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continuation...
Israel was the only nation that truly acknowledged God. Israel refers to the Jews – the race where Jesus Christ came from. Both Mary and Joseph were Jews. The Jews were called the church of the firstborn, the church in the wilderness. And the church of the firstborn is the very first church of God. Read the verse, which a particular group uses as a basis in claiming that there is the true church,
Matthew 16:18--
“And I say 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.”
It is in this verse where they usually begin. After reading this, the minister would ask, “Whose is the church? Christ said, “my church”, therefore, it is the church of Christ!”
But wait a minute. Let us ask Christ why did He says,“Upon this rock I will build my church.”Christ said, I will build my church. He did not say He will establish His church. What is the biblical connotation of the verb “will build”? Let us read the explanation of the Apostles in
Acts 15:16-17--
“After this, I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down, and I will build again the ruins thereof, and I will set it up: That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.”
Therefore, whenever the Bible uses “will build”, it suggests that something has fallen down. According to God’s prophecy, He would return and He would build again the tabernacle of David which has fallen. He would build it again because it was destroyed.
Now, let us find out from the Bible, why had David’s tabernacle fallen? Is there any other verse in the Old Testament that confirms this?
Amos 9:11 says--
“In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breeches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.”
The reason why the word “will build” was used is because something had fallen. We have cited two verses to prove that. The tabernacle of David in Israel had fallen, that is why God said,
“I will build it as in the days of old.”
We have read in Acts 7:38 that the first church was the church of the firstborn, the church in the wilderness. Why, what happened to this church in the wilderness? Why did it have to be raised up? What happened?
Psalms 147:2 says--
“The LORD doth build up Jerusalem; he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel.”
The Israelites were scattered; they had fallen. Do you know why the church that was built in Sinai, which was called the church in the wilderness, fell? What is the story behind it? Let us read
Ezekiel 34:2-5--
“Son of man, prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flock? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye tell them that are fed but ye feed not the flock.
The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost, but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered.”
When Moses and the faithful Judges and Kings died, what used to be an orderly Israel was abused by their shepherds, or pastors. So, God told Ezekiel,
“prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flock?”
In your respective churches, who is feeding you? Is it your pastor? Or, are you the one feeding your pastor? There are, indeed, churches wherein the flocks are the ones feeding their shepherds.
Ezekiel 34:2 says--
“Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds: Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks?”
It should be the shepherd, or the pastor, who should feed his flock. But nowadays, it has become the other way around. The flock now is the one feeding the shepherd. Your pastors have made you their sources of livelihood. They ask tithes from you; they make you mendicants in the streets; they make you carry pouches where your collections should be dropped.
Are these things true, or not? Of course, they are true. We are all witnesses to these things. Therefore, what the Bible said was true.
In Ezekiel 34:3: “Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool . . .” The shepherds are dressed up with the finest clothing material. “Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed but ye feed not the flock.”
It would be very bad had you been the fattest in the flock because you would be killed. Too bad, also, if your daughter happened to be the prettiest in the flock because she would be taken by the pastor. All the women with fair and flawless thighs belong to the pastor. This is not a joke. This is a reality. We have documents to prove that there was a pastor who had 36 wives.
And mind you, he was claiming to be a messenger of God. What kind of messenger is that? I am not maligning anybody. What I am telling you is the truth because the public has the right to know the truth. Why am I divulging all these? In religion, if you are ignorant of the truth, you will be taken advantage. Just like what they are doing to you now, instead of your pastors feeding you, you are the ones feeding your pastors.
What does that mean? Be it literal or spiritual, that is what pastors do to their flocks. They abuse their flock. Imagine the pastor lives in a palace while his members live in the squatters’ area! And what is worse, these poor people even give donations to their leader who lives in the palace. Is that fair? Isn’t it that the one living in the palace should be the one who should give donations to the ones living in the squatters’ area?
There is no such thing in the Bible. The admonition is for the rich to give to the poor. Your pastor is already very rich, but you still give him your money. He already has a lot of money, yet he never stops from collecting money from you. If he is sensitive to the plight of his flock, he should distribute to the poor the rest of his collections. Just like us. The donations that our members give are being spent in serving other people.
Our members cannot accuse us that we are a burden to them. No member of this congregation can accuse me of spending his donations for my personal needs. The truth is their donations are not even enough to pay our airtime expenses on radio and television. Thru the mercy of God, food is not really a problem to me. I have my brothers and sisters and nephews who could feed me. Our main problem is how to reach out to as many people for them not to be abused and deceived by those pastors.
The Bible says,“Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! Should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and cruelty have ye ruled them.”
A lot of religious leaders are very strict to their members. Strict in what aspect? In terms of money! If the members do not give tithes, they accuse them of robbing God. And because they are robbing God, they will surely go to hell. That is how they threaten their members. But because the members do not want to be condemned in hell, they keep on giving tithes. That is the reason why the pastor is able to live a very comfortable and luxurious life. The pastor rides a very beautiful car.
In fact, he owns a total of 16 cars, aside from a helicopter and an airplane. He has five mansions, several condominium units, and three rest houses. The pastor lives a very extravagant life, and I couldn’t help but be reminded of the Israelites. Their shepherds took advantage of them.
Jeremiah 32:31-33 says--
“For this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger and of my fury from the day that they build it even unto this day; that I should remove it from before my face. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah, which they have done to provoke me to anger, they, their kings, their princes, their priests and their prophets and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. And they have turned unto me the back . . .”
There was connivance among the kings, the priests, the prophets, and the men of Judah to turn their back to God. They did nothing but enrich themselves. This is what
Micah 3:11 says--
“The heads there of judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money.”
All for reward and money! Just like what many religions do today. If you want to be baptized, you have to pay. You have to pay again if you want a confirmation. If you want to get married, you have to pay also. If you are dying and you want to receive the so-called last sacrament, you still have to pay. When you die and you want to receive a benediction in the altar, you have to pay again. Has not religion become a very lucrative business for many? Isn’t it that they make a lot of money out of it? Correct me if I am wrong. What the Bible says is very clear.
“The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money.” What keeps them busy? They are busy enriching themselves. What was the result? Jeremiah 5:26-27 says--
“For among my people are found wicked men they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. As a cage is full of birds, So are their house full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.”
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Bible
Finding
the True Religion
