Some day you’re going to die, this is one fact that we’re all aware of. You can ignore it, even pretend that it won’t happen to you, but we all know that it’s inevitable. Many people aren’t concerned about what happens after death. They feel that they’ll just live their lives the way they want to and after that they cease to exist.
They have been brainwashed by our scientist
and public schools to believe that we all are here by a strange unexplainable
accident. They tried to explain it by presenting some suppositions as to
how it all came about. However, after a short time they started teaching those
suppositions as fact. They claimed that there was a big bang, something
sparked an explosion and all the matter in the universe was one big mass at that
time, so it was blown in all directions. Then over billions of years we evolved
into what we are today. They can’t explain why there are no transitional
fossils or how a mass of slime turned into a living being. They try to explain
it by saying that the slime became microscopic organisms, then into fishes,
frogs, birds, and land animals.
When
I was a child I read a story about a prince that was turned into a frog and had
to stay a frog until a princess kissed him. This may explain why they believe in
evolution. I was told this was a fairy tale and something that didn’t really
happen. When I grew up I remembered that it was only a fairy tale. I guess some
people never grow up! So, today they teach it as fact.
The
real question is, what is truth and do you really want to know it? Ask yourself
these other questions as well: What have I done up to now to find the truth? Am
I willing to listen to other possibilities?
Most
of us trust our parents and they raised us to believe as they believe.
Have
you ever wondered, why am I here? Where did I come from? What is the purpose of
life? Suppose my parents, teachers and scientists aren’t telling me the truth.
How can I know when I have really found the truth?
Only
after gathering as much information as we can and then comparing it all, can we be
sure. If your not willing to look at information in a new light, then you
won’t be able to find the truth.
If
were no better than the animals around us who live for shelter, food and
procreation and then die, then the truth is beyond your reach.
This
article was written to present the facts as we see them. If you have any
information you feel might be helpful in our quest for the truth, please feel
free to inform us.
Before we can start we need a standard to use that we can all agree with, that will be our basis of truth.
There are many sources out there that claim they are that
standard. Let’s review a few of them; first there is the Tanakh (Old
Testament) and the Torah the Jewish books of the law. It was written around
2000BC.
Then we have the Bhagavad-Gita written around 1800 BC.
Next we have the Mahavastu
written around 563BC.
Next
is the New Testament written around AD 30-33.
Next
we have the Koran written around AD 570-632.
Next
we have the Book of Mormon written around AD 1805-1844.
The
final one we will look at is the New World Translation of the Bible. It was
written around AD 1852-1916.
There
are many other books out there that also claim to be the truth. However, these
are the main ones used by the majority of religions today.
Again
I say, that if you feel that I have left out any one of them that you feel is
crucial to this study, please let me know and tell me why it should be included.
Obviously,
we see that each of these books claim that there is a God, or at least a supreme
power beyond which we can reasonably see and hear.
If
you have closed your mind to the fact that there is a God, then none of this
will seem relevant to you. But, please read on so that you might at least
understand why some of us believe that God is real and He does exist. I’m just
trying to present the facts as we know them and am also trying to show why there
are many false teaching being presented in the Churches today.
We
still have to select a standard that we all can agree on! If we look at the
dates they were written, the Torah will prove to be the oldest. Many of the
newer ones claim that they are the latest revelation of God.
Before
we make that selection, we must explain why we believe there is a God and give
some evidence to support that belief.
Again,
it’s quite obvious that we live in a universe composed of many stars, comets
and planets. However, we have no way of knowing where they came from, or do we?
Those of us, who believe there is a God, claim that God created them. Those who
don’t, claim that matter has always been here. They have no way of explaining
how it came into existence. Hence, the teachings of evolution and the big bang
theory.
Not wanting to be accountable to anyone but themselves, they will not even attempt to accept the possibility that there is a God.
The
real pity of that argument is, that by closing their minds they have left out
the possibility that they could be wrong. We see in the teachings of most
religions, that there will be a day when we are held accountable for what we
have done here on earth. If that happens to be true and I believe it is, they
are accountable whether they believe it or not. Of course, we can see that their
version of truth is of their own making and can change as circumstances change.
We, on the other hand, are looking for enough proof of God, so that we can
intelligently select the most probable source of truth.
O.K.,
reading through the books listed above what do we find? We find most believe
there is one God. The most distinguishable feature is that they believe they
have to do something in order to earn their way to a place called heaven.
Now, if there is a God, what would you expect Him to do, to reveal
Himself to us? I think He would try to find a way to let us know why we are
here, and what He would like us to do. The only sources of evidence we have
are the written words of man. Looking at those, we have two that meet those
expectations, they are the Old and New Testaments, or what we call the Bible
today. Which would seem more reasonable, a God who made us and loves us, or one
that made us and forgot about us. Just using human logic, it would seem that if
we were to design and build anything, we would be proud of it. If someone were
to destroy it, it would make us very angry. It’s not likely that we would
forget about it! So, of the books above which one appears to explain the truth
of who God is and why we are here? After careful study I would have to select
the Bible. Here’s why! It tells us of creation, not only that it was done, but
how it was done. It goes on to give us a purpose for being here. It tells
how God made us with free will and how because of that free will, we disobeyed
God, even though He told us of the consequences of disobeying. Gen
3:1 Now the serpent
was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he
said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden?
Gen 3:2
And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the
garden:
Gen 3:3
But of the fruit of the tree which is in
the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye
touch it, lest ye die.
Gen 3:4
And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
Gen 3:5
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be
opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
Gen 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was
good for food, and that it was pleasant
to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one
wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband
with her; and he did eat.
It
then explains how God loved His creation so much, that he provided a way so that we would not have to pay the penalty for that disobedience. This then
begins with one premise, that there is a God and He created everything and He
is, was, and always will be.
We
then find that the New Testament is a fulfilling of the Old Testament. So, in
truth they are both about the same thing, God’s love for man.
Studying
through the Old Testament we find prophecies of things that will happen in the
future. Many have already, literally been fulfilled. Many others tell us of
things yet to come. While other books may explain the way to live our lives for
the betterment of mankind and explain how to treat each other in fairness and
justice for all, they stop short of telling us of a loving God who sacrificed
His Only begotten Son for us.
You
may ask, if that’s true then why are there so many religions that accept the
Bible as truth and yet they disagree with one another?
That, my dear friend, was the purpose of this article! Many read the Bible searching for verses that support what they want to believe. Others read the Bible to find out God’s will for their lives. Others read it to find evidence that will prove them right and others wrong.
If we take the time to read it for what it really says, with no
preconceived ideas, it will reveal it’s hidden truths and will be in total
agreement through out all 66 books. So, what is it teaching us?
One, that God loves us very, very much! John
3:16 For God so loved
the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Eph 2:8
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it
is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Three,
God Himself, in the form of a man came to earth and paid the penalty for that
sin. The Bible calls that Grace (unmerited favor). We’ve done nothing to
deserve it, but God, being fair did not want to hold us accountable for sin that
we were not responsible for. Rom 5:12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered
into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for
that all have sinned:
He is a very forgiving God.
The Bible teaches that if we accept Jesus, God’s Son, (The name He
chose when He came to earth) then we are forgiven and have eternal life. Mat
1:23 Behold, a virgin
shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his
name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
He
forgave us of all sin, past, present and future. Rom 10:13 For whosoever shall call upon the name
of the Lord shall be saved.
Actually some of these manuscripts were available, and rejected by the translators of the KJV. Also, the ones they are using are from Alexandria Egypt and are not proven to be true copies worthy of our trust. However, they cannot copyright the KJV so they can’t charge extra or prevent others from copying and using it. By making a new translation they can copyright it and charge what they want, plus they can collect royalties if anyone wants to use any of it, or convert it to an electronic version. A careful study shows that most of the newer translations have removed whole verses and added them as footnotes. By comparing them side-by-side with the KJV, they in many cases, do not say the same thing. An example is: (John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. KJV) We see that it says “ he gave his only begotten son,”
The
newer English versions say ” his one and only son” which
contradicts the verse in:
(Luke 3:38 Which was the son
of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which
was the son of Adam, which was the
son of God.) Here
we see that God called Adam a Son of God, how can Jesus be His “one and only
Son”? Any true Christian, would not accept any change that would create a known contradiction in the
Bible. We leave you to decide which version you prefer to use, but as for me and
my house we have chosen the KJV. This doesn’t mean that we won’t read other
versions, but if there’s a question as to the correct meaning we use the KJV.
If we’re still in doubt we look it up in the lexicon for that language.
Now, all we have to do is look at what the churches are teaching, to see
who is teaching the truth. We have chosen the Bible as the final standard of
truth.
Here
is a list of the facts your church doesn’t want you to know:
1.
You have to pay a Tithe (10% of your income).
2.
You must attend their church to go to heaven.
3.
There are two ordinances that have to be administered by the Local
Church, Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
4.
There are many gods, and you can become one.
5.
If you have divorced and remarried your not qualified to be a Pastor or
a Deacon.
6.
You must pray through the Virgin Mary.
7.
You must pray to a priest to be forgiven of your sins.
8.
That God turned his back on His Son when He was on the cross.
9.
That Jesus was a good man, but He wasn’t God.
10.
That there is no Heaven or Hell.
11.
That Jesus didn’t
ascend bodily.
You
may hear many more, but in each case, if we accept the Bible as the final
authority we will see that each of these is untrue.
Starting with the first one, fact number one, we will look at some of the places where the
Tithe is mentioned. Gen 14:18 And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was
the priest of the most high God.
Gen 14:19
And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be
Abram of the most high God, possessor of heaven and earth:
Gen 14:20
And blessed be the most high God, which hath delivered thine enemies into thy
hand. And he gave him tithes of all.
Heb 7:1
For this Melchisedec, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met
Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;
Heb 7:2 To
whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King
of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
Heb 7:3
Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of
days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest
continually.
Heb 7:4
Now consider how great this man was, unto
whom even the patriarch Abraham gave the tenth of the spoils.
We
see that Abram gave a tenth of the spoils to Melchisedec , this was a one
time gift as far as we can determine from Scriptures, it doesn’t say this was
demanded of him.
Next we look at Jacob, Gen 28:20 And Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and
will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment
to put on,
Gen 28:21
So that I come again to my father's house in peace; then shall the LORD be my
God:
Gen 28:22
And this stone, which I have set for a
pillar, shall be God's house: and of all that thou shalt give me I will surely
give the tenth unto thee.
Jacob
made a conditional vow to God, so it was not God telling him to give it, but he
chose of his own free will to give it.
So, where does it become a requirement? First, we will look at the
arrangement that God made for His people after he brought them out of Egypt. Exo
24:12 And the LORD
said unto Moses, Come up to me into the mount, and be there: and I will give
thee tables of stone, and a law, and commandments which I have written;
that thou mayest teach them.
Exo 25:1
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Exo 25:2
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man
that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.
So far we have not seen a requirement for the Tithe. But, let’s go on
a little farther. Lev 27:30
And all the tithe of the land, whether of
the seed of the land, or of the fruit of
the tree, is the LORD'S: it
is holy unto the LORD.
Lev 27:32
And concerning the tithe of the herd, or of the flock, even
of whatsoever passeth under the rod, the tenth shall be holy unto the LORD.
Lev 27:34
These are the commandments, which the
LORD commanded Moses for the children of Israel in mount Sinai.
Here
finally, we find that God established a command to give the Tithe.
We
will now take a little time to see what is happening. God is in charge of the
children of Israel, this we call a Theocracy, a Government of the people under
God’s control. Let’s see how this was structured.
Num
18:6 And I, behold, I
have taken your brethren the Levites from among the children of Israel: to you they
are given as a gift for the
LORD, to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num 18:8
And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Behold, I also have given thee the charge of mine
heave offerings of all the hallowed things of the children of Israel; unto thee
have I given them by reason of the anointing, and to thy sons, by an ordinance
for ever.
Num 18:13
And whatsoever is first ripe in the land, which they shall bring unto the LORD,
shall be thine; every one that is clean in thine house shall eat of
it.
Num 18:14
Every thing devoted in Israel shall be thine.
Num 18:15
Every thing that openeth the matrix in all flesh, which they bring unto the
LORD, whether it be of men or beasts,
shall be thine: nevertheless the firstborn of man shalt thou surely redeem, and
the firstling of unclean beasts shalt thou redeem.
Num 18:17
But the firstling of a cow, or the firstling of a sheep, or the firstling of a
goat, thou shalt not redeem; they are
holy: thou shalt sprinkle their blood upon the altar, and shalt burn their fat for
an offering made by fire, for a sweet savour unto the LORD.
Num 18:18
And the flesh of them shall be thine, as the wave breast and as the right
shoulder are thine.
Num 18:19
All the heave offerings of the holy things, which the children of Israel offer
unto the LORD, have I given thee, and thy sons and thy daughters with thee, by a
statute for ever: it is a covenant of
salt for ever before the LORD unto thee and to thy seed with thee.
Num 18:20
And the LORD spake unto Aaron, Thou shalt have no inheritance in their land,
neither shalt thou have any part among them: I am
thy part and thine inheritance among the children of Israel.
Num 18:21
And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an
inheritance, for their service which they serve, even
the service of the tabernacle of the congregation.
Num
18:24 But the tithes
of the children of Israel, which they offer as
an heave 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.
Num
18:25 And the LORD
spake unto Moses, saying,
Num
18:26 Thus speak unto
the Levites, and say unto them, When ye take of the children of Israel the
tithes which I have given you from them for your inheritance, then ye shall
offer up an heave offering of it for the LORD, even
a tenth part of the tithe.
I
have taken the liberty to pull a few verses out of context. However, if you read
through the Chapters I took them from, you will see that what I’m trying to
explain here is true.
What
do we have now? We have a Government set up by God to control, organize and lead
the children of Israel, to bring praise, honor and glory to Himself. A part of
that Law that God gave Moses was to give a Tithe of all that they had to the
Priests and Levites. This then, was the tax imposed by that Government on their
people. Today we pay an income tax to our Government, just as they paid tax in
the form of a Tithe to theirs.
Some might say well, Malachi said they were robbing God, if they
didn’t bring their Tithes and offerings into the storehouse, which I don’t
disagree with. Mal
3:8 Will a man rob
God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes
and offerings.
Mal 3:9 Ye
are cursed with a curse: for ye have
robbed me, even this whole nation.
Mal 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open
you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there
shall not be room enough to
receive it.
The
way their Government was structured, failure to pay their Tithe forced the
Priests and Levites to work outside of the temple. We must remember the Priest
and Levites were not allocated but a small piece of land when God brought them
into the Promised Land. This was not large enough to make a living from.
Now
we will look at the New Testament and see what it says about the tithe. Mat
23:23 Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin,
and have omitted the weightier matters of
the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone.
Luke
describes the same instance: Luk 11:42
But woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye tithe mint and rue and all manner of herbs,
and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought ye to have done, and not
to leave the other undone.
And, again we see that every mention of the Tithe in the New Testament was pertaining to those under the law.
Luk
18:12 I fast twice in
the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.
Heb
7:5 And verily they
that are of the sons of Levi, who receive the office of the priesthood, have a
commandment to take tithes of the people according to the law, that is, of their
brethren, though they come out of the loins of Abraham:
Heb
7:6 But he whose
descent is not counted from them received tithes of Abraham, and blessed him
that had the promises.
Heb
7:7 And without all
contradiction the less is blessed of the better.
Heb
7:8 And here men that
die receive tithes; but there he receiveth them,
of whom it is witnessed that he liveth.
Heb
7:9 And as I may so
say, Levi also, who receiveth tithes, payed tithes in Abraham.
Heb
7:10 For he was yet in
the loins of his father, when Melchisedec met him.
Heb
7:11 If therefore
perfection were by the Levitical priesthood, (for under it the people received
the law,) what further need was there
that another priest should rise after the order of Melchisedec, and not be
called after the order of Aaron?
Many
will say OK, but what about Paul’s admonition in 2 Corinthians?
2Co
8:12 For if there be
first a willing mind, it is accepted
according to that a man hath, and not
according to that he hath not.
2Co
8:13 For I
mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
2Co
8:14 But by an
equality, that now at this time your
abundance may be a supply for their want,
that their abundance also may be a supply
for your want: that there may be equality:
2Co
8:15 As it is written,
He that had gathered much had nothing
over; and he that had gathered little had
no lack.
2Co
9:6 But this I
say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he
which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
2Co
9:7 Every man
according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him
give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a
cheerful giver.
Here
we see, that even in the New Testament it says that it is not of necessity. But,
what was this whole incident about? If you will recall, Paul was making a
collection for the Church at Jerusalem, because they had sold all their
possessions and now they were just about broke. So, the rest of the Churches
were taking up an offering to help them out.
It
would seem that if the Tithe were a requirement, then they wouldn’t have
needed any help. On the day of Pentecost there were added to the Church about
3000 souls. Obviously, they didn’t stay in Jerusalem, but went back to their
own homes spreading the gospel.
You may ask, so then does that mean, we’re not to give to the Church? My answer is an emphatic NO! Luke tells us:
Luk
6:38 Give, and it
shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken
together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For
with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.
Luke
tells us to give, but he doesn’t say where. Let’s see how Jesus handled
that: Luk
18:22 Now when Jesus
heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all
that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have
treasure in heaven: and come, follow me.
give
it to the poor. He didn’t say give it to Judas for My ministry, He said
give
it to the poor.
Does
that mean that we should give to the poor only? NO, that means that
We’re
accountable for what we give and to whom! The Church always has
people
in need, calling and asking for help. They also support missionaries
who are reaching the lost with the Gospel. We must keep in mind what
Paul said in: 2Co 8:12
For if there be first a willing mind, it is
accepted according to that a man hath, and
not according to that he hath not.
2Co 8:13 For
I mean not that other men be eased, and ye
burdened:
2Co 8:14
But by an equality, that now at this time
your abundance may be a supply for their
want, that their abundance also may be a supply
for your want: that there may be equality:
Take
for example a man making $5.25 an hour. He would make $210 a week or
approximately $840 a month. Say he was fortunate enough to rent a place for $600
a month. That would leave him with $240 for utilities, transportation, insurance
and food. Now let’s impose the Tithe on him. That would be 10% right off the
top or $84 a month, thus reducing the $240 above to $156. This man would be
truly burdened! Now let’s take a man that’s making $45.00 an hour. He
makes $1800 a week or approximately $7200 a month. He could also rent a place
for $600 a month, however he chooses to rent a place for three time that amount.
So, he would be paying $1800 a month for a place to stay. That leaves him with
$5400 a month for his utilities, transportation, insurance and food. Now let’s
impose the Tithe on him, just like we did with our first example. That would be
10% right off the top or $720 a month, thus reducing the $5400 above to $4680.
By comparison this man would not be burdened at all and would probably feel like
giving more than 10%. Which, by the way he could afford. Now if we ask the
question, which one in the example above gives the most when they Tithe?
Obviously, the first one because, it causes him to sacrifice and limits him to
how much he has for his necessities. Now applying the principle Paul gave us in:
2Co 8:13 For I mean not
that other men be eased, and ye burdened:
This
would definitely burden the first man.
God
gave each of the tribes an inheritance of land, except for the Priests and
Levites. On that land they could raise sheep and goats and also plant and grow
grain. Let’s take a look at Malachi again and see what the Tithe really was.
Mal 3:8
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed
thee? In tithes and offerings.
Mal 3:9 Ye
are cursed with a curse: for ye have
robbed me, even this whole nation.
Mal 3:10
Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open
you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there
shall not be room enough to
receive it.
Looking
at these verses we can see that God was willing to give them an increase in
grain and animals if they would be faithful to Tithe. Their harvest was
dependent on two things, God and the amount they sowed. For a larger harvest
they just had to sow more.
Today
we are not all involved with agriculture, because of this we cannot sow more for
a larger harvest. Some are on fixed incomes due to the fact that they have been
disabled or they have retired, or for other reasons. For them it is difficult if
not impossible to increase their income. So, we can see the Tithe was based on
an agricultural community, not on our present means of making a living. Still,
God established the principle of reciprocity. Simply stated, it means that if we
sow sparingly we will reap sparingly, just as Paul told us in:
2Co 9:6 But this I
say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he
which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.
God
will always reward us for doing what He has asked us to do.
So,
we see that there is no requirement for you to give a Tithe. You may give, but
that amount is between you and God. As Paul said: 2Co
9:7 Every man
according as he purposeth in his heart, so let him
give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God loveth a
cheerful giver. 2Co
8:12 For if there be first a willing mind, it
is accepted according to that a man hath, and
not according to that he hath not. 2Co
8:13 For I mean not that other men
be eased, and ye burdened:
What
was it the Jesus told us to do? Mat 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
Mat 28:20
Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I
am with you alway, even unto the end of
the world. Amen.
Can you find in Scripture anywhere, where it tells
us to go and build huge building with high overhead costs? Search as I might, I
don’t see anything close to that in the New Testament! Which brings us to fact
number Two. “You must attend their church to go to heaven.”
John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even
to them that believe on his name:
Act 2:21
And it shall come to pass, that whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:13 For
whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Rom 10:9
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead,
thou shalt be saved.
Rom 10:10
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth
confession is made unto salvation.
Just from the few verses above we see that fact
number two is false. Nowhere does it say that
you must even attend a church. Mat 18:20 For where
two
or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.
It
does say we should not forsake our assembling together:
Heb 10:25 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.
This
can be easily accomplished by gathering together in the homes of believers.
Act 2:46
And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking
bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of
heart,
Act 2:47
Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added
to the church daily such as should be saved.
Just
like fact number one many of churches today have changed the truth.
James 4:2
Ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight
and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not.
James 4:3
Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it
upon your lusts.
Before you get
angry about the verses above that I have taken out of context and then applied
them to the modern churches, just consider this. If you were to ask, many of the
churches today would tell you that if they didn’t make people become members
and Tithe, they wouldn’t have enough money to keep their doors open. That
makes sense to me! If the church has to depend on changing the scriptures to
keep the doors open, then it is a social club, not a church established by God.
Mat 16:16
And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ,
the Son of the living God.
Mat 16:17
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh
and blood hath not revealed it unto thee,
but my Father which is in heaven.
Mat 16:18
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon
this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail
against it.
According to the verses above, we can understand that if God wants a church somewhere, nothing or no one can prevent it from being built. What we don’t see is “the Church of North Corinth” or “the Church of South Corinth” or West or East Corinth, or for that matter any of the other churches in the New Testament, using points of the compass to express their location. In fact, what we do see is that each city had only one Church and it was named after that city. So, if we were to do that today we would call them “The Church of Washington D.C.” or “The Church of New York City”, etc.. One city, one church, not a lot of different names and locations in each city!
How can we possibly do that you might ask?
Simple, we meet in different homes and at different times. If one group gets too
large for all of them to fit in one home, they split up, making two new groups
out of the one. Everything done in the large churches today can easily be done
in the homes of the members of the church. This serves two purposes it prevents
interference from the local government and the necessity to form a corporation,
and gets rid of the high maintenance costs of all the large buildings and
grounds. Some will say, “We need to be under the umbrella of the Local
Church”. I don’t have a problem with that; I just don’t see the need for
many umbrellas in one city. As we move on to fact number three: “There are two ordinances
that have to be administered by the Local Church, Baptism and the Lord’s
Supper.” There are some that say this pertains to the local body of believers
and nobody can take it upon their selves to baptize someone. By looking at
scripture we find: Act 8:35 Then
Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him
Jesus.
Act 8:36
And as they went on their way,
they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, here
is water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?
Act 8:37
And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou
mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Act 8:38
And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into
the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.
Act 9:17
And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house; and putting his
hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even
Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me, that
thou mightest receive thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Act 9:18
And immediately there fell from his eyes as it had been scales: and he
received sight forthwith, and arose, and was baptized.
Act 10:30
And Cornelius said, Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at
the ninth hour I prayed in my house, and, behold, a man stood before me in
bright clothing,
Act 10:31
And said, Cornelius, thy prayer is heard, and thine alms are had in
remembrance in the sight of God.
Act 10:32
Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter;
he is lodged in the house of one Simon a
tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.
Act 10:44
While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which
heard the word.
Act 10:45
And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as
came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of
the Holy Ghost.
Act 10:46
For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Then answered
Peter,
Act 10:47
Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which
have received the Holy Ghost as well as we?
Act 10:48
And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then prayed
they him to tarry certain days.
Act 16:14
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of
Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us:
whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken
of Paul.
Act 16:15
And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us,
saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and
abide there. And she constrained us.
Act 16:29
Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell
down before Paul and Silas,
Act 16:30
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
Act 16:31
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved,
and thy house.
Act 16:32
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his
house.
Act 16:33
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their
stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
Act 16:34
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and
rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
Act 18:8
And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with
all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
This is not an exhaustive list, but we can clearly see that upon their confession of faith they were immediately baptized. They didn’t wait until they could take them to the church to be baptized.
Also, the same people say that the Lord’s Supper has to be
administered by the Local Church. Again, we search the scriptures: 1Co
11:24
And when he had given thanks, he brake it,
and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this
do in remembrance of me.
1Co 11:25
After the same manner also he took
the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood:
this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in
remembrance of me.
1Co 11:26
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the
Lord's death till he come.
1Co 11:27
Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this
cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord.
1Co 11:28
But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that
bread, and drink of that cup.
1Co 11:29
For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation
to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
I
don’t see it written anywhere that we must be in the Local Church,
It just states: 1Co
11:26
For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the
Lord's death till he come. And: this
do in remembrance of me. Where
scripture is silent, we should be silent. In this case it doesn’t state any
specific location or time.
Now we move on to fact number four:
“There are many gods, and you can become one.” This one seems to leave a
person with many other questions. Like, if there are many gods, who if any, is
the Supreme God? Or, what was the source of all these gods? They have to have a
beginning. Where did all this matter come from? Where did life originate? Etc..
We can search the scriptures and it says in: Isa
43:10 Ye are
my witnesses, saith the LORD, and my servant whom I have chosen: that ye
may know and believe me, and understand that I am
he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.
Isa 44:6
Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of
hosts; I am the first, and I
am the last; and beside me there
is no God.
Isa
45:5 I am
the LORD, and there is none else, there
is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
Isa 45:6
That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there
is none beside me. I am the
LORD, and there is none else.
Isa 45:18
For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that
formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain,
he formed it to be inhabited: I am
the LORD; and there is none else.
Isa 45:22
Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am
God, and there is none else.
Ecc 3:11
He hath made every thing beautiful
in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man
can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning
to the end.
Isa 41:26
Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may
know? and beforetime, that we may say, He is
righteous? yea, there is none that
sheweth, yea, there is none that
declareth, yea, there is none that
heareth your words.
Isa 46:10
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from
ancient times the
things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure:
Isa 48:5
I have even from the beginning declared it
to thee; before it came to pass I shewed it
thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image,
and my molten image, hath commanded them.
Isa 48:17
Thus saith the LORD, thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel; I am
the LORD thy God which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that
thou shouldest go.
Joh 6:64
But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the
beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.
Eph 3:9
And to make all men see what is
the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning
of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus
Christ:
Eph 3:10
To the intent that now unto the principalities and powers in heavenly places
might be known by the church the manifold wisdom of God,
Eph 3:11
According to the eternal purpose which he purposed in Christ Jesus our
Lord:
Col 1:18
And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the
beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things
he might have the preeminence.
1Jo 3:8
He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil
sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son
of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the
devil.
Isa 48:3
I have declared the former things from the beginning;
and they went forth out of my mouth, and I shewed them; I did them
suddenly, and they came to pass.
It seems quite clear then that the Bible says that
there’s one God and one only! However, one of the attributes of God is that He
is omnipresent. That means that He can be in all places at the same time. Jer
23:23
Am I a God at
hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
Jer 23:24
Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the
LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
This allows him to be manifested as the
Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost all at the same time, in different
places and still be ONE GOD.
He is beyond the time space continuum, as we know it. Therefore, He can
see the beginning and the end, and everything in between, all at the same time. Isa
46:9 Remember the
former things of old: for I am
God, and there is none else; I
am God, and there is
none like me,
Isa 46:10
Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the
things that are not yet done,
saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: He is
also omnipotent this means He knows everything. He knew before he made us, every
thought, every word, and every deed we would do, from the beginning, to the end
of our lives. Act 15:18
Known unto God are all his works from the beginning
of the world. 2Th 2:13
But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for you, brethren beloved of
the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the
truth: He has a purpose for each of us.
Eph 1:5
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus
Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
Eph 1:11
In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will:
Even
though we have free will to choose He knows what that choice will be. This
allows us to have free will and still God has complete sovereignty.
Calvinists
will try to tell you that God chose some to go to heaven and the remainder to go
to hell! By going over the information above, we can see that some will reject
Christ and be condemned to hell, but it is of their own choosing. 2Pe
3:9 The Lord is not
slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering
to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come
to repentance.