-religion-

A Stiff-necked People

Over two billion people worldwide profess to being a Christian. It is imperative that the light of truth expose the well-entrenched elements of darkness that exist deep within the doctrines and practices of Christianity, regardless of how people may feel about it.

Unfortunately, only a very small percentage of people will accept and receive these truths. They will likely become part of the “remnant” of the end times. The majority, on the other hand, will be outraged and offended. They will stubbornly reject this information and refuse to adjust their lives accordingly. The Scriptures refer to this group as “a stiff-necked people”.

“But they did not obey, or incline their ear, and they made their neck stiff not to hear and not to receive instruction.” (Jeremiah 17:23)

“You are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears. You always resist the Set Apart Spirit. As your fathers did, you also do.” (Acts 7:51)

Unfortunately, truth is in a hard-fought battle against deception for the hearts and minds and souls of Father’s children. Deception’s faithful warriors blindly defend their delusions. They sincerely trust in what they know simply because they know it. They think that their beliefs must be true because others believe it also. People believe their way must be the correct way because that’s the way it’s always been. Deception feels so right to people. Deception makes people feel good. There enlies the trap.

The term “stiff-necked” refers to being stubborn, narrow-minded and belligerent. Stiff-necked people are set in their ways. They are susceptible to peer pressure and the wiles of conventional thinking. They are predominantly followers, seldom leaders. They have no inclination of ever wandering outside the box. They are sitting ducks for the pervasive folly and deceptions of this world.

Tragically, once deceived, stiff-necked people firmly cling to their errant beliefs and opinions like they are carved in granite and worth their weight in gold. They are prime targets for the recruiters of progressivism, dispensationalism and extremism. The deceiver knows their heart. The deceiver always takes the easiest prisoners first. They are completely unaware of their captive state, while fervently and earnestly thinking that they are faithful followers of truth.

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (II Timothy 4:3,4)

Truth creates in us a deep, personal dilemma. Do we permit it to have its proper authority in our lives to override religious falsehoods, or do we cling to our enduring, temporal dreams, wishes and feelings that lead us astray and maintain our state of perpetual religious bondage?

The truth provides an opportunity to expose the insidious fictions and folly within the “church”, to which most Christians and average citizens are utterly oblivious, and bring these liberating, life changing revelations into the realm of verifiable transparency.

It also affords everyone a chance to reveal to himself whether he belongs to Father’s small remnant of true and faithful followers; or is he one of the stiff-necked people, as many souls are known, destined to reap the grim reward for that which they have sewn?

The Name Game

Examine, if you will, our heavenly Father’s actual Name, Yehovah. {Ye-Ho-VaH} literally means; He was - He is - He shall be. In the Hebrew language, a name describes the spiritual significance of a person. It illustrates a person’s nature, his providence, his function. The definition of His Name stipulates that He is the Eternal One.

When man first called on the Name of Elohim (Father), found in Genesis 4:26, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob knew His Name. Men called on the Name of Yehovah. His Name has never been Yahweh, Jahovah, Lord or God. The third of the Ten Commandments states.

“Do not bring the Name of Yehovah to naught, for Yehovah does not leave the one unpunished who brings His Name to naught.” (Exodus 20:7)

The Scriptures are replete with instances where the Most High directs His people to call upon His Name, to pray in His Name and to use the power of His Name,

“For where two or more are gathered together in My Name, there I am in their midst.” (Matthew 18:20)

“For from the rising of the sun, even to its going down, My Name is great among nations, and in every place incense is presented to My Name, and a clean offering. For My Name is great among nations,” says Yehovah. (Malachi 1:11)

“Truly, truly, I say unto you, whatever you ask the Father in My Name, He shall give you.” (John 16:23)

Therefore, it makes perfect sense that Satan would go to great lengths to corrupt the Name of the Father and the Son to the point that Christianity is the only religion in the world today that does not know or use the Name of the One they worship. His actual Name has been brought to naught for believers and followers who call themselves a Christian.

Examine the Messiah’s true Name, Yehoshua. In Hebrew, Ye-Ho-Shua literally means, He was - He is - Salvation. Yehoshua’s very Name stipulates that He is our Savior. Christians have been misled to believe the Messiah’s Name is “Jesus”.

With regard to that false name, there is no “J” in the Greek or Hebrew languages, nor was there a “J” in the English language for nearly 1500 years. The name “Jesus” was not used until well after the invention of the printing press in approximately 1450. Therefore, it is evident that the Apostles and the first century followers of the Messiah had never used, nor even heard of this name “Jesus”.

Long before the Messiah came, there was a pagan deity by the name of “Iesous”, later known as “Iesus” in Latin. He was associated with the eagle as “master of the air” and was part of the Roman Catholic collection of pagan sun gods.

Iesus was the main emblematic symbol of the Roman Republic. Many of the earliest “bible” mistranslations were in Latin and the Roman Emperors were personally involved in that process. Since Roman Emperors themselves were worshiped as deities, and their primary symbol was the eagle, the Roman Emperors were worshiped as the earthly representatives of Iesus.

Eventually, with the development of the letter “J”, the early English “bible” translators came up with the name “Jesus”. Therefore, the Christianized name “Jesus” is actually derived from the pagan sun god “Iesus” and has no relevance whatsoever to Yehoshua, our Risen Savior, our Messiah.

“But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My Name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other mighty ones, even that prophet shall die.” (Deuteronomy 18:20)

Examine the word “Lord” if you will. “Lord” is not only used in Christianity, but also in Wicca, Islam, Buddhism, Hindu, Aztec, etc. (too many religions to list). The most universal term in the lexicon of all religions, “Lord” is used to refer to all their gods. This generic and powerless title replaces the esteemed Name of the Father and the Messiah 6,829 times in the biblical mistranslations of Christianity.

To make matters even worse for believers who use “Lord” to refer to the Messiah, according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, “Lord” is associated with the name “Ba’al” and the name “Beelzeboul” , which is the Greek equivalent of “Ba’al Ze’bub” and refers to the name of Satan. What does Yehovah say about Ba’al?

“Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of Yehovah and served Ba’al; and they forsook Elohim, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them, and they provoked Yehovah to anger.” (Judges 2:11)

“Then they brought to Yehoshua one who was demon-possessed, blind and dumb. And He healed him so that the blind and dumb man both spoke and saw. And all the crowds were amazed and said, ‘Is this the Son of David?’ But when the Pharisees heard it they said, ‘This one does not cast out demons except by Beelzeboul, the ruler of the demons.’ (Matthew 12)

The same principles apply to the words “Christ” and “God”. Neither is a name. Both are titles. They are generic terms used by all pagan religions to refer to the ones they worshiped or considered to be “anointed”. The early Roman Catholic “Church” replaced the term Messiah with the pagan term “Christ” to pacify its followers who were pagan sun god worshipers. The Name Yehoshua HaMashaiach (Yehoshua, the Messiah) was abolished and replaced with Iesus Christos. The terms Christ, Christian and Christianity are an affront and an abomination against the Messiah.

Even the term “church” is of pagan origin and should never be used by a true follower of Yehovah. The correct word used by Yehoshua and His taught ones in Scripture was “Ecclesia”, which means “Assembly of the Called-out Ones”. The Roman Catholics adopted the term “church”, which means “pertains to, or belongs to, a lord.” Remember, “Lord” means “Ba’al” or Satan.

Over time, therefore, the name of Satan has been transliterated from Ba’al Ze’bub, into Beelzeboul, and then into Ba’al Gad, and now into Lord God. Satan successfully hijacked the vocabulary and traditions that were central to pagan sun god worship and morphed them into the man-made satanic cult known as Christianity.

Consider how many “bible” verses, songs, stories, books, sermons, traditions and prayers within the realm of Christianity are contaminated with the terms Lord, Jesus, God or Christ. Whenever Christians say, “God bless you…”, “In Jesus’ name we pray…”, “The blood of Christ…”, or “Praise the Lord…”, they actually invoke the name of Satan and he delights in his victorious deceptions. Consequently, whomever controls the name game controls the whole game.

How much Satan is appropriate and acceptable in the life of a Christian? To Yehovah, how much Satan is tolerable in the lives of His children? The very first of the Ten Commandments states,

“You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3)

Judeo-Christian

One of the most intrusive and devastating elements of the Christian religions is the concept known as dispensationalism. This theology dates back to the 1800’s with the Plymouth Brethren movement in the United Kingdom led by John Nelson Darby.

This religious mindset eventually spread across America through conferences and teachings by such prominent evangelicals and preachers as Dwight L. Moody, James Brookes, James Gray, Reuben Torrey and Cyrus Scofield. These men also played a major role in shaping and configuring many new “bible” mistranslations to conform with their ideals regarding dispensationalism.

This theory maintains that Yehovah established a separation between Judaism and Christianity. It creates a rift in the Scriptures whereby the “old testament” is for the Jews and the “new testament” is for the Christians. It teaches that there are two distinct groups among the children of Yehovah with two different destinies. One is earthly Israel and the other is the spiritual “church”. They have essentially become stepsiblings.

Dispensationalism helped foster the notion that America was founded on a concept known as “Judeo-Christian” values. This term became popular in the 1950’s as a politically correct way for Christians to acknowledge both components of their divided “bible”.

The core structure of our laws and government come straight from the Torah. But dispensationalism maintains that the Christian religions are not subject to the “old testament” outside of the Ten Commandments (even though Christianity violates the first four). Use of the term “Judeo-Christian” provides Christians with the opportunity to symbolize unity while preserving their exclusivity.

However, this entire errant theology is easily debunked by an accurate application of Scripture. This requires no great level of intelligence. One need only utilize a modicum of spiritual discernment to have eyes to see and ears to hear within the realm of truth. The Head has only one body.

“And other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring and they will hear My voice; and there will be one flock and One Shepherd.” (John 10:16)

“The Gentiles are to be co-heirs with the Jews, united in the same body, and partakers together in the promise in Messiah through the Good News.” (Ephesians 3:6)

“For as the body is one and has many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is the Messiah. For indeed by One Spirit we were all immersed into one body, whether Jew or Gentile, whether slave or free, and we were all made to drink into One Spirit.” (I Corinthians 12:12,13)

“...to Him be esteem in the assembly by Messiah Yehoshua unto all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:21)

Clearly there is no separation of people, Scriptures or destiny in the Heart or Word of Yehovah.

Grace vs Law

A troubling element of dispensationalism is the divergence between grace and the law. This theology portends that only the Ten Commandments from the “old testament” apply to Christians, who are under grace, while the remainder of the Torah, called the “Law of Moses”, applies solely to the Jews who are under the law. Thus, we see an attempt to divide the children and the Word of Elohim.

Did the commandments, or Torah, come from Moses or is it the instructions of Yehovah for all of His people? Obviously, Moses was just a messenger of Yehovah. He was an obedient servant following the commands and guidance given to him. Moses was never intended to be looked upon as an idol or a god.

Moses himself said, “Be on guard, lest you forget Yehovah, your Elohim, by not guarding His commands, and His right-rulings, and His laws which I command you today.” (Deuteronomy 8:11)

“Ezra came up from Babel. He was a scribe skilled in the Torah of Moses, which Yehovah, Elohim of Israel had given. And the Sovereign gave him all he asked, according to the hand of Yehovah, his Elohim, upon him.” (Ezra 7:6)

“All Scripture is breathed by Elohim and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for setting straight, for instruction in righteousness, that the children of Elohim might be fitted and equipped for every good work.” (II Timothy 3:16,17)

Furthermore, with regard to this deceptive notion that grace superimposes obedience to the law, or the commands, or the instructions (Torah) of Yehovah by Christians; it has been created out of whole cloth by men with a religious agenda inspired by Satan to destroy the sanctity of the truth.

The Scriptures, once again, clearly illuminate the folly of the dark side. Grace does not override the Torah and Yehoshua is incapable of reneging on His previous promises or altering His Master plan for His beloved children.

Every time Yehoshua spoke, as transcribed in the Gospels (“new testament”), He made a direct, perfect correlation to that which was recorded in the scrolls (“old testament”), which was the “bible” of the Pharisees.

“But the Pharisees, having heard that He had silenced the Sadducees, were gathered together, and one of them, one learned in the Torah, did question, trying Him, and saying, ‘Teacher, which is the greatest command in the Torah?’

And Yehoshua said to him, ‘You shall love Yehovah, your Elohim, with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your mind. This is the first and great command. And the second is like it. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commands hang all the Torah and the Prophets.’” (Matthew 22:34-40)

“And you shall love Yehovah, your Elohim, with all your heart, and with all your being, and with all your might.” (Deuteronomy 6:5)

Yehovah never wavers. He never feels the need to correct one of His earlier statements. He never says, “OOPS! I wish I hadn’t promised that.” He did not come to deliver a varying message or a replacement Covenant. He is consistent throughout all of Scripture. He cannot contradict Himself.

“For I am Yehovah, I do not change; therefore, you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob. Yet from the days of your fathers, you have gone away from My ordinances and have not kept them. Return to Me and I will return to you.” (Malachi 3:6)

Grace is not a substitution for the law, or instructions. The law, or Torah, is a Covenant between Yehovah and His children written in earthly form before the arrival of the Messiah. Every Word of Yehovah is permanent and eternal. His laws, or instructions, cannot be divided to apply some to one group and some to another. The birth, death and resurrection of Yehoshua allows us to have the law, or Covenant, placed within our hearts, which is Spirit, which is grace, which is salvation.

“For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of Elohim, it is not by works, so that no one may boast.” (Ephesians 2:8,9)

He, answering, said, “It has been written, man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of Yehovah.” (Matthew 4:4)

The Torah is the Seed of the Covenant and grace is the fruit of that Seed. Grace is the continuation of the law. Both, in perfect synchronization, are the fulfillment of Yehovah’s divine blueprint. They are inseparable.

“Now this I say, Torah, that came four hundred and thirty years later, does not annul a Covenant previously confirmed by Elohim in Messiah, so as to do away with the promise. For if the inheritance is by Torah, it is no longer by promise, but Elohim gave it to Abraham through a promise.

Why, then, the Torah? It was added because of transgressions, until the Seed should come to whom the promise was made. And it was ordained through messengers in the hand of a mediator. The mediator, however, is not of one, but Elohim is One.

Is the Torah then against the promises of Elohim? Let it not be! For if a law had been given that was able to make alive, truly righteousness would have been by Torah. But the Scripture has shut up all mankind under sin, that the promise by faith in Yehoshua, the Messiah, might be given to those who believe.

But before faith came, we were being guarded under Torah, having been shut up for the belief about to be revealed. Therefore, the Torah became our trainer unto Messiah, in order to be declared right by faith. And after faith has come, we are no longer under a trainer. For you are all sons of Elohim through faith in Yehoshua, the Messiah.” (Galatians 3:17-26)

“If you love Me, you shall guard and obey My instructions.” (John 14:15)

Without a doubt, these entrenched religious theories of divided people groups with separate destinies where the “new testament” replaces the “old testament” melt away and evaporate under the intense heat lamp of scriptural scrutiny.

Christmas

Please examine the observance of Christmas on December 25th as the celebration of the Savior’s birth. Since this ritual is nowhere to be found in all of Scripture, one might ask, “Where did Christmas come from?” Fasten your sleigh belts boys and girls, for the stocking stuffers of history and truth may turn that which you cherish as a precious, priceless gem into a detestable lump of coal.

“The largest pagan religious cult, which fostered the celebration of December 25th as a holiday throughout the Roman and Greek worlds, was the pagan sun god worship of Mithraism. This winter festival was called ‘The Nativity’, the nativity of the sun.” (The Golden Bough)

“Christmas was not celebrated in the first centuries. In the fourth century, the newly formed western church (Catholicism) ordered it to be celebrated on the date of the Roman pagan feast of the birth of the sun (Mithraism).” (Encyclopedia Americana, 1994)

“The Roman festival of the winter solstice was established on December 25th (dies natalis solis invinctus). The Celtic and Germanic tribes held this season in veneration from the earliest times. The Norsemen believed that their deities were present and active on earth from December 25th to January 6th.

Christianity, therefore, replaced a pagan holiday with a Christian one, while keeping the same symbolism. Many of the pagan customs became part of the Christmas celebration.” (Everymans Encyclopedia, 1967)

“We find no scriptural warrant whatsoever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior. And, consequently, its observance is a superstition because it is not of divine authority.” (Charles Spurgeon, Sermon of December 24th, 1871)

“Gradually, a number of prevailing practices of the nations into which Christianity came were assimilated and were combined with the religious ceremonies surrounding Christmas. The assimilation of such practices generally represent efforts by Christians to transform or absorb otherwise pagan practices.

The feast of Saturnalia in early Rome, for example, was celebrated for seven days from the 17th to the 24th of December. It was marked by a spirit of merriment, gift giving to children and other forms of entertainment.

Early Christians replaced the pagan feast with the celebration of Christmas. But many of the traditions of this observance were assimilated and remain to this day as part of the observance of Christmas. The Scandinavians, Germans, French, English and others have left their mark as well.” (The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia of the Bible)

“Various symbolic elements of the pagan celebrations, such as the lighting of candles, evergreen decoration and the giving of gifts, were adapted and given Christian significance. As Christianity spread into northern Europe, the Celtic, Teutonic and Slavic winter festivals contributed holly, mistletoe, the 'Christmas tree', bonfires and similar items.” (The Christian Encyclopedia)

“The observance of December 25th as a Christian festival only dates back from the fourth century and is due to the assimilation of the Mithraic festival of the birth of the sun.” (World Popular Encyclopedia, Volume 3)

“The transition from the festivals commemorating the birth of the sun god Mithra to a celebration ostensibly for the [Son of God] occurred sometime in the fourth century. Unable to eradicate the heathen celebration of Saturnalia, the Church of Rome, sometime before 336 A.D., designated a feast of the nativity to be observed.

The exchanging of gifts, extravagant merriment and lighting of candles all have previous counterparts in the Roman Saturnalia. The use of trees harkens back to the pagan Scandinavian festival of Yule.” (The New Testament Dictionary of the Christian Church)

“December 25th, the birthday of Mithra, the Iranian god of light, and the day devoted to the invincible sun, as well as the day after Saturnalia, was adopted by the Roman Catholic Church as Christmas, the nativity of [Christ], to counteract the effects of these festivals.” (The New Encyclopedia Britannica)

“Pagan celebrations on December 25th included feasting, dancing, lighting bonfires, decorating homes with evergreens and gift giving. When this became a Christian festival, these customs continued, but with a Christian meaning imported to them.” (Encyclopedia International, USA 1980)

“The use of evergreens was so closely associated with the garland of pagan days, that in many early church celebrations, it was forbidden.” (Alfred Carl Hottes, 1001 Christmas Facts and Fancies)

“Equally old was the practice of the Druids, the casts of priests among the Celts of ancient France, Britain and Ireland, to decorate their temples with mistletoe, the fruit of the oak tree, which was sacred to Odin, their god of war, and they sacrificed to it until St. Boniface, in the eighth century, persuaded them to exchange it for the 'Christmas tree', a young fir tree. It was German immigrants that took this custom to America.” (L.W. Cowie and John Selwyn Gummer, The Christian Calendar, 1974)

The truth is, our Savior’s birth occurred on the first day of Sukkot, also known as the Feast of Tabernacles. Sukkot takes place in late fall, not on December 25th. Nevertheless, nowhere in Scripture are we instructed to commemorate the birth or the death and resurrection of the Messiah, especially with satanic pagan festivals.

Evil practices and traditions can never be transposed or co-exist with those of true righteousness; nor can darkness with light.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)

Easter

The traditions of Easter, celebrated by Christians and non-Christians alike, are worthy of examination to discern whether or not their roots are from Yehovah and the Scriptures. If you love Easter, hold on to your bonnet. You just might discover that your basket actually runneth over with rotten eggs from the dark side.

“The term ‘Easter’ is not of Christian origin. It is a form of Astarte, one of the titles of the Chaldean goddess, the ‘Queen of Heaven’. The pagan festival of Easter was quite distinct and was introduced into the apostate western religion as part of the attempt to adopt pagan festivals into Christianity.” (Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words)

“Ishtar, or Easter, was the chief Babylonian and Assyrian goddess, associated with love, fertility and war, being the counterpart to the Phoenician goddess Astarte.” (The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 2000)

“The term ‘Easter’ was derived from the Anglo-Saxon ‘Eastre’, the name of the goddess of spring. In her honor, sacrifices were offered at the time of the vernal equinox. By the eighth century, the term came to be applied to the anniversary of [Christ’s] resurrection.” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

“The English word ‘Easter’ is derived from the names Eostre, Eastre, Astarte and Ashtoreth. Astarte was introduced to the British Isles by the Druids and is just another name for Beltis, or Ishtar, of the Chaldeans and Babylonians.

The Book of Judges records that the children of Israel did evil in the eyes of the [Lord] and served Baalin and Ashtoreth, and forsook [God] and served not Him. Easter is just another name for Ashtoreth, the ‘Queen of Heaven’.

Easter was not considered a Christian festival until the fourth century. Early Christians celebrated Passover on the 14th day of the first month and a study of the dates on which Easter is celebrated will reveal that the celebration of Easter is not observed in accordance with the prescribed time for the observance of Passover.

After much debate, the Nicean Council of 325 A.D. decreed that Easter should be celebrated on the first Sunday after the vernal equinox. Why was so much debate necessary if Easter was a tradition passed down from the Apostles?

The answer is that it was not an Apostolic institution, but an invention of man. They had to make-up some rules. History records that spring festivals in honor of the pagan fertility goddess and the events associated with them were celebrated at the same time as Easter.

In the year 399 A.D., the Theologian Code attempted to remove the pagan connotations from those events and banned their observance. The pagan festival of Easter originated as worship of the sun goddess, the Babylonian ’Queen of Heaven’, who was later worshiped under many names, including Ishtar, Cybele, Idaea Mater (The Great Mother), or Astarte, for whom the celebration of Easter is named.

Easter is not another name for the Feast of Passover and is not celebrated at the biblically prescribed time for Passover. This pagan festival was supposedly Christianized several hundred years after [Christ].” (Richard Rivers, Too Long in the Sun)

“Since the second century A.D., there has been a divergence of opinion about the date for celebrating the paschal (Easter) anniversary of the [Lord’s] passion (death, burial and resurrection). The most ancient practice appears to have been to observe the fourteenth (the Passover date), the fifteenth and sixteenth days of the lunar month, regardless of the day of the Julian week those dates might fall on from year to year.

The Bishop of Rome, desirous of enhancing the observance of Sunday as a church festival, ruled that the annual celebration should always be held on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday following the fourteenth day of the lunar month.

This controversy lasted almost two centuries until Emperor Constantine intervened on behalf of the Roman Bishop and outlawed the other group.” (Robert L. Odom, Sunday in Roman Paganism, Page 188)

“The exchange of Easter eggs, which symbolizes new life and fertility, is one of the oldest traditions. Rabbits and flowers were also pagan fertility symbols.” (New Standard Encyclopedia)

“The egg is a symbol of fertility and the renewal of life and goes back to the ancient Egyptians and Persians who also had the custom of coloring and eating eggs during their spring festival.” (Encyclopedia Britannica)

“The hare, the symbol of fertility in ancient Egypt, a symbol that was later kept in Europe, is not found in North America. Its place is taken by the Easter rabbit, the pagan symbol of fertility and accredited with laying eggs in nests prepared for it at Easter or with hiding them away for children to find.” (New Encyclopedia Britannica)

“The custom of a sunrise service on Easter Sunday can be traced to ancient spring festivals that celebrated the rising sun.” (The New Book of Knowledge, 1981)

It is clear that the observance of Easter is actually the celebration of the bare-breasted fertility goddess Astarte and the worship of pagan sun gods. Its roots are in no way related to the resurrection of the Messiah. All customs and practices relative to Christmas and Easter can be traced back to pagan sun god worship. This is where the Christian tradition of holding church services on Sunday, rather than the Sabbath, originated.

It should be no mystery as to why people who despise and reject every aspect of Scripture and Yehovah love to celebrate Christmas and Easter. They are sentimentally and spiritually yoked to the source of its underlying wickedness. To many, these are merely commercial holidays with no religious undertones whatsoever. To others, they serve as an annual ritual to ensure that they are judged to be good and acceptable before men and an invisible, intangible [God] up in the sky somewhere.

Nevertheless, these customs should not be observed in any way, shape or form by devoted followers of Yehoshua. Evil practices and traditions can never be transposed or co-exist with those of true righteousness; nor can darkness with light.

“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who put darkness for light and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” (Isaiah 5:20)

Mother/Child Worship

To thoroughly and effectively investigate the origins and heritage of Christian practices and traditions, we must go back to the time of the first Babylonian king, Nimrod. If Satan can be referred to as the father of the dark side, Nimrod and his family can certainly be considered to be foremost in that long-suffering lineage of evil doers.

Nimrod built the great city of Babel and erected the infamous Tower of Babel. He established the original false, pagan religion against Yehovah in Babylon. Nimrod’s wife was Semiramis. After Nimrod died, she had an illegitimate son named Tammuz.

To avoid shame, she declared that Tammuz was conceived in her womb by the rays of the sun that appeared to her in the form of her late husband. Tammuz, therefore, was proclaimed to be the reincarnation of Nimrod. As a result, Semiramis and Tammuz were worshiped as gods of the sun. This began the pagan mother/child worship that remains viable and entrenched in the Catholic/Christian religions of today.

Sunday Sabbath

Many pagan religions had their people facing east on the day they worshiped the sun. This became known as “Sunday”. Sunday religious service was Christianized by the satanic Catholic leaders to replace and erase the Sabbath Day found in the Fourth Commandment of Scripture.

“Remember the Sabbath Day, to set it apart. Six days you labor and shall do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath of Yehovah, your Elohim. You do not do any work; you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your cattle, nor your stranger who is within your gates. For in six days Yehovah made the Heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day.

Therefore, Yehovah blessed the Sabbath Day and set it apart.” (Exodus 20:8-11)

Upon careful examination of any calendar, Sunday can be found located on the far left side, indicating that it is the first day of the week. Notice that Saturday is on the far right side, establishing it as the seventh day of the week. Yehovah is very clear in His instructions to His children that we are to honor His set-apart day, the Sabbath, and rest on the seventh day.

Some Christians have been taught that they hold “church” services on Sunday because that was the day of the week that the Messiah was crucified. However, this is a myth. The Messiah was crucified on Passover. He laid down His life as the personification of the Passover lamb slaughtered and sacrificed for the redemption of sin for all mankind. The day of the week had no significance. As with all man-made religious theories, it is folly.

Eventually, all pagan practices and traditions were assimilated into the Christian religions by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century. He was a devout Mithraist, a worshiper of the sun gods. During his reign, his kingdom was equally divided among the followers of Mithra and the followers of the Messiah, Yehoshua.

To resolve this religious gridlock, he fabricated a story that he saw a vision from [God]. As a result, he announced that Christianity would become the new official religion of his empire. Nothing actually changed however. He simply gave Mithraism a new name and used it to unify the two religions.

He decreed that [Mary] and [Jesus] would now be worshiped as the mother/child deity. Though this is found nowhere in Scripture, the Catholic Church promulgated this false concept that [Mary] was a god because it helped the sun god worshiping pagans acclimate themselves into the new hybrid religion known as Christianity. The birthday of Mithra on December 25thbecame the celebrated day of the [Christ] child’s birth.

Constantine forced the followers of the Messiah to abandon all scriptural worship practices, including the observance of Sabbath, Passover and Sukkot. He declared it illegal to only eat food that was considered clean and enforced the eating of unclean food such as pig and shellfish. This pagan custom is the origin of eating ham on Christmas Day and Easter.

He unified all religious customs and designated holy days as those observed by the pagans for thousands of years to honor the sun gods. He ordered that anyone who continued to hold fast to the teachings and traditions of Yehovah and refused to adhere to the new Christianized sun god days and practices would be killed.

“It was the Catholic Church that made the law obliging us to keep Sunday holy. The church made this law long ago after the [Bible] was written. The hence said law is not in the [Bible]. The Catholic Church abolished not only the Sabbath, but all the other ‘Jewish’ festivals.” (T. Enright, Bishop of St. Alphonsus Church of St. Louis, Missouri, June, 1905)

To believers who faithfully honor Yehovah and fervently love the Messiah, Yehoshua, it is clearly evident that the celebrations of Christmas and Easter are in no way relevant to the Messiah and should never be celebrated as such. Their participation, in any manner, is an abomination to the sanctity of all that is Holy.

“And have no fellowship with the fruitless works of darkness, but rather reprove them.” (Ephesians 5:11)

“You are not able to drink the cup of the Master and the cup of demons. You are not able to partake of the table of the Master and of the table of demons.” (I Corinthians 10:21)

“Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness? And what fellowship has light with darkness?” (II Corinthians 6:14)

“Bible” Mistranslations

Consider an aspect of Christianity that presents a problem wrought with folly and deception. There are over two thousand mistranslations of the “bible”, with hundreds in the English language alone. Satan knows that people can easily be led astray by widely accepted, yet corrupted written doctrine.

Christians participate in “bible” studies and even memorize its verses. But there is a world of difference between the “bible” mistranslations put forth by men and the Holy Scriptures of Yehovah. Examine the name of your “bible” and look for the word “translation” or “version”. Just because something is written in your book does not mean it is from His Book. (For an unadulterated version of the Scriptures, refer to the Institute for Scriptural Research at isr-messianic.com.) Truth matters. His righteousness within you and your faithful obedience of His instructions shall be the basis by which you are judged.

Satan has robbed Christians of the Holy Name of the One they worship. He took the dark rituals and traditions of evil, pagan religions and fashioned a counterfeit cult of deceived sheep who believe they follow the light. He has also corrupted the Holy Scriptures by propagating “bible” mistranslations to incorporate and indoctrinate the concepts of false religious doctrine.

Heart Condition

Christians easily defend their adherence to Christmas, Easter and Sunday, as well as their use of false names and titles. They pacify themselves with the assertion that the Father knows their heart. But whose heart is paramount and reigns supreme regarding what is right and acceptable?

Only Father’s heart should hold any significance in the life of a true believer. Satan can make you feel warm and fuzzy. But unchecked feelings and emotions provide the devil with a stranglehold on a horrendously hoodwinked heart.

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)

Many will evaluate the sincerity of their own heart, as well as the righteous value of their cumulative works, and deem themselves worthy of being considered a faithful follower of Yehovah. The folly of a religious mindset, along with a carnal heart condition, causes multitudes of believers to overestimate their standing. So much has been written and taught regarding the definitions and qualifications of the end-times remnant that the basic principles of this important subject have become convoluted.

However, Father’s ways and precepts are simple, and His burdens are light. His remnant will be made up of those who reject the religious trappings of this world, adhere to His instructions (Torah) and embody and personify His Son. The fruit of rebellion is lawlessness, which is sin, which is death.

“If you trespass, I shall scatter you among the peoples. But if you shall turn back to Me and guard My commands and do them, though you were cast out to the end of the Heavens, I shall gather you from there and bring you to the place which I have chosen, to make My Name dwell there.” (Nehemiah 1:8,9)

“If you love Me, you shall guard My commands.” (John 14:15)

“...it pleased Elohim, who separated me [Paul] from my mother’s womb, and called me by His favor, to reveal His Son in me that I might bring Him, the Good News, to the gentiles...” (Galatians 16:15,16)

“And then the lawless one shall be revealed, whom the Master shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth and bring to naught with the manifestation of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood, and with all deceit of unrighteousness in those perishing, because they did not receive the love of the truth in order for them to be saved. And for this reason, Elohim sends them a working of delusion for them to believe the falsehood, in order that all should be judged who did not believe the truth, but have delighted in unrighteousness.”

(II Thessalonians 2:8-12)

“I will bestow punishment on you for the evil you have done.” declares Yehovah. “I Myself will gather the remnant of My flock out of all the countries where I have driven them and will bring them back to their pasture, where they will be fruitful and increase in number.”

(Jeremiah 23:2,3)

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the path that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the path that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13)

Spirit of Religion

The lost, fallen world seems to make an unholy mess of everything it touches. All governments and religions, even those based upon the highest ideals, eventually veer into wickedness and devastation at the hands of devious, self-serving men.

They know that lies, repeated often enough and long enough, will become perceived as reality and anyone who counters them with truth will be targeted as a heretic on a toxic, pandemic level. Satan knows what works and his game plan never changes.

Nowhere is this proven to be more evident than with the pervasive, global infusion of “bible” mistranslations, as well as participation in Christmas, Easter, and Sunday [Sabbath]. The significant thing is not how we have been so deceived, but how we react and adjust our lives away from the darkness when our fervent beliefs and long held traditions are exposed and illuminated by the eternal light of truth.

Tragically, through the passage of time, the children of Yehovah have surrendered to the Spirit of Religion. Christianity has become Satan’s greatest world altering deception since Adam and Eve were duped in the Garden of Eden. The folly is being exposed. The warnings and alarms are sounding the clarion call to those with ears to hear. But only a few will heed it. Only a remnant will answer.

In the end, the majority of people shall succumb to their overwhelming disconnect from righteousness and truth, accompanied by a self-serving, stiff-necked embrace and affection for the trappings of religion and/or the traditions of this world's dark side. This may cause Yehovah to make a grievous and heartbreaking proclamation. To paraphrase Jean Jacques Rousseau; “Let’em eat snake!”

“Church” Incorporation

“My Kingdom is not of this world.” (John 18:36)

Misapplication of this verse has caused many followers of Yehoshua to believe they should not involve themselves in worldly affairs. As a result, a false dichotomy has been erected between His Kingdom and the carnal world, which is seen as being sanctimonious at best.

Of course, this is not what Yehoshua had in mind at all. He explicitly states in Matthew 5 that His people are to be the salt of the earth and a light to the world by permeating society and working to change it from within. The purpose is indeed worldly, insofar as it involves revealing the manifestations and truths of Yehovah to a fallen land.

The true meaning of His declaration is that His Kingdom does not derive its authority and power from the world. A true believer is intended to be a spiritual organism who relies upon the Set Apart Spirit and the inspired truth of the Scriptures for his existence, not upon the institutions or precepts of men.

Foolishly, however, the vast majority of “churches” today exist as a non-profit corporation owned and controlled by the State. Satan strikes again. The legal definitions of a corporation, according to various united States Court decisions are;

“A corporation derives its existence and all of its powers from the State, and therefore, has only such powers as the State has conferred upon it. Power is used here to mean the legal capacity to execute and fulfill the objects and purposes for which the corporation was created and the source of this power is the charter and the statute under which the corporation was organized.” (Len Young Smith and G. Gale Roberson, Smith and Roberson's Business Law, West Publishing Company, 1966, page 796)

According to the U.S. Supreme Court, “The establishment clause of the First Amendment means at least that neither a State nor the federal government can set up a church.” (Everson v. Board of Education, 1947)

Is a “church” required to incorporate to acquire tax exempt status? According to the Internal Revenue Code, “A church, its integrated auxiliaries and conventions and associations of a church are excluded from taxation.” (United States Code, Title 26, § 508c1A)

“Churches are not required to apply for recognition of Section 501(c)(3) status in order to be exempt from federal taxation or to receive tax deductible contributions. Churches are automatically exempt from federal income tax and contributions to churches are deductible by donors under section 170.” (Section 508(c) of the Internal Revenue Code)

“Financial donations to an unregistered, unincorporated church are automatically tax-deductible.” (26 USC 170-B)

The IRS, of course, knows very well that it has no constitutional authority over a “church” and that it may not violate the First Amendment protection against interference with any “church”. In fact, the IRS may not violate the constitutionally secured rights of any American citizen or religious institution. It is only possible for the IRS to gain jurisdiction over an American citizen or religious institution when such authority is given to it voluntarily.

Therefore, the IRS, in the full grandeur of Satan’s folly, offers 501(c)(3) corporate status as bait to clergy who are unaware of the law in hopes that they will bite, thereby placing themselves and their congregations firmly on its jurisdictional hook. Once the bait has been taken and the catch is reeled in, another “church” has been transformed into a corporation subject to the tyrannical control of the federal government.

An “incorporated church” is not, by definition, a “church” at all. It is merely a non-profit organization like any other. Any “church” that has incorporated has deposed Yehoshua from His rightful position as Head over His own body and has surrendered that body to the dominion of the State. The power to control is the power to destroy.

In Yehoshua’s day, the chief priests bound themselves to Caesar. (John 19:14,15) Who were they a priest of? Caesar. Who did they serve? Caesar. Who does a 501(c)(3) incorporated “church” exist for? “We have no king but Caesar.” Fascism existed in the “church” during the days of the Pharisees and the same fascism has infected the “church” today through the deception of incorporation.

A “church” does not need to request the State’s permission to lawfully exist. Its charter is the Scriptures and its articles of incorporation are the instructions, or Torah, of Yehovah.

Yehoshua says, “No man can serve two masters.” (Matthew 6:24)

If this principle applies to a true believer, how much more so then to a “church”? “Church” members should enlighten themselves and their leaders on this issue. Attempt to produce a copy of the law which states that a “church” must incorporate as a 501(c)(3) organization in order to carry out its functions exempt from taxation. Ultimately, you will be unable to do so because no such law exists.

It is imperative that “church” members be unshackled from the Spirit of Fear that has silenced them and caused them to unnecessarily stand on the sidelines of the political and cultural arenas.

The forces of evil in our government and our society continue to trample on the basic fundamental principles and ideals of freedom, liberty, morality and justice while Yehovah’s people retreat under a false notion that they are not allowed to speak up or fight back.

“Church” leaders often say, “We don’t make political statements from the pulpit because we don’t want to lose our tax exempt status.” Fear, intimidation and deception are effective tools of Satan’s folly. “Churches” must revoke their corporate status, come out from under oppressive government authority, stand on solid rock and boldly get involved just as our founding fathers did in just such a time as this.

The time to unincorporate “churches” and cast out the Spirit of Fear is now. Unleash Yehovah’s warriors, that they may take their rightful place in our society and our government in the preservation and defense of our constitutional Republic.

Trojan “Church”

There is a centuries old progressive indoctrination technique known as the Consensus Process. It is also known as the Hegelian Dialectic. Three prime examples of this process in action are global warming “science”, industrialized abortion and radical Islamic extremism. There is a very good reason why leftists blindly walk in lock step with these movements; they are spiritually yoked with all that Satan does. They are like-minded.

Progressives use this Consensus Process to seduce, seize and control mass populations. It is in full operation in the United Nations and in the united States under such names as Outcome Based Education, Goals 2000, Sustainable Development, School To Work, DARE, Common Core and many others.

This process results in what we now refer to as groupthink. Simply put, it is brainwashing. The objective of this folly is to centralize all elements of society and steer everyone into the progressive mindset of global governance. The global-socialist’s goal is to establish and control a single world government and a single world religion.

This has also infiltrated Christianity over the last few decades. Thousands of “mega-churches” have sprung up around the country and been transformed into sensory concentrated, seeker sensitive institutions, all with the same tolerance, diversity and unity themes; lively, emotion-based worship; carnal, psychology rooted teachings; huge stage and sound systems with state-of-the-art, multimedia technology; with elaborate, theater quality concerts, skits and dance performances.

“There is a way which seems right unto a man, but the results are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 14:12)

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall turn unto fables.” (II Timothy 4:3,4)

The seeker sensitive “church” growth movement is an epidemic. Those who have been infected always deny it publicly, believing in their hearts that they are upright and exceptional, rather than corrupted and delusional.

Today’s purveyors of this politically correct, Christian flavored humanism are currently taking over mainstream denominations by flaunting an atmosphere of happy feelings and religious contentment. Transformed lives are measured on an emotional level rather than on a spiritual level.

Particular attention is devoted to “children's church”, where a curriculum of fun and games is designed to attract and entertain the youth. Parents are delighted to attend a “church” on Sunday mornings where their kids will join them with no unpleasant resistance. Satan knows very well what his spiritually feeble people desire. The masses get their thinkers washed and their feelers tickled.

Unbeknownst to many of these “mega-church” leaders, the underlying intent of this process is to eventually create that which shall be widely accepted and known around the world as “Christ-Lam”. It is the enemy’s latest adaptation of the Trojan horse concept.

The primary focus of the “church” growth movement is to establish a progressive monolith through a church/government partnership. The goal is to make a “mega-church” the focal point of every sustainable development community where politically correct social programs can easily be implemented and managed through this influential and oppressive tool of the State and the United Nations

“Churches” that have attained 501c3 incorporation status are already bound to the government and are thereby also bound to U.N. treaties, guidelines and directives, though they may not realize it yet.

Yehoshua said to him, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father, but by Me.” (John 14:6)

“Enter through the narrow gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow is the road which leads unto life and only a few find it.” (Matthew 7:13,14)

These verses are the essence of the Scriptures and yet many of today’s believers continue to follow blind guides into a global oriented abyss where they seek the emotional gratification of social acceptance and personal enlightenment.

True believers, as personified by Yehoshua Himself, are to be like an armada of individual Holy battleships in a sea overrun with pirates and slave ships, engaging and defeating the forces of evil and setting the captives free.

The progressive “church” growth movement seeks to diminish the relevance of its members to those on a happy-go-lucky cruise ship where everyone loves being treated like a pampered passenger and no one dares to make waves. Feelings and fear override principles and convictions. As the truth goes down, the entire nation, and the world, sinks along with it.

Carnal Idolatry of Goodness

A battle rages within every person over the unsettled issue of “self”. Who will be in control of your life, Yehovah or you? As long as you maintain control and ownership of your life, you remain self-centered. This affliction causes you to focus your attention upon yourself; not just your evil, or sin, but your goodness as well. It drives you either to realize shame and condemnation or to strive for self-righteousness on a worldly, carnal level.

The actual and effective elimination of personal considerations and self, to become a truly reborn child of Yehovah, has become an almost non-existent concept in today’s “churches”. While being born again is sincerely preached, the pervasive acceptance of self-righteousness and goodness activity has led believers into an extreme level of folly known as “churchianity”.

Until Yehoshua is in actuality the epicenter of our lives, we cannot know true living, true freedom or even our true identity. The standard of the one who lives within us will be the standard by which we live.

Only when the presence of Yehoshua replaces the existence of “self” can we see with His eyes, hear with His ears and understand with His heart and mind. When we come to truly know Him, not just know about Him, our personality and attitude and demeanor shall be determined and controlled by His divine power and nature within us.

However, as long as we remain self-centered, we are not capable of attaining higher principles of obedience, love, humility, mercy, forgiveness, peace, faith, joy, wisdom or freedom, though they may be preached and sung about in our “churches”.

We may attach ourselves to good deeds and activities, but our underlying nature will still be self-centered. When we abide in Him and He is in us, there can be no more sin nature within us. Having a lawless sin nature simply means controlling our own lives rather than placing our lives under the sovereign authority of Yehovah.

“Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?” (James 3:11)

“Whenever anyone turns to Yehovah, the veil is taken away. Now Yehovah is Spirit, and where the Spirit of Yehovah is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect Yehovah’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever increasing glory, which comes from Yehovah, who is Spirit.” (II Corinthians 3:16-18)

We are transformed as we behold the glory of the Father. Our calling is not to be imitators of Yehoshua by our own goodness and self-effort, but to have Yehoshua Himself within us.

“And I have made Your Name known to them, and shall make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me might be in them, and that I Myself might live in them.” (John 17:26)

Regardless of how sincerely we attach His Name to our good works, everything powered by the self-nature will come to a fruitless conclusion. If the things we do, and strive to be, become the focal point of our activity and behavior, Yehovah will have to separate us from our folly for our own benefit. The presence of Yehoshua in us is our unity with the Father.

Having doctrinal agreement and social compatibility in a “church” is not unity, it is false unity, which is a basis for division from our Father. Yehoshua is the only common denominator through which there can be true communication and relationship between man and Yehovah. Only through Him can we truly understand each other, the Father and ourselves.

“Yehoshua is the sum of all spiritual truth. All things will be summed up in Yehoshua.” (Ephesians 1:10)

Many “church” members actually believe that they can get to Heaven by their own carnal efforts and goodness. The attitude of making themselves into what they should be is so pervasive that they may not even be aware of the extent to which this folly rules their life.

“For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. The carnal mind is at enmity against Yehovah; for it is not subject to the law of Yehovah, nor indeed can it be. So then, those who are carnally minded cannot please Yehovah.” (Romans 8:6-8)

Yehovah is looking for His Son in you. The ministry of the Apostles in the Book of Acts was not only devoted to persuading the lost world to obey the commands of Yehovah, but that individual people would be transformed by the presence of Yehoshua. This should be the message of all true ministers, that Yehovah lives through us and that we shall obey His commands.

“That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is Spirit.” (John 3:6)

The absolute best that human intentions can bring forth is that which is flesh.

“Yehovah is not served by human hands.” (Acts 17:25)

“An hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and Truth. For such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. Yehovah is Spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.” (John 4:23,24)

“Have I been with you so long and yet you have not come to know Me?” (John 14:9)

We must see Him transformed from the historical Man of Galilee that we know about, into the glorious Messiah that we know intimately. We must hear in the depths of our being the voice that exhorts us to forget about ourselves and to know Him.

It is Yehoshua Himself who is our inheritance. This is done so that all of our attention is on Him and no longer on ourselves. We shall not live in the supernatural realm by just knowing about Yehoshua, but by knowing Him in us.

Knowing the Book of the Messiah is not our goal. Our goal is to know the Messiah of the Book. If we read the Scriptures by the Spirit, they will testify of Yehoshua and He will come to life in us.

“You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; but it is these that bear witness to Me.” (John 5:39)

Too many “church” members are constantly trying to balance the good and evil within themselves, believing a lie that their goodness can outweigh their badness, thus making themselves acceptable.

“All our righteous deeds are like filthy garments.” (Isaiah 64:6)

This is our condition until Yehoshua transforms our very nature. This transformation is an actual, experiential encounter with the glory of Yehoshua which causes our nature to be changed. We actually receive a new nature; Yehovah’s super-nature. Some call this the “upper room experience”. (Acts 2)

This does not happen by default, just because we go to “church”, or care about those in need or try to be a “good” person. This transformation takes place as we repent, receive Him into our heart, obey His commands and yield to His ways rather than our own.

“Those who belong to Yehoshua have been crucified of the sinful nature with its evil passions and desires.” (Galatians 5:24)

“If you keep My commands, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commands and remain in His love.” (John 15:10)

“Keep My commands and follow them. I Am Yehovah.” (Leviticus 22:31)

The religious, whose devotion is to “church” involvement or to religious activities and ordinances instituted by men are creature oriented. This attitude is found among people who seek betterment, fulfillment, harmony, etc. by seeking unity with the created rather than the Creator.

The goodness that a person does will never redeem him from the evil that is his sin nature. Our discernment must be more than distinguishing our acceptable goodness from our detestable evil. Both are the same in the eyes of Yehovah.

“Do not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for in the day that you eat of it you shall certainly die.” (Genesis 2:17)

Sin is not just the wrong things we have done and strive to do no longer. It is the nature of who we are without Yehoshua, regardless of whether our goodness outweighs our badness.

Because a reverence for the Messiah is easily counterfeited as life in Him, many Christians feel comfortable with a religious condition in which they blindly remain separated from Him. Many strive to be a good person, to make themselves Holy and acceptable. But the folly of self-righteousness and striving for goodness has led to a widespread deficiency of Yehoshua’s power and authority in most believers and most “churches”.

Yehoshua declares, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father but by Me.” (John 14:6)

The Way is not a program, but a Person. The Truth is not the comprehension of doctrinal facts, but a Person. Until we enter into an intimate personal relationship with Yehoshua as the Truth and obey His commands, we will not really know the Way or the Life either.

The death and resurrection of Yehoshua makes it possible for us to experience a magnificent nature exchange; our old nature of fruitless folly, for the eternal power and authority of His super-nature. The key is to live by grace through faith, whereby your deeds are done in obedience to His instructions. In this way, you concentrate upon His righteousness rather than your own sense of decency and acceptability.

The goodness mentality causes sincere, well-intentioned people to carry out deeds that originate from carnal, man-made ideas and emotions. Some attach His Name to their works and some do not. Non-religious people often devote their energy and emotions to charities and causes designed to help poor people in third world countries, endangered or abused animals, the planet and ecosystems that they deem to be under assault, among other things.

People apply vast amounts of their resources and time participating in politically correct, feel good activities such as walk-a-thons, marathons, cycle-a-thons, concerts, candle light vigils, wearing certain colored ribbons and clothing, marches and protests, moments of silence and placing flowers.

Many even look upon the government as their favorite charitable organization. If there is a need or a tragedy, they view their support of our huge, tyrannical government as evidence that they care and are, by default, philanthropic.

Regardless of their futility and ineffectiveness, they seek to satisfy their desire to be a good person and look to either Yehovah or the world to acknowledge and sanction their self-righteousness, that it may be accredited to them as goodness.

It is natural that the carnal, worldly population would be deceived by the folly of this way of thinking and behaving. But it is very distressing to witness how those who profess to be children of Yehovah display absolutely no tangible distinction between themselves and nonbelievers. He shall not be mocked!

Tragically, many self-centered, goodness oriented, religious people may someday find themselves in the same devastating situation that Yehoshua warned the Pharisees of two thousand years ago.

“Many will say to Me on that day, Master, Master, did we not prophesy in Your Name, and in Your Name drive out demons and perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you. Away from Me you evildoers.” (Matthew 7:22,23)

Battle Stations

Praise Yehovah for His willingness to forgive us our trespasses and for allowing His prodigal children to return to Him with open arms. Through His only brought forth Son, we can choose to no longer be part of the problem and be involved in the ultimate triumph as we draw near to the end of days.

In the end, Yehovah will raise an army that will engage the forces of evil and fight on to victory. In the midst of seemingly overwhelming darkness, an amazing thing will take place. The remnant of true believers will emerge as morning clouds spreading over the mountains, mature in the fullness of Yehoshua and shining like the Morning Star.

Yehovah’s mighty army will rise up to destroy all evil on the earth. It will be the final battle of this age between the kingdom of darkness and the Kingdom of Light. This will be no ordinary army. It will be in perfect unity and obedience. No one will try to do another person’s job or squabble over rank or position. There will be no jealousy or envy. Each soldier will do the job that he or she has been assigned, focused only on the will of Yehovah.

He will not come to bring peace. He comes to defeat the kingdom of darkness in order to establish the Kingdom of Heaven on earth. He shall call upon us as end-times warriors.

“For this purpose Yehoshua was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” (1 John 3:8)

The more we pray and fast and engage in spiritual warfare, the more the enemy will attack and fight back. The only option will be to go all the way and continue to fight. In the end, we cannot lose. Satan is afraid of the warriors of Yehovah and will do anything to prevent us from believing and maturing. While we are to be aware of Satan’s army, we are not to be fearful.

Satan will assign ruler spirits over every country, area, city, neighborhood, family and person. The more dangerous the threat is to Satan, the more powerful the ruler spirit he assigns to control that threat will be. Until these spirits are bound, there will not be lasting peace. We cannot set captives free until we bind the ruler spirits over them. Many people will not accept truth until we take their blinders off by rebuking, binding up and driving out the spirits that blind them.

Yehoshua says, “I will give you the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in Heaven.” (Matthew 16:19)

Before we can bind up ruler spirits, we must first break the curses that give evil spirits the right to rule. If curses are not broken, evil spirits have a right to oppress their targets and we will not be able to bind them. When the sins of the people bring curses upon the land or nation, only confession and heartfelt repentance will break them. Therefore, we will intercede, confess and repent for the sins and folly of the people, the religions and the nation.

Daniel knew that Yehovah did nothing without someone first praying and crying out for it. Daniel was a true intercessor as he confessed and repented for the sins of Israel. He acknowledged that the sins of the people had brought curses upon them.

“Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law and has departed so as not to obey Your voice. Therefore, the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses, the servant of Yehovah, has been poured out on us because we have sinned against You.” (Daniel 9:11)

Throughout the Scriptures, Yehovah’s heart is always willing to forgive the sincerely repentant. We will fast and pray daily and Yehovah will answer and move His hand of power and grace. He wants us to intercede, repent, break curses and bind up Satan’s ruler spirits. But as we do, Satan will launch counterattacks against us. Yehovah will give us an effective tool to protect ourselves, our families and fellow warriors from such attacks. It is found in Psalm 91.

“He is my refuge and my fortress. Yehovah, my Father, in Him I will trust. Surely He shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence. He shall cover me with His feathers and under His wings I shall take refuge. His truth shall be my shield and buckler.” (Psalm 91:2-4)

This great and terrible battle will actually work to purge people from their religious deceptions, helping to produce mature sons and daughters in the image of Yehoshua. Many will fall away, but the steadfast will serve to augment and strengthen the faithful and mature remnant army.

“With flattery, he (Satan) will corrupt those who have violated the Covenant, but the people who know Yehovah will firmly resist him.” (Daniel 11:32)

The power of prayer and obedience to the Scriptures coming from every direction will release a spiritual shock wave throughout the heavenly realm that will transform the very fundamental fabric of our existence. The alarm will sound and the troops shall rally to take the fight to the enemy.

This will be an epic call to battle stations. Yehovah’s great power and glory shall be manifested upon the earth, just as it is in Heaven. Satan shall be banished to the hinterlands. Any lingering residue of folly and malevolence shall be expunged forevermore from the face of the earth. Truth will override deception and His faithful warriors shall be victorious. The Kingdom of Yehovah will be revealed and shall prevail for all of eternity.