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NOTE: This article or series has not been updated recently. As such, it may possibly contain some outdated information, and/or ideas and beliefs which I no longer embrace, or which have changed to some degree.



Recently, a dear long-time member of our private Christian
mailing list, (and a very wise lady whom I respect), asked
me a question which I had never really addressed before; at
least I hadn't approached it in the exact same way I will be
answering it here. Her question was as follows:

----- Begin Quote -----

I have been wondering if you have any information on when
"church buildings" came into being? I know the early church
met in homes and only the teacher/preacher was supported.
Now every church has it's own structure where members meet
and they have to use their collections to support it. (Sort
of like a rebuilt temple, where all the monies were given
for its upkeep and support of the Levites.)

As far as I can determine, the 3rd or 4th century is most
likely where they developed. Can you shed any light on this?
The reason I am concerned is, my kids belong to churches
with beautiful structures, which cost them plenty bucks
monthly. But what about the members?

----- End Quote -----

Due to our knowledge of the Scriptures, one thing upon which
she and I can both agree, is that building and meeting in
fancy church buildings was not the Original Plan which was
laid down by Jesus Christ and His First Century followers.
In fact, as some of you may already know from reading a few
of my other articles, it was the worship of the temple in
Jerusalem, (not the worship inside the structure, but the
worship of the beauty of the structure itself), as well as
the fact that the ancient Israelites built other temples on
the hilltops of Israel in order to honor the pagan gods,
which got them into serious trouble with the Lord time and
time again. This is a topic which I discuss at length in the
series 'The Fruits Of Disobedience'.

The Prophets of old, Jesus Himself, and His Disciples all
condemned the worship of man's creations; particularly his
many temples, as we see by the following verses, which leave
absolutely no doubt regarding what God thinks of so-called
holy structures built in His honor. Please notice in this
first verse that we are told that it is when the Israelites
became sidetracked building temples to the false gods, that
they abandoned serving the true God of Heaven. They must
have had quite a building campaign going on back then:

"For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth
temples..." Hosea 8:14a, KJV"

Consider now the stinging rebukes written by the Prophet
Jeremiah. Called from his youth to serve as a mouthpiece of
the Lord, Jeremiah dedicated at least forty years of his
life to warning the Israelites to repent. As a result of his
dedication and obedience to the Lord, he was mocked by his
own people; he was accused of being a spy and a traitor to
his own nation, and he was imprisoned on several occasions.
In exposing the false religious leaders, and their false
system of worship, he wrote such things as the following:

"Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the
LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are
these." Jeremiah 7:4, KJV

"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by
their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will
ye do in the end thereof?" Jeremiah 5:31, KJV

Both of the previous verses could easily be applied to what
we find in modern American Christianity today, which boasts
of huge luxurious buildings filled with 'wannabe prophets'
who prophesy of 'financial blessings', and who perform all
kinds of lying wonders like 'slaying people in the spirit'.
God must truly weep; or maybe He is beyond that point! Watch
out! For more on the state of modern American Christianity,
please refer to such articles as 'Have You Been Slain In The
Spirit?', 'God's Golden Teeth, Or Satan's Delusion?', 'Are
You Just A Baby Huey?', 'Modern False Prophets And Worldly
Ecumenism', 'Churchianity Or Christianity: Which Do You
Practice?', etc. These articles will inspire the hearts of
true God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians, but they will
offend the self-satisfied old bottles who prefer their
traditions over the truth of God's Word. Which are you?

Turning to the New Testament, Jesus Himself made it very
clear to the woman of Samaria, (better known to most people
as the woman at the well), that the worship service being
conducted at Herod's temple in Jerusalem was absolutely
worthless and meaningless, because it was a dead, spiritless
worship of things, and of tradition, and not worship of the
true God of Heaven. They were going through the motions of
serving God, but without the Spirit, just like so many
Christians today:

"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh,
when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at
Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what:
we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But
the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father
seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that
worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."
John 4:21-24, KJV

In these next verses taken from the Gospel of Matthew, we
find the Lord's Disciples falling into the very same trap as
their contemporaries: they were admiring the beauty of the
temple in Jerusalem. How surprised they must have been when
Jesus said the following regarding what was believed to be
the very House of God on Earth:

"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his
disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the
temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these
things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here
one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."
Matthew 24:1-2, KJV

As some of you will know, barely forty years after Jesus
uttered those remarks, God allowed General Titus, the son of
Emperor Vespasian, and his Roman armies, to enter Jerusalem,
and utterly destroy it; including the temple compound. In
fact, it has been said that the greedy Romans tore apart the
temple block by block, in order to retrieve the gold which
had melted down in between them! What a terrible judgment of
the Lord, due to their serious backsliding from Him, through
their false temple worship! But, as it is written:

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living
God...For our God is a consuming fire."
Hebrews 10:31, 12:29, KJV

Moving on to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we again
see Jesus' words being fulfilled to the letter. Perhaps you
recall how in John chapter eight, the Lord very pointedly
exposed the true spiritual nature of the Jewish religious
leaders of His day. While they claimed to be the children of
Abraham, and the mouthpieces of God on Earth, (just like
someone else we know today who also sits in a glorious
temple in Rome), Jesus lambasted them with such words as the
following:

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your
father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and
abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him.
When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a
liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the
truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin?
And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is
of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not,
because ye are not of God." John 8:44-48, KJV

In Matthew chapter twenty-three, the Lord also accused the
Jewish elders of being demon-inspired murderers when He said
to them:

"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the
damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you
prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye
shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in
your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That
upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the
earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of
Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple
and the altar." Matthew 23:33-35, KJV

It should not surprise us then, that when one of the Lord's
bold New Testament leaders also stood up against the evil
leaders of the false Jewish religious system, by quoting
apparently from the Prophet Jeremiah, he too was murdered in
cold blood by those vile serpents. Exactly what caused dear
Stephen to be martyred for the cause of Christ? It was the
following words which are the central theme of this series:

"Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with
hands; as saith the prophet," Acts 7:48, KJV

So few words, but what a powerful truth they carry; a truth
which many worldly, materialistic Christians simply do not
want to hear. It should be rather clear to you by now, that
is, if you really believe the truth of the Scriptures, that
God simply does not like church buildings; period. Not only
can they be a distraction from true spiritual worship, but
as I point out in the aforementioned articles, they can even
lead to full demonic involvement and satanic manifestations,
disguised as 'works of God'. At this point, allow me to also
encourage you to read my lengthy in-depth series entitled
'Lying Wonders Of The Endtime'. If you as a Christian still
doubt that Satan can use the modern church system as his
tool, then perhaps I need to remind you of these verses:

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put
darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter
for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20, KJV

"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no
marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of
light." 2 Corinthians 11:13-14, KJV

Make no mistake; Satan knows the Word of God just like you
and I. In fact, he undoubtedly knows it much, much better,
because he has been quoting it for thousands of years. Did
he not use it when he tempted Jesus during those forty days
of fasting? The problem is that the Evil One does not accept
the authority of that Word in his life. He is in rebellion
against God; and we will look at this topic more in just a
moment, in order to see how this all ties together.

To continue then, not only does the Bible tell us to not
become involved in temple worship, (or church worship), but
it also very specifically tells us that the True Temple of
God is not made of stone or metal, it is made up of us, the
true Living Stones, who are filled with God's Spirit. We,
our bodies, are the containers of God's Spirt, and NOT some
cold, dead church building; and Jesus Christ is the Rock; He
is our Cornerstone:

"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank
of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was
Christ." 1 Corinthians 10:4, KJV

"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house,
an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices,
acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is
contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief
corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him
shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he
is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone
which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of
the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence,
even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient:
whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen
generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar
people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who
hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"
1 Peter 2:5-9, KJV

"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy
Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not
your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify
God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
1 Corinthians 6:19-20, KJV

"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for
ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I
will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their
God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from
among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch
not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a
Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters,
saith the Lord Almighty." 2 Corinthians 6:16-18, KJV

"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle
were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made
with hands, eternal in the heavens." 2 Corinthians 5:1, KJV

"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of
my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon
him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God,
which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from
my God: and I will write upon him my new name."
Revelation 3:12, KJV

"And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and
the Lamb are the temple of it." Revelation 21:22, KJV

In light of all of the Scriptures I have now quoted in this
series, how can anyone deny the truths which I have shared
here? Sadly, that is a rhetorical question; because I know,
and perhaps you know, that there are a lot of spiritually
blind people in the world, including many Christians, who
resist and rebel against the truth of God's Word; and some
of them may very well be the leaders of your church! As
Jesus said:

"...Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall
into the ditch?" Luke 6:39b, KJV

So the question which now arises is this: If God is against
churches and temple worship, where in the world did the
First Century Christians meet? They must have met somewhere.
As I point out in 'Where Are The First Century Churches?',
as well as in a few other articles, a close study of the
Scriptures reveals that the forefathers of our Christian
faith met in small, intimate groups in the homes of the
Believers. This is evident throughout the Book of Acts, as
well as in the Epistles of the New Testament. As a short
refresher course, following are a few verses which verify
this point:

"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple,
and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat
with gladness and singleness of heart," Acts 2:46, KJV

"And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you,
but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from
house to house," Acts 20:20, KJV

"Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my
wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto
Christ." Romans 16:5, KJV

"The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla
salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in
their house." 1 Corinthians 16:19, KJV

"Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and
the church which is in his house." Colossians 4:15, KJV

"And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier,
and to the church in thy house:" Philemon 1:2, KJV

Now, upon reading those verses, some stiff-hearted souls may
be tempted to say 'Wait a minute Bill! Doesn't it say
in that first verse that they gathered in the temple? Yes,
it most certainly does; but in response to that, I ask you
to consider the time frame. When did that occur? It was
during the formative years of our faith when the Disciples
still had hangovers from their Jewish upbringing, and did
not fully realize what God was doing in creating an entirely
new spiritual nation, which would not depend upon earthly
trappings. Isn't that basically what Jesus told the woman of
Samaria, as we saw earlier?

In other words, the Disciples had not yet been weaned from
the old ways of doing things. Not only that, but I am sure
that God wanted them to be a full witness to the religious
Jews, so that they, (the religious elders), could be held
accountable for the truth, and thus, God could righteously
judge them; which He most certainly did in 70 A.D. As I also
explain in other articles, God used those initial incidents
on the temple grounds as a vehicle to spread the Gospel
throughout the Middle East and Southern European areas; and
we modern Christians are the result of their exponential
effect.

Allow me to also add that, as a long-time Christian myself,
who has studied the Scriptures for quite a few years, I have
come to understand that God is normally not in the habit of
dumping a whole lot of Scriptural truths on us all at once.
He must slowly nurture us as we grow in our faith. He tends
to teach us new things as we are able to handle them. Even
Jesus said on one occasion:

"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear
them now." John 16:12, KJV

Consider also the following Scriptures from the Epistles
which discuss spiritual growth:

"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that
ye may grow thereby:" 1 Peter 2:2, KJV

"Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered,
seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye
ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again
which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are
become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.
For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of
righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth
to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of
use have their senses exercised to discern both good and
evil." Hebrews 5:11-14, KJV

So, if you look at all of the other verses I shared above,
regarding meeting in the homes of the Disciples, you will
see that they occurred a number of years after that famous
Day of Pentecost, when God first began to dispense His Holy
Spirit to the New Testament Disciples. What is the purpose
of the Holy Spirit? In addition to helping us to be a
witness of our faith, one of its purposes is to teach us
God's ways, it is our Spiritual Instructor, as we see here:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and
bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said
unto you." John 14:26, KJV

So, after Jesus' departure from this Earth, and once they
had been filled with the Holy Spirit, the leaders of the
Early Church began to understand what God was doing, and how
He was operating. They began to understand that they could
not be bound by the old ways, and the old ideas, if they
truly wanted to be fruitful branches for the Lord. In short,
they had to make a serious break with the corrupt, stagnant
Jewish system of worship of their day, which depended upon
buildings and temples and dead rituals to keep it alive. If
you doubt that such things bring spiritual death, then I ask
you to consider the following serious warnings which the
Lord uttered regarding two of the New Testament churches
which did fall back into this very same trap:

"And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These
things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the
seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that
thou livest, and art dead." Revelation 3:1, KJV

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write;
These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that
thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or
hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor
hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest,
I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of
nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and
miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:"
Revelation 3:14-17, KJV

Up until now, everything I have shared in this article are
things which I have stated before in other articles, but
there is more. A few hours ago, while I was in the kitchen
preparing my daughter's breakfast, and thinking on this
person's question, the Lord suddenly gave me a flood of new
information which, in spite of my many years of knowing Him,
and His Word, still gave me quite a spiritual jolt. The
essence of what the Lord showed me is this: Satan loves
temples. Satan loves church buildings. Satan loves high
places. This is so plain in the Scriptures, yet I never saw
it as clearly as I saw it this morning. Ever since he was
cast out, Satan has been attempting to regain his high
place, his throne in Heaven. Consider the following verses
which prove this point:

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the
morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst
weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I
will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the
stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the
congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above
the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."
Isaiah 14:12-14, KJV

"And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall
from heaven." Luke 10:18, KJV

"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought
against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in
heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent,
called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole
world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were
cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in
heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom
of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of
our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God
day and night." Revelation 12:7-10, KJV

"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of
this world, according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of
disobedience:" Ephesians 2:2, KJV

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against
principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the
darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high
places." Ephesians 6:12, KJV

As I point out in other articles, based upon verses such as
the above, it is my personal belief that Satan, the Prince
of the Power of the Air, is currently in control of the
atmospheric heavens around the Earth. Furthermore, as the
false god of this world, I believe that for the time being,
the Earth is Satan's domain, until such time as Jesus Christ
fully defeats him at the Battle of Armageddon. Satan is in
charge of the 'children of disobedience' who currently rule
this Earth. This is in accordance with the Scriptures.
Please consider these additional verses:

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of
the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he
laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the
Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast
him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal
upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till
the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he
must be loosed a little season...And the devil that deceived
them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the
beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day
and night for ever and ever." Revelation 20:1-3, 10, KJV

Now, I would like to ask you to consider a few more facts
which will clarify the picture for you even further. Let me
begin with a rhetorical question: Why is it that in the Old
Testament, as well as in the New Testament, whether we are
speaking of the Israelites, or of the pagan nations, they
always chose the highest hilltops upon which to sacrifice,
and build their temples in honor of their gods? While there
are many verses in the Bible which describe these places,
and how the Lord utterly hated them because of the spiritual
wickedness which dwelt in them, and which was performed at
them, allow me to share just a few of them with you:

"Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of
gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to
Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up
out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and
the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for
the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.
And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the
lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.
And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the
fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in
Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel,
sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed
in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made.
So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the
fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which
he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto
the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and
burnt incense...After this thing Jeroboam returned not from
his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people
priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated
him, and he became one of the priests of the high places."
1 Kings 12:28-33, 13:33, KJV

One verse which rather surprised me is the final one in the
last set. In it, we are told that King Jeroboam appointed
common men to be the priests of the high places. In other
words, he made them priests of the false gods, or if you
prefer, priests of Satan, because we all know that Satan is
the Prince of the Devils. By itself, that verse may not seem
too surprising or significant, if we consider the rest of
the verses I am sharing here regarding the sad, backslidden
condition of ancient Israel; however, what bothered me up is
the verse reference associated with that verse: 13:33.

If you still fail to see the significance of the verse, then
allow me to point it out to you more clearly: The number
thirteen plays a significant role in freemasonry; and there
are thirty-three levels to which an initiate in freemasonry
can hope to achieve. Now, despite their denials, it is an
established fact that the secret brotherhood of freemasonry
is heavily steeped in the occult practices, and worship of
Lucifer. While lower level freemasons may be totally unaware
of this, the higher level freemasons do worship Satan, and
they know it. They are convinced that Lucifer is the true
god, and that Jesus and His Father are the usurpers. This
was taught by Albert Pike himself.

While the following information is diverting a bit from our
main topic of discussion, allow me to share it with you, as
it will help you to understand the demonic, secretive nature
of freemasonry, and how even its lower level initiates are
purposely kept from the deeper truths of the organization.
First are a few quotes attributed to Albert Pike, which I
obtained from the despatch.cth.com.au website. They are
instructions to the twenty-three Supreme Councils of the
World, dated July 14, 1889, as recorded by A.C. De La Rive
in 'La Femme et l'Enfant dans la FrancMaconnerie
Universelle', page 588:

----- Begin Quote -----

"That which we must say to a crowd is - We worship a God,
but it is the God that one adores without superstition.

"To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this,
that you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st,
and 30th degrees - The Masonic Religion should be, by all of
us initates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of
the Luciferian Doctrine.

"If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay whose deeds prove his
cruelty, perdify and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion
for science, would Adonay and his priests, calumniate him?

"Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god.
For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade,
no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the
absolute can only exist as two gods: darkness being
necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive.

"Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true
and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer,
the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of
Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of
Darkness and Evil."

----- End Of Quote -----

As we continue our discussion in part two, we will take a
further look at freemasonry, as well as discuss these
following issues: the worship of creation, King Josiah's
repentance, the importance of high places, Jesus' Return,
the real god of the Jewish temple, Satan's world and high
places, the synagogue of Satan, Gothic style architecture,
gargoyles and grotesques as the guardians of cathedrals and
churches, the origin of the gargoyles, the legend of 'La
Gargouille', the Roman Catholic Church compromise, flying
demons to protect us?, the temples of demons and the gates
of hell, and demonized Japan. I trust that you will join me.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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