Followers of the Way

"And in their mouth was found no guile: for they are without fault before the throne of God."

There are a couple things I must share with you. The first pertains to the 144,000. God I believe started placing it in my heart as of last year that I am one of them. So the message I bring today is going to be unconventional, and perhaps to some, controversial. What I am here to tell you today is that we are no liars. We don't resort to deceit to accomplish our objectives. We are, in fact, followers of the Truth.

Here, some will take major objection, saying, "Isn't this an objectivist philosophy? Aren't you advocating for a rationalism, an empiricism, and the scientific method by saying that you are serving the Truth? Christians serve Christ alone!"

But before we go any further I must tell you that our Lord is "the Way, and the Truth, and the Life." We, as servants of truth are serving not any truth, not our version of it, but we serve the Truth, the Christ. We abhor those who lie to our faces, who use treachery and deceit, namely guile, to confuse or mislead us. We know no method of lying unless the Truth is a lie, and Paul says how vain that Truth is, if the resurrection did not occur. The greatest hoax on mankind if we are not right some have said. So, yes, the 144,000 are sworn to tell the Truth and nothing but the Truth.

But then the reality the world is faced with is that of the Truth, we also confront, that we tell. Our words do not appease, and to the extent that we harm ourselves in recounting our actions, we do great harm to ourselves. If I am telling you of, for instance, what took place Thursday night, I am bound and sworn to report faithfully the facts, no matter the conclusions you may draw from that about me as a person, but I must tell faithfully. This of course opens one up to much criticism and in many cases, unwarranted criticism. But that is a thing we must face, as we know no recollection but the Truth, and we tell it, no matter the harm it causes us.

"Christian" is a lie.

Our hypothetical critic warns us that, "Christians serve Christ alone [not the 'truth']!"

I even dispute this, because simply, Christians for the most part are not Christians. "Christian" itself has the meaning "Christ-like" and because of our state of fallenness most who use the name Christian for ourselves are speaking falsely of our name. We are not Christ-like as we cannot attain the perfect state of Christ on this earth. For the sake of religion, and for weak-minded brethren, I identify myself as a Christian. But for the sake of philosophy and being technically precise, I choose to identify myself as a follower of the Way.

But then there are those who object to this distinction, perhaps on the suspicion that those who speak in these terms might be cultists or babblers like the pagans were in Yeshua's day.

But here I must tell you, I am not fit to be called Christ-like. But I can in my weakness, be a follower of the Way, the Truth, and the Life. So my calling as one of the 144,000 is to be a follower of the Truth, and as a Christian, to simply be a follower of the Way.

I follow the Way, not my way, your way, or one other variation of ways, but the only Way there is! I am a follower of the Way.

Also remember that the earliest Christians in Acts, prior to being called Christians were simply called followers of the Way, because that is what we are, followers of the Way, the Christ.

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An aspect of prophets that is a variation of the 144,000. While the latter are followers of the Truth, and will speak that Truth even at the risk of people criticising them or at the risk of harm to themselves, prophets do this but do one other thing as well. If an event took place that would tend to make the prophet look bad, then that prophet as a follower of the Truth must tell the facts as they occurred, even at great risk to himself. But in it, the prophet is called to glorify God in the midst of humility. He not only brings himself down but he uplifts God in that.

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Speaking as to the prophetic ministry of the 144,000, they will find a balance that the prophetic ministry offers, is that in the midst of humbling oneself, he glorifies God and God alone. The perfect debasement of the prophet is where the full honor of God shines forth.

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And finally, we serve the Life because when we once learned that we die to ourselves, as Christ died for us, then we learned that Christ is given life in spirit, not here physically with us as He has ascended already, but dwells in us, convicting us to live the life He would have us live.

Therefore, we are dead to ourselves. We live no longer according to our day planners or our amibitions, but perfectly submitted to how God would have us live.

We are followers of the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Many people who call themselves Christians are just simply not. They do not speak truth and only the truth. They prefer to speak it when it is convenient, then shy away from it when it becomes uncomfortable. They mislead others by telling them of false ways that are not the Way, and they live lives not in devotion to the Life but out of their own lust and desire, their own day planners and ambitions.

They simply are not Christ-like. We must recognize therefore that we are on the straight and narrow path together, trying to reach that most perfect Way to the best of our ability, and we are not Christ-like yet, until we have taken on our glorified bodies and shed this wicked temporal flesh. Then we will truly be Christians, God's people, and we will know Him most deeply.