Churchianity

 Scripture: 1 John 1 v 7: "But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin."

Matthew 18 v 20: "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them."

What is Church?  Reading and understanding the above verses should answer that question, but by today's standards there is no resemblance to the original church.  We are in an "anything goes" society that responds to the media and entertainment more than to worship and fellowship with Our Father.

Church is any two or three gathered in the name of Jesus!  He is in the midst of this small group.  No big building, no place at all really because church is not a building made with hands, it is the actual Body of Jesus and its bricks are people who are born again.  The first church met in houses and some meetings went on for many hours.

Acts 20 v 7: "And upon the first day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight." 

So let us be mindful of the pure, original church and try to follow the pattern of it.  They did not face the challenges we face today, but had to deal with Roman oppression and traditional Jewish priests.  Let us simplify our manner of worship and approach to God, become more spiritually discerning and break free of Soulish, emotional, worldly traditions that do not please God.

Through the ages the church has evolved and become anything but the true Body of Jesus Christ.  If Jesus walked into many churches He would overthrow the tables of those who use His name to buy and sell merchandise; He would throw down every idol or icon of Himself or Mary or the saints; He would smash every font of holy water or  for the baptism of babies.  For starters.

He would remove every religious garment, every hat on a male head, all bells, candles, statutes, and say that the blind are leading the blind.  Jesus hates religion, rituals, fancy programs, as they are all distractions from the reality of God.  It is plain Churchianity where the central figure of Jesus has been overlooked and replaced by worldliness.  The doctrines of man, the rock bands, the lack of love reveal how distant the truth is from the church today.

Jesus is seeking unity in one body to overcome the evil of this world.  One holy, uncompromised, group of people who walk in the light as He is in the light, which is the only way true fellowship succeeds.  When you walk in that light, truth, life and love of Jesus you will have pure and perfect fellowship with other like-minded believers.

When you are pure and meet other believers who are worldly or carnal, you struggle to find any spiritual ground to share blessings or insights with them.  One of you is not walking in the light.  If you were, the power in the Blood of Jesus would be at work to reveal any problem areas and mend them. This is true church in action.  The life of Christ expanding and growing in His true body.

Jesus would throw out every denomination as divisions in His Body.  The vacuum created by denominations is being filled by Interfaith and the eventual One World Church of the Antichrist.  If you mean business with your Heavenly Father then you need to understand what you are involved in.  It is a strait and narrow way that leads to life and few find it.

The Lord wants people to stop playing religious games and sympathizing with humanitarian causes.  He needs each one to get back to the simple basics of following Jesus.  You must be born again by repentance of sin and baptism in water followed by baptism in the Holy Spirit with the gifts flowing.  This is salvation and eternal life starts immediately.  

I have heard pastors say that they prefer to wait six months after a person is born again before baptism in water, to "see if the salvation has taken"  like some kind of vaccination!  It means they do not understand that baptism kills the old nature that loves to sin, and the sinless nature of Jesus replaces it.  This should be followed immediately by the baptism of the Holy Spirit.  That's how it was in the early church.

Turn away from worldly sins and habits and find out what Jesus needs you to do for Him, and do it.  Have fellowship with other believers and learn from the Holy Bible things you need to change and trust in.  Love one another as Jesus loves us.  Be kind, helpful, patient, and humble.  Share what you have with others.  God will be with you always and you will live a spiritually abundant life.  Just remember that everything belongs to Him.

Everything you achieve, own, earn, win is His.  You have it to use for His glory.  Anything or anyone elevated above Jesus will go from you sooner or later as He says, Have no other gods before Me.

So let us turn our lives and this world inside out and upside down for Jesus.  Let us rebuild the waste places in our lives according to His Word.  Let us bring our churches back to the original simplicity with holy living, spiritual discipline and perfect love.  Let us reflect the glory of our Risen King and Saviour to a fallen world to shine His light to bring the sinners home.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, how the mighty have fallen into the traps of the enemy, and taken many into mediocrity and compromise.  Forgive us, Father, and bring us back into Your light and fellowship.  Let the Blood of Jesus cleanse us of all sin so we may have a burden for lost souls.  In Jesus' name.  Amen.