“The statutes of Omri
And all the works of the house of Ahab are observed;
And in their devices you walk.
Therefore I will give you up for destruction
And your inhabitants for derision,
And you will bear the reproach of My people.” (Micah 6:16 NASB1995)

This is about people who claim to be the people of God, but who are living in adultery and in idolatry in the worship of those who are not God. For they are giving their worship and their undivided loyalties and devotion to what is not of God, and to that which is contrary to the will of God and to the teachings of God. And they are following after the institutions of idolatrous kings and their kingdoms via idolatrous rites instituted by the idolatrous kings. But some worshipers do so innocently, for they were raised that way.

So, I want to look at three ways in which this is happening today:

Government Worship

I was born the last day of 1949, so when I attended public school and church gatherings from as early as I can remember, we were taught, with hand over heart, to pledge (vow) our allegiance (loyalty, fidelity, worship) to our government. And we were taught patriotic songs of worship of our government, as well. And we were taught that our military were our heroes protecting us and keeping us safe, and so we were to honor them. And all this took place in our public schools and in the gatherings of the church.

Now I did this for many years of my life before God helped me to see this from his perspective. Are we to obey our governing authorities? Yes, but with biblical exceptions. But we are not to pledge our allegiance and devotion to any human institution or to any king (ruler). Our vow of loyalty and fidelity should be to God, first and foremost, and then to our spouses (if married). And we are to test the spirits to see if they are of God so we don’t end up following the antichrist, and not God, by lacking in discernment.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 7:15-23; Matthew 10:16-25; Matthew 16:6-12; Matthew 24:11-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 10:1-15; John 15:18-21; Romans 16:17-20; 1 Corinthians 3:18; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:33; 2 Corinthians 11:1-4; Galatians 6:3,7-8; Ephesians 5:3-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-22; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 1 Timothy 1:3-7; 1 Timothy 6:3-10; 2 Timothy 3:1-17; Titus 1:10-16; 2 Peter 2:1-22; James 1:16,26; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 2:26; 1 John 3:7; 1 John 4:1-6; Jude 1:3-23]

Israel Worship

We live in a day and time when the church has been taught, not only government worship, but worship of the national and political state (nation) of Israel. But biblical Israel is not this present political state, but it is all people of genuine faith in Jesus Christ (Israel), both Jew and Gentile by physical birth. For all Jews who rejected Jesus Christ as their Messiah were cut out of biblical Israel, and all Gentile believers in Christ were grafted into biblical Israel. So biblical Israel is all who believe in Jesus as the Christ.

For it is not the physical descendants of Abraham who belong to Israel. And it is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God. But the children of the promise are counted as offspring. And the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed, that is Christ. So if we belong to Christ, by biblical faith in him, then we are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise given to Abraham and to his seed (Jesus Christ). For whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ is the antichrist, denying the Father and Son.

[Genesis 17:7-9; Genesis 18:19; John 8:18-19,38-47; Romans 2:28-29; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Romans 9:4-8,25-28; Romans 11:1-36; 1 Corinthians 10:1-22; Galatians 3:16,26-29; Galatians 4:22-31; Ephesians 2:11-22; Ephesians 3:1-6; Hebrews 3:1-19; Hebrews 4:1-16; Hebrews 8:6-13; 1 Peter 2:24; 1 John 2:22; Jude 1:5; Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9]

Institutional Church Worship

Now there is a distinct difference between the church, the body of Christ, comprised of all who are of genuine biblical faith in Jesus Christ, and what is mostly being referred to as “the church” in our world today, but which are businesses of human origin, created in the minds of human beings, and which are being marketed to the people of the world who they want to attract to their gatherings so that they can grow their numbers. That is what is called “the institutional church,” with human origins, not God origins.

And there are multitudes of people today professing faith in Jesus Christ who are giving their loyalties and devotion to these man-made organizations called “churches,” but which are being led by business goals and marketing schemes, and which are mostly teaching a cheapened form of the gospel of Christ which largely does not require that we die to sin and obey God in practice. For their goal is to attract the world and to appeal to human appetites, and so they dilute the gospel to make it more acceptable.

But the Scriptures teach that we are to come out from among them so that we do not share in their sins and in their punishment. For we are not to be partners with the ungodly, but we are to be separate. For we are the temple of the living God, if by faith in Jesus Christ we have died with Christ to sin and we are now living for God in walks of obedience to his commands, in practice. So we are not to walk in the devices of worldly kings and pastors, but we are to follow the Scriptures and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

[Matthew 21:12-13; John 2:13-17; Acts 5:27-32; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13; 1 Corinthians 3:1-9; 2 Corinthians 6:14-18; Philippians 3:18-19; Matthew 7:13-14,21-23; Luke 9:23-26; John 1:12-13; John 6:44; John 10:27-30; Acts 26:18; Romans 6:1-23; Romans 8:1-14; Ephesians 2:8-10; Ephesians 4:17-32; Titus 2:11-14; Hebrews 12:1-2; 1 Peter 2:24; Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22; Revelation 13:5-8; Revelation 18:1-5]

As the Deer

By Martin J. Nystrom
Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water
So my soul longeth after You
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship You

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