The Sacred Assembly – Part 2

In his letter to the Galatians Paul asks for peace and mercy to be upon the Israel of God. In his letter to the Romans he says that not all that are of Israel are Israel. He goes on to speak of a partial blindness that has fallen of some of Israel. The connection Paul makes to Israel in his letters shows us the connection to the original intent in God’s plan of setting apart a sacred people for Himself. He was addressing confusion regarding those who walked under the Law as a nation for so many years. He was expressing the fact that many of them did not seek God in their spirit. In fact the nation had become corrupted into an assembly of idol worshippers. Paul addresses this further in his letters to the Corinthians.

The letter to the Hebrews speaks of God establishing a New Covenant with “Israel”. In chapter 8 verse 10 it says –

"FOR THIS IS THE COVENANT THAT I WILL MAKE WITH THE HOUSE OF ISRAEL AFTER THOSE DAYS, SAYS THE LORD: I WILL PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND I WILL WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS. AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.

The continuity from Old to New is clear. The New Covenant, just like the Old Covenant, was meant to separate God’s people as a unique people from among the nations. God showed this separation under the Law by requiring His people to adhere to certain practices and rituals. It is clear from Paul’s teaching in Romans that the acts themselves never reconciled the person with God but rather it was faith that reconciled them to God.

The same can be said of the New Covenant and of the new set of practices and rituals that people perform today. They do not make a person part of the Israel of God, the Israel whose mother is spiritual and from above as Paul puts it in Galatians. The passage from Hebrews quoted above clearly says that God will put His law into their minds and on their hearts. This is how God marks His people. The way in which He does this is by placing His Holy Spirit in them. Only those who have placed their faith in Christ and have had the Holy Spirit of God placed on them as a seal (see Ephesians 1), are of the Israel of God.

The Holy Spirit is the only one that can allow you entrance into the set-apart people. The problem today is that the false Israel preaches a false gospel that tells people they can be a part of the true Israel by participating in the practices and rituals or just showing up on a Sunday morning. They have allowed the assembly to be corrupted with those who are not a part of the Israel of God. They allow those who are not of God to partake in the Holy things of God that were meant to be reserved for His set-apart people. They may tell them they must pray a prayer first but do they tell them of the commands to be separate, holy, God’s chosen people, a royal priesthood, and an uncorrupted assembly where a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Do they teach them to put out the immoral brother or are they instead taught that we must tolerate sin because we are all just a work in progress? Is this message consistent with the teaching of Scripture? Teaching that says – It was for freedom that Christ set us free – The truth shall set you free – Be holy – do not be yoked together with unbelievers – don’t associate with an immoral brother – judge those that are in the church.

The church opened its doors to unbelievers and the sacred assembly was lost. Making disciples was replaced with bringing people to church to let the priest/pastor preach the word to them. Evangelism became an in house ordeal. The Spirit became a theological assumption or something that was faked in order to attract followers to men. The assembly became flooded with the common things of man as bait to lure in the heathens. Instead of being the sacred assembly of God’s chosen people the entire place became more and more heathen until we reached a place where those inside the false church are barely distinguishable from the rest of the world. Shame on us.

I for one will not remain silent any longer. There is a false Israel at work today just as it was in Paul’s day. Its time for God’s Israel to come out of the corruption and once again be set apart as a holy people of God. A people that handles the holy and spiritual privilege that God bestows on them as a royal priesthood. Whoever has eyes to see and ears to hear take notice. The restoration of the Holy and Sacred Assembly starts with you leaving the false and corrupted assembly.