Deuteronomy 18:14-16 {Moses addresses the Hebrew people}
“The nations you will dispossess listen to those who practice sorcery or divination. But as for you, the LORD your God has not permitted you to do so.
“The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—
just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’
Who is this “prophet like Moses”?
Hebrews 1
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.
3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,
4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
But how has he the Son spoken to us?
Read the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. He is the long awaited Seed of Genesis 3:15; the Sacrifice provided by the LORD in Genesis 22:8; He is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53 and the “Salvation” - Yeshua of Psalm 118;
He preached a message of repentance, forgiveness through His Atonement - and soon coming judgment.
Having delivered His message…and followed through with it entirely, even unto death on a Cross - he then SENT his Apostles out to DELIVER this same message in its entirety. {John 20:19-21, Matthew 28:16-20}
Who were these apostles (sent ones)?
These were men who had been with the Prophet like Moses - who we now know to be Yeshua the Son of God - since the beginning of his ministry until the end {Acts 1:21-22} - and through putting themselves under his teaching, had been discipled through a baptism of fire, into the Ways of the Lord. {Matthew 20:22-23, Luke 22:31-32, John 1:14 & 15:27, Acts 1:1-9, 1John 1:1-5}
…through whom we have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith for the sake of his name among all the nations, including you who are called to belong to Jesus Christ, Romans 1:5-6
These Disciples had been through the refining fires of testing and were now ready and equipped to be SENT {this is what “Apostle” means} by the Holy Spirit, to give this same message to the world - in word and in action. Church history shows us that they will truly do this, following their LORD and Master even unto death. {See John ch.12:24-26 & ch.21:16-19}
So that their teachings would not die with them, some of these Apostles and early Church Fathers were moved by the Holy Spirit to put these teachings into written form: These we know as the Gospels and Epistles of the New Testament - in order that we, the future Church, could also come under THEIR teachings and not fall into the error or deception of false teachers, apostles and prophets…
See John 15:27: These are the ones who saw…who heard…who were sent…and who testify- and through their written words they testify still to us today: The testimony of Jesus Christ. (See Revelation 7:14) This testimony is how they overcame - it will also be how we overcome. This is why we cannot be a pure and Holy Ecclesia without the pure and Holy Word of God (the testimony of the Apostles and prophets)
Read John 1:14 John is testifying here, as only an apostle (one sent by Yeshua himself) can!
Read Ephesians 2:19-21
Because regardless of what those claiming to be “apostles” and “prophets” are saying, the Foundation has already been laid:
-first by Moses and the Prophets of the Old Testament {Pointing toward Messiah and the Sacrifice}
-Then by the Apostles of the New Testament {Pointing back towards Messiah who has now come - and the Sacrifice that has now been made.} This is why the writings of Yeshua are called Gospels “good news”.
-And finally, all that has been written is centered around Yeshua the Messiah, who holds all things together, as the Chief Corner Stone of this Foundation…this Solid Rock of Truth.
{Colossians 1:17, Hebrews 1:3, Matthew 16:15-18}
Anyone calling themselves a prophet or a (lesser) apostle now, should - under the teachings of Yeshua and His original Apostles - be preaching the EXACT SAME MESSAGE - not pointing people towards themselves, but toward Him! There is no room in the Ecclesia of Christ, for “new revelation” or “hidden keys to knowledge”. This is how cults begin and is the hallmark of deception.
{See 1Thessalonians 2:3-12} All the original Apostles lived out their faith - not via a “media mountain” to millions of people - but literally among the people that they brought it to: in word and in action…most of them ultimately laying down their own lives, in like manner of the Lord in whose name they had come. There are multitudes of unknown missionaries (lesser apostles) who are doing this exact same thing. Their names will never be known, except in Heaven…
As for the rest of us; we MUST read and TEST everything by the Word of God - which, in the Book of Acts and the Epistles, sets the standard for how the New Testament Church should be functioning. The Word of God - the primary vehicle through which the Holy Spirit speaks, has been given to us by Him as a protective boundary that runs along either side of this very narrow Way {Matthew 7:13-14} - a safety net to keep us from falling into deceptions that are - and will be - so subtly and seductively dangerous, that the Lord saw fit to warn us about them, in almost every book of the New Testament.
And, what we read must be an ACCURATE translation of the Word of God - not translations such as the Passion Translation, which almost unanimously scholars and Biblical translators agree to be sectarian, highly inaccurate and unfaithful to the original Greek and Hebrew texts. Claiming special and hidden knowledge from God, via an angel called “Passion”, the author has literally added words to the Biblical texts that were not in the original, and in doing so has inserted his own sectarian beliefs and changed the meaning of significant parts of the Bible; For example, removing the word “submit” from Ephesians 5:24 changes it’s entire meaning. To change the Holy Word of God because an “angel” has told you is extremely serious. {See again Hebrews 1:4 - this same thing was happening in the time that Hebrews was written and has happened since then: Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, received his “revelation” from an angel called Moroni; Mohamed, the founder of Islam claims to have had a visitation and commission from the angel Gabriel himself.} Can we not see how dangerous this is?
And yet multitudes seem to love it, because of the sensual and highly emotive tone in which the author writes. This in itself highlights how dangerous this present deception is. See: Galatians 1:8-12 & Hebrews 1:4
“If God’s Word is being misrepresented - yet I love the misrepresentation, am I loving God or am I loving me? - What if we’re letting God’s Word be changed, because we like the changes” Pastor Mike Winger (The Passion Project):
The words and fraises deliberately added by the author, have made the passion translation highly convoluted, as a posed to the actual inspired Word of God, which is much simpler in form and easier to memorize, just as when wielding a sword, you wouldn’t want it to be too heavy, otherwise it would not be fit for purpose. (See Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12 and Revelation 1:16, 2:16 &19:15) May the Lord help us if our Bibles are taken away, and all we have, is what we have memorized. The Lord has meant for His Sword (the Word of God) to be an effective weapon in the hands of his Church…not a sensual romance novel!
Like the Prophets of the Old, the Apostles of the New Covenant received their revelation directly from the Lord - but NEVER contradicting that which had already been written…only COMPLETING it. (See Luke 24:45-48) This is not the case with those who are calling themselves “apostles” today: The cannon of scripture is closed and therefore, extra biblical revelation MUST be tested by the Ecclesia - regardless of who is claiming it.
For information on the Passion Translation the link below is balanced and sensitive - but truthful and informative.
https://youtu.be/2EtXBxAuZ3g?si=fOIO6RmUoXN7QKF1
⚠️As a Bible student myself and with regards to TPT, this is not the first time I have issued warnings about it - and it likely won’t be the last. All I really want to say is this: Just because something looks good, sounds good and makes us feel good, doesn’t mean that it IS good! {Genesis 3:4-6}
We must hunger for and read, the authentic truth - or at least place ourselves under good Pastors and Teachers who can rightly divide the Word of Truth for us.
May the Lord’s grace and mercy be upon us all.
In the beginning was the Logos {divine utterance}, and the Logos was with God, and the Logos was God. John 1:1
Written with much love…A. h. W.
#NewApostolicReformation #deception
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