Why Follow Men?

Ephesians 5:1, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;”

What saith the Scriptures? John 5:39, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” Most of the debating, arguing and controversies plaguing the churches today could be eliminated if religious leaders would simply stop following men, and start SEARCHING THE SCRIPTURES!!! The inspired Word of God is our ONLY authority, and not men. Any man can pay some money to buy a piece of paper called a “degree,” and all of a sudden he is considered “qualified” to lead a church; but he could be a total deceiver, theologically incompetent and an ignoramus concerning the Scriptures!

I'd like to share a quote with you from Dr. John R. Rice (1895-1980), from his booklet titled: “HYPER-CALVINISM: A FALSE DOCTRINE.”

III. WHY FOLLOW MEN? 

Do you follow Arminius? or Wesley? Then you are certain to be wrong wherever those good men but frail men were wrong. Do you follow Calvin? Then whatever doctrine Calvin formulated or invented will be wrong for you as for him. ... 

In truth, the false doctrines of hyper-Calvinism would not do so much harm if they were emphasized as little as Spurgeon emphasized them, and particularly, if those who advocate them worked unceasingly to win souls as Spurgeon did. 

But why follow Spurgeon? He was human. he was an amazing pastor, and evangelist. Some think he was the greatest preacher since the Apostle Paul. But when he was wrong he was wrong. He plainly said he did not know enough about the return of Christ to preach on it. No man is perfect. It would be as foolish to follow Spurgeon in whatever part of the false doctrine of hyper-Calvinism he believed as to follow him in smoking cigars. He saw the error of smoking a little while before he went to Heaven, and I am sure he saw the errors of hyper-Calvinism, besides those he himself criticized, as soon as he reached Heaven. Why not just follow the Bible instead of Arminius or Calvin or Wesley or Spurgeon? 

SOURCE: Dr. John R. Rice, “HYPER-CALVINISM: A FALSE DOCTRINE,” pp. 16, 18; Sword of The Lord, ©1970

I couldn't agree with Dr. Rice more! Amen and amen. Our churches are being destroyed today because of foolishly incompetent pastors and Bible college leaders, who follow popular reprobate Bible teachers; namely, John MacArthur, Paul Washer, John Piper, R.C. Sproul, Ray Comfort, Kirk Cameron, Chip Ingram, Steve Pettit, Rick Warren, William Lane Craig, Joel Osteen, Beth Moore, Billy Graham, Franklin Graham, Doug Batchelor, Don Blackwell, David Cloud, Dan Corner, Brian Derringer, John Hagee, Charles Stanley, Pat Robertson, Max Lucado, and other ungodly gospel-corrupters! These people all pervert the Gospel of free grace, ADDING something else to it which God does not require to be saved. God freely offers the free gift of eternal life to anyone who wants it! This gift is free because Jesus paid for it with His precious blood!!!

You won't find a more helpful Bible verse to live by than Psalms 118:8, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” I have heard some preachers say that this verse is the center of the King James Bible. Jeremiah 17:5, “Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.” We ought to therefore be followers of God. Ephesians 5:1, “Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;” We “follow God” by abiding in the eternal words of the inspired King James Bible!!! 

Walking with Jesus gives a Christian “BOLDNESS”! Why do you think I preach boldly the way I do? That is Jesus' Spirit in me. Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.” People will know when you've been walking with God, because of your boldness for truth, righteousness and love for others. Walking with God compels a believer to “hate evil” (premeditated sin). Psalms 97:10, “Ye that love the LORD, hate evil: he preserveth the souls of his saints; he delivereth them out of the hand of the wicked.” And a sure sign that a Christian is following God is that they hate every false way. Psalms 119:104, “Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”

You know that all these pastors are pseudo-religious leaders today. The prefix pseudo- (from Greek ψευδής, pseudes, "lying, false") is used to mark something that superficially appears to be (or behaves like) one thing, but is something else. On the surface, today's clergy appear to care and be knowledgeable of the things of God, but upon closer inspection, you will be very disappointed. Today's pastors are theologically incompetent—promoting multiple different Bible versions, promoting a false gospel of being willing to “turn from your sins” to be saved, and bidding Godspeed to false prophets like Ray Comfort and John MacArthur. I refuse to follow Jacob Arminius (1560-1609). I refuse to follow John Calvin (1509-1564). I refuse to follow Martin Luther (1483-1546). 

Today's cotton-candy religion tastes so great for a few seconds, but then quickly disintegrates into nothing! A genuine man of God, who follows God, WILL care about the truth! Such a man will hate the evil LGBTQ agenda, hate abortion, hate the prevailing injustices of the U.S. Justice Department, hate the Devil's Bible revisions that confuse everyone, and hate all manner of fraud, evil and taking advantage of other people! The believer who follows God unconditionally loves every living creature!!! The main reason why churches are so messed-up nowadays is because pastors and Bible colleges are FOLLOWING MEN instead of FOLLOWING GOD! If you want to follow God, then you must follow only the inspired King James Bible. If you follow God, then you must follow only a free grace view of the Gospel. Lordship Salvation is a lie of the Devil, a false teaching that produces much worry, fear and uncertainty in the soul of those who fall victim to it!

The main reason why professed Christians in churches are so messed-up today is because they FOLLOW MEN. Instead, we ought to all SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES!!!

Matthew 4:19, “And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.”