God vs. the church
| THE CHURCH SAYS: | BUT GOD’S WORD SAYS: |
| You don’t need to fear God. | “He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.” (Isa. 8:13) |
| You can call men Father. (Catholics) | “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.” (Matt. 23:9) |
| You can call men Head Pastor. (Protestants) | “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.” (Matt. 23:10) the Chief Shepherd (1Pet. 5:4) |
| You can call men Rabbi. (Messianics) | “Do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher.” (Matt. 23:8) |
| The Old Testament isn’t important. | “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.” (Lk 16:31) |
| The Lord God’s/Jesus’ feasts aren’t important. | “My appointed times are these…” (Lev. 23:2) celebrate the feast (1Cor. 5:8) |
| Instead, celebrate Christmas, Easter, and Halloween/Fall Festival. | “you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” (Mt 15:6) “you do many things such as that.” (Mark 7:13) |
| Assemble in our church building. | believers met from house to house (Acts 2:46) |
| “God is in this place [in this church].” | the mystery of lawlessness is already at work (2Thess 2:8) another Jesus… a different spirit… a different gospel (2Cor 11:4) |
| Build churches. | “You built yourself a high place at the top of every street.” (Ezek. 16:25) |
| Make a pledge to our church. | “But I say to you, make no oath at all” (Matt. 5:34) |
| Give us your seed money. | “The seed is the word of God.” (Luke 8:11) |
| Bow to the cross. Wear a cross. | “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness” (Exod. 20:4) |
| Put a fish on your car. | “a graven image…the likeness of any fish” (Deut. 4:16,18) |
| Focus on your family (family of flesh). | “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters….” (Luke 14:26) |
| You can be saved at the beginning. | “it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” (Matt. 10:22) |
| God loves you. | “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’” (Mt 4:7) |
| Listen to our teachings (church teachings). | “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’” (Matt. 15:7-9) |
| THE CHURCH SAYS: | BUT GOD’S WORD SAYS: |
| You don’t need to fear God. | “He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread.” (Isa. 8:13) |
| You can call men Father. (Catholics) | “Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven.” (Matt. 23:9) |
| You can call men Head Pastor. (Protestants) | “Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ.” (Matt. 23:10) the Chief Shepherd (1Pet. 5:4) |
| You can call men Rabbi. (Messianics) | “Do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher.” (Matt. 23:8) |
| The Old Testament isn’t important. | “If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be persuaded if someone rises from the dead.” (Lk 16:31) |
| The Lord God’s/Jesus’ feasts aren’t important. | “My appointed times are these…” (Lev. 23:2) celebrate the feast (1Cor. 5:8) |
| Instead, celebrate Christmas, Easter, and Halloween/Fall Festival. | “you invalidated the word of God for the sake of your tradition.” (Mt 15:6) “you do many things such as that.” (Mark 7:13) |
| Assemble in our church building. | believers met from house to house (Acts 2:46) |
| “God is in this place [in this church].” | the mystery of lawlessness is already at work (2Thess 2:8) another Jesus...a different spirit…a different gospel (2Cor 11:4) |
| Build churches. | “You built yourself a high place at the top of every street.” (Ezek. 16:25) |
| Make a pledge to our church. | “But I say to you, make no oath at all” (Matt. 5:34) |
| Give us your seed money. | “The seed is the word of God.” (Luke 8:11) |
| Bow to the cross. Wear a cross. | “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness” (Exod. 20:4) |
| Put a fish on your car. | “a graven image…the likeness of any fish” (Deut. 4:16,18) |
| Focus on your family (family of flesh). | “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters….” (Luke 14:26) |
| You can be saved at the beginning. | “it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved.” (Matt. 10:22) |
| God loves you. | “On the other hand, it is written, ‘YOU SHALL NOT PUT THE LORD YOUR GOD TO THE TEST.’” (Mt 4:7) |
| Listen to our teachings (church teachings). | “You hypocrites, rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’” (Matt. 15:7-9) |