From The Mouth Of Two Or Three Witnesses
In second Corinthians, Paul reiterates a long- standing spiritual principle:
By the mouth of two or three witnesses
every word shall be established (2 Cor 13:1).
He said this in the context of dealing with
upset or disputes in the Church, which were creating schisms (1 Cor
1:11-13).
On pages 1-7, I have described one such
situation. It's hard for believers trapped in the middle of such scraps or
dog-fights to see who is right and who is wrong. Whom do you trust and whose
word should you treat with suspicion?
The principle above, which Paul echoes from
Deuteronomy 17:6, 19:15, and Numbers 35:30, shows the way.
When the Pharisees contended with Jesus, they
sought further witness of the truth of His words:
You bear witness of Yourself; Your
witness is not true (Jn 8:13)
they complained.
But Jesus' witness WAS true, even though
there was no other person apparently backing Him up. They couldn't see the
Father, but Jesus was backed up by the Father. What further need did He have
of witnesses? He had more than enough – not that they heeded His words, even
so!
I am One who bears witness of Myself, and
the Father who sent Me bears witness of Me (Jn 8:18).
That witness or testimony was in front of
their very eyes. They saw it in the miracles Jesus did. They heard it in the
words of wisdom that came from His mouth. There was the evidence of the
Father, the Supreme Being, behind His ministry. They rejected it!
In the same way, our ministry comes under
fire from equally scurrilous individuals. Yet, when these people claim to
love God, claim to uphold truth, it's hard for the undiscerning to see
through them.
On page 7, Ed Spurlin's account of the dream
he had, coming "after some intense times of prayer", can easily convince the
gullible that here is a man of God, and God is answering him. So, they
assume there's no problem there. The problem must be here.
Well, all sorts of people pray, and they pray
for all sorts of reasons. Even some of the wicked find a blessing in prayer.
It depends what is their penchant.
Never forget Solomon's life. Was it not a
type of the very Millennial rule of Christ? Yes it was. Was he not the
wisest man who ever lived in his day? Right again. But look what happened to
him. He lost out on eternal life, because he allowed his worship of God to
become contaminated by worship of falsity.
God will play second fiddle to no-one else!
But people erect all sorts of falsity in
their worship. Most of it revolves around what THEY care about – what is
important to them. It can be the customs they grew up with; the
traditions of their church where they differ from true biblical traditions;
what they are used to doing or believing; and last, but not least, their own
self.
That last aspect is often the biggest aspect
of a person's compromise in worship. It can govern every- thing!
Self-motivation is the main root of falsity
and apostasy!
'Sacred Name' Apostasy
A man came to meet with us many years ago. He
had exited a fundamentalist Sabbatarian church, but had been 'hooked' by
erroneous subtle teaching that relied upon using Hebrew names for God. (See
A Message To Those Who Use The 'Sacred Names', a Midnight Ministries
booklet.) He went even further into empty ritualism, insisting on having a
beard.
While he was with us, God spoke to Richard
with a prophetic word for the man's benefit:
Apostasy comes in strange guises.
Indeed! The traps of the devil are very
subtle!
We tried to point out to him that his
theology was amiss, but he wouldn't listen. That's why God gave another
witness – His own! But he didn't listen to that either.
Most don't. And all such people will end up
in 'hell' after death, because they followed the route they wanted to
go, not the narrow way God showed.
Revelation From God
So, revelation from God is the second
witness.
It certainly has been for us from the start
of this ministry. What we say treads on toes. It began with the publication
of God's Church – Whose Authority? That book undermines the
foundational structure of ALL churches!
Without another witness to corroborate
'ours', God provided revelations in dreams, to substantiate the accuracy of
what was written.
The same has been the case with Why Keep
Christmas? Prophets and Prophesying; Life After Death and many other
publications where the content treads on conventional toes.
People cannot just say, "Oh that's just
Malcolm Heap's crazy idea. He's really way out, man!"
No. Because what I have written has had God's
seal of approval, often in more ways than one.
And when it comes to divisions and skirmishes
like that with Ed Spurlin and John Trescott (pp 1-7), God provides
revelation through others, like this second witness from Kassahun Ayele:
3rd March 2004. Dream. K.
I saw tears running down from the eyes of Malcolm. When I asked why he
is crying, he told me that a woman who was close to him didn’t want to
marry the Man he brings to her. I try to comfort him.
Yes, many are called, but few are chosen!
For more of God's
second witness of 'our' ministry, and other revelations which God has given
to Kassahun, see the following pages. Jesus continually speaks to His
prophets today!
Malcolm B Heap, June 2004
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