Foolishness of Building Big Churches
Image of the Beast
Isaiah 35:8
A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, But it shall be for others.
Make no mistake not even a math error - Salvation is for the Holy. The road to life is narrow, it is not about the numbers. The purpose of this post is to expose the fallacy of counting and attempts by men to build large “churches”.
It seems the whole purpose of church is about getting more people to come to church and to build bigger churches and buildings, but that is not what God says we are to do. The spirit behind men wanting to build memberships and count numbers of congregants, souls supposedly saved and money coming into the ministry, is not of God, it is Satan. It has at its roots pride and selfish ambition which are the roots of the devil’s vine, not God’s. Consider the story about David and the CENSUS and what God did in His anger.
1 Chronicles 21:1-2, Then Satan stood up against Israel and moved David to number Israel. 2So David said to Joab and to the princes of the people, “Go, number Israel from Beersheba even to Dan, and bring me word that I may know their number.” 3Joab said, “May the LORD add to His people a hundred times as many as they are! But, my lord the king, are they not all my lord’s servants? Why does my lord seek this thing? Why should he be a cause of guilt to Israel?”
David told Joab to go count unholy people into the numbers and Joab questioned the logic and sanity of this action. David was driven by the Prince of Pride (Satan) to build his reputation, numbers and the esteem of all the people. The same thing is going on now. Building church this way is FLESH and brings judgment as David’s actions clearly show. Later once David realized his sin, David repented. God however was so angry that He still brought judgment although He showed mercy. Hear these words of the Lord.
So the LORD sent a pestilence on Israel; 70,000 men of Israel fell. 15And God sent an angel to Jerusalem to destroy it; but as he was about to destroy it, the LORD saw and was sorry over the calamity, and said to the destroying angel, “It is enough; now relax your hand.”
I hope this posts gets you to see what is happening in the Babylon churches. All the wrappings of religion and Jesus does not make anything right with God, He looks to the heart and what truly is behind our deeds. My Bible says God will destroy these man-made church palaces and meeting places in the end; along with all that partook of their evil. This destruction is a spiritual destruction and will be accomplished by God’s army.
Who Builds The Church?
It is God alone that saves. It is all Him all the time, in every single case, no exceptions. God builds the church not men. While are encouraged to assembly, we are warned sternly not to mix with the unholy, if we are children of God.
John 1:12-13 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God
Jesus said He would build His church.
Matthew 16:15-18 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.
Zecheriah 6:12 Then say to him, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, a man whose name is Branch, for He will branch out from where He is; and He will build the temple of the LORD.
The church belongs to Jesus and He is in fact the one that builds it. Man does not build it. In a crafty scheme of Satan, man has been tricked into fleshly works to build a church for God. This is folly. God saves people not men. It is all Him all the time.
James 3:15 tells us that selfish ambition is driven by demonic wisdom even when it has wrappings of religion. Satan has crept into the churches and into the minds and hearts of men. If Satan deceived Peter right there while speaking with Jesus don’t think the devil can’t come upon you. It is difficult to carnally grasp this truth but the Word of God does not lie. Out of carnal thoughts men have been overtaken by the enemy to do God’s work but the work is really not for God, it is demonic with all the religious wrappings. Satan uses the lusts of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life to tempt and entice men into pursuing selfish ambition and gain — ALL IN THE NAME OF JESUS. This gain can be money, but also can be boasting, esteem, reputation and the approval of men. This is a snare of Satan and the system of false religion that has completely taken over Christianity in the end times. This was all foretold to us by the Prophets.
In order to build big churches for God, men must water down the gospel, cut out the parts about fear, judgment, deception, the powers of darkness, how we fight evil, overcome sin, enduring fiery trials, face persecution and purge SIN out of the church. Indeed pastors and minister that cling to the lie and appeal of numbers must tickle flesh and tell people what their itching ears want to hear. They are not building God’s church when they do this, they are doing violence to the WORD, killing people spiritually, shedding blood as the Prophets call it and allowing the powers of darkness to come inside the gates and surround God’s people. This in turns brings about abominations (defilement) of desolation in the hearts of people, which is God’s temple. These false shepherds teach a form of godliness but totally deny the power of God to rebirth us and transform us into a new creation that is dead to the flesh and consequently sin. While most of these pastors and “church builders” are unwittingly deceived, the fact is they are deceived and are following another spirit and do not know God. As the Apostle John said, “Do not be deceived my little children”.
We are not told to go build a church. Jesus told us go to preach the gospel, the whole gospel, telling them to OBEY ALL He has commanded. If we taught that, the fear of God, the judgment of God, true repentance and the need for endurance to the end would be taught. This points people to a true walk of holiness and then God could come in and supernaturally work His grace amongst the babes and build HIS CHURCH. But instead we leaven the lump with lies and spiritual poison that points them to a FALSE JESUS and puts them on a very broad road, walking with the majority of church goers to destruction. Heed the warning of the LORD about who enters the Kingdom!
Matthew 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
The one true God, Jesus, is building His Church and not any man. People are going to be astonished and startled when the truth of the apostasy and fallen away church is revealed. But if they do not see this truth soon, it will be too late. This is the abomination that causes desolation. The Scriptures tell us that the deceived people of God, the ones professing to be Christians but actually following another Jesus — will be amazed, stunned, astonished on the Day of the Lord.
Isaiah 13:8,9 Every man’s heart will melt,
8 And they will be afraid.
Pangs and sorrows will take hold of them;
They will be in pain as a woman in childbirth;
They will be amazed at one another;
And He will destroy its sinners from it.
Jeremiah 4:9 “ And it shall come to pass in that day,” says the LORD,
“ That the heart of the king shall perish,
And the heart of the princes;
The priests shall be astonished,
And the prophets shall wonder.”
10 Then I said, “Ah, Lord GOD!
Surely You have greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem,
I urge you to read the Prophetic Books. They speak to the END and the judgment of God that will come to the false church and the people who followed other gods and practiced doctrines of demons.
God’s People Will Be Separate
I will show you a variety of Scriptures about the persistent call to be separated from those that practice lawlessness, pagan religion and do not know God. Inviting unrepentant sinners into a church building and filling up meeting places with Holy people and unrighteous people is exactly the opposite of what God tells us to do. God is very serious about this command and we have a stunning example in the Book of Acts from the early church.
Acts 5:1-5 Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet. 3Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.” 5When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened.
Later Ananias’s wife comes and lies to Peter as well and she is struck dead. The main message here is not about lying to our brothers — of course we must not lie – this lesson is about the call and commandment of God for His Holy people to be separated from the unholy. God killed these false Christians in the early stages of the church to be an eternal reminder of how we are to conduct ourselves. The fear of the LORD is indeed the beginning of wisdom and God accomplished His purposes by killing the liars as great fear seized the entire church that heard of these events.
When men try to build God’s church themselves via the works of the flesh, they are no different than the original Babylonians who tried to build their own tower in heaven. That is what is going on today in the end time Great Babylon Church. We have all these different denominations, with their own man made rules, doing works of the flesh to build their own towers into heaven. In case you forgot what happened to the original Babylonians …
Genesis 11:8-9 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel; because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Jesus said that whomsoever does not gather with HIM, scatters. Hum something to think about!
The World versus the Church
The parable of the wheat and the tares is an end times parable told by Jesus. In this parable, the enemy sows bad seed coming behind God who sowed the good seed. The fields is NOT THE CHURCH, it is the WORLD. There is not supposed to be any bad seeds or tares inside God’s church. But that is what the allure and deception of large numbers has done for deceived minds and hearts of false shepherds. Bring them all in says the flesh. Let’s build something grand and God will come down and cooperate with us. They boast in their numbers, but sadly by not separating, they destroy the word of God and the promise of salvation for those that end up following a false gospel and worshipping another Jesus.
Matthew 13:36-43 And His disciples came to Him, saying, “Explain to us the parable of the tares of the field.” 37 He answered and said to them: “He who sows the good seed is the Son of Man. 38 The field is the WORLD, the good seeds are the sons of the kingdom, but the tares are the sons of the wicked one. 39 The enemy who sowed them is the devil, the harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angels. 40 Therefore as the tares are gathered and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of this age. 41 The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, 42 and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. 43 Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father.
I pray you begin to see the truth in this parable. It is also exposes the false hood of the rapture but that will be dealt with on another day. Men in their misguided zeal for God, as led by the powers of darkness, are sowing bad seed among the good seed inside what is called ”church”. As this parable says, if that is happening, that place is not the real CHURCH but is indeed the WORLD. We must come out and be separate. Satan as foretold in Scripture has established a religious image of who God is, but it is a false God. Most are bowing down, unlike Shadrak to this image of religion. We need to come thru the furnace and trust God instead of men.
Look at the judgment God speaks unto the end time church.
Ezekiel 22:24-27 “Son of man, say to her: ‘You are a land that is not cleansed (washed by true WORD) or rained on (No Holy Spirit) in the day of indignation.’ 25 The conspiracy of her prophets (doctrines of demons) in her midst is like a roaring lion tearing the prey; they have devoured people; they have taken treasure and precious things (God’s people) ; they have made many widows (lost people) in her midst. 26 Her priests have violated My law and profaned My holy things; they have not distinguished between the holy and unholy, nor have they made known the difference between the unclean and the clean; and they have hidden their eyes from My Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her princes in her midst are like wolves tearing the prey, to shed blood, to destroy people, and to get dishonest gain.
My friends, what we call church is not church. It is not what Jesus is building, it is what man is building as an image to the beast. Does the concept of a roaring lion tearing the prey remind you of something Peter said? Of course it does, that is the Devil walking around to devour the brethren, the professing body of believer. Please wake up my brothers. There are some good churches, the remnant as we will see below, but they are very rare. Do not let yourself be torn apart by lies and have the approval of men be the driving force in your walk.
We were promised it would be a very lonely walk and that very many will try to serve God but really be seeking after their own interests — selfish ambition. Consider what Paul wrote to the Philippians.
Philippians 2:19-21 But I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you shortly, so that I also may be encouraged when I learn of your condition. 20For I have no one else of kindred spirit who will genuinely be concerned for your welfare. 21For they all seek after their own interests, not those of Christ Jesus.
The fact is the true gospel does not attract the world. Man has tried to change the gospel to make it more attractive to men and this is false Christianity. Fellowshipping is a good thing but it must take a back seat to be separate and Holy before God. That is His commandment and we in our stubborn stiff-necked rebellious heart have changed the ordinances of God to better suit ourselves and accomodate our “modern society”. Woe unto us — the destruction of these palaces and assembly houses built by men does not slumber.
2 Cor 6:14-16 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.
People can pervert what I am saying here and I am not saying not to bring people to knowledge of the Lord. But we must tell them the truth, the whole gospel and not plant seeds of a tare in their hearts because they will not mature unto righteousness, instead they will be deceived and have a false security and peace and will not be able to stand before the Son of Man. Plus we are not to be hanging out with people practicing lawlessness. As I will show you below, we must be separated otherwise we will be defiled ourselves and will become a tare ourselves.
Only A Remnant, VERY FEW Will Be Saved
These are some of the saddest Scriptures of truth. Yet God was clear from beginning to end, that very few that proclaim His name will be saved. Satan is running most churches and the flood of lies coming out of his mouth and the mouth of the spirits he has placed inside the church and its people has deceived almost everyone. But God is awakening His Holy remnant and my small part of serving God is to tell people this truth and pray that God will give them the spiritual ears to hear it and see it. To understand these prophetic books one must understand how God created and uses the powers of darkness to carry out His purposes and plan of salvation.
Matthew 7:14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it
Isaiah 6:13 But yet a tenth will be in it,
And will return and be for consuming,
As a terebinth tree or as an oak,
Whose stump remains when it is cut down.
So the holy seed shall be its stump.”
Amos 5:3 The city that goes out by a thousand
Shall have a hundred left, (10%)
And that which goes out by a hundred
Shall have ten left to the house of Israel.”
Hosea 4:7 Because you have forgotten the law of your God,
I also will forget your children.
7 “ The more they increased,
The more they sinned against Me;
It is not about the numbers. It is about quality, a walk of holiness. That is the gospel.
Romans 11:5 I have reserved for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal.” 5 Even so then, at this present time there is a remnant according to the election of grace. Here Paul is referencing a conversation Elijah had with God about being the only Holy one in Israel. There are others be sure, but it is indeed only a remnant. This remnant is not going to be sitting still inside some large church or congregation in the end. They will come out and be separate just as the LORD commanded.
Isaiah 5:8-10 Woe to those who add house to house and join field to field, until there is no more room, so that you have to live alone in the midst of the land! 9In my ears the LORD of hosts has sworn, “Surely,many houses shall become desolate, Even great and fine ones, without occupants. 10“For ten acres of vineyard will yield only one bath of wine, And a homer of seed will yield but an ephah of grain.”
This passage from Isaiah is powerful if God gives you the understanding. Please go read your Bibles in context the chapters from which these verses are plucked. Understand that references to the words cities, land, sanctuaries, Judah, Jerusulem are types for “church” or God’s people. There is severe famine in the land, meaning there is no WORD, instead the sheep are being fed cotton candy. There is no rain, meaning there is no Holy Spirit and the land is parched and consumed by the works of the flesh.
Jeremiah 4:27 The whole land shall be a desolation, yet I will not execute a complete destruction
Ezekiel 5:3 You shall also take a small number of them and bind them in the edge of your garment.
This post is a bit unorganized for now but I wanted to get this post outas it is heavy on my heart. Know that this message of a FEW BEING SAVED is pervasive and consistent in the Scriptures. But also note that the reference point of FEW is not the world, it is the self professsing church. God did not call it the GREAT FALLING AWAY without a very good reason. I hope you are on the right side of truth on this matter.
Come Out and Be Separate NOW
People that worship their religion will hate me for saying this. That is because the truth of God’s word is sharper than a sword and it comes against all falsehoods. God will judge us on the last day and He said His words would be the measure by which we will be held to account. Many a man and a woman are boasting and are trying to do God’s work in their flesh, but it is really Satan’s work. When churches focus on nickles (money), noses (butts in the pews) and numbers (how many they saved today), you can be sure it is not a movement of GOD. It is driven by the powers of darkness and is appealing to the deceitfulness of man’s heart and the gain they get from helping God out in their flesh.
Galatians 6:12-15 As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised (follow their rules or join their organization), only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. 13 For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. 14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. 15 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation. Instead of teaching the truth about God and our need to die to self and be transformed by God’s power into a new man, they tell us to sign up, join their organization, say a prayer and you are welcomed into God’s family. This is an abomination.
Paul warned us about the wolves in sheep’s clothing, the religious sounding, godly looking as it relates to our senses, yet they would be working for our enemy.
2 Cor 11:12-15 But what I do, I will also continue to do, that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. 13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. 14 And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.
I have many posts on false teachings and false teachers and how to spot them. But the sad thing is the people immersed into this religious system of the end, which is the image of the Beast are very hardened in their hearts, their church has become their idol and they get their significance in life from their supposed service to God. Sure God uses this service for the greater good and praise God for that, yet very many are bowing down to the devil and do not know it. This is indeed a difficult truth to grasp and only God can show it to you. I beleive He will if you examine yourself and your motives and let Him show you the truth in the Scriptures. It is there for the taking but you must want to know the truth and not cling to a lie.
Revelation 18:4-8 And I heard another voice from heaven saying, “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. 5 For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. 6 Render to her just as she rendered to you,] and repay her double according to her works; in the cup which she has mixed, mix double for her. 7 In the measure that she glorified herself and lived luxuriously, in the same measure give her torment and sorrow; for she says in her heart, ‘I sit as queen, and am no widow, and will not see sorrow.’ 8 Therefore her plagues will come in one day—death and mourning and famine. And she will be utterly burned with fire, for strong is the Lord God who judges her.
The Babylon church thinks she needs nothing. She boasts in herself, her numbers, the money she brings in, the number of people sticking their hand up and becoming “saved”. She is proud of all the good things she is doing for God, yet she is blind and is really serving Satan. Saying she is no widow, means she is deceived into thinking she is married to Jesus, but she is a widow full of lost people who follow another Jesus and another gospel. If you do not come out of this church, you will be destroyed. The end is near as me and many others are now being awakened so we can in turn awaken others.
2 Cor 6:17 Come out from among them
And be separate, says the Lord.
Do not touch what is unclean,
And I will receive you.”
18 “ I will be a Father to you,
And you shall be My sons and daughters,
Says the LORD Almighty.”
Time is very short. Quit looking to Israel the country to see where we are on God’s clock. It is happening in the spiritual and Jesus is coming like a thief, when NOBODY is going to be expecting Him.
The Apostle Paul quoted from Isaiah 54, echoing the words of the Prophet that the true people of God would be hugely outnumbered by the fakes. The woman of the husband (Sarah) was barren and she was going to bear a lot less children than the desolate woman Hagar who bore an illegitimate son Ishmael. When 80% of the country says they are Christians, something does not add up.
Galatians 4:27 For it is written,
”REJOICE, BARREN WOMAN WHO DOES NOT BEAR;
BREAK FORTH AND SHOUT, YOU WHO ARE NOT IN LABOR;
FOR MORE NUMEROUS ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE DESOLATE
THAN OF THE ONE WHO HAS A HUSBAND.”
My heartfelt desire and I am sure anyone on this website’s desire is for all to be saved. But that is just not going happen so says the LORD.
I pray this message will reach the few that God may have sent to this site to receive it. I love you my brother and sister and sincerely want all to come to a saving knowledge of the truth. The burden I carry with this revelation is heavy and my flesh wishes I did not carry it, but God gave it to me for a reason. I am choosing to obey God and not put the approval of men above serving Him.
Hebrews 3:3-4 For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. 4For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
Reeska, He fellowshiped with those who heard His message and repented. That is what the post is about. Those who repent and turn to the Lord in holiness that HE says is necessary to fellowship with Him. If we want to “do our own thing” “in our own way” then we reject His Ways – holiness. He gives us the ability, His Spirit in us, to be able to WANT to live in His holiness, not our own way. Obedience to His commandments isn’t legalism. It is legalism when we use the commandments to earn our salvation. Faith leads to obedience out of our love of what He has done for us and our love for HIM. You WANT to obey because your heart loves the Lord and KNOWS that HIS WAY is the right way and the only way. Legalism come from a perversion of man, a perversion of His Holy Way where man says “Thus says the Lord” when He didn’t. It comes from man saying “this is how you do it” (tradition, custom, rules etc.) when they are from man, not God.
Loving faithful obedience comes from a heart that desires to do what God wants, the way He wants it done, when He wants it done, how He wants it done. In other words He is the One where Truth is found. He is the One Who has the right and authority to say how we live our lives and His commandments – His Word is that way. From front to back, all of it.
People see obedience as a burden. Ask yourself why? Because WE don’t want to DO IT. Same as in the garden, Adam and Eve didn’t want to OBEY God. They thought that they knew better. So do we, especially when it comes to obeying God today. We have labeled our disobedience as “legalism” so that we don’t feel bad about not obeying. We say that He “did away” with the “law” so we don’t have to do that anymore. What is “that”? What is it that we are no longer to “do” anymore?
What “law” is a burden to us? Go through and write the ones down that you see as you no longer have to obey. Now, ask youself how you see them. Do you see these as a burden? Why? Do these commandments ask you to do something that comes in conflict with your flesh? Does it ask you to stop doing something that you desire to continue doing? Does it ask you to start doing something that you do not want to do? You will find that the difference between obeying and saying that it is legalism is the difference between full loving obedient submission to His Lordship and His Word and our rebellious, self loving, lukewarm, pleasure seeking flesh.
And before you say, “are we supposed to stone adulterers”, that punishment was taken by Yeshua for us. And as He is the High Priest now, He was the one where the “guilty” were taken to be judged, convicted and sentanced. The responsibilty for that was not ours. The conviction and punishment were carried out as specifically commanded in His Word by those that HE commanded to do so. You have confused the commandement with the penalty for breaking it. What Yeshua has “done away with” was the current form of the Priesthood and it’s sacrifices. He is the reality of the priesthood and all of the sacrifices as it was/is shown in the shadowpictures that the people were to follow.
Death is still the penalty for breaking (sin) the Torah (Word of God). We are convicted and sentanced to death. Nothing we can DO can change that. Our blood (death) is the only thing that can attone for that sin. Yeshua (sinless sacrifice) is the perfect sacrifice that we bring to the altar for forgiveness and atonement for that sin, just like those that brought their imperfect (every year) sacrifice to the Tabernacle/Temple until He came. His Blood is still upon the REAL altar in Heaven. It is still in full effect, the law/Torah is still the standard by which we are judged, convicted and earn punishment.
Yeshua- the Living Word/Torah is the required Torah/Word/Commandments sacrifice that we are to bring for attonement/forgiveness. He is the mercy/grace sacrifice from the Father, the same one that was provided in the shadow picture of Abraham and Issac. That is because we cannot DO (working or doing anything to change that death sentance – legalism) anything to pay for the sin (breaking Torah) except with our blood. Yeshua pays that price for us in HIS BLOOD, mercy and grace. That is why it is called a “free gift”, we can’t pay that price ourselves except by dying and then it still isn’t good enough. His blood/death is. We can never “buy” it with our “good deeds”, money, perfect obedience to Torah (He shows us this when he explains that thinking bad about our brother is the same as murder which is breaking Torah. We cannot control our flesh in our innermost parts and we sin there).
He is the High Priest that we bring it to also. He is everthing, every piece, every sacrifice, every position of authority, everything in the priesthood, sacrifices in the Tabernacle/Temple. Everything that was/is done there and those in authority to do it are now being done by Yeshua,right now and forever. That is the only thing that has changed. And it has not been “done away with” as the world teaches. It has been changed to it’s reality – Yeshua the real Mercy Seat.
He does not fellowship with sin. He fellowships with those that are repentant and turn to Him for that forgiveness. He tells us that when He says that “a sick person needs a doctor, the well do not”. He does not chase after those that turn away from Him or choose not to hear what His message of repentance is. Look and see what His first message was – Repent for the kingdom of God is at Hand. Those “sinners” that He fellowshipped with were those that repented, asked Him in when He “knocked”. He knows the heart of all and He knows who is His and who are not.
Is 59:2 tells us that our sins (breaking Torah/His Word) have separated us from Him, Rom 6:23 – death sentance, and repentance for remission of sins (cancer patient in remission has no trace of cancer, same here). God knows that we cannot do it on our own, never could, not in the first testament or the re-newed testament. That is why HE provided the way, then, now and in the future for our return to HIM. He deals with the sin in us and the reason why, our fleshly desire to “have our own way”. He provided the grace and His mercy though His Son. He doesn’t fellowship with sinners. That was what the Pharisees said about those that He was fellowshipping with. THEIR righteousness (legalism) said that those that He was fellowshipping with were “sinners”. They in fact were repentant and had appropiated the forgiveness of God that was offered by Him.
We are told that the “law of Moses” was done away with. Were they reading from the “new testament” or were they living it when this was said. What Scriptures were they preaching from, what scriptures was Paul speaking and quoting from? The Torah. There were not new testament scriptures and the “law of Messiah (christ)” is the Torah, He is the Living Word/Torah. There is not “law of Paul”. God did not give Paul a “New Torah/Word”. Paul was a former Pharisee, in fact a Pharisee among Pharisee’s, he knew the Torah/Word inside and out, memorized. So where did he get this “new law”. All that Paul is teaching and preaching is the Torah and showing that Yeshua is the reality of it. That Yeshua is the way to the Father and the embodiement of the Word (John 1:1;14). That the sacrificial system is now Yeshua as the High Priest, sacrices etc. He is the Way.
If there is “no more law” as you have been told, then how can anyone break it and be in need of a savior? It is still in effect, as well as the penalty for breaking it. As well as the “cure” for it – Yeshua. We as believers still sin and we are washed in the WORD/Torah to repentance. Our debt is paid, but we still have the standared of the Torah/Word. Or, do you have a liscense for sin? Can you know murder and it’s root -think badly about your brother, steal, commit adultery etc. because He did it for you? You say that He did the Law for you so you do not have to, right? So that must mean that He took the punishment for you to be able to break His Torah/Word as you like? Paul tells us differently. Why? Because the Torah is our Way. It tells us how we are to relate to God and each other. It is not a burden to our spiritual life, it is the way to life!. The Torah is death ot our flesh. It is a burden to our fleshly desires and an offense.
You can read and study this all yourself. That is how I found out the reality of this, by reading the Word through for over 15years and desiring His Way above all man’s traditions, dogma, teachings etc. The Word tells us that He will be found by those that seek Him. Anyone can find Him easily, only if you want to.
Obedience isn’t legalism it is life in the Spirit. If you do not want to obey, as yourself why? The answer will be because “I do not want to”. Rebellion against God and His Ways. Living the life of holiness, righteousness and obedience is lived in the Spirit. He is the One that enables us to do so. It isn’t the legalism of ourselves doing/trying to do it. It is the true loving hearts desire to do what our Heavenly Father wants for us. Who does He fellowship with – those who are His, those who have repented and returned to Him, not sinners who are still sinning and want to.
We are indeed to go into the WORLD and preach the gospel. So this means we will go approach sinners and tax collectors just like Jesus did in Matthew 9. But to really understand this, we need to look at what the Disciples were told to do when they were sent forth into the world by Jesus (Luke 11) and consider the great commission. The disciples were told to go into the cities and if their message was rejected to shake the dust off their feet and move on. They were not told to water down the message to make it more ear tickling and stay there until they became buddies with these people. We are a light unto the world so we must show that light to the world and not to go into a cave and hide it. But if the world rejects our message, the true gospel, we are to move on and not hang around and keep casting our pearls of truth to swine. We speak the WORD and it will not return void. If someones heart is fertile soil that WORD will take root and God will do the rest.
Can’t we live in our communities and speak the truth as we live in the world but are not of the world? Our walk of holiness shouild be an example to others without belonging to an apostate church. We cannot be effective if we are hypocrites, so we must cleanse ouselves of the ignoble (worldly lusts). I still go to a fallen church myself and it is bringing conviction to me. I hear clearly the lies in the sermons, yet I do it for the sake of my youngest son who is in a big youth group. In fact it is this dilemma that has driven me to seek the truth on this topic from the Scriptures. I thank you for your question and hope my limited understanding and views edify you. God bless.
I agree with you in that the churches have some staggering numbers of people who don’t actually follow God. I disagree with you as to why on some of your points, but others I agree with.
Here is what happened to me:
I went to a church for 20 years that “seemed” good. The pastor would preach the sermons about holiness and living pure lives. However, the pastor “ruled” using fear tactics. It ended up very cultish in that we followed more what the pastor thought than the Holy Spirit.
After we, (my family,) left I realized exactly how wonderful the love and grace of Christ was. This was something that I had never understood before and it was because I had been worshiping the pastor, who ruled out of fear, as opposed to worshiping the Lord, who rules gently and with kindness. I could go on about all of the things at that church and the type of person I had become, but it might not be relevant to what I’m trying to say right now.
Let me pose a question to you:
Who did Jesus fellowship with…..eat with, talk to?