originalchurch
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Temple or Mountain?
Read http://branchgraft.blogspot.com before reading this if you are not sure what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is better to know him than to delve into what is happening with the church today.
Please read John chapter seventeen. There may be no greater testimony of this subject than what is revealed in Jesus' prayer.
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Throughout Jesus' life he continually foretold his death on the cross as prompted by the religious leaders. During his time here he made numerous references to a new way believers would follow; "In spirit and truth" and that "The day is coming when you shall neither worship God in the temple nor the mountain top". Though he fulfilled the old covenant in every way during his life, through his death and resurrection he imparted an entirely new covenant upon us. A covenant not based on human performance but upon a personal relationship. We enter by one gate and He is that gate. We meet him at the foot of his cross where we hand our lives to him at the place he gave his to us.
Today it seems the church that calls itself by his name has forgotten that he did not tell us to build buildings of worship that ultimately create a host of inward turned actions. Jesus compelled his followers to be one rather than promote the sort of division denominations maintain. He told us not to follow men but religions of this world set every stage with human leadership more than willing to encourage followers unto themselves. Those that fail to know the difference become unwitting accomplices by endorsing a format of practice handed down more from Babylon than from the true believers. In the end, the total effect encourages error and misunderstanding about Jesus true reason for being here and for his personal sacrifice. This page is an attempt to help everyone reconsider what Jesus wanted. Revisit the scripture and see that he did not endorse the format of religion practiced today. Simply read his words for yourself.
This was written for anyone who believes in God but feels something is missing or even divisive in this world's practices of religion. God seeks a one-on-one personal relationship with you, let no person nor group of persons deceive you. The scriptures, and even our world's history itself, are loaded with examples of how the masses go astray and take everyone who is willing, with them. Your choice to stand beside God may be against the stream but God will meet you in that decision.
Jesus said "If they treated me this way they will treat you the same way, no one is greater than their master." So ask yourself this question; Whom were they that he was referring? Whom demanded his crucifixion? He was referring to the religious leaders of his day. If God had not appeared in a human form for the purpose of meeting his destruction on a cross at the hands of the religious minded, then the sin of religion would not have been exposed, its ambiguous nature never revealed. Sin has contaminated everything in this world but the symptoms of it were obvious when exposed to the law. Only one aspect of sin remained hard to understand until it was exposed by rejecting the God it claimed to follow. This is a hard subject to grasp but in the following pages the considerations are explored. The scriptures employed are few in number compared to all those that address this issue and in time they may be added to this blog although for now what is included convey the idea well enough.
Three important considerations:
1. That all of humanity have the contamination referred to as "sin" barring us from the presence of God. The Law of Moses is necessary to bring understanding of this dreadful truth in a way that clearly demonstrates we are completely lost to God in this life and in the life to come. 2. Jesus Christ literally is the only physical form of God ever to visit mankind and in that form he clearly warned there would come pretenders after him as there were before him. The fact that mankind crucified Him has confirmed we do not know God in our state of "sin." 3. In paradise before the isolation of Man from God, every individual was focused upon God as though He were the conductor of a great orchestra. Although this has now become an ideal, it remains the only mirror of what mankind has lost (direct focus on God), and the only direct path to His presence. We must return our focus to God after receiving the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ (Y'Shua Ha Mashiah). The law given through Moses when properly applied enlightens us to why we need Christ's salvation. However the law given through Moses when misapplied becomes the instrument of Satan who uses it to accuse the believers before God. Think carefully about this before using any part of the law with another person. To misapply it will bring the full force of it back on yourself. "You say, let me remove the splinter from your eye yet you do not know you have a beam in your own eye. First remove the beam from your own eye, then you will see clearly to help remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
Having a true relationship with anyone involves heartfully engaging them in dialog... how much more so the relationship we have with God through his "only begotten Son Jesus Christ"? We each have a responsibility to engage God in a dialog to know if his confirmation is present to all that he declared to be true of himself. The alternative is to set ourselves up for being led by other men and dull our inner ears to the voice of God as he speaks to our hearts. That would indeed be precisely the sort of thing this entire blog was written to avoid. Why are so many people satisfied with allowing mere men to stand between them and God as some form of divine interpreter as if God were incapable of reaching individuals one on one? Do you really think you need a teacher other than God?
1Cor. 2:10-16
"but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. ¶ The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
1John 2:27
"As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit — just as it has taught you, remain in him."
For those caught in the religious practices and endorsing denominational division, remember the lengths the religious leaders that crucified Jesus went. It is not enough to think your endorsement of religious practice is justified by witnessing people making a decision to accept Christ as Lord. The conversion of one's heart is something only God and the individual can ever truly know. What we think we are seeing may be as fleeting as the mist of this world. The religious leaders of their day saw many converts but Jesus had something to say to them:
Matt. 23:15
“You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."
Beware introducing persons to Christ then attempting to coerce an endorsement and attendance to religious practices you are not free from yourself. Introduce them the Christ Jesus and believe yourself that God has the power to sustain every individual. We are all ultimately in God's hands, but some people deny the power of God to sustain individuals so they employ religion as a tool to keep them on track. This is a terrible mistake that should be avoided.
2 Timothy 3:5
"..having a form of godliness but denying its power."
How does that really manifest in what we see around us? Consider that before the time mankind fell from God's presence there was no one who even thought to question God's power and ability to manage all the details of the heavens and the earth. It seems easy to profess our belief in God but what is evidenced in the actions that follow? Once a seed has been sewn, does God require men to insure the seed is not wasted? Once we knew God's awesome control but we have become estranged and rarely, if ever, see clearly what it means to yield to His power and let God simply be God. It may be true that we never completely attain the ideal place we once knew in paradise, walking in complete submission to Him while still clothed in mortality, but so great is this commission we truly ought to never stop moving toward His light as our reference in every area we make choices in our lives. To reemphasize the point let me be dramatic here; Jesus' has blessed us with forgiveness for our failure to perfectly yield to God, in appreciation we learn to focus on the way life should be with Him, rather than the way it appears to be in this world.
"The time is coming and now is when true believers will worship the Father in spirit and truth" "You will each be scattered to his own home" .. Maybe we are looking at "worship" in the old covenant sense while it is meant to be something different in the present age until He returns. When we are communication the truth about him to others we are actually in a form of worship of him. The form he accepts and expects from us that fit the demands of this age. To believe worship is about "recharging your batteries" and "feeling good" serves the self in much the same way all the other world religions serve. The followers of religion feel good after purging themselves in worship yet are they not equally guilty of crucifying God? Worship isn't about the feelings we receive, it is about honoring God and God has chosen the manner he prefers to be honored in this time on the Earth. We ought to lay our ideas of worship at the alter and seek the worship God has asked of us. For this age it is in "Spirit and Truth" Convey his truth by his Spirit, and this pleases him.
What about fellowship? That is something that happens anywhere and everywhere and so long as not associated with the worship experience just described so that worship may be set apart and sanctified, the fellowship with other believers does not have to acquire a particular form. Christians may have freedom to meet and talk about God and encourage one another tending to needs as they are inspired. Want to meet in a pizza restaurant? Praise God. The important thing is to avoid the construction of the form of gathering shared by religions. We act in love if we avoid this distraction from the deeper truth. Meet in homes but avoid making the gathering a social event increasing members. If this happens, something is elementally wrong... Think extroversion.. think what it means to "go forth" and then let everyone "go forth and teach the gospel of salvation in Christ Jesus."
Consider that the various harmful religious leaders, sects, cults, etc, would soon lose their innocent disguise if individuals followed God one on one. Yes there will be those who are unable to remain with God for long. It was that way in the very presence of God while he was clothed for a time in mortality. Yes there will still be individuals who depart into dark acts as there were at Christ's visit. Remember that faith is the substance of things not seen, and by faith we know God is the true power in any universe. The power that will sustain those who follow him directly, not via other human interpretation, is his. You may say this then is also an interpretation and my response is this; things I say that can not be substantiated in the scripture version God endorsed personally in his time with us, will be exposed to you as you read for yourself. The truth is not the property of any single one of us so if you leave this page and search for yourself the scriptures, you will know what is true. So say all the religious leaders good and bad as well but one thing more they do I shall never do. They call people to gather not go forth. They thrive on instilling fear that you will lose your way if you are not in a group and concerning yourself of your condition (as if either thing were to have any power exceeding God in a one on one relationship). Isn't it better to trust God than to discover one day your confidence was placed more in the hands of other people you met in life who have nothing to say after this life is complete? Look again at the source for the endorsements of other religions and their scriptures and you will see just men posing as messengers and prophets, but only one said he actually was the same who created the universe we live in. We crucified him, but he lives, and we will all see him one day in his kingdom so now is the moment for reconciliation with him, not after its too late.
So far as meeting with brothers and sisters for encouragement and support, ... absolutely! Always embrace an opportunity to share but that done outside of the context of lending support to religion and that which perpetuates the constructs men have held on to for far too long. To lend support to the perpetuation of denominationalism is not loving to the entire body of Christ. To think we can assemble to worship as under the old covenant is truly vanity. If we love Christ as we profess we do, we will love his entire family of believers and will not lend our personal support to anything endorsing division by our attendance. We were created to be a people sustained by God and not religion. This is not merely the expression of an ideal but the very essence of our faith.
The spirit of religion is something that you can feel binding you and suffocating you spiritually. God is not like that. God offers his people freedom in a way we have never felt before. My desire is to help everyone know that they need not accept the pressures to conform to religion in order to experience everything God has for them in a personal relationship.
Please understand as you read through this page that my intent is not at all to suggest that Christians should not fellowship. I am trying to awaken readers to the difference between following God versus the deception of the spirit of religion in mankind. Fellowship need not support the design of mans religious spirit, it may occur in the moment and place any two or more gather with intent to commune with and about the Lord. I believe it is important to have as many connections with other true believers as one possibly can. There is "wisdom in the counsel of many" and surely there are times when we get into situations that numb our hearts from hearing God's message to us. In these times it is good to remember that humility is prudent. To at least be able to consult with other believers on any matter we are engaging and pray to God over the counsel we receive.
John 17:20-23 ¶ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
1 Corinthians 1:10;13
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement."
"Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptised in the name of Paul?"
Consider something Jesus said;
John 16:2
"They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God."
Think of his words in context of what was happening to him. He was constantly exposing the church of his day to the fact that while it believed it was on the right path with God, the reality was very different. This ultimately led to the church leaders seeking to kill him and they succeeded in prompting his crucifixion. If Jesus had simply sat quietly and attended his local Synagogue do you think he would have been persecuted? He spoke out against the Godless ways of mankind (including mankind's inclination to follow a spirit of religion) and exposed that they were not God's ways even though in the eyes of all who practiced them, they seemed right.
Carefully consider the scriptures above and the significance your personal action carries when you chose to support the denominational mutilation of Christ's body; a body he intended to be one. Be urged therefore, not to place your endorsement upon it, rather endorse a relationship with God that is one-on-one in Christ Jesus.
"There is a way that seems right to man but ends in death." The reason God came in human form was to expose that spirit of religion and to deliver reunion with God if we were willing to accept on his specific terms of grace. It all came together on the cross where Jesus opened a portal to eternal life. His presence so exposed that the religious spirit in mankind was at enmity with God that it could not be satisfied until God was destroyed so that it might return to worshipping a god that serves individuals and serves religion itself.
It saddens me that so many persons I have known to walk through the portal of the cross of Jesus Christ only to return to religion. They began to see the kingdom is about serving and not being served.. about extroversion and not introversion... about loving and not being loved... for in all these things we are provided without even the need to consider self. To follow God is to experience his provision but to seek after ones own good is a slippery slope toward isolation.
Religion survives by convincing mankind there is a need that only it is able to fill. It does this by first convincing individuals to notice their spiritual need but is a parasite to that real need to recognise our illness and receive salvation from it. Once we receive that salvation (the cure only Christ is able to deliver) we no longer need to be perpetually reminded of the illness and focused on our need. At that point we begin to allow God to transform us.. we begin to walk the path of serving.. we begin to display our confidence in God's plan and God's power to sustain us even if we never think of our personal need again. God knows our needs before we even ask.. but we ask so that his glory is displayed.
The Apostle Paul wrote that it is not good to seek perpetual spiritual milk. Yet the spirit of religion depends upon convincing people of their need for constant milk.
It is important to note here that Jesus was sent to the cross by religious minded persons that saw only the "jot and tittle" of the scripture. They swallowed the camel as they were straining out gnats. If you find yourself scurrying around in your walk toward God, attempting to perform ceremonies and seeking edification, there is a pretty good chance that you are tapping into the spirit of religion (not a good thing) so back up a bit to look at the bigger picture. So very true about the spirit of religion is, "There is a way that seems right to a man but it's end is death." The apostle Paul tried to enlighten everyone that Christ is the last sacrifice, "it is finished." Stop trying to return to the spirit of religion through cerimonial cleansing, circumcision, etc, that leads to serving the law. Those who seek to be justified by the law must obey the whole law, and by the law we are all condemned. Don't mince words or concepts of old and new covenants. Call a camel a camel and not a horse. Don't try to justify actions that are clearly a return to performing religious customs because in so doing Christ is brought down. Honor what the Lord has accomplished on the cross by saying in your heart, "Lord, your grace is sufficient. Thank you." Teach this to the people you meet and trust God to have the power to sustain them.
Once caught on the wheel of religion buildings are created even though Jesus said the only building is within a person. Jesus told the religious leaders of his day, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days." Yet the religious minded did not "get it" as they still do not "get it" today. Instead they defend their division and endorse it with their attendance. We have a personal responsibility to not perpetuate denominationalism and the only way to do that is to "Come out of her my people.."
It does matter. Make your stand with God.. displaying to God you believe in his power to sustain his people and not misplace your confidence that it is the responsibility of the church. The power is not the church it is in God. In a world full of a confusing array of religious practices it is important to make your stand with God and not give even the slightest hint that you endorse the spirit of religion. That is... if you seek to please God and not man. Paul: "If my eating meat should cause my brother to stumble, I will not eat for the sake of the weaker brother who is watching." Be certain of this... your personal endorsement on division by attending to it is being watched and is equate to what Paul was writing about.
To follow God is to encourage carrying the Gospel of Jesus outward. The process is extroverted and requires no buildings and funding. It requires no preachers and teachers and experts in the law IF we are each in a true relationship with God through his human form of Jesus. IF we are in a real relationship with God we are each teachers.... every one of us is a preacher... and the Word of God lives in us and is expressed through us to those who have yet to receive.
NO do NOT form another division!
But do not be deceived into endorsing the division that already exists because someone's clever speech has confused you. The intention of this writing is far removed from anything that might be construed a recipe for forming a church or anything at all to add another division to the body of believers already suffering a many faceted mutilation of denominationalism. If you do not leave this page knowing it is worse than counter productive to employ the understanding in any other fashion but that which promotes unity among individuals within the true faith by focusing directly on God through Christ Jesus, then this author will have failed you in a most dramatic way. Please, do not create more division; this will be your challenge through all this, that you may walk away from reading with an attitude of careful thought, what does it really mean to convey the message here without creating another sect or denomination in the process? My first and most obvious suggestion is simply, do not promote building a church in the physical architectural sense. No buildings to require funds and attendance is one possible step in the right direction.
One time in the history of our fallen world God actually visited mankind in like form... the form of a human being.
What was accomplished? Many views exist on this point such as "to live a good moral life and be a teacher" or "to set an example" though a few are closer to the hammer meeting the nail in that "he came to die." His own testimony was that to die on the cross was the objective and not the interruption some imagine. He didn't come to teach principals of morality but to convict the world of its spiritual isolation from God; then to offer a gateway for any who would accept and truly wish to return to God and not follow after man's religious spirit. One thing is certain that at least from his perspective it settled any debate that mankind would have as to whether it seeks God or seeks to serve religion. Religion is patronizing of the human condition that is at enmity with God. Religion in practice prefers to have nothing to do with a God that does not serve mankind or it is unable to control or manipulate. Be certain of this, the religions of mankind are exposed to God for what they really are even though among one another they are rivals in an equal spiritual death grip.
Jesus Christ was not a man with a wife and children and out for making a name for himself by exploiting the spirit of religion in mankind. He exposed that spirit of religion and this enraged it. When Lazarus was raised by him from the tomb. It is astonishing to think the men that buried Lazarus and knew he was decomposing and smelling by the fourth day, and were there to see the tomb opened and at Christ's command Lazarus came to life, were the same men that participated in plotting Christ's execution. Think of it; these men who had just witnessed a rotting corpse come to life could only take away from the experience the thought that Jesus had to be stopped and Lazarus killed too before all people became followers. The scripture is true "seeing they will not perceive, hearing they will not understand."
There is something elementally missing yet the perpetuation of the religious vortexes we construct and justify still remain unchanged as they existed for millenia. The missing element should be quite simple, a world is crumbling because it does not know God has come in the flesh. Christians know this simple truth but are distracted with trying to perfect their "walk" and apparently oblivious to the fact that religion is what is being promoted at the expense of the pure message. Sadly it has become easier to defend the local fellowship than make a stand for the unity of the entire body on Christ's terms. It is no small concern, the true church ought to raise a voice where ever they may be located and demand at least the practice of worship itself to come out of the constructs of denominational ism and be sanctified by God and God alone.
What does man know of worship? The actions which many are convinced is worship is merely the same form expressed the same way throughout other world religions. How can we lift our hands and sing to God thinking we worship Him while clothed in the division of a body He has made to be one? What do we truly know of worship in this life and in this world? The slightest error in practice cost everyone present their lives in the old testament scriptures. If the present worshippers insist upon resurrecting old testament practices they ought not be surprised if old testament consequences follow. Personally I believe it is only God's patience and mercy that has kept him from releasing the fires that consumed past congregations of his people that just did not "get it" about what it means to be in the presence of God. Remember this, for as long as we remain in this world we still contend with our own sinful nature and it is only after our own resurrection that we will finally be freed of it. Therefore I personally believe we will not understand worship of the sort that pleases God until after we are reunited with Him in His kingdom.
The true church is the entire body of believers united in the knowledge that the creator of the universe became flesh and blood and dwelt among us, was crucified, and opened a narrow doorway to be reunited to Him in the process. It isn't about trying to create introverted little fellowships of believers but to spread out like ripples from a stone in a still pond. It would be so much more considerate and loving of any gathering if we were to abandon anything contrary.
Is it any wonder that people who follow after false prophets and false gods do so after they look to Christianity as an alternative and see only another religion and worse, one divided? Do you know someone lost in a cult or a religion of the antichrist? What do you propose to them if you endorse a denomination of religion yourself? Do you expect them to see the difference Christ represents and not a religion of "man coming to God" but of "God coming to man"? Can you say to them God has the Power to keep his people apart from the religions men create while you are (by your actions) endorsing the power of religion? Step back and see what your actions support in the eyes of those you communicate with. Like Paul, become all things to all men that a few might be saved but do not fall into eating the meat of idols in the process. When we refuse to look at the broader perspective of our action as we attend its form we fail to recognize it is our own very personal endorsement of it. We will all be accountable, not so much for what it has become to us but for the untold numbers in it's snare that looked toward us and saw only that we were also participants. If this isn't making sense to you then I will ask you simply to give some real thought to how people get involved in some very dangerous religious sects. Don't think they were all ignorant when they became involved. Often the process of involvement is subtle and happens over a considerable span of time.
ALTERNATIVES, ...Anyone?
What are the alternatives? If we meet on the hillsides and fields of open places would we not just be creating a denomination of another form? I personally have no simple answers though I know the solution must be to completely depend upon the Lord. I shudder to contemplate how often the results end with man creating another religion; how can this be avoided? This must be avoided and God must become our source for the direct solutions. How do we address the meaning of truly yielding to God's lead? We each may carry a little piece of a great wondrous puzzle that, when joined to other pieces, begins to display something true in the Lord. The pieces are without meaning in separate form and the fact that single pieces often seem to claim to be the key or have the greater glimpse of the whole is very amusing to God I am guessing. Not one of us has every answer and you know this already in your heart because we do not elevate any man but God alone do we exalt. God wants us to keep our eyes upon Him and not on human leadership which is why the apostle Paul chose to work with his hands rather than live from the preaching of the gospel as was allowed by the Lord. It seems Paul had an early understanding of the potential of distracting people from the better path. I am only able to imagine one potential answer and at first it may not seem much of an answer at all but it does do one great thing ... It removes man from the equation and promotes seeing only God on the throne. To me, this is acting with love for the entire body of Christ and is following through with a great responsibility in a way that seems more pleasing to the Lord. Yet ask God directly and He will express His feeling to your heart.
"The comforter which is the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance that I have said to you." John 14:26
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Some Scriptural References to Ponder
What sort of house will you build for the Lord oh man? The Lord does not dwell in houses built by men.... The Lord dwells in the hearts of his people..... / Have you not heard that your body is the temple of the living God? ..... / The time is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in the temple but the true worshipers will worship God in spirit and truth. ... / If you remain in his spirit you need no one to teach you, for as a man's spirit knows the deep things in a man, the Spirit of the Lord knows the deep things that are his, we have received his Spirit........ / It is God's will that I should lose none that he has given me but that I should raise them in the last day. .... / Having a form of Godliness but denying the power.
That last one I inserted because far too often ministries seem to ignore the fact that it is God who keeps his people fed and guides their paths to him. Instead the saying "God's little helpers" seems a better fit once considered more carefully it works out to be a rather large deficit in faith that God actually has the power to keep his people on his path. That is to say... if the people are really his having at some point a true sense of contrition (humility and laying their lives down daily) and picking up the new life he offers.
1 Corinthians Chapter 8 (things we do that obstruct other's view of Christ)
The apostle Paul wrote that he refused to participate in things that would in essence obstruct other persons from seeing Christ in the way God has intended. "If eating meat causes my brother to fall I will not eat." He was not addressing the food but things associated with religious practices. "Eat what ever is before you without question of conscience but if it is presented as part of a ceremony honoring another god do not eat, for conscience sake, not yours but theirs." The spirit of religion has been with mankind since the beginning of time but it has created every known religious belief today and the total effect has served to blind mankind to their creator. In fact the creator visited us in human form and the religious minded failed to recognize him. The one religion that should know better has managed to pattern its practices after the very same sort of things all other religions employ. No wonder there is confusion and no wonder people fall prey to harmful practices when they create structures and the mechanisms needed to support them which are never commissioned by either Christ or his disciples. We would do well to listen to his words and recognize his addressing the spirit of religion since he prayed to the Father, "I do not pray that you take them out of the world but protect them from the evil that is in it" So he was not talking about the world when he said "Come out of her my children".
Jeremiah: 5:30-31
“A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land:
The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?"
So if there is no persecution in the United States (or any other democratic society for that matter) such as described in the words of Jesus above, consider what would happen if you stood up and exposed the practices being engaged are more closely aligned with the spirit of religion than anything Jesus Christ or his disciples ever indicated for the true believers. In short, if you stand up and expose the practices of religion, you will at the very least be ignored or perhaps shunned for being divisive. If you are very public about it you will be harassed and quite possibly there will be plots to end your ability to spread your message. This isn't a mere paranoid extrapolation, it was something Jesus Christ endured and said that those who choose to follow him will also endure. He said "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. Is a student greater than the teacher?" Yet do not be afraid to stand for what is right, and when resistance and persecution come, you will rejoice in your heart because you will know the scripture is being fulfilled through you personally and that God is preparing a place in paradise for you.
Beware that many will come to you saying the practice of religion is healthy and will back up their words with a few scriptures but you will find that if you do not take scriptures out of context the scriptures that testify against the present form of religion are vast in number and permeate the Bible. To oppose the form of religion will meet scorn from the ones who practice it and you might be afraid of being expelled but remember that this is exactly what Jesus said would happen and more in that the day is coming that they will seek to kill you and think that they are doing a service to God. They do this for the same reasons they did it to Jesus. Their livelihoods depend upon it and their worldly esteem is wrapped up in it. Remember that the Lord Himself said that we are not to have a teacher other than Him and His Holy Spirit for we are all brothers and we are equal and that you need no one to teach you if you remain in Him. So do not let anyone stand between you and the Lord. You will find that far more scriptures confirm this to you than the agenda promoted by religion. So do not be afraid, you are not alone as you follow Christ above all men or groups of men.
Some scripture to be thinking about and you will find all the scriptures on this page merely the tip of a great number more that address this topic.
Matthew 6:5-8
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
Matt. 23:8-10
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.
John 4:20-24
(Woman at the well speaking to Jesus) "Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem" Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know, we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and now has come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth."
John 13:34,35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 16:32
"But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me."
John 18:3
"So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons."
Gal. 4:9-10
"But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!"
Acts 17:24-25
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. He is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else."
Acts 20:29-31
"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears."
Acts 20:34
"You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.
1 Corinthians 3:3
"For are you not yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men?"
1 Corinthians 12:25
"That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another."
2 Corinthians 2:17
"Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God."
Rom. 16:17 - 18
"I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people."
Galatians 5:13-15
"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."
Galatians 5:19-20
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions"
Philippeans. 2:1-2
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."
2 Timothy 2:14
Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; It is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
Consider these three verses among the very last words Jesus spoke as he prayed to the Father for his followers....
John 17:11;21-22
"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom you have given me, that they may be one, as we are."
"That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us:that the world may believe that you have sent me."
""And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:"
John 10:14-16
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me —
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
John 11:51,52
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
Clearly the Lord intended his people to be unified and not broken into denominational factions. It is also clear that he intends to be the only teacher and leader of his people even though there are references given for the behavior of leaders. It is this author's belief that these offices are inward and spiritual. Call them, concessions for those who seem unwilling or unable to fully comprehend that the Lord is complete as our leader and teacher; we require no one else.
Buildings called "churches" are being constructed even though not one of the disciples nor Christ Jesus ever endorsed this action. There is no new covenant support in scripture yet why does it continue? It is at very least a spirit of religion that perpetuates actions of man. Consider the true church undefined by walls built by men. The true church spreads out rather than introvertedly drawing in. If the Holy Spirit departs a gathering that has a building built by human hands and sustained by systems of financing and error enters in, it continues in that error and parishioners are subject to that error. If the church of Jesus Christ remains true to the form he and his disciples endorsed and the Holy Spirit departs the presence of error there is no structure to sustain that error. Once this author accepted the existence of the structures built by men in God's name but after closer consideration, prayer, and searching the scriptures as well as numerous experiences, I can not support that spirit of religion in good conscious. The overall effect is divisive, contrary to Christ's words and dangerous in the way it endorses far reaching error. We should stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ without endorsing the distractions the spirit of religion erects.
Church parishioners in the US are coasting on the assumption that, at least as of yet, persecution is happening more in far off lands than here. Yes indeed it has become adept at concealing this agenda but stand afar and look at the broader picture. We see great contradictions to what Christ Jesus and his disciples conveyed. We see division and the mutilation of Christ's body in the form of denominational division. These divisions are not defined by city or region as in the first church... but within one city you will find almost innumerable denominations of those who could not be reconciled in unity.
There is no persecution in the US because the followers of Christ are sedated with religion and being rendered spiritually useless. The cry goes forth to wake up from this sleep... the word is to "come out of her my children" ... and the reference to "her" is not the world itself because Christ prayed not that the Father would remove us from the world but to protect us from the evil in it. The greater danger is more insidious than the obvious evil of this world... it has the appearance of an angel of light but is the nature of the devil. Religion seems to be about God but it is actually about man's approach to God... God's approach to man is not through the religion of mankind. The religious spirit of mankind crucified God.
The spirit of religion has been gaining momentum since early Babylonian days and is referred to as a woman... a harlot... in the 17th and 18th Chapters of Revelation.
Proverbs 2:16-19
"To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.
For her house inclineth to death, and her paths to the dead.
None that go to her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life."
Revelation 18:4
"Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;"
A simple prayer that can make a great difference if you are willing:
Humanity has no real concept of what true power and holiness is and I could never be righteous enough to stand in your presence God. I know all of mankind has been estranged from you and I am merely one of the many. I ask you to forgive me for following my own ways and the ways of fallen mankind, whether government or religion or perceptions of charity or acts of treachery, all is lost as you have clearly said. Forgive me Lord God because I have been one and the same, a part of all this. I believe what you have said now that you did come to us in human form and that we destroyed your human body without mercy. I believe that you said you will forgive me and show mercy to me in your name Jesus. I believe that no one will stand in your presence after this life unless Jesus is their savior. I ask you in your name Jesus Christ, forgive me my life apart from you and I now lay my life at your feet asking that you might make me new in your life, then lead me every day in the way I should go. From this day forward, I shall meet you in prayer, whether in my closet, my car, or the paths I walk.... I will listen for you to move my heart toward the place you want me to be with you. Thank you Lord, In Christ Jesus name. amen.
Thank you for visiting this page. Please do visit the others pages too.
Branchgraft
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Originalchurch.blogspot.com
visit the "sister" websites by the same author:
encourage people you know to visit http://www.evolvingissues.blogspot.com for persons who have a hard time seeing the logic of God
also visit http://www.branchgraft.blogspot.com for persons who may be distracted by other religions
Remember:
God wants every individual to know what a personal relationship with him can be. He has prepared the doorway for us to enter and that doorway is his only human form which was crucified so you might be able to live eternally. It begins in prayer... asking in Jesus name... for a lasting connection.
2 Corinthians 13:11
"Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."
We hardly demonstrate this "one mind" if we endorse the cause of so many denominational factions. The true church is not to be found in buildings built by men but in the hearts of the true followers of Christ Jesus.
Read http://branchgraft.blogspot.com before reading this if you are not sure what it means to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. It is better to know him than to delve into what is happening with the church today.
Please read John chapter seventeen. There may be no greater testimony of this subject than what is revealed in Jesus' prayer.
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Throughout Jesus' life he continually foretold his death on the cross as prompted by the religious leaders. During his time here he made numerous references to a new way believers would follow; "In spirit and truth" and that "The day is coming when you shall neither worship God in the temple nor the mountain top". Though he fulfilled the old covenant in every way during his life, through his death and resurrection he imparted an entirely new covenant upon us. A covenant not based on human performance but upon a personal relationship. We enter by one gate and He is that gate. We meet him at the foot of his cross where we hand our lives to him at the place he gave his to us.
Today it seems the church that calls itself by his name has forgotten that he did not tell us to build buildings of worship that ultimately create a host of inward turned actions. Jesus compelled his followers to be one rather than promote the sort of division denominations maintain. He told us not to follow men but religions of this world set every stage with human leadership more than willing to encourage followers unto themselves. Those that fail to know the difference become unwitting accomplices by endorsing a format of practice handed down more from Babylon than from the true believers. In the end, the total effect encourages error and misunderstanding about Jesus true reason for being here and for his personal sacrifice. This page is an attempt to help everyone reconsider what Jesus wanted. Revisit the scripture and see that he did not endorse the format of religion practiced today. Simply read his words for yourself.
This was written for anyone who believes in God but feels something is missing or even divisive in this world's practices of religion. God seeks a one-on-one personal relationship with you, let no person nor group of persons deceive you. The scriptures, and even our world's history itself, are loaded with examples of how the masses go astray and take everyone who is willing, with them. Your choice to stand beside God may be against the stream but God will meet you in that decision.
Jesus said "If they treated me this way they will treat you the same way, no one is greater than their master." So ask yourself this question; Whom were they that he was referring? Whom demanded his crucifixion? He was referring to the religious leaders of his day. If God had not appeared in a human form for the purpose of meeting his destruction on a cross at the hands of the religious minded, then the sin of religion would not have been exposed, its ambiguous nature never revealed. Sin has contaminated everything in this world but the symptoms of it were obvious when exposed to the law. Only one aspect of sin remained hard to understand until it was exposed by rejecting the God it claimed to follow. This is a hard subject to grasp but in the following pages the considerations are explored. The scriptures employed are few in number compared to all those that address this issue and in time they may be added to this blog although for now what is included convey the idea well enough.
Three important considerations:
1. That all of humanity have the contamination referred to as "sin" barring us from the presence of God. The Law of Moses is necessary to bring understanding of this dreadful truth in a way that clearly demonstrates we are completely lost to God in this life and in the life to come. 2. Jesus Christ literally is the only physical form of God ever to visit mankind and in that form he clearly warned there would come pretenders after him as there were before him. The fact that mankind crucified Him has confirmed we do not know God in our state of "sin." 3. In paradise before the isolation of Man from God, every individual was focused upon God as though He were the conductor of a great orchestra. Although this has now become an ideal, it remains the only mirror of what mankind has lost (direct focus on God), and the only direct path to His presence. We must return our focus to God after receiving the promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ (Y'Shua Ha Mashiah). The law given through Moses when properly applied enlightens us to why we need Christ's salvation. However the law given through Moses when misapplied becomes the instrument of Satan who uses it to accuse the believers before God. Think carefully about this before using any part of the law with another person. To misapply it will bring the full force of it back on yourself. "You say, let me remove the splinter from your eye yet you do not know you have a beam in your own eye. First remove the beam from your own eye, then you will see clearly to help remove the splinter from your brother's eye."
Having a true relationship with anyone involves heartfully engaging them in dialog... how much more so the relationship we have with God through his "only begotten Son Jesus Christ"? We each have a responsibility to engage God in a dialog to know if his confirmation is present to all that he declared to be true of himself. The alternative is to set ourselves up for being led by other men and dull our inner ears to the voice of God as he speaks to our hearts. That would indeed be precisely the sort of thing this entire blog was written to avoid. Why are so many people satisfied with allowing mere men to stand between them and God as some form of divine interpreter as if God were incapable of reaching individuals one on one? Do you really think you need a teacher other than God?
1Cor. 2:10-16
"but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit. ¶ The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.
The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgment:
“For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ."
1John 2:27
"As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit — just as it has taught you, remain in him."
For those caught in the religious practices and endorsing denominational division, remember the lengths the religious leaders that crucified Jesus went. It is not enough to think your endorsement of religious practice is justified by witnessing people making a decision to accept Christ as Lord. The conversion of one's heart is something only God and the individual can ever truly know. What we think we are seeing may be as fleeting as the mist of this world. The religious leaders of their day saw many converts but Jesus had something to say to them:
Matt. 23:15
“You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are."
Beware introducing persons to Christ then attempting to coerce an endorsement and attendance to religious practices you are not free from yourself. Introduce them the Christ Jesus and believe yourself that God has the power to sustain every individual. We are all ultimately in God's hands, but some people deny the power of God to sustain individuals so they employ religion as a tool to keep them on track. This is a terrible mistake that should be avoided.
2 Timothy 3:5
"..having a form of godliness but denying its power."
How does that really manifest in what we see around us? Consider that before the time mankind fell from God's presence there was no one who even thought to question God's power and ability to manage all the details of the heavens and the earth. It seems easy to profess our belief in God but what is evidenced in the actions that follow? Once a seed has been sewn, does God require men to insure the seed is not wasted? Once we knew God's awesome control but we have become estranged and rarely, if ever, see clearly what it means to yield to His power and let God simply be God. It may be true that we never completely attain the ideal place we once knew in paradise, walking in complete submission to Him while still clothed in mortality, but so great is this commission we truly ought to never stop moving toward His light as our reference in every area we make choices in our lives. To reemphasize the point let me be dramatic here; Jesus' has blessed us with forgiveness for our failure to perfectly yield to God, in appreciation we learn to focus on the way life should be with Him, rather than the way it appears to be in this world.
"The time is coming and now is when true believers will worship the Father in spirit and truth" "You will each be scattered to his own home" .. Maybe we are looking at "worship" in the old covenant sense while it is meant to be something different in the present age until He returns. When we are communication the truth about him to others we are actually in a form of worship of him. The form he accepts and expects from us that fit the demands of this age. To believe worship is about "recharging your batteries" and "feeling good" serves the self in much the same way all the other world religions serve. The followers of religion feel good after purging themselves in worship yet are they not equally guilty of crucifying God? Worship isn't about the feelings we receive, it is about honoring God and God has chosen the manner he prefers to be honored in this time on the Earth. We ought to lay our ideas of worship at the alter and seek the worship God has asked of us. For this age it is in "Spirit and Truth" Convey his truth by his Spirit, and this pleases him.
What about fellowship? That is something that happens anywhere and everywhere and so long as not associated with the worship experience just described so that worship may be set apart and sanctified, the fellowship with other believers does not have to acquire a particular form. Christians may have freedom to meet and talk about God and encourage one another tending to needs as they are inspired. Want to meet in a pizza restaurant? Praise God. The important thing is to avoid the construction of the form of gathering shared by religions. We act in love if we avoid this distraction from the deeper truth. Meet in homes but avoid making the gathering a social event increasing members. If this happens, something is elementally wrong... Think extroversion.. think what it means to "go forth" and then let everyone "go forth and teach the gospel of salvation in Christ Jesus."
Consider that the various harmful religious leaders, sects, cults, etc, would soon lose their innocent disguise if individuals followed God one on one. Yes there will be those who are unable to remain with God for long. It was that way in the very presence of God while he was clothed for a time in mortality. Yes there will still be individuals who depart into dark acts as there were at Christ's visit. Remember that faith is the substance of things not seen, and by faith we know God is the true power in any universe. The power that will sustain those who follow him directly, not via other human interpretation, is his. You may say this then is also an interpretation and my response is this; things I say that can not be substantiated in the scripture version God endorsed personally in his time with us, will be exposed to you as you read for yourself. The truth is not the property of any single one of us so if you leave this page and search for yourself the scriptures, you will know what is true. So say all the religious leaders good and bad as well but one thing more they do I shall never do. They call people to gather not go forth. They thrive on instilling fear that you will lose your way if you are not in a group and concerning yourself of your condition (as if either thing were to have any power exceeding God in a one on one relationship). Isn't it better to trust God than to discover one day your confidence was placed more in the hands of other people you met in life who have nothing to say after this life is complete? Look again at the source for the endorsements of other religions and their scriptures and you will see just men posing as messengers and prophets, but only one said he actually was the same who created the universe we live in. We crucified him, but he lives, and we will all see him one day in his kingdom so now is the moment for reconciliation with him, not after its too late.
So far as meeting with brothers and sisters for encouragement and support, ... absolutely! Always embrace an opportunity to share but that done outside of the context of lending support to religion and that which perpetuates the constructs men have held on to for far too long. To lend support to the perpetuation of denominationalism is not loving to the entire body of Christ. To think we can assemble to worship as under the old covenant is truly vanity. If we love Christ as we profess we do, we will love his entire family of believers and will not lend our personal support to anything endorsing division by our attendance. We were created to be a people sustained by God and not religion. This is not merely the expression of an ideal but the very essence of our faith.
The spirit of religion is something that you can feel binding you and suffocating you spiritually. God is not like that. God offers his people freedom in a way we have never felt before. My desire is to help everyone know that they need not accept the pressures to conform to religion in order to experience everything God has for them in a personal relationship.
Please understand as you read through this page that my intent is not at all to suggest that Christians should not fellowship. I am trying to awaken readers to the difference between following God versus the deception of the spirit of religion in mankind. Fellowship need not support the design of mans religious spirit, it may occur in the moment and place any two or more gather with intent to commune with and about the Lord. I believe it is important to have as many connections with other true believers as one possibly can. There is "wisdom in the counsel of many" and surely there are times when we get into situations that numb our hearts from hearing God's message to us. In these times it is good to remember that humility is prudent. To at least be able to consult with other believers on any matter we are engaging and pray to God over the counsel we receive.
John 17:20-23 ¶ “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message,
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one:
I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
1 Corinthians 1:10;13
"Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement."
"Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptised in the name of Paul?"
Consider something Jesus said;
John 16:2
"They will put you out of the synagogue; in fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God."
Think of his words in context of what was happening to him. He was constantly exposing the church of his day to the fact that while it believed it was on the right path with God, the reality was very different. This ultimately led to the church leaders seeking to kill him and they succeeded in prompting his crucifixion. If Jesus had simply sat quietly and attended his local Synagogue do you think he would have been persecuted? He spoke out against the Godless ways of mankind (including mankind's inclination to follow a spirit of religion) and exposed that they were not God's ways even though in the eyes of all who practiced them, they seemed right.
Carefully consider the scriptures above and the significance your personal action carries when you chose to support the denominational mutilation of Christ's body; a body he intended to be one. Be urged therefore, not to place your endorsement upon it, rather endorse a relationship with God that is one-on-one in Christ Jesus.
"There is a way that seems right to man but ends in death." The reason God came in human form was to expose that spirit of religion and to deliver reunion with God if we were willing to accept on his specific terms of grace. It all came together on the cross where Jesus opened a portal to eternal life. His presence so exposed that the religious spirit in mankind was at enmity with God that it could not be satisfied until God was destroyed so that it might return to worshipping a god that serves individuals and serves religion itself.
It saddens me that so many persons I have known to walk through the portal of the cross of Jesus Christ only to return to religion. They began to see the kingdom is about serving and not being served.. about extroversion and not introversion... about loving and not being loved... for in all these things we are provided without even the need to consider self. To follow God is to experience his provision but to seek after ones own good is a slippery slope toward isolation.
Religion survives by convincing mankind there is a need that only it is able to fill. It does this by first convincing individuals to notice their spiritual need but is a parasite to that real need to recognise our illness and receive salvation from it. Once we receive that salvation (the cure only Christ is able to deliver) we no longer need to be perpetually reminded of the illness and focused on our need. At that point we begin to allow God to transform us.. we begin to walk the path of serving.. we begin to display our confidence in God's plan and God's power to sustain us even if we never think of our personal need again. God knows our needs before we even ask.. but we ask so that his glory is displayed.
The Apostle Paul wrote that it is not good to seek perpetual spiritual milk. Yet the spirit of religion depends upon convincing people of their need for constant milk.
It is important to note here that Jesus was sent to the cross by religious minded persons that saw only the "jot and tittle" of the scripture. They swallowed the camel as they were straining out gnats. If you find yourself scurrying around in your walk toward God, attempting to perform ceremonies and seeking edification, there is a pretty good chance that you are tapping into the spirit of religion (not a good thing) so back up a bit to look at the bigger picture. So very true about the spirit of religion is, "There is a way that seems right to a man but it's end is death." The apostle Paul tried to enlighten everyone that Christ is the last sacrifice, "it is finished." Stop trying to return to the spirit of religion through cerimonial cleansing, circumcision, etc, that leads to serving the law. Those who seek to be justified by the law must obey the whole law, and by the law we are all condemned. Don't mince words or concepts of old and new covenants. Call a camel a camel and not a horse. Don't try to justify actions that are clearly a return to performing religious customs because in so doing Christ is brought down. Honor what the Lord has accomplished on the cross by saying in your heart, "Lord, your grace is sufficient. Thank you." Teach this to the people you meet and trust God to have the power to sustain them.
Once caught on the wheel of religion buildings are created even though Jesus said the only building is within a person. Jesus told the religious leaders of his day, "Destroy this temple and I will raise it up in three days." Yet the religious minded did not "get it" as they still do not "get it" today. Instead they defend their division and endorse it with their attendance. We have a personal responsibility to not perpetuate denominationalism and the only way to do that is to "Come out of her my people.."
It does matter. Make your stand with God.. displaying to God you believe in his power to sustain his people and not misplace your confidence that it is the responsibility of the church. The power is not the church it is in God. In a world full of a confusing array of religious practices it is important to make your stand with God and not give even the slightest hint that you endorse the spirit of religion. That is... if you seek to please God and not man. Paul: "If my eating meat should cause my brother to stumble, I will not eat for the sake of the weaker brother who is watching." Be certain of this... your personal endorsement on division by attending to it is being watched and is equate to what Paul was writing about.
To follow God is to encourage carrying the Gospel of Jesus outward. The process is extroverted and requires no buildings and funding. It requires no preachers and teachers and experts in the law IF we are each in a true relationship with God through his human form of Jesus. IF we are in a real relationship with God we are each teachers.... every one of us is a preacher... and the Word of God lives in us and is expressed through us to those who have yet to receive.
NO do NOT form another division!
But do not be deceived into endorsing the division that already exists because someone's clever speech has confused you. The intention of this writing is far removed from anything that might be construed a recipe for forming a church or anything at all to add another division to the body of believers already suffering a many faceted mutilation of denominationalism. If you do not leave this page knowing it is worse than counter productive to employ the understanding in any other fashion but that which promotes unity among individuals within the true faith by focusing directly on God through Christ Jesus, then this author will have failed you in a most dramatic way. Please, do not create more division; this will be your challenge through all this, that you may walk away from reading with an attitude of careful thought, what does it really mean to convey the message here without creating another sect or denomination in the process? My first and most obvious suggestion is simply, do not promote building a church in the physical architectural sense. No buildings to require funds and attendance is one possible step in the right direction.
One time in the history of our fallen world God actually visited mankind in like form... the form of a human being.
What was accomplished? Many views exist on this point such as "to live a good moral life and be a teacher" or "to set an example" though a few are closer to the hammer meeting the nail in that "he came to die." His own testimony was that to die on the cross was the objective and not the interruption some imagine. He didn't come to teach principals of morality but to convict the world of its spiritual isolation from God; then to offer a gateway for any who would accept and truly wish to return to God and not follow after man's religious spirit. One thing is certain that at least from his perspective it settled any debate that mankind would have as to whether it seeks God or seeks to serve religion. Religion is patronizing of the human condition that is at enmity with God. Religion in practice prefers to have nothing to do with a God that does not serve mankind or it is unable to control or manipulate. Be certain of this, the religions of mankind are exposed to God for what they really are even though among one another they are rivals in an equal spiritual death grip.
Jesus Christ was not a man with a wife and children and out for making a name for himself by exploiting the spirit of religion in mankind. He exposed that spirit of religion and this enraged it. When Lazarus was raised by him from the tomb. It is astonishing to think the men that buried Lazarus and knew he was decomposing and smelling by the fourth day, and were there to see the tomb opened and at Christ's command Lazarus came to life, were the same men that participated in plotting Christ's execution. Think of it; these men who had just witnessed a rotting corpse come to life could only take away from the experience the thought that Jesus had to be stopped and Lazarus killed too before all people became followers. The scripture is true "seeing they will not perceive, hearing they will not understand."
There is something elementally missing yet the perpetuation of the religious vortexes we construct and justify still remain unchanged as they existed for millenia. The missing element should be quite simple, a world is crumbling because it does not know God has come in the flesh. Christians know this simple truth but are distracted with trying to perfect their "walk" and apparently oblivious to the fact that religion is what is being promoted at the expense of the pure message. Sadly it has become easier to defend the local fellowship than make a stand for the unity of the entire body on Christ's terms. It is no small concern, the true church ought to raise a voice where ever they may be located and demand at least the practice of worship itself to come out of the constructs of denominational ism and be sanctified by God and God alone.
What does man know of worship? The actions which many are convinced is worship is merely the same form expressed the same way throughout other world religions. How can we lift our hands and sing to God thinking we worship Him while clothed in the division of a body He has made to be one? What do we truly know of worship in this life and in this world? The slightest error in practice cost everyone present their lives in the old testament scriptures. If the present worshippers insist upon resurrecting old testament practices they ought not be surprised if old testament consequences follow. Personally I believe it is only God's patience and mercy that has kept him from releasing the fires that consumed past congregations of his people that just did not "get it" about what it means to be in the presence of God. Remember this, for as long as we remain in this world we still contend with our own sinful nature and it is only after our own resurrection that we will finally be freed of it. Therefore I personally believe we will not understand worship of the sort that pleases God until after we are reunited with Him in His kingdom.
The true church is the entire body of believers united in the knowledge that the creator of the universe became flesh and blood and dwelt among us, was crucified, and opened a narrow doorway to be reunited to Him in the process. It isn't about trying to create introverted little fellowships of believers but to spread out like ripples from a stone in a still pond. It would be so much more considerate and loving of any gathering if we were to abandon anything contrary.
Is it any wonder that people who follow after false prophets and false gods do so after they look to Christianity as an alternative and see only another religion and worse, one divided? Do you know someone lost in a cult or a religion of the antichrist? What do you propose to them if you endorse a denomination of religion yourself? Do you expect them to see the difference Christ represents and not a religion of "man coming to God" but of "God coming to man"? Can you say to them God has the Power to keep his people apart from the religions men create while you are (by your actions) endorsing the power of religion? Step back and see what your actions support in the eyes of those you communicate with. Like Paul, become all things to all men that a few might be saved but do not fall into eating the meat of idols in the process. When we refuse to look at the broader perspective of our action as we attend its form we fail to recognize it is our own very personal endorsement of it. We will all be accountable, not so much for what it has become to us but for the untold numbers in it's snare that looked toward us and saw only that we were also participants. If this isn't making sense to you then I will ask you simply to give some real thought to how people get involved in some very dangerous religious sects. Don't think they were all ignorant when they became involved. Often the process of involvement is subtle and happens over a considerable span of time.
ALTERNATIVES, ...Anyone?
What are the alternatives? If we meet on the hillsides and fields of open places would we not just be creating a denomination of another form? I personally have no simple answers though I know the solution must be to completely depend upon the Lord. I shudder to contemplate how often the results end with man creating another religion; how can this be avoided? This must be avoided and God must become our source for the direct solutions. How do we address the meaning of truly yielding to God's lead? We each may carry a little piece of a great wondrous puzzle that, when joined to other pieces, begins to display something true in the Lord. The pieces are without meaning in separate form and the fact that single pieces often seem to claim to be the key or have the greater glimpse of the whole is very amusing to God I am guessing. Not one of us has every answer and you know this already in your heart because we do not elevate any man but God alone do we exalt. God wants us to keep our eyes upon Him and not on human leadership which is why the apostle Paul chose to work with his hands rather than live from the preaching of the gospel as was allowed by the Lord. It seems Paul had an early understanding of the potential of distracting people from the better path. I am only able to imagine one potential answer and at first it may not seem much of an answer at all but it does do one great thing ... It removes man from the equation and promotes seeing only God on the throne. To me, this is acting with love for the entire body of Christ and is following through with a great responsibility in a way that seems more pleasing to the Lord. Yet ask God directly and He will express His feeling to your heart.
"The comforter which is the Holy Spirit whom the father will send in my name shall teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance that I have said to you." John 14:26
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Some Scriptural References to Ponder
What sort of house will you build for the Lord oh man? The Lord does not dwell in houses built by men.... The Lord dwells in the hearts of his people..... / Have you not heard that your body is the temple of the living God? ..... / The time is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the father neither on this mountain nor in the temple but the true worshipers will worship God in spirit and truth. ... / If you remain in his spirit you need no one to teach you, for as a man's spirit knows the deep things in a man, the Spirit of the Lord knows the deep things that are his, we have received his Spirit........ / It is God's will that I should lose none that he has given me but that I should raise them in the last day. .... / Having a form of Godliness but denying the power.
That last one I inserted because far too often ministries seem to ignore the fact that it is God who keeps his people fed and guides their paths to him. Instead the saying "God's little helpers" seems a better fit once considered more carefully it works out to be a rather large deficit in faith that God actually has the power to keep his people on his path. That is to say... if the people are really his having at some point a true sense of contrition (humility and laying their lives down daily) and picking up the new life he offers.
1 Corinthians Chapter 8 (things we do that obstruct other's view of Christ)
The apostle Paul wrote that he refused to participate in things that would in essence obstruct other persons from seeing Christ in the way God has intended. "If eating meat causes my brother to fall I will not eat." He was not addressing the food but things associated with religious practices. "Eat what ever is before you without question of conscience but if it is presented as part of a ceremony honoring another god do not eat, for conscience sake, not yours but theirs." The spirit of religion has been with mankind since the beginning of time but it has created every known religious belief today and the total effect has served to blind mankind to their creator. In fact the creator visited us in human form and the religious minded failed to recognize him. The one religion that should know better has managed to pattern its practices after the very same sort of things all other religions employ. No wonder there is confusion and no wonder people fall prey to harmful practices when they create structures and the mechanisms needed to support them which are never commissioned by either Christ or his disciples. We would do well to listen to his words and recognize his addressing the spirit of religion since he prayed to the Father, "I do not pray that you take them out of the world but protect them from the evil that is in it" So he was not talking about the world when he said "Come out of her my children".
Jeremiah: 5:30-31
“A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land:
The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?"
So if there is no persecution in the United States (or any other democratic society for that matter) such as described in the words of Jesus above, consider what would happen if you stood up and exposed the practices being engaged are more closely aligned with the spirit of religion than anything Jesus Christ or his disciples ever indicated for the true believers. In short, if you stand up and expose the practices of religion, you will at the very least be ignored or perhaps shunned for being divisive. If you are very public about it you will be harassed and quite possibly there will be plots to end your ability to spread your message. This isn't a mere paranoid extrapolation, it was something Jesus Christ endured and said that those who choose to follow him will also endure. He said "If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. Is a student greater than the teacher?" Yet do not be afraid to stand for what is right, and when resistance and persecution come, you will rejoice in your heart because you will know the scripture is being fulfilled through you personally and that God is preparing a place in paradise for you.
Beware that many will come to you saying the practice of religion is healthy and will back up their words with a few scriptures but you will find that if you do not take scriptures out of context the scriptures that testify against the present form of religion are vast in number and permeate the Bible. To oppose the form of religion will meet scorn from the ones who practice it and you might be afraid of being expelled but remember that this is exactly what Jesus said would happen and more in that the day is coming that they will seek to kill you and think that they are doing a service to God. They do this for the same reasons they did it to Jesus. Their livelihoods depend upon it and their worldly esteem is wrapped up in it. Remember that the Lord Himself said that we are not to have a teacher other than Him and His Holy Spirit for we are all brothers and we are equal and that you need no one to teach you if you remain in Him. So do not let anyone stand between you and the Lord. You will find that far more scriptures confirm this to you than the agenda promoted by religion. So do not be afraid, you are not alone as you follow Christ above all men or groups of men.
Some scripture to be thinking about and you will find all the scriptures on this page merely the tip of a great number more that address this topic.
Matthew 6:5-8
"And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him."
Matt. 23:8-10
“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers.
And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven.
Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ.
John 4:20-24
(Woman at the well speaking to Jesus) "Our fathers worshipped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem" Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know, we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and now has come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and truth."
John 13:34,35 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 16:32
"But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me."
John 18:3
"So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons."
Gal. 4:9-10
"But now that you know God — or rather are known by God — how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?
You are observing special days and months and seasons and years!"
Acts 17:24-25
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by hands. He is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives all men life and breath and everything else."
Acts 20:29-31
"I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears."
Acts 20:34
"You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions.
1 Corinthians 3:3
"For are you not yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are you not carnal, and walk as men?"
1 Corinthians 12:25
"That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another."
2 Corinthians 2:17
"Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God."
Rom. 16:17 - 18
"I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them.
For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people."
Galatians 5:13-15
"You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other."
Galatians 5:19-20
"The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery;
idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions"
Philippeans. 2:1-2
"If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion,
then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose."
2 Timothy 2:14
Keep reminding them of these things. Warn them before God against quarreling about words; It is of no value, and only ruins those who listen.
Consider these three verses among the very last words Jesus spoke as he prayed to the Father for his followers....
John 17:11;21-22
"And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to you. Holy Father, keep through your own name those whom you have given me, that they may be one, as we are."
"That they all may be one; as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be one in us:that the world may believe that you have sent me."
""And the glory which you gave me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:"
John 10:14-16
“I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me —
just as the Father knows me and I know the Father — and I lay down my life for the sheep.
I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd.
John 11:51,52
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one.
Clearly the Lord intended his people to be unified and not broken into denominational factions. It is also clear that he intends to be the only teacher and leader of his people even though there are references given for the behavior of leaders. It is this author's belief that these offices are inward and spiritual. Call them, concessions for those who seem unwilling or unable to fully comprehend that the Lord is complete as our leader and teacher; we require no one else.
Buildings called "churches" are being constructed even though not one of the disciples nor Christ Jesus ever endorsed this action. There is no new covenant support in scripture yet why does it continue? It is at very least a spirit of religion that perpetuates actions of man. Consider the true church undefined by walls built by men. The true church spreads out rather than introvertedly drawing in. If the Holy Spirit departs a gathering that has a building built by human hands and sustained by systems of financing and error enters in, it continues in that error and parishioners are subject to that error. If the church of Jesus Christ remains true to the form he and his disciples endorsed and the Holy Spirit departs the presence of error there is no structure to sustain that error. Once this author accepted the existence of the structures built by men in God's name but after closer consideration, prayer, and searching the scriptures as well as numerous experiences, I can not support that spirit of religion in good conscious. The overall effect is divisive, contrary to Christ's words and dangerous in the way it endorses far reaching error. We should stand for the gospel of Jesus Christ without endorsing the distractions the spirit of religion erects.
Church parishioners in the US are coasting on the assumption that, at least as of yet, persecution is happening more in far off lands than here. Yes indeed it has become adept at concealing this agenda but stand afar and look at the broader picture. We see great contradictions to what Christ Jesus and his disciples conveyed. We see division and the mutilation of Christ's body in the form of denominational division. These divisions are not defined by city or region as in the first church... but within one city you will find almost innumerable denominations of those who could not be reconciled in unity.
There is no persecution in the US because the followers of Christ are sedated with religion and being rendered spiritually useless. The cry goes forth to wake up from this sleep... the word is to "come out of her my children" ... and the reference to "her" is not the world itself because Christ prayed not that the Father would remove us from the world but to protect us from the evil in it. The greater danger is more insidious than the obvious evil of this world... it has the appearance of an angel of light but is the nature of the devil. Religion seems to be about God but it is actually about man's approach to God... God's approach to man is not through the religion of mankind. The religious spirit of mankind crucified God.
The spirit of religion has been gaining momentum since early Babylonian days and is referred to as a woman... a harlot... in the 17th and 18th Chapters of Revelation.
Proverbs 2:16-19
"To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God.
For her house inclineth to death, and her paths to the dead.
None that go to her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life."
Revelation 18:4
"Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;"
A simple prayer that can make a great difference if you are willing:
Humanity has no real concept of what true power and holiness is and I could never be righteous enough to stand in your presence God. I know all of mankind has been estranged from you and I am merely one of the many. I ask you to forgive me for following my own ways and the ways of fallen mankind, whether government or religion or perceptions of charity or acts of treachery, all is lost as you have clearly said. Forgive me Lord God because I have been one and the same, a part of all this. I believe what you have said now that you did come to us in human form and that we destroyed your human body without mercy. I believe that you said you will forgive me and show mercy to me in your name Jesus. I believe that no one will stand in your presence after this life unless Jesus is their savior. I ask you in your name Jesus Christ, forgive me my life apart from you and I now lay my life at your feet asking that you might make me new in your life, then lead me every day in the way I should go. From this day forward, I shall meet you in prayer, whether in my closet, my car, or the paths I walk.... I will listen for you to move my heart toward the place you want me to be with you. Thank you Lord, In Christ Jesus name. amen.
Thank you for visiting this page. Please do visit the others pages too.
Branchgraft
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Originalchurch.blogspot.com
visit the "sister" websites by the same author:
encourage people you know to visit http://www.evolvingissues.blogspot.com for persons who have a hard time seeing the logic of God
also visit http://www.branchgraft.blogspot.com for persons who may be distracted by other religions
Remember:
God wants every individual to know what a personal relationship with him can be. He has prepared the doorway for us to enter and that doorway is his only human form which was crucified so you might be able to live eternally. It begins in prayer... asking in Jesus name... for a lasting connection.
2 Corinthians 13:11
"Finally, brothers, good-by. Aim for perfection, listen to my appeal, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you."
We hardly demonstrate this "one mind" if we endorse the cause of so many denominational factions. The true church is not to be found in buildings built by men but in the hearts of the true followers of Christ Jesus.
Labels: christianity, death, eternal life, faith, God, heaven, Jesus is Lord, Jesus vs. religion, original church, originalchurch, Yeshua
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