From the ministry archive
Healing and Scripture
There is an epidemic among God's people today that is literally destroying lives in so many ways, and it's under the guise of a key scripture in the new testament writings. The epidemic is the gung-ho religious mindset known as "going to church." Ohhhhh my! I'm sure to have ruffled some feathers on that one. Well, expect no less my friend, that is if you REALLY want to see a healing and restoring of the body of Christ before the Lord's second coming. Anyway, if you're bold enough to still be with me, here is that key scripture: "And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching" (Heb. 10:24,25). Okay now, lets' look at this passage just a little closer, and we'll find out what I'm trying to say here. But first let me just briefly say that the word "church" was inserted into the scriptures by the Catholic religion in the early centuries, and was NOT in the original Greek text of the new testament writings. Here's the problem with that, and this is where the whole dilemma starts: Traditionally the word "church" supposedly comes from the Greek word "ekklesia," but the truth is that it in fact DOES NOT! "Ekklesia" actually refers to "a gathering, an assembly, a congregation, or a calling out [of people to an assembly]." So the rightful way to refer to God's people or a group of God's people, would be as William Tyndale translated it; "a congregation" [William Tyndale was killed by the Catholic "Church" in large part for doing just that]. This way we keep the understanding that God's people are PEOPLE who are called out from this world's ways, to serve God in HIS way. The word "church" on the other hand comes from the Greek word "kuriakon," which means "belonging to a lord." The word does not appear in the Greek text of the NT writings, and actually was mostly used in reference to a building of religious worship, whether of God or of supposed gods. The problem here is that the connotation of this misrepresentation very early on promoted a carnal minded view of the souls that Jesus has redeemed, by causing the mindset of "church" to be a building; which in its actual usage is mostly true. But it is not even PARTLY true that God's called out people are a physical building, and the result of this erroneous use of language has been confusion, and as I already stated, carnal mindedness. And that goes straight to the malady of the "going to church" mindset that is so prevalent today. That whole phraseology is concurrent with the idea of going to a certain building where others are going to "worship the Lord." And "going to church" has literally become a replacement for "going to God" with the heart and soul. I've heard more times than I can count, someone say that someone who is astray needed to "get back in church," forgetting that what they really need to do is get them "back with God;" and never realizing that "the church" is what caused them to go astray to begin with. With that in mind I'll get back to the main course here about this issue, and the real context of the scripture about "not forsaking the assembling together of ourselves." When the apostle Paul wrote those things to the Hebrews, you might note that he was talking about the "ourselves" of himself and those who were following after the Spirit of God and in harmony with the doctrine of truth that he taught. So the point is that NOBODY should forsake a gathering of THOSE kinds of folks who are following after GOD'S Spirit and the doctrine that PAUL actually taught! And therein is the malady that we face today: There is NO "church" as it were, that is DOING THAT!! Paul's teaching to the Gentiles, which was and is the fulfillment of the law, is MORE LOST today than the lost and forgotten book of the law was when it was found in some dusty storage room in the temple of God in the days of Josiah! (II Kin. 22:8). Nonetheless, history as it always has, has repeated itself; and in fact that is a large part of the overwhelming significance of studying the old testament. You may ask, "So what is so lost about Paul's teachings?" Just "go to church" one time and you will see, that is if you really know the Bible. But "churches" don't really teach the Bible diligently, just their denomination or non-denomination's particular slant on it. But what the heck, let's just look at a few of the poisons of modern day Christianity: "SALVATION AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR FAITH [GETTING SAVED]" - not in the Bible; "ACCEPTING THE LORD AS YOUR PERSONAL SAVIOR" - ditto [meaning not there either]; "THE BIBLE IS THE WORD OF GOD" - NOT what the BIBLE teaches; WATER BAPTISM - of the law and long defunct; "COMMUNION" - Wow! this one was never there, but the Passover was, and it was of the law, so defunct; DRESS CODES & HAIR CODES - Are you serious? Use good sense, that should do; oh yeah, and it will eliminate the harsh judgmental spirits that accompany these codes; and last but not least, "GOING TO CHURCH" - not in the Bible. I wasn't thinking about this until I finished this short list, but in going back over them I realized that I have listed SEVEN main poisons that are killing the spirits of God's people today. Interesting.
Now I am not going to write a book here today on the particulars of the details of these seven major errors which rule over God's people, but you can find articles detailing these things on our other online sites, to which I will leave links separate from this article on the same page. So seeing that the doctrine and Spirit of what the apostle Paul taught is lost to the body of Christ, there really is nothing left that fits his description of "forsaking not the assembling together of ourselves." Don't get me wrong, I know there are plenty of fine folks who are baptized with the holy Ghost, who are doing their level best to follow God's Spirit in their lives, as well as in their worship. Many have been the case of a long, long time, and many have gone on to paradise, having completed their journey with a pure heart (Mat. 5:8; I Pet. 1:22; I Jn. 3:2,3). But sadly, far more have been detoured from that path of true holiness by the carnally promoted doctrines, traditions, and overall condition of the enslaved [by Christianity] body of Christ, and "churches" in particular. The end result for these is not as good I'm afraid, and the way has been made much harder even for those who DO persevere faithfully. And the day is swiftly approaching when there will be NOBODY who stays in the spiritual environment of today's Christianity, that will be able to be saved; and that is why God is fervently calling his people out of EVERYTHING that is known as Christianity, or "Babylon" [i. e. confusion] (Rev. 18:4). You think this message is something new, and maybe I've just lost my mind in my "religious" zeal? Well, try some of these scriptures on for size then: "I have NOT SAT with vain persons, neither will I go in with dissemblers. I have hated the congregation of evil doers; and WILL NOT sit with the wicked" (Psm. 26:4,5). "I SAT NOT in the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced; I sat alone because of thy hand: for thou hast filled me with indignation. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? [Jeremiah longed to be a part of God's people, but watch how God immediately answered this statement]: "Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me... let them return unto thee; but RETURN NOT THOU UNTO THEM" (Jer. 15:17-19). But what about the NEW testament, you might ask? "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such TURN AWAY" (II Tim. 3:5). "Perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain is godliness: from such WITHDRAW THYSELF" (I Tim. 6:5). "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to THE DOCTRINE which ye have learned [from God's Spirit and Paul]; and AVOID THEM" (Rom. 16:17). Now all of these things were written by men of God who knew God in their day, and they wrote these things about GOD'S PEOPLE who did NOT know God. You think something has changed? Ha ha ha. Not in six thousand years my friend. Understand that I'm not saying that God's people in general are wicked, but the CHRISTIAN RELIGION that has them entrapped is most assuredly both wicked, and fully erroneous. And it is hurting everyone greatly. Those with faithful hearts feel it but can't quite put a finger on what is wrong. Well, the good news is that EVERYTHING is wrong EXCEPT for the blessed Spirit of truth that those who are really God's people have received (I Cor. 12:13; Jn. 16:13). The only remedy is to forsake the religious environment that is leading backward from the leading of the holy Ghost. Gods' people need to forget "going to church," and start remembering "GOING TO GOD!!" Jesus said where "two or three are gathered in [his] name, there [he] is in the midst of them" (Mat. 18:20). And I can tell you that two or three, or even ONE, who are truly gathered "in his name," are better than two or three hundred where confusion, error, and spiritual death reigns (I Sam. 14:6; Psm. 37:16; Prov. 15:16,17; Prov. 16:8; Prov. 17:1). It is certain that God will have a people in the end time that will face down the enemy with great boldness, "loving not their lives unto the death" (Rev. 12:11). It is just as certain that these will not be of ANY Christian denomination, affiliation, or non-denomination of any kind. They will be OF the Lord Jesus Christ, and of him ALONE! "Now the Lord is THAT SPIRIT: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty" (II Cor. 3:17). So be liberated from the "going to church" mentality by God's mighty Spirit my friend, and GO TO GOD with all your heart until you actually hear FROM HIM; and be of those "which follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth" (Rev. 14:4). And do not be of the number of those whom Jesus addressed with the following: "How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?" (Jn. 5:44). And, "Nevertheless among the chief rulers also many believed on him; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue" (Jn. 12:42). And finally, "He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what THE SPIRIT saith unto the [congregations]" (Rev. 2:7). Amen and amen.
