Let us take into consideration what the true church really is and what it is not. To understand the government of the church and its organization we have to be able to identify the church. Jesus made the statement in Matt. 16:18 that the church is His and this, therefore, makes it a divinely established institution.
If then the Holy Spirit places those who
are saved in the church as it pleases Him, then how can we be so presumptuous
to believe that we have the authority or the right to think we can require
anyone to be accountable to man. Our accountability is strictly
to God, not to man. Taking a look at some scriptures we can
readily see that the Holy Spirit is the one the presbytery are accountable.
The Holy Spirit appoints His divinely called ministers where He sees fit.
(Rom 12:4-7) For as we have many members in one body,
and all members have not the same office: {5} So we, being many, are one
body in Christ, and every one members one of another. {6} Having then gifts
differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy,
let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith; {7} Or ministry,
let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Being directly called by God through the
Holy Ghost there is only one to whom the man of God is accountable.
That is to God. The church, during the dark age of the apostasy,
began to develop the worldly concept of the "church". In its diversity
of individuals with the authority of the church, it became centralized
and a self-perpetuating man headship with the responsibility of administration,
legislation of rules and judiciary accountability. During this
same period of time the ecclesiastical organization assumed for themselves
the rule over the entire so called "Christian church". The same type
of hierarchy that is being propagated by some in the church today.
These are wanting God's called and anointed men to be answerable to man.
Another quote from F. G. Smith's book What The Bible Teaches:
"Men have always been prone to divide the race into clans, classes, and
castes. But the Word of God recognizes the essential unity of the
human race; it teaches that all are in one sense on the same plane
because of universal sin and that all stand in need of redemption;
therefore, it lifts up a standard of spiritual equality for all those who
are redeemed."
So I guess the big question is, is Salvation
enough, is there more? In the above scripture we see a baptism unto
repentance, and a baptism of Holy Ghost and Fire. This seems to indicate
two distinct processes. (Acts 19:3-4) "And he said unto
them, Unto what then were ye baptized? And they said, Unto John's baptism.
Then said Paul, John verily baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying
unto the people, that they should believe on him which should come after
him, that is, on Christ Jesus." We see here that John showed
the way of salvation through Jesus Christ. (Acts 2:38) "Then
Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name
of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift
of the Holy Ghost." Repentance is for the sins that we
have committed. This involves the confession of our sins with a heartfelt
sorrow for having had committed them. It is a turning from sin to
a new life. (See 1 John 1:9, 2 Cor 5:17, and Rom 6:1.) Some would
say is it not sin that separates us from God and dooms us to Hell, so isn't
having that sin removed enough? True the removal of sin will gain
us access to heaven, but is that all that God wants for us? I guess that
the best way to deal with this is to look at where sin started.
(Gen 1:26) "And God said, Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle,
and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon
the earth." (Gen 2:16-17) "And the LORD God commanded
the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of
it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
(Gen 3:12-13) "And the man said, The woman whom thou gavest to be
with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the LORD God
said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said,
The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." We see that Adam was
created in the image of God and was without, sin but sin came into His
life the same way that it comes into ours, and that is through willful
disobedience of God and His commands. But this act changed all mankind.
(Rom 5:17-18) "For if by one man's offence death reigned by one;
much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness
shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore as by the offence
of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness
of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life."
But how did this happen, are we not responsible for the sins that we willfully
commit or is sin inherited? No, sin is a willful action and
not inherited, for God does not hold you responsible for the sins of others,
just your own. (Ezek 18:20) "The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the
father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous
shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him."
Then how did sin and judgement pass down from Adam? (Gen 5:3)
"And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own
likeness, after his image; and called his name Seth:" We were not created
in the image of God but in the image of Adam after the fall. We inherited
what the bible calls the "carnal man" or the "old man". This is what
theologians refer to as the "Adamic Nature" or "The Carnal Nature".
Basically it is the desire or compulsion to commit sin. It can also
be defined as the desire to be self serving. As long as this remains,
a person will fall back into sin time and time again. Now this is
not to say that if a person doesn't have this nature that they cannot sin
or be tempted to sin. After all Adam did not have the carnal nature when
he was created he did not receive this until after he sinned. We
all know that Adam was tempted and did sin.
So we see that we were born under a double
curse. We have the nature and desire to sin and we have our sins.
Our sins divide and separate us from God. (Isa 59:2) "But
your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins
have hid his face from you, that he will not hear." Our repentance
removes this barrier from between us and God, but it does not restore us
to the place that Adam was before the fall. But this is exactly where
God would have us and that is perfect before Him. (Mat 5:48)
"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect."
This is not to say that it is without the ability to make mistakes, this
is not the type of perfection that is spoken of here, it is being without
sin and restored to God's image. This is done through the baptism
of the Holy Ghost or entire sanctification. The terms are used interchangeably.
And this purifying process is symbolized by fire. Let's look
at a couple of examples. (Mark 1:10-11) "And straightway
coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like
a dove descending upon him: And there came a voice from heaven, saying,
Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Acts 2:1-4)
"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 began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Now with Jesus, the Holy Ghost came in the form of a dove, for Jesus was
the Son of God and had no sin or "Carnal Nature," for He was God.
But with the disciples He came as "tongues of fire" for they had a carnal
nature that had to be purged. For the "carnal mind" of self has no
place in the heart and life of a Christian. (Rom 8:5-8)
"For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but
they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be
carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to
the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God." We see a great many divisions caused
in the church by carnality. For self seeks to promote self.
(Rom 16:17-18) "Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause
divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned;
and avoid them. For they that are such serve not our Lord Jesus Christ,
but their own belly; and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts
of the simple." I know some would ask, can there be such who
are saved? Yes, but they will not remain saved long. For no one driven
by self can be. (1 Cor 3:3) "For ye are yet carnal: for
whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not
carnal, and walk as men?" Here Paul was talking to the church
at Corinth and we see that they were having these problems there.
But look around you, do you not know Christians in this same condition?
Are you in this condition? It does not please God, nor was it what
He intended for the church.
So how do we rid ourselves of this curse? First of all, we can't, God must rid us of it. But the first step is to have Jesus as Saviour and Lord. No sinner can receive the Holy Ghost, it is reserved for those who have been forgiven. For the Holy God can not live in someone who has sin in his life. Jesus makes this clear in (John 14:17) "Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you". So we must know Him before we can receive Him. (Acts 19:1-2) "And it came to pass, that, while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through the upper coasts came to Ephesus: and finding certain disciples, He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost." So believing in Jesus and having Him as Lord in your life is the first step to sanctification.
I know that there are some out there who are saying, how do I know that the Lord will do this for me? (John 17:19-20) "And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth. Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word". Here Jesus prayed for this and we know that it is His will to sanctify you. (Eph 5:25-27) "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." God gave His only Son to save your soul and reunite you with Him. But He also died that you might be sanctified (which means set aside for a specific use or purpose) wholly to Him, as long as you are carnal this cannot happen. So He wants to wash this away to purge the dross from your life and make you again in His Holy image.
You can have this today. All you have
to do is give yourself totally over to God and let His will rule in your
life. Not in part but in entirety. What do you have to lose-selfishness,
envy, and strife? Come now and enter into the promised land that
the Lord has for you. Let's not delay for tomorrow may be too late.
I was playing a computer game with my son the other day. In doing this somewhat unwholesome activity I was reminded of an important lesson of life.
We were playing Jazz the Jackrabbit, a cartoon. A shoot the bad guys, collect the jewels, and save "the princess from the evil turtles", kind of game. The hero is Jazz, the Jackrabbit who runs and jumps his way through the game. As the game is played you come across additional ammunition for your various weapons, carrots, protections from the turtles (they hurt you if you get too close) and extra lives.
I happened to notice on the edge of the screen part of an extra life but was unable to find the path to get to it. Showing this to my son, we explored until we found the path to this extra life, on the way we found many additional weapons and protections.
Isn't this the way that we sometimes live our own lives, running and jumping through life? Sometimes missing out on the protection, extra weapons for spiritual warfare and the eternal life that our savior has for us if we just look to Him for the right path.
Maybe this somewhat unwholesome computer
game can be wholesome if we spend the time with our children and use their
interests to witness to them. This game gave me an opportunity and
a parallel with which to witness. We should look at every situation
that we find ourselves in as an opportunity to witness, sharing the good
news of salvation with those we encounter. The sharing of our faith
on Sunday yet letting the opportunities to do it the rest of the week slip
through our fingers is very dangerous. It is dangerous for those
who we didn't share our faith with, in that it may be the only chance to
learn about salvation that they have. But it is quite dangerous to
us as well. The opportunities that we have to witness are in many
ways the talents that our savior talked about in Matthew 25:14-30.
"For [the kingdom of heaven is] as a man travelling into a far country,
[who] called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods. And unto
one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every
man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.
Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same,
and made [them] other five talents. And likewise he that [had received]
two, he also gained other two. But he that had received one went
and digged in the earth, and hid his lord's money. After a long time the
lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them. And so he that
had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying,
Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside
them five talents more. His lord said unto him, Well done, [thou]
good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I
will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.
He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst
unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.
His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast
been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things:
enter thou into the joy of thy lord. Then he which had received the one
talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping
where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed: And
I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, [there] thou
hast [that is] thine. His lord answered and said unto him, [Thou] wicked
and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather
where I have not strawed: Thou oughtest therefore to have put
my money to the exchangers, and [then] at my coming I should have received
mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent from him, and give
[it] unto him which hath ten talents. For unto every one that hath shall
be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall
be taken away even that which he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable servant
into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
I know that there is no one among us who wants to be that servant who is
cast into the outer darkness. But are you fully grasping every opportunity
that God puts before you? Are you using the tools that God gave you
for His glory? I think it is wise to examine ourselves often to ensure
that we are still on that straight and narrow path that leads to Christ.
I pray that we will always serve Christ to the best of our ability.
When we do we can be sure that God will say, well done you good and faithful
servant, to what you have, more shall be added. Amen.
The Gospel Light is published to spread the true light of God's word to all men. We are dedicated to the truths of the word of God. Such as salvation, holiness, sanctification, the unity of all believers, etc...It is also online at http://geocities.datacellar.net/Heartland/estates/6801. We are not responsible for returning any articles submitted to The Gospel Light. We reserve the right to hold the articles for future printing, and possible reprinting. All articles submitted should be submitted to the First Church of God, 818 4th St. Fairbury, Ne 68352. I hope that the Gospel Light paper is a blessing to you, and may God bless those who read this paper.
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