A
bit long this one. But pleaze bear with me as it is very
important to get the gist of, in conjunction with taking a serious look
at "discerning the body".
What does God say in regards to unholy matrimony (who you align
yourself with as a Christian)? In the words of an apostle:
"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."
The
Lord has got some very serious words against spiritually joining
ourselves with something, or someone, outside his will.
Spiritually, it is the same as joining together as bedfellows with
infidels. But
worse, it is to do with being unfaithful to a jealous God who will not
tolerate His people having other lovers. In other words, it is a
substitute for our
relationship with Jesus as our one and only (first) love. Let's
just call it spiritual harlotry
in a nutshell, with no clear distinction between apparent Bible
believers, apostates and reprobates. Psalms 106:28 says, in
regards to God's unfaithful
people in
the OT, "They joined themselves also unto Baalpeor (a false god), and ate the
sacrifices of the dead."
Baal (in all forms) represents idolatry, and anything
joined to anything to do with false worship or being unfaithful to God's word is the same as eating (or
participating) at that table. And there is only one table of the
Lord. The other (according to Paul) is the table of devils (the table of "the sacrifices of the dead" - and religion is dead my friend). Here it is (1 Cor. 10:21):
"Ye
cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be
partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of devils."
Very clear really ... there is 'the cup of the Lord' (the Lord's cup) and 'the table of the Lord' (the Lord's table) as well as there also
being 'the cup of devils' (the devils cup) and 'the table of devils' (the devils table) at the same time and in
the same context. How about that?
Isn't
it rather uncanny (contradictory is probably a more accurate word)
how nominalists can teach the Lord's cup or the Lord's table is
literal,
like a fancy piece of church furniture or ceremonial ornamentation,
with literal
emblems of bread and wine, and cup and plate (whether literal booze or juice - whatever
makes you wheels smoke), but refuse to see the table or cup of devils
as literal. This is because nominalists always rely on palpable
experiences or tangible objects to justify their theology, simply coz
this does not take faith or
the inconvenience of following an invisible God. However, at the
same time, they see the
cup of devils or table of devils in the
metaphoric sense; when in actual fact, as you have just seen with your
own eyes from the word of God, Paul presents both cups and both
tables
in the
same context when you examine the above verse. This way, there is
the literal act of immorality of someone espoused or married jumping
into bed with someone else, just a there is spiritually immorality of
the Lord's espoused virgin (His church) being unfaithful to another.
You
simply can't have one without the other. Unless
you are joined to Christendom that iz! This way you can be the
bride of Christ and the religious invention of man at the same
time. How convenient and accommodating! Defiantly not
rightly dividing the word of truth! However, according
to scripture, this non discerning and indiscreet woman (supposed to be
the bride representing the church) is not a chaste virgin but a
slut. John
in the book of Revelations calls her (note: in capitals) "MYSTERY (one word - not Mystery Babylon),
BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND ABOMINATIONS OF THE
EARTH (note: the Mother of harlots)." And goes onto say, "And I saw the woman drunken with the
blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus".
and
the inhabitants of earth have been made drunk with the wine of her
fornication".Therefore, this
woman is not the faithful bride being the salt and light of the earth, but an
immoral woman using religion to entice and corrupt everyone (from the political/secular spectrum, to the sacred), under the
guise of appearing as God's very representative on earth. Paul
says being aligned to her is being "unequally yoked together with
unbelievers" and says "what agreement hath the temple of God with
idols?" He also says to "come out from among them, and be ye
separate". Whereas John endorses the same call in Revelations by
saying "Come out of her, my people". We've got no excuse really!
Therefore, Paul is not
just teaching against sexual immorality in Corinthians, is he? No; but against spiritual immorality as well. Take note pleaze ... to actually make ourselves 'members' of something is just the same as
partaking or eating the rewards or punishments of that particular
thing according to scripture:
"Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues."
"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."
Notice
that this verse is actually saying all they that joined together
in league against God's servants throughout time, were actually all
guilty of shedding all the righteous blood upon the earth from Abel to
Zacharias (the A's to the Z's, and everything in-between), which in turn would come upon them, where they would specifically be
punished,
as co-workers and co-rebels together.
Isn't
it amazing that the only time 'do good' religionists use this
scriptural principle is when they take it outta context to condemn
anyone outside of their thinking, and use guilt as a method in making them apologize and renounce
their Christian heritage as it is
linked to all the atrocities committed over the last 2,000 years by the
"official impostor church" acting as God's representative on
earth? Isn't it equally amazing how they turn it around to
whitewash their guilt ridden history in order to make the innocent
recant or
feel bad about their faith in itz true pure sense, which has only
served as a vessel in conveying the gospel? They get
annoyed
at the fact that God would hold people responsible for acts in which
they
had not actively participated in themselves but are spiritually and
traditionally aligned at the same time, with those that are guilty of
implicating it. This is the bond woman (who has adulterated
herself) always persecuting the free woman in scripture. Or, in other
words ... the apostated religionists of the flesh, unified together, in one common cause, coming down on
true believers of the Spirit.
Therefore,
why be aligned with them? Why not do as the word says (instead of
justifying yourself as "faithful" and "caring") and come out and be
separate? Who do you care more for ... the Lord or those
that are opposed to Him, hiding behind the pretence of "being
Christian" and compromising the faith for the sake of avoiding
persecution and gaining popularity? Did not Jesus say that you
can do mighty things in
his name (people even pillage, plunder and kill in his name) but it
means nothing if you don't know him (Matt. 7:22)? Anyone can use
Jesus name from a cheap cuss
word, to a superstitious formulae, or acting as a guise for another agenda. However, they are only proving who they
are aligned with ... those going down with joined hands as co-rebels together, as opposed to those ascending with Jesus into glory.
The
Pharisees joined together with the Scribes and other religious
sects
as the members of institutional Judaism of their day. They were
indeed "the church" on the earth at the time of Jesus of
Nazareth. From Matt. 23:34-35 we can see by their
insistence had they been alive in the days of their fathers they
would not have gone along with the atrocities which were perpetrated
against God's prophets and servants. However, by doing so, they
were actually making admittance to being sons to these fathers who were
guilty of the bloodshed. Furthermore, by doing so, and carrying out
the same methods of their fathers, they were deemed as equally as guilty by Jesus. In
other words, they were aligned and co-workers the same, with the same conspiracy against God
Himself. As the Psalmist put it in regards to a similar unrighteous confederacy:
"Why
do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The
kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel
together, against the LORD, and against his anointed (His coming Son/Messiah)". Therefore,
like Elijah in the OT declaring to the apostates "how long can ye stand between two opinions", Paul
in the NT is telling the Corinthians plainly that they were either one
or the other. Thatz ...
The
Protestant churches today have
organized
themselves along a hierarchical structure similar to itz Mother, the
Roman Catholic system, which begins at the top from popes, cardinals,
and bishops; to senior pastors, pastors, and ministers etc., where itz teachings filter
downwards towards the laity.
This Nicolaitan concept (ecclesiastical "specialists" lording it over the common people) can be
clearly seen in the structure of all Christendom today.
Oh, and just how was all this going to be achieved? Simply by
flooding the religious supermarket with a furry of different watered down bibles each "proving" to be a little bit more "relevant" and "up to date" than the
other, coz none can be guaranteed (so the notion goes), except that it had the approval and the supposition of
the system's professionals. This way it would be in everyone's
interest to belong to an "official" church, because outside, without
the camp, there would be no security, assurance or guarantee that you
would not end up in a weird cult or be out in the cold, and miss out on the
blessing. A "fantastic", "beautiful" and clever way of making you
into a spiritual flirt or aligning yourself with a harlot, let alone becoming a clone of your "Christian" guru.
Moreover, while we are still looking at Proverbs Seven, here is a prophecy about the end times : A young man, devoid of understanding is going his way to
visit
a harlot. Note this is happening, "In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night."
Also
note, a woman who has been lying in
wait,
comes to greet him. She has also got her speech off pat to appeal
more pleasing and
charming.
Furthermore, please take note
there is a harlot on every street corner selling her indulgences and
pleasures (verse 12). This speaks
of the temptations Satan has
set-up for any journeyman (pilgrim) who happens to be passing along the
way. A bit like all the attractive churches advertising weekly
prior to Sunday while competing with each other for their stake in the
religious market. Remember, prostitution is a a form of business,
and 'church growth' has got nothing to do with maturity but how big and
fat the congregation expands numerically, in order to bring in more dollars
through the tithes and offerings. The 'numbers game', (spiritual)
prostitution, and money all go together here. Selling the truth in
order to be acceptable and appear as an attractive investment for and
by society.
Getting
back to this harlot; she tells
the ignorant simpleton to come into her, and 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 a long journey:
He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day
appointed." In other words, and in the meantime, until Jesus
comes back," let us rise up and play, and celebrate our new found
freedom by indulging in all the attractions made available!" I am
reminding you of the five foolish virgins here.
Yes, dear reader, it is Jesus that has gone on this long
journey!
It is him that will return on the day appointed! Also, please
take
care
to understand that in the evening of days, right before he returns,
there
will be a harlot on every street corner (looking attractive, trendy,
relevant, and marketable of course) enticing those who have no
understanding
or discernment to avoid not going in. She only desires that the
ignorant man will stay
until
morning and doesn't care about him missing out on the Goodman returning.
This
is also the reason Paul
clearly tells us not to join ourselves to a harlot. Coz we
become partakers in the deeds of anything we join ourselves to.
Church
membership is NEVER mentioned in scripture. Believers are NEVER
authorized to join themselves to anything ... a church, a fraternity, a
denomination, a sect, or a cult; but the Lord. By doing so one is joining
themselves to a harlot and becoming one with her. This is the
reason Paul exalts young Christians to remain or "abide in the same
calling wherein he was called", upon conversion.
Letz
examine what the Bible says about membership:
When
we become members of the Body of Christ, we are automatically breaking
all
allegiances
with the traditions and organizations of men. Our membership is a
spiritual union the unregenerate cannot be partakers of.
Therefore, when religionists promote and support "church membership"
they are actually admitting there are other members of the "church" who
are not really Christians in the true 'born again' biblical
sense. With this
admission, they are actually admitting that they are aligned with other
co-members
of
unrighteousness and religious people who need saving, while
fellowshipping with darkness and worldly compromise. In other words, their words and
doctrine are an indictment against themselves as true Bible
believers. Because they have joined themselves
in league with unbelievers masquerading as believers (fakes), and as the Lord
prophesied, they
will be held responsible for all the works committed by the religious
machinery back throughout history, as earlier mentioned.
Look at Romans 6:13:
"Neither
yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but
yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and
your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."
In the next verse, Paul says we are servants to whomever we yield our members to. Throughout the NT Paul consistently compares us to the body, by calling us the body of Christ. Moreover, with our now sanctified body, we are not to yield our members to sin and unrighteousness, just as the body of Christ should not yield itz members to whoredom. We are either members of the Body of Christ or we are members of another functioning body which is foreign to Christ and separated from him. This body is a man initiated body, substitutionary called "the church", replacing Christ's body on earth. Therefore, we are either members of each other in Christ through rebirth or we are members of a foreign entity ... the counterfeit church run by man for man, full of unregenerate people who claim to be Christian.
Therefore,
the feeble argument that official 'church membership'
denotes
membership in the Body of Christ is a lie. You are the church, a
member of Christ, through spiritual rebirth and nothing else.
Read Galatians 5:20 and see what the fruit of the flesh is. Words
like variance, emulations, seditions, and heresies etc. are found
here. Basically schisms, fraternities, sects, cults, cliques,
clubs, and parties are of man. Who
is your brother and sister in Christ? Those who are in Christ
(baptized into His one body) and not a manmade substitute run by religious professionals or human proxies.