Since Torah is being returned to the people, I’ve been involved in many discussions about the mainstream church.
The compassion of man creates an idea that those in the mainstream churches who do not understand Torah are victims of false teachers.
Makes sense, right?
People have been taught lies, therefore, they believe and follow those lies. They are completely unaware and not at fault, right?
And since they are not at fault, they will not be held responsible for false teaching, correct?

From man’s perspective, this idea makes sense.
But what does scripture say about it?
What does Messiah say about it?
Did you know He addresses this problem, more than once?

Messiah Himself tells us what will become of false teachers AND their followers:
Matthew 15
13 But He replied, “Every plant that My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. 14 Leave them alone; they are blind guides of the blind. And if a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.”
Both the teacher and the follower go into the pit.

Matthew 23:13
“But woe to you, Torah scholars and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not enter yourselves, nor do you let those enter who are trying to go in.”
The false teachers will not enter heaven, and neither will the people they teach.

Matthew 7:21-23 is another direct quote of Messiah, that tells the fate of those who believe false teachers [even though the teachers are not mentioned in this quote].
²¹ “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²² Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ ²³ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’

Messiahs says those who practice lawlessness will be rejected.
It does not say, “unless they were taught lies” or “unless they have a bad teacher”.
There are no exceptions given. Does this sound harsh?
Maybe…
But it is not for us to decide.
These are the words of Messiah.
Do you hear them?

We see this concept in another quote of Messiah, some of His final words to us:
Revelation 22:14-15
¹⁴ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. ¹⁵ But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie.

Those who do His commandments will be included.
Those who practice a lie will not be included.
Do you hear His voice?
Are you listening?
This quote of Messiah does not address where the lie came from.
Does it matter?
Do you think this is fair?
Do you think this is ok?
First of all, it is not up to us to decide these things.
Secondly, there are reasons for it.
Are you ready to look at more scripture, to understand why people might be condemned for following false teaching, when it seems it is not their fault?

So this is the question of the day.
Are people held accountable in scripture for following false doctrine or false teaching? It is the teacher’s fault, right?
The students are just victims, right?
In various places in scripture, we see that there is no excuse for believing and living false doctrine and false teaching. Let’s take a look.

If man is teaching lies that lead to the lake of fire, what can a congregant do to avoid this fate?
James tells us and it is quite simple.
James 1:5-8
⁵ If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. ⁶ But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. ⁷ For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; ⁸ he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Wow, can it really be that easy?
We just pray for wisdom, and Yehova will give it to us?
If one has been taught falsely, it can be remedied through prayer. If they listen to the Spirit, then they will not fall prey to false teaching.

John 14:26
²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you.

1John 2:26-27
²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who try todeceive you. ²⁷ But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

It really is that easy.  But we must have faith in what He reveals.
If we do not believe what He reveals to us, then we will receive nothing from Him.

To further this idea, we are told that salvation comes through grace, which comes by faith.  And faith comes by hearing the word of Yeshua Messiah.
If we hear the word from Yeshua, and doubt or reject it, then we do not have faith in the word of Messiah.
—– and that is where grace and salvation come from, according to scripture!

Ephesians 2:8
For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not from yourselves—it is the gift of Yehova. 
Where does this faith come from?
Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Messiah.

These are some of the many words of Messiah:
“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets.”

“If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”

“Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you—Moses, in whom you trust. ⁴⁶ For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. ⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”

“He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.”

Churches generally teach the opposite of what Messiah says.
People in the church believe Jesus did away with the law.
Are the people of the congregations listening to Messiah?
Nope.
Do they hear His voice?
Nope.
Are they His sheep?
Not according to what Messiah said.

If Messiah says one thing, and the church teaches the opposite, a choice has to be made by the people listening:
—The people can hear Messiah and know His voice and be His sheep.
—Or they can reject Messiah’s voice and believe the teachings of men.

If they stay in the church, and believe what is said, then who is at fault?
The teacher or the student?
Just the teacher, right?
Nope.
Both are at fault.
That is why Messiah says they both fall into the pit.
That is why Messiah says neither get to enter heaven.

Are we responsible for the truth?
No matter what church leaders teach, do the congregants have the truth available to them?
What if we have bibles available to us, but we don’t bother to study them?
What if we carry the truth under our arms in and out of churches for years or even decades, but do not study it for ourselves? [notice I said “study” not “read”]
What if the bible app on our phone just sits there, unused?
What if we relinquish the responsibility of studying the word to “religious experts” instead of studying it ourselves?
What if we go to a building each week and listen to some other guy tell me what scripture says and means?
All he may be capable of telling you is what other men told him in college.
What if we have the truth in the scriptures available to us, and we ignore it?
This is a problem.
This is happening.
Will Messiah give people a break for not knowing the truth, when it is all around them?
What if one day, on judgment day, a person takes a knee before Yeshua?  What if Yeshua Messiah asks them why they did not obey the truth?
Can they say, “I didn’t know the truth?”
Is that a valid excuse?
According to the very words of Messiah, it is not a valid excuse.
“I never knew you.  Depart from Me you workers of lawlessness.”

We have access to the scriptures.
We have UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS.
The words of Messiah are right there before our eyes, for all to see.
What if we don’t study them?
Or what if we read them, but ignore what He is saying, in favor of the teachings of men?

Just how important is it to hear the words of Messiah?
As in, REALLY LISTEN TO HIM?
Here is what He says about it:
John 7:14, 27
¹⁴ I am the good shepherd; and I know My sheep, and am known by My own. 
²⁷ My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. ²⁸ And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.“

These verses are short, but extremely important.
These verses are SIGNIFICANT.
Do you see what Messiah says?
His sheep hear His voice.
He knows His sheep, and His sheep know Him.

What if you are not His sheep?
“I never knew you.  Depart from Me you workers of lawlessness.”

 

OK, we’ve covered some difficult things.
But it gets even harder.
There is more:
Is there any chance that Yehova would intentionally withhold knowledge from people?
No, a loving God would not do that.
That could never happen.
What if I said it could happen?
What if I said it absolutely happens?
If I said that, would you believe it?
What if Messiah said it?
Would you believe it then?

Understanding of the truth is withheld from those with calloused hearts.
That is what Messiah says in Matthew 13:11-13, 15
11 He answered and said to them, “Because it has been given to you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. ¹² For whoever has, to him more will be given, and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. ¹³ Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand.
15 For this people’s heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.

If you want to understand this better, read all of Matthew 13.  Yeshua is explaining why He teaches in parables.
Messiah DOES NOT WANT some people to know the truth.
Does that shock you?
Do we serve an unloving God?
No, we do not.
This problem is the fault of people, not Messiah.
They have calloused hearts.
They do not love the words and the ways of Yehova!!
And what truth does He withhold from them?
The knowledge of the kingdom of heaven!!
This is important stuff!!

Obviously, I have to be wrong about this.
There is no way Messiah would prevent someone from learning how to get to heaven.
Check this out:
“Lest they should understand with their hearts and turn,
So that I should heal them.”
This is also from Matthew 13, but it is a quote from Isaiah.
Do you realize this is earth-shattering?
Messiah is saying that He withholds the truth from those with calloused hearts. Why?
He does not want them to learn the secrets of the kingdom of heaven and end up being saved through knowledge.

People have to loveYehova.
People have to love the words and the ways of Yehova.

People who do not know the truth may love church.
People love their pastors.
People love their friends at church.
People love the idea of being a Christian, so long as they get to decide what they will or won’t do.
People love the potlucks.
People love the Christmas plays.
People love the youth trips.
I could go on and on.

But keep in mind, most of these people are REALLY NICE PEOPLE.
Most of these people are kind to others, and loving, and generous.
But why do they not understand the truth of the kingdom of heaven?
Because Messiah withholds it from them.
Intentionally.

People in church claim to love God and love Jesus, but when we show them the truth of scripture, most reject it and sometimes get mean about it.
Their true colors show.
I’ve seen some of the nicest church ladies get downright vicious in their rejection of the truth. If they were seeking the truth, then the truth would be music to their ears.  They would be drawn to it.
But they seem to hate it.
Why?
Because they do not love the words and the ways of the Father.

It does not matter how much someone says they love Jesus.
What matters is if they do love Messiah the way that He says to.
John 14:15
“If you love Me, keep My commandments.”
John 14:21
He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me.
John 15:10
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.

I realize what I’m saying here is a tough pill to swallow!!
I get it.
But do not reject the truth, just because it does not sit well with you.

Do you want to know how to tell if someone loves Messiah?
We are told in scripture:
1John 2:3-6
The Test of Knowing Him
³ Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. ⁴ He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him. ⁶ He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

If someone says they love God, or they love Jesus, give them the test of 1John 2.
–Do they walk just as Messiah walked?
–Do they keep and honor Shabbat?
–Do they observe the appointed times, the biblical feasts?
–Do they wear tzitzits?
–Do they keep the commands?
If not, then they are liars and the truth is not in them.
Yes, that sounds harsh, but it is scripture and therefore it is truth.

So, if the truth is withheld from some, how can they possibly get it?
A loving God would surely provide a way, right?

2Corinthians Chapter 3 talks about what it takes to lift the veil of people who are blinded from the truth:
2Corinthians 3:14-16
14 But their minds were hardened. For up to this very day the same veil remains unlifted at the reading of the ancient covenant, since in Messiah it is passing away. 15 But to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart. 16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

Those who have calloused hearts can change everything! They just have to turn to Yehova! They just have to humble themselves, and submit to the Father.
Many will say they are humble.
Many will say they have submitted to God.
But the evidence in their life will show if they have or not.

None of this is random.
Nobody is a victim of false teaching.
Scripture tells us this, and makes it quite clear, many times over.
People are victims of their own lack of love for the words and the ways of Yehova. They are a stiff-necked people, as it is put in the Old Testament writings.

I spent over thirty years in the mainstream church, not understanding the truth.
How did I come to understand the truth?
How was my veil lifted, so that I might understand Torah?
Extreme Crisis.

I found myself staring at my oldest son who was fifteen at the time.
Why was I staring at him in crisis?
Because he was in ICU on life support and his cat scan showed he was brain dead.
Homicide detectives officially declared his body a crime scene at 3am.
That is a tough crisis.
That is heartbreaking.
This will cause a grown man to crumble.
And I did crumble…

On this night, I got on my knees before my Creator.
For the first time in my life, I fully understood that He was the Creator of all that there is, and I was nothing.
I was the dirt of the earth, and worthless without Him.
I humbled myself before Yehova, and I turned my heart to Him.

I hope that others do not have to go through an extreme crisis in order to turn to Yehova.
But that is what Tribulation is for.
The world considers Armageddon the end of the world, the ultimate punishment.
It is not.
It is merciful.
Tribulation is how Yehova will “gift” people with crisis, so they might turn to Him.
Having our veils lifted, and being allowed to understand His truth is a gift far more valuable than anything else.
It is worth a bit of crisis.
Even Tribulation.

And by the way, Yehova gave my son his life back.
You can read more details here:
My Testimony