BETH EZRA TEACHING

............................ he that has ears to hear, let him hear................................

Volume Three, Issue 2 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Spring & Summer 1999

What the Spirit Says to the Churches

...to the Ephesian church...

In chapters two and three of the book of The Revelation, the apostle John receives seven profound, and somewhat disturbing, messages, composed to seven, specific churches. Jesus singles out these seven churches because they are representative of the Church in every age till He returns. These seven churches represent seven ages of the Church in history, as well as seven types of Christians; though one church type is dominant at one particular moment, all types are represented at any given time. Thus, it is clear that Jesus wants His whole Church to heed the messages given here.

2:11 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches;

This statement, an invitation of sorts, follows every message to each church. This statement is typical of Jesus. He often proclaimed some startling thing, and finished by saying "He that has ears to hear, let him hear", i.e. "I know many of you don't agree, so this is only for those who can accept it." Heeding such radical sayings requires radical commitment, even to the point of bearing a cross, to, in the end, be crucified upon. Only those with the highest level of commitment will follow through to that degree. Not many want to hear that radical a message. His challenge is also on our masthead, for we well know that only a few want the truth we have been given to share! The truth is painfully cutting. It is a two-edged sword, applying to us even as we apply it to others! Is that not what John saw proceeding from Jesus' mouth-- a sharp, two-edged sword (Rev. 1:16) dividing between the spiritual and the soulish; marrow from the joint ; genuine from the external. Those who heed His word will become spiritual, while those who hem and haw, or outright reject it, become merely soulish in their practice of religion.

So, let us take a look at what Jesus would say to us, through those He personally addressed in the first century.

The first church He addresses is at Ephesus. Notice that here, as well as in all other references to the churches, the church is singular in its locality. There was one church at Ephesus, even though, as one of the major metro areas of Asia Minor, Ephesus had tens of thousands, possibly hundreds of thousands of inhabitants. The church itself must have had many thousands of adherents, but was still one church; it was not divided. Believers most likely met in different places, some in homes, some in rented halls, under different elders, but they all held to the same doctrines, all knew and served each other, all worshipped the same Lord by the same Spirit. The church was not divided. It is the same with every other church Jesus addresses in Rev. 2 & 3; there is but one church to glorify Him in each locality, and all believers in that locality, whether they all met together or not, were all part of the same 'candle' in their town. As Watchman Nee writes in The Normal Christian Church Life, God only recognizes division of the Church Universal on the basis of the church local, never on the basis of doctrine, practice, tradition, leadership or any other contrivance by which man puts asunder what God has united. Practically speaking, for us today, in a nation that prides itself on independence and rugged individualism, we have a church for every silly possible reason. Yet God doesn't recognize these divisions, or denominations, as local churches, but merely as parts of His local church.

As a candle's light can be fragmented into many separate distinctions through a prism, and as such, is no longer a united, pure, white light, but manifests distortion, so to, in each locality, where there is more than one gathering of saints claiming to be the church, a fragmented, distorted representation of Christ is shown to the world. Jesus declared that all men would know He was from the Father only if his followers loved one another, so is it any wonder that all men question His veracity when believers in a single locality won't even meet with each other, much less love one another? The Church in each locality must unite and represent Him with a unified voice if the world is ever to believe in Him.

How is this unity to come about? Ecumenicism is premised on the removal of whatever offends. Compromising items of faith and practice is anathema to sincere believers. Ecumenicism via compromise will only result in a 'Museum Faith', relegating the Bible to an interesting collection of what believers used to believe and do; no doctrine is absolute, and every wind of teaching is counted relevant. Ecumenicism is the breeding ground of apostasy. Unity will only be attained when all who follow Christ return to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth as revealed in Scripture. When the church in a locality (those truly born of the Spirit) is united in the truth, they will see their lives begin to take on holy power, their candle will begin to burn brightly, without distortion and diffraction, and satanic forces will begin to yield way, and all men (in that locality) will be drawn to Jesus as He is lifted high. Since the Bible is the complete source of our Faith and practice, it is only logical that we should endeavor to return to and contend for the faith 'once and for all delivered to the saints' (Jude vs. 3). This means, returning to the beliefs, understanding, and practices of First Century Christians-- i.e. Original Christianity. All extra-biblical beliefs and practices (infant baptism, membership roles, pledges, voting, required seminary training, salaried professionals, etc.) need to expunged, while all the excluded biblical beliefs and practices (5-fold ministry of the Spirit, baptism and gifts of the Spirit, various apostolic traditions, etc.) need to be restored. If the Bible is our source, then whatever is in the Bible (particularly the New Testament) reveals God's will and plan for us as nothing else can. To add man's thoughts (commentaries) and ways (programs) to God's blueprint is to mix the profane with the sacred, resulting in pollution; and to remove divine appointments from God's blueprint is to weaken the Faith so as to have a form of godliness without the power thereof (2Tim. 3:5). No wonder God warns us in both testaments against adding to or taking away from His Word (Deut. 4:2 ; Rev.22:18-19), promising plague and destruction to those who ignore this command. Since the fate of millions of (future) believers hang on the accuracy of His Word, one can understand such a dire penalty befalling those who distort it.

The only way possible for believers to be united in worship, lifestyle, belief and tradition is to be renewed in their minds by the Word of God, with nothing added. God so greatly values His revealed, inspired Word, that He has even placed His word above His name! Ps.138:2 KJV...

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

How practical is this, however, seeing that many (most?) claiming to be believers today refuse to acknowledge the authority of God's Word. Oh, they believe they are adhering to the Bible, and will be quick to say so, but in reality, are merely clinging to their denomination's interpretations, subtractions, and additions to Scripture. The apostle John warns that if we do not abide in what we heard from the beginning (of the Christian Faith as delivered by he and the other apostles) we will be denying the Father and the Son! (I Jn. 2:23-24). How dangerous it is to treat biblical admonitions as suggestions rather than mandatory!

What is to become of the multitudes who claim to be believers but do not hold the Word of God in high esteem ? How can there be unity between those who revere God's revealed Word, and those who regard manmade, theological systems as sufficient? What happened to those who claimed to be Abraham's offspring, yet refused to accept Him whose coming caused Abraham to rejoice? (Jn. 8:56-59) Believers are to conform-- not with other people, not even with like minded believers-- but with God's Word. When we, as individuals, come to the understanding of and obedience to the Word as revealed by the Spirit (the light), and meet with others who, likewise, have forsaken the darkness and/or spectrumized light for the pure, unified light of God's truth, then we have fellowship with Him, and each other ( I Jn. 1:7). We must seek fellowship with believers that also walk in the light if we are to be in the light. Those who know the Shepherd will hear His voice. Our job, since we cannot answer for any one else, is to be sure we are teachable-- open to whatever the Spirit reveals. We who worship in Spirit and truth (the light) are to embrace all who love Jesus and accept His blood as the only atonement for their sin into our circle of fellowship, but... we need to carefully examine what circles of fellowship we ourselves become committed to. The Lord would have us fellowship with all believers, but in the course of that fellowship, we must not compromise or lose sight of the truth, or the Spirit's leading (John 4:23), but call others to a higher standard even as we remain teachable and sensitive to a higher standard ourselves. We should never quarrel about doctrine or practices, but rather, simply demonstrate and (if appropriate) explain our conformity to Scripture. Charges of 'legalist' or 'cultist' will likely be leveled at those who practice Original Christianity, yet, if love is returned for hate, and understanding returned for suspicion, unity has a chance to flourish. Draw others to the truth by simple demonstration of truth, and prayer, not by argumentation, not by elitism. As those who are in the light shine, others seeking a deeper and purer truth will be drawn to that fellowship, though, as has been noted, not many are seeking that level of commitment.

In Revelation's second chapter, Jesus reveals Himself to the Ephesians as having the seven stars in His right hand, and Himself as walking among the seven candlesticks. He is revealing that He is in control of His churches; even their leadership is in his hand. The message is that all the churches are accountable to Him, that He is not an absent landlord, but a present one, aware of the goings on in His churches, aware of the actions and attitudes displayed, aware of the faithfulness or unfaithfulness of His appointed leaders, aware of the submission or rebellion of the worshippers to His delegated authorities. This should help us grasp the magnitude of His power. He is not a small, localized god, but the Universal Potentate, all the churches are to him as if He were plucking flowers on a walk through a garden. He holds the authority of those churches in his right hand. There is nothing going on that he is not aware of. It is fitting for Jesus to reveal this to the very first church He addresses. The other churches reading this rebuke before getting to their own mention in the letter would know that he is not singling them out for rewards or rebukes, but that, as Lord, He is actively engaged in the activities of all His followers, and that all together, though they wrestle with different localized problems, are one Church.

The theme of the epistle to the Ephesians also bears out the sense of unity the Lord desires in His Church. Ephesians dwells on the theme of the Church representing the Lord to a dark and dying world through the resurrection life and being able to rise above the debilitating influences of the world , the flesh, and the Devil to obey God and give evidence to all creation of God's wisdom. Here in the Revelation, Jesus demonstrates, using the Ephesians, His desire for unity in His Church.

Most teachers, when exegeting the Revelation, concentrate on the Ephesians' loss of their first love, which they assume is a lack of devotion and love to Jesus. But when we examine what Jesus proclaimed elsewhere: If ye love me, keep my commandments. (Jn. 14:15); If ye keep my commandments ye shall abide in my love... (Jn. 15:10); For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous... (I Jn. 5:3), we discover that it is not a lack of love for the Lord that the Ephesians have, but a lack of love for each other. A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another as I have loved you... (Jn. 13:34). The Old Testament taught the Jew to love his neighbor as he already loved himself, and if that were done, the Law and the Prophets would be fulfilled (Mt. 22:40). But the Law is the minimum of God's requirements for those who have the life of His Son in them, not the highest. In effect, Jesus was commanding His disciples to love one another in His place, to the extent that He would love!

We find the Ephesians full of deeds, toiling, persevering against sore trials, examining false apostles and exposing them, enduring hardship for His name's sake without giving up (Rev. 2:2-3). These are not the signs of a people who have lost their love for their Lord. They are very zealous for Him. But in all this zeal, He does not find them loving each other with 'His love', but with 'neighborly love'. Instead of tapping into the Divine love available through the Holy Spirit, they are loving each other with the Law's limited love. To love as God loves is the highest, the pre-eminent type of love there is. It is the First love. And it is this that the Ephesians were failing to do. In verse 5 Jesus tells them to remember where they have fallen from-- loving like Him, and to repent and return to it (those first deeds of loving as He loves) again. Only when they loved each other as He would love, would the world know they were His disciples (Jn. 13:35). If the world knew they were His disciples, it would be because the world recognized such a high standard of love in their midst, higher than even the Law called for, which was impossible to achieve except Jesus be risen and living amongst them. This is why Jesus told the Ephesians that they were in danger of losing their lampstand-- i.e. their witness, their light-- because they weren't demonstrating His resurrection life and love to a lost world. (This concept is dealt with more fully in the previous (Winter '99) BET, and so will only be touched on here.)

One of the things Jesus commends the Ephesians for is their ability to expose false apostles. It begs the question whether the office of apostle still exists. Why bother to test them if there were only supposed to be the twelve apostles of the Lamb? (see March 1997 BET for more details on the return of the Fourfold Ministry). What is the test for apostles, or for any worker, for that matter? Is it their ability to do miracles, as in Mark 16:17? Partly, perhaps, but let us not forget that miracles are also in the domain of the Wicked One (II Thes. 2:8-9), and that such deceivers will wax stronger and stronger as the day approaches so that even the elect, if not careful, could get deceived (Mk 13:22). What then is the test of a true apostle? Is it, as Paul seems to be saying in I Cor. 1:9 (Am I not an apostle? Am I not free? Have I not seen Jesus? ...), that he has actually seen the risen Lord Jesus as proof of his apostleship? No, not any more than his being free (from slavery) was also proof of his being an apostle. He was merely stating that he had seen the Lord, that he was free... not that any of these things were prerequisites for being an apostle. So, how does one test an apostle? In the passage under consideration we find no defining test the Ephesians administered, yet somehow they were able to cull out the false messengers bringing spurious messages.

John gives us the test for true messengers, be they spirit or human, in I Jn. 4:1- 6 : Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits to see whether they are of God... every spirit that confesses (the) Jesus that is come in the flesh is of God, every spirit that confesses not that Jesus, is not of God... We are of God, he that knoweth God heareth us, he that is not of God heareth us not. Hereby we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. Someone is not to believed simply because he claims to be an apostle; the same is true for prophets, evangelists, and pastor-teachers. Their message and life must be examined for consistency to the revealed word of God given to bona fide apostles. We know Peter's credentials, and John's, and Jude's, and James', and Paul's; for their writings have given us assurance in the things we have believed, the principles they taught work, and most importantly, the Spirit bears witness in our hearts of their message. Any message-- be it prophecy, teaching, writing, etc.-- must be scrutinized in light of the rest of apostolic Scripture. Scripture is the testimony of the faithful and true witnesses of Jesus' life, ministry, death and resurrection. Any message or messenger that deviates from that canon, even a little, is unreliable at best, and at worst--a deceiver. Scripture then, is the basis for testing apostles. Does this man claiming to be an apostle support or deny the Scriptures? Is his teaching in agreement with the whole counsel of God, or is it spotty, changing portions to fit his interpretation; deleting portions that do not agree with his doctrines? A true apostle will agree with and encourage everything that those who have written Scripture have believed and practiced. In John's day, since they had no completed Bible, they relied on the witness of John and those he accredited, or Paul, or any of the other tried and true apostles circulating amongst the churches. This is why Paul writes in Gal. 1:8-9 that any messenger of any other gospel (including distortions of the true gospel) is accursed. False apostles, prophets and teachers lead people astray into damnable heresies (2Pet. 2:1). A damnable heresy is one that ultimately leads to the Lake of Fire, though the adherents have every confidence that they are in the truth leading to eternal life. They place their confidence in what they have been taught, and their comforting teachers, and are led out of truth into error which will lead to destruction and loss. It is no light matter to deviate from the word of God, the issues of life and death hang on being accurate. But... won't God understand the heart's intent, even though the mind got deceived? To think one can argue 'The Sincerity Exception' is itself, a grave error. Being deceived isn't excusable, not when so much evidence is available to us in the form of printed Bibles. There was a time when God winked at our ignorance (Acts 17:30), but He also has taken measures to close up the loop holes, so that now there is no excuse for not knowing and obeying truth. Seminarians graduate with excuses why the Bible is not to be literally interpreted and obeyed any more, even fundamental schools, but before God they stand condemned for not conforming to the apostolic standard. How else are we to discern and expose false apostles except by whether or not they conform to God's written account? What would have happened if the Ephesians had 'tolerated' the adulterated gospel that the false apostles brought? They would have been deceived and followed vain paths of religiosity foolishly to their eternal destruction. Instead the Ephesians labeled those they found false as 'liars', as a warning to the other churches not to believe them. But today, even though we have the reliability of the written Word (which is itself challenged with newer translations foisted upon us in the guise of being easier to read) the Church readily accepts those with a different, modern spin, even though it stands in stark opposition to what the Original Christians practiced.

The church at Ephesus was also commended for bearing up patiently under harsh conditions. What were these harsh conditions? As is evidenced in Acts 19, Ephesus was a city given over to idolatry, to the worship of Diana. As such, every aspect of life in Ephesus was consecrated to worship of Diana, including the food for sale in the market. For a believer in Christ, to eat food knowingly offered to an idol was forbidden. Other churches received this condemnation from Jesus, that they ate things offered to idols (Rev. 2:14; 20), but the Ephesians resisted the convenience of buying in the local market, and instead had to travel outside the town to purchase their food, and possible other commercial items as well, just so they wouldn't be tainted. With our automobiles today, we may not think this so much a hardship, but in that day, unless one was wealthy and owned a horse, all travel was done by foot. This also meant one could only buy as much as one could carry-- for miles. But this harsh inconvenience was endured by the saints at Ephesus, because they bore His name, and would not sully it with things offered to idols. What inconveniences do we put up with today, that we not deny the name of the Lord who purchased us out of the world? Rather, we rework passages of the Bible to allow us to live in convenience rather than be put out of our way to honor the Name of Him who died for us. The idea of sacrifice is anathema to twentieth century Christians. After all, Jesus was our sacrifice, all we need do is enjoy. The idea of sacrifice is legalism to the modern believer. He suffered so we might enjoy, and not be put out. But the Ephesians knew no such easy believism. Instead, they would rather have traveled miles afoot to purchase food and other items that were no in disobedience to the apostolic commands of Acts 15. And Jesus commended them for it. Do we allow our love of the holy to invade our comfort zones?

In the midst of all the wickedness of Ephesus, the believers of Christ maintained a consistent testimony, urging all to forsake their false goddess and follow the Christ. To do so cost them their reputation, business, friends, relatives, and even their safety. The riot of Acts 19, the hostility of those who made idols for a living, and the wanton pleasure seeking of Diana's revelers revealed the intensity of the threat to anything that opposed them. To maintain Christ's testimony and witness in that sinful city was to be vulnerable to retaliation. If an idol maker's business had a bad day, he would likely chalk it up to the presence of these 'Christ-ones', and could hire thugs to ransack their businesses, homes and even abuse them physically. It cost believers their very lives to live as followers of Jesus before the heathen, and yet Jesus commended them for how they didn't hide their faith, but openly expressed His name. Would Jesus commend us for being visible followers of Him in our heathen, antagonistic environment?

Another thing the Lord commends them for is their attitude toward the Nicolaitanes. The Lord hates the deeds and teachings (2:15) of the Nicolaitanes, and so did the Ephesian church. Nothing else is said at this point about the Nicolaitanes, no description of their deeds which incurred the Lord's hatred, nor their teachings, nor even how they got started or what they were. But the Lord also rebukes the church at Pergamum for its involvement with such a group. To understand the mystery of the Nicolaitanes, and why the Lord hates them, we must comprehend what the Church is, how it is to operate, and how the presence of Nicolaitanes disrupts its very essence.

The Church Universal is comprised of millions of smaller, local cell churches. Each one is autonomous, subject only to the leadership of the Holy Spirit through the ministries He has anointed. The idea of one, centralized authority over all other churches is foreign to Scripture, and detestable to the mind of God. Jesus Christ alone is the Head of the Church, no elder or board of elders is to have any say over churches other than their own. This was designed by God to encapsulate heresies where they start, stopping their spread, and dealing with them on the local level. True, a church under a deceived leader (such as the one described in III John) suffers indignities, even harm, causing some to leave the Faith, and others spiritual bruises and abrasions, leaving scars. Nevertheless, a church in such a circumstance is to seek the Lord's way out of their dilemma, not write to the 'Head Church of Jerusalem' for the synod to come deal with their rogue leadership. The Lord, being the Head of each church as well as the Church, has given us methods to deal with aberrant leadership-- on a local basis, or if need be, He will alert an apostle, such as John was alerted to the situation with Diotrophes, to come straighten things out. But for one church to come under another church's authority is foreign to the mind of God, and dangerous.

The Spirit should be the leadership's recourse, not a committee of men who may or may not be in the truth themselves. A church that seeks its own solution to its problems via the Spirit will, no doubt, walk through troubling times, but in the end will have learned valuable lessons along the way; lessons that will stand them in good stead when other deceptions and deceivers come along. However, if the leadership of a church allows another church to dictate their beliefs and practices (it is the apostle's job to lay foundations for the churches, not a pastor's) they will learn nothing, be vulnerable to the next charlatan coming down the pike, and if the 'helping church' is deceived in any way, that deception will be communicated as well. As Head of The Church, Jesus makes each separate college of elders responsible for the sheep under their care in their locality. That is the meaning of Jesus holding the seven stars in his right hand, instead of one main star which was in turn over the other stars. Each church is directly answerable to Him, and Him alone. When one church takes authority over another church, even a 'so-called daughter church', it is operating in Nicolaitane principles. It is the job of apostles to plant churches, not churches. This is tantamount to spiritual cloning, and is confusion. God designs each church for the locality it is in, hand-picking each elder, each gifted person, each supporting member. Those who have grown up in an area are aware of the peculiar needs, the particular problems, and the demonic overlords harassing people in that area. Someone from another community has a different set of problems, needs and demonic overlords he has learned to deal with, so the lessons he learned would not apply as aptly, if at all. This is why candidating for pastors only ends in a burned out pastor and a frustrated congregation several years down the road. The Lord wants to raise up elders indigenous to each area, because they will be totally familiar with the locality they serve Him in. Social taboos and faux pas will avoided by indigenous elders, making the work of the church more easily accepted in the framework of the community. Only apostles, and sometimes prophets who are give specific messages to bring to the Body, are to be extra-local.

Apparently this Nicolas, leader of the movement named after himself, tried to organize a denomination of sorts, dictating the beliefs and practices of his group within the Church to be carried by his followers to other churches. He evidently taught that food offered to idols was not forbidden, tolerance for idol worship, and a form of promiscuity; but that is only part of what the Lord hated. He hated that a man was vying with Him for pre-eminence in the Church. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, but if a man, or a group of men, in one church begin to lay down principles and practices for other churches, they make themselves head(s) of the Church as well. A living organism can only have one head; the Church can only have one Head. Nicolas had set himself up to govern what was believed and practiced in other churches beyond the scope of his own sheepfold, in effect, he was trying to become head of the churches. The Lord Jesus' position as Head of the Church was being challenged. This He hates Yet we find, despite the Lord's warning about such practices, a Pope calling himself the 'holy father' (what an abomination) and 'head of the church'. Not only do we find this detestable practice being carried on in Romanism, but Protestantism has become Romish as well! With synods and councils dictating the terms for each church in their web, seminaries spewing false information as if it were Scripture and demanding adherence to their errors, and slavish devotion to denominational beliefs and practices without Scriptural support-- this is all Nicolaitanism! It is someone other than Jesus Christ, and the local authorities He appointed, taking leadership over the flock. Nicolas not only taught and encouraged evil practices, but also dared take 'headship' over a movement within the Church which is to be answerable to Christ alone. For identifying and shunning this group, the Ephesians were commended.

To this church at Ephesus was given a dire warning: repent, do the deeds done at the first, lest I remove your witness! Though they survived false apostles, did many deeds glorifying Him, bore harsh circumstances for His name's sake without tiring, and dealt with a cult trying to invade them, all this was not enough to justify His allowing them to continue unless they returned to their first love-- loving one another as He would love. To love so selflessly requires the greatest devotion to Him. It requires nothing less than death to self. Yet, to those who would overcome their natural tendency to protect their self, to them would the Tree of Life be granted to eat from. How interesting that our Lord here refers to what mankind lost access to millennia ago, when another tree was favored over the Tree of Life. The Tree of Death, or as we know it, the 'Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil', was more delightful to consider. But the consequences of its fruit are the source of the ills of humanity. All human suffering is the result of our forebears eating of this tree rather than the Tree of Life. Yet, Jesus makes this tree available to us once again. But now it is different, instead of many leafy branches bearing fruits there are just two: going out opposite each other at right angles to the trunk. And they bear no leaves nor fruit, but rather the tortured body of a sinless Man. Indeed, the Tree of Life looks like the Tree of Death to us, but that is only because we are seeing it from death's side. To the Ephesians (as well as all believers) the Lord offers eternal life from His own broken body which hung on the tree. But to find their way to it, they must overcome the obstacle of not loving as He loved.

Many may argue that they were already partakers of the Tree of Life by virtue of being believers in a church. The question remains: are we truly believers if we have not adopted His life? Or... are we merely religious?

This coming September 10, 11, and 12 we will be hosting a camping gathering of those who desire and are called to work within the framework of Original (or Apostolic) Christianity, building the Church according to the pattern given in the New Testament Scriptures. Meetings will be 'Hatha' style (I Cor. 14:26), but it is expected that Art Katz and others with this burden will be giving words during this convocation. There is unlimited camping room available, but no services for RV's other than a place to park. Tents are advised; food will be the responsibility of each family, though we plan to be sharing one meal a day as a group (cookout). Afternoons will be free time, with nearby lakes Crystal and Willoughby at our disposal, as well as hikes through our own ninety acres of woodland.

We expect his will be a tremendous time of challenge and refreshing. Please plan to come. Let us know in advance if you can come.

God Bless until next time,

John and Bev