Pray that the Lord of the Harvest Would Send out Laborers

(Messiah's 39th Command)

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

Matthew 9:37-38 Then He *said to His disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. "Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest." Matthew 9:37-38 (NASB)

 

Understanding the Command

We are to pray and plead to God: This is one of the most straightforward commands in all the Scriptures. In Messiah's 39th command in the New Testament we are told to pray. What's more, in this particular command we are told exactly the thing for which we are to pray. We are to pray, (more literally according to the literal Greek, we are to beg, plead and implore), that the Lord of the harvest (which is Almighty God), would send, (literally meaning to thrust) out laborers into His harvest.

Understanding the Guiding Principles behind the Command

Remember for whom and for what you are working: Did you notice that we are also reminded about exactly Whose harvest this is. Yeshua did it on purpose because He knows that we often forget. Messiah clearly reminds us that this is Almighty God's harvest and not ours. This is a not-so-subtle reminder that when we are praying about ministry, our focus should never be on building little empires for ourselves to prove how special we are to God, because once again, this is HIS harvest, and NOT ours.
Sadly, we worry all too often about how "our ministry" or "our service" or "our efforts" are being perceived or how it's advancing. It's not about us, it's about God and His harvest.
Don't forget the Compassion that motivated Jesus Christ: It was Messiah's Compassion that motivated Him to speak forth His command:

Matthew 9:36 Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. (Matthew 9:36 NASB)

What was it that motivated Jesus to have compassion on these people? Above all Messiah loved them, but more than this he understood them. In order to understand Messiah's sentiment here, it is critical to start back at verse 14 and work our way back down to verse 36.
Messiah understood the People's real need. They needed a complete spiritual overhaul. Beloved, these people were brought up in religion. Believe me, they were not lacking for spiritual exercises and procedures. They needed to be made into completely new people by the Holy Spirit, because trying to incorporate new godly habits into the same ungodly heart doesn't solve anything (Matthew 9:14-17 cf. Ezekiel 36:25-27; Psalms 51:10-13; John 3:3,7).
Secondly, Messiah was moved to compassion because He saw the effects of sin, and recognized it for what it was. Remember, these were God's chosen people. Christ's primary ministry on earth was to the Jewish people first. So it wasn't that these people had no knowledge of God. God's Word, power and provision had been seen in this community of people since that time of Abraham. They went to synagogue every Sabbath day and they heard the promises, commands, words, and deeds of the Most High God on their behalf. Yet they were distressed. They were dispirited. Why? Why were these people, of all people, like sheep without a shepherd?
Was it because they lacked for godly prophets? No, not at all. In fact, they had 16 prophets written in their sacred Scripture. They had four large written prophecies, and 12 smaller prophetic writings. Plus, there were 38 other prophetic ministries mentioned throughout Jewish history in Scripture, for a grand total of 54 prophets altogether, not counting John the Baptizer, and Jesus Himself, who had not yet been recorded during the time of Jesus, but was recognized. So that makes a grand total of at least 56 recorded prophets throughout Israeli history. The sad truth is that most of them were either rejected or murdered. So Israel had not lacked for prophets, but had been so blind that it rejected them all. They did not lack for teachers. In fact, whole groups of people devoted all their time to studying and parsing out 'Godly wisdom.'
The truth is that these people were under God's heavy hand of discipline and their religious leadership was not helping them see it, the religious establishment was not helping them admit it, and certainly their leadership was not repenting or helping the people repent so that they could be restored to God's blessings.
You might say, Brother Michel, that sounds pretty judgmental harsh and radical. How can you say that? Well, in order to understand their state of mind, you need to go no further than the gospel of John (John 8:30-47). I will let you go and read it separately, but this clearly demonstrates that the people did not understand their true spiritual condition and the very real consequences of both national and personal sin. Do not forget, in Deuteronomy 28:1-14, Almighty God described in detail the blessings that would follow Israel if they would obey God and honor His covenant. Conversely, the LORD also described in great detail the curses that would follow Israel if they persisted in dishonoring God's covenant and leadership (Deuteronomy 28:15-68). The fact is that everything which had been promised in the curses for disobedience did in fact happen to Israel, was still happening in the time of Jesus, and continues to this day. The sad fact is that Israel was not only ignoring the word of God and its consequences, but they were also in denial of their own history, as well as denying their true spiritual illness. When Jesus confronted them on this issue, they even went so far as to say, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” (John 8:33 ESV). The scary part is, that even if they had acknowledged their own history they could not rightly make such a statement. Truthfully, Israel has been under more slavery than they ever have been free. In fact, they were under Roman imperial occupation at the very moment when they were speaking those exact words! The fact is that at the very time they said those words they were experiencing the very curses of Deuteronomy 28:15-68, and they were not even able to see it or acknowledge it either to themselves or to God. One cannot repent of sin that they do not recognize to be present or refuse to acknowledge. Jesus understood that they needed leadership which would lead them into genuine repentance, rather than insisting that they were fine simply because they were children of Abraham. I believe that with each passing day Jesus understood more and more that these people had no other hope other than for Him to die on our behalf. He understood our desperate need for real spiritual eyesight (Matthew 6:22-23).
Before you're tempted to say, well that was before Jesus died, we see much more clearly now. Before you say, since we are Christians we are much better off, I am going to suggest to you that American Christianity in 2012 is in almost exactly the same condition. You may say, that is a pretty strong statement. Yes it is, but it's also the truth. Think about it. If you look at the book of Revelation chapters 1-3, you will notice that our Lord commanded the apostle John to write seven letters to the churches. Of those seven letters, five of those churches had serious problems that they were told to resolve, repent and turn away from those things, before the coming judgment. Only two were on the right track and not in need of serious direction, only encouragement to persevere. Only two of the seven were actually successfully doing what Jesus Christ our Lord and Master wanted them to do. That's less than 29% and is not a passing grade on any test I've ever seen.
What's even more frightening is the fact that of the seven churches, the one that looked the best in the eyes of the world, was actually the one in the worst spiritual shape of all the seven churches (Revelation 3:14-22). According to Eerdmans Bible dictionary, "Laodicea was known for its involvement in banking, its linen and wool industry, and its pharmaceutical skills, especially the preparation of eye salve. The city was sufficiently wealthy and its population energetic enough that without outside financial aid it recovered completely from a destructive earthquake in A.D. 60 with hardly any noticeable stagnation in its commerce and industry.
Epaphras labored in the Christian congregation of Laodicea, which was closely linked with the congregations of Hierapolis and Colossae (Col. 4:12–16). Although Paul himself did not visit the congregation in Laodicea (2:1), he did write a letter to the Laodiceans (4:16), as did John later (Rev. 3:14–22). According to John’s letter the wealth of Laodicea had adversely affected the spiritual condition of the Laodicean Christians." So, as far as they could tell, according to their own standards they were very wealthy, and they had everything they thought they could ever need.
According to Jesus though, the exact opposite was actually true. They thought they were wealthy, but Jesus told them they needed godly riches because they were really poor. They thought that their linen industry kept them really well-dressed, but in God's eyes they were in fact shamefully naked. Laodicea assumed that their eye salve industry gave their citizens great vision, but in God's estimation, the church of Laodicea was really blind. By every standard they could recognize, Laodicea considered that they must truly be "Blessed by God." In reality, their passion to seek after and pursue what was really delightful to the heart of God was virtually nonexistent. Their passion to do what really pleased God was tepid and lukewarm. Judging by their prosperity, they no doubt thought that they must be among God's favorite people, but in reality they literally made Jesus want to spew. The church that thought it was the healthiest and had the most going for it was actually the sickest, and this was after the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Please do not forget, this was a Messiah-believing congregation. They believed in Jesus, that's why they are recognized as a church, and yet they were still in danger of being rejected by Jesus (Revelation 3:15-16). Why? They were in danger of being rejected by the Lord because they were lukewarm. They had no real passion for what was truly pleasing to Almighty God. They were in danger because they were not recognizing their real spiritual state before God and their urgent need to repent. Sadly that is the condition of many congregations in the United States of America today.
One of the biggest deceptions of our age is the idea that all we need to do is evangelize and preach the gospel more, that if we just get more people to agree to accept and confess Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then all will be fine. However, if we look carefully at the first three chapters of the book of Revelation, it becomes very clear that if people and congregations who believe Jesus Christ do not learn to spot and cooperate with God to overcome our weaknesses, the consequences could still be devastating. So let us Not continue to deceive ourselves and others.
Thirdly, Jesus Christ was daily confronted with the consequences of this spiritual blindness and sin. He saw the overwhelming need of the people for spiritual, emotional, and physical healing (Matthew 9:18-35), and seeing their desperate need, He was moved to compassion, and using God's power, Messiah healed them.

How to Obey This Command

"Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest."
1. Take notice and remember to care: In order to successfully obey this command of Yeshua, we will have to remember to pay attention so that we can spot the real needs of people. For some people who are broken and weary the need is for compassion and support, others need to understand and receive salvation through Jesus Christ. Some are being torn apart by their own sin and foolishness, and their need is for repentance. Our job, if we're going to pray is to care enough to notice what's going on in their lives.
Remember what made Yeshua effective in earthly ministry: He saw and understood the problem. He cared about the problems that He saw, and they broke His heart. The problems He saw motivated Him to sincere Biblical compassion. He had great spiritual eyesight. He saw the real spiritual emotional and physical needs of people. Since He saw their real needs, He knew what they were lacking. They were lacking spiritual leadership that would help people recognize their sin and would guide them into authentic biblical repentance, so that they could be restored into God's blessings. They were lacking leadership that really cared about the people and had a shepherd's heart. That's why they were called, "Like sheep without a shepherd."
I strongly believe that one thing American Christendom needs to get away from is the idea that if we just get people to pray a prayer for salvation, that will solve every problem, because God will eventually fix everything else automatically over time.
Beloved, that is how people end up making commitments to Christ, but never grow into effectual overcommers, because we have somehow trained our congregations to believe that making a commitment to Christ is all they really need. Yes, everyone needs Jesus, but once we've accepted salvation through Jesus, we need to grow in Jesus, we need to love and obey Jesus, and we need to learn how to overcome through Jesus. That is the true work of the laborers in God's kingdom. Beloved, remember in Christ's day, He was ministering to God's covenant people. They had the right doctrinal heritage, but they were not truly experiencing the genuine overcoming type of victory in their lives that God had originally intended and wanted for them. That is what truly leaves people distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Please do not missed that point.
2. Don't be too prideful to beg: One thing that is sure to happen as we begin to take notice and care about people's genuine needs. It will seem overwhelming. If we have any brains at all we will notice very quickly the problems are a lot bigger than we are. However no matter how big the problems are, they are never bigger than Almighty God is. So the key to remember is that apart from Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5), but with God all things are possible (Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27). I cannot really solve anything, but God can. So when I see that a person needs spiritual, emotional, mental, physical or financial breakthrough (and usually they need a combination of those things), I am not above actually begging that the Almighty God of heaven will intervene to either save or restore such a person.
3. Remember that there is more than Enough work for every disciple: As I pray for laborers, I also ask that God will send out His most effectual laborers for that person's need. When I pray this way, sometimes He will direct me to contribute some of the wellspring of the love, time, talent and treasure which he has granted for me to give, into that particular person or situation. I need to be prepared whenever He calls me to act. Sometimes, God will use me to be the laborer that I've prayed for into someone's life or situation. At many other times, God will direct me to back away so that other people can work. Either one is perfectly fine as long as God is pleased, and people's deepest needs are met. As Christians, we need to be prepared either to be laborers, or let others labor as God leads. We are not meant to be in competition with one another. Each of us is to consider the other more important or greater than ourselves, so how can we do that and be in competition at the same time (Philippians 2:3-4)? There is no need to compete. There is plenty enough work in the kingdom, that we never need to claw and compete with each other for work in God's kingdom. Believe me. There is no lack of work to be done. It all starts with noticing the problem, caring enough about the problem, begging God to send His laborers to minister in the midst of the problem, and then being willing to either move or step aside however God leads to bring his kingdom and principles into that problem so that it can be solved.
May Almighty God bless you as you pray for God to send laborers into the lives and challenges that you see in your community.
Brother Michel Lankford

Food for Thought File

Reestablishing God's Definitions into Our Mindset

(Part One)

By Brother R. Michel Lankford
 
I have long held the belief that if a person wanted to be well-educated they should thoroughly study two things. First they should thoroughly study and understand the Scriptures. Second, they should thoroughly understand history. By understanding the Scriptures one can gain insight into God's character and what He desires and requires. By studying history we have the real-life tableau of what happens when people continually violate what God desires and requires. Seeing the mistakes that others have made and the devastating consequences, the wise and discerning person should then be all the more motivated and inclined to adhere all the more closely to what Scripture teaches so that his household, his community and his nation will be much more likely to prosper and be blessed.

 

Patterns and Re-definitions

Another thing that studying history will do for us is that it will give an insight into patterns and consequence in human decisions. One crucial pattern that I have noticed in studying history is the pattern of re-definition. In studying history I have noticed a repeated pattern that whenever a culture Or society is bent on committing great evil, what it must first do is convince itself that what it is doing or planning to do is somehow good and justifiable.
For example, the United States of America was founded on the fundamental idea that the rights of human beings were granted by Almighty God the Creator, not the good will in favor of the King or government. They believed that He (the Creator) viewed all men equally and granted them the unalienable right to life, liberty and to pursue happiness. They believed that any government which infringed on the God-given rights was not a legitimate government and could legally be overthrown. That's why we fought the American Revolution.
In a glaring paradox this same people who claimed to value biblical Christianity, liberty equality and justice for all, this same society would enslave an entire race of people almost solely on the basis of their race and continue to do so for almost 100 years after the land of the free was established. So how does a nation that values freedom for all men justify enslaving an entire race of people? It's very simple. They legitimized it to themselves by convincing themselves that African-Americans weren't, "Men." So they convince themselves that the unalienable rights that God gave to all men didn't apply to African-Americans, because they were not really people, they were property, and since they were property, they had no rights and the 'Owners’ could pretty well treat them as he chose. So by redefining a whole race of people as property instead of human beings, an entire society which values freedom justified denying African-Americans the basic human dignity and justice and liberty for hundreds of years.
This re-definition of African-Americans as property became so entrenched in the Southern psyche that Southerners would actually separate from their country, they would fight, die, and even kill by the hundreds of thousands when their supposed "Right" to own another person was threatened. Even 100 years later the thought of allowing an American of African descent to vote, to go to school and to exercise the very same rights other Americans take for granted caused riots and lynchings of African Americans in the South. All of it began to seem acceptable because we had accepted the re-definition that they were not really human beings in the first place.
Has the society decided that it wants to indulge in sexual immorality without dealing with the natural consequences of unwanted pregnancies instead of exercising self-control? That's very simple. You make it legal to murder an unborn child from the womb, so that people can continue to fornicate wantonly and not have to be encumbered with unwanted children. However, in a society that has had a long tradition of valuing life and liberty, the idea of attacking, murdering, and butchering a baby in the very place that a baby ought to be at their safest quite correctly seems savage, grotesque and inhumane. So how does the idea of attacking and murdering children from the womb become seemingly justifiable in a supposedly good and just society? How does it deny a child the right to its life, the right to its liberty and the right to pursue its own future happiness? It is very simple. The society simply changes the definition of what life and what a baby is, to make what it has already decided to do seem acceptable and its own eyes.
Under the new definitions, baby is no longer seen as a baby simply because God is knitting it together in the mother's womb (Psalm 139). Now, that baby is only treated as a baby if the mother chooses to treat it as alive. Otherwise it's not viewed as a baby. Under that perverted logic, more than 53 million innocent babies have been butchered alive in the United States.
Here's another example. When our country first began, it was founded on Biblical Godly principles. So much so in fact that even our primary law books contained Scripture verses to illustrate the God-given legitimacy of various particular laws. (That's because it was rightly believed that our liberty and freedoms come from the generosity of Almighty God and not the government, and so in order to remain free, our government and its laws had to be godly and just. Therefore, in the beginning of our nation, some of our primary law books (required readings to pass the bar exam); contained the text of a particular law, some of the legal precedents behind that law, AND the Scriptural verses and references that gave each specific law its legitimacy. The belief that our laws had to be both godly and just in order for us to remain free was so strong that on more than one occasion the U. S. Supreme Court actually ruled that attacking Christianity was the same as attacking the United States itself (which it is). It was widely believed and correctly so, that no true American patriot who loved their country would dare to do such a thing.
Keeping this principle in mind, when the idea of "Separation of Church and State" was originally established, it was originally defined to mean that the United States government could not do what was then being done in other countries at the time. The government could not set up the one national Church of America and force people to attend and pay money to support it, and could not set up laws to punish you if you didn't belong to and support the national Church of America, for example. Originally, we strongly believed that our laws had to be both biblical and just, but that you could not legally set up a single national denomination and force people to belong to it under penalty of law. In 1967 the Supreme Court of the United States radically changed the definition of “Separation of Church and State.” It was changed from preventing the government from establishing a national denomination. Now it would be twisted to mean that the government could not publicly support anything Godly or Scriptural whatsoever. The definition for “establishing a church” was changed from forming a national denomination to anything having to do with God in any public way whatsoever. If you want to see how our nation was radically changed by that single change in definitions, I highly recommend the documentary:

America's Godly Heritage
David Barton
http://www.amazon.com/Americas-Godly-Heritage-David-Barton/dp/B001U5JNFC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1341191193&sr=8-1&keywords=Godly+Heritage

In Nazi Germany during the 1930s and 40s they re-defined Hebrews and other so-called undesirables as non-human beings, and by changing the definition of a human being, 12 million people were hauled away and murdered, while an entire country and much of the world turned a blind eye.

Words mean things, and definitions have consequences.

It's food for thought

Mercy above Sacrifice

(Messiah's 38th Command in the New Testament)

By Brother R. Michel Lankford
It Is Written:

“So He got into a boat, crossed over, and came to His own city. Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.” And at once some of the scribes said within themselves, “This Man blasphemes!” But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, said, “Why do you think evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise and walk’? But that you may know that the Son of Man has power on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Arise, take up your bed, and go to your house.” And he arose and departed to his house. Now when the multitudes saw it, they marveled and glorified God, who had given such power to men. As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard that, He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”” (Matthew 9:1–13, NKJV)

# 38 But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’

Note: In Matthew 9:9, the apostle Matthew is recalling the events when Messiah called him to be one of His disciples, using the imperative phrase, "Follow me." Please understand that that particular command or reference to that command is made no less 58 times in the gospel in the gospel accounts, (depending on translation). So basically, Messiah instructed us some 58 times in the Gospels to follow Him. With all respect and reverence toward God's Word, is not my intention to write 58 separate expository teachings on Messiah's command, "Follow Me." Suffice it to say that if God's Word repeats an explicit command more than 50 times, then it is imperative that we learn to follow, come along behind, and walk in the manner and in the footsteps of the Messiah. Now if we are a true and legitimate disciple of Yahweh Almighty God and His Son the Messiah, then doing this would be our desire, motive, intention and growing practice in any case, a gentle reminder should be sufficient. We should not have to be convinced and re-taught in detail 58 times what it means to come along behind you to walk in the manner and footsteps of the Messiah (1 John 2:1-6).

 

Contextual Background

Matthew 8:28-34 - Messiah heals and brings deliverance to a demon possessed man who could not possibly help himself
Matthew 9:1-8 - Messiah forgives and brings healing to a paralyzed man, many people are amazed and praise God for it, but others criticize and accuse Jesus of blasphemy because they claimed that only God can forgive sins. Jesus proves that he had the authority to forgive sins by healing the man.
Matthew 9:9 - Messiah calls Matthew to be one of his disciples. Now, we must remember that in the traditional human religious mindset of that day, calling Matthew to be one of his disciples was not considered a holy thing for Jesus to do, because at the time that Messiah called him, Matthew was working at the tax collector for the Romans. Israel while still technically a nation was a nation under house arrest. The King of Judah was appointed by Rome, the High Priest was appointed by Rome, etc. and some of the Hebrew people were appointed by Rome to collect taxes for Rome. Paying taxes to a foreign power was bad enough, but having a fellow Hebrew extort the money from your hands was worse. Moreover, it was virtually standard procedure for tax collectors to collect more than the Roman government required and to keep the surplus for themselves. So many tax collectors got rich by legalized thievery, and people were defenseless to stop it. As a result any Hebrew which became a tax collector was reviled as a collaborator, a traitor, a cheat and a thief who betrayed his own people, and usually made himself very rich by doing so. Tax collectors who lived this way clearly violated the Laws of God (Deuteronomy 25:16; Proverbs 20:20, 23; Micah 6:11). Therefore, a collaborator and a tax collector was considered the lowest form of life in Israel. Now it's possible that Matthew was a rare honest tax collector. Perhaps he collected only the bare minimum that the empire required. Scripture doesn't tell us, so we should not speculate Scripture does not expressly speak. The real point is that based on the reputation the tax collectors had at the time, for Messiah to pick Matthew, the collaborating tax collector as one of the disciples caused quite a furor in a religious community that was well trained by human tradition to believe that God only worked with and through the so-called, "Good people." Back then people had a difficult time wrapping their minds around how a truly righteous rabbi would ever call a tax collector to be one of his followers.
Today, the ideological pendulum has swung to the other totally opposite extreme. Today we are apparently so drunk and enamored by the supposed grace of God, that we often completely ignore God's righteous standards altogether. Modern Christianity often behaves as though they have the attitude that since Christ ate with tax collectors and sinners, the lessons from this must be that we must completely accept tolerate and never challenge any ungodly belief, desire, attitude or behavior, because modern Christianity appears to believe that failing to accept whatever someone believes says and does even Scripture identifies those ungodly things as sin, isn't tolerant and according to the mis-definition of the term grace, not being tolerant must not be Christian according to the way they re-define Grace. Using our re-definition of the word grace, people tend to fall into that misguided belief that there is no real critical urgency to turn away from sin and to learn, to choose and to do what pleases God. That misunderstanding could hardly be further from the truth the comment that Messiah made was taken from the so-called, Old Testament (Micah 6:8; Hosea 6:6). In those verses, God not only says that He loves mercy and loving kindness more than sacrifices, but that He loves justice, and that He is looking for people who have a fundamental understanding and knowledge of God and His principles. So, when we talk about mercy and kindness, it has to be mercy and kindness that is measured according to what God says is good, not according to what FEELS good to us. There is a huge difference.
The problem is that both the first century rabbinical Hebrew (notice I did not say the biblical Hebrew), and in modern-day Christian which teaches virtually absolute tolerance in the name of grace are both biblically incorrect. Both extremes are wrong because they missed the central point of Messiah's teaching. We must always remember and never forget that MATTHEW REPENTED. We must not forget that if Matthew had not actively chosen to turn away from his old life of tax collecting; if he had made excuses and found reasons to delay, if he had chosen to delay following the Messiah, he would not have been accepted as a disciple. How do we know that? We see direct examples of it illustrated just one chapter earlier in the same gospel (Matthew 8:18-22). Remember if Matthew had not repented, if he had not chosen to turn away from his old life, and actively walked with the Messiah, he would not have been accepted as a disciple. So please, do not miss this critical point. Matthew was not accepted as a disciple because he was a tax collector. Matthew was accepted because when he was offered the gospel when he was offered the chance to leave his old life and to follow Messiah, he took that opportunity to repent and chose to walk away from his old life and into new life with Messiah. (Recall: Genuine repentance; actively turning away from what God considers evil). He chose to actively walk toward what God says is good. This has always been a crucial aspect of restoration. And it will continue to be so to the end of the age into the new Heaven and the new Earth. The problem is that first century rabbinical Hebrews was so caught up in upholding their religious traditions that in the name of so-called Holiness to, they didn't notice, nor did they celebrate the fact that Matthew actually repented and was restored. No matter what Matthew had done in the past, so long as he was truly repenting, so long as Matthew was producing fruit in keeping with repentance, there was no legitimate biblical reason to consider him cut off from the Fellowship of Israel any longer (see it Ezekiel 18).
Today, the temptation is to miss the point altogether. We tend to think and teach that since Jesus ate with sinners, then the lesson must be then we must accept and tolerate almost every attitude and behavior without challenging it and that simply is the total opposite of what Scripture actually teaches, even in the so-called New Testament.

 

God Desires Compassion More Than Sacrifice... but What Is True Compassion?

We live in an age where the good and true terms have been grossly perverted. Homosexuality is called an alternative life style, a different form of love. The murder of innocent babies by the millions abortion is called a woman’s right to choose. Fornication is now called sex between two consenting "adults." Even among our teenagers "Bad," or "Sick," stands for something they want to call good. The term compassion has suffered the same ideological hatchet job. It has become fashionable to mistake the term license and permissiveness with compassion. Even churches have been infiltrated. Couples living together are rarely called sin and fornication anymore, alcoholism is called a disease instead of sin, and a hard line position on biblical truth is considered unloving and bigoted. Does such ideological perversion of the language really make such a difference? Yes!
Political correctness has definitely run amuck. I’ve been blessed by the LORD to be able to lead Christian discipleship training classes. On one occasion I was working with a new believer. She was a young mother who was just starting in her Christian faith is in the midst of allowing God to put her life back together. She was actually told by a parenting training teacher that she should not put her six-year-old daughter in the corner for misbehaving! The term discipline has been confused by our more liberal "friends" with the term abuse. Such ideological sabotage most certainly has a profound effect on society and it can have disastrous results with the state exercising such power over families as to enable our children to rebel against their parents. In this document we will look at the best definitions of compassion and direction along with the practical application of the terms.

What Is Biblical Compassion?

If you look at today's passage carefully, you will find that it is encapsulated in single quotation marks. In some translations, the phrase, "I desire mercy more than sacrifice," contains all capital letters. Remember that whenever you see such things in our English translations of Scripture, it is because what is being said is a direct quotation from a so-called Old Testament verse or reference. So when Messiah said, "I desire mercy more than sacrifice," He was quoting from something that was already in the Scriptures, and He was reminding us of what God already says in Scripture (Micah 6:8; Hosea 6:6; Isaiah 5:20-24). Again remember that we cannot redefine God's definitions of key terms to suit ourselves. We must use God's definitions and everything.

Exodus 34:5-8 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD. Then the LORD passed by in front of him and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD God, compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in lovingkindness and truth; who keeps lovingkindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin; yet He will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third and fourth generations." Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worship. Exodus 34:5-8 (NASB)

- We know that true biblical compassion is a characteristic of Yahweh's nature. We know that it is in Yahweh's very essence to be merciful and forgiving. At the same time we also know from the way that Almighty God has revealed Himself that His mercy CANNOT deny His righteousness. True godly compassion cannot pretend that what the Righteous Almighty God has identified as being sin is somehow not sin. So true biblical compassion does not deny the truth or reality of a situation. True biblical love and compassion always tells the truth (1 Corinthians 13:6); not because it wants to instigate conflict or make someone feel bad, but because love understands that upholding the truth will ultimately only accomplished one thing... SET PEOPLE FREE (John 8:31-32). So if you love people and you truly want to see them set free in Messiah, we have to tell the truth about what God says is sin and how to get out of it, we have to tell the truth about what God says is good. Anything else is merely the illusion of freedom, and not freedom at all. True compassion tells the truth because it will set people free.
 

Sometimes We Need to Be Afraid

Let's be absolutely clear. There is absolutely nothing loving or compassionate about letting somebody go to hell unnecessarily. There is absolutely nothing loving or compassionate about letting someone run headlong into God's wrathful judgment, especially when having the courage to teach them how to repent could prevent such eternal disaster. Do not be deceived. There is absolutely nothing loving or compassionate about making someone comfortable while they remain in their sin. What is so blasted loving about letting someone run comfortably unobstructed into eternal separation from God?!
Contrary to some misguided theologians, we are not here to make Jesus more popular. He wasn't going to be popular and He knew it. He also knew that those who faithfully follow Him were not going to be popular with those who love darkness, and He told us so (John 3:19-21; John 15:18-19; 1 John 3:13; 2 Timothy 3:12; Luke 6:26). So when we try to make Jesus more popular in the eyes of sinful people, then we are undoubtedly compromising the true and saving message of the gospel somewhere.
Beloved, I tell you the truth. Sometimes, people legitimately NEED to be afraid. Scripture clearly says that the fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7). So without a healthy fear of offending the Righteous God of Heaven, we cannot even begin to know anything.
The person who lives a lifestyle of rejecting and disobeying Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah), NEEDS to be afraid (John 3:36).
The person who is NOT actively seeking learning and doing the will of Almighty God the Father in Heaven NEEDS to be afraid, because they would not enter the Kingdom (John 7:21-23).
The person who is maintaining attitudes desires and behaviors which Almighty God specifically says WILL NOT INHERIT THE KINGDOM of God, that person NEEDS to be afraid and must be taught how to truly successfully overcome and turn away from those things before it's too late, (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Galatians 5:19-21; Revelation 21:8). These warnings were not written to unbelieving heathens. They were written to the churches; people who claimed to be believers in Messiah. If merely accepting Jesus Christ was absolutely all it took, then why were such warnings written to the churches in the so-called New Testament??
The person who claims to be walking with God and the Messiah who is light (1 John 1:5; John 8:12), and yet they continue to indulge in the deeds that are of the darkness (see above), that person NEEDS to be afraid, because they are deceiving themselves and walking in deception (1 John 1:7-8), and where do all liars end up (Revelation 21:8)?
The person who sits in church listening to God's Word week after week, but they don't submit to God and let God's word change how they think and choose to live, that person is deceiving themselves. They are practicing self-deception (James 1:19-27). That person NEEDS to be afraid, because again, where do all who practice deception wind up (Revelation 21:8)?
The person who remains enslaved to their pet sin NEEDS to be afraid. Even Yeshua the Messiah specifically says that the one who remains a slave to their sin DOES NOT HAVE A PERMANENT PLACE in God's household. Folks, I didn't say it. Yeshua the Messiah and Christ of Almighty God is the One who said it. I just believe Him, and declare what He already said (John 8:34-35). Somebody will no doubt say to yourself, ‘I am free because I've proclaimed Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior.’ The reality is that if we are truly free, then we do not continue to sin, and if we continue to sin it demonstrates that we are still a slave and not truly free.
The person who claims to know Almighty God and His Son Jesus Christ, Yeshua the Messiah and yet continues to disregard and disobey that His Laws Commandments and Instructions while they proclaim to be under God's grace, that person should be NEEDS to be afraid, because the Word of God even in the so-called New Testament calls such a person a liar, and the truth does not live in that person (see 1 John 2:1-6). Folks, even the Word of God in the New Testament openly claims that Yeshua the Messiah who is the truth (John 14:6), does not live in such a person.
There is nothing compassionate about letting someone run headlong into eternal destruction when teaching them a healthy reverential fearful Lord, and how to produce fruit in keeping with repentance could prevent it. Compassion tells the truth that will set people free and save them from God's wrath.
Brother R. Michel Lankford

Food for Thought File

Are We Really Thoroughly Equipped?
By Brother R. Michel Lankford
Most believers are familiar with the Scripture 2 Timothy 3:16-17 which reads as it is written:

2 Timothy 3:16-17 All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (NKJV)

These verses are often used (and quite correctly) to illustrate the importance of basing our beliefs and decisions about God, and the decisions about how we are going to live squarely upon the Scriptures. However, what we forget is that these two critical verses are at the end of the letter the apostle Paul was writing under the anointing of the Holy Spirit to a younger pastor Timothy. What I'd like to do is make some key bullet points that will help us not only remember this verse, but that we would also remember it in the context which the apostle Paul wrote it by highlighting the chapter in which those verses are contained.
1. While under the anointing of God, Paul describes for younger pastor Timothy the great perversion and falling away from God which will pollute man's belief systems in the last days (2 Timothy 3:1-9).
a. People will be lovers of themselves more than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:1-2)
b. People will also love only themselves and their money (3:1–2a).
c. They will be proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, and unholy (3:2b).
d. They will be without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, and brutal (3:3).
e. They will be treacherous and will be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (3:4).
f. They will have a form of godliness but will deny its power (3:5).^[1]
2. The apostle Paul gives two examples are simply depraved men and women to illustrate this falling away that will occur (2 Timothy 3:6-9).
3. The apostle Paul then offers the cure and a preventative to apostasy (2 Timothy 3:10-17)
a. Actively and forcibly turn away from those who choose turn away from God (2 Timothy 3:5).
b. He tells Timothy to be faithful and to continue in the work of the ministry which God has called him, and to remember Paul's example (2 Timothy 3:10-11).
c. He reminds Timothy not to expect popularity. People who truly love God, who truly love the Messiah and who truly desire to live a life that God considers righteous will not be loved by the sinful world, or by the religiously sinful who have a form of godliness, but they deny His power and authority by the way that they choose to live (2 Timothy 3:5, 12; cf. John 3:19-21; John 15:18-19; James 4:4; Galatians 1:10; 1 John 2:15).
d. He reminds Timothy that the deception and the world is not going to get better, it's only going to get worse (2 Timothy 3:13). The implication there is that he should be prepared and not to expect the ways of the world to lead him into truth, nor shall you expect the ways of the world to be supportive, while he seeks to walk in the Truth.
e. Paul reminds Timothy to remain in and stay true to the Scriptures (2 Timothy 3:14-17). Paul reminds Timothy that the time of his childhood he learned the Scriptures that were able to make it more unto salvation through Jesus the Messiah (2 Timothy 3:15).
4. Facts, Thoughts and Questions to Consider:
a. Fact: Paul instructed Timothy (and by extension all of the rest of us) to continue in the sacred writings which Timothy had learned as a child, and which are able to make him wise unto salvation. At the time that Paul wrote those words to Timothy there was NO New Testament. So when Paul wrote to Timothy and told him to continue in the sacred writings, he was telling Timothy to continue in following the instructions found in the books of Genesis to Malachi. Don't miss that because it is the truth.
b. Fact: the books of Genesis to Malachi (a.k.a. the Old Testament) make up 66% of the Sacred Writings. The Writings of the so-called New Testament make up about 34%
c. Fact: About 10% of the so-called New Testament is a direct quotation Old Testament verses. The percentage is even greater if you include New Testament passages which contain inferences and alliteration which points to Old Testament ideas but are not direct quotations.
d. Fact: I had been in traditional organized Christianity more than a quarter of a century. In time I have heard countless pastors complain about how unreceptive people are getting toward the gospel and how hard it is to get people in the church "To get discipled and get involved." Ostensibly pastors who are complaining about people not getting involved are usually referring to those people which they wish would get more involved in furthering the particular ministry which that particular pastor is promoting at the time.
e. Fact: The vast majority of modern Christianity teaches that because we are “under God's grace,” then it is not as important to learn and follow the instructions of the so-called Old Testament. So essentially what modern Christian theologians are doing is teaching people to diminish and sometimes even ignore almost 76% of Holy Scripture.
f. Fact: Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah) specifically said that, "Not everyone who says to Me 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES the will of the Father in heaven will enter.”(See Matthew 7:21-23). He also said that in order to make successful disciples we must teach people how to obey EVERYTHING which Jesus Christ commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). That clearly does not happen either.
g. Questions: Is it possible to be thoroughly equipped for every good work when churches ignore or choose diminish or discount more than 76% of God's instructions for living? In so doing, how likely is it that we have truly done the will of God? In light of Matthew 7:21-23, how safe are we in doing that ... REALLY?

It's Food for Thought

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^[1] Willmington, H. L. (1999). The Outline Bible (2 Ti 3:1–17). Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers.

Follow me And Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead

(Messiah's 37^th Commandment in the New Testament)

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

As It Is Written:

Matthew 8:18–22, “And when Jesus saw great multitudes about Him, He gave a command to depart to the other side. Then A certain scribe came and said to Him, “Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go.” And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” Then another of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” But Jesus said to him, “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead.”” (Matthew 8:18–22, NKJV)

Review & Identifying the Commands

#34 be one of the few who; Enter through the narrow gate (Matthew 7:13-14).

#35 Beware, and do not be deceived by false prophets or false teachers (Matthew 7:15-20)

#36 [The Crucial Implied Command] Do God's will, or you will be left out of the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 7:21-23).

Note: Wise additional teaching but not an overt or implied command: The only way to do God's will and avoid being left out is to hear Christ's words and follow Them (Matthew 7:24-28).

This is one of those commands which Messiah made that proves that the gate and the way which leads to eternal life is indeed very narrow. You see, in order to be righteous before God, righteousness demands that we fulfill our virtuous obligations both to God and also to our vital relationships such as fulfilling our duty to family, and other vital relationships; such as keeping our word and our agreements at work, and being a good witness by fulfilling our regular obligations. In fact to violate those principles of keeping our family obligations or failing to keep our agreements would be a sin. Jesus Himself makes that very point, (Mark 7:9-13; Matthew 5:37; Psalm 15:1-5). So, Messiah was not advocating neglecting obligations to our vital relationships, nor was He advocating violating one's word.
At the same time, being the sinful, frail and weak human beings that we are, we can very easily allow ourselves to get overwhelmed with earthly commitments and entanglements which prevents us from clearly seeing and faithfully doing our duty to God. That is not good. Sometimes, we can even use our righteous obligations as an excuse and cover for not believing and obeying God in some area of our lives. This is not good either.
If one observes Matthew 8:18-27 together with Mark 7:9-13, then we can more clearly see the truth. In reality, we are not allowed to use or rather misuse one righteous obligation, to excuse ourselves from another righteous obligation. We cannot use our righteous obligations to God as an excuse for not doing what's right with the vital relationships God placed in our lives, and we cannot use our righteous duty in those vital relationships as an excuse to prevent us from obeying God. In the vast majority of instances though, any apparent conflict between our duty to God and our duty to other people is usually self-imposed, because God is fully aware of the vital relationships (meaning obligations to spouse, parents and the children) which He has placed in our lives before He Ever calls us into something. In other words, very often we create a conflict between two areas of our lives where no true conflict exists, because we are looking for an excuse to do exactly what we please.
Sometimes we can over extend our commitments to our vital relationships and make ourselves believe that they need something which they really in fact do not need, and God would rather that we place the time talent and treasure that we use to provide some of those excesses in to some other service in ministry. There really is no substitute for listening to the leading of the Holy Spirit in all these cases, because it can be a very narrow path.
Sometimes it can be hard to discern where our duty really does fit into place with our commitments. Ultimately though, if ever a genuine conflict does arise, our commitments to God must always come first. Generally, if our commitments are genuine, God will make His provision for those vital relationships as we obediently travel the road that He laid out for us, although we may only see the road a few steps at a time.
Normally, I don't like to speculate where the Scripture does not speak, but in this instance the text lends itself to some interesting questions. At first glance, it may seem harsh for Messiah to suggest that a faithful son should not bury his father, but then again, if the man's father was so ill that death was imminent, why was he not home helping to take care of him? If that was really the man's concern, he could've quietly done his duty to his father and then found Jesus and followed him. He did not have to advertise the problem and make excuses. Moreover, it's interesting to note that the man was face to face with Jesus Christ, and did not ask for healing on behalf of his father. If the man's father was that ill, and if he really believed that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, would the man not have asked Messiah to heal his father? Clearly there was another issue with which the man was not dealing. Was he overly concerned with receiving his earthly father's approval, and did he think that he would be freer to follow Jesus after his father died? Was he the firstborn son and he did not want to risk his father's wrath and lose his inheritance? On the other hand, if the man's father was already dead and truly needed burying, then Messiah's words highlight another crucial point. If the man's father was already dead, then no amount of family love respect and devotion demand to show his father now would make any difference whatsoever, but obeying God and following Messiah provides eternal benefit. In the end it's all about priorities. I will way will I will go will you will a We don't know what was going on in the man's life, but clearly Messiah understood what was really going on in the man's life. From Messiah's response it's clear that the scribe was using his elderly father as some kind of excuse. Messiah saw right through it and did not accept it.
Prayer: Almighty God, You are perfect love. Your perfect love drives out all fear. Thank you for the vital relationships that you have placed in our lives. It is from them that we learn to receive, grow in, and give love away. Your righteousness demands that with your power and grace, we fulfill our loving obligations both to You and to those vital relationships that You have placed in our Lives. Please, mercifully forgive us whenever we have come short of obeying your best and highest desires both in our relationships and obligations to You, or when we have failed to apply your principles to fulfill our loving obligations to others. Help us to hear and obey the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit, so that we can be more completely faithful to every true duty that You place before us, and mercifully give us grace to recognize and faithfully ignore those "duties and obligations" which You did not send, but which were sent as a distraction to steal our time talent and treasure away from Your service. In Messiah Name, amen.

Is Learning to Do God's Will Optional?

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

As Messiah has said, and as it is written:

Matthew 7:21-29 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?' "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.' "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell—and great was its fall."

When Jesus had finished these words, the crowds were amazed at His teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as their scribes. (Matthew 7:21-29NASB)

 
As you know, Almighty God our Heavenly Father has me working on an ongoing teaching series where we discuss how to obey each and every Command that Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah), gave in the New Testament. I do this in loving concern for the flock of God, and in loving obedience to my Lord who said that making disciples meant teaching people how to obey everything that He commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). In short, if we do not teach people how to obey EVERYTHING that Messiah commanded, then by His own definition, we have not MADE a disciple.

 

An Implied Command

Most of the time I plan on focusing exclusively on the overt and plainly stated imperatives that Messiah gives in Scripture, but this particular implied Command at the very end of Messiah's first sermon is so far-reaching that it must not be overlooked or ignored. I say this is an implied command, because in this passage, Messiah does not overtly say, 'Go and do this or that particular thing, or He does not say, 'Do not do this or that.' Nonetheless, the implied Command is certainly there. The implied Command is basically: Go learn, and then DO the will of God. The reason that I call this an implied Command is because the consequences of not truly learning and then not doing the will of God could not possibly be more severe, according to Messiah's own direct statement. This implied Command will literally be the deciding factor between those who enter into and inherit God's heavenly kingdom, and those who will be cut off and will not be allowed to remain in His presence.

 

 

The Questions That Confront Us

If it is truly our sincere goal to cooperate with Almighty God our Heavenly Father as He transforms us into the image and character of His Son Jesus (Yeshua the Messiah); if it is truly our sincere intent to become authentic and Biblical Christians, then the closing words of the Messiah's first sermon (Matthew 7:21-27), forces us to ask and to confront some very hard questions. If we love God, and truly care about people, then these are questions that we dare not ignore, because if you believe the Scriptures, then these questions are literally a matter of life and death. Salvation or damnation, heaven or hell, eternal friendship or eternal separation from God literally hangs in the balance of these questions. We cannot shrink back from these questions. We must confront them because there is too much at stake to do otherwise.
1. Is Jesus (Yeshua) the Messiah and Christ of God?: Do we truly believe that Yeshua (a.k.a. Jesus) of Nazareth described in the New Testament as being the Messiah, truly is Who He said that He is?
2. Are Messiah's Words trustworthy and reliable enough to be obeyed?: If our answer to question #1 is yes, and we truly believe that Jesus is the Messiah, then a second question naturally follows. Since I believe that Yeshua of Nazareth is the Messiah and Christ that God has sent into the world, If I believe that Messiah is seated at the right-hand of THE MAJESTY, making intercession for the saints, (Hebrews 7:25), then do we also believe that Messiah's concrete statements about what does and what does not remain in God's kingdom to be reliable? In other words, since we believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah sent by God, then do we also believe that when He specifically says that a particular way of life WILL enter a inherit the kingdom of God, but another way of living WILL NOT enter the kingdom of heaven, are Christ's words reliable enough to be taken seriously? Do we consider Messiah's Words to be reliable and authoritative? When Messiah specifically says, "Not everyone who calls to Me, 'Lord, Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my father in heaven will enter;" are those words true and authoritative? Do we trust those Words enough to believe that learning and doing the will of Almighty God the Heavenly Father is required in order to enter the kingdom of heaven, just as Jesus says that it is? Those are not merely my words and ideas; they are what Yeshua the Messiah said. So will we choose to believe that what Jesus the Messiah said is true, or will we walk in a manner that treats when Jesus said as though it were not true and authoritative? Should we take the Words of Jesus of Nazareth seriously, or is it truly safe to ignore them? That's the question before us.
3. If His Words are somehow not authoritative, then why claim Him at all? If for some reason, Jesus the Christ's Words are somehow not reliable enough to truly be believed and acted upon, then on what biblical basis do we believe ourselves to be saved? If we treat Messiah's words and teachings as though they were not authoritative and reliable enough to be believed and acted upon as written, then on what Scriptural basis do we have church services and commit acts of sacrifice, service and charity in His Name? If His words and deeds and Commandments are not authoritative and reliable enough to thoroughly direct our lives, then on what basis do we consider ourselves to be His disciples and His followers, why would we want to, if we consider His Word not to be authoritative and reliable enough to be acted upon faithfully?
4. If Christ's Words are True, then is it really safe to disregard them, or to do the opposite of what He says is good?

5. Based on the above questions can we treat learning and doing God's will as being merely optional, or is it super crucial that we learn and that we DO Almighty God the Father's will?: Since Jesus Christ the Messiah specifically said that not everyone who calls Him Lord will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of God who is in heaven will enter, then can we afford to treat the prospect of learning and doing God's will as though it were optional, and still expect to live in God's eternal heavenly kingdom? If Messiah's words are true, and yet I do not learn to do the Father's will, do I have any real Scriptural basis to confidently expect that I will enter into and live in God's eternal kingdom?
6. From where can we reliably learn what the will of God is?: The source you use to define truth and discover God's will, does indeed make a difference. If you say that you believe that Scripture is ultimately the reliable source for that information, then the question becomes can we disobey what Scripture tells us to do, and still be doing the will of God? If you discount or deny that Scripture is the reliable source for information about what God's will is, then what other source will you use, and on what basis is your confidence?
7. Since God is perfect, then is it truly possible for God's Word and God's Will to be the opposite of each other? For just one example, (you could use any imperative or Commandment found in Scripture), but I will use this one. Deuteronomy 4:2; Leviticus 22:31; Proverbs 30:6; Revelation 22:18-19 all teach the same biblical principle that we should not add to nor subtract away from God's Instructions. So, if I become accustomed to a lifestyle or a habit of practicing smorgasbord or cafeteria Christianity where one picks and chooses the particular Scripture passages that suit me, and I ignore those that do not suit me or those that I don't understand, then in that area of my life, will it truly and correctly be said that I have done the will of God? Can I confidently expect to stand before God on the Day of Judgment and say, “Yes LORD, I know that You said not to add to or subtract from your Commandments and Instructions, but I really didn't think that those Commands applied to Me. Besides, everything that I added and subtracted, I did it all in the Name of Your Son Jesus, because I love and believe Him." I put it to you plainly. Please be honest. How likely is it that Almighty God will truly accept that answer on THE GREAT DAY? We often desire that He will respond that way, because quite frankly that is how we often treat the Word of God, but in all honesty, how likely is it that I would truly hear:

a. "Well done, good and faithful servant, enter now into the Father's eternal rest," in that scenario?

b. I put it plainly before you. Isn't it more likely that we would hear God say closer this: If you TRULY loved ME with your WHOLE heart, soul, mind, and strength, would you not have cared more about doing what I said was My Will and Desires? If you truly love me with your entire being, then would you not have cared more about learning, choosing, and doing what pleases ME, instead of pleasing yourself? If you truly believed My Son, then why didn't you believe and act based on what He said at the end of His very first sermon? When you read in the Scriptures that you are not supposed to add or subtract anything away from My Instructions, why didn't you imitate Jesus, and do your level best to obey Me, and walk before Me as Jesus did? When the Holy Spirit convicted you and reminded you of what My Word says, why did you rationalize away My Will and Commandments, and give yourself permission to do exactly as you please, instead of choosing what My Word says? If you had truly been led by the Holy Spirit, you would have listened when He convicted you. You would have had your heart set on what the spirit desires, and you would have willingly subjected yourself to my Commandments instead of choosing to remain carnal minded (Romans 8:5-8). If you were truly being led by the Holy Spirit of God you would have had the growing desire and the growing ability to learn, to choose and to do what I said was pleasing to Me. You would have been seeking and pursuing me until your desires and deeds were thoroughly changed to agree with what I said was pleasing to ME, because that is what the Holy Spirit does inside MY children (Ezekiel 36:25-27; Philippians 2:13). You would have repented and progressively turned away from adding to and subtracting from My specific Instructions.

 

Counting the Cost: Imagining the most likely outcome Based on what Scripture says, not what we wish it said

 
Beloved, I respectfully challenge you to read item #7 through one more time. You could apply this same scenario as a template for any Commandment that you find in Scripture, and the same litmus test applies If I responded to God's instructions as described in question 7, then based on what Scripture actually says, (not what you feel or wish Scripture said, but what it says) compared to what you what you have just read in Scripture, which one of those, (a) or (b) would be the most likely response that you would receive from God? Beloved, our very eternal lives and our eternal fellowship with God hangs in the balance, so we must learn to get this one right.
May Yahweh Almighty God bless us through His Son Yeshua. May he give us His True Grace to progressively turn away from pleasing ourselves. Instead, may He grant us His True Grace to courageously and earnestly desire, seek and to do what He says is pleasing to Him.
Brother R. Michel Lankford

“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” (John 10:27, NKJV)

“And it happened, as He spoke these things, that a certain woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts which nursed You!” But He said, “More than that, blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it!”” (Luke 11:27–28, NKJV)

“Then one said to Him, “Look, Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with You.” But He answered and said to the one who told Him, “Who is My mother and who are My brothers?” And He stretched out His hand toward His disciples and said, “Here are My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.”” (Matthew 12:47–50, NKJV)

“My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. Now BY THIS we know that we know Him, IF we keep His commandments. He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.” (1 John 2:1–6, NKJV with emphasis on keywords)

“Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.” (Ezekiel 36:25–27, NKJV; with emphasis on key clauses; cf. Philippians 2:13)

 
**There is no legitimate reason for mistaking or for denying what the True Holy Spirit of God would do inside of His people. The true work of the Holy Spirit will NEVER teach you to deny or disobey the Commandments of God, because Almighty God already declared that the Holy Spirit's job inside you is to cause you to KEEP His Judgments, and to DO them. So, how could saying and doing anything opposite of keeping His Commandments be motivated or led by the same Holy Spirit of God? We sing it in His house all the time. "I am afraid of God’s... He calls me friend.” In practically the same moment we preach that we do not have to keep the Commandments of God because we are now under Grace. REALLY?! Yeshua the Messiah a.k.a. Jesus Christ in the New Testament specifically said that we are His friends, IF we KEEP His Commandments. So when we say, "I am a friend of God's... He calls me me friend. "Does He really? Are we telling the truth? Is it merely wishful thinking? Or are we deceiving ourselves and learning to lie while trying to approach the very presence of God? If we truly had the holy fear of the Lord which is merely the beginning of knowledge, If the Holy Spirit of Almighty God were truly leading our praise and worship services, would we dare cut it so close? We better start paying much closer attention to what we say and what we sing, especially in God's house (Matthew 12:36).

“You are My friends if you do whatever I command you.” (John 15:14, NKJV)

Beware of False Prophets

(Messiah's 35th Command)

By Brother R. Michel Lankford

Matthew 7:15-20 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.”A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a Bad tree produce good fruit. "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. "So then, you will know them by their fruits. Matthew 7:15-20 (NASB)

Hello and God be with you. As you may know, God has me working on an ongoing teaching series where we discuss how to obey each and every command that Jesus Christ (Yeshua the Messiah), gave in the New Testament. I do this in loving concern for the flock of God, and in loving obedience to my Lord who said that making disciples meant teaching people how to obey everything that he commanded (Matthew 28:19-20). In this process, we've now reached Christ's 35th command, "Beware of false prophets...."

#35 Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

 

Command Principles

1. False prophets and false teachers are out there. They do exist. If we are going to truly succeed as disciples we must reach a point where we understand that Yahweh Almighty God and Jesus His Incarnate Word do not speak in vain. God does not speak empty words. When God says something it's always on purpose and meaningful. So if God tells us to, “Beware of false prophets,” then false prophets must truly exist in our world. If He tells us to, “Beware” then obviously there is real danger connected with falling prey to false prophets and false teachers. Otherwise, Almighty God and His Word made flesh would not have spoken as He did

2. We CAN be deceived. I stress this point because there are many in our world of modern-day Christendom who conveniently believe that since they have confessed Jesus the Messiah to be their Lord and Savior, and because they are supposedly "filled with the Holy Spirit," they then conclude that they cannot possibly be deceived. In over 25 years of actively seeking and walking with the Lord, I have seen this scenario play out multiple times. I've seen people that I would consider to be wonderful pastors, teachers and beloved brothers and sisters in Christ fall prey to the enemy’s devices in varying degrees, because they first fell into believing the lie that they could not be deceived. Jesus Christ gave specific instructions that we should be on our guard against false prophets and false teachers. Twice Messiah said that we would know them by their fruits, (Matthew 7:16, 20).

3. False prophets and false teachers do not glow in the dark. Unfortunately, false prophets and false teachers do not come with flashing neon signs in different colors which read: "I'm a false prophet. I am here to deceive you. My job is to trick you, so please do not fall for the lies that I'm about to tell you, okay? Ready... Set... Go!" On the contrary, false prophets and false teachers often look and sound like the real thing. On some occasion even the false teachers and false prophets do not know that they are false teachers and false prophets. The enemy has them so completely deceived that they sincerely believe themselves to be true prophets and teachers of God's Word, even while they are being false prophets and false teachers. Therefore, becoming a thoroughly effective fruit inspector becomes imperative in our efforts to avoid being deceived.

4. Being deceived is not a free pass. Learning to avoid and overcome deception is each believer's own personal responsibility. Notice that early on in human history, Adam and Eve where deceived by the serpent in the garden (Genesis 3). Notice if you will that being deceived did not get them off of the hook. Please notice that God DID NOT SAY to them, Well hey, since the serpent deceived you and tricked you into disobeying Me, then you are not responsible and you will not have to bear the consequences of disobedience because you were deceived. Nowhere in rightly divided Scripture is the Almighty represented as having responded to any human deception in such a manner. Honestly, almost no preacher, teacher or rank-and-file Christian would overtly teach or misrepresent God in such a manner, but what generally happens is that we get hung up on our own human understanding and definitions of love and grace. If we are not careful, we can delude ourselves into drawing the false conclusion that since God is so perfectly loving and gracious; (based on our own human preferences and understanding of the terms for Love and Grace), then we can accidentally train ourselves to believe that on the basis of our mis-definitions, then surely Almighty God certainly would not make us bear the consequences of our disobediences if we were deceived into it. Beloved, while many people would prefer to think and believe that God operates this way, based on the way that they mis-define Love and Grace, the truth is that the weight of biblical evidence and rightly divided Scripture clearly teaches that we will bear the consequences of disobeying God, regardless of how we were deceived into disobeying Him. There is simply no truly Biblical basis to believe otherwise.

 

Recognizing a True Prophet

Scripture is extremely definite and precise about what are the marks of a true Prophet of Almighty God

1. He must be 100% accurate. Absolutely everything that the prophet says that God told him, MUST come to pass. If he is not 100% accurate, then he is a false prophet, and no follower of Yahweh or the Messiah should believe or follow a supposed prophet, if he is not been 100% accurate (Deuteronomy 18:21-22; cf. Jeremiah 28:9).

2. He will always agree with God’s Law and Commandments. A true prophet sent by God will always agree with God's Law and the true testimony of rightly divided Scripture. The difficulty here though is that many people re-define key biblical terms and ideas to suit their own personal preferences according to the traditions that they have been taught, instead of truly paying attention to what Scripture actually says and teaches. Nevertheless however, a true prophet of God will always speak in agreement with God's Law and Commandments according to the rightly divided testimony of the Scriptures. If he does not speak according to these, he is not sent by God. In fact, even if everything the prophet predicts does indeed come to pass, but he does not speak according to the Law and Commandments which God gave to Moses, then he is a false prophet, according to the Scriptures. God allowed him to be sent to us to test us, to see whether or not we would love and obey God, or whether we would choose to follow a convincing fake (Deuteronomy 13:1-5; Isaiah 8:20).

3. He will bear consistently good and biblical fruit. It's critical to recognize when we say that he will bear consistently good biblical fruit, we are talking about good biblical fruit as Scripture defines those key terms and concepts, not as our human religious tradition, personal preferences or our own desires defines what good fruit is. In other words the prophet of God will produce the fruit of love, but it will be God's true biblical love, not necessarily what human religious tradition and our personal preferences tell us that love is (Matthew 7:15-20; Galatians 5:22-24; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; John 15:1-11; James 3:13-18).

So, in summary, in order to test whether a prophet and his prophecies are truly sent by Almighty God; they must be 100% accurate and all come to pass. They must agree 100% with what God has already said especially in His Laws and Commandments, because even if everything the prophet says comes to pass, but he teaches you to disobey something that God has already said, then he is a false prophet according to Scripture (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). Lastly, everything the prophet says must be in keeping with the good fruit of the Holy Spirit and heavenly wisdom, as God and Scripture defines those key terms, NOT as popular language and culture defines those all-important terms. If a prophet and his prophecies do not fulfill these three absolute biblical criterion, then it simply is not of God and that prophet should not be believed or followed, because he will lead you astray.

How to Become More Deception Resistant

(Notice pleased that I did not say, become deception proof, but deception resistant, there is a difference).

1. Be humble and understand that you CAN be deceived. God resists the proud, but gives His Grace to the humble. The moment a person becomes prideful enough to believe that they cannot be deceived, they place themselves in triple jeopardy because; (a) They step out from underneath God's protection (Luke 18:14; 1 Peter 5:5; James 4:6); (b) They immediately make themselves a target for the devil who wants to destroy them (John 10:9-10). The moment a person believes that they cannot be deceived, they make themselves a greater target, because the great deceiver takes it as a personal challenge (1 Peter 5:8); (c) most importantly, the person who believes that they cannot be deceived will let down their guard. They will not be as careful to be watchful prayerful and vigilant about scrutinizing what information they take in and believe, because they will not value the need to guard against deception, if they assume that they cannot be deceived.

2. Develop an internal attitude of personal responsibility for your own beliefs. This concept could become a blog or teaching all its own, but I will try and summarize it here for time’s sake. What we believe determines whether we are considered righteous or unrighteous before Almighty God (Genesis 15:6; Habakkuk 2:4; Galatians 3:11). Each one of us will give an account before God of whether we believed and obeyed God or we did not, (Hebrews 4:12-13; John 3:36). Ultimately, each one of us is individually responsible before God for what we believe and what we do with those beliefs. The problem is that we live in a culture that repeatedly and progressively trains us by experience not to take personal responsibility. Please try to think about it objectively and not emotionally for a moment. Someone else grows, and in many cases prepares our food. In the majority of cases, from preschool to public school to college, most often it is the God hating worldly culture that has nurtured an educated and trained up our children for the major part of their days while growing up. Then we wonder why a staggering 87% of students fall away from God and His Word after leaving home for college. Did I burn my legs with hot coffee because I drove with it between my legs? Society teaches us that the solution to that problem is to sue McDonald's and make a ton of money. Are the kids fat? The problem cannot possibly be that I am not disciplining and training my children instead of over indulging their appetites. Oh no, Society teaches that the solution to this problem is to sue McDonald's, sue Sesame Street and the cookie monster and make a lot of money in the process, by making them responsible for the childhood obesity problem in our society. With all of these types of attitudes being so prevalent in our culture it's easy to fall into the habit of going to church and believing that it is the pastor's responsibility to make sure that I'm told the truth, to ensure I believe the truth, and to ensure that I will make it to heaven. When we make someone else responsible for how we think and what we believe, it is easy for those upon whom we depend to become puffed up with pride and self-importance, because we are depending upon them for so great a task. When we allow someone else to take the responsibility for what we think and believe we can easily become emotionally and spiritually lazy, and not as watchful as we should be. The truth is that older brothers and sisters and clergy can sometimes be helpful in showing us where to look and how to study, but ultimately making sure that I learn the truth, making sure that I believe the truth, and making sure that I obey and persevere in walking in the truth before God is my own personal responsibility and no one else’s.

3. Develop a real appetite for God's Word. Quite simply, if you do not truly know what God has already said and done in the past, then it will be relatively simple to deceive you concerning what God is saying and doing in your midst. If you do not have a real appetite to be in God's Word, tell the truth. Ask God to change your "Want to," and then make the commitment, make the daily choice, and then getting God's Word and stay there on a daily basis even before your "Want to" changes.

4. Let Scripture define truth. For example, we all know that Christians and God followers are supposed to be loving, right? However, what you will often find is that what culture and human tradition or our own personal preferences defines as being loving is often quite different from what Scripture defines as loving. If we allow ourselves to redefine love according to what culture and our personal preferences defines as love, then we will find that we will often tolerate and practice things which are drastically different than what God says He requires. Remember, when God judges the world, He will be using His own definitions of right and wrong, not ours.

5. Practice doing the Scriptures that you already know and understand. One of the biggest things that opens us up to being deceived by others is living a lifestyle of self-deception. Scripture clearly tells us that one of the ways that we deceive ourselves is by hearing God's Word, but not putting into practice what we have heard from God's Word (James 1:19-27). Scripture also tells us that one of the ways that we can train ourselves to distinguish good from evil, (in other words we would not be deceived by evil), is by practicing God's Word (Hebrews 5:11-14; John 14:21).

6. Put our sinful nature on a starvation diet. One of the chief characteristics of sin is that it is extremely deceitful, (Hebrews 3:13; Romans 8:5-8). In other words, sin deceives us. The more that we give in to our sinful nature, the more it gets us to rationalize ourselves into believing that what we're doing isn't really that bad after all.

In conclusion, deception is in our world and anyone of us can fall into being deceived. The good news is That Yahweh Almighty God loves us. He sent His Son Yeshua Who is the embodiment of Truth, so that if we will take the responsibility and we will choose to truly love the Truth and follow His directions, then we have a much better chance of becoming deception resistant.

God be with you,

Brother R. Michel Lankford

MAKING SURE THAT I AM NOT DECEIVED IS MY OWN PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

Matthew 24:4 And Jesus answered and said to them: "Take heed that no one deceives you. (Matthew 24:4 NKJV)

Ephesians 5:6-7 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them. (Ephesians 5:6-7 NKJV)

Hebrews 3:12-13 Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. (Hebrews 3:12-13 ESV)

Romans 8:5-8 For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.  For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot. Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. (Romans 8:5-8 ESV)

Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8 (ESV)

Galatians 6:7-9 Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (Galatians 6:7-9 ESV)