Lucifer’s Ancient Rebellion
continued

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The Cross and Church Growth

“Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars…Their heart is divided.  Hosea 10: 1,2.

 

The Structure is never to be an end in itself. It is never to be an end in itself-existing for its own advancement. That is the characteristic of cancer. However, that paradigm shift has taken place in my lifetime.

Today, the man, who, as conference president, led the North American Division into Celebration in the mid-1980s, is now the President of the North American Division. That is the measure of where “the Structure” is going.

 

Bringing Forth Fruit Unto Itself

“Israel is an empty vine, he bringeth forth fruit unto himself: according to the multitude of his fruit he hath increased the altars;…

“Their heart is divided; now shall they be found faulty…” Hosea 10: 1,2.

  The Jewish structure, once given by God in the dramatic and powerful days of Moses, in the end brought forth fruit unto itself. It rejected the Cornerstone. It murdered Christ. It disfellowshipped the Disciples of Christ. It asked for Barabbas.

 

The Papacy and Church Growth

“The world, cloaked with a form of righteousness, walked into the church.” GC 49.

The same principle was applied by Satan to the early Christian Church, and the result was the papacy. It lived for “Church Growth.” In the name of “Church Growth,” it apostatized made common cause with idolaters, and erected the seat of Satan’s power in the temple of God, as Paul wrote.  It was the “Man of Sin.”

 

A Desperate Struggle

“It required a desperate struggle for those who would be faithful to stand firm against the deceptions and abominations which were disguised in sacerdotal garments and introduced into the church. The Bible was not accepted as the standard of faith. The doctrine of religious freedom was termed heresy, and its upholders were hated and proscribed.

 

Let There Be Difference

“After a long and severe conflict, the faithful few decided to dissolve all union with the apostate church if she still refused to fee herself from falsehood and idolatry. They saw that separation was an absolute necessity if they would obey the word of God. They dared not tolerate errors fatal to their own souls, and set an example that would imperil the faith of their children and children’s children. To secure peace and unity they were ready to make any concession consistent with fidelity to God; but they felt that even peace would be too dearly purchased at the sacrifice of principle. If unity could be secured only by the compromise of truth and righteousness, then let there be difference, and even war.

“Well would it be for the church and the world if the principles that actuated those steadfast souls were revived in the hearts of God’s professed people. There is an alarming indifference in regard to the doctrines that are the pillars of the Christian faith. The opinion is gaining ground, that; after all, these are not of vital importance. This degeneracy is strengthening the hands of the agents of Satan, so that false theories and fatal delusions which the faithful in ages past imperiled their lives to resist and expose, are now regarded with favor by thousands who claim to be followers of Christ.” GC 45, 46.

 

The Papacy: Built on church Growth

“And an host was given against the TAMID by reason of transgression, and he was cast down the truth to the ground; and he practiced, and prospered.” Daniel 8:12. (Hebrew)

The church existed to increase its numbers, power, prestige, and influence in the world, until it was using armies to suppress the faithful in crusades and to destroy its opposers.

 

The Crucial Distinction Between the Church and Christ

To fail to comprehend this great issue of the distinction between the church and Christ is to lose the gospel as well as to lose the interpretation of Bible prophecy about the man of sin, and who the antichrist is. If Martin Luther had never made the distinction between Who Christ is and What the church is, he never would have launched the Reformation and he never would have called the papacy the antichrist.

Christ is the Head of the true church. The very same Christ, Who, 2,000 years ago walked the dusty lanes of Nazareth, Capernaum, Jerusalem, and Galilee. The very same Christ Who today is ministering in the Most Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary.

To fail to accept Christ’s terms of the conditions of discipleship is to fail of eternal life, to fail of comprehending salvation, to fail to comprehend who the Church is.

Jesus Said, “Follow Me;” Of the Hierarchy He Said, “Let Them Alone”

“Follow Me.” Matthew 4:19

“Let them alone; they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into a ditch.”  Matthew 15:14.

Single-minded Discipleship

The issue of the call to single-minded discipleship of Christ is central to the gospel. Jesus over and over called men to follow Him alone. Nowhere do you here him say, “Join the church.”

The Primacy of the Call to Follow

Where should the emphasis be put? The primacy matter is to follow Christ. That means knowing Him, for if one does not know Him, one cannot follow Him, one cannot learn from Him. That involves meeting the conditions He laid down-coming to Him hating father, mother, wife, children, brethren, sisters, and one’s own psyche. Luke 14:26.

Following Him means taking time to hear His voice, distinct from all others. This is where the devotional life comes in. This is the great lesson of the life of John the Baptist and Jesus Himself.  

 

Peace That Passes Understanding

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”  Philippians 4:7.

The great work of John the Baptist and even more so of Jesus is to reconcile the soul to God, giving the wonderful peace that passes understanding. That peace is the sign, the token, of our oneness with God, that all right and well between our souls and God. This peace is the third dimension of the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…

 

Individual, Personal Focus on God

In reconciling men to God, it is necessary to take man’s focus off the Structure and put the individual’s focus on God. When Martin Luther made this shift of focus from the church hierarchy to God in the Sixteenth Century, it ignited the mighty Sixteenth Century Protestant Reformation, an incredible outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

 

Following Christ, Not Strangers

“And a stranger they will not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers.” John 10:5.

Following Christ means fleeing from strangers-from would-be leaders of the flock who are not aligned with His voice. It means staying close, very close, as close as one can, to Christ.

 

The Fatal Delusion of Accepting “The Church” As the Starting Point of Faith

In Jesus’ day, the people accepted “the Church” as the starting point of their faith. “The Church” held the monopoly on salvation. The people feared terribly excommunication, being cut off from God’s professed people. That is why the people were afraid to confess Christ. The devil brought about the same condition just before Luther’s Protestant Reformation. Those claims had to be broken. Break every yoke. Over and over again in salvation history, the yokes have to be broken, and souls set free in Christ.

 

The Structure Defined the Faith of the People-Thus They Rejected Christ

The temple, the Structure of the priesthood, the Sadducees, the Pharisees, and the Scribes-the Church Structure defined the faith of the people in Jesus’ day. This is the reason why the vast multitudes left Jesus after His sermon on the Bread of Life. That sermon was in conflict with what they heard in the Structure synagogue. They went with the tried and true (they thought) Structure instead of this innovative Independent preacher, Jesus, Who, though interesting to hear, stood under the condemnation of the Structure. 

 

Structural Alignment Meant Rejection of Christ

Because of this acceptance of the Church Structure as the determiner of their faith, they rejected whatever the Structure rejected, and accepted the Structure’s assessment of matters spiritual and religious.

 

The Only Ones Who Could Break Free to Follow Christ

The only one who could break free from the stranglehold, the Babylonian captivity of the faith, were those who accepted God and His Word alone, interpreted by the Holy Spirit to their soul directly, and not through the Structure, as the foundation of their faith. These sought to know God, to walk in the way of the Lord, and sought to accept God’s verdict on matters spiritual.

 

The Structure Declared That It Spoke For God

The complexity of the issue must not be underestimated. The Structure declared that it spoke for God, was the voice of God, and sought to have a monopoly on the understanding of the Word of God. The Rabbis had worked out the precise meaning of the text and had developed their Mishnah, the Gemaras, and eventually the Talmud. 

 

A Comprehension of the Word That Looks To God Alone For Approval

Thus the person wanting to break free to follow God, to follow Christ, had of necessity to cultivate a moral and spiritual independence, and a comprehension of the Word that was independent of the Structure, and looked to God alone for approval, for glory, for acceptance.  The walk with God had to be distinctly separate, completely separate, from the worldview and assessment of the religious leaders, or their faith would be immediately corrupted. That walk with God had to be under the molding influence of the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Christ alone. A human-modulated faith would destroy them.

The Father had to plant His kingdom in the soul. “Every plant which My heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.

“Let them alone; they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch.” Matthew 15: 13, 14.

“The religion that comes from God is the only religion that will lead to God.” DA 189.

“Protestantism sets the power of conscience above the magistrate, and the authority of the word of God above the visible church.” GC 203.

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