n order
for Satan to deceive those that want to follow Christ he had to create a Church
that would have the name Christian but with paganism mixed with truth in a
way as to not cause alarm. It may be hard for many Christians to believe but
Satan also is the one that created what we know of as religion. We can find
many pagan religions down through time and even today many of their ceremonies
and rituals have been adopted by many Christian Churches. Because this change
from absolute truth to this mixture of truth and error has taken almost two
thousand years, millions of people have accepted their teachings as though
it is from the authority of Jesus Himself. The question is did Jesus come
to establish a religion?
The very word religion implies adherence to observance of rituals and ceremonies and it also denotes what type of rituals or ceremonies any particular church or group must practice. If one is of the Jewish religion, they must learn and practice all the rituals and ceremonies of the Jewish religion. The same holds true for the professing Christian religion of which can get into many different types of religions such as the Catholic religion, the Baptist religion, and the Mormon religion etc. Most all the churches of this world have a religion, and the purpose for religion is so the people will focus on the ceremonies and not God as we covered in chapter one. The question is should we have religion in the church that Jesus is the Lord over? This question may shock many people because we have been taught from childhood that to believe in God, is religion. But is religion and the belief in God the same? The truth is that Jesus did not come to establish a religion. Yes, to follow Jesus the Messiah is to be a Christian, but the truth is as we will see, to belong to the Christian religion is not necessary in order to follow Christ!
What is the truth about religion, and what does God want
from us?
In order to answer this question we must first understand the biblical
definition of religion so let's start with what Paul stated concerning religion
and ask what he meant by the word “religion” when he stated...“They knew me
from the first, if they were willing to testify, that according to the strictest
sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee." Acts 26:5. Paul's point here was that he was a very
good Pharisee and he kept to the Pharisaic religion with all its many ceremonies
and rituals, with all his heart. The Greek word for religion here is "threskeia"
which literally means ceremonial observance, or an outward show of ones beliefs
and worship of their god. All Christians who study the bible will agree that
the Pharisaic religion was a perverted religion, according to Jesus. We find
one example of this in Matt 15:1-3. "Then the scribes and Pharisees
who were from
This word "regulations" in the Greek is dogmatizo which is where
we get the English word "dogma" and it means to prescribe by statute
and be subject to ordinances and ceremonial rule. On into this letter Paul
states, "Do not touch, do not taste, do not handle, which all concern
things which perish with the using-- according to the commandments and
doctrines of men? These things indeed have an appearance of wisdom in
self-imposed religion, false humility, and neglect of the body, but
are of no value against the indulgence of the flesh. If then you were raised
with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting
at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on
the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
So the scriptures teache us that we should be rooted and grounded in the faith of Jesus and that we should beware of philosophy and deceit according to the traditions, regulations, or “dogma” of men. James the brother of Jesus stated concerning religion that “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, (threskeia) and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one's religion (threskeia) is useless. Pure and undefiled religion (threskeia) before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. James 1:26-27. Notice that the Greek word here is the same as the Greek word used to describe the religion of the Pharisee’.
Some have become confused about this term “religion” because they believe James is advocating religion when he used the word here. This is a common mistake, but we will see that he was not advocating religion just because he used the word as we think this through. The first thing to realize is that he could not have been advocating religion for christians because as was stated above the very word means ceremonial observance, or an outward show of ones beliefs and worship of their god and we have seen that we should not worship with dogma. So let’s look at the author’s intent here, and then ask some questions. The question is, do we have observance of rituals and ceremonies when we visit orphans and widows in their trouble? No! Do we have observance of rituals and ceremonies when we work on keeping ourselves unspotted from the world? No!
So what was the author’s intent when he used the word religion here? Notice the statement “thinks he is religious,” vs. 26. Jesus stated the same thing when He declared…"Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.” Matt 6:1-4. This is exactly the same thing that James was conveying and we see Jesus said to do it in secret, as well as not sounding any trumpets or "do not do it with ceremonies."
So we can see by looking at the intent of the author that James’ use of the word religion here was in fact a denouncement of religion. From comparing these correct scriptures we find that ceremonies or religion is an outward show of ones beliefs to their god. Christianity is not a religion but a relationship with the Father and Jesus our elder brother by the power of the Holy Spirit. What Jesus brought from the Father and then died for was so we could come to develop holy character in our lives. God wants us to develop a Christ like mind, becoming like our Father and Jesus in the spirit. Helping the widows, and fatherless from a heart of compassion, and the love of God is having the mind of God. The reason this is true acts of conversion is because the widows, and fatherless can never repay you in any way! All true acts of love are done without motive or expectation of any return except the love we receive from it.
When we read from the beginning of the chapter we see James
was writing to the twelve tribes of
False Worship/False gods:
Many people in the Catholic
Church don’t believe we should be concerned about bowing to the goddess called
the virgin, or the man figure they have hanging on the pagan cross, and have
been named Jesus, but should we be concerned about Idolatry? Can Idolatry
keep us from worshipping the true God of heaven? What does the creator God
have to say about idolatry, and can we receive the mark of the beast losing
salvation if we worship idols? One of the very things Jesus warned us about
is that no one can be saved or
even go to the Holy Father except through Him. Let me say that again… No one can be saved or even go
to the Holy Father except through the true Messiah Jesus. Satan wants us to
look for salvation any place except where it is, and although he traps us
by the teaching that we must belong to "the Church" to be
saved, one of his other favorite traps is through the queen of heaven. Did
you know that the "Virgin Mary" is referred to by the Catholic Church
as the "queen of heaven"? Did you know that the queen of heaven
has been worshipped for thousands of years, long before Jesus' birth as we
find in Jer 7:17-20. These scriptures expose the "queen of heaven",
and reveal how God truly views her. Let’s read the scripture for ourselves!
"Do you not see what they do in the cities of
The truth is that God
hates idols, and will destroy all of them, along with those who set them up
and deceive the people into this pagan worship. Any Christian who knows how
God hates idolatry and does not warn the world, is just as guilty as the ones
that promote them. By law in most countries, a person is guilty of the crime
others plan to commit if they know of it and fail to warn those who will be
hurt. In fact, God says the same thing in Ezek 3:18 . "When I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you
give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to
save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood
I will require at your hand. "Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does
not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his
iniquity; but you have delivered your soul."
Satan knows that if the
leaders of the church will present something to the church, even if it's pagan,
it will become accepted over time because people will follow their leaders.
The question is...do we want to get back to the true worship of the true God
or do we just want to keep things the way they are for the sake of peace?
These church leaders that overwrite the scriptures by their traditions are
going into perdition if they don't repent…do you want to follow them there?
There are many things we do on a daily and weekly basis that came from ancient
beliefs and even devil worship. We accept these things as if they are normal
and never think about where they came from or if we should do them. Many people
even go through the week without realizing what the names of the days truly
mean. Sunday being the day of the Sun, and was the very day the pagans such
as Constantine the Great worshipped their Sun god. Monday is really Moons
day, or the day of the Moon, Tuesday is Tiu’s day, or the god of the sky and
war. Wednesday is Woden’s day, god of the wild hunt, and day of Mercury, and
identified with the Scandinavian god Odin. Thursday is Thor’s day, the Scandinavian
god of thunder or war. Friday is Freya’s day, the goddess of love and fertility,
or frig day to make love or to fool around. Saturday is Saturn’s day, an ancient
Roman god of agriculture, and identified with the Greek god Cronus and we
will see more on him in this chapter. (See the study cut sheet's on pagan
god's after the appendix)
Other Types of Idolatry:
The "cross" is a pagan idol that was worshipped
long before Jesus was born. The Greek word in the New Testament translated
"cross" is "stauros" and denotes, primarily, "an
upright pale or stake." The authorities on the subject write, "On
such malefactors were nailed for execution. Both the noun and the verb stauroo,
"to fasten to a stake or pale," are originally to be distinguished
from the ecclesiastical form of a two beamed "cross." The shape
of the latter had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and was used as the symbol
of the god Tammuz (being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his
name) in that country and in adjacent lands, including Egypt. So we can see
from history that the cross was a symbol of worship long before Jesus died
on the stake. By the middle of the 3rd century A. D. the Churches had either
departed from, or had travestied, certain doctrines of the Christian faith.
In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiastical system pagans
were received into the churches apart from regeneration by faith, and were
permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and symbols. Hence the Tau or
T, in its most frequent form, with the cross-piece lowered, this pagan symbol
was adopted to stand for the "cross" of Christ." (Information
from, The Companion Bible by E.W. Bullinger)
We have found in other historical research that Christ WAS NOT crucified on a cross but on a stake, however, even if He was...should we wear the instrument of death, or have it in places of worship? What if He had been killed in the electric chair; would you wear one around your neck? The important fact is that we are saved by his resurrection because of His sacrifice, so what's most important here is that our savior Jesus the Messiah is ALIVE sitting at the right hand of God our Father to make intercession for us in prayer. Satan is the one that desires to keep Jesus dead on the stake and if possible deceive people into putting Jesus on the very pagan symbol that points to Satan himself.
The very elect can be deceived:
Jesus the Messiah warned that if it were possible, the very elect
would be deceived! Many people today have been lead to believe that the
symbols of Satan are not important and have nothing to do with their salvation,
however the symbols of Satanic worship do have great meaning and can lead
you away from the true God of heaven. If symbols were not important then why
are they used to identify nations, religions, and many corporations? Why did
God instruct us to not use symbols in our worship of Him in the Ten Commandments?
Ex. 20:1-4. We did a study into
the many Satanists organization logos and found they interlock in one way
or another in churches and in business. Understanding their logos is a great
way to detect them. Most people
have seen the connect the dots game so this will serve as a good point for
us to understand how tarot cards are used by witches as a magical tool to
tell fortunes. I took a Tarot spread titled "The Twelve Houses"
which consists of 13 cards and I drew lines between corner points from the
top card towards the 13th card revealing the Iron Cross worn by
the Nazis during the second war. This symbol shows up in many places such
as the Masons, and even in Churches called by the name Christian as found
on the gable of the
By connecting the dots of many symbols
we can reveal the numerological points that open the powers of Satan and his
demons. Satan's followers wear these symbols so they can keep these points of
power to Satan open to them as they travel or to show who they are to fellow
worshippers. This can be found on buildings, rings, advertisements, or even a
country's currency. Even numbers are very important to the occultists such as
the number nine. One reason they love the number nine is because Jesus (The one
they hate.) died at the ninth hour. They also teach that there are nine orders
of devils. The symbol for nine, used in worship, is the anagram, a triangle
system with nine points, with satanic symbols at the points. The other numbers
important to occultists are 33, 3, 13, 666, or just 6. Remember the teaching of
the old triune god is three. Satan is depicted holding the trident and it's
also the symbol of the old Roman sea god, Neptune. The Hindu god Shiva also
holds the trident and is of the triune gods Brahma, and Vishnu that depict
birth, life and death, mind, body and soul, or man, woman, and child. This is
where the teaching of the trinity as the father, son and holy ghost came from,
“not the Bible”. Fire is very important to them as well, but the most important
symbols are the sun, moon, stars, and earth.
The Catholics have what is called the "blessing of the new fire"
on the evening before Easter Sunday, from which many candles are lit. Is it not
now obvious that its origin is not in the celebration of the risen Son of God,
but rather idol worship and the pagan Babylonian god of fire, and sun-god,
whose emblem is a flaming heart, and whose name is Baal or Tammuz? The
"blessing of the new fire" actually honors the new strength of the
Sun as evidenced by the increasing daylight and lessening night after the
Spring Equinox. It is clearly derived from a pagan celebration of the risen
Sun, and not the risen Christ. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol.5, page 227,
article "Easter" as quoted in Babylon Mystery Religion, by Ralph
Edward Woodrow, page 137, states; "The Easter Fire is lit on the top of
mountains from new fire, drawn from wood by friction; this is a custom of pagan
origin in vogue all over
Were pagan customs adopted into the Church of Rome and given the appearance
of Christianity? This is plainly admitted by many learned men. Go look in the many great church buildings today
and notice the pagan sun gods, and the one great church at
Prayer for the dead:
Many people believe they
can pray to dead Saints and ask them to intervene in times of need because
preachers and priests have been believed rather than the written word of God.
The truth is, that the Bible reveals to us that all true Christians dead or
alive are Saints. Notice “To the saints who are in
The state of being alive
is the quality that distinguishes a vital and functional being from a dead body, the sequence of physical and
mental experiences that make up the existence of an individual. To be alive is
to be thinking, moving, feeling, and interacting with others who are also
alive. The truth is they are not in
heaven or a place of torment. Notice what Jesus states; "all who are in
the graves will hear His voice" This is talking of a future time and is
called the resurrection. To be resurrected is to raise from the dead as the rising of Christ from the dead, or
the rising again to life of all the
human dead before the final judgment. Now if all that are dead and in their
graves will hear His voice, and come forth at the resurrection when Jesus
returns, (yet future) what would be the point if people go to heaven or hell at
death? Some become confused about this because misguided preachers have taught
them that when Jesus told the thief on the stake next to Him recorded in Luke
23:43 "Assuredly, I say to you, today you
will be with Me in Paradise." They refer to the word TODAY, but they
don’t think it through. Jesus could not have meant that very day because Jesus
Himself did not go back to heaven THAT day...He went into the grave for three
days, and three nights. The thief went to the grave THAT day also. What Jesus
was telling the man was that he received salvation THAT day because he believed
Jesus was the Son of God, and our savior. When God states a fact like “You
shall be saved” it is a reality at the very moment to Him although it has not
yet come to pass.
The Apostles knew what
it meant to be dead as reflected by this explanation of the resurrection
recorded in Acts 2:29-35 "Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both
dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. "Therefore, being a
prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that of the fruit
of his body, according to the flesh, He would raise up the Christ to sit on his
throne, "he, foreseeing this, spoke concerning the resurrection of the
Christ, that His soul was not left in Hades, nor did His flesh see corruption.
"This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses. "Therefore
being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the
promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear. "For David did not ascend into the
heavens, but he says himself: 'The Lord said to my Lord, "Sit at
My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool."
Then what does it mean to be born again?
If we go to John 3:1-12 we see Christ explaining to
Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews that he had to be born again. Nicodemus
understood that Christ was talking about a birth in the sense of being born of
our mothers. Notice, Christ told him he could not enter the Kingdom of heaven
until he was born again, and his response was, "How can a man be born when
he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?"
Jesus answered the question very plain when He stated, "That which is born
of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." So
Christ was showing that there is a difference between flesh and spirit. When you were born, were you born flesh or
spirit? It's amazing how people put different meanings on flesh, spirit, life,
death, and being born when reading the bible. When the bible speaks of living,
it means to be alive, and when it speaks of dying, it means to cease to live.
When it speaks of being born, it means coming into existence, either the
existence of flesh, or the existence of spirit, which are two different types
of existence, and two different types of bodies. Notice what's recorded in 1
Cor 15:50-53 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot
inherit the
Behold, I tell you a
mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed--in a moment, in
the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and
the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed for this
corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on
immortality." We must be changed to spirit (or born of the spirit) before
we can enter the Kingdom from heaven. Satan does not want this truth to be
declared in the Churches because of this promise of the gospel of Jesus our
savior. There are ministers who use the scripture in 1Pet. 1:23 to try and say
we are born again, but the words "born again" here in the Greek is
anagennao "ana" (again) and gennao, (to beget) The word "anagennesis" which means "new
birth" never occurs in the new testament in relation to a spiritual
birth here and now! To beget again,
(anagennao) means to regenerate, restoration, or to become something new, to
change from our former ways and become like Jesus our elder brother, who set
the example for us to imitate. Eph 4:22-24.
Many have been taught
all our lives that we have eternal life within us; that the soul is immortal,
but God not only reveals that the dead are dead but that the only ones who have eternal life at this
time are those in the Kingdom now. 1 Tim 6:15-16 "which He will manifest in His own time, He who is the blessed
and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, dwelling in
unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom be honor and
everlasting power. Amen." The scriptures are very clear on mortality
and immortality, as well as when we will receive it as we read above in 1
Cor. 15:50 We also can read what is stated about who is in heaven in
John 3:13. "No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven,
that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. This sounds very plain to me!
Another false
worship:
Another type of false
worship that is attributed to God is known as Easter, and what is sad is that
most people in the
Rulings of the Council
of Nicaea on Easter Constantine the Great, Roman emperor, and sun worshipper, convoked the Council of
Nicaea in 325. The council unanimously ruled that the Easter festival should be
celebrated throughout the Christian world on the first Sunday (day of the Sun) after the full moon
following the vernal equinox; and that if the full moon should occur on a
Sunday and thereby coincide with the Passover festival, Easter should be
commemorated on the Sunday following.” This was a ruling by man not by God. We
need to study and prove what comes from God by way of His Word, and what is
decided by some council of men. Men always have their own agenda when making
law. Men are influenced by greed, fear of other rulers, or they change doctrine
because they want to be free from their own guilt. God makes decisions out of a
pure love for all, and we need to stay with what He has decreed.
Hot cross buns:
Remember the cakes that were made for the queen of heaven we
read of in Jer 7:17-20? The hot cross buns
are these same cakes. Among people of
We read in the book The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop
that the hot cross buns of Good Friday, and the dyed eggs of Pasch or Easter
Sunday, figured in the Chaldean [Babylonian] rites just as they do now. The
"buns" known too by that identical name, were used in the worship
of the queen of heaven, the goddess Easter [Ishtar/Astarte], as early as the
days of Cecrops, the founder of
The Two Babylons, by Alexander Hislop, published 1943 and
1959 in the
Acceptance of Pagan God's
We as a nation have gone
into idolatry in a big way and the leaders of many churches have made the
pagan winter solstice Christmas,
the pagan egg worship of Easter,
and the lord of the dead of Halloween
as well as many other Greek gods Christian. The Olympics in 1996 were
full of pagan worship in honor to Zeus
and even depicted human sacrifices and is accepted by this nation. Remember
Cronus that was identified with Saturday,
Saturn’s day, and was a Greek god? According to the Encyclopedia Cronus and
his sister-queen, Rhea, became the parents of 6 of the 12 gods and goddesses
known as the Olympians. He swallowed each of his first five children as soon
as it was born. (See Appendix for more information on what is called "Classical
Mythology" but are truly pagan gods.)
According to the
Encyclopedia the religious beliefs of the ancient
Egyptians were the dominating influence in the development of their culture,
although a true religion, in the sense of a unified theological system, never
existed among them. The Egyptian faith was based on an unorganized collection
of ancient myths, nature worship,
and innumerable deities such as the mother
and child god and goddess, just like the Catholics Madonna and child. In the most influential and famous of
these myths a divine hierarchy is developed and the creation of the earth is
explained. According to the Egyptian account of creation, only the ocean
existed at first. Then Ra, the sun, came out of an egg (a flower, in some
versions) that appeared on the surface of the water. Notice many of the icons
today that look like an egg with sunrays coming from it. Ra brought forth four
children, the gods Shu and Geb and the goddesses Tefnut and Nut. Shu and Tefnut
became the atmosphere. They stood on Geb, who became the earth, and raised up
Nut, who became the sky. Ra ruled over all. Geb and Nut later had two sons, Set
and Osiris, and two daughters, Isis and Nephthys. Osiris succeeded Ra as king
of the earth, helped by Isis, his sister-wife. According to the pagans the
false god "Set" hated his brother and killed him.
The Madonna
is the continuation of
The only
important pagan god that was worshiped with consistency was Ra, chief of cosmic
deities, from whom early Egyptian kings claimed descent. Beginning with the
Middle Kingdom (2134-1668 BC), Ra
worship acquired the status of a state religion, and the god was gradually
fused with Amon during the Theban dynasties, becoming the supreme god Amon-Ra.
During the 18th Dynasty the pharaoh Amenhotep III renamed the sun god Aton, an
ancient term for the physical solar force. Amenhotep's son and successor,
Amenhotep IV, instituted a revolution in Egyptian religion by proclaiming Aton
the true and only god. He changed his own name to Akhenaton, meaning, “Aton is
satisfied.” He was so full of himself that he even had the plural word gods
deleted from monuments, and he relentlessly persecuted the priests of Amon.
Akhenaton's sun religion failed to survive, although it exerted a great
influence on the art and thinking of his time, and
Now let’s take a look at some of the parallels when God brought
His people out of the
How is it that the world will come to such a place that they have turned away from the true savior to worship this man that has set himself up as a god? People will say it can never happen, but many Churches are falling and accepting the teachings of the New World Order by incorporating many religions into their worship in the name of love. They say we need to get along and learn to accept other religions, we must learn how to "agree to disagree". Would God want us to accept other gods and pagan worship for the sake of love? Let Him answer the question. Ezek 5:11-12. 'Therefore, as I live,' says the Lord GOD, 'surely, because you have defiled My sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will also diminish you; My eye will not spare, nor will I have any pity. 'One-third of you shall die of the pestilence, and be consumed with famine in your midst; and one-third shall fall by the sword all around you; and I will scatter another third to all the winds, and I will draw out a sword after them.” This is a prophecy for the time of the end, so who do you think God is talking too?
This is only part of the Prophesy and is one of many for
the time we now live and for the people of
I have had people say to
me..."We know these things you say are true...we know many things we
call Christian are from the old pagans but, we don't observe Christmas, Easter,
or wear the cross and pray to the dead or the idols of Madonna in the same
way they did long ago...in fact we DO these things in Christ's Name so that
makes it different, Right!” Its not up to me to answer such a question, but
God replies absolutely not! God
the Father and Jesus the Messiah have made it very clear how, when and why
we should worship them. Deut 4:2. "You shall not add to the word which
I command you, nor take anything from it, that you may keep the commandments
of the LORD your God which I command you." Also in Matt 15:8-9 “These
people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but
their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men." Remember what
we covered earlier about religion? Some ministers actually state that this
scripture does not mean that, but when you hear a minister state that this
scripture in Deut 4:2 does not mean what it says, beware, because he is about
to lead you into error!
Although some make the excuse that they may worship these
same gods but they don’t burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their
gods does not make it alright in God’s eyes. Look at how we accept mothers
sacrificing their children by the thousands today and we call it abortion. This
is just another deception we as humans accept because it has been accepted by
those religious leaders at the top, but remember this…God has not accepted it
just like He has not accepted these pagan gods religious leaders teach people
to worship. God is very angry with these religious leaders and this nation for
the slaughter of these innocent children and the worship of Satan, and He is
bringing His judgments upon those
who will not repent. This is exactly what happens when people turn from the
true God even if they name their new gods after Him. Morality is lost and that
which is satanic replaces the understanding of right. That which is up becomes
down and that which is right becomes left. The truth is anything other then the
Holy Creator God in Heaven is not God even if people think IT is and even name
IT after Jesus the Messiah!
The "Great
Apostasy", which is the Ecumenical movement is in full bloom today, and the only way we can escape this deception
is to pray to the true creator and study the scriptures believing what it
states as it will lead us to the real Jesus our savior, and God our Father.
Remember as we read in the beginning of chapter one, Jesus stated that He
came preaching ONLY what the Holy Father commanded Him to preach. Jesus did
not preach His own words, but exactly, and only what the Father said. As I
have stated before, if anyone teaches anything other than what Jesus preached
from the Holy Father; they should not be taken seriously. The Great tribulation
is coming upon the whole world soon because mankind has denied God and began
to teach false doctrines, worshipping the cross, the Madonna, and a figure
they claim to be Christ on a cross, but is only an idol of the false Christ. Take heed and be very sure of what you believe because
the Great Almighty creator God is coming to destroy all these idols and false
Churches, and remember you can lose your crown by worshipping other gods,
and receive God's wrath. The truth is that you can receive the mark of the beast by going along with these false
leaders, because they are leading people into idolatry. The question is; are
you going to believe the TRUE GOD and worship Him only, or are you going to
close your eyes and ears to the truth so you can continue to worship as you
please? What ever you decide, YOU will be held responsible for it, no one else!
Who should we follow?
There are a lot of ministers who will teach that you should follow them "as" they follow Christ. Many misguided ministers quote 1Cor. 11:1 and then state "Follow me, just as I also follow Christ." The truth is that we should not follow any man, but Jesus only. The King James version “incorrectly” uses the word follow. The Greek word here is "mimetes" and it means imitator. Webster's New World College Dictionary renders imitate as to seek the example of, take as one's model or pattern, to mimic, or resemble. This rendering denotes becoming like Jesus, and could be used by Paul in that as long as he conducted himself in a christ-like manner, then those who saw his actions could learn by example. Ever see a small child imitate someone? What a big difference that is from follow. Webster's New World College Dictionary renders follow as to go along, to accept the authority of, to obey, yield to, or to advocate the ideas, or opinions of those followed.
Now this rendering has
a completely different meaning than to imitate Paul as he imitates Christ.
Paul was in essence being the example for others to see. Where following him
would get our eyes off Christ and on Paul (or any man) thereby the possibility
of being deceived if the man would cunningly change the doctrine as many has
in the past and will in the future. The one thing God wants mankind to always
remember and it's the very thing we always seem to forget, and that is, GOD
IS SUPREME! God has never and will never give up or trust His authority
or His people to any angel or man!
Many ministers use the scriptures in Rom 13:1-3 to teach that we must always submit to the Government and they say the scriptures backs them up. Is this true? Yes the scriptures do state that we should be subject to the governing authorities and that there is no authority except from God and the authorities that exist are appointed by God; However they seem to never bring out the scripture where Peter and the other apostles were brought to the court for preaching Christ after they had been instructed by the rulers not to do so. What did the apostles say in response to this? The scripture states; "Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man's blood on us!" But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: "We ought to obey God rather than men. Acts 5:28-29. So we see a good biblical example when we should not obey those over us. As long as those that are leading people in Christ do not go against God or the teachings of the truth, we can follow them, but the Messiah is supreme in all cases.
Another problem in the Church:
I would hope all Christians would answer yes to all these
questions, but did you know that any Church that is enjoying a tax-exempt
status can't "legally" preach against these things? If an evil person
turns them in, they not only could lose their tax-exempt status, but they could
be penalized in various ways that could even close down the Church. Satan knows
that most ministers are zealous and will over extend their churches growth
ceiling when they are tax-exempt, thus if they lose it, the church will collapse
unless the members dig real deep, and the minister does not want to ask them to
do that, lest he appears as incompetent.
When I became aware of this I came to understand why many things were done, or
preached or not done, in the
One case in point:
Let's look at one of these rules to make the point. "The organization must not engage in illegal activity, or activity contrary to public policy.” While this currently means Churches may not engage in racial discrimination. This rule could become a problem for Churches if same-sex marriages, for example, become legally recognized. This would include gay ministers, women preachers, gay child care workers, and racial discrimination can even bring all religions including their pagan practices. Even a witch can claim she is religious and demand her practices be taught in your Church by you, or that you “by law” must give her equal time at the pulpit. You may say this can never happen...but, yes it will, because Satan is about to take complete control of all governments, commerce, and religion. The government may not send all these Churches their sermons every week, but if they hear something that's not politically correct they can tell the minister to change it or run the risk of losing his tax-exempt status. These ministers are very aware of this when they are preaching and they know if a member turns them in then they could find themselves on the government's mat. The BIG question is, will these ministers denounce the tax-exempt status and take it on the chin, or will they sell out and stay in their comfort zones? The time is coming very soon to choose. Will they stand up for the truth?
The Hierarchical Type Government:
Most Churches in the
When these ministers are asked to prove from the bible if God wants the hierarchical type government set up in His church today they refer to Exod 18:23. "If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure, and all this people will also go to their place in peace." Notice the words "God so commands you" This is what they focus you on because of the word "COMMANDS". Either they are deceiving you, or they don't understand the scriptures. If they are going to use this to point people to God, then they should be sure of the meaning. The word Command here in Exod. 18:23 is Tsavah in Hebrew and means to enjoin or better put (if God so wills) we will do this or that. The word in Hebrew for Command as, God giving a command is mitsvah; and this word denotes a command, law, ordinance, or a precept. There's a world of difference in the meanings here, because the word "Tsavah" is used, the true meaning is getting God's blessings on something we do as men, and that is all this was. Moses' Father-in-law saw that Moses was being overwhelmed by answering the peoples questions and solving problems. The solution was to appoint able men, that feared God, men of truth to be rulers of thousands, rulers of hundreds, etc. Again I say this was not a bad suggestion nor was it evil, but it was nothing more than a solution to the problem at hand, NOT A COMMAND FROM GOD! The statement "If you do this thing, and God so commands you, then you will be able to endure." was in fact "If you do this thing and God wills (or God agrees) then you will be able to endure.
The question is brethren,
what type of church government should be used, and did Jesus and the apostles
leave us with an example? The fact is brethren that in its almost 2000-year
history, God's true Church never had one administration, with one man in charge.
If we look into the New Testament with an open mind, we find a totally different
approach to government than what has developed in the Churches today. Frankly
there was never in the early
History shows how these men have abused the money that was in-trusted to them. How they, even today, live far richer then those that send in their tithes. If a minister is receiving his living and driving a car, wearing clothes, or living in a home that far exceeds the way the brethren live, he is a hireling. Many Christians have come to understand that the hierarchical government set up in the Churches are not Biblical nor is the will of God. Some ministers are even admitting that God does not want the hierarchical system used in His Church and has began to preach against it. It is good that some are preaching the truth on this subject, but we should not let our guard down brethren, because although some ministers are preaching that the hierarchical type Church government is not what Jesus or the apostles taught, they are at the same time setting it up under new names and ideas. A good salesman can sell you the same product you rejected last week under a new package, so we need to educate ourselves on the ways we can detect what is truth, not by what is preached against, but by what the minister is doing. Here again brethren we must check out the fruit of the tree.
I'm going to list some points below that I will call "Hierarchical Symptoms" so we can take a look at what is being done even though we are told they are not doing it. The first thing a Hierarch will do is put forth his credentials that entitles him to be your teacher. He may even go as far as presenting historical facts claming his lineage ties him to the Apostles or even, as one man did, to the lineage of Jesus Himself. Once he has you believing he is qualified he then will place himself as the authority, and as some have done in the past, claim he is "divinely appointed by God" and is given "a special commission on this earth. You will know he has done this when he isolates himself from the common people by not allowing anyone to contact him directly by phone. Only those he determines worthy can have his number. Only those that are "leaders" can know the inside scoop.
He then sets himself up as the one to determine who can be an elder or teacher. He will say God does the calling, but his actions will show he will not let God do the calling because if the person does not agree with the Hierarch then he will announce publicly that this person must be an antichrist who does not even have God's Holy Spirit. A strong and dangerous judgment I must say! He will use shunning techniques such as denouncing of those that may question or disagree with him, and if someone challenges his authority they will be disfellowship on the spot. He will also have to be the one that appoints others for baptizing, and anointing, and never mind if people are being healed by God through people the Hierarch has not approved. He will use terms like pillars in the church to separate those he can use to uphold his teachings, and authority. He will use isolation techniques such as telling you not to read any material he has not approved of or written, and that you should not listen to others because they are heretics, or they are trying to lead you away from Christ. He will infer that you need him to interpret the Greek because you are not as versed in it as he is. But what he should tell you is that the books to obtain and read are the Strong's concordance, and Zodhiates complete word study of the Old and New Testaments as well as George Ricker Berry's Interlinear Greek New Testament, and the Tanakh for the Old Testament, but they will not do this because then you will know as much as they do.
Another symptom will be that the hierarch will start settling issues and disputes, and begin to teach dress codes, dating, marriage, and what he determines to be proper child rearing techniques. He will not allow common people to ask questions and get straight answers from the Bible. He will only cover topics in sermons but then dance right over the points. He will say that he needs correcting also, but when someone proves him wrong from the Bible on a subject that he does not want to change, for what ever reason, he will not address the subject point by point with scripture. He will go all around it and then make statements as if what he is saying is fact without using scripture. He will read a scripture and then state "this means" when in fact it does not mean that. He will claim his writings are "absolute truths" and that he is the one God reveals this truth to.
The Hierarch will quote the scripture correctly and then misapply it for his own purpose or he will use a verse if it has just the word he wants in it, hoping you won't check up on him. Many will actually skip over scriptures because they shine a light on the truth thus not allowing them to spin the meaning. Some will quote the scripture and state "can it mean this or that?" Then on into their sermon make the "could it mean" statement as if it's indeed a fact. Brethren, if a man takes on the responsibility to become a steward of the written word of God then he must be very sure of what he will convey as the truth, or run the risk of becoming a false messenger. The Hierarch will also present an idea that sounds very urgent and convince people that this is what we all should strive for in these last days. Just as an example he could say that in the last days just before Jesus returns many people that have never been called will wake up to the truth and come out of this worlds system. At that time they will need someone to teach them the truth, and help them come to Jesus in true repentance. This may be true and I have stated something like this in my book the Great Apostasy, but the difference is that I stated that we ALL should get prepared for helping them by us ALL becoming knowledgeable of the scriptures and submitting to God so we can be ready to be used in what ever way God needs us during that time.
The Hierarch will tell you that he is getting ready for this special time with books and sermons to help these people, and he needs your tithes to help him publish more. Brethren don't be deceived by these many cunning, and deceiving, statements designed to take your money by making you feel if you don't give to them you are going against God. It will not take your money for God to send His two witnesses, nor will it take your money for them to have the power God gives them to do such a mighty work of preaching repentance and the gospel message. Their authority comes from God. When someone claims that God has sent them to warn (witness) to this poor dying world, BUT they need YOUR support; these men are false preachers, and have not been sent by God!! Please don't take this to mean that we should not support the publishing of the gospel message now. We should give as God instructs us, but we don't have to fear for our salvation as if we are going against God if we don't give it as a command to some man. The truth is that NO MAN has the right to DEMAND a tithe from you as if it's a command from God! (See Tithe article)
The true Ministry:
According to the scriptures the
If an elder takes his
calling to heart he will never place himself between Jesus and the brethren
saying we must be part of his Church supporting him or we will be lost. A
minister called by God will always point you to Jesus, and seek to help the
poor, the widow and fatherless. He will give hope to the down trodden, and
visit the sick and comfort the dying. A true elder of God will do everything
for the good of the people. He will love the truth and defend it from those who
would pervert it, and teach against all pagan teaching, as he knows it
leads God’s people away from God and towards the world. He will teach the truth
even if it means losing his position as a minister or even if he receives no
salary for his labor and even if he knows it will cost him his life. He would
rather teach the truth to seven faithful Christians for free rather than teach
lies and half truths to thousands of people who have itching ears wanting to
hear only smooth teachings.
He will never claim to have the Keys to
the Kingdom that belong to Jesus only.
He will never claim to sit on the throne
that belongs to our Lord alone.
He will never imply that God has called him alone to do some great work
and claim that you will lose salvation if you don’t help him.
He will never claim that you MUST send
him your tithes and if you don’t you are robbing God.
Brethren, let's follow
Jesus the Lamb of God, and listen to the true shepherds and stewards He calls,
which can be proven by their fruits. Remember brethren, we can hear the true voice
of the true Shepherd, and know who is false if we don't follow man, and if we
stay close to God, walking in obedience never accepting these false Christ and
pagan gods that have no power over us, and we must keep watching what the Beast
power and antichrist are doing so we can stay alert or we truly could become
deceived.
How did Jesus illustrate the structure in His Church?
Jesus gave us the example of the true structure He wanted in His Church,
so let's read what is recorded in John 15:5. "I am the vine, you are
the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without
Me you can do nothing." The truth from God is that a vine is the best
way to depict God's type of government because this type of government puts
Christ as the Lord and gives everyone who truly follows Him the opportunity
to serve in many ways, and lay up treasures in heaven without contriving and
backbiting. Notice that Jesus states that He wants us ALL to bear much fruit,
not just the minister. There's no reason to politic when the Messiah has already
qualified to rule. It was Satan from the very beginning that wanted to ascend
to take the position of God, and anytime a man places himself between Christ
and the brethren or seeks the position of Christ's authority in anyway whatsoever,
he is not doing God's will!
It is not for me to say if he does not have God's Holy Spirit, or that he is an antichrist, but I can say he is deceived by his lust for power and authority over others and needs to look at his true motives, and should repent before he falls into condemnation. The truth is that Jesus is governing His Church from His headquarters in heaven through every truly begotten child of God. Jesus is the one that appoints, and gives gifts in whatever He has determined them to do. It's Jesus that rules, and has the authority to say if someone has His Holy Spirit. It's Jesus that can read the hearts of us all not some man that does not know what you truly feel and desire. Jesus knows what He has put each and every one through to bring us to the place we are so we can be used where He determines, not some man that went to "Man's Collage" or that was ordained by some man at the top. Neither Jesus, nor the apostles were ordained by some great man or went to a Collage of this world and the Pope was not there to give them absolution. Under the new covenant we can individually go directly to God the Father and be taught by the Holy Spirit. We can go to Jesus for all our needs and even receive wisdom, instruction, faith, mercy, strength, hope, and yes, we can even ask if there is something we can do to help in preaching the gospel to others. The written word of God always interprets itself, and if we will just accept what God has recorded and prove all things from His word, we can come to a great understanding of His plan and will in our lives. We can regain our contact with God if we will get back to a personal relationship with Him and quit thinking we need these men to rule over us.
There are definite techniques that are being used either by design or from
being educated in a hierarchical system. God is the judge, but as stated above,
we need to understand these techniques that are used to deceive so we can
continue in the true relationship with Jesus the Messiah. It is my sincerest
hope and prayer that this information informs many to beware of wolves in
Shepherds clothing and help us to look to Jesus as our only Savior, and Master.