Category: Narrow Way

Self is the supreme stumbling block in the spiritual life. Self, arch traitor to yourself, is your deadliest foe. Self, that wanton whore lying in the bosom of every man, seduces that true self within. Self, the household idol enshrined within every heart, has incense burned before it daily by 7 billion souls.

Satan, tempter though he be and lion-like roaring loud, is tame by comparison. For a genuine Christian, though not for the fake, he is chained as he prowls about seeking someone to devour. It was so with Job: “Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all he has in your power, only do not lay a hand upon his person’” –Job 1:12. Raging, ransacking, yes, but chained. His leash was short for Peter as well.

“Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you all like wheat; but I have prayed for you, that your faith may not fail” –Luke 22:31,32. No, this tempting adversary has his limits under the Almighty’s jurisdiction. And not Peter alone. “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, so that you will be able to endure it” -1 Corinthians 10:13.

No, Satan is not our greatest threat. “He who was Begotten of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him” -1 John 5:18. Our first mother, Eve, stretched out an accusing finger at Slayer Serpent: “The serpent deceived me and I did eat!” –Genesis 3:13. But the Sovereign Lord, not deceived, stretched out His own at Slayer Self, saying, “What is this that you have done?” –Genesis 3:13. Self is our dire and desperate enemy, not Satan. To see your strongest foe, your inalienable combatant, gaze into the mirror.

There Self will match your steely stare unflinchingly. Self is the arena of your fiercest battle. Your most intense combat is waged here in the realm of “speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God” – 2 Corinthians 10:5. These must be “destroyed and every thought taken captive to the obedience of Christ” – 2 Corinthians 10:5. Do you see it? Speculations, imaginations, false arguments, lofty arrogant presumption, wayward corrupt thoughts: these all proceed from within, not from without. Self is the source and they must be torn down, excised, demolished, and slain.

“Those that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts” –Galatians 5:24. This is warfare; this is mortal combat. Every godly soul must take up sides with God against this usurping tyrant Self. “Put to death, therefore, the members of your earthly body: sexual immorality, impurity, shameful passion, evil desire, and greed which is idolatry” –Colossians 3:5. Spare not in this conflict. “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to arouse its desires” –Romans 13:14.

The mystery of godliness is contained in this: We live to die and die to live. “Whoever desires to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” – Matthew 16:25. Slayer Self must be slain. You alone can do that. In the sovereign citadel of this thing called your heart, will be discovered either Slayer Self enshrined or the Saving Christ of God. You hold the key; you must choose.

You are neither the victim of Satan’s assaults, nor will the Lord Jesus batter down that door. It is one of the most fearful of realities that Self can resist and refuse even the Almighty. Stop and ponder that.

“If you are living according to the flesh, you are certainly going to die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live” –Romans 8:13. Life springs forth from death. “Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit” –John 12:24.

From death sprouts life. From life flows fruit. From Self comes flesh. From flesh is death. From death to life or life to death: either way we must die. Better to die to Self than for Self to slay you.

Paul said: “To me to live is Christ and to die is gain” –Philippians 1:21. But dying is only gain if living is only Christ. Slayer Self must be slain or Slayer Self will slay you. Which will it be? You choose.

 

 “Christians” themselves are the greatest Stumbling Block to Muslims receiving Christ. What would motivate a Muslim to risk his life to become identified with “Christians” in our disobedience to God?

It is a rebuke to us that most Muslims who are converted are due to direct supernatural encounters with Christ via dreams, visions, or angelic visitation. Christ Himself has set aside our testimony because we are carnal. The Lord Jesus has circumvented the testimony of the “church” to testify directly.

A Muslim submits to his god. Foolish “Christians” command their God through the demonic deception of Positive Confession. What kind of God is that who bows to the decrees and commands of a man? To him, Islam is one. Yet “Christians” are scattered into countless denominational divisions. We are carnal [1 Corinthians 3:3].

A Muslim prays intelligibly five times daily: “Show us the straight way.” The “church” in chaotic uproar babbles unintelligibly in “tongues,” never once asking God to show them the straight way. “If the whole church assembles together and all speak in tongues, will unbelievers not say that you are mad?” -1 Corinthians 14:23. Of course, they will. Our carnality is a Stumbling Block.

The Muslim asks: What kind of useless religion is it that has women as its teachers? We are carnal, for the Bible forbids for “a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man” -1 Timothy 2:11,12.

Ask yourself, what would motivate a Muslim risk his neck to join our mad pursuit of Prosperity, when the Word of God says that those who imagine that godliness is a means of financial gain are “depraved of mind and deprived of the truth” -1 Timothy 6:5? We are carnal.

Why would he wish to join fierce violent men cursing enemies by “hot prayers” when his religion already would encourage him to practice that? And especially why would he join such a “church” when Jesus commands that we “love your enemies, and bless them that curse you” –Matthew 5:44?

The Muslim is concerned about the modest dressing and covering of his women. The casual immodesty of dress and refusal of church women to cover their heads according to the Scriptures is a Stumbling Block to him [1 Peter 3:1-5; 1 Corinthians 11:1-16]. We are carnal.

The Muslim is determined that his children will know their Qur’an, and they are required to spend hours reading, writing, and memorizing their holy book each week. What would motivate him to leave that devotion to join “Christians” who hold the Word of God in such low esteem that they have not even read their entire Bible even once, much less diligently train their children to do so?

If we are attempting to reach the Muslim world, we cannot impart what we do not practice. The “One Another” passages in the New Testament testify against us that we are carnal. Our gatherings do not allow, much less encourage and promote, the participatory mutual exchange of building one another up in love. In a very practical sense, we have cancelled the priesthood of all believers with man-made systems of “leaders,” “moderators,” and “pastors.” But the “church” is not actually practicing what the Word of God commands.  “One Another” is not what we do. Our church “worship” services have set aside the Word of the Lord for the sake of our traditions.

Thus we remain carnal, and because of this, the name of God is blasphemed among the nations, and Christ Himself encounters the Muslim world directly apart from our “testimony.”

To the Muslim, his religion encompasses all of life; it dictates his associations, behavior, family affairs, vocational ethics, and personal interactions. A Muslim is intertwined in a community of like-minded believers, and life outside of that tightknit culture is unthinkable.

What would motivate him to abandon his customs, culture, religion, social acceptance, and security to join the “church”? Why would he risk his neck to abandon all to be ushered into an impersonal religious system that offers little in the way of actual acceptance, fellowship, support, biblical answers, and encouragement? Why? In our present state, there are no compelling reasons for him to do so.

The disobedience of Christians to actually practice the “One Another” passages of the NT is the chief Stumbling Block to the Muslim coming to know Christ. Rather than a refuge of loving acceptance, fellowship, community, zeal for truth, devotion to Christ, and answers to life’s questions, he is Stumbled.

 

 

Christ was cursed, not Christians. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law by becoming a curse for us, for it is written, ‘Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree’” –Galatians 3:13. That ends cursing upon Christians. There are no curses that come upon the true children of God; no, not even one.

Christ has redeemed us, not only from the curse of the Law, but also from the curses of the ancestors. “You were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down by tradition from your ancestors, not with corruptible things like silver or gold, but by the precious blood of Christ” –1 Peter 1:18,19.

Generational sins and ancestral curses have no effect on genuine believers. “Take counsel together, but it will come to nothing. Speak the word, but it will not stand, for God is with us” –Isaiah 8:10.

Not even the high powered sorcerer of international reputation could curse. Here’s his own testimony: “There is no sorcery against Jacob, nor is there any witchcraft against Israel” –Numbers 23:23.

And why? “Because they hired Balaam to curse you. However, the Lord your God was not willing to listen to Balaam, but the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you because the Lord your God loves you” –Deuteronomy 23:4,5. God turns curses into blessing for His children whom He loves.

So, I don’t get it. Why are you Reverends of Riches, Prosperity Pastors, and Banker Bishops cursing your congregations? God isn’t even listening to you. Do you think you can rain down curses on the true people of God because they don’t bring money into your religious business centers? You must be kidding.

One of the prominent deceivers among you in Lagos told millions of his followers that they would go to hell for not paying tithes into that ministry. Na Wao! Na Big Wao! God turns cursing into blessing.

Or have you forgotten Genesis 12:3? “I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” That’s pretty clear. But what’s going to happen to you, Mr. Pastor Man, if you open your big mouth and curse the people of God that Jesus has redeemed from the curse by becoming a curse in their place? You’ve gotten yourself into real wahalah. Curse those whom God has blessed and you become cursed.

Well, what about Malachi 3? There’s a curse upon God’s people for not tithing. What do you have to say about that! Malachi is the last book of the Old Covenant of Law. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law. Tithes were to be brought into the storehouse of the Temple in Jerusalem. Pretty sure that Temple was destroyed in 70 AD. Tithes were to be brought by the nation of Israel. Pretty sure Christians are not the nation of Israel. Tithes were for the Levites to have food and then grain and oil and wine for their ritual animal sacrifices in that Temple. Pretty sure we don’t offer animals anymore.

Tithes were simply 10% of farm produce to support the Levites and Priests in their Temple service; that’s why God said that there should be food in His house, not money. Now all Christians are priests: “You are being built up as a spiritual house for a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” –1 Peter 2:5. So, if all are now priests, who are we supposed to tithe to?

Oh, and lest we continue under this delusion, consider this: Tithing was never money. I know that sounds outlandish, but it’s true: Tithing throughout the entire Bible was never 10% of your money. See for yourself; here are all references to tithing in the whole Scriptures. Genesis 14:20; Leviticus 27:30-32; Numbers 18:21,24,26,28;  Deuteronomy 12:6,11,17; 14:22,23,28; 26:12; 2 Chronicles 31:5,6,12;  Nehemiah 10:37,38; 12:44;  13:5,12;  Amos 4:4;  Malachi 3:8,10;  Matthew 23:23;  Luke 11:42; 18:12;  Hebrews 7:5,6,8,9. There, hopefully that should settle that. You are not under a curse for not tithing.

So when the Rev. Canon of Cursing mounts the pulpit and thunders his curse upon you for not “tithing” into his corrupt coffers, don’t mind him. He neither understands the Scriptures nor the power of God. “God has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ” –Ephesians 1:3. You are not cursed. “Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the Law” –Galatians 3:13. No curse.

“There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” –Romans 8:1. You are not cursed. “A curse without a cause will not alight” –Proverbs 26:2. No curse there. “You were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down by tradition from your ancestors” –1 Peter 1:18. Curses of ancestors are cancelled. “Let them curse, but You bless” –Psalm 109:28. Amen. No curse.

 

 

 

Bow or burn, prostrate or perish: Dance to the tune or dance in the furnace. Empires exist on these edicts. Reigning monarchs, tyrant dictators, and religious rulers all operate on this terrifying principle.

Compliance or condemnation is their single sermon. By it fear, self-serving, and hypocrisy are instilled, while love, devotion, and sincerity are crucified. No one truly honors such oppressive overlords. Servile sycophants and groveling ingratiating lackeys are the only subjects in such kingdoms.

But freedom of conscience is seared and slain thereby. Independent reflection is quashed and individual initiative is forbidden. Submit or be sanctioned or slain: end of discussion. Discussion there never was. “This has come down from the above” is all that the peasants need to know. So, bow or burn.

“Then the herald loudly proclaimed, ‘To you the command is given, the moment you hear the sound of all kinds of music, you are to fall down and worship the golden image. But whoever does not, shall be cast immediately into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire’” –Daniel 3:4-6. Ok, that’s clear enough.

But devotion is not derived under duress. Nothing in true spirituality ever results by force. Intimidation does not instill adoration. Threats are not the springs from which worship flows. Punishment does not kindle love’s glow; it rather extinguishes it. O foolish religious men! You are destroying everything Christ is seeking and building everything that Christ will tear down! Are you so blind?

And if there are any in your ash-heap kingdoms that dare to stand erect, gazing into heaven while cowardly congregations prostrate at your every decree, you, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, will rage. “These men, O king, have disregarded you; they do not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up” –Daniel 3:12. O you can be sure, the reigning madman will shower them with hot threats.

“If you do not worship, you will immediately be cast into the midst of a burning fiery furnace; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?” –Daniel 3:15. And here is unmasked the naked reality of all such dominating dictators; he considers himself to be supreme. He is the god who must be served. No rivals are tolerated.

He will dictate, for he is king. He will pontificate, for as the shrine’s custodian he determines the mandatory traditions. He will execute, for he is the unquestioned judge and authority in that kingdom. In one man are concentrated Prophet, Priest, and King: the legislative, judicial, and executive all in one man. And when all three are combined into one man, you have encountered a Babylonian abomination.

I hope you see the evil of this. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego did.

“O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to give you an answer concerning this matter. Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, we are not going to serve your gods” –Daniel 3:16-18. Hear their bold rebuff: “Our God is able to deliver us, but if not, we will not bow to your delusion.” To them, devotion did not depend upon deliverance. Consecration must not be compromised by compliance. Christ Jesus alone is Lord and we will bow to none other. This they did and this we applaud.

The Son of God will meet you in the furnace if you dare to stand. And this is what establishes a testimony: They “yielded up their bodies so as not to serve or worship any god except their own God, violating the king’s command” –Daniel 3:28. The choice is Christ or king; 2 masters cannot both be served. One or the other’s command must be obeyed; and one or the other’s command must be violated.

Nebuchadnezzar’s cousin, Diotrephes, perpetuates this horrid regime of terror. “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, does not acknowledge us. I will call attention to his deeds, talking nonsense against us with wicked words of gossip; and not satisfied with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but hinders and stops those who want to do so and throws them out of the church!” –3 John 9,10. Diotrephes was Executive, Legislator, and Judge rolled into one.

Christ has “first place in everything” –Colossians 1:18; Diotrephes loves to have that first place. I hope you see a despicable and desperate conflict here. Diotrephes is GO of Prostrate Parish. Bow or burn.

So, when the music sounds, where will you be found: standing or prostrating?

 

 

 

 “Let us build a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name. And they used brick for stone” –Genesis 11:3,4. Here is self-exaltation reaching the heights of denominated religious wickedness. Behold the crafted shrine composed of conformed components: man-made bricks.

Nimrod’s tower became the first religious structure in a fixed location. This was a staggering paradigm shift. Substitutions to worship in Spirit and Truth abound, and Nimrod institutionalized his.

Worship in Spirit is quenched by external ritual. Worship in Truth is supplanted by man-devised tradition and decrees. This is the legacy of Nimrod’s tower that perpetuates up to today.

Prior to this Babylonian invention, man was his own priest. He had direct access to God through God’s own appointed way: altars of earth and stone. “You shall make an altar of earth for Me in every place where I cause My name to be remembered. If you make an altar of stone for Me, you shall not build it of cut stones, for if you wield your tool on it, you will profane it. And you shall not go up by steps to My altar” –Exodus 20:24-26. The altar of God is not left to human invention and craft. And what a provision!

Stones and earth are readily available in any locale as divinely provided means to worship. Both are creations of God and sufficient to convey true devotion independent of man’s ideas and ingenuity. But now all was forever changed. With the crafting of Nimrod’s tower, permanence was established; movement has ceased. No more is man free to worship as his own priest. His shrine demands that participants come to its locale and be in subjection to ceremonies determined by the priest-craft of others.

Nimrod’s building will require maintenance, maintenance requires a custodian, and both require money. As such, devotees must be solicited and terms of engagement established in order to fund the enterprise; the custodian must eat and the shrine must perpetuate.

The building of shrines eliminates recourse to earth and stones; they are inaccessible and out of sight, covered beneath the tower’s foundation. Neither are they welcome inside. Bring them within and they will immediately be cast out by the custodian and his cronies. What is of God has no place within Nimrod’s structures of burned bricks. Hence mashed and molded, formed and furnaced, multiplied bricks emerge identically proportioned: hardened uniform components incapable of change.

Stones are made by God, each with its unique properties. Bricks are made by man, none with distinctive design. The Lord Jesus builds His church with “living stones” –1 Peter 2:5. The Nimrods of this world fabricate their shrines with identical building blocks of their own schemes. That building plan does not accommodate irregularities and originality. In their crafted traditions, conformity is accounted as communion and uniformity as unity. Thus commences Babylonian priest-craft rule.

Bricks are forced to conform to Nimrod’s mold by subjection through threat, intimidation, and punishment. Those not complying are cast aside as worthless rubble in his greater enterprise; no tolerance for deviants is allowed. And the spirit of Babylon survived Babel’s dispersion on the plains of Shinar.

The legacy of a shrine with its attendant tyrant custodian and man-made traditions is instinctively embedded in the pulse of every culture. Its spirit breathes in every ritual, in every denominated shrine throughout Christendom. Answer this simple question. Where in the NT can you show your typical Sunday morning church service? Where? Just quote one verse. Show to the world that what Christendom does each Sunday morning has even one passage to support what is done in those grand pageants.

Can’t find it can you? If not even one verse in the whole New Testament supports this monstrosity we call “church,” then from whence did it arise? It came from Babylon. Nimrod institutionalized it at his tower and it spread worldwide from there. Priest-craft prevailed. The custodian king reigned.

“Worship” was localized at the Shrine. Individual priests were no longer tolerated. All conformed to his scheme. Punishment was meted out for any who did not comply. Money was collected for maintenance of the building and its custodian.

Stones of God’s creation were cast aside for man-made bricks of his own design. Uniformity replaced unity. And rebellion colored it all. It is no small matter when brick is substituted for stone.

 

 

 

In the beginning God created no religion. None was needed.

Only the pure communion of spirit to Spirit prevailed with all the faculties of soul and body harnessed to that end. There were no rituals, ceremonies, shrines, or altars. Man was his own priest. Fellowship was co-extensive throughout the activities of the day; for God and man shared in a common life. No division between sacred and secular existed. Devotion was not an addendum to daily pursuits.

Love, holiness, and truth were an integral, instinctive, and innate flow from a heart that was in a living union with the living God. Communion was a condition, not an activity. Worship was woven into the warp and woof of the fabric of human will, not an adaptation to obligations imposed from without.

But the revolt of self-will, sin, changed all. Fig leaves were donned instead of garments of light, shame supplanted purity, fear replaced devotion, while hiding overtook communion. A terrible breach produced a terrible consequence. That brash eruption of lawlessness distorted the reflective faculties, alienated the soul, and darkened the understanding. Man became a horrid religious creature.

Desperate substitutes were devised to amend for wayward choices. Fig leaves, plucked from their living source, were crafted to cover shameful exposure in sin’s wake. Makeshift garments were hastily sewn from now withering and soon decaying sources. This is the legacy of Eden’s first religious act.

Man-devised solutions to sin have no life, do not endure, address the externals alone, and are ultimately rejected by God altogether. It is a parable of sorts: Man’s religion fails to cover guilt and shame.

God, however, brings a solution from above; only the death of a substitute can cover the stain, corruption, and guilt of sin. And this He alone provides; it is not a product of human ingenuity. The lamb must be slain to provide a suitable covering for lawless deeds. And the Lord Jesus has done just that.

“Without the shedding of blood, there is no remission of sin” resounds, echoing through the corridors of the ages. And why? Because the death of separation ensues the instant the heart rises in lawlessness: a death that cannot be remedied by human contrivance.

A fire must be kindled upon earth, a victim slain, and a sacrifice ascend before dark deeds be purged of their stain. “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” –John 1:29. This is Christ.

He has restored all that was lost. Spiritual death is swallowed up in life. The flesh is overtaken by the Spirit. Corruption gives way to purity’s radiance. Self and malice cower before love. Joy banishes shame, and forgiveness’ confidence conquers guilt. And worship at shrines by ceremony is now passé.

“You worship what you do not know. But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” –John 4:23.

Worship in Christ Jesus is in the Spirit, not in ceremonies, shrines, externals, traditions, and rituals. Real worship is in Truth, not in shadows, symbols, and partial aids to reach the Real.

There is no religion in union with the Lord Jesus. No shrines, rituals, or ceremonies are needed. Only the pure communion of spirit to Spirit prevails. Futile days of fashioning fig leaves is over. In the beginning, God created no religion in Christ. None was needed. None is needed today. Christ is all. But what have we done? How shall we account for the monstrosities we have erected in Christendom? How?

Why do we abide in shadow systems and schemes of men? Why do we continue to submit to Pontiffs and Prophets, Priests and Pastors when heaven is open to even the weakest of disciples?

Christ abides within every true believer as the source of all life and everything good. He abides in the midst of even 2 or 3 gathered in His Name [Mathew 18:20]. Every real Christian is a real spiritual priest: “to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ” –1 Peter 2:5.

Spirit to spirit communion is restored. Christ’s redeemed are all equally priests. Worship is in Spirit and Truth; shrines are irrelevant and traditions and ceremonies are rejected as the useless man-made bondage that they are. Passive attendance at the shrine’s mandated meetings is cancelled. You are free.

Christ is our only King and Mediator: one Lord, one faith, one body, one fellowship – No Religion.