Woe To The Shepherds!

"The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 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; Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock." (I Peter 5:1-3)

In the above scripture, Peter is addressing the elders of the church - those who are mature in the Lord. Those who are mature in the Lord show forth righteous fruit in their conduct. They reveal the glory of the Lord in their lives; His nature, His character, and His goodness. They carry His presence wherever they go. They are partakers "of the glory that shall be revealed". "For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us." (Romans 8:18) They have paid the price of laying down their lives in order to find life. They know the Lord and follow Him by being led by His Spirit.

Peter instructs those who are mature in the Lord to "feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof". To feed the flock is to provide for the spiritual needs of those less mature in the Lord. Those less mature in the Lord need to be taught the ways of the Lord. They need guidance and direction. They need encouragement and exhortation. They need to know the Truth, which is to say, to know the Lord. An elder will minister to these needs by giving himself to the Lord as a vessel of honor fit for His use that the Lord Himself may minister through the elder to bring those less mature in the Lord to maturity in Him. An elder will never lead anyone to depend upon himself, but will always lead others to depend upon the Lord and seek Him. An elder will lead others to have a personal relationship with the Lord.

Peter gives three criteria regarding how the elder is to lead. First he says "not by constraint, but willingly". To operate by constraint is to yield to something that controls what you do by keeping you within particular limits. An elder must be led by the Holy Spirit. He will not allow the carnal mind to influence him by leaning to his understanding. He will not bow the knee to fear or any outside influence. His desire is to be faithful to the Lord and to be used mightily by Him. In his ministry, there will be times where rebuke or correction is needed, and he will do so without fear of consequence. He will do so in love, for that is how the Lord ministers. The elder well understands the chastisement of the Lord and its beneficial effect upon the recipient. He willingly gives of himself in whatever is required of him by the Lord, for it is his great pleasure to minister to the needs of others.

Secondly he says "not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind". Lucre means money or profit. An elder will not be concerned with the cares of this life or the deceitfulness of riches. His focus is to labor to enter into His rest. "For he that is entered into his rest, he also has ceased from his own works, as God did from his." (Hebrews 4:10) An elder has learned that God provides for his needs and is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. He is therefore free from the world and the lusts thereof. He is dependent upon the Lord and no one and nothing else. His mind is stayed upon the Lord and is therefore ready at all times to be used in whatever manner the Lord has need. He adheres to 2 Timothy 4:2 - "Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine."

And finally Peter says "Neither as being lords over God's heritage, but being examples to the flock". An elder does not seek honor among men. He has no desire for power, position, or the praise of men. He is not prideful. He knows that al that is good in him has been imparted to him by the Lord. He knows that he has freely received these things and it is therefore incumbent upon him to freely give. His desire is to sow that which the Lord imparts to him that he may be used by the Lord to raise up sons of God. "For you know how you ought to follow us: for we behaved not ourselves disorderly among you; Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labor and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an example to you to follow us." (2 Thessalonians 3:7-9)

The leadership of the early church consisted of men of godly character whom the Lord used to raise up mature believers. Those in the early church were taught to seek to know the Lord; to seek to be led by His Spirit. They were in unity because they listened to the same Spirit. Great miracles, signs and wonders, were commonplace as the Lord's glory was manifested through His servants. There were those of the early church that did not fully embrace the Apostle's doctrine, but they were the minority. The majority of those who lived in the first few hundred years of the church were of the Bride. They were obedient to the Lord and sought to do His will. The darkness of the Harlot church was exposed by the light of the true believers as God built His church.

Today's church walks in the darkness of the Harlot church. The light of the Bride is hidden from the view of today's church as God is developing a new people after His heart. These servants are being transformed by the renewing of their minds as they patiently allow the Lord to have His way in them. They are being raised up to know the Lord and be brought to the end of themselves so that the Lord Himself will appear to His church in them and minister through them. Once again the light of the Bride will expose the darkness of the Harlot as in the days of early church.

Today's church is largely led by carnally minded men who love the world more than they love the Lord. They teach strange doctrines that have only been accepted by the church for a few hundred years. They teach the people that giving to them is giving to God. They take of the tithes and offerings and consume them upon their own lusts according to that which is right in their eyes. They build greater barns so that they can contain the blessings of gaining a greater market share of their business niche. Their business is run under the guise of being a "church".

Carnally minded leaders justify their claim that they are worthy to receive such blessings by preaching that they are God's storehouse according to Malachi 3:10. "Bring you all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in my house, and prove me now herewith, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it." If the hypothesis of the church being God's storehouse is true, then the conclusion must also be true. Therefore, as a result of giving into the storehouse you will be blessed beyond measure as God opens the windows of heaven to pour out blessings you cannot contain.

Since the word of God is true, then all falsehood regarding scripture must lie in the interpretation of the word, not the word itself. The word storehouse as used in Malachi 3:10 is defined by the Strong's concordance as a place of gathering, but also as a place of distributing. Today's church does a fine job of gathering, but an equally poor job of distributing. Today's church must pay for the operating costs that any business faces: building and maintenance costs or rent, salaries, gas, water, phone, and electric bills, printing costs, advertising and promotional fees, cleaning service, etc. Some token giving must be appropriated for appearance sake so there is some outreach, but most likely less than 10% of the total budget. Let's not forget, the pastor works for filthy lucre. Those that rise to the top in mega ministries wear designer clothes and live in million dollar mansions. The needs of the people are of no concern to them; for they reason that it is God's responsibility to take care of the people and bless them for their giving.

Here is a great deception; churches are not storehouses. Do not therefore expect the windows of heaven to open for you by sowing into them. To be fair, God knows your heart and giving will always produce a blessing in one form or another. Even the world has learned this principle. But there is another principle that must be understood: every seed produces after its own kind. You sow into an unfruitful field, do not expect a blessed harvest. You sow into darkness, you will reap also of darkness. "Take heed therefore that the light which is in you be not darkness." (Luke 11:35) Do not sow into the Harlot church. Seek the Lord for guidance regarding where and to whom you should sow.

Not only does the present day church system steal from its customers, it sells them a bill of goods. The doctrines that are presented as truth lead its followers into bondage to sin. Sin is excused by confession. What most of the church does not realize is that confession of sin does not deal with the root of sin. Sin is repeated instead of overcome. The Bride allows the Lord to overcome sin in her as she lays down all that is of self that she may be crucified with Christ and raised up in the power of His resurrection and know Him. The Harlot believes (as she has been taught) that she has eternal life already by virtue of being born again. The Bride dies daily as a living sacrifice.. The Harlot sits as a queen, in need of nothing but the fulfillment of her fleshly desires.

The leaders of the Harlot church are the modern day scribes and pharisees, of whom Jesus rebuked. "For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be born, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues. And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer you them that are entering to go in. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you devour widows' houses, and for a pretense make long prayer: therefore you shall receive the greater damnation. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, you make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone. You blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. You blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within you are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. You serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape the damnation of hell?" (Matthew 23:4-7, 13-15, 23-28, and 33)

Compare this scripture in Matthew to that which is stated in Revelation 18 concerning the Harlot church and her leaders. "How much she has glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she says in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. 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 judges her. And the kings of the earth (born again, but serve the world instead of the Lord), who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon (the Harlot church), that mighty city! for in one hour is your judgment come. And the merchants of the earth (carnally minded leaders) shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buys their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odors, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men." (verses 7-13)

The above scripture speaks of the way in which the leadership of the Harlot operates: according to the ways of the world and the lusts thereof instead of the ways of the Lord. The Harlot church's leaders enrich themselves with worldly goods for which they lust by making God a commodity and making merchandise of men's souls. And no wonder, for their leader is not the Lord, but the god of this world.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His message is the same from the beginning. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Be dependent upon Him in all things. Put no confidence in the flesh. Seek no man for wisdom and guidance. "But the anointing which you have received of him abides in you, and you need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teaches you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it has taught you, you shall abide in him." (I John 2:27) Truth is only found as it is revealed by the Spirit of Truth. It is received only by those who develop ears to hear what the Spirit says; those who lay down their lives by denying self, taking up their cross daily, and following Jesus. "According as his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that has called us to glory and virtue." (2 Peter 1:3) The kingdom of God is within all who are born again, and found only by those who walk after the Spirit and not after the flesh.

Just as Israel rejected God as their King, so has the Harlot church rejected the Lord as their King. The leaders of the Harlot church are as the shepherds of Israel, whom God rebuked in Ezekiel 34. God's rebuke for the leaders in Israel is the same word He is declaring to the shepherds of the Harlot church. The shepherds of the Harlot church are held responsible by God for the lives they have made shipwreck through their false teachings and their worldly example.

"And the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God to the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? You eat the fat, and you clothe you with the wool, you kill them that are fed: but you feed not the flock. The diseased have you not strengthened, neither have you healed that which was sick, neither have you bound up that which was broken, neither have you brought again that which was driven away, neither have you sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have you ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; As I live, says the Lord God, surely because my flock became a prey, and my flock became meat to every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, neither did my shepherds search for my flock, but the shepherds fed themselves, and fed not my flock; Therefore, O you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord; Thus says the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them. Does it seem a small thing to you to have eaten up the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the residue of your pastures? and to have drunk of the deep waters, but you must foul the residue with your feet? And as for my flock, they eat that which you have trodden with your feet; and they drink that which you have fouled with your feet." (Ezekiel 34:1-10, 18-19)

"For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. I will therefore put you in remembrance, though you once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. Even as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire. Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities. Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke you. But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Korah. These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withers, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his saints, To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaks great swelling words, having men's persons in admiration because of advantage." (Jude 4-16)

"For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things." (Philippians 3:18-19) The destination of the Harlot church and her leaders is destruction, for they walk on the broad path that leads to destruction as they walk after the flesh. This scripture was written at a time when those who were the enemies of the cross of Christ were the minority. Today, those who are carnally minded in the body of Christ are the majority. The god of this world has blinded the eyes of leadership and has made captives of those who embrace their false teachings and support a system that is made by man, not by God.

"Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. You shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree brings forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree brings forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them." (Matthew 7:15-20)

"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Hereby know you the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesses not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof you have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world." (I John 4:1-3)

The Harlot is of the spirit of antichrist. The spirit of antichrist promotes all that opposes Christ; all that is a lie. There is a common doctrine taught in today's church that Jesus was the "God-man" (both God and man) when He walked this earth. Jesus left us an example that we should follow. How can we follow an example that is not like us? Jesus was tempted in all points like as we are, yet without sin. The example is that we are called to overcome sin by allowing Christ to overcome sin in us. He learned obedience by the things He suffered. We learn obedience the same way. The Word became flesh. Period. Any doctrine that says otherwise is of the spirit of antichrist.

"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead. Not as though I had already attained, either were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus. Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded: and if in any thing you be otherwise minded, God shall reveal even this unto you." (Philippians 3:8-15)

Brethren, do not follow after any man that does not adhere to the criteria of leadership set forth by Peter. Put no confidence in any teacher that does not understand the way that leads to life. In the above scripture, Paul reveals this way. We have no righteousness of our own, but righteousness is imputed to us by the Lord if we will follow Him. We cannot follow Him if we do not become living sacrifices and suffer the loss of all desire for things pertaining to this world. In so doing, we experience the fellowship of His sufferings wherein we learn obedience, faithfulness to Him, and steadfastness in our walk. We are made conformable to His death in this process and can be brought to the end of ourselves where it is no longer I who live, but Christ in me. In this place we are raised up in the power of His resurrection and know Him. We see Him and are like Him as we see Him as He is. We are brought behind the veil to meet the Father and enter into His rest and cease from our own works, as Christ now works through us to build His kingdom and destroy the works of the devil. We attain the mind of Christ and are His image - which is the reason we are apprehended of Jesus Christ. We are perfected as we become one with Him.

"And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues." (Revelation 18:4) The voice of the Spirit of the Lord has been crying this message since the beginning, for the Bride and the Harlot have been in existence from the beginning. All are included in Christ for He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (Revelation 13:8) Cast off all affection for and affiliation with the world and you will find freedom. Come out of this present church system and let the Lord bring forth righteous fruit in you. "Wherefore come out from among them, and be you separate, says the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you," (2 Corinthians 6:17)