Don't Listen To The Voice

Is the Church today doing everything it can to provide women a firm foundation of truth in Christ Jesus?

Well, it's true, there's no shortage of candy -coated Bible studies, potluck fellowships available to

ladies.

But beyond Sunday morning, are Christian women being properly equipped to stand against the same

deceptions that even enticed Eve in the Garden?

In an attempt to address the need for trustworthy, biblical resources for women, No Compromise Radio is

happy to introduce Equipping Eve, a ladies -only radio show that seeks to equip women with fruits of

truth in an age that's ripe with deception.

My name is Mike Abendroth and I'm pleased to introduce your host, Erin Benzinger, a friend of No Compromise Radio and a

woman who wants to see other women equipped with a love for and a knowledge of the truth of God's Word.

Well, hello ladies, and welcome to Equipping Eve, the show that seeks to equip you with fruits of truth

from God's Word so that we can stand strong and firm on that Word in an age of deception.

I am your host, Erin Benzinger, thanks for joining us today, and let's see, you

can check us out, as always, on Facebook, I'm trying to post a few more things there, I'm still getting used to the

Facebook thing, I don't like Facebook, I don't think that's ever going to change, but I know a lot of you

use it, that's kind of how you keep apprised of the various ministries and whatnot that

you follow, and so thank you for giving Equipping Eve a follow there, and hopefully you

find some of the links that we post to be helpful and edifying.

You can also follow Equipping Eve on Twitter, that's at Equipping Eve, you can follow my other account as well, that's

at E. Benz Blog, and that one is a little more active than the Equipping Eve account just because it's kind of

my personal account slash account for my blog, Do Not Be Surprised, so hey, did you love

all of that commercial that I just gave you?

Yeah, fantastic.

Also EquippingEve .com, and you can email me there.

So how is everybody today?

It's a good day, it is a good day to talk about the things of God, isn't it?

We are so busy, and it's not just because we're women, you know, I hear that so often on

radio shows geared towards women and women's ministries, that we're so busy because we're women.

Hey, you know what?

The men are busy too.

We are all busy.

The Lord has given each one of us different stations in life

and different situations and places where He has ordained that we would be and that we would live out

life, whether that is in the home, in the workplace, in school, in whatever

way you serve at your church with your friends, and we are all busy, men and women, and I hope,

I hope, I hope, I hope that you are busy about the things of the Lord, that your day is

filled with things that serve and glorify Him, and ladies, that means even

washing your dishes, helping your children tie their shoes, cleaning the house, that

is done unto the glory of God, and if you are a mother, we commend you for

that.

So I came across an article the other day or a couple weeks ago, I don't know, I've lost all track of

time at this point, I just realized this morning that it's actually about a year old, but you know, it's about the Pope,

so it's just always relevant, isn't it?

It's very interesting, actually, it's found at the website thehigherlearning

.com, the higher learning is an exchange of knowledge for the advancement of the people,

so that sounds very progressive and secular

and wonderful.

Anyway, the title of this article was published on July 31st of 2014, title is The

Pope Just Released a List of 10 Tips for Becoming a Happier Person, and they are

spot on.

So this organization thinks that these 10 tips released by the Pope last year

on being happy, these are right, this is how you are a happy person.

So I can't pronounce the name of the author of the article, so I don't want to mangle

it, but anyway, thehigherlearning .com, so the Pope's 10 Tips for a Happier Life, are you ready ladies, do you have your

pencils ready?

Because this is the Pope, now I don't think he was speaking ex -cathedra here, so we can't add this

to our Bibles, but hey, it's the Pope, everything he says has to be true, he wears

the funny hat, right?

Hopefully you can hear the sarcasm there, our authority is scripture, ladies, so if you are tuning

in for the first time, we do not appeal to the Pope for authority, but this list is very interesting and very

telling of the thoughts of Pope Francis, the trajectory,

presumably, of the Roman Catholic Church, and the trajectory of the world, and I would dare say,

to an extent, the visible Church, because let's face it, there are a lot of professing

Christians, professing evangelicals, who love Pope Francis, so here is

what they are loving, here's a little taste of it, number one, 10 tips for a happier life, according to Pope Francis,

live and let live, everyone should be guided by this principle, he says, which has a similar

expression in Rome, with the saying, move forward and let others do the same, okay, number two, be

giving of yourself to others, well, there's a nice principle, isn't it, you know, selflessness, people need to be

open and generous toward others, if you withdraw into yourself, you run the risk of becoming egocentric,

you don't want that to happen to you, so that's number two, be giving of yourself to others, there's a lot of law in

here already, number three, proceed calmly in life, so I don't know, does the Pope have one of those

signs hanging in his people office that says, keep calm and carry on, I'm not

sure, number four, a healthy sense of leisure, okay,

number five, Sundays should be holidays, workers should have Sundays off, because Sunday is for family,

Sunday is for family, we'll just ignore the part about, you know,

worshiping God, which most of us gather with

our brothers and sisters in Christ on Sundays, anyway, number six, find

innovative ways to create dignified jobs for young people, this is how we're going to be happier, so

everybody go out and find an innovative way to create a dignified job for young people, so that they can't get into

drugs, okay, you could teach them some truths from God's

word as well, but, you know, finding innovative ways and creative jobs is

fun too, I guess, number seven, respect and take care of nature, ah,

here's the green gospel, environmental degradation is one of the biggest challenges we have,

I think a question that we're not asking ourselves is, isn't humanity committing suicide with this indiscriminate and

tyrannical use of nature, you know, that's a sad thing, because apparently the Pope has not read his Bible,

if he had, he would know that only the Lord can destroy the earth, and he

will destroy it by fire, now I'm not saying we shouldn't be a good steward of

what the Lord has given us, but this notion that we have to recycle and save the trees, because if we don't, the

world's going to end, it's just not in scripture, it's just

not there, because God is sovereign over the earth, and God created it, and God

will uncreate it, but you'd have to read your Bible to know that, and it's so much

easier to just listen to the Pope, number eight, here, here's a good one,

stop being negative, I mean, when did the Pope turn into Joel Osteen, stop being negative, quote,

needing to talk badly about others indicates low self -esteem, that means I feel so low that instead of picking

myself up, I have to cut others down, letting go of negative things quickly is healthy,

end quote, so the Pope has apparently been talking to Joel Osteen, because you just, you can't put those

negative thoughts out there, if you put them out there in the universe, they're going to, you know, curse and jinx

your life, so you got to pull those, pull those back, number nine, don't

proselytize, respect others' beliefs, okay, quote, we

can inspire others through witness, so that one grows together in

communicating, but the worst thing of all is religious proselytism, which paralyzes,

I am talking with you in order to persuade you, no, says the Pope, each person dialogues,

starting with his or her own identity, the church grows by

attraction, not by proselytizing, so now the Pope sounds

like Rick Warren, Bill Hybels and the like, we have to make the church

attractive, and then that's how we'll grow, you know, the funny thing is that Jesus Christ said that

he would grow his church, and his church is grown when his word is proclaimed faithfully

and accurately and without compromise, and when that is done,

the Lord will bring those who are his, those who he has chosen from before the beginning of time,

he will bring them to those, those sheepfolds, if you will, those churches where his word is

being proclaimed, and that is how he will grow his church, that is how people are

saved, that is how they are brought into a saving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ, that is how they are brought to

repentance and faith by the power and work of the Holy Spirit, it is through the proclamation of his word,

it is not through this dialogue that begins with our own identity, I don't know what that means,

that is not biblical, I can start a dialogue and start from my own identity, but that will not

save you, if you look to me and to my identity to find

salvation, you will be sorely disappointed, but if you look to Jesus

Christ, who is revealed to us in the word of God, the Bible,

that is how you will be saved, that is how the Holy Spirit works, that is the means by which the Holy Spirit works, the

proclamation of the word, the truthful, uncompromised word of God,

the Pope is wrong, shocking, I know.

Number 10, key to being happy according to Pope Francis, work for peace, we are living in

a time of many wars, the call for peace must be shouted, peace sometimes gives the impression of being quiet, but it

is never quiet, peace is always proactive, well, okay,

but the only peace that really matters is peace with God, which again cannot

be attained by any work of man, but

here we see this list of 10 keys to being happy, according to Pope Francis, within

that we see the green gospel, the gospel of nature, we see the Joel Osteen

gospel, don't worry, be happy, don't throw those negative thoughts out into the universe and the gospel

of Rick Warren and the secret sensitive church, that the church just needs to be attractional,

you know, Pope Francis has become this weird combination of Osteen Warren and Brian McLaren and that

is why he is so attractive to the world

and to those who may profess to be Christians, but who have not truly been saved, because if they

have, the Holy Spirit would open their eyes to the deception and the lies and

just the sheer silliness of the things that the Pope says, they are not

biblical, they are not based in truth, they are based in

demonic lies, but it all

comes down, if you look back at that list, to things that you should do, things that you should do

to be happy and if you do these things, you will be happy and

presumably be a good person and the article doesn't say this, but you know, you could probably consider

yourself even then a Christian if you've done all of these things, so what do

we have to do to be saved?

Well, we can't do anything to save ourselves.

You can give all the money in the world, all the money that you have in your pocketbook and in your bank account to the Pope, to the

Catholic Church, to Rick Warren, to your local

television preacher, to your international television preacher, you can give to charity, you can feed

poor people, you can clothe them, you can save puppies, you

can pick up trash every single day of your life, you can plant a tree a day

for 70 years and it will not save you.

You must hear the truth of God as revealed in his word,

you must come to realize that you are a sinner who has sinned against an infinite

holy God and therefore you are deserving of an infinite punishment.

You must realize that you cannot pay that debt then that you owe to God

and that there's only one person who can pay that debt and who

has paid that debt for those who will believe that Jesus Christ,

God himself took on human flesh, lived the life that we

cannot, kept the law perfectly for 33 years

until his death in which he perfectly atoned for the sins of those who would believe

on the cross, bore upon himself the wrath of God for all who would believe,

rose again three days later, meaning the Father accepted his perfect sacrifice

and ascended into heaven where he sits at the right hand of God and continues to intercede for his

own.

It is his work that saves you.

It is Jesus Christ and when the Holy Spirit

regenerates you, he will bring you to a repentance of your sin and a faith in

Christ alone and that is how you can be saved.

It's not the trees you plant.

It's not the money you give.

It's not what you do.

I don't care what the social gospel says.

It's a popular thing.

It's a popular thing in the Catholic church.

It's a popular thing in the visible Christian church.

There are large popular churches that essentially

promote a social gospel.

Some of these even fall under the category using the term loosely here at equipping

eve of reformed.

I would argue they probably shouldn't carry that category because they do promote a social gospel yet

the reformed crowd loves these particular churches.

Social gospel isn't going to save you.

It is a lie and you will find yourself do,

do, do, doing all the way to hell unless you repent and trust in

Jesus Christ alone for your salvation.

When you have been saved, you will do good works out of a

regenerated heart but those good works

cannot save you and that is

something that we see.

We've certainly seen with Pope Francis promoting that kind of mindset and yet here

I came across an article from this year published on July 12, 2015 in

Christian Today where Nicky Gumbel, the leader of the Alpha Chorus, says that the church, the

Catholic church, is leading the way in evangelization.

I thought this was interesting.

Nicky Gumbel, he's the leader and founder of the Alpha Chorus as it currently exists.

That was founded by someone else and when he took over he really put it into its current form

but Gumbel says in this article, quote, I love the Catholic church.

She is leading the way in evangelization.

He spelled out his Alpha recipe for success but said key to his current thinking was the 2013 encyclical of

Pope Francis on evangelization and the joy of the gospel.

He says everybody should read this and put it into practice and he has been reading and rereading it

and he says if every Christian in England put this into

practice, the nation would be transformed and added that the

church, meaning the Church of England, would also, oh no, actually excuse me, the

church, meaning the church proper, would also be revitalized and transformed if we do what

is in this particular encyclical that was written by the

Pope in 2013.

You know, here's a little snippet from this encyclical which is called An Apostolic

Exhortation on the Proclamation of the Gospel in Today's World.

From paragraph 193, we incarnate the duty of hearing the cry of the poor when we are deeply moved

by the suffering of others.

Let us listen to what God's word teaches us about mercy and allow that word to resound in the life of the

church.

The gospel tells us, blessed are the merciful because they shall obtain mercy.

The Apostle James teaches that our mercy to others will vindicate us on the day of God's

judgment and he quotes James 2, 12 through 13, so speak and so act as those who are to be judged

under the law of liberty for judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy, yet mercy triumphs over

judgment.

You know, but that's a misunderstanding of the text of James.

Faith without works is dead.

However, this goes back to what we just said that out of a regenerated heart,

we do good works and our good works are the fruit of our salvation and if we have no

fruit, then we have very good reason to question our salvation.

But our mercy or our works will not be what vindicates us

on the day of God's judgment.

What vindicates us is the work of Jesus Christ, not our work.

And so here we have a misunderstanding of the gospel found in this encyclical written by Pope Francis, but

yet Nikki Gumbel of the Church of England, of the Alpha Chorus, is saying, hey, you need to read this and do

it to transform the church and England.

Nikki Gumbel is very appreciative of the Catholic Church.

I've written about this in the past at ChristianResearchNetwork .org.

I'm just talking about the Alpha for Catholics program

that has been implemented there and you can certainly go to ChristianResearchNetwork .org to find

that or go to DoNotBeSurprised .com.

There's a tab actually at the top of that page that lists several articles

on the Alpha Course that may reveal to you some of the concerning things and one of

them is the Alpha Course's endorsement and embracing

of Roman Catholicism when in reality we teach a different gospel.

The Christian Church and the Catholic Church cannot meet

because our gospel differs and that happened at the Council of Trent.

In Canon 9, as decreed by the Council of Trent, says, quote, if anyone says that the sinner is

justified by faith alone, meaning that nothing else is required to cooperate in order to obtain the grace of

justification and that it is not in any way necessary that he be prepared and disposed by the action of his

own will, let him be anathema.

So the Catholic Church anathematized the gospel,

but the Alpha Course loves the Catholic Church and it is because we are

seeing a similar social gospel type stance and there are other things that

would be similar between the two and other things that the Great Deceiver, I believe, is

using to endear different false movements to one another.

One of those things being extreme charismaticism, etc., etc.

All perhaps conversations for another day, who knows.

So from the Alpha Course, from Pope Francis to

The Voice.

Have you heard of The Voice Bible Translation?

I was listening to a Steve Lawson sermon a few days ago and he quoted from this

translation, not favorably, so calm down, as an example

of some of the scripture twisting that is going on out there.

And I'd like to read a brief passage for you.

I'd like to read, I guess, the equivalent of the Gospel

of John, chapter 1, verses 1 through 5.

The Voice

Bible Translation reads, Before time itself was

measured, the voice was speaking.

The voice was and is God.

This celestial word remained ever present with the Creator.

His speech shaped the entire cosmos.

Immersed in the practice of creating, all things that exist were birthed

in Him.

His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light, a light

that thrives in the depths of darkness, blazes through murky bottoms.

It cannot and will not be quenched.

As he read that, Steve Lawson stopped and said,

Can you hear the hiss of the serpent in that?

Ladies, can you hear the hiss of the serpent?

Before time itself was measured, the voice was speaking.

The voice was and is God.

This celestial word remained ever present with the Creator.

Well, we've just eliminated the eternal

existence of the Son, to say that it

remained ever present with the Creator.

The celestial word meaning the Word Incarnate, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Further down, it says, His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light.

Now, is this what the Word of God really says?

Now, before I read a real translation of the scriptures to you,

I want to tell you what the Voice website says about itself, why it

exists.

The Voice invites a generation of story lovers to step into the Bible through a fresh expression of its

timeless narrative.

It recaptures the passion, grit, humor, and beauty that is often lost in the translation process.

Readers will enter into the story of scripture more deeply and discover that they can actually hear

God's voice speaking into their life today.

According to the Center for Bible Engagement, 34 % of Christians never read their Bible.

Well, a Christian who doesn't read his Bible should re -examine himself.

And an additional 32 % read it very rarely.

Why do people who love God let his Word collect dust?

I'd argue if you love God, you love his Word, and therefore you do not ignore his

Word.

And if you do find yourself shying away from time of

reading and study of the Word, perhaps you need to be praying to your God

to see what the barrier is.

Is there sin there that is keeping you from wanting to be convicted?

The conviction that we know can blessedly be found in that Word.

The website goes on and says, this should not be the experience of reading God's Word.

The Voice helps readers enjoy reading the Bible, perhaps even lose track of time and have a hard time putting it down.

Yeah, because if we change the Bible, then people will want it.

That makes no sense.

You're fixing their own problem.

You're fixing something that's not a problem.

The problem is with the people, the sinners, who don't want to read the Word of a holy God.

But instead, you're changing that Word.

You're altering it so that it says what it actually was not intended to say.

And now you are appealing to the masses.

You have made it attractional and you have succeeded

in drawing false converts.

The claim is that the Voice begins to recapture how the first readers would have encountered the Scripture,

resulting in an amplification of the Voice of God so it is more clearly heard by today's readers,

almost as clearly as when he first revealed his truth.

That makes me angry.

What is wrong with the Word of God as he has revealed it?

Now, I understand we have to have translations into different languages, but they need to be true to the

original text.

And to say that now this translation makes it almost as clear as when he first revealed his

truth, God didn't stutter.

If you have a problem reading it, it's because perhaps your eyes have not been opened to

understanding the Word.

The truth is clearly revealed in the Bible.

It is there.

It is available at your fingertips.

Open it and read it.

Pray that God, through his Holy Spirit, would reveal his truth to you.

And do not open the voice translation of the Bible.

Now, I am going to read John 1, 1 through 5 from the

New American Standard Bible.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

He was in the beginning with God.

All things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that has come into

being.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

I want to focus very briefly in the minutes we have left, especially on verse

4, which in the New American Standard reads,.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

However, in the voice it reads,.

His breath filled all things with a living, breathing

light.

His breath filled all things with a living, breathing light.

Or, in him was life, and the life was the light of

men.

About this verse, about this phrase, the life was the light of men, J .C. Ryle says,.

This sentence means that the life which was in Christ was intended before the fall to be the guide of man's soul to

heaven, in the supply of man's heart and conscience, and that since the fall of man it has been the

salvation and the comfort of all who have been saved.

It is those and those only who have followed Christ as their light who have lived before God and reached heaven.

There has never been any spiritual life or light enjoyed by men excepting

from Christ.

Of the phrase that starts that verse, In him was life, Ryle says,.

This sentence means that in the eternal councils of the Trinity, Christ was appointed to be the source, fountain,

origin, and cause of life.

From him all life was to flow.

As to the kind of life which is here meant, there is much difference of opinion among commentators.

He says that he takes the position that it is that the expression

applies solely to spiritual life, and that it is meant to declare that Christ alone is the source of all life to the souls of

men, whether in time or eternity.

He was the creator of all things, and he also was the author of new creation.

And we see that in the verse previous.

We see that all things came into being through him, and apart from him nothing came into being that came into being or

that has come into being.

So we see that he is the creator of physical life, right?

We see that here.

But then in verse 4, we see that he is the source of spiritual life.

Here in John 1 verse 4 though, the word for life is psoe, and

this refers to spiritual life.

The Greek word psoe refers to spiritual life.

And so this verse is talking, as Ryle noted, about spiritual life, that

Jesus Christ is the source, the sole source, of spiritual life.

As Ryle says, this sentence means that the life, which was in Christ, was

intended before the fall to be the guide of man's soul to heaven.

Christ is the light.

Only those who have followed Christ, who have lived before God, reach heaven.

There has never been any spiritual life or light enjoyed by men excepting from Christ, says

J .C. Ryle.

So that is this verse is saying.

This is in the context of spiritual life for men.

In him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Now, the voice translation reads again, his breath filled all things with a living, breathing light.

Is that the same thing?

In him was life, and the life was the light of men, or his breath filled all things with a living,

breathing light.

Those are two different things.

Those are two different doctrines.

New American Standard, taken from the Greek, the original Greek text, talks about spiritual life.

Jesus Christ, the word incarnate, is the sole source of spiritual life for men who will be

saved.

The voice translation that supposedly is just really going to let God speak to you,

tells you his breath filled all things with a living, breathing light.

So, what we are actually seeing in this translation is really a form of

pantheism, panantheism, maybe?

It is really very Eastern religion -like.

This is very much, you can very clearly see an allusion to almost a spark

of divinity in all things.

It says all things.

This is not talking about men.

So now, all of a sudden, the breath of the voice, the breath

of Jesus Christ then, fills all things, fills every blade of grass,

every tree, every bush.

That is a very panentheistic view of God, pantheistic or

panentheistic.

The broader transcendence of this passage in the voice would perhaps allude to panentheism.

What is panentheism, you're asking me?

GodQuestions .org actually has a really good, simple definition of it.

It says, panentheism is essentially a combination of theism and pantheism.

So, theism says, God is the supreme being, and pantheism says, God is everything.

So, pantheism says that God and the universe are coextensive, but panentheism claims that God

is greater than the universe, and the universe is contained within God.

So, panentheism holds that God is the supreme effect of the universe.

God is everything in the universe, but he's also greater than the universe.

Of course, this is not biblical, and this voice translation, it's a little

confusing.

I'm not definitively saying that's what they are advocating here, but it definitely has

overtones of this type of mindset, or just a very Eastern religion

type mindset where there is a divine in all things.

And so now, not only have we eliminated the

eternal existence of the word incarnate, Jesus Christ, in an earlier verse of this

voice translation, but now we have eliminated this concept that Jesus Christ is the

sole source of spiritual life for men.

And we've now just made it a very nebulous, vague, very

palatable, spiritual, using air quotes here,

idea that the breath of God just fills all things.

And doesn't that make you feel warm and fuzzy?

I mean, how many times do we hear someone say that they're spiritual, but not religious?

This is the kind of gobbledygook that they buy into.

But this is supposedly a translation of the word of God.

This is supposedly a Bible translation, but this is a dangerous one.

And this really only came to my attention.

I knew about this translation.

I didn't realize how they had so mangled these opening verses of the amazing gospel of John

until I heard Steve Lawson use it as an example there in his sermon.

But it is twisting of the word like this that we need to be on guard for, ladies.

And maybe your Bible study leader or your favorite teacher or whatever that you listen to

online won't pull out the voice translation, but be mindful of how they're using scripture.

I hope that you will test what they say against scripture.

I hope you will test what I say against scripture.

I urge you to do that.

I encourage you to test all things against the word of God.

Get a good Bible translation and test all things.

Have your Bible open when you're listening to someone teach the Bible.

Make sure that they are reading the text as it is there presented.

And the more that you ladies are reading your Bible on your own, just

open the word of God and read it and study it for yourself each and every day.

I so encourage you.

And I know we're busy.

We talked about that.

We're busy.

I know.

Start your day in the word of God because the more you know the word of God, the

truth of God's word, you will recognize the error.

And maybe you won't be able to hear something and say, hey, that's panentheism or, you know,

that's postmodernism or that's this -ism or that -ism.

But you will know that something's not quite right.

And you will proceed with caution.

That is the beauty of how God grows us through his word.

So I encourage you to continue in his word.

It's so easy to get caught up in reading different books about his word.

And we're reading the parenting books and the marriage books and the homeschooling books.

And even if we're grabbing the good books, the Puritans and

all of the wonderful theologians that God has given to the church over the ages, it's

very easy to get caught up in reading those books and feel like we are really progressing on our walk.

And many of those are good resources and they do help our walk.

And so I don't diminish those, but do not read them then to the

exclusion of the word of God.

Okay?

They're just kind of gravy through the hot fudge on the Sunday.

Okay?

I really hope that you are in his word every day and not the voice translation.

So I know the voice translation may not be an issue in your particular circles, in your particular

realms, but it is just an illustration of that hiss of the serpent

that we hear in so many teachings today.

That hiss is getting louder and louder and louder.

It's becoming a roar because Satan

seeks to devour us like a roaring lion.

But we can take comfort because Christ has promised that he will care for his own.

And we know that he holds us securely until he will call us home.

And we look forward to that day.

But until that day, ladies, we need to serve him.

We need to seek to serve him well.

And we can pray that he will help us to do that.

And so I hope that you'll do that today.

And so until the next time, ladies, get in your Bibles, get on your knees,

and get equipped.

Thanks for listening.

Be surprised .com or equipping Eve .org.

Thanks for listening.