Acts 20:28 “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”
1 Peter 5:2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;
Hebrews 13:17 “Obey them that have the rule over you, and submit yourselves: for they watch for your souls, as they that must give account, that they may do it with joy, and not with grief: for that is unprofitable for you.”
This means that church leaders are supposed to guard and protect the souls of their people.
One of the most effective ways that is accomplished is through church discipline.
Church discipline not only keeps the people from falling into sin, but it also keeps the wolves out.
The proper process of church discipline.
Jesus gave us the proper process of church discipline in Matthew 18:15-17 “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.”
One person talks to the person in sin
If they refuse to repent then 2 or 3 people go talk to them
If they still refuse to repent, then they are brought before the whole church
If they still refuse to repent, then they are removed from church membership. They lose any and all positions that they held in the church, they are not allowed to work in the church at all (including singing in the choir, helping to serve food, cleaning the church etc.), and they are not allowed to eat of the Lord’s Supper. If they eat of the Lord’s Supper God could kill them, because they are living in rebellion.
1 Corinthians 11:
26 “For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come. 27 Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. 29 For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.”
All work in the church should only be done by saved and holy people. To allow lost and backslidden people to work in the church makes them feel comfortable in their sin, and it allows for them to lead children and new Christians astray.
Pastors who refuse to implement Biblical church discipline are not protecting the souls of their people, they are feeding them to the wolves!
This same process is also to be used if a church member is overtaken by a sin.
Galatians 6:1 “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.”
1 Corinthians 5: 1 It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father’s wife. 2 And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3 For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4 In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ, 5 To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus. 6 Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7 Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us: 8 Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, neither with the leaven of malice and wickedness; but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. 9 I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: 10 Yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world. 11 But now I have written unto you not to keep company, if any man that is called a brother be a fornicator, or covetous, or an idolater, or a railer, or a drunkard, or an extortioner; with such an one no not to eat. 12 For what have I to do to judge them also that are without? do not ye judge them that are within? 13 But them that are without God judgeth. Therefore put away from among yourselves that wicked person.“
Church discipline saves souls
James 5:19-20 “Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.”
Just because someone is a church member does not mean they are saved. There are millions of church members around the world who are lost and going to Hell.
And the Bible teaches very plainly that a person who commits a really bad sin like the man in 1 Corinthians 5 is not saved.
That is why Paul commanded that the church cast him out and turn him over to Satan for the destruction of his flesh so that his soul might be saved. Meaning maybe through his suffering he would repent and get saved.
Paul was saying that by committing that sin, the man had proven he was lost, and therefore must be cast out of the church, so hopefully he would repent and get saved.
Remember the Bible says very plainly that there are sins that a saved person cannot do.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 “Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.”
Pastors who do not implement Biblical church discipline are negligent in their duty to guard the souls of their people. They are allowing their own people to feel comfortable in their sin and go to hell, and they are allowing wolves to come in and destroy the children.
The Limits of Church Discipline
Kicking someone out of the church and/or removing them from leadership is as far as church discipline goes.
Nowhere in the Bible does it say that the church can kill, whip, torture, take land or possessions away not even indirectly through the government like the Catholic church has done.
The Bible says the church is supposed to turn the person over to the Devil for the destruction of their flesh in hopes that they repent, but no where does the Bible say that the church is supposed to help the Devil destroy the person’s flesh.
Now, the church can handle civil suits between church members, but if the guilty party refuses to pay, then all the church can do is kick them out.
1 Corinthians 6: 1 “Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unjust, and not before the saints? 2 Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? 3 Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life? 4 If then ye have judgments of things pertaining to this life, set them to judge who are least esteemed in the church. 5 I speak to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you? no, not one that shall be able to judge between his brethren?”
However, if an actual crime has been committed (like sexual assault) then the Church is to contact the civil authorities so civil justice can be done. Civil authorities are also ministers of God to punish criminals.
Romans 13: 1 “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. 2 Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation. 3 For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4 For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.”
The Bible does not say anything about penance either.
Nowhere does the Bible say that a person must do some physical work to punish themselves (like walking around on their knees, or saying repetitious prayers, or whipping themselves etc in order to receive forgiveness and be restored back into the church.)
When the person repents, the Church is to receive them back
2 Corinthians 2: 1 “But I determined this with myself, that I would not come again to you in heaviness. 2 For if I make you sorry, who is he then that maketh me glad, but the same which is made sorry by me? 3 And I wrote this same unto you, lest, when I came, I should have sorrow from them of whom I ought to rejoice; having confidence in you all, that my joy is the joy of you all. 4 For out of much affliction and anguish of heart I wrote unto you with many tears; not that ye should be grieved, but that ye might know the love which I have more abundantly unto you. 5 But if any have caused grief, he hath not grieved me, but in part: that I may not overcharge you all. 6 Sufficient to such a man is this punishment, which was inflicted of many. 7 So that contrariwise ye ought rather to forgive him, and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow. 8 Wherefore I beseech you that ye would confirm your love toward him. 9 For to this end also did I write, that I might know the proof of you, whether ye be obedient in all things. 10 To whom ye forgive any thing, I forgive also: for if I forgave any thing, to whom I forgave it, for your sakes forgave I it in the person of Christ; 11 Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.“
Here the Apostle Paul told the church at Corinth to receive back the man that he had told them to cast out in I Corinthians 5, because the man had repented (turned away from his sin).If at any time penance would have been instituted in the Bible, it would have been here, but it was not. Paul did not command that the man do any kind of penance to be forgiven and received back into the church. He just commanded the church to receive him back, because he had repented. He had stopped doing his sin.
This is Biblical church discipline, and it must be restored or we will never see another world changing revival.
Christians are to partake of the Lord’s Supper in order to remember Jesus’ death.
The bread and wine (grape juice) are only symbols of Christ’s body and blood. They do not actually turn into the body and blood of Christ.
1 Corinthians 11:23-26 “For I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, That the Lord Jesus the same night in which he was betrayed took bread: And when he had given thanks, he brake it, and said, Take, eat: this is my body, which is broken for you: this do in remembrance of me. After the same manner also he took the cup, when he had supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood: this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do shew the Lord’s death till he come.”
The Lord’s Supper must contain grape juice not alcoholic wine.
The Bible says in Titus 1:7 “For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;”
The word “bishop” means “overseer” and “Christian officer in general charge of a church.” Therefore, this verse applies to Pastors. (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries #1985 in the Greek.)
The Greek word for “wine” in this verse references back to a Hebrew word meaning “fermented.” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries #3631 in the Greek and then #3196 in the Hebrew).
“Given to wine” in this verse means “staying near wine” and then roots back to a word that means “in the vicinity of.” (Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible with Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries #3943 and then #3844 both in the Greek).
Therefore, this verse is saying that a Pastor cannot be in the vicinity of alcoholic wine.
If a Pastor cannot even be around alcoholic wine, thenthe Lord’s Supper cannot contain alcoholic wine.
Jesus did not use alcoholic wine at the Last Supper.
Jesus instituted the ordinance of the Lord’s Supper during the Passover meal before He died.
Luke 22:15-20 “And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.”
There could be no leaven at the Passover meal. There could not even be any leaven in the house! Alcoholic wine contains leaven (usually yeast).
Exodus 12:1-11 “And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’s passover.”
Exodus 12:15 “Seven days shall ye eat unleavened bread; even the first day ye shall put away leaven out of your houses: for whosoever eateth leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel.”
Therefore, Jesus used grape juice not alcoholic wine at the Last Supper.
The Lord’s Supper is an ordinance not a sacrament.
The Catholic church teaches that Christ gives people divine life (salvation) through sacraments.
The Bible says that Christ only gives us everlasting life (salvation) through simple belief in the Gospel.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:36 “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.”
John 5:24 “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.”
Romans 10:9 “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.”
A sacrament is a “work.” We are saved by grace through faith, not by works.
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.”
Romans 1:17 “For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.“
Therefore, the Lord’s Supper is not the same thing as the Mass or Eucharist.
During the sacrament of the Mass a Catholic priest takes the Eucharist (bread) and claims to turn it into the very blood, body, soul, and divinity of Jesus Christ.
The Catholic church first made the sacrament of the Mass a doctrine in 394 AD. Below is what was said about it at the Council of Trent in 1563 and then it was Ratified at the Vatican II Council in 1963:
“If any one shall deny that the body and blood, together with the soul and divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, and therefore entire Christ, are truly, really and substantially contained in the sacrament of the most Holy Eucharist; and say that He is only in it as a sign, or in a figure-let him be accursed! (Damned)” This doctrine is still in effect in the Catholic Church today.
This is blasphemy! Nowhere does the Bible say that any man can command God like this!
No!
This practice of “turning a god into a piece of bread” comes from Baal worship and ancient Egyptian paganism! Not the Bible! (Hislop, Alexander. 1862. The Two Babylons. 3rd ed. Ontario: Chick Publications. 156-164.)
Christians are to worship God according to the Bible! Not according to what some man says!
Revelation 22:18 “For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:”
The Mass is a heresy added to the Lord’s Supper!
The Mass is also Idolatry!
To believe that a piece of bread is literally Jesus Christ is idolatry!
Leviticus 26:1 “Ye shall make you no idols nor graven image, neither rear you up a standing image, neither shall ye set up any image of stone in your land, to bow down unto it: for I am the LORD your God.”
2 Corinthians 6:14-18 “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 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.”
Note: I have started hearing some ecumenical preachers say that you experience some kind of mystical union with Christ, or receive power from God, or some other kind of special blessing by eating the Lord’s Supper.
This is also idolatry!
Believing that you receive any kind of spiritual benefit by eating the Lord’s Supper is idolatry, and you are guilty of adding to the Word of God.
The Bible says that the Lord’s Supper is just a remembrance of Christ’s death. And that is all it is!
God says that True Christians who partake of the Mass, will miss the Rapture, and go through the Great Tribulation.
Revelation 2:20-25 “Notwithstanding I have a few things against thee, because thou sufferest that woman Jezebel, which calleth herself a prophetess, to teach and to seduce my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed unto idols. And I gave her space to repent of her fornication; and she repented not. Behold, I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation, except they repent of their deeds. And I will kill her children with death; and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works. But unto you I say, and unto the rest in Thyatira, as many as have not this doctrine, and which have not known the depths of Satan, as they speak; I will put upon you none other burden. But that which ye have already hold fast till I come.”
Only true Christians are capable of committing adultery against Christ! Therefore, these people who commit adultery with Jezebel are truly saved people, and God’s judgement falls on them for their adultery, and they miss the rapture and go through the Great Tribulation with Jezebel (The Roman Catholic Church). They also lose their position as the Bride of Christ. Jesus Christ is not going to be married to a whore! Those who commit adultery against Christ will not be part of His Bride! Salvation only guarantees that we will not go to Hell, and that we have power through the Holy Spirit to overcome sin, but it is our decision whether or not we use that power to oversome sin.
It is true that the Bible says that God chastens us so we are not condemned with the world (1 Corinthians 11:32), but if we do not respond to His chastening and repent, we are judged with the world. We do not go to Hell, but we are still judged with the world in this life! That is what Revelation 2:20-25 teaches and to teach anything else is to add to or take away from the Word of God!
Many Christians also misinterpret Romans 8:1 “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” They say that if you are saved you are never under any kind of condemnation no matter what you do. That is not what this verse says. It says that we are not under condemnation if we are saved, and we walk after the Spirit! No, we are not going to be condemned to Hell, but we could be condemned to miss the rapture, suffer through the Great Tribulation, lose our position as the Bride of Christ, lose or position to reign with Christ, may lose our ability to even enter the New Jerusalem, lose our mansion, lose our white robe, and all other rewards. This is why Jesus said the Church of Laodicea is naked, and poor. Salvation only gets us out of Hell and into Heaven, we must work for everything else!
Morever, notice that the Bible says that this eating of things sacrificed unto idols is a religious doctrine.This can be specifically applied to the Mass!
Pastors, who fear Rome more than God, and allow their people to be taught by the Catholic church (Jezebel) through the Ecumenical movement that the Mass is the same thing as the Lord’s Supper, are blindly leading their people to miss the rapture and go through the Great Tribulation, along with themselves!
I am not afraid of Rome. They have already poisoned me twice, for things I have written in the past! I died once and God sent me back at my request!
My God is more powerful than those vipers! They have no power against me unless Jesus Christ grants it to them! I will not die until He wants me too!
And if I die by the hands of the Jesuits or anyone else of Rome, then I will forever praise my God that I was counted worthy to join His Army of Millions of Martyrs who have been slain by that Great Whore of Revelation 17, who makes herself drunken with the blood of the saints of Jesus Christ!
Therefore, I have warned you to not be seduced by Jezebel to partake of the Mass!
Moreover, Jesus Christ was sacrificed only one time to atone for our sins. He does not have to be sacrificed over and over again by a Mass!
Hebrews 9:28a “So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many;”
In addition, The Lord’s Supper is very Holy, and even a Christian must make sure that they are right with God before partaking of it, or they could become sick or even die by God’s judgement.
1Co 11:27-32 “Wherefore whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened of the Lord, that we should not be condemned with the world.”
Therefore, make sure you never partake of the Mass, and only partake of the true Lord’s Supper if you are truly saved, been baptized after salvation, and are right with God, or His judgment will fall on you!
If you have never received Jesus Christ as your Savior through faith alone, please go now and read the page “How to Get to Heaven.”