Church — Did Jesus Christ build a church and, if so, where is it?

12345 > Articles   > Church — Did Jesus Christ build a church and, if so, where is it? Church — Did Jesus Christ build a church and, if so, where is it? The whole concept of church came into effect after the death of Yehoshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ). At present, there are about 67,000 Christian denominations and about 3.7 million churches in the world all claiming to be the church that Yehoshua HaMashiach built. With so many churches existing in today’s society, it is impossible for a person to understand the meaning of the word “church” in its “correct context” and how it applies in today’s generation. The aim of this study paper is to answer five key questions: 1. Why is the word “church” never mentioned in the Tanakh (Old Testament)? 2. Did Yehoshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) build a church? 3. What is the true meaning of the word “church”? 4. Why do people go to church? 5. The church Jesus Christ built – How do we uncover its true meaning? Number of times the word “church(es)” is mentioned in the scriptures/Bible Word Number of times it appears in the scriptures (New Testament) Church 80 Churches 37 We can see from the scriptures that the word “church(es)” appears 117 times in the Messianic writings (New Testament) and not even once in the Tanakh (Old Testament). It comes from the Greek word “ekklesia”, pronounced as “ek-klay-see-ah” (Strong’s concordance number 1577). The word “church” means a group of people called out for a special purpose. In a nutshell, the word means “to be called out of”. For instance, from the scriptures we know that Jesus had twelve disciples. Whenever He called them, they used to assemble at a certain place to follow Him. This is what we mean by the Greek word “ekklesia”, people called out by God. When two or more people come to a certain place, that then becomes an assembly. The word “assembly” means “people who are gathered together”. Almost all Bible scholars will agree that the word “church” does not mean a physical building and has nothing to do with anything that we see in today’s modern-day Christianity. It strictly means a person who has been called out (by Yehoshua HaMashiach) for a special purpose in his or her life. History of the origin of the word “church” (How it made its way into the Bible) When we study the scriptures, it is very important to understand the history of how things have come into existence. Here are a few historical facts. All of the Bible translations since its beginning were set (how it should to be translated) by the Church of England. The Church of England was established in AD 597. The first Bible in English came into being between 1539 and 1540. This Bible was called “The Great Bible”. It was authorized by King Henry VIII of England to be read in the Church of England. It was translated by Myles Coverdale who was from the Church of England. The second Bible in English came into being in 1568 and was called “The Bishop’s Bible”. This Bible was published under the authority of the Church of England. It was translated by Matthew Parker who was the Archbishop of Canterbury. The third Bible in English came into being in 1611 and was called the Authorized King James Version. This Bible was published under the authority of the Church of England. The Authorised King James Version of the Bible laid the foundations for many other Bible translations until the late 20th century. One thing that can be understood from the above historical facts is that the word “church” already existed even before a Bible translation came into being. When Bible translators interpreted the Greek word “ekklesia” as the first three Bibles came into existence, they were so biased in their translation that they replaced the word “called out” with “church”. From that time on, almost all Bible translations till the late 20th century did not bother to correct the word “ekklesia” to its rightful meaning, that is, a group of people called out for a special purpose. One would have to ask the question, why didn’t Bible translators correct this mistake in the following Bible translations? The reason is quite simple. If they changed that translation, then most people would stop going to churches (this could lead to the collapse of the religious man-made church system). This would then lead to no money (tithes/donations) coming into the church system and many churches would close down (no people coming into the religious system). So why bother correcting this translation error that could destroy the whole church/religious system (from a translator’s perspective)? Why is the word “church” never mentioned in the Tanakh (Old Testament)? The word “church” is never mentioned in the Old Testament. God never started a church or a religion during the times of the patriarchs. God created a way of life for us to follow. If we walk in His way, it will lead us to everlasting life. That is why Genesis 3:24 says, “and He drove the man out. And He placed Kerubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.” Isaiah 30:21 says, “and your ears hear a word behind you, saying ‘This is the Way, walk in it’, whenever you turn to the right, or whenever you turn to the left”.  This will happen during the reign of Yehoshua HaMashiach on earth. God says to us to follow His Way that will lead to everlasting life. That is why in the Old Testament (Tanakh) you will never see the word “church” in the scriptures. During the period of the Old Testament, God used to call his people out from paganism or the corrupt worldly system, just like He called Abraham, Moses and many other people for a special purpose. He never told them to go and build churches. They were all “called out” to fulfil a purpose (destiny) that He had for them. The Greek word “ekklesia” is similar to the Hebrew word “qahal” (spoken as “kaw-hawl”) found in the Old Testament. Concordance number for “qahal” is 6951. In Hebrew, this means assembly (people called out for a purpose). The word “assembly” is used 49 times in the Old Testament. Let’s look at some examples of the word “qahal” (assembly) in its chronological order: Genesis 49:6 — “Let my being not enter their council, let my esteem not be united to their assembly; because they killed a man in their displeasure, and they lamed an ox in pleasure.” Exodus 12:6 — “And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same new moon. Then all the assembly of the congregation of Yisrael shall slay it between the evenings.” Exodus 16:3 — “…If only we had died by the hand of YHWH in the land of Mitsrayim, when we sat by the pots of meat and when we ate bread to satisfaction! For you have brought us out into this wilderness to put all this assembly to death with hunger.” Did Yehoshua HaMashiach (Jesus Christ) build a church? The premises for starting a church by today’s Christians and other religious people stem from a statement that Yehoshua (Jesus) made to Peter. This statement has laid foundation to tens of thousands of churches today. Let us now examine the statement that Jesus made in Matthew 16:18-19. “And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (King James Version translation). A casual church goer needs no other proof other than the above-mentioned statement, which says that Jesus will build a church and hell will not prevail against it. Then it further elaborates that whatever you bind (do) on earth shall be done in heaven, which technically means, even if you do sin in the name of God, it does not matter what sin you do (molesting children, homosexuality, killing people, doing drugs, fornication, adultery and other sins) as nothing is going to happen to you in heaven. This is the belief that many churches such as the Catholic, Orthodox, Baptist, Methodist, Anglican, Evangelical churches and many others share. These churches provide you with a “license to sin”. Since God has provided Peter with all authority, the church leaders can do whatever they want and still be saved by the grace of God. The laws of God are not binding to these churches. They have the power to supersede the laws of God, as Peter is the head/leader of the church. The Encyclopaedia Britannica in their documented evidence said the following about the Catholic Church during the 12th Century: “From the 12th century onward the process of salvation was therefore increasingly bound up with money” (Encyclopaedia Britannica, topic of “Indulgence”). When the Catholic Church was growing, they needed money to build their extravagant churches and domes that comprised gold and exaggerated artwork. The best way to raise money was to sell indulgences (forgiveness). The Catholics said that if you paid them money in the form of a donation, it would be ensured that you would have immediate entry into heaven without time in hell. Hence, this was a licence to sin (get out of jail card) without the need to repent. For example, I want to kill or rape someone in the future and I pay the Catholic Church money in the form of a donation and they would give me a licence to sin for a future event that has not yet taken place. This would ensure that I would still enter the kingdom of heaven (one-way ticket to heaven) without spending any time in hell and there is no need for me to repent of this sin as I have procured my way to heaven via the Catholic Church. Time magazine in the United States published an article in February 2009 titled “Why Catholic Indulgences Are Making a Comeback”. The article said that indulgences are coming back to the Catholic Church in a new form. The articles states, “It sounds too good to be true. Now for a limited time  the year of St. Paul, to be specific, which ends in June, say a prayer, pop by a designated church and qualify for an indulgence that deducts time from your scorching (severe) sojourn (temporary stay) in the cleansing fires of purgatory (a place where people are tormented to correct their sins).” (Words in brackets are added for understanding.) The question we need to ask is, is this the kind of church that Jesus Christ made? Churches that allow people to rape, commit fornication/adultery, squeeze money out from people under the banner of donations, rule over people and their affairs, and teach people not to follow the laws of God? Let’s now find out the truth of what Yehoshua HaMashiach actually did say in Matthew 16:18-19. Decoding Matthew 16:18-19 Greek words Peter (concordance number 4074: meaning rock or stone) Rock (concordance number 4073: meaning large stone) Build (concordance number 3618: meaning establish or grow in wisdom) Church (concordance number 1577: called out or assembly of people) Gates (concordance number 4439: meaning gate or entrance) Hell (concordance number 0086: meaning grave or death) Prevail (concordance number 2729: meaning overcome or have strength) Keys (concordance number 2807: meaning key or authority) Kingdom (concordance number 0932: meaning royal power or rule) Heaven (concordance number 3772: meaning the world or universe) Bind/Bound (concordance number 1210: meaning bind/bound by the law) Earth (concordance number 1093: meaning land or earth) Loose/loosed (concordance number 3089: meaning to set a person free from bondage, from being tied up) Matthew 16:18-19 Corrected Translation After decoding Matthew 16, verses 18 to 19, we can now provide the corrected translation of Matthew 16:18-19. Verse 18: And I also say to you that you are Peter and on this rock I shall grow My called out people and the gates of grave1 shall not overcome them2. Verse 19: And I shall give you the authority of royal power and whatever you bind by law3 on earth shall be having been bound in eternity and whatever you set free on earth shall be having been set free in eternity.  Footnotes for Matthew 16:18-19 1The chosen people of God will always prevail against evil. A remnant of their seed will always remain throughout the ages. 2The called out people. 3Law refers here to the Torah, the first five books (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers). Keep in mind that the New Testament (Messianic Writings) did not even exist when Yehoshua said this to Peter. Understanding Matthew 16:18-19 the Corrected Translation By accurately translating Matthew 16:18-19, we can come to a clearer picture of what Yehoshua HaMashiach was articulating to Peter. Because of the faith that Peter had in Yehoshua, He said to Peter, just like you, I will call out many people whose foundations (in the laws of Torah) are as strong as a rock. I (Yehoshua) will grow these people in knowledge and in wisdom of the Torah and also teach them what will happen in the future (things to come) and death (evil) can never overcome them. They will always prevail against adversity. We need to ask why would Yehoshua make such a statement to Peter. For this, we need to read what happened in the previous verses of Matthew 16, 18-19. Yehoshua was asking His disciples about what people said that He was. Some of them said, “you are John the Baptist, Elijah or one of the prophets”. Then Peter, from all of His disciples, said that “You are the Messiah the Son of the Living Elohim”. And Yehoshua answering said to him, “Blessed are you Simon Bar-Yonah for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you but My Father in the heavens” (Matthew 16: 16-17).     Since Peter confessed through divine revelation from the Father that Yehoshua was indeed the Messiah as foreseen by the prophets, Yehoshua blessed Peter and gave him a “prophetic revelation” of the future in verses 18 and 19 of Matthew 16.  When we come to verse 19, the revelation gets deeper. Here Yehoshua is saying to Peter that in the future He will give him royal power just like the power that is given to a king.  Based on the laws of Elohim (God), that are set from eternity (heaven), what you (Peter) do on earth will be as it is set in eternity. What we can understand from verses 18 and 19 is that both are future events. Verse 18 is an event that will be continuous in nature, where people will be called out from the world for a special purpose, just like Peter was called out to follow the Messiah in everything. When we come to verse 19, this is the reward of Peter that Yehoshua HaMashiach will give to him when the Kingdom of God is established on earth. When we read the scriptures in their chronological order, we understand in Matthew 19:28 that Yehoshua HaMashiach makes a proclamation to His disciples. “And Yehoshua said to them: Truly I say to you, when the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His majesty, you who have followed Me, in the reign shall also sit on twelve thrones judging (concordance number 2919, the correct translation of the word “judging” should be “determining right and wrong”) the twelve tribes of Israel (Matthew 19:28).” This is why Yehoshua said to Peter that whatever he binds by law (laws of Torah) on earth will be as it is set in eternity. To judge (determining right and wrong) and proclaim decisions based on law, you would have to know the laws of Elohim (Torah). These laws are set from eternity by the Almighty God. When we read Matthew 6:10 before we come to Matthew 16, it says, “let your Reign come, let your desire (concordance number 2307, the correct translation word should be “decree”, which means an official order) be done on earth as it is in heaven”. The accurate translation of Matthew 6:10 should read as “let your decree be done on earth as it is in heaven”. During the reign of the Messiah on earth, when Peter becomes a king, he will use the laws of Elohim to judge (determining right and wrong). These laws are not made by Peter, but are already given in the Torah (decree issued by God). We must also understand that in the New Testament, when the word “law” is mentioned by Yehoshua HaMashiach, it means the “laws of Torah”. Why is it the laws of Torah? The reason is the New Testament did not even exist during the time of Yehoshua HaMashiach. Whenever Yehoshua HaMashiach was using the word “law”, He was referring to the Torah. What is the true meaning of the word “church”? We have seen from the above accounts that the word “church” means people called out for a special purpose. So then the next question that comes to our mind is, why does the word “church” appear in the rest of the scriptures starting from the book of Matthew and going all the way to the book of Revelation? The answer is quite simple; the correct translation should be people or an assembly of people who are gathered for a purpose. Let’s look at some verses with the corrected translation: Matthew 18:17 — “And if he refuses to hear them, say it to the assembly. And if he refuses even to hear the assembly, let him be to you like the nations and a tax collector”. Acts 2:47 — “…praising Elohim and having favour with all the people. And the Master added to the assembly those who were being saved, day by day”. Acts 5:11 — “And great fear came upon all the assembly and upon all who heard of this”. Acts 7:38 — “This is he who was in the assembly in the wilderness with the Messenger who spoke to him on Mount Sinai, and with our fathers, who received the living Words to give to us”. Acts 15:41 — “And he went through Suria and Kilikia, strengthening the assemblies”.  1 Timothy 3:15 — “but if I delay, that you might know how you should behave in the House of Elohim, which is the assembly of the living Elohim, a strong support and foundation of the truth”. Revelation 2:1 — “To the messenger of the assembly of Ephesos write”. Revelation 2:12 — “To the messenger of the assembly in Pergamos write”. We know that the word “church” appears 117 times in the Messianic writings (New Testament) as a wrong translation. All the places where you see the word “church” it must be translated either as assembly or people, as shown in the above examples. The Church Made by Men or the Way of Life of God (YHWH) — You Choose Your Destiny! Churches Made by Men (Characteristics of False Prophets Who Come as Ravenous Wolves) Headed by their supreme leader (man/woman) or run by a council/group of people (Pope, Bishops, Rabbis, Evangelists, Apostles, Prophets and Ministers). They say they are appointed by God or they are the remnant of the actual church of the living God started by the apostles. Teaches that you must follow all the traditions and laws of the churches (doctrines made by men under the banner of God). For example, you cannot come to church unless you attire in the nicest clothes you have. Teaches you not to follow all the scriptures, especially the Tanakh and Torah because it is the Old Testament. They pick and choose what they like. For example, only follow the Feasts of God, Prophecies in the Old Testament like prophecy of Daniel and the Ten Commandments. They only follow the New Testament and do not follow the Old Testament. As God is love, they give you licence to sin, which is “God understands, we are already saved”. They rule over you and your affairs. You must pay tithes or donations to the church. If you do not, then your days are counted in the church. They run on the ideology “Need to start as many churches so that we can grow (basically their own finances) and proclaim the good news of God’s coming Kingdom”. They sell God’s word to make money based on their own ideologies. They want more people to join their group, because they say this is the group through which God is working. “God works primarily through our church as we are the chosen flock.” They commonly call themselves the little flock. The reason they give to other people for joining them is, “if you join us, we will be saved just before the tribulation (pre-tribulation rapture) or we will all go to the place of safety”. Some examples are shown below: If you join an Evangelical, Baptist Church, they teach you “if you join us, just before the tribulation we will be raptured into heaven in a blink of an eye”. If you join the Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox Church, they teach you “if you join us, we will give you the ticket to heaven”. If you join Jehovah’s witnesses, they teach you if you join us, "you will not be destroyed during Armageddon as we are the elite ones”. If you join the Mormons, they teach you, we will be god one day and we will have our own planet to rule. If you join the Worldwide Church of God and all of its splinter groups that go under the name Church of God (for example, Living Church of God, United Church of God, Philadelphia Church of God, Restored Church of God and others), they teach you, if you join us, we will go to the place of safety called Petra in Jordan just before the tribulation. If you go against their man-made, out-of-context teachings, they disfellowship you (kick you out). The Way of Life of YHWH (Characteristics of the Bride of Yehoshua HaMashiach) Headed by Our Elohim Yehowah Yehoshua HaMashiach. The righteous Shepherd, Rabbi, King and Judge. People are servants and are ready to serve. They follow their Master Yehoshua. People do not rule over other people and they do not follow men. People are faithful and live by His WORD — The Tanakh and the Messianic Writings (The whole scriptures/Bible). They are undefiled virgins spiritually. They guard, teach and follow the Torah (the first five books of the law). Here people are not part of any manmade churches or manmade synagogues. They live a simple life, are not infected by manmade churches/religion and they wait patiently for their Master Yehoshua HaMashiach to return as King of Kings. Why do people go to church? This is a question that keeps coming up, why do people go to church? These days, people don’t go to church to learn the Torah as ministers hardly teach anything. Some of the reasons why people attend a church include: It has become a social club where you need to give your weekly attendance. If you do not go, you will get a phone call from the minister. There is a general belief today that you have to be part of a church to get saved. In a nutshell, salvation comes through the church. For gossiping and to find out the latest trends in fashion. To find a life partner to get married or to eventually have a boyfriend/girlfriend. It has become a place where people show off their latest apparel (Armani silk ties, suits) and their cars. It is a great place to rule (dominate) and tell people what to do. For singing, dancing and to have tea/coffee that comes after the service. Some people say that “we are a small group of people meeting in a rented hall. Therefore, we are an assembly of people or a congregation of people”. They say, “we love God and that is why we meet every week”. While the attitude to meet and fellowship is correct, the desire to learn the Torah is absent. This is what Yehoshua HaMashiach said to such a group of people who gathered in His name and did not have the Torah in them: “And then I shall declare to them, I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:23). We need to ask the question, what did Yehoshua HaMashiach mean by the word “lawlessness”? The word comes from the Greek word “anomia” (Concordance number 0458). It means a person without law or a person who violates the law (Torah). So what law is Yehoshua HaMashiach talking about over here? Keep in mind that the New Testament wasn’t even written when this was said. He was talking about the Torah (the first five books of the scriptures). Torah means teaching/instruction of law. Matthew 7:23 is a prophetic revelation that Yehoshua gave to today’s church goers. “They come together for fellowship because they say they love me and they say they believe me. But for me, they are a group of people without law (the Torah).” It is equally important to understand Matthew 7:22 the previous verse. Here Yehoshua is saying that these churches, ministers and church goers have great power to evangelise (preaching the message of God’s Kingdom, warning the house of Israel to repent), to cast demons out (power to heal) and to do good things for people (helping people). Let’s read Matthew 7:22-23. “Many shall say to Me in that day, ‘Master, Master, have we not prophesied in Your Name, and cast out demons in Your Name, and done many mighty works in Your Name? And then I shall declare to them, ‘I never knew you, depart from Me, you who work lawlessness!’” (Matthew 7:22-23). It is very important to take some time to understand Matthew 7:22-23, as this is the fate of tens of thousands of church goers in today’s generation. These days, most people get attracted to go to a church by some of the following factors: The size of the church (how big they are in its numbers). Do they preach the Gospel of the Kingdom (evangelising through mass media like TV, Radio, Newspaper, and Internet)? Do they prophesise and tell about the future of nations (what is the destiny of USA, UK, Israel and other nations)? Can they do any miracles or healing? This is the church where all my friends and family members attend (the herd mentality). Yehoshua HaMashiach as per Matthew 7:22-23 told them to leave, because these people are without law (Torah) even though they preached in His name and did mighty works. Is it wrong to assemble or go to a church? You need to understand that it is not wrong to assemble or even go to a church. But you need to ask yourself if you are learning the Torah and the laws of Elohim and whether the fruits of the law are seen in you. If this is not happening, you are just wasting your time by going to a church. In today’s generation, there are only a few people and less than a few churches that do what God tells them to do. You can identify these people by their fruits. That is why Yehoshua said, “But beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-16). The term “false prophets” comes from the Greek word “pseudoprophetes” (Concordance number 5578). This means “a person who acts as if they are divinely inspired but utters false information (one who twists the word of Elohim) under the name of divine (inspired by God) prophecies”. The term “wolves” comes from the Greek word “lukos” (Concordance number 3074). This means they are cruel, greedy and destructive. Destructive means they do no good to others; as long as they get fed, nothing else matters. The term “ravenous” comes from the Greek word “harpax” (Concordance number 0727). This means an extortioner or a robber. These false ministers (prophets) rob you of your money (that comes under the banner of tithes/donations) and they feed you false ideologies/out-of-context teachings (be a part of us and you will be saved). When you attend churches that rule over you, eventually you start to decay (rot) spiritually within yourself over the years, until you come to a point in time where you either give up your faith or don’t want to be a part of any religious system. This is a characteristic of a ravenous wolf. They technically rape you spiritually. By the time they have raped you spiritually over the years, you are left with nothing. This is the same thing that happened during the time of Yehoshua HaMashiach. Our Master told the religious self-righteous leaders the same thing, which is: “Woe to you, scribes, Pharisees and hypocrites. Because you go about the land and the sea to win one convert, and when he is won, you make him a son of Gehenna twofold than yourselves” (Matthew 23:15). Gehenna (also called Hell in English) means the final place of punishment for the ungodly. We can understand from Matthew 23:15 that these so-called evangelists, ministers, would be preaching the word of God (coming Kingdom of God) through television and internet all over the world. When they find one person who joins their church, over time they spiritually rape that person. By the time they finish, that person has lost their faith in God. This religious system was well established even during the time of Yehoshua HaMashiach and still continues to this day. You need to understand that these wolves come out from the religious system. There are many churches who say, “we are the seed of Father Abraham, we are from the tribe of Ephraim and Manasseh, and we are the anointed ones”. The key to understand this is given in Matthew 10: verse 6 and 16. “…but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 10:6). “See I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves” (Matthew 10:16). The wolves are coming from within the house of Israel. These wolves have already directed the sheep into their religious system. We, the children of God, are to set the sheep free from these wolves. This is the job of God’s true children. We need to tell them to come out of the religious system and manmade churches before it leads them to their destruction. The sheep have only one Shepherd to learn from and that is our Master Yehoshua HaMashiach. This is why Yehoshua said, “My sheep respond to my voice, and I know who they are. They follow me” (John 10:27). The term “sheep’s clothing” comes from the Greek words “probaton” (concordance number 4263) and “enduma” (concordance number 1742). The key to understanding this verse is in what they wear. In today’s generation, these false ministers wear suits. In general, what is a suit made of? A suit is made of wool. It is common knowledge that sheep gives out wool. So they come to you well dressed in a suit that is pleasing to your eyes, but technically they are there to deceive you. What do we mean by the term “fruits”? It comes from the Greek word “karpos” (concordance number 2590). In this context, it means by their works and deeds you will know whether they are a true disciple of Yehoshua. Previously, we have explained the characteristics of a false prophet who comes forth as a ravenous wolf and the characteristics of the bride of Yehoshua. Based on these characteristics, you can determine yourself whether the church you go to falls into any of the categories. So, how do we find out who are the actual people who keep all of God’s laws? The answer is quite simple. It is very hard. God knows who they are, but we don’t.  For example, a good friend of mine said to me some time back, “It is not possible that we are the only people in Australia that keep all of the laws of Elohim; there have to be other people”. I said to him, “There are others, but how do we know who they are and how can we find them?” One fine day, I was talking to my wife about this same question, and when she was reading the scriptures, she fell upon a verse in the Messianic writings. I believe that the spirit of Elohim guided my wife to these verses. “YHWH, they have killed Your prophets and overthrown Your slaughter-places, and I alone am left, and they seek my life”. But what does the answer of Elohim say to him? “I have left for Myself seven thousand men who have not bowed the knee to Baal” (Romans 11:3-4). When I read Romans 11:3-4, it made sense. This is a prophetic shadow picture of what will happen in every generation. In the above verses, Elijah, the mighty prophet of God, is talking to YHWH. He is telling him in his frustration that “There is not one person that I know who has not forsaken your Torah and who has gone after other gods (false religious system)”. But what did YHWH tell Elijah? He said, “Don’t worry, Elijah, there are men just like you who are undefiled and there are seven thousand of them living in this land who will not compromise in false worship or bow down to false prophets (ravenous wolves)”. Imagine this, Elijah being a powerful prophet did not know that there were seven thousand people living in the land of Israel who did exactly what he was doing, which was only to worship the true God of Heaven and Earth and who kept the Torah. But God did not reveal to Elijah what their names were or where they lived and from which tribe they came from. This is what we call the “Bride of Yehoshua”. Only God knows who His chosen people are. As these people keep themselves undefiled and do not play religion or church, no one knows where they live or know anything about them except for YHWH. When we asked God, “Are we the only ones in Australia that keep your laws and Torah?”, the answer given by God was “No” and it came from the scriptures. I have kept thousands of people just like you, who do not compromise nor bow down to any manmade churches or religion. So if you think you live an isolated life, you don’t have any friends that you want to share the Torah with, do not be disheartened. There are thousands like you out there, who patiently wait to be the bride of Yehoshua. This is a revelation of Yehoshua to His followers in the future. I know there will be perilous times coming just like in the days of Elijah; hold strong to your faith and I (Yehoshua) will be with you till the end of this age. If you would like to know more about what do we do when we assemble together to learn the way of God, read our article titled “Holy Convocation – What does the Bible say about Convocation?” The church Jesus Christ built – How do we uncover its true meaning?  In summary, if you think your religion, church, evangelist, prophet, pope, bishop, rabbi can save you, then you will be disappointed. From Genesis to Revelation, you will not find anywhere written by God that if you are part of a group (religion/church), you will be saved. Many false prophets and teachers/ministers will try to deceive you saying that you have to be part of a group of people in order to get saved. Do not believe them. The only person you need in your life is your Master Yehoshua HaMashiach. That is why our Master said, “For where two or three are gathered in My name, there I am in their midst” (Matthew 18:20). The church that Yehoshua HaMashiach built is nothing more than His chosen, elect people who are scattered all over the world. These people are undefiled by religion or church and they do not compromise. Their foundation in the Torah and the Messianic writings is as strong as a rock. They are “spiritual virgins” waiting for their Master to take them. They live a life of obedience to their Master Yehoshua HaMashiach by keeping the Torah and the Prophets. That is why our Master Yehoshua HaMashiach said, “Enter in through the narrow gate! Because the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction and there are many who enter in through it. Because the gate is narrow and the way is hard pressed which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). The road of religion and church is so wide that millions of people travel through that broad gate. The gate of life is so narrow that only a few find it. The key to understanding is that you have to take the initiative in your life to find that narrow gate. By playing religion or church, you can never find that narrow gate. For illustration, I have good friends of mine who love to play church. They wear two masks. When they are in the church, they show the ministers they are obedient to their word. As soon as they leave church, they tell me, “I did not learn anything or the minister does not teach anything and it is a waste of time going to church”. The problem with these friends of mine is that they are so infected with religion and church that they are not able to come out from it even though they know the church is totally wrong. So technically, they have one leg in the church and the other leg out of the church. You have to understand that you can never be a part of the bride of Yehoshua HaMashiach when you play both sides. Our Master is looking for a bride that is a “spiritual virgin”. He is not looking for the one who compromises. He is looking for the one who is “undefiled”. That is why in the future there will be millions of people who will walk through the broad gate of destruction or lawlessness. This is why Yehoshua HaMashiach said, “And if the blind leads the blind, both shall fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:14). If you follow this religious manmade church system and these religious ministers, they will take you with them to the ditch in which they will eventually fall. If you follow the whole scriptures, the Tanakh and the Messianic Writings, rest assured that your reward will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven and, on that day, our Master Yehoshua HaMashiach will tell you, “Well done, Good and Faithful Servant. Come; inherit my kingdom that I have prepared for you”.     Links Our Beliefs Resources on Scriptures Articles on Scriptures   Experts on Scriptures (Bible/Torah) Contact Us © 2018, Messianic Jews Natsarenes. All Rights Reserved.Designed By BitraNet