Christ has said, "I will make you fishers of men". We don't "lure" a fish by throwing the whole tackle box at it when it swims to the side of our
boat. We place a lure, a tempting morsel of bait (truth), in front of it to
make the fish come to us. Also, through God's word we hear about
planting seeds and letting them grow. We hear about giving a "little"
truth to people so they can nurture it and help it grow. We are told to
sort of sprinkle truth on them so they can absorb it. We are warned
not to "overload" people with truth, so that we frustrate them in their learning and cause them to turn away from God. We are not
supposed to drown the person with the truth. I am saying these things
so you wil understand the warning I am about to give you.
Here is that warning! You may want to tread slowly while digesting the
truth in this work. To some it wil be like getting hit with a Water
Cannon instead of being sprinkled with truth - if you try to
comprehend it all at once. Sure, read the whole book. But then go
back and "slowly digest" the things that are new to you. Don't be
overwhelmed if some or most of this information is new to you as
a Christian. Take your time digesting! I am not trying to overload
anyone. I am trying to put some of God's truth into one simple work
that people can read and document for themselves. I am trying to put
a chunk of God's truth forward in a way that wil cause Christians to
want to study it. And then re-study it, so they truly understand it, and
have documented it as true in God's Holy Word -FOR THEMSELVES.
In reality this work is only a spring board to help you get further into
the scriptures and get the spiritual meat God has for you there. If you
are one who is stil drinking only spiritual milk, this wil be a little larger step than you normally take. But it IS something that you CAN do. So
have patience while studying these things, whatever your present
level of understanding.
In the Book of Romans God tells us that some of God's children are
in a state of spiritual slumber (the word is "stupor" in the Greek) to protect them. This is for their own good. Open minds open doors. I
suggest you keep an open mind while you study this book and ask
Christ to open your mind to further understanding. God wil answer
your prayer one way or the other.
Again, he who has eyes to see, let him see!
WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE
BEEN TAUGHT IN CHURCH,
BUT WEREN'T.
Third Edition 2014
by John M. Zikos
Copyright © 2014 John M. Zikos. (Al rights reserved.)
THE DOCTRINES OF MAN VS
THE DOCTRINES OF GOD.
I want to lay a little ground work as you begin, so when we get farther
into the text, you will have an understanding of a most important
concept: The DIFFERENCE between THE DOCTRINES OF GOD
and THE DOCTRINES OF MAN. This is a critical concept!
THE DOCTRINES OF GOD are the doctrines God gave to us through
Jesus Christ and all the Holy Scriptures. These are the only True
Doctrines of God.
DOCTRINES OF MAN are just theologies, philosophies, and ideas
that man has "created" (thought up) and intermixed with Gods True
Doctrine, and in many cases completely pushed Gods Doctrine aside.
(Mark 7:13 "Making the word of God of none effect through your
traditions, which ye have delivered...")
It's critical that you understand the Doctrines of Man are NOT
the Doctrines of God.
If someone tells you something, and you think you have come upon
some spiritual enlightenment, check it out in God's Word! Check it
out in the scriptures - "Yourself" !
This does NOT mean to ask someone else what it means!!!!!
If you go to a human (ANY human) you may get truth mixed with the
doctrines of man. This is what you must avoid. People wil usually
tell you, without looking in the scriptures, what the "party line" is for their particular church or brand of theology.
Whether it's the Pastor, the Priest, the Bishop, someone in your
congregation, or the church custodian that tells you something
-Check it out IN THE SCRIPTURES for yourself: Line by line and
verse by verse – FOR YOURSELF!
You open the Bible and read about it for yourself. Not just one verse,
but the accompanying passages. Figure out what the point of those
Scriptures are and then read in that context and light. Refer back to
the original manuscripts through a good concordance to check the
"true" meaning of the words. In other words, what is the subject and object of those passages? Who is doing the speaking and to whom is
he speaking? What does it really mean?
By the way, I'm not putting down people who do manual labor. Many
of them know Christ and His truths better than a lot of preachers. And
some preachers fear teaching other than what their particular church
doctrine is, because it can get them in trouble or even cause them to
lose their pension.
No, I'm NOT saying all preachers, priests, bishops or other clergymen
are bad people. I'm just telling you that there will NOT be a preacher
or priest or bishop standing between you and God at the Great White
Throne Judgment. Your final judgment is between you and God.
HE WANTS TO REWARD YOU on judgment day, NOT snuff you out!
(See 2 Peter 3:9).
You can't tell God The Father, "Well God, Pastor Jones told me it
was this way. I didn't know the real truth even though I held your
scriptures in my very hands many times. I had a Bible in my house
since I was a little kid. Lord, I was too lazy to check it out in Your
scriptures, even after You went to all that trouble to have the real truth
written down and passed amongst us through the centuries.
Even though it was the MOST IMPORTANT THING in my life, I just
didn't do it! I just asked someone else."
Also, consider the truth, not the source! You've heard the old
saying, you can't judge a book by it's cover. That custodian may be
the one person to turn you on to increased wisdom and greater
knowledge through understanding of God's word. In other words,
when someone tells you something, and you are not sure about it,
Go to God's Holy Scriptures and LOOK IT UP FOR
YOURSELF!!!!!!
(I'l give you a little help on how to do that later in this book in case
you may not know how. It's actually very easy when you have a few
simple tools.)
Remember: It's WHAT'S right, not who's right!
So, if it's not clearly in God's Scriptures it is NOT the Doctrine of God.
It IS the Doctrine of Man. God has told us quite clearly how to
worship Him in His word. Don't be fooled by the ideas that humans
have developed and slipped into their religions. Here's a good
example from the Bible of what I'm talking about. Keep your eyes on
Christ in these passages.
(I use a standard King James Bible to refer to these verses. I'll
explain later why I use it).
Mark 7:1-5
1. Then came together unto him the Pharisees, and certain of the
scribes, which came from Jerusalem.
2. And when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled,
that is to say, with unwashen, hands, they found fault.
3. For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands
oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders.
4. And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat
not. And many other things there be, which they have received to
hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brasen vessels, and of tables.
5. Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy
disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with
unwashen hands?
Please note the Pharisees wanted the disciples to perform the
"traditions of the elders". This is an excellent example of a Doctrine of Man that had crept into the Pharisees religion and they were holding
it as sacred. Now the Pharisees washing of hands was not what you
and I do to get the dirt and germs off our hands before we sit down at
the dinner table to eat. The Pharisees had devised a ritual of washing
which went to great pains to show how religious they were and it
made a "big show" out of the hand washing ceremony.
Listen to what Jesus has to say to them about this.
Mark 7:6-9
6. He answered and said unto them, Wel hath Esaias prophesied of
you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their
lips, but their heart is far from me.
7. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the
commandments of men.
8. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of
men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like
things ye do.
9. And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of
God, that ye may keep your own tradition.
Take a look at verse seven. Here Christ is telling the Pharisees they
are teaching THEIR commandments (the Doctrines of Man) instead
of the doctrines of His Father. In essence He's saying, You guys
honor God with your lips, but you hearts don't have a clue to God's
true love and how He wants you to worship Him. You're making your
traditions more important than your love for God.
Yes, this example is pretty much black and white. It's a great
il ustration. But there are a lot of areas "people have made gray" by introducing the Doctrines of Man into their theology. So be on your
guard!
By the way, if God meant something as doctrine you wil find it more
than once in the Bible. He has given us different scriptures to clarify
the Doctrine of God. Beware of the man or woman that builds much
of their religion on just one verse. To prove my point take a look at the
following verses. You are warned many times in the Scriptures to
beware of false doctrine (what I call The Doctrines of Man).
Matthew 24:4
4. And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man
deceive you.
John 7:16-17
16. Jesus answered them, and said, My doctrine is not mine, but his
that sent me.
17. If any man will do his wil , he shall know of the doctrine, whether it
be of God, or whether I speak of myself.
Ephesians 4:14
14. That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and
carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and
cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Colossians 2:22
22. Which all are to perish with the using; after the commandments
and doctrines of men?
Hebrews 13:9
9. Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a
good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats,
which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.
Titus 2
1. But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:
II John 1:9-11
9. Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ,
hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both
the Father and the Son.
10. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive
him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:
11. For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.
So, digest this fact in your brain: The truth of God's doctrines are
still the SAME, no matter to what religion or denomination you
may belong.
Now that you understand the truth about Doctrine, let me give you a
couple examples of the ways people reacted to information that is
in the Scriptures yet was new to them. Yes, they had probably read
many of the verses, but really didn't UNDERSTAND the truth that was
present in them.
Now both of these people (Whose identities I have disguised) ARE
Christians that love Jesus Christ! They are church goers. More than
that, they are active in their respective churches in many areas; More
so than many Christians. I am not being judgmental. I am merely
relating what happened as an example of what they did when they
were presented with some additional truths. Both of these people
have really loving hearts.
Example One: I know a man that is very active in the Ministry of his
church. He is a Christian that loves the Lord and lives his life for
Christ. He is active in assisting foreign missionaries, etc. I won't
belabor the point. Suffice it to say he is a great guy!
I put together some information that I thought he would just gobble
up. It was a series of recordings teaching Gods truth, line by line and
verse by verse. I sent it to him and, after starting to go through it, he
said, "You know, I just don't know about this. I'm going to ask my
preacher."
I think my friend listened to a number of the recordings but never
"checked" them out for himself in the Scriptures. As far as I know he has not listened further to the recordings and apparently had a brief
conversation with his minister about it. I KNOW they didn't sit down
together and go over it line by line and verse by verse seeking the
truth of the matter. If they had they would have both come to the
same conclusion: This is what Jesus Christ taught! But unfortunately
that's the way seed planting goes. Sometimes it takes and sometimes
it doesn't. We plant the seed and God makes it grow if it's His wil .
Example Two: I also gave a set of recordings to another person. Let's
call him Marty. Marty started listening to the recordings and came to
the part about the Anti-Christ. Apparently he stopped listening after
that. When I brought the subject of the recordings up later, hoping he
was listening to them, Marty said something to the effect that the
information couldn't possibly be reliable. Marty then said, "How could
anyone know who the Anti-Christ is?"
I wanted to tell him that it was very plain and repeated in the Bible
many times that the Anti-Christ was Satan! I wanted to say something
like, "Haven't you ever read II Thessalonians 2:1-9 about how Satan
comes BEFORE Christ's return. Haven't you ever read Mark 13?
Don't you know it's as plain as the nose on your face that Satan is the
Anti-Christ? The Bible repeats this time and time again! Haven't you
read it?
But, I didn't say al the things that I wanted to say. That's not always
the best way to plant spiritual seeds. And, Marty wasn't in a frame of
mind to listen, nor were we in a setting that was conducive to a
further discussion. So I didn't quote the scriptures listing Satan as the
Anti-Christ. Maybe someday curiosity wil get the best of Marty. I hope
so. See II Thessalonians 2:1-9 [Satan physically comes to earth
before Christ returns], and Revelation 9:11 [Satan's name is given in
both Hebrew and Greek so there wil be no mistake as to who
he is.] (More on this later.)
What I'm trying to show you through these examples is that there are
some spiritual truths out there that not every Christian understands.
Nor wil they. Hear what Gods word has to say about that.
Romans 11:8
(According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber,
eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;)
unto this day.
So, take the time to search the scriptures when you think you may
have come upon additional truth. It is time well spent.
THE KEY OF DAVID AND WHO THE KENITES
ARE.
This brings us to the Key of David. The whole point of telling you what
I just told you is so you can "understand" The Key of David.
In the Book of Revelation Christ tells us there were only two churches
out of the seven with which He found no fault; Smyrna and
Philadelphia. Why?
Because they KNEW AND TAUGHT who the Kenites were - The
Kenites are the offspring of Satan through Cain!
Revelation 3:7
7. And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write; These things
saith he that is holy, he that is true, he that hath the key of David, he
that openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man
openeth;
What Revelation 3:7 is saying is that The Key of David opens doors
of understanding that no man can shut, and shuts doors of
understanding that no man can open.
Basically said, The Key of David is the key that unlocks the
scriptures to your understanding! It unlocks Gods word to
explain who the Kenites are to YOU.
Once you understand the Key of David there is a new layer of
understanding revealed to you through the scriptures. Nothing is
added or subtracted from the scriptures! It's all there. It's always been
there. It's just a matter of understanding and enlightenment.
Ponder these two verses:
Revelation 2:9
I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and I
know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not,
but are the synagogue of Satan.
Revelation 3:9
Behold, I wil make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they
are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I wil make them to come
and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
I wil explain more to you about the Kenites as this book progresses.
Stay with me. It's starting to get really good. When you put all this
stuff together, hopefully, it wil open your eyes to additional spiritual
truths throughout the Holy Scriptures.
INDIVIDUAL CHRISTIAN DEVELOPMENT
When a child is a baby it gets all its food or nutrition from its mother's
milk. It nurses from its mother's breasts and takes from its mother
every nutritional thing it needs. But as it grows older, it gets to a point
when it needs more than it can get from its mother. It needs to start
eating solid food. It needs to start eating meat.
Spiritually it's the same way. When someone becomes a Christian,
when they accept Christ as their God and savior, and ask Him to
forgive them of their sins, they are babies in Christ. That's where the
term "Babes In Christ" comes from. It means a new or spiritually
young Christian.
Hebrews 5:13
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness:
for he is a babe.
But as they grow spiritually, there comes a time when they need to
start eating some spiritual meat. They need to get weaned off their
mother's breast and start taking in some more substantial nutrition.
Many, if not most Christians, ever get past this infant point in their
spiritual lives. Many Christians, if not most, never get off of their
mother's milk. They keep hearing the salvation message over and
over. They hear only a verse or two of scripture in church, and the
pastor rambles on for an hour about those two verses. They are stil
drinking spiritual milk. THEY ARE NOT EATING SPIRITUAL MEAT.
They think they are eating spiritual meat, but they're not. They are
putting in time, but not really growing in Christ.
How many people do you know who sit down with the Bible and
actually read it? How many people do you know who daily study the
scriptures? How many people do you know who really try to figure out
what it says? How many people do you know who really try to figure
out what the individual and collective words really mean?
I'm not talking about watching a preacher on TV who reads a few
verses. I'm talking about studying the Bible line by line, and verse by
verse, for a chapter or so at a time.
If you were to take a great novel and only read one or two sentences
a week, or even one or two sentences a day, do you think you would
ever really grasp what the writer was trying to get across to you? Be
honest with yourself.
You must realize Christ has a plan for us (His servants), and His
servants are supposed to serve Him. If you are ignorant of Gods word
you won't know how to serve Him in His plan.
Hebrews 5:14
But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those
who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both
good and evil.
This verse is talking about spiritual maturity, not the number of years
you have lived on earth.
So, what should a Christian do? A Christian should rightly divide the
word of God.
II Timothy 2:15
Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth
not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
How does one rightly divide the word of God? Basically there are 5
things you should keep in mind.
1. Pay attention to whom the scripture is written. What is the subject?
2. Be aware of the portion of time in which the scripture applies; First,
second, or third Earth Age. And, what part of that age? Beginning,
middle, or end.
3. How does the scripture you are studying apply to the future?
4. How does it apply in the historic sense?
5. Then take what you have just studied and put it in the proper
perspective for your own life and your own understanding.
By doing this, clarity wil come to you concerning the scriptures.
And when clarity comes, God's further blessing will come to you.
TH
E ULTIMATE PURPOSE OF THIS PAPER is
to make people aware of the fact that The
False Messiah returns to earth BEFORE The
True Messiah, so Christians will NOT be
mislead and follow the FALSE Messiah by
mistake. In simpler terms, the False Christ
returns BEFORE the TRUE Christ!
(I'm writing this so you, the reader, won't be
fooled.)
To grasp the importance and significance of this statement, one must
have an understanding and overview of God's plan for us.
So I'm going to explain to you in a simplified manner what God's plan
is for our lives. I'm going to tell you in plain English what this overview
is. I am going to feed you some more spiritual meat.
That way you can come to an UNDERSTANDING of the fact that
Satan wil return as the False Messiah before Christ returns as the
True Messiah.
W
HY IS THIS IMPORTANT? SIMPLY, S
O YOU
WON'T BE FOOLES WHEN IT HAPPENS!
Christ tells us that many wil be fooled when this comes to pass.
There wil be a great falling away from the True Christ .
II Thessalonians 2:3-4
3. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come,
except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be
revealed, the son of perdition;
4. Who opposeth and exaltet