How far has the man-made church strayed from The Way, The Truth, and The Life!  The exhortations that the Word of Life offers indeed do not even apply in the given context of these institutions.  When Paul rebukes the Corinthians for their disorderly conduct at the Lord’s Supper, he makes clear that their manner of practice is, to some degree, a matter of life and death.

Now in giving these instructions I do not praise you, since you come together not for the better but for the worse.  For first of all, when you come together as an assembly, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.  For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.  Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper.  For in eating, each one takes his supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk…Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord…For this reason many are weak and sick among you and many sleep. 1 Corinthians 11:17-21, 27, 30.

Understand from these passages that when the first century people of God gathered, it was in the context of a meal.  They received their nourishment from the Lord over the dinner table.  Consequently, by coming to the table in an unworthy manner, they were being judged and chastened by the Lord, being made ill or put to sleep (1 Corinthians 11:31-32).  If the Corinthians were becoming sick by coming to the Lord’s Table to feast on Him in an unworthy manner, how much more dire is the situation in today’s churches where the Table no longer is, and for some, never even was!?  Partakers in these present-day unholy organizations cannot possibly feast on the Lord when they have cast His Table from their presence.    Long before they cast out His Table though, they had already quenched His Spirit in their midst.  Truly by their vain traditions involving pulpits and pews have they made the Word of God of no effect in their midst (Matthew 15:1-9).

Returning again to the beginning portion of the passage from 1 Corinthians above, Paul rebukes the Corinthians for their factions.  These are not denominational factions so much as they are hierarchical factions within the assemblies.  Similar factions, though much more sophisticated and deeply rooted, are present in today’s man-made churches.  Therein is also the manifest folly of these organizations.

Jesus says expressly, “I hate the doctrines and deeds of the Nicolaitans”  (Revelation 2:6, 15).  Nicolaitan is a compound Greek word formed from the nouns NIKOS, meaning a conquest, and the noun LAOS, meaning common people.  A Nicolaitan, then, is a conqueror of the common people; one who rises above the common man. Jesus says that He hates their deeds and doctrine and instructs His disciples otherwise:

But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren.  Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for one is your Teacher, the Christ.  But he who is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted. Matthew 23:8-12

Is it not the case in the man-made churches that today’s ‘Rabbis’ go by the titles of ‘Pastor’, ‘Father’, ‘Bishop’, ‘Reverend So-and-So’, and so on, rather than just ‘Brother’?  Are they not double-minded men using the power of their pulpit, preaching on the one hand liberty from the law in Christ and on the other hand subjection to the law of tithing?  They exalt themselves as servants of The Most High, but truly they are a pack of robbers and thieves, peddling the Word of God for profit.  Jesus laments the condition of these hypocrites,

But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!  For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Matthew 23:13

Child of God, to whom an inheritance in the Kingdom of God has been given, see the folly of these men and the flocks that they lead and come out from among them!  Do not let them rob you any more of the nutrition that comes from feasting on the Lord.  Do not let them choke you any more with the stagnant waters they offer for drink.  Come out from among them and assemble yourself together with the rest of your brethren as did the people of God 2,000 years ago.  Follow their pattern of life and you will not go hungry.

Ho!  Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money, come, buy and eat.  Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend money (tithe) for what is not bread, and your wages (time) for what does not satisfy?  Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance. Isaiah 55:1-2

Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good; Psalm 34:8

For My flesh is food indeed, and My blood is drink indeed.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him. John 6:55-56

To be continued…