How can you discern God’s voice above the many urgent siren calls made by well-meaning ministers who built their faith upon shifting sand? While offering roadmaps to a renewed sense of purpose and promising to show you how to reclaim, revitalize, and renew your faith in Jesus, the siren call is not the voice of the Lord, but rather the voice of instinctive reasoning.

Many Christians lost their way because they responded to the siren call of revival, fasting and deliverance, as they followed after wayward ministers.

“Siren song” is a word of knowledge God provided for this teaching to break this spell and to loosen Christians from the hold that false ministers had over the church. The siren song is a unique word of knowledge. It has to do with offering something that has great appeal and is very alluring to believers to spur them into action, but ends in disaster.

Jesus said that His will is for us to build our faith upon His firm foundation. Yet a deadly mindset exists that is so common to the natural man: to build his faith upon the shifting sand of his instinctual (natural) reasoning. The problem is, when God tries your faith, there is nothing of Jesus in your faith to sustain it. (Mt. 7:24-27)

Did you know: God tries your faith to determine whether it is built upon the foundation of truth He gave in Jesus’ covenant, or built upon shifting sand.

Because so many ministers use partial truths to talk about their standing with God, it’s difficult for Christians to grasp that Jesus is the only standard God has given to measure our faith.

God is challenging the foundation of that trust in partial truths because it’s built upon sand. Let’s look at a few examples where trust is placed in partial truths and shifting sand theology:

1. We often hear ministers say that God is true (partial truth), but also claim that they don’t need doctrinal cleansing (shifting sand theology).
2. We often hear ministers teach that God has a purpose for you (partial truth), but also profess that they don’t need Jesus’ covenant terms, stewardship, or tools (shifting sand theology).
3. We often hear ministers agree that God gives gifts to the church (partial truth), but also declare that the Holy Spirit will teach them (shifting sand theology).

When Apostle Paul says to the church, “be followers of me” he’s pointing to apostolic stewardship teaching the standard of truth God placed in Jesus alone as the foundation of our faith. And when Apostle Paul further admonishes, “mark them which walk” contrary to my example, he’s instructing the church how to use God’s scale to break away from those who say they believe in Jesus, but are enemies of the cross of Christ. (Phil. 3:17-18)

I’ll lay in order the distinction God makes between instinctive reasoning and reasoning by faith. Each resource a different kingdom and each uses a different value scale.

God gives grace to set focus on Christ in expectation of healing our souls from the damages of sin. Grace awakens an appetite to truly know Him and please Him without offense. This is why God sets apostles first in the Church (1 Cor. 12:28). Truth comes by instruction and makes known the distinction God set between things which join faith to His pleasure and those things which offend Him.

Without truth being prepared in the heart under the oversight of living apostles, new believers are left to fend for themselves. As Jesus said, “they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd” (Matthew 9:36). Truth prepares hearts for exercising discernment. Without this instruction, grace is taken to self and cannot be received back to God in reflection of Jesus Christ in the heart.

Grace is how God speaks to us of Christ. When grace becomes self-referencing, truth is replaced by a lie (Rom. 1:25). This frustrates grace by failing to meet God’s expectation of pure reciprocation.

Sand theology begins with applying scripture to one’s own mindset. Jesus opened this up for us in Matthew 13 where He talks about how the word of His kingdom is sown in the heart. Keep in mind that Jesus is speaking of the source, the seed, and the expectation of fruit.

God gives grace to soften the heart and truth is given to fortify the heart with growth essentials for His seed. As with certain crops which only grow in certain environments, His good seed grows only in the proper environment which joins God’s Spirit with the preparation of truth in the heart.

Matthew 13:19-23
¹⁹ When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.
²⁰ But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon [quickly] with joy receiveth it;
²¹ Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.
²² He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
²³ But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

Jesus identified the purpose and will of God which centers on fruit bearing. Jesus gave three examples of fruitless activity first to set the foundation of truth apart from sand theology.

• The first example concerns barriers to receiving instruction from the stewards sent by Him. Without truth in the heart, these lack understanding and cannot retain this gift from God in their knowledge.
• The second example concerns double mindedness. They return to trusted instincts when their initial joy is challenged. Lacking a firm foundation for faith, they remain isolated from the power God provides for overcoming the nature, pattern, and design we were born into.
• The third example Jesus gives concerns those who interpret the grace of God as a challenge to address the cares of the world and their struggles of life. They are expecting God to assist them in setting right all things they see wrong in the world.

Each of these fruitless examples are taught by the false religious system. False pastors, teachers, and prophets blindly confirm those things while thinking they are serving God. While they seek to be received by the world, they lament that their faith is lacking. They created the chaos and now want to be seen in the eye of the storm of conflict to make a way for peace.

We can see why God says that they lack the apostolical character.

To turn this tide of deception and destruction, God initiated and sustains His restored apostolic government and priesthood to receive back to Himself the fulness of Christ in His fruit with joy.

Apostle Paul addressed those who were measuring the value of knowledge by intellectual prowess and recognition of others. He lets them know that God measures the value of knowledge by its power for fruit according to His purpose and will. (1 Cor. 4:19-20)

Apostle Eric vonAnderseck often brings this out saying that, “veracity is measured in light of its power.” Everything in God’s covenant and kingdom reflects Christ and bears the mark of His approval.

Apostle Paul goes on teaching that, “Knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifieth” (1 Cor. 8:1) and then also writes, “Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned.” (1 Tim. 1:5)

He understands truth is manifested in the person of Jesus Christ, what He says, and the product of His work in the heart and that charity is the expression of that fruit.

When grace is measured and valued on the scale of Christ, we see a yielding of the will in recognition of Christ.

This recognition comes from faith being joined to the divine power from above which immobilizes the flesh through separation from the kingdom, source, and substance of Satan that God calls sin.

We are untethered from Satan’s kingdom (sin) as faith is first joined to the true source of light and life from above. The shell of self-confidence is cracked by the impact of grace and truth as the will is being humbled in obedience to the voice of God in the elements of the gospel.

As we continue yielding in active agreement with God, false confidence further diminishes as the process of regeneration continues under God’s covenant care.

• We are learning through experience as His work in us progresses.
• We are witnessing the true purpose and value of Jesus’s death and resurrection through the cycles of our spiritual growth and so He becomes our testimony.

As we are witnessing the resurrection power of God forming the life of Christ in our hearts, we are being made witnesses of the record of Jesus. Our charity testifies of this divine work in us which God initiates and carries to completion by His own power and design.

As we observe the consistency of God rewarding our choices of faith, we continue molding our expectations with His covenant terms and promises. By these, we learn to trust God in recognition of the value God places in the consistency of our faith being joined to Jesus.

God daily grants us new experiences by this new power and by these our culture and language is being changed to reflect His kingdom and image from above. Each cycle we overcome by faith brings about a cutting away of dead things and an increase of His living substance. By this, our charity remains free of guile and full of life as we learn how to handle the living Word of God in grace and truth.

The progression of this work in us is measured by charity because charity expresses the product of grace and truth being joined together in the heart. Charity flows freely as the Father rewards our choices with more grace while enlarging the heart for increased fruit bearing.

Again, we can see the wisdom of the Lord’s teaching that, “veracity is measured in light of its power.” The sand theology that is heard in the siren’s call has no power to produce the work of Christ in us.

Spiritual growth abounds through the flow of grace. We can consider how the 3C’s of Conformity, Consistency, and Communication encapsulates these cycles of progression which begin with faith and end with charity.

We are overcoming ourselves, the world, and the devil as we have learned the value of restricting our faith to these divine gifts from above. As Apostle Paul was teaching, the knowledge of God’s kingdom is identified by its power to form Christ in us.

God rewards our choices of faith with gifts which are keys for unlocking our understanding as we labor in faith with them. Apostle Peter also brought this out in his second epistle.

As you read through these verses, notice how Apostle Peter brings out the powers of grace and peace being joined together for the purpose of multiplying the fruit of faith in the heart. He sets order for observing the flow of grace from waking the seed to the growth of the tree to the flower and the fruit on its branches for multiplication of that same seed.

2 Peter 1:2-4
² Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
³ According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
⁴ Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Grace awakens this hope, but false knowledge robs the heart of faith.

God’s true hope is according to His promise of life which is according to the terms of His new covenant in Jesus Christ. All things that came before Jesus stood only as types and shadows pointing to Him as the only true and original power and pattern for life from above.

When the elements of grace and peace are removed from the context of covenant faith in Jesus Christ (shifting sand theology), they become words without power or lifeless knowledge. This is not the life of Christ, but rather a separation from covenant contact that brings a separation from the divine power.

God’s divine power is needed to form His divine nature in the heart through the supernatural process which He calls regeneration.

God’s grace and peace are multiplied through His knowledge, but they are not multiplied apart from His power. His power from above bears witness to Christ in the tokens provided by Him for our contact with Him by virtue of faith joined to these things.

Earlier we talked about partial truths. Preaching by partial truths is the practice of isolating the words and promises of God from His covenant terms, which is a deceitful lie taught by Satan. These partial truths find their expression in sand theology as Christians are taught to follow instinctive reasoning to resource self.

Giving Biblical context to the lie does not give it power. This is why we see that those who embrace the lie experience weariness and frustration as they have to labor with lesser powers to prop up the projections of their imaginations. This leaves people thinking that faith is weak and imaginary and then pastors wonder why people are leaving their churches.

Apostle Paul brought out this distinction when he wrote, “For the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power.” (1 Corinthians 4:20)

In contrast, the kingdom of darkness is in words without power.

This is why countless other gospels prove powerless to bring forth the expected cleansing of the conscience and leave the soul without fruit. Lacking power to experience the operation of God, believers are left to their own devices and seek to put forth a show of faith in various activities which keep them looped to derision, despondency, and death without any power from God to sustain what they are calling faith.

What began with a spark and flashed quickly with religious zeal, ended up quenched by the waters of this world because Jesus was never in the powerless tools ministers chose to engage with even as they thought it was all being done in His name.

While false ministers pointed to acts showing support for social change and kindness towards others, Jesus pointed to greater things in contrast to expose the nakedness of their souls and the lack of power in their many false gospels. (Rev. 3:17-20)

Jesus pointed to the divine fruit which expresses the power of His seed. Jesus brought out a clear distinction between good trees and corrupt trees by measuring the fruit that expresses the source of the power of their seed.

Matthew 7:16-17
¹⁶ Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?
¹⁷ Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

When looking to the Bible for self-assurance, people often interpret this to mean acts of kindness and compassion towards one another. They reason within themselves that, just as they read about Jesus using the example of the Good Samaritan as a teaching point, so must their acts of kindness be recognized as being fruitful in the sight of God.

Knowing that this line of reasoning is common, Jesus went on to set a challenge to this natural thinking pattern.

Let’s take a look at where Jesus identifies Himself as the standard and measuring stick used by God. Notice in verse 23 that Jesus does not say “it is written” because the scriptures cannot replace the need for the steward making known God’s standard.

Matthew 7:21-23
²¹ Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.
²² Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?
²³ And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Jesus is identifying Himself to them as God’s measuring stick.

Notice that Jesus did not say, “it is written” but “I will say to them”. God set discernment in Jesus while they were setting discernment in themselves. He was addressing the inclination to reason within oneself when using scriptures as one’s guiding light and moral compass.

Jesus was speaking of those trying to associate themselves with Him in expectation of gaining favorable recognition from God without regard for the terms God set for covenant contact with Him. They are reading their bibles, going to church, and regarded by others as devout Christians.

While they have much to say about Jesus, what does Jesus say about them? Jesus says plainly, “I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” Jesus identifies their “works of faith” as working “iniquity” because they remained under Satan’s shadow.

We know from the EVA Terms Glossary that iniquity is the state of the soul under the influence of Satan’s kingdom, absent of Christ. Jesus recognized the source of the fruit they were giving expression to as they were thinking they could gain recognition by imitation while remaining independent from the anointing of God.

Jesus said, “Ye shall know them by their fruits” and also “I never knew you”. Do you see the connection He’s making there? God has determined to know us only by the fruit of faith in our hearts.

God sets His standard in hearing His voice through the steward, not the written record. The Bible confirms Jesus Christ and points to the promises of covenant faith in Him but cannot manifest His fruit in the soul apart from faith being joined to Him in holiness.

Let’s consider the betrayal of Jesus as an example. Jesus personally instructed Judas Iscariot and gave power to him over unclean spirits (Matthew 10:1) and yet, he chose to nurture Satan’s counsel in his heart which culminated with Jesus being betrayed with a kiss concealing deception. The kiss demonstrated that Judas was bonding and building with the kingdom of darkness and the spirit of antichrist. (Lk. 22:3-48)

Judas had been giving lip service to God while continuing to nurture hopes of advancing his own interests. He reasoned within himself as concerning who Jesus was and how he could personally benefit from being associated with Him. In contrast, Simon Peter recognized Jesus as the Christ and Jesus recognized the kingdom Peter was bonding and building with as He said, “flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 16:16-17)

Judas tried forming a relationship with Jesus on the basis of the flesh even while being a firsthand witness of the power of God being manifested in Him and through contact with Him. None of those experiences worked faith in his heart because he was resisting the grace of God in favor of Satan’s lie concealed in his thinking.

Jesus taught, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). Judas preferred Satan’s counsel which resonated with his natural desire to increase his own worth in the sight of others. Judas entered into active agreement with those who were opposing Jesus because they were working with the same spirit of antichrist.

Jesus makes this clear as we see in the gospel of John.

John 5:37-40
³⁷ 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.
³⁸ And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.
³⁹ Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.
⁴⁰ And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

While many still believe that they can know God by reading about Him, Jesus makes it clear that this is not the case. Notice Jesus says “might” have life. Not all who come to Him saying “Lord, Lord” are known of Him. Many are deceiving themselves by trying to use Jesus to glorify their own house while calling that faith in God.

Did you know: While one may change their thinking and their behavior by what they read in the scriptures; this is not what God calls regeneration.

This lie is taught by the false religious system and its roots go all the way back to the Garden where Satan offered his own interpretation of what God had said.

The scribes, lawyers, Pharisees, and even the Sadducees were all well educated in scriptures and original languages. They were standing fast in deeply rooted religious traditions, and yet, their hearts were not prepared to receive the manifest Word of God in the person of Jesus Christ. They were thinking that their study of the letters would prepare them to receive the living Word of God, but they were standing in error.

As the five foolish virgins, they knew there would be an opening of the door, but they had not been nurturing grace and truth of God in their hearts. Their confidence stood in error as it was constructed from the writings of Moses and not in the source of the Urim.

While Abraham and Moses followed the Spirit and exercised faith in recognition of Christ in tokens provided by God, these were simply role playing in association with God’s anointed servants while concealing deception in their hearts.

Jesus exposed this delusion.

Jesus exposed this delusion when saying, “Search the scriptures; for in them [in the scriptures] ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.” They were nurturing Satan’s perspective in their hearts and manifesting the fruit of iniquity evidenced by striving against Jesus. They defended themselves with scriptures torn from the context of the One who spoke to Abraham and Moses from above.

Jesus points to Himself as the remedy.

Jesus points to Himself as the remedy in saying, “Come to Me that you might have life”. Jesus, the man standing before them, was identifying Himself as the only contact point for their faith to be made living by the angel of the Lord working with Him.

God was measuring the value of their faith by their recognition of the one sent by Him to cleanse them in preparation for His new work.

Let’s look at another example of God using recognition of His stewardship as a standard. Notice how Chief Apostle John says, “we” and “us” while identifying recognition of the voice of God in the preaching of the steward as being the point of discernment.

1 John 4:6
We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

God sets the standard for faith in remaining joined to stewards sent by Him because His angel is working with them. We’re again talking about the apostolical character.

Living faith remains true to the pattern of His truth and brings forth fruit according to His power.

God sends these gifts for faith to be joined to Jesus, giving power for life through these things which join faith to Him.

Our faith is made living as we hear His voice in their preaching because He is manifesting His Word and His name in them as oracles and ambassadors of His kingdom. God initiates and sustains this pattern of communication which glorifies Him with pure praise. (2 Cor. 4:2, 5:20; Heb. 5:12; Tit. 1:3)

Those who prefer independence set up their own systems of imitation to rival God. This is the false church which anoints herself with perfume made from mixtures of worldly wisdom while hoping to mask the stench of death working in her members.

God is making clear the contrast as He has restored His Spiritual Government in these last days to oversee building in His spiritual house of faith in prayer and unfeigned charity. We are made part of this building as we are functioning in His restored spiritual priesthood in the purity of faith and charity.

The true church of God is adorned with the virtues of Christ which are concealed from the carnal minded but revealed by those who testify of His divine nature being formed in them by His divine power.