Be Careful Or Your Denomination May Block Your Way To Heaven

Be careful or your denomination may block your way to heaven. That's our message. The text is taken from Matthew 13: 24-30.

Here's a word of caution. This message is not meant to hurt believers in Christ in any Christian denomination. And it is not intended to cause you to leave your Christian Church. God knows we have too many people leaving the churches for various reasons, some good and some bad. But this message is all about establishing truth and making sure that the focus of believers in Christ is upon Jesus Christ Himself and not upon a denomination. I have many friends in the Catholic church and various Christian denominations who are solid citizens of the kingdom of God. and I have no doubt that they will rise in the resurrection because they have become one with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. And they have not made their Church organization or their denomination a God like some others have done. However if you are in a denomination that has been declared a cult I certainly advise you to leave as soon as possible.

Father we give You thanks and praise for Your love and mercy. Bless Your Word as it goes forth with power under the anointing of Your Holy Spirit. Bless the listener Father we pray, that You give them understanding that they may share it with others in Jesus name we pray. Amen.

The first time we see the word Church in the Bible is in Matthew 16:18, where Jesus Christ said unto the Apostle Peter, "Thou art Peter and upon this rock I will build My Church and the gates of Hell shall not prevail against it." According to the book of Acts the Christian Church was simply referred to as the Way or that Way, and this is found in Acts 9 and 2 and 19 and 9. And this was the way it was for a while. Perhaps it seems as if they did not know what to call this new movement, which had turned the world upside down suddenly. This movement which Christ had referred to as His church. And if the truth be told they were calling Christ Church exactly what it is. Indeed it is the Way, and the only Way. This clear and precise title given the early church was simplistic yet purposeful. Clearly Satan would not have wanted the Church of the Most High God established through His Son Jesus Christ to be called the Way, because it would have been too easy for men and women of the world who were lost to find their way to Christ's great church. And therefore it is no surprise that the name disappeared after a while.

Believe it or not today there are some 45,000 or more denominations of the Christian Church. Since the devil could neither destroy Christ's, nor His Church, he turned to creating division and planting error in every Church. Which led to this diversity that we have today. But Christ had already said that the gates of hell would not prevail against His Church and He proved it by rising from the grave. And further proof is the fact that the Church of the Most High God continue to roll on unhindered and is the number one religion in the world today. According to a 2012 Pew research study of the 232 countries and territories of the world. A whopping 157 of these countries have Christian majorities and it is amazing that as the Church divided, it multiplied and grew. And today 2 thirds of the nations in the world can be considered Christian nations, because the majority of people living in these 153 countries are believers in Jesus Christ. There are also about 13 nations in which Christianity is the state religion and these are considered theocracies.

Unfortunately denominational diversity has led to much confusion about which Church, which denomination is better for a new believer to join. Around 100 AD the term Christianity began to be used and followers of Jesus Christ began to be called Christians. A few years later in 110 ad the term Catholic Church was used in a letter written by a zealous defender of the faith known as St Ignatius of Antioch. Father of the Church at that time. The word Catholic simply meant universal Church. Later it became known as the Roman Catholic Church. And over the years the Church strayed away from some of the teachings of the Holy scriptures. Then along came a man called Martin Luther in the early 1500s known as the father of the Protestant movement, who posted 95 thesis which were 95 errors in the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church. Which triggered a break away from Catholicism.

And just as the Catholic Church strayed away from some of the teachings of the Holy Bible and substituted traditions for doctrines. Martin Luther also strayed away and made mistakes. And with every denomination that was formed thereafter errors were made practically. However Luther's three main beliefs were solid. Number one, he believed that the Bible is the only Authority for Christians. Secondly, he believed that faith alone justifies a person in the eyes of God. And scripture clearly states that without faith it is impossible to please our God. Thirdly, he believed that salvation is a gift from God. In other words we are saved by grace through faith and therefore salvation cannot be earned or bought. These three pillars of the Protestant movement directly opposed errors that were in the teachings of the Catholic Church of that day.

As new denominations were formed, many erroneously claimed to be the only true Christian Church. In fact as recent as 1965, the Vatican council made the bold and erroneous declaration that whoever would refuse to enter or to remain in the Roman Catholic Church could not be saved. Lutheran theology says that there can only be one true visible Church and that is the Lutheran Church. The Amish fraternity believed that the established Church had become corrupt and displeasing to God and that God had used them to replace it. The Quakers also say that they are the one true Church of Christ. The Seventh Day Adventists believe that they are the final remnant of God's true Church or the last remaining part. Some of them also believe that all who worship on Sunday are lost. The Jehovah's Witness cult claimed that they are Jehovah's one and only true organization. And finally the Church of latter day saints, another cult, claim that they are the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth. These are just some of the denominations that claim that they are the only one true Church on earth. What are believers in Christ to make of all of this confusion? And how did we get this far away from the one true Church that Jesus Christ rarely established at the Last Supper? And this is none other than the work of Satan to cause people of God to be confused about what is truth. But he has failed miserably.

One great benefit that came along with the Protestant movement was that Luther believed a copy of the Bible should be in the hands of every believer. And so he translated the Bible into the German language. He did this so that believers in Christ in his country, should not have to depend on the Church to give them the Word of God. They would each be able to secure a copy of their own Bible and this was simply marvelous. Because of Luther the German people had a copy of the Bible available in their native language. And then about 80 years later English-speaking nations were able to have their own Bible in English. However in his German translation of the Bible Luther considered omitting 25 books which he disputed. Books such as Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Esther, Job, Ecclesiastes, Jonah and Tobias. He said that too much of the teachings of Judaism were in these books and so he placed them at the back of the German Bible.

As denominations made the bold and erroneous claim that they are the only true Church of Jesus Christ. An evil spirit of pride entered the Church causing members to take their eyes off Christ and make their denomination their God. And now instead of falling in love with the God of Heaven and the Savior of their souls, they fell in love with their brand of Christ Church. And they took great pride in the traditions and dead rituals of their denomination. And even today exclude all who are not a part of their organization. But Christ is not an organization. Neither is His true Church an organization. The Church of Jesus Christ is a living, harmonious, invisible body in which there is true love and acceptance among its members. In fact according to John 17 and 20, Jesus Christ prayed that all who would believe in Him would be one. And the scripture says He prayed in this fashion and I quote, "That all may be one as You Father are in Me and I in You. That they also may be one in Us. That the world may believe that You have sent Me and the glory that You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one, even as We are one. I in them and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one."

The mere fact that so many denominations came along claiming to be the one and only true Church is great evidence of the nasty work that Satan has been doing in the Church. He systematically planted his wicked servants in the Churches among the leadership and used them to inject error into Church doctrine in practically all of the denominations. He even whispered in the ears of good men causing them to go off on a tangent at times. A tangent that was not in accordance with the Word of God. The question is what do we do about all of this. Should we work to root out the wicked from among the true servants of the Most High God.

Well Jesus Christ Himself gave us the answer in the parable of the wheat and the weeds found in Matthew 13. In the parable, the Kingdom of Heaven is said to be like a man who sowed good seeds in his field but an enemy came in secretly and sowed bad seeds. And Christ said that the field represents the world. The good seeds are the true children of the Kingdom, and the weeds are the wicked children of Satan. And when His servants asked Him whether they should go and gather the weeds or remove them. Christ the Master of the Harvest said, let them grow together until harvest time. At that time the Son of man will send forth His angels and they shall gather out of His Kingdom, which is His church all the offensive evil men and women in the Church of the Most High God. And shall cast them into a furnace of fire which is hell. And He said there shall be wailing and gnashing of teeth. At that time the righteous shall shine forth like the sun in the Kingdom of their Father. And finally my friend, the Church shall be one with the Father, one with the Son and one with the Holy Ghost. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Hold fast until our savior returns. Amen.

You've been listening to this message and perhaps you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. We want to give you an opportunity to make that commitment today. Please engage your heart and say this prayer after me:

-Father I am a sinner. I am sorry for all my sins.

-Dear Lord I crave Your forgiveness.

-Thank You Lord for having mercy on me.

-Today I invite Jesus Christ into my heart.

-Dear Lord Jesus make my heart Your home.

-I give You the key to my heart because I now belong to You forever.

-Please give me the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.

Thank You Lord for saving my soul. Amen.

Welcome friend to the body of believers in Christ. There are a few things that we would like for you to make sure that you follow. Number one, become water baptized as quickly as possible. Let your pastor know that you've given your heart to Jesus Christ and you want to be baptized. Secondly, we encourage you to begin reading the word of God every day. It is your daily food, you will need it to remain strong in Christ.

Begin in the Book of John then go to Matthew, Mark, and Luke, reading audibly as often as possible. Pray daily, attend at your local church and one glad morning the Savior will come and receive us all unto Himself, and we shall forever be with the Lord. God bless and keep you in Jesus mighty name. Amen.