SUBJECT - Gangs. Cliques, Cults and Denominations. They Are All the Same!!![2]
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Before I begin this message, let me revisit the rest of the thought the apostle Paul was relaying to the Church which was in Corinth,
1Cor 1:11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.
1Cor 1:12 Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ.
1Cor 1:13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?
What the apostle is addressing here, is something that everyone in the body of Christ, the Church, needs to get a hold of, and take it seriously, because it could very well determine whether you are actually saved, and on your way to eternal life, or being deceived that you are.
Last month, when I started this message, I hadn't planned on a continuance of it. But, I was led by the Lord, to continue in it because I hadn't touched on some things that are important. Especially to a certain group of people that have separated themselves in to another faction of the Church.
As I mentioned before, the Church [the Body of Christ], is supposed to be One unit, functioning as a single entity, for the sole purpose of bringing man back to God. The problem is, the Church, too often, can't do what it was mandated to do, because individuals within it, have decided on operating it as a business for profit, or as a means of attaining power and prestige..
In order for a business to be successful, and profitable, it must, in a nutshell, find out what people want, in goods and services, and provide it. If it doesn't do that, then, it will eventually fail.
The Church on the other hand, is not to adjust itself to providing man with what he wants, but rather it is to provide man with what he needs. And, what he needs is God.
When a church is functioning as a business, it will inevitably seek to present God, in a package that will draw more people in to it, for the sole purpose of its economic survival. The more members there are, the more money in the collection plate. The more money in the collection plate, the more money there is for men to satisfy their own wants and needs. Many times, it is the 'wants', and not the needs these people are interested in. And as a result, the work of Christ is hindered, and souls end up being lost and eventually destroyed.
This is what denominations, spawned by the Devil, end up doing.
Depending on what denomination we are talking about, there are differing views on what is, and is not sin, and how to deal with it. Mind you now, as long as man is in a sinful state, meaning he is not saved, he has no connection to God. The bible says,
John 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth. If you will notice the underlined part, you will see that God does not hear those that are not saved. In case you haven't been told, the only two ways to stop being a sinner [one who practices sin], is to get saved, or die.
If a sinner gets saved, they are instantly connected to God through Jesus Christ, and are now His Child, and, as such, they can ask God for what they need, and God will supply it. On the other hand, if a sinner dies, they will end up eternally damned, meaning there is absolutely no way for them to end up in Heaven.
There are church denominations that will tell you that if you die a sinner, you will have to spend some time in a place of punishment called purgatory, or some such place where you will remain until your sins have been cleansed, or washed away, then, you will be allowed in to Heaven.
This type of teaching gives people the false hope of being able to eventually end up in Heaven, no matter what their spiritual condition was like, when they died.
The bible states,
Heb 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:. That judgment will only have one of two choices, Heaven, or hell, and that is for eternity. There is no such thing as a temporary state of punishment until some future time where the person's sin debt has been satisfied, then the person will be allowed in to Glory.
Other denominational doctrines present the notion that God, accepts those with unrepentant abominable lifestyles such as homosexuals, and lesbians in positions of authority in them[talking about the church]. This type of message encourages these people to not only come in to the church, but to continue in their sinful ways.
There are a lot of other denominational doctrines that I could talk about, but there is not enough space to do that. What has to be realized is denominational differences tend to present God in a picture of being totally incompetent in that He has all different types of rules, that contradict what He has stated in the past.
A quick look in the old testament books of the law, as pertaining to those that hold offices in what was then the priesthood, would show you that each and every one of them had to be sanctified before taking office. Even those that participated in the worship of God, including the singers, dancers, and other servants, had to be sanctified as well, otherwise God was not pleased. And depending on the offense, they were struck dead, by God.
If He did the same thing today, over 90 percent of preachers, bishops, choir members, musicians, deacons, and others would be destroyed.
It is only His Grace, that stands in the way of that happening, thanks to Jesus Christ. However, lest anyone misunderstands, God has not changed, as I mentioned earlier, how He feels about these things.
Another affront to God, is the idea that He, somehow leans more to aligning Himself to one race of people, over another.
Even though it is not a denominational doctrine, in that many denominations have bought in to it, the idea of a
'black church' presents the notion that God has different rules for different groups of people, based on their skin color, or race.
This type of ignorance has led blacks to believe that parts of the bible, don't apply to them, and therefore they are free to engage in things that God says are worthy of punishment.
You have probably heard the old statement that the 'white man' wrote the bible to keep the 'black man' in a position of slavery. So, what did blacks do???? They formed a religious doctrine that is loosely based on the idea that since most biblical history is centered in locales in the middle east and Africa, then Jesus Christ must be black, and as such identifies more closely to the black man, rather than whites.
What this does is further misrepresent God, and Jesus Christ. The end result is God withholds His full blessings from those that defame Him.
You wonder why there doesn't appear to be the types of miracles that were prevalent in the Church as talked about by Christ, and in the book of Acts, in the Church today??? Denominational and racial doctrines have short-circuited them, and thus have rendered the Church little more than a social club, where people go get encouragement to 'hold on', when it should be a place where people go to get delivered.
When it comes to holding on, just about anyone can do that by themselves. It doesn't take divine intervention to do that. I know people that are as anti-God as you can be, and they have the ability to keep going, when a majority of Christians, seem to fall apart and resort to drinking, drugs, psychiatrists and whatever to deal with the stress they are under. They may even commit suicide.
This is not what the Church was set up to do. It is here to give people a clear answer to whatever problems they are dealing with. This includes physical, mental, and spiritual. But, in order for it to do that, it has to be, as they say 'spot on', in line with God. That is the only way it will
work. It can't be half stepping, or even 99 percent there. It has to be 100 percent. But, most churches today, make excuses by saying God doesn't do those types of things anymore. It is not for this dispensation.
Baloney!!!
If that is the case, then God is not the God who
'changes not!!!' We disconnect ourselves from Him, then blame Him for not doing what He used to do. All because of denominational and racial doctrines that have served to sever or severely hinder those blessings He has for us.
The most dangerous part with denominational doctrine is when it distorts what is the correct means of obtaining salvation. Would you believe there are churches that give people the idea that because they are members of the local church, that they are on their way to Heaven??? A lot of them, give no indication of the need to repent of sin, and accept Christ as their Lord and Savior. If there is no repentance, then there is no forgiveness for sin. And if there is no forgiveness of sin, then guess what??? You are not saved!!!
People join the church, and continue in their wicked ways, even as pastors and bishops. They even encourage this behavior in their membership. If you get a chance read 1Corinthians 5, about a church that had a situation going on in it, where a son, was having sex with his step mother, and the church knew about it, and was even bragging about it. The apostle Paul condemned this type of behavior and warned them to get rid of the situation by allowing the man to die, rather than continually enabling him to keep on doing what he was doing. This for the purpose of keeping him from forefeiting his soul.
If he, the apostle Paul, was here today, and went in to a lot of our denominational churches today, and pointed out what they were doing wrong, they would throw him out. If he went in to the black church, and told them to follow the bible, all of it, they would call him a racist. And we wonder why the black community is suffering so much.
Listen. The Church is supposed to be led by Jesus Christ, with the Holy Ghost, actively working through those that God has anointed to not only see the Truth, but to be in positions of leadership, and offices as talked about in 1Corinthians 12, and Ephesians 4:11-13. Most of the people in leadership of our churches, are not anointed by God to be doing what they are doing. As a result, God, by way of the Holy Ghost, is not there during what is called the worship service. All the screaming, hollering, running the aisles, grunting, and groaning from the preacher during the sermons, backed by the Hammond organ, as they slide across the stage like James Brown, is nothing more than show, and a fake staged presentation of the move of the Holy Ghost.
This type of thing borders on Blasphemy of the Holy Ghost, because it promotes what the devil says, as being from God.
And yet, people are so in love with their church, they would rather stay there and die, than leave and find a church that preaches the whole bible, not only dealing with blessings, but sin and repentance, and live. Most of us don't like these types of churches, because they make us feel uncomfortable. But that is what God wants us to feel, so that where there is no pleasure, we will turn away from it.
What scares me the most, and should you also, is the Holy Ghost not being there to make us uncomfortable, because then, we will not turn from our sins, and be damned.
Is that what you want??!!! If I have described your church, get out of it!! Today!!