Coercive Church
Coercive governance
If the social safety nets of society was originally managed by the religion of society, commonly through freewill offerings, the transference of this functions and duty over to men in government who who exercise authority[1] was the beginning coercion.
After 2000 years of confusion and misrepresentation by religious leaders, the answer to the question of Pontius Pilate “What is truth?” is as difficult to settle among the modern Church denominations as it was amongst the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Zealots of that day.
Trial of religion
Pilate found no fault in the statement of Jesus, “Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice.”[2]
In this day of modern religious extremism and apathy it has become necessary to explain what the phrase “Coercive Church" means.
The truth is, Christ was a king of a government, and though His kingdom was not a part of the “world” of Pontius Pilate and Rome, it was here at hand and for the living.
Jesus did not preach some Sunday go to meeting Church.[3] He preached and appointed a kingdom -- the Kingdom of God.[4]
He took the government from the moneychangers and the Pharisees who sat in the seat of Moses,[5] and He appointed it to the apostles who worked daily in the temple[6] providing a daily ministration from house to house.
The early Church provided the entire social welfare for a society that not only believed in Christ, but also they were doing and living His way of love and mutual service through one "form of government".
The Church was a government.
It was one form of government but it was not coercive in the performance of its responsibilities of caring and providing the charitable social welfare needs of the people. Rome, Herod, and the Pharisees, including many of the other governments surrounding the Mediterranean, had extensive social welfare systems. Roman free bread and circuses spread to Judea, and Augustus was loved for his benefaction by many of its citizens.
- “In Jesus’ day, an impressive system of welfare tended the poor ... The tithe of grain and fruit could first be exchanged for silver ... silver for grain, wine, oil, and whatever would promote the joy of the people in the presence of their God ... The tithe also functioned as a kind of a tax to support the temple and its personnel… An administration was in charge of the storehouse for the continued welfare of the personnel… The presentation of any offering required careful adherence to the prescribed regulations...”[7]
About 78 BC, the Pharisees, which were a political party, thought they had a better idea. Their Sanhedrin decided to create a socialist state that could exercise authority over the people by compelling contributions and enacted a law upon the people to enforce the collection of temple tribute.[8]
This was gradual at first, but under Herod, the contribution of members was no longer the freewill offerings as prescribed in the Old Testament. The government instituted for Judea by the Pharisees no longer operated like the one that was instituted by the revolutionary ideas of Moses.
The temples were government buildings which administered systems of social security with a contribution called Corban. In the early days of Israel, Corban was provided by “freewill offerings”,[9] but the Corban of these Pharisees demanded the contributions of its members by statutory enforced decree.[10] This filled the treasury of the temples of Herod through his employed government ministers.
Herod wanted to make his “Temple the largest… in the world… a quarter of a mile long by a fifth of a mile wide… Twenty thousand functionaries were employed in its servicing....”[11] This socialist system offered many benefits to the people, but would alter the character of society. This entrusted mammon[12] was spoken of by Christ. It would eventually fail, but not before it corrupted the hearts and minds of the people as in the days of Sodom.[13]
“But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.” Luke 7:30
Surprisingly enough, the Pharisees and lawyers were baptized - but not by John. “Herod’s scheme of initiation into a new form of Judaism was immensely successful. Jews everywhere were willing to join the worldwide society ... Entry was for members only; they had to show at the door an admission token in the form of a white stone from the river Jordan which the missionaries gave them at baptism. On the stone was written their new Jewish name.”[14]
John the Baptist's system of social welfare was true charity through the voluntary sacrifice of people.[15] The Pharisees, in the vanity of their religion, were forcing contribution of their members under the threat of punitive persecution.[16] Their system of social welfare was supported through the sacrifices and contributions of the people, called Corban. Their form of Corban was condemned by Christ because it made the “word of God to none effect”.[17]
God's government had always depended on the freewill offerings which both God and a free society require. The governments of the world often require full faith and allegiance to their leaders who call themselves benefactors but who exercise authority one over the other.[18] In this one precept we may see a fundamental difference both then and now between the Kingdom of God as preached by John, Jesus and the apostles and the kingdoms or governments of the “world”.
The Christian system of welfare operated by faith, hope and charity only. Israel was a government and not a “religion” alone. The word “religion” seldom appears in the Bible. Few people understand the difference between the "pure religion"[19] spoken of in the New Testament and the impure religion of the Pharisees which made the word of God to none effect.[20] Nor do they understand how religion gets spotted by the “world” [21] or what that meant in the Biblical context of James. Religion was the way people maintained their social welfare system. This was the central focus in many of the other temples of other governments at that time.
Yes, the Kingdom of God was a system of faith which required hope and charity in love, not force.[22] In early Israel, as it was in the early Church, your tithing and free will offerings were given as a voluntary choice by individuals of every congregation. That contribution was given according to the service of their personal minister by choice, not by dictates of statutes or the imposed penalties of men.[23]
- “Some scholars regard the ancient confederation of Hebrew tribes that endured in Palestine from the 15th century BC until a monarchy was established about 1020 BC as an embryonic republic.”[24]
Likewise, “The churches in New England were so many nurseries of freemen, training them in the principles of self-government and accustoming them to the feeling of independence. In these petty organizations were developed, in practice, the principles of individual and national freedom. Each church was a republic in embryo. The fiction became a fact, the abstraction a reality...”[25] In Gibbon’s Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, he praised “the union and discipline of the Christian republic.” He also pointed out that “it gradually formed an independent and increasing state in the heart of the Roman Empire.”[26]
Both Israel and the early Church were called Republics by historians because of the titular nature of its leaders who served the people and the needs of society without exercising authority one over the other. The people retained their God given right of choice,[27] their original God given liberty,[28] because they exercised their responsibility to provide the service of government through faith, hope and community charity. Any government whose leaders are no longer titular is no longer a Republic.[29]
While the modern Churches say “all you have to do is believe”, in reality it appears that Christ actually talked about doers of the word not hearers only.[30]
He talked about striving and about those who were told to depart, because they were workers of iniquity.[31] Jesus did not come to license the members of His Church to covet[32] their neighbors' goods through the agency of governments they make for themselves.
"The civil law is what a people establishes for itself."[33]
The sins of the Pharisees were many, but one of them was their statutory socialism which made the word of God to none effect, which was a rejection of God. Christ came to save them and the world from sin, if they would repent. There should be no doubt that preconceived and false notions accepted with blind faith is nothing more than a continuation of the blind leading the blind.[34]
Jesus was so clear[35] that His disciples were instructed to not be that way.[1]
While the Testaments are also clear that you may legally apply for a multitude of benefits through a socialist state, but not without consequences.[36]
Dependence upon "legal charity" will make you "merchandise", "curse children" and bring again the captivity of Egypt. This is undoubtedly why both the Testaments tells us not to covet our neighbors goods through the dainties of rulers.
Those gifts, gratuities, and benefits are the wages of unrighteousness which destroy liberty and degenerate the people into perfect savages because they are the dainties and deceitful meats of rulers provided through the covetous practices of the world which "makes the word of God to none effect".
But the modern Christian does that every day to get free schooling for their children, and social security for their parents and a myriad of other public benefits imagining they are not "workers of iniquity".
How is that the daily ministration of the early Church, the table of the LORD, the Corban of Christ which is not a snare?
How is that seeking the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness?
The Christian conflict with Rome was with the welfare system of the Imperial Cult of Rome and the public religion of the world and others like Herod and the Pharisees which was again "making the word of God to none effect".
We are to live by faith, hope, and charity which is love according to The Way of Christ and not the force, fear, and fealty which was the the ways of the world.
If Modern Christians, Jews, and Muslims would repent and seek the way of the Doctrine of Jesus, Moses, or Abraham or if they were to see the truth of their own history they could recover from the strong delusion pervasive in churches, synagogues, and mosques and their dependence upon public religion and the social safety net of rulers who are greedy for gain.[37]
They think they understand the teachings in the Bible but have been doing the opposite of what doctrine of Jesus, Moses, and Abraham were telling their followers to do for over a century.
From Cain and those first city-states to Nimrod and his world-ruling tower of Babel, or from the statutory corvee of the bondage in Egypt to the Corban of Herod, the Sanhedrin of the Pharisees and the commercial and military control of Judea by Rome, the Bible is either about man and his relationship with the God of Heaven or with the governments of men, who are the benefactors who exercise authority,[1] the Fathers of the earth, and the gods[38] of those governments.
Jesus said in Matthew 20:25 “But Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.”
The early ministers of that early church said “there is another king, [one] Jesus"[39] and that “We ought to obey God rather than men”.[40] But we were also told in Exodus 23:32 “Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.” [41]
The Church was composed of benefactors who did not exercise authority[1] but provided all the social welfare of the people through the perfect law of liberty by faith, hope and charity. That took real faith and doing,[42] forgiveness and giving, sacrifice and love. Being a Christian was not as easy as modern Christians would like to believe.
Instead, the modern church sends people to eat at the tables of those socialist benefactors who exercise authority one over the other, which makes the word of God to none effect. They were warned that those tables served deceitful meats,[43] that they were a snare[44] and a trap.[45]
The religion practiced today is done at the government temples which provide for the needy of modern society. Those administrators are the priests of the people's true religion, and their government is the new Pharisees of the Coercive Church established by men. Their schemes of social security are formed like those of Herod and the Pharisees, and again, they make the word of God to none effect. What they do on Sunday is just to ease their own conscience or tickle their ears with false hopes so they may give heed to fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth[46] with an appetite for legal charity which degenerates the masses who find once more a monarch and a king.
Christ meant His Church to set the table of the Lord through faith, hope and charity through the Perfect law of liberty. To depend on the welfare of rulers of the world who exercise authority one over the other and pray to the fathers of the earth for their gifts, gratuities and benefits would again entangle the people in the elements and bondage of their world.[47]
Christ came to open our eyes to the covetous practices and sins common in the history of men and to set us free if we will repent.[48]As we see the unrighteous mammon failing,[49] it is time for the people and the ministers of their churches to repent and seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness by coming together in a network of love so that they will be suitable for more righteous habitations.
Audio files:
The Coercive Church, BlogTalkRadio, 29:10 min
http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/10-10-3show_1295668CC.mp3
The Coercive Church, Far radio, 49min
http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/CoerciveOct30.mp3
The Coercive Church, TalkShoe QandA, 48:43 min
http://www.hisholychurch.net/audio/10-10-3TS-412548CC.mp3
If you need help:
- Or want to help others:
Join The Living Network of The Companies of Ten
The Living Network |
Join Local group |
About |
Purpose |
Guidelines |
Network Removal
Contact Minister |
Fractal Network |
Audacity of Hope |
Network Links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Not exercise authority
- Matthew 20:25 "But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you:..."
- Mark 10:42 "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you:..."
- Luke 22:25 "And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye [shall] not [be] so:..."
- ↑ John 18:37 “Pilate therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.”
- ↑ Luke 22:29, 12:32, 16:16, Hebrews 12:28, Matthew 21:43, Matthew 23:13, Matthew 26:29, Mark 1:15, Mark 4:11, Mark 9:1, Mark 11:10.
- ↑ Appoint a kingdom
- Matthew 21:43 "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof."
- Luke 12:32 "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
- Luke 22:29 "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;"
- John 19:15 "But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar."
- ↑ Kingdom Taken
- Matthew 2:6 "And thou Bethlehem, [in] the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor(2233), that shall rule my people Israel."
- Matthew 9:16 "No man putteth a piece of new cloth unto an old garment, for that which is put in to fill it up taketh from the garment, and the rent is made worse. 17 Neither do men put new wine into old bottles: else the bottles break, and the wine runneth out, and the bottles perish: but they put new wine into new bottles, and both are preserved." Jesus did not just reform the kingdom.
- Matthew 21:43 "Therefore say I unto you, The kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and given to a nation bringing forth the fruits thereof." Jesus would take it as priest and king.
- Luke 13:9 "And if it bear fruit, [well]: and if not, [then] after that thou shalt cut it down." The Corbans of the world were covetous practices
- John 19:15...19 "But they cried out, Away with [him], away with [him], crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar." The kingdom taken by the words of their own mouth.
- John 15:4 "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me." The people must seek The Way.
- John 15:8 "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples."
- Luke 12:32 "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom."
- Luke 22:29 "And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me;"
- Mark 15:26 And the superscription of his accusation was written over, THE KING OF THE JEWS."
- Acts 17:7 "Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus."
- 1 Peter 2:9 "But ye [are] a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"
- See Taking and Giving the Kingdom
- ↑ Acts 2:46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
- ↑ Elwell Evangelical Dictionary
- ↑ Salome- Alexandra (about 78 BC), that the Pharisaical party, being then in power, had carried an enactment by which the Temple tribute was to be enforced at law. Alfred Edersheim’s book The Temple.
- ↑ Leviticus 22:18 “Speak unto Aaron, and to his sons, and unto all the children of Israel, and say unto them, Whatsoever [he be] of the house of Israel, or of the strangers in Israel, that will offer his oblation for all his vows, and for all his freewill offerings, which they will offer unto the LORD for a burnt offering;” Exodus 35:29, 36:3, Leviticus 7:16, Numbers 7:5, 15:3, 29:39, Deuteronomy 12:6, 17, 16:10, 23:23, Ezra 3:5, 8:28, Psalms 54:6, Psalms 119:108, Ezekiel 46:12, Amos 4:5
- ↑ “On the 25th of Adar business was only transacted within the precincts of Jerusalem and of the Temple, and after that date those who had refused to pay the impost could be proceeded against at law, and their goods distrained, the only exception being in favour of priests, and that ‘for the sake of peace,’ lest their office should come in disrepute.” Alfred Edersheim’s book The Temple, p. 71.
- ↑ Jesus, The Evidence, Ian Wilson Oct 1, 2000.
- ↑ “Mammon, an Aramaic word mamon “wealth” … It is probably derived from Ma’amon, something entrusted to safe keeping. Encyclopedia Britannica.
- ↑ Ezekiel 16:49 “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.”
- ↑ Jesus and the Riddle of the Dead Sea Scrolls by Barbara Thiering, Harper Collins: 1992
- ↑ Luke 3:11 “He answereth and saith unto them, He that hath two coats, let him impart to him that hath none; and he that hath meat, let him do likewise.”
- ↑ Galatians 1:3-14 “For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”
- ↑ Mark 7:13 “Making the word of God of none effect through your tradition[translated ordinances in 1 Corinthians 11:2], which ye have delivered: and many such like things do ye.”
- ↑ Matthew 20:25..., Mark 10:42..., Luke 22:25 “And he said unto them, The kings of the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and they that exercise authority upon them are called benefactors. But ye shall not be so: but he that is greatest among you, let him be as the younger; and he that is chief, as he that doth serve.”
- ↑ James 1:27 “Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, [and] to keep himself unspotted from the world.” http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/religion.php
- ↑ “The Corban of the Pharisees” http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/corban.php Corban, Worshipping God in vain. Systems of sacrifice that make the word of God to none effect. http://www.hisholychurch.org/study/bklt/corban.pdf Printable 5" X 8 1/2" Pamphlets, or http://www.hisholychurch.org/study/bklt/corbanst.pdf Standard 8 1/2"X 11" Print Friendly
- ↑ “Not of this World” http://www.hisholychurch.org/news/articles/world.php
- ↑ Matthew 11:12 “And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”
- ↑ Numbers 7:5 "Take [it] of them, that they may be to do the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; and thou shalt give them unto the Levites, to every man according to his service."
- ↑ “Republic,” Microsoft ® Encarta. © 1994 Ms. Corp. and F & W Corp.
- ↑ Lives of Issac Heath and John Bowles, Elders of the Church and of John Eliot, Jr., preacher in the mid 1600’, written by J, Wingate Thorton. 1850
- ↑ Rousseau and Revolution, Will et Ariel Durant p.801. fn 83 Heiseler, 85.
- ↑ Judges 17:6 “In those days [there was] no king in Israel, [but] every man did [that which was] right in his own eyes.”
- ↑ Thy Kingdom Comes24 http://www.hisholychurch.org/media/books/THL/tableofcontents.php
- ↑ Chapter 7. of the book The Covenants of the gods Republic vs Democracy http://www.hisholychurch.org/study/gods/cog7rvd.php Audio http://keysofthekingdom.info/COG-07.mp3
- ↑ Matthew 7:21-26, Matthew 8:9-10 [Luke 7:8-9], Luke 6:47, Luke 6:49, Mark 3:35, Mark 10:19, Mark 11:26, Luke 3:10-14, Luke 6:27, Luke 6:27-46, Luke 10:37, Luke 18:18-20, John 7:17, John 3:20-21, John 9:31, James 1:22, James 2:14-26, Revelation 20:13
- ↑ Matthew 7:23 “And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”
- ↑ 2 Peter 2:3...14 “And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.... Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:”
- ↑ Inst. 1, 2, 1; Jackson v. Jackson, 1 Johns. (N.Y.) 424, 426.
- ↑ False prophets and Guru theories
- Isaiah 42:16 "And I will bring the blind by a way [that] they knew not; I will lead them in paths [that] they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them. 17 They shall be turned back, they shall be greatly ashamed, that trust in graven images, that say to the molten images, Ye [are] our gods. 18 Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind, that ye may see."
- Isaiah 30:20 "And [though] the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed into a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers: 21 And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This [is] the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left. 22 Ye shall defile also the covering of thy graven images of silver, and the ornament of thy molten images of gold: thou shalt cast them away as a menstruous cloth; thou shalt say unto it, Get thee hence. 23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed,..."
- Matthew 13:13 "Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand."
- Matthew 15:14 "Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."
- Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recoveing of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
- John 9:39 ¶ "And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind."
- Luke 6:39 "And he spake a parable unto them, Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch? 40 The disciple is not above his master: but every one that is perfect shall be as his master."
- Acts 13:11 "And now, behold, the hand of the Lord [is] upon thee, and thou shalt be blind, not seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on him a mist and a darkness; and he went about seeking some to lead him by the hand."
- ↑ Jesus against covetousness
- Mark 7:9 "And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition." See Corban.
- Mark 7:20 "And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. 21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22 Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23 All these evil things come from within, and defile the man."
- Luke 12:15 "And he said unto them, Take heed, and beware of covetousness: for a man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth."
- Luke 16:14 "And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him. 15 And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God."
- Luke 21:34 "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and [so] that day come upon you unawares. 35 For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth."
- Matthew 19:17 "And he said unto him, Why callest thou me good? [there is] none good but one, [that is], God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments."
- John 14:15 "If ye love me, keep my commandments."
- John 14:21 "He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him."
- John 15:10 "If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love."
- ↑ The bait and the Bondage
- Galatians 5: 13 "For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. 14 For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 15 "But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another."
- Galatians 5:26 "Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another."
- Isaiah 11:7 "And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 8 And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den."
- 1 Corinthians 6:6 "But brother goeth to law with brother, and that before the unbelievers. 7 Now therefore there is utterly a fault among you, because ye go to law one with another. Why do ye not rather take wrong? why do ye not rather [suffer yourselves to] be defrauded? 8 Nay, ye do wrong, and defraud, and that [your] brethren."
- 2 Corinthians 11:20 "For ye suffer, if a man bring you into bondage, if a man devour [you], if a man take [of you], if a man exalt himself, if a man smite you on the face."
- 2 Peter 2:3 "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not."
- 2 Peter 2:14 "Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ... 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning."
- Isaiah 56:11 Yea, [they are] greedy dogs [which] can never have enough, and they [are] shepherds [that] cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter.
- Jeremiah 6:13 For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one [is] given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.
- Jeremiah 8:10 Therefore will I give their wives unto others, [and] their fields to them that shall inherit [them]: for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely."
- Ezekiel 13:19 "And will ye pollute me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, to slay the souls that should not die, and to save the souls alive that should not live, by your lying to my people that hear [your] lies?"
- Micah 3:11 "The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, [Is] not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us."
- Malachi 1:10 "Who [is there] even among you that would shut the doors [for nought]? neither do ye kindle [fire] on mine altar for nought. I have no pleasure in you, saith the LORD of hosts, neither will I accept an offering at your hand."
- Romans 16:18 "For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple."
- Jude 1:11 "Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds [they are] without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;"
- Revelation 2:6 "But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate."
- Revelation 2:14 "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. 15 So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate. 16 Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth."
- ↑ Greedy for gain
- Proverbs 1 “19 So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain; which taketh away the life of the owners thereof." See consent not, one purse
- Proverbs 15:27-28 “27 He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house; but he that hateth gifts shall live. 28 The heart of the righteous studieth to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.”
- Isaiah 56:10-57:1“10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. 11 Yea, they are greedy dogs which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand: they all look to their own way, every one for his gain, from his quarter. 12 Come ye, say they, I will fetch wine, and we will fill ourselves with strong drink; and to morrow shall be as this day, and much more abundant. 1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come.”
- 1 Timothy 3:“3 Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous;”
- 1 Timothy 3 “8 Likewise must the deacons be grave, not doubletongued, not given to much wine, not greedy of filthy lucre; 9 Holding the mystery of the faith in a pure conscience.”
- Romans 13:12-14:1, “12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light. 13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying. 14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof. 1 Him that is weak in the faith receive ye, but not to doubtful disputations.”
- 2 Peter 2:15-20, “15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.”
- ↑ The gods Many http://www.hisholychurch.org/sermon/godsmany.php
- ↑ Acts 17:7 “Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, [one] Jesus.”
- ↑ Acts 5:29 “Then Peter and the [other] apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.”
- ↑ Exodus 23:32 “Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods.” Deuteronomy 7:2. http://www.hisholychurch.org/study/gods/index.php
- ↑ What you do
- Matthew 7:21 "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. ... 24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:... 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:"
- Luke 6:47 "Whosoever cometh to me, and heareth my sayings, and doeth them, I will shew you to whom he is like:...49 But he that heareth, and doeth not, is like a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth; against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell; and the ruin of that house was great."
- Luke 7:8 "For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers, and I say unto one, Go, and he goeth; and to another, Come, and he cometh; and to my servant, Do this, and he doeth [it]."
- John 3:20 "For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. 21 But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God."
- Titus 1:16 "They profess that they know God; but in works they deny [him], being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate."
- James 1:23 "For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass:"
- James 2:20 "But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?
- James 3:13 "Who [is] a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom."
- Revelation 2:2 "I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars:"
- Revelation 20:13 "And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works."
- ↑ Proverbs 23:1 “When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.” (deceitful is from kazab normally translated lie and defined “untruth, falsehood, deceptive thing”.)
- ↑ Psalms 69:22 “Let their table become a snare before them: and [that which should have been] for [their] welfare, [let it become] a trap.”
- ↑ Romans 11:9 “And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:”
- ↑ Titus 1:14 “Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn from the truth.”
- ↑ Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.”
- ↑ Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,”
- ↑ Luke 16:9 “And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that, when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.”
Authored by Brother Gregory