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The topic for today is something we’ve discussed before. It has actually come up several times in recent weeks, but it really is something that I think deserves its own focus, because it’s actually a critical one for those who are seeking to gather a harvest in these last days.
There are words in English, and I presume most other languages, that are difficult to define precisely because they are so familiar. We use them so freely that we assume everyone understands what they mean, and so when we are asked to give a specific definition, we find it difficult. Words like “love,” and “faith,” and even “happiness,” can be described superficially as “feelings,” but not much beyond that. Fortunately, the Word of Yahweh and other inspiration has given us language that is better, more useful, so that we can go beyond just the experience of an emotion, and speak of love as a choice, faith as a reality, a “substance,” and happiness as a state of mind. Emotions are associated with these things, but don’t really define them.
The same may be said about “worship.” It is a word that has always been associated with religion, with singing, with prayer. Before I really gave the word much thought, I would have defined it as an attitude, as a feeling one gets when in sacred circumstances, and that is expressed in words or other acts of praise. More recently, I have come to understand it as a decision to be in submission to something, and I say “something” rather than “God,” because most people do worship things other than Yahweh. What drives their decisions, what controls their actions, that is the object of their worship. They have given something power, authority, over them, and in that sense we may see addictions and uncleansed defects of character as a form of idolatry.
I do not see Trinitarianism as a violation of the commandment against having other gods, or against having idols, because Trinitarians have a distorted view of the God of the Bible, and not another, false deity. They read the same words that we do in the Scriptures, and nothing causes them to say, “That isn’t the One I worship.” That is how you know that they have at least an intellectual acceptance of the Person of Yahweh.
However, there are false gods. Satan has done a lot of work to disguise them, so that they are no longer presented as golden statues, or pagan spirits. The modern gods are wealth, status, reputation, humanism, illicit sex, political power, authority over others… these are the things that motivate the ungodly in this generation, not what is often a sincere misunderstanding of the Biblical Creator. These are the things that cause them to do what they do, that drive their decisions… which is the place that Yahweh Himself ought to have in their hearts. Inasmuch, then, as they have replaced the Creator with these other prime motivators, these are their idols, and the objects of their true worship.
The Scriptures say, “Take heed to thyself, lest thou make a covenant with the inhabitants of the land whither thou goest, lest it be for a snare in the midst of thee. But ye shall destroy their altars, break their images, and cut down their groves; for thou shalt worship no other god, for Yahweh, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” (Exo 34:12-14)
While the instructions have shifted a little – we are not invading the world, and so we are not commanded to destroy its decorations – the principle here remains just as relevant to us as it was to the ancient Israelites. There are altars, images, and groves – concepts, false thoughts and temptations – that are intended to turn the mind away from the Almighty, and to temporary things instead.
There is another idol as well, another false god that some people worship, and it is “Pain.” This might seem unusual, because the other examples I have given so far have been of things pleasant to the flesh and senses, but pain is supposed to repel. Remember, though, that I spoke of addiction. Addictions are not pleasant, at least not after they are established. They are a prison, and a painful one, yet they command worship, they demand attention and obedience, just as the heathen gods of the ancient world were not always pleasant to worship, requiring at times painful sacrifices and unpleasant rituals.
False gods may be cruel, and the forms of worship they demand may be distressing, yet people who did not know a better way, who did not know the freedom of Yahweh’s love, found themselves bound to them. In fact, that is where the word “Religion” comes from – religare: a binding. Many in the world today worship the God of Pain, ignorant of the fact that they can be free. It has become their religion.
We have spoken about people who let their painful pasts dictate their behavior. We have discussed people whose previous encounters with false religions and legalistic churches have so colored their vision that they have found themselves unable to rejoice in the truth. We constantly encounter people who are suffering from the worship of pain in the course of our daily lives, and certainly in the course of our evangelism. We are called to be healers, we are called to be the messengers of Good News, and so one of the most important things we can do – perhaps the single most important thing we can do – is to recognize when someone is addicted to their pain, and effectively offer them relief.
We read of Yahshua’s public ministry, “In the last day, that great day of the Feast, Yahshua stood and cried, saying, ‘If any man thirst, let him come unto Me, and drink.’” (John 7:37)
There were different “levels” of Yahshua’s outreach. This, as described by John, was the very general, the very open-ended, invitation. For those who accepted His call, it is possible that the Holy Spirit had already been working within them, and all it required was for them to hear, and they were prepared to respond.
Others required a somewhat more direct approach. “And, behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus, which was the chief among the publicans, and he was rich. And he sought to see Yahshua who He was; and could not for the press, because he was little of stature. And he ran before, and climbed up into a sycomore tree to see Him, for He was to pass that way. And when Yahshua came to the place, He looked up, and saw him, and said unto him, ‘Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for today I must abide at thy house.’ And he made haste, and came down, and received Him joyfully.” (Luke 19:2-6)
This was another level. It was a direct invitation, while not actively trying to teach doctrine. This is, perhaps, the best approach when dealing with individuals at first contact. We draw near to them and invite them to know the Father and Son indirectly, through our presence. Those who do not know they are sinners, who do not recognize their need for the Savior, often respond best to this approach.
Here is a third kind of outreach: “There was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. The same came to Yahshua by night, and said unto Him, ‘Rabbi, we know that Thou art a Teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.’ Yahshua answered and said unto him, ‘Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God.’” (John 3:1-3)
Yahshua did not go up to individuals and offer them a Bible study. I am not saying that approach would never work; perhaps in the right circumstances it would, but I haven’t seen it very often, if ever. But if someone already knows you, by reputation, or perhaps as a result of a friendship established under stage 2, they may begin to ask questions about your faith. This gives a really good opportunity to find out what their needs are, and to minister to them directly.
Finally, here is a fourth and most extreme form of outreach: “Then spake Yahshua to the multitude, and to His disciples, saying, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works, for they say, and do not. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye shut up the Kingdom of Heaven against men, for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in.’” (Mat 23:1-3, 13)
The open rebuke almost never wins the target of the declaration. It is unlikely that any scribes or Pharisees heard Yahshua’s words directed at them, and responded by saying, “You’re right! I repent, and I will now follow you.” But we see in the first few verses of that chapter that the true audience for Yahshua’s speech consisted of the multitude and His disciples. He pointed out the hypocrisy and failings of the religious leaders in order to sensitize the onlookers, to draw a contrast between His own character and theirs.
These were the four main methods of teaching that Yahshua used, and each is effective in a different set of circumstances. I bring these up here, because Satan has not been a passive observer of the saints’ actions. He has been seeking, and finding, more and more effective ways of making these evangelistic efforts powerless to reach the heart and minds of those who hear the Gospel. As human history draws to an end, his deceptive power has reached its peak, and this is why we have spoken about this before… this “burning” of the human spirit through anger, sorrow and disappointment, bringing forth an emotional reaction preventing the victim from hoping for anything different than what he has experienced before.
If a man has been married and divorced four times, we might wonder at his wisdom if he did not hesitate to propose to a fifth woman. We only need to put our hands into the fire once to develop a very healthy caution with regard to hot objects. Nevertheless, the things of the spirit are not like the things of the earth. Yahweh requires our trust, our faith in Him beyond our past experiences, beyond our previous disappointments. He draws His people to a covenant that is a new thing, a thing that they have never seen before. Unfortunately, there are some who have already established a previous covenant, an agreement with their previous suffering, and so there is little room in their hearts to expect anything better. This is a real danger for those in the religion of pain.
One who has made a covenant with his previous bad experiences is “joined” to it, dedicated to it as fiercely as to any golden idol of the old world, or any secular ambition of the new. His pain is what drives his decision-making, what affects his perceptions, and what limits his capacity to trust in the Father, the Son, and Their people.
A worldly person, who is not at peace with his own beliefs, will often become defensive when his religious views are questioned. It is an uncomfortable subject for him, and the exact same reaction is often encountered when one is questioned about his previous religious experiences that have caused him pain. It is one of Satan’s most powerful tools to keep people from the examination of new light. They will reject the general outreach, and deny that it applies to them. They will accept friendships often enough, but will set a boundary around certain topics. They will avoid asking questions about religious differences for fear that it will put them “on the spot” about their past, and of course, any rebuke (even the rebuke of others) will result in either anger or self-pity, both of which are methods of evasion. They are resistant to any and all forms of outreach as described here.
In the book The Two Temples, we discuss different “atmospheres” in which people can live. These are the thoughts and feelings with which people surround themselves, the worldview that they adopt, that affects the way that they relate to both spiritual and earthly things. One of these atmospheres is called the “Atmosphere of Victimization.” It is the idea that we are helpless, to one degree or another, because of the circumstances of our lives. Because of who we are, where we are from, what we possess, or what we have experienced so far, we are merely the products of our environment. As a result, whenever something bad happens to us, we are to be pitied, because we could not avoid the misfortune. We had no say in the development of our destiny up to this point, and certainly cannot be expected to take charge of our lives now. One who has an atmosphere of victimization tends to see any encouragement as patronizing, and any rebuke as an attack, a further abuse of his situation. This is just another way of idolizing pain, of worshipping misfortune, saying, “If only I had the power to change my life, it would be better.”
Of course, there are unique circumstances. A child may be born with a terminal disease. A man may learn of the Gospel after it is too late for him to do much outward good with it, such as the thief who was crucified with Yahshua. I saw an exchange on Facebook recently were someone was saying something like, “Works don’t matter at all. I don’t need to change my life if I become truly converted, or accept a standard of perfection for my character. Look at the thief on the cross… he accepted Jesus, and didn’t do anything different before he died.”
This misses the point in two spectacular ways. First of all, the thief on the cross is not the member of that trio on which he should be focusing. It’s the One in the middle. Second, that individual did everything he was capable of doing; were he to have been pardoned and taken down, he would not have lay there without moving, or returned to his life of crime. He would have been baptized, and he would have joined himself to the disciples. We do not look at a convict in prison today and say, “That guy doesn’t have a job, so why should I?” Ignoring circumstances leads to nonsensical points of view.
But we find that people do this all the time with regard to acts of faith, sanctification, and Church membership because of their previous negative experiences. I spoke in our last last study about a supervisor at my previous job. He left the SDA Church, but then had become disillusioned, thinking that every Church goes bad eventually… so he returned to the conference. He could not see past his covenant with that pain, his commitment to seeing the world the way his pain demanded he see it, as a place with no hope for God’s righteousness to be revealed in His children with perfect, unbroken consistency. He had encountered only false brides so far, and therefore he was tricked into unbelief concerning the existence of the true Bride.
We have discussed among ourselves our own experiences with evangelism. We can relatively easily get those who believe in the Bible to accept some idea of Victory over sin. We can get them to give up many false doctrines, because we teach the truth with an authority and clarity not found in the nominal churches. But where they often stumble is that Third Angel, the one that gathers Yahweh’s people together into one visible, united Body. That is where Satan truly turns up the heat, and often people who are serious enough about religion to even care about the First and Second Angel have already been through so much that they are easily convinced to run away from the fire, because they feel they are about to be burned again.
Our God is a consuming Fire. The Bible says this in three places, Deuteronomy 4:24, 9:3, and Hebrews 12:29. He looks like One who would destroy, tear down, burn up. We read of the Israelites’ experience in the wilderness: “And all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings, and the noise of the trumpet, and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they removed, and stood afar off. And they said unto Moses, ‘Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak with us, lest we die.’ And Moses said unto the people, ‘Fear not, for God is come to prove you, and that His fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not.’” (Exo 20:18-20)
Did you catch the apparent contradiction? We have often had to explain that to “fear Yahweh” is not the same thing as to “be afraid of Yahweh.” This passage demonstrates that distinction quite beautifully, with Moses saying, “Don’t be afraid of Yahweh, He just wants you to fear Him.” This demands an understanding of the context in order to be a meaningful statement, demonstrating the importance of that context. The true and holy fear of Yahweh results in the blessing “that ye sin not.”
The instinct of the observer was to be afraid. The impulse of any remaining carnality in the one hearing the Gospel, and who is becoming convinced, is to escape, to run away, from the judgment of Yahweh’s presence. But faith casts out that fear. Walking into the fiery furnace, trusting we will not be burned, or going into the lion’s den, trusting we will not be torn apart, this is what is required of the believer. This is always what has been required of the believer, even though the test looks different to different people.
For some, it is bearing the wrath of an unbelieving family when they become a Christian. For some, it is the loss of a job because of the observance of the Sabbath. For some, it is joining that strange little Church, so different than what they always imagined “religion” to look like. I have been through versions of all of these, and everyone here has a similar tale to tell. We have had to be courageous. We have had to be humble. We have had to be trusting. We had to do the right thing, and ignore the temptation to fear the consequences of our choices. We had to overcome, to reject, the influence of our painful pasts on our current experiences, and to open ourselves up to hope, even though hope brings with it the possibility of disappointment once again. Through Yahshua, because of Yahshua, we have been empowered to do the will of Yahweh, no matter how impossible it may once have seemed. And from where we stand now, we can say, “It was worth it.”
Paul writes, “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2Cor 4:17, 18)
Any penalty, any pain, any fear, any price… pay it. It is worth it when we see the Heavenly Kingdom. Any fear, overcome it. Any pain, face it and cease to worship it. This is the message that we bring to the world. This is the Good News: that any burden comes off easily when one is kneeling before the Cross.
This knowledge is more important than any particular doctrine. This is the essence of it all, the true knowledge of the Father and Son. It is not what They look like, or what words we must necessarily apply to Them and Their relationship… but who They are to you, to the suffering human in need of love and acceptance. This is the wisdom that comes from above, the Key to The Kingdom, that which dissolves the previous covenant with our past selves, with our past pain, preparing us for a new commitment, a new marriage, to the true Bridegroom.
Paul writes of marriage, but it is true of all covenant relationships: “For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband. So then if, while her husband liveth, she be married to another man, she shall be called an adulteress; but if her husband be dead, she is free from that law; so that she is no adulteress, though she be married to another man. Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ that ye should be married to another, even to Him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God.” (Rom 7:2-4)
“Dead to the Law by the body of Christ.” That is the banner of freedom over the redeemed. Dead to the law of sin and death. Dead to the law of cause and effect regarding our past sins. Dead to the law of cause and effect regarding our past sorrows, and disappointments, and painful experiences. They exist, those causes exist, but they need no longer produce the effect in us of isolation, fear, exclusionary self-reliance (by which I mean, relying on nobody but one’s self, even to the exclusion of God’s help), and rebellion. These things are no longer the result of our past, of our pain, because we are dead to the Law that requires it to be so. When we worship Yahweh, He, who is a jealous God, cleanses us from the worship of anything else, of everything else. This is why His jealousy is a good thing… He will not permit those who worship Him to be injured by the Enemy’s alternatives.
When those who are bound to their pain are healed, they are free… not free to be on their own, for that is not true freedom, but free to fulfill their place in Yahweh’s Kingdom, which begins, not upon death or translation, but on accepting the Father, the Son, and the Bride. Then they will “bring forth fruit unto God,” that good fruit of the Spirit.
I was speaking to a former SDA some days ago, and he said he did not see anything in the Scriptures about the need for a Church. I pointed him to Ephesians, and a few other places in the New Testament. He said, “Yes, but that’s just Paul speaking. What about what Jesus said?”
It turns out that for him, if Jesus was not directly recorded as saying it, he did not accept it as authoritative. I’ve encountered this a few times, but it is a rare belief… and it is almost impossible to find any common ground with people who believe this way. He had been wounded, and he admitted it, by people who focused on the Church and its authority, over Christ the Redeemer. He had been injured, he had been caused pain, by those who used certain passages of the New Testament to make him feel guilt, inadequacy, and frustration. He was not wrong to feel what he did, I have no doubt… but he decided to blame the words that were used against him, rather than the ones who used them. It is rather like blaming the sword, but not the one striking out with it. His commitment to his injury was so strong, he could not even hear the voice of Christ coming from another source, not Paul’s letters, not Ellen White’s writings, and not my attempts to help him. I will speak more about this mindset in the next study, but what I want to focus on here is the cause.
The cause of the rejection of Yahshua in the person of His saints, and His Church, is because of a lack of trust in His promises. It is Yahshua who comes to the sinner with words of healing and promises of forgiveness. It does not matter what face He wears. It does not matter what voice He uses. It does not matter which of His messengers He sends. It is all one Spirit. It is all one Lord. It is all a call to one Body, where life everlasting dwells.
Let us think about these words today. All of us know someone, probably many people, who have made a covenant with pain, who worship their past experiences, bound to them so that they cannot be free to marry Christ. They cannot accept the First Angel until they are dead to the Law of natural cause and effect, so that their past pain ceases to command their current obedience. All of us know people who are suspicious, and fearful, of any new light, because they have been deceived so often in the past. They cannot accept the Second Angel until they have given up their previous covenant and come through the First Angel to be sanctified by the Second. All of us know people who are so hurt by their past that they cannot imagine being bound again by a Church covenant. The thought of organized religion, and mutual submission to a family of brothers and sisters, causes them genuine anxiety, because their only experiences similar to this involved papal control and carnal authority. They must hear the voice of Yahshua in our joyful testimonies. That is the cure, and for some it is the only cure. That is the invitation of the Third Angel.
They cannot see the Bible, except through the lens of their misfortune. They cannot hear the voice of the Spirit, because Satan has been confusing their spiritual hearing for years. They need to trust Christ by trusting His messengers, and His messengers bring no condemnation, no judgment, no guilt… only an offer to come and drink the water, to come and join us for a meal, to come and ask any questions they may have, and to hear the rebuke of Satan’s agents that caused them their suffering. They must find peace in the four kinds of outreach that Yahshua used, and that we use, because we must convince them, gently, and lovingly, to put down their burdens, to consider themselves dead to the prisoners that they once were, and to claim the freedom that is theirs through Christ.
Let us be healers of those who need to be healed. Let us share our happy experiences with others, even if they disbelieve our claims of freedom from sin, and a sanctifying experience with the genuine Bride of Christ. It is our Father’s good pleasure that they hear these things, these joyful reports, so that they will have the opportunity to repent of their unbelief, to repent of their idolatry. We pray for them, that they will cease to worship their pain, that they will cease to give authority and obedience to their suffering, so that they will be free, and in that freedom, will covenant to live with us in our Father’s House forever.
David.
An Enduring Witness
“If any trial arises, some begin to look back, and think they have a hard time. Some of the professed servants of God do not know what purifying trials are. They make trials sometimes for themselves, imagine trials, and are so easily discouraged, so easily hurt, self dignity is so quick to feel, that they injure themselves, injure others, and the cause. Satan magnifies and puts things into the mind that, if given way to, will destroy the usefulness and influence of such.” [Spiritual Gifts, Volume 4B, p. 15]
“There are many restless spirits who will not submit to discipline, system, and order. They think that their liberties would be abridged were they to lay aside their own judgment and submit to the judgment of those of experience. The work of God will not progress unless there is a disposition to submit to order and expel the reckless, disorderly spirit of fanaticism from their meetings. Impressions and feelings are no sure evidence that a person is led by the Lord. Satan will, if he is unsuspected, give feelings and impressions. These are not safe guides. All should thoroughly acquaint themselves with the evidences of our faith, and the great study should be how they can adorn their profession and bear fruit to the glory of God.” [Testimonies for The Church, Volume 1, p. 413]
“The work of the disciples was to spread a knowledge of the gospel. To them was committed the work of proclaiming to all the world the good news that Christ brought to men. That work they accomplished for the people of their time. To every nation under heaven the gospel was carried in a single generation. The giving of the gospel to the world is the work that God has committed to those who bear His name. For earth’s sin and misery the gospel is the only antidote. To make known to all mankind the message of the grace of God is the first work of those who know its healing power.” [The Ministry of Healing, p. 141]