“He who descended is the one who also ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things.) And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes”(Ephesians 4:10-14).
“…so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.” This verse contains a lot of wisdom to chew on, yet, and sadly, it is the very thing that has happened to the body of Messiah, for generations and especially today. There are many who proclaim Christ/Yeshua as their savior whom have been led away from church, or assembling with the body. While this is understandable seeing so many churches and pastors are no longer courageous enough to teach strictly from The Word of God and have been led by doctrines of man, into deceitful schemes.
Do people understand that religion has become an idol, and the idols of knowledge, self-righteousness, prosperity, and “set-apartness” have led them into both deceit and distraction. Not to mention causing even further division in an already extremely un-unified body. It is hard to trust. However, as a body we are also at risk and vulnerable without a good shepherd. A big issues across the body is how the lack of a shepherd is causing His children to be tossed to and fro as too many have begun to fall away from the First Commandment of YHVH: “You shall have no other gods before me.”
Do not quench the Holy Spirit
In part 2, the topic of quenching the Holy Spirit/Ruach HaKodesh was brought to the forefront. In 1 Thessalonians 5 (19-22) we are told, “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.” This is happening in many new “movements” (not a great descriptor but it is what people use) as Believers toss sound witness to Yahweh’s word into the Sea of Reeds and run from Pharaoh’s army. They leave one “Egypt” only to enter into another. They harden their hearts against Yeshua without realizing this is happening; which in turn hardens them against loving their neighbors as themselves. They reject the voice of Yahweh’s prophets sent to warn them they are growing cold, and away from the leading of the Holy Spirit.
They do not see the hypocrisy: As they too keep the traditions of man yet scoff at fellow Believers who have either not left their holidays behind in the name of “truth” or simply do things out of “love” for their Savior. The same goes for those in mainstream Christianity since they don’t read the Bible closely enough to see what is written about entertaining paganism.
What the body at large misses is how much resemblance some have to tares amongst the wheat in the field. Some use the name of Yeshua/Jesus Christ, yet aren’t actually bowing at HIS feet. Instead of seeking the desperately needed healing of their souls, through sanctification of the Holy Spirit, they look to man made practices. This includes things such as the Jewish practice (and a modern one at that) of mussar, ancient mysticism that Yahweh says we are to avoid – found in kabbalah, new agism (much of the progressive Christian movement is based on this and not the Word), and more. Paul once wrote this to the church at Corinth:
“I wish you would bear with me in a little foolishness. Do bear with me! For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough” (2 Cor 11)
As previously stated, and as is proved throughout scripture, nothing is new under the sun!
Seek ye first the Kingdom of God
Friends, His righteousness is not self-righteousness. As we are constantly reminded (Rom 3, Ps. 14, Ps. 53)
“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written:
“None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.
All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”
“Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.”
“The venom of asps is under their lips.”
“Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery,
and the way of peace they have not known.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.” (Rom 3: 10-18)
The deception that Believer’s are allowing to infiltrate their lives by mixing things not of Yahweh/God into their spiritual walk is dangerous. Hence leading them further away from their Psalm 139 identity and back into the desert of their exile. Brethren, heed these words! The Spirit of Elohim awoke me night after night (for weeks), between the hours of 3-5AM, and poured out into my hands everything I’ve written in this series, and more:
No matter if you consider yourself a Christian, a Messianic Jew, Torah Observant of Hebrew Roots, Catholic (etc…) or you are simply on the fringe of any belief at this point…Find your way back to The Ways of The ONE who saved your soul. Study Him (Yeshua/Jesus Christ) alone for a while and check your spirit as you move along that journey. You life may very well depend on it.
_____________________________________________________________