52 Verses For Current and Former Local Churchers

[UntoHim]

#1

Isaiah 29:13
"Then the Lord said, "Because this people draw near with their words And honor Me with their lip service, But they remove their hearts far from Me, And their reverence for Me consists of tradition learned {by rote,}"
Recovery Version:
“And the Lord said, Because this people draws near with their mouth, And with their lips they honor Me, Yet they remove their heart far from Me, and their fear for Me is a commandment of men merely learned”

One does not need to be a biblical scholar, or even go beyond the prophecies and teachings of the major prophets, to come away with the idea that God is not simply after the minds and lips of His people, He wants their hearts too. In fact, He wants all of us, and we are reminded of this fact with the commandment “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might” (Deut 6:5) It stands to reason that God will not stand for anything coming between Himself and His people. No other gods. No other persons. No other traditions. No other visions.

To get an idea of what happens to God’s people when they fall into fall into apostasy, hypocrisy and serve Him only with their lips, let’s take a look at the preceding three verses:
“For the LORD has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; And He has covered your heads, the seers. The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, ‘Please read this’, he will say, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed’. Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, ‘Please read this’ And he will say, ‘I cannot read’.”

How much more does our God deserve the undivided hearts of His latter day followers in the Church? As His latter day people, we are to accept, proclaim and follow the Gospel of Jesus Christ and are also commanded to love one another. How sobering that “the entire vision” could become “like the words of a sealed book” if we continue to ignore His commandments.

To Me every single knee shall bow,
Oh how I look forward to that day!
So I shall suffer this people for now
who though close, are so far, far away

So jealous of whom I am jealous,
So scornful of those for whom I died
You rejoiced when you should have been sad,
and then you laughed when you should have cried

With a name that is living, so you say;
without a wonder, without a sign
Taking a way which is not my way,
so divine, yet without The Divine.

So godly, but with only the form,
“Lord, Lord, have we not called Your Name?”
Though my words on your lips have been borne,
your hearts are very far from the same

So quick to claim that others are lost,
yet your striving is causing much strife
So quick to claim you’ve paid such a cost,
yet not coming to ask for My price

Saying we have no need of others,
no need of anything thing else to find
Saying we are in need of nothing;
So boastful, yet still naked and blind.

So loving, yet not seeming to love;
So caring, yet not seeming to care
Repeating vain words not heard above -
A house of prayer without true prayer.

Joyful noises are heard from your ranks,
yet to someone else your praises bring
To others you give your heartfelt thanks
and abandon Me as your own King

To Me every single knee shall bow,
Oh how I look forward to that day!
So I shall suffer this people for now
who though close, are so far, far away

[UntoHim]

#2

Jeremiah 2:19
"Your own wickedness will correct you, And your apostasies will reprove you"
Darby:
Thine own wickedness chastiseth thee, and thy backslidings reprove thee

Quite a bitter pill for God’s people to take from a little teenager. But this “child”, Jeremiah, had something that God’s people were sorely lacking – HIS WORD – His word that had previously been spoken to them in gentleness and love was now coming as a biting and condemning scolding – but His Word nonetheless. Of course, the alternative was far, far worse.

The good news, God was STILL speaking to them, albeit He was also speaking in apparent frustration to the rest of creation - "Be appalled, O heavens, at this, And shudder, be very desolate…for they have forsaken Me, The fountain of living waters” (2:12,13)

To use the modern vernacular, God’s people had become dysfunctional: The priests no longer said “where is the Lord”, the scribes no longer knew and taught the law, the shepherds no longer shepherded the flock and the prophets no longer prophesied for God. When the leaders stop listening to, speaking and obeying God’s Word, then the people are usually not far behind.

UntoHim’s Interpretation

"Do not abandon My Word! To abandon My Word is to abandon Me. The distance you create between us by your disobedience will condemn you. You own lack of knowledge of My Word will scold you to your face. Come back to Me and My Word! It is your very own deeds that are correcting and reproving you. I am calling you back in love and gentleness - At the same time, be sternly advised beloved, “My Word will not return unto Me void” – it will accomplish what I have set it out to accomplish. My Words can be a fountain of living waters – or they can correct and reprove – the choice is yours"

[aron]

Originally Posted by UntoHim

From Isaiah 29 ---
"The entire vision will be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, ‘Please read this’, he will say, ‘I cannot, for it is sealed’. Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, ‘Please read this’ And he will say, ‘I cannot read’.”

We need to update this, to reflect current terminology: when they give someone the sealed book, and say 'Please read this', he will say 'I cannot read it. It is not included in the One Publication Policy'.

How can you expect God to speak to you if you have already delineated the terms and conditions under which He can? Is your container really that good, that you can shut up God within? If so, I am very impressed.

[UntoHim]

Originally Posted by aron

How can you expect God to speak to you if you have already delineated the terms and conditions under which He can?

Very profound, very true. This is what false religion is all about - you don't need God to speak to you...your belief system and and all the goodies therein have spoken. You're all set and good to go. Just follow the yellow brick road!

[UntoHim]

#3

Hosea 10:12-13
Sow with a view to righteousness, Reap in accordance with kindness; Break up your fallow ground, For it is time to seek the LORD Until He comes to rain righteousness on you. You have plowed wickedness, you have reaped injustice, You have eaten the fruit of lies. Because you have trusted in your way, in your numerous warriors

“Sow righteousness…reap kindness”. Sounds so simple. We know from numerous New Testament passages (cf: some of the parables and the apostles writings) that the laws (or principles if you will) of sowing and reaping apply to us today in the age of grace just as much, if not more, then they applied to God’s people in Hosea’s day.

After attending a certain Christian fellowship for a substantial period of time, I noticed that the leading/teaching pastor never spoke in a critical or negative way about any other Christian minister, ministry or group. Even those who were opening criticizing (fairly or unfairly) certain teachings and practices that our particular fellowship held very dear – he would never say one word criticizing or judging them. Now this brother was not some simpleton like me who wasn’t bright enough to get an advanced college degree and had to go “into the ministry” cause he couldn't do anything else….he holds an advanced degree from M.I.T and was a high level manager at one of the nations largest banking institutions before becoming a full-time pastor.

At some point I inquired from him why he would not speak one negative thing towards any Christian. In fact he would even speak words of blessing towards those who “opposed”. He was rather perplexed at my inquiry. He asked me if I had ever heard of the biblical principle of sowing and reaping. I proudly proclaimed “of course I have!”. He then said “well then, you already know the answer to your question, now don’t you”.

[UntoHim]

Isaiah 42:8
I am Jehovah, that is My name, And I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to idols
NASB:
I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images
Young:
I am Jehovah, this is My name, And Mine honour to another I give not, Nor My praise to graven images

When one constantly hears that one is “becoming God in life and nature”, and that God is being literally “dispensed” into them, as if our Creator was some sort of liquefied product, and one is hearing all this without much balance, it has a strong tendency to give one an improper sense of self worth, and more importantly, it robs God of the glory and honor that is due to Him, and Him alone. Another disastrous byproduct of this kind of teaching is that is makes one highly susceptible to giving undue praise to some other beings or objects then God Himself, which can quickly degrade into abject idolatry.

Is there any doubt whatsoever that the dear followers of Witness Lee have fallen into such a state? Frankly, at this juncture, all the sordid details of how and why they have fallen into such a state are becoming less and less relevant; the urgent need is for repentance and abandonment. Repentance for robbing God of glory and honor, and unconditional abandonment of all things of man, especially any undue appreciation and praise of man. The urgent need is to return to the more Biblical stance - "Blessing and honor and glory be Thine".

UntoHim’s interpretation:

"I AM GOD – I AM GOD ALONE. ALL other persons, places and things are NOT God. No other person, place or thing is deserving of this part of MY glory, MY honor – I will NOT surrender this glory – it belongs to ME. I will not surrender it to any religion formed on My behalf. I will not surrender it to any person who speaks on My behalf. Nor will I allow my people to praise other persons, places or things. If other persons, places or things are praised, I will withdraw My name, I will withdraw My blessing, I will withdraw My presence - And then you will be left with NOTHING but the empty shell of the dead religion which you have formed on My behalf"