Though
hand join in hand
Proverbs
11:21;16:5
“Know
ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take
the
members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God
forbid.
What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one
body?
for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. But he that is joined
unto the Lord is one spirit.” 1 Corinthians 6:15-17.
Joining
ourselves to something is very serious business. God has declared
it so. To make ourselves “members” of something is to partake in
the rewards or punishments of that thing. Consider that Jesus
prophesied
to the Pharisees that since they were “gathered together against the
Lord,
and against his Christ” (Acts 4:26), that they would CORPORATELY be
held
responsible for every murder of all of God’s prophets and wise
men!
“Wherefore,
behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some
of
them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in
your
synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you
may
come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of
righteous
Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between
the temple and the altar.” Matthew 23:34-3.
Notice
that Jesus said that because they had joined together in league against
Him, ALL the righteous blood ever shed upon the earth (from Abel to
Zacharias
– A to Z) would come upon them. They would specifically be
punished,
as co-workers and co-rebels, along with ALL of those who had ever come
against God or His true servants.
This
concept really aggravates anyone with an Arminian mindset. They
chafe
at the fact that God would hold people responsible for acts in which
they
had not actively participated. Note that these Pharisees were
very
Religious men, joined together with the Scribes and other religious
sects
as the “members” of institutional Judaism of the day. They were
the
CHURCH on the earth at the time of Christ. They insisted (verse
30)
that had they been alive in the days of their fathers, they “would not
have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets”. But
in doing so, they were confessing that they were their father’s sons.
Religious
men HATE God’s justice. They hate Righteous judgment. So
they,
through their teachings and actions, accuse God of unrighteousness
through
the denial of His sovereignty. They idolize and worship their
supposed
“free will”, while denying that they are the creations of an
all-powerful
Sovereign God, and as such are banned from bringing a railing
accusation
against that Creator, by squealing “why have you made me such”.
And
in doing so, they prove to us they are the children of their
fathers.
They say that a God who would hold men guilty of crimes committed
before
they were born must be a sadistic and capricious God - denying, in
fact,
that the sins of Adam have come upon every child of Adam. Once
again,
they join themselves in religious league as members of the
institutional
CHURCH on the earth.
Paul
told the Corinthians plainly that they were either:
a)
The members of Jesus Christ, or
b)
The members of a Harlot.
Before
you go screaming that Paul was teaching against sexual immorality, let
us find out what the Bible labels as Harlotry.
In the
Book of Revelation, John tells us that that there has appeared on this
earth a woman named MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT. This woman sits
on
seven mountains (verse 9), and also sits upon many waters (verse
1).
She has committed fornication with the Kings of the earth (verse 2),
and
the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her
fornication (verse 2).
Note
that it was the universal opinion of the Reformers, and of anyone else
who honestly examines these scriptures, that the city that sits on
seven
hills is ROME, and the woman who sits there is the CATHOLIC
CHURCH.
Also note that the Bible calls this woman the MOTHER OF HARLOTS (verse
5), indicating that her offspring are HARLOTS.
Many
will pause here and begin to argue that their particular denomination
was
never a part of the Catholic Church, and so technically can not be
termed
her offspring. I know that the Baptists and the Seventh Day
Adventists
make this claim. But notice what Jesus said to the
Pharisees,
your denial of your parent does not necessarily mean that you are not
her
offspring. We know them by their fruit. Since almost 100%
of
organized Christianity has derived its structure and organization from
the Catholic Church, we may safely say that a Harlot can be discerned
by
comparison with her mother. The Protestant churches today have
organized
themselves along a hierarchical structure that begins at the top with
Pastors
(popes, cardinals, etc.) and flow downwards towards the laity.
The
doctrine of the Nicolaitanes can be clearly seen in the structure of
organized
Protestantism today.
NICO
= conqueror of, or tyranny over
LAITANE
= the laity
You might
also note that Jesus declares that he HATES Nicolaitanism.
Nicolaitanism
is treated by Christ in the same manner as Phariseeism.
So let
us get our bearings.
The Bible
uses the term Harlot almost universally to mean spiritual
harlotry.
Note that in the early proverbs (1-8), there is a constant contrasting
of two different types of woman. Seeking one woman (wisdom and
understanding)
is encouraged, while seeking the other woman (a harlot) is
discouraged. Specifically in Proverbs chapter 7, a parable is
unfolded to describe
EXACTLY
who is a harlot.
In Mark
13:34 Jesus declares that HE is a man taking a far journey.
He tells us that He left His house, and that He will return on a day
appointed.
In Proverbs
chapter 7, a young man, devoid of understanding is going his way to
visit
a harlot. Note that this is happening “in the twilight, in the
evening,
in the black and dark night”. The Hebrew that is translated “in
the
evening”, along with the other words means: IN THE EVENING OF
DAYS.
This is a prophecy of the end times.
Also
note that a woman comes to meet him. She has been lying in
wait.
She has prepared a speech that will attract him to her. And
PLEASE
notice that there is a Harlot ON EVERY STREET CORNER! (verse 12)
She tells
the ignorant young man to come into her. She says, “let us take
our
fill of loves until the morning: let us solace ourselves with
loves. For
the Goodman is not at home, he is gone on a long journey: He hath taken
a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.”
Oh please,
dear reader, listen to me. It is Jesus that has gone on a long
journey!
It is Jesus that will return on the day appointed! Please take
care
to understand that in the evening of days, right before He returns,
there
will be a Harlot on every street corner enticing those who have no
understanding
to come in. She only desires that the ignorant man will stay
until
morning. She is a Harlot.
Paul
clearly says that we are NOT to join ourselves to a Harlot. We
become
a partaker in the deeds of anything we join ourselves to. Church
membership is not mentioned ONE TIME in all of scripture. We are
not authorized to “join” a church, a denomination, or a cult. We
are not to lend ourselves to be “members” of a Harlot!
Let’s
examine what the Bible says about “membership”.
First,
we see that we (all those who are truly born-again, redeemed) are to be
“members” of Christ. In Romans, Paul says that we are servants to
whomever we yield our “members”. Paul consistently compares us to
the BODY, by calling us the Body of Christ. As a Body, we are not
to yield our members to sin and unrighteousness, just as the Body of
Christ
should not yield its “members” to harlotry. We are either
“members”
of the Body of Christ, or we are “members” of another entity (the
Church)
which is foreign to Christ and separated from Him. We are told
that
“we, being many, are one body, and all members one of another. (Chapter
12, verse 5)”
I specifically
adjure you to read what Paul says to us in 1 Corinthians the 12th
chapter. He says that we (those who are truly in Christ), like a
Body, are one. We are not all the same body parts, but we are all
one body. God Himself has set every one of us in the Body as it has
pleased
Him (verse 18), while specifically ordering us not to join our
“members”
to anything other than Him. Now, there are many members (verse
20),
but ONE true Body. And we should ALWAYS realize that there should
never be a SCHISM (separation, split, delineation or gap) in the Body
(verse
25).
Just
so we don’t miss it, Paul lays it down clearly in verse 27, “Now ye are
the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
So don’t
tell me that when this same writer (PAUL) says in this same book (1st
Corinthians) that we are not to join our MEMBERS to a Harlot, that he
is
not specifically banning membership in anything but the Body of
Christ.
Note that he says in 1 Cor 6:15-17 that you are EITHER a member of
Christ,
or you are the member of a Harlot.
So we
are left with the feeble argument that official Church membership
denotes
membership in the Body of Christ. That is an argument that is
almost
too stupid to answer, but we will address it.
Just
as membership in a particular sect at the time of Christ did not
signify
relationship with God, but on the contrary it emphasized the separation
FROM God – we can say that membership in the Pharisaical denominations
and churches of today is not a sign of Body membership, but rather
denotes
the opposite. I say this not to condemn those true believers who
have yet to come out of institutional religion, but to exhort them to
do
so immediately. Christ did not choose to save sect members IN
their
particular sects; rather he called them OUT from them. Paul is
not
notable to us because he remained a Pharisee, rather we read and heed
him
because he was brave enough to come OUT from that most heinous of sects.
Since
“church” membership is not only NOT authorized in scripture, but it is
specifically banned – we can see that the membership “letter” does not
tend towards the spiritual freedom preached by Christ and the apostles,
but tends towards bondage to sectarian interests and Nicolaitanism in
all
its forms. Paul asks us then to separate ourselves from that
unrighteousness,
“putting away lying, speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we
are
members ONE of ANOTHER (Ephesians 4:25)”. We cannot continue to
abide
sectarian religion masquerading as Christianity, because in doing so we
hate our own flesh, and we deny that “we are members of His body, of
his
flesh, and of his bones. (Ephesians 5:30).”
Ignorant
men will demand church membership, particularly so that church
discipline
can be administered. But in declaring that discipline can only be
administered to members who have joined themselves to a Harlot – the
ignorant
leader has declared that he is the master of a Harlot, a pimp in
spiritual
terms.
If a
formal letter of “membership” is required in order for the Body to
correct
itself, where is the spiritual parallel in our own bodies? The
apostles
used the Body as a shadow of the Body of Christ specifically so that we
would draw conclusions in relation to our own bodies. Does my
foot
need a letter in order to be joined to my leg? Does my head
require
a signed letter from my hand in order to be fed?
Any group
who requires Church membership in order that they might “legally”
engage
in Church discipline is clearly too ignorant and immature to be
disciplining
anyone. The membership letter in this way has become a tool of
bondage
and abuse and NOT a tool of fellowship in the election mystery.
When
we become “members” of the True Body of Jesus Christ, we break all
allegiances
with the traditions and organizations of men. Our membership is a
spiritual mystery in which the unredeemed and unregenerate cannot
partake.
Note that even the most strident supporters of “Church membership” will
admit that they have “members” who are not truly Christians. In
this
admission, they must also admit that they are co-members with
unrighteousness,
and partakers of all that is unholy. They have joined themselves
in league with the children of darkness, and as Christ prophesied, they
will be held responsible for all the works of darkness.
Repentance
is a work of God, and it is a gift provided by a Sovereign God to His
elect. I
pray that those who have participated in this evil will understand that
it is the goodness of God that leads us to real repentance. Thank
Him for His goodness, and seek His face for future guidance.
For those
who harden their hearts against the Truth and who seek to rationalize
unholy
behavior, I leave you with the direct exhortation of Jesus Christ
regarding
Nicolaitanism: “Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will
fight against them with the sword of my mouth.”
“Come
out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that
ye
receive not of her plagues.”
.Michael
Bunker
(used
by permission)
