Blessings Mike,

I have several questions:

1. Are any of your articles in e- sword modules?

2. Can you point me to articles about going to church.    a. It’s clear that most in any churches these days are still babes in Christ and part of Babylon.    b. I assume we should still be among them but not part of them?    c. We should still go to the church that the Lord has placed us in?

I tried to leave 10 years ago but the Lord very clearly told me at that time to stay and help fix the problems.  This isn’t the first time I haven’t believed what the rest of the congregation believes. But sometimes is still feels strange leading the people in worship and knowing you’re not on the same page.

3. Is there anyone in calling distance in Rochester, NY of the same mind?

Thank You very much,

D____

 

Hi D____,

Thank you for your questions. I will answer them in the order you have asked them.

Your first question is:

“1. Are any of your articles in e-sword modules?”

The answer is no, not yet. If you know anyone who is capable of, and willing to do that, I would love to see Rightly Dividing, After The Counsel of His Own Will and many other articles on iswasandwillbe. com in e-sword modules. But as of yet they are not.

Your second question is:

“2. Can you point me to articles about going to church.”

The answer to this question is to type the words ‘coming out of Babylon’ into the search box at the upper right corner of iswasandwillbe.com , and you will be given 132 responses. Not all 132 are relevant to your question, but many of those letters will help you to understand what the scriptures teach about going to church.

Here is part a. of your second question:

“a. It’s clear that most in any churches these days are still babes in Christ and part of Babylon.”

Any church incorporated under the authority of men is a daughter of the great harlot. Christ will never ask men for their permission for anything of which He is the head.

Here is part b. and c. of your second question, which I will answer as one question:

“b. I assume we should still be among them but not part of them?    c. We should still go to the church that the Lord has placed us in? I tried to leave 10 years ago but the Lord very clearly told me at that time to stay and help fix the problems.  This isn’t the first time I haven’t believed what the rest of the congregation believes. But sometimes it still feels strange leading the people in worship and knowing you’re not on the same page.”

It is true that we are among those who are still in Babylon, and we will be in their midst as long as we live:

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

But Rev 18 complements this verse; it does not contradict it:

Rev 18:4  And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.

What happens to those who do “come out of her?” Again, the gospel of John complements the book of Revelation and vice-versa. This is what happens to those who come out of Babylon:

Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils [ Greek – Sanhedrin], and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

Joh 17:14  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world [the worldly religious establishment, Not  Pilate and the “world” of Rome].

Mat 24:9  Then shall they [ God’s own people] deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.

It has always been our own spiritual brothers who persecute us the most. It is always our fellow “seed of Abraham” brothers who hate their elect brothers. It has been so ever since Cain slew Abel, his own brother.

Gen 37:4  And when his brethren saw that their father loved him [Joseph] more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.

Isa 3:12  As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.

The last thing I want to do is to offend any of my readers. But what concerns me even more is failing to be faithful to the Truth of God’s Word.  You say you were told to “stay and fix the problems.”  That was what you were to do when you were at that point of your walk. Christ is indeed “working all things after the counsel of His own will,” including the fact that you were led to believe that you were to “stay and fix the problems.” But as you grow in the grace and the knowledge of your Lord and savior you will find that the Jesus of God’s Word doesn’t even pray for, much less “stay and fix the problems” of Babylon. Babylon was “raised up [in each of us] “for this very purpose,” to be destroyed and “die daily,” and to be replaced by a “new man.” The old man  must “pass away.”

Joh 17:9  I pray for them [His elect]: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.

Rom 9:17  For the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, Even for this same purpose have I raised thee up, that I might shew my power in thee, and that my name might be declared throughout all the earth.

2Co 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Rev 18:8  Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.

The Jesus of God’s Word, prays after this manner:

Mat 6:7  (a) But when ye pray…

Mat 6:9  (a) After this manner therefore pray ye…
Mat 6:10 (b) Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

1Jn 5:14  And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:

Neither Babylon nor the kingdom of God are physical or exterior. Both are spiritual, both are interior, and they oppose each other. The one is to grow within us until it “fills the whole earth,” and the other is “the earth,” which opposes the heavenly realm within us and is doomed to be “utterly burned with fire” and to destruction, never to be rebuilt. Let me explain how I know this is true.

Why did Christ speak in parables? He tells us that He spoke in parables so that those in Babylon would not see or understand what He was saying:

Mat 13:1  The same day went Jesus out of the house, and sat by the sea side.
Mat 13:2  And great multitudes were gathered together unto him, so that he went into a ship, and sat; and the whole multitude stood on the shore.
Mat 13:3  And he spake many things unto them in parables,

Every word Christ spoke to those in Babylon was in parables.

Mat 13:34  All these things spake Jesus unto the multitude in parables; and without a parable spake he not unto them:  

That is one way to prove that the story of Lazarus and the rich man is a parable. Christ was speaking to His disciples and the Pharisees. He was speaking to the same “multitudes” to whom He spoke in Mat 13. This is what we are told as an introduction to the story of Lazarus and the rich man:

Luk 16:14  And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these things: and they derided him.

“Without a parable spoke He not unto them” tells us that the story of Lazarus and the rich man given to “his disciples… and the Pharisees… who… heard all these things” had to be a parable.  But why? Why was Christ so purposely careful to speak to the multitudes of His disciples and the Pharisees only in parables? Christ’s closest disciples could not understand this at that time, so Christ explained it to them. He told them that His parables were designed to keep the multitudes from “understanding the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” This tells us that all of Christ’s parables are about “the kingdom of heaven.”  Those who still cannot understand the purpose for Christ’s parables still do not understand that Babylon was raised up for the very purpose of hating and killing Christ and His disciples:

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.

It is given to God’s elect to “come out of her my people,” but unto those who stay, it is not given. Am I saying that Christ was contradicting Himself when he said “I pray not that you take them out of the world but that you keep them in the world?”

Joh 17:15  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.

No, Christ was not contradicting Himself. “Keeping them from evil” is the “coming out of her” that is mentioned in Rev 18:4. Speaking of the multitudes of Babylon who came to hear His teaching, Christ tells us that “it is not given to them to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.” He said that the very purpose for teaching them in parables was “because… it is not given to them to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.”. Where is this kingdom of heaven? In saying this, is Christ speaking only of the time when “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ”? No, not at all. Christ also tells us “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

There is much more to what and where is the kingdom of God, to which Christ has reference. Here is what and where is that kingdom:

Luk 17:20  And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
Luk 17:21  Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.

Christ is speaking to “the Pharisees.” He tells them “The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Is Christ saying that the kingdom of God is within these Christ rejecting Pharisees? Of course, He is not. The fact that He is speaking to the Pharisees, tells those with eyes to see and ears to hear that he is speaking to them in a parable to keep them from understanding what He is saying about the kingdom  of God.

What Christ is saying is that the kingdom of God will first be spiritually ruling within His elect before that kingdom comes to rule outwardly over the kingdoms of this world:

Luk 17:25  But first must he suffer many things, and be rejected of this generation.

We have been led to believe that this is a statement about Christ while He was on this earth two thousand years ago, and indeed it includes Christ at that time. What has been hidden from our eyes is that this statement also applies to Christ’s body which would come after Him, from His days in His own physical flesh, till “the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and His Christ.”

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:
Col 1:23  If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and [ be] not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, [ and] which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;
Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

In MY flesh for His body’s sake, which is the church,” tells us that the words of verse 22, “In the body of His flesh, through death,” applies to each of us, just as it applied to the fleshly body of Christ.

Did Christ suffer for us so that we would not have to suffer? Did he die for us so that we could escape physical death? No, He did not, and any gospel that teaches such nonsense is what Paul called “another gospel with another Jesus and another spirit.” Such a gospel is the spirit of Babylon within us, fighting against the kingdom of God which is also to be “within you.” The following verses are all part of the true “gospel of Jesus Christ,” the gospel of “the kingdom of God within you” which Christ came proclaiming as being “at hand:”

Mat 4:17  From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

Mat 10:7  And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at hand

This is not simply a kingdom which is to come two thousand years later. This is a kingdom which is “at hand.” It is here now. It is “the kingdom of God is within you,” if you are one of those “called and chosen and faithful… few,” who are being prepared now for rulership when the time does come for “the kingdoms of this world to become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ.”

“But first He must suffer many things of this generation” is not a statement that applied only to that generation which killed Christ two thousand years ago. That statement also has an ever-present application. We, too, “must fill up what is behind of the sufferings of the Christ.”

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

That is why Christ suffered for us. It was not so we could avoid suffering with Him. He suffered for us so that we, too, could be found worthy to “suffer with Him.”

1Th 2:12  That ye would walk worthy of God, who hath called you unto his kingdom and glory.

2Th 1:5  Which [“all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:” verse 4] is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God, that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which ye also suffer:

Neither did Christ die so we would not have to physically die; he died for us so we also could be “counted worthy” to die with and suffer with Him. Those who now have the “kingdom of God within them” are at this very moment enduring “the righteous judgment of God... first,” so that they can later be capable of identifying with, and be “found worthy” to judge and be merciful to their brothers in Christ who are called by the billions, but are not in this age, ‘chosen’ or ‘elect.’

Mat 22:14  For many [“multitudes”] are called, but few are chosen [ Greek – eklectos – Exact same Greek word translated ‘elect.’].

Rom 11:31  Even so have these [ multitudes of God’s called but not chosen people] also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

Now here is the fourth verse of  2 Thessalonians one, quoted above:

2Th 1:4  So that we ourselves glory in you in the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure:

Who was persecuting God’s people in Thessalonica? As always, it was God’s own saints. It was their own ‘called’ but not ‘chosen’ brothers. It was the established church of the day:

Act 17:1  Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:

Act 13:50  But the Jews stirred up the devout and honourable women, and the chief men of the city, and raised persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them out of their coasts.

“The Jews” is Bible-speak for God’s own people through “the son of the bondwoman.”

Gal 4:25  For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.

So all of the Christians who cannot receive Christ’s words are still “in bondage with her children,” and these words still apply spiritually to this very day:

Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

But aren’t they called Christians, even in 1 Corinthians 3? Yes, they are called “carnal… babes in Christ.” So what is the true spiritual state of a “carnal… babe in Christ?” Here is the truth of God’s Word concerning the spiritual state of those who call themselves Christians but are yet incapable of “loving their enemies,” among many other commands of Christ which these babes in Christ cannot yet bear.”

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:

“Jerusalem which now is and is in bondage with her children” is Bible- speak for those who are called as Abraham’s seed, but who persecute God’s elect.

Gal 4:28  Now we [ Gentile Galatian converts] , brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.
Gal 4:29  But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

To this very day, it is carnal minded Christians who consider ‘Israel’ and ‘Jerusalem’ to be outward physical entities rather than Gentile Galatian converts who are now “the commonwealth of Israel.”

It is these carnal-minded Christians who hate and want to destroy God’s elect. Being an Israelite or a Jew or being circumcised is no longer a physical matter but a spiritual matter. Here it all is again:

Rom 2:28  For he is not a Jew, which is one outwardly; neither is that circumcision, which is outward in the flesh:
Rom 2:29  But he is a Jew, which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter; whose praise is not of men, but of God.

Gal 6:15  For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature.
Gal 6:16  And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel of God.

The only reason I am reiterating all of this is for the purpose of pointing out that the apostle Paul was not expecting to “fix the problems” of “the son of the bondwoman”. What is the conclusion of both Paul and the scriptures in both the Old and the New Testaments? Here is God’s own words to Abraham and to us today:

Gal 4:30  Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.
Gal 4:31  So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

How do we “cast out the bondwoman and her child” today? We cast out the bondwoman and her child by “coming out of Babylon.” It is true that “coming out of Babylon” is more of a spiritual act than it is a physical act. But for anyone who comes out of Babylon spiritually, there will also be an physical manifestation of what has already happened within.

1Co 15:46  Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual.

The apostle Paul was physically cast out of the ‘Babylon’ of his day many times and many years before he ever made this statement:

Act 13:46  Then Paul and Barnabas waxed bold, and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first have been spoken to you: but seeing ye put it from you, and judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turn to the Gentiles.

When Paul said, “Lo, we turn to the Gentiles” was he saying that he would never enter a synagogue again? No, that was not what He meant by “we turn to the Gentiles”. In the very next chapter we read once again:

Act 14:1  And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.

Synagogues, in Christ’s and in Paul’s days, were places where discussions and dialogue took place. It was a place where you were supposedly allowed to express your understanding of God’s words. It was not a modern Christian church setting, with every moment being structured and under the complete control of the preacher or minister of that church. The synagogue belonged to the community and the entire community was entitled to contribute to the discussion of the law.

So if you have been twenty years in Babylon, and you have not yet been “scourged in their synagogues, then you certainly have not yet “come out of her my people.”

Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils [Greek – Sanhedrin], and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

What “we turn to the Gentiles” means is that Paul and we all are learning that we are not called to “fix the problems” in Babylon. What it means is that Paul was learning that the gospel was given only to those whose hearts had been prepared by the sovereign work of the holy spirit of God to receive the gospel. What we are to learn by these words is that when we we can plainly see that we are talking to a brother who “judges himself unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we [also ought to] turn to the Gentiles, to those whose eyes have already been given sight and whose ears have been given healing and hearing. This all agrees with Christ’s own admonition against “casting our pearls before swine:”

Mat 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

“Should we go to the church the Lord has placed us in?” Yes, we should. But if we have indeed been given the ability to see God’s Truth, then the Pharisees will be casting us out of their synagogue very soon because we will be witnesses of the fact that we have been healed of being blind from our mother’s womb, and we have been given our sight.

Joh 9:1  And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.

Joh 9:7  And said unto him, Go, wash in the pool of Siloam, (which is by interpretation, Sent.) He went his way therefore, and washed, and came seeing.

We are not given the interpretation of the name ‘Siloam’ for no reason. We are told what this means because God wants us to know that if He heals us of our blindness then we are “sent” to be His witnesses of these things.”

Mat 10:16  Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.
Luk 10:3  Go your ways: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves.

Luk 24:47  And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
Luk 24:48  And ye are witnesses of these things.

When Peter said “the church at Babylon salutes you,” he was speaking spiritually. Peter was not in physical Babylon, he was in spiritual Babylon. He was in physical Jerusalem. We all “begin at Jerusalem, and we teach repentance and remission of the sins” of all mankind. And when we do this we will be “cast out” of the synagogues of ‘Jerusalem,’ and we will then “turn to the Gentiles,” to those who are prepared by God’s spirit to receive our witness. Here is what will happen to God’s elect witnesses:

Joh 9:8  The neighbours therefore, and they which before had seen him that he was blind, said, Is not this he that sat and begged?
Joh 9:9  Some said, This is he: others said, He is like him: but he said, I am he.

Joh 9:13  They brought to the Pharisees him that aforetime was blind.

Joh 9:17  They say unto the blind man again, What sayest thou of him, that he hath opened thine eyes? He said, He is a prophet.

Joh 9:34  They answered and said unto him, Thou wast altogether born in sins, and dost thou teach us? And they cast him out.

This man is God’s elect who are not afraid to be His “witnesses of these things.” He knows that he has met a man of God, but it is only after he is cast out of the synagogue, cast out of the sanhedrin, cast out of their councils, that he is given to know Christ as the son of God:

Joh 9:35  Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God?
Joh 9:36  He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him?
Joh 9:37  And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee.
Joh 9:38  And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him.

Christ waited, and He is the same today. He waits till we have been cast out of the councils and synagogues, and then He seeks us out to reveal Himself to us much more clearly as the very son of God.

But look at the lesson we must learn from all of this. It is impossible for the average church-going “carnal… babe in Christ” to receive. These are Christ’s very next words, and they are said in the presence of the Pharisees to whom He is witnessing. What this proves is that “cast not your pearls before swine” does not mean that we are ever to fail to answer any question we are asked, truthfully and faithfully:

Joh 9:39  And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind.
Joh 9:40  And [ some] of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, Are we blind also?
Joh 9:41  Jesus said unto them, If ye were blind, ye should have no sin: but now ye say, We see; therefore your sin remaineth

If we are fearlessly faithful to the Truth of God’s Word, that Truth will open the eyes of the blind and will at the same time, blind the eyes of the self- righteous Pharisees among us.

I hope this all helps you to see that “entering into the synagogues” is not staying in a church with no opportunity to share God’s wonderful good news. “Entering into the synagogue” of any city is entering into every opportunity to “witness of these things,” which God places before us, without casting our pearls before swine.

Your last question is;

“3. Is there anyone in calling distance in Rochester, NY of the same mind?”

The answer to that question is, not that I know of. I will post this letter on iswasandwillbe.com and if any one in that area wants to contact you, they can let us know, and we will put you in touch with each other. The IWWB team never gives out e-mail addresses without the express request of that individual to do so.

I hope I have answered your questions, and I hope I haven’t offended you as I tried to show you that we are not called to “fix the problems of Babylon”. We all do just that to begin with, before we are shown that Babylon is God’s Pharaoh, which God has raised up for the very purpose of utterly destroying Babylon.  We are not called to save the world at this time. That is why you “feel strange leading the people in worship and knowing you’re not on the same page.” When you witness to God’s Truth, Babylon will have no part of it, and “you shall be hated of all men.”

Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

Here is what this all boils down to:

1Jn 4:17  Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

And so we are told:

Col 1:24  Who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which is behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for his body’s sake, which is the church:

We are called to be “saviors” for but very few at this time. It is “strong meat,” but the truth is that we will be the ‘saviors’ of all mankind through the symbolic, purifying flames of the symbolic “lake of fire.”

Oba 1:21  And saviours shall come up on mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau; and the kingdom shall be the LORD’S.

Rom 11:31  Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy.
Rom 11:32  For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all.

1Co 3:13 Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is.
1Co 3:14  If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.

1Co 3:15  If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire.

“That day and that fire” is here and now for God’s elect:

1Pe 4:12  Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:
1Pe 4:13  But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.

1Pe 4:17  For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

But we are assured of the outcome:

Rom 8:37  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.
Rom 8:38  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Rom 8:39  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Your brother in Christ,

Mike