perfectly fair. These heavenly beings witness pain and suffering caused by the seven last plagues. These plagues are punitive rather than corrective. (That is, they occur after the close of human probation.) And the suffering is fair, it is just. God is “holy” who judges the wicked. That is obvious, “manifest”, according to the righteous ones in Rev 15.

. . . the rivers and fountains of waters . . .  became blood. 5  And I heard the angel of the waters say, “Thou art righteous, O Lord, which art, and wast, and shalt be, because thou hast judged thus. 6  For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.” 7  And I heard another out of the altar say, “Even so, Lord God Almighty, true and righteous are thy judgments.”

And the fourth angel poured out his vial upon the sun; and power was given unto him to scorch men with fire. 9  And men were scorched with great heat, and blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory. 10  . . . and [some] gnawed their tongues for pain, 11  And blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds. Re 16:4-11

And [the righteous] sing . . .  saying, “Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints. 4  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.” Re 15:3-4.

Second, when brethren study the Bible and despite their best efforts to harmonize yet can not see eye-to-eye, God has ordained the gifts of the Spirit to serve as a protection. They keep us from being blown around by winds of doctrine. And on the question of God’s executive judgment, the prophetic gift speaks plainly.

And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers; . . . That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; Eph 4:11, 14.

In the Garden of Gethsemane Christ suffered in man’s stead, and the human nature of the Son of God staggered under the terrible horror of the guilt of sin, until from His pale and quivering lips was forced the agonizing cry, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me”; but if there is no other way by which the salvation of fallen man may be accomplished, then “not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39).  {TMK 64.2}

The power that inflicted retributive justice upon man’s substitute and surety, was the power that sustained and upheld the suffering One under the tremendous weight of wrath that would have fallen upon a sinful world. Christ was suffering the death that was pronounced upon the transgressors of God’s law. It is a fearful thing for the unrepenting sinner to fall into the hands of the living God. This is proved by the history of the destruction of the old world by a flood, by the record of the fire which fell from heaven and destroyed the inhabitants of Sodom. But never was this proved to so great an extent as in the agony of Christ, . . . when He bore the wrath of God for a sinful world. . . .  {TMK 64.3}

Man has not been made a sin-bearer, and he will never know the horror of the curse of sin which the Saviour bore. No sorrow can bear any comparison with the sorrow of Him upon whom the wrath of God fell with overwhelming force. Human nature can endure but a limited amount of test and trial. The finite can only endure the finite measure, and human nature succumbs; but the nature of Christ had a greater capacity for suffering; for the human existed in the divine nature, and created a capacity for suffering to endure that which resulted from the sins of a lost world. The agony which Christ endured, broadens, deepens, and gives a more extended conception of the character of sin, and the character of the retribution which God will bring upon those who continue in sin. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ.  {TMK 64.4}

Satan rushes into the midst of his followers and tries to stir up the multitude to action. But fire from God out of heaven is rained upon them, and the great men, and mighty men, the noble, the poor and miserable, are all consumed together. I saw that some were quickly destroyed, while others suffered longer. They were punished according to the deeds done in the body. Some were many days consuming, and just as long as there was a portion of them unconsumed, all the sense of suffering remained. Said the angel, “The worm of life shall not die; their fire shall not be quenched as long as there is the least particle for it to prey upon.”  {EW 294.1}

The wicked receive their recompense in the earth. Proverbs 11:31. They “shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts.” Malachi 4:1. Some are destroyed as in a moment, while others suffer many days. All are punished “according to their deeds.” The sins of the righteous having been transferred to Satan, he is made to suffer not only for his own rebellion, but for all the sins which he has caused God’s people to commit. His punishment is to be far greater than that of those whom he has deceived. After all have perished who fell by his deceptions, he is still to live and suffer on. In the cleansing flames the wicked are at last destroyed, root and branch–Satan the root, his followers the branches. The full penalty of the law has been visited; the demands of justice have been met; and heaven and earth, beholding, declare the righteousness of Jehovah.  {GC 673.1}

Third, the idea that men receive a reward that is “according to their works” is a theme of scripture. The reward of the wicked includes “tribulation” and “wrath” and punishment more sore than dying without mercy under the law of Moses.

2Co 5:10  . . . that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

1Pe 1:17  . . . without respect of persons judgeth according to every man’s work.

2Co 11:15  . . . whose end shall be according to their works.

Re 20:12  . . . the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.

Re 20:13  . . . they were judged every man according to their works.

Re 2:23  . . . I will give unto every one of you according to your works.

2Ch 6:30  . . . and render unto every man according unto all his ways

Jer 17:10  . . . I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.

Ps 62:12  . . . for thou renderest to every man according to his work.

Isa 3:10  Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him: for they shall eat the fruit of their doings. Isa 3:11  Woe unto the wicked! it shall be ill with him: for the reward of his hands shall be given him.

Mt 16:27  . . .  and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Ro 2:5  But after thy hardness and impenitent heart treasurest up unto thyself wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God; Ro 2:6  Who will render to every man according to his deeds: Ro 2:7  To them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for glory and honour and immortality, eternal life: Ro 2:8  But unto them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, indignation and wrath, Ro 2:9  Tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man that doeth evil, . . .  For there is no respect of persons with God.

He 10:29  Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? 30  For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. 31  It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. Heb 10:28-31.

Fourth, Christ’s illustrations of the executive judgment harmonize well with the idea of a finite punishment that is painful and precisely just. And when Ezra prayed about God’s judgments on Israel (that included great suffering and horrible deaths inflicted by Babylon), he acknowledged that they had been punished “less” than they deserved.

Mt 18:34  And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

Ezra 9:13  Seeing that thou our God hast punished us less than our iniquities deserve.

Fifth, the danger of experiencing the wrath of God is part of the third angel’s message.

Re 14:10  The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb:

In short the doctrine of justice is present truth and it is no surprise that the devil would oppose it.

Dethroning Reason

Now when I talked to Dr. Jennings on the phone (April 17, 2009) he referred me to a statement where Ellen White talks about the idea of God torturing sinners as being a falsehood that overthrows reason.

From listening to his lectures it seems to me that Dr. Jennings believes that the purposeful painful punishment of sinners is irrational if one believes in a loving God. Now to me it seems perfectly rational that a loving God would nevertheless be willing to be fair even if being so was painful to himself. To inflict pain on the man that ordered torture for a humble servant of Jesus seems only just. In fact, it is when the persecutors are already dead that the blood of the martyrs calls out for God to avenge “our blood” in Revelation 6. So painful punishment seems rational to me and irrational to Jennings.

But whether it seems rational to Tim Jennings or myself is not a very important question. God is wiser than man. We must assume that his ideas are higher than ours even when we can not attain to them. Nevertheless, reason is one of the ruling powers in the Christian mind. It, rather than the appetites, is to guide the will. And when reason is “dethroned”, it is not because a man chooses to believe God’s Word. Rather, it is because he has become either a lunatic or a slave of his passions.

The following is the statement to which Tim was referring. I hope you can see that it does in no way excuse a man for exalting his reason over the plain statements of scripture. See the last sentence where teachers are bidden to check their sources of authority.

“I have since thought that many inmates of the lunatic asylums were brought there by experiences similar to my own. Their tender consciences have been stricken with a sense of sin, and their trembling faith dared not claim the promised pardon of God. They have listened to descriptions of the orthodox hell until it has seemed to curdle the very blood in their veins, and burnt an impression upon the tablets of their memory. Waking or sleeping, the frightful picture has ever been before them, until reality has become lost in imagination, and they see only the wreathing flames of a fabulous hell and hear only the shrieking of the damned. Reason has become dethroned and the brain is filled with the wild phantasy of a terrible dream. Those who teach the doctrine of an eternal hell, would do well to look more closely after their authority for so cruel a belief.  {LS80 153.3}

Ellen White does attack as contrary to our sense of justice the doctrine of eternal torment, or the doctrine that God enjoys punishing the wicked. But the very logic of the statements implies that a finite punishment would be a just yet unpleasant reality. See the second portion of the appendix.

The irony is that Satan, by teaching eternal torment, hoped to lead men to some of the very same conclusions that Tim Jennings has espoused. Men would conclude that God’s punishments must not be expected to be “literally” fulfilled.

Satan told his angels to make a special effort to spread the deception and lie first repeated to Eve in Eden, Thou shalt not surely die. And as the error was received by the people, and they believed that man was immortal, Satan led them still further to believe that the sinner would live in eternal misery. Then the way was prepared for Satan to work through his representatives, and hold up God before the people as a revengeful tyrant; that those who do not please him, he will plunge into hell, and cause them ever to feel his wrath; and that they will suffer unutterable anguish, while he will look down upon them with satisfaction, as they writhe in horrible sufferings and eternal flames. Satan knew that if this error should be received, God would be dreaded and hated by very many, instead of being loved and admired; and that many would be led to believe that the threatenings of God’s word would not be literally fulfilled; for it would be against his character of benevolence and love, to plunge beings whom he had created into eternal torments. {1SG 114.2}

Though Jennings has not gone as far down the road as the universalists (Ellen White mentions them in the context of the statement above), yet he has taken one key step in the same direction. The “threatenings,” some of them, have been explained as non-literal prophesies.

Still it is true that lost men, even while being consumed, will be bemoaning their sins. The thoughts of one such man are recorded by Solomon.

Pr 5:11  And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed, 12  And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof; 13  And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! 14  I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

While this essay is far from a thorough treatment of justice, and even further from a rounded treatment of atonement (see my article, “Atonement Cleansing”), yet it is sufficient I think to demonstrate why Jennings should not be followed as he travels down the road of being wise “above that which is written.”

Eze 33:20  Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. O ye house of Israel, I will judge you every one after his ways.

God’s ways are fair.

Appendix Part I – A Critique of the Six Lectures Given at Forest Lake Academy

Lecture One

In his first lecture Dr. Jennings sets the stage for what he will develop more thoroughly in lectures four and six. He begins to explain that “lies believed” destroy love and trust. Then he begins to hint that the audience may even believe lies. Then, to paraphrase (all statements in quotes are quotes from my notes, paraphrases only of Dr. Jennings) him from my notes,

“The most destructive lies we believe are lies about God himself. Some of you will be shocked by the evidence. I want you to look at the information and weigh it.”

This idea is important to him. He emphasizes repeatedly that:

“Trust broken makes fear and selfishness…as a natural consequence. This idea is known as survival of the fittest – the opposite of God’s principle of love.”

What comes clear later is that if one believes in the standard Adventist position on the executive judgment and the substitutionary atonement, one will not trust God, but will become selfish and self protecting from such a cruel Being.

The first lecture ends with six suggestions. Suggestion number two introduces an idea that will be repeated throughout the series,

“If you have seen me [Jesus], you have seen the Father.”

This Jennings develops into a hermeneutic such that if Jesus didn’t punish then the Father won’t, if Jesus could forgive men before dying, then the Father could forgive men without Jesus dying. But that comes in lectures 4 and 6, and the person listening doesn’t realize what the repetition of the “principle” is setting him up to experience.

Lecture 2

This is the lecture on the Law of Liberty. It is fascinating. The short of it is that if a husband, for example, threatens to beat his wife if she will not obey, the natural consequence of this will be that

“love is damaged, and eventually destroyed. A desire to rebel is instilled.”

“If the woman stays, she loses her individuality, she becomes a shadow person.”

The principle seems true and obvious as it relates to marriage. But Dr. Jennings has wider applications in mind, and he begins to make them in this lecture.  If you believe that God threatens disobedience with punishment, “love is damaged” and see above for the rest. This places the cause for rebellion squarely at the feet of whoever inspired a prophet to threaten. Dr. Jennings indicates that he is very aware of the implications (though there is no evidence he is thinking of the implication just mentioned).

On a light note in a serious article, he says that the “stimulus package of Bush is a example of the law of love.” I don’t think this represents his best judgment.

In this lecture Jennings introduces one of what he calls “lies”, namely that:

“One of the lies is that the law of God brings death.”

He is saying that the law does not condemn men in such a way as to require their death.

He says:

“Does God have to use his power to kill? To inflict penalties?”

The implied answer is “no.”

There is an illustration that Jennings uses four or five times in his lecture series. Imagine, he says, a happily married couple. Someone approaches the wife with digitally altered photographs that falsely prove that her faithful husband has been having an affair. How will she react. Each time he uses the illustration he concludes:

“Lies believed lead to fear and selfishness.”

The problem with this illustration and conclusion is that it is one-sided. If the only kind of lie that could be told about God is that He is cruel, Jennings’ illustration would be more sensible. But there is an opposite type of lie, that God accepts you as you are. What does this lie lead to? Not “fear and selfishness” but self-confidence and selfishness. There are many lies and they produce a plethora of evil effects.

Lecture Three

In this lecture, on the family, Jennings begins to really advertise for his future lectures on the issues. He begins by making the case that lies about God are commonly believed and are the reason that people have problems with their relation to God. He urges people to come to the fourth lecture.

Like much in the first two lectures, this lecture is full of useful material on human-human interaction. But he makes one questionable point by suggesting a different translation of the proverb. I have not checked into this, but my gut reaction is that this is the wrong solution to the problem of well-raised lost children:

“Raise a child according to his way and when he is old he will not depart from it.”

Ironically, and interestingly, Dr. Jennings makes a good point about the damage done by threatening consequences to children and then not following through. He says the children will learn not to trust their parent. If only he had thought the implications of this through in relation to his theology regarding the judgment….

Lecture Four

“Our weapons are not spiritual, the battlefield is the mind, a war over ideas about what God is like. What happened in [a patient’s] mind when the preacher said what he did? She was hardened.”

This is the introduction to the primary lecture on what God is like.

The lecture boils down to “seven basic strategies” Satan uses, and defenses that “demolish Satan’s strongholds in our minds.”

1.         “Lies about God.”

“That he is cruel, etc.”

Lies harden us, and we create schemes to be protected from God.

“God will examine our healthy brother Jesus in our place.”

This second of what Jennings calls “lies” about God examining Jesus, is very subtle. It is the first attack on the idea of substitutionary atonement in the lectures. It mocks, by illustration, the idea of the Father accepting the righteousness of Jesus in place of our life in the judgment.

And how do we escape the lies?

“Defense: Examine the facts about the Father through the lens of Jesus. Don’t read the Old Testament to see Jesus, but study Jesus to understand the Old Testament.”

He sets up this unreal dichotomy as a standard. Such a standard would allow one to reinterpret obvious OT examples of executive execution.

Satan’s next strategy:

“2.       Antithetical beliefs. These turn off our brains.” Examples

“God is love.”

“Burn you in hell forever.”

“love and hell” are antithetical

“god is love” and “burn in hell” these “CANNOT BE TRUE AT THE SAME TIME”

Jennings must sense that at this point some in the audience are feeling very uncomfortable. The last statement seemed to indicate that even a finite hell where God burns men can not be true if “God is love.”

“Someone says ‘I take God at faith, I just believe him.’ “you just turned off your brain.”

This is a direct exalting of human reason over inspiration. But he comes back and challenges:

“You think you have some verses, some inspired materials, that indicate that God will burn people? Bring them this afternoon, I would love to tell you what I believe about hell.”

He says that the idea that “God will inflict penalties” is antithetical to “God is love.”

He says “God does not use his power to inflict external penalties. All God has to do is let go and if he lets go, we will die.”

What is the defense against such so-called “lies” (that originate in Bible verses…)?

“Examine your beliefs in light of truth. Reject anything that requires you not to think.” And by this he seems to mean, anything that challenges your understanding, such as the harmony of justice and mercy.

Satan’s third strategy – to remove the meaning behind symbols.

He talks about how we sing about being cleansed “by the blood” as an example of an empty metaphor. He explains that “blood is life” and “the blood of Jesus is the life of Jesus.” “We are cleansed by the life of Jesus.”

But we are not cleansed, in the metaphor, by the blood in the lamb. We are cleansed by the blood spilled from the lamb. We are cleaned by the death, the shedding of the life, of Jesus. And this is an important point.

The fourth through seventh strategies are mostly well explained and harmless. But on the fifth… “Surrendering judgment to others.”

Here methinks that Dr. Jennings shows that he has read Graham Maxwell. He makes a point that we can not surrender our beliefs to the “28 beliefs” of the church and then launches into the “servants or friends” theme of Maxwell. But this is speculative on my part and he doesn’t make any applications here.

Lecture Five

Lecture 5 was on Depression. I didn’t take notes and was doing two things at once while listening to it.

Lecture Six

“Our Goal is to know God better, to develop trust and love and faith in God.”

Jennings begins with a list of myths about forgiveness.

One of these myths identified by Jennings is that “Forgiveness comes after the offender says ‘I’m sorry’”

His good point, that we should forgive before persons apologize, is extrapolated into a statement about forgiveness of sins: God has already forgiven us, even before we ask.

But while it is true that God loves us, gave all to save us, is not angry with us, yet the Bible places forgiveness as conditioned on confession and repentance.

“Myth three: Forgiveness requires payment.”

And this is the attack on substitutionary atonement.

“Anybody heard that forgiveness requires payment for our sins?”

“How many believe that Jesus died to pay our debt? That God forgives our debts as we forgive our debtors? If you collect the debt, can you forgive it? If you forgive it, can you collect it?”

Thus he confuses the issue of relationship and justice. I forgive my debtors as a response to God forgiving me. But I am not their Lawgiver. They sinned against God and hurt me. I forgive the hurt. The judgment deals with the sin. So God says “vengeance is mine, saith the Lord, and I will repay.”

He observes that in 1 Cor 13, “Love keeps no record of wrong” and uses this to belittle the idea of a record being kept of our sins in heaven.

He says that our view of atonement is a “split in the godhead” and thus false.

“Did Jesus need appeasement? Where did this distortion come from?”

Thus he seeks to equate what really expresses the idea of justice with what he calls appeasement. And that is a great fault.

He addresses this apparent objection to his views: “Without shedding of blood is no remission” He 9:22.

And his answer is a modern tweaking of the moral influence theory. Jesus died to show us love and thus change us. It is one truth pitted against another in such a way as to make the second look like a lie.

“ ‘[You say] the Father applies Christ’s record to our record and declares us innocent when we accept him.’ In what universe will it ever be true that Adam never sinned? If we say God declares us innocent, we make God out to be a liar.”

“The records will last through all eternity.”

You will find an attack on the doctrine of the blotting out of sins; you will find an attack on the use of records in the judgment of consecrated persons; You will find that sins are blotted “not from a book” but from our character. You will find that the punishment for sin is the damage the sinner experiences in sinning.

You will find him answer an objection or two about God’s OT threatenings by saying that God was desperate and risked being misunderstood by rebels by communicating in a way they might listen – in other words, (my extrapolation, not his:) God didn’t mean what He said.

You will find in the Q and A, after the lecture, that a lady asked him more about “hell.”

His summary is that God is a fire that burns sin, not material things, so the people won’t be burned, but will die naturally from the brightness of God and the sin in them will be naturally consumed by the fire of God’s presence, so God will not actually do anything to destroy them.

And this flies entirely in the face of both scripture and the Spirit of Prophecy.

You will find the strangest argument from the Greek word for sulfur in the third angel’s message.

Appendix Part II – Ellen White on an Eternally Burning Hell and the Sufferings of the Lost

How repugnant to every emotion of love and mercy, and even to our sense of justice, is the doctrine that the wicked dead are tormented with fire and brimstone in an eternally burning hell; that for the sins of a brief, earthly life they are to suffer torture as long as God shall live. Yet this doctrine has been widely taught, and is still embodied in many of the creeds of Christendom. Said a learned doctor of divinity: “The sight of hell-torments will exalt the happiness of the saints forever. When they see others who are of the same nature and born under the same circumstances, plunged in such misery, and they so distinguished, it will make them sensible of how happy they are.” Another used these words: “While the decree of reprobation is eternally executing on the vessels of wrath, the smoke of their torment will be eternally ascending in view of the vessels of mercy, who, instead of taking the part of these miserable objects, will say, Amen, Alleluia! praise ye the Lord!”  {GC88 535.1}

Where, in the pages of God’s Word, is such teaching to be found? Will the redeemed in Heaven be lost to all emotions of pity and compassion, and even to feelings of common humanity? Are these to be exchanged for the indifference of the stoic, or the cruelty of the savage?—No, no; such is not the teaching of the Book of God. Those who present the views expressed in the quotations given above may be learned and even honest men; but they are deluded by the sophistry of Satan. He leads them to misconstrue strong expressions of Scripture, giving to the language the coloring of bitterness and malignity which pertains to himself, but not to our Creator. “As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die?” [Ezekiel 33:11.]  {GC88 535.2}

What would be gained to God should we admit that he delights in witnessing unceasing tortures; that he is regaled with the groans and shrieks and imprecations of the suffering creatures whom he holds in the flames of hell? Can these horrid sounds be music in the ear of Infinite Love? It is urged that the infliction of endless misery upon the wicked would show God’s hatred of sin as an evil which is ruinous to the peace and order of the universe. Oh, dreadful blasphemy! As if God’s hatred of sin is the reason why he perpetuates sin. For, according to the teachings of these theologians, continued torture without hope of mercy maddens its wretched victims, and as they pour out their rage in curses and blasphemy, they are forever augmenting their load of guilt. God’s glory is not enhanced by thus perpetuating continually increasing sin through ceaseless ages.  {GC88 536.1}

It is beyond the power of the human mind to estimate the evil which has been wrought by the heresy of eternal torment. The religion of the Bible, full of love and goodness, and abounding in compassion, is darkened by superstition and clothed with terror. When we consider in what false colors Satan has painted the character of God, can we wonder that our merciful Creator is feared, dreaded, and even hated? The appalling views of God which have spread over the world from the teachings of the pulpit have made thousands, yes, millions, of skeptics and infidels.  {GC 536.2}

The theory of eternal torment is one of the false doctrines that constitute the wine of the abomination of Babylon, of which she makes all nations drink. Revelation 14:8; 17:2. That ministers of Christ should have accepted this heresy and proclaimed it from the sacred desk is indeed a mystery. They received it from Rome, as they received the false sabbath. True, it has been taught by great and good men; but the light on this subject had not come to them as it has come to us. They were responsible only for the light which shone in their time; we are accountable for that which shines in our day. If we turn from the testimony of God’s word, and accept false doctrines because our fathers taught them, we fall under the condemnation pronounced upon Babylon; we are drinking of the wine of her abomination.  {GC 536.3}

A large class to whom the doctrine of eternal torment is revolting are driven to the opposite error. They see that the Scriptures represent God as a being of love and compassion, and they cannot believe that He will consign His creatures to the fires of an eternally burning hell. But holding that the soul is naturally immortal, they see no alternative but to conclude that all mankind will finally be saved. Many regard the threatenings of the Bible as designed merely to frighten men into obedience, and not to be literally fulfilled. Thus the sinner can live in selfish pleasure, disregarding the requirements of God, and yet expect to be finally received into His favor. Such a doctrine, presuming upon God’s mercy, but ignoring His justice, pleases the carnal heart and emboldens the wicked in their iniquity.  {GC 537.1}

Diverse and Strange Doctrines

How to Know which Winds Demand our Attention

A study prepared for Larissa Brown by Eugene Prewitt, February 2008

Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein. Heb 13:9

It is a simple matter to realize that Satan would like to distract men from their duty. Less obvious, however, is the way of determining which doctrinal issues are the distractions. Certainly it is our duty to study.

And it would not do to say that any doctrine that seems unimportant is a distracting one. The importance of the truth may not always be apparent to the casual observer. It makes no sense to some, for example, why God would use Sabbath as a dividing issue in the end of time.

Yet He will. And a careful study reveals the perfect propriety of choosing the fourth commandment as the basis of the final test.

Our text indicates that there are doctrines that should be labeled “diverse and strange.” To obey the text we must have some way of knowing which doctrines these are. Otherwise we can not resist being carried around by them.

Here are a few observations from the text:

1.         The strange doctrines are, metaphorically, winds. That is how they can carry persons about.

2.         There are good doctrines that differ somewhat from the strange ones. They establish the heart “with grace.”

3.         The strange doctrines are “meats.” This is apparently in contrast with doctrinal “milk” as described earlier in the same book.

4.         The strange “meats” occupy persons – keep them busy.

5.         The business does not “profit” persons.

With these hints we may find enough information to help us recognize which doctrines should not be permitted to carry us around.

Winds

Eph 4:14  That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 15  But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

From this passage we perceive that metaphorical children are more likely to be tossed around by winds of doctrine. From the verses before it (11-13) we find that God gave the gifts of the Spirit to prevent us from being carried about by the winds.

We would also learn that the winds are promoted by cunningly wise men who are anxious to promote their views.

And we would learn from these two verses that the opposite of being carried away is to speak “the truth in love” while growing up into the character of Christ.

We could conclude that the unhealthful doctrinal winds would be opposed by the gifts operating in the church, and that they would be zealously promoted by intriguing arguments.

It follows logically, at least, that the promoters would of necessity need to find some way to undermine the credibility of the gifts which expose their error.

Established with Grace

Stability is a Salvational issue. Those that endure to the end are saved. Matthew 24:15. Those that hold their confidence steadfast receive the promise. The others fall back to perdition. Heb 10:35-39. (See also 2Pe 1:4; 2:21-22; 1 Co 15:1-2.)

“The Lord is faithful, who shall stablish you, and keep you from evil.” 2Th 3:3.

Holiness is the goal of stability. We are established, or settled, so that we will resist temptation. This process of being established in our resistance, the work of grace, takes “a while.”

1Pe 5:10  But the God of all grace, who hath called us unto his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered a while, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you.

Our leading text in this study contrasted the effect of “strange doctrines” with “grace.” While the latter gives stability to our hearts, the former do not. Then the more we learn about the way that grace builds us up, the better we will be able to indentify those “diverse” doctrines that make little contribution to our strength.

Doctrinal errors in Paul’s day were opposed[1] and this strengthened the church.

Ac 16:4  And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem. 5  And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

What is the connection between resolving the doctrinal issue and the churches being established? Doctrinal division tends to bring out the worst in people. And it is difficult to bring new believers into churches that are the scenes of heated arguments.

Hebrews 13:9 contrasts this effect with that of our hearts being established with grace. It is grace that gives us “a good hope” and “everlasting consolation” and so comforts our “hearts.” When our heart is thus encouraged we are established in our right doing. We are morally lifted.

2Th 2:15 Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, 17  Comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work.

Our hearts are established in these good words and works with love. By leading us to a more fervent love for our brethren God intends to settle us, to prepare us for Christ’s Coming.

1Th 3:12 And the Lord make you to increase and abound in love one toward another, and toward all men, even as we do toward you: 13  To the end he may stablish your hearts unblameable in holiness before God, even our Father, at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all his saints.

Argument, of course, does not tend to increase our mutual affection.

Yet doctrinal unity, rather than doctrinal apathy, was the stabilizing element in Acts 16 above. As we received Christ Jesus by repentance and faith, so we are to walk “in him, rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught.” Col. 2:6-7.

But what if there is an issue that conscientious brethren can not see eye-to-eye on, an issue not authoritatively settled by prophets in the manner of Acts 15? How do we achieve stabilizing love and accuracy of teaching in such a case?

Just such an issue did surface after the Acts 15 meeting. Many men felt that Jesus had given continuity to the Passover by saying, at the last supper, that we should keep it till He returns.

They taught that we should keep the Passover as a holy day. While we need not eat the lamb (since we eat bread symbolizing the same thing), we should, they thought, eat the bitter herbs and participate in other Passover rites. Biblical presentations could be made on both sides of the question – for the complete abolition of the ceremonial system, and for the retention of this part of it.

Paul’s inspired answer to the perplexity promoted both mutual love and doctrinal integrity. We should, he taught, receive brethren that differ with us as brethren. But there is a limit to how we ought to receive them.

Ro 14:1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.

Men who kept the Passover and who ate only bitter herbs on that day were to be appreciated and treated with Christian respect despite their error. But they were not to be allowed to make an issue of their convictions for others.[2]

Why not receive the brother with his doubtful disputation intact? Disputations, doubtful ones, tend to “spoil” men through “philosophy.” This is the normal “tradition” of successful doctrinal winds. The various arguments bewilder the student. Inspiration itself is belittled as the confused person asks why inspired materials seem to contradict each other. See Col 2:6-10.

When Paul wanted to establish the Romans, he knew how he would accomplish the aim. The gifts of the Spirit build up love and faith. They encourage temperance and longsuffering. They settle doctrinal issues. In short, they establish the heart with grace.

Ro 1:11  For I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end ye may be established;

The gifted Timothy was directed to distinguish between teachings that were well known to the church community and teachings that were obscure. The former, being well represented in the plain teachings of the apostle, were to be fodder for the gospel cannon.

2Ti 2:1 ¶  Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2  And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

The verse above shows that doctrinal integrity is a family matter. Individuals need each other to attain it. They need “witness” from the community regarding what has been established to be true by faithful elders. They need teachers who have respect for well-established positions.

While each individual is to be a studious workman in mining the Word for truth, each is also charged to “strive not about words” when disagreements arise in the church family. Persons listening to such arguments tend to be overthrown in their faith.

2Ti 2:14  Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

2Ti 2:15  Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

While we should simultaneously study the Word and yet “shun profane and vain babblings.” “Profane” sounds sinister. But it really means “common.” It developed its evil sound from the truth that it is wicked to mix the sacred and the common.  “Vain” can mean either proud or useless. The latter meaning, empty talk, is intended here.

2Ti 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. 17  And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus; 18  Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.

So men are bidden to “study” in a way that God approves, to study helpful and sacred themes and not fall into bickering on other matters. Men with doctrinal innovations, ideas not taught by Paul among many witnesses, have a cancerous message.

In this passage two babblers concluded, likely from their study of Matthew 24, that the resurrection must have occurred at the Destruction of Jerusalem. “Some” were led astray by this fascinating teaching.

How are persons overthrown by doctrinal innovations? They are overthrown by the degradation of their moral character. Something is putrefying within even while they appear to grow in holiness, even while their followers are admiring their faithfulness.

Pride swells. The man becomes less inclined to hear “wholesome” correction. The bitter nature of argument continues its foul work.

1Ti 6:3  If any man teach otherwise, and consent not to wholesome words, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is according to godliness; 4  He is proud, knowing nothing, but doting about questions and strifes of words, whereof cometh envy, strife, railings, evil surmisings, 5  Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.

The moral work of building character, described in 2 Peter 1 as climbing a ladder of virtues, gives us stability. Though we have heard the “present truth” many times, we need to hear it repeatedly.

2Pe 2:12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.

Character building, in harmony with Christ’s core teachings, keeps us from falling. The cultivation of the ladder’s virtues assure us an abundant entrance “into the everlasting kingdom.” This is, and always will be, “present truth.”

More than this, the present truth’s tone and content condition us to recognize moral value with our spiritual sight. It enables to perceive the big-picture value of various topics and so aids us in identifying “strange doctrines.” But those who neglect either character-construction or defect-reduction lack such insight.

2Pe 1:9  But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. 10  Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: 11  For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. 12 ¶  Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth. 13  Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

So, in summary, how may our hearts be established with grace? By individual study of the Word with the aim of character development. The Word empowers such activity. Central doctrinal tenets of the church family, those well represented by the plain teachings of the apostles, deserve constant attention.

Side issues spoil men’s character while diverting their studious energies away from the work of character preparation. But the wholesome and plain teachings of the Bible are no canker. They are able to build us up.

Ac 20:32  And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.

Flesh for Infant Consumption

It is an irony that diverse and strange doctrines target spiritual “babes.” The metaphor of “meats” reminds us that spiritual life develops in an orderly fashion. While we still struggle with basic human courtesies or with being able to teach men skillfully how to use the Bible to “discern good and evil”, we are spiritual infants and need the “milk of the Word.”

1 Co 3:1  And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2  I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3  For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?

Heb 5:12  For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. Heb 5:13  For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. Heb 5:14  But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil.

1Pe 2:2  As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

And just as we are learning to crawl spiritually Satan arranges for us to have a pound of flesh. Long-term health issues mean nothing in this illustration. At the moment death from choking is the immanent danger.

We don’t have the teeth needed to be benefitted by the flesh. As our teeth mature we will also, simultaneously, grow in wisdom. By the time we are able to chew steak we will also be equipped (if taught well) to know which foods to accept and which to refuse.

This is all true in the spiritual life as well. The church, not more spiritual today than Corinth of yesteryear, is more a nursery than a school. While pastors are invited to play the discerning part of nurses, even the infants are commanded to “desire” the milk. These infants may diagnose their spiritual youthfulness with the keys of 1 Corinthians 3 and of Hebrews 5.

And how are the “strange” doctrines of Hebrews 13 characterized? They are “meats.” They are inappropriate for consumption at our age even if otherwise wholesome.

They are not, of course, wholesome. But at our age we might not be able to discern that, so we are to desire the “milk.”

What is the “milk”? What are those “first principles” of Hebrews 5:12? The answer is in the next verse after those already quoted:

Heb 6:1 . . .  the principles of the doctrine of Christ . . . the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith toward God, 2  Of the doctrine of baptisms, and of laying on of hands, and of resurrection of the dead, and of eternal judgment.

Here are the basics. Study repentance, study faith, study the meaning of baptism. Understand the purpose of ordination. Sink your shaft into the mine of truths that center around the hope of resurrection. Meditate on the scenes of the judgment.

And as mother’s milk has been found to jump-start the development of an infants immune system, so these topics will be found to inoculate many from the very errors that are being fed to the church today.

Occupied with Strange “Meats” or How Shall we Consider Jesus?

No activity promises such rich rewards as meditation regarding our Savior. In Him we find themes to engage our imagination with utmost profit. There we find marrow and meat in due season.

But there are questions that may be asked about Jesus which, so far from aiding our contemplation of him, actually serve to distract us from his beauties.

As an illustration, we might begin with a description of his physical being while on earth. Was he tall or short? Brown hair or black? Was he Semite or of those Ethiopian Jews of the black race? Did he have a large nose or a more common one? Were his legs of equal length?

Of course we may not be able to answer these questions with any certainty. Though we have artistic descriptions of many of the world’s great men, though Jesus was the hero of many in his own generation, these kind of details were never revealed. They are casual facts – truths that carry no moral value.

The beauty of Jesus is “holiness.” We adore Him, not for his appearance, but for his character. We love Him, for example, because He first loved us. We fear Him because of his infinite power as manifest in the creation of the universe.

Ps 96:9  O worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

1Jo 4:19  We love him, because he first loved us.

Ro 1:20  For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

When the Bible speaks about glorifying God it speaks of doing good works that others may see his glory. We are told to declare his mighty works among the heathen. Angels ascribe glory to him during the seven last plagues because his “judgments are made manifest.”

Re 15:4  Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy judgments are made manifest.

So when the Bible bids us think on God, it recommends to our thought two categories of attributes – his mercy and his wrath.

Ro 11:22  Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off.

In this way of thinking it is easy to understand how “knowing” Jesus brings us all things that pertains to life and godliness. We are changed by thinking about the very characteristics that we consider. His kindness, gentleness, wisdom and courage invite us to imitate his beauties.

We are not, however, invited to imitate the fact that he was a male. While there were reasons that he chose to be born as a boy, there is no moral value attached to the male gender. Ladies may be as completely holy as their male counterparts.

Christ’s patience under oppression could overcome our own lethargy, if we would let it. We would be changed into his same image.

When we consider the suffering, reproach, and indignity that Jesus suffered without murmuring or retaliating, that he might redeem man, and elevate him to his own right hand, how much are we willing to endure and sacrifice, that we may have a part in the work of rescuing perishing souls, and thus enter into the joy of our Lord? “If we suffer, we shall also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us.” It is of the greatest consequence that we understand what we are placed in this world for. We are not here to glorify self or to seek our own pleasure, but to glorify our Father which is in Heaven, and to carry on the work begun by the great Teacher of righteousness.  {ST, November 3, 1887 par. 9}

2Co 3:18  But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Jesus had character before he had a body. He was like his Father in character. He existed in the same “image” as the word is used in the text above. Not that the Father and the Son were identical twins, nor that they were a cosmic version of cloned persons, but that they shared the same beauty of holiness – that is the point of the following verse.

Heb 1:3  Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high;

Just as there are moral qualities regarding Jesus that we should know, and that help us grow; there are moral qualities about the Father of the same nature.

They are the same qualities.

John 14:8  Philip saith unto him, “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” 9  Jesus saith unto him, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, ‘Shew us the Father?’ 10  Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works.”

Jesus shows, in this passage, that his likeness to the Father, the likeness that men can see, is not a collection of facial features. Rather, it is a similarity, an exact harmony, of words and works.

Does God also have qualities that have no moral value? He has a face. He has “hinder parts” that Moses saw. But Moses didn’t describe them. No prophet has.

There are some other things that have never been revealed. They have no moral value for humans. They would not contribute to our faithfulness or to our success in doing all the words of God’s law.

De 29:29  The secret things belong unto the LORD our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.

What a trick of the devil it would be to lead us to speculate regarding the unrevealed aspects under plea that we should know Jesus.

I will venture to suggest that the popular differences of opinion regarding whether Jesus has existed from eternity, or from nearly that long ago is just such a characteristic as the color of God’s skin. While His divinity is “everything to us,” His particular age, whether it is billions of years or infinite, is not.

The question of the nature of the Spirit of God is another. We are changed by knowing the character of the Spirit.  We are strengthened by the Spirit in the inner man. We are dependant on the power of the Spirit to work through us.

But whether the Spirit has a body makes no material difference in our experience. Whether the Spirit is a third member of the Godhead, or whether the Spirit is the mind of the two members, or whether the mind of the other two has all the attributes of a personal being, or whether the nature of the Spirit is beyond human comprehension (a likely reality) – these theories just do not change the nature of how I need the Spirit to be active in my life.

These theories are empty. Or, in the wording of Hebrews 13:9, “vain.”

Spiritual Profits

In all labor there is profit. God teaches us to do spiritual labor and to reap spiritual growth.

Is 47:17  Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldest go. 18  O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea:

Tranquility is part of the great gain gathered through doing what God says. How little of this, however, comes from strange and diverse doctrines. These “have not profited” those who have been occupied with them.

Peace affords efficiency in doing God’s work. The flip-side of this is that diverse and strange doctrines distract us from God’s work. In this way they are similar to romance during a time of lethal persecution. Both the romance and the strange doctrine hinder our attention to the work for this time.

1Co 7:35  And this I speak for your own profit; not that I may cast a snare upon you, but for that which is comely, and that ye may attend upon the Lord without distraction.

(The thought occurs to me at this juncture that the leading figures in promoting various strange doctrines are often full-time employed in this work. The effect of this is that they are able to produce an uncanny volume of written materials, correspondence and rebuttals that can not be matched, in volume, by family men holding positions of trust in God’s cause. Then if persons are prone to judge truth by the preponderance of writing they will surely fall prey to self-appointed teachers.)

The “profit” that Paul sought for others was that they might be saved. The profit that our Father in heaven seeks is our “holiness.” These profits always run together.

1Co 10:33  Even as I please all men in all things, not seeking mine own profit, but the profit of many, that they may be saved.

Heb 12:10  For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.

And though men carp to the contrary, salvation is not based on the acceptance of various and strange doctrines. It is based rather on the acceptance of the truths communicated by the work of the Spirit through the “gifts.” Such acceptance is “faith” and allows men to prosper in all things, “withal.”

1Co 12:7  But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

The faulty use of languages removes the profit from spiritual revelations either by making the words difficult to understand or by sharing words that are not inspired. This shows plainly that the profit comes from the ease of understanding inspired statements.

1Co 14:6  Now, brethren, if I come unto you speaking with tongues, what shall I profit you, except I shall speak to you either by revelation, or by knowledge, or by prophesying, or by doctrine? . . . 9  So likewise ye, except ye utter by the tongue words easy to be understood, how shall it be known what is spoken? for ye shall speak into the air.

The strange and various teachings of Hebrews 13:9 sound similar to the arguments regarding “words” in 2Ti 2:14.

2Ti 2:14  Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.

The gospel, an inspired and easy to understand message, may fail of profiting men as verily as an error – if it is not believed.

Heb 4:2  For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.

And this shows that profit comes from believing the easy to understand revelations of the prophets.

Then which doctrines are “strange”? They would include those that find someway to get around believing the easy to understand revelations of the prophets.

Conclusion

There are steps to escaping the doctrinal gusts of our time. Foremost among these is the work of character development. Heresies are a fruit of the flesh (Gal 5:19) and “none of the wicked will understand” Dan 12:10.

Character development has been assigned to men especially during the judgment. Satan, even eager to distract us from our work, has sought to distract us from it.

So while the core truths for this time and the milk of the word and the character of Jesus are a unit that changes us as we meditate on it, there are other doctrines that fail to profit in this way.

They are doctrines that do not show us how to live. They are doctrines that skirt simple inspired statements with some sort of unbelief. They are complex doctrines that defy the average man to untangle them. They, accordingly, are sources of “doubtful disputations” and “doting about questions” which promote evil feelings between brethren.

“Desire the milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.” That is Peter’s counsel to us.

Paul’s counsel is to stay occupied with the beneficial themes.

And my conclusion is that there are many doctrines agitated today that qualify precisely for the “diverse and strange” ones that ought not to move us. But until we get moving in the work of adding virtue to virtue we may find ourselves blind to know which winds are “strange.”

Then let us seek holiness and claim the promise:

“The wise shall understand.” Dan 12:10