Easter at Church
Well,
praise Jesus today everyone. I wanted to speak about something that I've been
thinking about for the last few days and that's in regard to Easter, church,
and Christian fellowship. Now there's a few reasons why I and my family don't
celebrate Easter. There of course is the reason that it has a lot of its roots
in paganism. I know that the Christian church has adopted many holidays and
tried to make it Christian, including things like Halloween. They have trunk or
treat instead of trick or treat and they invite people to their church, and
they try to be a testimony for Jesus and try to turn something that's worldly
into something that's godly. But it ends up just being a gimmick. And I tend to
steer away from anything that is pagan or has its roots in paganism and is
ungodly.
As
disciples of Jesus, we don't want to look anything like the world and we
certainly don't want our roots to be pagan or to be practicing things that had
roots in evil or Satanism. Now one of those things is also Easter. If you
research a bit about Easter, you will notice how it does have a lot of its
roots in paganism, but how the Christian church tried to relate Easter with the
Passover and made it into the Christian version of the Passover where we now
celebrate that Jesus has resurrected from the dead. And all of those things are
good to remember, that Jesus died on the cross for our sins, that He resurrected,
and He made the way for us, that He made atonement for our sins.
But
here's the thing guys, when you start mixing Santa Claus and Christmas with
Jesus' birth and when you start mixing the Easter bunny and pagan eggs and
pagan rituals with Jesus' resurrection, you're left with something that is not
truly for a disciple of God at all. And this is the same thing that happens in
church all the time. They mix the culture, things of the world, with things
that are godly and they have this collaboration of falsehoods with things that
are truth. And this is what Satan does all the time. But besides the fact that
Easter has its roots in a lot of things that are pagan. The main reason that I
keep myself separate from this holiday, even though it's a high holy day for
the Christians, is because it is rooted in a lot of hypocrisy within the
Christian church.
So
forget about the whole pagan thing for a minute and hear me out on the fact
that most Christians are only Christians one day of the week. They're very
hypocritical. They want to say Jesus is risen, He is risen indeed, but they
only celebrate Jesus as risen on their high holy days. But the rest of the
year, they're living like Jesus was dead and they are alive to their sins. So
they're into pornography, they're smoking pot, they're lusting after women,
they're not raising their children for the Lord or living for God every day.
They're not overcoming sin, temptation. They're serving themselves all the
time. Yet then when there's a high holy Christian day or high holy Jewish day,
they act as though they're Jewish or Christian. And that is hypocrisy.
So as
for myself, I don't keep this particular day or Christmas or Halloween or any
of these days because they're rooted in paganism and in Christian hypocrisy.
And if we come to really love and obey Jesus, He pulls us out of the world, out
of falsehood, and He writes His truth and His love and His justice on our
heart. And we trade those things of the world, those lies and falsehoods and
false brotherhoods, false churches, we trade that for the truth, things that
are really noble and upright and pure, the things of the Holy Spirit. The Holy
Spirit hasn't called us to be part of Easter festivals or Easter egg hunts or
church potlucks after church on Sunday. He's called us to be holy every day. So
of course we acknowledge that Jesus died on the cross and He resurrected. Of
course we believe that Jesus was born of a virgin. And all of these things that
the Christians celebrate, we also celebrate in our hearts knowing that they're
the truth. But we don't keep them mixed with pagan ritual and with fellowship
that's ungodly.
Now a
lot of Christians say, well I don't believe in any of that pagan stuff, nor
does my church. Well the Lord has called me to be separate from false
believers, from false churches. And this is also somewhere where a lot of
Christians get led astray. I notice a lot of Christians spend a whole lot of
time looking for what they call a family, Christian fellowship, some wise
counsel. But at the end of the day, they're looking to be justified by men and
have friends of their choice. But they're not dedicated to follow Jesus even if
the road is lonely.
If we
want to be in the truth, we have to seek first fellowship with our Creator. And
if we seek first fellowship with God, and if in all of our being we want to be
right with God, then we're not going to be throwing our energy towards trying
to start a 501c3 church, or start a home church, or pretend that we're loving
because we are starting Bible studies in our house. We have to wait on the Lord
and ask Him how we can truly be in fellowship with Him and be dedicated to Him.
And then after we have fellowship with God, then He leads us in how to be
fruitful and how to multiply. But that does not happen with joining a local
church, or becoming a 501c3, or being ordained by your local government. You
have to be ordained and set apart and commissioned by God. You have to receive
His Holy Spirit.
And
sadly, most Christians are just looking for a church group, they're looking for
a club. They feel lonely. And instead of waiting on the Lord, knowing that He
is their best friend and always there for us, they jump the gun, they go out in
front of God, and they go find what they think is a good fellow brother or
sister, a good Christian Bible-believing church. And for a minute it looks like
it's good, and then down the line, Satan uses those brothers and sisters to get
them off of the straight and narrow path. I don't know how many times
Christians have started out good with Jesus, seeking fellowship with Him,
wanting to be in the truth, but then because they were lonely and sought out
fellowship with other believers first, and not God, then they were led astray
by the devil.
Who do
you think the devil will use to distract you if you are serious about God? He's
not going to use an atheist, he's not going to use a Buddhist, he's not going
to use someone that's an unbeliever. Satan will use a fellow brother or sister,
someone that you trust, to get you off the straight and narrow path, because
that's who you will allow into your life. So we have to be very careful who we
allow into our life, who we allow to guide us.
Jesus
said, Call no one on earth your father, call no one your teacher or one your
leader. Jesus wants to be our leader, He wants to be our pastor, He wants to be
our shepherd. And if you're making other people, if you're setting up other
people as your pastor, your leader, your spiritual father, then you're kicking
Jesus out of His rightful seat. So you're kicking Him out of that chair, and
you're setting up your own pastor or your own father to be your leader and your
teacher. Too many Christians do this, and the next thing they know, they're
fighting for their own marriage, they're fighting for custody over their
children, they're fighting over their house, their marriages are falling apart,
and the last thing they're thinking of is how they can really just please God
and be a light to the world, because they're fighting for their own souls to
their own death.
If we
want to be really steadfast and be able to praise the Lord and worship Him and
bear in good fruit, we have to get things right from the beginning. We have to
stay separate from the ungodly churches that are participating in things like
Easter and pagan rituals, and we have to stay separate from so-called brothers
and sisters who God did not put in our life, but who the devil is trying to
implant in our lives to distract us from the Kingdom of God. We have to be
steadfast in the truth and walk with Jesus in His truth, even if no one else
goes with us. It's like that song that says, “I have decided to follow Jesus,
no turning back, though none go with me, still I will follow, no turning back.”
That's how we have to be. If we are dedicated to Jesus, even if none of our
friends go with us, even if we can't find a church that truly follows the Lord,
we will still go with Jesus, even if it is just you and Jesus, we will go with
Him. And as we follow the Lord, He, as He promises, will give us everything
that we need.
So
don't let a church distract you from following the Kingdom of God, don't let a
brother or sister distract you, because Satan uses many brothers and sisters to
distract the church and get people off of the straight and narrow path.
Suddenly you are not concerned with the things Jesus is saying, but you have
all these new concerns that are coming from a brother or sister or someone that
has pushed their way into your life. Jesus didn't put them there. Their dreams
or visions are not coming from God. They are coming from that person's imagination,
and they are trying to manipulate you and make you believe things that are on
their conscience, not things that are coming from the Holy Spirit.
And too
many Christians are just so distracted by another brother or sister's dreams
and visions and feelings for their life. You need to get your focus back on the
Lord and get away from these people, get away from these organizations. Jesus
cares for your soul. He will put the right people in your life. And the people
the Lord puts in your life, you better keep in your life. For me, that is my
wife, my children, the people that are close around me, that the Lord Himself
has truly put in my life. But when other people try to push their way into your
life that God has not put there, they will try to manipulate you, they will try
to take your money, they will try to steal from you. Everything that Jesus has
blessed you with, they will try to take away what is rightfully yours. That is
the business of Satan, to take from you what God has rightfully given you.
And the
churches are notorious for doing this. They will strip everything that God has
rightfully given you. If you are a man, the church will strip away your
God-given man authority to raise your household, to have authority over your
wife and your children and your own life. They want to pervert you. They want
to steer you away from the truth that they can be your leader. They are zealous
for your soul, but not for righteousness, but for a perverted reason so that
they can control and manipulate and fleece you and their flock.
Will we
be dedicated to Jesus and remember the new covenant? Of course Jesus is alive,
of course He died on the cross, He resurrected, He is alive, He is King of Kings
and Lord of Lords, the tomb is left empty, of course. But will we truly follow
the Lord in righteousness, or will we be saying in some church somewhere, He is
risen, He is risen indeed, and then going to some Easter egg hunt. Meanwhile,
Satan is stripping away any spiritual authority the man has, and taking away
the things that God has rightfully given your family. Will you let Satan strip
the life God has given you away, or will you take back what is rightfully yours
and hold on to the truth and grow with the Lord so that He can bless you and
your family?
I hope this makes sense to you because too
many Christians are allowing Satan to strip them of everything they have, true
manhood, true righteousness, the ability to be a testimony, to be a light to
the world. They're falling into false religion, they're falling into idolatry
and adultery and every sort of evil. These churches that we have across America
are full of falsehood, and they are leading people to hell every day. We need
to, as men, stand up for the truth and warn people that they need to get out of
dead religion, get out of paganism, get out of false relationships. Just leave
those relationships that God hasn't put in your life. If someone is in your
life that God hasn't put there, don't allow them to speak anything into your
life that they call truth. Don't listen to them. Jesus has given His Holy
Spirit to lead us and to guide us. He hasn't given some brother or sister to be
your spiritual authority or the leader of your marriage. Don't allow someone to
strip away the truth of the Holy Spirit from you.
I hope
someone out there finds Jesus for real, puts their faith in the new covenant
and is not distracted by the Christian church, by Easter, by Christmas, by
Halloween, by any of those traditions of men. Far too often, Christians hold to
the traditions of men. All of these holy days, yet far too quickly, they forget
the commandments of Jesus Christ. They forget that Jesus is alive, He is
Emmanuel, God with us, He loves us and He cares for us. People forget that.
They forget that He wants a relationship with us and He wants to lead us every
single day. Do we want to be led by our Creator or do we want the way of the
world, false fellowship, false brotherhood? Do we want the truth or do we want
lies? May the grace of Jesus be with you.
