Intermediaries stand between our Abba Father and believers, and too many are the work of ELB and don’t even realize it. We should always test intermediaries once we understand ELB, which is what I do after this message. Jest testing, not pontificating or claiming righteousness, jest testing as the Scripture leads me. 1 John 4:1, “Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God.” Much of ELB looks like human nature is doing good because it is. The difference between an intermediary and a teacher is divine inspiration. Is our focus on this life on earth (ELB), or is it on our redeemed life in the Family in Heaven through the Scripture? That is a good first test.
Our trip through Daniel in S6M2 has much to say about the early church. The early church was overwhelmed with ELB, culminating with the merger of the church and the Roman Empire, creating a church-state partnership. That had a significant impact on our U.S. Constitution. Daniel clarified that it still served our Abba Father’s purpose because he has his plan. But if we believe Daniel’s prophecies were fulfilled in 70 AD, our Abba Father has no stated role in church history.
Therefore, we would have no reason to take another look. Even the Dead Sea Scrolls, other Qumran cave documents, and the Ugarit library discovered in the 1940s revealed a great deal of new information about the Scripture, especially related to the supernatural world. That doesn’t seem right to ignore it all. Daniel 12:4, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.” We are in “the time of the end” and knowledge is increasing. Please pray on that.
When asked to give a descriptive name for my ministry, my answer is, “I am a full Scripture pastor.” Our Abba Father put me in two non-denominational corporate worship centers after coming to get me, one for ten years, then another for two years. Both are wonderful churches, but they were not our Abba Father’s long-term plan for me as he led me to my ministry.
I am very supportive of the established churches serving our Abba Father’s plan because they get redemption right and agree on much more than they disagree. I preached twenty services a month in county jail for ten years and saw most of what exists for worship, including the Aztec gods, embraced by ethnic gangs. I was locked in a room with them and had a lot of interchanges. I had a captive audience.
Ephesians 4:1-6 is Paul’s call to unity; please read slowly and carefully because the grammar is bumpy from its time, “I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beseech you to walk worthily of the calling wherewith ye were called, with all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love; giving diligence to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body, and one Spirit, even as also ye were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all, and through all, and in all.” Get used to this passage; it answers many questions.
Ephesians 4:1-6 appears in the Holy Bibles of the Catholic Church, Anglican, Lutheran, Reformed, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Yahweh’s Witness, Adventist, Christian Science, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Baptist, Methodist, Unitarian, Apostolic, Congregational, Eastern Orthodox and all Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian churches and yet all have their own application of it.
And we can all embrace our own application of it in our own relationship with our Abba Father. Despite still serving our Abba Father’s purpose, my observation is that the division of denominations in ELB also does enormous damage because the differences create doubt about the Scripture, and ELB keeps the church from coming together, which serves the enemy. Perhaps all the churches could embrace what we all agree on, Ephesians 4:1-6.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ opens with letters to seven churches, described as loveless, compromising, persecuted, corrupt, dead, faithful, and lukewarm. Not precisely a church hall of fame because ELB was in full force. Each church is different, and four are on the road to the fiery pit. The denominational differences in the church today should not be a surprise in ELB.
Scholars have much to say about what the seven churches represent relative to the church body after the Reformation, but everything said can be applied to the individual believer. John told each church in the Revelation their new direction for them to arrive at the same place, the new Jerusalem, with all the peace, joy, and glory of our Abba Father. The message was the same for all of them, repent and do what the Apostles taught them, now known as the Scripture.
The seven churches are different because of ELB intermediaries. It does not matter what denomination we attend for worship; the Scripture road takes us all to the same place. Let’s look at what the Scripture says about itself. Deuteronomy 4:2, “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish from it, that ye may keep the commandments of Yahweh your God which I command you.”
Revelation 22:18-19, “I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto them, God shall add unto him the plagues which are written in this book: and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the tree of life, and out of the holy city, which are written in this book.”
Galatians 1:6-9, “I marvel that ye are so quickly removing from him that called you in the grace of Christ unto a different gospel; which is not another gospel: only there are some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach (e)unto you any gospel other than that which we preached unto you, let him be anathema. As we have said before, so say I now again, If any man preacheth unto you any gospel other than that which ye received, let him be anathema.” Proverbs 30:5-6, “Every word of God is tried: He is a shield unto them that take refuge in him. Add thou not unto his words, Lest he reprove thee, and thou be found a liar.” I will let the above Scripture speak for itself to you.
With the removal of the barrier of sin between our Abba Father and us, we are free to come back to him with no intermediaries except our Savior as our High Priest. Our Abba Father did not just take out the intermediaries, he also gave us a personal partner, a helper, a comforter and an advocate, the Holy Spirit. One Greek word, “paraclete,” produces four helpers in the translations, a helper with supernatural God power who cries out to join us. We must embrace the Holy Spirit in our walk.
Israel as a people were already chosen but could not receive the helper because of sin. It is essential to recognize that. The Old Testament law was given to Israel to express their love to our Abba Father in combination with a guide to what offended him. But they had no helper, and that is likely why our Abba Father was so forgiving of them. When he accomplished all he could with Israel, he moved to the next step in the plan, preparing the world for his Son.
After Jesus’ work on the cross, love became the law in our relationships. But just as our Abba Father chose Israel, he still plays a role in believers coming to him. Technically, he chose Abram and birthed Israel, starting with a miracle conception. The new covenant also was announced with a miracle conception, John the Baptist, and of course, his Son was the ultimate miracle conception. These are important markers for us.
Where ELB turns believers into intermediaries is putting the focus on ourselves making a decision to receive Christ here on earth and omitting the citizenship in Heaven and the Family as a new creation that comes with it. Jesus and Nicodemus are a great story. Nicodemus is a Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin who had seen the miracles of Jesus and wanted in. Jesus says in John 3:3, “Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except one be born anew, he cannot see the kingdom.”
Believers can see the kingdom of God, and we can see it now in the Scripture and feel it in our lives. The fear of embracing the supernatural world of our Abba Father is ELB. And that is incredibly debilitating to our walk with our Abba Father.
Humans are laborers, not business owners. Our Abba Father works through his creation, our job in the Family business. That is subtle, but our job is not to get between our Abba Father and others; it is to image him and guide others along the path of Scripture.
Our Abba Father’s creation was him with us in the Eden paradise, his home; there was no intermediary between our Abba Father and his Family. Our Abba Father put Adam to work and left it to Adam to get it done. At the time, Jesus was not made known to the people. We also do not see a new middleman in the new Jerusalem.
But the first middleman (the cunning, talking, nahas) did interject himself in Eden and completely changed the creation. The enemy is the ultimate middleman coming between our Abba Father and us.
I observe that intermediaries with ELB can do severe damage between our Abba Father and us. Most notably, our Abba Father kicked us out of his home for disobeying him and believing the deceitful intermediary. And the enemy that rules this world has a lot to do with it in everyone. We need to take responsibility for our relationship with our Abba Father.
After the fall, humanity collapsed into evil so severely that our Abba Father destroyed it and started over. But he never stopped being our Abba Father and wanting his Family back. After the flood, he chose a family with great faith, Noah’s, to rebuild humanity, and our Abba Father is determined that we do our part for his Family, which ELB masks. If we do not see ourselves in the Family, we cannot see ourselves in the Family relationship and, therefore cannot teach it or image it. We can and should all be an “Abraham,” teaching the ways of the LORD.
God’s Children
The original name for S2M2 was “Middlemen.” I changed it to “Intermediaries” after interacting with the publisher about the word “mankind.” The editor wanted “humankind” because that is the modern WOKE word. I resisted that change because our Abba Father created man and woman, and “mankind” has reminded us of our Abba Father’s creation of the two for thousands of years. “Humans” is ELB designed to diminish our Abba Father in the name of “good.”
I prayed on it, and suddenly “God’s children” filled my heart. That is the only other label that honors our Abba Father. It also measures our faith. How often do we say “God’s children” outside of church? It is time to start because it is a great faith booster. And since the Scripture does not have “middlemen,” I liked the change to “intermediary.”
History
Leaping forward to Moses leading Abraham’s descendants out of Egypt. Moses and our Abba Father had a close relationship in which our Abba Father revealed his relationship name to him. The Family became large enough to form a nation after 400 years in their Egyptian feedlot. Then our Abba Father led the Family through the desert to the promised land. The tabernacle and the priesthood (intermediaries) were established when Israel was established. Do you believe the priesthood was established to “keep the way of the LORD?” I do, but I do not see Israel remembering it with ELB, and the Scripture reveals that.
The Aaron priesthood established men as the teachers of the way of the LORD, and the people followed their lead. As “following men” grew, the priests left behind the “keep the way of the LORD” model. The judges, more intermediaries, were added as Israel grew. And ELB continued to prevail until Israel asked for a king. Over time, the relationship with our Abba Father was minimized. I observed that that cycle was repeated after Jesus’ work on the cross. ELB is very powerful, as evidenced by the size of its gate into eternity.
I used to think Christianity had finally defeated the Roman Empire when Emperor Constantine converted in 315 AD, but a successor merged the church with the Empire. Leaping forward to Jesus, he declared us to be children of our Abba Father. However, by the 4th century AD, intermediaries with ELB had control of a significant part of the church.
That was the ultimate merger of church and government with ELB, and it was also the Golden Age of church doctrine debate with a wide range of beliefs. That must be viewed as still serving our Abba Father’s purpose, just as we do the Old Testament and Israel.
By the end of the 4th century, much of the church was indistinguishable from the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the Sanhedrin. Today, we know we have our Redeemer and the Holy Spirit, and we need to grow our personal relationships directly through them.
My goal is not to referee an intermediary fight. It is to lead people to our relationship with our Abba Father through the Holy Spirit with the Scripture as the only thing in between. The rest of the ELB chapter takes us through doctrines and creeds to bring us back to Scripture. I do not take anything any human says at face value. Jesus told us he would send a helper, the Holy Spirit, to teach us “all things.” We “believe,” and then he comes. Then we learn.
In the 16th century, a fierce shooting war broke out over church doctrine. That war went on for several years as the Protestant Reformation, which led to an explosion of different doctrines AND many more intermediaries. The Reformation did not change anything except create an open market for the church industry. I have no issue with that; I get to write a book! What amazes me is how so many intermediaries are so sure they are right while in conflict with each other.
ELB is the problem, not the church. We do not spend enough time looking at church history and how ELB influenced it. It is such a hot mess. I am also thankful we do not spend much time on history, although the ELB concept may provide a better perspective for review, as presented in Daniel.
Understanding and overcoming ELB is our escape route, even if not for the church. That is not going downhill on the church; it is raising our relationship up to our Abba Father. I ask my readers to remember that the Scripture is clear and that we should not divide ourselves from the Scripture. There is an irony in Ephesians 4:1-6 in that it needed to be written in the first place. Think about that for a moment in the context of ELB. My goal and calling are to get back to the first-century faith driven by the Holy Spirit and Paul’s description of unity. My associates sometimes call ourselves “First Century Christians,” which has a nice ring.
My ministry does all it can to eliminate doubt because doubt weakens faith. If you belong to a denominational church and something I say here seems in conflict with your “doctrine,” please remember the unity message and pray for guidance for us both, do not argue. But do feel free to let me know your thoughts; that would be helpful. And if I may make one more suggestion, instead of identifying ourselves as a (fill in the denomination), identify ourselves as a child of our Abba Father who worships at a (fill in the denomination) church.
I believe the members of all recognized denominations and non-denominations can get into heaven because it doesn’t seem all that difficult to accomplish, except for ELB. Mathew 7:13-14, “Enter ye in by the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many are they that enter in thereby. For narrow is the gate, and straitened the way, that leadeth unto life, and few are they that find it.” (That is ELB’s goal in action.) “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.”
Our goal is to stimulate awareness of what the Holy Spirit is trying to teach us, both in life and in the Scripture. But we may not be tuned in, or he may be drowned out by ELB, which this message explains as the most significant factor keeping believers from experiencing the full glory of our Abba Father and his creation.
After the Apostles and ELB
I want to bear down a bit more after the Apostles. The death of the Apostle John closed out the first century, the Apostles, and the Scripture. It seems natural to ask what happened next and who is in charge. Jesus selected his successor apostles and prepared them over three years to start the church. That is what Jesus tells them right before ascending. Not to evangelize but start the church after the Holy Spirit comes. It seems there is an enormous void in our hearts and minds about who is in charge of the church after John goes to be with his Lord.
The fact that church history is not a central topic in the modern church leads me to wonder if it may not be pretty or perhaps not that important. Two thousand years ago, the transition from the Scripture to the church left no anointed successor or succession. The Apostles with the Holy Spirit commanded the stage, and then they were gone. And ELB filled the void. It seems as if God’s children was just left hanging by our Abba Father and that feeling weakens our faith.
In hindsight, that was the point of being directed to Daniel by Jesus in Mathew 24. Daniel told us what our Abba Father was doing and what would happen. That filled a massive void for me, even though it wasn’t pretty. That is all missed if the prophecies are all finished in 70 AD. The bottom line is we are individually responsible for our relationship with our Abba Father. The early churches could not withstand ELB, ELB owned the church that followed, and ELB still influences today’s churches. The Revelation told the seven churches, and therefore all churches, to go back to your original Acts 2 “ecclesia” community and focus on loving our Abba Father and each other with the help of the Holy Spirit and the Scripture.
Jesus came as he did, our gift from our Abba Father, to be the perfect sacrifice in our place and to conquer death. Both sin and death needed to be conquered. These are the two biggest problems that need to be solved for our Abba Father to reconnect with us. Once those two problems are solved, the only things left in our Abba Father’s plan were for us to come back to him and for Jesus to come back for us. We can know with absolute certainty that after the apostles, our Abba Father is still in charge, and he works through Jesus and the Holy Spirit with each of us.
The Reformation added more intermediaries and the existing ones remained. The Reformation ended in a mutual life truce, not a victory. Please pray on that. The Great Awakening in the USA (1800-1850) was the first real break from the established intermediaries as the Millerites presented the Scripture itself, not doctrine. That is discussed in S6M2.
The fact that they readjusted when their interpretation proved wrong is notable. The fact that they were ignored entirely by the existing churches was even more memorable. We do not see much readjusting as history reveals new information, and I believe the times call for a new adjustment by individual believers as the Scripture says, “knowledge will increase” as history reveals prophecy. That should be a call to arms for all churches as Revelation 10:11 says, ” And they say unto me, Thou must prophesy again over many peoples and nations and tongues and kings.“
The forward movement in our Abba Father’s plan of Jesus leaving and the Holy Spirit coming was seriously understated in the early church, and that disconnect continues today. I attribute this to the end of miracle power in any human. Suppressing our direct connection to our Abba Father, our relationship, through Jesus in us and us in him by the Holy Spirit is the real tragedy of ELB and intermediaries teaching.
So what about after the Apostles? After the Apostles, we have the Scripture, the Holy Spirit, and our relationship with them and each other. Without the relationship, all we have is lifeless, empty knowledge. Up to that point, the ecclesia was a refuge and support center in the hands of the first church leaders and ELB. Our reality is that no church leader is ever anointed in the Scripture as special. Many are blessed and guided, but none are anointed in the Scripture.
Paul mentions Clement in Philippians 4:3 and Linus in 2 Timothy 4:21 but only as his students. Peter, Paul, and James are shown exercising teaching authority but not with any title or hands-on operational authority in the ecclesia. John is clearly unique but again, as a teacher, not a leader.
Paul and Barnabas disagreed with each other, but not on the Scripture. I took this message journey because it shows us that man’s teaching is often based on godly foundations, not the Word. But more importantly, the Holy Spirit delivers our Abba Father’s will to his people, which is our discernment tool. In other words, ask, “can we see the Holy Spirit involved in any given action by a human?” That is our guide for what to embrace.
Messages S4M4-5 present this in detail. The bottom line is that Jesus did not leave us alone to live in our minds full of ELB; he sent us the Holy Spirit to connect us to him and be in our hearts. Jesus, alive on earth, was only there for those around him, but the ascended Jesus can be in every one of us through the Holy Spirit. That all gets left behind because most churches do not celebrate Acts 2 on Pentecost Day.
We have illustrated the focus on our relationship with our Abba Father and Family; what do we do with it? We do our job in the Family business. Our ecclesia is our refuge, worship center, and a “works provider,” but that is not enough. Our first job is to be our Abba Father’s billboard everywhere we go.
That means we live a whole life in which those around us know we are a child of our Abba Father. Living both an ELB life and a church life leaves us with just half a life in each. That is your choice, but please do not make it without experiencing an all in blessed life first. You will never go back if you surrender to it.
Eternal life in Heaven awaits us! The way of the LORD is our relationship with him, not our knowledge of him. My recommendation to every reader is to make a diary of verses in Scripture that move you with the Holy Spirit, which is your creed. If you are fed in the church you attend, great, but take control of your relationship with our Abba Father. Do not substitute the church and human words for your relationship. My relationship with our Abba Father and learning about him are completely different activities for me. I mine the Scripture looking for nuggets to help my relationship grow and help me share with others about it. The Holy Spirit guides and leads me, and producing this book has been an incredible experience. I pray I am not alone in that observation.
