God formed the church (ekklesia) but men created religious parties. Man is founder of denominationalism and strife—yes; but founder of the church—no!

An example please: God formed the “com­munity of the saints” (1 Cor. 1:10) at Corinth but men created the parties. The parties (1 Cor. 1:12) were composed of those whom God had added to the ekklesia but neither of these parties nor all of them together, constituted the ekklesia of God at Corinth. The church existed at Corinth before any of these parties came into being. Paul, the apostle, did not say that those connected with the parties were not in the church. He affirmed that they were! But they were not in the church because they were in the party. They were in the “community of the saints” by the grace of God and in the party (denomination) by the mis­takes of men. The same is true today.

Therefore, we are opposed to denomination­alism. We refuse to regard divisions among Christians as a normal state. Division is evil. It is a violation of God’s plan and purpose (John 17) and no man can be indifferent about divisions between brethren and be faithful to the trust given us by God, our Father and Christ, our Savior. We are dedicated to the destruction of all sects and the uprooting of all factions by destroying the taproot which sustains and nurtures them—the party spirit.

Sectarianism is a wicked sin. It is classed with the most vile sins of the flesh. “Heresies … they which do such things SHALL NOT in­herit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21)

The word “heresies” is actually an untrans­lated Greek word. This word appears ten times in the New Testament Scriptures. It is trans­lated “sect.” Strong’s definition is: “A choice; a party; a sect.” And the American Standard Version has “factions, divisions, and parties.” (Gal. 5:19-21) The word “heresy” is used to designate a “preferred group,” or “section” of people—“PREFERRED” indicating exclusiveness and actual rivalry of certain factions within the church.

The church “of Cephas,” “of Paul,” and “of Apollos” are all SECTS. They are competitive. They do not function as brothers. They are not “workers together” but “workers on one another.” Christianity is not competitive, but sectar­ianism is most competitive. Sectarianism fos­ters rivalry, division, and a self-protective system. The threat of disfellowship and ex­communication are instruments used by the sectarians for the purpose of holding their subjects in bondage to the system. Moral per­suasion, love, and the plain truth of Scriptures are not enough. They must use tyranny. No teacher or minister dare express any thought that might be contrary to the voice of the system. (He is cast out if he does.)

Sectarianism is a major crime against the body of Christ. Sectarianism is classed side by side with adultery, witchcraft and idolatry. Paul declared, “Now the works of the flesh are manifest.” He lists the “PARTY SPIRIT” and says, “I tell you before, as I have also told you in times past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21)

It is eternally important that every minister and professing Christian examine his position and be absolutely certain how he stands in regard to his relationship with the body of Christ. It is time for every individual who claims to be “in Christ” to take inventory of himself and determine beyond the shadow of doubt, that he has actual fellowship with his Lord and is not merely a soothed, satisfied, and deceived sectarian.

Many of us who have claimed to be most ardent workers for the Lord have been the promoters of a “party.” The divisions which exist prove the carnality of the professed believers. It is time to face up to facts, before God, and do something.

The facts overwhelmingly prove that our whole philosophy has been wrong. Denomina­tionalism is the result of our thinking. We are exactly where our thinking has brought us. Christ prayed for unity, and our thinking has produced division.

When a man insists that Christians must see eye to eye, you know whose eye he is talking about. It is so easy to become a sectarian. Let us be on guard. No one is quite so factious as the man who thinks he knows all that can be known and who demands that every one else give in to his views as the price of peace.

A sectarian regards “his party” as the church of God on earth and his attitude is divisive and factious. A sectarian is one who devises a partisan test (test belonging to the party) and separates from his brethren or drives them out if they do not concur with his views.

The apostle declared, “There is one body, and one Spirit ... one Lord, one faith, one bap­tism, one God.” (Eph. 4:4-6) There is “one body.” There can no more be another church than there can be another God, another Lord, or another Spirit. But today we have “parties” and each party has its spirit, its faith, its lord, and its baptism.

Why not admit it? The party spirit is a sin. It is subversive of the divine purpose. The cry of the party is, “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other ‘party’ under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (See Acts 4:10-12)

Mark it down: we are not saved by the church. It is the body of saved ones, those who come to the Christ. The church, or body, must be saved. The church is not a Savior. “Christ is the head of the church, His body, and is Himself its Savior.” (Eph. 5:23) Giving a party a scriptural label does not sanctify it. In fact, using a scriptural expression in a “party sense” is vain. It is just plain sinful!

Baptism, while it is scriptural, has been made sectarian. The second party will not recognize the baptism of the first party. How about a little recognition of the baptism commanded by Jesus Christ our Lord!

Christianity is not belief, nor a system of beliefs; it is a personal relationship with the God of heaven. We are brethren through Christ and only through Him.

It is my opinion, based upon my meager understanding of the Scriptures, that there are only three reasons given in the Scriptures for the “withdrawal of recognition” or the right to refuse recognition to a professed Christian. They are: (1) Moral turpitude, (2) Doctrines that separate from God, and (3) Party spirit. I can find no others. In the Scriptures, nothing was to be regarded of the same importance as the recognition of the Sonship of Jesus, for upon this fact the salva­tion of the whole world depended. This was primary while matters of doctrinal growth were secondary. Faith was to hold a man to Christ while opinions were held by men in Christ. But today the honest soul who cannot in good conscience conform is branded as a heretic and expelled from the party. There are as many standards of authority as there are factions, and each “party” protests that it alone is “loyal” and all of the rest are traitors and apostates.

They (the parties) cease to take directions, and begin giving them. They do not obey laws, they make them! They want not to be led, but to be leaders. They know the body is one, and they propose to be one!

We conclude with the words of W. C. K., “Experience should teach us that unity can never be achieved by coercion or forced con­formity. The multiplicity of schisms, factions, sects, and parties witness to the futility of that course pursued in the past. But if unity is not to be secured upon the basis of common opinion and understanding of all revelation, how can it be brought about?! My reply is that it can only result from a mutual love for each other based upon a common relationship to Jesus. Unity is a command which we obey in love because of what has been done for us. We are not one in opinion, we are one in Christ! It is not that we are reconciled to all the views of each other, but that all of us have been reconciled to God that makes us one body. ‘And that He might reconcile both to God in one body by the cross’, thereby bringing hostility to an end. (Eph. 2:16) Our peace is not the result of mutual understanding of every scrip­tural passage. Our peace is personal. He is our peace! It is our agreement with God, our covenant, that brings us into relationship!” (Eph. 2:14)

Neo-Charity / Agapé Love ...

Righteous or Unrighteous?

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. For in Him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And ye are complete in Him, which is the head of all principality and power … the body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility … intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not holding the Head, from which all the body by joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together, increaseth with the increase of God. Wherefore if ye be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, why, as though living in the world, are ye subject to ordinances, (touch not; taste not; handle not [baptize not]; which all are to perish with the using;) after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed A SHOW of wisdom in WILL-WORSHIP, and humility … If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth. For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”—Col. 2:8-10, 17-3:3

Ever since 9/11 there has been an acceleration of a “twisted tolerance” that is present in our day. There are those who are redefining the church and who are redefining God’s true agapé love. In our newsletter this season, we want to look into some truths that will help steer us away from these spiritual mud puddles. They are splattering many. In traveling around this nation we have seen men and women hurting; we have seen many people who are not prospering; we have seen many stuck in things they wish they knew how to get out of; we have seen many who cannot see, and who do not know what to eat. They are starving to death because they are eating a lot of “stuff” that does not have enough nourishment in it to keep them alive. They are receiving a sub-nutritional diet! Or, they are being fed the truth, they are hearing the words, but there is no attending power, there is no authority behind it, because the living example is not complete in their eyes. Those who are handing out the bread have some mixture (“a little leaven”) spun into their teaching. This affects how it is received by those who are eating that bread or hearing that teaching. We are more and more burdened for the churchmen who are not being fed a healthy diet of sound biblical instruction (doctrine), personal guidance and equipping (discipleship), and eventual release (ordination, or the laying on of hands), so that the local church may know of the differing gifts that are available to them—shepherds, counselors, disciplers, teachers, etc. These are gifts that Jesus Christ has given to His Church for His purposes … and for the best interest of His saints.

“And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, that ye also have seen Me, and believe not. All that the Father giveth Me shall come to Me; and him that cometh to Me I will in no wise cast out.”—Jn. 6:35-37

So, from prayerfully seeking the Lord’s face and studying church history, as well as looking at the day we live in, we would like to share several insights with you. We believe they will bring understanding and help your discernment regarding the influences that lead to this redefining of the church and the redefining of God’s agapé love. It may be healthy to step back once in awhile and get an overview of our post-Christian, post-modern world and to objectively survey the past, the present, and perhaps the future landscape. Our Lord admonished us:

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.”—Matt. 10:16

And from the Apostle Paul:

“See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.”—Eph. 5:15-17

Let’s define the term charity / agapé / love. We often use this term rather loosely. In loving others, from God’s perspective, it means we are to give people what they need for their immediate profit. (See Jn. 3:16; Heb. 12:6; Phil. 1:9-11; 1 Jn. 3:16, 18, 4:7-11) To do this, we must discern the need. Jesus said:

“A new commandment I give unto you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another.”—Jn. 13:34-35

Love to God means we are keeping His commandments:

“He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me…”—Jn. 14:21. “And hereby we do know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. He that saith, I know Him, and keepeth not His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth His word, in him verily is the love (agapé, charity) of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in Him. He that saith he abideth in Him ought himself also so to walk, even as He walked.”—1 Jn. 2:3. (See also Jn. 14:23; 1 Jn. 5:2-3)

We have seen many people merely joining a system and following a leader because they are tired of trying to do things in another way. They are tired of being hurt and frustrated, so they believe that somehow “bigger is better”. But the bigger the setting the easier it is to be lost in the fray of social busy-ness, activity, and meetings. They join in with a “party spirit” where they can feel good about what they are doing because everyone is doing the same thing! They can forget about everything else. This is not a new thing. It has been around for quite some time. We have to be careful about the effects of that kind of setting, that kind of spirit. People will “hang out” in that atmosphere, just hoping that some day they will get a chance to do more. But until then, they just follow the ‘big fishermen’, the momentum, and the direction that is laid out before them.

We do not call that Christian charity, the agapé love of Christ. Why? Because, sooner or later, true shepherds will lead people to the Savior Himself to receive the bread of life for themselves, that they might be profitable and serve in the body according to the call that is upon the whole church—to live and give the pure gospel, and to be soul-winners. We must not just sit in places, not doing the work that God has called us to do.

To further explain, let us use the example of Noah’s ark, which gives illustration to some particular aspects of the Church. In the midst of an evil and vile world, the Lord found three qualifications in Noah: a just man, a perfect man in his generation, and a man who walked with God. (Gen. 6:9) There was no Old or New Testament written down back then. There were no microphones, tapes, videos, books, or any such things. But somehow, Noah was a just and righteous man, perfect in his generation. He was being faithful and obedient. That is amazing! In the sensationalism of the flood, the destruction of the whole world, and the rainbow, we sometimes forget about that. God found a man who obeyed Him and in whom there was no compromise. This qualified Noah to build the ark. Three times, in Genesis 6 and 7, the Bible records that Noah did all that the Lord commanded him. (It is one thing to know when God commands you; it is quite another when men command you. We must know the voice of the Shepherd. Our discernment is on call in our day.) In Heb. 11:7 we read that Noah was obedient to God by faith. Being warned of God, he moved with fear and built an ark for his family to save them alive, and condemned the world, becoming an heir of the righteousness which is by faith. The true men of God in the church are those who, when God commands something, though they may not understand everything about it, do understand that it is their duty to trust and obey. The man who will trust and obey only in what he can rationalize with his logic and his own understanding has a contracted, shriveled heart of unbelief, devoid of faith—“the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” (Heb. 11:1)

Noah was told to build the ark out of gopher wood. He followed the instructions though he may not have understood why he had to use that particular kind of wood. He obeyed. He used one kind of wood to build the entire ark. He did not compromise. God knew he could trust a man who would obey. That is the first significant thing—when you are building anything, build with what God calls you to build with and make it out of just that one “wood”. Make it one thing. Make it Christ Jesus. He has one common material. Noah obeyed. Not just “mostly”, but every board was of gopher wood. The Church must be of one material—for purity, integrity, strength, and righteousness—built on our only Lord, Christ Jesus. One kind of material equals oneness or unity. The Church, when established, was one and should be so today. The greatest sin ever committed against the Son of God is a divided church. The greatest weapon in the hands of the devil, to impede the marches of Christ’s army and throttle the power of the Holy Spirit, is a divided church. “If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.” (Mark 3:25) The apostles condemned division and advocated unity. Jesus’ dying prayer with His men was that they (we) be one. But it is not just union that we want, brethren—just becoming a collected whole—but rather, unity of faith, in one mind and one accord. The Bible records this many times. Jesus never prayed for church unions, denominations, convention centers, business centers, commercialized fun centers, Greco-Roman lectoriums and amphitheaters, and the like—all promoting a particular name-brand or party spirit. Jesus said, “My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves.” (Matt. 21:13)

God also said to Noah, “A window shalt thou make to the ark …” (Gen. 6:16) What is a window? It is a medium for light to go through. The Bible is the medium through which God allows His light to come to us, through which He speaks to us. We have to go by His Word. We do not need another word. If God says to use one window, then let us use that one window! Faith comes by hearing the word of God—the window that gives us light. (Rom. 10:17)

Noah was also instructed to put only one door on that big ark. And it was God who closed it and God who opened it. But today, there are many windows and many doors in what is being called the church. And even then there is not enough light! That is why there are denominations, divisions, and all kinds of things to wade through as we try to determine where the truth about Jesus Christ really exists. Given all of these “churches”, movements, conferences, meetings, etc., one might ask, “How is it that our nation still looks and acts like it does when there is so much religious activity going on, so many prayers, so much teaching, etc? Why isn’t there a good, strong character change? Why isn’t there a revival?”

Though we may have determined with all of our heart that we will be unlike the world in our corporate worship, the net effect for many is that we are becoming much like the world in our private lives. In traveling through our nation, it can be noted that we “Christians” look more like “Philistines” all the time. (See Deut. 18:9; Jer. 10:2) We work like them, live like them, drive like them, are entertained like them, restaurant like them, computer like them, and are more driven and drawn into their culture than we like to admit. We see it in our young people. Just listen to them and look at what is motivating them. We are living too close to the world! We cannot live that way and get away with it for long. We cannot hold fire to our chest without getting burned. (Prov. 6:27) In unbelief, some will say, “I’m not going to get burned! I can do these things and get away with it.” But, they cannot. There is cost and there are consequences:

“… Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.”—James. 4:4

This verse also pronounces such folks to be adulterers and adulteresses! That is strong language! Yet, what is it when professing Christians can be right on the mark—singing all those familiar hymns in four-part harmonies, listening to every word spoken by gifted men, sitting in their modest Sunday best with well-ordered families, attending weekly Bible studies and prayer meetings—yet commiserate with the world the majority of the week, discussing the topics of the world as they come up, muting the same Jesus that was declared so openly in the congregation when they assembled?

The Great Commission declares to all believers to go forth and advance the Kingdom of God. We are to be fellow ambassadors with diplomatic authority in this world. This authority is endued by the Holy Spirit through the word of truth, and is available to us in order that we might work in this fallen world, inviting others into the Kingdom of Christ. But where are the disciples? Where is individual initiative? And WHERE are the SPIRITUALLY PROSPERING SAINTS? The over busy-ness in the routines of daily life, moving around to be with the hottest churches or movements in our nation, joining larger fellowships of hundreds and sometimes thousands leaves less time for God and the study of His Word. This results in a lack of intimacy and personal accountability. Sin can then find a place to hide. These moves do not help but can be very much of a hindrance. Each person’s gift may be hidden or overlooked. Individuals melt into the backdrop of a “sea of faces” which results in little or no time spent in personal evangelism. Many are just taking their place in this 21st century blur, as the tyranny of the urgent overrides virtually everything else. We are all in this battle. The light and the salt are going out of America, and what remains is being swept onto the cultural train of convenience, social life, and sectarian class. And as we look on, the days turn into weeks, and the weeks turn into months, and the years begin to tick by with unnerving velocity. Yet, even with all the great teaching hitting all the right points, it seems that men are not prospering in godliness and holy boldness. Evangelism seems to be forced, infrequent, and awkward!

Judgment Day examination looms imminently one day closer as each day goes by. Our temporal lives are being reduced day by day. In the privacy of daily self examination, can we say with the great cloud of witnesses that we lived each one for and unto the great purposes of Christ? Or have we been preoccupied with the world? Ask yourself, ‘What in the world have I done in the name of Jesus today?’ Can you put anything forth? The question might well be asked, “If the church today is closer than ever to the second coming of Christ, why does it seem the least prepared? The least ready?” Where is our agapé / charity / first-love to Christ?

“Unto the … church of Ephesus write … I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars; and hast borne, and hast patience, and for My name’s sake hast labored, and hast not fainted. Nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember therefore from whence thou art fallen, and repent …”—Rev. 2:1-5

This church, if we measure things by missions, did a great job! Paul spent three and a half years of his time there and his disciples overturned all of Asia so that all heard the gospel. They had Erastus’ teaching. They had Aquilla. They had Timothy. They had John the Revelator, the beloved apostle of Jesus, spending time in their church in his twilight years! No one could have had it better. There was too much good going on for them to believe that they could have a problem! Yet, they had fallen from spiritual fulfillment in Christ to social contentment in their party / denomination. Jesus warns them, “Never-theless I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love [agape, charity].” And He told them that unless they would repent, He would quickly pull their light out of its lamp stand. They would not have the light of Christ. And today, if you have been anywhere near Ephesus, you will know that their lamp stand was taken away. Today, what used to be a very nice commercial harbor—all that city’s glory—is a place of ruins. What was once a place of great commerce and ornate columns now lays prostrate in the dust of history. Why? Because in all this church had—its bigness, evangelism, programs, discerning true and false preaching, etc.—they lost their first love / agapé. They lost the light of truth. They lost power. They lost everything. There is no reason for a city or nation to go on if they have had Christ and then rejected Him.

As saints, we are first ministers unto Christ—kings and priests unto our God. And yet, without discipleship and teaching on this we, too, can lose our first love. That is exactly what is happening in our nation today. This “lost note”—the priesthood of every believer—as well as discipleship, has fallen into disuse. And how the Church suffers for it! Yet it is clearly a problem of the shepherds and not the sheep.

There were, in Jeremiah’s, Ezekiel’s, and Zechariah’s day, shepherds who would “heal My daughter slightly” (Jer. 6:14, 8:11). It was the same in our Lord’s day as He saw “they were as sheep not having a shepherd” (Mark 6:34). The shepherds were “hirelings” who fed the sheep on insufficient, spiritually sub-nutritional diets. Left that way, the sheep starve to death, even amidst all the activity, friends, fanfare, and fast-food. And in Jeremiah’s, Ezekiel’s, and Zechariah’s day, the Jewish nation was deported. The ruling class in Jesus’ day, the Pharisees and Sadducees, were demolished in 70 A.D., all because of perverted, false worship. What will happen to the ruling class church movements of our day? Are there strains of heresy and perversions that result in grievous, false worship as well? It is very clear that we need to be discerning and to be faithful to “speak out” about things when we see those who are holding back the flocks of God. (Eph. 4:15, 5:11-16)

The Lord cannot bless us just because we have good teaching, with good and modest families and plenty of good singing. No. He can only bless us as we live, love, and image Christ Jesus accurately. When we declare Jesus accurately in the proclamation of His gospel, He is being represented in His righteous glory. And that is what we are sorely lacking today. And we need to preach those things to all men, not just to the church men and to the choir! Good moralists, good deists, and a sold-out crowd at a party spirit meeting do not reflect Christ Jesus as Lord. They are just sensual Christian idols raised up to go along with the hedonistic culture of our day. Yet, the church of Jesus Christ (not another modern name-brand that seeks to redefine His church) stands in both unity and purity as well as sound doctrine and instruction. Her unity is in what Christ has done, not in what they do. And her purity is in how He wants things to be done. In everything, all glory goes to His name and all saints see themselves under the great canopy of His agapé / love, His charity, as co-servants. They view themselves as those “unprofitable servants” who unselfishly serve without expecting anything in return (Luke 17:10). That is also part of true agapé love—no pharisaical notice. Oh, how we love to be recognized for doing something good! Especially when it is affirmed with a sign, wonder, or miracle. But full-on faithfulness is just simple, child-like obedience—obedience to the graces and the promises given. Unprofitable servants merit nothing. They are servants and slaves unto righteousness (Rom. 6:16-18), who realize that every good thing comes down from above (James 1:17). They own nothing, but in Christ they possess all things. This is the simplicity of devotion and worship to Christ Jesus, our truly risen and fully ascended Lord (2 Cor. 11:2-3, NASB). The beginning course in the book of Genesis reveals the Lord’s own loving determination for all men— that they be at rest with Him in His eternal Kingdom. May that be the focus of our obedience unto His sound doctrine and instruction. And may we be honest to both acknowledge and correct, with appropriate amendments, any unintentional course changes as we are made aware of them.

Let us now look back into church history. In the first century, Jesus and the apostles, as they were raised up, were accustomed to elders ruling at the local level in synagogues. It had been that way for a long time and was the accepted practice. And the first century church was task oriented, fulfilling the Great Commission, pointing people to recognize that the second return of Christ Jesus was imminent. Organization and structure took a back seat to the primary task of obedience to sanctification and to proclamation of the Gospel.

Today, we see a reversal of that task oriented apostolic footprint. The party/conference organization is a primary focus, and task is either secondary or, in some cases, elective. Jesus clearly spelled out the task—the Great Commission—that we be light and salt. But He left it up to the disciples to continue to employ the organizational structure with which they had grown up. The Jewish synagogue was under the direction and the authority of a plurality of elders, and the Jews were accustomed to this type of government. When the church began, there were elders chosen to have the direction over the work of the church. The local governing eldership was not something new that needed explanation or comment, and no special mention of it is made. In Acts 20:28-29, 1 Tim. 3, and Titus 1:5-9 we see that elders were responsible for direction and oversight, doctrine and teaching (or instruction), discipleship, and discipline.

One striking fact that should not be overlooked in discussing the ministry of the first century, New Testament church is that there is no mention of any priesthood except the priesthood of all believers. A very key distinction of the church of Jesus Christ is that they were all priests and kings unto the Lord. There was one priesthood and all believers were a part of it. Peter makes that abundantly clear, as does Paul’s letter to the Ephesians. All saints stand on level ground at the foot of the cross. No bishop, (this word is used interchangeably with elder, presbyter) that is, no elder, deacon, apostle, prophet, or any other officer is called a priest. There is no such thing in the New Testament.

“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.” “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar [or purchased] people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”—1 Peter 2:5, 9

“In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: in whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.”—Eph. 2:21-22

“But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.”—Eph. 4:7

Notice Paul’s detail as a caring shepherd of the flock, for the lost, the poor, and those who are just entering in.

And why does He give elders to the church?

“For the perfecting [maturing] of the saints, for the work of the ministry … [Who is to do the work of the ministry? All saints— one priesthood. The elders merely equip them.] … for the edifying of the Body of Christ: till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect [mature] man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”—Eph. 4:12-13

That is what was in view in the first century—that all saints would have that! The elders would have temporary jobs until all would come to this place. This was the shepherd-heart of Paul.

“But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into Him in all things, which is the head, even Christ: from whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in agapé / charity / love.”—Eph. 4:15-16

In the love of God. How do we make increase? How do we build each other up? When all the gifts are working at their best. Whose responsibility is it? The Lord’s? The equipping gifts? No. All of ours. It is so clear. There are many saints across this country who are not doing these things because they do not know. They are not prospering saints because they have not been taught. They do not understand their God-given role in the priesthood of Christ Jesus. And they are paying a high cost for not having this portion of the Good News, because of a few overly ambitious, blinded-by-might men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. We call this “ecclesiastical despotism”. It is heresy! Now, brethren, “… ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that you have heard Him, and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus … ” (Eph. 4:20-21). There is one priesthood and it is all saints. The truth of Christ’s agapé/charity will never change. So we say to you, refuse all other forms of neo-charity/agapé. All believers come directly to God through the only High Priest, Christ Jesus our ever active Head and Lord, for there is no sacrifice for sin except the sacrifice of Christ offered once for all. Hallelujah!

Again, looking into church history … How was the progression made from the first century, apostolic church—a locally ruled community of believers—to one large, institutionalized, multi-leveled, hierarchical church by the fourth century? This was accomplished primarily through the influence of four very gifted men who appeared to really love the Lord. (There were many, but we, for our purposes, are only going to mention four.) They were very influential in helping the church maintain its balance through an abundance of heresy, sometimes coming from well-intentioned men, that ran rampant in the first four centuries. We are still dealing with the effects of some of these heresies in our day.

The first of these four men was Ignatius. He lived between 95 and 150 A.D. He was one of the apostle John’s disciples. He had talked with John. He had heard the truth from John—someone who had been so close to Jesus Christ. But Ignatius began to diverge from his discipler, John. Remember, prior to the “church fathers” (those who came after the apostles), the Christian communities of the first century had no system of centralized administration. It was never part of the foundation of the first century church. But, early in the second century, just after John, the beginnings of a central structure appeared, and the first separation of clergy and laity occurred. Ignatius is quoted by Paul Johnson, an historian and a teacher, in his book A History of Christianity, pg. 6, “The first epistle of Clement stressed the importance of decency and order in the church. And part of this order was a hierarchical structure. Women were to be subject to men; the young to the old; the multitude to the presbyters, or alternately to the bishops; and deacons selected for this purpose.” Within 20 years Ignatius was able to clearly define his terms. In a 10-volume set of the ante-Nicene fathers, in book #5, we can read Ignatius’ writings. In his prison epistles, written while he was on his way to be executed, he addressed the Smyrnians, writing, “Let all things therefore be done by you with good order in Christ. Let the laity be subject to deacons, the deacons to presbyters, the presbyters to the bishop, the bishop to Christ even as He is to the Father.” Ignatius also commanded that “nothing was to be done without the bishop”, that “baptism or celebration of the eucharist could only be administered by the bishop himself, or by someone he would designate”. Now, let us remember that this was John’s disciple! The church age was barely into the first part of the second century and already there were some major changes taking place. Most community churches were still operating independently, but beginning with the influence of Ignatius, a system of bishops expanded eventually from a bishop over the local body to a bishop over every city, and then to a group of bishops forming a monarchial, ruling body … or multi-level hierarchy.

Does this sound familiar? You have probably observed new movements, even in our day, that vie for position as they get larger, and momentum, numbers, and money (influence!) become dynamic factors. A name gets welded on to the movement. Then, as church history reveals, when the original leader dies no one can fill the vacuum of power that is left behind. Controls are then initiated to help “keep everything in place”. It is at this point that the movement becomes a denomination—a leftover movement/conference (call it what you will) and history informs us of the rest of the story.

The intentions of the early “church fathers” seem clear. They were definitely concerned about unity and order within the church. And they were looking for a system of defense against the heresies that were from without. But they had not yet dealt with the things that had come from within. They achieved their goals, but at an awful price. They created a clergy/laity caste system which is still with us to this day. It puts the average believer out of business in taking part as a priest, in terms of their ministry in the gospel of Christ. The freedom experienced in the apostolic, New Testament church period vanished as the authority of the bishops and their bishoprics (the ruling bishops) began to dominate the landscape of religion.

The baton was passed to Irenaeus, our second influential man, who lived during 130-212 A.D. This was the period of the “apologists” (150-300 A.D.)—those who formally began to lay out systematic theology. By this time most churches had adopted an informal hierarchy. Irenaeus advanced the idea that, as there was in the apostolic day an organic unity, so should they find visible expression in a political unity, maintained by a succession of appointed bishops who were in sympathy with the ruling order—those “yes men” who were in the “in” group. Irenaeus was the one responsible for the paradigm shift from the church as community to one of a conference or institutional organization. David Bausch, commenting on this period says, “Its white-hot convictions poured into the hearts of first adherents, and cooled down and became crystallized codes, solidified institutions, and petrified dogmas.” The prophet became a priest of the establishment, charisma (or gifting) became an office, and charity / love routine. The horizon was no longer the world but became the boundaries of the local parish. (So much for the Great Commission.) And we learn by Irenaeus’ writings that even a spontaneous Bible study could be ruled unlawful. It could be shut down with just one single question: “Have you been authorized by the bishop to do this thing?”

Then came the third man, Bishop Cyprian. His era of influence was in the third century, 200-258 A.D. He wrote what was called The Unity of the Church, and we quote him here: “Produce the origin of your churches! Display the order of your bishops!” Whoever could not comply was considered an heretic! Thus, in Cyprian’s mind the system of bishops represented the whole church. He said, “Whence you ought to know that the bishop is the church and the church is the bishop. And if anyone be not with the bishop, he is not in the church. The church, which is catholic and one, is not cut or divided but is indeed connected and bound together by the cement of priests who cohere with one another.” Not even 150 years after John there were some real problems. After Cyprian declared that the church was the men who ran it, the next inevitable conclusion was that there could be no salvation outside the institution. And to this day, the Roman Catholic Church proclaims that very thing. “You cannot have God for your Father unless you have the [Catholic] Church for your mother.”

The fourth man we will mention is Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, who lived from 354-431 A.D. He was a very influential man who worked with many other gifted and persuasive men. Together, they influenced the move from organic local churches that were once community flocks having local shepherds, whose authority began and ended at the local level, into “power grids” that assumed power over all the churches, actually combining church and state. This can be noted in Augustine’s book The City of God. He frankly stated, “The two cities, that is, the earthly and the heavenly, are intermingled.” He held that they are to continue “to be intermingled until the last judgment affects their separation”. (Try to find that in the Bible!) Paul Johnson, the historian/teacher, writes, “For Augustine, Christianity was not the anti-society, it was society. Led by the elect its duty was to transform, absorb, and perfect all existing bonds of human relationships, all human activities and institutions, and to regularize and codify and elevate every aspect of life.” Here was the germ of the medieval idea of “total society”. It is clear that the original church was the product of the gospel. It is also clear that the visible, institutionalized church, whether Catholic or one of the other dissenting bodies, was shot through with contradictions to the gospel.

By the third and fourth century, the Catholic Church had introduced persecution and torture, just like the state in their day. Augustine became a proponent of persecution rationalizing that, if the state used such methods, was not the church entitled to do the same for higher purposes? He believed that this was Christ’s own way. He said, “Had He [Jesus] not by great violence coerced Paul into Christianity? Was not this the meaning on the text from Luke 14:23, ‘Compel them to come in’?” This is a clear case of Scripture twisting! But, if you do not have a Bible, you do not have right teaching, and you are listening to a very persuasive man at the top of the movement, with other guys that are up there saying, “Yeah, that’s right!”—guess what you are going to say? “Yeah, that is right!” No! That’s wrong! Jesus did not mean that. (Acts 17:11)

But according to Augustine, the state needed the church to transform society, and the church needed the state to enforce that transition. This is our church history. It was a fearsome arrangement. Nonetheless, it endured for over the next one thousand years as it cast the church system into the Dark Ages and set the tone for the historical concept known as the Middle Ages. Supported by Augustine’s persuasion and theology, the clergy exerted unbelievable power throughout the Middle Ages. Thus, not only had the average believer forfeited ministry to the clergy, but access to personal salvation was in the hands of the clergy as well. The possibility that God’s people might function according to the apostolic footprint of the local, indigenous, autonomous church communities had been destroyed. The average believer was encircled by the oppressive, institutional church. That is when people began to shut down, because they had no options.

Now, having laid out this snapshot of the first three centuries of church history, we learn that these mongrel mutations of offensive, heavy-handed controlling organizations only serve to quench the spirit of Christ in His people. Saints, this is not the church! The same spirit persisted throughout the Reformation. Many of the splinter groups merely followed the Catholic Church, reinventing the same problems, using Augustinian teaching to work for control, power, and persecution with that centralized, “Vaticanus”, multi-level authority structure ruling the masses. So it is today. The same ambitious spirit runs rampant in our day—that persuasive spirit that elevates itself to an ungodly assumption of power with an unwritten clergy/laity caste system of “us and them”, “in and out”. It is most troubling that this system of congregating runs in opposition to the Great Commission itself, extinguishing discipleship, release of gifting, authority that begins and ends at the local level in local fellowships, and the apostolic priesthood of every believer.

Now, ask yourself … “Are the men hot for Christ? Are they prospering in boldness? Are they faithful in soul winning?” Examine the fruit, brethren, of modern movements, as well as of past movements. If perchance you are one of those who does not believe that you are prospering spiritually, or functioning at the level you know you need to be, ask yourself, “Does my setting have biblical discipleship? Why not? Is there expository teaching and Bible study of entire books of the Bible so that I may know it line by line, precept by precept? Why not? Are my personal needs being met individually, for my marriage, and for my family? Why not? Am I able to minister to the Lord of glory in true love/agapé? Why not? What about the gifting Christ has put within me—how will it get uncovered and released? Am I “in”? Or am I “out”?” (Selah)

Have you ever thought about what you would do if you had been born again in the last 5-10 years? Where would you go to church? Would you open a phone book and see the hundreds of churches listed with all the programs and 3-D color pictures, etc.? Where is the true church amidst the plethora of persuasions? Above all, where are the organic, original charity/agape/love churches that hold fast the form of sound doctrine which came from the apostles and Paul? Where are those who worship in the faith and charity/love which is in Jesus Christ? (2 Tim. 1:13) There are a lot of lures saying, “This is the way.” Our discernment is “on call” today with all the teachings, meetings, tapes, videos, books and all the things that we so easily may attend. Let us not give a careless, selfish disregard for what is taking place in our soul. We are admonished by the apostles to examine every word carefully. We are examined by the Word of God and we in turn are to examine all things by the Word of God. (Acts 17:11; 1 Thess. 5:20-22; Rom. 12:9) We, ourselves, and nobody else, are responsible for that activity. We must throw out all counterfeit, neo-charity/agapé/love. The God of the Bible needs no help in redefining His love, His family, His Church, His authority, and His salvation. Is not the Holy Spirit of inspiration and affirmation dwelling within each believer? Where is the Holy Spirit in all this? We must rise up and contend earnestly for the faith once given unto the saints”. (Jude 3) Do you know that, saints? We are to do the contending! Who? Elders only? Workmen only? No! All the saints in the church! From where was the faith given? It was given from Jesus, to the apostles, through the Word and the Holy Spirit. It has then been disseminated to us without change. There must be skilled craftsmen who cut straight the Word of God, who show themselves faithful and able to teach that truth. These are the ones that you should make your elders, Paul told his disciples. (See 2 Tim. 2:1-3)

Jude goes on to say in verse 20, “But ye, beloved, building yourself up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love [agapé/charity] of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life”. Verse 24: “Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling (what a wonderful statement) and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy …” What does he say next? “Go to Headquarters? Go to the priestcraft system? Send an e-mail to “Vaticanus” and the elite there? Whatever you do, before you do anything, check in first?” No … Jude does not say that. He says, “To the only wise God our Savior be glory and majesty and dominion and power both now and forever.” Brethren, we always have access to the King of kings. We do not have to run to and fro to get a word from the King of kings! If we believe so, we have never met Him. Isn’t that our problem today? People really have not met the Lord yet and do not have that organic connection with Him. Jesus, in His own words, declares that He will manifest Himself to His saints, with His Father! (John 14:21-23) (Selah)

Just look at all the popular movements you would have to pick from if you had just been born again. First of all we have the Catholic Church (RCC) and all the mainstream Protestant church denominations. Then there are others: the Billy Graham Crusade organization, Promise Keepers, the Charismatic movement and all that goes along with that, the “third-wave” super prophets—the Kansas City five—Paul Cain, Mike Bickle, Rick Joiner, Bob Jones, and the Vineyard healing movement with John Wimber. There is Pat Robertson and the Moral Majority, the Reconstructionist camp, the Reformed Calvinist churches, the “laughing revival” with Rodney Howard Brown, and the Toronto “blessing” with John Arnot and Benny Hinn. There is the electronic church with the TBN Paul Crouch group, the 700 Club and The Prophecy Club. There is the “faith in your faith” movement by Ken Copeland and Ken Hagin and the Brownsville revival movement by Steve Hill and John Kilpatrick. There is the “church of the home-school fathers” (that has a wide description), Bill Gothard’s Basic Life Principles bringing on the godly family movement (restoring some much needed concepts) and all those who have jumped onto his bandwagon of re-establishing authority, family, and then task, including Focus on the Family, Johnathan Lindvall, Chuck Colson, and others. And then there are the plain religions including New Order Amish, New Order Mennonite, Beachy Amish, the Fellowship Churches, and all those who are just one or two steps away from their plain family denominations. There is also the Messianic Christian church movement of Jews and Christians who recognize Jesus as the Savior.

Now, with all these persuasions, it is like going to the Country Kitchen Buffet, or “Ryan’s Religious Deli”! There is too much to pick from and it all looks and sounds so good in the beginning. But check the back door to these movements. Look at the wounded and the confused, the judged, the condemned, the wearied and worn saints who are now just a little more skittish about trying out the next thing. Are these prospering in the Lord? Where are the discipling shepherds? (Matt. 18:5-7; Luke 14:26-30)

Concerning walking in Christ, we often hear of the ‘narrow road’. On the sides of this road there are two deep ditches that, once contacted, become treacherous. As you drive on a road, you know how it is when there is a deep ditch. If one tire gets over a little too far, it swallows the whole thing into the ditch. It is treacherous and may be lethal. For our purposes here, we will say that on the right is the “legal ditch” and on the left is the “liberal ditch”. The right could also be called the divided, sectarian, “party spirit” ditch. The left, or liberal side, can also be called the ecumenical ditch. Either of these can just draw you right in. But the narrow road is that which says, “Come unto Me … You will never hunger. You will never thirst. I am the Bread of Life.” That is where we need to keep our focus, with those who will help us to keep our focus there. It is the road of Life. (John 14:6)

We have been exploring the right hand ditch. Now let’s look at what is called “ecumenism” or the multi-faith, global deity—the ditch on the liberal side of the narrow road. Generally speaking, this is a mega-merge of Catholic, Anglican, Buddhist, Islamic, Jewish, and mainstream Protestant denominations becoming a super-global movement with one global deity. We saw this get a real boost after 9/11. During the week following, you may remember that there was a prayer meeting that took place on the Capitol steps with everyone singing together “God Bless America” before the TV cameras, etc. There were also prayer meetings at the White House and at many sports stadiums around the country. The one at the White House was well publicized. It was aired on many stations. It included the President, a few senators, house representatives, and some other well-respected names in modern Christendom who were there to pray, and the country with them. A woman led out—a Methodist preacher, a black preacher came after her—a Baptist, then Billy Graham spoke, then a Jewish rabbi, and then a Moslem cleric. All prayed to the same “god”, at the same time, for the same purpose. The multi-faith, ecumenical, global deity got a real boost and all of these men prayed as to the same god, the same deity, whether called “God”, Allah, Buddha, or Krishna, by Hindus, JW’s—Russelites, Mormons, “Christians”, Jews, New Age, or Mother Earth societies. Side by side they were all praying and “burning incense” to the same, so-called, deity. We witnessed this! Yet not one of those “fair-haired prophets” declared a risen Christ! They did not declare the absolutes of Christ and His church! None remembered that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and no man comes to the Father but by Him, that every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, and that whosoever denieth the Son the same hath not the Father! (1 Jn. 2:23, Jn. 5:23) No, we did not hear that. There were many altars burning incense that day. Even our President said that we should just pray. He told us to go to our churches, go to our mosques, go to our synagogues … and pray. Brethren, you did not so learn these things from Christ, if you have heard of Him and been taught by Him, as the truth is in Christ Jesus. The God of the Bible did not hear those prayers that day. Ps. 66:18 makes it very clear that if you regard iniquity in your heart, God will not hear, no matter how many altars full of incense are burning at the time. We see so clearly in the Old Testament that Israel had problems every time they got to a place of “multi-faith” worship. It happened over and over again during the time of the judges and the kings, and Israel was eventually removed from their land because of it. Mixture, politics, power and protection of party turf ended for them. And when the Lord sent a little warning to call this nation to repent, we saw a response of pride and not humility.

Some of the bill-boards across our land now have a particular trend. They started out with “God Bless America”. (Wonder why they don’t indicate that it is time for America to bless God?! For God has blessed America!) Then they went to “United We Stand”. Then on to “Proud to be an American”. Then, “9/11 … We Will Never Forget” and “Don’t Mess With America”! What direction is this going? Speaking of pride, you may remember that the name originally given to the operation to destroy the terrorists was “Infinite Justice”. There was a group of religious people who approached the Capitol and said, ‘President Bush, you cannot do that. It is blaspheming God. Please consider changing the name.’ They did this with kindness and humility. The President reconsidered and the name was changed to “Enduring Freedom”. The group that made this appeal to our President was Islamic!

These slogans are not the product of praying, repenting hearts. This all-out attempt to stamp out terrorism in a world-wide rampage will not stop God’s judgment upon idolatrous, western living. No one was willing to say 9/11 was part of the judgment against the world trade of modern Babylon. The one man who attempted it, Pat Robertson, was silenced politically after about 12 hours. Of course, he recanted and we did not hear of it again. Nothing has been heard from the TV personalities to this day. God must judge America because we have profaned the Lord’s name. We were not in darkness. We were in light! We had the Ten Commandments, and they had engagement and sway in our nation. (Selah)

May we suggest to you that there is a development of the one-world religion taking place right under our noses. We know that is not a new thought, but it is being formed right now in our times! In plain view! The ecumenical deity got a real boost in that political prayer endorsement of 9/11 because of all those who were involved, including our government, because they have no king to rule over them. That would not be “democratic”. And they have no savior to save, because it would be very “judgmental” to admit that people are lost and need to be saved!

One of the fruits that comes out of this movement is neo-patriotism. Last September just about everyone was waving a flag, and there are many flags hanging out even now. Teenagers would have dual flags streaming from their hot-rods, SUV’s, and pick-up trucks! And they were not the only ones. The second fruit, and more perplexing, is the operation “Enduring Freedom”. It has given special treatment and handling to the protecting of Islamics in America. Public school prayer rooms were set up for them, though Christian children cannot pray there. There is special police protection for them and their mosques. All this in the name of tolerance, which has taken on a ‘brotherly love’ tone. It is the attitude that ‘we can get along with that spirit; we can get along with these people; we are not so different after all’. There is a bumper sticker that says, “God is too big to be confined to one religion”! That is what is being publicized in our nation today! One writer said this: “In reaction against indiscriminate hate, there is now a stampede to pluralism and twisted tolerance. [The second fruit.] If Muslims are hated then let us call ecumenical gatherings and let us all praise the virtues of Islam and the wisdom of Allah and the goodness of Mohammed, but let no one speak the intolerable, indispensable truth that Jesus is the only way to God!”

Once upon a time, tolerance was the power to keep those of competing faiths from killing each other. It was the principle that elevated freedom above forced conversion. It was rooted in the truth that coercion is not conviction. Now, the new “twisted tolerance” of our day denies that there are any competing faiths. They only complement each other. It denounces not only the effort to force conversions, but the very idea that conversion may be necessary at all! Things have certainly changed! This “twisted tolerance” promotes the belief that no religious conviction should claim superiority over another. This defines pluralistic neutrality. It equals ecumenism—multi-faith. Brethren, BEWARE and be WARNED! Get CONCERNED! This is RANK HERESY! And it is being taught, endorsed, popularized, publicized, politicized, and practically enforced. Take note of these spiritualized political winds and their direction. It has happened before in history many times. We are not to be ignorant of the times and their signs (Matt. 16:3, 1 Thess. 5:1), spiritual things (1 Cor. 12:1), or the devices of the evil one (2 Cor 2:11).

The third and most egregious fruit that comes to light is that the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been destroyed and outlawed. Lifting up the Scriptures that say that Jesus is the only way causes problems in our day. This truth has been literally cut down in America. We are a nation that preaches religious pluralism but with a sectarian intolerance. It is a very interesting twist … and contradiction! (Selah)

We have sought to lay out these things before you, to appeal to your conscience so that you might take note of the general direction of things. There is leaking into our day that lying spirit of old, predominating in the one-world religion. It is without Jesus Christ as Author, Head, Savior, and Sovereign. It is of men and their imaginations. The “man of perdition” will be revealed (2 Thess. 2:3), and oh, brethren, beware of that fan club, that hero-worshiping, party spirit! You can know it by the insider, elite pride fast tracking with its frenzied, religious enthusiasm that has brought so many problems to power. Consider Hitler, an anti-christ prototype, who amassed a world-driven society in four years, sensually driven, with a people who were full of that party dominating spirit but were spiritually uninformed. It almost took a whole world. It was one battle away. Take it as a type that we can anticipate!

If we will be honest, we can smell the aroma of the same recipe stewing. Gifted men know it and use these crowd control techniques, because a thronging, popular religious movement cannot be handled any other way. But you did not learn so from Jesus Christ, who in His discipleship, at the height of His popularity, never hesitated to thin the crowds (Luke 14:25ff) with truth and the non-negotiable terms of discipleship! He said that unless you deny yourself, pick up your cross and “follow Me, you cannot be My disciple.”

Heresy is being taught today and our discernment is on call! The unstable souls Peter mentions are being deceived (2 Pet. 2:14). The two ditches on the side of the narrow road are being filled up fast. These ditches have something in common. The liberal, ecumenical, multi-faith, left side and the legal, authoritarian, patristic right side both impose a structure of controls. It is a controlling spirit. Both sides protect a party fever spirit. Both project a neo-charity love—either love loosely and “just love everybody”, or, “love our way or leave”. The lure (lie) is that this is love. We saw that in the last generation with the “flower children”. Both project a clergy/laity caste system (as Pat Robertson found out). It is unwritten, of course. Both demolish the priesthood of every believer—the elite, Vaticanus, clerical spirit has taken over—a sacerdotal, ruling priesthood (headquarters) that gets between a worshipping people and God. Both, without knowing it, are forging an Augustinian-type total society. Both offer great teaching from gifted and persuasive men, but people are not being fed what they need to prosper spiritually in Christ. Yet they still follow.

Let us now look at some of the effects produced. We should take careful notice of this because these things are not obvious. Both ditches refuse the ministry of reconciliation. Whether it is bringing people to Christ, or bringing differences to conclusion and walking on as brothers, the ministry of reconciliation is being refused. That is part of the control system—come on our terms or forget it. This is the heresy of a cult. Both ditches are divisive, schismatic and have forms of sectarian intolerance, shunning, laws, etc. There is an assumption to power by certain groups which have been around for decades, sometimes longer. They believe they can “green light” or “red light” preachers, as they call it. This is where true colors of control really show up. This is why they have the same few speakers at all the conferences, rallies, Bible schools, TV events, stadium events, etc. that people so look forward to every year or so. Their names become household words, more than the name of Jesus Christ. The Bible refers to certain “high places”. When it becomes more important to be seen at these events than to be in Christ in your own local town evangelizing, when the effect becomes “a support rally” for the troops and the moment, displacing Christ Jesus as Head, then it becomes a high place. Preacher friend, you will have to meet certain standards of other men if you are going to preach at these crowning, high place events. Otherwise, you are nobody. There are some who will follow these well-oiled events, no matter what. That is the heresy of false worship.

Both of these ditches quench the spirit of holiness and blur Christ, resulting in a lostness that is opposed to the New Testament. The fruit generally produced is not the fruit of Christ. Neither offer any expository teaching on whole books of the Bible. People just get little things by topics. They do not get all the pieces put together. Neither offer biblical discipleship. When a group is too big it is impossible to have that kind of discipleship. There is neither enough time nor men. This is the heresy of false teaching. So false doctrines slip in here and there by well meaning men. But the New Testament has warned us already that this would happen (1 Tim. 4 and 2 Tim. 4)—that there would be those who would turn away from the faith, turn away from sound doctrine, and lift up their ears to those who would tickle them.

Here are a couple of examples: the RCC scandal that is rocking the world—that it could be hidden, moving these guys around for decades. That is another problem. So the multi-level thing is all involved. But not only them! The Protestant denominations have their manipulations upon weak-willed women who are getting personal counseling and various “demonstrations” to improve their marriage. There are many popular pulpits that disgrace Christ by these wicked, two-faced pulpiteers. And then they get protection from their system, their elders, and their organization, because of the harm it would bring to their movement. Brethren, that is difficult to swallow. Where is the local church at this point? Swallowed up by that hierarchical, multi-faith, multi-level leadership. Even to the bloodying of sheep. If there is any recourse, it might come years later. That is a tragedy because the harm is already done. The Bible says these things ought not to be mentioned in the same breath with the people of Christ Jesus. (Eph. 5:1-3, 11-13)

Most recently, we were made aware that even baptism is being preached in forms of heresy today! There are those who make mandatory the veiling of girls and women before they will baptize them. To extort people at their own baptism is rank heresy of some of the basest sort! It is unbiblical, unqualified legalism! Woe unto those who eat the leaven of these modern day Pharisees who place people under the tyranny of bondage. Brethren, this is treason against the gospel of Jesus Christ! Peter had no problem baptizing Gentiles.

“Then Peter opened his mouth and said, ‘Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, (these are the qualifications) is accepted with Him. The word which God sent unto the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ: (He is Lord of all:)” … “To Him give all the prophets witness, that through His name whosoever believeth in Him shall receive remission of sins. While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Spirit fell on all them which heard the word. And they of the circumcision which believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy Spirit. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify God. Can any man forbid water, that these should not be baptized, which have received the Holy Spirit as well as we? And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord.”—Acts 10:34-35, 43-48

True saints on the narrow road bring forth the peaceful fruit of Righteousness—the Righteousness that comes only from Christ and what He has done. They receive from Jesus, they walk in those things, and then bring their gifts to the assembly to be shared, to give glory to God—to magnify His name in testimony, praise, and adoration. But the exact opposite is being taught in the ditches. Men must go to “power conferences”, revivals, and meetings to receive those things from these leaders so that they can then take it home and give it to God. Brethren, that is exactly backwards! We do not go to church or to men to get free manna. Jesus is the daily bread of life. And it can only be gotten in the private prayer closet—“Father, give us this day our daily bread.” It is when men do not have this understanding and relationship with Jesus that they begin to wander to and fro looking for a handout. And there are many people ready to give handouts in order to draw people in. We see that in the prisons—various forms of luring people in, by a different way. But they do not know Jesus Christ.

Oh, the burden upon the heart of true saints for the lost and the poor of our day who are being deluded. Our discernment is being called to task. Beware of those who are coming under this “anti-christ” spirit that puts heavy controls on how you will worship. The table and the courtyard of the temple were full of stuff being sold. Jesus had to come twice to turn over their tables, calling them robbers and thieves! This is not the Lord! Teaching people what they should sacrifice and what they should touch and what they should wear is the spirit of the anti-christ. How do we know? Look at the end of the Bible. Look at the anti-Christ’s church. What does he do? There is a mark that goes on men who worship him, and they cannot buy, they cannot sell, they cannot co-exist in society unless they have his mark. That is control, brethren, a religious control for daily living. And it is coming your way. (Selah)

Today, is Jesus Christ your first ambition? Your preoccupation? Your honest and true satisfaction above all else? Is His smile enough for you? Or do you need the smile and approval of men? That spirit will lead you to another Christ. There are many idols in our land to choose from. But, when Jesus is your satisfaction, then, and only then, will you be able to glorify God in His Kingdom. For God is most glorified when we are most satisfied that Jesus Christ is prophet, priest, and king—savior, sanctifier, sovereign, and our song. Lord of all! Hallelujah!

Christian, are you, on a regular basis, proclaiming the gospel to those who really need it? Not to the choir; not to church brethren, but to those who really need it? Do you give the poor, hungering and thirsty souls the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth? Do you show them how to get that bread for themselves from the Bread of Life Himself? Or do you lead them into a popular church movement of multi-leveled “Vaticanus”?

Ask yourself, ‘Why am I not prospering as a Spirit-led soul winner?’ If you have been reading your Bible prayerfully, can you blame your teachers? Can you blame the ditches on the sides of the road because of your reckless driving? Can you blame that party spirit with that new technique and twist on charity love? Are you infected with that busy beaver fever that runs you out of time for everything else? Ultimately, you and I will have to take responsibility for not being the church that Jesus called us to be, and for being disobedient to what we know is the truth: His Great Commission, His way—task oriented first, not last.

Today, give someone the Bread of Life. You do not have to ask permission. Jesus has already said, “Go ye.” Our obedience is the demonstration and mark of our charity/agape love for God Himself.

“Behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew Him not.”—1 John 3:1

“And Jesus said unto them, ‘I am the bread of life. He that cometh unto Me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on Me shall never thirst.”—John 6:35

“And they sang a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”—Rev. 5:9-10

Oh, Good News! May we take it deep into our breast.

Parable of the Dead Church

A person once called a pastor to say he wanted to join the church. But he went on to explain that he did not want to worship every week, study the Bible, visit the sick, witness to non-Christians or serve as a leader or teacher.

The pastor commended him for his desire to join but told him the church he sought was located in another section of town. The man took the directions and hung up.

When he arrived at the church, the man came face-to-face with the logical result of his own apathetic attitude. There stood an abandoned church building, boarded up and ready for demolition. —From Pulpit Helps