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You Presently Follow
Wolves In Sheep's Clothing
"O My people! Those who lead you
cause you to err,
and destroy the way of your paths."
(Isa 3:12 NKJ)
"They promise them freedom, while they
themselves are slaves of depravity
for a man is a slave to whatever has
mastered him"
(2 Pet 2:19 NIV)
It is not that they are wrong
Only Elementary And Incomplete
They Preach The Beginning
As if It Were the End
 Wolves In
Sheep's Clothing: The warning in 2nd Peter is very important to all
people where it speaks of the counterfeit Church leaders who are biblically
portrayed as wolves in sheep's clothing: "These
men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness
is reserved for them. For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by
appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people
who are just escaping from those who live in error. They promise them
freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-- for a man is a
slave to whatever has mastered him" (2 Pet 2:17-19
NIV).
While the shepherds of the people are sincere,
they lack an understanding of the spiritual essence of TheWay, and that the
prodigal sons and daughters must return to the Kingdom while still
physically alive in the body-vessel. And while those who shepherd the
believers preach the initial steps of walking in TheWay, because they have
errored in preaching the doctrine of perpetual redemption -- crucifying
Messiah/Christ afresh each and every day that they, with their lips, call
upon the Name of the Lord -- they are themselves slaves to the god of this
world. And in their spiritual ignorance brought upon themselves
by their reliance on the doctrines of carnal men, they obstruct the path of
those who seek to move beyond the entry-level teachings. And the
counterfeit shepherds accomplish this, by pointing out the sinfulness of the
people of our hedonist culture. They convince the believers that
they are saved, merely because they took the first step in TheWay.
And while it is true that our culture that most people today embrace, is
portrayed in the above as the way of error -- the people who Peter is making
reference to, are those who have come to the Churches, and embraced the
elementary teachings of TheWay. Thus, those who flock to Churches
and religious organizations, are those
people of the simple faith who recognize the
cultural way of error, and are those "...who
are just escaping from those who live in error."
And these words remain at true today, as when they were originally written
-- and if you continue to embrace our modern culture of spiritual death,
then you will remain the dead that Yeshua made reference to in the words:
"But Jesus said unto him, Follow me; and let the
dead bury their dead" (Matt 8:22 KJV). And what is
important to understand is that the religious teachings that are promoted by
the clergy of this world, is merely elementary at best -- i.e.,
entry-level teachings that are intended to begin the process of freeing the
prodigal sons and daughters from the control of what is portrayed as the
"citizen... of the far country".
The counterfeit shepherds who lead the flock
Preach
to the people that their journey is complete
When they have only
just begun!!!
Yeshua/Jesus warned that false prophets and teachers would arise and fool
the people -- and you will know them by their fruits. It is not
that these false shepherds are willfully fooling the people -- but rather,
they are themselves fooled because they have never themselves attempted to
move beyond the entry-level doctrines of faith. They are fooled
because they cling to the (carnal/pagan) doctrines of men -- and they are
very much as blind shepherds that lead the people into the proverbial ditch
of dark ignorance and despair. And speaking of these false
shepherds in the
above, Peter warns that the counterfeit clergy of the churches will "...promise
them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity".
We must ask: Why would they promise the people
"freedom" in the Gospel and the Good
News -- and yet, Peter warns that they are
"...themselves are slaves of depravity"???
Because these shepherds of the simple faith do not understand the words that
Yeshua said to the man who he had healed: "Behold,
thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee"
(John 5:14 KJV). Having themselves never been "WHOLE" -- or even
remotely understand the reality of Wholeness -- the shepherds of the simple
faith attempt to use Jesus as a sacrifice to live in a state of perpetual
sin. And thus, these blind guides are not only disenfranchised
from the very spiritual essence of the teachings of Yeshua and TheWay, but
they have themselves never experienced Wholeness -- or even understand the
reality that is conveyed in these words.
Perhaps the key to understanding the false
shepherds of the Church is found in the words: "Do
not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to
destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth
pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all
is fulfilled. Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these
commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of
heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the
kingdom of heaven. For I say to you, that unless your righteousness exceeds
the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter
the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 5:17-20 NKJ).
The modern Church basically ignores these
words, and they embrace a total misunderstanding of the Epistles of Paul
that appears on the surface to state that the Law was done away with.
But they ignore the warning of Paul when he warned that the Old Testament is
an "allegory" -- and every verse
possesses a deeper meaning that is beyond the vision and understanding of
the people of a natural organic mind. Speaking of the literal
written meaning which appears on the surface to be historical, Paul warns:
"Which things are an allegory..." (Gal
4:24 KJV). And this in ability to understand the inner meaning
of the scriptures is why it is written: "And He
opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures"
(Luke 24:45 NKJ). To their own spiritual demise, modern
Christians ignore the warning of Paul that even committed and baptized
believers who have received the "gifts of the
spirit", will not be able to comprehend man's own higher soul and
spiritual reality (see The Letter
That Killeth) -- and in ignoring this warning, the believers have
followed shepherds who read the scriptures in the manner of the Pharisees
who Yeshua condemned for throwing away the Key of Knowledge (see
Key of Knowledge). And
thus, Peter condemns these false shepherds because they think they have
completed their journey in TheWay, when in truth they have only just begun.
We can readily see this spiritual stagnation that Peter is warning
entry-level believers of today, where the people are
promised that regardless of the way that they think and live, their
salvation is guaranteed if they embrace the Jesus promoted by the Churches. And if modern Church doctrine was
valid -- and that all that was necessary was to believe and call upon the
name of the Lord -- then Peter could not have made the above statement.
He would have written that once you call upon the Name of the Lord, that you inherit the
free gift of salvation by virtue of the blood of the lamb -- as is preached
in most Churches today. But Peter did not at all state this.
In fact, what he warned was that just the opposite was true.
Modern Christian doctrine can basically
be portrayed in these words which are the requirements to join a Christian
Internet web ring system:
"You must believe in
salvation by grace alone, and that salvation is immediate and eternal upon
acceptance of Jesus as a one-time sacrifice for your sins, and not obtained
through works, sacraments, traditions or merits of our own"
(see
http://www.christiansunite.com/terms.shtml
). But
these words are a total contradiction to what Peter is stating.
If there was no requirement of a change in thinking and lifestyle, then
Peter never would have portrayed the counterfeit clergy and their flock of
believers as preaching the people the
"...promise [of] freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity"
The Proof Of
Reality That The Church Denies: Peter's next statement is not only in
direct opposition -- and runs
contrary to what is preached in the Churches today -- but should literally haunt every person
who calls themselves a Christian believer: "If
they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off
at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for
them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and
then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to
them. Of them the proverbs are true: A dog returns to its vomit, and, A sow
that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud"
(2 Pet 2:20-22 NIV)
Where the modern Church promotes the doctrine that they are saved by
Grace regardless of the manner they live their lives, Peter not only states
that this doctrine is in grave error, but correctly states that: "It
would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness,
than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command
that was passed on to them." Every Christian
should ask themselves: How Can This Be??? Christians
promote the doctrine that only those who believe can be saved -- and here
Peter is stating the opposite it true, and that those people who claim to believe, may be worse
off after they have come to believe, than before they began to believe.
The shepherds and blind guides that Peter is making reference to, are those
who preach the modern doctrine of perpetual sin -- i.e.,
"This is especially true of those who follow the
corrupt desire of the sinful nature..." (2 Peter 2:10 NIV).
Because these false shepherds fail to understand the reality of what Yeshua
meant when he used the terms Whole, and Complete, they preach the
"...promise [of] freedom [in their doctrine of salvation by faith and
grace alone], while they themselves are slaves of depravity"
In what can only be in total opposition to what Christians today believe,
Peter states that it would have been better for the entry-level believers to
have never heard of the Gospel, than to have heard, and then fall prey to
the false shepherds who promise freedom but blindly lead the believers into
the proverbial ditch. And there is simply no means for the
modern Christian who believes the doctrines of the Church, to even begin to
understand what Peter is making reference to. Why?
Because what is preached in the Churches today, has relatively little in
common with what Yeshua actually taught. And in
truth, Christian doctrine is founded upon the religious principles of Pagan
Rome (see The Christian Judas),
than what Yeshua actually taught.
The reality that the modern
Christian can in no manner even begin to come to terms with, is perhaps best
expressed in the words of biblical scholar
A. Powell Davies who warned the
Christian world that discoveries such as the Dead Sea Scrolls had confirmed
what they had believed all along -- that the Roman Church created the
divinity of Yeshua/Jesus -- i.e., “Biblical
scholars were not disturbed by what they found in the Dead Sea Scrolls
because they had known all along that the origin of Christianity was not
what was commonly supposed to have been”
(quoted by Millar Burrows in More Light on the Dead Sea Scrolls). Worse
yet, Edmund Wilson, an expert who worked on the Dead Sea Scrolls further
raised the question as to what difference it makes if
“Jesus... had been trained in the discipline and
imbued with the thought of a certain Jewish sect, and that he had learned
from it the role that he afterwards lived...” (The Scrolls From
The Dead Sea). To the uninformed and unknowing believer, it made all
the difference in the world! If
Yeshua was an Essene who lived a holy and consecrated life, fulfilling the
Law within himself so completely, that he became One with the Logos/Son of
God at his baptism as stated by all Church Authorities prior to the fourth
century Nicene Council held by the Roman Emperor Constantine (see
The Ten Words), then the Adam Clark
Bible Commentary is correct when it states that
"...the whole Christian system is vain and
baseless"!!!
When Prof. John Allegro was quoted as saying that what
has been revealed in the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is a great amount
of overwhelming evidence that
“...may upset a great many basic
teachings of the Christian Church. This in turn would greatly upset many
Christian Theologians and believers. The heart of the matter is, in fact,
the source and originality of Christian doctrine”
(August 1966 issue of Harpers Magazine); what
he was in fact stating is that, everything that we now know about Christian
beginnings demonstrate that the Essene/Ebionites were not the heretics, as
they were falsely portrayed by the later Gentile church, but were in fact
the body of genuine believers that held fast to the authentic teachings of
Yeshua/Jesus and the New Covenant.
It is correctly
pointed out by Prof. Hyam Maccoby in
The Mythmaker: Paul and the Invention of Christianity, that:
"The Ebionites are thus by no means a negligible or
derisory group. Their claim to represent the original teaching of Jesus has
to be taken seriously. It is quite wrong, therefore, to dismiss what they
had to say about Paul as unworthy of attention." Prof.
Maccoby then writes: "Consequently, if the Gospel
of Matthew contains assertions by Jesus about the validity of the Torah,
this is strong evidence that Jesus actually made these assertions, for only
a persistent and unquenchable tradition that Jesus said these things would
have induced the author of the Gospel to include such recalcitrant material,
going against the grain of his own narrative and standpoint. If Jesus
himself was an adherent of the Torah, there was no need for re-Judaization
on the part of the Nazarenes in Jerusalem, who were simply continuing the
attitudes of Jesus. But, in any case, several scholars have now come to
think that the loyalty of the Jerusalem movement to the Torah is itself
strong evidence that Jesus was similarly loyal. It is, after all,
implausible, to say the least, that the close followers of Jesus, his
companions during his lifetime, led by his brother, should have so
misunderstood him that they reversed his views immediately after his death.
The 'stupidity' motif characterizing the disciples in the Gospels is best
understood as a Pauline attempt to explain away the attachment of the
'Jerusalem Church' to Judaism, rather than as historical obtuseness."
Can You Just
Read The Bible And Know The Truth?
Based upon a grave misunderstanding of the Epistles attributed to Paul,
modern Christians believe they are saved by faith and grace apart from their
actions and lifestyle, and that the Bible is merely an historical accounting
and the inspired Word of God. Yet, the problem with Paul's
Epistles and his doctrine of faith is seen in the fact that few believers
today understand his very Gnostic concepts which were designed to bring
about an Awakening in the mind of the believer (see
The Gnostic Paul).
And in the same way, few modern Christians are able to understand the
threefold Church that existed before the Pagan Roman takeover in the fourth
century (see The Secret
Doctrine).
If believers could simply open the
Bible and other scriptures and be able to ascertain with understanding the
true soul and spiritual meaning of the Word, then this warning would not
have been written:
"Then opened He their
understanding, that they might understand the scriptures"
(Luke 24:45).
And while the vast majority of people -- both believers and non-believers
alike -- routinely take the position that they can see, perceive and
comprehend what others are blind to, it is to their own demise that they
fail to take heed to this and an uncountable number of other warnings.
Paul warned the Galatians who
attempted to read the Bible literally that the text was an
"allegory" (Gal 4:24) --
speaking of the literal text of the scriptures as the
"letter that killeth" (2 Cor 3:6). Paul
went so far as to warn the believers at Corinth that they were to no longer
look to the historical Jesus as their savior -- i.e.,
“Therefore from now on we recognize no man according
to the flesh; even though we have known Christ according o the flesh, yet
now we know Him thus no longer” (2 Cor 5:16 NAS) -- prompting
biblical scholar Rudolf Bultmann to conclude with respect to the historical
Jesus versus the spiritual Christ that the
“…Christian faith is, and should be, comparatively uninterested in the
historical Jesus and centered instead on the transcendent Christ”
(Encyclopedia Britannica, 1998 electronic edition).
When Yeshua walked
among the multitude of people, he taught them in parables -- i.e.,
allegorical forms and symbols -- while reserving the teachings about the
Mysteries of God only for the ears of his disciples:
“Again he said, What shall we say the kingdom of God
is like, or what parable shall we use to describe it? It is like a mustard
seed, which is the smallest seed you plant in the ground. Yet when planted,
it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants, with such big
branches that the birds of the air can perch in its shade. With many similar
parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. He
did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone
with his own disciples, he explained everything” (Mark 4:30-34
NIV). When Jesus was questioned as to why he taught in this
manner, he very clearly said: “The secret of the
kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything
is said in parables so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding” (Mark 4:11-12 NIV).
In view of the fact that what Jesus called the
“secrets of the Kingdom of God” was not taught to the multitude
of people who listened to him speak, the question that every believer today
must ask is: Why would Jesus not speak plainly to everyone who would
listened? The answer to the question is found in the words:
"With many similar parables Jesus
spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand".
So the problem
was not in Yeshua's unwillingness to reveal to the people the Mysteries of
the Kingdom -- but rather, in their inability to perceive and understand.
What is a parable?
To begin to understand
what is being conveyed right in the Bible itself to the reader, we must
first ask ourselves what a parable is? Based upon church dogma, some
people today erroneously believe that a parable makes a teaching more plain
and easier to understand. In demonstration of this misconception, in some
modern Bible translations the word parable is rendered illustration.
Why? Because this is what people want to believe -- it affirms their grave
misconceptions about life itself and their very carnal manner of thinking --
and it is beyond most believers comprehension to understand why Jesus would
reveal to one group of people a different revelation than another group of
people. Yet, the prayers of many Christians for a greater
understanding of the Word, can never be answered until believers begin to
confront this biblical reality that the Church is in denial of and attempts
to hide from today!
The Bible itself
declares this modern-day common assumption with respect to the parables to
be false, and clearly states that just the opposite is true. In
explanation of the above words of Jesus, the Wycliffe Commentary writes
that: “…the initiate was instructed in the esoteric
teaching of the cult, which was not revealed to outsiders… The mystery of
the kingdom in its ultimate development is the full-orbed message of the
Gospel (Rom 16:25-26). The purpose of parables was to instruct the initiates
without revealing the items of instruction to the ones who were without.
This is in keeping with the Biblical principle that spiritual understanding
is restricted to those who have become spiritual...”
The
"initiates" that the Wycliffe Commentary
is making reference to is the disciples who were said to be
"in the House". While the
multitudes who could not understand, were portrayed as being
"outside... the House" -- i.e.,
“The secret of the kingdom of God
has been given to you. But to those on the outside everything is said in
parables so that, they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever
hearing but never understanding”
In the present-day preaching of the Gospel and the Good News,
there simply is no room for the concept of an
“initiate”! And herein is the plight of the Church today --
i.e., they are "...ever seeing
but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding”
-- and in permitting
themselves to become spiritually disenfranchised, their abomination is even
greater than the Pharisees who Yeshua condemned as blind guides.
Christians
Reject Yeshua And The Gospel:
Because of the manmade doctrines they cling to,
the Church today is spiritually dead -- an institutionalized corpse that is
garnished in order to appear pleasing to the eyes of the mourners who are
looking for the Living among the dead -- and this is because they have lost
even an elementary understanding of the very objective of the Gospel
Message. While they believe they are the embodiment of Paul's
doctrine of faith in rejection of the ritual observance of the Law in the
manner of the Pharisees -- because they remain carnal and untransformed,
they neither understand the Gnostic faith of Paul, or the true spiritual
meaning of the Law which the Pharisees rejected when they threw away the Key
of Knowledge. We have often heard the term
"blind faith" -- when in reality, the very purpose of the
Gospel is to overcome all blindness -- to be taught by the One Teacher and
True Prophet -- and to become Enlightened by the Anointing (Messiah/Christ)
of the mind into all the knowledge of the reality of the soul and the
Mysteries of the Kingdom that is beyond the understanding of the organic
mind of the untransformed people of this world who reject the teachings of
TheWay. Therefore, the objective of Yeshua's teachings was to
enable the believer to move beyond the limitations of the multitudes who
only are capable of hearing and understanding the enigmas of parables and
allegory, and be found worthy to enter the House with the Lord.
And Peter correctly warns the people that they follow false shepherds who
promise them freedom in a carnal perception of the Gospel --
"...promise [of] freedom, while [the counterfeit shepherds] themselves are slaves of depravity."
The objective of the Gospel is not to
believe what one thinks is the truth or the manmade doctrines of a Church of
this world -- but rather, to enter in the House with the Lord where all
Truths can be revealed to the mind of the sincere and faithful disciples who
travail in TheWay. The Sermon on the Mount, and the vast
majority of the written text of the New Testament, is the elementary
spiritual concepts that must be embraced to prepare one's self to enter into
the House where the Mysteries of God are revealed to the mind of the
disciple -- Mysteries that are condemned as
"foolishness" by the entry-level believers of the simple faith
(see The Letter That Killeth).
And in the same way that the leaders among the Pharisees
led the people in the wrong direction because they threw away the Key of
Knowledge and the necessary deeper understanding of the scriptures which
they struggled to study in vain, the same is true of the vast majority of
Christians today.
Paul called the written
words of the scriptures the "letter that killeth"
(2 Cor 3:6). He warned the baptized believers at Corinth that
until they undergo the necessary process of spiritual transformation which
is the very objective of the teachings of TheWay, that their natural organic
mind will be incapable of understanding the true meaning of the Gospel, and
they will look upon the Mysteries of God as
"foolishness" -- i.e.,
“But the natural man does not receive the things of
the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned”
(1 Cor 2:14 NKJ). And he warned these baptized and confirmed Christians
who had received all the gifts and testimony of the Gospel, that their
untransformed mind was yet too carnal to comprehend and begin to grasp the
necessary higher realities of soul and spirit -- i.e.,
“And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to
spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to
babes in Christ” (1 Cor 3:1 NAS).
Further explaining that what is known as the testimony of Jesus Christ and
him crucified is the "milk" of the Gospel -- meant for entry-level believers
who have only begun their journey in TheWay -- i.e.,
“I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you
were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able”
(1 Cor 3:2 NAS).
To this very
day, what the believers of a natural organic mindset have trouble in
comprehending -- a reality that continues to plague all people who attempt
to read the scriptures -- is the reality that the religion preached by Paul
was one of Spiritual Transformation. Paul warned those he preached to
about the "letter that killeth",
that their religious ideas and doctrines were merely elementary. Paul
attempted to convey this higher reality to believers who were unable to
comprehend the Mysteries of God, because he was a man who was not only
enlightened about the Kingdom within (see
Gate Of Eden), but had
himself been permitted entrance into the Kingdom -- as seen in his words
that every
Christian who beseeches the Lord today to enlighten their understanding, is
in fact asking to see and hear “…things so
astounding that they are beyond a man's power to describe or put in words…”
-- and after they gaze upon these mysteries, what they have witnessed will
be of such a profound nature that they will “…not
[be] allowed to tell them to others” (2 Cor 12:4 TLB).
Why? Why will they not be able to convey to the believers in the Church
what they have seen and witnessed? Because, in not having evolved through
the process of spiritual transformation, they are still of a carnal mind --
a mindset that Paul warns: The...
“carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not
subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the
flesh cannot please God... For if you live according to the flesh you will
die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will
live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God”
(Rom 8:7-8;13 NKJ).
Spiritual
Understanding Is Restricted To Those Who Have Become Spiritual:
When Paul warned that he could only speak to the believers at Corinth as
"...men of flesh, as to babes in Christ”
(1 Cor 3:1 NAS), what he was warning was that
“Anyone who lives on milk, being still an infant, is
not acquainted with the teaching about righteousness. But solid food is for
the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good
from evil”
(Heb 5:13-14 NIV). And because they are yet carnal -- not having undergone
the process of spiritual transformation -- Paul warned that
“And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he
knows nothing yet as he ought to know”
(1 Cor 8:2 NKJ). For if man could simply open the scriptures and be
able to discern the Truth, Yeshua would not have said of his disciples:
“For I tell you the truth, many prophets and righteous
men longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear
but did not hear it”
(Matt 13:17 NIV). Why did Yeshua say these words? Because the majority
of believers who attempted to read the scriptures literally, and observe the
oracles of the Word in a ritualized outward manner, were the counterfeit
believers whose carnal mindset had spiritually disenfranchised them from the
Kingdom within.
In their doctrine that they are saved by
faith and Grace -- and that they are under no requirement to live in accord
with the Law which in their dogmatic misguided assumption they erroneously
believe was nailed to the cross -- Christians reject the very purpose and
objective of the Gospel and the teachings of TheWay. What Yeshua
taught in the Sermon on the Mount and other such teachings, is the
entry-level minimum of what must be continually observed by the flock of
believers. The higher realities of man's own soul and spirit --
and the Mysteries of the Kingdom -- could not be revealed to the multitudes,
or written into the literal text of the scriptures --
"With many similar
parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand."
Yet, by virtue of their misunderstanding of the doctrine of faith, and the
fact that modern Christianity is founded upon the very limited understanding
of Martin Luther, Christians continue to alienate themselves from their own
higher perception of the Word, so long as they fail to acknowledge that
Yeshua was not all-inclusive -- and it was his disciples who were the
initiates into what the Bible states are the Secrets of the Kingdom of
God. The key to understanding what is actually being portrayed in the
scriptures, is when the believers begin to truly open their eyes to what the
Bible actually states, and they permit themselves to become cognizant of the
great truth that “spiritual understanding is
restricted to those who have become spiritual”.
What does this rather
astute observation in the Wycliffe Commentary mean to us today? In Jesus’
own words that he plainly said was a truth that has its parallels in every
aspect of our lives: The Sacred Knowledge of the Kingdom did not belong to
everyone -- but rather, it belonged only to those who were found worthy to
hear the higher revelations of truth. The problem that inhibits the
believers ability to fully understand this well-defined biblical Truth, is
seen in the continual assertion that the worthiness of each person to hear
these mysteries taught only to the initiates, was predetermined prior to
their even being born into the present life they are living -- which is a
revelation that is simply beyond the believers doctrinal comprehension in
our present time. The idea that only a small group of people would
be taught the Mysteries of God -- and that they were chosen to hear these
Mysteries at a time before they were even born -- is so troubling to the
believers of the simple faith, that the majority of modern-day Christians
simply choose to ignore this paramount biblical doctrine. They therefore
not only close their eyes and hearts to the message of the Bible they claim
to champion, but they sever themselves from the revelation of the indwelling
Word they continually petition with their lips to bestow upon them.
Do Christians
Know The Truth?
Christians cannot even begin to be faithful to Yeshua and the teachings of
TheWay, so long as they engage in the idolatrous worship ordained by Pagan
Rome.
By closing their hearts and minds to what
the Bible warns the believers, Christians are under the grave misconception
that they know the truth. Yeshua warned that those who
were "outside"
of his chosen disciples, were incapable of
understanding the Mysteries of God -- i.e.,
"With many similar
parables Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand".
And while the modern
Church is in denial, Paul went one step further and warned that even
baptized and committed believers who had received the gifts of the spirit,
were incapable of understanding the true spiritual meaning of the Gospel.
So we must ask the question:
How could Peter have warned that it would have been better never to have heard of Yeshua and the
teachings of TheWay? And this parallels the important teaching
that Christians and those who have been exposed to the teachings of TheWay,
are held to much higher levels of accountability than the multitude of the
people of this world -- i.e.,
"And that servant which knew his lord's will and
did not prepare himself, nor followed his will, will be beaten with many
stripes. But he that did not know, and did commit things worthy of stripes,
will be beaten with few stripes. For to whomsoever much is given, of him
will they much require, and to whom they commit little, of him they will
require the less. For they who know the Godhead, and have found the way of
life, the mysteries of light, and then have fallen into sin, shall be
punished with greater chastisement than they who have not known the way of
life. Such shall return when their cycle is completed, and to them will be
given space to consider, and amend their lives, and learning the mysteries ,
enter into the kingdom of light." What is being
stated is that their fate was better off when they lived in accord with "...those
who live in error", than to embrace the counterfeit
teachings of the idolatry of those who use the belief in Yeshua/Jesus to
continue to live in accord with the ways of the culture and thinking of this
world. So while the wolves in sheep's clothing
"...promise them freedom" in
the worship of Jesus god, New Testament warns that their fate will be worse
than those who are considered unbelievers and common sinners.
Predestination:
Fundamentally, the Church is incapable of understanding both the primary
objectives of the Gospel and the Teachings of TheWay, because they have
no comprehension of Divine Providence and the teaching on predestination
which is foundational to the words of Peter: "But
these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute
beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and
like beasts they too will perish" (2 Pet 2:12 NIV).
In their manmade doctrines of belief, the counterfeit leaders of the Church "...blaspheme
in matters they do not understand." But more
importantly is the fact that in these words we see conformation of Paul's
words that some people are born
“...vessels of wrath prepared for destruction”
(Rom 9:22). Peter states of these counterfeit shepherds
who blaspheme in spiritual matters that they are incapable of understanding
-- because they are as
"...brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught
and destroyed".
And because of the corruption of the scriptures
(see Bible Corruption), modern
Christians are totally incapable of understanding these words which are of a
primary necessity to even begin to comprehend the teachings of Yeshua and
TheWay. Peter states that some people are born to be destroyed
-- Paul calls them people who are born to be
"vessels of wrath".
In the case of the Jews who rejected Yeshua,
the New Testament teaches that they did not reject Yeshua by choice -- but
rather, they were predestined by the Will of God to reject the teachings of
TheWay (see Things
Christians Don't Tell Jews About The New Testament).
Thus, it is written of the Jews that
“Even
after Jesus had done all these miraculous signs in their presence, they
still would not believe in him…” -- and Christians can
progress no further in their own walk in TheWay, until they first understand
why these people did not believe in Yeshua. And contrary to what
is taught in the Churches, the answer is seen in the words:
“For this reason they could not believe,
because, as Isaiah says elsewhere: ‘He has blinded their eyes and deadened
their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor understand with
their hearts’” (John 12:37-40 NIV).
What does this mean?
Contrary to what
Christian clergy have traditionally promoted and endorsed, it is it of the
utmost importance for believers to be cognizant of what the Bible actually
states -- i.e., that the people who did not accept Yeshua did not reject him
of their own accord, but because God did not permit them to believe.
Thus, as both Peter and Paul above confirm, the Jews who rejected Yeshua,
were born to reject the teachings of TheWay -- because the Laws
"...blinded their eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see
with their eyes, nor understand with their hearts’”
Who Crucified
Messiah/Christ?
For nineteen hundred years many Christians have condemned the Jews for
“killing Christ”.
Yet Peter states to the leaders of the Jews regarding Jesus that:
“this Man delivered up by the predetermined plan
and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men
and put Him to death” (Acts 2:23
NAS). The word “predetermined”
as used in this instance, should invoke a great many questions in the minds
of modern Jews and Christians alike. Did the Jews and Romans crucify
Christ? Commenting on this verse, Barnes' Notes states:
“The fact,
moreover, that this was predicted, shows that it was fixed or resolved on.
No event can be foretold,
evidently, unless it be certain that it will take place.
The event, therefore, must
in some way be fixed or resolved on beforehand”.
Speaking about the Hand of God
upon the hearts and minds of the people, Peter and John said:
“Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with
the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your
holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
They did what your power
and will had decided beforehand should happen”
(Acts 4:27-28 NIV). What the two disciples are conveying to the
reader is that every event that took place at the crucifixion was directly
brought about by the Hand of God acting upon the hearts and minds of the
people. Regardless of whether we understand it, in order to begin the
journey of walking in The Way, it is imperative for us to acknowledge the
validity of this biblical statement. Moreover, if this is true, we must
ask ourselves the question: How can man resist the
“power and will” of what God
“decided beforehand should happen”?
How could the Jews resist the Will of God?
From a biblical perspective, the modern Christian should have good reason to
believe the Apostle's words, and literally “Do not
be arrogant, but be afraid” (Rom 11:20 NIV). Why? Why would
the Apostle warn the Christian they should be afraid? Evidently he didn't
know anything about the modern Christian doctrine attributed to him that
once you say your prayer, you are saved. And this warning is an important
question for the modern believer to understand. They should be afraid
because of the violation of the covenant with God when the Gentile converts
ignored the warning of the Apostle: “For if God
did not spare the natural Jewish branches, he will not spare you either…
Otherwise, you also will be cut off” (Rom 11:21-22 NIV). But
just as important is the fact that those Jews who did not believe -- did not
reject the teachings of Yeshua and TheWay by virtue of their own choice --
but because the Will of God
acting through the Laws,
"...blinded their
eyes and deadened their hearts, so they can neither see with their eyes, nor
understand with their hearts’”
And in many ways it can be said that they cut off -- and cut off and in
bondage they have remained to this very day! And when they open their
Bibles, their hearts and minds are hardened, and they remain spiritually
blind to the true meaning of the scriptures -- forever apostates to the
Inner Kingdom.
What is clearly
conveyed to the reader is that the biblical teaching regarding the
crucifixion was a pre-planned drama that God brought about by imposing His
supernatural and All-Pervasive Will upon a group of people who were little
more than puppets on God's stage of life. And unless Christians are ready
to adopt the doctrine that man is more powerful than the Will of God, then
they must be ready to acknowledge the fact that those who brought about the
events which culminated in the crucifixion, had little to no choice in what
transpired.
This biblical fact is seen quite
clearly documented in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia under
the heading of Foreknow, where it writes:
“Thus, in Peter's speeches in Acts
the predestination which finds expression in (Acts 4:28) is practically
identified with the term prognosis in (2:23). Everything which happened to
Jesus took place in accordance with ‘the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God,’ so that
nothing happened except
that which God had foreordained”.
Who killed
Christ?
“God had willed the death of Jesus (John 3:16) and the
death of Judas (Acts 1:16)”, writes Robertson's Word
Pictures of the New Testament, and then adds: “but
that fact did not absolve Judas from his responsibility and guilt (Luke
22:22)”.
The
Folly Of Martin Luther's Doctrine Of Faith:
Martin Luther rejected the
Epistle to the Hebrews, because he couldn't find clarification of his
doctrine of salvation by faith regardless of actions. In Hebrews
it is warned that if a believer sins willfully after becoming a believer,
that they have crucified the Christ afresh, and no sacrifice (Jesus/Grace)
can have any effect on their destiny of judgment as an apostate to the
teachings of Yeshua and TheWay:
"For it is impossible to restore again to repentance those who have once
been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become
partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of
God and the powers of the age to come, if they then commit apostasy, since
they crucify the Son of God on their own account and hold him up to
contempt.. For if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the
truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect
of judgment, and a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries."
(Heb 6:4-6;10:26-27 RSV).
Thus, while the Christian counterfeit clergy
"...promise them freedom" in
their idolatry of using Yeshua/Jesus as an license to continue to sin, in
total agreement with Paul, Peter warns that the the believers who continue
to sin "...are worse off at the end
than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to
have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn
their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the
proverbs are true: A dog returns to its vomit, and, A sow that is washed
goes back to her wallowing in the mud" -- which is
also expressed in the words: "...For
if we sin deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no
longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful prospect of judgment, and
a fury of fire which will consume the adversaries."
And this reality that the people of the Church fail to comprehend, is
further confirmed in Paul's letter to the Corinthians: "Therefore
whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner
will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine
himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who
eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself,
not discerning the Lord's body. For this reason many are weak and sick among
you, and many sleep" (1 Cor 11:27-30
NKJ).
A key statement in 2nd Peter with respect to the people who are searching
for the Truth, is found in the words: "...if
this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to
hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their
punishment" (2 Pet 2:9 NIV). And thus, each person
reading these words have been given a great gift in the wisdom and knowledge
which can rescue you from the fate of the prodigal sons who are imprisoned
by the "citizen.. of the far country".
Now frame these words in the context of the present with respect to what
Peter wrote: "But there were also
false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among
you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the
sovereign Lord who bought them-- bringing swift destruction on
themselves. Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of
truth into disrepute. In their greed these teachers will exploit you with
stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over
them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. For if God did not spare
angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy
dungeons to be held for judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world when
he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher
of righteousness, and seven others; if he condemned the cities of Sodom and
Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going
to happen to the ungodly; and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was
distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man,
living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the
lawless deeds he saw and heard)--if this is so, then the Lord knows how to
rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of
judgment, while continuing their punishment. This is especially true of
those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise
authority" (2 Pet 2:1-10 NIV).
The words interpreted
"...destructive heresies" is the creation of sects
by virtue of manmade doctrines and factions which was condemned also by Paul
has a heresy of the sinful flesh (see
http://messianic.nazirene.org/no_sects.htm ). Why? Because the
teachings of TheWay is not about doctrines of belief or the calling upon the
Lord with one's lips -- but rather, the mindset and lifestyle that must be
embraced and lived, in order for the prodigal sons and daughters to return
to the Inner Kingdom (
http://GateOfEden.com ). The words interpreted Hell -- in most
instances are drawn from Hades -- and Hades in Mythology was the god and
ruler of the underworld or what is portrayed as the citizen of the far
country. And when Yeshua said to let the dead bury the dead, he was
making reference to those who are imprisoned in the "far
country" -- i.e., "...those who live in
error" -- whose minds are limited to the
"outer darkness" of consciousness -- and are ruled over by
the Left Hand of Correction, or the god of this world who is Hades.
Therefore, the judgment is not in the future -- but is here and now -- and
this judgement can only be overcome, and the people released from the prison
of this world, by teaching them to live in TheWay.
And this is why Cayce was a Presbyterian -- and the Dead Sea Scrolls and Nag
Hammadi Library was given into the hands of men to correct the doctrinal errors
that inhibits their understanding and entrance into the Inner Kingdom. But
because they reject changing their mindset and lifestyle, they are inhibited
from comprehending the true meaning of the Gospel by virtue of the Laws -- the
same Laws that inhibited the Pharisees from embracing Yeshua and the teachings
of TheWay (see
http://messianic.nazirene.org/never_told.htm ). And in the same way that
the liberal churches preach a Marxist doctrine which reduces the objective to
income redistribution and providing for the poor regardless of the mindset or
lifestyle that the poor embrace, they are appallingly ignorant of the fact that
the poor are poor either by choice before entering this life, or because of the
Laws (of God) that made them live lives of poverty. But just as important is
the words that the counterfeit clergy were often born into this life by virtue
of the Laws, in order to lead the dogs and swine in the broad-way of
self-destruction -- i.e., "...They are like brute beasts,
creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts
they too will perish." And what you have here is the vicious
circle that imprisons the people of this world until they have paid the last
debt -- i.e.,
“Thou shalt by no means come out from there, till thou
hast paid the uttermost farthing” (Mt. 5:26). And this
reality goes to the heart of the Laws which control the dominion of the Left
Hand of Correction, in contradistinction to the Right Hand which sustains (see
http://gospelofthomas.nazirene.org/#lefthand ). The Left Hand which Paul
calls the god of this world -- and is portrayed as the citizen of the far
country in the parable of the prodigal son -- is the power of correction which
is often called the Law of Karma that returns to each person the fruit of their
own word, thoughts, desires and deeds -- i.e., "Be not deceived;
God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap"
(Gal 6:7 KJV).
It was not an accident that Edgar Cayce was a
Presbyterian -- and that one of the most liberal Churches was provided the
necessary esoteric knowledge to begin to understand the above. Why is a
man born poor -- a homosexual -- the victim of rape or domestic violence -- a
robber or even murderer? Because the Left Hand of Correction has imprisoned
them in what Yeshua portrayed as the "outer darkness"
of consciousness where they are the (spiritual) dead and know nothing -- and the
solution is not Marxist socialism that denies God and makes people slaves to the
secular state -- but rather, to teach the imprisoned to live in TheWay and
escape the shackles of the "far country".
That Edgar Cayce not only handed the liberals the esoteric knowledge of the Law
of Karma which rules over every aspect of the people's thinking and lifestyle,
but also predicted the Essenes and the Dead Sea Scrolls which demonstrated
conclusively that the whole foundation of the Church was based upon the
doctrines of Pagan Rome -- i.e.,
“Biblical scholars were not disturbed by what they found
in the Dead Sea Scrolls because they had known all along that the origin of
Christianity was not what was commonly supposed to have been” (see
http://Ebionite.com ). And because man has rejected the (esoteric)
knowledge that was placed in his hands, and has refused to live in accord with
his highest ideal and seek the Inner Kingdom, Edgar Cayce's prediction of great
tribulation and even earth changes will come to pass by virtue of the Laws that
man has himself invoked.
|
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Ebionite.com
The
reality that the modern Church is in denial
of -- and is attempting to hide its head in
the sand in denial of the facts presented in
modern discoveries, is the reality that the
teachings of Jesus represented Essene/Ebionite
Spiritual Judaism, versus the literalist and
fundamentalist Judaism of the Pharisees who
adhered to the written word that Paul
correctly portrayed as the
"letter that killeth"
(2 Cor 3:6). And when the
believers attempted to embrace the written
word in the manner that Christians do today,
Paul warned that the scriptures were not
historical -- but rather, were an allegory:
"Which things are
an allegory" (Gal 4:24 KJV).
Which is why Paul condemned the carnal Jews
who were deceived into believing that they
could achieve salvation through the
ritualized works of the Law of Moses.
But in Martin Luther's failure to comprehend
that the Church is Spiritual, and that the
scriptures are an allegorical account that
must be used as the Key of Knowledge that
when turned within, is able to open the
inner "narrow gate"
to the Kingdom (see
Divine
Strategery: How God Fools Mankind - Keeping Him Ignorant Of The Truth:
Strategery has become synonymous with when what is portrayed as simple,
simpleminded, or even self-evident, is able to dupe and thwart an
opposing force that perceives itself to be either superior, or to
suppose they know the answers. Divine Strategery is how God fools all
the religious leaders of this world who think they
doctrinally know God -- all
the would-be teachers and philosophers of this world who think they
Know Truth -- all the Atheists
and those who criticize and denounce the existence of God by virtue of
their limited perception and understanding -- and all the people in this
world who think they understand the purpose of life and the world in
which we presently dwell. As prodigal sons and daughters of our
Heavenly Father, if the people in this life knew the answers, then the
learning experience of God's SchoolHouse
of this world would not effectively evolve us to become true Brothers
and Sisters of our Elder Brother Yeshua/Jesus. Therefore, in order to
insure that each of us is immersed in the necessary learning experience
that this life offers, all people are equally fooled into thinking they
know, in order for them to be manipulated into embracing a higher agenda
that is beyond their ability to even imagine. Thus, Divine Strategery!!!
