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The Church – Part 2
By
Barry J. Mellor
When we left off our study
last month, we determined that it was easy to say that we love God with our
lips, but we also discovered that if we do not keep His commandments, if we
teach that it is impossible to keep His commandments, then we have nullified the
Bible definition of love. The apostle John says, “For this is the love of
God, that we keep His commandments: and His commandments are not grievous.” 1
John 5:3.
Something is Amiss
When we hold a
teaching which teaches that Jesus came with a nature different to ours, which
implies that He did not, in our fallen humanity, overcome sin, it implies that
we, in our “fallen humanity,” cannot overcome sin and will sin until Jesus
comes. We cannot then claim to be the people who “love God and keep His
commandments.” Only those who are born of God overcome the world, and what
does it mean to overcome the world?
What is “the world”?
What is the “love of the world”? What is the “carnal mind” that is “enmity
against God”? The “carnal mind” cannot keep His commandments. A man
has to be born again. (See John 3:3, 7.) “Let this mind be in you
that was in Christ Jesus”, is what has to happen. (See Philippians
2:5.) The divine seed has to be planted. “Be ye transformed by the
renewing of your minds.” (See Romans 12:2.) “Grieve not the Holy
Spirit” Who is that progenitor that does that work for God’s people.
“Grieve not the Holy Spirit whereby ye are sealed unto the day of
redemption.” (See Ephesians 4:30.) In the quotation from Upward
Look, 315, quoting from Matthew 18:20, the inspired pen writes, “Where two
or three are gathered together in My name, there am I in the midst of
them.” Now that portion of Jesus’ statement, which says two or three and
the gathering together, is altogether so plain as to defy
elaboration.
But what is the meaning of
gathering together “in Jesus’ name”? Because this statement says that
where two or three are gathered together “in My name”, there I will be in the
midst of them. So what does it mean to gather together in Jesus’
name? In Matthew 1:21 we read what the angel said to Mary when he
instructed her what Jesus’ name was going to be.
Gathered Together in His Name
The angel said,
“And thou shalt call His name JESUS [which means Jehovah saves]: for He shall
save His people in their sins.” Is that what the Bible says? It says,
“He shall save His people fromtheir sins.” [Emphasis supplied.]
Brothers and sisters, can we gather together in Jesus’ name if we gather
together believing we are going to be saved in our sins? So to
gather together in Jesus’ name is to come believing in Him to do what His name
says, namely to save men and women from their sins.
Furthermore, to gather
together in Jesus’ name is also to believe that He is fully God, because the
other reference that we have in Scripture to Jesus’ name is found in Isaiah 9:6:
“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall
be upon His shoulder: and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The
mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.”
To gather together “in His
name”, as Jesus meant it, is to believe that He took our flesh and became human
as we are in our fallen condition, because the Scriptures say, “For unto us a
child is born.” Not unto Adam before the fall, but unto us a child
is born and unto us a Son is given—not loaned. The Son of God
became the Son of man, and that is how He reaches you and me where we
are.
To come together in Jesus’
name means to believe this beautiful foundational truth about Jesus and
His mission, as expressed in His divinely appointed name. Anyone not
coming together with the simple faith in Jesus to save them from sin, but
wanting to be saved in sin, will not find Him in their midst.
The initial lie that was
given in Eden was, “Thou shalt not surely die.” You can live in sin; you
will not die. That was the initial lie. Today, it is perpetuated in
a slightly deviant form. Now the quotation from Upward Look, 315,
supplies the final and absolutely definitive statement on God’s church.
“Where Christ is even among the humble few, this is Christ’s
Church.” Brothers and sisters, principle, Bible-based principle, is always
the dividing line. We have to make sure that, when we come together, we
come together “in His name”, that we, by His grace and His mercy and His love,
can have Him in our midst, because the next statement says it all.
Only
God’s Presence Makes a Church
“For the
presence of the High and Holy One Who inhabiteth eternity can alone constitute a
church.” Ibid. If the presence of Christ can alone constitute a
church, how do we argue against an attack or a form of argument that is brought
forth by antichrist himself in order to prove that he is not the antichrist?
1 John 4:1–3 is used by
Rome to show that Protestantism is wrong in pointing out Rome as the
antichrist.
Let us look at those
verses. They say, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the
world. Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that
Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: And every spirit that confesseth
not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that
spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now
already is it in the world.”
Does the Church of Rome
teach that Jesus Christ came in the flesh? Yes, the Church of Rome teaches
that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. Just as we looked at those verses in
Matthew 16 at the beginning of our study to show that a corrupt understanding of
those verses is the foundation of the apostolic succession, they now use these
texts to prove that they are not the antichrist.
This is one of those
instances in Scripture where it helps to understand a little of the Koine Greek
in which the New Testament was written. You see, it says, “Every spirit
that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the sarx.”
The
Spirit of God vs the Spirit of Antichrist
Now that Greek
word, sarx, is a
very interesting word, because it occurs many times in the New Testament in the
Greek. On almost every other occasion it is translated “sinful
flesh.” The moment you have that understanding of this text,
everything falls into place, because every spirit that confesseth not
that Jesus Christ is come in our fallen humanity is the spirit of
antichrist.
Every spirit that confesseth
that Jesus Christ is come in our humanity, that He adopted our humanity, that He
took on Himself the “seed of Abraham” and was made in all points like unto His
brethren—that is the spirit of God. Immediately it all becomes
clear. But this definition of antichrist suddenly cuts sharper than any
two-edged sword, much broader, much wider and much deeper than just the Papacy,
because it speaks about the “spirit” of antichrist.
We know that antichrist sits
in the throne of the dragon having his seat or authority and power. But
the “spirit” of antichrist is abroad in the world and it is constantly set to
deceive. “For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not
that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an
antichrist.” 2 John 7. Once again the word is “sarx”, which denotes
fallen humanity, sinful flesh.
Brothers and sisters, does
the Lord do anything in harmony with Satan? No. How then is it that
men and women can believe that they can harbor the teachings of antichrist and
still expect the Lord to be in their midst? Remember, the presence of
Christ alone constitutes a church.
Therefore, if things show
that we work in harmony with Him, we cannot use or employ any of the methods or
any of the deceptions of the antichrist and expect the Lord to be in our
midst. You know, a very interesting thing took place when Christ was
here on earth. Recorded in Matthew 23, are the woes on the Scribes and the
Pharisees. In verse 37 we read Jesus’ heart-rending lament. He said,
“‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which
are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even
as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold,
your house is left unto you desolate.’”
Those last words are so
significant in terms of what we have just been reading. When Jesus said,
“Behold, your house is left unto you desolate,” what happened to that house that
day? In terms of what we have just been studying? In terms of what
we read in Upward Look? [Remember, the presence of Christ alone
constitutes the church.] He left. It ceased to be a church.
The
Separation Struggle
Sister White,
commenting on this particular event, says, “Divine pity marked the countenance
of the Son of God as He cast one last lingering look upon the temple and then
upon His hearers. In a voice choked by deep anguish of heart and bitter
tears He exclaimed, ‘O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and
stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy
children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye
would not!’ This is the separation struggle. In the lamentation of
Christ the very heart of God is pouring itself forth. It is the mysterious
farewell of the long-suffering love of the Deity. . . . Israel as a nation had
divorced herself from God. . . . At this time Christ’s work bore the appearance
of cruel defeat. He had been victor in the controversy with the priests
and Pharisees, but it was evident that He would never be received by them as the
Messiah.” The Desire of Ages, 620, 621.
The final separation had
come. Was this the close of probation for the Jewish people? No, but
something climactic, something fundamental, something far reaching, took place
here. These people divorced themselves from their Messiah. Is it
possible that the people of God in the last days can do the same thing?
The pen of inspiration tells us that it is possible.
The Scribes and Pharisees
strengthened themselves with these words from the book of Jeremiah: “Thus saith
the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the
moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the
waves thereof roar; The Lord of hosts is His name: If those ordinances depart
from before Me, saith the Lord, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from
being a nation before Me forever. Thus saith the Lord; If heaven above can
be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also
cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the
Lord.” Jeremiah 31:35–37.
And in the same chapter,
verse 40, the Lord said, speaking of Jerusalem, “It shall not be plucked up, nor
thrown down any more forever.” Those people gathered together and
comforted themselves with these words and told themselves that they were
secure. Now God had told the Jews that as long as the sun and moon and
stars remained in the sky, Israel would remain as His chosen nation. He
promised that just as surely as no one could measure the heaven or even examine
the foundations of the earth, He would never cast off Israel as His chosen
people.
But now look at Jeremiah
18:9, 10. Here the Lord is giving the foundational principle upon which
that statement we just read has to be regarded. “And at what instant I
shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant
it; If it do evil in My sight, that it obey not My voice, then I will
repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them.”
God’s
Promises are Always Conditional
Any promise that
God ever makes to an individual or a people concerning their relationship to Him
and their future is always conditional on their response to His declared
word. Moses had already spelled it out very clearly for the children of
Israel in Deuteronomy 28:1, 2: “And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken
diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all His
commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee
on high above all the nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come
on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the
Lord thy God.”
And in Deuteronomy 28:9, 13,
15 and 20, he said, “The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto
Himself, as He hath sworn unto thee, if thou shalt keep the commandments
of the Lord thy God, and walk in His ways.…And the Lord shall make thee the
head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be
beneath; if that thou hearken unto the commandments of the Lord thy God,
which I command thee this day, to observe and to do them:…But it shall come to
pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to
observe to do all His commandments and His statutes which I command thee this
day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:…The Lord
shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest
thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish
quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken
Me.”
“Moreover all these curses
shall come upon thee, and shall pursue thee, and overtake thee, till thou be
destroyed; because thou hearkenedst not unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to
keep His commandments and His statutes which He commanded thee.” (Verse
45.) Moses clearly warned Israel that they faced the possibility of total
destruction if they became stubbornly disobedient to God’s will and
way.
Mrs. White simply reiterates
all these conditions that we have just read in Scripture: “It should be
remembered that the promises and threatenings of God are alike conditional.”
Evangelism, 695. As God’s people, as God’s children we are never to
rest in a sense of security simply because of where we are. Our only security is
being under the headship of Christ.
Retreating Toward Egypt
The following
statement can only tug at the heart-strings of the Seventh-day Adventist.
“I am filled with sadness when I think of our condition as a people. The
Lord has not closed heaven to us, but our own course of continual backsliding
has separated us from
God.…And yet the general opinion is that the church is flourishing and that
peace and spiritual prosperity are in all her borders. The church has
turned back from following Christ her Leader and is steadily retreating toward
Egypt.” [A state of sinful living.] Testimonies, vol. 5, 217.
Now, brothers and sisters,
that admonition probably was given at a particular time in the history of our
denomination. However, if that was happening then, can we say that
it is not happening now? Or is it perhaps true, as Scripture has
told us, that as time goes by, evil will wax worse and worse? (See 2
Timothy 3:13.)
Forsaking Our God
You remember
that 1888 was the year
when God sent a special message to His people, and truly, we have been
tentatively touching on that message. The doctrine of righteousness by
faith was given at the Minneapolis Conference of 1888. But in the
Review and Herald of July 24, 1888, the pen of inspiration penned these
words, and they were words of sadness:
“Some power has cut the
cable,…[we] are drifting away to sea, without chart or compass.” And in
Testimonies, vol. 5, 75, 76, she says, “You are following the same path
as did ancient Israel.…Your neglect to follow the light will place you in a
more unfavorable position than the Jews upon whom Christ pronounced a
woe.”
These words are not meant to
tear God’s people down. They are meant to wake God’s people up to a
knowledge of the true situation which confronts them. Why does the Lord do
that? It sounds discouraging. We want to hear “love and unity,” and
we are to “unify,” but the Lord tells us “not to unify on a platform of
error.” These words were not penned for our pleasure to tear and to strike
at each other. These words were intended to rend our hearts.
“Unless the church, which is
now being leavened with her own backsliding, shall repent and be converted, she
will eat of the fruit of her own doing, until she shall abhor herself.”
Testimonies, vol. 8, 250. God’s messenger wrote a letter, preceding
the 1888 Minneapolis meeting, to Elders Butler and Haskell. You will find
a transcript of this letter in Manuscript Releases, vol. 12,
320–322.
Internal Corruption Brings God’s Denunciations
In part it says,
“Oh, what privileges are granted to us as a people! And if God spared not
His people that He loved, because they refused to walk in the light, how can He
spare the people whom He has blessed with the light of heaven in having opened
to them the most exalted truth ever entrusted to mortal man to give to the
world?…Internal
corruption will bring the denunciations of God upon this people as it did upon
Jerusalem. [As we read in Matthew 23.] . . . My brethren, we know not
what is before us.…God will work with us and for us if the sins which
brought His wrath upon the old world, upon Sodom and Gomorrah and upon ancient
Jerusalem, do not become our crime.”
“Jerusalem is a
representation of what the church will be if it refuses to walk in the
light that God has given.…These are no idle tales, but truth.”
Testimonies, vol. 8, 67, 68. “If we imitate their [Israel’s]
example of transgression and depart from God we shall fall as surely as did
they.” Ibid., vol. 1, 609.
By the way, how do we exalt
God’s power? To exalt His power is to believe, to teach and to live that
truth. To deny that truth is to have the form of godliness but denying the
power thereof. Do you know what it says in 2 Timothy 3:5 where that
verse is recorded? It says, Those who have the “form of godliness, but
deny the power thereof, from such turn away.”
“Let a church become proud
and boastful, not depending on God, not exalting His power, and that
church will surely be left by the Lord, to be brought down to the ground.
Let a people glory in wealth, intellect, knowledge, or in anything but Christ,
and they will soon be brought to confusion.” Testimonies, vol. 8,
127. These are sobering statements, brothers and sisters. Jesus said
He is the way, the truth and the life. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Author
and the Finisher of the faith of God’s people.
Return
to the Doctrine of Truth
By His grace let
us determine every day that we will have our feet planted firmly on that
doctrine of truth which He established as the Rock upon which He would build His
church, the church against which the gates of hell will not prevail.
Namely that He came to this earth, accepting our human nature, and in the flesh
condemned sin that He might be able to succor them, that is you and me, who are
also tempted.
We have to return to the
doctrine of truth that is the foundation for us as a people. We cannot
flirt with the doctrines of antichrist, because those doctrines will surely
separate God’s people from the Saviour. We must ever remember that the
presence of Christ alone can constitute the church. We have to remain
closely united to that body of believers which has Jesus as its head—the
humble few who love God and keep His commandments, not the vast majority who say
they love God and teach that you cannot keep His commandments.
Let us determine to have
Jesus as our Head, today, tomorrow and forever more, to be born again of the
Spirit, to be led into all truth, as Jesus promised the Spirit would
do.
October 2001 Table of Contents |
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