In the vast majority of cases, the only appreciable difference between church people and the world in which they live is where they spend a couple of hours on Sunday morning. At all other times one will find them watching the same t.v. programs, listening to the same music, watching the same movies, reading the same books, magazines,etc., talking about the same things, thinking about the same things, wanting and working for the same things, etc. The typical parishioner thinks of God only at meal time or when a problem arises. Jesus warned His followers about becoming cozy with the world in 1 John 2:15,16: “Do not love the world or the things of the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world.” Note the strict dichotomy established by the Lord–a thing is either of God or of the world; there is no gray area. I have been chastised for pointing out God’s right- or-wrong rule, which also applies to the individual–one is either of god or of the world (Satan) and worships and serves one or the other. In spite of God’s Words, when one is around the typical church person one hears only about the things of the world–people, politics, the economy, the church, sports, what he wants to own, what he wants to do, where he wants to go or has gone. The one thing one will not hear about is God and the things of God. Neither the Lord nor His Holy Scriptures will be a topic of conversation. Jesus corrects this type of life-style–one’s “walk”–in Matthew 4:4: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'” Let us examine this statement in order to understand Christ’s Words.

“It is written”–Notice that Jesus did not use His own Words in giving instructions for one’s life walk–He deferred to the Words of the Father. In this episode Jesus was doing spiritual battle with the devil who had suggested that He feed His starving self by changing stones into bread. Having fasted for 40 days, Jesus was in the fight of His life. To win the fight He used the “Sword of the Spirit” as His weapon. As we are told in Ephesians 6:17, “… the sword of the Spirit … is the Word of God.” Satan came at Him three times; three times Jesus used the same weapon–“It is written.” Religious man calls himself doing battle with Satan when he continues to grow in religiousity and churchivity while rejecting that which “is written.” His defeat is a foregone conclusion.

“man shall not live by bread alone”–This statement covers one’s entire life–one’s thoughts, words and actions–how one lives. The world “lives” by (emphasizes) what it has, what it wants, what it is striving to do and to have. Ministries are built around the care and feeding of churchites’ worldly needs, wants, cares, etc. What one can get from God is the message coming from the tens of thousands of false prophets scattered throughout the church world when they gather their flocks on Satan’s Sabbath, his Christmas, his mass, his Easter, etc. These “ministers of righteousness” tell their followers what they want to hear–what God will do for them. What one will not hear from podium and pulpit is the subject covered in the next topic. The Word “live” in this instance has a double application–present life and future life. In order to live with Jesus in the future, one must live like He lived in the present–in obedience to the Word of the Father. This one will not hear on Sunday morning. On those rare occasions when “obedience” is mentioned, it refers to church doctrine, not God’s Word.

Jesus fed continually and only on the Word of His Father, upon whom He was totally dependent: “I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, for I do not seek My own will, but the will of the Father Who sent me” (Jn. 5:30). Jesus emphasized that, as a man, He sought only the will of God relative to His words, thoughts and deeds. God made His will known to Him through the Holy Spirit by which He (God) spoke to His (Jesus’) human spirit. See The Trinity. He further emphasized this in John 14:10 where He said, “The Words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own; but the Father Who dwells in Me does the works (speaks the Words).” In His prayer to the Father Jesus said concerning His apostles, “… I have given them the Words which You have given Me” (Jn. 17:8). “I have given them Your Word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world …. Sanctify them by Your Truth; Your Word is Truth (Jn. 17:14-17). Jesus asked the Father to “sanctify” the apostles through His Word, meaning to set them apart from the world by having them know and obey His Word. Obedience to God’s Word causes the religious world to hate His people. The non-religious are not bothered by their beliefs and life-style. Though the worldly church’s parishioners exude love and tolerance toward God’s people, beneath the facade there is only loathing and resentment.

The Words Jesus was referring to in the John 17 passages are known Biblically as the “bread of life.” Jesus said, “I am the bread of life” (Jn. 6:35). This “Bread of life” is also called “the Word” (Jn. 1:1-4,14). Jesus, the bread of life, the Word of God are one in the same. In rejecting the Word, the Counterfeit Church rejects the bread–Jesus Christ Himself–thereby rejecting eternal life.

“but by every Word”–The introduction to this website, along with the postings that follow it, highlight the fact that religious man is extremely selective when it comes to the Word of God. He makes no pretense of believing EVERY Word of God. He does, however, accept those few passages that seem to confirm his particular sect’s doctrines and customs.

“that proceeds from the mouth of God”–Here Jesus makes it clear that every Word in the Holy Bible is from the mouth of God, Who spoke it to Jesus and other of His people through His Holy Spirit. To reject any one of His Words is to reject both the Lord God and His Son. “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me (only), but (also) in Him Who sent Me …. He who rejects Me and does not receive (believe) My Words has that which judges him–the Word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day. For I have not spoken on My own, but the Father Who sent Me gave Me a command–what I should say and what I should speak …. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak” (Jn. 12:44-50).

The world does not believe the Words of God. Neither does the worldly church. As this website has pointed out time and again, the church is not subject to the Word and will of God, but rather to the dictates of the hundreds of sects, cults, denominations, faiths, etc. that comprise her. Yet she continues to call Him her Lord and His Son her Savior, and to proclaim that she will spend eternity with Them in heaven. None of which is true as God proves in His Word. The ultimate question then becomes: Is the Institutional Church Christian? God says “no.” The church refutes this, claiming that she has caught Him in yet another lie. L.J.