In the study entitled “Turning the Hearts,” we saw that the Bible (specifically Ephesians 4:12) describes two purposes for the Church of Yahshua on the earth. The first is an internal purpose, for the “perfecting of the saints” and the “edifying of the Body of Christ.” This is the reason why the Church exists from its own members’ perspective. We are here to perfect the character of Christ, before probation closes, and to be prepared to live forever in the presence of a Holy God.

The second purpose that the Scriptures describe is an external one, that is, “the work of the ministry,” the work of evangelism. And while many people think that evangelism means convincing others to believe what you believe, that is only partially true. I will explain what I mean by “partially true” next week. But for our purposes today, the reason why that concept is incomplete is because if the focus is on doctrine, and not on spirit, only an artificial, external unity will result, rather than an eternal, perfect one-ness that Christ desires for His people. The “work of the ministry” involves the very thing that the Prophet Eli-Yah is predicted to accomplish in the last days.

There are people who come in his spirit and power, and will turn the hearts of the children to the Father, and the heart of the Father to His children. In the original passage (Malachi 4) this seems to be speaking about literal parents and children, while the New Testament applies it to Yahweh and humanity. (Luke 1:16, 17) Both interpretations are true, and that is the true evangelism, facilitating the transformation of the heart. Anything other than that is intellectual persuasion at best, and a shared deception at worst.

And don’t take that to mean that I am undervaluing the importance of the intellect. It is the mind that comprehends the light, so that the heart can be transformed. It is the mind that makes the decision to believe in the promises of Yahweh. But the carnal mind alone is not equipped to appreciate the things of the Spirit. It must be guided by the “mind of Christ,” either from within, or hearing the testimony of Christ in the experience of another.

Just yesterday, I was speaking to someone on Facebook, who was throwing a number of Ellen White quotes at me regarding the importance of having true, Biblical beliefs. And the quotes themselves are not bad; but he was using them in an attempt to refute the idea that unity is a matter of the spirit, and not of the mere intellect. This is something I want to address in some depth next week, but it is related to our topic today of instability, because the kind of unity that would produce is unstable on a corporate level. Today I would like to speak about instability on an individual level, and that involves the Church’s purpose toward those who are already, or are seeking to be, members.

Speaking of Facebook, last week Pastor “Chick” put up a post about people who devise artificial tests of fellowship based on their own convictions, opinions and ideas. This would include tests of “orthodoxy” regarding the Godhead, which has never been considered a testing truth within Adventism until recently within the increasingly extremist independent circles. And to be fair, it is not an easy question on which to find the Biblical balance. Within the CSDA church, we had considered for a brief time whether or not it should be a testing truth, but then we read and accepted the Pioneer position as being the correct one, being led today by the same Spirit that guided their experience. In addition, we have born witness over the past few months to Satan using the “Trinity Question” as a weapon to divide those who might otherwise be seeking unity under the Three Angels’ Message, and we have realized the error of diverting focus from the leading of the Third Angel, which is the one that inspiration tells us will gather the remnant into a single, united Body before the return of Christ.

The truth is, Yahweh is not slack concerning His guidance. He has a path, and it is a narrow path, for every individual to walk. Those who remain on that path are on firm ground, and will find the end of their journey to be the one that our Father intended for us. Those who stray from the path find their footing uncertain, and should they persist in their wandering, they will fall from it and into the darkness below.

Here is what the Savior says about this: “Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

“And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.” (Mat 7:24 – 27)

The success of the house depends upon the strength of its foundation. The walls of character, the roof of hope, these will crumble away if they are not built on a firm foundation that will not waver when the rain and floods and wind arise.

So, what are the characteristics of a firm foundation in contrast to a weak one? How do we know that we are standing on the Rock? There are a number of verses that address this topic. I want to read the conclusion of one particular passage first, and then go back and examine the context:

“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:8) That is pretty clear, and the principle being expressed here has broad applicability. Someone who cannot make up his mind, or is uncertain about what course to take, will be unstable, will not have convictions strong enough to withstand Satan’s attacks. That’s all quite true, and accurate, but when you look at what James is talking about specifically, it adds to the knowledge that the verse conveys.

“If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of Yahweh, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.” (James 1:5 – 8)

So yes, it is generally true that those who lack conviction will be unstable, but James is speaking here specifically about faith in the promises of Yahweh. With regard to our petitions, James writes, “Let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” And the water and sea analogy is found in another place as well, as it relates to our relationship with our Creator. We read of one of the sons of Jacob, “Reuben, thou art my firstborn, my might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and the excellency of power. Unstable as water, thou shalt not excel, because thou wentest up to thy father’s bed, then defiledst thou it; he went up to my couch.” (Gen 49:3, 4)

Despite his privilege of being the firstborn son, Reuben was nevertheless cursed with an uncertain future, because he lay with one of his father’s concubines. Here we find three ideas tied together with a “water” analogy: faithlessness, instability, and adultery. Remember those three, faithlessness, instability, and adultery. In fact, adultery is often called “infidelity,” lack of faith, because of the betrayal of the marriage vows. And this is not a coincidence. We have “marriage vows” that we have made to our Savior, when we joined ourselves to Him and took His name. He will be our Husband, Protector, our Shield of protection. We will trust in His guidance, and in His promises. Any who fail to do so prove unfaithful, unstable, and like Reuben it is said to them, “thou shalt not excel.”

When we speak, and when we act, it is according to our faith in His promises. When we say, “I shall not commit sin, I do always those things that please my Father,” that is not pride speaking. That is not a reliance on the self, but rather an expression of trust in the promises of the One who has said that He would preserve us in this experience of excellence. Those who are faithful excel, while those who are unfaithful, like Reuben, do not.

Many, most, who claim to be Christians, do not uphold this testimony. It is not that they are incapable of doing so. Technically, we are all “incapable” of doing so of ourselves, but those who trust in Christ let His Spirit live and speak through them, thus pleasing Yahweh. So it is not that the mouth is incapable of saying, “I am faithful to Yahweh always,” but that the spirit is unwilling, either for fear of being found a hypocrite, or from knowledge that sin has not been entirely forsaken.

A lack of a testimony of victory over sin is infidelity. It is literally a lack of faith in Yahweh, who has purposed to keep us from falling, and symbolically it is a form of adultery with the carnal nature. At a wedding, a new wife declares that she has forsaken the attention of all others in favor of her husband. A Christian, according to true, Biblical conversion, declares that he has forsaken all sin in favor of the righteousness of Yahweh. That is the vow that is made. In a nominal Christian, the typical testimony heard is a sign of being double-minded, of having a testimony of being “converted” on one hand, but of failing to have the converted experience on the other. It is unstable; it is truly instability. It is not built upon the rock of Yahshua’s character, and will fall when the temptations and trials come.

I mentioned that Facebook post by Pastor about “fake tests,” because those are what lead to artificial unity, and corporate instability; but I brought it up for another reason as well, and it is this: one of the commentators said in reply to him, “I recognize myself in what you are describing. I think I have the tendency to promote false tests as well, and it’s left me confused.” That isn’t word for word, but that is what I understood of her comment.

I replied to her saying that I can understand her confusion. There is no shortage of “false tests” of Christianity. The Bible tells us exactly what to test, doesn’t it? We read, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of Yahweh; because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1John 4:1)

In an earlier study I said this… whenever you are reading the Bible, look for these words, “for,” “since,” “because.” Whenever you find this words, pay close attention, because something important is about to be explained.

John says, “try the spirits, whether they are of Yahweh; because (here it is) many false prophets are gone out into the world.”

If you want to know who the false prophets are, if you want to know who the false teachers are, if you want to know who the deceivers are, the Bible doesn’t say, “Test the doctrines.” It doesn’t say, “Ask a bunch of questions to see if they believe the Bible the way that you do.” Yes, having the right doctrines is very important, and I am going to focus on that next week. But they aren’t the test. Prophets and teachers, even experienced ones, may be wrong. They may have misunderstandings; we can certainly read a lot about the misunderstandings of holy men and women in the Bible. But if you “try the spirits” and see that the spirit is from Yahweh, that the character is like Christ’s, then you have the privilege of listening to that person, and probably learning something critical for your own sanctification.

So this commentator was saying, “I get confused reading the different opinions and fake tests,” speaking about the Trinity doctrine, which is an appropriate example. And I replied, “I understand, and the solution is to receive the Three Angels’ Message.”

Whenever I speak to the anti-trinity posters these days, after reminding them what Adventism actually teaches about this, I will point them back to the work we are actually called to do, to preach the Three Angels’ Message. You know what reply I always get to that reminder? Silence. No matter how long-winded they were before in picking apart the Trinity doctrine and calling Trinitarians all manner of needlessly inflammatory names, on this matter it is always silence, and then they move on to some other point they think they need to make.

In the matter of true evangelism, Seventh-day Adventists today have become just like any other “Christian” group. They do not know the Three Angels’ Message, and so they resort to some doctrine they can promote in order to get general agreement, and perhaps some kind of a following. The doctrine might be true; the non-Trinitarian position is true, but it isn’t what “the work of the ministry” entails, and it has never been at any point in Christian history.

Of course, Adventists know the place in the Bible where the Three Angels are found, and can quote to you what they say, but if you ask them, “How does this apply to your life,” or “How does this apply to what you’re spending your time debating on Facebook,” they do the online equivalent of staring at me blankly. They simply have nothing to say.

The commentator I mention here thanked me for my reply, saying that she would pray for the experience I described, of receiving victory over sin in the first angel, and then a clearer understanding of doctrine afterwards, but I am inspired to give her another reply today, asking this question: “What is the nature of your fellowship? What do the Christians around you say about their experiences?”

This brings us back to what I began by saying this week. The first purpose of the Church is to edify the Body of Christ, to perfect the saints, to prepare a people for Heaven – in this generation, to prepare a people for translation to Heaven without seeing death. What are the Churches like, in which these distracted ones are trying and failing to get fed?

Are they surrounded by people encouraging them in perfect righteousness? Are they hearing, week after week, “Claim victory, the victory of Christ is yours to embrace; by faith we have the righteousness of God Himself?” I think we know what the answer is. They are hearing the testimony, “We will sin until Christ returns.” They are hearing the testimony, “We should try to be righteous, but that was never God’s expectation of us.” They are hearing the testimony, “Don’t worry too much about sanctification. When the latter rain comes, it will wash away all the stains on our character.”

How can anyone hear these false teachings week after week, and be anything but unstable? How can they listen to pastors and preachers, who say, “God will save you in your sins,” and remain faithful to their Savior? Imagine if a woman had just gotten married to a wonderful man, but her best friend is a restless, worldly woman who keeps trying to tempt her to go out with other men? Her best friend is saying, “Let’s go to the bar with me for some drinks, and see if we can get some gentlemen’s phone numbers.” That is a constant temptation to infidelity, and something a faithful wife, enamored with her true husband, will have no desire to pursue. She will shun the company of women like that, because they are not her friends.

The truth is, this is the only experience offered by the Churches of the world. For most Christians, that is the only experience they expect to have, the spiritual equivalent of what I am describing here. They are constantly being told that they cannot be faithful, that they cannot be free from sin… not beyond a “spiritual” freedom that has little if any impact on their words and actions. We need to ask them, when they resist the First Angel’s Message, “What is your desire?” and then, if they claim to desire righteousness, we might ask them, “What is your fellowship?”

Invite them, when you see them, brethren. When you see someone who seems like they want the truth as it is in Yahshua, but testify that they can’t seem to find it, say, “There is a place that the Father and Son have prepared for you. It is a place designed to edify, to build up, the Body of Christ. It is a place where you will learn to be stable, to stand on a firm foundation, to be like a rock, and not like water. It is a place where you will no longer be double-minded, but have the clear mind of Christ.”

We are all responsible for our own choices, of course. We are all tested individually, because Christ died for each of us individually… but the things that we see and hear from others influence those choices that we make. Christ said to the Pharisees, “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” (Mat 23:15) He was pointing out that testimonies matter. The testimony of the Pharisees was condemning those who believed them to destruction. The nature of your fellowship is important.

If you are surrounded by those who do not have faith in Yahshua, especially those claiming to be brethren, those claiming to be Christians, but do not accept victory over sin, and do not testify of righteousness by faith, you are swimming in a sea of leaven. You need to come to Mount Zion, and rest your mind in the company of the angels, and the saints. Here you find praise of Yahweh, unspotted from the world. Here you will find testimonies of faith, undiluted with doubt and wavering double-mindedness. Here you will find the truth about what makes the faith of men unstable, and you will eliminate those false thoughts from your own mind, pressing onward to the high calling that we have received in Christ. This is the first purpose of the Church, and it is yours as a free gift from your Heavenly Father.

And we, who have this experience, we are called to the work of the ministry. We are called as the People of Eli-Yah, to turn the hearts of the sinners to Yahweh, who awaits their entrance into the Little Flock. We have a message, and we have a fellowship, a flock to which we are to invite them. It is time, and past time, for the harvest, and we have a testimony to give that will draw the sincere seekers near. We have answers to give to the questions that the soul asks. We have encouragement to give, and an example of faith to display, because, by our Father’s grace, we stand on the Rock that is Christ, and when the rain falls, and the flood rises, and the winds blow, we will stand, perfectly stable, and we will teach others to stand also in the sure and precious promises of Yahweh.

David.

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