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I would like to follow up on an idea that I mentioned in a previous study, The Sabbath of Thy Love. Actually, this is the topic that I intended to speak about last week, but because last Sabbath fell during the Feast of Tabernacles camp meeting, Yah inspired me to address some aspects of that instead.
The idea I want to focus on today begins with this: How does the character of Christ deal with opposition? How did the Savior deal with those who brought up ideas contrary to the principles that He was teaching His audience?
We may read of one such incident in the Book of Luke, chapters 11 and 12. I do not want to read the entire passage to you here today, because that would take up a good amount of time, but here are some key verses that summarize what the chapters describe:
“And as [Yahshua] spake, a certain Pharisee besought Him to dine with him, and He went in and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that He had not first washed [ritually] before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, ‘Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter, but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness.’” (Luke 11:37-39)
So this is what kicked off the incident. A Pharisee in whose house He was eating saw that Yahshua rejected the traditional practices they had cherished for so long, leading Yahshua to begin a rather extended discourse about outward appearances versus inward purity. He proceeds to pronounce a number of “woes” on the Pharisees, identifying in them legalism, hypocrisy, violence when faced with opposition, focusing on building an earthly kingdom instead of the Kingdom of Heaven, coveting and competing for the tithe, and so on.
We then read, “And as He said these things unto them, the scribes and the Pharisees began to urge Him vehemently, and to provoke Him to speak of many things, laying wait for Him, and seeking to catch something out of His mouth, that they might accuse Him.” (Luke 11:53, 54)
So they began to ask Him all kinds of doctrinal questions, waiting to see if He would speak something on which they could focus in order to accuse Him of blasphemy or heresy. And note the spirit of this technique. Pay attention to what they are doing. They could not answer Yahshua’s charges against their characters. They could not say, “We are not hypocrites. We always do what we teach others to do.” They could not say, “We are not legalistic. We know that it is Yahweh who saves us, and not obedience to the Law.” They could not say, “We don’t care about the tithe or earthly power. Our only interest is in teaching the world about the God of Israel.” They had no answer to His actual charges, and so instead of meeting the revelation of their sins, and confessing that they were accurately described, they instead attempted to silence the voice of rebuke, the voice of correction, by laying false charges on the Messenger.
The following chapter shows how Yahshua dealt with this: “In the meantime, when there were gathered together an innumerable multitude of people, insomuch that they trode one upon another, He began to say unto His disciples first of all, ‘Beware ye of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be known.’” (Luke 12:1, 2)
The rest of the chapter shows Yahshua teaching both His disciples and the crowd that had gathered, teaching them to guard against the very things for which He was rebuking the Pharisees. But He did not dispute with them directly; instead, He spoke to those whom He knew would listen, showing compassion to those who came to Him for His divine wisdom.
We see a contrast here between the way that Yahshua treated false religious leaders, and how He treated the “common folk.” He did not come to argue with the priests and the scribes. Yahweh sent His Son into the world to save the lost, and this might come as a surprise to many people, but He didn’t do so by correcting their doctrines through disputes with the religious leaders, nor by quoting the Old Testament at them for extended periods of time.
Now, He did not avoid conflict with the Pharisees and others. He confronted them. He pointed out their defects of character. He revealed that the reason why their teachings were corrupt and corrupting was because their spirits were of the Enemy. Because they were not living as Yahweh would have them live, not only were falsehoods creeping into their teachings, but even when they taught the truth, all it did was convince people to trust them more, and to partake more deeply of their carnal characteristics.
This is why we consider independent ministries to be Altars to Confusion. Consider those we have encountered in recent years. Why are they “independent?” It is because they broke away from some larger body due to an irreconcilable difference in doctrine. They exist because of unhealed rifts of belief, and therefore it is no surprise that the ministry becomes focused on that belief which makes them different… otherwise, why do they exist? It is a trap, you see… They must constantly reaffirm the doctrinal difference that makes them unique, otherwise they have no reason for standing apart from the General Conference SDA Church, or the Sunday-keeping denomination they once claimed to be, or the Catholic Church itself.
Because of this, they lose the high character of Christ, and cannot do what He did in those chapters in Luke, turn away from the conflict, and focus on ministering to the people. Independent ministries identify themselves by the doctrines they promote. There is an anti-military service ministry over here. There is an anti-government involvement ministry over there. There is an anti-Trinity ministry over here, and there, and there. There are lots of those these days, it seems, practically stumbling over one another.
But the Bride of Christ inherits the character of Her Husband. Like Him, She rebukes the error, She calls out the corrupt character of those who promote it… and then She turns from them and ministers to the people. She brings light to the world, the Gospel of Christ and yes, to do this at times She must dispel doctrinal errors. She must meet opposition with words given to Her by the Holy Spirit. In fact, that verse about the Holy Spirit being given to us when we need Its inspiration is taken right from that chapter, Luke 12. That’s found in verses 11 and 12. But she doesn’t find her identity in the things that She opposes. It is Her Husband that has given Her a name, and a Spirit, and a reason to exist.
Yahshua lived to reveal the glory of His Father. That is not the same thing as the doctrine of His Father, or the nature of His Father. The personality of an individual is not the same thing as his biological, genetic, or academic qualities. It is not whether he has an uncle, a twin, or a son. It is who he is mentally and spiritually. That is why it is written that we worship Him in Spirit and in truth, rather than in understanding and in practice.
We spoke a couple of weeks ago about the Biblical phrase, “a perfect hatred.” We saw that it was an imperfect truth, an incomplete truth, to apply it to human beings. Instead, we apply it to the sin, the sin that motivates people to oppose the truth and the People of Yahweh. Because we are of the Father, we know how to separate the people from the doctrines that have deceived and manipulated them. We know how to separate the belief from those whom it has taken captive. We know how to be, for example, anti-Trinitarianism, instead of anti-Trinitarian.
I am a non-Trinitarian because I am not a Trinitarian. However, I cannot say I am anti-Trinitarian, because I am not against Trinitarians. I am for them, just as my Father in Heaven is for them. And I am perfectly consistent in this. When I have the opportunity to demonstrate, or support the teaching, that this doctrine is false, I will do so. It isn’t my entire ministry, but it falls within the work of the Second Angel to reveal that “Babylon,” that the confusion of false teachings, has fallen. Of course, this only really benefits those who have already accepted the call of the First Angel, and put away sin. It is a part of their education in the sanctified life to learn what victory over sin involves shedding false notions.
But when the conversation turns to attacking people, to labeling human beings and discriminating against them because they have been deceived, I turn away. I was once deceived by these false doctrines. If I had fallen into the hands of some of these so-called reformers, I would have been repulsed. In fact, it would have probably prejudiced me against the non-Trinitarian position altogether. Thanks be to Yahweh, I found His Remnant, the Church of Yahshua the Messiah, instead of an independent ministry. I found the Creation Seventh Day Adventists, who know that their work is to teach the Gospel, and that with that light will come a cleansing administered by the Great Physician Himself.
And yes, CSDAs have separated themselves from a larger religious body, just like the independent ministries… but that is where the similarity ends. Creation SDAs have been called out by Yahweh Himself, not for doctrinal disagreements, or disputes over teachings, but because the Body to which it once belonged actually fell, permanently corrupted in a way described by its own beliefs and writings. This led to an inevitable calling-out of the Church (literally the “called out ones”) to finish the work of the Gospel.
The CSDA Church is not identified by any individual doctrine or teaching. It proclaims the Three Angels’ Message that the Church of the last days was always prophesied to teach, testifying of victory over sin, a pure understanding of the Father and Son, and a resistance to the Church/State union that rejects the covenant with Yahshua and instead forms the Mark of The Beast. That’s it. And our character is Agape, divine love, as expressed visibly through Philadelphia, brotherly love. That is all one needs to know to recognize the Son of God within a People, if one is truly seeking the Son of God.
The People within whom the Son of God dwells know how to deal with opposition. Like Christ, their primary goal is to administer the Gospel to the people, and that sometimes involves exposing and rebutting falsehood. But their focus is not on the individual falsehoods. That’s like trying to kill a tree by cutting off its leaves. As long as the root remains alive, the leaves will grow back, and the poisonous fruits will once again appear.
You know, in ancient myths there was a giant serpent known as the “Hydra.” It was a snake with many heads, and if that sounds familiar, it should… Satan has inserted himself into humanity’s most ancient legends. As the story goes, the hydra was very difficult to kill, because whenever you cut off one head, two more would grow back in its place. It apparently never occurred to the heroes that failed to kill it that a more effective strategy might be to go for its body, to pierce its heart, and take away the strength of its very core.
But what we see are these various ministries, each focused on one of the heads of the Hydra, swinging away with their swords, with their sharp tongues and self-affirming Bible verses, but the monster will not die. In fact, the heads keep growing back. The Sunday-keeping Churches are not running out of people to baptize, and the mainstream SDA Church continues to grow just fine despite their most strenuous efforts. Why?
It is because the heart of the monster is not being addressed. The root of the evil tree is not being assaulted. John the Baptist had the right approach to this, and of course, this is where today’s study gets its name. We read, “But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, ‘O generation of vipers [there is the serpent/hydra symbolism], who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?’
He says, “‘Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance, and think not to say within yourselves, “We have Abraham to our father,” for I say unto you that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham. And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.’” (Mat 3:7-10) Luke’s third chapter has this discourse repeated almost exactly.
The axe is laid unto the root of the trees. Who cares who your father is? You, sinner, need to repent. You believe Abraham was your father? What is the fruit of that belief? Has it made you a kinder person? Has it made you a wiser minister? Has it broken your heart because of the suffering of your fellow man? If your belief about your father hasn’t done this in you, your faith has been in vain, and your destiny is the same fire as the heathens and pagans before whom you turn up your noses.
Today we may make a similar statement. You believe that your Heavenly Father is One God with no equal? That’s good… that is correct. That is doctrinally accurate. But you, sinner, need to repent. What has been the fruit of your belief? If your belief hasn’t made you Christ-like – separate from sin, but a friend to the sinner – then don’t you dare boast about who your Father is. It doesn’t matter.
Hear the words of John the Baptist. Treasure the truth that you know, but lay the axe to the root of what is destroying the world. It isn’t Trinitarianism. That is not the final test of humanity. It is not evolution, or gun control, or whether the Covid-19 vaccine is a sign of rebellion, or abortion, or Sunday-keeping, or any other doctrinal position. Now, those are questions that have correct answers. In some cases, they are a matter of divine Law. In some cases, they are a matter of proper interpretation. In some cases they are a matter of personal convictions or preferences. But in every case, in every one of those cases, it is sin that destroys the soul.
There will be people in Heaven who never once kept the Sabbath. They would have been better off, but their Sunday-keeping did not destroy their souls. There will be people in Heaven who genuinely believed that Yahweh worked through evolution to create us. There will be a lot of Trinitarians in Heaven, but if you treated them in an unchristian manner while they were on earth, you won’t get to meet them in the Kingdom.
There will not be one sinner in the World to Come. That is where the focus of the Church must be… the very heart of the Hydra, the Dragon. Lay the axe against sin. Let your teachings, let your time, let your efforts, be against sin… and I don’t mean “a sin,” a specific sin; I mean anomia, as John describes it, “lawlessness.” “Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the Law.” (1John 3:4) That is the only definition of “sin” in the entire Bible, and John calls it “the transgression of the Law,” which is that one word, anomia.
Now, the anti-Trinitarian ministries will say, “Yes, but the Trinity breaks the first commandment, so when we teach against that doctrine, we are teaching against sin.”
First of all, there is not one verse or passage in the Scriptures that equates a faulty understanding of Yahweh, even a false understanding of Yahweh, with the worship of another God. Some of the believers in the New Testament were baptized into the Church having never even heard of the Holy Spirit, much less understood its relationship to the Father and Son. (Acts 19:2) These brethren did see the need to be re-baptized, but they were Christians before, and Christians after, they did so.
Second of all, when John says that sin is “the transgression of the Law,” he is not using a term that means a specific belief or action. He is talking about the state of being in opposition to the Law. Someone may break a commandment in ignorance, not knowing that his actions are contrary to the Law. His soul is not destroyed. He would not be among the 144,000… He would in all likelihood enter the Kingdom through the grave, but he has not sinned unto eternal death.
Thus, laying the axe to the root of the tree does not mean to focus on a specific leaf, or branch, but to go to the very core of all these questions and controversies. It is to rebuke sin itself, first in ourselves in order to minister unto others, and then to those whom Yahweh places in our path.
The minister of Yahshua does not spend his time and energy trimming the leaves. The leaves will grow back, stronger than ever because they were trimmed. If you argue with someone over doctrine, you’re just teaching him to be a better debater concerning that doctrine. But if you do what Yahshua did, and go after their character, explain why their doctrines are not producing the fruit of the spirit, and call them to repentance for their transgressions, then you are offering them healing.
Yes, we point out errors in beliefs and practices as we head toward the root, as we engage in what we call “Heart-work.” Yes, we correct people’s doctrinal misunderstandings when given the opportunity, but true ministry involves using these things to get to the heart. The goal, after all, is not to teach people to believe exactly what we believe, but to teach them to love the way that we love. We do not say, “Oh, you are a Trinitarian… that’s bad and you need to repent, because here are a bunch of Bible verses proving that the doctrine is false.” Instead, we explain, “Oh, you are a Trinitarian. Because you see the Holy Spirit as a unique Person, you will have a difficult time properly envisioning the Son of God dwelling in you by His Spirit, keeping you from sin.”
For every false doctrine, you see, Satan has a reason for having created it. And that reason is to keep people in a state of sin. A Trinitarian may be a sinner. An anti-Trinitarian may be a sinner. The reason why is the same in both cases; neither has Christ dwelling in them by His Spirit. One may understand how He can do that a little better, but understanding how salvation works is not the same thing as experiencing it for one’s self. What we end up with, when those who do not have victory over sin try to teach doctrine, is the blind leading the blind. Sometimes they stumble in the right direction, but most of the time they end up in a ditch on the side of the road. And when it comes to subtle matters like the nature of Yahweh, that is exactly what we see, people speaking about Someone whom they do not personally know… people who were never regenerate in themselves latching onto some doctrine that is known to be false, and then identifying that as their entire calling from God.
It is a hard thing, a very hard thing, for a works-based believer to realize that he has been wasting his time. “You mean all this work, and I haven’t been making God happy with me?” It is a hard thing, a very hard thing, for someone who is excited about the accuracy of a particular doctrine to realize that the Gospel is a broader thing, a better thing, than they have been working with.
It is possible to be distracted by the truth. I could put up a website dedicated to teaching people that Christians kept the Feast Days in New Testament times. I could make all my Facebook posts about the proper way to schedule Camp Meetings according to appointed times of particular sacred significance. Christians respected the annual Biblical feasts. It’s true. I can demonstrate that it is true from the Bible and from history. Truth is important, isn’t it? But I would not be a Gospel worker if that true teaching were not placed properly within the framework of the Three Angels’ Message.
And of course, I can understand the impulse. Especially among those who were once Trinitarian, and then discovered the truth about the Biblical description of the Father and Son. I get it. You say, “Oh, no… a heresy!” And you want to share that new truth that you’ve found. There is nothing wrong with that tendency; in fact, Ezekiel 9 tells us that those who are approved by Yahweh “sigh and cry” for the abominations being done in Jerusalem. (Ezek 9:1-7)
Those through whom Yahweh works hate false teachings. They hate what those teachings do to people, and desperately wish to save them. But there are “abominations” in spiritual Jerusalem, more than one. There are many errors, in fact, and unless the axe is laid to the very root of the tree, unless we teach victory over all sin, and then let doctrinal purity flow forth from that truth, we are not really helping those people at all.
We are just trimming the leaves. In fact, we are doing more harm than good, because we are leading them to think, “If I can avoid this one mistake, then everything will be okay.” That’s actually a works-based understanding of Christianity, despite heated protests to the contrary, but it’s true.
The Scriptures say, and I want to conclude with a brief examination of this passage: “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to Yahweh for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of Yahweh, but not according to knowledge.” (Rom 10:1, 2)
A zeal, but not according to knowledge. I see a lot of excitement. I see a lot of Bible-quoting, and a lot of echo-chambering amongst those who are zealously seeking to promote anti-Trinitarianism, and various other false teachings as well. A lot of self-affirming statements and self-congratulatory declarations may be found, but not a lot of ministry toward those who are genuinely deceived. I don’t see a spirit of rest, the Sabbath more fully, attending the discussions, because the “knowledge,” the knowledge of who the Father and Son actually are, is not the same thing as knowledge about Them.
That is the knowledge that is needed. The knowledge that keeps them from sin every day of their lives, the knowledge that drives them to make strenuous efforts to unite with the Bride of Christ, and the knowledge that brings grace, dignity, patience, and wisdom to their words… that is what is needed. That will direct their zeal, and the axe will be laid to the root of the tree of sin, the false altar from which every false teaching arises. Yahweh will be pleased with them; therefore, their works will be righteous, not the other way around… and then Eli-Yah the Prophet, in spirit and in truth, will prepare the way for the Son of Yahweh to return and take us all to Himself for everlasting ages. May our Father bless our efforts toward that end.
David.