Tue, Jul 30th - 6:18AM
How often have we heard that Sister Bertha or brother Bob is the longest attending member at the church? The so and so family have had perfect attendance in the church for a year? Yayaaa. Horaaay. How many times have we heard a brother or sister or even ourselves rhapsodize about that nice little or big church, how we love to pray there, how we find it so peaceful and lovely there? Although many of us know better, how often if we ask a brother or sister where their church is they will most likely give the physical address as the location of their church? Aiding and abetting are those who stand in the pulpit bellowing "bring ye all the tithes to the storehouse that there might be meat in mine house". This is worship disconnect in the worst sense that the object of worship becomes a building and the people of God are relegated to a useless appendage. It is very dangerous and hurtful to the people of God, in that they are disconnected from joy of fellowship with God and one another. This entrenched and hurtful false doctrine must be stopped. A lot of this is just plain ignorance, that will only be alleviated by digging into the scriptures. We must resist every attempt to make the scriptures fit into the doctrine of our particular preferences. Of course those who desire to make merchandise of God's people will do every thing they can to make the building an idol of worship. However we know the righteous will repent, and the wicked never will. God has left us His complete and joyous record in general, specific and minute detail, so that each of His beloved people can know Him fully and well. I fall in love with Him more and more every time I go into His word-the Bible the inerrant word of God. He shows me His heart, and the desires He has for me, and the promises He always keeps to help me and strengthen me to carry out His will in trust and love for Him, as He does for all His people as well. Indeed there are two Covenants, under the Old I was condemned and cursed, the man made temple was holy, and the common people had no direct access to God, they had to go through human mediators that did not do right themselves under the Law.
Praise God, through faith in our perfect sinless Saviour Lord Jesus Christ, who baptized us into His death, washed and cleansed us in His blood, and raised us as new creatures filled with the Holy Ghost, making the people holy and the temple of God wherein the Triune God eternally dwells. Thanks be to our Redeemer who took our curse on the tree and made us blessed partakers of the New Covenant of Grace which He alone is the Mediator. Brethren partner with me in continual prayer that spiritual blindness will be removed from all those who see a mere building as the church, to awaken to see that God is no longer dwelling in a building made with hands, but in each of us His people, so that they will have the joy of gathering together with God and His family, not mere attendance in a building. love serola
1Cr 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which [temple] ye are.
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Mon, Jul 22nd - 9:06PM
Rom 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day [alike]. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth [it] unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard [it]. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks. 11 For it is written, [As] I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. 12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. 13 Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in [his] brother's way.
The Bible is clear the day(s) the Christian prefers to dedicate to the Lord or not is his or her own personal business between themselves and the Lord. No Christian has the right to force other Christians to obey their personal preferences. Brothers and sisters when we do this we put a stumblingblock in the way of of other saints (G40 hagios).
Under the Old Covenant the people went to the holy tabernacle or synagogue to worship. The failure to do so under the law was the penalty of the curse and death.
Because of final finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ Christians, every believer is become the church. The building is No longer holy, Jesus Christ has made every Christian holy. Our Triune God inhabits His people.
Now the sense of all this is that every Christian is under the New Covenant. Therefore brothers and sisters you cannot go to church because Jesus Christ has made you the Church not built by the hands of men, but by God.
We have got to wrap our minds around this; therefore the church goes into the physical building to gather. The building of itself is NOTHING. Where ever the people of God gather-there is the church. Where ever the people of God go, there goes the church.
The Bible warns that Christ is greater than the physical temple; greater than Moses; greater than the angels; greater than all those Old Covenant priests, greater than all His creations.
He does not inhabit that nice church building, no matter how much one may enjoy looking at those lovely edifices. It is Christ in YOU the hope of glory. All those bricks and stones will come to nothing, but the everlasting church of the First Born will endure forever.
We THE CHURCH of Lord Jesus Christ gather together out of love for God and love for one another under the grace of the New Covenant, not out of fear of the penalty of the curse and death of the Law of the Old Covenant. You are the church I am the church, all believers are the church. My prayer is that we as believers by the grace of God will grow up to fully understand the fact that the true church is a spiritual structure composed of every believer, inhabited by the Triune God, made by God and not men. I pray we will experience the joy of gathering together as God’s family to worship and fellowship with God and one another. love serola
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Sun, Jul 21st - 12:39AM
Act 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Act 17:3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.
Act 17:4 And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few.
Act 17:5 But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.
Dearly beloveds, the Bible shows clearly that the apostle Paul did not go into the Synagogue to worship according to the Old Commandment Law of Moses. He went to expound the New Covenant Gospel of Jesus Christ. He went to tell them that the Messiah that was foretold has indeed come and that Jesus Christ is the very fulfillment indeed. Had Paul gone just to worship according to the Mosaic Law, the unbelieving Jews would not have gotten so jealous and ticked off at him. Search the scriptures and you will find the COMMAND to worship on a certain day(s) is only under the Old Commandment under the Law and enforced by death and a curse. Invariably some Christians will argue that God commands we worship specifically on a Saturday or a Sunday, or even a Monday or Tuesday. Unfortunately some Christians are urged to quit their jobs, because their employer will not give them Sundays off to worship. There are other Christians who are looked down upon because they gather together to worship on a day other than Sunday etc. Even though the scriptures tells us that early in the morning on the first day our Lord was risen, we must be careful to note that He gave no command to worship on the first day or any other day. We also find instances of Christians gathering together on the first day, for various reasons, again we find there is no command for them to do so. The apostle Paul gives the command that Christians must not fail or stop gathering together for worship, and this is key. Paul makes a very pointed statement and never mentions a day when addressing the church for various reasons he says: "When you gather or assemble together". When we enter the true Sabbath of rest in the final, finished, complete work of the cross, as our Father rested from His own work, we rest from ours knowing in Jesus Christ it is finished. I would say to any brother or sister, praise God you are obeying the Lord to keep faithful to gather together for worship with other believers. The Bible is clear that it is between the Lord and the Christian when they gather together on the day of their choosing, and no one else's business. For those who want to judge a Christian body for not worshipping on the "right" day, the Bible says it all: Col. 2:16-17 16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holyday, or of the new moon or of the Sabbath (days): 17 which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ. Please see this whole chapter.
love
serola | |
| | | | | | | . | | | | | | Available Commentaries for Colossians 2:16 | | | | |
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Wed, Jul 17th - 12:55AM
Brothers and sisters it is so amazing to find unexpected fellowship. While Shopping at the store I met a dear lady from India. She said she was a Christian, and when I told her I was too, we mutually said "my sister" in such joy. We took time to praise our Lord together for His remarkable gift that He has made us one in Him. It is always great to meet "people from home" the body of Christ.
It is God that puts us together in His body, to reflect His life and His love on the earth to family and all men.
I thank Lord Jesus for being a part of His eternal family. I recall meeting a Christian brother, and we just were so overjoyed, we met going on a trip, and spent the time openly praising, worshipping and adoring the Lord the whole time.
We agreed that, God forbid, but if we were confined to a cave all alone for the rest of our earthly life, we would not crack, because God has set the everlasting standard for the whole of our lives. His standard is totally independent, unchangeable and cannot ever be affected by our earthly circumstances good or bad.
I thank God for all the children of God who write, visit, and help the homebound, the poor, the sick, and witnessing all that they can out of love for God, His people and all men. It is beyond amazing that each of us are never alone for God is always with us, even in us.
Jhn 15:17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.
Jo 3:23 And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
1Jo 3:24 ¶ And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
love
serola
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Tue, Jul 9th - 1:25PM
1Jo 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
1Jo 4:20 If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
1Jo 5:3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. Biblical love (agape) means that if we are born of God, it will be demonstrated in obeying His will out of love for Him and others. Love is God Himself. and ALL He embodies in complete eternal holiness. Love is never separated from ALL that God commands.
Love presents the comprehensive complete standard for all believers for all eternity. Every and all things done separate and apart from God’s love encompassing ALL that He is and ALL that He commands is NEVER accepted by God.
The Bible is absolutely clear: No person, No worship of any kind without the kind of love aforementioned is accepted by God, and shall NEVER enter the kingdom of God.
Worship is also living our whole lives as living sacrifices to God. Worship is living as the New Man and showing forth fruit of the Spirit, not works of the flesh.
God has given us His clear record of the works of the flesh and the works of the Holy Spirit.
Through the Holy Spirit we can compare and contrast the works of the Spirit and the works of the flesh. Worship is understanding that there is absolutely NO negotiating, compromising, comingling the Gospel with ANY works of the flesh nor workers of the flesh. Therefore any and all persons refusing to repent and seeking to allow acceptance of ANY abominations of the flesh must be rejected out of hand.
God has left us the complete record of the covenants to compare and contrast. If we are truly Christians, we will do God’s will and it will be demonstrated in believing the WHOLE Gospel message and in our daily walk because we are empowered and indwelt by the Holy Spirit.
I pray that every Christian will continually grow and be established in grace, and this we will do by the faith of Jesus Christ.
The Old Covenant, of external worship and commands written on tablets of stone, was enforced by curses and death, and terminated upon the final complete work of Jesus Christ, for everyone who believes and accepts Him. The New Covenant through Jesus Christ is written in the minds and hearts of believers, who worship God out of love and trust in Him. God has left us His complete record of these covenants and His purposes in them for all mankind.
Regardless of what day Christians choose to assemble together for worship, I pray it will be done in keeping of the true internal Sabbath of rest in complete confidence in the final, finished and complete Atoning work of Lord Jesus Christ.
Rom 6:14 For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.
Rom 7:6 But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not [in] the oldness of the letter.
Rom 8:2 For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death.
Rom 13:8 Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love [is] the fulfilling of the law.
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.
Gal 2:21 I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness [come] by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.
Gal 3:11 But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, [it is] evident: for, The just shall live by faith.
THE PURPOSE OF THE LAW:
24 Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster [to bring us] unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. 25But after that faith is come, we are
no longer under a schoolmaster. (Gal. 3: 24-25 KJV).
IF IT IS NOT ABOUT JESUS, IT IS ABOUT NOTHING AT ALL:
Gal 5:4 Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law; ye are fallen from grace.
1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
love serola
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Mon, Jul 8th - 1:42PM
Hbr 10:22 Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. 10:23 Let us hold fast the profession of [our] faith without wavering; (for he [is] faithful that promised;) 10:24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: 10:25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some [is]; but exhorting [one another]: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Dear brothers and sisters, we must understand the comprehensive nature of worship. It is first deeply personal and intimate with our Triune God, in His presence alone, also as we assemble together, and even when two or more of us gather together. Along with private prayer and worship, again,every Christian is commanded to gather together with other family members, brothers and sisters in Christ, in the presence of God.
This fellowship can never be broken. God feeds us spiritual food and builds us up in Him directly and through fellowship with our brothers and sisters.
Even today we find some amongst us who in error divide up the Gospel of the New Covenant and promote bits and pieces of it, which God forbids. The Bible clearly states that those who do so are carnal, weak, self-willed, and self- promoting. Because of such foolishness we find a cacophony of disinformation and misrepresentation of the full gospel message of salvation, causing many to stumble thereby. We worship under the Grace of the Gospel of life, not under the Law of Sin and death.
love
serola
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Sat, Jul 6th - 3:51PM
Rom 10:4 For Christ [is] the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. This means that if you are a true believer, you will come to Christ from His final finished work of the cross through grace and never by the commandments enforced by the Law. Every Christian stands on the resurrection side of the cross, through Jesus Christ. Therefore we must love, trust, serve and obey our Father, in the true faith of His Son.
All worship and everything else must be done in line with God’s word. Clerisy and priest-craft have NO place in God, nor the worship of Him. Clerisy is a man blasphemously self-assigning himself, or by others, powers and authority that belong only to God and positioning himself as lord over the congregation. Priest-craft is a man blasphmously claiming all messianic powers and authority, belonging solely to Lord Jesus Christ.
1Ti 1:5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and [of] a good conscience, and [of] faith unfeigned:
If you are a true believer you will come to God out of love with a pure heart and a Holy Spirit enabled conscience fully settled in true faith.
The Pharisees and scribes stalked Lord Jesus hoping to see Him break the commandments and Law, so they could put Him to death. Yet Lord Jesus foreshadowed the coming mercies of God through Him, that would bring grace and eternal life not death and curses.
Lev 24:20 Breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth: as he hath caused a blemish in a man, so shall it be done to him [again].
Time and time again Jesus foreshadows the coming of God’s mercy of grace via the cross, which will be greater than the Law:
Mat 5:38 ¶ Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: 5:39 But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
How then and by what way shall we worship God? It is evident that only those who believe in the final finished and complete work of Lord Jesus have the privilege and the right and command to worship Him for all eternity. He alone is the Mediator of the New Testament and New Covenant of the Spirit of Life.
We must come with the understanding that through Jesus Christ we are not only servants, and disciples, but children of God. Christ has made us all a part of His family-brothers and sisters in God.
We come to worship God under the grace of the New Covenant as commanded by God our Father and established by the Son. We come with hearts fully assured in faith by believing and doing all that God commands us out of love for Him not fear of death or curses. I pray if any Christian, has not understood that we are the eternal family of God through His Son, that God will open their eyes to come running to Lord Jesus Christ, and His eternal family that stands with open arms. I thank God for His love, and the countless brothers and sisters in Him who continually love me and show me how to love God and others more and more.
love serola
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Fri, Jul 5th - 1:34PM
Surely those who believe and love the Lord want to worship Him in the way that He commands. And indeed, brothers and sisters the Holy Spirit makes it easy to understand what God wants us to willingly do; not out of fear of curses and death, but out of love.
However, there are those Christians who still claim they keep the Sabbath of the Old Covenant. We know this cannot be true seeing that this kind of Sabbath is not specific to only one day, neither can the Sabbath be separated from the whole of All of the commandments- all of them enforced by the Law:
Exd 31:13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily my sabbaths ye shall keep: for it [is] a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that [ye] may know that I [am] the LORD that doth sanctify you.
1. Sabbath observance, (sabbatism) : (
a) of weekly Sabbath ( on the seventh day)
(b) day of atonement (aka Sabbath of rest)
(c) sabbatical year
(d) of Feast of Trumpets
(e) of the 1st and last days of the Feast of Tabernacles
Again and again the Bible tells us over and over from the Old Testament to the New Testament that God gave no one the authority to pick out only the bits and pieces of the commandments and Laws that they like to do. This is punishable by death and curses under the Law.
Deu 27:26 Cursed [be] he that confirmeth not [all] the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen.
Gal 3:10 For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed [is] every one that continueth not in ALL things which are written in the book of the law to do them.
Jam 2:10 For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one [point], he is guilty of ALL
love
serola
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Wed, Jul 3rd - 1:05PM
Jhn 8:3 And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst,
4They say unto him, Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act.
5 Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou?
6This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with [his] finger wrote on the ground, [as though he heard them not].
7So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.
8And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground.
Now brothers and sisters we do not know what Lord Jesus wrote on the ground, and we have no authority to even conjecture what it was. But it is evident that those scribes and Pharisees were hypocrites who had neither right nor authority to stone the woman alone, for they well knew what the Law of Moses said:
Lev 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with [another] man's wife, [even he] that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
Obviously, these Pharisees and scribes had to let the woman go. They had been found out, because no one can fool God. It is important to note that Jesus gave the woman a stern warning to go and sin no more.
Jesus wasn’t fooled by those phonies. The Old Covenant enforced by the Mosaic Law was extremely serious, God did not give anyone the option of picking and choosing to obey just the commands they liked. You still find a lot of foolish teachings today of those trying to get Christians to live like Jews under the Old Covenant enforced by the Mosaic Law.
Look at the religious clothing industry fueled by those desiring to dress up like those Old Covenant priests. Most of those clothes are made in foreign countries, by people who do not even believe in the Bible. A lot of this clothing is produced by slave labor as well or those paid so little for their labor they might as well be slaves.
Now, brethren, the conclusion we must come to is that Jesus has given us a more effectual way of life to worship and to serve Him that cannot be done under the Law of sin and death. What then? How then? What way and/or what day shall we devote to worship Him?
Love Serola
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Name: Dolores serola Rutherford
