As Iron Sharpens Iron

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. ~ Proverbs 27:17

Expanding on what I wrote a few days ago in the post titled, Excitement and Danger in the Bike Lane, here's more commentary about the wide way of Mystery Babylon and more narrow paths with similar destinations.

For there must also be factions among you, so that those who are approved may become evident among you. ~ 1 Corinthians 11:19

It should be assumed that no blanket endorsement is being given when some resource is referenced on The Open Scroll. While observing how there are factions, and that not all are approved, the onus is on each of us to continually discern matters by revelation of Y'shua, the Word, as written and attested to by the holy spirit. I don't claim that my own writing is beyond critical scrutiny. I accept accountability as a teacher, and I recommend that each of you take responsibility for your own judgments, words and deeds.

Let's judge rightly as we attend to learning what the Lord would have us to know, from wherever He directs us to find it. The Lord has many “irons in the fire” in this season as He works with diverse peoples and programs, and I do not presume to be privy to all He has ordained. It has long apparent to me that the Lord has a continuing purpose and work in what is rightly identified as Mystery Babylon. The Adversary does too, and as it is true enough that the Lord came to destroy the works of the Devil (1 John 3:8), there is a season appointed for the conclusion of the work. In our day, the tares are not to be uprooted (Matthew 13:24-30), and the ministries of the oikodespotes (Matthew 24:43) are not to be dismantled. The work unto which they are appointed must be fulfilled.

The witness of David with Saul speaks to me as a present example.

4 The men of David said to him, “Behold, this is the day of which the Lord said to you, ‘Behold; I am about to give your enemy into your hand, and you shall do to him as it seems good to you.’” Then David arose and cut off the edge of Saul’s robe secretly. 5 It came about afterward that David’s conscience bothered him because he had cut off the edge of Saul’s robe. 6 So he said to his men, “Far be it from me because of the Lord that I should do this thing to my lord, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, since he is the Lord’s anointed.” 7 David persuaded his men with these words and did not allow them to rise up against Saul. And Saul arose, left the cave, and went on his way. ~ 1 Samuel 24:4-7

It must also be accepted that there is a vital work of bringing what's called the unfruitful deeds of darkness into the light.

6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them; 8 for you were formerly darkness, but now you are Light in the Lord; walk as children of Light 9 (for the fruit of the Light consists in all goodness and righteousness and truth), 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; 12 for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. ~ Ephesians 5:16-13

Some of the activities evident on the wide way and in the "bike lane" that I'd like to shine the spotlight upon involve disregard for the second commandment, gender propriety and the Lord's calendar including the Shabbat. There are also severely compromising conflicts of interest, the operating modes of ministering as a commercial business, the encouraging of the saints to strive to survive, the practices of habitual self-promotion, the drum beating of the exalted great commission, the false identification of the coming great deception, and the suggestion that the Romish or other brand of the church is going to be departing from the faith, falling into apostasy.

About that last item, what an absurd premise that some semblance of a pure faith has been maintained by the professing church that is only now being threatened! Consider how long ago Paul gave the following testimony.

13 Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. 14 Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you. 15 You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. ~ 2 Timothy 1:13-15

Have you understood the parables in Matthew 7 about the leavening of the whole lump and the birds nesting in the mustard tree that reveal the course of the church, the ecclesia? “Oh, we're orthodox.” Really? Have you come to understand about how the popular interpretation of apostasia in 2 Thessalonians 2 has been so completely wrested from its context? The church has been on a long slide for nearly two millennia, falling still but yet long fallen away from the standard of sound words Timothy heard from Paul.

The matter of disregard for the second commandment, that forbids idolatrous imagery for our protection, is a subject to which I've dedicated thousands of hours in recent years. I'm presenting a small selection of images that should speak to those of you whose eyes have become opened to recognize and interpret such symbols, which are being used to brand those many of us will find familiar.

The constant drum beating that causes Christian soldiers to march onward together under the banner of the great commission is an exhibition of ignorance and denial of the plan that is so beautifully concealed and revealed in Romans 11. The continual trumpeting of the noble cause of the evangelism of the heathen is an effective tool marginalizing the activity of those who don't march in their parade, who don't chant the mantra of the SRA handler Billy Graham.

When income is being derived through the sales of a range of survival gear, goods and services, it makes good business sense to motivate people to prepare for survive such threats as famine and persecution. In the context of the saints, it must be asked why it is that we should occupy ourselves with matters of survival. Arguments of all kinds are made to suggest prepping is a legitimate occupation, but for the Bride, there is a prophetic modeling in Gethsemane that informs us how our own survival is not our concern, but rather the Lord's.

When it comes to the genders and their roles, what attention is given to walking in the light of such as 1 Timothy 2:9-19, or 1 Corinthians 14:34-35, or 1 Peter 3:1? Has there been an exemption granted for the saints living in the last days? Did I miss the memo? Can any good come from holding the expression of authority and the order of creation through the practice of headcovering in such low esteem? A picture of the intent for this motion into lawlessness has formed very clearly as antichrist and antibride agencies manifest all around us. (See Compete According to the Rules - or Forfeit the Prize & Series Links: Jezebel vs Sarah & Headcovering)

I'm convinced that those I hear identifying a coming great deception are partially right in what is being said, but in context this must also be seen as something of a setup. It does appear to me that the alien-UFO benevolent space Daddy card is planned to be played as part of the antichrist delusion, but to identify that as “the great deception” falls short; dangerously short. Being informed about those matters isn't enough, and neither will it be enough to simply label the next pope as the false prophet.

What I understand about 1 Thessalonians 5 and the importance of no longer needing to be written to about times and epochs is not something I can dismiss. I believe I understand just how rare the elect of Matthew 24:43 will be, who alone will not be deceived. I believe what is written in 2 Thessalonians 2:2 pertains to a very specific time and people, and that those who will have failed to discern will be found unworthy of the Bridegroom at His coming. This informs me that the crowd of people herding into the “bike lane,” as useful as much of the work being done is to us, are still being engaged in what will ultimately be recognized as more filtering mechanisms set in place to screen out the Bride. The mechanism is required to prepare the Bride, it must be said, but alongside that it must be said that to do as they do without greater discernment will result in forfeit.

Babylon is as Babylon does.

23 But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” ~ John 4:23-24