Brother of Yeshua

Segment 1

One of the great realities of life that we fail to recognize is that our beliefs very much support our lifestyle -- a lifestyle that makes it convenient for us to live in accordance with our present-day society. The result is that what we see when we open our Bibles is only a fraction of the Divine Revelation of Truth which has been limited by our present-day lifestyle and manner of thinking. In order to embrace Truth, we must become very cognizant of the fact that our perception of God, Creation, and the very purpose of life itself, is all directly related to our lifestyle and mindset with which we use to view the world and comprehend every aspect of our existence. In recognition of this fact, it must then be understood that in everything we think, do and say, our vision of the world in which we live is filtered and limited by the beliefs we have adopted -- beliefs which we fail to realize are congenital to the thinking of this world. Fundamentally one of our most serious of problems is seen in the fact that even if we are a fundamentalist Christian, our present system of beliefs have been imbued with a quasi-Darwinist perception of life.

Segment 2

That man is blinded by what he believes and can see nothing more than the limitations that his lifestyle and manner of thinking will permit, is very much a part of human nature. In the same way that the Atheist cannot even begin to make progress with respect to searching for the truth of religion until he is at least willing become agnostic and at least entertain the idea that God may in fact exist, the modern-day Christian cannot embrace the higher concepts of the Gospel until the believer is willing to question the doctrinal limitations that were placed upon the church when it was under the control of Pagan Rome. Moreover, this is easily demonstrated once it is recognized that the fundamental framework of the doctrines we have inherited from past generations of Christians were very much politically based, and were brought about by virtue of the need to make the gospel accommodate the thinking of the people of the fourth century.

If the teachings of the New Covenant were not first Paganized, they never could have been embraced by a Pagan people. It is not that the people were converted to a different vision of life and manner of thinking -- they very much remained Pagan, and merely began to include certain symbols that related to New Covenant thought into their heathenistic life. The result is that in every way the foundation of our doctrines reflect the cultural beliefs of the people at that time they came into being, and were adopted and ordained by the church because they permitted the people to live a guilt-free life in accordance with the prevalent lifestyle that existed during that era in mans history. Perhaps more than any other factor, it is this process of adopting a series of beliefs and mindset that enables believers to live in accordance with their culture while still perceiving themselves as fulfilling the requirements of God, that is the greatest example of the success of what the Apostle Paul refers to as the powers of darkness that control this world.

Segment 3

It has been said that the greatest deception of all time is seen in the success of Satan in his ability to convince man that he does not exist. If this is so, then Satan's second deception is perhaps even greater than the first -- in that, he has fooled the very elect -- i.e., the very religious authorities of the church who have been warned and taught of his existence. In total disregard of the admonition of the scriptures themselves, the greater majority of Christians believe that the church is beyond the reach of Satan -- that God somehow drew a line that Satan cannot cross over -- and because of this force of Divine protection, Satan has not immersed himself in every aspect of their lives! Yet, to their own detriment, the leaders of the modern church ignore the warning of the Apostle: let no man beguile you in any wise: for (it will not be,) except the falling away come first, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, he that opposeth and exalteth himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped; so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself forth as God (2 Thes 2:3-4 ASV).

Segment 4

What the Apostle is herein very clearly predicting is that there would come a time when the god of the Christian Church will be a false god. Historically speaking, it has been almost universally recognized that the period in time that the Apostle could have been referring to was in the fourth century when the church made a covenant with the Roman Emperor Constantine. With regard to this falling away, the Adam Clark Commentary writes of this passage of Paul's Epistle: [Except there come a falling away first] We have the original word apostasia in our word apostasy; and by this term we understand a dereliction of the essential principles of religious truth, either a total abandonment of Christianity itself, or such a corruption of its doctrines as renders the whole system completely inefficient to salvation. But what this apostasy means is a question which has not yet, and perhaps never will be, answered to general satisfaction (from the Adam Clarke Commentary).

Not to depreciate or make less the significance of any one of the individual statements presented in the above words, what the modern believer must recognized is the far-reaching totality of the statement: But what this apostasy means is a question which has not yet, and perhaps never will be, answered to general satisfaction. Ultimately, what this means to the modern believer is that each and every church authority from the fourth-century to the present, as well as every single preacher of the gospel, speaks from the position of concession -- which concession is that there is a great void in their knowledge of the truth. Thus, one of the core presumptions upon which our present-day doctrine of faith is based, is that these words of the Apostle Paul are not true. What the average person of faith fails to realize, is that this presumption which is widely embraced today, is truly dangerous to each and every Christians spiritual well-being!

In our quest to restore the pure Word of the Gospel, it is important for us to question just what these words of the Apostle mean to the modern believer? It means that the church today is doing the best that it possibly can, under the circumstances that it has been forced to function under. If both historians and biblical experts are unable to tell us with certainty to what degree these words of the Apostle effect our perception of the gospel today, then we cannot be sure of a single thing! While we have faith that our beliefs are authentic, when it is recognized that our faith requires us to physically die before we can be sure of the validity of anything that we presently believe, we may be playing Russian Roulette with all the cylinders loaded -- and hoping for a misfire.

Segment 5

Unlike the believer who merely accepts what he is told, modern religious authorities know that the history of the church is extremely troubling. Men of wisdom are alarmed that the religion of the common faith that still survives even today, was brought about by the power of the sword. Again, contrary to what they tell the uninformed believer, biblical experts know that the condition of the scriptures is extremely disturbing. Further, they also know that each and every conflicting sect and opinion that calls itself Christian, regardless of whether they agree or disagree with these almost uncountable number of conflicting opinions, bases its theological position on seemingly valid scriptural statements of fact.

What this ultimately means is that each sect and school of doctrinal opinion has been forced to accept one biblical theory over the ideas of other schools of thought, which are also represented in the Bible as an article of faith that their choice is the correct one, regardless of the fact that there is often strong biblical reasons for the opposing opinions they reject. The Evangelical Christians, the Jehovahs Witnesses, the Quakers, and the Unitarian Universalists, all embrace conflicting beliefs -- and yet, each is able to use the Bible to affirm their doctrines. The Jehovahs Witness, Evangelical Christians, Quakers and Unitarian Universalists each take certain biblical passages and give them more weight and prescience than other biblical passages that conflict with their opinion.

Regardless of what they preach to their parishioners, each one of these sects arrives at their particular conclusion over the rest, because they have faith that they are doing the best they can under the circumstances they are functioning under. If they were to be truly honest, each one of them could write a really long list of the many important fundamentals of the gospel that confuses them -- but since they have faith that there is nothing better, and all explanations that have been offered by each sect and authority are equally confusing, they have long ago recognized the fact that they are powerless to do anything about the biblical/religious dilemma that confronts them. What is their alternative? Give up the gospel? Because this alternative is unacceptable, and something within them strongly conveys that there is truth in the pages of the scriptures, they have no other choice than to have faith that either what they see in the scriptures is the truth, or they will be saved by virtue that the believe in Jesus as their Savior.

Segment 6

One of the major causes of the present state of doctrinal chaos is the failure of modern pastors and church authorities to recognize that the key to their dilemma is found in the prediction of the Apostle that there would come a time of total abandonment of the Gospel with respect to the desolation of all genuine spiritual Christian ideas and concepts. What this means is that the Apostle predicts that in the near future, the true religion of Jesus would cease to exist in this world. In this respect, the words of the Apostle are quite clear in there assertion -- i.e., from the time period of the first century of our Common Era when it was written by the hand of Paul, it prophetically speaks of a time in the near future when the teachings that Jesus placed in the hands of mankind would cease to exist -- and it is the correct assertion of many Christians that this in fact took place in the establishment of an institutionalized church under the control of Pagan Rome in the fourth century.

What the modern Christian fails to realize is that the total corruption of the doctrine of the church which the Apostle speaks of was in fact brought about by the adoption of the Christ of Constantine, which resulted in the rejection of Jesus of Nazareth. While it is true that we use the name Jesus, and we call ourselves his followers, what we have lost sight of is that the essence of the religion of the New Covenant is spiritual, and where the physical body of Christ was crucified by the carnal Jews in the first century, the spiritual body of Christ was crucified in the fourth century (see The Death Of The Religion Of Jesus).

In further explanation with regard to this crucial prediction of the Apostle, the Adam Clark Commentary then goes on to provide us a vivid description of Constantine and the formation of his new church: [Who opposeth and exalteth] He stands against and exalts himself above all divine authority, and above every object of adoration, and every institution, relative to divine worship, sebasma, himself being the source, whence must originate all the doctrines of religion, and all its rites and ceremonies; so that sitting in the temple of God -- having the highest place and authority in the Christian church, he acts as God -- taking upon himself God's titles and attributes, and arrogating to himself the authority that belongs to the Most High (from the Adam Clarke Commentary).

Segment 7

That these events came to pass is well documented from a historical perspective -- i.e., the church was ruled by Satanic forces that dictated every aspect of Christian doctrine. And while it is true that many faithful believers, clergy, pastors and religious authorities today have recognized the defilement of the church that took place beginning in the fourth century, what could not be revealed until now was the absolute certainty that, because we have never fully recovered from the darkness and corruption that was imposed upon the teachings of the church by the ruthless political despots of the past, essential foundational principles, as well as indispensable elements of New Covenant knowledge of what is constantly referred to in the Bible as the Mysteries of God, is presently absent from the thinking of the body of the faithful believers to this very day.

From a biblical perspective, the supernatural being referred to by Paul as Satan, who the Apostle refers to as the god of this realm, successfully gains control over the thinking of the religious people of any given generation by speaking to their imagination. What does this mean? He begins the process by inspiring within them a vision of a kingdom that is to come at some later time. Where Jesus preached that the Kingdom is here -- at hand, and could be entered through a change of mind -- the forces of darkness blinds the hearts and minds of the believer to the Kingdom that is already present and has been set before them. The result is that the Prince of Darkness continues to rule over the hearts and minds of the believers because, in their state of spiritual complacency, they continue to live in accordance with the culture of this world, and never actually take up their crosses and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. Thus, while they believe and have faith, their faith is misdirected. In failing to recognize the warning of Paul with respect to the total dereliction of the essential principles of religious truth, either a total abandonment of Christianity itself, or such a corruption of its doctrines as renders the whole system completely inefficient to salvation, Satan successfully alters the believers perception of the scriptures, and induces them to wait -- rather than begin the journey into the Kingdom where the Son of God awaits them.

Segment 8

The Satanic powers of darkness that are revealed in the scriptures gains the upper hand by moving the hearts and minds of unsuspecting men and women to become attached to this world by whatever means possible. He controls religious people by seducing them into adopting a life of spiritual complacency and impotence -- using religion to effect within the believer a false vision of their own level of spirituality as being exalted and heightened. He often accomplishes this deception by inducing them to judge and compare themselves to non-believers, and those who have already surrendered their soul over to the Prince of Darkness.

Segment 9

It was easy for Lot to perceive himself a righteous person in comparison to the inhabitants of Sodom. It is in like manner easy for the average Christian today to view themselves as being a faithful and believing people in relation to the criminal element that is portrayed in our newspapers and media. The flaw in this perception is seen in the fact that the Bible does not require us to be better than the unholy -- but rather, to be Christ-like -- and ultimately as perfect as our Heavenly Father (Matt 5:48). Thus, because we judge ourselves in accordance with the standards of this world, the result is that the religious person sees himself as being in accord with the gospel message, because he can easily perceive a difference between himself and the people he views as being turned out of The Way. From the perspective of what the Apostle calls the god of this world, this false vision of righteousness is absolutely necessary in order to implant within their minds a strong delusion that induces them to believe that they are fulfilling the Word of God.

A great truth that the Bible continually warns the religious person about -- a truth that he must come to terms with if he is to become a disciple of the Light -- is that this supernatural being which the Apostle calls the god of this world, ordains servants to mislead the flock of believers -- and more importantly, even those servants are unaware that they have become the ministers of Satan. More importantly, the servants of Satan are very often the people who the flock of believers regard as the most well meaning of individuals -- men and women who the believing community perceives as religious allies, and perhaps even saintly.

Throughout the course of human history it can be demonstrated that large numbers of true believers have permitted themselves to be deceived and led into error and captivity, because they failed to heed the lesson of the biblical account of Samson and Delilah -- where the betrayer appears to be good, and yet saps their strength, and then attacks the believers in order to enslave them. If, then, we are to break the bonds of slavery, and succeed in safeguarding ourselves from being deceived, we must become acutely aware of the important biblical warning that: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death (Prov 14:12 KJV).

Segment 10

From the perspective of the Prince of Darkness, we are more easily conquered and led into a life of servitude by those who appear to us as allies and champions of the faith, than those who would oppose us. No doubt many Christians will immediately reject this argument -- saying, God would not permit this to happen to His church. But this claim is quickly proven counterfeit when it is demonstrated that God has indeed permitted the church to fall into error. Can the believer trust the affirmation of the leaders of the church with respect to their claim of doctrinal purity and Divine protection? The Bible very clearly states that the opposite is true, and it is the leaders of the church who will be in error when they make this claim. In confirmation of what was predicted by Paul, Jesus said that the powers of darkness which seek to enslave us, and will accomplish this by fooling the very elect of the church (Mat 24:24; Mk 13:22). The Apostle warns that Satan will appear as an Angel of light, and he will transform his ministers and servants of darkness to make them falsely appear to you as good, in order to deceive you (2 Cor 11:14). In this respect, the Bible warns us that what seems right to the carnal mind of man, is the very thing that will bring about the ways of death (Prov 14:12).

What Jesus warned his followers was to: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits (Matt 7:15-16 KJV). In understanding the far-reaching reality of these words, we must comprehend exactly what the fruits are that Jesus makes reference to which we should use to judge the validity of our religious leaders! Fruits in the scriptures relate to works and accomplishments -- and the works of the spirit is seen in the ability of the shepherd of the flock to place within the hands of the believer the Key that opens the door to what the Bible calls the house of knowledge -- and then demonstrate how to use that knowledge to guide the believer into the Kingdom -- a Kingdom that will never come upon the earth as our present-day church authorities proclaim (Luke 17:20-21), but exists at this very time in a parallel dimension.

Segment 11

From a biblical perspective, the Messiah/Christ is the one who opens the door to the Kingdom and permits us to enter therein. Throughout the scriptures the essence of New Covenant thought is that one must pick up their own cross and follow in the Masters footsteps. Satan is the power that draws our consciousness to the outside world. Satan does not want us to begin the journey into the Kingdom, and can only maintain control over us so long as our mindset remains attached to this realm. Where the Apostle warns us that Satan will raise up ministers and prophets who appear to be spiritual, but are not, what he is making reference to is clergy and religious authorities who keep us focused on prayer, ritual, and dead works that are of this world, and do not move us along the journey into the Kingdom. When Jesus warned us that the pseudo-prophets will appear to us as sheep, and deceive us, he was confirming that Satan will attempt to use our own religious authorities to enslave us. Satan knows that freedom, and the appearance of choice, defeats more foes than does conflict. It is therefore important for us to understand that the Prince of Darkness knows more about us than we do. He understands human nature -- and he knows that we will stand firm against one who appears to be an enemy, and in the manner of Sampson be readily seduced by one who appears to be a friend.

Segment 12

If a stranger approached a child and put on a mean and evil demeanor, the child would instantly retreat and seek a place of safety. Thus, the stranger who will successfully abduct and do harm to the child, lures the child away with candy -- the promise of some reward -- or even fear not to obey, which is the most effective means to control an individual.

Once seduced, the Prince of Darkness maintains control over the people by herding those he has successfully deceived into groups, religious institutions, governments and nations. He does this to take advantage of another of man's inherent weaknesses, which is the pack syndrome where man finds safety in numbers. This mindset manifests itself in the concept that, if a group of people all agree, then we convince ourselves that it has to be right. Or, if a whole group is wrong, we reason that God will somehow overlook the error, because no one else knew the truth. In the manner of schoolchildren, we believe that God will mark our test of life on a curve -- and so long as we attain a certain grade that is within the upper and lower limits of other people, we will have past the requirements of life.

So long as we can maintain the belief that no one really knows for sure, or that ultimate truth is beyond mans ability to realize, then we feel secure in the belief that we will not be held accountable for our indolence with respect to seeking the knowledge of the truth for ourselves. We take this one step further when our religious institutions ordain ministers, priests and religious authorities whose job it is to know all there is to know about God and the requirements of life. We place other men in the position of priest and clergy, so as to make them responsible for knowing the Will of God. We then reason that all we have to do is live in accordance with what these religious authorities say, and we will have passed the test of life. What we therefore fail to recognize is the fact that this is the same exact flaw that Jesus condemned in the Jewish sects of the Sadducees and Pharisees.

Segment 13

The Jehovahs Witnesses feel secure in the belief that God talks to the leaders of their sect who publish their pamphlets in Brooklyn. So long as they are Jehovahs Witnesses in good standing, they will be saved. Evangelical Christians believe that by virtue of their accepting Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior, and they worship in a Christ-centered Church, they will be saved. The mainline Protestant sects believe that so long as they have faith in Jesus, they too will be saved. In each and every case the people feel secure in their association with a particular church or church doctrine of belief.

In biblical times when Jesus exhibited great compassion and understanding for the lost sheep, he did not extend this same compassion to the false religious leaders who he condemned -- religious leaders who performed rituals and dead works -- religious leaders who praised a God that they did not understand because they were impostors, and were unable to manifest the Light before the lost sheep of the Lord. A genuine religious leader is one who leads the flock into the Kingdom, and brings them into the presence of the indwelling Word.

While it is true that Jesus condemned the Sadducees and Pharisees as false religious leaders, from an historical perspective the sin of the Jews in no way compared to the eventual sin of the later church that called itself Christian. If the sin of the Jews was that they killed the Christ at the time of the crucifixion, then what we fail to understand today is that the sin of the Gentile Christians was that they killed and annihilated the very presence of Christ in this world -- thus, plunging both the Jews and the Christians into the depths of spiritual darkness.

Segment 14

The truth of the matter that is beyond the comprehension of the greater majority of the people who call themselves Christian today, is that when the Lord physically departed from us, and returned to the heavenly realms from which he had emerged, he did not abandon mankind -- i.e., he visited those who were worthy, and he left us a people who continued to live and dwell in the manner that he prescribed. For three hundred years there existed a society of people who continued to live a spiritual life in the Light and The Way that Jesus taught. During this time this group of observant Hebrew/Christians helped both Jew and Gentile-Christian alike to understand and embrace man's innate spiritual nature. Thus, because they maintained the Lord's teachings in the purity of the Word, people from all walks of life were able to embrace the Light and open the door of the great divide that separates this world from the Kingdom of the Father.

In the fourth century a very carnal sect of people who called themselves Christian, entered into a covenant with the secular political powers of darkness that ruled this world. The result was that, whoever did not accept and adhere to the religion of the supreme ruler -- which at that time was the emperor -- was immediately deemed heretics, and silenced by the power of the sword. Thus, to the Christians own demise the warning of the Apostle was ignored where he wrote: But, as he who was born according to the flesh then persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, even so it is now (Gal 4:29 NKJ). In a very short amount of time the Christians of the flesh totally annihilated and exterminated the genuine disciples of the Light -- with the result being that the Christian world was cast down into the very pit of darkness from which the Lord had come to lead them out of.

Once the remnant of Light that the Lord had left to guide the people was extinguished and annihilated by the very power of the church's alliance with Caesar, Satan was free to not only alter the gospel message, but to place his own disciples in the position of church authorities. Then, in the manner of more modern despots such as Adolph Hitler, the soldiers were sent forth to exterminate all who opposed the religion of the emperor. It was during this time that man's perception of God, the nature of Jesus, and matters and concepts pertaining to spiritual things, became embodied in creeds and dogma, and was then published by a class of priests who were totally ruled by a carnal mindset.

Segment 15

Genuine Spiritual Christianity ceased to exist, as the religion of the emperor became an institution of secular law. We fail to understand these words today because we erroneously view the teachings of the New Covenant as a body of people who believe in the Son of God. What we fail to comprehend is that true belief means that we open the narrow gate and enter the Kingdom, and learn directly from the indwelling Word (see Gate Of Eden). Because Christianity was thrust into a world of ritual, dead works, the worship of the gods in the form of saints, the unrestrained hunger for political and material wealth, the religion of the New Covenant was converted from a spiritual journey that builds a bridge between this realm and the Kingdom, and a typical religion of the Nations where the people worshiped the gods, the emperor, and lived in subjection to the priests who were ordained by the Roman Government.

With the threat of death, no one was permitted to disagree with the creeds of the Church of the Roman Empire. Moreover, the men who were enacting these creeds -- the priests and bishops who ruled the church, did not become priests and bishops because of their holiness or manifest spirituality -- but rather, by alliance with the Emperor's Church, and often by purchasing these positions with money -- positions that had in every way become secular in nature, and very much a part of the government. In modern times we call this a political payoff.

As just one example: In the sixth century when Pope Sylverius had been removed from office by Theodora, the Emperor's wife who had previously been a prostitute and circus performer, and who disagreed with the pope on many theological positions -- one of which was the pre-existence of the soul -- Gibbon writes: At the emperor's command, the clergy of Rome proceeded to the choice of a new bishop; and after a solemn invocation of the Holy Ghost, elected the deacon Vigilius, who had purchased the papal throne by a bribe of two hundred pounds of gold (Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire).

Segment 16

Thus, it was these religious politicians who controlled and impacted Christian doctrine -- a doctrine established in the fourth century. More importantly is the fact that what believers today fail to realize is that it is these same fourth-century doctrines that continue to remain at the very core of accepted beliefs of the modern church, right up to our present time. And what was the objective of these beliefs? When these religious politicians submitted their decrees with regard to the nature of God, Jesus, and the Bible, these decrees always supported the religious priorities of the government -- which objective was always mindful of the true secular purpose of religion, which was to assist the government in its rule over and control of the masses of people. That our whole modern perception of Creation that continues to be a foundational principle of modern church doctrine, has been authored by a circus prostitute who had the pope killed, and then had her own doctrines of belief installed in the creeds of the church, should be sufficient to cause every sincere believer to re-evaluate their understanding of the Gospel.

To what degree the church had fallen under the control of blind carnal men can perhaps best be envisioned in the words of Hilary, Bishop of Poitiers, when he wrote: It is a thing equally deplorable and dangerous, that there are as many creeds as opinions among men, as many doctrines as inclinations, and as many sources of blasphemy as there are faults among us; because we make creeds arbitrarily, and explain them as arbitrarily. The Homoousion is rejected, and received, and explained away by successive synods. The partial or total resemblance of the Father and of the Son is a subject of dispute for these unhappy times. Every year, nay, every moon, we make new creeds to describe invisible mysteries. We repent of what we have done, we defend those who repent, we anathematize those who we defended. We condemn either the doctrine of others in ourselves, or our own in that of others; and, reciprocally tearing one another to pieces, we have been the cause of each other's ruin (Quoted by E.Gibbon; The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire).

Segment 17

Led by religious politicians, the Christian world became immersed in a sea of manmade doctrines -- doctrines that attempted to explain spiritual concepts that was beyond their ability to comprehend. The result was that for over a thousand years Satan ruled the church that is today known as Christian -- and when the church eventually emerged from the pit of darkness in the Middle-Ages, it had been reduced to a mere shadow of the genuine church that was annihilated by the very Pagan Christians of the fourth century. The result was that these doctrines that formed the foundation of this very Pagan church were then adopted by the Middle-Age reformers, and have continued as foundational doctrines right up into our present time. Thus, we can observe the success of Satan and the fulfillment of the prediction of the Apostle Paul. From the perspective of the god of this world, his mission to overcome the Light has been successful, as he continues to perpetuate the manmade doctrines that cause the lost sheep to be ruled over by the powers of darkness.