Church and Christianity
To virtually all the world the words "Church" and "Christianity" are synonymous with the people that profess to believe in and follow Christ. Amazingly, the word "church" does not occur in the Greek of the New Testament but is a mistranslation.
At the end of this age, in the book of Revelation, we find God calling to His people to come out of a place he calls Babylon and the Great Whore to avoid the plagues she will receive for her sins. Where is this place that God's people find themselves that is a "habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit" (Rev. 18:2).
The apostle Paul told us that "such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (2Cor 11:13-15). Where are these false, deceitful ministers who claim to be sent by Christ? Where is Satan's influence to be found posing to be a source of light to those seeking God?
They can only be in places that claim to be of Christ! Christian denominations! As you read these articles prepare to be surprised and shocked. Satan deceives the whole world. He is hiding in a place that seems to be above suspicion but Paul also wrote that the one who "as God sitteth in the temple of God" will "be revealed in his time" (1Thess 2:4,6). As we draw nearer to the events that will herald the return of Christ the truth about the antichrist spirit and where it is hiding will be revealed.
New Birth Teaching Series
"You must be born again"
Three hours of audio teaching (transcript available) from Pastor John Clark, Sr. on the subject of the "New Birth".
When is a person born again and how do you know? The Bible contains clear revelation from God about when a person is born again. Learn what had to occur before the new birth was available to man. Listen as Pastor John covers these topics and more:This is perhaps the most important issue for a person to understand.
Have you been born again?
Thought for Today
Oct. 30
WANDERERS AMONG DENOMINATIONS
". . . and they shall be wanderers among
the nations."
Hos. 9:17
Divided into a thousand contradictory sects, with a plethora of divisions within each sect, Christianity provides rebellious souls with many hiding places. John called Christianity the holding pen of every filthy spirit (Rev. 18:2). If a Christian minister dares to reprove the conduct of a congregation or teach a doctrine they do not believe, then all that congregation has to do is fire him and hire another talker more to their liking. With so many doctrines available in Christianity, no sinner should be unable to find a minister who will allow for his particular sin.
Multitudes roam from place to place in Christianity until they find a church with opinions that match their own. And in Christianity, there are so many different doctrines offered that even the most ungodly man, if he searches long enough, will surely find a place that will accommodate his unclean spirit and satisfy his wants. Even sodomites, whose unspeakable abominations God abhors, can find Christian sects now that see no wrong in their lifestyle and even will ordain them as their ministers! Virtually any sinner, if he searches earnestly enough, can find a church somewhere in Christianity that will accommodate whatever sin he loves. All he has to do is keep looking. But as my father said in his sermon long ago, "If you're no good [as a member] where you are, you'll be no good [as a member] where you go." The acceptance of Christians is no substitute for the forgiveness of God.
As a corollary to my father's saying, we may say that if you are good where you are, you will be good where you go. But what is unknown in Christianity is that the good, just like the unstable wicked, will also be restless within Christianity. God's hungriest children also wander from place to place, but not to find a hiding place for sin. They sometimes travel from sect to sect seeking a church in Christianity that will satisfy the longing in their souls for truth and undefiled love of God.
God's hungry children are typically the best members of whatever Christian church they have joined, as long as they are there, even if their hunger for God nags at their spirits. They work; they study; they love; they pray. They may be confused and badly taught, but they are honest, faithful, and pure in heart. And sooner or later, driven by the call of Jesus, they will move on. They believe that if they seek, they will find. And they will seek-if they are not discouraged in their search by Christian ministers who don't want the number of names on their membership rolls to decrease.
Such efforts by ministers and others notwithstanding, God's hungry sheep humbly continue to search for that food "that endures to everlasting life". They cannot stop hungering because the hunger comes from God, and they cannot stop wandering because they hunger for what Christianity cannot provide. Consequently, they are sometimes criticized as unstable, or labeled as "church-hoppers" because of their restlessness. But their hearts are seeking something good, something they cannot explain to anyone, but something that they can sense that Jesus offers them, if they could only find the place where it is.
Not knowing that the fellowship they seek can be found nowhere in Christianity, these lost sheep of God search in one church, and then another, and then another, always hungry, always questioning, and never feeling complete. They are not malcontents; they are simply not content with something less than what Jesus suffered and died for them to possess. They are not overly demanding; they just want a pastor who has really heard from Jesus. They do not like polluted water; they thirst for the true knowledge of God. They are not rebels; on the contrary, they merely long for the safety of God's government. They are not skeptical at heart; they simply believe that something is missing, and their faith in Jesus will not allow them to give up the search. They are not trouble-makers; they are lost sheep seeking their shepherd. They do not walk out on people; they outgrow them as they move on, coming ever closer to the Lord they seek.
Joining a new church will not make a new man. "If you're no good where you are, you'll be no good where you go." But if you are good, then keep going! The search will not harm you, and what you seek does exist! You will find it if you continue to believe.
God cursed His own Old Testament people to be "wanderers among the nations", and He has cursed His New Testament people to "wander" among the denominations of Christianity for many centuries now. But the urge to find our home is rising now among sincere believers, just as the urge to re-establish a homeland in Palestine began to burn in the hearts of Jews about a hundred years ago until the nation of Israel was established in 1948. That urge is the call of Jesus. He is opening the doors to his people to come out from under the curse!
Merely wandering from denomination to denomination will, in itself, accomplish no more for a child of God in this covenant than wandering from nation to nation for thousands of years did for God's first covenant people. But God sees the searching heart and rewards them that seek Him diligently (Heb. 11:6). Israel's rest was realized when they ceased their wanderings among the nations and re-established their own territory. The rest for God's people will be realized when they cease wandering from denomination to denomination and come together in the Spirit of truth. And this will happen only when they are told that Christianity is an evil institution and that it is the will of God that they come out of it.
Answer the call of Jesus, my dear brothers and sisters, and cease your useless, frustrating efforts of looking to dead men to guide you to the God of life. The call of God is being heard again! You are being given a golden opportunity to be no longer "wanderers among the denominations". Don't miss it!