January 24 Daily Devotional

Bible Reading

Deuteronomy 13:1-11:

¹If there arise among you a prophet, or a dreamer of dreams, and giveth thee a sign or a wonder,
²And the sign or the wonder come to pass, whereof he spake unto thee, saying, Let us go after other gods, which thou hast not known, and let us serve them;
³Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
⁴Ye shall walk after the LORD your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.
⁵And that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams, shall be put to death; because he hath spoken to turn you away from the LORD your God, which brought you out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, to thrust thee out of the way which the LORD thy God commanded thee to walk in. So shalt thou put the evil away from the midst of thee.
⁶If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
⁷Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
⁸Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
⁹But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.
¹⁰And thou shalt stone him with stones, that he die; because he hath sought to thrust thee away from the LORD thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage.
¹¹And all Israel shall hear, and fear, and shall do no more any such wickedness as this is among you.

Devotional

It is of the utmost importance to know the true doctrine of salvation; to know what to believe in order to be saved. Christ warns against false prophets, who come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves. They can be as meek as a lamb outwardly; but when you oppose their doctrine, their wolf nature manifests itself. They hate you with a deadly hatred. We must not be deceived. All men may speak well of them, but that is no sign that they preach the right doctrine. Christ says, "Ye shall know them by their fruits." "A good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit." We must not be deceived by their large number. Christ says, "Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many." We must not be deceived by their enticing words, fair speeches, and a false philosophy. And finally, we must not be deceived by signs and lying wonders, and miracles wrought by false prophets. John tells us, we must "try the spirits, whether they are of God." And He gives us the criterion, how we can tell: "Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God." The Word was made flesh. Christ in our flesh made full atonement for our sins, and obtained for us righteousness and eternal life. Whosoever believes in him has eternal life. That is the true gospel. If a man preaches, and does not preach that, he is not of God. Do not listen to him: He is an antichrist. Only the blood of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, cleanseth us from all sin. Nothing else!

Prayer

Our heavenly Father, keep us from being led astray. May Thy Spirit teach us, and lead us into all truth. May Christ dwell in our hearts by faith. May we be rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Hear us for Jesus' sake, in whose name we pray. Amen.

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Scripture in Devotional: Luke 6:36; Matt. 7:16; Luke 6:43; 1 Cor. 2:4; Col. 2:4; Rom. 16:17, 18; Col. 2:8; 2 Thess. 2:9; Rev. 29:20; 1 John 4:2, 3; John 1:14; 3:16; 1 John 4:3.

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