God states, Hosea 14:9 “Who is wise? Let them realize these things. Who is discerning? Let them understand. The ways of the Lord are right; the righteous walk in them, but the rebellious stumble in them.” Although king Nebuchadnezzar learned the hard way, this is what he learned. Daniel 4:34 “Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever. His dominion is an eternal dominion; his kingdom endures from generation to generation. 35 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back his hand     or say to him: “What have you done?” 36 At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. 37 Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. And those who walk in pride he is able to humble.” We are also told that God would bless His people if they obeyed, but gave this warning. Deuteronomy 29:19 “When such a person hears the words of this oath and they invoke a blessing on themselves, thinking, “I will be safe, even though I persist in going my own way,” they will bring disaster on the watered land as well as the dry.” Moses goes on to say, Deuteronomy 31:29 “For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.” With this framework in mind, we have to ask why the church would take a different way when the end result means powerlessness, death and destruction instead of power, life and prosperity?   

    During this journey we are looking at the power the church is supposed to have and the reasons why the church remains powerless against our enemies. Jesus said John 14:6 “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” God laid out the plans for His church in the New Testament, just as He laid out the plans for the temple to David in the Old Testament, except this time the church is not a building. Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. 25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.” The church decided that God forgot to add the building plans for the church and built with the strength of their own hands. Next Sunday we will be looking at how the church has settled for so much less than what God offered. Some will even tell you that God gave them a vision for the church, yet the vision looks nothing like the church Jesus is the head of. Their visions are human plans, not God’s plans. No God did not forget the building plans, because the church is not a building but tell that to the church, because almost right away, the church started building buildings as if they were rebuilding the temple. Right down the street from me is a large building that they named the gospel temple. There were two temples, and they were both destroyed. The third temple is the body of Christ. Even so, you have great cathedrals built and rebuilt like Notre-Dame, and you have modern churches with some being classified as mega-churches. Usually, the builders say this is to the glory of God, but building a building is not the New Testament church. The church is then run like a business, though most businesses would close if they operated for an hour a week.

    I am always intrigued when you drive though a little town, and I mean tiny, and there are two Christian churches of differing beliefs / denominations across from each other. You also have differing, they still call themselves Christians, who meet in the same building at different times. Don’t quote me on this, but after a quick peak, there seems to be around 27,000 buildings / churches in Canada. “As reported by CBC News in 2019, the National Trust of Canada released a sobering statistic, a number buried in a Natural Resources Canada energy audit. There were 27,601 buildings for worship in Canada, and the Trust predicted that we would lose 9,000 of these buildings in the next ten years. While this audit captured buildings of all religions, it is clear from the revocations of charities that the bulk of these will be Christian churches.” Note that include all religions, but other groups also like building buildings. Then you have the bible believing United States (said with sarcasm). “The numbers of churches in the United States are often disputed, and to complicate matters, thousands of new churches open each year while thousands of others close. Hartford Institute estimates there are roughly 370,000 religious congregations in the United States.” Just google churches near me. Mine showed 16 churches near me all believing something different. Just to throw out another observation I came across is “people who claim no religious affiliation (the nones) are one of the fastest-growing groups in the United States.”

    You would think these numbers, say 400,000 in Canada and the USA, shows the church alive and well but the reality is people are dying every day without hearing the truth or hearing what they thought to be the truth only to find when it is too late that they were deceived. The Christianity you think you see on the news in the United States is a different jesus and other gospels. This is called Christian Nationalism and there is nothing Christian about it. One writer said, “People are more dedicated to the nation than to truth and God.” Donald Trump said "Easter is special, and it's one of our favorite days. (although it appears Trump played golf) It's one of our favorite periods of time. We're honoring Jesus Christ," Trump said. "We're bringing religion back in America. We're bringing a lot of things back, but religion is coming back to America.” The reality is like Canada, the United States has never been a true Christian country. There constitution states this fact just as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms states, “Freedom of religion has been defined as “the right to entertain such religious beliefs as a person chooses, the right to declare religious beliefs openly and without fear of hindrance or reprisal, and the right to manifest religious belief by worship and practise or by teaching and dissemination” The Constitution states, “First Amendment - Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” Both countries said religion, not Christianity, which makes all religions acceptable, of which is in opposition to what Jesus said. John 14:6 “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” If they said Christianity that would be a different story, but they did not. Religion, Spiritualism and Christianity are very different from each other. People can be very religious and spiritual but still not be a Christian, just as you can go to church and not be a true believer. Trump may bring religion back but not Christianity. Religion and Spiritualism may increase but that does not mean true Christianity is increasing which in fact is decreasing. The reality is Christianity is far worse than the statistics claim, as there is only a remnant of survivors left across this globe. Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive.” I am still amazed at how many Christians have fallen for the lies of Trump. Trump has this belief that whatever he says is truth, even though facts are in direct conflict with what he states to be truth. Jesus said John 8:44 “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” Many Christians believe Trump is the savior and combined with that, Trump has a god complex, hence the AI picture of the pope. “A god complex is a pattern in which an individual believes they have great power, ability, infallibility, influence, and are superior to others. It often refers to behaviors associated with narcissistic personality disorder or mania.” Trump is a pathological liar, so you know where his lies come from. Is God using him? The answer is yes, but not how many churches believe he is being used. Remember God used the king of Assyria and Babylon for His purposes and as Daniel said Daniel 2:21 “He changes times and seasons; he deposes kings and raises up others.” Isaiah 40:23 “He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. 24 No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff.” Trump like many rulers has no idea who God is nor do the religious people that are gathered around him. So far, the USA is in a heap of trouble. When you think back to the pandemic, the church did nothing and was deemed non-essential, as there was no power to heal. Now today many church groups are hoping to benefit from Trump’s administration and regain power but that is not the power they should be looking for. In fact, they should run from it. Here is some food for thought. 1 John 2:18 “Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.”   

    Today the church is powerless, but many churches appear to be powerful. In fact some of them are packed out every Sunday by the masses. One statistic said there were around 1800 mega churches (over 2000 attending) in the United States but that doesn’t mean mega power. One church I looked at said “church was fun.” These churches may not say it but the motto -look busy Jesus is coming fits. They have millions who follow them globally, they have massive churches and weekly attendance numbers including their satellites, and they have massive budgets. There is a huge difference between powerful and power from on High, even if you call your service an hour of power. Worldly success is not the same as success given by God. Joshua was told Joshua 1:7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” It is not just the mega churches that are powerless, as all churches from large to small have lost their power from on High. The answer for many was to copy the powerless mega church but most are not cloneable.

    The problem is most in the church think the powerless man-made church is how the church is supposed to be, so there is no need to repent. The true gospel has always been offensive, and most churches stay away from offending people because they know the masses will just find somewhere else to fill their insatiable appetites. Most have been taught that the power we see in the Gospels and Acts is not power the church should expect to have. If people would actually read their bibles, and not from their denominational perspective / beliefs, they would see that the bible does not say the powerless church is the norm. Paul said Galatians 3:1 “You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2 I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? 3 Are you so foolish? After beginning by means of the Spirit, are you now trying to finish by means of the flesh? 4 Have you experienced so much in vain—if it really was in vain? 5 So again I ask, does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you by the works of the law, or by your believing what you heard?” What the bible does state is rebellion and disobedience always mean that God will turn His face from His people, which in turn leaves His people powerless against their enemies. The church has just grown accustomed to accepting the lack of power and believe that what is read in scripture does not apply to today. The church has been deceived and deluded into believing that the hour on Sunday is the church. Scripture is set aside for reasoning, experiences and traditions. People then pick and choose what they want to believe. Even though some call a church service an hour of power, there is no power, when you compare the hour with scripture. As Paul said, 1 Corinthians 4:19 “I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. 20 For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.”

    We do not need a visit from Paul to see that the church is powerless; we just have to read scripture, the words he wrote as guided by the Holy Spirit, to see the arrogance and powerlessness of the church. Even though the lack of power in the church is very easy to see, most still believe the church as we see it, from Catholics to Baptists and everything in between, is actually the church. They believe that the buildings strewn across the continent that sit empty most of the time is actually the church. As you read this say church instead of temple. Jeremiah was told to tell the people Jeremiah 7:3 “This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel, says: Reform your ways and your actions, and I will let you live in this place. 4 Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” 5 If you really change your ways and your actions and deal with each other justly, 6 if you do not oppress the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow and do not shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not follow other gods to your own harm, 7 then I will let you live in this place, in the land I gave your ancestors for ever and ever. 8 But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless. 9 “‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, 10 and then come and stand before me in this house, which bears my Name, and say, “We are safe”—safe to do all these detestable things? 11 Has this house, which bears my Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching! declares the Lord.” Ezekiel gives this picture. Ezekiel 7:5 “‘Disaster! Unheard-of disaster! See, it comes! 6 The end has come! The end has come! It has roused itself against you. See, it comes! 7 Doom has come upon you, upon you who dwell in the land. The time has come! The day is near! There is panic, not joy, on the mountains. 8 I am about to pour out my wrath on you and spend my anger against you. I will judge you according to your conduct and repay you for all your detestable practices. 9 I will not look on you with pity; I will not spare you. I will repay you for your conduct and for the detestable practices among you.” Then Ezekiel says, Ezekiel 22:26 “Her priests do violence to my law and profane my holy things; they do not distinguish between the holy and the common; they teach that there is no difference between the unclean and the clean; and they shut their eyes to the keeping of my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them. 27 Her officials within her are like wolves tearing their prey; they shed blood and kill people to make unjust gain. 28 Her prophets whitewash these deeds for them by false visions and lying divinations. They say, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says’—when the Lord has not spoken.” Micah said Micah 3:9 “Hear this, you leaders of Jacob, you rulers of Israel, who despise justice and distort all that is right; 10 who build Zion with bloodshed, and Jerusalem with wickedness. 11 Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.” 12 Therefore because of you, Zion will be plowed like a field, Jerusalem will become a heap of rubble, the temple hill a mound overgrown with thickets.” Isaiah said Isaiah 9:8 “The Lord has sent a message against Jacob; it will fall on Israel. 9 All the people will know it— Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria— who say with pride and arrogance of heart, 10 “The bricks have fallen down, but we will rebuild with dressed stone; the fig trees have been felled, but we will replace them with cedars.” Malachi 1:4 “Edom may say, “Though we have been crushed, we will rebuild the ruins.” But this is what the Lord Almighty says: “They may build, but I will demolish. They will be called the Wicked Land, a people always under the wrath of the Lord.” Jeremiah 5:12 “They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine. 30 A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?”

    Even though most will say this is the church, this is the church, it is not the church born in power at Pentecost. The above words apply to the church. It is not the church Jesus is the head of, but because of God’s promise to David there is a remnant of the church left, so there is still hope. Matthew 24:14 “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.” What we have is the church in rebellion, who like Israel, Judah and the Jews think that they can go their own way, build with their own hands and God will still be pleased and continue blessing. Jesus did not anoint His disciples to go out and build something. Acts 1:4 “On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus sent them out Matthew 10:1 “and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. 7 As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ 8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons.” Jesus and the disciples showed us what the church would do following Pentecost. Yes people gathered and we were told, Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing.” Paul said 1 Corinthians 15:2 “By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain.” The church let go of truth and the gathering place became more important than the gospel. The church as a building gives the appearance of doing what God has commanded but the church has believed in vain and remains powerless.

    When Pentecost came, this would be the power and authority the church was sent out in, just as Jesus sent out the first disciples. Yes, satan can masquerade as an angel of light, Matthew 24:24 “For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” If you look closely, the signs and wonders will be different such as people falling on their backs instead of bowing with their faces to the ground, or laughter or drunkenness, shaking, babbling etc. For the most part, true healing of the sick cannot be faked, though many charismatic try. If you watch false prophets like Benny Hinn, they are not doing what Jesus did. Jesus said to John’s disciples when they asked Jesus, Matthew 11:3 “Are you the one who is to come, or should we expect someone else?” 4 Jesus replied, “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: 5 The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. 6 Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.” An example of this is there is lots of counterfeit at Bethel Redding church, such as gold dust falling, glory clouds and other weird events. They even have a school of supernatural ministry but that was shut down during covid as they became a superspreader. Covid exposed the lack of power not only in this church, but all churches. That is not how it was supposed to be. The church was supposed to be like this. People were amazed at the authority and power of Jesus and even the disciples. Mark 1:27 “The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching—and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” Acts 4:13 “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.”

    Take James who said, James 5:14 “Is anyone among you sick? Let them call the elders of the church to pray over them and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord. 15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise them up. If they have sinned, they will be forgiven. 16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. 17 Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18 Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” Go to your church leader and ask for this. You can’t fake what you just read but what the church could fake was authority, power (not power from on High) and success. The church was to continue with the same authority and power that Jesus had, of which the church would receive at Pentecost, but instead began to build things because a building gives the appearance of success, as does the masses gathering in the building. Then others want to be like them and try to do the same and the church became a marketplace. Then they could say, look what we built which in their thinking meant God is present, but the building is not what God wanted nor was that His plan. Therefore, God is not present as they say He is because the church has not followed His plan. God wanted His people to be faithful to His word and obey but instead His people rebelled against His word and built buildings with their own hands and to this day there are buildings built by man everywhere, but they are just whitewashed sepulchers. Jesus said, Matthew 23:27 “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean.” Ezekiel 13:10 “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?” 13 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones and torrents of rain will fall with destructive fury. 14 I will tear down the wall you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation will be laid bare. When it falls, you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord. 15 So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it, 16 those prophets of Israel who prophesied to Jerusalem and saw visions of peace for her when there was no peace, declares the Sovereign Lord.”’

    The temptation is always to build with your own hands. When something is built or rebuilt, they then say look at what God has made. Pope Francis said at the reopening of Notre Dame, that is “serves as a prophetic symbol of the Church’s renewal in France.” At least he admitted the church needed to be renewed or rebuilt but the building is not where God dwells. After coming out of Egypt, Exodus 32:1 “When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.” 2 Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. 4 He took what they handed him and made it into an idol cast in the shape of a calf, fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt. 19 When Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, his anger burned and he threw the tablets out of his hands, breaking them to pieces at the foot of the mountain. 20 And he took the calf the people had made and burned it in the fire; then he ground it to powder, scattered it on the water and made the Israelites drink it.” I think Aaron really sums up the rebellion of the church here. Then Aaron said 22 “Do not be angry, my lord, You know how prone these people are to evil. 23 They said to me, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.’ 24 So I told them, ‘Whoever has any gold jewelry, take it off.’ Then they gave me the gold, and I threw it into the fire, and out came this calf!” People are building buildings and then saying out came this calf! Moses would later say Deuteronomy 31:29 “For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall on you because you will do evil in the sight of the Lord and arouse his anger by what your hands have made.” Isaiah 2:8 “Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made.” 2 Kings 22:17 “Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all the idols their hands have made, my anger will burn against this place and will not be quenched.’” They were told Jeremiah 44:8 “Why arouse my anger with what your hands have made, burning incense to other gods in Egypt, where you have come to live? You will destroy yourselves and make yourselves a curse and an object of reproach among all the nations on earth.” Jeremiah 25:6 “And though the Lord has sent all his servants the prophets to you again and again, you have not listened or paid any attention. 5 They said, “Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your ancestors for ever and ever.6 Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them; do not arouse my anger with what your hands have made. Then I will not harm you.” Jeremiah 32:30 “The people of Israel and Judah have done nothing but evil in my sight from their youth; indeed, the people of Israel have done nothing but arouse my anger with what their hands have made, declares the Lord.”

     Today the church bows to the work of their own hands and that includes changing scripture. Success is about what hands have built and is not based on the power that comes from the hand of God. As we talked about there are buildings everywhere and with every building comes a budget to keep it afloat. The church is designed to hold people who gather on a Sunday morning and then most churches sit empty the rest of the time. Churches are considered a charity, but they should not be as all you have to do is look at the cars in the parking lot and then follow those cars to their houses. Churches should also be paying property taxes. One writer said, “Many Canadians don’t realize that religious properties are tax exempt, however, this privilege is increasingly being debated as organized religion recedes.” One statistic said 900 million in lost revenue. How many people would stop giving if they did not get a tax receipt? Another that should be looked at is the clergy residence deduction as many pastors make a good income. The reality is if everyone tithed 10%, there would never be a money issue. Although tithing just isn’t about money, it is about faith and your commitment to God. Malachi 3:10 “Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it.” God expects more than just your money, but your life. Paying property tax would cripple most churches but when the floodgates are opened there would never be an issue. That is probably a conversation for another day. 

    It is important to understand that everything changed with the coming of Jesus, just as everything will change when Jesus returns. The temple was no longer a structure / building nor will it ever be again. Yes, there are Jews and Christians trying to rebuild the temple, but the third temple was already built and now like the other two mostly destroyed. Matthew 24:1 “Jesus left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call his attention to its buildings. 2 “Do you see all these things?” he asked. “Truly I tell you, not one stone here will be left on another; every one will be thrown down.” Jesus was not only talking about the destruction of the temple but also the destruction of the church as seen by the verse that followed. The third temple was not a building. Ephesians 2:19 “Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” John 14:23 “Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” 1 Corinthians 3:16 “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in your midst? 17 If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy that person; for God’s temple is sacred, and you together are that temple.” 1 Corinthians 6:19 “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?” When you look at the churches in the New Testament, they were a gathering of people by location, not denomination. Today you cannot say to the church in London, Toronto, although some believe they are just part of the church, even though what they teach is radically different from the other churches.  

  As we read earlier Acts 7:48 “the Most High does not live in houses made by human hands.” We, the body of Christ are now that house, which is incredible if you take a moment and think about that as the creator of the universe wants to dwell among us. Matthew 1:23 “Immanuel which means “God with us.” The church decided that it preferred to do things with their own hands and power, thus rebelling against God, which caused God to turn His face from us which in turn God allowed our enemies to defeat the church, even though we were told, Matthew 16:18 “on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hades will not overcome it. 19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” Rebellion changes God’s blessing to curses. (Deuteronomy 28, Leviticus 26) Just as the church turned away from the Rock, God turned away from the church. Zechariah 7:11 “But they refused to pay attention; stubbornly they turned their backs and covered their ears. 12 They made their hearts as hard as flint and would not listen to the law or to the words that the Lord Almighty had sent by his Spirit through the earlier prophets. So the Lord Almighty was very angry. 13 “‘When I called, they did not listen; so when they called, I would not listen,’ says the Lord Almighty.” We are supposed to be focused on building the temple, not a building where, as we see today, all effort and money goes into to keep it going. Yes, buildings keep the rain out, but they are not the church and the focus should be on the temple which now has to be rebuilt because God has allowed the abomination that causes desolation to infiltrate and destroy the church. Yes, satan is standing behind pulpits as he is in the person standing there. 2 Thessalonians 2:4 “He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped, so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” Since we are that temple, satan has infiltrated the body of Christ. 

  To turn this around, the church must repent and submit to God instead of focusing on ourselves. Yes, the church does need to be rebuilt, and it will be, but it won’t be with bricks and mortar. Amos 9:11 “In that day “I will restore David’s fallen shelter— I will repair its broken walls and restore its ruins and will rebuild it as it used to be.” Today the church is desolate for the same reasons Israel and Judah became desolate. Jeremiah 9:12 “Who is wise enough to understand this? Who has been instructed by the Lord and can explain it? Why has the land been ruined and laid waste like a desert that no one can cross? 13 The Lord said, “It is because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; they have not obeyed me or followed my law. 14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their ancestors taught them.” Now the church also needs to be rebuilt by the remnant of survivors because it is desolate. Nehemiah 1:1 “The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah: In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, 2 Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem. 3 They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” Jeremiah also said, Jeremiah 7:34 “I will bring an end to the sounds of joy and gladness and to the voices of bride and bridegroom in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem, for the land will become desolate.” Jeremiah 12:10 “Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.” Ezekiel 15:8 “I will make the land desolate because they have been unfaithful, declares the Sovereign Lord.” 2 Chronicles 36:19 “They set fire to God’s temple and broke down the wall of Jerusalem; they burned all the palaces and destroyed everything of value there. 20 He carried into exile to Babylon the remnant, who escaped from the sword, and they became servants to him and his successors until the kingdom of Persia came to power.” The same has happened to the church.  

  To rebuild something means that whatever is to be rebuilt is broken. No, buildings do not need to look better or be more practical or have a coffee shop in them, the body of Christ needs to be rebuilt. Most do not think the church is broken, but scripture states otherwise. This renewal starts with each of us. In the book of Haggai, things get personal. Think about how much an individual spends on themselves. Haggai 1:2 “This is what the Lord Almighty says: “These people say, ‘The time has not yet come to rebuild the Lord’s house.’ 3 Then the word of the Lord came through the prophet Haggai: 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to be living in your paneled houses, while this house remains a ruin?” 5 Now this is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 6 You have planted much, but harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” 7 This is what the Lord Almighty says: “Give careful thought to your ways. 8 Go up into the mountains and bring down timber and build my house, so that I may take pleasure in it and be honored,” says the Lord. 9 “You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home, I blew away. Why?” declares the Lord Almighty. “Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with your own house. 10 Therefore, because of you the heavens have withheld their dew and the earth its crops. 11 I called for a drought on the fields and the mountains, on the grain, the new wine, the olive oil and everything else the ground produces, on people and livestock, and on all the labor of your hands.” Isaiah 17:10 “You have forgotten God your Savior; you have not remembered the Rock, your fortress. Therefore, though you set out the finest plants and plant imported vines, 11 though on the day you set them out, you make them grow, and on the morning when you plant them, you bring them to bud, yet the harvest will be as nothing in the day of disease and incurable pain.” Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.” People will disagree and say we do have a harvest but there is no power, healing or casting out demons. Filling a building based on human strength is not a harvest. 

  Today the church is in ruins and most are focusing on themselves and building their own houses which doesn’t leave much for tithing, if any. Don’t get me wrong, as I do believe in tithing. I am just not a fan of tithing to the church because most churches are following other gospels and a different jesus. In some cases, the tithe goes to the lavish lifestyle of the guru. I do believe there will never be a money issue for the true church as God has promised to always provide. The harvest most say they have is basically transfer growth, which means if they do church better than the others their numbers will increase or another church fails. The problem is the true gospel is not being preached, there is no healing, demons are not cast out and looks nothing like the church was intended to look. We do know that the early church took their eyes off of Jesus and fell apart very quickly as they went their own ways and built with their own hands. Galatians 1:6 “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel— 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!” 2 Corinthians 11:4 “For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Because this happened, the power and authority the church was supposed to have, was removed. Since then, the church has moved further and further away from the truth. Over 2000 years have gone by and the church gets worse but at the same time says all is well with their souls and God be praised. 2 Peter 3:9 “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” I think it is fair to say that the end is near. Even if it is not in our lifetime, each of us only has their lifetime to repent and turn from these wicked ways. Most do not know when their final breath is and sadly most are going to hear Matthew 25:41 “Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” 

  This feed me mentality needs to change. Week after week people who call themselves Christians gather at a building that they think is the church. Most think if they check the went to church box and the do as I am told box, their eternity is set. It may be set just not how they have been led to believe. Matthew 15:7 “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: 8 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 9 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” Every Sunday the leaders hope to have a good service and the people attending hope it will be good also, but don’t keep us too long or tell me I need to change. 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” People can go to church their whole life and still feel upset if the service did not quite meet up to their own desires and appetite. They may even decide to go elsewhere. The reality is the building most call church is filled with gluttons. When I was young, we went to Sunday School, Sunday service, evening service and a weekday event, month after month, year after year. If you were on the board or committee, it would be more. Yet the pastor was expected to feed everyone and make sure their appetites were taken care of. As churches got bigger, they need more leaders which meant more money, bigger buildings. The problem was even with the amount of time people were at church, they were starving. Amos 8:11 “The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine through the land— not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. 12 People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.” There was also no going out to preach the gospel because that is what the pastor was paid to do, but the leaders had their own appetites. Isaiah 56:10 “Israel’s watchmen are blind, they all lack knowledge; they are all mute dogs, they cannot bark; they lie around and dream, they love to sleep. 11 They are dogs with mighty appetites; they never have enough. They are shepherds who lack understanding; they all turn to their own way, they seek their own gain.” Jeremiah 12:10 “Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland.” Then people do as they do even though Paul said, Romans 16:17 “I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people.” Proverbs 23:3 “Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.” Proverbs 9:13 “Folly is an unruly woman; she is simple and knows nothing. 14 She sits at the door of her house, on a seat at the highest point of the city, 15 calling out to those who pass by, who go straight on their way, 16 “Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says, 17 “Stolen water is sweet; food eaten in secret is delicious!” 18 But little do they know that the dead are there, that her guests are deep in the realm of the dead.” 

  The true church, the body of Christ goes out to the ends of the earth with power and authority. Yes, people will gather but there will be power and the church will not look like it does today. Acts 5:12 “The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.” Acts 8:4 “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. 5 Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. 6 When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. 7 For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. 8 So there was great joy in that city.” Picture a group with all the gifts of the Spirit in operation and the true leaders in place. Ephesians 4:11 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, 12 to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up 13 until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. 14 Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. 15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” 1 Corinthians 12:4 There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit distributes them. 5 There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. 6 There are different kinds of working, but in all of them and in everyone it is the same God at work. 7 Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. 8 To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, 10 to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues.”

   I think it is interesting that most have redacted this verse to say, And God placed in the church teachers, helping, guidance. I just saw a video of someone doing that. That is why the church is made up of infants and people are being led astray. Hebrews 5:12 “In fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of God’s word all over again. You need milk, not solid food!” It is also why the church looks nothing like the church Jesus gave authority and power to. The church was supposed to go out and do as Jesus did with the same power and authority. John 14:12 “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. 13 And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.” What did Jesus do? Matthew 4:23 “Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. 24 News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them.” Church is not something you go to for an hour on Sunday in a building, but is to be 24 / 7. Yes, buildings I am sure will be used but that is not the church. Instead of going out in power and authority, the church became about staying in and listening to a few entertain the masses and then try to keep them coming back week after week after week. Jesus did not do everything on His own but chose twelve to do what He was doing and then others and that was supposed to continue especially when the power of Pentecost came.

    Ponder this. Imagine if you had a church / group of people of 70 and they were anointed with power and authority from on High and they were told go out and preach the good news about Jesus Christ, heal the sick, cast out demons and they went out and did as they were told and then came back with joy and said, Luke 10:17 “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” You don’t have to imagine because that is what happened. Jesus said Mark 16:16 “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. 16 Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” 19 After the Lord Jesus had spoken to them, he was taken up into heaven and he sat at the right hand of God. 20 Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.” When the true gospel is preached, God will confirm His word with signs as we see in scripture. Fear not, I am not talking about what the charismatics do because they follow a different gospel and do not have the power and authority the church is supposed to have. What I am talking about is what scripture tells us the church should be doing.

    Turning from wicked ways, which is going our own way, may be costly. Many denominations own the buildings and many will have to walk away but fear not God always provides a way. Jeremiah 32:26 “Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: 27 “I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?” Most will have to part from the denominations / doctrines they have come to believe in. There cannot be fear of losing people because the true gospel always offends. Turning back to God has always caused problems but God is with those who do. Can you imagine the new pope saying, 2 Kings 22:13 “Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.” And then leading the church away from everything Catholic. All denominations also would have to do this, but most will not be like king Josiah. 2 Kings 23:25 “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses.” Focus needs to be taken off the building and placed back on God word and then follow God’s leading. If the church wants the kingdom to come near once again and do as Jesus did, the church must turn from wicked ways and return to the word of God. Most have no idea what the kingdom coming near looks like because they have been taught miracles, signs, wonders, demons cast out is not for today. Because God has promised David there will always be a remnant, there is hope to rebuild the true temple. Zechariah 1:3 “Therefore tell the people: This is what the Lord Almighty says: ‘Return to me,’ declares the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will return to you,’ says the Lord Almighty.” Psalm 80:19 “Restore us, Lord God Almighty; make your face shine on us, that we may be saved.” Daniel 9:17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear, our God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For your sake, my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.” Nehemiah 2:17 “Then I said to them, “You see the trouble we are in: Jerusalem lies in ruins, and its gates have been burned with fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Jerusalem, and we will no longer be in disgrace.” 18 I also told them about the gracious hand of my God on me and what the king had said to me. They replied, “Let us start rebuilding.” So they began this good work. 20 “The God of heaven will give us success. We his servants will start rebuilding.”