The following
is a sample chapter from the book: "Sarah Young's Jesus Always Devotion
EXPOSED!" Get
your copy on Amazon today.
Why Doesn't Jesus Understand What He Said
In Scripture?
If
Jesus Always had been written in a way, other than having Jesus speaking,
it would just be a one of many low quality and misleading devotional books. I
wouldn't be writing this book. But, Jesus Always presents its false teaching
as though Jesus is speaking, and that is a major attack on the character and glory
of God.
I would like to note that Jesus Always does include some
devotions that are biblical. But that makes the problem with Jesus Always
worse. The New Age and unbiblical teaching is more deeply concealed than it was
in Jesus Calling. People may actually think, I read a good, biblical
devotion in Jesus Always, so it must be a good devotional book. And
its not
Jesus Regularly Quotes Scripture in Jesus Always
In
the introduction to Jesus Always Sarah Young explains why she has included
scripture within the devotions:
Because I revere the Bible,
I always endeavor to make my writing consistent with Biblical truth. I include
Scripture in the devotions (indicated with italics), and each entry is followed
by three or four Bible references. I encourage you to look up and read these scriptures
carefully, they are words of Life! Jesus Always Introduction, page
xii
Lets be sure we understand what she is saying:
Scripture is important, and because of that Sarah Young has included scripture
in the devotions. And because scripture is important, she has put it in italics
so you'll know when you are reading scripture within a devotion.
Okay, let's
look at an example to see how well Jesus understands scripture. I
picked the June 10th devotion because I'm currently preaching a sermon series
on the Olivet Discourse and this devotion references a parable Jesus tells in
Olivet Discourse.
I typically put quotations in italics, but when quoting
Jesus Always I will reproduce it exactly as it is printed in the book.
That way you can see where Sarah Young uses italics, as well as how she uses punctuation
and capitalization.
I am sovereign over the circumstances
of your life, so there are always opportunities to be found in them. Don't be
like the man who hid his master's talent in the ground because he was disgruntled
with his circumstances. He gave up and took the easy way out, blaming his hard
situation rather than making the most of his opportunity. Actually the more difficult
your circumstances, the more you gain through it. - Jesus Always, June 10
The
phrase hid his master's talent in the ground is in italics,
identifying it as a quote from scripture. Do a Google search for hid his
master's talent in the ground including the quotation marks. Putting
a phrase in quotes tells Google you want to find that exact phrase. What is the
result? Nothing. Google says that specific phrase is never used anywhere, including
in the Bible.
But it sounds familiar. Its from one of Jesus
parables. It turns out it is a paraphrase of Matthew 25:18:
But
he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground and hid
his masters money.
So Jesus isnt quoting
scripture, he is paraphrasing it. Thats okay. There are times in scripture
when other scripture is quoted by paraphrasing it. However, combined with Jesus
Always not having book, chapter, and verse references, paraphrasing makes
it even more difficult to identify the source of the quote.
What is the
real Jesus saying in this parable?
The Jesus of Jesus
Always says this parable is about a slave who is having a hard time. He
does the wrong thing by giving up instead of making the most of an opportunity.
According to Jesus Always, the point of the parable is that we need to
make the most of every opportunity. The more difficult your circumstances, the
more you gain through it. It sounds good, but is that what Jesus is really teaching?
The
context is Matthew 24:31. Jesus has been describing the signs that will be seen
just prior to his return, and then he tells His disciples to be ready because:
He will send forth His angels with A GREAT TRUMPET and THEY WILL GATHER
TOGETHER His elect from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.
What
are they to be ready for? The gathering together of His elect... the gathering
together of those people who are saved. What do you need to have in order to be
ready? You need to have repented and trusted in Jesus as your Savior. You need
to have Jesus as your Savior.
Jesus then tells four parables that illustrate
what he has taught in Matthew 24:4-31:
1. The parable of the
fig tree illustrates that there will be signs indicating His return is near. (Matthew
24:32-35)
2. The parable of the faithful and evil slaves shows that we are
to be alert, even if it has been a long time and Jesus has not yet returned. (Matthew
24:42-51)
In the final two parables we see illustrations showing
that true believers will be ready for the return of Christ, and false Christians
will not. Their readiness will be seen in how they wait and what they do while
they wait.
In the third parable, that of the ten virgins, the five
virgins who have oil for their lamps are the ones who have spiritual life. They
have repented and trusted Jesus as their Savior. They were not just waiting for
the return of Jesus, they are ready for Him to return. They have their lamps as
well as oil for their lamps.
The other five virgins are also waiting for
the bridegroom, signifying that they think they are saved. But, they are not ready
because they do not have oil for their lamps. The oil represents spiritual life.
Although they think they are saved and they were part of the group waiting for
Jesus to come, they have not actually put their trust in Jesus as their Savior.
They have no spiritual life (lamp oil) Thus, when He comes, the bridegroom (Jesus)
says to them:
Truly I say to you, I do not know you.
- Matthew 25:12
When the Lord appears at the end of the Tribulation,
many professed Christians will frantically realize their lack of spiritual life.
They will not have heeded Paul's advice to the Corinthian church: Test yourself
to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this
about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in youunless indeed you fail the
test? (2 Corinthians 13:5). They will be self-deceived, perhaps believing
that mere association with the things and the people of Christ has made them a
part of Christ's true church. Some may think that being born into a Christian
family will make them a member of God's family. We know with certainty that many
will be trusting in their good works. - John MacArthur, New Testament Commentary
Matthew 24-28, 1989, page 90
The fourth parable, the parable
of the talents, is the one Jesus Always quotes from. It illustrates
that true believers will use the gifts God has given them to further God's kingdom.
Here is what Jesus says in scripture:
For it is just like
a man about to go on a journey, who called his own slaves and entrusted his possessions
to them. To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each
according to his own ability; and he went on his journey. Immediately the one
who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and gained five more
talents. In the same manner the one who had received the two talents gained two
more. But he who received the one talent went away, and dug a hole in the ground
and hid his masters money. Matthew 25:14-18
Three
trusted slaves are given money to manage while their master is away. The first
two slaves manage the money in a way such that it is doubled by the time their
master returns. The third slave does nothing with what he is given. Instead he
buries the money in the ground. He could have at least put it in the bank and
collected interest, but he does nothing with what he was given.
The point
of this parable is that, how we use what God has given us is an indication of
whether we are saved or not. Those who use their abilities to further Gods
kingdom, are truly doing Gods will and are saved. Those who do not use their
gifts at all, or use them in ways that oppose the kingdom, are not saved and their
eternal destiny is outer darkness (hell).
Jesus is using these parables
to illustrate the difference between His true followers, and those who believe
they are following Christ
in todays language this second group
are those who think they are Christians, but they are not truly followers of Christ.
Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there
will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Matthew 25:30
How
Does This Compare With Jesus Always?
In Jesus Always this
important parable about salvation is twisted to be a parable about dealing with
difficult circumstances. The salvation message totally gone. The Jesus
of Jesus Always does not understand his own words in scripture!
John
MacArthur explains this parable in his commentary on Matthew:
The third slave, however, did not present the master with earnings but with
an accusatory and self-serving excuse.
Like the other two, that slave was
identified as belonging to the master (see v 14), representative of his belonging
to Christs church before the second coming. But in two distinct ways he
proved that his identification with Christ was superficial and did not involve
genuine faith or regeneration.
First of all, he produced absolutely
nothing with the talent he had been given and did not even make an attempt to
use it for his masters benefit and profit.
Second, this slave
demonstrated his counterfeit allegiance by depracting his masters character,
accusing him of being a hard man, reaping where he did not sow, and gathering
where he had scattered no seed. He charged his owner with being unmerciful and
dishonest. That slave represents the professing Christian whose limited knowledge
of God leads him to conclude that He is distant, uncaring, unjust, and undependable.
John MacArthur, New Testament Commentary Matthew 24-28, 1989, page 105
In
this parable the master represents God. Based on the Jesus
Always interpretation of this parable, what type of character does God have?
He is unmerciful and dishonest. According to Jesus Always the third slave
could have been the hero of the story, if only he realized he needed to persevere
and overcome the difficult circumstances resulting from his masters (Gods)
low character. Thats wrong! Thats defaming Gods character and
degrading Gods glory.
Why doesnt the Jesus of Jesus
Always understand his own parable? Why does the Jesus of Jesus
Always degrade God instead of glorify God?
BECAUSE HE IS NOT THE REAL
JESUS
YOU CANNOT TRUST THE JESUS OF JESUS ALWAYS. This is not a devotional
book that can be trusted to give you scriptural truth.
RUN FROM JESUS
ALWAYS!
I wish I could end this chapter here, but I cant. We were
looking at the phrases in italics in the June 10th devotion and there is more
that needs to be said. Remember, these phrases are in italics to identify them
as coming from scripture. Here is the last paragraph:
I
gladly give you Glory-strength. It is exceedingly potent because the Spirit Himself
empowers you-- strengthening you in your inner being. Moreover, My limitless
Glory-strength enables you to keep on enduring the unendurable. Since this
Power is so vast, there is more than enough of it to spill over into Joy!
Jesus Always, June 10
Several phrases are in italics.
Do a Google search, putting each of these phrases in quotes, and youll find
that Google does not find any of them in scripture. However, you will find that
enduring the unendurable is a quote from Emperor Hirohitos speech
given on August 15, 1945 when Japan surrendered and World War II ended.
But
wait! What about the Bible translation known as The Message? It says:
We pray that youll have the strength to stick it out over the long
haulnot the grim strength of gritting your teeth but the glory-strength
God gives. It is strength that endures the unendurable and spills over into joy,
thanking the Father who makes us strong enough to take part in everything bright
and beautiful that he has for us. The Message, the last two sentences
of Colossians 1:9-12
There it is. Jesus is paraphrasing
The Message. Thats amazing! The Message is a paraphrase. So
Jesus is paraphrasing a paraphrase. This is not good. But whats
worse is that The Message is a bible translation with a lot of problems
.
its not a translation we can trust. But, well need a separate chapter
to deal with this problem. So turn the page, and well continue.