A Prayer of Jesus
I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will.

Conclusion

The Silver Pen


Jesus and Paul had very little in common as to the foundation of their gospels.  This has been amply illustrated in the above discussion, which focuses on four major areas of disagreement: Love, Reconciliation of the World, Eternal Life and the Law.  This is adequate to demonstrate that Paul’s gospel differs radically from that of Jesus.

His doctrine of the cross as a vicarious sacrificial atonement and expiation for sin that only requires faith to qualify the believer for salvation and eternal life is his invention.  As such it is a false gospel that is powerless to save souls.  It is nevertheless a powerful gospel because of its deception capabilities.  For two thousand years it has been drawing in the multitudes and thereby assuring their eternal condemnation because they are without excuse.  The message of Jesus is in front of them and they have refused to acknowledge or believe it because, in the shackles of their deception, they think they are secure.

Paul spoke with a silver tongue and wrote with a silver pen, characteristic of false prophets and deceivers in every age.  There are so many wonderful passages throughout his epistles that we should not be surprised at their deceptive power.  The wonderful exaltation of love in I Corinthians 13, and the magnificent passage pointing to the humility of Jesus who “emptied himself” in Philippians 2, are two of the many examples of texts rolling from his silver pen.  Perhaps James, who most probably wrote to counter Paul’s doctrine by faith only, had him in mind when he said,

From the same mouth come forth blessing and cursing.  My brethren, this ought not to be (James 3:10).
We have seen above how Paul could issue curses when his dander was up!

The fact is that he authored many texts that are a blessing to read – what a tragedy that they are surrounded by lies. Those who are thus deceived cannot truthfully say they were not warned.

Beware, said Jesus, of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matthew 7:15).
He said clearly,
Many false prophets will arise and lead many astray (Matthew 24:11).
Where are these many false prophets?  Are they confined to isolated individuals scattered through Christendom, the "Elmer Gantry" types?  No, for in that case they would only number a few.  Jesus said they are many.

Are they confined to the glitsy television evangelists who have wide influence in the world?  Again, No, for those are, again, only a few.  Jesus said they are many.  Then who can they possibly be?

Let me direct your attention to the only place where prophets of any kind can be called "many."  It is the churches of Christendom that do indeed contain many prophets.  There are not many anywhere else, so I can only conclude that Jesus' "many false prophets" must be in the churches!

Yes, and he also warned us specifically to close our ears to Paul, the captain of false prophets on whom most of the churchmen rely:

A stranger they (his sheep) will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers (John 10:5).
This stranger can only be Paul, a stranger to Jesus, a stranger to the apostles and a stranger to the fellowship of disciples that first gathered in Jerusalem, Damascus, and Antioch.  He remains a stranger to the little flock of disciples of Jesus who abide in the world even today.  He is a stranger to me and I hope also to you.  And these "strangers" whose voices the sheep do not know?  Surely you can answer this by yourself!

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