The Real Church

(as compared to fake or counterfeit churches)

The Real Church…

• Hungers and thirsts for holiness, real fellowship, discipleship, evangelism, commitment and a deeper understanding of their God.
• Needs no chiors… for they are all “the choir”.
• Needs no ushers… They meet in each other’s homes.
• Needs no thimbles of juice or tiny cubes of bread… for they eat hearty meals together.
• Needs no building programs… Their homes are good enough meeting places for them to worship their God in.
• Needs no paid professional religious leaders or staff… Their churches are patterned after families, not corporations.
• Needs no special programs or program leaders… God has graciously gifted each true saint as it pleased Him.
• Needs no gimmicks or sales techniques to attract people… All true believers have a Spirit in them that craves fellowship with other children of God.
• Needs no formalized “worship services”… By the leading of the Holy Spirit, they are quite capable of interacting amongst themselves without needing some one-man showman or rock band or professional choir entertaining them for an hour or two.

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”
[John 4:24]

 

SEE ALSO: articles on Doing Church

 

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Who Is A True Israelite?

(A True Son Or Daughter Of Abraham?)

 

To know who is a true Israelite, we must go to the sacred scriptures and find out how the Lord defines a true son or daughter of Abraham, a true Israelite…

 

A true Israelite has had a heart transplant:

 

“And the LORD thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.” [Deuteronomy 30:6]

 

“And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh: That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.” [Ezekiel 11:19-20]

 

A true Israelite realizes everyone is a condemned sinner from birth:

 

“The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they be born, speaking lies.” [Psalm 58:3]

 

“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.” [Psalm 51:5]

 

“The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God. They are all gone aside, they are all together become filthy: there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” [Psalm 14:2-3]

 

“Behold, the LORD’S hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear: But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.” [Isaiah 59:1-4]

 

A true Israelite understands that he cannot merit salvation by keeping the Law or by any other human effort:

 

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” [Isaiah 64:6]

 

A true Israelite realizes that Hell is a literal place:

 

“And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.” [Daniel 12:2]

 

“For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.” [Psalm 86:13]

 

“Hell and destruction are never full; so the eyes of man are never satisfied.” [Proverbs 27:20]

 

A true Israelite understands that Hell is the final destination of those who die without the blood atonement of the Messiah:

 

“The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God.” [Psalm 9:17]

 

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.” [Leviticus 17:11]

 

A true Israelite understands that God Himself provided the blood sacrifice for sin, as He did when He asked Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac:

 

“And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they went both of them together. And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he said, Here am I, my son. And he said, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering? And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together.” [Genesis 22:6-8]

 

“The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” [John 1:29]

 

A true Israelite believes the prophet Isaiah when he said the Messiah had to die:

 

“Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.” [Isaiah 52:13-53:12]

 

A true Israelite believes the psalmist who spoke of the crucifixion of the Messiah in Psalm 22:

 

“They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture.” [Psalm 22:13-18]

 

A true Israelite believes the prophet Zechariah who spoke of the crucifixion of the Messiah:

 

“And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.” [Zechariah 12:10]

 

What is the bottom line?

 

The bottom line is this: the Messiah is coming soon. If the scriptures are true, and it turns out that He is Jesus Christ, and you are still in your sins, and not covered in the atoning blood of the Messiah, Yeshua, then you will be like all the others who will be crying out in horror as the universe collapses:

 

“And I beheld when he had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood; And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb” [Revelation 6:12-16]

 

Do You Have A Saviour?

 

Are you like most people, trying to work your way to heaven? Do you think your prayers and good deeds will get rid of all your sins? If you do, then you have no idea of how much God hates sin: “For the LORD thy God is a consuming fire, even a jealous God.” (Deuteronomy 4:24). God is much holier than people realize. Sins are not just bad things that we do. People don’t realize that they are breaking God’s commandments all day long, every day, just by the things they say and the thoughts in their minds. By the time people get old and die, they have committed perhaps millions of sins. Even just one sin will send a person to hell for eternity. Adam and Eve were cursed by God for committing just one sin. That is how holy God is.

 

Only God can take away sins and He requires blood atonement. There is only ONE Messiah who ever who ever claimed His shed blood would be the atonement for anyone’s sins and who at the same time proved He was eternal God by raising Himself and others from the dead: Yeshua – Jesus Christ – The Lamb of God!

 

Even the most learned Rabbi can be wrong in his teachings about the Messiah, especially if he does not want to believe the truth of scripture:

 

“Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe” [Luke 22:67]

 

“Then said Jesus unto him, Except ye see signs and wonders, ye will not believe.” [John 4:48]

 

“I said therefore unto you, that ye shall die in your sins: for if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins.” [John 8:24]

 

“The other disciples therefore said unto him [Thomas], We have seen the Lord. But he [Thomas] said unto them, Except I shall see in his hands the print of the nails, and put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God. Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed.” [John 20:25-29]

 

You must repent of your sins, forsaking them and hating them as God hates them… “Thus saith the Lord GOD; Repent, and turn yourselves from your idols; and turn away your faces from all your abominations.” (Ezekiel 14:6). Ask God to give you a hatred for your sins and to enable you to faithfully serve Him. Cry out to God to have mercy on you and to save your lost soul from the wrath to come – before its too late… “God be merciful to me a sinner” [Luke 18:13] …

 

“How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation” [Hebrews 2:3]

 

Are you a true Israelite of God?
Are you sure?

 

SEE ALSO:

• Jewish Discovery Of A Lifetime

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Which Jesus?
The Catholic Jesus Or The Real Jesus?

Introduction

 

In the many years since I became saved by the grace of God and left the Catholic church, I have had an opportunity to talk to many Catholics about their faith. The one thing I noticed that they all had in common, without them ever realizing it, is that they all believe in a different Jesus than the Jesus of the Bible. Now “wait a minute!” you say. Our Jesus is the Jesus of the Bible. And to you I respond: Oh really? The Jesus of the Bible condemned many of the things that Catholicism approves of and teaches. Here are just a few examples for you to consider…

 

The Jesus of the Bible condemns idol worship which most certainly includes owning and bowing down to religious statues:

 

“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” [Exodus 20:4-5]

 

The Jesus of the Bible only needed to be sacrificed once, not every day during mass:

 

“Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” [Hebrews 1:3]

 

“But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God” [Hebrews 10:12]

 

The Jesus of the Bible is the head of the church in heaven and on earth, not the pope:

 

“Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places, Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church” [Ephesians 1:20-22]

 

“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church: and he is the saviour of the body.” [Ephesians 5:23]

 

The Jesus of the Bible is not a wafer made with human hands:

 

“Moreover ye see and hear, that not alone at Ephesus, but almost throughout all Asia, this Paul hath persuaded and turned away much people, saying that they be no gods, which are made with hands” [Acts 19:26]

 

The Jesus of the Bible does not need and does not want any help from his earthly mother or dead “saints” to hear a person’s prayers and petitions:

 

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” [1 Timothy 2:5]

 

“My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous” [1John 2:1]

 

The Jesus of the Bible had a mother who was a sinner who needed a Savior:

 

“And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord, And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.” [Luke 1:46-47]

 

The Jesus of the Bible had literal brothers and sisters:

 

“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house.” [Mark 6:3-4]

 

“But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.” [Galatians 1:19]

 

“While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him. Then one said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren stand without, desiring to speak with thee. But he answered and said unto him that told him, Who is my mother? and who are my brethren? And he stretched forth his hand toward his disciples, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren!” [Matthew 12:46-49]

 

The Jesus of the Bible condemned men for trying to appear holy by wearing religious costumes:

 

“Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts” [Luke 20:24]

 

The Jesus of the Bible is not pleased with people praying repetitious prayers like the Rosary:

 

“But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” [Matthew 6:7-8]

 

The Jesus of the Bible does not forbid church leaders from being married:

 

“A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach” [1 Timothy 3:2]

 

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.” [1 Timothy 4:1-3]

 

The Jesus of the Bible is capable of saving men’s souls without the help of Catholic priests and without anyone’s help, including yours:

 

“… he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins: But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God;” [Hebrews 10:8-12]

 

“Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them.” [Hebrews 7:25]

 

The Jesus of the Bible did not suffer and die on Calvary just to “enable” all Catholics or all people to be saved but rather to pay a complete and terrible ransom for all the sins of all of His people:

 

“And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.” [Matthew 1:21] … “Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” [Matthew 20:28] … “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” [Isaiah 53:5]

 

The Jesus of the Bible did not come to build the Roman Catholic church. He came to die for ungodly, hell-deserving, hopelessly lost sinners who will end up in hell if Christ does not save them:

 

“But to him that worketh not, but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness.” [Romans 4:5]

 

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.” [Romans 5:6]

 

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” [Genesis 6:5]

 

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” [Jeremiah 17:9]

 

“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” [Isaiah 64:6]

 

“For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” [Luke 19:10]

 

The Jesus of the Bible setup a Church of saved sinners united by and under the authority of the Holy Spirit, not a church united by human tradition or under the authority of a human hierarchy in Rome:

 

“For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.” [1 Corinthians 12:13]

 

“For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.” [Ephesians 2:18]

 

“But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.” [John 14:26]

 

The Jesus of the Bible does not care if your religion satisfies you. It must satisfy Him and His demand for perfection:

 

“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” [Matthew 5:48]

 

“For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” [James 2:10]

 

“Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.” [1Peter 1:16]

 

The Jesus of the Bible credits the account of guilty sinners with His own righteousness so that they are prepared to meet God on Judgment Day:

 

“And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” [Philippians 3:9]

 

Which Jesus is YOUR Jesus?

 

SEE ALSO: The Catholic Jesus: a fake Jesus and an impotent savior

 

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The Gospel – What Is It?
James Haldane
(1768-1851)

 

The Gospel is the good news of pardon to the guilty; and it enters into no calculations, in regard to the different degrees of guilt in those whom it addresses. It reveals an atonement sufficient for all; and every sinner of the human race is commanded to re­ceive it as a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save the chief of sinners. The Gospel does not teach us how to lay a foundation for ourselves, but informs us of the sure foundation which God has laid in Zion, upon which all are equally invited and commanded to build their hopes, without any apprehensions of being upbraided for their past conduct by their gracious Creator.

 

The Gospel is very generally misunderstood by those who profess to believe. They view it as a scheme for making up their de­ficiencies through the merits of Christ; but this is “another gos­pel.” The Gospel of Christ is addressed to those who are far from righteousness; who are poor and blind, and naked; who have no money to purchase salvation, no merit to recommend them to the favor of God. Christ came, not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. If we are not sinners we have nothing to do with the Gospel; and if we are sinners, let us not reject the counsel of God against ourselves, by vainly supposing that anything about us gives us a peculiar claim to his favor, or by imagining that our sins are too great to be forgiven. The righteousness of God is alto­gether irrespective of our obedience. The thief upon the cross was saved by faith in Jesus, and none shall enter heaven in any other way.

 

Let us not then suppose, that we either have, or shall hereafter obtain, something which may entitle us to the favor of God. “Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.” Let us therefore come to God with the publican’s prayer, “God be merciful to me a sinner”; and let us look for this mercy through the atonement of Christ.

 

Although the Scriptures are so clear and express on this subject, it is a stumbling-block and foolishness to the great body of those who hear the Gospel. It offends their pride to be put upon a level with the outcasts of society; surely, they think, some difference will be made; but they err, not knowing the Scriptures; not understanding the malignity of sin nor the grace of God. They view it as a kind of bargain which God proposes to make with his creatures, that on certain condi­tions he will accept them—while in fact it is the message of reconciliation, equally addressed to all mankind, declaring that a full atonement for sin has been made upon the cross, and inviting every sinner of Adam’s race instantly to approach God as his Friend and Father through Christ.

 

When Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, it was a remedy equally adapted for all who had been bitten. Whether the bite had just been received, or whether the poison had infected the blood, by looking to the serpent, the patient was healed; and in reference to this emblem, Christ, indiscriminately addressing all mankind, says, “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else—a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me” (Isa 45:21,22).

 

In announcing the publication of the gospel, the Lord declared by his prophet: “The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtiness of man shall be bowed down; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isa 2:11).

 

While the Gospel is a proclamation of pardon addressed to sinners without exception, an unlimited invitation to the guilty to take shelter in the blood of atonement, it is the power of God unto salvation, only to those who believe. But it is vain to talk of being justified by Christ’s righteousness, unless our hearts are purified by faith.

 

We may profess faith in Christ while we are the slaves of sin; we may deceive ourselves, and affirm that we are trusting in his righteousness while we are living after the flesh; but every branch in the vine that beareth not fruit shall be cast into the fire. We cannot impose on God; and if with the Scriptures in our hands, we impose on ourselves, we are inexcusable.

 

If we believe Christ’s Gospel, it will effectually work in our hearts (1 Thess 2:13), and teach us, that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; and if what we believe does not produce this effect, it is not the true grace of God in which we stand. Every doctrine, the belief of which does not produce this effect, is a delusion, and the comfort which we derive from it is merely sporting ourselves “with our own deceivings.” They that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh, with its affections and lusts.

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