USING GOD’S WORD AGAINST GOD’S WORD

1 Samuel chapters 24 and 26

We’ve actually refuted this part of AR Bernard’s sermon in another article. Read it here:

At Least The Guilty King Saul Repented ‘Apostle’ Bernard…

The rest of this article is dedicated to the remaining scriptures used in AR Bernard’s sermon to manipulate people. If you would like to familiarise yourself with the sermon we are critiquing, you can read the transcript here.

Matthew 18

AR Bernard reported that Chew Eng Han approached him using the “pattern of Matthew chapter 18, where it says that if you have an offence with a brother, that you go to them”.

Even though Han was in the right in doing so, Bernard clearly did not like this. In fact, if AR Bernard was offended by something Chew Eng Han said or did in that meeting, he should have obeyed Matthew 18 and followed the correct protocol in private. But Bernard didn’t. Instead, he went to the final step and did not attempt to resolve this matter privately.

So why did he show public disdain with Chew Eng Han who appeared to be obediently following Jesus’ instruction in Matthew 18? Will it seems as though AR Bernard doesn’t believe in Matthew 18 as the right way to go about resolving issues. Let us explain why.

James 3:1,17

AR Bernard referenced the book of James 3:1 and sought a “deeper shade of meaning” rather accept what the text actually says at face value. However, the passage is in fact in favour for Chew Eng Han, not Bernard or Kong Hee. All Chew Eng Han wanted was Bernard to uphold the responsibility of those that would teach others. And AR Bernard himself said that James 3:1 is “a wonderful passage that speaks about the responsibility of those that would teach others”.

It is true in this scripture that Kong and Bernard who have chosen to be teachers “will be judged by a higher standard and with greater severity than other people. Thus, we assume the greater accountability and the more condemnation by what we do.” It goes without saying. Oddly enough, it appears that Chew Eng Han was appealing to Bernard to make sure that Kong was maintaining that “greater accountability”.

So why is AR Bernard using this scripture? Well, he didn’t want to use James 3:1.

“Let us go to verse 17.”

Why?

“Verse 17 speaks of the tone and spirit that one should have when engaged in reconciliation, when engaged in dealing with any issues that occur between brothers and sisters in the Lord.”

Is that what James 3:17 says AR Bernard? Let’s see you read out what the passage said and have you explain it to us:

“But the wisdom from above is first of all pure (undefiled); then it is peace-loving, courteous (considerate, gentle). [It is willing to] yield to reason, full of compassion and good fruits; it is wholehearted and straightforward, impartial and unfeigned (free from doubts, wavering, and insincerity).”

Now, I present those verses to you because that is the spirit in which we resolve any issues between brothers and sisters, between leadership at any level, within the church of Jesus Christ.

So you read out James 3:1-2, skip verses 3-16 and then read verse 17 and say this passage is about, “the tone and spirit that one should have when engaged in reconciliation”.

This is a Word of Faith heretic’s favourite chapter. It’s all about the power of the tongue. AR Bernard would know that the entire chapter is about the tongue. They twist it to say that your tongue has magic powers to speak things into existence.

However, James is talking about the power of the tongue in relation to teachers. This chapter expands on verses 1-3. And if anything, it is Kong Hee and AR Bernard that fall under condemnation as the false teachers they are, with their unbridled tongues.

Towards the end of this chapter, James returns to a key theme/issue he keeps bringing up in his letter: issues of the Christian mind. This time he exposes that the church’s double-mindedness is bought about by opposing wisdoms: divine wisdom versus earthly wisdom.

Verse 13 challenges those who are wise to live a “good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom”.

Verse 14 challenges those who “harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in [their] hearts [… to] not boast about it or deny the truth”. Verses 15,16 and 17 continue his teaching on these two different wisdoms. James 3:13-18 is simply teaching the church how to discern the difference between the two types of wisdom and to live them out.

Matthew 18 versus James 3:17

Clearly James 3:17 does not speak “of the tone and spirit that one should have when engaged in reconciliation”. It’s not about, “dealing with any issues that occur between brothers and sisters in the Lord”. If James 3:17 was about what Bernard claims it was, it would say it clearly right? We actually wonder why Bernard used James 3:17. There are clearer passages to use. Why couldn’t he use maybe… James 4?

Instead, AR Bernard is simply twisting the scriptures and using the Christian ethic to unfairly prevent people from following God’s instruction in Matthew 18 with Kong Hee. In other words, AR Bernard lies about God’s Word to refute God’s Word to simply shut people up. And that’s a very manipulative and ungodly thing to do.

SO WHAT ARE WE SEEING?

What we are seeing is actually satanic. Like Eve in the Garden of Eden and Jesus in the Wilderness, Satan tried to refute God’s Word with God’s Word. However, he is the Father of Lies (John 8:44) and can only pervert what God says by trying to refute what God says. And false teachers like AR Bernard are constantly doing this to suppress the truth in unrighteousness (Romans 1) so they can lord over gentiles (Mark 10:42).

To those that ignore Jesus’ instructions like AR Bernard and Kong Hee, Jesus says this:

“Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me.” John 8:43-45

Our next article will be examining the “interview” gimmick Kong and Bernard pulled on the CHC congregation, and look at more manipulation AR Bernard used in his sermon.

Categories: Uncategorized