Copyright ©
The
Master's Table
"You
cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of
the Lord's table and of the table of demons.
Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy?
Are we stronger than He?" 1 Cor 10:21-22.
Lords Table
Let's start by asking
a question. Did you know Jesus stated that we are to worship the Holy Father
in spirit and in truth? John 4:23-24 states, "But the hour is coming, and
now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit
and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. "God is
Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
(NKJ throughout.)
The term in spirit denotes not physical, but
spiritual. Remember the statement in the scripture above…"God is Spirit,
and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth." Is there other
scriptures that state the same thing? Yes because this means the same thing
that is commanded in Exodus 20 where we find the Ten Commandments. Exod 20:1-6.
And God spoke all these words, saying: "I am the LORD your God, who brought
you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. "You shall
have no other gods before Me. "You shall not make for yourself a
carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you
shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am
a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the
third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands,
to those who love Me and keep My commandments.
So we see from the very Command of God Himself what worshipping in spirit means. From what we read above, which comes from the words of God, we should never have anything that is physical in or around worshipping the creator God. Now what is the meaning of “in Truth”? We know what a lie is, so we should know to worship Him using graven images would not be worshipping Him in truth because the graven images are not God. The Spirit of God is referred in scripture as the Spirit of truth so as you will see if we have the Spirit of God working with us we will seek and submit to the truth. Let's read it for ourselves. "However, when it, the Spirit of truth, has come, it will guide you into all truth; for it will not speak on its own authority, but whatever it hears it will speak; and it will tell you things to come. It will glorify Me, for it will take of what is Mine and declare it to you." John 16:13-14. So we see here that all who have the true Spirit of God will know, seek, and love the truth and that the Spirit of God will declare what is God's to those that work with and listen to the Holy Spirit of God. This being true I must ask...Why so many Churches declaring themselves to be Christian are teaching so much error?
Also we find Paul teaching this in Col 2:20-3:4 and Col. 3:1-4. It states... Therefore, if you died with Christ from the basic principles of the world, why, as though living in the world, do you subject yourselves to regulations-- "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. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory."
I have many Christians tell me that they believe it does not matter to God if we worship on Sunday or the seventh day Sabbath. They report to believe God is not concerned about the way or manner Churches conduct their services and worship Him. I have been told that many know where the Christ-mass (Or the Mass of Christ.) customs came from but they are doing it in Jesus' Name and to honor His birth. They say that there is nothing wrong with this as long as they are doing it in Jesus' Name. This could be true but do you know that it is for a fact true? What if your very salvation depended on you coming to God the way He want's you to come in worship and what if men have over time taught error?
Have you ever wondered why there are so many different Churches
called Christian teaching doctrines against each other, but yet using the same
bible? Have you ever wondered why the terms Christ-mass, Easter, and Trinity
are not even in the Christian bible? Have you ever checked what the bible teaches
concerning life after death? The big question Christians should ask and answer
is what does the creator God want and how can we know? What is His will and
do we use anything that could offend or even anger Him in our services? So the
question is, will God accept idols, and ceremonies that have historically been
used in Satanic worship? Can we worship Him in the same way the pagans worship
as long as we are doing it in His name? Many just leave these questions and
responsibility to their minister, but should they? We
Many professing Christian churches have statues of
what they call the Virgin Mary, and the Christ on a cross and many only have
the cross standing up front. Some say they are not worshipping the cross,
or Madonna, but these things are just representations of God and Jesus or His
death.
The truth is that under the New covenant Jesus Himself taught that a temple is not the place for worship because we should do as Jesus stated which is to go into our closet and pray in private because our relationship is between each person and God as we find in Matt: 6:5-7. Congregations should be for the purpose of fellowship and education as we find the Apostles doing as recorded in the New Covenant writings! We find no records of the apostles going to a building "to worship" but we do find them going to brethren's homes to teach. Now I know some will quote scripture showing that Jesus went up to the temple to worship but when we think about this with understanding we find that Jesus was still under the Old Covenant laws and had to obey them or become a law breaker. The New Covenant did not come into effect till Jesus returned from spreading His shed blood on the Holy of Holies in heaven.
Let’s look at the way pagan religions worshipped and
how they viewed their temples so we can understand more about this subject.
In antiquity temples were "houses" for the gods, or for the statue
as representative of the god. Temples represent the sacred places where one
can contact the god, and the worshiper had to go to the temple before they could
be in their god's presents. There the people came for prayers, offerings, and
sacrifices, or to receive an oracle, favor, or a miracle from the deity.
It may shock you but many of the symbols of their old
religion have even survived to this day and been added to Christian worship
which many churches today received from the Catholic Church. The reason one
priest would wear red robes and another priest would wear black robes, and many
still wear to this day, is because the priest in the red robe was selected to
kill the child, and the priest that wore the black robe would be the one to
offer the child as a burnt sacrifice. As one studies into the true meanings
of pagan religions we find many meanings to the rites, and ceremonies that God
hates and would never accept in worship to Him.
Let's not just take
my word for it but let's continue looking at the scriptures that support this
statement.
When God’s prophet Elijah contended with the people
about this pagan god Baal he made it very clear that we can’t worship the two
together. Let's read it... “And Elijah came to all the people, and said, "How
long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but
if Baal, follow him." But the people answered him not a word.” IKing 18:21.
We also read in Deut 12:30-32 that we shall not worship God in any pagan way.
Let's read it. "Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow
them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire
after their gods, saying, 'How did these nations serve their gods? I also will
do likewise.' "You shall not worship the LORD your God in that
way; for every abomination to the LORD which He hates they
have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the
fire to their gods. "Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it;
you shall not add to it nor take away from it." Please notice that
God stated that He HATES these pagan gods. Again like Paul stated, "Or
do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than He?"
Another scripture that reflects God's attitude towards these pagan gods can be found here in Hosea 13:1-4. It states... "When Ephraim spoke, trembling, he exalted himself in Israel; but when he offended through Baal worship, he died. Now they sin more and more, and have made for themselves molded images, idols of their silver, according to their skill; all of it is the work of craftsmen. They say of them, "Let the men who sacrifice kiss the calves! Therefore they shall be like the morning cloud and like the early dew that passes away, like chaff blown off from a threshing floor and like smoke from a chimney. Yet I am the LORD your God ever since the land of Egypt, and you shall know no God but Me; for there is no Savior besides Me.”
Let's consider brethren, this very strong statement
above. "You shall know no God but Me; for there is no Savior besides
Me.” We find scripture in John 14:6. that Jesus Himself also stated that
He was the truth, and the life and no person can come to the Father except through
Him! No other way! Not a cross, statue, or even any manner of ritual practices,
or religious rites can help anyone enter the Kingdom of God. Satan knows
this and he is working on detouring people away from Christ our ONLY savior!
The main ways Satan can keep people from becoming children of God is either
through the lust of the flesh, or to turn them to other god's that cannot save.
We very much need to be as sure as possible that we know who the true God
is and follow Him in spirit and truth or run the real risk of not being in the
Kingdom of God.
Some will say that these scriptures above reflect God’s
attitude in old times, and some also believe that because Jesus came and established
the new covenant, God does not get angry about Baal today. Well brethren, if
you have come to this conclusion also then you are very much mistaken, as you
will see if you continue to read. As stated above Baal is still being worshipped
today even using the name Christian, and The Father still hates him and
Jesus will destroy Baal at His return. There is a very profound prophesy of
the coming of the Lord and what is called “The day of the Lord” which denotes
the return of the Messiah which, by the way is still future. What is of great
significance here is that this future prophecy names the pagan god Baal as the
one that God will destroy. Let’s read it.
"I will stretch out My hand against Judah, and
against all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. I will cut off every trace of Baal
from this place, the names of the idolatrous priests with the pagan priests--Those
who worship the host of heaven on the housetops; those who worship and swear
oaths by the LORD, but who also swear by Milcom; (Or Molack which
is the same.) Those who have turned back from following the LORD, and have not
sought the LORD, nor inquired of Him." Be silent in the presence of the
Lord GOD; for the day of the LORD is at hand, for the LORD has prepared a sacrifice;
he has invited His guests. "And it shall be, in the day of the LORD'S sacrifice,
that I will punish the princes and the king's children, and all such as are
clothed with foreign apparel.” Zeph 1:4-8.
Notice the words, “for the day of the LORD is at hand,”
denoting the time setting, and also that God made the point of those that worship
Him, but also swear by Molack? This shows that they are worshipping in the
name of God, (The Christian religion) and that God’s attitude is that
we can’t worship Him, and swear by a pagan god also. Again this prophesy
shows that God still hates Idolatry. There are New Testament scriptures that
also show we should not mix any idol worship with the worship of the true creator
God. Let’s look at a scripture in 2 Cor 6:14-18 that is very clear on that.
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has
righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?
And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an
unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For
you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will dwell in
them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people.
Therefore "Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do
not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to
you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
Notice that He stated that if we don't touch the unclean thing He will receive us? Well the other side of the statement is also true…If we don't stop worshipping these pagan gods, then the true God who gives salvation will not receive us. Again some will say, we don't worship the cross or the Madona. We don't worship the witch's sex eggs or the goddess Easter or the sun god Ray on Easter Sunday. We don't worship the tree on Christ-mass. Well I would like to ask a question that I have proposed to others. If you don't worship these things, and now you have learned that they are of Satan, then it should not be a problem for you to give them up! It should not be a problem for you to learn, and do, what God has established in worship to Him! (See our historical studies on these subjects at the end of this paper.)
What about 1
Cor. 8?
To answer the critics concerning this topic we must
address the scriptures in 1 Corinthians chapter eight because it seems to indicate
that the apostle Paul was saying that we can eat meat offered to idols because
they are nothing and to do so has no meaning, and many ministers state that
these scriptures denote that God is no longer concerned with anything He stated
was sin in the Old Testament. Let’s take a close look and see if these scriptures
are in fact saying that God is no longer concerned about idol worship. Let’s
start with 1 Cor 8:1-13. “Now concerning things offered to idols: We
know that we all have knowledge. Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies."
(Here it seems to indicate that love over rides knowledge. Let's continue,)
"And if anyone thinks that he knows anything, he knows nothing yet as he
ought to know. But if anyone loves God, this one is known by Him.” (The Greek
word for knowledge here is gnosis (gno'-sis); meaning, “knowing” or to know
experientially. Clear and exact knowledge which expresses a more through participation
on the part of the subject. Let’s continue,) ”Therefore concerning the eating
of things offered to idols we know that an idol is nothing in the world,
and that there is no other God but one. For even if there are so-called gods,
whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords, yet for
us there is one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we for Him; and
one Lord Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and through whom we live.
The apostle goes on to write..."However, there is not in everyone that knowledge; for some, with consciousness of the idol, until now eat it as a thing offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled." (Here we see Paul showing that if a person has knowledge of what they are doing they defile their conscience, in other words like stated above they have clear and exact knowledge which expresses a more through participation on the part of the subject. Now Paul goes on to say,) “But food does not commend us to God; for neither if we eat are we the better, nor if we do not eat are we the worse. But beware lest somehow this liberty of yours become a stumbling block to those who are weak."
Here is where we can lose the point
if we try to add human reason. Some will use human reason and state that Paul
was saying that love is more important than causing a brother to stumble but
it is ok to eat if no one is present that could stumble. Now I must say here
that we need to do as much as possible to never make someone stumble however
we should never think we should over look sin for the sake of love! I would
like to bring to your attention that Paul had a man put out of the church and
turned over to Satan for sleeping with his fathers wife. 1 Cor 5:1-7. He went
on to say that their glorying was not good, and did they not know that a little
leaven leavens the whole lump?
Also if you look at the intent of the statement above
you will see that Paul was saying if a person has knowledge of sin (Eating meat
offered to idols) and does it anyway he could cause those that are weak, and
want to eat it, to stumble. In other words…"Hey look the minister is
doing it so it must be alright." Let's read what Paul finished saying here
and you will see it clearly. "For if anyone sees you who have knowledge
eating in an idol's temple, will not the conscience of him who is weak be
emboldened (this means become more bold in doing it.) to eat those things
offered to idols? And because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish,
for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound
their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food makes my
brother stumble, I will never again eat meat, lest I make my brother stumble.”
We see the conclusion of this question when the apostle
Peter stated, "So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all
the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things.'
"Known to God from eternity are all His works. "Therefore I judge
that we should not trouble those from among the Gentiles who are turning to
God, "but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols,
from sexual immorality, from things strangled, and from blood." Acts
15:17-20. The apostles were dealing with people that were worshipping pagan
idols before they accepted Jesus as their savior. They did not understand many
of the things they were taught from the Old Testament scriptures because they
were not born and raised in them as the converted Jews were. So the apostles
had to address some important points to help them until they could come to a
much deeper knowledge of their new faith. But notice that to abstain from
things offered to idols is among them because the apostles understood that idol
worship in any form would lead them away from the true creator God.
Can
Idols lead you into the Beast system?
Brethren as I have stated many times before
in the sermons under the "A Call to Arms" section, we need to heed
the warning in II Thes. 2. and take it to heart because if we don't, we can
lose salvation. We
see by the warnings of our Lord and savior Himself that the greatest danger
for true Christians in these last days is a falling away from the truth.
Our very salvation depends on our love of the truth, because if we don't believe
and follow the truth we can't come to the TRUE savior, Jesus the Messiah, and
that's what Satan is counting on.
Let no one
deceive you:
Remember what we covered in the beginning
of this study? To worship God in Spirit and TRUTH? We will see here why
that is so important. Some ministers are teaching that those who are deceived
will not be held accountable for their sins as they don't know, because they
are deceived. What is the truth? There's a man scripture refers to as the "son of perdition"
that is to come into power in these last days. The very term "perdition"
means to be damned, or to lose eternal salvation. Remember, if a man leads others
into perdition he must also go into perdition, so be very sure you know the
truth when you tell people "God said" and then they go the
way you lead them. Please make no mistake about it, people can be condemned
by following, and if the follower can be condemned, how much more can the deceiver
be condemned?
A "warning" is to keep one from going where
they can be injured or killed, and the warnings in the scriptures are there
to avert us from eternal condemnation. We can read the warning of this son of
perdition who is to come into power in II Th 2:1-12. "Now, brethren, concerning
the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask
you, not to be soon shaken in mind or
troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though
the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not
come unless the falling away comes
first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and
exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshipped, so that
he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I
told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be
revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work;
only He who now restrains will do so
until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will
be revealed whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy
with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according
to the working of Satan, with all
power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among
those who perish, because they did not
receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this
reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie,
that they all may be condemned who
did not believe the truth but had pleasure in un-righteousness.”
Notice this very important point, that the time
setting is the time of the end. So the first event we need to be most aware
of in the last days is this great deception,
or (The Great Apostasy) that is to come at the time of the end. The reason people
will become deceived is because they did not receive, or maintain a love for
the truth as the scripture stated. They considered the true doctrines of God
as not important. Also notice, "He
who now restrains will do so until He
is taken out of the way. The
"He" here is Jesus, and the day is very soon when He will step aside
to let the man of perdition have full control because Satan is given every opportunity
to deceive the very elect of God in these end times.
Because of this warning we need to be sure we know,
and love, the truth of God, because the very term "Apostasy"
denotes that there is only one truth and there can be a departure from that
truth. If we depart from it we will not receive salvation because salvation
comes from the true Messiah. Remember we can't even come to the Father except
through Jesus, and this means the true One. Satan is deceiving many today into
a false salvation by changing many scriptures into a deceptive counterfeit.
(See my three year research paper titled "The Credibility of the Bible".)
The only way he could do this using Jesus' Name and the "Christian Religion"
is to change the true gospel of Jesus to another gospel. To infiltrate the church
of God with false gods, false doctrines, false ministers and even false members
to lead God's true people away from the true Christ with their religion.
If you still don't believe that God hates
pagan gods and idols at this point then let's read what is stated during the
end time when God is pouring destruction on the earth. This scripture denotes,
without a doubt, what God's will is concerning idol worship.
As stated above, some say they are wearing
the cross to show their commitment to Christ. Well brethren I would like to
ask you this, Why did God take the throne from King Solomon? It was because
he went away from the true God to worship pagan gods. Do you suppose God
will tear the kingdom from Solomon and excuse those that do the same today if
they don't repent and teach the truth about these Idols?
The Roman Catholic Church's foundation is the belief that God would not have the Roman Church teach such doctrines if they were not true doctrines. The majority of Protestant denominations do not accept many Catholic Church doctrine, which also gives credence to the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception, the doctrine of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and of the literal flesh and blood in the communion Eucharist, but the Protestants have nevertheless accepted the customs of Christ-Mass, and the Trinity doctrine even though this Trinity doctrine is no more explicitly taught in scripture than the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. Protestants have even accepted the cross from the Catholic church but we find from research that the Catholic Church copied the symbol from the Pagan Druids who made crosses in this form to represent the Thau (god). The Protestants also have accepted the doctrine of Easter and worship towards the sun as it rises on the very day the sun god was worshipped. Back in 1893 we find that they even went so far as to demand that the Catholic Church allow them to worship on Sunday rather than the commanded seventh day Sabbath. To accept one doctrine and then throw out the other, when both are from the same foundation of the doctrine of "Tradition", as opposed to explicit scriptural teaching, is to act most contradictorily in this author’s humble opinion.
Check out
"Apostolic
Succession" for more understanding.
For the true Gospel Jesus brought to mankind and was the very message the Holy Father sent Him to deliver see... "To Preach The Kingdom Of God"
If interested in The Great Apostasy check out this link or go to the sermons on this topic at... "A Call to Arms"
For understanding the truth about
the type of Government structure that Jesus stated should be used in His Church
see... Church
Government? and The truth about Tithes
Sun Worship in Christianity?
Is
Easter Christian?
A Sign
of the Antichrist?
Timothy M. Youngblood ~ Elder
"The
Master's Table"