The way forward for the faith is a backward march to Jesus

 When you are completely lost in your long march toward the Sabbath rest of the lord, the way forward often is backward to the point where you lost your way. This confusing reality is the reality that Luther found the Catholic Church, lost in a sea of human custom and human ways, in which grace was long gone and the law of Rome is the established law of slavery, and his solution is a backward march toward the teaching of Paul. Luther is perfectly right as salvation is by grace not by the law of Rome. The law and custom of Rome which contradicts the foundation laid by Paul cannot stand firm against the eternal law of God which is preached by Paul. Yet Luther did not have a perfect understanding of all the way forward. There was the truth of the lord that Luther cannot accept and it took other torch lights of the lord to move the faith forward. Yet none of those who follow him are perfect either.

 

Nobody can deny that Luther was the spark of the lord who is able to reignite the faith by going back to the Christianity of the first century. Yet, he was not perfect in his ways. He is not perfect, however, does not mean he is not from God; it just means we were in the depth of hell and we need long walk in long stares of hell before we can see the full light of the lord on the earth. There are errors of the church that even Luther cannot accept as errors, but he was the torch of the lord who shines light in the darkness of manmade custom and theology. A good Christian, therefore, is not expected to imitate the way of Luther like photocopy paper but to take what is right and to replace what is wrong with what is right. I know everyone agrees with me here because Luther is a man of different ages. But this also applies to the Luther of our age.

 

If you observe the development of the faith over time, the work is carried forward by several imperfect beings, who teach something right and something wrong, who live right in some ways, and who live wrong in other ways. You may ask: why is the lord using the wrong people? Actually, they are the right people who are part of the wrong time. Imagine in days of judges and what kind of people the lord was using to protect his people. They were imperfect beings but they were sent by the lord to serve and protect his people. The imperfection of the leaders is a reflection of the depth of the moral and spiritual crisis in the people. The people are far from the lord and those the best among them are also far from the lord, so lord is using the better one to move the worst one forward. If we compare the judges of Israel and the servants of the lord in our era, we can see the servants of the lord are much holier in every way compared to the judges. Now let us go to the best of the lord, King David. And let me play devil’s advocate against this giant of the lord. Think I am a Samarian temple priest rejecting the salvation preached by Jews and saying the following:

 

“King David says lord gave him forever reigning kingdom on earth. Yet this man is a very sinful person and a patriarch of a very sinful family. So, is it a sin to think that God is not with such a sinful family and sinful person? When the preceding king honors him, David the boy, by giving his daughter in marriage, than being loyal to the king the sinful David rose against his king and led a rebellion against his king. In the jungle as an outlaw, he demanded tax from a rich farmer and when the farmer rejects to pay, David tries to kill him until he has a personal chat with the wife of the rich farmer, whatever they agree only lord knows. Then the man died in mysterious ways within a few days and the rich farmer’s wife becomes the wife of David, the outlaw. Such a kind of person is this David! He did not stop there, he start working with enemies of the Israel people and start living among them benefiting from their protection. Actually, when they were invading Israel to kill the king of Israel and enslave the people, he was readily marching side by side with them. Even though he was ready to attack his own people, they do not trust him and they leave him behind for that. Yet, he was ready to destroy his people. After he becomes king, David killed a soldier because he wants to inherit the soldier's beautiful wife. The soldier is killed by order of David and David took his wife for himself. Even in old age, he desired a virgin to serve his needs. See, even at the end of his days he is sexually immoral like a dog. The sin of this family does not stop there. Actually one of his sons did sleep with his sister by force and another brother did kill him for that. The same son, who kills his brother, then started a rebellion against his father and slept with the side women of his father. This ended in the father killing his first-born son for the sake of power. How can God be with such an evil family? This family is made of nothing but lies, they are very sinful and the worst of this world, yet they want us to believe they are anointed by God to rule us forever. Remember they mean forever!”

 

Ignoring the hyperbola of the devil, there are many actual sins of David and his family listed above. Given those facts, we may ask: can lord be with such a sinful person? Yes, lord was with David, and Lord did witness that David was as his (lord’s) heart desired. David was (one of) the best among the faithful. To understand this, however, we have to weigh the weakness of David against his strength in sight of the lord. You cannot judge a person by his/her bad days only, you have to understand the full story of that person, the good and the bad, to judge him/her fairly. At least that is what the lord did to judge David. David was not the wisest king there is, he was not. David’s kingdom is silver but Babylon was Gold. Yet David was the most faithful of the lord and when the lord punish him for his sin he is crying at the foot of the lord like a child for mercy and when lord honor him he is singing day and night for the honor of God. He was the most faithful of the lord and he did worship the lord like a child shows unconditional love to his father. You buy things for your boy, you are his god; you punish him, he cries but is trying to win your favor soon and then after is laughing with you. A child is completely dependent on his father and there is no power above his father in his sight. A child has complete faith in his father and David was such a child of the lord. He was the lord's favorite not because of his perfection or wisdom but because he worship the lord as a child worship his father, with unconditional love. 

 

Now let us see the torch barriers of the faith in our era, the faith which is reignited by Luther. Most of them are highly imperfect people and many of them did not end well with the lord, remember King Solomon and Gideon. Yet the torch that they hold did shine more and more of Jesus from one generation to the next. What this shows us is not that they are pretenders of the devil, what this shows us is that the faith was and still is in depth of darkness and it will take several right and left steps upward before we can see the full light of the lord shine on us. We as a society and as faithful are far from the lord and the best among us are as bad as we are. How can I be sure of this conclusion? I can be sure because the church is becoming more and more like Jesus, yet it still remains far from Jesus in many ways. I am looking to the fruit and I am judging them by their fruit. Lord says you know them by their fruit.

 

The problem is that those torches of the lord are shadows of the thing which has to come, they are nannies of the faith and they are there to help you keep your faith until the angels of the lord collect the good which has to be separated from the bad which is planted by the devil. In order not to destroy the good with the bad, the bad is allowed to grow with the good. Yet at the end of the day, angels of the lord will come and will separate the good from the bad and they will burn the bad which is planted by the enemy. Why I am sure, that this did not happen yet, because the church does not have the image of the lord printed on the face of every faithful. We don’t look like Jesus, so the weeding is going to happen in the future and it is wise to move in that direction now.

 

After all, before the end of days happens, the gospel has to be preached to the whole world as a sign to the world. I don’t think this human way mixed with the lord’s way is the gospel that the lord has in mind. This is the shadow that has to come. No human teaching or theology is adequate enough to represent the perfection of the lord. Take me, if I teach you 2 right ways, I will plant 10 weeds without you knowing it. My thought is built by my understanding and my speech is built out of it. My intention is to teach you one or two things, yet you are exposed to many lies of mine in a way when I reason things to you. I am an imperfect being and when you learn from me, you are going to be the worst devil than I am. No human being is good enough to teach the perfect way of the lord, except Jesus. Only when you learn with care, by evaluating your new education with accumulated education, you spiritually grow over time. For that, you need to have a strong foundation of faith. You must have adequate knowledge of the faith and you must grow with the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Historically and in the first century, after accepting Jesus, people do pass intensive training for around 3 years on the foundation of the faith. Then they are accepted and baptized to be born again. Then they take advanced education on the faith to be servants of the lord. The hot dog marketing system, where faith is distributed like takeaway meals is not suitable for building a strong foundation for people. 

 

Let alone me, even people who are led by Holy Spirit are not perfect. Even Moses was wrong, here and there. Even Paul did not claim to understand everything, but he said I will leave everything behind which is imperfect and I will march forward toward perfection of the lord. Paul was sure his knowledge is partial and his prophecy is partial, yet Paul was a giant among the faithful and he was graced with the Holy Spirit of the lord more than most, yet he was not Jesus. Even with Holy Spirit, your understanding is not complete at any point in time. Yet, you will grow toward Jesus, the perfect one among us, over time with the guidance of the spirit of truth and comfort. Faith is a growth process through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

 

Now we know the goal of our journey and the end of our long march, which is to make sure the face of Jesus is imprinted in the face of every faithful. That is our goal, but who knows the way? Nobody, except God. People can be helpful as John helped to guide people to Jesus but even John was not adequate to understand Jesus and his ways. And, I am just trying to be helpful, and yet I am doing it without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. You can imagine, how wrong I could be, but I am like the stepfather of Moses telling you the way you run the church is wrong, it does not work.

 

What you need to win is simple, the Pentecostal has to repeat itself, there is no salvation or hope for the faith without the Pentecostal repeating itself. It is not about miracles, it is not about tongues, it is not about you, and actually, it is against you. You have to die, and the spirit of the lord has to take over and do things his way. The way of humans is imperfect and you cannot build what is eternal on the foundation of human teaching mixed with the word of the lord. The most important miracle is not giving sight to the blind or making the cripple walk, those are easy in the sight of the lord. Making you think, talk, walk, and behave like Jesus, killing you full in full so you can be reborn in the form of Jesus full in full, is the real miracle. To make the full child of the lord from the dirt of this earth is the true miracle of the lord. The right way to restore the faith is when people leave aside their human way and they become fully obedient to the lead of the Holy Spirit and everyone can see the image of the lord imprinted in the face of every faithful. As anyone who sees Jesus Christ can see the heavenly father is perfect, anyone who sees the faithful has to see that the lord is perfect because his children are his witness and they are very holy. When Holy Spirit is sent in the last days, the best miracle is your full in full death for new and complete rebirth, that is when you look like Jesus. The rest is easy in the sight of the lord.

 

Now let me explain how I see you, those born again faithful of Jesus in this age of our era. Those who are spiritually immature are slaves of their local man/woman of God. They say amen to anything they teach them and they forget they can even judge Angels of the lord let alone human beings. We know Jesus, so anyone who contradicts the teaching of the lord is not from lord. If s/he is a man or woman of the lord and teaches wrong, it is sure the devil has planted on him/her when s/he is asleep. In the first case, you have to reject him outright and in the second case, you have to know good from evil and correct your leader. Don’t forget Peter out rank Paul, but Paul did rebuke Peter when Peter is clearly a hypocrite against the word of God. There is no curtain between you and God, and your man of God is your servant in the name of the lord not a curtain between you and the lord. But you are raised inside the curtain and I am not sure if you know right from wrong to judge them. You really need a miracle from the lord because you cannot digest more than milk.

 

Now let me focus on those who are spiritually mature. Many spiritually immature people can do exceptional miracles or exceptional prophecies in the name of the lord. They have gifts of the lord to do miracles or prophecy, yet they do not have knowledge of the lord. The gift of knowledge is different from the gift of healing and from the gift of prophecy. So, being blessed with any gift of the lord is not a sign of spiritual maturity. Sometimes lord blesses you more because that is the only way to save you. You may have no love and you may be an infant in spirit, but you could be blessed with every gift. This is because sometimes grace increases when sin increases so as to save people in deep sin. Some earthly people need more and more miracles of the lord to be infants of the lord. If you have less knowledge and more gift, you are spiritually immature; yet the lord is doing everything to save you by feeding you milk every second. When sin is increasing, grace is increasing. Imagine the Jews’ exodus and how many miracles they have from God. This is done to increase their faith because they have none. Spiritual growth lead to more gifts but more gifts is not an indicator of spiritual growth. There are other reasons why the lord may give you more gifts. The grace of the lord does lead to wealth, as lord says ask me for a favor so your happiness can be complete, yet wealth is not an indicator of the grace of the lord.

 

So when I say spiritually mature people, I am not saying those who do miracles or make prophecies, I mean those who have a deep understanding of the lord’s wisdom. I mean those who are graced with knowledge of the lord and holy books. I am saying those who understand the lord’s depth and when you see them you can see they are lord’s own. They are good people of love and faith and are not in love with this world. Even their enemy can see they are good people and they know the bible better than most. What I found very shameful is that those people are also slaves of their human masters. They are not slaves of local men/women of God, they can see those are wrong, but they have international masters they follow without question. It is good to learn from giants of the lord, but you should not photocopy them because they are not Jesus. Reject their error and accept their wisdom. You can even judge Angels, how do you find it hard to judge human faults? Even John the Baptist was wrong and when he doubted lord a wise one should rebuke him with love and respect. Even Peter is wrong sometimes and those giants of the lord are no Peter. When you see it right, the sickness of those who are spiritually mature and immature is the same, they have human teachers, who can do miracles, and they accept whatever they teach them without question.

 

Just imagine a good pastor you know who is also a man/woman of God, and you can see s/he is the best among us in many ways, now imagine listening to him/her saying "If the lord said you don't belong to Haven, I am using the good book to challenge the lord in court." What are you going to tell lord “I believe in you and I serve you, so heaven is my right!” You are saved by grace and grace is a gift and your gift can be taken by the will of God at any time. They are bewitched by miracles. If lord told me you will die today says another giant, I use the book to challenge lord because it is written I should live 100 years. My problem is how do giants of the lord start believing such evil things? This is because bad teachers who do miracles teach them so.

 

Now what is the solution? No man can get this thing right. We humans will cross by sea and land to convert a person and when we convert him/her, we will make them worst devil than what we are. Actually, when the teaching of those giants is preached by their disciples, you can see the worst devil in those disciples’ teaching that you cannot see on the tree which gave the forbidden fruit. A man is spiritually blind, and a blind cannot lead a blind and anyone who tries to correct this sin will create a new form of sin. Nothing is new under the sun, so we need solutions beyond the sun. What is needed is for God to take over and for his Angels, filled with the Holy Spirit of the lord to the fullest, to separate the seed of the devil from the seed of the lord.

 

So, what is the way forward? The way forward is back to Jesus, leaving aside the nannies which are the shadow of things to come. For this to happen we need Peter, Paul, John, Jacob the more, and others to be reborn again and this can be only done when the lord chooses his own soldiers, bless them with Holy Spirit without limit, and sends them to preach the gospel one more time and to show the image of the lord one more time, as a sign, for the world. I do not think the lord’s last preaching is going to be human theology; it is going to be the perfect word of the lord unadulterated by human ways or the teaching of the devil. All our teaching has to be about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, and nothing but Jesus in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!