When I wrote this, we were entering a new year of 2018. It seems impossible for those of us born in the early to mid-1900’s. We were taught, and thought, that Jesus would come long before this. Why has He not returned? Because our churches were not listening to Jesus. The Lord has, and is showing me what must take place before He can come back. Those who are interested are invited to visit our website or contact me and learn.
The longer this ministry ministers, the more I weep. I understand Isaiah and Jeremiah very clearly now. They looked around and saw a whole church of tithe-paying, church-going, feast observing Sabbath keepers, but they were not listening to God. The church system had become “antichrist” or “in place of” Christ. They refused to listen to the messages God was giving through His servants. They listened to their church leaders, ministers and “evangelists”. But they refused to listen to Jesus and the servants He sent the church.
“The spirit of opposition to reproof, that led to the persecution and imprisonment of Jeremiah, exists today. Many refuse to heed repeated warnings, preferring rather to listen to false teachers who flatter their vanity and overlook their evil-doing. In the day of trouble such will have no sure refuge, no help from heaven. God’s chosen servants should meet with courage and patience the trials and sufferings that befall them through reproach, neglect, and misrepresentation. They should continue to discharge faithfully the work God has given them to do, ever remembering that the prophets of old and the Saviour of mankind and His apostles also endured abuse and persecution for the Word’s sake.” PK 437.
Jesus, the Messiah, the hope of all Israel, stood before the people and they were too blind to see their Messiah. Their eyes had been turned from scripture to the church. Oh, they read from Scripture, quoted Scripture, but not one was obeying Scripture. “You examine the Scriptures carefully because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. Yet they testify about me.” John 5:39. Their hope had been turned from the true Messiah to the messiah of the church. They were looking for one who would come to deliver them from their pagan rulers. They wanted a messiah who would give them their hearts’ desires. Yet, they did not desire to be delivered from sin in their own lives. They refused to look upon their own sins, while lambasting the sins of the pagans. They refused to change their own lives, while pointing fingers at those who were “sinners” in the eyes of the church. The church had fallen. Jesus tried to open their eyes, but they refused to be opened.
As you continue reading, keep in mind that these examples were give so you may test yourself, your church, your pastor and your denomination to see if you and they are living and teaching as Jesus commands, or if you and they are living as the Pharisees of Christ’s day. Who are you listening to?
Again, I must define the term “church”. There are two types of “church” in the world today. The first type are all the man-made churches, religions and denominations that have memberships and buildings. They have “fundamental beliefs” and “catechisms”, etc. Like the Jews of Christ’s day, they have nothing to do with eternal life. On the other hand, the true “Church of God” is Spiritual and led, not by man, but by God. The Spirit of God directs His church on Earth. Those who are “members” of God’s church are those who have removed themselves from the earthly churches and have given their lives totally to serving and obeying the Spirit of God. They are living as Jesus commands: perfect, sinless and commandment keeping lives. They are not putting on a pretense by “going to church” on any “special” day or keeping any special feasts or holy days, they are living, every day, the perfect, sinless and commandment keeping life of Jesus.
John 9:1 to John 10:42
As he passed by, he saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
Our churches are full of “who sinned?” “Everyone” is running around pointing fingers, placing blame and measuring themselves by those around them. But few are willing to point that finger at themselves, their churches and look to Jesus and find out from Jesus what they must do to change their own lives. Few are willing to let Jesus open their own eyes to their own sins. Few are willing to measure themselves by the true “Yardstick” of Jesus: His teachings and His life.
Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”
I have discovered that principle in my own life and in this ministry. When problems and “sins” arose I used to ask, “who sinned?” But now I ask, “What ‘works of God might be displayed’”? It totally changed my perspective on the circumstances of events around me. Sickness, pain, handicaps, deformities, difficulties all come because of sin. But we are not to look around for a “scapegoat”. We are to look at our own lives and ask how God can be glorified in this situation. Maybe there is a ‘sin” in your life that needs to be taken out of the way so God can be glorified. When we turn our difficulties, deformities and handicaps over to Jesus, letting Him do with them as will glorify Him, our lives will be full of joy. Our “eyes” will be opened to a whole new understanding of “truth”. All we have to do is “work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day”. His “work” is to live in obedience to the Ten Commandments. It is all about obedience. Romans 1:5. Nothing about church.
Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. Then he anointed the man’s eyes with the mud and said to him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam” (which means Sent). So he went and washed and came back seeing.
It was probably a good thing the man was blind. Would you allow someone to “spit on the ground” and make “mud with the saliva” and then put it on you? We have a hard time letting people look “sideways” at us, let alone, physically touch us with “unclean” things. Jesus is a very interesting Individual. He never works through the “methods” our churches use. Why? Because that would bring “honor and glory” to our church. He steps outside of our churches and organizations in order to work in ways that defy our human logic and wisdom. That which is “impossible with man is possible with God”. Saliva and mud will not heal your blind eyes. Putting a fig patch on a sore will not heal you. Dipping seven times in the Jordan River will not make you “clean”. Going to church will not save your soul. Listening to your pastor will do you no good for eternal life. What healed was the obedience. What healed was doing exactly what Jesus told him to do. To heal your sin-sick soul you must get out of your church, go to Jesus and live in obedience to every word that He commands you.
The neighbors and those who had seen him before as a beggar were saying, “Is this not the man who used to sit and beg?” Some said, “It is he.” Others said, “No, but he is like him.” He kept saying, “I am the man.” So they said to him, “Then how were your eyes opened?”
They were not interested in “his” healing. They wanted to know “how” so they could get glory for themselves by doing the same to others or themselves. It was all selfishness. They were not interested in giving glory to Jesus. All glory had to go to themselves or their church.
He answered, “The man called Jesus made mud and anointed my eyes and said to me, ‘Go to Siloam and wash.’ So I went and washed and received my sight.”
How simple! Go, wash and be healed. Jesus didn’t tell the man to go to church. He didn’t tell the man to listen to church preachers. He didn’t tell the man to take Bible studies. He simply said, “Go to Siloam and wash”! That is all he had to do. In obedience to the word of Jesus, he was made whole.
If you want to be made “whole” from sin, or from physical deformity and sickness, just go to Jesus, listen to what He commands of you and go, be obedient and be made whole. Bypass your church. Bypass your pastor. Bypass your denomination. Go directly to Jesus and obey Him and you will have healing in your life. Healing takes place in those who read and obey the book, “Change Your Life Biblically”.
They said to him, “Where is he?” He said, “I do not know.”
After all, when he left Jesus, he was still blind. He could have become discouraged on his way to “Siloam”. He could have doubted and stopped. He could have let distractions get in the way. He might have even been tempted to first go to “church” and pray to see if this was what God wanted. He might have been tempted to talk to his priest or minister first to see if he was doing the “right thing”. However, he did none of those things. He did exactly as Jesus commanded him. He let nothing deter him from obedience to the command of Jesus. And he came seeing. So of course, he would have no idea where Jesus was. On the other hand, he had Jesus in his heart, on his tongue and in every thought. Unlike the church leaders who were doing everything in their power to eradicate Jesus from their hearts, tongues and thoughts. They did not want Jesus in their church or lives.
They brought to the Pharisees the man who had formerly been blind.
How typical, let us not praise God or go find Jesus, no, let’s go to church to see if the healing is church sanctioned. Let us first get church approval for the miracle. After all, if it doesn’t come through “my” church, pastor or denomination, it can’t be of God. Right?
Now it was a Sabbath day when Jesus made the mud and opened his eyes.
Oh, oh! Definitely, Jesus could not be of God. He was “breaking” the Sabbath. The problem was, as it is today, the “breaking” was a man-made breaking. The Sabbath was sanctified by God for the purpose of bringing physical and spiritual healing to the soul. But the church of Christ’s day, as today, was so far from God the rules it had set up were simply for “show and tell” but not for God’s glory. It was all about keeping the people in bondage to the church. Keeping the people “blind” to the truth of God.
So the Pharisees again asked him how he had received his sight. And he said to them, “He put mud on my eyes, and I washed, and I see.”
Again, they were not interested in glorifying God. No, all glory, honor and praise had to come through the church and those in “power”. And of course, they had to nitpick in order to find a “legal” excuse to condemn Jesus. And here it was! He “made” mud on the Sabbath. That was “work” and totally unacceptable to the church. Oh, and one more thing, to spit on a person made that person “unclean”. To put “spit” on this blind man made him unclean and therefore could not have been healed by God. How sad that the church was totally blind to the love and power of God.
Some of the Pharisees said, “This man is not from God, for he does not keep the Sabbath.” But others said, “How can a man who is a sinner do such signs?” And there was a division among them.
The same is said of this ministry, “This man is not from God, for he does not” go to church. This ministry, called by God to work His miracles and teach His truth, does cause division among church members. Those who look to their churches are blind to the workings of God. Those who look to Jesus see His power and glory in and through this little ministry. They rejoice that Jesus has sent a ministry to point people back to Jesus. Church people hate this ministry for taking the eyes of people off of their church.
So they said again to the blind man, “What do you say about him, since he has opened your eyes?” He said, “He is a prophet.”
Those who have been touched by God through this ministry are well aware whose ministry this is. They have experienced the healing power of God in their lives. Those who go to church have never experienced the power of God in their lives. They only have church.
My sister has been sick for years. God is trying to get her attention. She became sick and unable to work two weeks after refusing to accept the book the Spirit of God dictated and directed, “Change Your Life Biblically”. 20 years later she is still putting all of her money and time into the church waiting for God to heal her. She is getting worse and worse and will die physically and eternally. However, if she would do as I have told her to do, “go, read and obey the book”, Change Your Life Biblically, she would be made whole, as the blind man who did as he was told, and came seeing.
The Jews did not believe that he had been blind and had received his sight, until they called the parents of the man who had received his sight and asked them, “Is this your son, who you say was born blind? How then does he now see?” His parents answered, “We know that this is our son and that he was born blind. But how he now sees we do not know, nor do we know who opened his eyes. Ask him; he is of age. He will speak for himself.”
There are a lot of church people who are afraid to acknowledge the truth of Jesus. They are so afraid of being “cast out” of the church. Their church membership is more important than to acknowledge the power of God. Instead of standing up and speaking in defense of Jesus and the miracle He performed, they hide behind the miracle and let him “speak for himself”. Jesus wants to bring so much joy and happiness to this world. But as long as it continues to put substitutions in place of Jesus, they will never experience the power of God in their lives.
(His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had already agreed that if anyone should confess Jesus to be Christ, he was to be put out of the synagogue.)
Your church will do the same to you. If you think your church is of God, begin teaching them to be obedient to Jesus and His teachings and see what happens. Share with them the truth that they must stop sinning, be perfect and keep the Ten Commandments to get their eternal life. I can guarantee, you will be “put out” of the church. Unless you are teaching the teachings of Jesus, you are refusing to “confess Jesus to be Christ”.
Therefore his parents said, “He is of age; ask him.” So for the second time they called the man who had been blind and said to him, “Give glory to God. We know that this man is a sinner.”
And of course, the man had been giving glory to God all along. It was the church that was refusing to give glory to God. The glory they wanted was to their church-god, not the living God. That is the power of church, it wants to be “God”. It produces so much pride, ego and selfishness in its members. That is why church people love their churches. They can do it their own way and claim it is of God. How they love to hold Wednesday night prayer meetings, which are anything but “prayer meetings”. They love to hold “Bible study classes” but nothing of the Bible is being studied. They even claim to have people from other denominations coming, but nothing of salvation is being taught: only about changing denominations. The teachings of Jesus to be perfect, to stop sinning and to keep the Ten Commandments to get eternal life are never mentioned. But as long as they go through the motions, living the good Catholic life by repeatedly repeating the same words and statements, they believe they are of God.
He answered, “Whether he is a sinner I do not know. One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
How correct he was: “now I see!”. While the church remained blind, their actions truly opened his eyes to see how blind the church truly was. The church was “anti-Christ”. It stood “in the place of” Christ. I have not found one church member today who “can see”. If you go to church, you are blind. The Catholic Church system has you blinded. It doesn’t matter what denomination or church you belong to, it is all Catholic.
They said to him, “What did he do to you? How did he open your eyes?” He answered them, “I have told you already, and you would not listen. Why do you want to hear it again? Do you also want to become his disciples?” And they reviled him, saying, “You are his disciple, but we are disciples of Moses.”
This ministry is reviled by church people. While the “sinners” are coming to Jesus, church people are going to church. While the “sinners” are finding the healing power of Jesus, the church people are sick in sin. While “sinners” are having their eyes opened, church people are sealing their eyes tight against the truth of Jesus. Church, church and more church is all they know. They claim to be the church of God’s “modern-day prophet”. But they refuse to live in obedience to Jesus. Until they are willing to open their eyes to Jesus, they will live in the darkness of church and finally spend eternity in darkness.
“We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he comes from.”
They claimed Moses as their prophet, yet they refused to be obedient to the teachings of Moses. Today, the church that claims to have a “modern-day prophet” refuses to live in obedience to the messages God gave that prophet. It is nothing but pride, ego and a show. “We have a prophet, you do not!” What good is it? What good was it for them to “claim Moses”? They hated God and refused to be obedient.
The man answered, “Why, this is an amazing thing! You do not know where he comes from, and yet he opened my eyes. We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him. Never since the world began has it been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a man born blind. If this man were not from God, he could do nothing.”
This poor beggar was truly “seeing”. He had no trouble understanding the Word of God. “If anyone is a worshiper of God and does His will, God listens to Him”. Those who pay attention to what God is doing through this ministry will understand what God is doing. But if you are sitting in your church, you will not know where God is. He is not in your church. He is out working with the “blind” of the world. We are in prisons, on sidewalks, in the streets and over the internet working with those who have been “blind” to Jesus. But they are learning to be obedient and are having their eyes opened to the truth.
They answered him, “You were born in utter sin, and would you teach us?” And they cast him out.
“You have been to prison, you are a ‘sinner’, how dare you teach us.” Yes, I have heard it all. Church people just can’t accept the fact that they are the worst of sinners for their pride, ego and arrogance. But because their actions are acceptable to the world, they think they are accepted by God. Because they go to a church on the Sabbath, all others must not be of God. God will spew them out of His mouth when He comes. He will say to them, “I do not know you”.
Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.
Jesus didn’t ask him if he was a “church member”. He didn’t ask him if he had been to church. He didn’t ask him to start a “church”. He simply asks, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” A true “belief” in Jesus will produce obedience to His teachings to be perfect, stop sinning and to keep the Ten Commandments to get your eternal life.
Inmates have been cast out of churches, families and society. They are the ones Jesus has sent this ministry to find. We are bringing the “Son of Man” to them. We are taking to them the truth that they can walk with Jesus, free of this world, free of church and the sin that binds them. They can have their eyes “opened” to Jesus and His truth.
Jesus said, “For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind.”
Those in church claiming to “see” are so blind. They are so brainwashed. They refuse to look into the mirror of God’s Law to see if they are blind. No, it is easier to go to church and let the pastor tell them that they are “not” blind. Then their darkness looks like “light”. But those who realize they do not “see” and are longing for a better life, Jesus comes to their dark world and lightens it up with His presence. He brings the Light of Heaven into their dark lives. I wish church people would look and see.
Those who have looked are supporting this little ministry with all their tithes and offerings; nothing is too great for them to sacrifice in their love for Jesus. But the more they give from the heart, unselfishly, the more God does for them. I sit back and “see” the miracles taking place in their lives and rejoice in Jesus.
Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “Are we also blind?” Jesus said to them, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt; but now that you say, ‘We see,’ your guilt remains.
Those who go to church, instead of to Jesus, will find that their “guilt remains”. They keep telling me they don’t need to hear what Jesus is telling me. They claim to “see”. When Jesus comes, He will not be able to take them to Heaven since they have not washed their robes in the cleansing blood of Jesus. No, they were washing their dirty robes in the cesspool of church. They were rubbing shoulder to shoulder with other sinners, comparing sins, but doing nothing to remove their sins. Since they claim to “see”, Jesus can’t open their eyes. He came not for the “healthy” but for the “sick”. Church people claim they are so healthy with their vegetarian lifestyle and “perfect” living habits. But they do not realize how sick they are in sin. Therefore, God cannot cleanse them and make them whole. Heaven is closed to them.
“The mere hearing of sermons Sabbath after Sabbath, the reading of the Bible through and through, or the explanation of it verse by verse, will not benefit us or those who hear us, unless we bring the truths of the Bible into our individual experience. The understanding, the will, the affections, must be yielded to the control of the word of God. Then through the work of the Holy Spirit the precepts of the word will become the principles of the life.” MH 514.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who does not enter the sheepfold by the door but climbs in by another way, that man is a thief and a robber.”
Churches are “another way” that people use to try and climb in. They think they are sitting in the sheepfold of Jesus. But they do not realize they are sitting in the wrong sheepfold. They claim to be of God’s sheepfold, but they have not entered by the door that God has anointed. Churches are all thieves and robbers. They are stealing your eternal life and robbing you of the friendship you could be having with Jesus. Stay home from church, open your Bible, and read with a desire to be obedient to what you read.
“But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.”
There is only “One” Door by which we can enter. Jesus and His truth are that “Door”. To be obedient to His teachings is to open that door to eternal life; the sheepfold of Heaven. But to sit in church, in your sins, is to steal from God the glory that is His to change your life. You are robbing Jesus of His right to lead you to Heaven.
To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
When we hear the voice of God, listening to His commands and living in obedience to them, He will open wide the gate for us and we will enter into Heaven with Him.
“When he has brought out all his own, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice.”
We follow Him because He lived as He commands. There is no double standard here. He commands us to live perfect, sinless and commandment keeping lives because He lived the perfect, sinless and commandment keeping life. He goes before us showing us perfectly how to live. We follow Him because we love Him. He knows the obstacles that are before us and if we are following Him, He will clear the “minefields” of sin before us.
“A stranger they will not follow, but they will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.”
Church members do not follow Jesus since they love their churches. Jesus cannot share the heart with anything else. Only Jesus is to have our love. Church members flee from the commands of Jesus to live perfect, sinless and commandment keeping lives. They run to their churches who tell them lies, sweet things and goody-goody assurances. All they want is to be assured in their sins. They do not want to hear that they are sick and in need of a Savior. I cannot follow pastors, churches or denominations. They are strangers to me since they do not know the voice of God. I must listen to the voice of Jesus and follow Him.
Those who follow Jesus will not listen to a church which does not teach them the commands of Jesus to stop sinning, be perfect and keep the Ten Commandments to get eternal life. They would rather flee than sit and listen to such satanic teachings as “Saved by Grace”, “Unconditional Love of God”, “Just Believe” and “Spiritual Formation”. Jesus and Jesus only. Anything else and you are listening to the devil take the place of the voice of Jesus.
This figure of speech Jesus used with them, but they did not understand what he was saying to them.
How true. Even today, church members are not able to “understand what He was saying to them.” They read the Bible, however, they are reading through church colored glasses. What they read is deciphered by their church theology and they have no idea what the truth is. They cannot fathom the teachings of Jesus in their pure, unadulterated state. They don’t want to believe; therefore, they cannot understand. It is all about what the church teaches.
So Jesus again said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them.
If you claim to be a “sheep” of Jesus, ask yourself this question honestly: “Am I being obedient to Jesus when He commands me to live perfectly, sinlessly and to keep the Ten Commandments to get my eternal life?” If you are not, you are not a sheep of Jesus but a stooge of your church.
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
If you plan on going to Heaven, there is only “one” Door you must pass through to get there. That Door is not the door of your church. You must lay everything at that open door and follow the commands of Jesus to get to Heaven. Every opinion, every church teaching, all your theological arguments, all your church ego, pride and arrogance and church membership, worldly desires and possessions must be laid off at that Door. Jesus is the only One you are to obey in order to get to Heaven.
The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
All churches, pastors and ministers, denominations and religious material that is not teaching you to live the perfect, sinless and commandment keeping life, are thieves and robbers. They are killing your eternal life. They are destroying your relationship with Jesus. They are stealing the joy and happiness that you could have right now in Jesus.
I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
Your church has not laid down its life for you. What is your church doing for you? Would your church feed you if you were hungry? Would they pay your rent if you needed it? Are they paying for your medical bills? Jesus laid down His life for you. He will take care of you as He takes care of me. All you have to do is recognize Him as the one and only “Good Shepherd” and listen to Him alone. Be obedient to Him and you will find the life He offers you.
He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
Ministers, pastors, churches and denominations are all hired hands. They have been hired by their members to teach them smooth things, safe things and comfortable things. But when they see you snatched by the devil, living in sin and being destroyed, do they come to your rescue and teach you what you must do to get to Heaven? No, they “flee and run” from their responsibilities. “Peace and Safety” is all they will teach you. Church members have been snatched by the “wolf” and are being devoured.
He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
All they care about is getting paid. The smoother the sermon, the more money they make. The more people they can get into their church, the greater their prestige and power over the people. They care nothing for your eternal life. Don’t be fooled by them. You must go to the “Good Shepherd” who will tell you the truth, that you are dirty in your sins, that you are covered in wounds and sores that are festering you to death. You must be cleansed of them and washed in the Water of Life.
I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
To follow Jesus is to lay down our lives for the sheep. If your church is “fleecing” you, get out now. If you are giving God’s money and time to a church that is not teaching you how to live in obedience to the commands of Jesus to be perfect, sinless and commandment keeping, you are not walking with Jesus. You are being “fleeced” and will be eaten alive and destroyed for all eternity. Jesus is the only One you can trust. He gave His life for You. Your church did not nor will it give its life for you. It has fallen and is under the control of Jesuits who are bringing you back to “church” instead of to Jesus.
Jesus gave His life voluntarily for you. He laid it down of His own accord. It was not taken from Him by the church or the government. He gave His life so you could have eternal life. He also took back His life. If you want Him to give you eternal life, you must also give your life, voluntarily, not to a church, but to those around you who are dying for the truth. You must go out to churches and bring out of them the “other sheep” that are not of God’s fold. Surrender your pride, ego and selfishness and give it all for their salvation. Then you will hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a little; I will set you over much. Enter into the joy of your master.” Matthew 25:21.
Jesus did not commend the servants for going to church, putting on an act of piety or making a show of religion. They were faithfully discharging their duties by being obedient to the commands of Jesus; living faithfully in perfect, sinless obedience to the Ten Commandments.
There was again a division among the Jews because of these words. Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?” Others said, “These are not the words of one who is oppressed by a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”
Instead of looking “into” the life of Jesus and checking His words and life against Scripture, they were looking “at” Jesus: where He came from, did He cooperate with the church, was He giving glory to the church, what were the “shameful” details of His birth, etc. They should have been testing His words by Scripture. If His words were the same as what was taught in Scripture, then believe, if for no other reason than the fact that He was quoting Scripture. The same is true with this ministry. How many are fighting against it simply because it doesn’t agree with their church, or meet their expectations of a “ministry of God”, etc. But if they would look at the words, they would see that the words are the same words taught by Jesus. Then they would have to examine themselves to see if they are living by those same words. And that is the problem. Church members do not want to live by the words of Jesus. They want to live by the sanctions and approval of the church. Let us not go to Jesus, no, let us go to church, feasts days and services. How sad.
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.
Jesus was in the temple, not because going to church was important for His salvation, but because that was where the people were who needed to hear His message. The church had fallen so far from God, they needed to hear His message before being destroyed. He didn’t go to sit and listen to the church leaders, He did not go to participate in their services and rituals. He went to teach. Are you following His example?
So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”
He had already told them who He was. He told them that He had come down from the Father. But since He did not come as they had expected, or as the church had taught, they refused to accept Him. Every act of Jesus was in fulfilment of God’s words from the Old Testament. He lived and taught the Law. That was all they needed to know. If they knew their Scriptures, they would have known Jesus. But they had church, who needed Jesus?
Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name bear witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my sheep.”
No, they were not. They belonged to “church”. Their pride, arrogance, ego and ambition refused to let them believe. Their self-righteous works were enough for them. They wanted a “messiah” who would enhance their ego, pride and ambition. They were not looking for one who called for a perfect, sinless and commandment keeping life. Changing the character was not what they had in mind. No, they preferred a change in the civil government.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”
Only God can give “eternal life”. The Messiah could give “eternal life”. The people they were sent to had separated themselves from God and were no longer “sons of God” but “sons of men”. Therefore, they were identified with sinners in order to bring the sinners back to being “sons of God”. Jesus especially identified Himself as a “Son of Man”. He gave up His God-powers in order to live among sinners. He lived as a representative of a rebellious world, the “sons of men”, in order to show them that a “son of man” could live as a “Son of God”. Each of us can be adopted into the family of “God” and become, as Scripture says, “gods”. Just as I adopted an inmate who took my last name, so we can be adopted into the “God” family and receive their “last name” of “god”. We “shall be called sons of God”. Matthew 5:9.
“If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
That is how we know that all the churches, ministers, pastors, priests and leaders of all denominations have fallen. They refuse to do the works of “My Father”. They no longer teach the teachings of Jesus to be perfect, stop sinning and to keep the Ten Commandments to get their eternal life. Therefore, they are all “bad company”. As such, Paul commands us to get out of them or be destroyed. But those of us who are “doing the works of my Father” know that the “Father is in me and I am in the Father”.
Again they sought to arrest him, but he escaped from their hands.
I cannot count the number of times the angels of God have had to help me escape from the hands of evil church members. They have made “church” their god and refuse to listen to Jesus and obey Him. The true “church” of God is not a denomination or “membership” organization. It is individual people who are living the sinless, commandment keeping life perfectly. It will seem at times that God’s “church” will fall as it totters under ridicule and hate by the churches, but the “true” church of God will not fall. That spiritual church has fortified themselves with the teachings of Jesus and live in obedience to them. The Spirit of God and His angels will protect them and keep them. All others have left God’s “family” to become members of their own, self-righteous, church organizations. None of them are of God.
He went away again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained. And many came to him. And they said, “John did no sign, but everything that John said about this man was true.” And many believed in him there.
You must obey the Bible when it tells you to separate yourselves from those who refuse to live in harmony with the teachings of Jesus. Church members strain out gnats while they swallow whole church doctrines and teachings that have nothing to do with eternal life. How I pray that others will wake up and see the truth of Jesus. But to do that, you have to get out of your church.