In Luke 14:25-29 Jesus is speaking to “great multitudes” of people who wanted to be His disciples. What He would say to them undoubtedly shocked their sensitivities. He told them, and us, that in order to become one of His disciples they must “hate” their unbelieving family members. This means that one must be willing to be “hated” on the spiritual level for his/her stand for God. If God seekers refuse to pay this price, they CANNOT BE GOD’S CHILDREN. His message is clear: unless we are willing to be hated, despised and rejected by our family and friends we cannot be His spiritual brethren, for in the eyes of the Lord we have chosen them over Him, making ourselves unworthy of Him. In so doing we deny Him His Lordship over us, which would prompt Him to deny us before the Father. He makes this abundantly clear in Matthew 10:34-39. In the previous verses He warns that if a man denies (chooses family over) Him that He will deny that person before His Father. He then makes another statement that is impossible for most religious people to accept: “Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth (and in the family). I came not to bring peace, but a sword. For I came to turn a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.” Jesus goes on to say that this is the cross that His disciple must bear. Note that He did not say “if” the disciple’s family turned against him. It is a forgone conclusion that this will happen.  This is indicative of Satan’s power over those in the Institutional Church. Anyone who leaves the Catholic/Protestant fold and embraces the Biblical God is automatically labeled a heretic and accused of having fallen from grace. This is part of the “cost” one must bear in order to be the Lord’s disciple. One must “hate” one’s father, mother, son and daughter in order to be accepted by Him. This is extremely hard to do initially. One’s first impulse is to try to convert them. Note that Jesus faced the same situation. Note also that He did not try to convert His family or friends.

To try to convert those in Satan’s church system entails joining them in their religious observances in order to deal with them spiritually. When good and evil are allowed to function together, evil always wins. The right does not make the wrong right. Instead, the opposite happens. This causes men to “call good evil and evil good” (Isa. 5:20). God pronounces a “woe” on those who do so. For this reason God told the Israelites not to intermingle with the Canaanites when they entered the Promised Land. This is why God arranged for the children of Israel who had gone to Egypt during the days of Joseph to be placed in an isolated area called Goshen where they lived entirely unto themselves. Note that Abraham, when entering the promised land, choose the land far away from Sodom and Gomorrah. Lot, on the other hand, choose to live in their midst. The results of his mistake are found in the Biblical record. A true believer must not become re-involved with the religion from which he has escaped in order to “win them to Jesus.” He will not do so. He will, however, be overcome by them to the point that he will “realize” that, “They love Jesus just as I do. How they express their love is irrelevant. They are such nice people and so faithful in church, etc. Who am I to judge them.”  God’s disciples do not judge those without. God has written a Law by which He will judge them.  We are to live according to that Law and thereby bear His “light.” Those who like what they see will “come to your light” (Isa. 60:3). God’s ministers are to speak, write and live that light before the Gentiles (Heb.-heathen). We are not to have “alter calls,” sing heart-wrenching songs meant to convict the hearer or button-hole people on the street. It was prophesied of Him that “His voice will not be heard in the street” (Mat. 12:19). Recall that Jesus described Himself as the light of the world. He also described His disciples and the light of the world. The light He was referring to was God’s Word/Law. One must follow that “light” along the path leading to the Kingdom of God.

Notice that once Jesus began His ministry He never again lived among His biological brethren. He totally separated Himself from their religion. Note also that He did not go to the people and try to persuade them to follow Him, not even His family.  He spent most of His time alone with His disciples in the less populated areas. Multitudes saw His light and came to it. The vast majority came for the wrong reasons. Only about 120 came for the spiritual food He offered. He kept Himself separate from the masses as much as possible.

The Lord speaks to the separation issue through the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1. Here He commands us to have nothing to do with those of other religions, even those who call themselves “Christian.” Why? Because, as He says, there is NO RELATIONSHIP between Christ and Satan, believers and infidels, righteousness and evil, God’s temple and idols, light and darkness, etc.  We must cleanse ourselves of all sin. Then, by avoiding sinners, we are able to able to obey His command to “perfect holiness in the fear of God.” Only by doing so can we “come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). Note that this is not an option or an unattainable goal to shoot for, THIS IS A COMMAND.  Jesus said in Matthew 7:13,14 that few would obey it.

Over the past several years three of my friends have died unexpectedly for no medical reason, according to medical examiners. What these medical professionals did not consider is the fact that they died for one spiritual reason–the did not believe what I told them about God’s Word. In each case I had witnessed to them about the Truth in the Bible as compared to the false “truths” they had been taught by their church’s false prophets. In each case God told me to warn them, and that if they did not believe me, He would kill them. They rejected His Word and He killed them shortly after our conversations. Two died with a couple of weeks. In one case He even showed me in a vision how He would do it. Her death happened exactly as He had described. In each case each person “knew” that he/she was “saved” and “born again.” Each one also “knew” that God did not require holiness of them because of Adam’s supposed sin transferal system. As I point out Scripturally time and again on this website, 99% of what church people “know” as “thus saith the Lord” is in reality thus saith Satan. L.J.