"Witness of the Father"

"And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not." (John 5:37-38 KJV)

 "This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Timothy 1:15-17 KJV) 

 If you have heard my testimony before, please bare with me, as this is another opportunity for me to share, what I believe to be relevant and worthy of sharing in this moment. Having been raised in and out of the J.W. cult, which some might consider to be a religion, I have seen first hand how they use their organization as a means to hold people captive; making the simple act of doubting what is handed down by their prophets, or elders, as the chain that binds their followers.

 One thing is for sure, they completely deny that Jesus was or is God! This too was my mistaken belief, as it was what I was taught growing up. For good reasons, I refused to fellowship any longer with that group, or any other religion, and considered myself a believer in God, but not a follower of Jesus Christ. That is the relevant connection with this portion of Scripture. 

 Since accepting Christ Jesus as my Lord and Savior, I have come to believe that there is more to that captivity than just human influence or the fear of becoming cast out; the main issue at hand is one that is spiritual in nature; mainly, the spirit of the antichrist. Don't think for a moment that is not real, because I have seen it at work in those that come knocking; and I saw it revealed in my own family. 

 Another way that I have witnessed the power the he yields, is by watching what it does to those who are believers, but that study the cults; especially when they study what the J.W.'s teach, in order to be ready to witness to them. This is real, and it is surely a real danger! Study the Word of God, and use that to combat the enemy, not by leaning what it is that is surely what the enemy has conjured up! 

 If you lack understanding in this, then you surely should stay far away from false teaching; as it is very plain in God's word that we must desire the pure milk of the word, not clutter our minds with strange doctrine or fables. By dwelling on that which is false, I believe that we allow the enemy a foothold into our minds, which can do nothing but twist our understanding of the truth.

 That said, I also believe that the use of recreational drugs will do the same exact thing: scramble our minds in strange and unusual interpretations of God's word. If I have anything useful to say, that fact about what drugs can do to the mind, is one area I have experience in; 40 years ago, but still there are traces of influence from time to time. I can use that for my defense, just in case I speak out of line! 

 Anywho; this thing which Jesus says, saying, "Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape", is not just a fact that must be understood, it is the result of a spiritual blackout. Basically, the spirit of the antichrist is what causes this to happen, a clouding of the mind and a hardening of the heart; the likes of which makes hearing and seeing the True and Living God virtually impossible. 

 Even these religious leaders, who pride themselves on seeing and hearing that which they believe in, they actually only see what they have taught themselves to understand; anything else is not received. If only we could learn to treat the Truth in that same manor...

"This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare; holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away, concerning faith have made shipwreck: of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme." (1 Timothy 1:18-20 KJV)