We Must Leave the Christian Church to Be Among the 144,000 Redeemed

By Donald Werner

“…Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4). Believe it or not, it’s the Christian Church that Jesus is calling us out of. And, I know that may sound strange and shocking to most Christians, who, like me grew up being told that Christianity is the only true religion and only Christians will be saved. However, I will share with you why we must leave the Christian Church to be among the 144,000 who will be redeemed (saved from destruction).

And we don’t need to reject our belief in Jesus just because we are leaving Christianity. The truth is, those who respond to Jesus’ call to leave the Christian Church believe in Jesus more than those who remain in Christianity. And, I know that is true because they accept and follow all that he said, while the Christian Church rejects some of his key teachings. What teachings?

According to the Book of the Revelation (Revelation 14:1-3) the number of those redeemed from the earth is 144,000, and that could be a symbolic number. And the Book of the Revelation tells us that the redeemed all have God’s name ‘YHVH’ (God’s name YAHOVEH) written on their foreheads (literally in their foreheads, i.e., the frontal lobe of their brains, the portion of the brain that governs our behavior) and we also read that they follow the teachings of the Lamb (Jesus). Who gets YHVH written in the foreheads? What does the Lamb instruct us? What did Jesus command us that the Christian Church ignores?

While the plagues spoken about in the Book of the Revelation, are all in the future, Babylon the Great, the Great Harlot, her many daughters, the beast, the image of the beast, the false prophets, etc., are current realities on earth today and I will tell you who they are and much more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Feb 19, 2023
• ISBN: 9781329285972

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Copyright

We Must Leave the Christian Church to Be Among the 144,000 Redeemed

Copyright © 2023 DONALD WERNER. All rights reserved.

Published by DONALD WERNER

ISBN #: 978-1-329-28597-2

New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved. 

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

New American Standard Bible (NASB)

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

New International Version (NIV)

Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica

Young's Literal Translation (YLT) by Public Domain

All Scripture emphasis; such as bolding, underlining, highlighting, italic and parenthetical inserted comments are mine.

Please note, with concerns of violating the Second Commandment, using God’s name in vain, His sacred name (YHVH) was removed from the printed Bibles and substituted with the title ‘the LORD’.  I have restored God’s sacred name of God, YHVH, back into the Scriptures which I quote, where it had been replace by the translators with the phrase the LORD. I felt that was necessary to get the true understanding of the Scriptures.  Exodus 3:15, Moreover God said to Moses, Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: ‘YHVH God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.’."

THE PREFACE

"…Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues" (Revelation 18:4).  Believe it or not, it’s the Christian Church that Jesus is calling us out of.  And, I know that may sound strange and shocking to most Christians, who, like me grew up being told that Christianity is the only true religion and only Christians will be saved.  However, I will share with you why we must leave the Christian Church to be among the 144,000 who will be redeemed (saved from destruction).

And we don’t need to reject our belief in Jesus just because we are leaving Christianity. The truth is, those who respond to Jesus’ call to leave the Christian Church believe in Jesus more than those who remain in Christianity.  And, I know that is true because they accept and follow all that he said, while the Christian Church rejects some of his key teachings. What teachings? 

According to the Book of the Revelation (Revelation 14:1-3) the number of those redeemed from the earth is 144,000, and that could be a symbolic number.  And the Book of the Revelation tells us that the redeemed all have God’s name ‘YHVH’ (God’s name YAHOVEH) written on their foreheads (literally in their foreheads, i.e., the frontal lobe of their brains, the portion of the brain that governs our behavior) and we also read that they follow the teachings of the Lamb (Jesus).  What does the Lamb instruct us?  What did Jesus command us that the Christian Church ignores? 

Jesus told us to worship YHVH God alone (Matthew 4:10) and keep YHVH’s laws and the Prophets (Matthew 5:18-19). But, unfortunately, the Christian Church teaches and preaches contrary to the teachings of the Lamb. Instead of worshiping YHVH alone the Church tells us to worship God as a Trinity, and it tells us that we don’t need to keep YHVH’s law and the Prophets.  They teach that we are free to violate YHVH’s Law and the Prophets because they were part of the ‘now obsolete’ Old Covenant.  But, I will show you from the Scriptures that those who teach that are wrong on all three accounts. And, it’s because of those false teachings, and the resulting practices, that Jesus is calling us out of the Christian Churches. 

Revelation 18:4, And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues."  We are being called out of ‘Babylon the Great’ before she starts receiving the end time plagues – And by leaving we may be part of the 144,000 redeemed. 

Who is ‘Babylon the Great’? Babylon the Great is a code name given in the Book of the Revelation to the Christian Church, and after I share with you why it is Babylon the Great, it will make perfect sense.  What does message ‘Come out" mean? I will explain what that means and how to get out.

My conscience will not allow me to stay in an organization, such as the Christian Church, that dishonors Jesus by rejecting some of what he said, and rejects some of YHVH’s commands.  The Christian Church intentionally ignores and rejects some of YHVH’s commands and some of Jesus’ commands, and I will clearly explain that in this book.

It’s not that those in the Christian Church have intentionally rejected or ignores Jesus’ instruction and God’s commands, but it’s rather that they have been deceived – and like all deceived people, they are unaware of being deceived.  Revelation 12:9, 13:3, "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him…. …. And all the world marveled and followed the beast."  And so in Revelation 18:4 Jesus calls His people to get out, And I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues." 

Only the truth will free a person from deception, and Jesus’ words are truth (John 8:31-32), so we need to set aside all other words and let Jesus be our only teacher (Matthew 23:10).  Jesus spoke YHVH’s words with YHVH’s authority (Deuteronomy 18:18-19, John 12:49, 14:10).

We must start our study by our understanding of what happened in the Garden of Eden.  Understanding the Garden of Eden story is key to understanding the rest of the Bible and the fault within the Christian Church, so that’s where I will start.   

I will then show you how and why we must come out of Babylon.

Don

THE INTRODUCTION

I grew up as a Catholic, attended Catholic Grade school for 8 years, so I was well indoctrinated in the Catholic Catechism and went to Mass every week for many of my 35 years as a Catholic.  However, in my 30’s, I attended a Bible study at a local conservative Lutheran Church.  It was a two year Bible study that went from the Book Genesis through the Book of the Revelation.  By the time I was done with that study, I could no long remain a Catholic, because of what I learned from the Scriptures, I saw how far short the Catholic Church fell from Biblical truth to embrace Church Traditions and Papal decrees.  The Catholic Church itself freely acknowledges that in its system, Papal decrees, and Church Traditions, are a greater authority to the Church than the Scriptures – and now I see how that can lead to all kinds of non-biblical doctrines which are contrary to the teachings of the Scriptures.  So, I then stood at a fork in the road and had to make a decision as to whether to follow Papal decrees, Catholic doctrines, religious traditions of the Catholic Church and my Catholic friends and family or follow the Scriptures.  So at the age of 35 I choose to follow the Scriptures and I left the Catholic Church and became a Lutheran.

The Lutheran Church followed the Scriptures much closer than the Catholic Church – rejecting Catholic Church traditions and doctrines.  While I was a Lutheran for 18 years, I attended a major Lutheran Seminary.  However, in my senior year, while taking a class on Church doctrines, I found that I could not reconcile much of what the church was teaching with Jesus’ own words, and that they embraced some of the Catholic errors. As I continued to study I became more aware of this, and it bothered me all the more. The Catholic and the Lutheran Church told us to reject God’s Sabbath day and do Sunday instead, but the Scriptures clearly commanded that we keep God’s Sabbath day. Both Churches based salvation on baptism and the sacraments and our faith in them. Those Churches said we need to have ‘faith in Jesus’, but they rejected the idea of having the ‘faith of Jesus’.  Both the Catholic and Lutheran Churches loved to serve their Easter Sunday Ham dinners, which in many ways violates Scriptures in open and flagrant rebellion against a number of God’s commands.  In my last year as a Lutheran, I started keeping Sabbath after having been convicted by YHVH’s Fourth Commandment. So, again, I stood at a fork in the road and had to make a choice as to whether I would follow Lutheran Church doctrines or to follow Jesus’ words.  So I left the Lutheran Church.

Around the age of 53 I joined the Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) Church because they kept YHVH’s holy Sabbath day, rejected infant baptism, rejected the non-biblical idea of purgatory and an eternal burning of souls in hell. While I found the SDA Church to follow the Scriptures even closer than the Lutheran Church, yet, after years of study, I found them too lacking in the following some of key words of Jesus.  Like the Lutherans, they retained some of the doctrines inherited from the ancient Catholic Church, such as the Doctrine of salvation for unrepentant lawless people (which I will explain in this book), and the Doctrine of the Trinity (which I’ll explain in this book) both of which Jesus clearly opposed (Matthew 4:10, 5:17-19, Mark 12:29 and John 14:1, 17:3, 20:17).  I could not remain faithful to a church that was unfaithful to YHVH God.  So again, I stood at a fork in the road and had to make a choice between following Jesus’ words or following religious traditions and the doctrines of the Christian Church, so after 18 years I could no longer attend the SDA Church. And because of my study, and cannot longer remain part of a Church that worships God as a Trinity, and rejected YHVH’s law and the Prophets – including the First Commandment to worship YHVH alone (Exodus 20:2-3). 

So after about 35 years as a Catholic and about 35 years as a Protestant, I again stand at a cross road, and must choose a direction and move on, and there is no going back.

I can closely relate to this passage; Jeremiah 16:19, O YHVH my strength and my fortress, My refuge in the day of affliction, The Gentiles shall come to You From the ends of the earth and say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, worthlessness and unprofitable things".  I am one of those Gentiles who had inherited lies – But Jesus’ words have set me free from those false ‘church doctrines and traditions of the church’, and when you too are free, you will be out of Babylon the Great.  I will explain that in this book, and it all begins in the Garden of Eden.

Don Werner

CHAPTER 1 – THE GARDEN DECEPTION

BEFORE WE BEGIN…

But before I discuss how and why I was called out of the Christian Church and what the Garden of Eden has to do with it, I need to share this very important point with my readers.  This is key in understanding God and the Scriptures;

The Bible translators, out of concerns of people violating the Second Commandment (using God’s name in vain) have removed God’s sacred name (YHVH) from the printed Bible. God’s sacred name (YHVH) was in the Bible more than 2100 times, but they substituted God sacred name with the title ‘the LORD’, will all caps.  However, within the verses I quote in this book, I have restored God’s sacred name, YHVH, back into the verses.  I felt it was necessary to do that to get a true understanding of the Scriptures.  YHVH is the English translation of the four Hebrew letters that make up God’s sacred name.  The ancient Hebrew language had no vowels and God’s sacred name was recorded as ‘YHVH’. ‘YHVH’ is thought to have been pronounced: ‘Yahoveh’, ‘Yahweh’, ‘Jehovah’, and yet there are other possible pronunciations.

However, ‘the LORD’ is such a generic name, people forget that God’s name is YHVH, and some verses only make sense with God’s sacred name.

For instance; the First Commandment is from Exodus 20:3 and it read, You shall have no other gods before me.  But when you read this verse alone you really don’t know who is speaking.  So, if we include the prior verse it reads;  "I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  3 You shall have no other gods before Me. Now we know that ‘the LORD’ spoke this, but it doesn’t tell us who ‘the LORD’ is.  But the original text, before the removes YHVH’s name read;  I am YHVH your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. 3 You shall have no other gods before Me.  Now we know who God is, He is YHVH.  Now we know who ‘the LORD’ is, it is YHVH. And now we know who said we are to worship Him and no other gods, it was YHVH.  It was YHVH God.

And if we go to 1Chronicle 29:10 we read;

Therefore David blessed the Lord before all the assembly; and David said: Blessed are You, Lord God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever." However, if we restore God’s sacred name we read;

Therefore David blessed YHVH before all the assembly; and David said: Blessed are You, YHVH God of Israel, our Father, forever and ever."  In 1Chronicles 29:10, as well as other verses, we learn the YHVH God is also ‘Our Father’.  So every time Jesus mentions ‘Our Father’ or ‘His Father’ he was speaking about YHVH God.

YHVH God is Our Father, our Creator, Redeemer and Law Giver. Unfortunately, many people don’t even know God’s sacred name.  However, in the Scriptures we are told to call on Him by His name in prayer, thanksgiving, praise and worship. So, that we must do, but be careful to never misuse or abuse His name or take it in vain.

Isaiah 52:6 – "Therefore My people shall know My name; therefore they shall know in that day that I am He who speaks: `Behold, it is I.' "

Psalm 145:21, My mouth shall speak the praise of YHVH, and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever.

2Samuel 22:10, Therefore I will give thanks to You, O YHVH, among the Gentiles, And sing praises to Your name.

Psalm 7:17, I will praise YHVH according to His righteousness, And will sing praise to the name of YHVH Most High.

Psalm 29:2, Give unto YHVH the glory due to His name; worship YHVH in the beauty of holiness.

Psalm 86:9, "All nations whom You have made shall come and worship before You, O YHVH, and shall glorify Your name."

Psalm 122:4, "Where the tribes go up, The tribes of YHVH, to the Testimony of Israel, To give thanks to the name of YHVH."

Psalms 135:3, Praise YHVH! For YHVH is good! Sing praises to His name, for it is delightful.

Psalms 148:13, "Let them praise the name of YHVH; for His name alone is exalted; His glory is above the earth and heavens."

Isaiah 56:6a, the sons of the foreigner who join themselves to YHVH, to serve Him, and to love the name of YHVH, to be His servants…

Joel 2:32, And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of YHVH shall be saved….

Zephaniah 3:9, For then I will restore to the peoples a pure language, that they all may call on the name of YHVH, to serve Him with one accord.

And, this is but a sampling of the verses that tells us to call on YHVH God by name.  How can we do that if we don’t know His name, it has been hidden from us.  Knowing God’s sacred name is a key to a proper understanding of the Scriptures, proper prayer, thanksgiving and praise.  How can we have a personal relationship with a YHVH God when we don’t know His name?

Now our study begins, as to what our being called out of the Christian Church has to do with the Garden of Eden.

IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN

DECEPTION BY THE SERPENT BEAST IN THE GARDEN OF EDEN

The beast, his image and his mark, as found in the Book of the Revelation, all find their roots in the Garden of Eden.  We have to understand that story to understand who the beast is, who the image of the beast is and what is the mark of the beast, and then we will be able to identify the Babylon the Great which we are commanded to leave.

ADAM AND EVE AND THE SERPENT BEAST

Genesis 3:1-5 (NKJV), "Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which YHVH God had made. And he said to the woman, Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?

2 And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.

WHAT WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND BEGINS IN EDEN

To understand the Gospel, to understand Christianity, to understand Judaism, who the beast is, who his image is, to understand sin and man, to understand the beast’s deception, and to understand our need to keep God’s laws, we must to go back to the beginning, back to the Garden of Eden.  The story of man’s creation and fall begins in the Garden of Eden where mankind was tested and failed.  When we understand that story we will have an understanding of mankind’s lost condition today, and the reason why God is testing us and what mankind must do to pass the test and be saved (redeemed).  So, we must begin with Our Creation.

OUR CREATION

It was there, in the Garden of Eden, on the sixth day that God created man and woman in His own image (Genesis 1:27). Being in God’s own image means that mankind was created with the ability to think, to reason and to make his own decisions.  Mankind has the ability to make decisions based on rational thinking, irrational thinking, emotions, sensory perceptions, feelings, influence of others, flip of a coin, or based on one’s own experiences.  So, mankind has the freedom and the ability to make logical decisions, illogical decisions, good decisions or bad decisions. In other words, mankind has free will.  No other animal species has that type of free will, for animals are all pre-programmed for their own survival and the survival of the species, they are born with those built-in instincts.

And it has to be noted, that mankind also has a strong built in survival instinct, and because of that we are by nature self-centered, selfish beings and we, by our own nature, watch out for number one – as other animals do.  As it says in Ephesians 2 "and were by nature children of wrath and King David said in Psalm 51 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me".  King David was not speaking about the sin of his mother, he was saying that he (and us) are conceived and born with a sinful nature – it’s in our DNA. 

However, we as humans, being in the image of God, have the ability to think and reason, and overcome that selfish instinct and even become unselfish people who give generously, and even self-sacrificing beings.  The process by which we die to our ‘selfishness’ or ‘self-centeredness’ and are raised to a new character is sometimes referred to as being ‘born-again’.  And that’s what YHVH God calls us to do. He actually commands us and enables us to forsake our selfish natures and live unselfish lives, in compliance with His moral standards, laws and Commandments which we are to live by.  John 3:3, "Jesus answered him, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God. And he said, Then He said to them all, If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me." (Luke 9:23).  To ‘deny self’ is to ‘crucify’ our selfish self-will (self-authority), i.e., humble ourselves, daily and submit to Jesus’ authority. (Jesus spoke YHVH’s words with YHVH’s authority according to John 12:49, 14:10.

When we live according to our human nature, we are selfish and self-centered beings – putting self first.  To overcome our natural selfish instincts and live unselfishly by putting God and others first, is unnatural for us, it is supernatural act and when we do that as a lifestyle we are reflecting the nature and character of God.  Our goal is overcome ‘self’, or selfishness daily, and to become more like God.  While we can be more like God, we do have a tendency to slip back into our self-centered survival mode – from which we must daily struggle, and repent to overcome.  We many hunger and thirst for righteousness, and seek it, but we will never fully achieving it, yet God gives us