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Why The Church of England is a FALSE Church By Malcolm B Heap, Midnight Ministries Copyright © Midnight Ministries Copyright of Midnight Ministries may be waived and this publication duplicated without asking permission, if full credit is given to the source (with the address) and if the contents are not altered. Likewise, publications of Midnight Ministries may be translated into any other language without asking permission, provided that the translation is as accurate as possible to the meaning of the original text, and full credit is given to the source (with the address). The distribution of God's truth should not be restricted by copyright.. |
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Many will take offence at what is written here. However, it is with scriptural authority and prophetic prerogative that I write this article. May you have eyes to perceive the truth.
Paul adjured those who are spiritual:
Preach the word! ...Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching (2 Tim 4:2).
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine... and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables (2 Tim 4:3,4).
0As a follower of Jesus you are also commanded: Walk as children of light... finding out what is acceptable to the Lord (Eph 5:8,10).
There are many things that occur in churches up and down this land which are NOT acceptable to God! That is why Paul castigated, reproved, corrected and exhorted those who claimed to be following Jesus but who weren’t. And he exhorts you:
Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose [reprove] them (Eph 5:11).
"Darkness?! Do you mean to accuse the Church of England of being in darkness?!" Yes. But I do not say it on my authority alone. Read on and see where the C of E is out of step with biblical authority and the faith once delivered to the saints.
A Dream From God
After God indicated to me that I should write this article, He gave a confirming dream to my wife. What Helena received was after I was considering some of the unbiblical practices the Archbishop of Canterbury has got involved in, or given his tacit approval of, or condoned by his failure to speak forthrightly about.
Why would God give this little bit of revelation at that time? The answer is in Mark 16:20 which says:
They went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs (Mrk 16:20).
We have a Dream Diary containing hundreds of dreams from God, confirming His guidance upon this ministry, and authenticating / confirming the message.
I realise it’s an unpalatable message to many, but God does not pander to human whims. He speaks the truth, unashamedly and forthrightly – something which the Church of England has rarely done.
God gives a miraculous sign or revelation just as He has done throughout history since Moses’ time:
Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you, I, the Lord, make Myself known to him in a vision; I speak to him in a dream (Num 12:6).
This was the short dream God gave Helena:
29th Sept 2008. H. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams was inside a rubbish bin. His head and torso were above the lid. He was lonely, rejected and blind. I felt sorry for him and asked him if I could touch his hands and comfort him. He gladly responded. Meaning: This is a spiritual allegory. God is not pleased with the leadership of the C of E. They are blind and – spiritually – consigned to the rubbish bin.
But it shows that ultimately we may be able to help him spiritually.
Heresies and deception cut people off from God.
The Midnight Cry
Jesus warned us all that at this time of the end, shortly before His coming, ALL the bridesmaids would have fallen asleep, spiritually (Matt 25:5).
Then at midnight – a very late hour in God’s plan – "a cry was heard" (Matt 25:6). The prophetic cry is a call to awaken out of spiritual slumber. Slumber is a metaphor for deception. This cry is customarily a call to repentance and humbling. See Isaiah 40:3-8.
The prophet is ‘sent’ to awaken the Bride, so she can get ready for Jesus’ coming.
I am under no illusions about the ‘welcomeness’ of what God assigns to a prophet to say or do. Jesus lamented bitterly over the failure of humanity – especially of the ones He has called – to listen and heed (Matt 23:37). Throughout time, almost without exception, the prophets God used to correct and call for repentance were persecuted and rejected by the religious powers-that-be (Matt 23:29-35). They were vilified, and most were killed!
Such is the prophet’s lot. But it won’t alter his message. That is from God.
Unlike the true prophets, however, the C of E alters its message, and waters down the purity of the Word of God in order to placate unconverted people.
It doesn’t preach unadulterated truth.
It is high time to repent of this compromise – or be destroyed! (More about the Midnight Cry is provided in the booklet The Ten Virgins, and the article The Midnight Cry available from Midnight Ministries.)
Church of England BLASPHEMY No.1
The first blasphemy of the Church of England is that it claims the monarch is the Head of the Church. That one fact alone is enough to demonstrate that this human organisation is NOT God’s Church. For Jesus is the Head of His Church, not England’s monarch.
Notice it in God’s Word:
And He [God] put all things under His [Jesus’] feet, and gave HIM to be head over all things to the church (Eph 1:22). And He [Jesus] is the Head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the pre-eminence (Col 1:18).
Jesus should have the first place, not any man or woman, no matter what church tradition says. Notice what Jesus said about religious tradition:
...you also transgress the commandment of God because of your tradition... Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honour Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me, and in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men (Matt 15:3,7-9).
In what follows later, you will see why many of the teachings and practices of the C of E are half truths and error.
Church of England BLASPHEMY No.2
The Lordship of Christ has been supplanted by men. Instead of Jesus presiding over His Church, He has been replaced by a human board and a hierarchic head (Archbishop of Canterbury) who has effectively a papal position.
Henry VIII may have separated the English Church from that of Papal Rome, but the character of that body is not much different, and the errors in leadership and governance have been continued to a large extent.
She is adjured in Revelation to:
Come out of her, My people, lest you share in her sins, and ... receive of her plagues (Rev 18:4).
But she hasn’t come out.
The blasphemous papal position still continues in the C of E, where a man is elevated to a higher position than all clergy beneath his hierarchic position, and over all laity. What is wrong with this from God’s perspective is fully explained in the book God’s Church – Whose Authority? available from Midnight Ministries.
More about the blasphemous nature of the Church of Rome, and what lies ahead, is provided in MM’s book Understanding The Book of Revelation.
As a Christian, Jesus should be your Lord, your Master, your Teacher, your Guide, your Head, not a man. Notice it in inspired Scripture:
I want you to know that the Head of every man is Christ... (1 Cor 11:3).
Do not be called Rabbi [a hierarchic term at that time asserting religious superiority]; for One is your Leader (alternative to Teacher, margin), the Christ, and you are all brethren (Matt 23:8). Do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ (Matt 23:10).
Jesus warns:
Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled... (Matt 23:12).
Everything that is high and lofty will be pulled down by the power of God (Is 2:11; 5:15). This is part of that correction. How can Jesus be all of the above to us?
Teacher? Through His Word.
Guide? By His Spirit, individually leading us.
But the C of E doesn’t teach people how to come out of a corporate human organisation and follow the lead of the Spirit in small home fellowships, shunning ecclesiastic pomp and control.
It doesn’t teach people how Jesus will lead you into all truth via His Spirit (Jn 16:13). Instead, it asserts its supremacy over you through its hierarchy. The whole system is wrong, unbiblical, and perverse.
You won’t find all available truth in the C of E, because of these blasphemies it perpetrates.
These teachings substitute Jesus and His Spirit.
Church of England BLASPHEMY No.3
In support of its heretical elevation of church leaders, the C of E has traditionally assigned to them titles of veneration. "Reverend" is a title that ONLY belongs to God. Humans are not holy. Therefore they are not to be revered or worshipped. Humans are sinful by nature in this evil world and need God’s redemption. Humans – including church leaders – need atonement for their sins, through Christ. So no man is to be revered or even trusted, so says the Word of God (Jer 17:5; Ps 146:3; Is 2:22).
God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be held in reverence by all those around Him (Ps 89:7).
But nowhere does the Bible say we should give equal reverence to men who claim to represent Him.
Holy and awesome is HIS name (Ps 111:9).
More about this is explained later in the sections entitled What The Bible DOESN’T Say!
Answering Objections
Before I come to some of the doctrinal positions of the C of E which are heretical according to the biblical yardstick, many will already have objections.
"Hang on a minute," you may say, "what about all the good that the Church of England has done? Like the thousands who have been spiritually invigorated by New Wine, by the Renewal Movement, who have received a baptism in the Spirit and spiritual gifts, and the many who have been brought to Christ through its auspices?"
"What about the men like David Pytches who have brought revival or renewal by their embracing the prophetic, and the miraculous? This isn’t a dead, Spirit-less, or old-fashioned church. God has done many wonderful things in the C of E."
I don’t deny the working of God in and through the C of E according to His purposes in bringing some people to salvation through Jesus. BUT, the working of God via someone, or in a church, is not a sign of His approval of all that is taught or takes place.
On the Final Day many will be rejected, despite the fact that He used them for a while in their earthly ministry:
Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the Kingdom of heaven, but he who DOES THE WILL OF MY FATHER in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawless- ness’ (Matt 7:20-23).
You see, God will grant His Spirit to work His wonders even though a minister may not be saved in the end. That minister must himself surrender to God so that he knows Him, which means he submits to and obeys ALL God says, not just what he wants to obey.
So, ‘men of God’ (as perceived by the laity) may speak in tongues, interpret tongues, prophesy, heal the sick, cast out demons, perform other miraculous wonders, yet not be saved. Why? Because their hearts were not sold out to God. They were willing to accept supernatural power and faith from Him for that purpose yet had a wrong motive all along.
They did what they did to be seen of men, or to elevate themselves. Jesus granted the healings and other works of God because of His grace and love for the people whom they would reach, NOT because of the righteousness or right standing those ministers had with Him, because of God’s measureless grace.
False Ministers Are All Over The Place
I’m sure you know of Paul’s warnings about the ubiquitous presence of false ministers:
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform them- selves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works (2 Cor 11:13-15).
In Acts 20:27, Paul stated that he had not shunned to declare to the brethren the whole counsel of God. False ministers don’t do that. They won’t tell you everything, even if they knew it; they only tell you part of God’s truth. And the more false they are, the less truth they tell you. Their selfish motive is to gain a following for themselves, or to maintain stability, or to keep you in their church, or to assure themselves of a salary, or any number of other spurious reasons. Their prime motivation is NOT to give you "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth."
Purity of truth is not to be found in the C of E. More of this later.
Paul called these men "savage wolves" (Acts 20:29). They don’t look like it. They are wolves in sheep’s clothing (Matt 7:15). You can’t detect a ‘wolf’ easily. He looks like a good person. This is not the place to fully explain this travesty of falsity here. It is adequately covered in MM’s publications Apostasy In God’s Church! and Testing The Spirits.
One way to expose a false minister is to present him with purer truth than he already possesses. He will not accept it. Some will attack you for it, or subtly exert their influence against you and against the truth.
For example, God gave a prophecy to Alex Buchanan, in the Church of England, in 1994. This was reported in Prophecy Today magazine, and I reproduced the prophetic word in our journal at that time. It was to the effect that God is restoring the law:
God is looking over the nation, seeing everything; this is the accusation: The leaders of the nation have removed My landmarks – My laws. Therefore judgement has come to the nation and it will continue to come in greater severity. Many leaders in My own Church have removed My landmarks – My laws. Therefore I am shaking My church in severe judgement. Remember what I have written: ‘Cursed are those who remove the landmarks.’ Calvary shows the depth of My anger against lawlessness; it was there that I removed the curse of the law from My people, but did not remove their obligation to honour the law. I gave My laws to be safeguards, and a blessing. I look now for those who will restore the laws to a place of priority in their hearts, their homes, and their congregations.
I have no objections about the prophecy or its accuracy. But I soon found Alex Buchanan had an objection towards me! When I wrote to him, explaining that God meant him and the entire Church of England to be keeping God’s laws (most of which are located in the OT), he rudely and arrogantly dismissed me and what I wrote to him. He was above correction! This is the lawlessness of which Jesus warned in Matthew 7:23, and was the reason God gave the prophecy to him and not to me or someone else who already accepts the biblical law as our moral standard.
God gives prophetic gifts to various people for various reasons. One reason is to bring the recipient under judgement – something very few people realise. Of course, that’s not the only reason.
An obvious reason is to shine more light on the truth so that those who are truly God-fearing can move ahead spiritually (Lk 1:79; 1 Cor 14:3,4).
But one unwelcome repercussion of such gifts in use in the Church is the downfall of those who use them to elevate themselves. This unseen purpose is part of the meaning hidden in Simeon’s prophecy of the coming of Jesus:
This Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against (Lk 2:34).
I mentioned the bishop David Pytches earlier. In Chorleywood he has built a large church through his progressiveness. At one time he pioneered openness towards prophets and the prophetic. However, when he found that those prophets actually threatened his own position of control over the church, he subtly tried to neutralise their influence and spoke against them. It was clear to those with discernment that he wanted to maintain pre-eminence for himself, like the biblical example Diotrephes (3 Jn 9). Diotrephes even threw out the apostle John in order to consolidate his power and hold over believers!
Jesus said you would know a false minister by his spiritual fruits (Matt 7:16). Seeking power, control, influence, position, or elevation instead of pure truth are giveaways. More is explained in Apostasy In God’s Church!
When the ‘Toronto Blessing’ (which is actually a curse in clever disguise) came to town, David Pytches was quick to try and get on board. And the devil is only too pleased to grant experience-seekers a ‘thrill’. Animalistic manifestations ‘graced’ his church, as he spread these demonic experiences amongst those who did not test him (1 Jn 4:1), but instead trusted him.
Jesus did warn us:
Many false prophets will rise up and deceive many (Matt 24:11). For many will come in My name... and will deceive many (Matt 24:5).
But their motives are far from pure or laudable!
The Archbishop Of York
Look at John Sentamu, Archbishop of York. He may be a colourful character, but personality and being outspoken are not primary spiritual attributes which God is looking for.
Since his investiture, he has sought every opportunity to make his position more prominent and influential. Jesus said:
Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly (Matt 6:1-4).
You get the point, I’m sure:
Don’t try to draw attention to yourself.
Likewise, Jesus said, when you pray or fast, don’t make a big to-do about it (Matt 6:5 and 6:16).
But... when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly (Matt 6:6). ...when you fast... do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly (Matt 6:18).
But Bishop Sentamu prefers the attention of men than of God. When he fasted, he announced it to the whole world, invited the media to see him camping in a tent inside ‘his’ Cathedral, and thinks that such an escapade brings the name of Jesus more prominence!
Can you believe it!? It brings the bishop more prominence than Jesus! And makes Jesus look foolish, that He would sanction such behaviour!
The trouble is, Jesus does not sanction it. He decries it!
Then we have John Sentamu’s publicity stunt, jumping out of an aeroplane with a Red Devil on his back at 13,000 feet "to raise money for charity". An appropriate height from which to jump with the devil! But not an appropriate thing to do for money!
What’s wrong with the man that he thinks such stunts bring Jesus’ name glory?! He’s unconverted. That’s why he is so misguided.
Is Jesus so incapable of providing money that He has to have a bishop do what the world does to get people’s attention? Doesn’t Jesus promise to provide whatever is needed for HIS Work? Yes, He does. You can read it for yourself in Matthew 6:33. So believe it.
Sentamu was ostensibly raising funds for a charity which supports families of paratroopers killed or wounded in Afghanistan. A laudable cause on the surface, humanly speaking. But not for a churchman, who is supposed to be walking by faith, not falling from the sky.
Perhaps that is a parody of his spiritual course, like the one who preceded all who seek glory for themselves. You can read who that was in Luke 10:18.
Besides these travesties, Sentamu has sought to use his elevated position to make political statements at almost every opportunity. Yet a minister of Jesus Christ is not to be involved in the affairs of this world (2 Tim 2:4), this present evil world (Gal 1:4). Jesus said of this satanic order of things:
My kingdom is not of this world... (Jn 18:36).
So, why does John Sentamu behave as if he has a right to pronounce politically? For at least two reasons:
Jesus doesn’t need John Sentamu’s help to intervene in human affairs on His behalf. No true man of faith behaves like that. These are the actions and talk of a fake, not a man of faith.
I sent him a packet of MM literature many months ago. There was no response at all; not even an acknowledgement!
He doesn’t champion the cause of truth before his own cause or that of his church. If there is a conflict of interests between truth and his church – the Church of England – the latter takes precedence.
Thus, his aspirations are human, not divine. He is a poser, a performer; colourful but deceived.
Always remember what Jesus said of hypocrites and wolves:
By their fruits you will know them (Matt 7:20).
You’ve got to test the spirits, because many false prophets have gone out (1 Jn 4:1). They are actually part of the spirit of Antichrist (1 Jn 4:3), because their modus operandi supplants Christ and subtly opposes what God is doing in restoring His Way and Truth.
Humanism, Not Christianity
The problem with the Church of England is that it no longer promotes Christianity. Humanism has taken its place. Just to cite a mere handful of examples:
The list could go on and on of instances where men in the Church of England who claim to represent God and uphold His Word are doing nothing of the sort! Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit (Matt 12:33).
The above should be sufficient to show that the C of E tree is bad! Jesus’ castigation of the religious leaders of His time is as apt in our day: Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Matt 12:34).
Holy Trinity, Brompton "What of Nicky Gumbel’s highly successful and much applauded Alpha Course? Surely that is a good advert for the Church of England?" I’m afraid not. In a dream God gave me on 6th April 2001, He likened the Alpha Course to masturbation. The dream was shocking. It was meant to appal. (See MM’s write-up titled The Alpha Course.) God calls people into holy wedlock with Him through Christ. The Church is supposed to be the Bride of Christ and to enjoy the spiritual counterpart of marital union (although much higher than the physical relationship). Marriage is meant to be a giving relationship, in which sex is enjoyed in its purity by giving to the other partner, not taking what you want. However, Alpha reverses the motivation and dirties the product. It appeals to the basic instincts of human nature – to get for oneself – using Jesus for self. It is aptly named, for it is only a beginning, by no means the end. Jesus is both Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. There is much more truth needed, as MM literature reveals. God Is Not Found In Men’s Institutions About a decade ago I was writing to Derek Prince, who had an international teaching ministry. He had become elevated by the widespread influence and scope of his work. His enterprise had grown into an established institution. As I wrote that letter to Derek Prince, God spoke and said: I am not found in the institutions of men. I was somewhat taken aback at first. But Derek Prince, as good as he was, refused further truth from me, and didn’t move ahead. He retrogressed, despite how far he had come. Actually, it was because of how far he had come that he backtracked from then on. When men get lifted up by success, pride insidiously enters. The bigger the church, or the more numerous the converts, or the larger the following, the greater the pull of pride. It’s not seen, but it’s there. Deception follows in its wake. That’s why all the big name evangelists have big heresies in their portfolio. And it shouldn’t surprise you that the highly elevated Archbishops and Bishops of the C of E are not exempt from gross deception! We see much confusion in the Church of England today. Such is the product of Satan’s work: For God is not the author of confusion but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints (1 Cor 14:33).
Rowan Williams, Archbishop Of Canterbury
Returning to the dream which God gave Helena on 29th September 2008 about Rowan Williams, he was portrayed rejected and in the dustbin. Here’s why.
God has presently rejected him. So he is not able to give moral leadership, and it is why he is so deceived and misguided. Deception follows in the wake of being lifted up. Pride automatically leads to a spiritual fall. Pure truth is the first casualty of elevation of church leaders.
Rowan Williams has accepted or approved or tolerated, for humanistic reasons, the following.
(The section that follows is excerpted from a web page entitled First Plumbline Apologetics, and is found at: http://firstplumbline.blogspot.com/2008/04/deceptions.)
Most Rev Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury, Pro-Homosexual, Pro-Freemason and a Druid...
Dr Rowan Williams becomes an Eisteddfod 'druid'
The new Archbishop of Canterbury has been inducted as a druid in a centuries-old Celtic ceremony. Dr Williams became a member of the highest of the three orders of the Gorsedd of Bards – a 1,300-strong circle of Wales' key cultural contributors – in a ceremony at this year's National Eisteddfod celebration of Welsh culture in St Davids, Pembrokeshire.
Dr Williams, 52, wore a long white cloak without any head-dress as he arrived at the back of the procession.
Rowan Williams apologises to Freemasons and Endorses Freemasonry. By Chris Hastings and Elizabeth Day
The Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, has been forced to apologise to Britain's 330,000 Freemasons after he said that their beliefs were incompatible with Christianity and that he had rejected them from senior posts in his diocese.
"The Archbishop apologises for the ‘distress’ he caused and discloses that his own father was a member of the Craft."
Freemasons, many of whom are active members of the Church of England, reacted angrily to his disclosure that he "had real misgivings about the compatibility of Masonry and Christian profession".
A spokesman said the Archbishop was worried about the ritual element of Freemasonry, which has been seen as "satanically inspired". [It is! – MM.]
"He claims that his views were never meant to be public and were distorted by the media."
He added: "The quoted statements about the 'satanic' character of the Masonic ceremonies and other matters did not come from me and do not represent my judgment. Since my late father was a member of the Craft for many years, I have had every opportunity of observing the probity of individual members."
Dr Williams does not, in his letter, deny that he has misgivings about the role of Freemasons within the Church.
He wrote: "Where anxieties exist, however, they are in relation not to Freemasonry but to Christian ministers subscribing to what could be and often is understood [or misunderstood] as a private system of profession and initiation, involving the taking of oaths of loyalty."
Archbishop Rowan Williams Strongly Pro-Homosexual
The Anglican Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, is strongly pro-homosexual. But he is equally strongly a Church conservative in terms of Church order.
He strongly favors the approval of homosexuality, but equally strongly insists that the homosexualists must wait until the Church at large approves such a lifestyle. That puts him in direct conflict with the realities of Christian faith.
He is going to get shot at from both sides.
He argues that there is more to homosexuality than Romans 1, the passage most frequently cited by evangelicals where St Paul attacks the "unseemly" passions of men with men.
Dr Williams goes on to set out a possible case for active same-sex relationships by arguing that revisionists who support "sexual expression" for homosexuals may, like evangelicals, be trying to be faithful to the Bible.
His arguments, couched in diplomatic theology, make clear his support for committed gay partnerships and his belief that the Church’s traditional ban on homosexual activity should not apply to those in faithful gay relationships.
Dr Williams says that there are plenty of homosexual Christians who do not recognise themselves in Romans 1, where St Paul condemns a society where "God gave them up unto vile affections", where women turned to lesbian love and "the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burnt in their lust one toward another".
Archbishop sparks row after holding secret communion for gay clergy By OLINKA KOSTER ... 31st December 2007
A row erupted yesterday after it emerged the Archbishop of Canterbury kept the details of a communion service for gay clergy so secret that he failed to inform the Bishop of London it was taking place in his diocese. Dr Rowan Williams reignited the row that is causing divisions within the Anglican Church after agreeing to hold a Eucharist for homosexual, lesbian, bisexual and transgender clergy.
Details of the service, attended by around 100 people, emerged yesterday, with the Archbishop said to have spoken openly about the future for gay people in the church.
...The service was held at the end of last year (2007) in All Hallows by the Tower, a 7th Century church in the City of London, after the original venue, the liberal St Peter's Church in Belgravia, was "outed" on a hostile website. (End of web page excerpt.)
The Archbishop, Rowan Williams is a nice man. But human respectability hides many demons. Jesus once castigated Peter for his satanic motivation (Matt 16:23). Equally Jesus reproves churchmen today! Not that they listen.
Rowan Williams is a man-pleaser, and tries to be a diplomat. You can’t be a diplomat AND live by the Word of God. The two are incompatible. God says what is right, just and true. Ours is to obey it, not compromise it! Christians are to fear and obey God, not man (Acts 5:29).
C of E Door Open, But NOT To Jesus!
The problem with the C of E, and with most of its churchmen, is that human considerations have largely replaced biblical precept and moral principle.
The church leaves the door wide open for anything and everything to enter. This liberalism was portrayed in this dream from God to Helena:
11th February 2007. H. The Church of England. I went to visit a building complex which was spread out with many doors and open-plan inside. There were many beds near the walls, creating cosy areas for people to settle down to rest or sleep. Many people came and went. I was concerned for the people, because their spiritual safety was in danger, with the enemy being free to enter at any time. I had the key [the truth of God which gives people access to God and His heavenly kingdom] to lock the doors, but with so many doors I didn’t think it would be feasible. [We cannot reach people inside the C of E. You can.] Comment: God gives us the keys to keep the Church safe. God’s truth in His Word gives us the protection from Satan and demonic powers. We have that key in publications:
Dream: When I went outside there were a few people who were friendly. There were a couple of beautiful birds walking nearby [symbol of spiritual beauty to God in two people who are a blessing to us; they live God’s way]. Comment: The building represents the Church in England which is spiritually weak and open to the enemy. The beds symbolise the spiritually sleepy state inside.
The Church of England today is more concerned about the repair of buildings, and the physical preservation of its human structure, than the spiritual health of the people who are meant to be the building of God (2 Cor 6:16).
Because of this somnolence, compromise and neglect, God is doing His Work of preparing His Bride, spiritually beautifying His people OUTSIDE organised churches, outside the C of E, not inside.
In Revelation, these large institutionalised churches and denominations are depicted by the term ‘outer court’. They are not in God’s presence; they are not close to Him. They shut Him outside.
God is now working with individuals, NOT corporate entities. His Spirit is drawing people OUT of churches and into home fellowships, where the full latitude is given for the Spirit to move, teach and lead. Hence Revelation depicts in symbol these believers being ‘measured’. The angel says to John:
...Rise and measure the temple of God, the altar, and those who worship there. But leave out the court which is outside the temple, and do not measure it, for it has been given to the Gentiles. And they will tread the holy city underfoot for 42 months (Rev 11:1,2).
The holy city is not only Jerusalem, but that which Jerusalem represents prophetically – the Church.
Most Christians are blithely unaware that the Church as we know it now is going to be completely overwhelmed and subjugated by secular powers in the Great Tribulation that is coming very soon! But most Christians don’t care to know and don’t believe it, because they have been lulled to sleep by their mentors, many of whom are false ministers
God sends warnings through prophets, but O how few heed! Neither do they want new truth.
If you think that the C of E is open to further truth from prophets whom God has ‘sent’, try them out – give or send some MM literature to them, and see how it is rejected and ignored, except marginally for selfish reasons. (A very few take information from MM lit, and use it for their own advantage, but most just ignore it.) This dream reveals:
20th August 2007. H. Neighbour ignores us. A neighbour was doing some gardening [depicts some from the C of E]. There was a fence between us. I was trying to talk to her but she ignored me. She was too selfish to be bothered. This attitude is reflected in churches today, Church of England included.
The trouble is, when Jesus sends a prophet with more truth that believers need to accept, they have not merely rejected the prophet, they have rejected the One who sent him (Matt 10:40,41; Luke 10:16). I think you can see now why He has to allow the Great Tribulation to decimate the Church! They don’t care for more of Him. They only want what they want, not what HE wants.
Scripture reveals God’s austerity, about which they are oblivious:
Because I have called and you refused, I have stretched out My hand and no one regarded, ...I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes... Then they will call on Me, but I will not answer; they will seek Me diligently but will not find Me (Prov 1:24,26,28).
Therefore consider the goodness and severity of God: on those who fell, severity; but toward you, goodness, if you continue in His goodness. Otherwise, you also will be cut off (Rom 11:22).
This is one thing you will not hear preached in your average church. You hear of grace, grace, grace. But severity...? Tribulation? And GREAT Tribulation...?
It’s in the Word (Matt 24:21,22; Jer 30:7; Dan 12:1). But it’s rarely mentioned in the Church!
Much more information on the Great Tribulation and events to come is provided in Understanding The Book of Revelation (from MM). God Speaks Through Dreams
The following is a selection of dreams which God has given us which have relevance to the Church of England. [H = Helena Heap’s. M = Malcolm Heap’s.]
Hostile And Arrogant C of E Leader
14th January 2006. H. Arrogant young boy. I was talking to a young boy but he was arrogant and argumentative. Whatever I said, he twisted. Meaning: That day I received a response from a C of E leader after receiving our literature. I thought he would be objective and open-minded but his response was hostile. Church Of England Monster
15th September 2007. H. I saw a red square flash before me, giving a warning of danger. Then a large fish opened its big mouth and the fish then changed into a monster. Comment: This was fulfilled by a news report about the Church of England speaking out through the Archbishop of Canterbury on moral and family issues, on our broken society and multiculturalism. One of the bishops asked for political intervention in Zimbabwe – John Sentamu, Bishop of York. Some months previously, I had sent him a packet of MM literature. There wasn’t even an acknowledgement, let alone a reply of worth! Why? Because he’s arrogant, proud, and part of that cult. He would not recognise us because we don’t submit to the C of E, or come under their ‘umbrella’. He would probably regard me as a false prophet. The discussion and pronouncement might seem good, but in reality, it is totally inadequate without teaching true moral standards from the Bible. Instead of speaking up for God, the church has become a powerful human institution, but which has lost its way spiritually, holding its members in spiritual poverty and deception.
Heroic Motorbike Ride
25th July 2008. M. Motorbike power race. A rider was making a bid to break the world record for a motorbike race. But he was the only rider. He swept along the road at breakneck speed, through all the things that you find in towns, without hitting anything or anyone. It was amazing! Then along a broad stretch of road, a woman was crossing the road with her pushchair. It was either a pelican crossing or a zebra crossing, but he didn’t stop or even slow down. In a masterly move, he swept in front of the woman. His speed must have been about 200 mph! She looked after him, stunned, as he zoomed past. That scene then ended. Two other scenes then followed, one which featured Richard around the corner. Then I was in a house, hurrying to get my push bike in the hallway out of the door. Someone else was also accompanying me with their bicycle. Meaning: The motorbike is a symbol of the fast moving (incredibly so!) powerful miracle phase of this ministry, soon to come. MM’s work is unique (the only one in the race). At first I didn’t think I was the rider (who is really Jesus), but then I was the hero on the bike breaking the world record. I felt real elation at having accomplished the feat! (What all will feel who make it into the Kingdom.) Sweeping through the built up areas is symbolic of how the witness of what is said and done will pass through. People will hear and know. God will pass through. (How many will care to stop and take notice, however, is another matter.) The woman with pushchair is most probably a symbol of the Church of England in this country. C of E members are like small children who are pushed by their leaders. The broad road she was crossing is the world’s way.
The Public Outreach Coming
19th August 2007. H. Double-decker bus. A double-decker bus travelled through the town, reaching out to others with MM literature. The next time the same bus travelled through the town, there was a big lamp post in the middle of the road. The bus ran into this obstacle, which caused damage to the bus. Meaning: The bus represents MM in the next stage of the Work – the public witness. The obstacle is the established church, probably Church of England, blocking the next move of God. The church will not accept new truth, and will argue against it, causing damage to the restoration and to us.
Silenced By MM Literature
11th January 2006. H. 1) Elderly man gagged. I saw the face of an elderly man gagged. Meaning: This is a C of E leader who received some MM literature. The truth and prophecies explained would have given him a shock, hence the imagery of him being gagged. Because of his elevated position and the sleepy church environment he is used to, he is unprepared for the events of the last days before Jesus’ return.
Church of England Half Naked
29th September 2005. H. Half-naked woman. A woman was walking on the main road. She was half-naked, wearing only a top. She felt uneasy as a taxi driver showed her attention when she was passing by. She passed through a big gathering with people coming and going [may be a symbol of the coming publicity]. The queen was nearby with a black hat. The woman carried on her journey up the stairs. A man pursued her, intending to assault her. She managed to get a stone and threatened him. Meaning: She is a symbol of people in the Church of England. Half naked spiritually, they are not ready for the return of Jesus Christ. She is not free to leave as the church leaders don’t let her go. She had to fight them off with the Word of God (the stone). By living God’s way, the church will become fully clothed. The queen’s black hat depicts the deadness of the church.
Deception In Church Of England
29th March 2006. H. Vicar and spiritual deception. As I was walking down the road, a vicar (minister in the Church of England) was coming towards me. When he passed [their spiritual direction is not the same as ours], he looked back and asked, "Is that you?" I answered, "Yes, it is me." The vicar’s face was red. [Drunkenness produces a red face. Drunkenness depicts spiritual deception (Rev 17:2).] Meaning: Publicity will make us relatively well known to the organised church leadership. They will be rather puzzled by us. The church leaders have failed to prepare the church (the people comprise the church, not a building, nor the leadership – ‘ecclesiastics’ – nor the organisation) for Jesus’ return. Going the opposite way down the road depicts the fact that they are not in the will of God any longer.
Christ or Antichrist? (From MM's journal Awake! Awake! Sept 1999)
The former Archbishop of Canterbury (George Carey), the Church of England’s most leading figure, said that he could not be sure that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. He claimed we "cannot know" for sure.
When I read of his words – in the Daily Mail, August 1st, 1999 – I felt angry. It sparked a heated response from others, too, who knew he should have known better.
"If he cannot know for sure, then what hope have the rest of us got?" is the question that many ordinary believers raise. The truth is, we CAN know for sure! The evidence is there for simple believers to see. It is in the gospels that have been preserved for us as historical documents. (If Jesus’ resurrection had been a hoax, we would not have these records to substantiate that He did resurrect!)
There is also the evidence in supernatural apparitions. He has appeared to MANY, even many in our time. There are numerous books containing the personal accounts of people who have met Him, either in vision, or some other unusual way. One is I Am With You Always by G Scott Sparrow, Pan Books.
But the Archbishop is either ignorant of these things, or prefers not to believe them.
And that is the crux of this issue, because, despite the evidence, it can be disbelieved. Faith is a prerequisite to accepting that Jesus rose from the dead, precisely as He said He would. And that faith is a God-given gift. That is why God has arranged things in just such a fashion, why the evidence for the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus is not brim full and running over in secular accounts. Satan doesn’t want it to be known, and God has allowed the world to be blinded and ignorant on spiritual matters of vital truth.
God is not trying to get the whole world saved.... right now. He is only saving a few. And the faith He gives those few is not shared by the majority. So, such issues remain in relative obscurity to the world of man and to the man of the world. The man of the world doesn’t care to know. He doesn’t care to believe. And the Archbishop doesn’t care to believe either – which makes him an unbeliever. What makes a Christian true is explained in MM’s booklet The Mark of a True Christian.
Paul predicted:
For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things.... (Acts 20:29,30).
For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ (2 Cor 11:13).
The Archbishop of Canterbury is not a true Christian. If he were, he would never have cast doubt on the validity of Jesus’ resurrection – the most central, fundamental, pivotal, foundational, bedrock truth upon which the true Church of Jesus is founded! His statement of doubt is a satanic dart, meant to kill the faith of the gullible and undermine the truth of God’s Word.
The truth that Jesus is alive is evidenced in every true Christian believer, whose faith in Jesus is vibrant, and whose works demonstrate that He lives in them. THAT is the proof that Jesus was resurrected! But it’s not something the world cares to see, nor the Archbishop of Canterbury, despite feigned words he might utter to justify himself.
The truth is, he represents the growing body of Antichrist. He prefers to be part of the world in that regard, not part of God’s chosen!
At the end of the first century, doubts arose as to the validity of Jesus’ claim to be the Messiah. These doubts arose IN THE CHURCH! The question which gained prominence then, was not about Jesus’ resurrection, so much as "Did He come in the flesh?" "Was He a mortal man, or did He somehow come in another form, and thereby not really die?"
"If He were some sort of spiritual body, without flesh and blood like us, then He could have seemed to die, but not die at all." In other words, Jesus could have faked His death.
These were the devious reasonings which undermined the faith of many back then. John labelled them for what they were – the demented machinations of Antichrist (2 Jn 7). "Who is a liar, but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son" (1 Jn 2:22).
Denial of Jesus is not necessarily overt. It can be covert, too. People deny Him in word and in deed. Lifestyle denial may be the biggest enemy within the Church. There are many false Christians masquerading as true, mouthing words that pay lip service to Jesus, but whose hearts are far from Him. And there you will always find a home for doubt.
The Mastermind Behind Antichrist
Satan is the mastermind behind doubts. He is out to deceive. And his most important target is the Church. He wants to delude true believers. His technique is clever. It contains three prongs, like the proverbial devil’s pitch-fork:
Everything in the Christian life hinges upon faith. If Satan can destroy your faith in some basic way, he is close to destroying you for eternity.
Israel was destroyed in the wilderness because they did not have the foundation of faith. Satan subverted it. That led to disobedience. God could not work with them because they didn’t trust Him; so that generation died (Num 14:11,22).
Many believers die today because they don’t trust God. They don’t trust Him for their healing, or in a number of other ways. Nothing grieves God more than to see His children lose faith in Him!
Satanic Doctrinal Subterfuge
Lack of faith accompanies many doctrinal delusions, too. Satan knows how to cast doubt upon biblical truth. Querying the resurrection of Jesus or questioning His deity have been two critical ones for centuries. But there are more subtle pitfalls which have claimed victims throughout most of the modern Church. Take this one, for instance:
The Bible clearly denotes that we should obey God (Acts 5:29, 32; 4:19; Mt 19:17). One of the commandments of God states categorically that we should all rest on the seventh day of the week (Ex 20:8-11; Deut 5:12-16). Jesus said this command was not just made for the Jew, but for all mankind (Mark 2:27).
But the majority of the Church questions this. If you were one of the original disciples who had been with Jesus, I doubt if it would have ever crossed your mind that the traditional Sabbath keeping policy of ALL true believers back then could have come into question! Yet, here we are today with a Church which is so fundamentally different from the Church Jesus founded! Most Christians rest on Sunday, not on the Sabbath which Jesus and all true believers observed! For Peter or Paul, it would have been hard to believe that such a thing could ever happen!
We can believe it today, because we see it. But you would not have imagined it developing if you had never lived in this Babylonish system! (Yes, Sunday observance is rooted in Babylonian paganism, and Babylonian mysteries have been adopted by the Catholic Church. Hence God’s condemnation of Babylon and the Catholic Church in Revelation.)
This transition from Sabbath to Sunday came about as a result of satanic questioning. Satan caused some (false) Christian teachers to question original pure truth and to suggest an alternative. That alternative looked very much more appealing in times of vicious anti-Semitic persecution under the Emperors Hadrian and Diocletian.
Most of the so-called Church Fathers in the 2nd century promoted some form of anti-Sabbath or anti-Jewish propaganda for various reasons. Some of them may have not done this out of malicious motive or to be deliberately subversive. Satan, remember, comes as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14). He deludes and deceives. And some of the Church Fathers may have been good men with bent theology. But the fact remains that the original truths of the Bible have been very much subverted. Today, we see a Church that has lost almost all of the correct traditions that Paul admonished they be careful to retain (2 Thes 2:15).
[A summary of early Church traditions is provided in MM’s booklet The Faith Once Delivered to the Saints.]
State persecution and oppression was the catalyst for these spurious teachings to be adopted by many. And those who adamantly refused to comply with State legislation, which came mainly in the 4th century and after, lost their lives for their faithfulness to God’s Word.
...they did not love their lives to... death (Rev 12:11).
Possibly, many weak Christians adopted Sunday instead of the Sabbath in order to distance themselves from anything which appeared Jewish to the world, and which would bring them under threat of persecution, confiscation of property, imprisonment or even death.
However, those who did this, knowing that God did not approve, had committed the fateful mistake of all the wicked from time immemorial. They had opted for the easy way out, willingly taking the Mark of the Beast and being stamped with his number, 666 (Rev 13:18). They sacrificed true divine tradition for a man-made substitute. Thus, they worshipped and followed man, instead of God.
That is the aim of Antichrist – to subvert true faith. The West’s modern counterpart is humanism, with its theology of rationalism. Antichrist replaces What The Bible Doesn’t Say Misconceptions abound – not only in the world, but also in the Church – about what the Bible really says. In these articles, we take a closer look at the most popular misconceptions Satan has foisted on God’s people.
1. LEADERSHIP IN THE CHURCH
One of the last warnings Jesus gave His disciples before His death concerned deception: "Watch out that no one deceives YOU" (Matt 24:4).
This alert is directed to us – Christians, those called of God and bought by the blood of Christ – those to whom God is revealing Himself.
It may seem incongruous that we, who are being called out of this world to have our minds opened to the truths of God’s Word, should still be subject to Satan’s deceptions. But Rome was not built in a day. How can we expect the city of God to be completed overnight?
Jesus’ caveat is a continual reminder to us not to become complacent while we still live in Satan’s domain. Some Christians have complacently assumed that the admonition to beware being deceived is not directed to them, but is advice for those in the world. I have even heard some go so far as to say that the elect can’t be deceived! Those with that frame of mind are the most deceived!
FALSE MESSIAHS
Jesus declared:
For MANY will come in My name (Matt 24:5).
That is undeniable. Many have come in His name. But how can we be sure which, of all of those who have come in His name, are truly His?
You must...
Test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world (1 Jn 4:1, NIV).
There is a direct test:
By their fruits you will know them (Matt 7:16,20, NIV).
What spirit is displayed by a religious leader who stockpiles weapons and incendiary devices to further his aims? What spirit is evidenced by a lifestyle of sexual debauchery and licentious indulgence which contravenes the right moral principle protecting the sanctity of marriage? What spirit is it which causes a church leader to seek power and control over others, to want pre-eminence? He may ‘preach Christ’. He may have a powerful personality. He may read the Bible and encourage others to do so, but so what? Disregard what he says. What do his actions say?
Far too many Christians are naïvely fooled by deceivers for one reason. They listen to what the man says without taking notice of the personal fruits of his life. They agree with his ‘doctrines'. They find a commonality of belief and then continue to follow everything he says. They accept him as their leader. They follow him, not Christ. Thus, he becomes their Christ – a false Messiah.
This is what Jesus was warning us against. It is possibly the greatest single danger in Christendom. It is a huge deception. Yet its manifestation can be so subtle, so hard to detect! It is easy to be deceived.
My wife and I know from firsthand experience. We were members of a ‘Christian cult’ for about 20 years. We have been through the experience of misplaced loyalties. We have experienced the subtle deceptions which cause a man to supplant the position of Christ in our minds.
Jesus called my wife and me through a cult. He began to draw us to Him through that avenue. He caused us to be drawn into a cult situation – deliberately. That may sound strange to others who have not been through a cult experience. They may think cults serve no constructive purpose. (I don’t disagree that their philosophies can be highly destructive!) But God allows these deceptive movements to abound – for a reason. They provide a learning exercise.
Why did Jesus come to deliver us from sin and deception and then ‘go away’ and leave us to Satan’s devices? It is a test: a test of whom we will follow. Will we follow man, or follow God? That has been the acid test throughout history. It didn’t change when Jesus came, although He showed us how we could rely upon His Spirit to guide and lead us through every difficulty.
We are not to look to men, but to God.
In one respect, mainline churches are really no different from the cults. Cults take some things to extremes, but there is a fundamental principle that is a weakness of every ‘respectable’ organised church. The cults are not the only groups who gain control through psychological manipulation. It is an ever present danger in any humanly organised group.
The biggest cult of all is the Roman Catholic Church. She is the mother of harlots in the west (Rev 17:5). Her daughter churches have inherited customs and ways that are equally promiscuous in God’s sight. I know of churches whose psychological manipulation of members may not be apparent, but who nonetheless have a profound effect upon their members.
Peer pressure does not leave us when we reach our twenties or thirties. It continues on in more discreet ways, even when we turn our lives over to Christ. In churches you can be pressured by majority views – without realising it – to deny new truth and follow the crowd.
You can allow yourself to become deceived. It is easier to be deceived than to come out of the ways which the great prostitute in Rome has ‘landed’ on the whole Christian world.
THE IMAGE OF THE BEAST
The final trial to envelop the Christian world is one which will centre on the decision we make whether to follow man, or follow God. 666 is the number of the Beast, who, through psychological coercion, forces men to accept a mark (Rev 13:16-18). Its acceptance will cause you to come under God’s condemnation (Rev 14:9,10). It is that serious!
Taking this mark involves acceptance of compromise: a decision to accept human leadership in place of Christ’s. The alternatives are not clear to most. But the bottom line involves your loyalty. Will you be 100% loyal to God, or will you water down your obedience to make life easier for yourself when things get rough?
The mark of the Beast involves deception – clever, subtle, cunning deception! It revolves around the establishment of an image of the Beast (Rev 13:15). Do you know what this implies?
The Beast in question is the final resurrection of the ‘Holy’ Roman Empire, and the ‘dictator’ or president of that union. Rome brought all western peoples under its subjugation in previous reigns. It strengthened its political power by religious fusion. It gained favour from the prelates of the Roman Catholic Church, whose psychological manipulation caused many to worship the papacy. Instead of worshipping and obeying Christ, the citizens worshipped and obeyed a man who had usurped His office. The combination of, and co-operation between the secular and religious arms of the Roman government caused huge peer pressure to be exerted upon those who did not want to commit such idolatry.
True Christians were martyred for their refusal to submit to Rome.
The image of the Beast is that illicit system of rulership in the Church which permits men to hold sway over the minds of others. We are not to follow church leaders but to follow our Church Leader, Jesus Christ.
Subservience to man – to those who lead congregations, churches or organisations – is evident wherever you care to look. It is not confined to the Church in Rome. The excesses are more pronounced there, but they are equally present in many other quarters of Christendom where they are more subtle. Many Christians are deceived and don’t see these abuses for what they are – flagrantly idolatrous!
Christians are like sheep. They follow others. They may follow the crowd, and they may follow their church leaders. But they should not do so implicitly.
It may come as a shock, but EVERY organised church comes under Jesus’ condemnation in this respect: they have established human rule. It is wrong.
In spiritual administration, churches have a hierarchic system of rulership. Government is from the top down. That is a throwback to Babylon. Hierarchic rule was never an administrative option Jesus offered His Church. Jesus said categorically:
You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority OVER them. Not so with you (Matt 20:25,26, NIV).
Yet it IS SO in church organisations! They have adopted identical systems of ruling to that which the Roman Beast practised. They have raised up their images to the Beast!
Through a centralised structure, church leaders decide on doctrine and then impose it very subtly upon those whom they teach – errors and all. It is not intentional, but it occurs because the wrong system of government has been developed. Jesus gave no guidelines for government in the Church, other than one: through the Holy Spirit. Thus, rule by men goes out the window. Guidance by the Holy Spirit comes in. God’s love takes over from human (satanic!) control. And Christ can have His way in the Church.
That is how it ought to be! But the Church has been deceived. It has been duped into accepting a counterfeit form, one adopted by Rome from the Babylonian system which originated with Nimrod, who usurped God’s rightful leadership role. We hear a lot in the Church today about leaders, from leaders! Beware! You have only one Leader, and He is not visible (Matt 23:9,10).
Don’t be fooled into accepting a counterfeit. Awake! Come out to meet your Bridegroom (Matt 25:6). Come out of Babylon (Rev 18:4). What The Bible Doesn’t Say 2. DID JESUS FULFIL THE LAW FOR US?
One of the most popular current teachings is that Jesus fulfilled and annulled the law of the Old Testament. It is claimed that when Jesus died, He nailed to the cross all the Old Testament rituals and laws. He abrogated them and replaced them with another ‘law of love’, doing away with all the ‘harsh’ legalistic principles that God had given Israel through Moses.
The only problem with this very appealing concept is that it is a LIE! A massive lie!
In the first ‘sermon’ Jesus uttered in His ministry, He made it clear that the Old Testament laws were not being done away. He declared:
DO NOT THINK THAT I HAVE COME TO ABOLISH THE LAW or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them... (Matt 5:17, NIV).
Isn’t it strange that people don’t believe Jesus, but prefer to believe Satan’s lies through false teachers? Jesus continued:
I tell you the truth... (v 18).
Why would Jesus say this? Because He foreknew through the Spirit what was to come. He knew people would not believe the truth. He knew the majority would be beguiled by Satan to believe a lie – that the foundational law of the Old Testament has been abolished.
Those people dismiss these words of their Saviour as fiction!
I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished (v18 NIV).
That is pretty conclusive, isn’t it? Not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen... How can you get more definite than that? NOTHING is to disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished!!
Has everything been accomplished, yet?
No! Heaven and earth are still here. So is the Law!
Jesus has died and through His death He has bought our salvation. Yes, that is true. But is that all there is to it? Has His death accomplished everything? NO! Paul wrote to the Romans that His death accomplished our justification (Rom 5:9); that is our freedom from the curse which the law incurs by our breaking it (Lev 26:14-45; Deut 28:15-68).
But there is more to it – to being saved – than His death. Jesus’ death does not accomplish everything in God’s plan of salvation for us.
We are saved by His life (Rom 5:10). That does not mean we are saved by our doing nothing because Jesus has lived for us, in our stead. It means we are to become like Him by HIM LIVING HIS LIFE IN US.
Read the letters of Paul and you will see this theme throughout. John also expounded this spiritual truth in his letters which warned of lawless philosophy invading the Church back then. That philosophy is antichrist.
Romans chapters 6 to 8 elaborates on the theme that we are released from the captivity of sin to be able to serve God in newness of life. That new life is a sinless life in which we can attain a new degree of righteousness because of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling. This was not possible under the Old Covenant because the Holy Spirit had not been made generally available.
It was simply not in people’s hearts – in their inner motivation – to obey the law. It is easier for a ‘carnal’ person to sin – break the law (1 Jn 3:4) – than to live righteously. But God made it possible for us to experience His holiness by His act of grace in putting that motivation within us. That now occurs in the New Covenant.
Ezekiel prophesied of this. God said:
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep My laws (Ezek 36:26,27, NIV).
Those who teach that we are not under an obligation to be keeping God’s law under the New Covenant are preaching heresy of the first order! God’s words through Ezekiel make it quite clear that the New Covenant makes God’s Spirit available to us so that we can obey the Old Testament laws.
We don’t throw up our hands in defeatism and declare that we cannot keep the law’s righteous requirements, and look for an excuse for our disobedience! What a convenient excuse for those who want to be antinomian, by saying that Jesus has died so we don’t have to keep the law!
If their empty theory were true – that Jesus has fulfilled the keeping of the law for us – then He has fulfilled everything for us. We don’t have to do anything ourselves. It’s the biggest spiritual cop-out going!
If the Old Testament laws had been abrogated by something better, then why did Jesus expect us to keep them? Why did the early Church keep them? Why did this current lawless teaching only come into vogue after the death of the original apostles? It was promulgated by those who wanted popular support and used as a means to lure the masses into the ‘Christian’ Church.
Investigation into the history of how antinomian philosophy took root in the Church reveals a cleverly orchestrated conspiracy. It was a satanic conspiracy that deceived gullible Christians. The majority fell for it, just as Paul had prophesied. He wrote to the Thessalonians about a massive falling away to occur in Christendom (2 Thes 2:3). It happened then and it is continuing now in duplicate.
Lawlessness through Gnostic philosophy (meaning ‘new understanding or revelation’) has been one of Satan’s biggest weapons of deception. People are easily fooled by the subtle, devious arguments that sound like the law has been dispensed with by Jesus.
However, these are doctrines of demons (1 Tim 4:1). What is the Bible all about if not about attaining holiness – a state of sinlessness – so we can become like God? How foolish to think that Jesus has done everything for us, so we are without obligation! If that were the case, there would be no need for this present life and learning experience.
Paul was under no illusion. He knew he was under an obligation, having been released from sin’s power through the death of Christ.
Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation – but it is not to the sinful nature, to live according to it, for if you live according to the sinful nature [which does not want to obey God’s law], you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live, because those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God (Rom 8:12-14, NIV).
Jesus’ death paid the price of our past sins, so we can begin to walk sinlessly. He didn’t pay that huge price so we can walk lawlessly. The law defines sin.
What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning, so that grace may increase? By no means! We died to sin [NOT TO THE LAW]; how can we live in it any longer? (Rom 6:1,2.)
The advocates that we are free from the law because Christ died are teaching lies of the devil.
The law was given to outline sin – which is to be avoided at all costs (Matt 5:29,30). Those who deliberately sin – break God’s law – are heading for oblivion in hell fire (v 30). These are not empty prognostications. They are the words and warnings of Jesus. But you can choose what you like, of course. He will not force you to accept the truth. If you prefer to believe the lie, He lets you. It is your choice, although He is saddened when people choose the lie.
WHAT DID JESUS MEAN BY ‘THE LAW’?
Let us return for a minute to where we started: Jesus’ statements about the law.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets... (Matt 5:17, NIV).
Some might argue that Jesus was not referring to the law as outlined in the 10 commandments, but that He meant the Pentateuch, the first five books of the Bible. While His words certainly include that meaning, that their words would not pass away until the earth is dissolved, what follows makes it amply clear that He meant more than that. He meant the laws and principles which those books contained.
He continued:
Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practises and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven (v 19, NIV).
The Pharisees kept the law in a humanistic, legalistic way. That form of ‘righteousness’ was totally lacking. Yet, Jesus did not say we didn’t have to do that much. He said we should do that (Matt 23:3,23), but that we should do much more than obey the mere letter. We should live by the spirit of the law as well (Matt 5:20-48). We are to aim for spiritual perfection, like our Father in heaven (v 48).
How can you do that if you think the law is abolished? You then have no accurate code to live by to define what is right and what is wrong.
That is why the Old Covenant system of law was instituted in Israel – to illustrate how sinful we all are as humans. Humanly, none of us is any different from Israel.
If Jesus did away with the law, why did He tell us to beware committing adultery even in our thoughts? (Matt 5:28.) Why did He tell us to go above and beyond the level of righteousness physically outlined by the law? The law dictated that we should love our neighbour as ourselves (Lev 19:18). Jesus expanded that to include loving our enemies equally genuinely. How can we do that when we don’t even attempt to keep the law?
The notion that the law of the Old Testament (O.T.) was a harsh law that is abolished in Christ is a twisted, perverse false teaching that is as heinous as the nature of its architect, Satan! When Jesus gave us His ‘new law of love’, that was erected upon the bedrock of the Old Testament law of love. It was not separate at all. It was an adjunct to it. It was because Jesus kept His Father’s commandments that He was able to dwell in His love (Jn 15:10).
LAW IS NOT ‘BONDAGE’!
Paul described the O. T. law as "holy", "righteous" and "good" (Rom 7:12; 1 Tim 1:8). James called it the "royal law" (Jas 2:8). He said we should keep the whole law, not just part of it (Jas 2:10). He wrote by the Holy Spirit that the law of the O. T. is the law which "brings freedom", the "law of liberty" (1:25; 2:12).
Deceived antinomians would have you believe that the law of the O. T. brings bondage. Nothing could be further from the truth! Jesus would not die to eradicate sin if sin was what He wanted you to have. (Remember, sin is the antithesis of the law.) If He wanted you to have the freedom to break the law why did He institute the law in the first place? Antinomians are implying that God made a mistake in the Old Covenant. God didn’t make any mistake; deceived deceivers are making that mistake!
Why pay such a huge price for something which we can now [supposedly] take lightly?! Think about it! Jesus, the very Son of God, the only One whose death was capable of paying the price of the sins of humanity, willingly gave Himself in excruciating torture for hour after hour in humiliating agony, with thorns piercing his skull, His skin torn off by the strips of metal on the torturer’s scourge, His wrists and ankles nailed with huge six-inch cut-nails to a rough wooden stake, so that we can glibly say, "Oh, that’s all right; we can do what we like; we don’t have to keep the law."
Oh, yes?! That is a monumental insult!! If the law was that unimportant why did Jesus need to die for our infractions of its holiness? The logic of those who claim you don’t have to keep the law because Jesus has done it for you, is crazy!
Why are we supposed to be following in Jesus’ footsteps if the law is done away? He fulfilled the law of the ten commandments alright! Jesus assured us:
I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them (Matt 5:17, NIV).
Or, as Charles B. Williams accurately translates those words in his rendering of the New Testament:
I have not come to set them aside but to fill them up to the brim.
Jesus magnified the law and made it honourable in fulfilment of Isaiah 42:21. He expounded its complete spirituality in His ‘sermon’ on the Mount (Matt 5-7). He didn’t annul or water down our need for obedience to the ten commandments (Ex 20:1-17), He magnified their full intent. His teaching in the New Testament actually adds to that law!
While Jesus came to add to the Old Covenant law, puny men are busy watering down and eroding Jesus’ authority. They are denying the Christ who bought them (2 Pet 2:1). They are false teachers who are secretly [the evil nature of their teachings is not perceived by the majority] bringing in destructive heresies, "even DENYING THE LORD WHO BOUGHT THEM – bringing swift destruction upon themselves" (2 Pet 2:1).
The tragedy is that MANY follow them and bring the way of truth into disrepute (v 2).
Prophecy is being fulfilled! We are living in the last days! The great apostasy is occurring right before our eyes, but so few perceive it. They have fallen asleep, as the parable of the ten virgins predicted (Matt 25:5).
Will you wake up to what is taking place, or will you be lulled to sleep by false teachers, preaching what is appealing to the carnal mind? The majority of Christian teachers preach this heresy in one shade or another and their audience likes it. That was foretold.
For the time will come when men 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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths (2 Tim 4:3,4, NIV).
It is always the majority, it seems, who go wrong. The minority accept what is right.
Jesus has allowed false teachers in the Church to corrupt His teachings. Why? It is a test. God is testing you through it. Will you follow their pernicious ways? Or will you remain faithful to the words of your Saviour who wants you to be part of His pure Bride whom He will marry at His coming?
Where do you stand? Does He consider you pure, washed by His blood, or still tarnished by the ways of this evil world which will not submit to Him nor to His law of love?
This subject is covered fully in The Controversy Concerning Law and Grace (LG) What The Bible Doesn’t Say 3. HIERARCHIC CHURCH GOVERNMENT Satan is in the Church!
That statement, to many people, will come as a big shock! To other Christians, however, it will be no surprise. But for those who are aware of the reality of the devil’s presence inside the Church, few of them are aware of how he has neatly ensconced himself within.
One Church tradition, more than any other, has been responsible for his protection within the Church – hierarchic Church government!
More than any other custom, the acceptance of this Babylonian concept into church structures has permitted Satan and his demonic forces to hold immense power and do incalculable damage. It is hard to assess just how much injury he has been able to inflict on God’s people, because the harm is mostly spiritual and therefore not readily perceptible. There can be no doubt that much harm has been done! And all in the name of Christ!
IN THE NAME OF CHRIST!
It is far easier to see the destruction wrought upon the Church in the Middle Ages when a corrupt hierarchic Church leadership used their illicit powers to subjugate people in the Inquisitions. Horrendous tortures were inflicted upon those who refused to bow to papal pressure. Multiple thousands, if not millions, were martyred, all in the name of Christ, under the banner of His ‘authority’.
"The Inquisition, called the ‘holy office’, was instituted by Pope Innocent III, and perfected under the second following pope, Gregory IX. It was the Church Court for detection and punishment of heretics. Under it, everyone was required to inform against heretics. Anyone suspected was liable to torture, without knowing the name of his accuser. The proceedings were secret. The Inquisitor pronounced sentence, and the victim was turned over to the civil authorities to be imprisoned for life, or to be burned. The victim’s property was confiscated, and divided between the Church and the State.
"In the period immediately following Pope Innocent III the Inquisition did its most deadly work against the Albigenses, but also claimed vast multitudes of victims in Spain, Italy, Germany and the Netherlands.
"Later on the Inquisition was the main agency in the papacy’s effort to crush the Reformation. It is stated that in the 30 years between 1540 and 1570 no fewer than 900,000 Protestants were put to death in the pope’s war for the extermination of the Waldenses.
"Think of monks and priests, in holy garments, directing, with heartless cruelty and inhuman brutality, the work of torturing and burning alive innocent men and women, and doing it in the name of Christ, by the direct order of the ‘Vicar of Christ’.
"The Inquisition was the most infamous and devilish thing in human history. It was devised by popes, and used by them for 500 years, to maintain their power. For its record none of the subsequent line of ‘holy’ and ‘infallible’ popes have ever apologized." (Halley’s Bible Handbook, pp. 776,777).
That inhumanity was an outgrowth of hierarchic rule in the Church. It is satanic!
HIERARCHY SUPPLANTS CHRIST’S RULE
Of course, people will say, "Yes, but that was during uncivilized times. We are civilized today. We don’t allow such brutality to be inflicted now in the name of Christ."
Oh no? If you think that, you are naïve or ignorant, or both! The devil is just as active today as he has been throughout the history of the Church. But he has got more cunning. His activities are more discreet. They go unnoticed by the majority of Christians. His infiltration into the Church, and his subsequent controls are more sly than ever.
Satan’s influence in the Church, through subtle controls forced on God’s people, inflict untold spiritual damage on them today. These controls, however, are mainly psychological. They are not always overt.
Evil Church authorities used physical torture to impose doctrinal uniformity in the past. Today, it is mainly psychological pressure which is brought to bear on church members to make them comply with the wishes or teachings of the leadership. Both are equally wrong. We are not to obey men. We should obey God (Acts 5:29). Obedience is an aspect of worship. We are not to be subservient to the whims of men, but to the rule of God (Rom 6:16).
Hierarchic human authority was the form of rule adopted by Babylon and every subsequent world ruling power. It began with Nimrod, founder of Babel, which became a model for all conquering Gentile kingdoms.
And it was hierarchic Church authority which was adopted by the false ecclesiastical Church (called ‘Babylon’ in Rev 17) which enabled it to subjugate those under its jurisdiction. This ‘Church’ worked in co-operation with the State to pursue its evil ends.
The Church today is unaware that in many parts it is under similar human domination and is not exercising its full freedoms in Christ. This was prophesied. Zion, the Church in prophecy, is told to shake herself loose from her captors (Is 52:1,2 – see later). Jeremiah lamented:
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? (Jer 5:31 NIV.)
Indeed, what will you do in the end? The result is idolatry. A man – your church leader – assumes the position of God in your mind. It is all very subtle; all very clever. It is designed by Satan to draw you away from Christ and lay you open to Satan’s delusions.
What was wrong with Nimrod’s rule was that Nimrod took God’s place in the eyes of the people. He became "a mighty hunter before the Lord" (Gen 10:9) i.e. in place of God. He usurped God’s position to the people. He gained their attention, subservience and loyalty. People followed Nimrod, instead of God. Nimrod had taken God’s place.
The same thing is widespread in the Church. People are idolising their leaders – not knowingly, mind you! Most are unaware of their sin. But misplaced loyalties are highly damaging!
Hierarchic Church rule is furtively satanic.
Oh, it works. It works well. Everything is well organised and things run smoothly when rule from the top down is established. And when the righteous hold such positions, blessings result and no-one seems to get hurt. But when false ministers get in and gain control (2 Cor 11:13-15) Satan surreptitiously finds a foothold in the Church and disaster strikes. When that occurs, apostasy advances like the relentless tide. It is plain to see in the C of E.
God says to the few who are true in her today:
Awake! Awake! Put on your strength, O Zion; put on your beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city! ...Shake yourself from the dust [of false teachings and wrong practice], arise; sit down, O Jerusalem! Loose yourself from the bonds of your neck, O captive daughter of Zion! (Is 52:1,2.)
In 1991, God revealed to me what is wrong with hierarchic church government. He took me through a complete tour of it in His Word. What He showed me, I wrote down in God’s Church – Whose Authority? That truth projected us into this prophetic ministry. What The Bible Doesn’t Say
4. LEADERSHIP TITLES IN THE CHURCH
Have you ever stopped to think seriously about Church customs? If you haven’t, you should.
In Revelation 13:18, the number 666 appears. This number depicts the totality of evil in human worship – the corruption which Satan has managed to cause within human society. The Church is not exempt. Christians are his chief target!
The number 666 is found in various places in the Bible. Most of them are concealed in the text. By that, I mean that they are not readily apparent to the reader because they are numeric values of the words used in the language of the original text. All Hebrew (OT) and Greek (NT) letters convey a number (explained in the booklet God’s Great Genius). Thus, every word conveys a numeric value. The value of the word tradition in Greek is 666!
Jesus condemns traditions of human society that have undermined the purity of the faith. He corrected the Scribes and Pharisees for the way they replaced God’s truth with their tradition. Adding to, or subtracting from the Word of God for the sake of adhering to human tradition is a facet inherent in the mark of the ‘Beast'. It is identified by the number 666. It is no light matter!
The Word of God is inviolable. It must not be tampered with by human agencies. To do so, brands the recipient with the digits 666, the number of the mark of the ‘Beast'. Any who knowingly accept traditions which are not Christian in place of true Christian customs are worshipping the Beast and his image.
If anyone worships the beast and his image and receives his mark on the forehead or on the hand, he, too, will drink of the wine of God’s fury, which has been poured [out] full strength... (Rev 14:9,10, NIV).
This is a side of God’s nature many Christians don’t consider – His vehement anger at sin. In this case, the sin is blatant idolatry.
We have explained previously that Church leaders have supplanted Christ’s leadership through the Spirit in far too many instances. They have also taken to themselves titles which are not fitting for humans. They have assumed divine prerogatives and divine designates.
In the Roman Catholic Church, the pope is called, not just ‘Father’ – in a spiritual context this is a designate which belongs to God (Matt 23:9) – but he also assumes the title Vicarius Filii Dei, ‘Vicar of the Son of God’. In Latin, this title adds up to 666:
Vicar of the Son of God is a subtly blasphemous title. It means in place of the Son of God. The origin of the title vicar is not as innocent as most assume!
The pope is hailed as if he were God Himself. The present pope’s name is John Paul. [When this was written in 1995.] In Latin, his name and title supplanting God, also adds up to 666:
Few people stop to consider also that when a man takes to himself (or is given by a theological institution) the title ‘Reverend’, that he is also perpetuating the same blasphemy, only in a different form.
Jesus said:
Don’t set yourselves up as anything special. Don’t give yourselves titles ‘Master’, ‘Teacher’, ‘Reverend’, ‘Father’, ‘Lord’, etc., because you are all brothers. Don’t elevate yourselves. Don’t establish a system which exalts your position. Humble yourselves. Be servants (Matt 23:8-10, paraphrased).
The Church has done the opposite! It has established an authority structure based upon rank. It has glorified the man in the ‘top’ position more than the humble lay-member.
In the Church of England – as in most so-called ‘church’ organisations, ministers work their way up, instead of down – the antithesis of what Jesus said! They assume titles of divinity – ‘Reverend’, ‘Right Reverend’, ‘Very Reverend’, ‘Most Reverend’. They have made themselves so holy, they are holier than God, who only is ‘Reverend’!!
What humbug! What blasphemy! What presumptuousness! What vile corruption! And it is all done in the name of respectability!
Jesus does not want any man setting himself up in a superior spiritual capacity over you. That concept is not godly, but Babylonian. It goes all the way back to the corrupt system of rulership Nimrod promoted. His human despotism imposed illicit rule over others by force. He was the founder of Babel, the forerunner of Babylon and of Babylonian society today (Rev 17).
The same corrupt practices have been subtly passed on to the Church, through the society which has bred us. The Church, for the most part, still has not come out of the wrong ways of Babylon as Jesus commands (Rev 18:4). As I write, this world is feverishly preparing to enjoy itself at Christmas, celebrated ostensibly to honour Christ. It does nothing of the sort! Instead of honouring the Son of God, it honours the Sun god, which became reborn at the time of the winter solstice. It was a Babylonian tradition that goes all the way back to Chaldean mythology. If you don’t believe me, pick up any good Encyclopaedia and look it up!
Jesus gave no instructions to celebrate the day of His birth, and anyway, He wasn’t born anywhere near December 25th! An entry in the diary of the Rabbi of the synagogue in Bethlehem records that Jesus was born on 4th October. This discovery was made by Sir William Flinders Petrie and revealed by Dr J O Kinnaman, editor of The Bible Archaeological Digest.
Leadership Titles Are élitist
Not only has the Church as a whole got its traditions wrong concerning Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, Halloween, All Saints and other derivatives of paganism, but it has got its structure wrong too.
No man has any spiritual authority over you as a child of God. If you didn’t catch that, let me repeat it. NO MAN HAS ANY SPIRITUAL AUTHORITY OVER YOU!!
As a child of God, you have the Holy Spirit living within you. You have God’s authority through His Spirit to contest demonic forces. That is your authority – to preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons and raise the dead (Lk 9:1,2; 10:19; Matt 10:1,8). But you have no authority over other persons. The only authority you have is to love others as Christ commanded.
Likewise, others in organised bodies of believers, misnamed ‘churches’ (they are actually more appropriately designated as synagogues [meaning together led] in NT terminology because everyone comes together to be led by a man in a position of leadership), have no authority over you to dictate your spiritual direction or behaviour. You are the one who must decide that.
Any man who thinks he has power over you as a result of his title is sorely deluded. If he is led by the Holy Spirit, he has authority – but only as Luke 9:1,2 describes. He can teach, instruct, advise, exhort, even correct (if it is through the Spirit’s guidance) but the moment he dictates outside the realm of the Spirit is the moment he is out of order. He is not a spiritual overlord. He is your equal before God. And he should be your servant, spiritually feeding you.
Of course, once he does that, the onus is on you to reciprocate, spiritually and physically (if he has given you real spiritual food – so many ministers can’t feed a horse, let alone a flock of people!). So, don’t think that it’s a one-way-street where he must provide for you and serve you and you have no obligation to care for him! Far from it! If you neglect to provide for the ones God uses to care for the flock, you neglect God. Not that he is God. I’m not suggesting that. But he, if he speaks or writes under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, is God’s instrument.
Many of those acting as ministers today are asserting their own authority, lording it over ‘their’ flocks. This may be done overtly or subtly – more often the latter.
One subtle means by which church leaders subjugate their flocks is by using the title ‘Reverend’. It causes their ‘subjects’ to think of themselves in that way – as subjects – and their mentors as one rung above them on the spiritual ladder.
That is a totally erroneous concept.
Reverend means ‘venerated’, ‘deserving of reverence’. Humans are not deserving of reverence. God alone is to be revered (Ps 111:9; Ps 89:7).
The most highly organised ‘church’ structures such as the Roman Catholic Church and some others of long standing have a system of man-worship (reverencing men), which replaces God-worship. It is an idolatrous human system which has its roots in Babylon, passed on down through Rome.
It makes little difference what title is used; whether father, holy father, reverend, or even Mr (which is derived from one who is your master!). They should never be utilised to imply spiritual superiority in the Church of Jesus Christ! Jesus specifically mentioned in Matthew 23 (vs 9-12) that we should humble ourselves, not seek exaltation. Such titles are due only to God, not man.
A minister could be called ‘pastor’ if need be. But why not just use his name, without embellishments? Let Jesus embellish us, not men.
Of course, there is no condemnation to those who use such titles in ignorance. So I am not passing judgment, merely doing my job of pointing out what I have been commissioned to do. What others do with this information is entirely up to them. God is the judge.
Many will be rejected by Jesus on the Final Day because they elevated themselves.
For whoever exalts himself will be put down, and he who humbles himself will be exalted (Lk 14:11).
What The Bible Doesn’t Say 5. ABOUT EASTER Did you know that there is only one place where the word Easter occurs in the New Testament? That is in Acts 12:4, in the Old King James or Authorised Version of the Bible (of 1611). It is not found in most other versions – for good reason! The word in Greek rendered Easter has nothing to do with Easter! It is pascha, which is more correctly rendered Passover.
The misrendering is an example of the bias of the ‘translators’, who could not accept that Passover was a genuine observance relevant to the Church after Jesus’ death and resurrection. The official Church in England at that time accepted Easter, not Passover. Why? Where did they get it from? Is it biblical?
The answer to those questions is, in reverse order:
ORIGIN OF EASTER
Easter is ostensibly celebrated today in the ‘Christian’ Church – which actually is more pagan in its customs than Christian – to commemorate the resurrection of Christ. Its "name being derived from Eostre, goddess of Spring" (Pears Cyclopaedia, 89th Ed.)
This spring festival goes back thousands of years into heathen antiquity. It was the time of year when there was a sudden spurt of new growth and reproduction in nature. This was attributed to the powers of the fertility goddess of nature or the goddess of spring.
Pagans celebrated it with a time of festivity and giving of fertility symbols such as eggs, rabbits or similar emblems, and also with ritual fornication with temple prostitutes.
INTEGRATION OF EASTER
When the Roman Empire was falling apart, Constantine and others saw in Christianity a useful political crutch. Christians had made considerable imp- act in the Empire, as had the commercially orientated Jews. Attempts to eradicate the Christian religion had failed. Many Christians had been martyred, along with Jews in the anti-Semitic purges, particularly of Hadrian. But persecution didn’t seem to stop Christianity’s progress. It only appeared to spread it!
"The Roman government began to see the uselessness of persecuting the Christians. The struggle to suppress them was one which decidedly weakened the Roman state at a time when the long disorders of the century of revolution made the emperors feel their weakness. After the retirement of Diocletian his ‘Caesar’ Galerius, feeling very probably the dangers threatening Rome from without and the uselessness of the struggle against the Christians within, issued a decree, in AD 311, by which Christianity was legally recognized" (J H Breasted, Ancient Times, A History of the Early World, p 763).
"Throughout the great Roman world men were longing for some assurance regarding the life beyond the grave, and in the midst of the trials and burdens of this life they wistfully sought the support and strength of a divine protector. Little wonder that the multitudes were irresistibly attracted by the comforting assur- ances of these Oriental faiths and the blessed future insured by their ‘mysteries'! At the same time it was believed possible to learn the future of every individual by the use of Babylonian astrology... The orientals who practiced it were called Chaldeans, or Magi (whence our words ‘magic’ and ‘magician’); and everyone consulted them" (Ibid. p 737).
Constantine ‘grasped the nettle’ and saw that there was mileage to be made out of Christianizing these Babylonian ‘mysteries'. He looked to the pagan customs of the east as the ‘cement’ to bind his empire in the west. Easter was only one of several customs he, and others, pushed as a new ‘Christian’ observance.
It was adopted by the Roman state Church in AD 325 at the Council of Nicaea.
The problem is, it is nowhere commanded in Scripture, and therefore the Church has no divine authority for observing it. Christians are not instructed by Jesus to celebrate His resurrection at this time. However, we are told to commemorate His death:
This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me (1 Cor 11:24, NIV).
We are also told to observe the Passover:
For Christ our Passover lamb has been sacrificed. Therefore let us keep the festival (1 Cor 5:7,8, NIV).
What festival? Easter? NO! Passover, and the Days of Unleavened Bread which the Bible reveals follow it.
TRUE CHARACTER OF EASTER
The true character of the idolatrous celebration of Easter is revealed by the noted historian and clergyman, Alexander Hislop. He wrote: "Easter is nothing else than Astarte, one of the titles of Beltis, the queen of heaven, whose name, as pronounced by the people of Nineveh, was evidently identical with that now in common use in this country [i.e. ‘Easter']. That name, as found by Layard on the Assyrian monuments is Ishtar. The worship of Bel and Astarte was very early introduced into Britain, along with the Druids, ‘the priests of the groves’...
"[Bel’s] consort Astarte was also adored by our ancestors... whose name in Nineveh was Ishtar, the religious solemnities of April, as now practised, are called by the name of Easter – that month, among our pagan ancestors, having been called Easter-monath. The Festival, of which we read in Church history, under the name of Easter, in the third or fourth centuries, was quite a different festival from that now observed in the Romish Church, and at that time was not known by any such name as Easter. It was called Pasch, or the Passover" (Alexander Hislop, The Two Babylons, pp 103,104).
"That beautiful but abandoned queen of Babylon [Semiramis, synonymous with Ishtar] was not only herself a paragon of unbridled lust and licentiousness, but in the [Babylonian] Mysteries which she had a chief hand in forming, she was worshipped as Rhea, the great ‘Mother’ of the gods [precursor of Catholic Mary worship], with such atrocious rites as identified her with Venus, the Mother of all impurity... of idolatry and consecrated prostitution" (Ibid. p 5).
Is it fitting that such a depraved idolatrous festival should be adopted and associated with the wonderful act of redemption of our Saviour? Hardly!
But the Church did not stop there. It adopted other pagan trappings to add to the insult.
Hislop records: "That festival [the scriptural Passover] was not idolatrous, and it was preceded by no Lent... The forty days’ abstinence of Lent was directly borrowed from the worshippers of the Babylonian goddess. Such a Lent of 40 days, ‘in the spring of the year’, is still observed by the Yezidis or pagan devil-worshippers of Koordistan, who have inherited it from their early masters, the Babylonians. Such a lent of 40 days was held in spring by the pagan Mexicans, for thus we read in Humboldt, where he gives account of Mexican observances: ‘...fast of 40 days in honour of the sun’. Such a lent of 40 days was observed in Egypt... was held expressly in commemoration of Adonis or Osiris, the great mediatorial god" (Ibid., pp 104,105).
Today, we have Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday, which precede this period of 40 days leading up to Easter Sunday with its worship of the sun-god, Osiris (incestuous lover and son of Isis). Prior to this lenten fast, eggs and flour were used up by making pancakes, hence this peculiar Shrove Tuesday custom. (Shrove is the past participle of the verb ‘shrive’, which is a Roman Catholic term referring to the priest’s assigning of penance and hearing of confession.)
Paul condemned these superstitious rituals as worthless in Colossians 2:18-23 and Galatians 4:3, 8-10.
But "to conciliate the pagans to nominal Christianity, Rome, pursuing its usual policy, took measures to get the Christian and pagan festivals amalgamated" (Ibid., p 105).
There you have it; the truth about Easter.
It is not scriptural in origin, not commanded in the New Testament, and should not be observed by the modern Church. Those who do keep it, unwittingly pay homage to the idolatrous Romish Church, who has perpetuated this myth in Christendom.
Those who observe Easter – instead of Passover as we are instructed by God, and reminded by Paul – are following traditions instituted by men, outside the authority of the Word of God.
As a child of God, you are commanded to come out of the ways of modern Babylon, the mother of ‘Christian’ harlotry (Rev 18:4).
666 & the Dreaded Mark
He [the lamb-like beast] was given power to give breath to the image of the first beast, so that it could speak and cause all who refused to worship the image to be killed. He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no-one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast, or the number of his name. This calls for wisdom. If anyone has insight, let him calculate the number of the beast, for it is man's number. His number is 666 (Revelation 13:15-18).
When Jesus spoke to John in vision and gave him the prophecies of Revelation, John was on Patmos, the convicts' isle. He had lost his freedom for the gospel's sake (Rev 1:9). Christian evangelists were considered a threat to Rome's hegemony. Any who were found evangelising were imprisoned or killed. Tradition has it that they tried to kill John, but couldn't. He was thrown into a vat of boiling oil, but remained unscathed. So, in his old age, John was banished to this isolated rocky island in the Aegean Sea, left to die of hunger and exposure to the elements.
Throughout the 'Christian era', those who have refused to worship any other god but the one God of the Bible have been persecuted. Countless thousands lost their lives. The intensity of this attack was so great that for 1260 years truth fled to the wilderness. Any who upheld truth that did not have State approval were killed. This 1260 year dearth continued until fresh rains came in the Protestant Reformation of the Middle Ages.
Revelation depicts another severe persecution and martyrdom of true Christians in this end time. They uphold truth (Rev 14:12) which defies the lordship of the State. Anyone who refuses to worship the image of the beast of Roman rule will suffer terrible discrimination (Rev 13:15).
What is this truth that will be considered 'heretical' by the Roman state? We shall see.
The Romans prided themselves on being 'broad- minded'. They worshipped many gods and tolerated a wide range of beliefs. The empire would not have survived for so long had they not done so. But what they couldn't tolerate was 'intolerance'. They could not accept the Christian view that there is only one God, and one way to live. It was diametrically contrary to their pantheism.
Today, such satanic 'broad-mindedness' has a different guise. It may not present itself as overt pantheism. But it is not much different, really.
It has been given the respectable title of humanism. But its root is essentially the same – a resentment of absolute truth and that humanity needs to forsake its own ways. It resists accepting the one creed God gives us in the Bible. Humanism says "I’ll do things my way".
Humanism’s Ugly Hidden Face
Humanism is "a belief or outlook emphasising common human needs and seeking solely rational ways of solving human problems, and concerned with mankind as responsible and progressive intellectual beings" (The Concise Oxford Dictionary). It sounds good, but it’s not. Humanism is a false religion because it is based on wrong foundations. Its basis is shifting sand.
Firstly, mankind is not essentially good, nor responsible in spiritual terms. God defines morality in His Word, but mankind has persistently refused to tow the line to that moral code.
Furthermore, we might like to pride ourselves on our human achievements and think that civilised society is progressive. But it’s not. It is very much retrogressive in aspects that matter most – spiritual values. It’s obvious to any objective person that the landslide into immorality has increased exponentially in recent years. That’s because God’s law has been thrown out of the window by man. It’s also why there is little time left for our sodomistic society. The handwriting is already on the wall, awaiting final fulfilment of God’s judgement upon those who defy God.
Human society takes no notice of God, of His morality or standards, of His purposes or desires. Society doesn’t care. All it cares about is the satiation of its own lusts. And those lusts can be satisfied by physical provision. So that’s the only language it understands – one that is based upon economic, material and rational considerations.
To hell with moral considerations, if those moral considerations don’t aid a faltering economic situation. To hell with decency or human rights, if those human rights get in the way of State ‘security’. And to hell with everything else that God might say in His Word about human conduct that flies in the face of secular ‘advancement’. That is the unspoken language of modern humanism. That is its ugly side.
It has its brighter side, too. Satan instigates things that look good, in order to deceive.
Rome’s Intolerance of Truth
To a humanistic government, seeking to establish an 'equitable' framework for multicultural co-existence, toler- ance of every religion seems right. It may even establish laws to protect all ideologies – so long as those ideologies support the government. Thus, the government becomes the supreme legislature. In the Roman empire, the emperor was the supreme legislator. In effect, he was as God to the people.
The laws he approved were to be obeyed by all. Any who did not comply were punished by the State. And if those laws happened to clash with the Supreme laws of God, well that was tough for Christians; the State came first!
In the second and third centuries, Christians were persecuted because they refused to worship the Roman emperor. He sat in the place of God before the people as their Deliverer, Law-Giver, and Figurehead, so his very position was untenable to true Christians. They could survive as long as they were not brought into direct conflict with upholding his position. But if circumstances developed which pushed them into a position where they had to openly contest the Emperor’s sovereignty over their spiritual affairs – or disobey God – that made them targets for State persecution and execution.
The irony was that this inhumane intolerance was perpetrated in the name of ‘tolerance’. True Christians were regarded as ‘intolerant’ because they insisted that only their God was worthy of worship and obedience.
Many early Christians died in the Roman arenas of cruelty and barbarism, torn apart by lions or executed in humiliation by wild men – gladiators. These faithful ‘little’ ones did not love their lives to the death. They put God first. They would not compromise their trust in God, and their obedience to Him.
A Return to Dark Days Ahead
Likewise, the impending mass martyrdom of saints in our time will be as a result of Christians' refusal to give total allegiance to the human ruler in Europe. He will insist on mandatory obedience to his government and its laws, even if those laws defy those of God! That is why this mark or number is called the number of man, as opposed to God.
This European system will revive that which oppressed Christians in the 'holy' Roman empire. It will impose a symbolic mark upon its subjects, depicting their subservience to man instead of to God.
A man will rule in place of God, just as the Roman Emperor did. He is Antichrist. He will demand obedience to his 'charitable' edicts which will contravene those of God. The transference of loyalties may not be blatant, but subtle. Humanly, there will be ‘good’ reasons to comply – just as there were ‘good’ reasons why the first disciples should not have gone against the Sanhedrin's commands. But obedience to God is always more important (Acts 5:29).
The days ahead will be dark and sombre times. The emerging colossus in Europe will again have the backing of the Catholic Church behind it. She will give her approval to oppression against true saints:
I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus. When I saw her I was greatly astonished [horrified!] (Rev 17:6, NIV).
The Number of Denial
One of the names of Jesus is Faithful. This word in Greek, pistos, carries the number 666. (Greek letters have numeric values. The sum of those in pistos add up to 666.)
We are called to be faithful to Jesus. Whenever we backslide – in whatever way – we are being faithful to another. We deny our Saviour, who paid with His lifeblood for us.
I know of church members who are faithful to their church. Some are so faithful to the human leadership or the structure of their church that they will deny truth in order to maintain the status quo. It is easy for Satan to delude such people. They haven’t put Jesus first. They think they have, but they are deceived. Their church, or its human leaders have usurped Jesus’ place of primacy in their spiritual lives.
They don’t know it, but they are tainted by the mark of the beast, and they carry his number, 666.
In the context in which Jesus speaks of 666 in Revelation 13 verse 18, 666 denotes a loyalty to man instead of to God.
It’s no coincidence that the word tradition in Greek conveys the number 666. Church members who reject the truth of God in order to wilfully or knowingly replace it with their church’s tradition are denying Christ.
It’s no coincidence also that the Greek word for wealth carries the numerics 666. Just look at the Catholic Church’s huge wealth. They have managed to exert great power and influence over people’s lives. Lots of church organisations and ministries fall into a pit of denying Christ when they put the acquisition of wealth for their projects ahead of faith in God to provide.
The Church of England, likewise, has great wealth – about £5 billion in assets! [Revised figure, Oct 2008.]
It’s no coincidence that when church folks are faithful to their structure, their heritage, their tradition, or depend on their wealth or other facet of human reliance, that they are tainted by the humanism the Bible condemns. They don’t take any thought that they are being unfaithful to God, and subtly replacing that obedience with one that is loyal to man.
Whenever you compromise with truth from God to give your loyalty to man, you are figuratively accepting a mark in your mind (forehead) and showing by your actions to whom you are loyal (on your right hand). Jesus wants us to be totally faithful to Him, as He was to the Father.
The Last Restoration In This Age before Jesus comes, very soon now. Maranatha.
In this our day, God is fulfilling the prophecy He gave to Malachi about ‘Elijah’ to come (Mal 4:4-6). This is expounded fully in Who Is The End-Time Elijah and More Than A Prophet. So I will not repeat here what those two publications contain.
Kassahun Ayele, a prophet in Ethiopia, was given dreams about me (MBH) and about what God is doing through this ministry. They are verification to you from God, of this Work for Him. Just one example:
5th June 2001. K. Malcolm Clothed in White. I saw Malcolm in the house. He was clothed with gabbi. (Traditional garment of Ethiopia. It is very white. People dress in it in winter to be warm.) He was writing something very powerful which revolutionised the whole world. I was very encouraged by his commitment.
David Isaac Ohuoba, an evangelist in Nigeria, through whom God has brought several people back from the dead, etc., was given this vision / dream:
7th August 2008. D. New Heaven and New Earth. In my dream I saw a new heaven and a new earth coming down out of heaven from God. It was prepared and ready like a bride dressed to meet her husband. A very beautiful mansion. The beautiful house was ready. [Compare with Rev 21.] After that the clouds were full of fighter and bomber planes. They started firing. [Warfare in the Great Tribulation.] People were running to escape into the house. When they arrived, the door could not open for them. [cf Matt 25:11.] I saw Malcolm and many people running to the door. It opened for them and a big room was given to them and keys were given to Malcolm Heap in His hand. [cf Rev 3:7; Matt 16:19.] A man in a white garment told Malcolm: "You have the truth, and God's priority of purpose hinges upon His Truths, that God requires purity – purity in actions and purity in motive. MM has prepared the way. Take away the stumblingblock out the way of my people's deliverance." [See Isaiah 57:14 and the article Heap It Up! Heap It Up! in Newsletter 34, April 2006. The stumblingblocks are false concepts, errors, heresies, etc. The greatest stumbling- block to God’s people is church government.] The aeroplane fighters and bombers were firing. Many people were crying, running here and there. Still no hope. While we all are in the room singing and praising God, Vivian and I were blowing the Trumpet; Helena and others were dancing, praising God. We all became white. [Spiritually pure.] As I woke up it was around 3 a.m. [3 depicts finality.]
God has given MANY other confirmations to others about this ministry, and about my function. Not that I expect the majority to believe. Most won’t.
Wielding The Divine Axe and Imbibing The Truth provide a summary of what God has restored. Finally here is a dream for the near future for Rowan Williams:
Archbishop Of Canterbury Has A Vision Of Christ
21st April 2003. M. Archbishop of C , Rowan Williams. My letter to him of 21st April 2003: "Last night God gave me a dream about you. It was very simple, but conveys a meaning and portent for you. "You had written an article which appeared in a major national newspaper. In it, you mentioned a deeply significant spiritual experience which you had. Jesus had appeared to you in shining glory and, in the midst of this article, more as a part of what you wrote rather than the main subject, you described it. "It rather surprised me, because, as you will see from an article in the enclosed Articles of Faith Vol 2 on page 89, your predecessor was not truly a God-fearing man. I believe God is saying something different about you, despite your unwelcome position. "I don’t believe the dream has literally been fulfilled yet. I believe it is futuristic, and has symbolic implications that are very significant to the nation as a whole. "You may not understand where we are in the panorama of Bible prophecy. (Matthew 24:8-22 is very close to being fulfilled, and this country will be caught up in the middle of it.) So I have enclosed a couple of other booklets which provide more information about this.. "Thanks for your time. I hope you find this contact useful." Meaning: I believe the dream is symbolic. The vision may not be literal, but probably depicts the fact that he will see Jesus much more clearly as events unfold. He will see Jesus' glorious power in the raising of the dead and other stupendous miracles which God will perform to accompany the giving of His truth to people. But Rowan Williams will not consider all this as important as what he is engaged in, to do with his job as an illicit hierarchic Archbishop of an anachronistic institution called the Church of England. It's not the Church of Jesus Christ, that's for sure!
As for the Archbishop understanding the deeper things of the Spirit that are contained in the publications we sent him, that is doubtful. (See Psalm 25:14.) & Malcolm B Heap, Oct 2008
Bible references, unless otherwise stated, are from the New King James Version.
Further Reading: Much more on these subjects is provided in: Understanding The Book of Revelation (Rev) The Missing Dimension in Christian Living (Mis) Listening to God (Lis) God's Church - Whose Authority? (GC) Our Sabbath Rest(S) Sabbath Versus Sunday: The Final World Crisis (SS) The Truth About Easter (Eas). Why Keep Christmas? (X). What Jesus wants you to observe: God’s Calendar Revealed To Man (Cal). The Faith Once Delivered To The Saints (FOD) The heresy of the Good Friday / Easter Sunday myth is exposed in: The Timing Of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection (Tim). Jesus arose on a Friday! |
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