Your Greatest Mistake Will Be To Trust A Lying Preacher

1st Kings 13:1-10, “And, behold, there came a man of God out of Judah by the word of the LORD unto Bethel: and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. And he cried against the altar in the word of the LORD, and said, O altar, altar, thus saith the LORD; Behold, a child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name; and upon thee shall he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men's bones shall be burnt upon thee. And he gave a sign the same day, saying, This is the sign which the LORD hath spoken; Behold, the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it shall be poured out. And it came to pass, when king Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, which had cried against the altar in Bethel, that he put forth his hand from the altar, saying, Lay hold on him. And his hand, which he put forth against him, dried up, so that he could not pull it in again to him. The altar also was rent, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the LORD. And the king answered and said unto the man of God, Intreat now the face of the LORD thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored me again. And the man of God besought the LORD, and the king's hand was restored him again, and became as it was before. And the king said unto the man of God, Come home with me, and refresh thyself, and I will give thee a reward. And the man of God said unto the king, If thou wilt give me half thine house, I will not go in with thee, neither will I eat bread nor drink water in this place: For so was it charged me by the word of the LORD, saying, Eat no bread, nor drink water, nor turn again by the same way that thou camest. So he went another way, and returned not by the way that he came to Bethel.”

The young man of God, without hesitation, rightly rejected king Jeroboam's offer for a reward and refreshments at his home. The Lord forbade the young preacher from turning aside from his mission. In the following disturbing passage, you will learn that an older preacher deliberately lied to the young man of God, claiming that God said to turn aside, which cost the young man his life when he did. ...

1st Kings 13:11-24, “Now there dwelt an old prophet in Bethel; and his sons came and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: the words which he had spoken unto the king, them they told also to their father. And their father said unto them, What way went he?  For his sons had seen what way the man of God went, which came from Judah. And he said unto his sons, Saddle me the ass. So they saddled him the ass: and he rode thereon, And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under an oak: and he said unto him, Art thou the man of God that camest from Judah? And he said, I am. Then he said unto him, Come home with me, and eat bread. And he said, I may not return with thee, nor go in with thee: neither will I eat bread nor drink water with thee in this place: For it was said to me by the word of the LORD, Thou shalt eat no bread nor drink water there, nor turn again to go by the way that thou camest. He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.  But he lied unto him. So he went back with him, and did eat bread in his house, and drank water. And it came to pass, as they sat at the table, that the word of the LORD came unto the prophet that brought him back:  And he cried unto the man of God that came from Judah, saying, Thus saith the LORD, Forasmuch as thou hast disobeyed the mouth of the LORD, and hast not kept the commandment which the LORD thy God commanded thee, But camest back, and hast eaten bread and drunk water in the place, of the which the LORD did say to thee, Eat no bread, and drink no water; thy carcase shall not come unto the sepulchre of thy fathers. And it came to pass, after he had eaten bread, and after he had drunk, that he saddled for him the ass, to wit, for the prophet whom he had brought back. And when he was gone, a lion met him by the way, and slew him: and his carcase was cast in the way, and the ass stood by it, the lion also stood by the carcase.”

The Bible does not tell us why the elderly prophet intentionally lied to the young man of God. Verse 18 is the key verse in my humble opinion: “He said unto him, I am a prophet also as thou art; and an angel spake unto me by the word of the LORD, saying, Bring him back with thee into thine house, that he may eat bread and drink water.  But he lied unto him.” Here we see elements of deception. This elder prophet was a liar! He deceived the young man of God. I see three spiritual lessons here to remember:

1. The young preacher trusted the older preacher.
2. The older preacher falsely claimed that an angel spoke unto him.
3. The older preacher falsely claimed to be speaking God's Word.
4. The older preacher in fact was a false prophet.
5. The older preacher was a bold-faced liar!

There is a very important lesson to be learned here. The young man of God didn't trust king Jeroboam, because he knew he was wicked; but he trusted another preacher who was older than him. Satan is a beautiful liar! Dear reader, all across the world today younger people are blindly trusting preachers, merely because they are pastors, older and allegedly wiser. Job 32:9, “Great men are not always wise: neither do the aged understand judgment.” Dr. Steve Pettit comes to mind (president of Bob Jones University since 2014). Thousands of students look up to him at BJU, trusting his flawed theology, while he indoctrinates them with the Devil's lie of Lordship Salvation, praising John MacArthur's demonic ministry.

By the way, here are some different Bible commentaries on this passage from 1st Kings 18:1-24. The young preacher in our text passage of Scripture was a godly man. He was not a bad guy! He was very sincere. But he made the fatal mistake of trusting another preacher! God had directly told that young preacher exactly what to do. Yet, he listened to a man instead. Psalms 118:8, “It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” Acts 5:29, “Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.” Billions of human beings in this world are deceived today. They are foolishly following the teachings of some religious man! There are 1,200,000,000 Roman Catholics worldwide, who sinfully listen to the Pope ex-cathedra (i.e., as if God Himself is speaking). That is so wrong! What fools! Steve Pettit is as the Pope at Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. They idolize, follow and pattern their ministry after his reprobate teachings. Woe unto Harvest!

I encourage you dear reader to be as the Bereans in Acts 17:10-11, “And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.” The Bob Jones' crowd don't SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES! They merely follow the flawed teachings of Dr. Steve Pettit and Pastor John MacArthur, taking their word for it, afraid to go against the herd mentality at BJU. I wouldn't give you a dime for the hen-pecked pastors at Harvest Baptist Church on Guam, who merely follow their Neo-evangelical masters at Bob Jones University in South Carolina.

I love you dear reader! I care! God cares! Right doctrine matters! It is not okay to preach another Gospel (Galatians 1:6-9). Read the Scriptures from cover to cover, and you won't be able to show me even one verse that teaches us to “turn from your sins” to be saved. The Gospel has been perverted in the corrupt modern Bible revisions! Is it nothing to you oh Christian? I am alarmed! I care enough to make a fuss and expose every false way! Psalms 119:104, “Through thy precepts I get understanding: therefore I hate every false way.”