Serving Zion
Seek First His Kingdom & Righteousness
OP, @Aaron Schoenberger, I say this in order to encourage you to remain firm in your convictions and loyal to God, whom you are called to serve before anyone else. I have not yet seen a doctrinal statement that does not teach damnable heresies such as what St. Peter warned in 2 Peter 2:1-2. It is because of the rebellion that St. Paul wrote of in 2 Thessalonians 2:3, that now 2,000 years later we find the majority of Christians do not recognise Jesus Christ when He stands before them and speaks. They have become those that St. Peter wrote of, who reject the one who bought them, and their conduct brings the way of truth into disrepute.
This is in fact a widespread problem in the present day, where the majority have taken that broad road leading to destruction. They neither recognise nor obey Jesus Christ, but instead they have modelled their institutions on the pattern of the world (Mark 10:42, Revelation 18:4). They seek after the praise of men through recognising certificates of qualification instead of recognising plain truth in righteousness, because in their heart they desire to be the one who dispenses knowledge (Matthew 23), not the one who receives it (John 6:45-51). Just as the Pharisees did toward Jesus, the same spirit promotes their man-made system of authority in order to bring all others under their yoke, to give reverence to them (Matthew 16:1, Matthew 21:45-46, John 5:44). They construct rules of conduct and hierarchy of procession within meetings, discouraging through compliance, the freedom that would empower The Holy Spirit to operate at will - opposing the very work of God Himself.
It is virtually unavoidable that we need to operate with people who are confined by these false teachings, because of how widespread they have become throughout Christian communities (Matthew 9:17). However, while it is necessary to respect that those who have believed these false teachings have not conspired against Jesus Christ, and therefore there is yet hope for their eventual salvation, we are called to serve amidst them (Matthew 10:16).
I do perceive some genuine reverence and faith within you that is an authority and I would rather that you do not yield to an inferior authority merely because you have believed that it is wise to do so. You might consider how Proverbs 25:26 speaks about this.
False doctrines are justified by twisting scripture, so scripture always supports an accurate view against them. But, the inaccurate view itself is a spell of the mind that the believer has already yielded himself to favour instead of the truth that opposed it (often it is a young believer who because of peer pressure feels that he has to just accept that the doctrine is true even though he doesn't understand it). Once a person yields his spirit to believe falsehood, it isn't The Spirit of Truth that is operating in him, because he has become an agent for doctrines that are opposed to the truth.
Although we might see a false doctrine being prevalent within a Christian community, we do not necessarily need to yield to it in order to operate within that community because we who stand upon the inherent authority of truth can always rely on scripture to support our position. But, the counterfeit spirits that have established themselves through the opportunity yielded by those false doctrines (1 John 4:1) are naturally invested in guarding it, by discrediting the apparent qualification (reputation) of the one who genuinely speaks truthfully. So, it is through wise and gentle sowing of seeds (1 Corinthians 3:7) that we might be able to give new life to those who keep expressing their hope for it by being active in that community. After saying all of this, I'd like to pray for you now!
Dear Heavenly Father, we bring Aaron before you now, as he has found himself in a situation where he has some responsibility for guarding the direction that you are leading the children to grow, and yet now he is also having to navigate the deep evils of a possessive spiritual resistance, that seeks to impose upon the children not what Your Holy Spirit is seeking through them, but the propagation of it's own culture of religion in Your Name. We ask for wisdom to grow within Aaron, so that he would discern appropriate speech for every situation, that he would recognise the dangerous risks of exposing sinners for their sinful deeds when they are abusing the powerful positions they have achieved, yet to be so precise with his words, humble, graceful and impeccably good - that he would find favour in their eyes so that he would maintain the teaching position you have raised him to have; not only amongst the children, but also amongst the wider congregation and the elders. Father, we pray for these children in his care, the ones who have not yet had their minds warped much by the depraved wicked thinking that the world grooms within us. Let your light be empowered in them; may they receive an awareness of their own purity of conscience and their prevailing righteousness that is through being perfectly blameless and obedient. I ask, Father, that you would bring their minds to comprehend the authority of their truthful words, and to recognise that when the grown ups cannot repent unto the truth, that the children do not need to follow the same oppressive spirit. Father God, I thank you for Aaron, who is aware of all this, and I ask that you will give him special insights, to know that he has authority in that awareness, and that he can have peace through a perfected faith, knowing that he is an instrument for your work and that when he is brought before rulers and congregations to give answers, that Your Spirit will speak through him, his wisdom will impossible to refute. We thank you, Lord, that you have been faithful to establish these enduring truths for our sake, and we thank you for having brought us to know and trust in that knowledge. We submit these requests to you in Jesus' name, asking that you let Your kingdom come that Your will be done on earth as in heaven. Amen.
This is in fact a widespread problem in the present day, where the majority have taken that broad road leading to destruction. They neither recognise nor obey Jesus Christ, but instead they have modelled their institutions on the pattern of the world (Mark 10:42, Revelation 18:4). They seek after the praise of men through recognising certificates of qualification instead of recognising plain truth in righteousness, because in their heart they desire to be the one who dispenses knowledge (Matthew 23), not the one who receives it (John 6:45-51). Just as the Pharisees did toward Jesus, the same spirit promotes their man-made system of authority in order to bring all others under their yoke, to give reverence to them (Matthew 16:1, Matthew 21:45-46, John 5:44). They construct rules of conduct and hierarchy of procession within meetings, discouraging through compliance, the freedom that would empower The Holy Spirit to operate at will - opposing the very work of God Himself.
It is virtually unavoidable that we need to operate with people who are confined by these false teachings, because of how widespread they have become throughout Christian communities (Matthew 9:17). However, while it is necessary to respect that those who have believed these false teachings have not conspired against Jesus Christ, and therefore there is yet hope for their eventual salvation, we are called to serve amidst them (Matthew 10:16).
I do perceive some genuine reverence and faith within you that is an authority and I would rather that you do not yield to an inferior authority merely because you have believed that it is wise to do so. You might consider how Proverbs 25:26 speaks about this.
False doctrines are justified by twisting scripture, so scripture always supports an accurate view against them. But, the inaccurate view itself is a spell of the mind that the believer has already yielded himself to favour instead of the truth that opposed it (often it is a young believer who because of peer pressure feels that he has to just accept that the doctrine is true even though he doesn't understand it). Once a person yields his spirit to believe falsehood, it isn't The Spirit of Truth that is operating in him, because he has become an agent for doctrines that are opposed to the truth.
Although we might see a false doctrine being prevalent within a Christian community, we do not necessarily need to yield to it in order to operate within that community because we who stand upon the inherent authority of truth can always rely on scripture to support our position. But, the counterfeit spirits that have established themselves through the opportunity yielded by those false doctrines (1 John 4:1) are naturally invested in guarding it, by discrediting the apparent qualification (reputation) of the one who genuinely speaks truthfully. So, it is through wise and gentle sowing of seeds (1 Corinthians 3:7) that we might be able to give new life to those who keep expressing their hope for it by being active in that community. After saying all of this, I'd like to pray for you now!
Dear Heavenly Father, we bring Aaron before you now, as he has found himself in a situation where he has some responsibility for guarding the direction that you are leading the children to grow, and yet now he is also having to navigate the deep evils of a possessive spiritual resistance, that seeks to impose upon the children not what Your Holy Spirit is seeking through them, but the propagation of it's own culture of religion in Your Name. We ask for wisdom to grow within Aaron, so that he would discern appropriate speech for every situation, that he would recognise the dangerous risks of exposing sinners for their sinful deeds when they are abusing the powerful positions they have achieved, yet to be so precise with his words, humble, graceful and impeccably good - that he would find favour in their eyes so that he would maintain the teaching position you have raised him to have; not only amongst the children, but also amongst the wider congregation and the elders. Father, we pray for these children in his care, the ones who have not yet had their minds warped much by the depraved wicked thinking that the world grooms within us. Let your light be empowered in them; may they receive an awareness of their own purity of conscience and their prevailing righteousness that is through being perfectly blameless and obedient. I ask, Father, that you would bring their minds to comprehend the authority of their truthful words, and to recognise that when the grown ups cannot repent unto the truth, that the children do not need to follow the same oppressive spirit. Father God, I thank you for Aaron, who is aware of all this, and I ask that you will give him special insights, to know that he has authority in that awareness, and that he can have peace through a perfected faith, knowing that he is an instrument for your work and that when he is brought before rulers and congregations to give answers, that Your Spirit will speak through him, his wisdom will impossible to refute. We thank you, Lord, that you have been faithful to establish these enduring truths for our sake, and we thank you for having brought us to know and trust in that knowledge. We submit these requests to you in Jesus' name, asking that you let Your kingdom come that Your will be done on earth as in heaven. Amen.
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