The Day of New Beginnings

Taking Offense

 

We don’t realize how deep the rabbit hole goes when dealing with the satanic input into our Adamic nature. That input continually blinds our eyes to the spiritual sight necessary to walk fully in the Truth. Let’s read some passages from John 15 and 16:
 
23  "He who hates Me hates My Father also.
24  "If I had not done among them the works which no one else did, they would not have sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well.
25  "But they have done this to fulfill the word that is written in their Law, ‘THEY HATED ME WITHOUT A CAUSE.’
26 ¶  "When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will testify about Me,
27  and you will testify also, because you have been with Me from the beginning.
 
 
1 ¶  "These things I have spoken to you so that you may be kept from stumbling.
2  "They will make you outcasts from the synagogue, but an hour is coming for everyone who kills you to think that he is offering service to God.
3  "These things they will do because they have not known the Father or Me.
 
How is it that someone could kill you thinking they are offering service to God? Only through satanic deception born deep within the fallen nature can such a thing happen. What must be understood is that Satan is a religious spirit. This is referenced in 2nd Cor. 11:13-15. Religion is the façade that masks every form of evil. Religion is the counterfeit of the true righteousness of God. It appears one way but at its root is a different animal all together. 
 
Taking offense when there is a moving of God means something of the religious, Adamic nature has been touched. There is nothing more deadly than the reactions of the religiosity of the fallen nature. It’s what crucified Jesus. 
 


Mat. 15:
1 ¶  Then some Pharisees and scribes *came to Jesus from Jerusalem and said,
2  "Why do Your disciples break the tradition of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread."
3  And He answered and said to them, "Why do you yourselves transgress the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition?
4  "For God said, ‘HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER,’ and, ‘HE WHO SPEAKS EVIL OF FATHER OR MOTHER IS TO BE PUT TO DEATH.’
5  "But you say, ‘Whoever says to his father or mother, "Whatever I have that would help you has been given to God,"
6  he is not to honor his father or his mother.’ And by this you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.
7  "You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you:
8  ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME.
9  ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’"
10 ¶  After Jesus called the crowd to Him, He said to them, "Hear and understand.
11  "It is not what enters into the mouth that defiles the man, but what proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man."
12  Then the disciples *came and *said to Him, "Do You know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this statement?"
13  But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.
14  "Let them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
 
 
Why were the Pharisees offended? The word touched that place of religiosity in their natures. It set off an offense that eventually plotted to kill Jesus.
 
Mat. 26:
3  Then the chief priests and the elders of the people were gathered together in the court of the high priest, named Caiaphas;
4  and they plotted together to seize Jesus by stealth and kill Him.
 
We can endure many wrongs suffered. But when that place of religiosity is touched in us in a negative way, it sets off an irrational reaction of hatred and murder. Now, you may say, “I have never murdered anyone.” Maybe you have not literally murdered anyone, but the Scriptures state that anyone who hates his brother is a murderer (1st John 3:15). Religion has a way of setting off the most deeply implanted satanic roots in our fallen nature. 
 
Why is it that we have such an irrational reaction when our pet doctrines or beliefs are challenged? It’s the same reaction the Pharisees had to Jesus’ word. Remember, the Pharisees were the most religious people in Israel at the time of Christ, and He told them, “You are of your father the devil (John 8:44).” 
 
Because we are in a transition from soul to spirit in our relationship with God, it’s inevitable that those religious areas in our nature are going to be confronted by the Lord, just as the Pharisees were. It’s of the utmost importance to recognize these reactions within us. If we don’t, we will justify them, and end up being part of that group we read about in John 16 that persecutes and seeks to kill, spiritually, if not literally, those who speak the word of God to us. 
 
1st John is filled with deeply mystical references to hating our brother. One passage states, “But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes (1st Jn. 2:11).” The hatred produced from the religiosity of the Adamic nature blinds our spiritual eyes and causes us to walk in darkness. It distorts reality. How many times have we been guilty of persecuting the Lord and hating Him because His word through a brother or sister touched off a reaction within us? Yes, our hatred is ultimately toward the Lord, although the religiosity of the Adamic nature will never admit it. The religiosity within us always serves a false image of Christ. 
 
It’s in this transition from soul to spirit that we come to know the Lord just as He is. The transition is a painful one. All religion exists on a soul level. That’s why there have been so many wars fought in the name of religion. The roots of Satan reach deep into the soul/flesh nature of man. Only as that realm is confronted and crucified within us can we rise up to live in the Spirit and truly know the Lord.
 
How can we make this transition a reality in our lives? Again, 1st John gives us the key.
 
1st John 4:
7 ¶  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8  The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9  By this the love of God was manifested in us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.
10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12  No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.

 These passages seem simple enough. But once again, we see that they are deeply mystical. It is virtually impossible to fulfill these passages in ourselves. The soul realm is incapable of walking in this level of love that John is speaking of. Verse 12 states that if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us. This is a mouthful. It’s easy to say, “Yes, I love my brother or sister.” But is God abiding perfectly in you, has His love been perfected in you? If you are honest, you would have to say no. Then we can only conclude the level of love John is talking about hasn’t been fully reached yet. But it’s attainable! The more of the love of God we move into, the more our spiritual eyes are opened. His love in us and through us is the plumb line by which we measure all our spirituality.  It’s the love of God established in our lives that lays the ax to the satanic roots of religiosity and hate in our old nature.