Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Spiritual Sacrifices
Spiritual Sacrifices,
Acceptable to God by Jesus Christ
By: Bro. Harlan Sorrell
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A popular opinion of our time is that it does not matter how we worship God just as long as our hearts are in what we do as worship. However, the scriptures reveal that since the beginning of time, and in every age, God has been very particular about what He has accepted as worship. Worship in all ages of time, since man’s fall from his original state of purity in Eden, has involved some kind of offerings or sacrifices.
In Genesis 4: 3-5, we read, “And in the process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.”
This is the first record we have in the Bible of man worshiping God after the fall and we see from this account that one sacrifice was “acceptable” and the other “unacceptable.” Keep this in mind as we go along. The principle here is very important to this discussion. Throughout the Old Testament there is much said concerning acceptable and unacceptable sacrifices. Only certain kinds of sacrifices were accepted and, in many instances, those sacrifices could only be burned on a special kind of altar and by a special kind of fire. After the Levitical priesthood was set up and ordained by God, an offering of incense burned by a fire kindled by the worshiper himself was not acceptable. It had to be burned by “holy fire” and the offering had to be made upon a holy altar. It was a very serious thing to offer “strange fire” before the Lord (see Lev. 10: 1-7). Those particulars pertaining to the literal sacrifices of the Old Testament were types and shadows of the particulars pertaining to the spiritual sacrifices of the New Testament.
Colossians 2: 23 speaks of “will worship.” Will worship involves the will, the desires, the personal likings, or the whims of the worshiper. The offerings of Nadab and Abihu, as recorded in Leviticus 10: 1 were a form of will worship. Cain’s sacrifice was also a form of will worship. He offered it according to his own personal liking, and it involved that which meant the most to him -- the product of his own toil and the work of his own hands. Will worship can never produce a sacrifice that is acceptable to God.
The apostle Peter, speaking of the worship of God by the New Testament church said in 1 Pet. 2: 5, “Ye ... as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.”
This scripture gives us much insight into what kind of worship is acceptable to God in this dispensation of time. To be acceptable, it must be (1) a “spiritual sacrifice” and (2) offered in the divine element of His Son, “Jesus Christ.” I believe that one reason Cain’s offering was not accepted by God in the beginning was because it did not reflect a faith in the future atonement of the promised Messiah. Abel’s did, therefore it was accepted. Cain’s sacrifice, the fruit of his own labors, reflected a faith in his own works, the human element, while Abel’s sacrifice, the life of an innocent animal, reflected his faith in the future atonement of Christ, the divine.
It is quite obvious that all worship, in whatever dispensation of time, has had to be carried out according to God’s provision for that particular dispensation in order to be accepted by Him. Let us examine a few scriptures. In Hebrews 8: 5 we read that “...Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle ... See that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.” Hebrews 9: 1, 9-10, “Then verily the first covenant had also ordinances of divine service, and a worldly sanctuary. ... 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.”
By these scriptures we see that even in Old Testament times God had a prescribed system of acceptable worship. It had to be “according to the pattern,” even though it did not make the worshipers perfect pertaining to the conscience, or inner man. That system of worship was but a type and shadow of something better that was yet to come. God had a better plan in mind, which would reach the need of the inner man. This plan would completely remove sin from the heart and thereby perfect the conscience and put man back into spiritual communion with his Creator. This, God knew, would produce the kind of worship He really desired.
In John, chapter 4, we have an interesting account of Jesus conversing with a Samaritan woman who met Him at Jacob’s well. In verses 19 through 24 we read, “The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. 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 worshipers 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.”
These scriptures reveal the true element in which God must be worshiped in New Testament times. Adam Clarke says, “A man worships God in spirit, when under the influence of the Holy Spirit, he brings all his affections, appetites, and desires, to the throne of God; and he worships in truth, when every purpose and passion of his heart and every act of his religious worship is guided and regulated by the Word of God.” “Thy Word is truth” (John 17: 17).
This kind of worship was fully made possible when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the day of Pentecost. It was in the divine element of the Holy Spirit that God set up His eternal kingdom in Christ, and it is only in the element of His living Spirit working in connection with His written Word that all true worship now takes place. Any worship outside these parameters is now unacceptable to God.
We cited 1 Pet. 2: 5 awhile ago as revealing that worship in the present dispensation must involve “spiritual sacrifices” offered “in the element of Jesus Christ.” Let us expound further on what we mean by “in the element of Jesus Christ.” There was a time when the Word (Christ) was made flesh and dwelt among men, and men beheld His glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1: 14). But though He was manifested in the flesh, He was “justified in the Spirit” and “received up into glory” (1 Tim. 3: 16), “declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead” (Rom. 1: 4). And “though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we Him no more” (2 Cor. 5: 16). Christ, “the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Cor. 15: 45). Yes, He is still the same in “person,” but He has transformed from “flesh” into the “spiritual” element, a transformation that we too shall experience at His second coming (see 1 Cor. 15: 35 - 55). “We know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is” (1 John 3: 2; Phil. 3: 21). But in the meantime He has sent the Holy Spirit to connect us in our present state with Him in His present state. And it is through this medium that He now comes to us and sups with us, and we with Him (see John 14: 15 - 26; 15: 26; 16: 13 - 15; 2 Cor. 6: 16; Rev. 3: 20, etc.).
New Testament worship involves an interaction and communication between the spirit of man and the Spirit of God. Without this it is impossible to be a “true worshiper” in this dispensation. The primary interaction between man’s spirit and God’s Spirit comes through the work of regeneration (Tit. 3: 5), or the spiritual rebirth (John 3: 3-8). It is only by being “born of the Spirit” that man’s spirit connects to the element of Jesus Christ and enters into the kingdom of God, the realm of divine worship. It is this interaction that introduces the spirit of man to “the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost” (2 Cor. 13: 14). And remember, that which 'begins in the Spirit' can never be 'made perfect (or consummated) by the flesh' (Gal. 3:3).
All New Testament worship is in some sense a “spiritual sacrifice” offered to God in the element of Jesus Christ through the Spirit. There are, so far as I have been able to perceive from my studies, three basic parts of divine worship in the New Testament. They are (1) prayer, (2) praise, and (3) prophesying. Let us consider each one of these.
(1) Prayer. In prayer we speak directly to God, “praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit” (Eph. 6: 18). “But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, Keep yourselves in the love of God” Jude 20, 21.
(2) Praise. In praise we may speak directly to God in thanksgiving, “giving thanks for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph. 5: 20), or we may extol Him by speaking of His wondrous works to or before others. “Whoso offereth praise glorifieth me.” Psa. 50: 23. “I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever. ... thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of his kingdom.” Psa. 145: 1, 10-12. “And let them sacrifice the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his works with rejoicing.” Psa. 107: 22. “By him (Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” Heb. 13: 15.
(3) Prophesying. In prophesying we “speak unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort,” and we “edify the church.” 1 Cor. 14: 3-4. Prophesying can, and does, include the predicting of future events by divine inspiration and insight; however, in its broader and more general sense from the Hebrew and from the Greek it means “to speak or sing by inspiration” (Hebrew – “naba”) and to “speak under inspiration” (Greek – “propheteuo”). On the day of Pentecost, Peter quoted from Joel 2:28, saying, “But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy ...” Acts 2: 16, 17. Prophesying is a very important part of New Testament worship. “If all prophesy,” says the apostle Paul, “and there come in one that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of all, he is judged of all: and thus are the secrets of his heart made manifest; and so falling down on his face he will worship God, and report that God is in you of a truth” (1Cor. 14: 24-25).
According to Smith’s Bible Dictionary, “Prophecy comprehends three things: prediction; singing by the dictate of the Spirit; and explaining the mysterious, hidden sense of Scripture by an immediate illumination and motion of the Spirit.” (See Smith’s Bible Dictionary, pg. 535.) Also, in the October 1, 1887 issue of the “Gospel Trumpet,” D. S. Warner commenting on the meaning of “prophesy” as it is used in the scriptures quoted above, says, “This includes all speaking in the church in the form of public worship.” In this statement he is correct, according to the Greek meaning of the term as it is used in these scriptures. Beside Holy Spirit inspired preaching, prophesying may include singing, testifying, teaching, or exhorting “by motion, or inspiration of the Spirit.” All these, when done under the inspiration and anointing of the Holy Spirit, comfort and edify the church, and are an integral part of New Testament worship.
Singing may be either prophesying or praise, as through singing we may speak either to men or to God or to both. “... Teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.” Col. 3: 16. “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” Eph. 5: 19.
Prayers, praises, and prophesyings that pour forth from hearts that are tuned with and inspired by the Holy Spirit rise up before God as sweet incense. These are “spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,” and He regards these sacrifices as “worship.” Revelation 8: 3-4 speaks of the “prayers of the saints” ascending as incense before the throne of God. Also, Malachi 3:16 says, “they that feared the LORD spake often one to another: and the LORD hearkened and heard it, and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that feared the LORD, and that thought upon his name.” This shows the regard God has for prophesying, or “speaking unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort” (1 Cor. 14: 3). “What is it then: I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.” 1 Cor. 14: 15.
It is obvious then, that all prayer, praising, and prophesying (worship) must be done in the Spirit. Outside of that our worship becomes merely a product of the human element and is, in reality, “will worship.” There are many different forms of “will worship.” Any self-motivated style of worship wherein the worshiper seeks fulfillment of certain emotional, sensational, or intellectual cravings is will worship. Will worship can manifest itself in different ways, depending upon the temperament of the worshiper. Our temperament is our “inclination or mode of emotional response -- disposition.” In will worship it is often the temperament that regulates the will and the will becomes the regulating factor of one’s worship. Will worship can take place when the temperament of a person is such as to cause him, or her, to crave the achievement of certain sensations of ecstasy or to experience certain intellectual delights. These sensations and delights can be achieved by listening to, producing or participating in certain styles of music, hearing a demonstrative, piquant orator, etc. In Acts 12: 21-22 we read of Herod giving an oration that so inspired the people that they “gave a shout, saying, It is the voice of a god, and not of a man.” These kinds of motivations, however, come from the human element rather than the divine. God cannot be worshiped on the basis of any kind of human temperament. Human temperament may, and does, become involved in worship when touched by the Spirit of God, but the essence of all true worship lays within the element of God’s own Spirit and His truth. Humanity cannot worship God aright without the moderation of His Spirit and the light of His truth. We must worship within the element of who God is, not who we are. Nothing but God Himself and the very essence of His own person can truly sate the cravings of the human heart.
Since God is a spirit and can only be truly worshiped in spirit (His own element), is it possible to worship Him through any means outside that element, such as by any human invention or mechanical device? Since prayer, praise, and prophesying must all be in the Spirit to be acceptable, can any part of divine worship, therefore, be mechanically produced? The answer is NO! Let us look at a scriptural principle regarding this fact.
In Acts chapter 17 we have the account of the apostle Paul during his visit to Mar’s hill in Athens, Greece, and in verses 23 - 25 he said, “For as I passed by and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. 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.”
Here we find a very important and basic principle of truth. Man’s ability to worship God and capability of worshiping God lies completely in his endowment from God by creation and in nothing that his hands are able to produce. God formed a spirit within man (Zech 12: 1) and it is through this avenue that man is able to worship God and God is able to communicate with man. “There is a spirit in man: and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding.” Job. 32: 8. This inspired understanding produces the intelligent communication and interaction between man’s spirit and God’s Spirit, which God accepts as “worship.” It is by Him whose fullness dwells in Christ that we, by the Spirit who maketh intercession for us, offer up the holy incense of prayer that is received before the throne of God according to His will (see Rom. 8: 26-27 and Rev. 8: 3-4). It is by Him that we “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Heb. 13: 15). And it is by Him that we prophesy, that is, “speak under inspiration” in preaching, teaching, exhorting, testifying, and singing “by the dictate of the Spirit.” None of these things can be accomplished through any kind of mechanical means. All these things relate to a creation possessing spiritual endowment and involved in a spiritual interaction. These are all “spiritual sacrifices,” and they are made “acceptable to God by Jesus Christ,” our supreme sacrifice. (Eph. 5: 2.) We may safely conclude, therefore, that every aspect of New Testament offerings and sacrifices, as pertaining to our worship to God, must lie within the same spiritual element as Christ’s sacrifice. It could not be otherwise. Now in what element did Christ offer His sacrifice? In Hebrews 9: 14 we find the answer: “Christ ... through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God....” It is, therefore, within the element of that same eternal Spirit that we must offer all our sacrifices of worship to God.
In Mark 9: 49 Jesus stated the above truth like this: “For every one shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt.” Every New Testament worshiper, as well as what he offers to God as worship, must be salted with “fire” and “salt.” Now I want to ask a question. Is it possible to salt a piano, organ, guitar, or any other instrument or mechanical invention created by man with the kind of fire and salt Jesus spoke of here? If not, then it is impossible to offer an acceptable sacrifice to God by any such means. Fire and salt are figures of speech relative to the Holy Spirit. Only those sacrifices that are offered with the warm and seasoned inspiration of the Holy Spirit are accepted by God today as worship. And again, all such sacrifices must necessarily be of a spiritual essence and must involve a spiritual interaction. There is nothing spiritually interactive between a mechanical instrument and the Spirit of God. This is an all-important truth and worthy of your utmost consideration!
There are, of course, sacrifices of service to the Lord, such as alms giving, ministering to the poor, sick, or needy, and distributing to temporal needs relative to the promotion of God’s cause and kingdom here on earth. “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.” Heb. 13: 16. These sacrifices however, fall into a somewhat different category than worship itself, although they are related to our worship and the laying up of treasures in heaven. There are also three ceremonial ordinances of the New Testament that may be considered acts of worship. They are water baptism, the Lord’s Supper, and feet washing. But even in the observance of these the spirit within us must be in tune with the meaning behind them, otherwise the acts are of no value to the soul.
God has made man a very complex creature. He is capable of a vast realm of experience physically, mentally, and spiritually. God made us capable of enjoying the taste of good food. He made us capable of smelling the sweet scent of flowers. He made us capable of seeing His beautiful handiwork and enjoying it. He made us capable of hearing the sweet sounds of birds singing in the trees. He made us capable of feeling the gentle breezes blow upon our bodies. These are all physical pleasures. He made us capable of unlimited imaginations, marvelous inventions, and with an appreciation for, and ability to produce, fine arts. In these we find intellectual pleasures. And, by forming a spirit within us, He made us capable of inwardly enjoying Himself. In this we find spiritual pleasure. It is very important that we understand the differences in these experiences. It is possible to mistake our intellectual delights for spiritual experiences when actually our spiritual being has received no divine inspiration at all.
A woman told me one time that a man who attended church services where she did brought his handsaw to service with him and demonstrated a very special skill that he had developed. By certain movements of the handsaw he was able to play the tune of the old familiar hymn, “What a Friend.” The woman said, “I got such a blessing from that!” I believe that what this woman actually experienced was “intellectual pleasure.” The artistic sensibilities of her intellect were touched and stimulated by the demonstration of the player’s skill and expertise, thus producing a sensation of delight and a pleasurable mood. She interpreted this stimulation as “a blessing.” There is nothing morally wrong with this kind of stimulation, but do the artistic skills and works produced by men’s hands really have any relationship to the “spiritual blessings” of New Testament worship? I would here like to quote from the late C. E. Orr, a gospel minister who had profound spiritual understanding, and who was a co-worker with D. S. Warner.
“God has made us physical beings and gives us physical pleasures. He has made us mental beings and gives us intellectual delights. He has made us moral beings and gives us happiness in doing good, but all this is not worship to God. You can have physical pleasures, intellectual delights, moral happiness and yet not worship God in the Spirit. In the realms of our intellectual tastes, and our finer artistic sensibilities we delight in beholding the beauty of sunset or the loveliness of flowers, but when we get in the Spirit and are given a vision of the wondrous perfections of God we do not want any bouquet of flowers to intercept our view.
“It is only human hearts that can pour music into the ears of God. The Holy Spirit never pours incense on the tones of the organ and wafts them up to the nostrils of the Almighty. Heavenly incense is poured on nothing but the altar fires of God in the human soul. Our singing may be out of time and out of tune, but if there is melody in the heart to God, it rolls in sweet symphonies throughout the corridors of heaven and angels listen. My dear holy brethren, let me whisper a secret to you. Artistic music only touches the finer tastes and higher sentimentality of our intellectual and moral being and never touches the spirit being of man. God is a Spirit and it is only the Spirit of God that can touch and delight the spirit of man and it is only the spirit of man that can touch and delight the heart of God. Spirit beings have no ear to hear sounds made by material things.” End of quote.
The question has been asked, “What is the difference in playing musical instruments in your home and in playing them in a church service?” Let us answer this question by considering another question. “What would be the difference in serving cookies and milk as an after-supper dessert in your home and in serving cookies and milk when observing the Lord’s Supper?” There is nothing morally wrong with cookies and milk, is there? But yet Jesus never authorized such to be served as emblems in His sacred memorial service. To do so would be to step outside the plan He ordained and miss the real purpose and blessing of the Lord’s Supper. Likewise, there is nothing morally wrong with musical instruments or with developing our skills with musical instruments, so long as they are not used in a way that displeases God. But when it comes to worship, neither instruments nor our skills were ever ordained or authorized by God to have any part in the New Testament arrangement of things. That arrangement is a spiritual arrangement. Why bring any thing into a worship service that His arrangement has not provided for? Inasmuch as we deviate from the New Testament design we miss the blessing and purpose of what New Testament worship was meant to be. Anything we try to add to the spiritual arrangement of the New Testament system actually hinders rather than helps it. It is complete and perfect just as Christ and the Father set it up in the Spirit. Nothing of man’s provision can add anything to it. Praying, praising, and prophesying in the Holy Ghost provide everything for the soul of man that God meant New Testament worship to provide. The tones of a musical instrument can never accomplish what “singing with the spirit and with the understanding” was meant to do.
Other questions that are sometimes asked are, “Does God condemn those who use instrumental music in their worship?” or “Does God consider the use of musical instruments in worship a sin?” Consider this: did God condemn Cain for bringing an offering of the fruit of the ground, or did He count Cain’s offering a sin? The scripture just simply says, “But unto Cain and to his offering He had not respect.” It seems that God did not condemn Cain on the basis of his offering in itself, nor did He count it a sin. He just simply did not regard the sacrifice acceptable. Why? Cain brought an offering that befitted his own temperament. It reflected a faith in his own work and skill as a "tiller of the ground," and a desire to be accepted on his own merit. But Abel offered his sacrifice in a faith that extended to an invisible substance outside himself, apart from any skills or works his own. His sacrifice reflected his faith in the future atonement of Jesus Christ. Therefore, “the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering” (Gen. 4: 4). God could not accept Cain's offering because it was offered in the "human" element rather than in the "divine" When Cain saw that God did not respect or accept his offering, what he should have done was to have inquired of God what was wrong with the offering and how to go about offering a sacrifice that could be accepted and bring God’s respect and favor. God said, “If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted?” (Gen. 4: 7.) Cain had the privilege of offering an acceptable sacrifice to God had he sought out that which was indeed acceptable. But sadly, he chose to take another course.
If we find ourselves below the New Testament standard of worship, or having deviated from it to some degree, we have the privilege of allowing God to teach us the deep truth of what it means to offer “acceptable sacrifices” within the divine element of His Son. He longs to “bless us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ” (Eph. 1: 3), by the Spirit (Eph. 2: 18). He wants us to know the “spiritual pleasure” that can only come from offering “spiritual sacrifices” salted with “fire.” But we must humble our hearts before Him and fully resign our wills to His will, realizing that we know not even how to pray as we ought, except the Spirit helps our infirmities. Neither can we worship acceptably unless the Spirit makes intercession for us according to the will of God. (Rom. 8: 26-27.) As we tune our hearts to the mind of the Spirit and receive understanding from Him of how to remove those things from our worship services that He cannot salt with His holy fire (those elements that are foreign to the realm of His operation), He is then ready and anxious to fill the vacuum. As He fills it, we can then begin experiencing, to a degree unknown before, the blessings and benefits of true worship -- praying, praising, and prophesying by the illumination, motion, and dictation of the Spirit. This is what “Holy Spirit leadership” means, relative to worship services. This is the kind of worship that searches and manifests the secrets of men’s hearts (1 Cor. 14: 24-25), and this is how it was experienced by the primitive church on the day of Pentecost and in the years following, before the great apostasy introduced other elements into worship.
There are several documentations from ancient church history, which the reader may research, that reveal beyond doubt that musical instruments were not used in worship by the apostolic church, but were introduced into so-called Christian worship by the apostate church during what we now know as the “dark ages.” It was the reviving of the true element of spiritual worship in men’s hearts that inspired such reformers and spiritual leaders as Martin Luther, John Wesley, Daniel S. Warner, and many others to remove instrumental music from worship services, along with other unscriptural practices of so-called worship that developed during the era of the great apostasy. Many hungry hearts had an earnest desire to worship God “acceptably” and to fully conform to the spirit and letter of the New Testament. They earnestly and prayerfully sought the guidance of the Holy Spirit to help them understand it, and God’s Spirit was faithful to reveal His will to their hearts and minds regarding many issues. It was not by their personal opinions, but by the Holy Spirit’s illumination of scriptural principles that our spiritual ancestors, such as the brethren mentioned above, as well as the Anabaptists and many others, came to regard instrumental music as foreign to the true element of New Testament worship. They did not arrive at this conclusion by any degree of lightness, but with solemn reverence for God and His will. The Holy Spirit enabled them to discern and “approve things that are excellent” (Phil. 1: 9-10). And, as expressed in the preface of a nineteenth century songbook, they found that “It is not only ‘good and pleasant for brethren to dwell together in unity’ (Psa. 133: 1), but it is also beautiful and delightful to sing together in harmony!”
Regretfully however, some succeeding generations did not maintain, or rather failed to personally attain, the same depth of spiritual revelation their forefather’s had attained to through intimate communion with Christ in the Spirit. Once again some allowed the human element to became involved in their worship where the divine should have been. Small provisions for the flesh began to be made, which naturally quench the Spirit, like “little foxes that spoil the vines” (Song of Sol. 2: 15). Although somewhat mildly and subtly at first, so-called “Protestant” movements began retrogressing toward apostate religious practices. This retrogression gained rapid momentum in the 20th century, following World War I.
About the end of the year 1999, Time Life Books, Inc. advertised a series of “collector’s edition volumes” on “the most extraordinary 100 years of history.” A separate volume was dedicated to each decade of the 20th century. Interestingly, the second volume, covering the years 1910 to 1920, was titled, “The End of Innocence.” It is a historic fact that during those very years, when great revolutions were taking place in the political affairs of nations, great revolutions were also taking place in the ecclesiastical affairs of churches. (There is good reason to believe that this stage of events, both politically and ecclesiastically, is prophetically indicated in Rev. 11: 13. However, that is a subject for another discussion.)
The third volume of the above-mentioned series, covering the decade of the 1920’s, was titled “The Jazz Age.” This was the time when secular music took a turn toward a more fleshly appeal (although it was mild compared to our time). This was also the time when traditional restraints began to be thrown aside and new trends began to be accepted that were very bold for that day. Women began cutting their hair and shortening their skirts, and sleeve lengths began to be shortened. But all this was only a beginning. As Time Life Books stated in its advertising brochure, “Sit back in breathless wonder at how we CAME SO FAR, SO FAST!” Did God not warn us in Gal. 6: 8 that “he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption?” We have a generation today that is reaping an overwhelming harvest of corruption from seeds sown by their ancestors 80 to 90 years ago. We are now in an age of full-blown apostasy, so far as nominal Christianity is concerned. And this subtle, apostate spirit is also waging an all-out conflict against the pure Bride of Christ and the remnant of her seed. Who will dare, in this dark mid-night hour, to cleave to radical principles of Bible truth?
Most professed Christians of our time have no idea how greatly their standards and practices differ from those of “holy men of old.” Many have little or even no regard for modesty or decency, and seem not to realize the Bible teaches “Christians” to “cover” their nakedness in a manner becoming to godliness. Most think of worship services as theatrically styled performances and formal programs led by clergymen. And sadly, most have never had the opportunity to hear a remnant congregation of Spirit-tuned people harmoniously blending their voices together, singing and making melody from their hearts to the Lord. And if, per chance, they ever get this opportunity they are amazed and astonished at the heavenly sound of this music and how it speaks to the heart!
Has not this generation been robbed of something very special that was given to the church by the wisdom of God? Indeed it has! God’s ways really are best, and He has much more to offer the thirsty souls of mankind when they resort to His ways than mankind himself can ever begin to offer by his programs, ceremonies, and artistic performances. It is like the difference in drinking from a fresh, living well and a stale cistern! But as God said in Jer. 2: 13, “My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Modern so-called worship services do not even resemble the spiritual environment of those of our forefathers, yet few seem to understand why. Could it be because the Holy Spirit will not and cannot “salt” those sacrifices offered to God as worship that are outside the true element of Jesus Christ?
If we have not yet attained to the same “breadth, and length, and depth, and height” in Christ that some of our forefathers did, we may find ourselves having difficulty understanding their views regarding such issues as we here discuss. Nevertheless, it is wise to respect their views and prayerfully seek to be guided by the same Word and Spirit that guided them in their understanding and perception of divine things. Even in this modern age of “human reasoning” these two faithful Guides are jointly able to lead us to His thoughts that are higher than our thoughts and His ways that are higher than our ways (Isa. 55: 8-9). Also, we should keep in mind that not every child of God arrives at the same degree of knowledge and understanding of God’s thoughts and ways at the same time. Therefore we should always endeavor “to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” with every truly born again soul, “till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4: 3, 13). To attain to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ should be the ultimate goal of every Christian.
Consider the word “acappella.” This is an Italian word derived from two Latin words “ad capella.” “Ad” means “according to” and “capella” means “chapel.” The word “acappella” means “in chapel style; without instrumental accompaniment.” How do you suppose this word came into existence in ancient Italy? The answer is quite obvious. It was because of the presence and growth of primitive Christianity throughout the Roman Empire. The manner in which the primitive Christian churches worshiped the Lord in song was “without instrumental accompaniment.” Therefore music after that manner became known as “a cappella,” or “according to chapel.”
When we arrive at a clear understanding of what New Testament worship really is, we are struck by the realization that the issue of musical instruments in worship is not so much an issue of right or wrong as it is an issue of possible or impossible! It is simply impossible to bring that which has no connection with the Holy Spirit into the realm of New Testament worship. Only “spiritual sacrifices” are now accepted by God as worship, and they must all be offered within the element of His own dear Son, in the Spirit. Nothing outside that realm has had any place in true worship since the day of Pentecost.
May the Lord bless each reader as you consider, search, and weigh these thoughts in the fear of God.
8/2008
How Can We Know the Truth?
How
Can We Know the Truth?
By: Bro. Harlan Sorrell
________________________________________
We are living in a world of lies and deception. The prince of this world, the devil, is the father of lies. Jesus spoke these words concerning him in John 8:44: “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.” Jer. 17:9-10 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
The human heart was not originally created deceitful and wicked, but Satan so succeeded in marring God’s creation through Adam’s fall that this has become man’s natural state without divine intervention. Thus, all who are born into this world have to overcome two things in order to arrive at the truth – a lying devil and a deceitful heart. God’s great desire for man is that truth might dwell in his “inward parts” (Psa. 51:6).
Jesus was born into this world with a perfectly pure heart and with the purpose to overthrow the father of lies. Jesus met this arch-deceiver on his own territory in head-on conflict, assaulting his kingdom of lies with the truth. Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). He announced that the words He spoke were His Father’s words (John 14:24) and that those words are truth (John 17:17). He said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32.
As long as Jesus was in this world He bore personal witness to the truth. But when the time came for Him to leave He promised to send another personal witness to the truth whom He called the “Comforter,” or “Spirit of truth.” This One, He said, would abide with us forever (John 14:16), would reprove (convict, convince) the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8), and guide us into all truth (John 16:13).
There are those who seem to feel that, because of man’s inherently fallen condition, it is not presently possible for anyone to be totally free from error and fully established in truth. 1 Cor. 13:12, “For now we see through a glass darkly” is often quoted as an excuse for dimness of spiritual vision and understanding. But what about 2 Cor. 3:18? “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Paul speaks here of an experience presently attainable to all of us whereby we may behold as in a glass (not darkly, but brilliantly) the glory of the Lord with an open (or unveiled) face and thus be changed into the same image by His Spirit. Prov. 4:18 says, “But the path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
James 1: 16-17 says, “Do not err, by beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” God, the Father of lights, has sent two especially good and perfect gifts down from above to illuminate our darkness and save us from error. They are (1) the Word of truth and (2) the Spirit of truth (the interpreter of the Word). Having received these two gifts it is not needful that any man err.
In the June 1, 1885 issue of the Gospel Trumpet, Bro. D. S. Warner wrote the following words: “When a weak convert of two years old, after rambling through a wilderness maze of human creeds, to find out what church I ought to join, and was more unsettled than before I read any, I threw myself at the feet of Jesus, and asked His leading through the Spirit. My soul was in an agony of intense earnestness. I kept up this pursuit until the refreshings of the Holy Spirit came upon me, shedding much light on my mind. One thing was settled by the voice of the Lord, that was, God willed me to ignore all human sects and creeds, and commit myself to the whole Word of God, and rejecting all it does not teach. But ten years later, after becoming wholly sanctified, and receiving the personal Comforter, I soon found that I had not been able to decide in many things what the will of the Lord was, until this glorious illumination. Then I laid all my previous views down at the feet of Christ, just as if they were all wrong. Then putting myself under the direct teaching of the Comforter, He has led my soul forward in the steps of the truth with absolute and eternal certainty. … Doubtless, much truth lays beyond our present knowledge, but what we know by the revelation of the Spirit, we do not think, but know indeed.” End of quote.
Without the guidance, inspiration, and illumination of the Spirit of God, we are ALL sure to misunderstand or misinterpret the truth at some point or another. The depths of God’s written Word cannot be understood by the natural man or comprehended by the carnal mind. (See 1 Cor. 2:9-16; Rom. 8:5-8.) Since “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation,” but “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:20,21), it is imperative that our hearts and minds be moved by the inspiration of the same Holy Ghost who spoke through the holy men of old that we may properly understand the message He intended to convey in the Scriptures. Only “in thy light shall we see light” in proper perspective (Psa. 36:9).
God has made just enough of His Word comprehensible to us in our natural state to enable us to find the way of deliverance from our carnal mind and to receive “the mind of Christ;” to get us out of the flesh and into the Spirit. It is only in this state that we are ready to begin learning and exploring the “mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints” (Col. 1:26).
Nothing except the “unction” that comes from the Holy One (1 John 2:20,27) can teach us all things and help us to correctly interpret and “rightly divide the Word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). “For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:10. Without the “unction,” or “anointing” that comes from the Spirit of truth all men will certainly miss the mark. On the other hand, it is not possible to err by the leadings of the Spirit of God. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Rom. 8:14. Every time the sons (or children) of God err, it is because they have gotten out of step with their Guide, the divine Spirit – the One who bore witness to their adoption (Rom. 8:15), and regenerated and spoke peace to their souls (Tit. 3:5). We always err when we trust in our own understanding and follow our own minds, or the influence of some other spirit beside the Holy Spirit upon our minds. We are instructed to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and to lean not to our own understanding (Pro. 3:5). How can we who “know not what we should pray for as we ought” arrive at a proper understanding of God’s truth and will for our lives unless “the Spirit helpeth our infirmities?” Therefore God, in His great mercy, has sent His Spirit to make “intercession” for us (see Rom. 8:26-27) and to personally reveal His Son to us, Who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). It is the Spirit of truth who quickens the Word of truth, making it alive in our inner man, and more than just a dead letter. The Holy Spirit is the One who administers all the blessings Christ purchased for us at Calvary. The Holy Spirit is the Administrator of all things pertaining to salvation, the New Testament, and the New Testament Church. He is our Teacher, our Guide, and our Director. All who “live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit,” and are “led by the Spirit” will go right and be right, because God’s Spirit is right. He can’t err. He KNOWS the will of God. He KNOWS the truth. If we would know the truth, then we must have our hearts tuned to the Spirit. It is the Spirit who writes God’s law of truth on our inward parts (see Jer. 31: 33, Ezek. 36: 27, & 2 Cor. 3: 3).
Even with all the advanced education available to us, we humans, in our natural state, cannot comprehend many important aspects of divine truth. We cannot discern, in many instances, the true meaning of the scriptures. Why? Because the Word was given by the inspiration of the Spirit, and “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. 2: 14. I heard a man say one time that his IQ was of the top two percent of the nation, therefore if anybody could rightly understand the Bible, he could. But it is just such persons as he who miss the mark! Obadiah 3 says, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.” There is no greater deterrent to arriving at knowledge of the truth than “pride” in the heart. “If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.” 1 Cor. 8:2. Pride is an inherent part of man’s carnal nature. It is natural for all men to think they know and are capable of discerning truth from error. It takes the refining fire of the Holy Spirit to melt and consume this spirit of pride in man’s heart – to reduce our estimation of who we are and what we know to “nothing” and exalt the knowledge of God and who He is to “everything.” This is why it is vitally important that all Christians be emptied of “self,” and “filled with the Spirit.” One writer says, “Do we enjoy His fullness? Are we filled with the Spirit? Or is He quenched, grieved, resisted, crowded into a corner by carnal purposes, passions and pleasures? The full measure of the Spirit comes in when self goes out. Self must die, and then God the Spirit will fill us.” How true! It is only then that He can lead us into all truth. “When He, the Spirit of truth is come (having been given full control of your body, soul, and mind, by your complete consecration), He will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13.) “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” Psa. 25:9. The secret of understanding truth is found in being filled with the Spirit of truth. Thereby we assimilate the meekness of Christ as well as all the other attributes of the divine nature. (Consider Acts 1:8 and 2 Pet. 1: 3-4; also Phil. 2: 5-8.) It is neither safe to lean on our own understanding of truth nor yet that of others. But by the illuminating presence of the Holy Spirit, who wills to indwell us in His fullness, we can all receive personal revelation of truth from God’s perspective. The Spirit leads all men into the same truth.
The reason many are “ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7), is because they do not possess the spiritual illumination that comes from being “filled with all the fullness of God.” They are neither “filled with the Spirit” nor “walking in the Spirit,” but are still “carnal, and walking as men” (1 Cor. 3:1-4). They are still filled with much of themselves. Through the sanctifying and all-pervading presence of the Holy Spirit, Who comes to possess us in His fullness when we “present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1), we can become intimately acquainted with the Author of truth, lose our biased opinions of truth, and be led into all truth. It is then that we become “transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). We then take on the “mind of Christ” and begin to comprehend “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” (Eph. 3:18-19). “And it is the Spirit that beareth witness (to this revelation of fullness), because the Spirit is truth.” 1 John 5:6. Becoming “wholly sanctified,” as Bro. D. S. Warner terms it, means giving the Holy Spirit complete control of one’s whole being. It means being wholly consecrated to God in every respect, with every aspect of our lives subjected to the personal council, direction, and leadership of the Holy Spirit. It is then that the refining fire of the eternal Spirit consumes the dross of our carnal nature and we begin to grow and abound in the knowledge and revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As one old song says, “Let me lose myself and find it, Lord, in thee.” “Our God is a consuming fire.” Heb. 12:29. “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all,” and “if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:5,7. Jesus said, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12), and “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). We can never be too dead to self and filled with too much of God. This is the abundant life! It is found in the fullness of Christ, who “is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30) “by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Cor. 3:18). “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thes. 2:13,14. Thus man is restored to the image of God, being sanctified by the Spirit and by the truth (John 17:17). This is the only way we can know the truth. Amen.
By: Bro. Harlan Sorrell
________________________________________
We are living in a world of lies and deception. The prince of this world, the devil, is the father of lies. Jesus spoke these words concerning him in John 8:44: “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.” Jer. 17:9-10 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.”
The human heart was not originally created deceitful and wicked, but Satan so succeeded in marring God’s creation through Adam’s fall that this has become man’s natural state without divine intervention. Thus, all who are born into this world have to overcome two things in order to arrive at the truth – a lying devil and a deceitful heart. God’s great desire for man is that truth might dwell in his “inward parts” (Psa. 51:6).
Jesus was born into this world with a perfectly pure heart and with the purpose to overthrow the father of lies. Jesus met this arch-deceiver on his own territory in head-on conflict, assaulting his kingdom of lies with the truth. Jesus came to bear witness to the truth (John 18:37). He announced that the words He spoke were His Father’s words (John 14:24) and that those words are truth (John 17:17). He said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32.
As long as Jesus was in this world He bore personal witness to the truth. But when the time came for Him to leave He promised to send another personal witness to the truth whom He called the “Comforter,” or “Spirit of truth.” This One, He said, would abide with us forever (John 14:16), would reprove (convict, convince) the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment (John 16:8), and guide us into all truth (John 16:13).
There are those who seem to feel that, because of man’s inherently fallen condition, it is not presently possible for anyone to be totally free from error and fully established in truth. 1 Cor. 13:12, “For now we see through a glass darkly” is often quoted as an excuse for dimness of spiritual vision and understanding. But what about 2 Cor. 3:18? “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” Paul speaks here of an experience presently attainable to all of us whereby we may behold as in a glass (not darkly, but brilliantly) the glory of the Lord with an open (or unveiled) face and thus be changed into the same image by His Spirit. Prov. 4:18 says, “But the path of the just is as a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.”
James 1: 16-17 says, “Do not err, by beloved brethren. Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.” God, the Father of lights, has sent two especially good and perfect gifts down from above to illuminate our darkness and save us from error. They are (1) the Word of truth and (2) the Spirit of truth (the interpreter of the Word). Having received these two gifts it is not needful that any man err.
In the June 1, 1885 issue of the Gospel Trumpet, Bro. D. S. Warner wrote the following words: “When a weak convert of two years old, after rambling through a wilderness maze of human creeds, to find out what church I ought to join, and was more unsettled than before I read any, I threw myself at the feet of Jesus, and asked His leading through the Spirit. My soul was in an agony of intense earnestness. I kept up this pursuit until the refreshings of the Holy Spirit came upon me, shedding much light on my mind. One thing was settled by the voice of the Lord, that was, God willed me to ignore all human sects and creeds, and commit myself to the whole Word of God, and rejecting all it does not teach. But ten years later, after becoming wholly sanctified, and receiving the personal Comforter, I soon found that I had not been able to decide in many things what the will of the Lord was, until this glorious illumination. Then I laid all my previous views down at the feet of Christ, just as if they were all wrong. Then putting myself under the direct teaching of the Comforter, He has led my soul forward in the steps of the truth with absolute and eternal certainty. … Doubtless, much truth lays beyond our present knowledge, but what we know by the revelation of the Spirit, we do not think, but know indeed.” End of quote.
Without the guidance, inspiration, and illumination of the Spirit of God, we are ALL sure to misunderstand or misinterpret the truth at some point or another. The depths of God’s written Word cannot be understood by the natural man or comprehended by the carnal mind. (See 1 Cor. 2:9-16; Rom. 8:5-8.) Since “no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation,” but “holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost” (2 Pet. 1:20,21), it is imperative that our hearts and minds be moved by the inspiration of the same Holy Ghost who spoke through the holy men of old that we may properly understand the message He intended to convey in the Scriptures. Only “in thy light shall we see light” in proper perspective (Psa. 36:9).
God has made just enough of His Word comprehensible to us in our natural state to enable us to find the way of deliverance from our carnal mind and to receive “the mind of Christ;” to get us out of the flesh and into the Spirit. It is only in this state that we are ready to begin learning and exploring the “mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to His saints” (Col. 1:26).
Nothing except the “unction” that comes from the Holy One (1 John 2:20,27) can teach us all things and help us to correctly interpret and “rightly divide the Word of truth” (2 Tim. 2:15). “For the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” 1 Cor. 2:10. Without the “unction,” or “anointing” that comes from the Spirit of truth all men will certainly miss the mark. On the other hand, it is not possible to err by the leadings of the Spirit of God. “As many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” Rom. 8:14. Every time the sons (or children) of God err, it is because they have gotten out of step with their Guide, the divine Spirit – the One who bore witness to their adoption (Rom. 8:15), and regenerated and spoke peace to their souls (Tit. 3:5). We always err when we trust in our own understanding and follow our own minds, or the influence of some other spirit beside the Holy Spirit upon our minds. We are instructed to trust in the Lord with all our hearts and to lean not to our own understanding (Pro. 3:5). How can we who “know not what we should pray for as we ought” arrive at a proper understanding of God’s truth and will for our lives unless “the Spirit helpeth our infirmities?” Therefore God, in His great mercy, has sent His Spirit to make “intercession” for us (see Rom. 8:26-27) and to personally reveal His Son to us, Who is “the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6). It is the Spirit of truth who quickens the Word of truth, making it alive in our inner man, and more than just a dead letter. The Holy Spirit is the One who administers all the blessings Christ purchased for us at Calvary. The Holy Spirit is the Administrator of all things pertaining to salvation, the New Testament, and the New Testament Church. He is our Teacher, our Guide, and our Director. All who “live in the Spirit, walk in the Spirit,” and are “led by the Spirit” will go right and be right, because God’s Spirit is right. He can’t err. He KNOWS the will of God. He KNOWS the truth. If we would know the truth, then we must have our hearts tuned to the Spirit. It is the Spirit who writes God’s law of truth on our inward parts (see Jer. 31: 33, Ezek. 36: 27, & 2 Cor. 3: 3).
Even with all the advanced education available to us, we humans, in our natural state, cannot comprehend many important aspects of divine truth. We cannot discern, in many instances, the true meaning of the scriptures. Why? Because the Word was given by the inspiration of the Spirit, and “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.” 1 Cor. 2: 14. I heard a man say one time that his IQ was of the top two percent of the nation, therefore if anybody could rightly understand the Bible, he could. But it is just such persons as he who miss the mark! Obadiah 3 says, “The pride of thine heart hath deceived thee.” There is no greater deterrent to arriving at knowledge of the truth than “pride” in the heart. “If any man think that he knoweth any thing, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know.” 1 Cor. 8:2. Pride is an inherent part of man’s carnal nature. It is natural for all men to think they know and are capable of discerning truth from error. It takes the refining fire of the Holy Spirit to melt and consume this spirit of pride in man’s heart – to reduce our estimation of who we are and what we know to “nothing” and exalt the knowledge of God and who He is to “everything.” This is why it is vitally important that all Christians be emptied of “self,” and “filled with the Spirit.” One writer says, “Do we enjoy His fullness? Are we filled with the Spirit? Or is He quenched, grieved, resisted, crowded into a corner by carnal purposes, passions and pleasures? The full measure of the Spirit comes in when self goes out. Self must die, and then God the Spirit will fill us.” How true! It is only then that He can lead us into all truth. “When He, the Spirit of truth is come (having been given full control of your body, soul, and mind, by your complete consecration), He will guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13.) “The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.” Psa. 25:9. The secret of understanding truth is found in being filled with the Spirit of truth. Thereby we assimilate the meekness of Christ as well as all the other attributes of the divine nature. (Consider Acts 1:8 and 2 Pet. 1: 3-4; also Phil. 2: 5-8.) It is neither safe to lean on our own understanding of truth nor yet that of others. But by the illuminating presence of the Holy Spirit, who wills to indwell us in His fullness, we can all receive personal revelation of truth from God’s perspective. The Spirit leads all men into the same truth.
The reason many are “ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7), is because they do not possess the spiritual illumination that comes from being “filled with all the fullness of God.” They are neither “filled with the Spirit” nor “walking in the Spirit,” but are still “carnal, and walking as men” (1 Cor. 3:1-4). They are still filled with much of themselves. Through the sanctifying and all-pervading presence of the Holy Spirit, Who comes to possess us in His fullness when we “present our bodies a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God” (Rom. 12:1), we can become intimately acquainted with the Author of truth, lose our biased opinions of truth, and be led into all truth. It is then that we become “transformed by the renewing of our mind, that we may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:2). We then take on the “mind of Christ” and begin to comprehend “the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge” (Eph. 3:18-19). “And it is the Spirit that beareth witness (to this revelation of fullness), because the Spirit is truth.” 1 John 5:6. Becoming “wholly sanctified,” as Bro. D. S. Warner terms it, means giving the Holy Spirit complete control of one’s whole being. It means being wholly consecrated to God in every respect, with every aspect of our lives subjected to the personal council, direction, and leadership of the Holy Spirit. It is then that the refining fire of the eternal Spirit consumes the dross of our carnal nature and we begin to grow and abound in the knowledge and revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As one old song says, “Let me lose myself and find it, Lord, in thee.” “Our God is a consuming fire.” Heb. 12:29. “God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all,” and “if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” 1 John 1:5,7. Jesus said, “He that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12), and “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly” (John 10:10). We can never be too dead to self and filled with too much of God. This is the abundant life! It is found in the fullness of Christ, who “is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption” (1 Cor. 1:30) “by the Spirit” (1 Cor. 6:11; 2 Cor. 3:18). “God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: Whereunto he called you by our gospel, to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Thes. 2:13,14. Thus man is restored to the image of God, being sanctified by the Spirit and by the truth (John 17:17). This is the only way we can know the truth. Amen.
The Spirit of Eliashib – A Look at Ecumenicalism
A
Look at Ecumenicalism
By Susan Mutch
“…Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:
And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber.” Neh. 13:4, 7-8.
Today’s religious generation is like Eliashib. They open the door for God’s enemies to dwell among them. It seems that very few share Nehemiah’s discerning vision and zeal for the purity of the house of God. The scriptures call Eliashib’s deed “evil.” He likely thought it was benevolent; big-hearted, as would the ecumenical-minded of today.
Is this “Let’s get together and forget about our differences” and “all paths lead to heaven” mentality inspired by pure, divine love or is it the slick subtlety of Satan, perfecting his craft of deception? Indeed, the devil loves mixture–darkness with light, truth with error. And mixture he has.
We live in the time of the generic “church.” No name brand denominations. “The Community Church.” “The Bible Fellowship.” Just “believe in Jesus” or pray to Mary, even sincerely believe in your heart that Buddha or Mohammed is the right path and we will all end up in heaven. People have been deceived into believing that it would be rude and narrow-minded not to tolerate, yea, even respect, all religious notions. But does not the Bible teach us that Jesus is the Way? He is not one of many ways. One would have to deny this absolute Bible truth to accept any other way, any other spirit. “Buy the truth and sell it not.” Sell this truth and you have no gospel.
Truth is absolute, not relative. Truth calls everything outside of it a lie. This ecumenical spirit would have us respect lies. Not only will Truth not tolerate error, it reproves it, glad to rescue souls from its path of death (Prov. 14:12).
The apostle Paul was anti-ecumenical. He feared that the congregation at Corinth would “bear with” something other than the pure gospel–another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel. He knew it was a corruption of the true (2 Cor. 11:3-4). Nor did Paul respect as “another way to God” the pagan beliefs of his day. He called people to forsake them through the preaching of the one and only gospel of Jesus Christ. He joined no council of religious leaders, other than in the exclusive church of God, wherein they had one mind and one doctrine. He held no joint “unity” meetings with pagans or the Judaising factions. The gospel that Jesus died to bring us is diametrically opposed to any such confederation. This exclusiveness the devil hates. And this exclusiveness the ecumenical minded just cannot understand.
This ecumenical move is in direct fulfillment to Bible prophecy. It is another sign that we are very near the end of time. Rev. 20:7-9 shows this gathering of the false ways Satan has used through the history of the church to deceive souls–paganism (newly revived in this last century or so with the New Age Movement, occultism, witchcraft, humanism and a revival of eastern religions), Catholicism and Protestantism. Satan has wrath, knowing that his time is short (Rev. 12:12) and is doing all he can to deceive the multitudes before the final return of Jesus Christ. This triad of error is gone out “to deceive the nations” worldwide. It is actually sent by Satan to battle against the truth and is depicted as surrounding the camp of the saints about, the beloved city, the church of God.
Many shall be deceived by this pernicious movement, and through its blinding, deceiving influence “the way of truth shall be evil spoken of” (2 Pet. 2:2). The children of God, who can discern the enemy’s workings, as did Nehemiah, and refuse to accept or fellowship any false way will be called intolerant, narrow-minded, unloving, bigoted, divisional, cultish, etc.
While we sincerely love the souls who are ensnared in religious error, we do hate every false way that binds them (Psa. 119:104, 148). The Bible declares that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life. Woe unto us if we say there is any other way; any other truth.
Filed in: Articles • Monday, September 28th, 2009
By Susan Mutch
“…Eliashib the priest, having the oversight of the chamber of the house of our God, was allied unto Tobiah:
And I came to Jerusalem, and understood of the evil that Eliashib did for Tobiah, in preparing him a chamber in the courts of the house of God. And it grieved me sore: therefore I cast forth all the household stuff of Tobiah out of the chamber.” Neh. 13:4, 7-8.
Today’s religious generation is like Eliashib. They open the door for God’s enemies to dwell among them. It seems that very few share Nehemiah’s discerning vision and zeal for the purity of the house of God. The scriptures call Eliashib’s deed “evil.” He likely thought it was benevolent; big-hearted, as would the ecumenical-minded of today.
Is this “Let’s get together and forget about our differences” and “all paths lead to heaven” mentality inspired by pure, divine love or is it the slick subtlety of Satan, perfecting his craft of deception? Indeed, the devil loves mixture–darkness with light, truth with error. And mixture he has.
We live in the time of the generic “church.” No name brand denominations. “The Community Church.” “The Bible Fellowship.” Just “believe in Jesus” or pray to Mary, even sincerely believe in your heart that Buddha or Mohammed is the right path and we will all end up in heaven. People have been deceived into believing that it would be rude and narrow-minded not to tolerate, yea, even respect, all religious notions. But does not the Bible teach us that Jesus is the Way? He is not one of many ways. One would have to deny this absolute Bible truth to accept any other way, any other spirit. “Buy the truth and sell it not.” Sell this truth and you have no gospel.
Truth is absolute, not relative. Truth calls everything outside of it a lie. This ecumenical spirit would have us respect lies. Not only will Truth not tolerate error, it reproves it, glad to rescue souls from its path of death (Prov. 14:12).
The apostle Paul was anti-ecumenical. He feared that the congregation at Corinth would “bear with” something other than the pure gospel–another Jesus, another spirit, another gospel. He knew it was a corruption of the true (2 Cor. 11:3-4). Nor did Paul respect as “another way to God” the pagan beliefs of his day. He called people to forsake them through the preaching of the one and only gospel of Jesus Christ. He joined no council of religious leaders, other than in the exclusive church of God, wherein they had one mind and one doctrine. He held no joint “unity” meetings with pagans or the Judaising factions. The gospel that Jesus died to bring us is diametrically opposed to any such confederation. This exclusiveness the devil hates. And this exclusiveness the ecumenical minded just cannot understand.
This ecumenical move is in direct fulfillment to Bible prophecy. It is another sign that we are very near the end of time. Rev. 20:7-9 shows this gathering of the false ways Satan has used through the history of the church to deceive souls–paganism (newly revived in this last century or so with the New Age Movement, occultism, witchcraft, humanism and a revival of eastern religions), Catholicism and Protestantism. Satan has wrath, knowing that his time is short (Rev. 12:12) and is doing all he can to deceive the multitudes before the final return of Jesus Christ. This triad of error is gone out “to deceive the nations” worldwide. It is actually sent by Satan to battle against the truth and is depicted as surrounding the camp of the saints about, the beloved city, the church of God.
Many shall be deceived by this pernicious movement, and through its blinding, deceiving influence “the way of truth shall be evil spoken of” (2 Pet. 2:2). The children of God, who can discern the enemy’s workings, as did Nehemiah, and refuse to accept or fellowship any false way will be called intolerant, narrow-minded, unloving, bigoted, divisional, cultish, etc.
While we sincerely love the souls who are ensnared in religious error, we do hate every false way that binds them (Psa. 119:104, 148). The Bible declares that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, the Life. Woe unto us if we say there is any other way; any other truth.
Filed in: Articles • Monday, September 28th, 2009
Teachings of the Church of God
________________________________________
Bible: The divinely, inspired word of God. The Church of God has no other creed or theology other than that which is taught in the Word of God in its entirety. (II Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21).
Relationship of Love: There is no greater doctrine of the Bible than that of love. Jesus confirmed that an individual is to love the Lord God with all of his heart, soul, mind, body, and strength. God created mankind for the purpose of having a relationship with him. Love is the foundation to the relationship with God that He seeks in humanity. Without a supreme love of God, all other doctrine and religious life will miss the mark. Love is the motivation and key to living acceptably to God. This love for God is than manifest in loving our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39, Mark 12:30-31)
Church of God: The body of Christ is composed of every blood-washed one. Salvation makes you a member of this divine institution of God that stands above the religious confusion of humanly- organized religion (Acts 2:47; I John 3:8-10). Jesus Christ is the true, active head of the church on earth and in Heaven (Eph 1:22-23; Col 1:18). Christ is the foundation of the Church (I Cor 3:11); he governs the Church (Isaiah 9:6), and God places the members in the body--not a board or committee (I Cor 12:18,27-28).
Unity of God's People: God has only one church (I Cor 12:12-13,20; Eph 4:4-6) and Christ desires that there be unity and fellowship amongst His children (John 17:20-23, Gal 3:28, Phil 1:27). For unity to be attained, there must be a coming out of Babylon (Rev 18:2,4).
Salvation from Sin: While all have sinned, Jesus Christ died on the cross that the power of sin might be broken in the hearts and lives of mankind. There is power through redemption to enable us to live free from sin on a daily basis. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." II Cor. 5:17. To live acceptably before God and to make Heaven our home, we must live without sin. There is a definite experience of salvation that all can have when they believe in Christ, repent of committed sin, and walk in newness of life. (Matt 1:21; Rom 6; I John 3:3-10; I John 5:18a; John 5:14b; John 8:11b).
Infilling of the Holy Ghost: As it was on the day of Pentecost, there is a second work subsequent to justification (Acts 19:2) that every child of God must experience. The Holy Spirit wants to come into every justified individual and take up His abode. The Holy Ghost brings power to the lives of Christians to enable them to be the separate, called-out, holy people that God desires. The Holy Spirit is a sanctifier, comforter, purifier, and enabler. (Acts 2; Acts 15:8-9; Acts 1:8; I Cor 6:19-20; John 14:16-20, 25-28).
Kingdom of God: The kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom but a spiritual kingdom that has been in existence ever since the coming of Jesus Christ. We look not for another kingdom on this earth but are experiencing the joy, blessings, and power in this life as kings and priests in the kingdom of God (Luke 17:20-21; Romans 14:17; John 18:36).
End Times: At a time we know not, Christ will return to this earth as a thief in the night (Acts 1:9-11, II Peter 3:10-12). All people, the living and the dead, will stand before the judgment seat of God (II Tim 4:1,8; John 5:28-29; I Thess 4:16-17; II Cor 5:10). The righteous shall live in Heaven while the unrighteous shall live in Hell for eternity (Matt 25:31-46). The earth will be destroyed (2 Peter 3:7; Rev 20:11-15).
Faith: The life and experience of a Christian should be based on faith and trust in God with regard to every aspect of living. Spiritual, financial, physical, and temporal dependency is to be on God and not man (Heb 11:6; Romans 5:1; John 20:31). This is one of the reasons that ministers are not salaried, but rely on free-will offerings as the Lord provides (I Peter 5:2-3; John 10:11,13).
Divine Physical Healing: Provision was made for divine physical healing when Christ shed his blood on the cross. Divine healing is not something of the past but it is still available for those who put their faith and trust in God. God still works miracles in the body as well as the soul. (James 5:13-16; Isaiah 53:4-5).
3 Ordinances: Full Immersion Baptism (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:36-39); The Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:26-30; I Cor. 11:23-27); Feet Washing (John 13:14-17).
Holiness: The Word of God teaches that we must be holy in all manner of conversation -- our attitudes, meditations, motivations, actions, where we go, what we do, what we wear. Holiness must encompass our lives inwardly and outwardly. Without holiness, no man shall see God. This holiness does not come from man's work but it is the work of God within man. Therefore, there is no place for 'self-righteousness'. Part of holiness is living humbly before God and man. (Hebrews 12:14; I Peter 1:15; I Thess 4:7; Eph. 4:24; Rom. 6:22; Titus 2:11-12).
Modesty of Dress: A child of God must not be conformed to this world but rather be a reflection of humility, purity, and simplicity (I Timothy 2:9-10; I Corinthians 11:14-15; Deuteronomy 22:5).
Sanctity of Marriage: The scripture teaches that a man and woman, when married, are joined for life in the eyes of God. Remarriage while a first companion is still living constitutes adultery (Luke 16:18; I Cor 7:10-11,39).
Worship: True worshipers will worship God in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24). Worship services of God's people are not programmed but are led and ordered by the Spirit of the Lord. As was the practice of the early morning church and as the reformers also taught, musical instruments are not used in active worship service. Ministers are not formally trained but are called by God to preach the gospel under the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Eph 3:7; I Cor 2:1-5).
Great Commission: The burden of Christ remains with His true children to 'go into all the world and preach the gospel.' (Mark 16:15) The purpose of the Church is not to settle down and enjoy the wealth of this world but to be the light of the world, to spread the good news of true salvation, and to show lost souls the love of God by good works.
Bible: The divinely, inspired word of God. The Church of God has no other creed or theology other than that which is taught in the Word of God in its entirety. (II Timothy 3:16-17; 2 Peter 1:21).
Relationship of Love: There is no greater doctrine of the Bible than that of love. Jesus confirmed that an individual is to love the Lord God with all of his heart, soul, mind, body, and strength. God created mankind for the purpose of having a relationship with him. Love is the foundation to the relationship with God that He seeks in humanity. Without a supreme love of God, all other doctrine and religious life will miss the mark. Love is the motivation and key to living acceptably to God. This love for God is than manifest in loving our neighbor as ourselves. (Matthew 22:37-39, Mark 12:30-31)
Church of God: The body of Christ is composed of every blood-washed one. Salvation makes you a member of this divine institution of God that stands above the religious confusion of humanly- organized religion (Acts 2:47; I John 3:8-10). Jesus Christ is the true, active head of the church on earth and in Heaven (Eph 1:22-23; Col 1:18). Christ is the foundation of the Church (I Cor 3:11); he governs the Church (Isaiah 9:6), and God places the members in the body--not a board or committee (I Cor 12:18,27-28).
Unity of God's People: God has only one church (I Cor 12:12-13,20; Eph 4:4-6) and Christ desires that there be unity and fellowship amongst His children (John 17:20-23, Gal 3:28, Phil 1:27). For unity to be attained, there must be a coming out of Babylon (Rev 18:2,4).
Salvation from Sin: While all have sinned, Jesus Christ died on the cross that the power of sin might be broken in the hearts and lives of mankind. There is power through redemption to enable us to live free from sin on a daily basis. "Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new." II Cor. 5:17. To live acceptably before God and to make Heaven our home, we must live without sin. There is a definite experience of salvation that all can have when they believe in Christ, repent of committed sin, and walk in newness of life. (Matt 1:21; Rom 6; I John 3:3-10; I John 5:18a; John 5:14b; John 8:11b).
Infilling of the Holy Ghost: As it was on the day of Pentecost, there is a second work subsequent to justification (Acts 19:2) that every child of God must experience. The Holy Spirit wants to come into every justified individual and take up His abode. The Holy Ghost brings power to the lives of Christians to enable them to be the separate, called-out, holy people that God desires. The Holy Spirit is a sanctifier, comforter, purifier, and enabler. (Acts 2; Acts 15:8-9; Acts 1:8; I Cor 6:19-20; John 14:16-20, 25-28).
Kingdom of God: The kingdom of God is not an earthly kingdom but a spiritual kingdom that has been in existence ever since the coming of Jesus Christ. We look not for another kingdom on this earth but are experiencing the joy, blessings, and power in this life as kings and priests in the kingdom of God (Luke 17:20-21; Romans 14:17; John 18:36).
End Times: At a time we know not, Christ will return to this earth as a thief in the night (Acts 1:9-11, II Peter 3:10-12). All people, the living and the dead, will stand before the judgment seat of God (II Tim 4:1,8; John 5:28-29; I Thess 4:16-17; II Cor 5:10). The righteous shall live in Heaven while the unrighteous shall live in Hell for eternity (Matt 25:31-46). The earth will be destroyed (2 Peter 3:7; Rev 20:11-15).
Faith: The life and experience of a Christian should be based on faith and trust in God with regard to every aspect of living. Spiritual, financial, physical, and temporal dependency is to be on God and not man (Heb 11:6; Romans 5:1; John 20:31). This is one of the reasons that ministers are not salaried, but rely on free-will offerings as the Lord provides (I Peter 5:2-3; John 10:11,13).
Divine Physical Healing: Provision was made for divine physical healing when Christ shed his blood on the cross. Divine healing is not something of the past but it is still available for those who put their faith and trust in God. God still works miracles in the body as well as the soul. (James 5:13-16; Isaiah 53:4-5).
3 Ordinances: Full Immersion Baptism (Matthew 28:19-20; Acts 8:36-39); The Lord's Supper (Matthew 26:26-30; I Cor. 11:23-27); Feet Washing (John 13:14-17).
Holiness: The Word of God teaches that we must be holy in all manner of conversation -- our attitudes, meditations, motivations, actions, where we go, what we do, what we wear. Holiness must encompass our lives inwardly and outwardly. Without holiness, no man shall see God. This holiness does not come from man's work but it is the work of God within man. Therefore, there is no place for 'self-righteousness'. Part of holiness is living humbly before God and man. (Hebrews 12:14; I Peter 1:15; I Thess 4:7; Eph. 4:24; Rom. 6:22; Titus 2:11-12).
Modesty of Dress: A child of God must not be conformed to this world but rather be a reflection of humility, purity, and simplicity (I Timothy 2:9-10; I Corinthians 11:14-15; Deuteronomy 22:5).
Sanctity of Marriage: The scripture teaches that a man and woman, when married, are joined for life in the eyes of God. Remarriage while a first companion is still living constitutes adultery (Luke 16:18; I Cor 7:10-11,39).
Worship: True worshipers will worship God in Spirit and in Truth (John 4:23-24). Worship services of God's people are not programmed but are led and ordered by the Spirit of the Lord. As was the practice of the early morning church and as the reformers also taught, musical instruments are not used in active worship service. Ministers are not formally trained but are called by God to preach the gospel under the anointing of the Holy Spirit (Eph 3:7; I Cor 2:1-5).
Great Commission: The burden of Christ remains with His true children to 'go into all the world and preach the gospel.' (Mark 16:15) The purpose of the Church is not to settle down and enjoy the wealth of this world but to be the light of the world, to spread the good news of true salvation, and to show lost souls the love of God by good works.
Come Out
Come Out
By: Bro. Michael Smith
________________________________________
“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.” (II Cor. 6: 16-18)
What a wonderful privilege and consolation to know that the almighty God, the creator of the universe, has promised to be our personal God and Father. He will dwell with us and walk with us. He is our refuge, our comfort, our strength, our victory over sin, and our glory. It is heartwarming to reflect on the blessings of God’s people. But beyond reflection, are you experiencing the reality of being one of God’s children?
God’s promise to be a Father was conditional. I will receive you if you come out and be separate. I will receive you if you ‘touch not the unclean thing.’ The world is full of people professing ‘God the father’ but few are experiencing the reality of the power and glory of God. The reason for this is that many are not willing to separate themselves from the idols of this world. Many of the idols of 2000 years ago have changed, but there are still idols in our society today. Things that people worship or give themselves over to are idols -- music, immodest dress, and sports, just to name a few. The scripture says to ‘touch not.’ Too many professing saints of God are imbibing in things of the world that do not measure to the purity and holiness of the word of God. God is calling for you to ‘come out’ and be separate.
One of the most deceptive idols is the idol of religion. People are worshiping religious groups, movements and ministers more than God Himself. “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” (Rev 18:4). The call of this scripture is to come out of Babylon, which has “become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird” (Rev 18:2). Babylon denotes confusion and in turn deception. Babylon is inclusive of congregations where false doctrine is being taught, where man is exalted, and where man is trying to take the place of the Holy Spirit. There are people that one time had light and understanding on this truth that are today turning back to the defilement of Babylon. Come out of her my people. This is still the cry of the Spirit in these last days.
The scripture teaches us that ‘no man can serve two masters.’ We cannot and will not be God’s people if we try to serve both God and mammon. God has called us to holiness and separation from the world and from religious confusion. God’s people are a separate people. They live differently, act differently, and think differently. There are forces of the enemy at work amongst God’s people trying to obliterate the ‘come out’ message. God is looking today for individuals and people to make a stand for truth that goes beyond theology and doctrine. The doctrine of holiness and separation from the world and Babylon must be a reality in our daily lives or we are guilty of denying the call of God.
Joining the church of your choice does not make one God’s child. There must be a complete separation from the sin of the world and Babylon. Just because a body of people have the name ‘Church of God’ over the door does not make them part of God’s body. The word ‘church’ in the Greek is ekklesia, which by definition, means ‘called out.’ God’s true people are individuals who have responded to the call and come out of the world and Babylon and into Zion, where the Word and the Spirit have complete right-of-way.
When we ‘come out’ we ‘come in’ to the wonderful fellowship of God’s true people. But even greater than that, we experience the reality of God the Father.
Copyright © 2005 - Church of God. All Rights Reserved.
The Visible Body
The
Visible Body
By: Bro. Michael Smith
________________________________________
The Church is not a group or organization of man but a divine institution composed of every saved individual. In Acts 2:47 the scripture says, “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” Salvation is the redemption of sin through the blood of Christ. When individuals repent and depart from iniquity, they become one with the body of Jesus Christ – of whom Christ is the head (Eph 1:22-23).
Entrance into the glorious Church of God is not obtained through joining a congregation or having a name written in a book here on earth. “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (I Cor. 12:18). Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep … I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:7,9).
Scripture after scripture supports the fact that the body is composed of the saved. We are only saved through Jesus Christ. Hence, man cannot put us into the church, nor can man put us out of the church. Sin is what separates us from being part of the body of Christ – the Church.
The Church is bigger than you and me. None of us have salvation to offer except Christ. There are people who through Christ have been born again and become new creatures. They may have never heard of the ‘Church of God’ but they are members due to their experience of salvation. On the other hand, there may be people going to a congregation with a sign over the building ‘Church of God’ who are not actually in God’s church if there is sin in their lives. Hence, God’s church is the only Church that is pure and without sin – as it is divinely composed of the pure and holy. This is why the ‘Church of God,’ Mount Zion, reigns above all religious organizations of man.
Clearly then, to be part of the Church of God, religious history and past affiliations are relatively unimportant. Receiving material from a particular congregation or group does not make one part of the Church of God. Membership is only contingent upon a born again experience. All the redeemed, the world over, are part of the true Church.
Ephesians 4:4-6 states “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” God is not a polygamist and has only one Church. This should not be confusing when we understand, as previously explained, what the church really is.
Some members in the body of Christ will not have attained all the light and understanding that other members possess. It is God’s will and purpose to draw each one through the Holy Spirit that we might “...come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). As people grow in Christ, they will come into a fuller awareness and understanding of the pure doctrines of the Bible. Christ can never be separated from truth.
The visible body of Christ on earth is a group or a congregation of believers who are openly unified in the oneness of God’s faith and Spirit. Wherever the two witnesses - the Word and Spirit - are having full freedom and right of way, there is the visible body. Although there will often be tares among the wheat (Matthew 13:37-42), where the Word is being uncompromisingly taught and lived in its fullness under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that is the visible body.
Therefore, it is possible for someone to be in the Church of God but not be part of the visible body due to their fellowship of a false system of religion and/or lack of doctrinal understanding. It is God’s will for all to leave the systems of man’s religion and be joined with other believers in the purity of doctrine and Spirit. “Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins…” (Revelation 18:4). When people fail to forsake the religious organizations of man, their spiritual life usually quickly ebbs out due to the influence of erroneous doctrine and lack of Holy Spirit empowerment. If an individual chooses not to leave spiritual Babylon once they have light on the subject, it is a case of disobedience to God. The end result will be spiritual death. God continues to call His people to unity in the oneness of His Spirit and faith.
God has one church; however, the visible body of Christ is not dependent upon one’s knowledge of all other geographical representations of the one body. Being part of the visible body is not dependent upon what time period a congregation broke free from others who were compromising – if such be the case. A congregation is not part of the visibility just because of an association or history, as the true test of visibility is the Word and Spirit. But when people who are operating in the fullness of God meet, there is a sweet fellowship of love, and unity should be the natural outcome. Where there is a lack of unity, either the Word or the Spirit (or both) is not having total liberty among one or both groups.
In the early 1900’s, there was an ignorant fisherman in Nigeria who gave his heart to Jesus Christ. That made him a member of the Church of God although he had never heard of the church. This man began to minister and God revealed the wonderful, pure truths of the Bible to him. A congregation was raised up which made them part of the visible body of Christ, as the Word and Spirit were operating in their full capacity. Subsequently, this brother came into contact with some of the pioneer brethren from the Church of God reformation in the United States. They were teaching the same thing and had the same spirit. Both groups of people then were the visible body in different locales. Once they made contact, there was a unity that spontaneously flowed between them.
So, as we enter into the Church of God only through a heart relationship with Christ, we enter into visibility only through the working of God as well. Sometimes various professed Church of God groups get in a tug of war saying, “Come to US.” The cry from God’s true people should be to enter through the door of Jesus Christ and forsake all false doctrines and man’s religion. The result will be holiness and unity with God’s visible body on earth. God’s Church should transcend culture, tradition, and history, and be founded on the truth of the rock Christ Jesus.
A vision of the church is imperative to keep from becoming just another denomination amongst many. Understanding this basic teaching will keep God’s people from falling into the quagmire of Church of God sectism. "And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach" (Isaiah 4:1). Let all who profess to be in God's church partake of the whole Word of God and be adorned with the holiness and righteousness of Christ.
May the Lord give all His people a greater vision of the wonderful Church of God. May we die out in a greater way to our thoughts and opinions and be joined together in the fullness of the Word and Spirit. Thank the Lord for the glorious Church of God.
-Bro. Michael Smith
March 6, 2006
By: Bro. Michael Smith
________________________________________
The Church is not a group or organization of man but a divine institution composed of every saved individual. In Acts 2:47 the scripture says, “And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.” Salvation is the redemption of sin through the blood of Christ. When individuals repent and depart from iniquity, they become one with the body of Jesus Christ – of whom Christ is the head (Eph 1:22-23).
Entrance into the glorious Church of God is not obtained through joining a congregation or having a name written in a book here on earth. “But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him” (I Cor. 12:18). Jesus said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep … I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture” (John 10:7,9).
Scripture after scripture supports the fact that the body is composed of the saved. We are only saved through Jesus Christ. Hence, man cannot put us into the church, nor can man put us out of the church. Sin is what separates us from being part of the body of Christ – the Church.
The Church is bigger than you and me. None of us have salvation to offer except Christ. There are people who through Christ have been born again and become new creatures. They may have never heard of the ‘Church of God’ but they are members due to their experience of salvation. On the other hand, there may be people going to a congregation with a sign over the building ‘Church of God’ who are not actually in God’s church if there is sin in their lives. Hence, God’s church is the only Church that is pure and without sin – as it is divinely composed of the pure and holy. This is why the ‘Church of God,’ Mount Zion, reigns above all religious organizations of man.
Clearly then, to be part of the Church of God, religious history and past affiliations are relatively unimportant. Receiving material from a particular congregation or group does not make one part of the Church of God. Membership is only contingent upon a born again experience. All the redeemed, the world over, are part of the true Church.
Ephesians 4:4-6 states “There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.” God is not a polygamist and has only one Church. This should not be confusing when we understand, as previously explained, what the church really is.
Some members in the body of Christ will not have attained all the light and understanding that other members possess. It is God’s will and purpose to draw each one through the Holy Spirit that we might “...come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). As people grow in Christ, they will come into a fuller awareness and understanding of the pure doctrines of the Bible. Christ can never be separated from truth.
The visible body of Christ on earth is a group or a congregation of believers who are openly unified in the oneness of God’s faith and Spirit. Wherever the two witnesses - the Word and Spirit - are having full freedom and right of way, there is the visible body. Although there will often be tares among the wheat (Matthew 13:37-42), where the Word is being uncompromisingly taught and lived in its fullness under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, that is the visible body.
Therefore, it is possible for someone to be in the Church of God but not be part of the visible body due to their fellowship of a false system of religion and/or lack of doctrinal understanding. It is God’s will for all to leave the systems of man’s religion and be joined with other believers in the purity of doctrine and Spirit. “Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins…” (Revelation 18:4). When people fail to forsake the religious organizations of man, their spiritual life usually quickly ebbs out due to the influence of erroneous doctrine and lack of Holy Spirit empowerment. If an individual chooses not to leave spiritual Babylon once they have light on the subject, it is a case of disobedience to God. The end result will be spiritual death. God continues to call His people to unity in the oneness of His Spirit and faith.
God has one church; however, the visible body of Christ is not dependent upon one’s knowledge of all other geographical representations of the one body. Being part of the visible body is not dependent upon what time period a congregation broke free from others who were compromising – if such be the case. A congregation is not part of the visibility just because of an association or history, as the true test of visibility is the Word and Spirit. But when people who are operating in the fullness of God meet, there is a sweet fellowship of love, and unity should be the natural outcome. Where there is a lack of unity, either the Word or the Spirit (or both) is not having total liberty among one or both groups.
In the early 1900’s, there was an ignorant fisherman in Nigeria who gave his heart to Jesus Christ. That made him a member of the Church of God although he had never heard of the church. This man began to minister and God revealed the wonderful, pure truths of the Bible to him. A congregation was raised up which made them part of the visible body of Christ, as the Word and Spirit were operating in their full capacity. Subsequently, this brother came into contact with some of the pioneer brethren from the Church of God reformation in the United States. They were teaching the same thing and had the same spirit. Both groups of people then were the visible body in different locales. Once they made contact, there was a unity that spontaneously flowed between them.
So, as we enter into the Church of God only through a heart relationship with Christ, we enter into visibility only through the working of God as well. Sometimes various professed Church of God groups get in a tug of war saying, “Come to US.” The cry from God’s true people should be to enter through the door of Jesus Christ and forsake all false doctrines and man’s religion. The result will be holiness and unity with God’s visible body on earth. God’s Church should transcend culture, tradition, and history, and be founded on the truth of the rock Christ Jesus.
A vision of the church is imperative to keep from becoming just another denomination amongst many. Understanding this basic teaching will keep God’s people from falling into the quagmire of Church of God sectism. "And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach" (Isaiah 4:1). Let all who profess to be in God's church partake of the whole Word of God and be adorned with the holiness and righteousness of Christ.
May the Lord give all His people a greater vision of the wonderful Church of God. May we die out in a greater way to our thoughts and opinions and be joined together in the fullness of the Word and Spirit. Thank the Lord for the glorious Church of God.
-Bro. Michael Smith
March 6, 2006
Who are Members of the Church?
Who
are Members of the Church?
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
"And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 2:47b.
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." John 10:9a.
"And he is the head of the body, the church." Col. 1:18a.
"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?" I Cor. 6:15a.
"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." I Cor. 12:13a.
"But now hath God set the members everyone of them in the body, as it hath pleased him." I Cor. 12:18. "That there should be no schism [division] in the body" verse 25. "Now YE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues," verses 27, 28.
"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect." Heb. 12:22,23. "Except a man be born again [or, from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God." "Ye must be born again." John 3:3,6. See Verse 7.
Note:Thus we see that a member of the church has the following qualifications:
• He is a saved man.
• He was added by the Lord, not some preacher. He came through the door, Christ Jesus.
• He has become a part of the actual BODY OF CHRIST. The church is the body of Christ today. His body is in this world and we can become a part of it. The church is that body and He is its head.
• His body is now a part of the BODY OF CHRIST.
• That body is ONE (not divided up).
• His name is written in heaven.
• He is a just man.
• He is a perfect man.
Membership in the Church of God is a matter between the individual and Christ. One may become a member all alone, far removed from human contacts. If an individual is convicted by the Holy Spirit of his sins, and he calls on God for mercy, repenting and forsaking all sin, and believing in the atoning blood of Christ, placing his sins on Christ by faith, he is born into the family of God. The new birth is the only entrance into the church. You cannot join it, be baptized into it, or be accepted by vote of the other members. You may not join by letter, nor by any other means than the new birth. All who experience the new birth are automatically members of the Church of God. You need to get acquainted with your brothers and sisters, but they have nothing to do with your becoming a member of the family. Do the children of ANY earthly family come together when a little brother or sister is born into their home and VOTE as to whether it shall be accepted into that family? Certainly not! The analogy is perfect concerning the child of God. Neither does that infant need to seek a "home," for it is God's own child. God is its Father. If this. new child of God goes and joins some "church" it has moved that much out of God's will, and will have to forsake that which it joined if it desires to remain in fellowship with God.
This born-again individual will remain in the Church of God as long as he remains free from sin. Sin brings death to the soul. Sin will cause God's child to die, and that child will be separated from God as truly as physical death causes a separation in the earthly family. We may not become "unborn" after being born again, but we may DIE. "The wages of sin is DEATH."
Is The Church a Visible Body, Or An Invisible Mystical Body?
"And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 2:47b.
". . . And at that time there was a great persecution against the church WHICH WAS AT JERUSALEM. . . ." Acts 8:1.
"And when they had ordained them elders in every CHURCH, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord. . . And when they were come, and had gathered the church TOGETHER, they rehearsed all that God had done with them. . . ." Acts 14:23,27.
Copyright © 2005 - Church of God. All Rights Reserved
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
"And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 2:47b.
"I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved." John 10:9a.
"And he is the head of the body, the church." Col. 1:18a.
"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ?" I Cor. 6:15a.
"For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body." I Cor. 12:13a.
"But now hath God set the members everyone of them in the body, as it hath pleased him." I Cor. 12:18. "That there should be no schism [division] in the body" verse 25. "Now YE ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST, and members in particular. And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of tongues," verses 27, 28.
"But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect." Heb. 12:22,23. "Except a man be born again [or, from above], he cannot see the kingdom of God." "Ye must be born again." John 3:3,6. See Verse 7.
Note:Thus we see that a member of the church has the following qualifications:
• He is a saved man.
• He was added by the Lord, not some preacher. He came through the door, Christ Jesus.
• He has become a part of the actual BODY OF CHRIST. The church is the body of Christ today. His body is in this world and we can become a part of it. The church is that body and He is its head.
• His body is now a part of the BODY OF CHRIST.
• That body is ONE (not divided up).
• His name is written in heaven.
• He is a just man.
• He is a perfect man.
Membership in the Church of God is a matter between the individual and Christ. One may become a member all alone, far removed from human contacts. If an individual is convicted by the Holy Spirit of his sins, and he calls on God for mercy, repenting and forsaking all sin, and believing in the atoning blood of Christ, placing his sins on Christ by faith, he is born into the family of God. The new birth is the only entrance into the church. You cannot join it, be baptized into it, or be accepted by vote of the other members. You may not join by letter, nor by any other means than the new birth. All who experience the new birth are automatically members of the Church of God. You need to get acquainted with your brothers and sisters, but they have nothing to do with your becoming a member of the family. Do the children of ANY earthly family come together when a little brother or sister is born into their home and VOTE as to whether it shall be accepted into that family? Certainly not! The analogy is perfect concerning the child of God. Neither does that infant need to seek a "home," for it is God's own child. God is its Father. If this. new child of God goes and joins some "church" it has moved that much out of God's will, and will have to forsake that which it joined if it desires to remain in fellowship with God.
This born-again individual will remain in the Church of God as long as he remains free from sin. Sin brings death to the soul. Sin will cause God's child to die, and that child will be separated from God as truly as physical death causes a separation in the earthly family. We may not become "unborn" after being born again, but we may DIE. "The wages of sin is DEATH."
Is The Church a Visible Body, Or An Invisible Mystical Body?
"And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 2:47b.
". . . And at that time there was a great persecution against the church WHICH WAS AT JERUSALEM. . . ." Acts 8:1.
"And when they had ordained them elders in every CHURCH, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord. . . And when they were come, and had gathered the church TOGETHER, they rehearsed all that God had done with them. . . ." Acts 14:23,27.
Copyright © 2005 - Church of God. All Rights Reserved
Where is the Temple of God Today?
Where
is the Temple of God Today?
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying... And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell AMONG them." Ex. 25:1,8.
Note: This was in Moses' time, and God dwelt in the ark which was in the tabernacle as He said in Ex. 25:22, "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee. . . ."
"The house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the GLORY OF THE LORD had filled the HOUSE OF GOD." 2 Chron. 5:13,14.
Note: This was in Solomon's time, and God was moving into the temple which Solomon had built for Him to dwell in that He might be AMONG THEM.
". . . 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." Matt. 24:1,2.
"Jesus, . . . yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom." Matt. 27:50,51a.
Note: The temple at Jerusalem was to be destroyed as Jesus had predicted. God moved out of that temple, and showed His departure by ripping the veil open from the top to the bottom as He left. Now let us watch God moving into His new temple, the church, and let us see if there is glory in the entrance.
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost...And they were all amazed....But Peter...said...This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh...And I will shew wonders in heaven above...whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved...And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 2nd chapter.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous ness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 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." 2 Cor. 6:14-17.
This shows us that God's PEOPLE are now HIS TEMPLE. They do not have to go to the place of worship to find God, but He is dwelling, living, working, and using THEM as HIS TEMPLE. NOW-not AMONG them, but IN them.
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying... And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell AMONG them." Ex. 25:1,8.
Note: This was in Moses' time, and God dwelt in the ark which was in the tabernacle as He said in Ex. 25:22, "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee. . . ."
"The house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; So that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the GLORY OF THE LORD had filled the HOUSE OF GOD." 2 Chron. 5:13,14.
Note: This was in Solomon's time, and God was moving into the temple which Solomon had built for Him to dwell in that He might be AMONG THEM.
". . . 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." Matt. 24:1,2.
"Jesus, . . . yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom." Matt. 27:50,51a.
Note: The temple at Jerusalem was to be destroyed as Jesus had predicted. God moved out of that temple, and showed His departure by ripping the veil open from the top to the bottom as He left. Now let us watch God moving into His new temple, the church, and let us see if there is glory in the entrance.
"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost...And they were all amazed....But Peter...said...This is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel: And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh...And I will shew wonders in heaven above...whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved...And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Acts 2nd chapter.
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteous ness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 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." 2 Cor. 6:14-17.
This shows us that God's PEOPLE are now HIS TEMPLE. They do not have to go to the place of worship to find God, but He is dwelling, living, working, and using THEM as HIS TEMPLE. NOW-not AMONG them, but IN them.
Is the Church Building a Church?
Is
the Church Building a Church?
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
The meeting house, or the church house as it is commonly called, is for the "church" to assemble in. It is not the church. God does not live there all the time like He did in the temple at Jerusalem. Today He lives IN THE HEARTS OF HIS CHILDREN, and when they come to meeting THEY BRING HIM with them.
"He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." John 6:56.
"Ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." John 14:17b.
"Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." I John 4:15.
"If we love one another, God dwelleth in us." I John 4:12b.
"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Rom 8:11.
"...Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them...." 2 Cor 6:16.
"That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." 2 Tim. 1:14.
"...the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands." Acts 7:48.
"Abide in me, and I in you...He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit..." John 15:4,5.
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." I Cor. 3:16,17.
So, we see that where two or three of God's called out children come together we have a local unit of the church of God. A saved man or woman is in the family and when more than one is present in the name of the Lord, He is there; and thus, God has a working, active, visible, local church. Saved man and women do not go to "church," but when saved men and women go to meeting, they automatically constitute a church. The meeting house is a place where the "church" assembles.
Copyright © 2005 - Church of God. All Rights Reserved.
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
The meeting house, or the church house as it is commonly called, is for the "church" to assemble in. It is not the church. God does not live there all the time like He did in the temple at Jerusalem. Today He lives IN THE HEARTS OF HIS CHILDREN, and when they come to meeting THEY BRING HIM with them.
"He that eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, dwelleth in me, and I in him." John 6:56.
"Ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you." John 14:17b.
"Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God." I John 4:15.
"If we love one another, God dwelleth in us." I John 4:12b.
"But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you." Rom 8:11.
"...Ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them...." 2 Cor 6:16.
"That good thing which was committed unto thee keep by the Holy Ghost which dwelleth in us." 2 Tim. 1:14.
"...the most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands." Acts 7:48.
"Abide in me, and I in you...He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit..." John 15:4,5.
"Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." I Cor. 3:16,17.
So, we see that where two or three of God's called out children come together we have a local unit of the church of God. A saved man or woman is in the family and when more than one is present in the name of the Lord, He is there; and thus, God has a working, active, visible, local church. Saved man and women do not go to "church," but when saved men and women go to meeting, they automatically constitute a church. The meeting house is a place where the "church" assembles.
Copyright © 2005 - Church of God. All Rights Reserved.
What is the Church?
What
is the Church?
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
"...Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16:18.
Note:- This is the first mention of the word church in the Bible. Since it is something that the gates of hell should not prevail against, it behooves us to know just what it is. The word CHURCH is a translation of the Greek work ekklesia which is two Greek words ek, meaning the point of origin - usually translated FROM, or OUT OF - and the Greek work "Kaleo" meaning I CALL. So a church is a CALLED OUT group. We find the word ekklesia 115 times in the New Testament, and it is translated church or churches 112 times and it is translated assembly 3 times - Acts 19:32,39,41 (The ASSEMBLY was confused; in a lawful ASSEMBLY; and, he dismissed the ASSEMBLY.)
We next find this word in Matt. 18:17, "And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the CHURCH: but if he neglect to hear the CHURCH, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." We find it no more until we read in Acts 2:47, "...And the Lord added to the CHURCH daily such as should be saved." "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the CHURCH OF GOD, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 20:28. Let us read it thus: "Feed the CALLED OUT GROUP OF GOD (church of God)."
We see that the CHURCH was not a building or place of worship, but men and women who were disciples of Jesus Christ. They had been CALLED OUT of various things: sin, the religion of the Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, being fisherman, tax-collectors, and the like. They all had been brought into something common. They had fellowship together and with the Lord. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20.
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
"...Upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Matt. 16:18.
Note:- This is the first mention of the word church in the Bible. Since it is something that the gates of hell should not prevail against, it behooves us to know just what it is. The word CHURCH is a translation of the Greek work ekklesia which is two Greek words ek, meaning the point of origin - usually translated FROM, or OUT OF - and the Greek work "Kaleo" meaning I CALL. So a church is a CALLED OUT group. We find the word ekklesia 115 times in the New Testament, and it is translated church or churches 112 times and it is translated assembly 3 times - Acts 19:32,39,41 (The ASSEMBLY was confused; in a lawful ASSEMBLY; and, he dismissed the ASSEMBLY.)
We next find this word in Matt. 18:17, "And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the CHURCH: but if he neglect to hear the CHURCH, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." We find it no more until we read in Acts 2:47, "...And the Lord added to the CHURCH daily such as should be saved." "Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the CHURCH OF GOD, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 20:28. Let us read it thus: "Feed the CALLED OUT GROUP OF GOD (church of God)."
We see that the CHURCH was not a building or place of worship, but men and women who were disciples of Jesus Christ. They had been CALLED OUT of various things: sin, the religion of the Jews, Pharisees, Sadducees, being fisherman, tax-collectors, and the like. They all had been brought into something common. They had fellowship together and with the Lord. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." Matthew 18:20.
What is the Bible Name of the Church?
What
is the Bible Name of the Church?
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
The Bible speaks of only ONE CHURCH belonging to Jesus. Its name is found several times in the New Testament. There being only ONE church, the name was not always given in full, but there are enough times in which the name is given to satisfy us all. Let us examine some instances:
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the CHURCH OF GOD, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 20:28.
"Paul. . . and Sosthenes . . . Unto the CHURCH OF GOD which is at Corinth." I Cor. 1:1,2a.
"Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the CHURCH OF GOD." I Cor. 10:32.
"What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the CHURCH OF GOD, and shame them that have not?" I Cor. 1l:22a.
"For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the CHURCH OF GOD." I Cor. 15:9.
"Paul. . . and Timothy. . . unto the CHURCH OF GOD which is at Corinth." 2 Cor. 1:1a.
"For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the CHURCH OF GOD, and wasted it." Gal. 1:13.
"For ye, brethren, became followers of THE CHURCHES OF GOD which in Judea are in Christ Jesus." I Thess. 2:14a.
"So that we ourselves glory in you in THE CHURCHES OF GOD for your patience and faith." 2 Thess. 1:4a.
"(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the CHURCH OF GOD?)" I Timothy 3:5.
"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the CHURCH OF the living GOD, the pillar and ground of the truth." I Tim. 3:15.
The above Scriptures show us that the body of believers in the morning time was spoken of as being THE CHURCH OF GOD. Each town or community that had a group of "called out" people had a "CHURCH OF GOD." The geographical locations were the only differences. Paul could preach in THE CHURCH OF GOD at Corinth, and THE CHURCH OF GOD at THESSALONICA, etc., and that is what is meant when the church is spoken of in the plural. There is one instance: "But if any man seem to be CONTENTIOUS, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." I Cor. 11:16. Paul preached against contention to the CHURCH OF GOD at CORINTH, and to the CHURCH OF GOD at ROME-(Rom. 2:8.)
Rom. 16:16, Paul writing to the church at Rome said, "Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you." This is not a name for the body, but shows the churches belonged to Christ, in fact they are His wife. Eph. 3:14,15 says, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth [you do not die out of the church, only move over into the group on the other side] is named." Now, my father is a Carver, and when Miss May Jackson married me, she took my father's name-Carver-even as I had. She is now Cecil's wife, but her NAME IS MAY CARVER. The churches belonging to Christ are the Churches of God.
Copyright © 2005 - Church of God. All Rights Reserved
What is the Church?
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
By: Bro. Cecil C. Carver
________________________________________
The Bible speaks of only ONE CHURCH belonging to Jesus. Its name is found several times in the New Testament. There being only ONE church, the name was not always given in full, but there are enough times in which the name is given to satisfy us all. Let us examine some instances:
"Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the CHURCH OF GOD, which he hath purchased with his own blood." Acts 20:28.
"Paul. . . and Sosthenes . . . Unto the CHURCH OF GOD which is at Corinth." I Cor. 1:1,2a.
"Give none offence, neither to the Jews, nor to the Gentiles, nor to the CHURCH OF GOD." I Cor. 10:32.
"What? have ye not houses to eat and to drink in? or despise ye the CHURCH OF GOD, and shame them that have not?" I Cor. 1l:22a.
"For I am the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the CHURCH OF GOD." I Cor. 15:9.
"Paul. . . and Timothy. . . unto the CHURCH OF GOD which is at Corinth." 2 Cor. 1:1a.
"For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the CHURCH OF GOD, and wasted it." Gal. 1:13.
"For ye, brethren, became followers of THE CHURCHES OF GOD which in Judea are in Christ Jesus." I Thess. 2:14a.
"So that we ourselves glory in you in THE CHURCHES OF GOD for your patience and faith." 2 Thess. 1:4a.
"(For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the CHURCH OF GOD?)" I Timothy 3:5.
"But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the CHURCH OF the living GOD, the pillar and ground of the truth." I Tim. 3:15.
The above Scriptures show us that the body of believers in the morning time was spoken of as being THE CHURCH OF GOD. Each town or community that had a group of "called out" people had a "CHURCH OF GOD." The geographical locations were the only differences. Paul could preach in THE CHURCH OF GOD at Corinth, and THE CHURCH OF GOD at THESSALONICA, etc., and that is what is meant when the church is spoken of in the plural. There is one instance: "But if any man seem to be CONTENTIOUS, we have no such custom, neither the churches of God." I Cor. 11:16. Paul preached against contention to the CHURCH OF GOD at CORINTH, and to the CHURCH OF GOD at ROME-(Rom. 2:8.)
Rom. 16:16, Paul writing to the church at Rome said, "Salute one another with an holy kiss. The churches of Christ salute you." This is not a name for the body, but shows the churches belonged to Christ, in fact they are His wife. Eph. 3:14,15 says, "For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth [you do not die out of the church, only move over into the group on the other side] is named." Now, my father is a Carver, and when Miss May Jackson married me, she took my father's name-Carver-even as I had. She is now Cecil's wife, but her NAME IS MAY CARVER. The churches belonging to Christ are the Churches of God.
Copyright © 2005 - Church of God. All Rights Reserved
What is the Church?
(Taken from: Church of God Doctrines -1979 ed.)
IS IT RIGHT To Judge, To Expose Error, & To Call Names?
SILENCE
IS JUST PASSIVE AGREEMENT! WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT EXPOSING FALSE
TEACHERS?
Posted by Ronald
Harnage on Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 3:23pm
IS IT
RIGHT:
To Judge,
To Expose Error, & To Call Names?
Written by E.L. Bynum
Many today believe
that it is wrong to expose error and to name names. Liberals have always seemed
to believe this, but in recent times it has been widely espoused by
evangelicals and charismatics. Now we are seeing the same fatal error being
declared by those who profess to be Bible believing fundamentalists. Those who
are faithful in exposing error according to the Bible are now being widely
denounced, and are accused of being unloving and unkind. In this tract we
intend to present the teaching of the Bible on this vital subject.
I. It Is
Right To Practice Biblical Judgment
One of the most
misused verses in the Bible is, "Judge
not, that ye be not judged" (Matt. 7: 1). Every
Scripture verse should be read in its context, if we are to properly understand
the true meaning. In vs. 2-5 of this same chapter it is evident that v. 1 is
referring to hypocritical judgment. A brother who has a beam in his own eye
should not be judging the brother who may have a mote in his eye. The lesson is
plain, you cannot judge another for his sin if you are guilty of the same sin.
Those who cling to "Judge not, that ye be not
judged, " to condemn those who expose error should read the
entire chapter. Jesus said, "Beware
of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing... "
(v. 15). How can we know false prophets unless we judge them by the Word of
God? If we know the false prophets, how can we fail to exam the sheep of these
"ravening wolves?" All
through the Bible we find proof that they should be identified and exposed.
"Ye
shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of
thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree
bringeth forth evil fruit" (vs.
16,17). Did the Lord mean that we could not judge the tree (person), by the
fruit of their life and doctrine? Certainly not, for you cannot know without
judging. All judgment should be on the basis of Bible teaching, not according
to whims or prejudices.
"Judge
not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment " (John 7:24). Here our Lord commands that we are to "judge righteous judgment,
" which is judgment based upon the Word of God. If
judgment is made upon any other basis, other than the Word of God, it is a
violation of Matt. 7: 1. Webster's Dictionary says that a judge is "one
who declares the law. " The faithful Christian must discern or judge on
the basis of God's inspired law, the Bible.
A fornicator is
described in I Cor. 5:1-13. Paul "judged"
(v.3) the man even though he was absent, and he told the Church at Corinth that
they were to "judge"
(v. 12) those that were within. The Greek word for "judge" is
the same here as in Matt. 7: 1. Paul did not violate "judge not, that ye be not
judged, " in judging the man, nor in instructing the Church to
judge also. All of this judgment was according to the Word of God.
A person who is able
to discern between good and evil, has at least one of the major marks of
spiritual maturity. "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"
(Heb. 5:14). W.E. Vine says of the meaning of discern, "a distinguishing,
a clear discrimination, discerning, judging; is translated 'discerning' in I
Cor. 12: 10 of discerning spirits, judging by evidence whether they are evil or
of God. " Strong also agrees that it means to judge.
Those who
are unwilling or incapable of discerning or judging between good and evil are
in this manner revealing either their disobedience or their immaturity.
II. It Is
Right To Expose False Teachers
False teachers are
free to spread their poisonous doctrines today because there is a conspiracy of
silence among many Bible believers. Wolves in sheep's clothing are thus enabled
to ravage the flock, thereby destroying many.
John the Baptist
called the Pharisees and Sadducees (the religious leaders of his day) "a generation of Vipers"
(snakes) (Matt. 3:7). Today, he would be accused of being unloving, unkind, and
unchristian.
Jesus said to the
religious Pharisees,
"O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for
out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matt.
12:34). To many evangelicals and some fundamentalists, this would be
unacceptable language today, but it is biblical language and it came from the
mouth of the Son of God.
Standing face to face
with these false teachers, Jesus Christ the Son of God, called them "hypocrites", "blind
guides, " "blind, " "whited sepulchres, "
"serpents, "
and "ye
generation of vipers" (Matt. 23:23-34). Yet, we are told
today that we are to fellowship with men whose doctrines are just as
unscriptural as those of the Pharisees. Some who say they are Bible believing
Christians insist on working with Roman Catholics and other assorted heretics.
Yet, according to many, we are not supposed to rebuke them for their
compromise.
Near the beginning of
His ministry, "Jesus went
up to Jerusalem, And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and
doves, and the changers of money sitting: And when he had made a scourge of
small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen;
and poured out the changers' money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto
them that sold doves, Take these things hence, make not my Father's house an
house of merchandise"(John 2:13-16). Our Saviour is presented
today as one who was meek, lowly, kind, and loving, even to false teachers, but
this is entirely false. When
dealing with false teachers and prophets, His words were sharp and His actions
plain.
Near the end of His
public ministry, Christ found it necessary to cleanse the temple once again.
The exposure of false doctrines and practices is a never ending job. At that
time He said, "Is it
not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but
ye have made it a den of thieves" (Mark I 1: 17). Is it any
different today? The thieves come into the house of God, and rob God's people
of the Bible and peddle their perverted Bibles instead. At the same time this
den of thieves rob the people off the doctrine of separation and the doctrine
of sanctification. Then you can hardly tell God's people from the people of the
world. In all honesty, should not these thieves (false teachers) be exposed?
In our day these
false teachers have come into the churches with their books, music, literature,
movies, psychology, and seminars, and have turned the Father's house into a den
of thieves. It is time that men of God stand up and expose their errors for all
to see.
The Bible
Admonishes Us To Expose Error
We are to
TRY them. "Beloved, believe not every
spirit, but try the spirits, whether they be of God; because many false
prophets are gone out into the world" (I John 4: 1). All
doctrine and teachers are to be tried according to the Word of God. "To the law and to the testimony:
if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in
them" (Isa. 8:20). Every message, messenger, and method is to
be judged according to the Word of God. The church at Ephesus was commended
because they had "tried
them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars "
(Rev. 2:2). The church at Pergamos was rebuked because they tolerated those
that held "the doctrine of Balaam, " and "the doctrine of the
Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate" (Rev. 2:14,15). It is never right to
tolerate false teachers, but they are to be tried by the Word of God, and
exposed. Of course those who want to disobey the Word of God will seek by every
means to avoid this teaching.
We are to
MARK them and AVOID them. "Now I beseech you, brethren,
mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye
have learned; and avoid them " (Rom. 16:17). Those whose
conduct and teaching contradicts the Word of God are to be marked and to be
avoided. This requires discernment and judgment in the light of the Bible. The
ecumenicalists, new evangelicals, and compromising fundamentalists will resist
any effort to obey this Scripture. They
cannot be marked and avoided, unless they are judged according to the Word of
God.
We are to
REBUKE them. "Wherefore rebuke them sharply,
that they may be sound in the faith " (Titus 1: 13). This was
written to Titus, because there Were those going from house to house and
subverting whole houses with false doctrine (v. 10-16). Oral Roberts, Robert Schuller,
Jimmy Swaggart, Pat Robertson, and others are subverting whole houses with
their false doctrine today. Are we to sit silently by, while they do this,
without rebuking and admonishing people to avoid their teaching? No, the
faithful servant of the Lord is to be "Holding
fast the faithful word as he hath been taught, that he may be able by sound
doctrine both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers "
(Titus 1:9).
We are to
have NO FELLOWSHIP with them. "And have no fellowship with the
unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them " (Eph.
5:11). Reprove means to censure, condemn, find fault, rebuke, and to refute.
How can we obey this Scripture unless we try them by the Word of God?
We are to
WITHDRAW from them. "Now we command you, brethren,
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every
brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which ye received
of us " (II Thess. 3:6). We are to withdraw from those whose
doctrine and conduct does not conform to the Word of God. The context clearly
shows that obedience to sound doctrine is what Paul has in mind, for he says, "if any man obey not our word by
this epistle, note that man and have no company with him, that he may be
ashamed. Yet, count him not as an enemy, but admonish him as a brother"
(II Thess. 3:14-15). Paul admonished Timothy to "withdraw thyself "
from those who "consent not to wholesome words ... and to the doctrine
which is according to godliness " (I Tim. 6:3-5).
We are to
TURN AWAY from them.
Concerning the last days, he says that some will have "a form of godliness, but
denying the power thereof. from such turn away" for such
people are "never able
to come to the knowledge of the truth" (11 Tim. 3:5,7). How
can we turn away from them if we do not identify them, and this requires that
their message be compared to the Word of God. It is the business of the true
preacher to: "Preach
the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all
longsuffering and doctrine " (II Tim. 4:2). This is usually an
unpopular and thankless task but it is the duty of the God-called man.
We are
NOT to RECEIVE them into our house. "If
there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your
house, neither bid him God speed For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker
of his evil deeds "(11 John 10, I 1). There is no doubt about
who John is speaking about, it is "
Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ... "
(v.9). By radio, TV,
music and literature, false prophets are brought into the homes of many
Christians today. Brethren, this ought not to be!
We are to
REJECT HERETICS. "A man that is an heretick after
the first and second admonition reject " (Titus 3: 10). We should
reject those who deny redemption by the blood of Christ. There are many who
deny this or some other doctrine of the Word of God. If they will not respond
to being admonished, then they are to be rejected.
We are to
look out for those who preach another gospel. Paul warned about those who preached "another Jesus ... another
spirit ... or another gospel" (II Cor. 11:4). How can
we know them unless we judge their Jesus, their spirit, and their gospel by the
Word of God? Paul called such preachers "false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of
Christ" (11 Cor. II: 13). He explains in v. 14-15 that these
preachers are the ministers of Satan. The God-called man must be just as
faithful today in exposing the ministers of Satan.
Paul warned the
Galatians about those who "pervert
the gospel of Christ." He also said, "If any man preach any other
gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed."
(See Gal. 1:6-9). Multitudes today are preaching a perverted gospel. Those who
teach salvation by baptism, or by works, are teaching a perverted gospel. Those
who preach a salvation that you can lose, are preaching a perverted gospel. The
charismatics, Catholics, many evangelicals, and many fundamentalists (?) are
preaching a perverted gospel. Yet, we are supposed to cooperate with them in
evangelism and Christian work, according to many today. If we fail to expose
these false prophets, then we have betrayed Christ and His gospel.
We are to
SEPARATE from them. "Wherefore come out from among
them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch no the unclean thing; and I
will receive you " (II Cor. 6:17). This makes it plain. God's
people are to come out of apostasy and religious error. How can any Bible
believer remain in the National Council or World Council of Churches? How can
they remain among compromising evangelicals and wishy-washy fundamentalists?
III. It
Is Right To Name Names
Many mistakenly
believe that it is wrong to expose error and to name the guilty teachers; but they
are wrong according to the Bible.
Paul
named Peter publicly. Peter
was guilty of unscriptural practice. "But
when Peter was come to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to
be blamed ... But when I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the
truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew,
livest after the manner of the Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest
thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?" (Gal. 2:11-14). The
whole issue revolved around salvation by the law or by grace. When the
integrity and purity of the gospel is at stake, then we have no choice when it
comes to the matter of exposing error and naming names.
Paul
named Demas for loving the world. "For
Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world" (II
Tim. 4:10). Those who forsake the cause of Christ for worldly living and pleasures
should be named and exposed.
(Christian Rock!)
Paul
named Hymenaeus and Alexander. Paul
told Timothy to "war a
good warfare; Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some have put away
concerning faith have made shipwreck: Of whom is Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom
I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme "
(I Tim. 1: 18-20). God's true servants should war a good warfare, and name
those who have departed from the faith that was once delivered to the saints.
Paul is not here discussing the faith of salvation but the faith as a system of
doctrine. These men had made shipwreck of it and Paul exposed them and called
their names.
Paul
named Hymenaeus and Philetus.
He told Timothy to "study" that he might be able to
"rightly" divide "the
word of truth. But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto
more ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth as canker. of whom is
Hymenaeus and Philetus; who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the
resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some "
(11 Tim. 2:15-18). False doctrine overthrows the faith of some, so those who
are proclaiming it must be exposed.
Paul
named Alexander the coppersmith. "Alexander the coppersmith did
me much evil. the Lord reward him "cording to his works: Of whom be thou
ware also, for he hath greatly withstood our words " (II Tim.
4:14-15). It is clear that this is not a personality problem, but a doctrinal
problem. Alexander had withstood the words and doctrine of Paul. He was an
enemy to the truth. Godly pastors face the same problem every day. They stand
and proclaim the truth, then their members go home and hear this truth disputed
by radio and TV preachers. Often times these false prophets are sending their
publications into the homes of members of true churches. Then the man of God is
suppose to keep his mouth shut, according to many. Only a coward will be silent when the
truth of the Bible is under attack.
John
named Diotrephes. "I wrote unto the church; but
Diotrephes, who loveth to have the preeminence among them, receiveth us
not" (III John 9). He related how this man had prated against
him "with malicious words " (v. 10). He further said, "Beloved, follow not that which
is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God, but he that
doeth evil hath not seen God " (v. I 1). It is not wrong to
name those whose doctrine and practice is contrary to the Word of God.
In fact,
the whole Bible abounds in examples of false prophets being named and exposed.
All this modem day talk about love, used as an excuse for not exposing error,
is not really biblical love but is really sloppy agape.
Moses
called the name of Balaam. (See
Num. 22-25). Peter exposed "the way of Balaam ... who loved the wages of
unrighteousness " (II Pet. 2:15). Balaam was a prophet that
was in the work for money, just like some of the TV false prophets today. They
beg for money and live like kings, while multitudes of innocent people send
them their hard earned money. They are always building colleges, hospitals, TV
network satellites, and amusement parks that have a water slide for Jesus. And
then we are suppose to keep our mouth shut about these religious charlatans.
How can we be silent and be true to God?
Jude
exposed "the error of Balaam " (Jude I 1). John exposed "the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a
stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto
idols, and to commit fornication " (Rev. 2:14). This gets
right to the heart of the matter, concerning the doctrine of separation. Balaam
never did curse Israel even though he wanted the wages that he was offered to
do so. The men of Israel committed "whoredom
with the daughters of Moab ... and bowed down to their gods "
(Num. 25:1,2). Why did they do this? Because Balaam taught Balac how to break
down the barrier of separation between the Moabites and the Israelites. We know
this to be so because it is plainly stated in Rev. 2:14 and Num. 31:16. This
sin resulted in 24,000 men of Israel dying under the judgment of God. (Another good example of Christian
Rock)
False teachers are
breaking down the barrier of separation between God's people and false
religion. There is too little preaching and teaching on the doctrine of
separation. Balaam breached the doctrine of personal separation by causing the
men of Israel to commit fornication with the Moabite women. He breached the
doctrine of ecclesiastical separation by causing the men of Israel to bow down
to Baal. This brought a curse upon Israel. Until we get back to teaching the
truth about personal and ecclesiastical separation, we can expect the continued
widespread havoc that we have today.
It seems to be
believed by many that some people are too high and mighty to be named or
exposed. Men in high places, pastors of large churches, and those with great
radio or TV audiences, are supposedly above criticism. Whatever they may do or
say, no matter how contrary to the Bible it may be, is supposedly all right.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Nathan
identified the man. There
was a man in a very high place who was a secret adulterer. Surely this man who
held the highest office in the land could not be rebuked by a lowly unpopular
prophet. Nathan went right into the presence of David, revealed the sin in a
parable form, and then told the enraged David, "Thou art the man "
(II Sam. 12:7).
Hanani
named king Jehoshaphat. In many
ways Jehoshaphat was a good king, but he mistakenly forgot to practice
religious separation. He caused his son to marry wicked king Ahab's daughter. (See
II Chron. 18: 1; 21:1-6). He made an alliance with Ahab and went to the battle
of Ramoth-gilead with him (II Chron. 18). Hanani "said to King Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the
ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? " (II Chron. 19:2).
We have a question for those,"Shouldest
thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord?"
Yes, it
is right to expose error and to name those who are in error. It is right to
"earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the
saints" (Jude 3). It was once delivered and it has never been
recalled for revision. We had better beware of "false teachers ... who privily shall bring in
damnable heresies " (II Pet. 2: 1). Faithful messengers will
warn the sheep of these heretics, and identify them by name. It is not enough
to broadly hint of their identity, for the young lambs will not understand and
will be destroyed by the wolves.
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