[Part 1 of 8] The Complete History of the Lord’s Church, That At Its End, Makes Him Physically Sick

INTRODUCTION

There is a church in the Bible that Jesus said makes Him sick.  a church that thinks it is rich but is actually poor.  A church that thinks it can see but is blind.  A church that thinks it is clothed to impress but is instead naked before God.  And the most terrifying part, most of modern Christianity is in it and they have no clue that they are in it.  Much of modern Christianity is in the wrong church and they don’t even know it.  Revelations shocking warning!  So, let’s open our Bibles to Revelation 1:10 The apostle John the last surviving disciple of Jesus Christ, is an old man now.  His fellow disciples are all dead.  Peter was crucified upside down, James was beheaded, and Paul was executed by Nero.  And John himself has been banished to a barren and windswept island called Patmos, exiled by the Roman Emperor Demission because he refused to stop preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ.  And it is there on that rocky desolate island surrounded by nothing but sea and stone and the cries of seabirds that John receives the most extraordinary vision in the history of the world.  he writes these words “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying ii am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and what you see, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.   Now let’s pause and consider something profound.  There were other Christian churches in Asia Minor at this time.  Trowaz, Asos, Meletus, Colossi, Hera-Poulos, Trails, Magnesia, and the list goes on and on.  So why did Jesus choose just these seven?  Why not eight, why not twelve?  Why these particular-seven?  The answer is three fold.  And every one of these reasons will matter before we are done.  [1], the number [7] in the Bible always represents completeness and perfection.  God created the world in [7] days.  Israel marched around Jericho [7] times.  revelation gives us [7] seals, [7] trumpets and [7] bowls of judgment.  When Jesus addresses [7] churches, He is saying, “these messages cover the complete history of My church from beginning to end.”  Not a partial history, but a complete history.  [2nd], trace these [7] cities on a map of Asia Minor and we will see something extraordinary.  They form a circuit, a mail route, a messenger traveling from city to city in sequence would create a shape, and that shape is the silhouette of a Menorah, a seven-branched candelabrum, the ancient symbol of the people of God.  Is this simply a coincidence?  No!  Jesus himself declares in Revelations 1:20, “The mystery of the [7] stars which you see in my right-hand, and the [7] golden candlesticks.  The [7] stars are the angels of the [7] churches: and the [7] candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches.”  [3rd], and the key that unlocks the mystery.  Each of these [7] cities had specific local conditions that foreshadowed a distinct period of Christian history.  The names of the [7] churches are symbolic of the church in different periods of the Christian era.  As already stated, the number [7] indicates completeness and is symbolic of the fact that the messages extend to the end of the Church age, or time of the Gentiles.  While the symbols used reveal the condition of the church at different periods in the history of the world.  So, facts that we are about to unpack are not merely ancient history.  It is prophecy, a divine road map, and the most sobering reality of all, is this.  The last of the [7] churches describe us clearly and unambiguously.  It describes the church as it exists right now, in the final hours of the dispensation labeled in the Bible as “THE TIME OF THE GENTILES.”   

 Before we dive in to the [1st] church, here are the [7] eras of Christian history that we are about to journey together.  Ephesus, the Apostolic Church, 31-100AD...Smyrna, the church under persecution 100-313 AD...Pergamos the compromised Church 313-538 AD...Thyatira the medieval Church 538-1565 AD...Sardis the reformation church 1565-1740 AD... Philadelphia the missionary church 1740-1844...Laodicean the church of the judgment 1844-present AD.

PART ONE

The Church “of” Ephesus

“Unto, the angel of the church of Ephesus write; These things says He that holds the seven starsin His right hand, who walks in-the-midst of the seven golden candlesticks.”The name of each church has profound significance as we will soon discover. Ephesus means “desirable or first” the period in the Church’s history was from 31 AD – 100 AD., it was the apostolic church. The “key” that unlocks understanding the journey of the churches through its history, is in the way the Lord presents Himself to each church. In this church it’s important to note the Lord is holding the [7] stars (or the pastors and teachers) in his right hand (denotes controlling power) as he walks among the lampstands, the churches. He is not distant; He is not absent; He right there walking among His people. We noted the name Ephesus means “desirable” or “first.” and that is exactly what this church represents. The first church, the desirable church, the church at its most pure and powerful, the church of the apostles born on the day of Pentecost in 31 AD and continuing until approximately 100 AD the time of the death of John himself.

The Lord says three commendable things about this church. [1] I know your work, your labor, your patience. Now, in the original Greek these words carry tremendous weight. The word translated “work” is [ergger] which means active deeds of faith, the same word James uses when he say’s “Faith without works is dead.” The Gr. Wd. Translated “labor” is [Copos], not ordinary labor, but exhausting toil under hardships. The kind Paul describes in II Corinthians: “I am more; in labors, more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft.” For “patience” the Gr. Wd. [Hoopamone] not passive waiting, but active endurance under trial, refusing to quit when pressure is unbearable, and the threat of imminent death. This church worked, this church suffered, this church endured, and they did something else that is nearly non-existent in modern Christianity. It tested false teachers, for which Jesus commends them [how you cannot bear them which devise wickedness (that literally damns the soul), you tested them which say they are apostles (teachers) and are not, and found them to be liars.” The early church was doctrinally vigilant. False man-made doctrines were exposed for what they were. in other words, unlike much of modern Christianity, the early church did not accept every teacher or teaching that came along. Much of modern Christianity seems to have forgotten John’s dire warning. [“Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits whether they are of God, because man false prophets have gone out into the world.” The Lord not only commends the things that please Him but warns against the things that displease Him.

THE REBUKE
And It Is Devastating

Here is an often-overlooked important truth: [“My son despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of His correction, for whom the Lord loves He corrects.” The Lord’s rebuke is simple and to the point: [“Nevertheless I have somewhat against you, because you have left your first love.”]Here is something important to note, He doesn’t say they lost their first love. Hey says they “left” it.! You “lose” something accidentally; you “leave” something deliberately. Think of it along these lines; you can’t accidentally lose your salvation (simply because you have no power to obtain it in the first place), but you can deliberately abandon it in pursuit of worldly pleasures. The first-generation Christians, Peter, Paul, John, Stephen, all burned with a white-hot passionate love for Jesus that drove them to the ends of the earth. They counted everything as loss for the excellency of knowing Christ. But by the end of the first century, a shift began to manifest itself among believers. The church was still doctrinally correct, still working hard, still enduring suffering physically for the gospel’s sake, but fervency of their predecessors had been begun to cool. The reason is that orthodoxy was replacing intimacy. Arguments over certain doctrines, etc. As a result, correct belief was substituting in place of passionate devotion of sharing Jesus. So, Jesus issues a warning; [“Remember therefore from where you are fallen, and repent, and do the first work; or else i will come to you quickly, and will remove your candlestick out of his place, except you repent.”] A church without love is a church without light. The early Christians were indeed a peculiar people. Their blameless deportment (the manner-in-which the church conducts itself) and their unswerving faith were indeed an irritant that disturbed the sinner’s peace. One of the things that makes the Ephesus church stand out in comparison to modern Christianity; they were few in numbers, without any wealth, societal position or honorary titles, however they were a holy terror to evildoers wherever their character, testimony and doctrines were known! In comparison to today’s church, with its massive numbers, wealth in the billions, and titles and positions in the political system, it is enough to make a true believer weep.

[“And to those who overcome I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the midst-of-the paradise of God.”] What Adam lost in the first Garden, Christ will restore in the last paradise. When love begins to cool, persecutions heat up.And that brings us to the second church.

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[Part 2 of 8] The Complete History of the Lord’s Church, Ends by Making Him Physically Sick

PART TWO

The Church “in” Smyrna

“And unto the angel of the church “in” Smyrna write; these things says the first and the last, which was dead and is alive. I know your works and tribulation, and poverty, (but you are rich).” Revelation 2:8-9 Let’s first look at the name, it means “myrrh”, which comes in hard chunks, but when it is crushed a beautiful aromatic fragrance is emitted. This was the church being crushed under the iron heel of the Roman Empire, and when crushed, a beautiful fragrance filled all of heaven.Believers in the faith of Jesus Christ could not meet in public, they had no political protections, thus they met underground in the Roman catacombs where great amounts in earth had been excavated to major Roman edifices. There was a true godliness and holiness when these Christians met, they confessed sins to one another prayed for strength to endure the persecution for their faith in Christ. This church represents a period in church history from approximately 100 AD – 313 AD the era that encapsulated the great Roman persecutions. A time when 10 major waves of persecution swept across the empire. Christians were thrown into arenas filled with sold out crowds as Christian were the meal to feed ravished and starving lions that had been purposely starved for maximum effect for the entertainment. Christians also adorned Nero’s gardens as human lanterns, and Christians were sewn into animal skins and torn to pieces by wild dogs, boiled in oil, and sawn into inside logs. However, there was a divine twist to Satan’s attempt to destroy the church through persecution, the more Rome persecuted the church the more it grew. Thus, was born the truth “The Blood of the Martyrs is the Seed of the Gospel.” Now let’s examine how Christ introduces Himself to this suffering church; “says the first and the last who was dead and is alive.” He was saying to them, I know what death is, I have been there. I was physically so mutilated I was unrecognizable by those closest to Me “He is despised and rejected of of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him. he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”I was literally slaughtered and then nailed to a cross and crucified and died, but death could not hold me. I rose again to life everlasting. And because death had no lasting power over Me, you too have nothing to fear from those who cab mutilate the flesh. Then Jesus says something that would appear contradictory but is profoundly true. I know about your tribulation, physical suffering and poverty, but you are rich. In the eyes of the world, the Smyrna church was a cesspool of poverty and suffering for a dead Savior who had been publicly executed by crucifixion, but Jesus looked at them and saw wealth, the wealth of their faith, the wealth of their character, the wealth of life eternal in the kingdom of God. Now compare this with what He would say to the Laodicean church, that closes the history of the Church while dwelling in Satan's kingdom on the earth. Unlike Smyrna who lived in poverty, much of the modern church can openly boast to all the world of their immense wealth (in the billions), their exalted status by church buildings that rival any country club in comforts, and state of the art music programs, as well as holding titles in the communities, their titles and place in the nation’s political system. without a doubt, Jesus would level the same indictment that delivered to the Laodiceans church, “Your wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked.”Smyrna was poor, but rich! Laodicea, like the much of the modern church, is rich but poor. All of us as Christians in the 21st century in modern America need to let this sink in and take root concerning our Christian walk, and to what degree are we willing to suffer for Christ.

Here is a detail so stunning in its prophetic precision that no honest person of faith can ignore, of this revelation in church history. Jesus tells the Church in Smyrna “Fear none of these things which you shall suffer: behold, the devil (FOOD FOR THOUGHT, Jesus identifies the devil as the Roman Empire, makes you wonder about the true origin of the Roman Catholic Church)shall cast some of you into prison, that you may be tried, and you shall have tribulation ten days.”NERO / 64 AD...DOMITIAN / 95 AD...TRAJAN / 108 AD...MARCUS AURELIUS / 162 AD...SERERUS / 202 AD...MAXIMINUS / 235 AD...DECIUS / 250...VALERIAN / 257...AURELIAN / 274 AD and DIOCLETIAN / 313 AD. In Biblical prophecy, a prophetic day equals a literal year. This principal is established in Numbers 14.34 “After the number of days in which you searched out the land, even forty days, each day for a year.” Ezekiel 4.8-10 “And when you have accomplished them, lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days, i have appointed you each day for a year.” So, it is an indisputable fact that 10 prophetic days equal 10 literal years. And the last and most horrific Roman persecution, lasted from exactly 303 AD – 313 AD, 10 years precisely as Jesus predicted, written decades before by the Apostle John, before it would ever take place. The world foolishly discounts the Bible as made-up stories by men, fables and fictitious stories, but no true Christian should ever ignore Biblical prophecy. The one (Jesus) who knew the exact length of Diocletian’s persecution knows every detail of our lives. There is an old negro spiritual that tells us all we need to understand about our life “My God is a writing He is writing all the time."

CONCLUSION: There is something we must not miss. This is the first of the seven churches that Jesus had found nothing about their profession of faith, that displeased Him. This teaches the modern church something profound that we have ignored or refuse to let happen by escaping the suffering through our judicial system. Persecution purifies the church. Prosperity, materialism, the most comfortable worship houses, and comfort her wealth can provide. If I am exaggerating, then why is church membership in decline, our integrity non-existent, and our morals even being questioned. It is not suffering that destroys God’s people, it’s comfort ease, wealth, and faith that cost absolutely nothing. We must never forget this, because it will matter before we are done. “Be thou faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life. They who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” This present world, Satan’s kingdom, can take our first life, but they can never touch our eternal life. Satan’s attempt to destroy the church through persecution failed miserably. But unlike most of us, he never entertains the thought that he had lost the battle. He simply strategizes a new approach to win the battle. in the case of the church, he could not destroy it from the outside, so he would corrupt from the inside. And that brings us to the [3rd] church. And this will begin one of the darkest periods in the Church’s history, where everything begins to go wrong.

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[Part 3 of 8] The Complete History of the Lord’s Church, Ends by Making Him Physically Sick

Satan’s Strategic Move of Uniting the Church in Marriage to Rome; Is an Act of Deceptive Mastery, Rivaled Only by the Serpents Deception of Eve

PART THREE

The Church “in” Pergamos

“And unto the angel of the church “in” Pergamos write; these things says He which has the Sharpe two-edged sword with two edges; I know your works, and where you dwell, even where Satan’s seat (or throne) is.” Revelation 2:12-13

The name Pergamos comes from the original Greek meaning “elevation or marriage”. And both meanings are prophetically exact for this period in the church’s history. The period from approximately 313 AD – 538 AD. A time when a persecuted church came up out of the Roman catacombs stirred by an end of the Edict of Persecution and a new enacted Edict of Toleration proclaimed by Rome’s Emperor Constantine, who made Christianity the new religion of all of Rome. It was when the church was elevated to political power through its marriage to the Roman state. In 313 AD Emperor Constantine issued the “Edict of Milan”, officially ending the persecution of Christians. But his Edict did for more than stop the killing. He made Christianity the religion of all the Roman Empire. He gave the church buildings, money, political influence, social standing, and millions of pagans flooded into the church, not because they were converted, but because it was now politically advantageous to be Christian, and that is not even the worse part, they brought with them all their paganistic beliefs and ideas. Pagan practices became the corner stone of the church. Veneration of the saints, [Where worship is directed exclusively toward a deity or God as a supreme being, veneration involves honoring a created being (like a saint, an elder, or a sacred object) for the excellence they possess or represent.], December 25th, in honor of the birth of the Roman sun-god Sol Invictus [invincible “Sun” or “Unconquered Sun, was the official sun god of the late Roman Empire and a later aspect of, or replacement for, the old Latin god Sol] and the birth of Tammuz, the Babylonian son of Nimrod and Semiramis. Spring brought fertility rights, of Ishtar, celebrated as Easter replete with idols and statues and other images that adorned the churches. Church leaders embraced the pagan priesthood and religious clerical hierarchy. The pure and simple gospel of Jesus Christ was now buried under layers of pagan tradition. The “simplicity that was in Christ” was lost forever.

The Church’s refusal to repent of its blatant sin is the single greatest danger the Church in the 21st century faces. But you don’t have to take my word for it, let the Lord do His own talking; I am aware “even where Satan’s seat(or throne) is!”What the Lord is revealing, Pergamos dwells and has put down roots where Satan’s throne is. The ancient city of Pergamum literally had what was called the throne of Zeus, a massive altar 40’ high, which archeologist excavated and moved to Berlin, Germany, where it sits to this day. But is there a deeper prophetic meaning? When Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Constantinople in 330 AD it left a power vacuum in Rome. And who filled the vacuum? The Bishop of Rome became the papal authority of Rome. Satan’s throne, the seat of political power, was transferred from pagan Rome to Papal Rome, and Satan’s throne moved into the church. And the Lord names [2] doctrines that have infiltrated the church by this strategic move of Satan. [1st] was the doctrine of Balaam. In Numbers 22:2-25 the king of Moab, Balak, Balaam an Israelite holy man to curse Israel, but God would not allow him to do so. So, Balaam devised another strategy. He sent Moabite women to seduce the Israelite men into sexual immorality and idolatry. What Balaam could not accomplish through direct attack; he accomplished through seduction. And that is exactly what Satan did to the church during the Pergamos period. [2nd] doctrine, that of the Nicolaitans, from two Gr. Words “Nikaro”meaning to conquer and “Laos” the people, a system that conquers the people, a clerical hierarchy that places priests and bishops above the laity. This a direct contradiction of Scripture, Peter the so-called first pope wrote in his 1st Epistle “You are a chosen priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” First Peter 2:9 That means every true believer in the faith of Christ, is a royal priest. No human mediator stands between you and Christ. The great adversary of Christ, Satan, now endeavors to gain artifice (crafty, clever and cunning trickery) what he failed to secure by force through murder, human carnage, persecution and destruction. This is the period when persecution was replaced by societal acceptance, and persecution ceased and in its place was substituted with dangerous allurements of temporal prosperity and worldly honor. Idolaters were open received into the Christian faith while they outright rejected other essential biblical truths.

CONCLUSION: With Satan’s strategic move to stop his attempt at destroying the church from without, he reversed strategy and moved into the church. Resulting in the stage set for the longest and darkest period in Christian history. It is what Charles Spurgeon, the great English preacher, aptly warnedthe church had made its way onto the ““Downgrade” of which no entity has ever been able to exit off of.

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[Part 4 of 8] The Complete History of the Lord’s Church, Ends by Making Him Physically Sick

Part Four

The Re-Crucifixion of Christ and the Deification of Mary
The Church “in” Thyatira

“And unto the angel of the church “in” Thyatira write; these things say’s the Son of God, who has eyes like unto a flame of fire, and His feet like brass. I know your works, charity and service and faith...Notwithstanding i have a few things against you, because you suffer that woman who calls herself a prophetess to teach and seduce your servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols.” Revelation 2;18-20

The name “Thyatira” means “continual sacrifice”. This is prophetic and a 100% accurate down to the smallest detail, because the defining doctrine introduced into Christianity of this period in church history, was the mass, and the deification of Mary. During the Catholic mass and the Eucharist is served Christ is re-crucified on the altar every time. It is another man-created doctrine! But the Book of Hebrews completely-destroys this absurdity. “Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many.” Hebrews 9:28...”Jesus after He had offered one sacrifice for sins forever sat down (His work was finished) on the right hand of God.” Hebrews 10:12 In simplicity that even a child can understand, Christ’ sacrifice was complete, final on Calvary and fully sufficient. It does not need to be repeated, because it cannot be repeated! This hybrid church represents a period around 538 AD - 1565 AD, representing a period when much of Christian practice was in spiritual darkness. From Justinian’s decree establishing the office of papal authorityas the official head of the churches to the Council of Trent formal rejection of the Reformation. And Jesus names this spiritual corrupt spiritual practice within the Church in one devastating word, “JEZEBEL!” To grasp the full impact and weight of the Lord’s indictment! Jezebel was the pagan princess of Sidon, of the Phoenicians, who married Ahab king of Israel. She totally embodied the ancient spirit of Babylon. After marrying Ahab, she did not convert to Judaism, but she introduced all her pagan religious practices to Israel. “Jezebel established 850 prophets of Baal and Asher. She systematically murdered all the prophets of the LORD. She used the power of the state to enforce false worship. She persecuted Elijah until he fled and despaired of his life, begging the Lord to take him home. She manipulated the legal system to murder an innocent man, Naboth, because he refused to sell hi s land to King ahab.” 1st Kings 16-21 Every characteristic of the demon possessed woman, describes in minute detail the medieval papal hierarchical practice of the Church of Rome. The evil is further compounded by the deification of Mary the mother of Jesus, who like the rest of us, was just a regular sinner! [IMPORTANT NOTE:] It’s important to note how Jesus introduces Himself to this church; “SAY’S the SON OF GOD WITH EYES AS FLAMES A FIRE (eyes that take note of every blasphemous act against Him) FEET LIKE BRASS” ” the exact description of His initial appearance to John in the 1st chapter as Almighty God, “His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire, and His feet like unto fine brass, as they burned in the furnace.” The same also as the “Ancient of Days”“Ancient of Days” in the book of Daniel. So, to teach the superiority of Mary over her Son, is the purest act of blaspheme.As far as the Lord’s indictment as a prophetess; The introduction of Marion theology does claim prophetic authority. Our Lady of Fatima Miracle. The story begins in the village of Fatima, Portugal, on May 13, 1917. On that fateful day near that tiny village, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, appeared to three young peasant children: Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia; ages 10, 9 and 7. Her prophetic message: Our Lady: “Do you wish to offer yourselves to God to endure all the sufferings that He may be pleased to send you, as both an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and an act of supplication for the conversion of sinners?” According to this prophecy, Jesus was both a fool and a liar, when He said from Calvary; “IT IS FINISHED!” Coupled with this further practice of idol worship:

[The First Appearance and Apparition] Pray the rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war

[The Second Appearance and Apparition]of Our Lady of Fatima – May 13, 1917)“[Jesus] wishes to establish devotion to my Immaculate Heart in the world. I promise salvation to those who embrace it; and these souls will be beloved of God-like flowers arranged by me to adorn His throne.”

[The Third Appearance and Apparition]Our Lady of Fatima – June 13, 1917) “…Pray the Rosary every day in honor of Our Lady of the Rosary, in order to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war, for she alone can be of any avail.”

[The Fourth appearance and apparition] Our Lady of Fatima - July 13, 1917 - “Sacrifice yourselves for sinners and say many times, especially when you make a sacrifice, ‘O Jesus, this is for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of the mother of God.

Anywhere the phrase immaculate conception used in Catholicism is a reference to the virgin birth of Mary, not Christ. In deifying Mary, they have her ascending into heaven like Jesus. It leaves us trying to answer this question, how can multiplied millions be so deceived? There is only one legitimate answer, slothfulness, and outright rejection of Holy Scripture. I would never entrust my eternal soul to man-created religious doctrines. If “Our Lady of Fatima” Our Lady of Fatima” is not blasphemous enough, there is the doctrine of the “the Scapula”. In Roman Catholic doctrine, a scapula (from the Latin for "shoulders") is a sacramental—an outward sacred sign that helps users obtain spiritual grace. It has evolved into a popular devotional item symbolizing dedication to Mary and commitment to living a life of virtue. The Church of Rome joined with kings and emperors to enforce its decrees globally. It established the “Inquisition” to inhuman torture and murdering true Christian believers who would not bow their knee to a Religious Roman dictator, the Pope. And hear this carefully, it claimed the authority to change God’s order of time, with the Gregorian Calendar to replace the Jewish Calendar. Making a year 365 days instead of the 360-day Jewish calendar. Secondly, Papal authority took it upon itself to rewrite God’s Law, entirely removing the 2nd Commandment’s prohibition against the creating and worship of idols or images of likeness in heaven or on the earth. Changing the Sabbath to Sunday. No religious institution or denomination has the authority or power to mettle with divine commands.

CONCLUSION: However, even in the Church’s darkest period in history, the Lord still had His faithful witnesses. The Waldenses in the valleys of Northern Italy preserved the Scriptures and sent out missionaries at the risk of their own lives, hunted down and persecuted by the Church of Rome. The Albigenses in southern France preached the pure unadulterated gospel, at the risk of torture or being burned alive at the stake by the Church of Rome’s Inquisition. John Wycliff in England translated the Bible into the language of the people. Jan Hus in Bohemia was burned at the stake while he sang hymns. The darker the night, the brighter the faithful flamed. and to the overcomers, Jesus promised, “I will give him the morning star.”The morning star is the star that appears just before dawn. The signal that the long night is almost over. The escape from the dark and wide-spread bondage of Roman Catholicism was about to come face to face with the Reformation. If you are still breathing and are still in the bondage of religious darkness, there is still time to extricate yourself from the darkness.

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[Part 5 of 8] The Complete History of the Lord’s Church, Ends by Making Him Physically Sick

Protestant Reformation When Churches Escaped the Spiritual Captivity of the Church of Rome

PART FIVE

The Church “in” Sardis

“And unto the angel of the church “in” Sardis write; These things says He that “has” has the seven spirits of God and seven stars; i know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but are really dead.” Revelation 3:1 The name “Sardis” means ‘remanent’, or those ‘escaping’ as in the spiritual darkness. And this describes in precise detail the birth of the Protestant Reformation churches that escaped the spiritual captivity of the Roman Church’s dark and blasphemous clutches. This period in Church history, was from around 1565 AD to 1740 AD. The Reformation started as one of the most powerful movements of the Holy Spirit since Pentecost. [NOTE]: It is important to not ignore the way the Lord presents Himself to this church. Remember the way the Lord presented Himself to the church in Ephesus? He held the “seven stars” (the pastors or teachers and leaders) in His right-hand directing them, empowering them; they were under His full control. Fast-forward to the Protestant Reformation pastors; “He that ‘has’ the seven spirits of God (what are the seven spirits of God? Spirit of the LORD...the spirit of wisdom...and understanding...the spirit of counsel...spirit of might...the spirit of knowledge...and of the fear of the LORD), and the seven stars.” Notice the Lord is no longer holding the seven stars (meaning they are no longer under His direction or leadership) He simply has them. Kind of like our situation in 2026, where in few churches is He is actually-leading and guiding them, because through wisdom, knowledge, advances in technology and its immense wealth, they call all the shots as we shall see in more detail later.

Reformers of that time were under the power of the Holy Spirit: Martin Luther 1517 AD. (“THE JUST SHALL LIVE BY FAITH”) Romans 1:17. John Calvin systematized Protestant theology. Olrich Zwingley reformed the church in Switzerland. Jonathan Knox shook all of Scotland with the power of the Gospel. William Tyndale who said, “If God spares my life, heir many years, I will cause a boy that drives the plow, shall know more of the scripture than you do.” Wow, look at modernity and the epidemic of biblical illiteracy among the modern believers. When faith costs you nothing, it has a very low priority in one’s life. But back to the reformers, here is the short-lived spiritual tragedy of the Protestant churches. Within one to two generations, Protestant churches stopped reforming. They instead wrote their creeds, man-created doctrines, established religious institutions call denominations, and then they became cold and indifferent to gospel truths. They kept the name Protestant. They even kept the name Reformed. But the living, dynamic, spirit-led reformation progressively hardened into dead orthodoxy. Today in Europe where the Reformation and Protestant movements were birthed, are now cold and dead spiritually. The Lord said, “you have a name that you are alive but really you are dead.” Truths discovered vs dead orthodoxy rendered them in later decades cold and indifferent. So, what truths did they fail to maintain? Justification by faith... acceptance of the Papal changes to God’s timetable and laws...the supreme authority of Scripture...immortality of the soul...priesthood of all believers...adoption of infant baptism...Greek philosophy and the union of church and state (in other words, state mandated religion). In other words, they stopped short of embracing “the essence of all “Truth”Christ Himself! Elevated those who embraced open abominations to positions of spiritual authority, etc.

CONCLUSION: Luther himself was antisemite who hated the Jews. Unfortunately, the great reformers and Protestant churches stopped short of the full truth, they didn’t receive all the light that was given to all the world. From that time to the present, a new light has been continually shining upon the Scriptures, some good and others not so good. And a plethora of so-called new truths that have diluted and some cases poisoned the Gospel message further have constantly been unfolding. But even in dead Sardis, Jesus found a faithful few. The Poists in Germany, the Moravians under count Zinorf, a chain of prayers that lasted 100 years. John and Charles Wesley were founders of the Methodist denomination. “You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments, and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.” This leaves us with one penetrating question, are you reforming to the unadulterated truths. Christ is the essence of all truth! He did say, “I AM the TRUTH!”, so are you reforming or frozen in debilitating orthodoxy?

— End of Part —

[Part 6 of 8] The Complete History of the Lord’s Church, Ends by Making Him Physically Sick

The Period in Church’s History Called the Great Awakening, However It’s Short Lived

PART SIX

The Church “in” Philadelphia

“And unto the angel of the church “of” Philadelphia write: See, I have set before you an open door and no one can shut it. For you have little strength, have kept my word, and have ot denied my name.” Revelation 3:7-8 Themeaning of the name is universally known “brotherly love”. This period is from 1740 AD through 1844 AD, an era known in history “As the Great Awakening!” a worldwide missionary movement and the great advent movement. And like “Smyrna”, the church of “Philadelphia” receives no rebuke from the Lord. In other words, their spiritual and physical construct of the gospel message which was the sole motivation of their ministries. Not monuments to their success, not lifestyles that mirror the rich and famous, no private jets, no tv airtime, no books falsely funded to be listed on best sellers list, no celebrity status and lastly, but certainly not least they were devoid of any semblance of political affiliation. NO REBUKE!NONE! That speaks volumes to modernity’s version of the Gospel now being preached by too many to even number. Contrast the Lord’s description of this church, vs. the modern church of 2026. “Of little strength” in other words, they had no pulpits in houses of worship that looked like high-end Country Clubs that cater to the affluent, with coffee shops, restaurants, bookstores and state of the art gyms and sports complexes. There were no congregations that numbered in the 10’s of thousands with multiple campuses. And saddest indictment of all, the focus of the gospel in the modern church, is the star power of the pastor and their brand of the Gospel. The number one priority of many modern churches has always been about numbers, and growth (where the end-justifies-the means). It is about success based on the world’s standards. During the era of the “Great Awakening” the church was literally on fire for the Lord and Gospel. Think of the men who preached the Lord’s Gospel and Truths: Jonathan Edwards and his message “Sinners in the Hand of Angry God”contrasted with modernity “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry Church”George Whitfield; The Lord’s accomplishments through George Whitfield are to-this-day virtually unparalleled. Where in modernity many ministers are timid, apologetic in their preaching, he preached the gospel with aggressive zeal and undaunted courage. In the wake of his fearless preaching, revival swept across the British Isles, and the Great Awakening transformed the American colonies. John Wesley, preaching coal miners in open fields, soot covered faces weeping under the conviction of the Holy Spirit. This coupled with missionaries like William Carey who labored for seven years in India, before having one convert to Jesus Christ. Adonia Judson went to Burma in 1813 and lost 3 wives during his mission work spreading the Gospel of Christ. David Brainerd, missionary to the Indians in Delaware, became physically ill due to his labor in the ministry of the Gospel of Christ. He wrote this taken from his own diary “I could have no freedom in the thought of any other circumstances or business in life: All my desire was the conversion of the heathen, and all my hope was in God: God does not suffer me to please or comfort myself with hopes of seeing friends, returning to my dear acquaintance, and enjoying worldly comforts.” Hudson Taylor, when told by his sending mission board they would no longer be able to support him financially, wrote in return, “keep your money, I will trust the Lord on my end.” and he went on to establish the Great China Inland Mission. Charlie Culpper and the Shantung Revival, where he had to confess to the Lord, for coming to the mission field unprepared. David Livingston went to Africa, etc. During this era of as the Lord commended, “you have kept the word, and not denied My name...because you have kept the word of My patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth. Behold I come quickly: hold fast that which you have (true belief in the faith of Christ), that no man takes your crown. They that overcome will make a pillar in the temple of my God.” Christ’s promises that anyone who keeps His word, and that does not deny His name, visually exhibited by the life they live, He would keep them from the “hour” (instantaneous and without warning) of temptation that would come upon all who dwell upon the earth. We can already see many who profess the name of Christ in the 20th and 21st centuries have accepted preaching that blatant denies the name of the Lord, where pastors, church leaders, are openly and unashamedly not keeping the word, representing a false gospel that glorifies man, turning God into the practice of quid quo pro where the members are to tempt God but giving money for more money in return. To add insult to injury; one of the most blasphemous Health, Wealth and Prosperity Preachers, Paula White-Crain is head of the new White House Faith Office (housed in the Domestic Policy Council) is the administration's dedicated liaison to the American religious community. Established to protect religious liberty and empower faith-based charities to serve local communities. During this era of precise commitment to the Gospel of Christ. The Bible was also being translated into hundreds of languages and being distributed around the world. Here as deeper understanding and meaning to the door that Christ opened that cannot be shut. And if we overlook this, we miss everything. In 1844, something happened in heaven that changed everything. According to Daniel 8:14 the prophet said 2300 years till the temple would be cleansed. “And he said unto me, until two thousand and three hundred days; then shall the sanctuary be cleansed.” 2300 prophetic days are equal to 2300 literal years. From the decree issued by King Artis Xerxes 457 BC to Ezra priest of the Israelites (Chapter 7 Ezera) to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to 1844, “Jesus opened the door that no one could shut!”

CONCLUSION: The door that Christ has opened cannot be shut by any force, power or person, but one, the individual. And like the parable of the 10 virgins, five wise and five foolish, who awaited the arrival of the bridegroom (Jesus the Christ), because the bridegroom tarried and didn’t arrived when expected, the 5 foolish began to dwell carelessly so that when the bridegroom did appear, they were unprepared! The bridegroom entered the bridal chamber and shut door, that could no longer be opened again! For those who are living carefree, carelessly as in the days of Noah, who maybe have grown tired of waiting, causing you to live according to the world’s standards, but there is good news, there is still time to prepare for the Lord’s return. Next, we come to the final church in which Jesus found nothing he liked or could commend. This is the church that closes out the dispensation known as the Church Age, or the Time of the Gentiles. The way the Lord addresses this church ought to terrify us. The church of the seven, that closely aligns with the way we do church! And it makes the Lord physically ill! Why? Because it impugned His character, holiness and righteousness. Are you ready?

— End of Part —

[Part 7 of 8] The Complete History of the Lord’s Church, Ends by Making Him Physically Sick

The People of the Judgment

PART SEVEN

[Part A]

The Church “of” the Laodiceans

“And unto the angel of the church “of” the Laodiceans write; says the Amen the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God. I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were cold or hot. So, then because you are lukewarm and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth.” Revelation 3:14-16

The first thing to note of importance is probably the most overlooked. It is the way in which the Lord addresses this body of believers. In each of the other (6) churches, He addresses them according to their geographic location. but when he comes to the church that makes Him physically ill, the Lord addresses it as the people’s church, not His; “the church “of” the Laodiceans!“The name Laodicea comes from two Gr. Words, “leos” meaning people, “deios” meaning judgment. So, Laodicea means “a people of the judgment.” Ironically, this is precisely what defines this final period of The Church Age and the history of The Time of the Gentiles from 1844 to the “second coming of Christ.” There is little doubt we are living during the time of the beginning of prophesied judgment on New Babylon, where the spirit of Laodicea defines much of the modern church. We are, the period in history of the people of the judgment. The books of heaven are open; the churches practices are being reviewed. The question we have to concern ourselves with, are we ready for heavens verdict?I am not some conspiracy theorist; I am simply a man that has made much use of the word of God. Notice the way in which the Lord introduces Himself to this church; He calls Himself “The Amen” (the final word, the final authority whose verdict is absolute), the faithful and true witness(he cannot lie, and he will not accept a false narrative. His indictment is completely accurate whether we approve of it or not). “The beginning of the Creation of God(the Creator Himself speaking into our present condition). And His indictment is devastating. You are neither cold nor hot! Cold water is meant to refresh; hot water is used for healing and cleansing, and lukewarm water just makes a person nauseated. It literally makes one physically sick. So, in response to the way the people of this church worship, live and serve the Lord, they make Him vomit. This is the harshest and most vile language Jesus uses towards any of the (7) churches. He said I would rather you were “cold” or openly opposed to Me and my truth than simply lukewarm (“or have an appearance of godliness, but denying the power thereof, ever learning but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth), because at least a cold person knows they need warming. Whereas a lukewarm person believes they are fine and faithful. And sadly, this describes much of modern Christianity, in the supposed greatest Christian nation on earth. Many modern churches in America, can truthfully boast “We are rich and increased in goods(with enjoy every luxury this world has to offer)and have need of nothing(we are a multi-billion-dollar industry, what could we possibly be in need of)? NOTHING! The Lord’s response to this arrogant and boastful church is devoid of humility and spiritual brokenness. “You do not know that you are wretched and spiritually miserable, and poor, blind naked.“ Let’s stop and consider the full weight of the Lord’s words. This church has both correct doctrine as well as corrected doctrine (in other words, a redesigned gospel to fit a contemporary mindset for the seekers, who just looking to add Jesus as a spiritual safety net, rather than sinners convicted and broken by their sin, as well as the latest suggestion by one megachurch pastor, that it is past time for the church to unhitch itself from the Old Testament), it kept the Lord’s Day as Sunday,it understands the holiness of the sanctuary, which became a delicate balancing act for the church in modernity (with the need to adopt a world’s model that focuses on comfort, convenience, and above all else attractive enough to attract the seekers), it has a pseudo working knowledge of some Biblical prophesies, it has a spirit of embracing prophecies (it truly believes that it holds no danger nor directly impacts them, because of hope held in the rapture theory) and it has the health message (if you have enough faith you can be healed from any malady or infirmity) and they had the prosperity gospel (which guarantees if you give till it hurts, rather you are able or not, God will se it as good seed, and bless you 10-fold). And because it practices a hybrid version of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and because it has all these things working for them (this based on the false assertion that success in ministry, is a clear sign of the Lord’s approval of its true spiritual condition) they assume they are spiritually wealthy, but totally oblivious to the fact Satan will bless your socks off, deceiving you into believing it is God who is blessing you!

The Faithful and True Witness (The Lord Himself) Delivers His Verdits

Jesus, the “faithful and true witness” who cannot lie, says their spiritual comfort is in-reality-the exact opposite.His indictment reveals [5] devastating charges; you are “wretched”! What does the Lord actually-imply by characterizing this church

[1] it is “wretched”; Core Meanings:
Miserable or Unhappy: Deeply afflicted by misfortune, sorrow, or physical illness.
Example:"After the flu, he looked completely pale and wretched."
Poor Quality: Substandard, inferior, or paltry.
Example: "They were forced to live in wretched, overcrowded shacks."
Contemptible or Despicable: Deserving of hatred or disgust due to bad behavior.
Example: "He committed a wretched act of betrayal."
Annoying: An informal way to describe a nuisance or something causing frustration.
Example: "I can't get this wretched car to start."

[2] Spiritually Miserable: even though you would never even entertain such a deplorable condition, you are empty, hollow beneath the surface.

[3] Poor and Destitute: In the pure gold of genuine faith and love! Even though the world views you a success based on their standards, because of your billion-dollar marketing model, you can boast to the world we have need of nothing, materially, monetarily nor politically!

[4]Spiritually Blind: is the inability or unwillingness to perceive, understand, or accept spiritual truth. It describes a state where an individual’s internal perception is clouded—often by ego, dogma, or materialism—leaving them unable to recognize their own deeper purpose, the reality of God, or the consequences of their actions.

[5] Spiritually Naked: Following disobedience or failure, spiritual nakedness transforms into shame, guilt, and a fear of being exposed. It signifies a soul stripped of God’s protective grace or righteousness, revealing one's inner brokenness and need for redemption. Spiritual nakedness signifies an individual that is without the cover of Christ’s righteousness.

CONCLUSION: This is the most dangerous spiritual condition for humanity in the entire universe, not what according to popular belief, is the sin of open rebellion. It is self-satisfaction with complacency. It is thinking you are saved when in reality you’re lost. It is thinking you are clothed in Christ righteousness but-in-reality, you are naked, uncovered and in the eyes of the world despite your testimony, you are nothing but a poser. It’s thinking you can discern spiritually, when in fact you have been blinded by deception, knowledge, the wisdom of society coupled with a counterfeit gospel. Beloved, this is “Truth” from “The Truth, himself, Jesus the Lord, Christ and Savior is speaking this to me, and to you. This concludes, [Part A] on the Laodicean Church, for which the Lord has nothing good to say, nothing to commend that they are doing that pleases Him. And to further understand the peril of the state of much of the modern church, instead of embracing their faith in Him, he regurgitates their pseudo pretense of serving Him. If you are presently in bondage to one of the modern churches that Christ has openly rejected, there is still time for you to confess and repent!

— End of Part —

[Part 8 of 8] The Complete History of the Lord’s Church, Ends by Making Him Physically Sick

Christ Still Loves the Laodicean Church, Even Though They Have Shown Him the Door

PART SEVEN - B

The Church of the Laodiceans

“As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any person hear My voice, and open the door, i will come in to them, and will sup with them, and them with Me. To them that overcomes will I grant to sit with Me. To them that overcame, and Am set down with My Father in His throne.” ” Revelation 3:19-21

The year 2026 began with one of the most chilling and unexpected events in the history of the world. The birth of the World Peace Council, with Donald Trump as its Director. And what is so strange about this whole prophetic revelation, is the man who is responsible for accomplishing the impossible task. That of bringing Middle Eastern countries with avowed hatred for one another together in the Abraham Accord a covenant of pseudo peace between the warring factions against Israel. And it was achieved by a shadowy figure with no government title, no national ambassador appointment, nor national presence, the man Jared Kushner, Trump’s Jewish son-in-law. That Act was proceeded by warfare assaults on two nations, Venezuela and the Republic of Iran. And just this week, at the G-7 World Summit, President Trump signed, what many world leaders are saying is the worst Peace Agreement ever negotiated, by giving the greatest terrorist nation the world 300-billion dollar. And Trump in the process, has almost totally abandoned Israel’s security. which leads to PART B of the last church of the Church’s history and the approaching end of the dispensation the Bible calls “The Age of the Church”. The true believers in the faith of Christ, “the bride of Christ” will be removed from the earth, before the final judgment that is to come upon all the world called “The Great Tribulation". Many ask what proof is there that the Church is removed, before the “The Great and Terrible Day of the Lord”? The most undeniable truth lies in the closing statement of every letter the Lord wrote to His churches. “Thhey that have an ear, let them hear what the “Spirit” says unto the churches.” This is simple proof, because during The Great Tribulation, the Holy Spirit is removed from the earth and works as He is sent, as He was in the Old Testament, but during the great and terrible days which the world has never experienced nor will ever experience again. The present venue for sharing the Good News, the Gospel of Christ, with world (the church) but with it being removed, requires another voice, thus the two witnessesthat are untouchable until God’s divine clock allows, will preach the Gospel from Jerusalem.

Before the Holy Spirit is withdrawn from the last church, the Lord’s long suffering is manifest once again. Jesus does not abandon the church of the people, Laodicea, and it is good news for millions who practice the faith as do the Laodiceans. Just as He still loves the Laodiceans, he still loves every sinner. Hear His own words: “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; be zealous(or w/out any further delay) therefore and repent.” This rebuke is the voice of love, and He offers three divine) remedies. [1st] "Buy of Me gold refined in the fire.”Gold is the most precious of all metals, thus true “faith” is the most precious possession of love. “For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision(nor obedience to the law, by the Jewish people) mounts to anything, nor uncircumcision(or any attempt by Gentiles to keep Old Testament law); but “faith” which works love.” Galatians 5:6 Refined in the trial of fire: “That the trial of your faith, being more precious than gold that perishes though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and and honor and glory at the appearing of Christ.” I Peter 1:7 [2]“White garments that you be clothed.”The white garments are the righteousness of Christ, not our own righteousness, which Isaiah 64:6 “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags.” But the perfect righteousness of Jesus is “imputed” to us by faith and works in us by the Holy Spirit. Sadly, there are some who believe in sinless perfection, which is an impossible act. The only way a person could live a sinless life, is by “imparted” righteousness, of which none have ever received. Abraham’s obedience to leave his comfortable surroundings and go to place he knew not of in obedience to God, God imputed as righteousness. [3rd] “Anoint your eyes with eye salve that you may see.”

The eyes are the Holy Spirit’s gift of spiritual discernment, to expose the counterfeit from the real. He gives us the ability to see ourselves as we really are, and to see our desperate need of Christ, who alone removed the sin of the world, and to fully see the beauty and total sufficiency of His grace.

And then comes the most heart-breaking, the most tender and most beautiful verse in the entire Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ. “Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any person hears my voice, and opens the door, I will come in to them and dine with them, and they with Me.” Letus think about what this means. Jesus is standing outside His own Church; this is not some excommunicated or shunned church member, this the Creator of the whole universe, King of kings and Lord of lords. Here is so physically ill by what they represent in His name, He is on the outside asking permission to come in among people who profess to be His bondservants. Here’s something important to know about Christ, will never force open the door! He will not break down the door. He will only go where He is invited. Why? He respects the freewill He created in each of us. We have every right to exercise our will and to voluntarily choose our paths in life. The 5-points of Hyper-Calvinism dispute this truth completely. They preach a false gospel of pre-selection, where a person is either preordained for the regions of the damned or preordained for salvation. And saddest of all, they don’t even know for which they are chosen, until they die. They live a life with no assurance! We must all open the door of our own freewill. Jesus respects our freewill too much to invoke such an action. He knocks and waits. Important to note: the invitation is personal. He does not say if the church opens the door, but if anyone hears my voice and opens the door. This is between the person and the Lord Himself. You cannot enter the kingdom of heaven on anyone else's faith. Not as a Mormon or a Catholic heresy (Catholics believe they can help deceased loved ones complete their purification and enter heaven through specific prayers, sacrifices, and acts of devotion. The most powerful of these is the Holy Mass, but the faithful also frequently relies on a specific prayer).

CONCLUSION: The greatest promise Jesus makes to all seven churches, no matter their shortcomings nor outright total rejection; “They that overcome I will grant to sit with Me on My throne as I also overcame and sat down with my Father on His throne.” Revelation 3:21 Do we really understand the impact of that statement? That means when Christ rules this earth with a “rod of iron” we will as well. We will judge angels! In summation, where Christ is, there also will be His bride. Not a seat among the spectators, not a place among the assembled crowds. But the very throne from which he rules the universe. That is ours and everyone who overcomes the god of this world, Satan, and his addictive and constant allurement on the lust of our flesh; love of money, arrogance, pride, and every type of hedonistic debauchery. Let’s tie this up in a beautiful bow if you will. We have traced the prophetic history of the Christian Church through seven distinct periods of the dispensation called “The Age of the Church”. We began with the burning love of Ephesus...we passed through the horrific dehumanization and burning fires of the persecution of Smyrna...We watched the church become elevated and joined in union and marriage to the world in Pergamos...We endured the long dark night of Papal tyranny and deification of Mary and the open worship of idols in Thytira...We saw the reformation blaze and then die through the birth institutional religion and stagnant orthodoxy in Sardis...We experienced the period called “The Great Awakening” when revival fires burned and a door was opened that could not be shut in Philadelphia...And now we stand in the period of the peoples church, where leadership, and all authority lies with the people. This is the period “of the people of the judgment”of people of the judgment, the church “of” the Laodicean.

And one final thought, on all seven churches, only two Smyrna and Philadelphia, received no rebuke from the Lord. One was crushed by trial; the other was on fire with a pure mission. Both were faithful, and both were pure, and both received accolades from the Lord. The truth that we can glean. Suffering and soul-winning, not comfort, materialistic delicacies nor complacency that keeps the church pure. God less the Lord’s endless mercy. .

Understanding the Biblical
Meaning of the "Narrow Gate"

Suggested Tag for every part of this series: "Understanding the Biblical Meaning of the "Narrow Gate"" • 3 parts, in reading order below

[Part 1 of 3]  Understanding the Biblical Meaning of the “NARROW GATE,” That Our Lord Taught His Listeners to Consider”

INTRODUCTION: A sad, but factual reality, is the West and most especially in America, that includes much of the Christian community, are quite comfortable embarking upon what our Lord, called the “BROAD ROAD.” And the fact that so many people and Christians find no immediate danger of choosing the “BROAD ROAD, is due to a lack of understanding what our Lord meant when in He delivered the warning in His sermon on the Mount. In this series, I want to try and unpack the Lord’s words about the ‘NARROW GATE” through eyes of the listeners, when the Lord was on the earth.

In Matthew 7:14 Jesus said “Enter you in at the strait gate:” (or narrow gate). This is probably a verse you’ve no doubt heard at some point in your Christian life. It is a phrase used in merchandizing as a tool used by Christian entrepreneurs printed on tee-shirts, on a coffee mug, or hanging on the wall of a Christian home as a testament to one’s needle-work talent. However, the impact of those (6) words, carried a completely different weight when properly understood from the impact it would have upon the hearers from a Hebrew perspective. This because the “narrow gate” wasn’t just a figure of speech. It pointed to something real, something tangible, that people of His day could immediately identify with. And when people that lived during the time of Jesus’s earthly ministry heard Him say it, it resonated in a way that many of us today struggle to picture it as anything more that words spoken by Jesus. My sincere hope of this study on the exhortation of our Lord, is it will enhance our understanding of the “narrow gate” in a way we have ever considered before. And once we see it through the Holy Spirit’s illumination, that this truth gets into the deep recesses of our Christian walk, as our understanding is reshaped. Jesus taught in Matthew 7:13-14 “Enter you in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate and broad is the way, that leads to destructions, and many there be which go in there at: [14] Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life (or eternal life) and few there be that find it.” To most believers, the meaning is simple enough, right? Wide gate leads to destruction and the narrow gate to life, eternal. Most of us grew up hearing this preached as a call to salvation. And yes, if correctly exegeted (to expand the understanding), it is undeniably that. However, let us pause for a moment, because if that is all we are seeing in this passage, then we are suffering from a bit of spiritual malnutrition and lack of true understanding of Jesus’s exhortation, that due in part to our 20th and 21st century thinking. Many imagining innocently that the culture Jesus was speaking to understand the need to enter in at a particular gate while in modernity the image had no logical applicable application, because we live in a culture where the only gates are to secure our pet or for security. However, that would lead to a great misunderstanding of the Lord’s intended purpose.

Our understanding will be greatly enhanced knowing a little about the Jewish listeners of the 1st century who had been shaped by the Hebrew way of thinking and a very different culture world. Now as 21st century believers-in-the-faith-of-Christ, we are going to step into the same world in which Jesus words were spoken to His listeners. My hope is the blessings that proceed from our new perspective will spiritually impact on our understanding of the Lord’s words by understanding the impact they would have had on the 1st century listeners.

So, the first question we need to answer, what exactly was the “narrow gate” Jesus was talking about? Here is something many of us would have difficulty relating to in a real sense. Jerusalem had many gates, big, wide, impressive gates the kind caravans and armies passed through. But there was one particular gate that both travelers and merchants knew all too well. It was called the “needle’s eye.” Most Christians at some point have scriptures mentioned that relate this. Jesus said, “And again I say unto you, it’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Matthew 19:24 No doubt there has been numerous debates over what Jesus’s word intended, about what the “needle” literally refers to, whether it is a literal sewing-needle or some type of small gate, not used for trafficking. However, what we do know from history, in the Near-east, cities often had large gates for crowds and trade merchants and smaller “narrow gates” for individuals. However, those smaller gates were not easy to pass through. For example, if someone came with an animal loaded with wares are supplies, like a donkey or camel, but it couldn’t walk straight through, then everything would have to be taken off the animal. Then the animal would have to lower itself and be guided through carefully step by step. The picture would have been very clear to the people listening to Jesus. So, when He spoke about a “narrow gate” they didn’t hear a metaphor or some vague and abstract talking point. They felt immediately the weight and meaning of His words. In Hebrew thought, the word behind this concept is the Hebrew word TZAR meaning narrow, tight and restricted. And that comes from the root meaning of TZARAH which means trouble, pressure and a place of distress. In other words, the “narrow gate” isn’t meant to feel easy or convenient. It’s a place that presses you, that strips away what you’re carrying, that demands something from you before you can move forward. And that is exactly the point Jesus is making. Brothers and sisters in-the-faith-of-Christ, we must not approach this teaching with a cavalier intent, because our Lord wasn’t just talking about the narrow gate itself. But He also described a road one must travel that leads to the entrance into the kingdom of God. The kind of path with there is everyday pressures in a world tainted by man’s sin in the Garden of Eden. On the hand, Jesus said there is “wide road”, a broad road, open to all, an easy road that doesn’t impede your travel. Sadly, the road that both secular and many in the Christian societies choose. Why? Because there is no pressure, little resistance, no real demands on the lifestyle they have chosen.

CONCLUSION of [Part One]: Modern Christianity in large measure, has set up believers to choose the wide and broad road where they can traffic unincumbered by pressure, restrictions or difficulty. And it starts with making the acceptance of faith in Christ with zero cost, or difficulty for the one who prays the sinner’s prayer. This should be a warning to every believer-in-the-faith-of-Jesus-Christ, to truly count the cost of such faith. In all humility as a servant to my Lord and Savior.

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[Part 2 of 3] Understanding the Biblical Meaning of the “NARROW GATE,” That Our Lord Taught His Listeners to Consider” [PART 2]

INTRODUCTION: In this world in 2026 there is not a day that goes by without requests for prayers for someone or for some national tragedy that just unfolded. Have you ever stopped, to ask yourself this question wonder how many prayers are answered or even get through to the Lord? No doubt, there are many of us who would have to openly admit we have little to no assurance that what we ask in the name of Jesus will indeed produce the expected answer. In Western culture it has become automatic after a national tragedy for politicians and all others to say we offer prayers for the victims. But are they nothing more than just religious platitudes, or is it what is expected from politicians? And then when the prayers go unanswered, the excuse given, well it wasn’t the Lord’s will. Never stopping to think about what is being said about the Lord, who said: “ANYTHING YOU ASK IN MY NAME, THAT WILL I DO. THAT THE FATHER MAY GLORIFY THE SON” And we are all guilty! The biggest hindrance is a lack of effectual praying. For the Bible says, “The effectual prayer of a righteous Man avails much.” The key word in that verse is an individual who is (righteous) or walking on the narrow path. Why is this so important to the believer? John the Baptist revealed the answer: [4] “As it is written in the book of the words of Esaias the prophet, saying, the voice of one crying in the wilderness, prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. [5] Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough ways shall be made smooth; [6] And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” Simply put, the Lord travels over a Holy highway. So, if the path you are walking as a Christian is cluttered with worldly and crooked living in your life, the Lord can’t get to you. If you have been praying for a loved one to get saved and the road you’re on is cluttered with world debris, the Lord can’t use you to get to them. We need to seriously mediate on that before we pray. We need to first pray to the Lord don’t let there be anything in me that would hinder you from reaching my loved one.

The clearest explanation we have for institutional religion and denominational religion’s decline in attendance, baptisms and church closures lies in the heart of this series “TRUE MEANING of the NARROW ROAD” . We live in a time where much of what is called “spiritual” is built with an emphasis on comfort. How did the church make me feel, was I entertained or preached at, was the music program high-tech and polished, how does it fit my lifestyle, will they try to visit me during the week and did it make me feel judged. The wide-and-broad road is full, because it asks nothing, demands nothing. And you can carry everything with you. Your pride, your habits built over a lifetime, your love of self (witnessed by the plethora of selfies on social media), your compromises, your successes, and you are free to keep moving unencumbered. But Jesus, hits us with something very different. He says “narrow” is the road that leads to life (eternal). And the word behind “narrow” here carries the idea of pressure, being pressed, squeezed, or confined. It is the same idea used when scripture talks about trouble or tribulation. Not meant to harm us, but to shape us. So, this road is not just “smaller”, it’s formative, it presses us, and refines us, it challenges us. It changes us as we walk the “narrow road. This is not a path built for comfort; it’s designed for transformation. Sadly, this is a truth that is ignored by the megachurch model, that is built for comfort and ease. That is why they are so attractive in modern Christianity, primarily for the comfort they provide for the seekers who want to maintain a certain lifestyle, without the fear of being judged. Ever wonder why if you are attempting to stay on the narrow road, and you meet another Christian who clearly is walking on the broad road, your spirit doesn’t knit with them, it’s because of the contrast between the two. The broad road allows us to remain the same, with religion added. The “narrow road” will not!

For more understanding let’s survey Rabbinistical pattern behind the “two roads.” In Jewish teaching, there was a well-known idea of two ways one for the course of life and the other in death. This was not a new teaching to those listening hearing Jesus’s words, because the contrast Jesus was making runs all through the Hebrew scriptures. In Deuteronomy 30, Moses stands before the people and says, I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses, choose life!” And in Psalms 1 you find the same contrast. “One person follows the way of the righteous. Another follows the way of the wicked.” Two paths, two directions, two outcomes. So. When Jesus speaks in Matthew 7, He is not introducing a strange or unfamiliar idea. He is utilizing a pattern that had been there all along. He is stating the same truths taught by Moses, the prophets, and the wisdom writings throughout the history of God’s chosen people. He is making clear that the choice has always been in front of you. Two roads, two gates, two destinations. But here is where everything shifts. Jesus doesn’t just point to right path and leave us to figure it out. He says, ”I am the way” John 14.6 Then He says, “I am the gate. whoever enters through me WILL be saved.” John 10.9 So, now the “narrow gate” is no longer just an abstract idea. It’s a PERSON! The way is not something you just follow, it’s someone you walk with. The “narrow gate” has a name and that name is Jesus (not the Teacher of “truth” but “Truth” itself. I am the “gate” you must pass through). But there is more to this. Jesus adds something we can’t ignore. He says, “THERE BE FEW THAT FIND IT.” That word in the Gk. Is HEURISCO. And it doesn’t mean something you casually consider, it means to search, to seek, to discover after much effort. It carries the idea intentional pursuits. In other words, this isn’t something you haphazardly or flippantly walk into. It must be sought after! It must be wanted with a deep and fervent thirst, deep enough that you are willing to look for it.

CONCLUSION: I hope this exegesis of two simple words “narrow gate” is blessing you as much as it has me. You know I have often thought what I will do when my eyes first get a glimpse of Jesus and the only thought that comes to mind is this. I will simply fall at His feet and say “THOU ARE WORTHY O LORD!” In all humility I serve my Master.

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[Part 3 of 3] Understanding the Biblical Meaning of the “NARROW GATE,” That Our Lord Taught His Listeners to Consider” [PART 3]

Introduction: One of America’s most flamboyant billionaires Ted Turner it was announced he had passed away at the age of 87. I immediately thought how sad his reality must have been after drawing his last breath. This man, who had once remarked to Barabra Walters that his life’s ambition was to own the whole world. Turner is a classic example of the danger of trafficking on the broad road through life, where you are free of any obstacles. He labeled himself an agnostic, once lamenting that “Christianity is a religion for losers.” Turner said he lost his faith around the age of 20 after his younger sister died from lupus. He became angry with God and saying, “I don’t want to have anything to do with You.” Later in life is tone softened and he said he was no longer atheist, saying he believed there may be “one God who manifest himself in different ways.”

This series focuses on the meaning of the “narrow path” a Christian must walk to grow in spiritual maturity. It is not embellishment of the facts to state that this is a troubling pattern in American Christianity and is growing. Christians are struggling with the same fundamental problem: the lack of understanding what biblical maturity requires. Most Christians think faith means adding Jesus to their existing life rather than surrendering their entire life to His lordship. They confuse religious activity with spiritual growth, and church membership with Christian discipleship, and comfort with spiritual maturity. This confusion explains why most Christians never develop true spiritual maturity: you see, you can’t grow in something you never started. Some Key Factors: MOST CHRISTIANS ARE INDEGUINSHABLE FROM UNBELIEVERS: Nominal Christians show little to no measurable difference in divorce, biblical literacy and open fornication. SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY MAY INDICATE FALSE CONVERSION: Many who claim salvation never experience genuine transformation. BARRIERS THAT PREVENT SPIRITUAL MATURITY: Country Club mentality, cultural conformity, biblical illiteracy and spiritual laziness or primary obstacles. SPIRITUAL MATURITY REQUIRES ACTIVE PURSUIT, NOT CAVALIER CONSUMPTION: You cannot drift into spiritual growth, any more than you can drift into physical fitness. COMFORTABLE CHRISTIANITY PRODUCES WEAK DISCIPLES: Spiritual growth happens through resistance and challenge, not through maintaining spiritual comfort zones. CONSUMER CHRISTIANITY ADDS JESUS TO LIFE INSTAED OF SUBMITTING LIFE TO JESUS: The difference between addition and lordship determines everything about spiritual maturity. CHURCHES IN MODERNITY (i.e. the mega-church model) OFTEN HINDER RATHER THAN HELP SPIRITUAL MATURITY: Entertainment-focused and prosperity gospels churches pervert and prevent spiritual growth through false man-created gospel brands.

The Gr. word HEURISKO doesn’t mean something you casually consider. It means to search, to seek, to discover after much effort. It must be wanted with a deep fervency, deep enough that you are willing to look for it. Again, Hebrew antiquity helps us understand this more clearly. In Rabbinistical tradition, learning wasn’t casual or surface level, that a curiosity seeker would desire. If you truly wanted to grow, you didn’t listen from a distance. You attached yourself to your teacher. You paid close attention. You learned by observing, by listening and by adjusting your life. It required time, discipline, and surrender. So, when Jesus calls people and says, “follow me” He is not offering casual inspiration. He is inviting them into a full unencumbered attachment, not filled with worldly attractions, but rather into a full way of life. Leave what you’re doing. Leave what feels secure and safe. Come and become something new. Why? Because that’s the same spirit behind “narrow road.” It demands commitment. And because it demands commitment. Most people will not choose it. Not because they’re necessarily bad or evil, but because the other road feels easier. It doesn’t require surrender. It doesn’t require letting go. It doesn’t require being re-shaped. And so, Jesus stands before a large crowd, not a small group, but a massive gathering listening to the “Sermon on the Mount.” And He tells them, “Many are walking on the wrong road.” And like in modern Christianity, most of the hearers didn’t even realize it. And that is why the next verses matter so much. Immediately after talking about “the narrow gate”, Jesus says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.” Matthew 7:15 The verse is not an accident; it is a deliberate connection. Why? False prophets, pastors, many religious teachers and many televangelist who dispense their man-made brand of the gospel, are the true gate-keepers of the “broad road.” They are masters at making it look like the right rod. They dress everything up in religious man-made doctrines, using “feign words” meant to deceive. Replete with signs and wonders. They make it seem the gate is more accommodating than Jesus said it was. They tell you the “road” is designed for God’s blessing when you plant the right seed financially, that the true road is easier than scripture describes, and crowds follow them because people want to be told they can pass through without the pressure of having to kneel, without having to strip off all your possessions and without cost. But Jesus says, you will know them by their fruits” not by their global following, not by the size of their church, not by their charisma, not about how good and high teach the quality of their music and production is, “but by their fruits you shall know them.” And that takes spiritual discernment, it takes someone who makes much use of the word deeply enough to weigh what is counterfeit or real that they are hearing. It takes someone who has maintained a pilgrimage on the “narrow road” long enough to recognize the warning sign CHRISTIANS!! DANGER DO NOT ENTER “WIDE ROAD” THERE ARE NO GUARD RAILS!!!

CONCLUSION: Here is what I want to leave you with. The “narrow gate” is not punishment. It’s not God being overly harsh or trying to keep people out of His kingdom. The “narrow gate” is the only entrance that leads somewhere worth going. And whatever must be left behind to pass through it, pride, love-of-self, self-reliance, a version of faith that asks nothing of you, should be dropped. None of these things were aiding us in growing in the first place. The pressure of the “narrow road” can no doubt feel uncomfortable, but it’s not meaningless. It’s like a potter shaping clay, firm hands, steady pressure, forming something with purpose. It may not feel easy, but it’s not without an intentional purpose. And the God who designed that “gate,” is the God who is that “gate”. He, is not there to block us, He is standing there ready to receive us as we enter in. In all humility I serve my Master.

What Does the Bible Reveal About
the Church's Teaching on the Biblical Tithe?

Suggested Tag for every part of this series: "What Does the Bible Reveal About the Church's Teaching on the Biblical Tithe?" • 3 parts, in reading order below

[Part 1 of 3]  WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REVEAL ABOUT THE CHURCHES TEACHING ON THE BIBLICAL TITHE? IS IT ANOTHER DOCTRINE CREATED BY THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH? [PART ONE]

As the modern church continues it catastrophic decline in the 21st century, influenced in large part by the same spirit that caused the Lord Jesus to totally and completely reject the church the Laodiceans built and controlled. There is one indisputable truth about modern religion and its plethora of different denominations that each create their own doctrines for those who have accepted Gd’s unmerited favor, all to satisfy their own pride and spiritual superiority. People often complain when they read the Bible, they can’t understand it. Part of the confusion is created in part by men. The Bible is really a very simple book left in its proper context. The confusion I want to examine in today’s post is one of the most controversial, the doctrine of the 10% “Tithe”! This controversial topic is plainly and simply explained in the Bible. However, like everything else man touches, his interpretation of Biblical truth usually ends up creating unnecessary confusion. Let us examine this topic in the light of Holy Scripture.

The church beginning with early Roman Catholicism money became the most important focus, maybe not intentionally, but none the less it did. From buying forgiveness, religious idols, getting a loved one out of purgatory etc. and the face of the church was forever changed. All organized religion would follow the same formula of mandating the “10% Tithe” or giving 10% of your earned income to the church. And many churches’ peach not to do so, makes you guilty of robbing God. This topic will not sit well with man pastors or other church leaders, but what is important is to understand God’s heart, intent and purpose. This teaching will no doubt reveal some painful truths; one alarming truth is that much tithing is rejected by God because of the way in which it is received. Let’s us begin by asking the Lord to lead us into all truth, that all our actions may be done in the right heart and spirit.

In this “Post” we will discover truths about (3) biblical tithes that completely alter our view of the modern church practice concerning tithing. Some of what we will reveal will shock many, but the most important thing is how liberating unadulterated biblical truth can be in setting your faith free.

THE TITHES ORIGINAL INTENT: The tithe first introduced in the Old Testament was a system designed by God for communal support, not just money to maintain the temple or upkeep on the tabernacle, contrary to what many have been taught to believe (a simple financial transaction a sacred tribute to the Church of Jesus Christ), but was that really God’s intent for the ‘tithe’? NOTE: The ‘tithe’ from its inception was about much more than money. In the Old Testament it had an essential function in the structure of the Israelite society. Contrary to what many believers in the faith think and have been taught, the ‘tithe’ was not a fixed and set amount, nor was it a mere religious obligation. It was a provision system that was designed to not only sustain the Levitical priesthood and the needy, but also to glorify God through spiritual activities, designed to strengthen the peoples’ faith and communion. Understanding this foundation is crucial in spiritually discerning how God truly wants us to deal with our possessions and generosity. A classic example is God’s provision for the Levites, who were the only tribe who received no portion of inheritance in the “Promised Land”. "“AND I, HAVE TAKEN YOUR BRETHERN THE LEVITES FROM AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL: TO YOU, THEY ARE GIVEN AS A GIFT FOR THE LORD (for intercession between God and the people, not to glorify themselves as is common practice in mega-churches and modernized Christianity) TO DO SERVICE OF THE TABERNACAL OF THE PEOPLE…IT SHALL BE A STATUE FOREVER THROUGHOUT YOUR GENERATIONS THAT AMMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL THEY HAVE NO INHERITANCE. BUT THE TITHES OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL WHICH THEY OFFER, AS AN OFFERING UNTO THE LORD, I HAVE GIVEN TO THE LEVITES TO INHERIT: THEREFORE, I HAVE SAID UNTO THEM, AMONG THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL THEY SHALL HAVE NO INHERITANCE.” Numbers 18.12 & 21-24 Their mission was to serve in the tabernacle and later the temple. To take care of the spiritual matters and be a priest to all the Israelites. So, without lands to farm or animals to raise, how were they to survive? The ‘tithe” was the means by which God provided for their support and livelihood. God’s way of insuring those whose lives were d3edicated to a sacred service ere not forgotten or neglected. This already teaches us a valuable principle, God never abandons those who dedicate themselves to His work (but does not intend them to take that which is holy and sacred, and turn it into a commodity to enrich themselves, like that which is commonly associated with the mega-church and celebrity preachers, televangelist and pastors in the 21st century.

Another fascinating aspect for God’s design for the “tithe’; included more than (1) type of tithe. In Deuteronomy 14.28-29 we find the so-called the TRIENNIAL TITHE which was required to be paid ever 3rd year, “AT THE END OF THREE YEARS YOU SHALL BRING FORTH ALL THE TITHE OF YOUR INCREASE THE SAME YEAR, AND SHALL LAY IT UP WITHIN YOUR GATES: AND THE LEVITE (BECAUSE HE HAS NO PART NOR INHERITANCE WITH YOU), AND THE STANGER, AND THE FATHERLESS, AND THE WIDOW, WHICH ARE WITHIN YOUR GATES, SHALL COME, AND SHALL EAT AND BE SATISFIED (how shameful this has become in the 21st century, where a large measure of the churches and their leaders have become gluttonous on what the people are asked to give); THAT THE LORD YOUR GOD MAY BLESS YOU IN ALL THE WORKS OF YOUR HAND WHICH YOU DO.” How sad in the 21st century far too many churches and denominations have become a multi-billion-dollar religious industry, while leaving the suffering of multitudes as the government’s obligation and respocibility. Yet they are quick to complain when secular government passes laws that offend them! Is it any wonder the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, is no longer viewed by the multitudes as no longer trustworthy! We will continue the study of the “TITHE” and its current practice in the light of Holy Scripture, in our next post Part II. God Bless God’s Simplicity and Holiness

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[Part 2 of 3] WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REVEAL ABOUT THE CHURCHES TEACHING ON THE BIBLICAL TITHE? IS IT ANOTHER DOCTRINE CREATED BY THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH? [PART TWO]

The “tithe” to be paid every third year is what is known as the “store-house tithe’, it was designed by God to meet the needs (not their wants) of strangers, widows, orphans etc. A true revelation of the immense love in the heart of God for His creation. He truly cares about the most needy. The “tithe” was not just a matter of sustaining the spiritual leaders, also a system of social justice, a means by which the needy found provision while maintain their dignity. Magine a society where everyone does their part and no one goes hungry, because there is a collective commitment to the well-being of all. Our present welfare system has been so corrupted by crooked politicians, slugs of society who can work, but refuse to do so, unscrupulous fraud and having babies just to increase your entitlement! However, this is the result of the government having to accept what the Church of Christ refuses to do, opting to spend a false teaching on themselves.

Esteeming your brother above your own selfish wants, was the divine proposal in addition to supporting the Levites and the needy, there was yet another purpose for the “tithe.” A tithe FOR CELEBRATION and WORSHIP of the LORD:‍ ‍“YOU SHALL SURELY TITHE ALL THE INCREASE IN THY SEED, THAT FIELDS BRING FORTH YEAR BY YEAR.‍ ‍AND YOU SHALL EAT BEFORE THE LORD YOUR GOD, IN THE PLACE WHICH HE (the LORD) SHALL CHOOSE TO PLACE HIS NAME THERE, THE TITHE OF YOUR CORN, OF YOUR WINE, AND OF YOUR OIL AND FIRSTLING OF THY HERDS AND OF YOUR FLOCKS, THAT YOU MAY LEARN TO FEAR (to show reverance) IN YOUR GOD ALWAYS. AND IF THE JOURNEYBE TOO HARD (and arduous) FOR YOU, SO THAT YOU ARE NOT ABLE TO CARRY IT; OR IF THE PLACE BE TO FAR, WHICH THE LORD YOUR GOD SHALL CHOOSE TO SET HIS NAME THERE. WHEN THE LORD YOUR GODHAS BLESSED YOU:YOU CAN TURN IT (the tithe) INTO MONEY, AND PUT THE MONEY IN YOUR HAND, AND GO UNTO THE PLACE THE LORD YOUR GOD SHALL CHOOSE: (this was the only time the ‘tithe’ could be paid with money. Again, revealing the wisdom of the Lord, knowing that “the love of money is the root-cause of all evil, just look how the monetary ‘tithe’ of modernity has corrupted much of the Lord’s Church in 21st century.) AND YOU SHALL SPEND THAT MONEY FOR WHATSOEVER YOUR SOULS LUSTS AFTER, (because so few believers in the faith of Jesus Christ make much use of the word of God in modernity, this next declaration by the Lord is so shocking, given man created doctrines that place many in spiritual bondage, mostly in an attempt to impress the LORD, that many will be shocked. FOR OXEN, OR FOR SHEEP, OR FOR WINE OR STRONG DRINK, OR FOR WHATEVER YOUR HEART DESIRES; AND YOU SHALL EAT (or consume it) THERE BEFORE THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND YOU SHALL REJOICE, YOU, AND YOUR ENTIRE HOUSEHOLD. AND THE LEVITE THAT IS WITHIN YOUR GATES; YOU SHALL NO FORSKE HIM; FOR HE HAS NO PART NOR INHERITANCE WITH YOU.” Deuteronomy 14.22-27 How many have heard that tithing message preached from the pulpit in modernity. Money is the only recognized ‘tithe’ in the modern church, while in the “Wod of Faith and Prosperity Gospel” a large portion goes in the pockets of religious leaders who run mega-churches, televangelist etc. and to maintain and build pleasure palaces called churches replete with a Starbucks coffee shop, bookstore, and even restaurants in many of these country clubs masquerading as houses of worship. All this has a singular purpose, to attract the seeker. NOTE: The tithe” was never designed to be a mere divine tax, but an expression of love, justice and communal provision. Which raises a very interesting question, are we in modern Christianity practicing the ‘true spirit’ of the “tithe’’ or are we following a system created by manmade doctrine, that has widely strayed from God’s original intention?

Another important observation is that the “tithe” in the way its purpose was designed in the Old Testament was not limited to just money, or credit cards (which many churches now have credit card terminals which allow unsuspecting church members or visitors to put their tithe or offering on a credit card), it was centered on the harvest, livestock and other goods meant to sustain life, based on what the land could produce, with the LORD’s grace of providing the rain. In other words, God sked the people to set aside a portion of what He himself had provided. The principle He intended did not center around a set amount, but faithfulness in recognizing that everything belonged to the LORD.

This leads us to focus today on the financial value or on the disposition of the heart. Many are taught to believe the “tithe” was mandatory for all people of Israel, but an interesting detail is that it applied only to those with the means for agricultural production or reproducing herds. Meaning that if someone did not have the means to produce a harvest or reproduction of animals, were not subjected to give the “tithe” (creating a burden they could not possibly fulfill). This truth reveals a very important principle; God never demands from someone WHAT THEY ARE NOT ABLE TO FFER! Faithfulness and gratitude should be voluntary, never a burden placed on those who already are facing dire circumstances, and difficulties of life. In light of all this, it’s clear that the “tithes” in the Old Testament was a system of mutual care, not an instrument to manipulate and place undue burdens on the people. It expresses God’s justice ensuring that the tabernacle and temple servants were supported-the needy were taken care of-and the peoples communion strengthened. But if the “tithe” was so important in that time, what happened in the New Testament?

In closing, PART TWO, makes it clear the purpose of the “tithe” at its inception is nothing remotely close to what is proclaimed as God’s command for the “tithe” in the modern church, where a mandatory 10% of one’s income is now the standard that is proclaimed. Placing many who have been set free from their sin through God’s unmerited favor, are placed in another spiritual type of bondage! In PART THREE, we examine what the command for the “tithe” in the New Testament is. God Bless, the simplicity of God’s revealed truth. Pra

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[Part 3 of 3] WHAT DOES THE BIBLE REVEAL ABOUT THE CHURCHES TEACHING ON THE BIBLICAL TITHE? IS IT ANOTHER DOCTRINE CREATED BY THE NEW TESTAMENT CHURCH? (PART THREE)

Where did Christ’ Church come up with the 10% “Tithe” of a believer’s gross income before any deduction or taxes, become the New Testament standard for giving? There is nowhere in all of the New Testament Scripture that mandates or directs a believer “in the faith of Jesus Christ” to “Tithe” 10%! To answer the question more specifically by date, as it was first established within Christianity under Catholicism, I refer to a Catholic Encyclopedia that established it around 567 AD:

The payment of tithes was adopted from the Old Law, and early writers speak of it as a divine ordinance and an obligation of conscience. The earliest positive legislation on the subject seems to be contained in the letter of the bishops assembled at Tours in 567 and the canons of the Council of Maçon in 585. In course of time, we find the payment of tithes made obligatory by ecclesiastical enactments in all the countries of Christendom.

By the "Old Law" the text means Mosaic Law. As far as the concept of gross versus net goes, this seems to be a more modern idea by hyper-fundamentalists, and I have not yet found its origin. Although much of Christian-right conservatism and advocates of Cristian Nationalism condemn and label Roman Catholicism a religion of false teachings because of the Holy See, confession of sins to a priest, worship of saints and the worship of and immaculate conception of Mary (or the virgin birth of Mary), all as tenants of a false religion, which is true! However, fundamentalist readily became duopolistic in the acceptance of these false religious practices: “TITHING 10% OF ONE’S GROSS INCOME, IS PREACHED AS PART OF THE WORSHIP EXPECTED OF BELIEVERS.‍ ‍IT IS A MORE COMMON PRACTICE AMONG MEGA-CHURCHES WITH MULTI-MILLION DOLLAR BUDGETS TO FUND THE STATE OF ART PRODUCTIONS AND PROFESSIONAL SINGERS AND TO MAINTAIN COUNTRY CLUB COMFORT FOR SEEKERS. AND THEN THERE IS FINANCING THE EXPECTED LIFESTYLES OF CELEBRITY PASTORS. tHERE HAS NEVER BEEN AN AGE OF MILLIONIARE MINISTERS AS IN THE 20TH AND 21ST CENTURIES. In other words, the modern version of Christianity has become cavalierly close in resemblance to the worldly Church of the Laodiceans, which Christ totally and completely rejected (in other words He could not find one thing they were doing He could commend. To further compound the danger, even the most egregious errors of PERGAMOS, THYATIRA and SARDIS, the Lord had found things He could commend, but the last representative of the dispensation of the church-age, the church of the LAODICEANS who owned the church and called all the shots! He could find not one thing they were doing that pleased Him! This ought to cause much of modern Christianity to ponder “WHETHER THEY BE IN THE FAITH OR NOT!”

Jesus Christ fulfilled the Mosaic Law. The shadow of the ceremonial system was completed in Him. The temple was no longer needed for worship. Instead, Christ said “THE HOUR COMES AND NOW IS, WHEN THE TRUE WORSHIPERS, SHALL WORSHIP THE FATHER IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH (or in the Person of Christ): FOR THE FATHER SEEKS SUCH TO WORSHIP HIM. GOD IS A SPIRIT: AND THEY THAT WORSHIP HIM IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH.”(Jesus is truth)” John 4.23-24 Collectively, all who put their faith in Christ make up the “Church” (the Bride of Christ), which was instituted after Jesus’ ascension. The church is both global and uniquely expressed in local gatherings of believers.

As a part of the Mosaic law, the tithe ended with the “fulfilling of the law”. Revealing that New Testament believers are not mandated to give 10%, however we are still called to financially participate in the work of the church and to care for those who spiritually care for us. “DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT THEY WHICH MINISTER ABOUT HOLY THINGS LIVE OF THE THINGS OF THE TEMPLE? AND THEY WHICH WAIT AT THE ALTAR ARE PARTAKERS WITH THE ALTAR? EVEN SO HAS THE LORD ORDAINED THAT THEY WHICH PREACH THE GOSPEL SHOULD LIVE OF THE GOSPEL.” I Corinthians 9.23-24 “LET THE ELDERS THAT RULE WELL (with carefulness and fear and trembling of their influence) BE COUNTED WORTHY OF DOUBLE HONOR, ESPECIALLY THEY WHO LABOR IN THE WORD AND DOCTRINE. FOR SCRIPTURE SAYS, YOU SHALL NOT MUZZLE THE OX THAT TREADS OUT THE CORN (but it does not say allow them to become gluttonous, millionaires or able to live lives of the rich and famous) AND THE LABORER IS WORHTY OF HIS REWARD.” I Timothy 9.17-18 Our giving is also intended to support the work of missions and help those in need (not depending on the govt to do what we as the church are responsible for.

The New Testament nowhere designates a percentage of income a person is obligated to give. The Christian is not obligated to give 10% “tithe”. But we are encouraged to set aside that wherewith the Lord has blessed us. “WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE TRUE, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE HONEST, WHATSOEVER THIGS ARE JUST, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE PURE, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE LOVELY, WHATSOEVER THINGS ARE OF GOOD REPORT: IF THERE BE ANY VIRTURE, AND IF THERE BE ANY PRAISE, THINK ON THESE THNGS (sadly much of the modern church has traded these things for prestige, popularity, growth, wealth, and gluttony). THOSE THINGS, WHICH YOU HAVE BOTH LEARNED, AND RECEIVED, AND HEARD, AND SEEN IN ME, DO: AND THE GOD OF PEACE SHALL BE WITH YOU. FOR I REJOICE IN THE LORD GREATLY, THAT NOW AT LAST, YOUR CARE OF ME HAS FLOURISHED AGAIN; WHEREIN YOU WERE ALSO CAREFUL, BUT YOU LACKED OPPORTUNITY. NOT THAT I SPEAK IN RESPECT OF WANT (unlike the “word of faith movement” and the “prosperity gospel” which turns God in a give to get!) NOT THAT I SPEAK IN RESPECT WANT: FOR I HAVE LEARNED, IN WHATSOEVER STATE I AM, THEREWITH BE CONTENT. I KNOW BOTH HOW TO BE ABASED, AND I KNOW HOW TO ABOUND: EVERYWHERE AND IN ALL THINGS I AM INSTRUCTED BOTH TO BE FULL AND TO BE HUNGRY, BOTH TO ABOUND AND TO SUFFER NEED. I CAN DO ALL THIGS THROUGH CHRISTWHICH STRENGTHENS ME (not begging people to give to get answered prayer, or a need or want to be given, or sickness to be healed, just be contented with Christ’ love for me)…BUT MY GOD SHALL SUPPLY ALL YOUR NEED (not your wants) ACCORDING TO HIS RICHES IN GLORY BY CHRIST JESUS. Philippians 4.8-19

Finally in closing, what are we as Christians commanded to do in the New Testament, concerning our giving? “BUT THIS I SAY, HE WHICH SOWS SPARINGLY (when he has the wherewith all to give abundantly) SHALL REAP ALSO SPARINGLY; AND HE WHICH SOWS BOUNTFULLY (because of his love for Christ sacrificial giving that purchased his or her salvation) SHALL REAP ALSO BOUNTIFULLY. EVERY MAN ACCORDING AS HE PURPOSES I HIS HEART, SO LET HIM GIVE; NOT GRUDGINGLY (this is a great burden that the modern church has saddled believers with by adopting the O.T. 10% mandatory giving! Accusing church members of robbing God if they don’t give 10% of their income to the church first. Which is teaching in error, teaching that which the Scripture does not reveal!) OR OF NECESSITY (or choosing to sacrifice a personal need so as not to be labeled by the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ as robbing God, by not giving to Him first! Remember I said God’s Word is a very simple book to understand her is great example, because if you are burdened to give grudgingly because and it means you’re going to miss a meal etc. Because it makes you not a cheerful giver, and God receives no glory from your grudging sacrifice) FOR GOD LOVES A CHEERFUL GIVER!” II Corinthians 9.5-7

I love the Lord’s revealed truths and their simplicity, that truly sets our soul free in Christ. There are many today who are placed back into another type of bondage spiritually by mandating man created doctrines. God Bless I hope this study of the “tithe” has been helpful,

Many True Believers Who Have Been Wounded
Spiritually by Institutionalized Religion

Suggested Tag for every part of this series: "Many True Believers Who Have Been Wounded Spiritually by Institutionalized Religion"  •  6 parts, in reading order below

[Part 1 of 6] Many True Believers Who Have Been Wounded Spiritually by Institutionalized Religion and Are Left to Carry Feelings of Guilt by Being Labeled Backsliders or No Longer A Part of the Lord’s Church! So What is Their True Spiritual State?

 This series will deal with a growing crisis unfolding in modern Christianity, the exodus of many believers from organized and denominational religion.  The exodus of members from churches made of brick and mortar run by institutional directives have witnessed an exponential exodus in church attendance, it was 59% in 2011 and 71% in 2025.  There is a plethora of reasons to explain this growing spiritual chaos.  The birth of the megachurch with its state of the art productions, called worship, its country club buildings, it’s focus on growth where the means justifies end, the catering to seekers to the neglect of feeding true believers spiritual meat, and advocating and promotion of political ideologies for one political party and the most glaring anti-Christian acts that are a major cancer on the modern church, is sexual abuse scandal the religious leaders of the denominations initially refused to address, and were more interested in protecting the institution than exposing the sexual predators who occupied its pulpits.  The second act was adopting the idea “that money answers all things”.   The result was the birth of celebrity pastors, with many becoming millionaires living lives of extravagance, materialism, privilege and avarice.  Many believers find themselves drying up spiritually, as they look around at their surroundings sitting in a church styled after luxurious country clubs, state of the art music productions performed by professional singers, while asking themselves is this all there is to serving Christ? 

                The idea of Christians who don’t attend church is not new, but it has become more common in the 21st century in recent years.  Studies show that church attendance has been declining in many parts of the world, especially in Western nations.  Some of the key reasons [BELIEVERS DISILLUSIONMENT WITH WITH INSTUTIONAL AND OGANATIONAL RELIGION:] Many Christians feel that churches have become too institutionalized, bureaucratic, and in many instances even corrupt.  [MANY BELIEVERS SUFFER FROM NEGATIVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCES:] Some believers have experienced judgment at the hands of other believers, exclusion, or hurt within the church communities, leading them to distance themselves from attending church altogether.  An increasing number of Christians today identify as faithful followers of Christ while choosing not to attend church regularly or not at all.  Final thought: A BELIEVERS SOURED ON INSTITUTIONAL RELIGION IS STILL A CHRISTIAN.

                Serious believers after the “faith of Jesus Christ” look around at the churches of modernity and ask themselves is this all there is?  It’s not because you’re rebellious, not because your heart has grown cold, but because deep down in your soul that is famished by being fed a steady diet of elementary Biblical truths, causing you to question, there is something more to serving Christ, something pure untainted by scandal and greed, something sacred, something that no building, no program, no celebrity pastor can manufacture.  When institutionalized religion no longer meets your spiritual need, causing many to quit attending, they are labeled backsliders, they no longer walk with the Lord, that walking away from the church is walking away from the Lord.  But for many in the faith wounded by others in the faith, haven’t walked away from the Lord, they walked away from noise, they walked away from religious performance, they walked away from the place where their spirit was starving.  While others saw you leaving, what they failed to see was what the Lord was doing in secret.  Many who have left organized and institutional religion are called out, being set apart, not to rebel, but to listen, to be still, to have their faith strengthened by the Lord Himself, not because you’re lost, but to satisfy in your soul a fire burning with hunger for more knowledge of the one we call savior. 

                Here is something important to consider: God’s chosen have always walked a narrow path that few understand.  They don’t need stain glass to see His beauty, architectural cathedrals that makes the world marvel, to see His majestic glory, they don’t need eloquent or gifted orators delivering sermons peppered with humor to keep their hearers engaged, to hear the Lord’s voice and they don’t need a crowd stirred up by master manipulators who create a false visitation by the Holy Spirit.  His disciples, His Church, His bride, are those who hear the whisper of His voice in a place of longing, solitude and wilderness wandering.  They meet Him by being still, meeting him in the quietness of a harried life, who walks with Him when no one else will. 

CONCLUSION: This series will no doubt cause consternation and disagreement from many in the faith, however I have always been considered what many call a boat-rocker.  I am not boasting, but humbling admitting my ministry from its beginning did not endear me to many in the faith.  One of my professors in seminary even signaled me out before the class as seeing no gray areas in Scripture, but to me everything was black or white,  Which I responded by saying, I mean no disrespect, but the only gray areas I see in God’s Word is those we create with the gray matter between our two ears.  I have never been a man follower but led by what I felt the Lord was speaking in my heart.  As I said, this is not for some.  On the other hand, if your heart burns for more intimacy with our Savior, maybe I am speaking to you.  Maybe you don’t fit the mold, or feel like you truly belong in the system created by modern contemporary Christian belief, don’t despair, it may mean you are in a search for true fulfillment to satisfy the deep yearning in your soul.  Let me close the 1st in the series with these words of encouragement: You don’t become a Christian by sitting in a church   You become a Christian by receiving the grace of God, by putting your faith in Jesus the Christ, as your Lord and savior.  That happens in the heart, not by occupying a pew.  Can I still be the bride of Christ, the Church, even when I disconnect from the modern religious system?  The answer is yes!  If the relationship with the Lord is real.  Brick and mortar cannot replace your personal walk with the Savior.  God Bless

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[Part 2 of 6]  Many True Believers Who Have Been Wounded Spiritually by Institutionalized Religion and Are Left to Carry Feelings of Guilt by Being Labeled Backsliders or No Longer A Part of the Lord’s Church! So What is Their True Spiritual State? [Part 2]

As a pastor for over 30 years, I have seen and experienced things in the institutional religion model, that would grieve the heart of any true believer.  For example, a young man started attending our church with his wife and he was known as a noted drug dealer in our city.  He came under conviction one Sunday morning and came forward when the invitation was extended.  Our pastor looked at me and asked me to come forward and said Craig wanted to be saved and asked me to minister with him.  I took him and his wife out of the sanctuary back into one of the Sunday School rooms.  Then I asked him, why in the world would you want to be saved?  At the present time you are calling out the shots and are answerable to no one.  If you want to be saved, that requires you to give up all that authority to Jesus, as Lord.  Are you sure you really want to do that?  His little wife looked at me with bewilderment, but Craig was adamant, and I couldn’t dissuade him.  Craig truly was born again that morning and had fire burning in Him for the Lord that began to make some of the members to question if he was acting to spiritually.  He was in our Sunday School class for couples, and some of the men began question if he was really saved, why he hadn’t been convicted about cut his long hippie hair yet.   I just marveled at their ignorance.  Low and behold Craig came in one Sunday and had a regular haircut.  The men who had question his conversion were beside themselves, and one ask, “Craig we see the Lord convicted you about your hair.  Without a minute’s hesitation, he answered yes He did.  I was reading my Bible and came across the scripture that says, “TAKE HEED LEST BY ANY MEANS THIS LIBERT (in his case his long hair) OF YOURS BECOMES A STUMBLING BLOCK TO THEM THAT ARE WEAK (a baby in the fraith).” My heart swelled with unspeakable joy at this babe in the faith, demonstrating obedience to His Lord.  I will however, admit a measure of fear as I left to pastor a church, that there was the danger his fire for serving the Lord, may get tempered by members of the church who felt threatened by his zeal in his salvation.

                In this series I want to examine (7) truths that assure true people of faith that have left organized religion are the real church, who have not quit following the Lord.  They were drying up spiritually by programs masquerading as worship, if they question something that didn’t align with scripture, they were labeled troublemakers, victims of sexual abuse label Sowers of discord, for reporting the abuse.  And pastors and leaders are protected and, in many cases, especially in the megachurches that are deemed untouchable.

[1]…It is important to understand the Lord’s voice is not bound by brick and stone.  And we need to understand fully this truth.  God has never needed a building to reach His children.  Long before there were steeples dotting the horizons, cathedrals that glorify hierarchical religious leaders littered with all measure of forbidden idol worship, marquees and church signs, billboards etc. with the celebrity pastor’s name emblazoned with huge letters, and before there were state of the art productions, microphones, power points so members are no longer burdened with having to  carry a bible around, that is mostly never opened anyway.  Long before all these worldly attractions meant to appeal and attract seekers.  God was already speaking in deserts, on mountain tops, in caves, and even through a burning bush that was not consumed.  He doesn’t wait for us to build temples, cathedrals and megachurches design with every comfort of a ritzy country club replete with coffee shops and in some restaurants.  The undeniable truth is, He meets where we are, often in the raw, and unlovely throws of life that has abused and beat us down to a place of hopelessness and despair of life itself.  Think of Moses, he didn’t hear God’s voice inside a temple built with hands.  He encountered God in the wilderness, barefoot, face to the ground, trembling before a bush that burned, but not being consumed.  That moment didn’t require stain-glassed windows or padded pews and theater chairs for comfort.  The only requirement needed was a heart willing to listen.    Moses was not seeking a religious experience; he was simply walking and God interrupted him with His glory.  Elijah, weary and hunted, hiding in a cave, despairing of life itself and pleading to die, was not surrounded by choirs or huge crowds stirred through pep-rally type preaching to create an emotional response, but in the loneliness and solitude of a cave accompanied by his mental suffering, that God whispered to him that he was not alone.  Not in the earthquake, not in the fire, not in the wind, but in that still small voice.  Elijah didn’t need institutional religious teaching to hear God; he just needed to be still in solitude and surrender.  What about John the Baptist?  He never set foot in a religious synagogue to preach.  He wore camel’ hair and ate honey.  He called people to repent from the wilderness, he called the religious leaders a brood of vipers and to flee the wrath to come, and not from a pulpit, and the people came to him.  Because something in him carried the voice, carried the echo of heaven.  God had by-passed Herod’s’ Temple once again and chose a what many considered a wild and uncouth prophet to sake a nation.

CONCLUSION: This is the pattern, over and over again.  God many times by-passes the expected (believers must be part of a denomination or religious institution) and chooses the wilderness of lives wandering.  He calls His children into places far from comfort, far from traditions created by men, because there they can finally hear, there He has our uninterrupted attention.  So if you have found yourself away from the religious over-flowing crowds, if you felt you were drying up spiritually in a building styled after a worldly country club and into the quietness of solitude and meditation on Him, you are not far from God.  You may be closer than you ever have in all your religious training and experiences, because He is still speaking, not just in temples, cathedrals, brick and mortar, megachurches with all their comforts of the world, but in the secret place where only those that truly hunger after Him and His righteousness hunger to know.  God Blesses a hungry heart!

— End of Part —

[Part 3 of 6]  Many True Believers Who Have Been Wounded Spiritually by Institutionalized Religion and Are Left to Carry Feelings of Guilt by Being Labeled Backsliders or No Longer A Part of the Lord’s Church! So What is Their True Spiritual State? [Part 3]

There is no doubt that the world is full of wounded members of the true body of Christ, and although they no longer worship Him based on the model established by institutionalized religion or the mandates set forth by a plethora of denominations, which is no where described in the Bible.  What is described is “FOR THROUGH HIM (Christ our Lord and Savior) WE BOTH HAVE HAVE ACESS BY ONE SPIRIT UNTO THE FATHERNOW THEREFORE YOU ARE NO MORE STRANGERS (or no longer walking without God)AND FOREIGNERS, BUT FELLOW CITIZENS WITH THE SAINTS, AND THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD; AND ARE BUILT UPON A FOUNDATION OF THE APOSTLES AND PROPHETS, JESUS CHRIST HIMSELF BEING THE CHIEF CORNERSTONE; IN WHOM ALL THE BUILDING FITLY FRAMED TOGETHER GROWING INTO A HOLY TEMPLEIN THE LORD: IN WHOM YOU ALSO BUILDED TOGETHER FOR AN HABITATION OF GOD THROUGH THE SPIRIT.” Ephesians 2:18-22  

                Unfortunately, I have witnessed some of the most unchristian behavior by members in organized religion that you can even imagine.  I witnessed the Lord’s name smeared and dragged through the local judicial system that played out daily in the newspaper and local TV news outlets.  A chairman of the Deacons who owned a rather large construction company, donated a large parcel of property for the churches future building program.  When the plans for the building program were presented in a church business meeting, several of the more spiritually humble members respectfully asked that the members have time to pray over this huge financial undertaking. The Pastor proceeded to humiliate them in front of the whole church by saying; “IF THAT IS DONE, WE CAN TAKE THESE ARCHITECTUAL DESIGNS PUT THEM IN A CLOSET UPSTAIRS, AND PLACE A SIGN OVER THE DOOR SAYING, THIS IS WHAT WE COULD HAVE HAD!”   Satan walked in that Wednesday night and shut down any future work by the Holy Spirit grieving Him, believed by many, beyond recall.   A very godly brother who was also a medical Dr., whose wife I had went visiting with several times, a very godly Christian woman who loved the Lord, and whose husband was chairman of the building committee.  And as a result of the Pastor humiliating of members in front of the whole body, he resigned from the committee that night and later suffered a massive heart attack that same night.  That began a horrid chapter of embarrassment for Eastwood Baptist Church and the Lord Himself.  After that meeting the church began a massive decline, to the point they couldn’t even purchase a screw on credit in the whole city.  Then the Chairman of the Deacon who had donated the parcel of land wanted it back.  The church said no, and so he sued the church and won his case in a secular court, all played out daily by the press.  The pastor that destroyed that church, moved to Tennessee and started a non-denominational church with speaking in tongues and slaying-in-the-spirit.  I wonder if some of those members of the true church who were embarrassed, harassed and spiritually wounded still attend institutionalized religion.

[2] THE TRUE CHURCH IS THE PEOPLE: The true church is not a building, but a people let’s make that clear!  In modernity it’s one of the most misunderstood biblical truths in all of Christianity.  The church is not a specific location, it’s not a building, a denomination, or a designated service time on Sunday morning, that has a time limit in which the Holy Spirit is allowed to work.  The true church the one Jesus died for, the one He is returning for, is not made of brick and stone.  It’s made of people, living, breathing, spirit-filled people.  The word ‘church’ come from the Greek word ‘ecclesia’ and means the called-out ones.  Not gathered in ones, not the weekly attending ones who gather in buildings made by men, but those who have been called out of the world, called out of man-made religions that many times place people in bondage to man created doctrines, but all those called out of darkness into Christ’ marvelous light.  The true church is a living organism, not a religious institution.  The true church cannot be contained within four walls.  When Jesus said: “WHERE TWO OR THREE ARE GATHERED IN MY MY NAME, THERE I AM IN THE MIDST OF THEM.”  He wasn’t implying a church growth strategy, He was giving us a glimpse of His heart.  The Lord is moved by communing with His beloved.  Two hearts on fire for Him gathered in love and in truth, is more church than a thousand distracted souls in a megachurch receiving TED talks, or how to be a better you, or some majestic cathedral leading uninformed attendees in open idol worship and the worship of a man.  Throughout scripture, God’s presence shows up where His people are hungry, not where the structure is designed for comfort, be non-offensive to modern seekers.

CONCLUSION: In the book of Acts, the early believers didn’t have fancy buildings.  They met in homes, under open skies and deep in the bowels of the earth in the Roman catacombs in secret.  And yet they were able to turn the known world upside down.  Why?  Because they understood they were the church, the temple of the body of Christ.   The Spirit of the Lord was no longer hidden behind the 3’ thick curtain hiding His holiness, it now resided in a fleshly church.  God’s true children know this truth deep in their bones.  That no matter where they are, in a prison cell, a hospital room, a quiet living room, they are the true church.  They carry His presence, they are His house and they are His bride.  When they walk, He walks, when they speak, He speaks.  So if you find yourself one of the wounded in the faith by other members or institutional  leadership in the body of Christ, causing you to leave the building, but still burn for Jesus deep in your heart, you are not a backslider, or guilty of walking away from following the Lord, you are the church.  And maybe, just maybe that is what the Lord has been trying to show you all long.  This is no way a discouragement from attending organized religious service in brick and stone.  However, given the explosion of financial corruption, sexual abuse cover-ups etc. a lot of members of the true church are feeling confused spiritually.  God Bless the body of Christ

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[Part 4 of 6]  Many True Believers Who Have Been Wounded Spiritually by Institutionalized Religion and Are Left to Carry Feelings of Guilt by Being Labeled Backsliders or No Longer A Part of the Lord’s Church! So What is Their True Spiritual State? [Part 4]

[3] WHY SOME CHOOSE NOT TO BE PART MAN-MADE CHURCHES: The world and most especially America in much of modern Christian worship in man-made churches involves worshiping man-made gods, but not of wood and stone, but man-made gods all the same.  The Lord through Moses warned the Israelites this very thing would happen to them once they cross the Jordan River into the Promised Land. “THE LORD WILL SCATTER YOU AMONG PEOPLE, AND ONLY A FEW OF YOU WILL SURVIVE AMONG ALL THE NATIONS TO WHICH THE LORD WILL DRIVE YOU. THERE YOU WILL WORSHIP MAN-MADE GODS OF WOOD AND STONE, WHICH CANNOT SEE OR HEAR OR EAT AND SMELL.” Deuteronomy 4.27-28  In this context, the 21st century and in many churches that occupy almost every corner in most American cities, man-made gods are worshiped, how ever they are not made of wood or stone, but these man-made gods can eat, hear and smell. Who and what are these man-made gods?  They are men and women who have taken the place of the Lord by ‘arrogating’ (claiming or seizing divine power as their right-They assign to themselves responsibilities and privilege, that they claim is theirs while having no right to-do so) supernatural powers to themselves and pervert the true worship of God.  In many Word of Faith teachings, Health Wealth and Prosperity teachers, and many Pentecostal churches worshipers are no longer adhering to the true word of God, but the words of false teachers masquerading as little gods.  In other words, their words have become more authoritative than the Bible to their followers.  They make themselves appear so holy that no one dares criticize them.  They surround themselves with entourages, bodyguards, thugs that physically manhandle critics and accusers.  They fake humility, boast of their riches, materialism, power to command healing, wave their coat and slay people in the spirit, and can teach followers how to be baptized by the Holy Spirit by speaking in tongues that is nothing more than baby gibberish.  It’s the epitome of hypocrisy to denounce idolatry in paganism and come to Christ just to meet another idol.  And for those who really have an encounter with the Lord Christ, find themselves struggling to attend any type of man-made institutionalized religious churches.  Never understanding they are the true church of Christ.

[4] Jesus rejected wholesale, the religious system of His day.  Why not go for approval from Caiaphas the high priest?  If we truly want to understand why some choose to no longer be a part of institutional religion and man-made churches, just look at Jesus, not as savior, but as a bold and relentless challenger of religious systems corrupted by men of His day, and we have to ask ourselves has anything really changed in 2000 plus years?  If we are honest with ourselves, the answer is a resounding No!  Because of man’s sinful nature we are destined to taint and corrupt any and everything meant for good.  This is tied to Adams sentence for willful disobedience; “YOU WILL WORK TO THE SWEAT OF YOUR BROW TO EEK A LIVING FROM THE HEART.”and it didn’t take sinful man long to figure out how to short-circuit the judgment, by exploiting his fellowman entirely, both secularly and religiously.  Jesus didn’t just preach love and forgiveness as many people like to use in their arguments in favor of sinful behavior.  He confronted corruption publicly and head-on and without hesitation, He exposed religious hypocrisy by religious leaders, by going toe to toe with them, who acted as though they alone held access to God.  He didn’t fit in with Jewish institutional run temple courts in fact He interrupted their religiosity!  When He walked into the temple and saw religious merchant making merchandise out of people attempting to worship God, He didn’t use diplomacy to register His displeasure with their religious hypocrisy, He flipped their tables, fashioned a whip and used it to drive them from the temple.  How many celebrity-pastors, teachers, televangelist both male and female have created false-gods to worship designed to fleece the flock and to make merchandise of you?  They are guilty of commercializing what is intended to be holy. 

                The religious elite of His day hated Him!  Not because He sinned, not because He was evil, but because He exposed them in the light of day.  Think about this when you struggle with attending institutionalized religion, Jesus spent far more time in the streets, field, hillsides, and even in a boat where sinners abounded and people with broken lives lay in misery in ally ways discarded to suffer alone, than He ever did in the synagogue.  His pulpit was the dirt beneath His feet.  His congregation was the hungry, the outcast of society which had been discarded, the rejected for religious violations created by the order of men and the forgotten, the Lord’s ministers don’t need platforms, they are not motivated by numbers, they don’t need stages, mood lights, microphones or smokey haze to simulate a lounge to set the right mood, like the Lord our Savior they speak truth in love wherever they are.  And many times, members are made to feel misunderstood, ridiculed through gossiping church members, and even shunned as Sowers of discord.

CONCLUSION: Here is an undeniable truth.  Jesus never came for us to establish or repair the old religious systems corrupted by men, He came to replace it with a new covenant between forgiven sinners and God the Father, something unheard of ever before.  Something new, something alive and something that moved Spiritually.  And those who truly follow Him in a never dying hunger for the same heart as the Savior.  If you find yourself outside humiliated by institutionalized religion, you didn’t just leave loving Jesus, you step into an untamed, raw spirit-led life that only the people of faith can experience.  God Bless you all

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[Part 5 of 6]  Many True Believers Who Have Been Wounded Spiritually by Institutionalized Religion and Are Left to Carry Feelings of Guilt by Being Labeled Backsliders or No Longer A Part of the Lord’s Church! So What is Their True Spiritual State? [Part 5]

[5] The Dangers Involved of Emotionalism in Worship: In today’s modern church, worship is often measured by created emotional frenzy, followed by bizarre behavior, inhuman antics and every other kind of eccentric behavior.  Emotionalism tied to worship was birthed by what is known as Azusa Street Revival Meeting with speaking in tongues, people running rolling around on the floor, etc.  Thus, the name Holy Rollers was applied to their antics.  This was followed by the Oral Roberts tenet revivals phenom with crutches and wheelchairs littering the stage area from pseudo healings.  He even said God was going to kill him if he couldn’t raise millions of dollars to build a hospital to which He would send a cure for cancer.  It was a mobster that owned a race-horse track that donated the money to save his life.  Today the hospital sits as an empty tomb testifying that he was a false prophet.  One of his star pupils, Carlton Pearson, converted to universalism.  Then came the next pseudo visitation of the Holy Spirit fueled by emotional extremism, The Vineyard Movement, started by the hippie Jesus Movement where people started laughing uncontrollably, roaring like lions, laying on the floor immobile for extended periods of time.  This led to the Brownsville Assembly of God Revival that at its zenith was attracting people from all over the world, lines formed in the sweltering sun all day just to get a seat inside at 7:00 PM peoples’ emotional antics included laughing uncontrollably, getting down on all fours barking like dogs, roaring like lions, head jerking so violently many suffered permanent neck injuries and others laying prone for hours.  The Pastor John Fitzgerald and evangelist Steve Hill at the height of the movement made a visit to the Pyramid in Memphis and I decided to go to see what all the excitement was about.  When I first walked in the Pyramid, it smelled like a bar when you opened it in the morning after a wild night drinking, stale beer and cigarettes.   There were tables strewn throughout the Pyramid with all types of books, tapes, religious icons etc. all manned by individuals standing with cash in hand like a bunch of carnival barkers.  It was all programmed for maximal emotional response.  My spirit was grieved from the very moment I walked into the Pyramid.  Today that same church has less than 200 members.

                In today’s church, worship is often measured by emotions it stirs.  Is this really a reliable gauge of faithfulness?  While God designed us with emotions and the innate desire to worship something but placing feelings above truth—poses a real danger to biblical worship.  Emotionalism is the elevation of feelings above truth.  In the context of worship, it means chasing experiences and emotional highs rather than centering on worship through God’s revealed truth, is spiritually dangerous.  When the next emotional-high does not materialize, what’s left?  The major problem with emotion-driven worship is that it confuses feelings with faithfulness.  It teaches believers immature in the faith to evaluate true worship based on how they are moved rather than how aligned it is with Scripture, subtly shifting our focus from God to ourselves: asking “Did I feel something?” becomes more important than “those who worship the Father, must worship Him in Spirit and in truth.”  This mindset leaves believers chasing spiritual highs, but unable to endure spiritual valleys.  Leaving them to start questioning why is the Lord forsaking me?

[6] The Holy Spirit teaches Christ’s bride directly.  “THE COMFORTER WHICH IS THE HOLY GHOST, WHOM THE FATHER WILL SEND IN MY NAME, HE SHALL TEACH YOU ALL THINGS, AND BRING ALL THINGS TO YOUR REMEMBERANCE, EVERYTHING I HAVE SAID UNTO YOU.” John 14.26  The bride of Christ (the church) is not ultimately shaped by a sermon to support man-made doctrines that put many in spiritual bondage or to embrace a rebranding of the gospel of Christ to appease seekers, or seminars designed to re-educate like The Promise Keepers men’s ministry which is really a spiritual trojan horse.  Why?  Because it is not our promises to Christ that is important, rather Christ’ promises to us, “to never leave us or forsake us.”  Men are incapable of keeping promises made to the Lord, because life is fraught with too many unseen storms.  Another, Is True Love Waits.  Although the creators were no doubt well intentioned, it too is doomed for spiritual failure, heartache and public embarrassment.  The teenager makes a public promise to stay pure until marriage, and the pressures of teenage years in sex craved society nearly impossible to keep.  The promise is produced through emotionalism.  We need to just serve Him and not make vows we cannot keep.  Here is a exhortation that may sound radical to some: “the anointing you have received from Him (the Holy Spirit) abides in you, and you do not need anyone teach you.” 1st John 2.27  This is not poetic language, that is spiritual reality.  When God chose us to be His children, He placed within each of us His Spirit and that Spirit becomes our teacher, our guide to keep us from spiritual falsehoods, our counselor.

[7] Important to NOTE: The early disciples didn’t graduate from religious schools; they walked and were led by the Spirit.  Paul, who wrote most of the New Testament, didn’t immediately consult church leaders in Jerusalem after encountering the Lord on the road to Damascus.  Instead, he went into the Arabia wilderness alone for years, because the Lord was teaching him directly, stripping away the old (religion of he learned as a member of the Sanhedrin) and pouring in the new.  This is what the Lord does with His bride, He sends His teacher the Holy Spirit to comfort their confusion and teaches them truth.  Many times, that shaping causes the believer to go through valleys and deserts, not for pains sake, but to sharpen our resolve to serve only Him.  He tunes our hearts to His whisper.  He uses everyday moments, storms, failures, stillness and suffering as His curriculum.  And when we emerge, we carry something no seminary can give. The believer speaks with authority that wasn’t birthed by man.  Words pierce hearts not because they are eloquent, but because they are saturated with the oil of intimacy.  They have sat at the feet of Jesus, not behind a pulpit, but in the unseen hours of prayer and surrender.  If you are continuing to grow in love for the Savior outside institutional religion, don’t feel like an outcast, Rejoice!     

CONCLUSION: True teaching most often comes in wilderness life wandering searching for true fulfillment.  We should desire worship that stirs our affections, but only when those affections are stirred by unadulterated truth.  Emotion is a gift, not a god.  The goal of worship is not necessarily to feel something as a proper gauge, but to behold someone, Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, the only One worthy of our most earnest devotion.  God Bless all!   

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The Spirit of Antichrist in Modern Religion

Suggested Tag for every part of this series: "The Spirit of Antichrist in Modern Religion"  •  7 parts, in reading order below

[Part 1 of 7]  The Spirit of Antichrist Used to Stealthily Hide and Move in the Shadows in American Cultural, However, it No Longer Sees the Need to Hide, When it Can Move Openly!

INTRODUCTION : In this series, my prayer is that exposing the spiritual danger, hidden in Roman Catholicism, will be received in the spirit of humility that it is written. Using only Holy Scripture alongside the doctrines promoted and pushed by Catholicism. It is important to understand this is not just an argument about which religion is correct, but a much more dangerous situation involving the soul and eternity.

The series was prompted by an article that appeared in national news this week concerning the resurgence and resurrection in the Roman Catholic Church. It began with Catholic leaders across the U.S. reporting a sharp increase in the number of adult converts, a trend that they say is driven primarily by young adults. Notre Dame saw its largest group of new Catholics in at least 25 years, with a 125 receiving sacraments last Easter. They also noted that this year, they expect there to be 163 candidates and catechumens, which are unbaptized individuals undergoing conversion. Bishop Robert Barron said that when speaking to new adult converts about their decision, many describe themselves as “hungry for truth.” This is likened to this metaphor Jesus spoke: “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he asked for a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?” Luke 11.11 If a person is sincerely seeking truth, the Catholic Church with its open idolatry and glorification of paganism and deification of Mary, just based on the surface, that would be the least depository for Biblical truth vs. the Church doctrines instituted by men. The Bishop Barron went on to say, “that many young adults are looking for something steady with strong roots (while contemporary Christianity and the mega-church-model of evangelicalism is losing its attraction for the young adults) Catholicism has been attracting new converts because of its 2,000-year-old traditions.” What a tragic unfolding testimony for 21st century evangelicalism. Barron, intimated “our culture today is very ephemeral (or changes lasting a very short time) right? It’s evanescent (or soon passing when the novelty wears off) while Catholicism speaks to something much deeper and older and more permanent,” he said. “I also think that people are attracted to the ritual expression of Catholicism. It’s the beauty of our liturgy, we’re not just gathering in a bland room (most certainly a dig at mega-churches modeling themselves after country clubs, replete with coffee shops) and singing pop songs (that are designed for entertainment rather than worship) we enter into the ancient, beautiful ritual involving vestments (worn by priest, cardinals and the pope)the incense and candles ancient prayers to saints and ancient chants. And I do think that appeals to people’s souls, especially, young people.” I would have to agree with Barron’s assessment given the wide-spread biblical illiteracy in America. The saddest element in this whole move is the unawareness of the danger they are stepping into spiritually. Let us begin the series which will produce the indisputable spiritual danger tied to the Catholic faith, with humble hearts and spirit of Christ love.

Have you ever wondered why following a religious tradition for centuries or much of one’s life is not a guarantee that it aligns with the Word of God? The Scriptures warn us that the popular path is not usually the true one, and this can become unsettling, because it requires the courage to face what true ‘faith’ teaches vs embracing popular traditions. As previously stated, in this series we will examine just three verses, three Biblical principles that rest solely in Jesus Christ that reveal truth indisputable truths that have been written in Holy Scripture for centuries, awaiting the eyes of every true believer in the faith of Christ. There is something few have the spiritual courage to face head-on when it comes to the Christian faith and truth thereof. It is not necessarily a lack of intelligence or even a lack of will to do so, it resides in the unsettledness brought on by too many questions. And the most common human tendency is to simply ignore them, change the subject, and presume doubt doesn’t exist. After all the traditions being followed seem very religious in nature. However, here is something very important to consider: ‘Truth’ (the essence of Christ Jesus, He did say “I AM TRUTH”! Not a source of truth, but truth itself. But “Truth”, that stubborn irritating thorn in the flesh at times, the Bible calls liberating, and it doesn’t disappear, because we simply close our eyes and ears to it.

CONCLUSION: Roman Catholicism is without doubt the largest institutionalized religious structure the world has ever seen. More than 1.4-billion-people in 2,000 years of history. Popes who moved empires, Cardinals who influenced wars, cathedrals that defy gravity with their ornate and structural beauty, sacraments that accompany human beings from birth to death. It is such a colossal religious machine that is so well assembled, so deeply rooted in human culture that many people simply assume that something that has lasted so long and grown so much globally, it must be Biblically legit. It must be in accordance with the Will of God, but here lies the (1st Deception) and it hides in plain sight! In this series we will prove without doubt that the true power behind Roman Catholicism’s longevity and global influence throughout the centuries, can only be based on one true source. The oldest spiritual enemy of God known to man, THE SPIRIT of BABYLON! May the Lord and His Holy Spirit lead us into all “Truth” without doubt or confusion in this series,

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[Part 2 of 7]  Confusing Longevity With “Truth” (Jesus is the essence of all Truth) While Confusing Size With Divine Approval [PART ONE]

The Holy Scriptures which is the revealed Word of God to humanity, and Jesus who declared “I AM the Truth“ said: “Enter you in at the straight gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leads to destruction, and many there will be that enter in there. Because straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leads unto life eternal, and few will find it.” Matthew 7:13-14 makes it astonishingly clear the “wide path” is the popular path, the easy path that many choose, is not necessarily the correct path. A few, certainly not the majority, not the largest religious institutions on the planet. A few! This is not an attack on those who were born into Catholicism, and had its doctrines imbedded in them from youth by family or societal structure. Those who in their lives have fawn memories of lighting candles with their mother or grandmother, prayed the rosary when facing one of life’s many trials, because there is a strongly rooted connection that runs deeper than mere religious belief, this based on a deep-rooted emotional connection that is as real, as knowing the sun is coming every day without fail and it is most precious to them.

However, there is a huge spiritual difference between sincere devotion of a heart-seeking the Lord in truth, vs. man-made-doctrines put forth as truth and taught through religious icons of a religious institution that over the centuries has created traditions that when examined in the light of Scripture, are immediately exposed as apostate teachings that border on blaspheme, due to their denigration of Christ’ suffering to remove all sin from the world. And this is where it gets interesting. Why? Because the Bible is not a book based on Protestantism or Evangelical interpretation, not some text of dubious (unreliable) origin that will expose this hidden danger that lurks in the Roman Church. Rather, it’s (3) verses, (3) sentences (that require no theological degree to understand) and they are in the Catholic Bible itself. The same Bible that priest us in mass, the same-one Bishops study in seminary, the same-one Cardinals have in Latin on the shelves of their offices in the Vatican. The point I am making, these verses have never been hidden, they have never been removed even by man-made religious institutions. They are available, accessible, and waiting to erase all doubts if read with eyes wide open and a heart willing to follow the truth wherever it may lead. However, this is easier said than done, given the hinderance of human nature, and this impediment has a name, INSTITUTIONAL TRADITION!

When structures or institution becomes powerful enough, they begin to function as a filter between the faithful and the Word of God. The Bible starts to be interpretated not by power of the Holy Spirit, not by meditation, not by prayer for illumination and not by honest study of the word (like the Bereans), but through the lens of what religious institutions needs to be true for protecting their brand. Jesus Christ confronted and exposed the exact thing in the religious leaders of His day: “You make the word of God of ‘NONE EFFECT’ through your traditions (speaking-in-tongues, slaying-in-the-spirit, health-and-prosperity-false gospel, “that makes merchandise of the people”), which you have delivered, and many other things you do (deification of Mary, glorification of pagan celebrations as Christian Holidays, promoting idol worship).” Mark 7:13 Jesus warns that traditions of men NULLIFIES the word of God! NULLIFIES! It didn’t compliment, it didn’t enrich understanding, it simply nullified! The question each believer in the faith of Christ needs to ask ourselves is not, does a denomination have appealing traditions? The necessary question we must ask ourselves is what I believe aligned with what Holy Scripture teaches. God will not ask in eternity what religious institutions or denominations you belonged to. He will ask what did you do with the teachings of My Son, (the “Truth”) and was faith based on His truth, or the man-made-traditions of men? The (3) verses we will use for this series are not just theological curiosities, they are mirrors when compared to the focus of this series, the Roman Church and her glorification of ancient paganistic traditions wrapped in a Christian wrapper, they reveal unquestioned contradictions that no human argument can resolve.

THERE IS ONLY [ONE] MEDIATOR: There is a single verse in all of Scripture that dismantles the need of creating a plethora of others for the task of mediation between the people and God. This, because there are verses in the Bible that require no elaborate exegesis of the passage, or a theological degree to explain to understand. They are simple and elementary enough for one’s differing cognitive abilities to accept. And 1st Timothy 2:5-6 is such a verse: “FOR THERE IS ONE GOD, AND ‘ONE’ MEDIATOR BETWEEN GOD AND MEN, THE MAN CHRIST JESUS, WHO GAVE HIMSELF A RANSOM FOR ‘ALL’”! The Apostle Paul wrote with surgical precision, in one sentence a clean cut, with no ambiguity, no room for maneuverability, no room for creative interpretation, simply “ONE MEDIATOR” Jesus Christ! Not Mary, because of her Son’s maternal compassion, not the saints, the priest secreted in a wooden box hidden from the one confessing sin, not the Cardinals or Bishops and most certainly and unequivocally, the Pope, who is believed by Catholics to speak as Christ on earth! Anyone who studies this verse with an earnest and honestly seeking heart, soon realizes that it is not talking about something peripheral (or the necessity for additional aid for intercession). This verse clearly states the very foundational stone for how human beings can enter the very throne-room of God with their petitions. Meditation is the very heart of faith; it is the path by which the sinner can have access that reaches the Creator. Holy Scripture unequivocally affirms that this path has one name and one name only, and that name is “JESUS the CHRIST” which makes it possible for sinners and believers alike to have open intercession before God. It’s not a preference; it is a declaration of absolute exclusivity. In summation of [PART ONE] I leave you with the Greek word Paul used that resounds with finality “EV” meaning one, singularly and exclusive! “One”, not the first on a list among other idols created for mediation, “One” and only one!

CONCLUSION: My only purpose in exposing the hidden dangers associated with the Roman Church, is that it might help keep a loved one from committing an egregious error based on ascetism, beauty and traditions of men who athirst for power!

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[Part 3 of 7]  The devil is still actively roaming and roaring throughout this earth like a lion. He is powerful and ferocious. And it is crucial not to misjudge Satan’s power or be ignorant of his schemes. [PART TWO]

INGNORANCE IS NOT EXECUSABLE! When we look at certain religious traditions, especially the Church of Rome and we find a structure built entirely on human mediation. And it is not a matter of forced interpretation; it is the official and self-binding doctrine itself. The priest acts as a mediator in the confessional. The believer never goes directly to God and confesses their sins and without sounding crass, (it is truly one of the biggest wastes of time in Christendom) as well as a most dangerous practice going back to antiquity. Why? You reveal your darkest and many times your must humiliating secrets and sins, all to another sinner just like yourself. Then to add insult to injury, the sinner priest forgives the sin and can grant absolution. You see Scriptural illiteracy causes one to believe there is forgiveness in someone other than Christ, who alone “TOOK AWAY THE SIN OF THE WORLD”! The tradition of mediation outside of Christ, a foundational tenant of the Church of Rome, has inherited her paganist spirit from her mother’s ancient rebellion against God, in the form of “MYSTERY BABYLON RELIGION”, established during the global rebellion against God led by Nimrod, and his wife Semiramis, the Queen or head of Mystery Babylon Religious heresy! At the center of this abominable and spiritual fornication against God, was the confessing of one’s misdeeds, sins, and a whole host human atrocity, to a pagan priest. And after God scattered the builders of the Tower of Babel, the body of Nimrod, head of the civil rebellion was cut into pieces and sent throughout regions of the earth as the reminder not to rebel against God. But the Queen of Heaven, Semiramis and her Babylonian religion survived in the same form today in the Church of Rome. And the center of Mystery Babylon religious structure was “THE MOTHER SON WORSHIP”! And just how dangerous is this form of worship in the name of Christendom? Let us hear the warning out the so-called first pope’s mouth, the Apostle Peter: “BE SOBER (not incapacitated), BE VIGILANT; BECAUSE YOUR ADVERSARY (sworn enemy) THE DEVIL, AS A ROARING LION, WALKS ABOUT, SEEKING WHOM HE MAY DEVOUR (eternally destroy): WHO RESIST STEADFAST (unwaveringly, without doubt) IN THE FAITH.” 1ST Peter 5.8 One of the saddest traditions in all of Christendom is the deification of Mary, who no doubt is grieved by such actions. In Catholicism, Mary is called the Mediatrix of all grace and even co-redemptrix’s, titles that place her in a position of active participation in the work of redemption. This subject demands further examination due to its origin and spiritual suicide!

Let me first say, Mary, the Bible clearly declares, “WAS BLESSED (that is to say, envied) AMONG WOMEN”. Why would she be envied? All Jewish women were raised with the hope of being the one chosen to bring the Jewish Messiah into the world. I want to pause here, to give the devil his due, in that he took what God meant as a blessing for a woman and turned it into a curse. Mary and Jesus were not the creation of “mother-son worship’. The Bible declares its practice in the O.T.: “He said to me, turn you, and you shall witness greater abominations that they (religious leaders and women) do. Then He brought me to the door of the gate to the Lord’s house which was toward the north; and behold, there sat women weeping for Tammuz.” Ezekiel 8:14 Note this whole practice is called by God an abomination (is anyone paying attention)? “See what they do…the children gather wood, and the women knead their dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven (Semiramis), and to pour out drink offerings unto other gods, that they may provoke Me to anger.” Does this not cause every slave to Catholicism to pause and fear the Lord? However, in all honesty, I would be remiss in holding the office of one of Christ’ ministers of the Gospel, if I only exposed the inherent spiritual danger that resides in Catholicism, while ignoring the dangers openly celebrated in evangelicalism. The flagrant flouting of the 2nd Commandment in both religious structures is an awful and cavalier blasphemous act for representing the eternal God in our human nature as a doll in a manager. Christmas was in paganistic Mystery Babylon Religion a heathen festival celebrated on the 25th of December in honor of the birth of the abominable Tammuz, also called Baal the Sun-god, the son of Semiramis, the Babylonian queen of heaven. The Church of Rome in order to attract pagans, Christianized Tammuz’s birth and called it Christmas causing the eternal God to share a birthday with a heathen, and most assuredly invoking His anger. And evangelicalism was all too happy to endorse it as the birth of Christ their Savior. Ironically, birthdays in Holy Scripture were reserved for the rich and affluent and for carrying out death. We are never told to celebrate the birth of Christ, but only His resurrection! However, evangelicalism finds that it fits very nicely with it worship of filthy lucre. Every true believer in Christ, must ask ourselves as bond-slaves to our Mater, how can anything that connects with worship of Baal be pleasing to the Lord? And we still have a long way to go in this series.

CONCLUSION: Have you ever really considered the spiritual danger associated with the fictious character of Santa, that we teach our children? 1st the name: put the “n” at the end and you have Satan! 2nd We tell our children if they don’t go to sleep, Santa won’t come. Where Scripture exhorts: ”To watch, for you know not the hour your Lord does come.” And finally, and most dangerous of all is assigning omniscience to a fictional character, attributes possessed only by the Creator, when we tell our children “he knows when you’ve been bad or good.” And I leave us with one verse to meditate upon: “This says the LORD, learn not the way of the heathen…for the customs of the people are vain…therefore pray not for this people, neither lift up a cry or pray for them: for I will not hear them” I know I am not very popular with my take on Biblical truth, and if I am wrong on my understanding, the Lord will chastise me. It doesn’t in any way minimize the extreme spiritual danger that now resides in modern Christianity. In all humility

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[Part 4 of 7]  The Spiritual Suicide Being Committed by Unsuspecting, Well-meaning Believers in the

Faith, By Their Refusal to Examine Man-made-Religious-Traditions in the Light of Holy Scripture to See It Is really Nothing More Than Ancient Baal Worship Wrapped in Christian Packaging! [PART THREE]

As we continue to examine the great hidden dangers of immersing oneself into Christian-pagan religious institutions. My fervent prayer for you, is Holy Spirit Conviction will lead any who are committing knowingly or unknowingly out of the spiritual fornication

involved in worship of Baal the ancient sun-god! Many may be thinking, by what authority do you judge another’s commitment to their religious institutional preference? My reply, only one source, Holy Scripture and the essence of all “truth” Jesus the Christ! He did not come to teach us truth, about truth, but to declare He is “TRUTH”! My hearts only attempt is to expose apstate teachings! So, let’s continue to expose hidden Baal worship of the sun-god in the Church of Rome!

In [Part Two] we exposed the real truth behind the pagan celebration in Christianity of December 25th as the real birthday of Tammuz son of Semarimis. In Part [Three] we will examine the pagan celebration called Easter, the celebration of the resurrection of Tammuz from the dead. Through the Church of Rome- this actof Baal-worship has been handed down through the centuries. How can anything connected with worship of Baal be pleasing to the Lord? That is the question that must never be ignored by a person of the Christian faith, fore ignorance of the truth is never applicable! Was it not for the willfulness of such worship that the judgments of the Lord repeatedly fell upon the people of Israel in the O.T.? “And when they forgot the LORD their God, He sold them into the hands of their enemies...And they cried unto the Lord, and said, we have sinned, because we have forsaken the LORD and served Baal and Ashtaroth.” !st Samuel 12:9-10 Semaramis instituted a holy day in her Babylonian religion in honor of the supposed “death/resurrection” of her son Tammuz. Semaramis became known in Babylonian worship as the fertility goddest ‘Istar’. She took on many other names in different cultures: Isis, Diana, Astarte, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Venus and Easter. She was even identified with Mary in the Church of Rome, and she was deified and took on the titles “MOTHER OF GOD” and “QUEEN OF HEAVEN”. Her son Tammuz took on many names as well such as Horus, Apollo, Sol, Krishna, Hercules, Mithhra, Cupid and finally Jesus. In Catholicism the worship of the mother/son is known as “Madonna/Child” and “Mary/Jesus”. There are idolsin the Vatacan itself of “Tammuz the Great Hunter” Jesus or Hesus or lesous or “I.H.S.” as seen on the Catholic cross which means Hail Zues or Son of Zues. Sun-bursts (icons of the sungod Baal) are displayed all throughout great cathedrals, the Vatican and St. Peter’s Basilical in Rome as tributes to Baal!

When Tammuz was 40 years of age he was killed by a wild boar while hunting. After Tammuz died, his mother Semaramis began a custom in Babylon called “FORTY DAYS OF WEEPING FOR TAMMUZ” that required the people to fast and pray for Tammuz in the underworld. They exchanged one day of pleasure in this life for each year of Tammuz’s life. The Church of Rome Christianized this pagan Babylonian practice called “LENT.” In the Catholic paganistic system, 40 Days of Lent involves fasting from something you enjoy, begins on what is called “ASH WEDNESDAY where a cross of Tammuz is drawn in ash on the forehead of the faithful.” The Romans called Semaramis, Astarte, but later called her Venus. The Hebrews called her Ashtoroth, her emblem is the lily. She is the goddess of France. The French made a colossus of the image, and it now stands in New York Harbor, facing the “East,”. Here is an interesting note, when the Pilgrims arrived in America and following Catholicism was not allowed in most colonies. This is a lot to wrap your mind around, I know.

This revelation is not to disrespect Mary or other saints, it rests solely on what the Word of God says about the structure of mediation put forth by the religious falsehoods of Catholicism. Hebrews 4.16 is the final word that any true believer needs: “LET US THEREFORE , COME BOLDLY UNTO THE THRONE OF GRACE, THAT WE MAY OBTAIN MERCY, AND FIND GRACE TO HELP IN A TIME OF NEED.” Important to understand, the Scripture does not say, “Let us seek an intermediary to allow us access to the throne.” It says, “Let us approach ourselves with full with full confidence..” This confidence is not born out of arrogance, but based solely on what Christ obtained for us on the cross. It is with full assurance that the pathway is open and does not need the assisst mediation by the priests, saint, or Mary. The first elenentary warning for anyone looking or having an interest in Catholicism, is the reality evident in the religious heiarchy, the Cardinals, are called “Princes of the Church” and your Eminence! What arrogance! Certainly as arrogant as a man calling himself Holy Father, this without a sliver of doubt, is open adulterated blaspheme. And it has now become an attraction for many bored and uneducated young-adults. Who are looking for hope in a man-made damnable heresy.

CONCLUSION: The Bible describes Satan as the Father of all lies, and the master of deception. Here is a simple bu true way to end Part Three: Satan is not afraid of your wisdom, your witicism or your threats, but he is absolutely and unequivicably mastered by the Word of God, “THE TRUTH” Jesus Christ! With all humility!

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[Part 5 of 7]  Is It at All Possible to Reduce the Creator of the Entire Universe to A Cracker, With the Image of the Sun-god, Represented by a Sun-burst On It? [PART FOUR]

(Part Three) was what is called parenthetical or to (explain in greater detail) the Post. Introducing the Church of Rome’s deification of Mary, required more depth in exposing the hidden dangers committed openly and unashamedly, some because ignorance of Biblical truths, others by having such practice ingrained in them from youth by birth into Catholicism. There is no shortage of eccentric foolish traditions practiced within institutional religious structures of Christianity. This no doubt angers the Lord when men turn something so precious and simple into bondage to enslave his fellow man. There is perhaps nothing that degrades Christ in such a humiliating manner than the Church of Rome’s practice of the church’s sacraments! But, before we move on to compare the Roman Church’s sacrament rituals to the light of scripture, there is a vs. that removes all need for a priestly intercessor for the believers in the faith of Christ; “You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.” I Peter 2.9

BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH, the VERSE THAT DESTROYS SACRMENTAL RITUALS of the CHURCH OF ROME! When God placed these words in the Bible, it left no room for negotiations! “For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of ‘yourselves’: it is the ‘gift’ of God: not of works (or jumping through spiritual hoops force upon believers by man) lest any man (princes of the church, the papacy etc.) should boast.” Ephesians 2.8-9 The first thing noted the verses invite no room for debate, but just the opposite, the verses end all debate, should any arise. Every word there is chosen, every word carries an exclusion! And when all the exclusions (man-made rituals, institutional dictates within religious structures) are placed side-by-side, what remains is a structure of salvation radically different from what many religious systems teach.

The 1st thing that stands out is the source of salvation, is ‘grace’. Not merit, not ritual, not accumulated effort, but ‘grace’. Grace, being something that cannot be earned. Whoever earns something, earns a credit to be redeemed later, but God’s grace does not operate on a credit system, it operates wholly on the bases of a gift, and Paul reinforces just that. A gift is not earned, it is given, an act of unmerited favor. A gift is not negotiated (so when someone asked if the deceased made their peace with God before they died, it is an unanswerable question! Why? Peace involves the negotiations of two parties, each having something to offer, so that makes it impossible for someone to make peace with God, because they have nothing of value to offer for the peace they are seeking. On the other hand, “a peace-agreement has been achieved, between God the Father and Jesus his Son”. A gift is not negotiated, it is received, and the way to receive it is ‘faith’ (that is to accept something, without having seen it), not by sacramental rituals, or repeated rote behavior, not by demand presence in a religious institutional structure created by men called a confessional box.

Understanding declaration by THE COUNCIL of TRENT between 1545 and 1563, makes it impossible not to see the blatant heresy. The Roman Catholic Church leaders in that historical council established that [7] sacraments, BAPTISM, CONFIRMATION, EUCHARIST, PENANCE, ANOINTING OF THE SICK, HOLY ORDERS, and MATRIMONY are necessary for salvation. And extremism goes even further in its apostasy; it declares that anyone who suggests the sacraments are not necessary (for salvation) would be under anathema or is cursed. It is a fixed position that is still a major tenant and underpinning of Catholic theological dogma to this very day. But Paul leaves no room to entertain such blasphemous sophistry (or the use of fallacious arguments). “And if by grace, then there is no more works: otherwise, grace is no more grace. But if it be works, then it is no more grace: otherwise, it is no more work. Romans 11.6 G Grace and works do not mix, and this is not a matter of theological opinion, it’s a matter of internal logic of the inspired text. If salvation had any component of human work, grace would cease to be grace and would become a wage earned. And wages are earned and gifts are received. So, what exactly is a sacrament in terms? It is an action! It is something one does or receives from another human being through a right. Going to the confessional is an action. Receiving the Eucharist (the body of Christ literally) is an action. Being baptized in a ceremony action. If salvation doesn’t come from work, and the bible is explicit about this, then none of these actions can be a required condition for salvation. They can be expressions of devotion. They can be Christian practices with spiritual value, but they cannot be a prerequisite for God to save a soul. Because if they are a Christian mandate, salvation ceases to be a gift and becomes the result of an institutional religious performance. And something that needs to be stated clearly, carefully, but without hesitation. Ephesians 2:8-9 is in the Catholic Bible! It is not a Protestant verse, it is not a verse later inserted by the fundamentalist and conservatives, nor is it a creative interpretation, the very vs. are in the same canon that the Catholic Church itself recognizes them as sacred text. More to come in [PART FIVE].

CONCLUSION: This series becomes all the more needful given the recent religious war that has broken out between two loud egotistical leaders; President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, couple that with the sudden surge by young adults embracing Catholicism and you have a growing spirit of antichrist at an unprecedented rate. What ignited this war of words between the two? It was the words of Leo XIV. "Blessed are the peacemakers. But woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.” Leo was referring to Trump’s war with Iran. This is the typical “pot calling the kettle black.” Here you have the leader of the Catholic Church, whose history is brimming with shedding the blood of the saints of Jesus, also was complicit along with Hitler in the extermination of 6,000,000 the Jews. In all humility of sharing all truth.

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[Part 6 of 7]  History Ignored Is History Oft Repeated! Indicated In the Unfolding War of Words Between Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV. [POST FIVE]

From its earliest centuries, Christianity was bound up with politics. Roman Emperor Constantine legalized the religion in 313. He later presided over the Council of Nicaea, an important theological assembly, blurring the line between political rule and spiritual authority. In the fifth century, Pope Gelasius I articulated a rival vision: that the world was governed by two powers, priestly and royal. Ultimately, he argued that spiritual authority outweighed political power, because it promised eternal salvation. Gelasius’ theory did not resolve the tension between the two, but it established a lasting framework for Christian political thought. The relationship between these two powers shifted decisively in the year 800, when Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne, a Frankish king, emperor on Christmas Day. This act was not merely ceremonial. It implied that imperial authority in the West came from the church and that political legitimacy required papal sanction. Most Americans have no idea that former President Clinton was awarded the Catholic Charlemagne Award (is a prize awarded for work done in the service of European unification. With the recent resurrection of interest by young adults in Roman Catholicism, the unfolding war of words between the most powerful secular leader and the most powerful religious leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, the stage is being set for the unveiling of “the great whore that sits upon many waters (people nations, tongues and multitudes) with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication…and she was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup (the golden cup with a sun burst the priest holds up in officiating the eucharist) in her hand full of abominations and the filthiness of her (spiritual) fornication.” Are you awake yet?

In [Part Four] we were examining the (7) sacraments that Catholic dogma declares are necessary for a person to receive salvation, surely a element of her spiritual fornication. We left off stating Ephesians 2:8-9 it is in the same canon the Church of Rome declares as sacred. It is read in Catholic Mass. It appears in patristic commentaries, in the ‘breviaries’ (a book containing the service for each day, to be recited by those in orders in the Roman Church). And yet, when one observes the entire sacramental structure, it’s as if this verse is treated with cavalier deafness. The faith that saves according to Jesus Christ, Paul, is not faith that the sacraments produce. It is faith in God, in the Gospel of His Son, Jesus the Christ, and the finished work on Calvary. In John 6:4 Jesus says in terms that cannot be misconstrued; “Truly, Truly, I say unto you, he that believes in Me, has everlasting life.” Not the one who participates in the sacraments, not one who confesses regularly to another sinner hidden from view, but they who simply by faith believe in the finished work of Calvary. Faith is the channel, grace is the content, and God is the sole giver! In a institutional religion performance is the major practice, because the person must do enough to deserve access to God. In a ‘faith’ that calls for surrender, one comes without any reservation they cannot do enough to receive from God what they could never achieve by their own efforts. In other words, we come with empty hands with nothing to offer, it is then that God acts with more freedom and more power than any religious system has ever managed to promise.

There are other passages that take this series even deeper. Touching not only on the nature of salvation, but on the very heart of what separates a living faith from a religion structured on obligations. And this territory when explored with honesty, reveals something that completely changes the way one reads everything the Bible teaches. “CALL NO ONE FATHER.” This single verse destroys the Catholic Priesthood, Cardinals (i.e. princes of the Roman church) and the Papacy. Of all prohibitions Jesus pronounced during His ministry, few carry such surgical precision as the words recorded in Matthew 23:9: “AND CALL NO MAN FATHER UPON THE EARTH (kind of destroys the Vatican’s exalted title for a man, Holy Father doesn’t it): FOR ONE IS YOUR FATHER, WHICH IS IN HEAVEN .” It’s not a suggestion, it’s not a poetic metaphor, it is a direct instruction embedded in a entire chapter that deals with religious leaders who use titles to elevate themselves above others. And anyone who takes the Bible seriously cannot read the verse without feeling the weight of what it means for a religious institutional structure built on exactly what was strictly forbidden. Roman Catholicism calls every priest “father,” and in English, this needs no translation. Their Supreme leader receives the title “POPE” derived from the Grk. ‘pappas’, which means daddy. The most intimate, most affectionate and the closest word a child uses to call their parent has become the greatest ecclesiastical title in Christendom. And it was precisely this title, this religious institutional spiritual fatherhood that Jesus strictly forbade. This is not a difficult interpretation or one that necessitates theological scholarly. The most common defense one hears is that Jesus was speaking figuratively (departing from the original use of the word), and that if it were literal, it would be impossible to call one’s father, father. But this defense crumbles when one reads the entire chapter without cherry-picking. More on this blaspheme in PART SIX.

CONCLUSION: The Church of Rome’s Dogma is filled with such sophistry and scriptural contradictions that on the surface alone, it becomes laughable! Examples: the literal ascension and virgin birth of Mary…the leather scapula one wears around their neck as a sign Mary has assured, they will not go to hell, the priests ability to absolve and forgive sin, and the celibacy of all leaders of the church how absurd is this practice? The Gospels are clear that Peter had a wife, as seen in the accounts of Christ healing his mother-in-law: “And when Jesus was come into Peter’s house, He saw his wife’s mother lying, and sick of a fever” (Matthew 8:14). This same event is recorded in Mark 1:30 and Luke 4:38, making it an undisputed fact that Peter had been married.[1] However, it is quite possible that his wife had died by the time Jesus called the Twelve. Note, as soon as Peter’s mother-in-law was healed, she arose and began ministering to Jesus and the Apostles. In His humble service.

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[Part 7 of 7]  Assigning Titles Through Man-made Institutional Religious Structures Is to Totally Disregard Warnings from the Lord Jesus Himself.  Is This Then an Act of Blaspheme?  [SERIES CONCLUSION] With all the Hidden Dangers of involving oneself in the man-created Hell Hole of idols, icons and pagan traditions. Why Stay?

As we bring this series on one of the most dangerous religious institutions ever created by men, the Church of Rome, to a close.  The heart behind my exegesis is not to condemn the people caught up in Catholicism some by family traditions, but rather to encourage true believers in the faith of Christ to do as did the Bereans to examine what they were being taught to see for themselves, if it is truth.  And for everyone in bondage to Catholicism it behooves them to examine the traditions of the Church of Rome to see if what you have invested in is truth or counterfeit truth.  This this causes anger, so be it!  I have the assurance I will not stand before my Lord savior Jesus Christ with bloody hands,

                To begin the summation of this series it’s best to let the words of “TRUTH” itself (Jesus Christ) speak.  “Whatsoever they bid you to do… do not you after their works: for they say and do not.  For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers.  But all their works they do to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries (small leather black boxes that contain the Moses’s law), and enlarge the borders of their garments (in the same manner priests, cardinals, bishops and the pope dress in purple and scarlet colors of royalty) and love the uppermost rooms at feast and chief seats…and call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.  But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant (not one to bow down to and kiss his ring).  And whosoever shall exalt himself (calling priest Father, Cardinals your eminence or princes of the church, pope Grk for pappi or pappa, Holy Father,  or one who speaks for Christ on the earth a practice called Ex cathedra) shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.  But woe (anytime woe is assigned it assures anathema) unto you exalted religious leaders and hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against people: for you are unable to go in yourselves, neither suffer you, them that are attempting to enter to go in.  Woe unto you exalted religious leaders and hypocrites!  For you devour the widow’s houses, for a pretense of making long intercessions and prayers, therefore you shall receive greater damnation.  Woe unto you exalted religious leaders and hypocrites for you make clean the outside of the cup and platter, but within they are full of extortions and excess (abundance of wealth and materialism).  You also outwardly appear righteous unto people, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.  And proclaim, if we had been alive in the days of our church fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in shedding the blood of the saints of Jesus.  Wherefore you be witness into yourselves, that you are the children them that killed the saints of Jesus Christ.  You fill up the full measure of your fathers.” Matthew 23

                Matthew 23 is a continuous sequence of warnings against institutional religious hierarchies created by men, who place themselves above the people using titles and positions of authority.  Jesus was not talking about traditional family relationships; He was talking about spiritual leaders who exercise authority over other believers.  The context IS NON-NEGOTIABLE!  Because Holy Scriptures must be read as they are, not twisted to adapt to some man-made religious institutional structure.  But there is something even deeper here than the issues of the titles man makes for himself.  The verses destroy an entire pseudo religious architecture.  Catholicism was built as hierarchical spiritual family, with the pope as supreme father, the bishops as fathers of the dioceses, the priests are as fathers of the parishes.  And all authority ascends from the top down, from father to the children, in a model that Jesus forthright and unambiguously (not open to more than one interpretation) rejected!  In vs. 8 Jesus emphatically declares “But be you not called Rabbi (a Jewish teacher, or any other religious teacher) for one is called your Master, even Christ; and all you are brothers and sisters).”  There is no fatherhood and children in the faith, there is only brotherhood and royal priesthood of believers, we are all equal before God, all with direct access to the only Father that exist, the Heavenly Father.  And there is a testimony that few in the Catholic faith ever truly consider with the seriousness it deserves, that of Peter himself.  If as Catholicism proclaims, that Peter was the first pope. It is worth asking how Peter described himself: “The elders that are among you I exhort, who am also an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed.” 1st Peter 5.1  Note, Peter with them, not over them, not above them.  He placed himself as an equal, as a brother in the faith, as someone who walks alongside, not as a supreme authority that fathers all the rest,

                The unabashed truth, this whole religious structure borders unashamedly on blaspheme, based on the measure of power the Pope takes for himself.  The Bible records in Acts 10:25-26 “And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him.  But Peter took him up, saying STAND UP; I also am a man.”   NOTE: Peter did not accept reverence, extend his hsnd to be kissed, assume the position of supreme spiritual head of the church, but rather just a man among men, a servant and bond-slave in the service of his Master, Jesus.  This is the indisputable image the Bible presents of the man, Peter, and it contrasts dramatically with what centuries of traditions that have been built upon his name.  Jesus our Lord and Savior did not create a hierarchy of spiritual fathers.  Christ inaugurated a family of brothers and sisters, all children of the same Father, all with direct access to God the Father through faith, without the need for intermediaries who place themselves as paternal authority over the conscience of others.  The teachings of Matthew 23 is clear.  There is only one Father who is in heaven.  There is only one teacher who is Christ, through the Holy Spirit.  All others are brothers and sisters.  This is more than a question of title!  It is a question of who occupies the center of every true believer in the faith of Christ. 

CONCLUSION:  When institutionalized religions spiritual fatherhood is examined in the light of Holy Scripture, it finds zero support.  And what remains after the examination is the one essential question of religious hierarchy: why I am I worshipping a man?  If doesn’t align with “TRUTH”, Jesus the Christ!  In all humility of heart Amen,