God is not like a false deity served by human beings, nor did He ever create mankind in order to receive their service. Since God is love, the fundamental reason He created man was never so that He might be served, but rather to grant them the glory of becoming perfect children who resemble Him and to give them eternal life. For this reason, He sent the love of the cross into this world, as the evidence of salvation and resurrection which mankind must necessarily possess.
Thus, to obtain the love of the cross—the very character of God that leads to salvation—is the true way, the truth, and the life of Christ which we must walk. Because God is the source of love, it is absolutely necessary that we obtain His nature, the love of the cross, so that we may become children of love.
God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;(Acts 17 : 24~25)
And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.(1 John 4 : 16~17)
Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.(1 John 4 : 7~11)
God did not create mankind in order to receive service or worship. Rather, because He is the source of love, His purpose was that human beings might become the temple of a beautiful heart filled with His love, and that they might be made into perfect children of His love; for this reason all providence and ideals exist.
Yet today’s religion has exalted and elevated God and Christ merely as objects of service, and under the pretext of being God’s shepherds they have deified themselves as objects of absolute dominion, establishing a pretense for building up their own power and wealth through tithes and offerings. Among the most prominent justifications by which today’s pastors deify themselves are none other than the abolished worship of the law and the brick-built church.
A true shepherd and apostle of Christ can never be set up as an object of dominion or reverence, for such a one cannot embrace and serve the poor and wretched sheep with the love of the cross. Thus, the lament of an elder—“There are many pastors, but no shepherds”—reveals the grim reality of Christianity today.
For a testament is of force after men are dead: otherwise it is of no strength at all while the testator liveth. Whereupon neither the first testament was dedicated without blood. For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission.(Hebrews 9 : 17~22)
For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.(Leviticus 17 : 11)
The blood of Christ’s forgiveness, which follows the love of the cross, is likewise the forgiveness of sins according to the covenant that followed the worship of blood atonement; and it is also the forgiveness that comes through the covenant established by the love of the cross. Therefore, the blood of Christ is the perfect and complete forgiveness of sins that follows the love of the cross. Hence, a faith that does not bear its own cross and follow the love of the cross, while claiming to be covered by His blood, is a dead faith without love, unworthy to receive forgiveness of sins. It is nothing more than an abominable faith, unfit to become a child of God, who is the source of love.
And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.(1 Peter 4 : 8)
…Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.(Proverbs 10 : 11~12)
Even throughout both the Old and New Testaments, God has never desired worship. He has desired only the love of the cross, by which we may become the children of God. And because love covers all sins, the blood of Christ, which follows the love of the cross, has covered all our sins according to the covenant of the worship of blood and the worship of love.
But if ye had known what this meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice, ye would not have condemned the guiltless.(Matthew 12 : 7)
But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.(Matthew 9 : 13)
For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice; and the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings.(Hosea 6 : 6)
For thou desirest not sacrifice; else would I give it: thou delightest not in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.(Psalms 51 : 16~17)
I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts.(Amos 5 : 21~22)
Bring no more vain oblations; incense is an abomination unto me; the new moons and sabbaths, the calling of assemblies, I cannot away with; it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them. And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.(Isaiah 1 : 13~17)
As the word above declares, from the time of the Old Testament God desired only love in making man His children, and He never sought worship or adoration as is done today. By the blood of Christ, which perfectly atones for our sins, the worship of the law that we once offered day by day has been abolished; therefore, the worship of the law can never be made perfect.
For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect. For then would they not have ceased to be offered? because that the worshippers once purged should have had no more conscience of sins. But in those sacrifices there is a remembrance again made of sins every year. For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. Wherefore when he cometh into the world, he saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not, but a body hast thou prepared me: In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of me,) to do thy will, O God. Above when he said, Sacrifice and offering and burnt offerings and offering for sin thou wouldest not, neither hadst pleasure therein; which are offered by the law; Then said he, Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may establish the second. By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. And every priest standeth daily ministering and offering oftentimes the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins:(Hebrews 10 : 1~11)
For there is verily a disannulling of the commandment going before for the weakness and unprofitableness thereof. For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God. And inasmuch as not without an oath he was made priest: (For those priests were made without an oath; but this with an oath by him that said unto him, The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec:) By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. And they truly were many priests, because they were not suffered to continue by reason of death: But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood. Wherefore he is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens; Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself. For the law maketh men high priests which have infirmity; but the word of the oath, which was since the law, maketh the Son, who is consecrated for evermore.(Hebrews 7 : 18~29)
And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands, which are the figures of the true; but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us: Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.(Hebrews 9 : 22~28)
But why is it that, even though the blood of Christ has already given the forgiveness of sins and abolished the worship of the law, the churches still continue to perform it to this very day? Is it because they do not truly believe in the blood of Christ that forgives sins, that they continue in the abolished, imperfect, and partial worship of the law? Who was it that, through the blood of Christ which abolished it, revived the worship of the law and thereby deceived all mankind and the saints?
Then for whose sake does there exist the already abolished worship of the law—one that is still practiced, even as it disgraces the love and blood of the cross? Within the abolished worship of the law, where the blood of Christ that forgives sins is not believed, how can there ever arise salvation and resurrection united with the love that leads to true salvation? At the very least, one must now have eyes and ears that rightly see and hear the Word of God, if one would save his soul and life.
This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.(Hebrews 10 : 16~18)
Nor yet that he should offer himself often, as the high priest entereth into the holy place every year with blood of others; For then must he often have suffered since the foundation of the world: but now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself.(Hebrews 9 : 25~26)
The imperfect worship of the law was meant to exist only until the coming of the perfect covenant. Since the blood of Christ, who is perfect, has come for the forgiveness of sins, the partial worship of the law has rightly been abolished. Then why is it that the worship of the law, which has been abolished, is still being practiced?
But into the second went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people: The Holy Ghost this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest, while as the first tabernacle was yet standing: Which was a figure for the time then present, in which were offered both gifts and sacrifices, that could not make him that did the service perfect, as pertaining to the conscience; Which stood only in meats and drinks, and divers washings, and carnal ordinances, imposed on them until the time of reformation.(Hebrews 9 : 7~10)
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.(1 Corinthians 13 : 9~10)
Because the covenant of salvation—arising from the perfect and complete love of the cross, worthy of leading us to salvation through the blood of the cross that perfectly and completely forgives our sins—has come upon all the earth, the partial worship of the law has already been abolished. And since the blood of Christ has come forth from the love of the cross, the love of the cross is the very proof of our salvation and resurrection. Therefore, in place of the abolished worship, the teaching of the cross is this: if you also, like Christ, take up your cross and follow the love of the cross—serving your brothers and neighbors as your own body, as though it were the highest law and the greatest commandment—you too, like Him, shall obtain salvation and resurrection.
But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed. Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster. For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.(Galatians 3 : 23~29)
Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such an high priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; A minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man. For every high priest is ordained to offer gifts and sacrifices: wherefore it is of necessity that this man have somewhat also to offer. For if he were on earth, he should not be a priest, seeing that there are priests that offer gifts according to the law: Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount. But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises. For if that first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. In that he saith, A new covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.(Hebrews 8 : 1~13)
God, who is the source of love, desires only to make us children of love who, by following the love of the cross, become conformed to Him; therefore, it is love, faith, hope, the Word, grace, gifts, worship, and prayer. Thus, the true worship of Christ that pleases God is not the worship of theft that exalts only words and sermons, but rather the beautiful worship of forming a temple of a pure heart that follows the love of the cross—feeding, giving, and caring for the poor and needy sheep—and thereby becoming the children of salvation.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.(Hebrews 13 : 15~16)
And all that believed were together, and had all things common; And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 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, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.(Acts 2 : 44~47)
And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all. Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, And laid them down at the apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.(Acts 4 : 32~35)
The true purpose, ideal, and providence of God and of Christ is only this: to invite the poor and needy sheep, and through the example of feeding, giving, and sharing with them by means of tithes and offerings, to make known to the saints and to all people the love of the cross—that love by which they care for one another, cherish one another, and serve one another. In this way they may be conformed to the divine nature of God, who is love, by imitating the love of the cross, so that they may resemble God, the source of love, and be made into His eternal children. This is the Word, the Sabbath, the faith, the hope, the apostle, the shepherd, the gift, the prophecy, and the salvation.
By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.(Hebrews 13 : 15~16)
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (As it is written, He hath dispersed abroad; he hath given to the poor: his righteousness remaineth for ever.(2 Corinthians 9 : 8~9)
He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever; his horn shall be exalted with honour.(Psalms 112 : 9)
He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that honoureth him hath mercy on the poor.(Proverbs 14 : 31)
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then it was well with him: was not this to know me? saith the LORD.(Jeremiah 22 : 16)
He that keepeth the commandment keepeth his own soul; but he that despiseth his ways shall die. He that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the LORD; and that which he hath given will he pay him again.(Proverbs 19 : 16~17)
Because tithes and offerings—meant to feed the sheep—have been handed down and developed by those who sought only to satisfy their own selfish desires, they have cast aside the blood of forgiveness and the love that lead to salvation. Instead of using them to feed, give to, and care for the poor and needy sheep, thereby fulfilling the love of the cross—the divine nature of God, worthy of salvation, in which people care for, cherish, and serve one another—these shepherds have stolen the tithes and offerings entrusted to them, using them as a means to gratify their own desires. Thus, by opposing the holy will of God and the love of the cross, and by turning to the things of the world and of the flesh that destroy even the souls of the saints, they were called not merely thieves but robbers; and for this reason, their churches were called dens of robbers.
For while God desired to grant a beautiful heart conformed to His own, through the love of the cross worthy of salvation, these pastors have despised and opposed His holy will, and have instead taken the tithes and offerings meant to feed the poor and needy sheep and used them as tools for their own greed. With abominable doctrines and teachings born of their own taste, and with sermons grounded in worldly learning, theories, success-driven ideologies, and the pursuit of happiness, they have led the saints into lives bound to the world and the flesh, stirring up sin and desire all the more.
Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.(Malachi 3 : 8)
Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.(Isaiah 1 : 23)
Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees, and that write grievousness which they have prescribed; To turn aside the needy from judgment, and to take away the right from the poor of my people, that widows may be their prey, and that they may rob the fatherless! And what will ye do in the day of visitation, and in the desolation which shall come from far? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? Without me they shall bow down under the prisoners, and they shall fall under the slain. For all this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still.(Isaiah 10 : 1~4)
There is a conspiracy of her prophets in the midst thereof, like a roaring lion ravening the prey; they have devoured souls; they have taken the treasure and precious things; they have made her many widows in the midst thereof. Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have they shewed difference between the unclean and the clean, and have hid their eyes from my sabbaths, and I am profaned among them.(Ezekiel 22 : 25~26)
Because they have not departed from the path of sinners, but instead, according to their own interests, have repeated meaningless repentance again and again—leading only to excuses for sin and a hardened immunity toward it—those deceitful ones and churches that, with a corrupted and double heart, seek to serve God while clinging to the world and to material gain, He has called a den of robbers.
The tabernacles of robbers prosper, and they that provoke God are secure; into whose hand God bringeth abundantly.(Job 12 : 6)
And as some spake of the temple, how it was adorned with goodly stones and gifts, he said, As for these things which ye behold, the days will come, in the which there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.(Luke 21 : 5~6)
I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.(Zechariah 5 : 4)
If one thinks that the above Scripture has nothing to do with himself or with his church, then this is plainly and clearly a faith that disregards the Word of God, a faith that has abandoned His Word, and therefore will inevitably be cast away on the Day of Judgment. Such people believe according to their own taste, without even feeling the prick of conscience, and they regard their own impulses, convictions, and self-exaltation—which are always swayed by self-interest—as if these were faith itself. These are corrupted and false faiths, armed with a double heart, seeking to serve God while clinging to the world and to material gain. They merely attend church, but they are by no means true Christians. According to their interests, they endlessly repeat sin and repentance, yet only nurture excuses and justifications to rationalize their sins. Because they have neither been born again nor attained true repentance, they possess neither the power nor the fruit of even mustard-seed faith, and yet they presume to regard themselves as if they had received the Holy Spirit, as if they were anointed, as if they had received prophecy.
Their faith, devoid of power and proof, is nothing but pride that raises its voice according to its own taste, and their standard, measure, and center are nothing more than corrupted and false doctrines—self-fashioned mixtures by which they pick and choose, selectively taking what suits their appetite, while still attempting to serve God together with the world and with material gain. If they claim that neither they nor their church are addressed by the Word, then indeed there would be no need for them to believe or to learn the Word at all. Yet the Word is God. Now the saints must, with the eyes and ears of conscience, listen to and learn from the rebuke and admonition of the Word of the Spirit. For this is not spoken by the words of man, but written in the words of our Lord Jesus Christ who is in heaven. From the beginning it has been written by the Word and by prophecy, that the one born according to it might expose every sin hidden in darkness, in order to open the last chance for repentance, and thereby lead to true salvation and resurrection.
The true shepherd of God is the one who exposes every sin hidden in darkness and teaches admonition and instruction that lead to repentance worthy of turning back, and he is the one who possesses the whole prophecy, having been given according to the Word and the covenant that were appointed from the beginning.
I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.(Jeremiah 23 : 21~22)
Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.(James 5 : 19~20)
They say still unto them that despise me, The LORD hath said, Ye shall have peace; and they say unto every one that walketh after the imagination of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For who hath stood in the counsel of the LORD, and hath perceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, and heard it? Behold, a whirlwind of the LORD is gone forth in fury, even a grievous whirlwind: it shall fall grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of the LORD shall not return, until he have executed, and till he have performed the thoughts of his heart: in the latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran: I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and had caused my people to hear my words, then they should have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of their doings.(Jeremiah 23 : 17~22)