Choose Life or Death Part 2

By Riaan Engelbrecht

Deuteronomy 30 outlines the Offer of Life or Death. In the Old Testament life and death translated into blessings and curses for the Israel nation. Under the Law of Moses, the Lord presented to His people a very simple choice – follow God and live, or disobey God and die. Take note of verse 15: See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction. Under the New Covenant, we are either going to follow God and live in abundance – spirit, soul and body – or we are going to choose to allow ourselves to suffer the touch of death. The Life and Death series of five volumes explore in-depth how to walk in God’s divine life, how to guard over such life and to avoid the pitfalls of death that manifest in so many ways, not just physical.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Riaan Engelbrecht
• Release date: Jan 11, 2022
• ISBN: 9781005704445

Riaan Engelbrecht

Ps Riaan Engelbrecht is the founder of Avishua Ministries, the vice-president of Lighthouse Ministries International and the station manager of Lighthouse Radio. His ministry deals primarily with the prophetic, but he also has a passion to teach the Truth of the Lord Jesus and His Kingdom for only the Truth of the Lord sets us free (John 8:32).  He is also a qualified and seasoned journalist.

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Table of Contents

Choose Life or Death Part 2 (In pursuit of God)

A living relationship, not religion

Beware sin and iniquity

Walk in discipline to stand strong

Standing for the uncompromising Truth

The cross and the ladder – divine reconciliation

Walking in manifested triumph

Abiding in God’s will to walk in life

Life found in gearing and loving God

Abiding in His perfect will

Let God’s will as established be done in in your life

Israel’s dispensations of provision and the need for understanding the seasons

Walking in holiness to unlock anointing

Come forth those enslaved and entombed!

Made alive in Christ

Life is in the firstfruit and the firstborn

The false peace and the drawing out of the devil

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Also By Riaan Engelbrecht

About the Author

Also by the same author:

Perilous Times Series Volumes 1- 9

In Pursuit of God Series Volumes 1 -15

The Holy Spirit Series Volumes 1 - 3

The Disciple of God Series Volumes 1 - 5 (Vol 2 Part A and B)

Deliverance Volumes 1 – 3 (Vol 1 Part A and B)

Crossroads to Freedom Volumes 1-4

The Kingdom of God Series Volumes 1- 4

The Prophetic Series Volumes 1-5

Apologetics Series Volumes 1-7

In pursuit of God: Choose Life or Death Part 2

This is a distributed edition from Lighthouse Ruach Publishing in partnership with Avishua Ministries.

The author’s intellectual property rights are protected by international Copyright law. You are licensed to use this digital copy strictly for your personal enjoyment only: it must not be redistributed or offered for sale in any form.

Scriptures quotes from the New Kings James Bible, Amplified, and the New International Version.

FOR MORE FREE STUDY material visit www.avishuaministries.wixsite.com/avishua 

Table of Contents

A LIVING RELATIONSHIP, not religion

Beware sin and iniquity

Walk in discipline to stand strong

Standing for the uncompromising Truth

The cross and the ladder – divine reconciliation 

Walking in manifested triumph

Abiding in God’s will to walk in life

Life found in fearing and loving God

Abiding in His perfect will

Let God’s will as established be done in in your life 

Israel’s dispensations of provision and the need for understanding the seasons

Walking in holiness to unlock anointing  

Come forth those enslaved and entombed

Made alive in Christ

Life is in the firstfruit and the firstborn

The false peace and the drawing out of the devil

A living relationship, not religion

The Church is in chaos because the Church has lost its way. And by definition, the Church in this context is the institution of man-made systems prevalent in both the Catholic and Protestant Churches. And this should be a concern, for many believers are spiritual products of such an institution.

There is the true faith of God – where the Lord Jesus is the Head, and where the Holy Spirit empowers, equips and transforms. It is the Ecclesia or holy priesthood made up of the people of God who are the living stones. The church is thus the people, and it becomes an organism, not an organisation. Such a glorious state of true faith and true relationship was found during the first 300 years after the ascension of Jesus.

Yet, today, we walk not in the Spirit, but in religion. When we walk in religion, we walk according to a man-made system, and thus deception. It is man seeking after his idea of god, instead of God searching for man.

There is life in a relationship, yet death in legalism, tradition and man-made instructions. Jesus came not to establish a religion, but to show the true way of life. Yet mankind decided to create a religion called Christianity where man has made the rules, determined the truths and governed the people via hierarchical systems of leadership.

It is a sad system of spiritual abuse and neglect that has caused the religion to disempower people, demilitarize the masses and cause spiritual death to creep in. Think about this: God empowers, and religion disempowers. God enthrones, religion dethrones.

God wants us all to have a pure relationship with Him by following Him in Spirit and Truth. Consider Jesus’ teaching in John 3 when teaching on being reborn. Jesus makes a clear distinction between a follower of God and those who simply believe in Jesus. A follower is born again and is led by the Spirit. A believer believes, but has not yet submitted and is thus not following the Lord. A follower follows and his entire being speaks about God.

There is a difference between those who follow Jesus by being led by the Spirit and those who simply believe in His divinity. One is the true believer who worships in Spirit and Truth, the other ends up following a religion designed to worship Jesus.

Galatians speaks about the ways of the world/flesh and the fruit of the Spirit. And those who walk by the Spirit (Romans 8) will not walk in the ways of the flesh, and for those who are in the Spirit, then for them, there is no condemnation. Therefore Paul also draws a clear distinction between walking according to the Spirit and the flesh, therefore for him as for John (see 1 John 2) there is two distinct paths – the path of the Spirit and the path of the world.

Thus, there is a distinction between walking the two paths, but you cannot walk both. This implies there is a path of holiness [a life in the Spirit] and a path of the flesh [life in the world]. One is a path of serving God as a living faith, and the other path is choked by the spirit of religion.

Those who therefore follow the Spirit are the true born-again believers, and those who simply believe or follow a religion will end up following the other path.  We can argue this as much as possible, but we either follow God in Spirit, thus led by the Spirit, or we follow an idea. One is based on relationships, the other on man-made rules and regulations. The former gives life, the latter kills.

Therefore, for those who walk according to the Spirit, they will strive for holiness, for this is the work of the Spirit within man. And by such a believer there is a great hunger a desire to shake off the world and to seek God.  On the other hand, those who follow a religion, or an idea of God, or their version of such a spiritual walk, most likely end up grappling with issues regarding liberty, legalism and license to sin.

They grapple because they are not led by the Spirit, for the Spirit works within the true follower to be conformed in the glorious image of God. This is not the work of religion, which exalts man as god.

2 Corinthians 3: 4 And we have such trust through Christ toward God. 5 Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, 6 who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

Jesus came face to face with religion in the form of the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They were blind to the Truth that stood before them, their hearts were calloused and their ears stopped.

Such is the work of religion. It blinds us. It stops up our ears. It leads us down the path of the flesh and the world. It sets no one free but captivates. It liberates us not but enslaves us. Religion speaks of legalism, and legalism speaks of human nature and enslaving traditions.

Composed of archaic traditions and obsolete practices, and masterminded by the enemy of our souls, the spirit of religion seeks to keep individual believers and the Church stagnant and unaware of the call of the Holy Spirit for change. Although not always acknowledged, religion exerts tremendous control over minds and souls. This spirit was evident when the Pharisees failed to recognise the coming of Christ. Today the spirit of religion can be so subtle that we are unaware of its impact, instead of being deceived into believing that God is directing us.  Only when we recognise the characteristics of this counterfeit religion can we be freed to experience the transformation of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in the heart of the Church.

We always have to consider the following test: This new doctrine, this new religious habit, this new view of truth, this new spiritual experience, how has it affected my attitude toward and my relation to God, Christ, the Holy Scriptures, self, other Christians, the world and sin?

No teaching on a religious mindset would be complete without reviewing the woes of Jesus (Matthew 23). His extreme sorrow and deep anguish are revealed to us as He addresses the religious scribes and Pharisees. These scribes and Pharisees are types of modern-day carnal religious people that resist the work of God.

Many people fail to recognize that the Word of God exposes the wolves (Acts 20:29, 30), the dogs (Philippians 3:2), the deceitful workers (2 Corinthians 11:13) and, in the Gospel according to Matthew, those who drive such religious agendas. The woes themselves give us clear insight into the major characteristics of such a mindset. The woes teach us that those who upheld religion:

•  Shut up the Kingdom of heaven.

•  Raise false sons.

•  Are blind guides and fools.

•  Are legalistic hypocrites.

•  Are full of extortion and excess.

•  Possess a murdering spirit.

The word woe is the Greek word ouai, which is a deep-felt expression of grief.

The eight woes of Jesus reveal His heart toward those with a strong flavour for religion. Scripture boldly admonishes us, Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away (2 Timothy 3:5). These woes all have one thing in common: the distain of the Lord Jesus Christ and His deep-felt expression of grief.

It Matthew 23, it was as if the Lord had enough. He had enough of where man dictates what is the truth and the way. Jesus had enough of the arrogance, the stubbornness and the deception. So He addressed it head-on, just like we are supposed to be addressing it head-on these days.

•  13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation.

Jesus made it clear that a religious mindset leads people not to victory, but to defeat. He made it clear a religious mindset is hypocritical and vile, for it leads us not to the truth but to an altered sense of reality and truth.

Still today, the same institution called Church – Catholic and Protestant – is so busy with its own programmes and agendas, preaching and teaching doctrines of the Self, that people are spiritually starving and are suffering from spiritual famine.

The Lord once showed how the Church – thus the religious institution of denominations suffering under the clergy/laity system – looks like starving people in a concentration camp.

Starvation comes from a lack of food and general nourishment. Jesus is the Living Waters and the Bread of Heaven. Yet, we are so busy leading people to follow a religion instead of Jesus that they never come to the source of life and hope and truth. Jesus said we must follow Him, and Isaiah 55 speaks about how we are called to drink from the living waters and eat from the eternal bread free of charge.

These days, we are so busy accumulating wealth and fame and popularity, using the pulpit for our own gain and stature that the masses are starving and are spiritually dying. We thus have a situation where the lost are brought to Church, are led to an idea of God, but then subsequently are starved of further living waters or bread. It is a sick and cruel joke – we lead them into the Sanctuary only to devour for gain.

We devour, for money now rules the religion of Christianity, and one’s popularity and reputation are more important than dying unto self for the glory of God.

Jesus did not offer His disciples a life of prosperity and ease but called them to self-sacrifice and identification with Him. After telling them that He would be killed and raised from the dead, Jesus said, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it (Luke 9:23-24).

How we must be careful of how we handle God’s Word and His flock. In the Old Testament, the Lord instilled in the people a holy fear of how they handled the Ark of the Covenant – thus the Glory of the Lord. The people learned that it is a very serious and very weighty matter when it comes to the Glory of God. David learned this fact when he wanted to bring the Ark back to Jerusalem. David handled the Glory of God without much thought or intention, but he soon realized that one cannot handle the Glory with carelessness.

A religious mindset causes us to handle God’s Glory with carelessness, with familiarity and without much concern. It is indeed a very serious matter to deal with God’s Glory, and we need to treat God’s Presence with great respect and with great fear.

Years ago the Lord spoke about the living spiritual wells – call them focal places where the people can partake corporately in the spiritual waters and bread of heavens such as Churches, house churches or prayer groups. Yet, those standing guard over the wells too often is self-appointed, while those appointed have neglected their duties. We find a situation where the living waters are being exploited for gain by the ‘guardians’, while neglect has caused the wells to become polluted and others have dried up. So the Lord says that He will remove those who have not given the waters freely and with great care unto the spiritually thirsty and the needy, and replace them with spiritual under-shepherds willing to serve in Spirit and Truth.

Indeed, religion shuts up heaven, for it leads to spiritual starvation, famine and plague. Shutting up the Kingdom of heaven is a very common activity of religious people that neither advance nor increase in the things of God or allow anyone else to, either. They stand as demonic guards and buffet the things of the Spirit of God – all in the name of religious duty. The following Scriptures are examples of a religious mindset that shut up the Kingdom of heaven.

Woe unto you, lawyers! for ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in ye hindered (Luke 11:52).

But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus (KJV, Acts 4:17-18).

Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men (KJV, Acts 5:28-29).

Notice that those with a religious mindset had two distinctly evil traits: hindering and threatening. First, by hindering those who were entering into the substance of Spirit-life living and a deeper, more intimate relationship with the Lord. They attempt to take away the key of knowledge. Without knowledge and an accurate perception of Jesus, we can never mature spiritually or renew our minds (Romans 12:1-3). If we don’t think right, then we can’t believe right and if we don’t believe right, then faith is made void through ignorance. Secondly, we see that those with a religious mindset threatened those who were pursuing a life beyond the carnal religious form and lifeless traditions of men.

In the first woe, we also discover that religion will put on a show. In the Scripture below for a pretense could be translated to put on a show.

Hasn’t our churches become one glorious show of entertainment? It is no longer about true faith, about equipping the saints and reaching the lost, but it has become the music, about the eloquent preaching and the feel-good atmosphere.

We forget we are not in the entertainment business, but we are involved in a war against darkness and evil (Ephesians 6). There is nothing pretty about this war. There is nothing feel good about it. We are under attack and siege by the enemy, and religion wants us to live under a false sense of peace as if nothing is wrong. So we sit in our churches having a good old time, yet the devil is devouring families, the youth, marriages, and countries around us. The devil is devouring while we are having a good time, putting on a show. This cannot be!

This is a war, and if we think otherwise, why then would Jesus tell us to deny ourselves and carry the cross? Why would He tell us that blessed are those who will be persecuted? Why did James say in chapter 4 verse 4 that to be a friend of God is to be an enemy of the world?

We are fighting for the lost, for our families, for our countries, but we are caught up in the sheer hollowness of religious beauty, and allow ourselves to become blinded and led astray.

We need to wake up and wake up quickly.

We need to fight religion, for it causes us to slumber!

The second woe speaks of the following:

•  15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is won, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves.

True spiritual fathers and mentors should set an example, just like Paul set an example. Yet, these days, so many of these fathers and mentors and leaders are themselves confused, deceived and children of religion.  Those who are deceived are then birthing deceived children.

We are all called to disciple, but when we are ourselves not walking in God’s Ways or Truth, we shall breed children of religion who will also walk in the same spirit of darkness and confusion. Thus, the warning of Jesus that we end up making our spiritual children twice as much children of ‘hell’. Indeed, Jesus declares that the Pharisees are hypocrites that do everything possible to rise up religious sons just as legalistic as themselves.

The whole world is waiting for the manifestation of the sons of God (Romans 8:19). People with a religious mindset are not interested in the development of true sons of God. They work on duplicating others after their own religious images rather than sons of God who are conformed into His image.

Satan does not just come to deceive, but he comes to birth deceivers. Just as God raises children of Glory for His service, so the devil wants workmen who can go out and sow deception. Religion is at the forefront of such an onslaught, for it deceives, and those deceived will sow deception and so deceive others.

In Hosea 8:7 the prophet declares the following: They sow the wind, and reap the whirlwind.

Hosea prophesied from 750-725 BC in Israel. The nation was now several generations into its religious apostasy. Everything was getting worse across the nation. No one was still alive who could remember the glory of the faithful nation during the reigns of David and Solomon.

The stirring principles of justice and righteousness upon which their nation had been founded had also been forgotten. In their religion, they sometimes continued to pay verbal homage unto Jehovah but had mixed in plenty of paganism, including calf-worship and the worship of Baal. It had become a carnal affair designed to appeal to sensual appetites. It would continue to degrade until in the too distant future that they would even resort to sacrificing their own children on the altars of pagan deities.

The moral climate had also plummeted. Mentioned in the prophecy of chapter eight is such conduct as swearing, breaking faith, murder, stealing, adultery, deceit, drunkenness and dishonesty in business.

The political climate was no better than the moral and religious climates of today. Kings