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Author	: Bill Kochman
Publish	: Sep. 22, 2002
Update	: Apr. 19, 2025
Parts	: 04

Synopsis:



Quite some time ago, a dear longtime member of my now-defunct private Christian mailing list, the Endtime Discussion Group Exchange -- and a very wise lady whom I respect -- asked me a question which I had never really addressed before. At least I hadn't approached it in the exact same way that I will be answering it in this current series. Her question was as follows:

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I have been wondering if you have any information on when "church buildings" came into being? I know the early church met in homes and only the teacher/preacher was supported. Now every church has it's own structure where members meet and they have to use their collections to support it. (Sort of like a rebuilt temple, where all the monies were given for its upkeep and support of the Levites.)

As far as I can determine, the 3rd or 4th century is most likely where they developed. Can you shed any light on this? The reason I am concerned is, my kids belong to churches with beautiful structures, which cost them plenty bucks monthly. But what about the members?

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Due to our knowledge of the Scriptures, one thing upon which she and I can both agree, is that building and meeting in fancy church buildings was not the Original Plan which was laid down by Jesus Christ and His First Century followers. In fact, as some of you may already know from reading a few of my other articles, it was the worship of the temple in Jerusalem -- not the worship inside the structure, but the worship of the beauty of the structure itself -- as well as the fact that the ancient Israelites built other temples on the hilltops of Israel in order to honor the pagan gods, which got them into serious trouble with the Lord time and time again. This is a topic which I discuss at length in the series "The Fruits Of Disobedience".

The Prophets of old, Jesus Himself, and His Disciples all condemned the worship of man's creations; particularly his many temples, as we see by the following verses, which leave absolutely no doubt regarding what God thinks of so-called holy structures built in His honor. Please notice in this first verse that we are told that it is when the Israelites became sidetracked building temples to the false gods, that they abandoned serving the true God of Heaven. They must have had quite a building campaign going on back then:

"For Israel hath forgotten his Maker, and buildeth temples . . ."


Consider now the stinging rebukes written by the Prophet Jeremiah. Called from his youth to serve as a mouthpiece of the Lord, Jeremiah dedicated at least forty years of his life to warning the Israelites to repent. As a result of his dedication and obedience to the Lord, he was mocked by his own people; he was accused of being a spy and a traitor to his own nation, and he was imprisoned on several occasions. In exposing the false religious leaders, and their false system of worship, he wrote such things as the following:

"Trust ye not in lying words, saying, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, The temple of the LORD, are these."


"The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?"


Both of the previous verses could easily be applied to what we find in modern American Christianity today, which boasts of huge luxurious buildings filled with "wannabe prophets" who prophesy of "financial blessings", and who perform all kinds of lying wonders like "slaying people in the spirit". God must truly weep; or maybe He is beyond that point! Watch out! For more on the state of modern American Christianity, please refer to articles such as "Have You Been Slain In The Spirit?", "God's Golden Teeth, Or Satan's Delusion?", "Are You Just A Baby Huey?", "Modern False Prophets And Worldly Ecumenism", and "Churchianity Or Christianity: Which Do You Practice?". These articles will inspire the hearts of true God-fearing, Bible-believing Christians, but they will offend the self-satisfied old bottles who prefer their traditions over the truth of God's Word. Which are you?

Turning to the New Testament, Jesus Himself made it very clear to the woman of Samaria -- better known to most people as the woman at the well -- that the worship service being conducted at Herod's temple in Jerusalem was absolutely worthless and meaningless, because it was a dead, spiritless worship of things, and of tradition, and not worship of the true God of Heaven. They were going through the motions of serving God, but without the Spirit, just like so many Christians today:

"Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."


In these next verses taken from the Gospel of Matthew, we find the Lord's Disciples falling into the very same trap as their contemporaries: they were admiring the beauty of the temple in Jerusalem. How surprised they must have been when Jesus said the following regarding what was believed to be the very House of God on Earth:

"And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple. And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."


As some of you will know, barely forty years after Jesus uttered those remarks, God allowed General Titus, the son of Emperor Vespasian, and his Roman armies, to enter Jerusalem, and utterly destroy it; including the temple compound. In fact, it has been said that the greedy Romans tore apart the temple block by block, in order to retrieve the gold which had melted down in between them! What a terrible judgment of the Lord, due to their serious backsliding from Him, through their false temple worship! But, as it is written:

"It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God . . . For our God is a consuming fire."


Moving on to the Book of the Acts of the Apostles, we again see Jesus' words being fulfilled to the letter. Perhaps you recall how in John chapter eight, the Lord very pointedly exposed the true spiritual nature of the Jewish religious leaders of His day. While they claimed to be the children of Abraham, and the mouthpieces of God on Earth -- just like someone else we know today who also sits in a glorious temple in Rome -- Jesus lambasted them with such words as the following:

"Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. Which of you convinceth me of sin? And if I say the truth, why do ye not believe me? He that is of God heareth God's words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God."


In Matthew chapter twenty-three, the Lord also accused the Jewish elders of being demon-inspired murderers when He said to them:

"Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar."


It should not surprise us then, that when one of the Lord's bold New Testament leaders also stood up against the evil leaders of the false Jewish religious system, by quoting apparently from the Prophet Jeremiah, he too was murdered in cold blood by those vile serpents. Exactly what caused dear Stephen to be martyred for the cause of Christ? It was the following words which are the central theme of this series:

"Howbeit the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as saith the prophet,"


So few words, but what a powerful truth they carry; a truth which many worldly, materialistic Christians simply do not want to hear. It should be rather clear to you by now, that is, if you really believe the truth of the Scriptures, that God simply does not like church buildings; period. Not only can they be a distraction from true spiritual worship, but as I point out in the aforementioned articles, they can even lead to full demonic involvement and satanic manifestations, disguised as 'works of God'. At this point, allow me to also encourage you to read my lengthy in-depth series entitled 'Lying Wonders Of The Endtime'. If you as a Christian still doubt that Satan can use the modern church system as his tool, then perhaps I need to remind you of these verses:

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!"


"For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light."


Make no mistake; Satan knows the Word of God just like you and I. In fact, he undoubtedly knows it much, much better, because he has been quoting it for thousands of years. Did he not use it when he tempted Jesus during those forty days of fasting? The problem is that the Evil One does not accept the authority of that Word in his life. He is in rebellion against God; and we will look at this topic more in just a moment, in order to see how this all ties together.

To continue then, not only does the Bible tell us to not become involved in temple worship -- or church worship -- but it also very specifically tells us that the True Temple of God is not made of stone or metal, it is made up of us, the true Living Stones, who are filled with God's Spirit. We, our bodies, are the containers of God's Spirt, and NOT some cold, dead church building; and Jesus Christ is the Rock; He is our Cornerstone:

"And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ."


"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:"


"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."


"And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty."


"For we know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens."


"Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name."


"And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it."


In light of all of the Scriptures I have now quoted in this series, how can anyone deny the truths which I have shared here? Sadly, that is a rhetorical question; because I know, and perhaps you know, that there are a lot of spiritually blind people in the world, including many Christians, who resist and rebel against the truth of God's Word; and some of them may very well be the leaders of your church! As Jesus said:

". . . Can the blind lead the blind? shall they not both fall into the ditch?"


So the question which now arises is this: If God is against churches and temple worship, where in the world did the First Century Christians meet? They must have met somewhere. As I point out in "Where Are The First Century Churches?", as well as in a few other articles, a close study of the Scriptures reveals that the forefathers of our Christian faith met in small, intimate groups in the homes of the Believers. This is evident throughout the Book of Acts, as well as in the Epistles of the New Testament. As a short refresher course, following are a few verses which verify this point:

"And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,"


"And how I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you, but have shewed you, and have taught you publickly, and from house to house,"


"Likewise greet the church that is in their house. Salute my wellbeloved Epaenetus, who is the firstfruits of Achaia unto Christ."


"The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house."


"Salute the brethren which are in Laodicea, and Nymphas, and the church which is in his house."


"And to our beloved Apphia, and Archippus our fellowsoldier, and to the church in thy house:"


Now, upon reading those verses, some stiff-hearted souls may be tempted to say "Now wait a minute, Bill! Doesn't it say in that first verse that they gathered in the temple?" Yes, it most certainly does; but in response to that, I ask you to consider the time frame. When did that occur? It was during the formative years of our faith when the Disciples still had hangovers from their Jewish upbringing, and did not fully realize what God was doing in creating an entirely new spiritual nation, which would not depend upon earthly trappings. Isn't that basically what Jesus told the woman of Samaria, as we saw earlier?

In other words, the Disciples had not yet been weaned from the old ways of doing things. Not only that, but I am sure that God wanted them to be a full witness to the religious Jews, so that they -- the religious elders -- could be held accountable for the truth, and thus, God could righteously judge them; which He most certainly did in 70 A.D. As I also explain in other articles, God used those initial incidents on the temple grounds as a vehicle to spread the Gospel throughout the Middle East and Southern European areas; and we modern Christians are the result of their exponential effect.

Allow me to also add that, as a long-time Christian myself, who has studied the Scriptures for quite a few years, I have come to understand that God is normally not in the habit of dumping a whole lot of Scriptural truths on us all at once. He must slowly nurture us as we grow in our faith. He tends to teach us new things as we are able to handle them. Even Jesus said on one occasion:

"I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now."


Consider also the following Scriptures from the Epistles which discuss spiritual growth:

"As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:"


"Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat. For every one that useth milk is unskilful in the word of righteousness: for he is a babe. But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and evil."


So, if you look at all of the other verses I shared above, regarding meeting in the homes of the Disciples, you will see that they occurred a number of years after that famous Day of Pentecost, when God first began to dispense His Holy Spirit to the New Testament Disciples. What is the purpose of the Holy Spirit? In addition to helping us to be a witness of our faith, one of its purposes is to teach us God's ways, it is our Spiritual Instructor, as we see here:

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you."


So, after Jesus' departure from this Earth, and once they had been filled with the Holy Spirit, the leaders of the Early Church began to understand what God was doing, and how He was operating. They began to understand that they could not be bound by the old ways, and the old ideas, if they truly wanted to be fruitful branches for the Lord. In short, they had to make a serious break with the corrupt, stagnant Jewish system of worship of their day, which depended upon buildings and temples and dead rituals to keep it alive. If you doubt that such things bring spiritual death, then I ask you to consider the following serious warnings which the Lord uttered regarding two of the New Testament churches which did fall back into this very same trap:

"And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."


"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:"


Up until now, everything I have shared in this series are things which I have stated before in other articles, but there is more. A few hours ago, while I was in the kitchen preparing my daughter's breakfast, and thinking on this person's question, the Lord suddenly gave me a flood of new information which, in spite of my many years of knowing Him, and His Word, still gave me quite a spiritual jolt. The essence of what the Lord showed me is this: Satan loves temples. Satan loves church buildings. Satan loves high places. This is so plain in the Scriptures, yet I never saw it as clearly as I saw it this morning. Ever since he was cast out, Satan has been attempting to regain his high place, his throne in Heaven. Consider the following verses which prove this point:

"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High."


"And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven."


"And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night."


"Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:"


"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."


As I point out in other articles, based upon verses such as the above, it is my personal belief that Satan, the Prince of the Power of the Air, is currently in control of the atmospheric heavens around the Earth. Furthermore, as the false god of this world, I believe that for the time being, the Earth is Satan's domain, until he meets his final doon. Satan is in charge of the "children of disobedience" who currently rule this Earth. This is in accordance with the Scriptures. Please consider these additional verses:

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season . . . And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."


Now, I would like to ask you to consider a few more facts which will clarify the picture for you even further. Let me begin with a rhetorical question: Why is it that in the Old Testament, as well as in the New Testament, whether we are speaking of the Israelites, or of the pagan nations, they always chose the highest hilltops upon which to sacrifice, and build their temples in honor of their gods? While there are many verses in the Bible which describe these places, and how the Lord utterly hated them because of the spiritual wickedness which dwelt in them, and which was performed at them, allow me to share just a few of them with you:

"Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other put he in Dan. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan. And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Bethel, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Bethel the priests of the high places which he had made. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Bethel the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense . . . After this thing Jeroboam returned not from his evil way, but made again of the lowest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he consecrated him, and he became one of the priests of the high places."


One verse which rather surprised me is the final one in the last set. In it, we are told that King Jeroboam appointed common men to be the priests of the high places. In other words, he made them priests of the false gods, or if you prefer, priests of Satan, because we all know that Satan is the Prince of the Devils. By itself, that verse may not seem too surprising or significant, if we consider the rest of the verses I am sharing here regarding the sad, backslidden condition of ancient Israel; however, what bothered me up is the verse reference associated with that verse: 13:33.

If you still fail to see the significance of the verse, then allow me to point it out to you more clearly: The number thirteen plays a significant role in freemasonry; and there are thirty-three levels to which an initiate in freemasonry can hope to achieve. Now, despite their denials, it is an established fact that the secret brotherhood of freemasonry is heavily steeped in the occult practices, and worship of Lucifer. While lower level freemasons may be totally unaware of this, the higher level freemasons do worship Satan, and they know it. They are convinced that Lucifer is the true god, and that Jesus and His Father are the usurpers. This was taught by Albert Pike himself.

While the following information is diverting a bit from our main topic of discussion, allow me to share it with you, as it will help you to understand the demonic, secretive nature of freemasonry, and how even its lower level initiates are purposely kept from the deeper truths of the organization. First are a few quotes attributed to Albert Pike, which I obtained from the despatch.cth.com.au website. They are instructions to the twenty-three Supreme Councils of the World, dated July 14, 1889, as recorded by A.C. De La Rive in 'La Femme et l'Enfant dans la FrancMaconnerie Universelle', page 588:

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"That which we must say to a crowd is - We worship a God, but it is the God that one adores without superstition.

"To you, Sovereign Grand Inspectors General, we say this, that you may repeat it to the Brethren of the 32nd, 31st, and 30th degrees - The Masonic Religion should be, by all of us initiates of the high degrees, maintained in the purity of the Luciferian Doctrine.

"If Lucifer were not God, would Adonay whose deeds prove his cruelty, perfidy and hatred of man, barbarism and repulsion for science, would Adonay and his priests, calumniate him?

"Yes, Lucifer is God, and unfortunately Adonay is also god. For the eternal law is that there is no light without shade, no beauty without ugliness, no white without black, for the absolute can only exist as two gods: darkness being necessary to the statue, and the brake to the locomotive.

"Thus, the doctrine of Satanism is a heresy; and the true and pure philosophical religion is the belief in Lucifer, the equal of Adonay; but Lucifer, God of Light and God of Good, is struggling for humanity against Adonay, the God of Darkness and Evil."

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Please go to part two for the continuation of this series.

⇒ Go To The Next Part . . .

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