Prove All Things

When Paul cornered the Thessalonians with the phrase "prove all things" he was making a splash in the waters of faith and understanding that can still be felt today. The concept that understanding comes from proving our faith is Paul's message. Paul as an educated thinker of the time was the persecutor of the righteous. This persecution came from what he had been led to believe by the Pharisees of Paul's day. He didn't believe that Yahshua was the Messiah of Yahweh. How could he if he persecuted the followers of Messiah? Yet Yahshua apparently saw within him something that was hidden to the eyes of men. Yahshua worked on Paul physically by blinding him on the road to Damascus.

Paul had apparently a hard time seeing through out the rest of his life. Galatians 4:15 Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? for I bear you record, that, if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes, and have given them to me. Galatians 6:11 Ye see how large a letter I have written unto you with mine own hand. Yahshua's visit to Paul woke him to an understanding that he was not on the path of light. Like Paul we at points in our lives are impervious to the truth.

What has awakened you? For some the loss of someone or something and others the thrill of learning but either way it is the Holy Spirit of Yahweh working in us. It is like waking up with a cold bucket of ice water being dumped on us. The sleep is broken suddenly and everything around us is noise because we are focused on the stimulant. The stimulant with ice water is the cold but with Yahweh the stimulant is the Holy Spirit. Yahweh's word is the cold water or the living waters.

There is a sleep though that completely ignores this cold water and that is death. In death we don't have any thoughts according to David, as he was inspired to write by almighty Yahweh. The death can be a physical or spiritual death. If you are reading this with amazement then there is hope for each of us.

Paul's inspired phrase "prove all things" should leave us with questions. The simplest question, is what I believe truth? Does it hold up to scrutiny of the scriptures and of the brethren? One of the most beautiful things is when someone tells you the plain truth. This is the kind of truth that may hurt a little but as you research it you find the narrow path. The search and striving for knowledge is a path that leads us towards Yahweh. The testing is imperative if we wish to receive salvation. Amos wrote that Yahweh will put a plumb line in the midst of His people.

Why an analogy of a plumb line? A plumb line is a weight of some type attached to a string and dangled so that the string becomes straightly taut. This is like the standard that Yahweh will judge us by. It will be equal among all of Israel no special treatment for anyone. This is the justice of Yahweh.

The justice of Yahweh should be of utmost importance to us since we are to follow Yahweh's laws. The goal is to emulate Yahshua the Messiah. Yahshua kept the feasts, he kept the Sabbath and he was a loving man to his flock. As an assembly of believers we are often met with the criticism that we are law keepers. Is this an insult or a complement? The critics of this faith feel that we are replacing what Yahshua had accomplished with a strict keeping of the law. This criticism is of a lack of understanding.

Yahshua said, "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love." (John 15:10) Were the commandment of Yahshua the commandments of Yahweh? Of course, what Yahshua taught is what has been taught since the beginning of time. The teachings of Yahshua are through example and further explanation. James 2:18 Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works. Faith and works go hand in hand. That is why we must prove our faith so that our works are upright. Do not accept anything without thoroughly testing it.

One sure test of any doctrine is having two witnesses. This means that for each thought have at least two scriptures that prove the same thing. Scriptures don't contradict each other. The teaching must be without contradiction to other teachings that are proven or fundamental. Sometimes this may mean that the fundamentals need to be evaluated. What you end up with is a loop that unless the whole picture is the result of the puzzle it needs to be reevaluated. Over time you will be questioned and examined closely for the things that you believe. Your personal character if it is not moral will also become suspect.

Imagine if after the Catholic Church was formed by Constantine that the whole world said okay we have the messenger of Yahweh before us in the pope. All we have to do is follow him. He is such a nice intelligent person. He will never lead us astray. The fact is that many grow up believing what their parents teach them and to a far extent that is important but when it is tested do you continue with it if it is improvable. Parents this lays on how your children are taught. Do you teach that this is the way it is or do you prove that this is the way it is? At first they may seem the same but when your children are tested they would be better off knowing why rather than just knowing. We too are the children of Yahweh if we follow him. Yahweh has given us the tool by which we are to prove all things. Yahshua gave us the example by which we are to prove all things.

Some ask how accurate our scriptures are today. It has been a long time since Moses wrote the Torah but due to the diligence of the scribes we find that our text is amazingly accurate to old texts like the Dead Sea scrolls and the Septuagint. It is also important to note that a lot of the newer texts are dropping what was not found in the oldest texts. The Greek scriptures (which were actually probably Hebrew) had a lot of added material but with newer translations they have compared texts of different periods and eliminated the additions.

Daniel said that knowledge will increase in the latter days. I do believe that we are in the latter days so the time is short but the resources that we have are exceptional. Computers have given us the ability to take any document and generate a searchable database. For me I can remember certain parts of a verse but usually not the exact verse. I can quickly search any book or the whole Bible for what I am looking and also search in English, Greek, Hebrew, etc. This of course should not replace reading. I have seen people search for scriptures that they twist to mean what they want. When forming any theory based on the scriptures context is important.

Sometimes you have context even within a verse. An example is found in James 5:11. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of Yahweh; that Yahweh is very pitiful, and of tender mercy. Is this the end of Yahweh? No, end can also mean goal as in this verse. Like the saying that "the end justifies the means" is referring to the goal of the situation. Even then we know that some say that Romans 10:4 is saying that Messiah is the end of the law. For Messiah is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. Messiah is the goal of the law. He is exactly what we should emulate. The context of this verse points out that righteousness for those that believe. How can you have righteousness without a law to judge it by?

Yahweh's judgment of us will be by what we know and how we apply it. Ignorance is bliss as some would say but the reward of the first resurrection is much greater than the second. Yahweh's judgment like the plumbline will be based off the examples and laws that we have been given. Yahweh is merciful as we read in James 5:11. If we choose not to study and not to try to understand even when called we are blaspheming the Holy Spirit.

Yahweh has given us a mind and if we are called to be in the first resurrection we are given opportunity to understand. Yahweh has given us a major gift in the word, the example of Yahshua and the Holy Spirit to drive us. We must prove all things because Satan is the stumbling block that causes us to fall away. Which path will we choose?

I pray that we choose the path of Yahshua. The judgment of those in the first resurrection is now. We cannot be lukewarm! Yahweh Bless!