As stated in the previous posting, when Jesus returned to heaven following His resurrection He left behind what would soon become His church, which He said He would build and that not even the gates of hell would be able to destroy it. He would build His church on a Rock, and that Rock would be Christ Himself–not Peter His disciple. Jesus is the Rock–Petra, meaning mountain or large boulder. The word Peter pertaining to the disciple is Petro–meaning tiny pebble.

When we compare that which calls itself “the church” to the church Christ built we find that there is very little resemblance between the two. The ultimate question is: WHAT HAPPENED TO THE ORIGINAL CHURCH? The answer is: APOSTASY HAPPENED. The prophesied great “FALLING AWAY” FROM GOD happened (2 Thes. 2:3). What caused this mass rejection of the Lord? What caused the massive turn of church people away from God and toward Satan? Why did church people decide to walk in the religious footsteps of Adam and Eve? These are some of the “why” questions I answer using God’s Holy Word.

Following Adam and Eve’s example, their religious descendants gradually evolved into the two-headed, multi-bodied, multi-named, self-exalting, God-despising, Scripture-rejecting, conflicting, competing, contradicting abomination which I have labeled the “Catholic/Protestant Religious System,” each cult of which declares itself to be “the church,” otherwise known as “Christianity.” Another question: what happened to the church Christ built with Himself as her cornerstone–the church that cannot be destroyed? Where is it? Where can it be found in today’s world?

This miniscule church, numbering only a few thousand world-wide, was long ago rejected and cast into the shadows of the spiritual world by the counterfeit church. Today the members of this obscure group remain a rejected and despised minority. As the Apostle Peter reminds us, those within this group are “peculiar” because they are God’s “chosen generation, His “royal priesthood,” His “holy nation of priests,” who have been “called out of the darkness of the world” and into His “marvelous light.” Members of His church remain virtually unknown today. Recall that after all that Jesus did for the multiplied multitudes of people who followed Him, upon His death there were only 120 who stood with Him. Nothing has changed. Whenever His people are identified they are still rejected by the world’s religious organizations. for example, there are only two of people in God’s church in the county in which I live. The vast majority of the residents do not know we exist. Those who do dismiss us as reprobates who have, as I have been told, “fallen from grace” and in dire need of spiritual knowledge. One day soon this world will know who God’s people are and will hate them even more for our light will expose their darkness.

God’s tiny church remains steady in her belief of and obedience to God’s Holy Bible. However, apostasy happened to the other 99.99% of professing Christianity known as “the church” as it has grown ever larger over the centuries as her hirelings have lured ever more salvation seekers into their religious abyss. They have achieved success by proclaiming Satan’s ear-scratching, ego-stroking, no-Law-only-grace, “the fix is in so just repeat after me and you will be instantly saved” mantra has resonated throughout the world. And Satan smiles.

“The church” referred to above with its steepled roofs, stained-glass windows, cross and Christian flag-adorned lawns are visited every sun god day where billions gather to pay homage to their god–the sun–whom they call “Jesus.” By the way, the steepled roofs, colored windows and crosses were all borrowed from various heathen religions. Over the years the false church’s false prophets have brought numerous heathen beliefs and practices into her midst. Question: how did such false leaders enter God’s church and how did they gain control of her? What happened to the men Jesus placed into church leadership positions who were supposed to keep the apostasy from taking place? To find out read Simon of Samaria: The Legacy and “My People Who are Called by My Name.” “Key words–Simon and Called respectively. Also, read the homepage of this website where a number of pagan beliefs and customs are listed.

In order to understand how God’s church went from penthouse to outhouse let us turn to the Old Testament to the time when Samuel was the leader of God’s people. Samuel was truly God’s man. He was a strict Law-enforcing, God-centered servant. However, the people, all of whom were free moral agents, were not so God-centered and not so inclined to obey God’s My-way-or-the-highway form of governance. Samuel’s problem was that he was too much like the God he served. Having tired of no-compromising manner of leadership, the people announced that they were tired of being ruled by God and that they wanted to be led by a king like the heathen people around them. Samuel took their petition to the Lord, who gave them what they wanted–a human king. He gave them Saul.

The same thing happened to the New Testament Church that Christ had built. Over time many of the people grew tired of being ruled by God and His appointed leaders. They wanted to be allowed to choose their own leaders. Being free moral agents, they pushed out those whom Christ appointed and became disciples of those who told them what they wanted to hear and allowed them to do what they wanted to do. By the time the Apostle Paul came on the scene, the church was already trying to push God out. Satan laid the trap and the church was beginning to head toward it. In Galatians 1:6-9 Paul realized that the church had already rejected the Gospel preached by Jesus and had embraced a perverted version of His Gospel. Nothing has changed.

Today the hundreds of religious cults known as denominations put forth hundreds of different perversions of God’s Word. Each cult professes to be “THE church” that preaches “THE truth” and offers “THE way to salvation” which is guaranteed as soon as the salvation seeker completes the prescribed ritual. This takes on average between 10 and 15 seconds, after which in order for the new “Christian” to remain at one with God he needs only show up, pay up, ‘fess up and prepare to go up. I have coined a little ditty which proclaims the mind-set of the modern day church: “Sin and grin, my friend, for in the end, you’ll still win; pie in the sky, sin till you die, for in the sweet bye and bye, you’ll still get to fly.” Satan’s “come as your are; stay as you are” doctrine has lured billions of people into his deadly web over the past 1900 plus years, proving that man prefers self-rule over God-rule, Adam and Eve having set the standard for theological principal.

But not all of those who call themselves God’s people go along with the masses. God has always had a remnant who continues to obey His Ten Commandment Law, including #4 which His enemies refuse to obey. As Jesus said would be the case, His people are few in number (Mat. 7:13,14; 22:14). Where they are known they are despised and ostracized. For this reason He promised that where two true saints meet in His name, He would be in their midst.

Why are God’s people so few in number while the devil’s counterfeit church grows ever larger? Because the pastors and other leaders have failed to lead salvation seekers in the way of the Lord. The people have replaced Christ’s appointed leaders with those of their own choosing. These are hirelings (Jn. 10:12,13) who tell them whatever will keep the pay checks coming in. These are they who scratch the church’s itching ears by teaching them “smooth things, lies and deceits” (Isa. 30:10). Therefore, woe is unto them. In the following posting we will see what Jesus had to say to modern day church leaders and followers. L.J.