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The devil goes to church

part two

The Devil Goes To Church
Part 2 of 3

The proper celebration of the Lord’s Supper, as documented in 1Cor. 11: 23-26, provides the anchoring foundation (1) on which the edified soul structure (2) of a born-again believer can be built.

Biblical discipleship calls for the ongoing teaching and reiteration of Bible Doctrine from the pulpit of qualified pastor teachers.

The teaching and reiteration of accurate Bible Doctrine is for the development of spiritual maturity in the post salvation spiritual lives of the individual members of the congregation, with the long-term objective being their participation in the Great Commission.

Spiritual maturity is measured by the amount of accurate Bible doctrine that one possesses, coupled with the willingness to apply it to all that one, thinks, says, and does 24/7.

To think that the devil is not going to be there, to do whatever he can to impede the forward progress of the Great Commission is being very naïve, and plays right into his hand.

The devil has long desired to establish a prosperous kingdom that is independent of God. Before he can make room for his agenda, he must first get the focus of God’s plan out of his way.

He is encouraged when he sees God’s people spending their time and resources trying to improve their earthly situations, and or trying to make his world a better place to live, while doing little or nothing to promote the plan of God.

Mostly all of demonic activity, here in the Church Age, is not the type spoken of in such passages as Luke 8: 26-37, or portrayed in horror films.

The bulk of demonic activity of the Church Age is unseen, taking place in the minds of human beings. Its ultimate goal is to have humans reject, or at least neglect, the general and individual plan that God has in mind.

One cannot execute the general plan or the individual plan if he or she is ignorant of what these plans consist of, and what the objectives are.

God cannot command us to grow in His knowledge (3), and then not provide us with the means to do so.

To be Biblically ignorant is a choice we make.

Just as unused exercise equipment will do nothing to develop or to maintain a body, a closed Bible will do nothing to edify a soul.

If we only ate a good meal every now and then, one would not expect to be very well nourished. The same principle applies to the daily feeding of one’s soul with the Word of God.

One is not any more “saved” by doing so, but by not doing so, the born-again believer will be spiritually weak and easy targets in the realm of spiritual combat when the devil presents his deceptions.

There is no greater darkness than the darkness that one is in when he thinks he is in the light.

Jesus foretold (4) that false teachings and false practices would be an ongoing issue throughout the course of the Church Age.

He also taught that the Church that God designed would be preserved and endure (5) in spite of all of the satanic attacks that the gates of Hell will bring against it.

Humanly speaking, the intangible Church in each generation will be preserved by Biblically-qualified pastor-teachers and the disciples (congregational students and appliers of the Word) that they edify, equip, and prepare to participate in the mission that our Lord gave to His Church to accomplish.

The Church Age temple of God HERE ON EARTH is not a building, as it had been during much of the Old Testament dispensation.

During the Church Age, the temples (plural) of God are the physical bodies (6) of all born-again believers.

Church Age believers do not “go to” church, but are the Church that gathers together.

The devil cannot enter the body of a Church Age, born-again believer, but he can greatly influence, distract, and deceive them, if they choose to listen to him through the voices of his spokespersons, inside and outside of the places where born-again believers are, including where they are gathered together for worship.

The Church, that God designed is not a tangible building, but consists of the collective body of souls that have been born-again.

As David desired and Solomon did, Man can only provide or build tangible places of worship where the Church can gather together.

The majority of the Church, consisting of departed Church Age believers, is already in Heaven in interim bodies (7), where among other things, they await the Rapture (8) to take place, when the entire Church will be gathered together.

At that time, they and the last generations of born-again believers of the Church Age believers here on Earth at that time, will be gathered together.

In the meantime, the meeting places of the Church here on Earth is anywhere, with or without a tangible structure, where two or three are gathered in His name (9). That is, for His purposes.

But not all of these meeting places are of the type that God designed.

Some of the most impressive contemporary worship centers and ancient cathedrals that have been constructed by Man stand as monuments to the errant religions that built and maintain them for the continuation of their own agenda.

The truth is that if much of the pageantry, furnishings, and apparatus of Man were to be purged out of the places of worship within the Christian Community, what would remain would be barely recognizable as being what many perceive “Church” to be.

The Church that God designed would not have a sacrificial altar, as the last and final altar of sacrifice that God acknowledged was the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Church that God designed, the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (Communion) is for the purpose of bringing into remembrance (10), not to reproduce, the Person and the atoning Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

End of 2 of 3

1Cor. 3: 11 (2) Matt. 7: 24, 25 (3) 2Pet. 3: 18 (4) Matt. 7: 15ff (5) Matt. 16: 18 (6) 1Cor 3: 16 (7) 2Cor. 5: 1 (8) 1 Thess. 4: 16, 17 (9) Matt. 18: 20 (10) 1Cor. 11: 24, 25