Dangerous Religious Spirits
After this information on the Dangerous Religious Spirits, you will find an article from our friend Craig Henderson, on Yeshua's Worst Enemy. It is quite excellent and affirms and helps confirm what I pray that you will be given to understand from the following.
It is very important that we understand that the RELIGIOUS SPIRIT is a demonic spirit. It is perhaps the most dangerous of demonic spirits. After we discuss the Religious Spirit, we will very briefly define the 3 demon spirits which Yeshua, Jesus, told us in Revelation chapters 2 & 3 would totally control and dominate the churches of the last days. Those 3 spirits are Balaam, Jezebel, and Nicolaitan.
In these days of strong delusion and deception, when someone tells me about Toronto and Pensacola, I tell them about Jannes and Jambores (2 Tim 3) and the Blood of Yeshua. Understand that a demonic spirit can make you feel real good as it takes you to hell.
We know that there will be war in heaven when Satan and all his demon hordes will be cast down to earth. The first place you should expect to find them is in the churches. There is coming a time when the apostasy, the departure from the truth in the churches, will be so great and complete that those who are hearing the spirit of Truth, will hear Him saying come out of her my people, and commanding His people to withdraw themselves from such false teachers that suppose gain is godliness. (Rev 18:4) & (1 Tim 6:5)
There are some good reasons to believe that Satan has been cast out of heaven. There is good reason to believe that we are well into the final 42 month war of the antichrist on the saints. If you are a saint you better prepare for the great tribulation war before the rapture. Yeshua told us that immediately after the tribulation of those days he would send his angels to gather His elect. (Matt 24:29) Not before. IMMEDIATELY AFTER! If you hear someone, at this late date, telling you Yeshau says IMMEDIATELY AFTER, but means before..... You better run from that religious spirit on such a false teacher.
THE RELIGIOUS SPIRIT
While banished to the island of Patmos, the apostle John was "In the Spirit" and shown many great and mighty things through supernatural revelation. Jeremiah and Ezekiel both received revelations illustrated through symbols and imagery involving the people of their day. The testimony of Yeshua is the spirit of prophecy.
We are encouraged to seek the Lord for His understanding, His wisdom, His interpretation, and His application of the scriptures. The scriptures were all written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world have come. The scriptures contain all things that pertain to life and godliness. We do not need new prophetic words or visions. In all our getting, we need to get understanding, of the scriptures. For many of the prophetic scriptures apply to right now, in our time, to that generation upon whom the ends of the earth have come.
The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Holiness and the Spirit of Truth. He will never contradict the Word of God. He will always convict us of sin but He will never condemn us. He will always get us to agree with God to get the sin covered by the Blood of Yeshua and get HIS HELP TO STOP SINNING. Spiritual truths can only be spiritually appraised as we depend upon the Holy Spirit for our Counsel.
We should remind ourselves that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. (Ephesians 6:12)
Our enemy does not consist of our fellow man, rather the evil influences released in the earth that operates through mankind setting themselves against the purposes of God. The apostle Paul tells us that "in meekness instruct those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth; And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will." (2 Timothy 2:25-26) We need to understand that the religious spirit is so much like the Holy Spirit of the Lord in relation, not only to feelings, but also in supernatural manifestations. We are told, in the last days in particular, deceiving spirits would deceive the very elect IF POSSIBLE.
The counterfeit spirit is abominable from the Lord's perspective. To the natural eye the religious spirit attempts to operate so close to the manner of the Holy Spirit that it would be unrecognizable unless spiritually discerned. That discernment is impossible apart from the word of God. Thankfully, the Lord communicates to us the distinguishable character of this destructive enemy of our souls and the fruit that it bears.
This spirit can be found in Isaiah 66:15-18 attempting to lead the people into the Divine Presence by an unlawful means resulting in the Judgment of God. For, behold, the LORD will come with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the LORD plead with all flesh: and the slain of the LORD shall be many. They that sanctify themselves, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, eating swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse, shall be consumed together, saith the LORD. For I know their works and their thoughts: it shall come, that I will gather all nations and tongues; and they shall come, and see my glory.
AN ABOMINATION
In scripture gardens derive their spiritual significance from the Garden of Eden denoting a place of worship and intimate fellowship. During seasons of apostasy gardens were utilized for idolatrous sacrifice. It is an abomination to attempt to attain access to The Garden of the Lord in any other manner than the one prescribed by Him in His written word. The religious spirit directs the people to sanctify themselves but only in their minds ministering to them the "flesh of swine" and "mice". These two Biblically unclean animals represent unsanctified nourishment presented to the people through the soul of man rather than the Holy Spirit. These could depict intellectual knowledge and opinions of the Scriptures apart from the divine revelation released through the Spirit of Truth. This is abominable in the sight of the Lord.
Unsanctified thoughts and vain imaginations give opportunity to the enemy to loose anointed curses through this type leadership resulting in persecution and intimidation. The church becomes desolate when this spirit controls and feeds the temple of man. The abomination of desolation described in Daniel 11:31 & Matthew 24:15 foretells the operation of this spirit sustaining the people from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. We are the Temple of God. We must be sanctified in Truth. The Lord described it as vain worship to honor Him with our lips, yet removing our hearts far from Him. It is vain worship to teach for doctrine the precepts of men.
The Scriptures declare that the Kingdom of God does not merely consist in words but also in power. Conversely, the "abominable deceiving spirit" is earthly, sensual, unclean with an unsanctified temple displaying no Holy Spirit power. The power of this man pollutes our reasoning and explains away the sanctified Temple of God and the power of the Holy Spirit through philosophical reasoning, and even supernatural manifestations that do not GLORIFY GOD. This type leadership will steal the spiritual seed in our hearts imparted through the true knowledge of Messiah. The destination of those deceived by this spiritual reasoning leads to the pit of despair and fear. Satan then relishes the opportunity to capture these as he chooses to do his will opposing the true anointing of Messiah. This is made possible when the canopy of Gods covering is breached through spiritual error advanced by this deceiving spirit.
The religious spirit introduces into the Church the spirit of the world nullifying the Grace of God. The views of Truth necessary to purify the church are not such as the world gives, but are such as are communicated by the Spirit of God. This religious spirit will attempt to lead the Church away from the reality of God expressed in the Book of Acts. "Pray, pray, pray...Teach the people to pray. Prayer and prayer alone, much prayer, persistent prayer is the door of entrance to the heart of God." The highest form of prayer is to read His word and let God talk to me, instead of me just talking to God all the time. After all, what can I tell Him that He does not know, and what can He tell me that I need to know!
I believe The Spirit is calling forth all His "reserves" to active duty. These reserves can be found in Jeremiah 50:20. In those days, and in that time, saith the LORD, the iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none; and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found: for I will pardon them whom I reserve. To these "Pardoned Ones" the Lord is going to equip with the authority of the "Rod of Iron" to serve as a bridge over troubled waters. The Holy Spirit will function as a bridge of deliverance leading to Calvary's Cross. Reserves are defined as a military force withheld for the use by a commander when he desires to commit those troops decisively to battle an enemy engagement. These will also be anointed with the Lord's "battle ax" for the purpose of laying the ax to the root of the religious tree.
The Lord's desire is to bring a priesthood to the headship of His people that will feed the flock the pure revelation of Yeshua Messiah. Leaders who will feed the flock and not fleece them. The Word of God is seed and the Holy Spirit waters that seed to produce a Divine fruit bearing tree. Wisdom comes from heaven down, human knowledge comes from the earth up. This distinction must be recognized in the church in preparation for end-time tribulation.
THE SNOW-JOB
The apostle Paul identified the religious spirit in 2 Corinthians 11:12-15. But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Messiah. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
The primary purpose of the religious spirit is to veil the minds of those without faith. In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Messiah, who is the image of God, should shine unto them. The light of THE GOSPEL OF THE GLORY OF MESSIAH. (2 Corinthians 4:4). This type leadership will preach the sufferings of Messiah, but not the Glory. They will preach Messiah crucified, but not Messiah risen and the power of His resurrection. They will even preach the gospel of the grace of God but not the gospel of the GLORY OF MESSIAH. It is the preaching of the Glory of Messiah that produces the greatest enmity from Satan and that for which he has worked so diligently to keep veiled from the eyes of the church.
The very essence of the religious spirit is deception. It is a deception to preach the perfection that is attained on the actions and deeds of works while our minds remain veiled to the redemption which is already ours in Messiah Yeshau. The message of "deceitful ministers" must out of necessity appear to be right and true or the message would not be deceiving. Simply having a zeal for God is not sufficient. It must be zeal accompanied with Divine Truth according to Romans 10:2-3. For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God's righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness, have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God. Even sincerity alone is not sufficient. Uzzah in the sincerity of his heart reached his hand to steady the ark of the Lord, yet it cost him his life because it did not follow the Lord's prescribed way.
It is from the heart that man BELIEVES resulting in righteousness. Residing in a justified state results when the illumination of the heart grasps the pardoning grace of Messiah introducing him to the favor of God. Even so, faith without works is dead but only as an outward expression of an inward conviction. The religious spirit attempts to direct a person to the favor of God through works and efforts of the flesh. Cain attempted to gain favor with God by offering the fruit of his labor and was rejected. Abel by revelation recognized his inability to adequately atone for his sin and offered the life of the innocent lamb and found favor with God.
Clearly, an internal distinction existed in the intention or disposition of these two sacrifices. Abel's sacrifice was offered through revelation and obedient faith with a sense of gratitude for mercy followed by obedience to His will. Cain's offering, although requiring greater hardship and effort, was devoid of faith and rejected. This early Genesis account contrasted the heart of the religious spirit and the liberty obtained through obedience. Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness and he was called the friend of God.
It is the gospel of the glory of Messiah that is the greatest threat to the kingdom of darkness and it is this very gospel that must be demonstrated during this generation to bring the bride to the point of perfection. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the KNOWLEDGE OF THE GLORY OF GOD IN THE FACE OF MESSIAH. (2 Cor. 4:6)
NICOLAITANS
Name
meaning, "conqueror of people."
This is something that the L-rd hates. The L-rd hates striving for status in His Church.If the L-rd hates it we must know what it is and hate it also.
If
you want to be great in G-d's Kingdom learn to be
a servant of all.
Balaam was first and foremost a "Prophet for Profit."
He makes unity of the body impossible.
Those who know the truth
of bible prophecy by the quickening of the Holy Spirit, will not
yield to Balaam. They are blamed for the schism of
Balaam.
Their stand for the truth of G-d's prophetic word labels them as
heretics, crazies, and unloving. The doctrine of Balaam is
pleasant to the itching ears of the majority, who will listen
only to the prophets who tell them what they want to hear. (Licence
for Idolatry.)
Name meaning, "Where is the prince?"
Jezebel is saying, "Where is the prince, antichrist, doesn't matter to us, because we will be raptured before he is revealed."
Jezebel tried to destroy all G-d's true prophets in Israel. The doctrine of Jezebel gives licence to continue in idolatry.
Jezebel wants to know where the leader is in order to seduce him.
YESHUA'S
WORST ENEMY
Thanks
to Craig Henderson
During His earthly life, Yeshua faced many different kinds of
enemies. He was scorned, laughed at, mocked, insulted, spat upon,
scourged and finally crucified by those that hated Him. Sometimes
He had to run away from the Jews He was talking to, because they
took up stones to throw at Him.
Who was the worst of all of these enemies? It is tempting to say that Satan is certainly the strongest enemy of Messiah. After all, it was he who rebelled in heaven and turned 1/3 of the angels against Adonai. He is Lucifer, the self-willed angel found in Isaiah 14. He was created to minister near the throne of G-d. Surely he had access to many privileged secrets of heaven at this time. One could argue that this special knowledge of both heaven and man has allowed Satan to take his present place as the prime opponent to the work of Yeshua.
What does Scripture say about the enemies that Yeshua faced? What does Yeshua Himself say about these enemies? The answer is quite surprising. Let us see just who gets the worst rebuke from Yeshua. Here are some of His enemies in chronological order.
Yeshua vs. Satan Matt. 4:3-11 And when the tempter came to Him, he said, If thou be the Son of G-d, command that these stones be made bread. But He answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of G-d. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city and setteth Him on a pinnacle of the temple, and saith unto Him, If thou be the Son of G-d cast thyself down: for it is written, He shall give His angels charge concerning thee: and in their hands they shall bear thee up lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Yeshua said to him, it is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the L-rd thy G-d. Again the devil taketh Him up into an exceedingly high mountain, and sheweth Him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them, and saith unto Him, All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Yeshua unto him, Get thee hence, Satan, for it is written, Thou shalt worship the L-rd thy G-d and Him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil left Him.
Yeshua vs Jews John 8:51 Verily, Verily I say unto you, if a man keep my sayings he will never see death. Then said the Jews unto him, now we know that you have a devil, v.58: Yeshua said into them, Verily verily, I say unto you before Abraham was, I am. Then they took up stones to cast at Him, but Yeshua hid Himself, and went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.
Yeshua vs. Scribes Matt 9:2-4 And, behold, they brought to him a man sick of the palsy, lying on a bed: and Yeshua seeing their faith said unto the sick of the palsy; son be of good cheer; thy sins be forgiven thee. And behold, certain of the scribes said within themselves, This man blasphemes. And Yeshua, knowing their thoughts said, Why do you think evil in your hearts?
Matt. 12:38-39 Then certain of the scribes answered saying, Master, we would see a sign from you. But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign ....
Matt 23 This entire chapter is directed toward the scribes and Pharisees. I will quote some excerpts:
Vs 2-7 The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat: All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do: but do not ye after their works: for they say and do not. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men's shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues. And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi.
Vs 13 But woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in.
Vs 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater damnation.
Vs 15 Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.
How could someone who spends his entire life studying and memorizing Torah end up being a child of hell? The key here is motive. David said, "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I may not sin against you, O L-rd." The Pharisee says, "I will hide this word in my mind so that I will be considered an expert and use it to burden others with religious guilt." Someone with this mindset is nowhere near the heart of G-d. His motives are selfish, not like Yeshua.
All that is said about the scribes and Pharisees of Yeshua's day can also be said about a modern priest. It does not matter if he is Catholic, Charismatic, Baptist or a new age guru. They constantly burden people with heavy religious burdens that have nothing to do with true faith. These priests have never entered the kingdom of G-d and will not let anyone else enter. The effect of religious law has not changed in 3,000 years. The names of the lawgivers change but the effect is always the same: slavery. Religious law will never lead to
freedom. This is why Yeshua spoke out so loud and long against it. There is more:
Vs 16: Woe unto you ye blind guides... Vs 17 Ye fools and blind... Vs 19 Ye fools and blind...
Vs 23 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Vs 24 Ye blind guides...
Vs 25 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Vs 26 Ye blind Pharisee ....
Vs 27 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Vs 29 Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!
Vs 33 Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?
Vs 38 Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.
What kind of pattern do you see here?
Was it the Mafia, or the prostitutes or the drug dealers or Satan that Yeshua spoke most harshly to? No. It was the 3ewish priesthood that received His harshest words. They were treated worse than Satan himself. There is hardly a trace of emotion in Yeshua's words to Satan. Aside from the terse rebuke, "Get thee hence" Yeshua just
quoted Scripture to Satan. Yeshua never once spoke harshly to someone in sin. By contrast, Matthew 23 records the most passionate, hateful and insulting words ever spoken by Yeshua. These words are directed towards His own brethren, the religious experts of His day.
Yeshua hateful? I thought He was the Prince of Peace? He is, but He also treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty G-d. Rev. 19:15. Rev 2:6 says Yeshua hates the deeds of the Nicolaitans. This is the only time in Scripture that Yeshua said that He hated something. We should take careful note of what He was talking about. The word Nicolaitan comes from two Greek words which mean "conquer the people." Yeshua was talking about any priesthood other than His own. Anyone who claims to be a priest between G-d and man is in the cross hairs of G-d's fiercest anger. The entire book of Hebrews makes the point that Yeshua is the only true priest between G-d and man.
During Yeshua's day these legalistic priests were called scribes and Pharisees. Today they are called Baptists, Catholics, Methodists, and others. All have their own version of entrenched religious law. They will beat you to death with it if you let them. We now even see some Messianic groups with this legalistic error.
Looking at the behavior of the scribes and Pharisees shows us how these legalists think. They were angry with Yeshua because He healed on the Sabbath. Never mind that someone had been set free from years of bondage by the healing.
They were also quick to commit murder for theological reasons. If someone had offered one of these scribes a few coins to kill Yeshua, he would have recoiled in religious disgust from such a criminal proposition, yet this same religious person would have gladly stoned him to death simply because Yeshua had offended him with His teaching.
It should be clear from these Scriptural examples, that study and learning alone do not produce righteousness. Teaching must affect the heart more than the mind to be truly fruitful. Yeshua is not interested in students who have memorized His Word but have not allowed it to sink down into every area of their lives. Such overly intellectual students are no more attractive to Yeshua than were the Scribes and Pharisees of His day.
To avoid the wrath of Yeshua, we must be doers of the Word and not just hearers. We must be doers of the Word and not just learners. We must be doers of the Word and not just memorizers.
A simple-minded person who knows a few Scriptures and does his best to obey them is closer to Yeshua's heart than is a heady, high-minded hypocrite.
Yeshua wants people whose heart and will are submitted to Him. When He sees this in a person, He will draw near to him. He resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. ]ames 4:6.
What does this mean to the average believer. It means that if you are teaching morality to others but not practicing it yourself, you are inviting the strongest wrath of G-d. If you are teaching about sexual purity but have a secret habit of pornography, you are inviting the strongest wrath of G-d. If you are preaching to your kids about staying off drugs, but are addicted to Prozac, Valium, alcohol or tobacco, you are inviting the strongest wrath of G-d. Pastor, it means that if you are using the name and authority of Yeshua for selfish personal gain, you are inviting the strongest possible judgment from G-d. Remove the beam from your eye before you tell someone else about the speck in his eye. Matt. 7:3-5.
If you want to avoid Yeshua's wrath, then avoid hypocrisy at all costs and allow only Yeshua to be your priest. Withdraw yourself from all merely human priestly authority and ignore all man made religious laws. Yeshua is our High Priest and He is Torah for us.
him.
Return to The
5 Warnings of Yeshua
Return to Reality Check
Return to Great Joy in Great Tribulation