Exactly what happens immediately after the resurrection of the dead? The answer is staggering. But first, to answer this question, we must redefine exactly who and what the members of the Church are. Return to Romans 8 and now read verse 9: “But you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His.”
To be a true Christian, one must have the Spirit of God. It is that simple. Recall that I Corinthians 12:13 revealed that all members of the Church are “baptized into one body.” Baptized means ‘immersed, put into’. Therefore, a Christian becomes a member of God’s Church by receiving the Holy Spirit. This Spirit makes him a begotten son.
Those without God’s Spirit, regardless of their church affiliation or denomination, are “none of His.” We have seen that all of the Spirit-begotten become “heirs” of salvation (Rom. 8:17). But there is more important knowledge to understand. This is tied directly to God’s purpose for human marriage and family. The way a husband loves, works with and leads his wife is intended to be a reflection of Christ’s leadership over His Church.
The New Testament actually identifies the Church as Christ’s betrothed Bride. The eternal purpose of God for the Church is for her to be His Bride, forming a magnificent building in the holy city of Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God (Revelations 21: 10 - 13). Many verses reveal this. First, notice the following parallel between Christ and His Church, and human husbands and their wives:
“For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the Church…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” (Eph. 5:23, 27).
The Bible reveals that the husband’s relationship with his wife is a parallel of Christ’s relationship to the Church! Christ works with His Church the way husbands are to work with their wives. He intends to “present the Church to God,” in a marriage ceremony, with all spots, wrinkles and blemishes gone. But this wedding is only attainable for those learning the lessons of this life—those who gain experience through suffering and building character now!
After Christ returns and re-establishes the government of God (Rev. 19:11-16), He becomes Ruler and Governor over all nations on earth forever and ever, with His Church. Notice: “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign forever and ever”’ (Rev. 11:15).
But this is not all. Immediately, upon His Return, here is what Christ does: “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude… saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigns. Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to Him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and His wife has made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. And He says unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb…” (Rev.19:6-9). Of course, the Lamb of God has always been Jesus Christ (John 1:29, 36; Rev. 5:6).
Now fully comprehend this awesome knowledge: Christ is God. He is of the “God kind.” Just as God and Christ could not reproduce outside their kind (Gen. 1:24-26), anymore than any animal could reproduce with any other kind, Christ could not marry outside the God kind either.
At His Return, in one of the most awesome events in all history –The Marriage Supper of the Lamb – Christ will marry His Church! This is the plain truth from God’s Word—and you have just heard it! God calls His Church, His future Bride, “a building” that is “fitly framed together” (Eph. 2:21). Christ is literally “building a temple” consisting of Spirit filled believers or “living stones” (I Pet. 2:5). Christ is continuing His building of the Church today, and you have come in contact with it. We saw that the true Church is depicted as a type of Jerusalem and as the Mother of all the brethren in the Church (Gal. 4:26; Heb. 12:22-23).
Like any Mother, she cares for and feeds her children. We have seen that the true Church is also pictured as a Bride prophesied to marry Jesus Christ at His Return (Rev. 19:7-9). She is described as, at that time, having “made herself ready” for this wonderful and glorious event! Will you be among those who strive to “make yourself ready”?
Finally, we have already addressed the actual meaning of the Greek word translated “Church” in the New Testament. This needs no further clarification. Most have supposed it means a building or an organization, when it means neither. The word “church” is ekklesia, meaning Christians are indeed “called out” of this world—its ways—its customs—its practices— its traditions—its false knowledge—and into the true Church, and fellowship with God and Christ (I John 1:3). Take time to savour this marvellous understanding!
God thunders this message to all people everywhere: “Therefore come out from among them, and be you separate…and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:17-18). May God help you to come out of the Babylon of this world (Rev. 18:4), that you may qualify to rule with the all-powerful, living Christ in the wonderful, utopian new heaven and earth that lies ahead! Some few are choosing to come out of the world. They are willing to seek God with all their hearts. These are those called of God at this time. Let’s understand! The Bible does plainly speak of those who have been called by God. Notice what Paul said to the Thessalonian brethren: “Faithful is He that calls you...” (I Thes. 5:24).
As a warning to the Galatian congregation, who were losing sight of the true gospel, he said this: “I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel” (1:6), and later added, “This persuasion comes not of Him that calls you” (5:7-8). To the Corinthian congregation he wrote, “For you see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called” (I Cor. 1:26).
When you read or hear things like these in books such as this one, do they have meaning to you? Are you grasping them? Are they plain to your understanding? Do you see them as special knowledge others do not have? Do you feel tempted to pinch yourself in disbelief that you could be shown things of which the masses have no idea? If the answers to these questions are “yes,” then God is calling you! The mysteries of the kingdom of God are being given to you!
Remember, satan is a master deceiver. He has forged many forms of false religion all over the earth. He counterfeits the truth in endless ways, and God’s calling process is no exception. Be certain of whether you are being called at this time. “Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble” (2 Pet. 1:10). You must decide whether you grasp the truths of this book—whether you are being given your opportunity for salvation now!
Having known all these things, what manner of Christians should we be? Should we remain in the ‘valley of decision’ knowing that even if we find ourselves walking in the valley of the shadow of death, we should fear no evil? Should we be under the sway of the devil, when the Spirit of Jesus Christ that is in us is greater than the antichrist spirit that is in the world? Should we allow the works of the flesh restrict us from keeping the commandments of God? Is worldly persecution or religious obscurity enough excuse for not saving the lost sheep of Israel?
I beseech you brethren, by the grace of God: “Even if we die, let us not die like fowls; if we must die, let us die like soldiers of Christ. If we must live, let us “fight the good fight of faith”. And if we live, let us live for Christ.”
There is an evil which I have seen on the earth. Those who say publicly that they know Christ have not even been known by Him (In other words, Jesus Christ does not know them); but those who are known by Christ are often afraid to profess their faith in Him. I have not written to you because you don’t know Him, but that you know Him and you must confess Him even unto death.
“All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. GO and make disciples of all nations, baptising them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always even to the end of the age.” Amen. (Matt. 28:18-20)
“Behold I give you authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19).
Tuesday, May 24, 2016
Laodicea: Warning to Repent
The last city on the route was Laodicea, 45 miles southeast of Philadelphia. With three main roads crossing it, the city was one of the richest commercial centers in the world. The Laodiceans were famous for producing shiny, black wool clothing and boasted of an outstanding medical center that specialized in eye ointments. With its wealth amassed, it had also become the banking centre of the region. For all its wealth, the city of Laodicea had a water proble.
One nearby town had fabulous hot springs and another had cold, clear water. The water either came from the nearby hot springs and was cooled to lukewarm or came from a cooler source and warmed up in the aqueduct on the way. Laodicea, however, was stuck in-between lukewarm mineral-laden water that tested like sulphur. Not hot, not cold. Christ says to this church: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot” (verses 15-16).
Given these facts, the words of Jesus to the Laodicean brethren must have stung. Christ uses the Laodiceans’ lukewarm and distasteful water to point out that their poor spiritual state is equally offensive to Him. In addition, when He thought of them, He felt like vomiting –like the effect of their water. What was their problem? Was it the sin of indifference about good or evil; or whether or not to stick to their self-sufficiency and fleshly indulgence, that had satiated their desire for the gospel?
He warns them that, if they do not rapidly improve their spiritual condition, He will reject them. He detests the Laodicean attitude of compromising with God’s laws. By contrast, He later describes those who are faithful to Him as “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).
Further, even if their clothing were world renowned, Christ tells them their “spiritual garments” were in pitiful condition. “…you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed… (Vs. 17-18)
He recommends that they focus on buying from Him the spiritual clothing of true righteousness that He later describes as “fine linen, clean and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:8). Jesus next tells these brethren, who are blind to their true spiritual condition that, the “Phrygian powder” concocted in their medical centre as an eye ointment was useless.
Instead, He advised them to use His true spiritual eye salve so they can clearly see and repent of their compromising attitudes. Lastly, Christ warns them not to put their trust in their physical wealth but in Him, who can develop the true gold that comes from overcoming trials and building righteous spiritual character.
The Laodicean Church represents the final state of the church preceding the Great Tribulation. The mainstream churches of these days are slowly but steadily gliding into the Laodicean. However, in the time of the end, at the unvailing of the seven final seven seal, the people on earth would not heed to this advice to repent of their sins. The whole of humanity would be afraid of God because of His wraths that are being unleashed on the earth and its inhabitants; but they would also be afraid of the dragon who gave his power to the beast (Rev. 9: 20-21). They would be indifferent –lukewarm- about who to obey God or satan, being neither hot nor cold, and as such bring upon themselves great destruction.
“But the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hand, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders, or their sorceries, or their sexual immorality, or their thefts.” (Revelation 9: 20-21)
Therefore Christ wraps up the prophecy: “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” (Revelation 22: 11-13)
I want to believe that your heart has been enlightened and loosened by the amazing and true words that you have read thus far. The purpose of being a Christian or being born again is to submit to the will of God and allow Christ to guide you in the path that leads to everlasting life. From Genesis to Revelations, the commandments of God are evident to all believers. A true servant of God will do everything within his/her power to obey the commandments of God to escape the wrath of God. “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building… Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1 Cor. 3:9; 16-17).
One nearby town had fabulous hot springs and another had cold, clear water. The water either came from the nearby hot springs and was cooled to lukewarm or came from a cooler source and warmed up in the aqueduct on the way. Laodicea, however, was stuck in-between lukewarm mineral-laden water that tested like sulphur. Not hot, not cold. Christ says to this church: “I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot” (verses 15-16).
Given these facts, the words of Jesus to the Laodicean brethren must have stung. Christ uses the Laodiceans’ lukewarm and distasteful water to point out that their poor spiritual state is equally offensive to Him. In addition, when He thought of them, He felt like vomiting –like the effect of their water. What was their problem? Was it the sin of indifference about good or evil; or whether or not to stick to their self-sufficiency and fleshly indulgence, that had satiated their desire for the gospel?
He warns them that, if they do not rapidly improve their spiritual condition, He will reject them. He detests the Laodicean attitude of compromising with God’s laws. By contrast, He later describes those who are faithful to Him as “those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Revelation 14:12).
Further, even if their clothing were world renowned, Christ tells them their “spiritual garments” were in pitiful condition. “…you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked—I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich; and white garments, that you may be clothed, that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed… (Vs. 17-18)
He recommends that they focus on buying from Him the spiritual clothing of true righteousness that He later describes as “fine linen, clean and bright. For the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints” (Revelation 19:8). Jesus next tells these brethren, who are blind to their true spiritual condition that, the “Phrygian powder” concocted in their medical centre as an eye ointment was useless.
Instead, He advised them to use His true spiritual eye salve so they can clearly see and repent of their compromising attitudes. Lastly, Christ warns them not to put their trust in their physical wealth but in Him, who can develop the true gold that comes from overcoming trials and building righteous spiritual character.
The Laodicean Church represents the final state of the church preceding the Great Tribulation. The mainstream churches of these days are slowly but steadily gliding into the Laodicean. However, in the time of the end, at the unvailing of the seven final seven seal, the people on earth would not heed to this advice to repent of their sins. The whole of humanity would be afraid of God because of His wraths that are being unleashed on the earth and its inhabitants; but they would also be afraid of the dragon who gave his power to the beast (Rev. 9: 20-21). They would be indifferent –lukewarm- about who to obey God or satan, being neither hot nor cold, and as such bring upon themselves great destruction.
“But the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hand, that they should not worship demons, and idols of gold, silver, brass, stone, and wood, which can neither see nor hear nor walk. And they did not repent of their murders, or their sorceries, or their sexual immorality, or their thefts.” (Revelation 9: 20-21)
Therefore Christ wraps up the prophecy: “He who is unjust, let him be unjust still; he who is filthy, let him be filthy still; he who is righteous, let him be righteous still; he who is holy, let him be holy still. And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to everyone according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” (Revelation 22: 11-13)
I want to believe that your heart has been enlightened and loosened by the amazing and true words that you have read thus far. The purpose of being a Christian or being born again is to submit to the will of God and allow Christ to guide you in the path that leads to everlasting life. From Genesis to Revelations, the commandments of God are evident to all believers. A true servant of God will do everything within his/her power to obey the commandments of God to escape the wrath of God. “For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, you are God’s building… Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” (1 Cor. 3:9; 16-17).
Philadelphia: The Faithful Chruch
About 25 miles southeast of Sardis lay the city of Philadelphia, newest of the seven cities. An imperial road passed through it from Rome to the east, so it became known as “the gateway to the East.” Christ says to this Church: “These things says He who is holy, He who is true . . . Behold, I am coming quickly! Hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown. He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he shall go out no more” (Revelation 3:7, 11-12).
Christ emphasizes His loyalty to His true followers and reminds them to be equally faithful to Him. If they persevere in His Word, He will give them a crown that they may rule with Him in His Kingdom. We find a definite theme of brotherly fidelity in this section. The Philadelphian brethren could well identify with this admonition.
Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” The city was named after the love the king who founded the city held for his brother. The city was established by Attalus II (159-138 B.C.), who was called Philadelphus (brother lover), in honour of his loyal affection toward his brother, King Eumenes II of Pergamos.
During his brother’s lifetime Attalus II was his most loyal assistant. He successfully commanded his brother’s forces in several wars and later became the trusted ambassador to their ally, Rome. There he won respect and admiration from the Romans for his brotherly fidelity. The New Bible Dictionary comments: “As Philadelphus was renowned for his loyalty to his brother, so the Church, the true Philadelphia, inherits and fulfils his character by its steadfast loyalty to Christ” (“Philadelphia” 1982, p. 926).
Men have their own differing ideas of where the Church actually is, but only the Bible’s view—God’s word—matters. Read it for yourself. Paul wrote to Timothy the evangelist, “…that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15). Many New Testament verses show that the Church that Christ built is unified—with all its members and congregations walking together in complete agreement with each other, and with the word of God. Another important scripture, demonstrating that the true Church is unified and teaches the truth emerges from Christ’s prayer in John 17, on the night of His betrayal.
He prayed: “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth…That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as You have loved Me” (vs. 19, 21-23). God’s Church is a unified body and teaches “the truth.” In the end, no other view devised by men is acceptable.
These are powerful statements! Christ intended that His Church be unified—“one”—no less than were He and His Father! There is no room for disagreement in a Church that is this unified. These verses describe a perfect oneness through the truth—the same kind of oneness that the Father and Christ enjoy. It is only the word of God that can keep the Church completely unified. It is this kind of unity that allows true Christians to be “in” Them—be in Christ and the Father (vs. 21).
We read that Christ promised that when false leaders, whom He refers to in John 10 as “thieves and robbers,” have been able to get into the Church, “the sheep hear His (Christ’s) VOICE: and He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out.” His voice is plainly defined in Scripture as “the truth” (John 18:37).
He went on in John 10 to add, “He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His VOICE. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (vs. 3-5). Christ continues by describing certain ministers: “The hireling flees, because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep” (vs. 13). This remarkable promise shows that Christ will never abandon His sheep and will always protect those who hear His voice and willingly follow Him when they are in danger of false doctrines! God wants His sons to understand His purpose.
God has given us basic comparisons that are easy to grasp. He compares His love for the Church in Ephesians 5: 25-27 as the love a Husband has for His wife. God concludes in Genesis 2:24 that “a man Shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” —to make ONE human body. “For as the BODY IS ONE, and has many members, and all the members of that ONE BODY, being many, are ONE BODY: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into ONE BODY...” (I Cor. 12:12-13).
Colossians 1:18 and Ephesians 1:22-23 revealed that “one body” means the Church. There is only one Church with many “little flocks” and like the human body, all the flocks are connected by the truth. Notice, 1 Corinthians 6:19 adds, “… your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” and in chapter 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually”. The Church is an organized, structured and combined body of individuals, put together by Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit —it has Jesus Christ as the Head of its government! This solid unity of purpose (becoming the future bride of Christ), is of lasting value to the entirety of the true Church at any time in its history.
Christ emphasizes His loyalty to His true followers and reminds them to be equally faithful to Him. If they persevere in His Word, He will give them a crown that they may rule with Him in His Kingdom. We find a definite theme of brotherly fidelity in this section. The Philadelphian brethren could well identify with this admonition.
Philadelphia means “brotherly love.” The city was named after the love the king who founded the city held for his brother. The city was established by Attalus II (159-138 B.C.), who was called Philadelphus (brother lover), in honour of his loyal affection toward his brother, King Eumenes II of Pergamos.
During his brother’s lifetime Attalus II was his most loyal assistant. He successfully commanded his brother’s forces in several wars and later became the trusted ambassador to their ally, Rome. There he won respect and admiration from the Romans for his brotherly fidelity. The New Bible Dictionary comments: “As Philadelphus was renowned for his loyalty to his brother, so the Church, the true Philadelphia, inherits and fulfils his character by its steadfast loyalty to Christ” (“Philadelphia” 1982, p. 926).
Men have their own differing ideas of where the Church actually is, but only the Bible’s view—God’s word—matters. Read it for yourself. Paul wrote to Timothy the evangelist, “…that you may know how you ought to behave yourself in the house of God, which is the Church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (I Tim. 3:15). Many New Testament verses show that the Church that Christ built is unified—with all its members and congregations walking together in complete agreement with each other, and with the word of God. Another important scripture, demonstrating that the true Church is unified and teaches the truth emerges from Christ’s prayer in John 17, on the night of His betrayal.
He prayed: “And for their sakes I sanctify Myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth…That they all may be one; as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You, that they also may be one in Us: that the world may believe that You have sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them; that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and You in Me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them, as You have loved Me” (vs. 19, 21-23). God’s Church is a unified body and teaches “the truth.” In the end, no other view devised by men is acceptable.
These are powerful statements! Christ intended that His Church be unified—“one”—no less than were He and His Father! There is no room for disagreement in a Church that is this unified. These verses describe a perfect oneness through the truth—the same kind of oneness that the Father and Christ enjoy. It is only the word of God that can keep the Church completely unified. It is this kind of unity that allows true Christians to be “in” Them—be in Christ and the Father (vs. 21).
We read that Christ promised that when false leaders, whom He refers to in John 10 as “thieves and robbers,” have been able to get into the Church, “the sheep hear His (Christ’s) VOICE: and He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them out.” His voice is plainly defined in Scripture as “the truth” (John 18:37).
He went on in John 10 to add, “He goes before them, and the sheep follow Him: for they know His VOICE. And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers” (vs. 3-5). Christ continues by describing certain ministers: “The hireling flees, because he is an hireling, and cares not for the sheep” (vs. 13). This remarkable promise shows that Christ will never abandon His sheep and will always protect those who hear His voice and willingly follow Him when they are in danger of false doctrines! God wants His sons to understand His purpose.
God has given us basic comparisons that are easy to grasp. He compares His love for the Church in Ephesians 5: 25-27 as the love a Husband has for His wife. God concludes in Genesis 2:24 that “a man Shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” —to make ONE human body. “For as the BODY IS ONE, and has many members, and all the members of that ONE BODY, being many, are ONE BODY: so also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into ONE BODY...” (I Cor. 12:12-13).
Colossians 1:18 and Ephesians 1:22-23 revealed that “one body” means the Church. There is only one Church with many “little flocks” and like the human body, all the flocks are connected by the truth. Notice, 1 Corinthians 6:19 adds, “… your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit” and in chapter 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually”. The Church is an organized, structured and combined body of individuals, put together by Christ, and filled with the Holy Spirit —it has Jesus Christ as the Head of its government! This solid unity of purpose (becoming the future bride of Christ), is of lasting value to the entirety of the true Church at any time in its history.
Sardis: The Church in Apostasy
Prepare yourself for the shocking revelations, and facts, as we look at the Church in Apostasy –Sardis. Thereafter, we shall take a look at the true Church which Christ built, and He will establish it on the earth —at the coming of the KINGDOM OF GOD — “the Philadelphian Church”.
Poised above the rich Hermus Valley, Sardis was 30 miles south of Thyatira. The city appeared as a gigantic watch-tower and was considered impregnable. Five roads converged below it and contributed to Sardis’s status as a great commercial centre. The wealth of the city—which had been the capital of the Lydian Empire under the opulent King Croesus—was legendary.
Christ exhorts this church, “…I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die…” (Revelation 3: 1-2). The Sardian brethren could readily identify with a warning to be watchful. The only two times Sardis had been conquered were when its citizens had become overconfident and failed to watch. Once, when King Cyrus of Persia besieged the city, the Sardians, nestled in their fortress high above, paid little attention to the invader.
Sometime later a vigilant Persian soldier spied a defender who had accidentally dropped his helmet from above. The careless soldier climbed down a secret pathway to retrieve it, and that night the Persians led their troops up the same pathway and to the top. To their surprise, the site was completely unguarded. The watchmen had gone home to sleep, thinking there was no need to keep guard at night—and so Sardis fell.
Incredibly, several centuries later the same sequence of events occurred when a Greek general besieged the city. After a year’s siege the Greeks appeared to lose all hope of conquering the city. Then one of the Sardian soldiers dropped a helmet and went down to retrieve it. That night the Greeks led some men up the steep cliff. When they reached the top, the place was again unguarded. Sardis’s inhabitants had forgotten their lesson, and their city fell again.
Christ uses these lessons to drive home a powerful spiritual point to His Church: “Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you” (verse 3). This pose’s as a serious warning to the Church today. Simply put, the Church is becoming more and more relax, and the sermons coming from the pulpit today are glamorous, and fail to address the vigilance needed to anticipate the dreadful Day of the Lord. Christ warned His followers in the Olivet prophecy saying: “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24:42)
But is the Church really watching and anticipating this woeful Day. The Church seem to be passing the message that all is well so long as you are in the Church, but something tells me that all is not well with our churches. I feel that the current stream of churches is full of people who never get tired of accumulating wealth. From in-debt research and experience, I concluded long time ago that most churches of today have lost the way.
If there is any doubt about the current state of our churches today, there should be none about the crowd pulling power the churches of these days have managed to harness. Over 7,000 different professing Christian church organizations have been “built” by men. Estimates place the number of professing Christians at about 2 billion. Today, in Africa and America, it is estimated that over one church is started every single day. While church attendance seems to be increasing, it is not increasing as fast as the confusion surrounding the question of which is the right church. Recall Christ said, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9).
In Mark’s parallel account of this statement, He continued, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (7:9). The Bible declares, “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints (this refers to all congregations of the true Church, not all organizations of men)” (I Cor. 14:33).
God’s Church (composed of many congregations of saints) was to reflect peace—not confusion. After the foremost apostles died, the great apostate universal church did come in and largely destroyed the visible Church. Because of persecution, often including threats, imprisonment, torture and death, most people gave-in and departed from the truth of God’s Way and therefore from the true Church. This period is often called “The Lost Century.” Yet, as Christ promised (Matthew 16:18), His Church has always survived. It has never completely disappeared or been destroyed—though it has certainly remained a “little flock” that has kept His Word, and the Church that has always been kept in God’s name.
Most of the mainstream denominations today have a name that is different from the name of the Church of God, by which the true Church of God can be identified. God’s true Church is simply called “the Church of God.” Though some apostate denominations have wisely adopted this name, but they always seem to add a few words to it. For example, “The church of God Ministry” is not the same as the Church of God. I think every church that has ‘a name’ apart from “The Church of God” is clearly in apostasy, and you will agree with me that all well known churches today have drifted to this respect.
Peter warned, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you” (II Pet. 2:1-3).
Thus among the converted Christians, there would be false teachers, who disown the authority of Christ –His rights over them. They will bear the name of Christ, therefore fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah: “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘we will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach”’ (Isaiah 4:1). This refers to those who are Christians by name alone. Remember Rev. 3:1, “You have A NAME that you are alive, but you are dead.” Because they were not willing to submit to the authority of Christ, as a woman is suppose to submit to her husband. The way of truth would be bought into disrepute by their means; while in fact, by their covetousness and hypocritical words, many would be led astray by them, and they would make merchandise of Christians for their private gain, and count them as mere instruments of profit.
Before his death, Paul explicitly warned the Ephesian elders to understand what would happen after he was gone. Notice: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the Church of God …For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30). History records that this is exactly what happened during (and after) The Lost Century.
We have discussed how this world’s churches are in confusion, divided by endless disagreement over doctrine and practice. Amos 3:3 asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” The answer is NO! This world’s churches do not practice the principle of “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4), exactly as it is written. Instead, because they follow the many differing traditions of men, endless disagreements separate, divide and create more and more churches of men.
They generally do not “walk together” because they do “agree”— neither with each other nor with God! No wonder in His fifth letter to the Church in Sardis, Jesus Christ said: “Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” (Rev. 3:3)
For some breaking news! Apostasy –chameleon
faith –has overwhelmed the churches of this world. False prophets have taken the place of Christ on the altars, claiming to be His representatives, while they deceive followers into more miseries, instead of revealing the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Christ said to them in Matthew 23:13, “For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”
Talk of denominations, different sects of Christian religious bodies and cell groups, I have attended a handful, and the best I got out of them all was more miseries. I went in search of Christ where He could not be found. Going to a church service was like going to “a cinema in war times” or going to “seek the living among the dead” (Luke 24:5); and I was doing this until I heard the call: “Come out of her my people” (Rev. 18:4). From the day I responded, I was amazed—actually stunned—at how easy it was to find direct, clear, undeniable proofs that even the most popular traditions of the big denominations were not based on the Bible—AT ALL!
Recall once again Christ’s promise, “I will build My Church” (Matt. 16:18). No matter how men interpret it, this verse speaks of a single Church! Christ continued, “…and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” He promised that His Church would never be destroyed. The more I studied the other doctrines of the Bible, the more I learned the churches of this world were wrong—on virtually everything! One plain scripture after another contradicted each traditional “Christian” idea I had been taught.
God inspired Paul to write, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (I Thes. 5:21). While this obviously refers to scriptural matters, (not what kind of car to drive or house to buy) surely God would not exclude something of such magnitude—such vital importance—as the matter of where His true Church is found. Each time I studied a Bible doctrine—salvation, baptism, laying of hands, who and what God is, the gospel, death and hell, law and sin, grace and faith, being born again, the Christian Sabbath, the true origin of supposed “Christianity”, God’s holidays or ‘holy days’, where the modern-day tribes of ancient Israel are today, the sequence of prophetic events preceding Christ’s Return, the reward of believers, judgement of sinners, and so much more— I found that the churches of this world were almost invariably confused on all these and many other plain points of Bible teaching.
“Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His’ and ‘let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity’” (2 Tim. 2:19). On that Day, God will not judge anyone with respect to his denomination or pastor, for “we shall all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10)
Since hitting the limelight in the 20th century, the Pentecostal, Protestant, and evangelical Churches have been the puppet blasting blasphemy from the pulpit of the teleprompter of the antichrist. The continually increasing doctrinal disagreements and differing traditions of the Pentecostal churches alone, have largely contributed to the ever growing number of atheists in our society today. But even these so-called atheists have got to believe that there is at least a devil somewhere that is causing all the religious confusion in the world today. Believe it or not, the devil’s deception is hitting every facet of our present world, and he has succeeded in feeding many breakaway mainstreams with his ‘satanic revelation knowledge’. However hard he tries, we (children of God) do not need to be confused about the identity of the true Church Jesus built.
Problems of the Churches in Apostasy
Apostate Christianity (departure from true biblical Christianity) in its final analysis cannot be distinguished from any other religion in the world in its quest for God. No wonder apostate Christianity will be willing to join with all the other religions of the world. These nominal Christians think they are Christian just because it is part of their culture and because they believe in a higher power. Even demons believe in a higher power. Apostate Christianity has nothing to do with a born again experience with the evidence of a Holy Spirit changed life.
Some in religious training were taught that Jesus died for their sins and that they are saved or justified, but in their lives there is no evidence by works of the Spirit. Do they really have Jesus or do they only have head knowledge about Him? Do they have “Churchianity” or Christianity?
Those that trust in their own good works to save them are self deceived and still in their sins. Those that depend on the works of the law, rather than to be saved by faith through grace are deceiving themselves. If there ever was a religion that could allow man to fellowship with God it was Judaism but the requirement was to keep all of God's law. The laws of Judaism did not achieve salvation because in man's fallen state he could never keep the whole law. Man's righteousness and good works can never bring about eternal life with God because man always falls short of the required perfection necessary to dwell in the presence of a Holy God. Yet Judaism did not fail because through the tribe of Judah a Savior from God was born.
Many of the church's traditions and practices are contrary to scripture proving that the church is far from being infallible. Satan with his wolves in sheep's clothing has infiltrated the church and corrupted it. The Church has become like the corrupted Judaism that Jesus condemned. It is largely a church of Pharisees and of blind ritual -- a church of idolatry, rote prayer, and traditions of men.
To rid most of Christianity of the church in apostasy, we first would have to go to the root of apostasy and purge out most of the doctrines that have infiltrated the most of the common church denominations.
Problems of the Roman Catholic Church
The membership of this church is more than half of all that are identified as Christianity (over one billion people) but the majority of Catholics baptized into the denomination do not even regularly practice their religion. Additionally, many Catholics know little about their own beliefs or they ignore the doctrine. Many integrate it with native pagan religions.
This denomination teaches that you are saved by grace, faith and works of merit. God's grace is something you must earn by keeping the church sacraments, traditions and rituals and by doing good works. The priests of the church are successors of the apostles and have all of Christ's authority on earth. The priests are grace dispensers and the church is infallible. If you accumulate enough merit you will go to heaven. Otherwise you will have to go through the fires of purgatory or to hell. The writings of the church fathers and the traditions of the church have equal weight with the Holy Scriptures. The members of this church are in the process of being saved by their works of merit.
The seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church are rituals for grace. The church believes that the ritual itself will dispense grace from God. It appears that the church puts the cart before the horse. No spiritual grace come from ritual, but power from the Holy Spirit is given to those who listen to God and obey Him.
The sacrament of the baptism of infants is not scriptural or logical. The ritual of baptism is for identifying believers with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Babies do not believe. True baptism is dying with Christ and by faith being born into a new creation called the "body of Christ".
The sacrament of the Eucharist should be a memorial and remembrance of Christ's broken body and shed blood for us. There is no place in scripture that says we are to offer Christ's body on the altar daily or that the bread and the wine actually becomes the body of Jesus, and by putting these elements in your stomach you will receive Him into your body and get grace from Him.
The Sacrament of contrition and penance is contrary to scripture. The scriptures say that Jesus is the only intermediator. between God and man. The doctrine that you can have your sins forgiven by confession to a priest who then intermediates and gives absolution if you do the penance he dictates, abolishes what Jesus did for us on the cross for all sin. Who is sinless enough to intermediate for us with God except Jesus, and which sin did Jesus not pay for?
This church teaches that the sacrament of confirmation is where you get the power of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures however, teach that you get the Holy Spirit when you believe and you get power to do His will when you earnestly pray for it.
Marriage is a union between two people. There is no reason given in scripture for it to be a Church sacrament or for the ceremony to be performed by a priest or clergy -- not that the practice of getting married by the elder of any church is wrong.
The ordination of a special priesthood is contrary to New Testament scripture. The scripture teaches that all in Christ are kings and priests.
The sacrament of Extreme Unction indicates that the dying get some special grace by having a priest say some ritualistic prayers over them. This is a distortion of the true biblical practices of elders praying over the sick.
The doctrine of purgatory
The doctrine of purgatory is an insult to Jesus and the finished work that He did on the cross to pay for the sins of the whole world. If we sin He is faithful to forgive us our sins if we confess them to Him. Scripture says that there is now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. Jesus either paid for all sins past, present, and future or He paid for none of them. Scripture teaches no other doctrine.
A few of the many other heresies:
In much of the third world Catholicism has been integrated with pagan witchcraft and no major correction is coming from Rome. Yet the Vatican rails against those who teach true Christianity to those doing such things.
The scapular is worn by some Catholics who believe that salvation can come from something they hang around their neck.
Expecting power by using Holy water, medals, holy pictures and objects blessed by a priest is simply belief in the occult. It simply is witchcraft.
Many Catholic churches allow gambling and drinking on the church premises to raise funds.
The Pope as the vicar of Christ is not scriptural and many Popes have been anti-Christ. Peter was not the first Pope. The first real Pope was Leo 1st about 400 years later. Peter was an apostle to the Jews. Paul was the apostle to the gentiles from which most post first century Christianity descended.
The former Pope called Moslems brothers, kissed the Koran and said that Moslems are on a path to God. He had a close friendship with the top leader of Eastern Pagan religion and said they were on the same path. He told Catholics that salvation of the earth comes through Mary.
Further, Pope John Paul II warned Catholics about the dangers of Christian evangelicals that teach the Bible. He welcomed non believers in Christ as brothers, but did not rescind the one hundred anathema's made by the Catholic Church against all Protestant believers. (In catholic theology the anathema's mean all Protestants will go to Hell. The anathema's came from an infallible papal decree so it can never be rescinded. Thus, the only hope of salvation for Protestants within the Catholic theology is for Protestants to return to the Catholic Church). The former pope also made pilgrim trips to Portugal to bow down and worship the stature of “our lady of Fatima” as most Catholics call the demon goddess. This is not Christian leadership, it is the type of antichrist leadership that Paul warned true Christians to beware of, and this church declares this Pope a saint.
The present Pope, Benedict XVI, apparently is no wiser about salvation theology. He seems to think that all people of good will are saved and many religions like Islam worship the same God as Christians even though Islam doctrine says that God has no Son. Some Catholics are now calling him an anti-pope because some of his views conflict with the views of other infallible popes. Oh, the Joy of blind Religion!
The Roman Catholic Church as an institution is mostly apostate. Only each individual Catholic can truly know if they are trusting in Jesus as He is define in the Bible for their salvation or if they are just trusting in a false hope of following Catholic doctrine to save them. The doctrines of the Catholic Church are convoluted and their doctrine of salvation is contrary to the clear teaching of New Testament teaching. The majority that claim to be Catholics do not even practice Catholicism.
The cult of Mary
A large sect in this church teaches that Mary is co-redeemer and that she was without sin. The scripture says that there is salvation in no other name than Christ Jesus. The scriptures also say that all have sinned including Mary. Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest of all born of women. Why did He not say His mother was if she was without sin? When the natural mother of Jesus and His brothers (yes, Jesus had brothers according to scripture) thought He went crazy and wanted to talk to Him, Jesus said His mother and brothers are those that do the will of His Father. Mary is not the mother of God, she is the mother of the natural body that God incarnated. Mary is not the mother of the Church. She had to believe to be saved and had to receive the Holy Spirit and become a member of the "body of Christ" like everyone else. How can Mary be the mother of a membership that includes herself?
The idea that Mary is interceding for the Christians and appearing to many and giving statements to people that are often contrary to the scriptures is an insult to Mary. The bottom line of these apparitions at the very least is a message of salvation by works which will save no one. Furthermore, many Catholics are now into witchcraft and things forbidden in the Bible because they believe in these lies. Much of what is being said by apparitions attributed to Mary parallels pagan new age teachings and doctrine of demons. Those into Marialogy like to reduce the God of the Universe to a child on Mary's breast but He is a consuming fire and the only mediator between God and man.
Saying the Rosary with its "Hail Mary's" is rote prayer to someone other than God. This is idolatry! Jesus said to pray to the Father. If He wanted people to pray to his earthly mother He would have said so. Furthermore, how in the world could anyone really believe that Mary would want to hear the same prayer over and over and over again? Do people think that she or they get power from their chanting? This is witchcraft! Even common sense should tell them that no one wants to hear the same thing over and over again. I am sure the real Mary of the Bible would tell the people who chant these prayers to please shut up.
Many times the real reasons for the rote prayer is not even addressed in the prayer service. For example, when Catholics pray "Hail Mary's" in front of abortion clinics. Their ritualistic chanting leaves the body of Christ open to much ridicule by unbelievers and all of this is a counterfeit substitution for real prayer to God about the real situation that is needing prayer. The scripture tells us not to say rote prayers as the heathen do that think they will be heard for their many words. We are told that God knows what we need before we ask. Our requests should be like a child toward his Father. Try saying the same thing fifty or more times to your earthly father or mother daily and note their response to you. Finally, most Catholics don’t even know the scriptures for themselves. All they know is some prescribed catechisms that do well to exclude the focus of the Bible. Most Catholics do not even know the second commandment because they have never come across it in any Catholic manual.
Other Apostate Believes of Major Mainstream Churches
There are about one billion others who profess that they are Christians. Most of these call themselves Protestants, although some of those labeled as Protestants are demonic cults. The majority of all non-Catholic Christians are in old mainline liberal and reformed denominations such as Protestants, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Adventists, Baptists, or they are in independent Bible churches.
The overwhelming majority of the people in the liberal Protestant denominations have never had a born again experience nor do their lives reflect that God is indwelling them. Most of them do not regularly fellowship with other believers or attend services. Many that do attend services are Sunday Christians. There is no fellowship with Jesus or each other outside the formal church service. For the most part their Christianity is cultural and the relationship they have with God is superficial. Many believe in humanism, socialism, evolution and the basic goodness of man rather than the truths the scriptures teach. Few people in the liberal denominations know the essentials of their own faith. Many believe that all religions lead to God.
A few decades ago most Charismatic Christians split into four camps. One camp stayed with true biblical Christianity, the other camp went on to experience-based belief and have gone off into a ever descending spiral of more and more error and even doctrine of demons. The third camp calls themselves "Word Churches" they have embraced "name it and claim it" theology. The forth camp is those who have bought into Kingdom now/Reconstruction/Dominion theology that does away with pre-millennial beliefs, and the literal reading of unfulfilled prophetic scripture and replaces it with the theology that the Church will rule on earth before Jesus returns. In some of these churches, the camps overlap and it gets really hard to sort them all out. Some of the following problems may not qualify as true apostasy from the faith but they deviate from the truths of true biblical Christianity because they are doctrines of men or “legalism”.
Most believe that people are saved into the church through infant baptism, contrary to scripture
Some believe that people are saved by the mere ritual of baptism
Many have retained much of the heretical doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church
Most lord the clergy over the laity
Some do away with the inspiration and infallibility of scripture
Some put men under the authority of women contrary to scriptures, allowing women to head the church
Some condone abortion; all condone birth control, contrary to God’s regeneration plan.
Many have no salvation message and preach only a social, materialistic gospel
Many churches put a picture of a Norwegian on their wall and call him Jesus
Many think they are Christians because they were born into a Christian background, tradition or culture
Some do not believe that Jesus was God, but accept that He was a prophet of God
Some Christian denominations make Jesus a lesser God (Mormons and Jehovah witnesses)
Most do not teach the imminent return of Christ
Some let flagrant sinners lead the flock
Many Evangelicals place too much emphasis on self reliance instead of relying on the Holy Spirit
Business and success seminars are held in some church premises as if they were biblical doctrines
Many have introduced psychotherapy and its underlying psychologies in their counseling programs and replaced Godly counsel with satanic theories
Some have little or no church discipline
Some have occult-like inner meetings and birthing seminars
Some compromise essentials of the Christian faith for unity among denominations
Many pastors shop for materialistic or prestigious and divorce the flock they were called to serve
The secondary leadership in the church too often is picked because of their position in the community or the size of their bank account
Some worship the idol of money and care more about their building projects than evangelism of the lost
Most large churches have a country club mentality. They have wonderful fellowship and they have many programs for those in the club but they do little about improving the community they live in either spiritually or physically
Most have now replaced real Bible study with study of annual or quarterly magazines about Bible passages and applications for living
Many preach that all who drink any alcoholic beverages are sinning. Some even will not allow into their membership or will remove from their membership those who profess to use alcohol. They ignore or spin the fact that the Savior was called a wine bibber because He turned water into wine and that Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for his health. They also ignore the Old Testament scripture that says wine was given to make the heart glad. Common sense and logic indicates that the scripture would not speak of drinking wine in excess and choosing elders that do not drink too much wine if drinking fermented wine was not in the permissive will of God under moderation. Alcohol abuse is a sin but the Church needs to be truthful and credible and should not unduly put its members on guilt trips. They should not label people as sinners who in faith are generally practicing something that in moderation actually could be a benefit to their health
Some have created lists of actions of the flesh that they say are sinful such as, smoking, dancing, watching movies or TV or even listening to certain Christian “rock” music. Some do not even allow musical instruments in church but these same churches ignore actions of the flesh like gluttony and gossip. They judge everyone as sinners who have the greater faith to believe that God does not abide by their list of man-made forbidden activities
Many, to be all inclusive and to reach non-believers, have made their worship service on Sunday to be a time of entertainment rather than a time to feed the flock, worship God and to provide the message of the kingdom of God
Many do not fully understand that the Christians are the temple of God. Their building is a building, not a holy sanctuary. The people who make up the Church are the holy sanctuary. There is no special grace for those who come to the front of the building to pray. This practice is fine as a testimony that one has responded to a call to be saved, to follow a church ordinance or to be prayed with by an elder, but God is not anymore present in the front of the building than He is anywhere else. God's sanctuary is in His people and He is not more present in the front of any building or near the preacher.
Most confuse being filled with the Spirit for service, with Spirit baptism and teach people that they get the Holy Spirit in a separate experience after conversion, as if you can separate Jesus and the Spirit (there is one God)
Some willfully take the place of God by trying to win souls for God through making fetish and satanic alter calls to those “who wants to be saved”. They so easily forget that only Jesus can save and God alone is responsible for the salvation of any soul. He is the One that adds to the Church, not man. Some have gone a step further in apostasy by making alter calls for backsliders in the faith, ignoring the scripture that says no one who puts his hand on the plough and looks back is fitting for the kingdom of God. They easily forget what happened to lot’s wife.
Many have back rooms where by emotional effort and peer pressure try to forcefully teach members to speak in tongues. They try to give you the Holy Ghost. Very funny!
Many say the only initial evidence of being born of the spirit is speaking in tongues and say other Christians that haven't had this experience are not born of the Spirit. By this doctrine they divide the body of Christ by saying that those faithful prophets of old who did not speak in tongues did not prophecy by the Spirit. They insult the Spirit that is obviously working through all born again believers
In many churches there is little accountability and the leadership often gets involved in various unholy scandals.
Many are ritualistic. Even though most of the members came out of ritualistic churches like Catholicism and Liberal Protestantism they have incorporated new rituals back into the Church like casting out demons classes, and healing appointments.
Many have rejected the priesthood of Catholicism but then embraced a new special priesthood position that place them as God's special anointed sons; they deceive followers that were sent by God to take other sons to God, making the Father of all flesh a Grand-father.
Some claim to be prophets and make prophetic statements, but their prophecies do not come true, yet they are still embraced as prophets by the leadership and most members, contrary to the explicit definition of a true prophet in scripture.
Some think you can become a prophet by self-appointment and self will. They also think you can learn how to be a prophet by going to a prophetic school.
Too many of the leaders are con television artists and clowning buffoons who amuse the sheep with absurd jokes about major Bible stories, and open the body of Christ to unnecessary ridicule
Too many of the leaders are hypnotists or loud mouth bully control freaks that coerce the church into altered states of reality and emotionalism. Too many confessed conversions are by coercive wisdom of men, peer pressure and emotionalism. Many are pressured to do what the leaders ask and soon fall away because their confessed conversion was not genuine
Too many of the leaders twist the meanings of scripture to support a deviant doctrine
Some teach name it and claim it and positive confession -- "if you believe it you will receive it”, forgetting that God has the final say.
Some teach spiritual laws that God is subject to them and thus make God someone to be manipulated by following some set formula designed by men
Some claim healing that never happened, hoping that this confession will really bring it about. Others proclaim rumor healing from others as gospel truth
Some deny the triune nature of God taught throughout scripture
Some teach that the King James translation is the only inerrant version (errors and all). Many teach that the King James Bible is the only correct translation and that other honest translations of scripture are Satanic
Many are embracing the Emergent or Emerging Church movement. This movement is redefining the Bible and leading many into mysticism.
Many try to advertise themselves, their denomination and the Holy Spirit through the mass media. They promise what is not theirs for the giving. They promise their members healing, salvation, breakthrough, miracles, signs and wonders, and so on, playing down God’s time to do His work, thereby leaving faithful believers completely shattered and bewildered when they go to such services and come back without those things that were promised them.
Some believe that doctrines taught by their denomination are essential for salvation and thus rule out all other Christians as even being Christian
Some allow women to pastor their churches and to rule over men contrary to scripture
Some Pentecostals still follow the teachings of those who claim there are hidden equal distance codes in the Bible even after this theory has been disproved. Some of these are even using their perceived “hidden codes” as a crystal ball to predict, prophecy and even calculate the future.
Some embrace Kingdom now/Reconstruction/Dominion theology, which does away with the restoration of natural Israel and the literal reading of unfulfilled prophetic scripture and replaces it with a strange doctrine that is not taught in the Bible. They say the Church will rule on earth before Jesus can return.
Some apply the tithe system of government for Israel to the Church. They teach that Christians are required to tithe to their church as if this is New Testament truth. It is not! There is not a word about tithing in New Testament instruction to the Church but there is teaching about cheerful free will giving. If you want to teach it as an example-fine-but what many fail to understand is that God gave individuals in the Church the gift of giving and most Christian funding is funded by such individuals. It is a well known fact that teaching on tithing does not have a long term impact on the amount of giving in the Church. This teaching unduly puts guilt and burdens on the poor that God never intended. It also tells the rich that it is in God's will for them to use 90 percent for themselves and their worldly living style when they should and could give much more. When the church in Israel needed to raise funds for the building of the tabernacle, did Moses not ask them to give from their free will, as they were moved by the Spirit? Or when the Church in Jerusalem was in poverty during the later kings, did the members tithe or did funds come from others moved by the Holy Spirit to give? When people on assistance are given exactly what they need to live on by charities or by government through the donations and taxes that comes from others, should the church then be robbing the donors and the poor by telling them to give ten percent of these funds to their church organization? Some Christians have multiple and fragmented strings of income which makes it impossible for them to pay the church stipulated percentage of their tithes without error. I can build a better case from scripture that the Church itself should be giving a tithe of its income to its needy members than the needy giving a tithe to their church. But this last point rarely happens.
Many have now bought into the seeker-friendly church growth movement. They knowingly or unknowingly use paraphrases of the Bible that sometimes twists scripture. They do not teach the gospel truth. The leadership in general sees the Church ruling on earth before the return of Christ and they tell their people that studying future Bible prophecy is a distraction to their development
Many churches leaders have blinded their followers into believing that Sunday is the Sabbath day of worship as opposed to Friday evening/Saturday as stated in the gospel. The followers on the other hand do not know enough history to know that Constantine “the Great deceiver” orchestrated the change of the original Sabbath day in order to favor the worship of the pagan sun god. Since God commanded that the Sabbath be kept forever, how did Sunday keeping originate? It certainly did not come from God or His Church. It pains me to see most of the activities that were originally suppose to be done on the Sabbath day, for example resting, being done on Sunday, while Saturday has become a day of much work, therefore capsizing the law of God
Where Did “Sunday observance” Come From?
Remember, Sunday is commonly referred to as “the Lord’s Day.” While the true Lord’s Day of the Bible is actually the Day of the Lord—the Day of His Wrath (Joel 2:1-11; Rev. 1:10; 15:1, 7), the term “the Lord’s Day” has come to be synonymous with Sunday. But why? Many believe that Jesus was resurrected from the tomb on Sunday. If Sunday can be established as the day that Jesus was resurrected, it can be a means of artificially validating and “authorizing” the keeping of Sunday by the churches of the world—in place of God’s true Sabbath. Then, the pagan Easter festival and celebration, with its Sunday sunrise services, also becomes much easier to comform to.
Many pagan festivals, including Christmas (the Saturnalia), Easter (the festival of Ishtar) and worship on the day of the Sun, were observed throughout the Roman Empire long before Christ. The apostate church simply adopted them into practice, and enforced them on all citizens in the empire through the civil government. Actually, the first one to enforce Sunday worship was not a pope or a church, but was Constantine, the emperor.
Now Daniel 7. Verse 25 sheds important light on what happened in the Roman Empire. Daniel wrote, “And he [the little horn] shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High”—now get this next point and do not misunderstand—“and think to change times and laws.”
This is a remarkable statement about how the apostate church sought to alter God’s law as it had to do with time. The single most obvious way has been to change the time of God’s Sabbath to the pagan sun day. Thus altering the fourth great law of God! (More and more people today speak of Sunday as their “sabbath.”)
God has never authorized His Church or mankind to keep the pagan Sun’s day. Nor did He ever command or allow His people to keep numerous other pagan festivals and days of worship—He has always explicitly commanded against them!
When people celebrate Sunday as the “Lord’s Day,” they unwittingly celebrate the very wrath that God will pour on them for keeping this pagan custom in place of His Sabbath! Astonishing, but true.
Exodus 20:8-11 showed that Sabbath-keeping is the Fourth Commandment! The Sabbath has always been the seventh day of the week, and God never authorized Sunday, the first day of the week. God hallowed the Sabbath at Creation. Jesus kept it (Luke 4:16). So did Paul (Acts 13:42, 44; 17:2; 18:4). And so did the New Testament Church.
God has always said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). He has never said, “Remember Sunday to keep it holy." Keeping the Sabbath as God’s command for true Christians is a big subject requiring its own large volume to explain.
In the Old Testament, Sabbath-breaking was punishable by death (Ex. 31:14 and 15). II Corinthians 3:7-8describes the Old Testament administration of a civil death penalty, which is no longer applicable, because God is now building the nation of spiritual Israel (Rom. 2:28-29; 8:9; 11:24-26; Gal. 3:29; Eph. 2:11-13, 19; I Pet. 2:5, 9).
The Sabbath was to be kept perpetually, throughout the generations of Israel. There are still generations of Israel today—and there is spiritualIsrael, which keeps the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Israel is not synonymous with Jews. The Jews, who came from Judah, represent but one of twelve tribes of Israel that descended from the patriarch Jacob. Recall that the Tribulation is “Jacob’s trouble,” not merely “Judah’s.
Take heed whether and how you will obey God. For “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:28-29).
During the Middle Ages, the Holy Roman Empire caused people to receive a “mark.” What was this mark? Those who had it lived—those who did not, died. This mark protected all who received it.
The Roman system “set” this mark on all who obeyed and submitted to its pagan religious practices. These included observance of Sunday as the day of worship (instead of the true Sabbath), along with other pagan holidays (Christmas, Easter and others). We saw history records that tens of millions were killed for not obeying the Roman Empire in regard to Sunday observance.
Notice this revealing verse in Daniel 7: “I beheld, and the same [little] horn made war with the
saints...” (vs. 21). This “war” is referring to the period that the Roman Empire, under the false church’s direction, put to death all those who would not worship on Sunday! Let me repeat: The universal church in Rome, working with the civil government, caused everyone under the Roman system to receive this mark. Sunday became the official day of worship for all—throughout the empire. Sabbath observance was outlawed, and anyone observing it was killed! Millions lost their lives in this persecution, and God’s Word tells us that it will happen again!
We have already seen that the book of Revelation is largely one of visions and symbols. We read that the beast “causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads...” (Rev. 13:16). What does this mean?
Let’s understand. What do people do with their hands? They work! So the “right hand” referenced in Revelation is a symbol for working—making a living. What about the forehead? The forehead is a symbol for what people believe. This is referring to one’s intellect or mind.
Again, God also has a “mark,” or a sign, He puts on those who follow His laws. In Exodus 13:9, God is explaining one of His annual Sabbaths to the nation of Israel. Notice this: “It shall be for a sign unto you upon your hand [they could not work on the Sabbath], and for a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth.”
This could not be more plain! Let’s examine two more passages: “Now these are the commandments...and these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart...and you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deut. 6:1, 6, 8), and “Therefore shall you lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deut. 11:18).
The Fourth Commandment, of God’s Sabbath, is the one command that apostate Christianity outrightly rejects! This commandment separates those who obey and worship the Beast and those who obey God’s sign of Sabbath-keeping. It is the test command of one’s obedience to the true God.
God’s Law is not negotiable. If one breaks any of His laws, that person is guilty of sin. We saw that “sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). If you break it, you earn a penalty—death (Rom. 6:23). So both God, with His sign, and the Beast, with his mark, identify their followers. And both bring death—if disobeyed!
You must choose which mark to take. Choose correctly, because it determines where you will spend eternity.
Now notice again Exodus 31:13: “...Verily My Sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you.”
So then, in plain terms, the mark of the Beast is Sunday-keeping and the keeping of pagan festivals—in place of God’s weekly and annual Sabbaths! Those who hallow these pegan days are simply worshipping the beast.
Today, there is no governmental power to enforce a global Sunday observance, although some government authorities are already enforcing it with their subjects. However, the final revival of the rejuvenated Roman Empire, comprising of a government sponsored apostate church soon will rise, and again have POWER to enforce Sunday worship on an unsuspecting world. They will cause all mankind worship on sunday and anyone who refuses will not be able to work (the right hand) and ultimately feed themselves. Today, all nations, in one form or another are unwittingly already following these false ways of “worship”. God warns all who will listen: “Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues”!
May God help you to heed what you have learned, you can receive divine protection from the living God. Obey God, and be “accounted worthy to escape”! This also brings great reward: “And I saw thrones, and they [the faithful] sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4).
The identity of the Beast of Revelation and all the biggest questions connected to it, are now known to you. Some are looking for the Beast, but most think in other terms…
Some Commendations to Apostate Religion
+ They preserved the scriptures
+ Strong community orientation
+ Social Programs
+ Hates abortion
+ Teaches against the faithless practice of birth control
+ Strong school system that still teaches moral absolutes
+ Believes scriptures are God inspired
+ Some have Christian education
+ Many still believe in the infallibility of scripture
+ Most still confess most of the essential doctrines of the faith
+ Some support missionaries
+ Some have good youth and social programs
+ Some discipleship
+ Some evangelism
+ A good grasp on the doctrine of salvation
+ Strong missionary support
+ Mostly Bible centered services
+ Home fellowship groups
+ Charity
+ Enthusiastic worship
+ Strong desire to live out the Christian life
+ Most still expect the literal fulfillment of prophetic scriptures
+ Some still practice the doctrine of baptism by immersion
+ All believe that original scripture is without error
Who then is a Christian?
There are more than two billion people on the earth who identify themselves as Christians, but there are significantly fewer that are really part of the body of Christ. Jesus said you can not enter the kingdom of heaven unless you are converted as little children and born of the Spirit. The new birth from the Holy Spirit occurs when a person truly believes that Jesus is the son of God and trusts in the finished work of Jesus on the cross to atone for their own sins and to justify them before God.
The scriptures say you are saved by faith, not by your own works, lest anyone should boast. We cannot judge if a person who identifies with Christianity is really trusting in Christ or in their religion to save them. If they are trusting in their religion to save them they are no more part of the body of Christ than a Jew or Moslem or any other religion.
True Christianity is more than a religion. It is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This relationship does not depend on having all the correct theology but correct theology will result in more fruitful Christianity. A true Christian is one who is called out of the world, converted by the word of God—REAL CONVERSION. Christianity is not merely “professing Christ as Lord and Saviour” only to deny the faith to some self-imposed doctrine of men afterwards.
Poised above the rich Hermus Valley, Sardis was 30 miles south of Thyatira. The city appeared as a gigantic watch-tower and was considered impregnable. Five roads converged below it and contributed to Sardis’s status as a great commercial centre. The wealth of the city—which had been the capital of the Lydian Empire under the opulent King Croesus—was legendary.
Christ exhorts this church, “…I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die…” (Revelation 3: 1-2). The Sardian brethren could readily identify with a warning to be watchful. The only two times Sardis had been conquered were when its citizens had become overconfident and failed to watch. Once, when King Cyrus of Persia besieged the city, the Sardians, nestled in their fortress high above, paid little attention to the invader.
Sometime later a vigilant Persian soldier spied a defender who had accidentally dropped his helmet from above. The careless soldier climbed down a secret pathway to retrieve it, and that night the Persians led their troops up the same pathway and to the top. To their surprise, the site was completely unguarded. The watchmen had gone home to sleep, thinking there was no need to keep guard at night—and so Sardis fell.
Incredibly, several centuries later the same sequence of events occurred when a Greek general besieged the city. After a year’s siege the Greeks appeared to lose all hope of conquering the city. Then one of the Sardian soldiers dropped a helmet and went down to retrieve it. That night the Greeks led some men up the steep cliff. When they reached the top, the place was again unguarded. Sardis’s inhabitants had forgotten their lesson, and their city fell again.
Christ uses these lessons to drive home a powerful spiritual point to His Church: “Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you” (verse 3). This pose’s as a serious warning to the Church today. Simply put, the Church is becoming more and more relax, and the sermons coming from the pulpit today are glamorous, and fail to address the vigilance needed to anticipate the dreadful Day of the Lord. Christ warned His followers in the Olivet prophecy saying: “Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour the Lord is coming.” (Matthew 24:42)
But is the Church really watching and anticipating this woeful Day. The Church seem to be passing the message that all is well so long as you are in the Church, but something tells me that all is not well with our churches. I feel that the current stream of churches is full of people who never get tired of accumulating wealth. From in-debt research and experience, I concluded long time ago that most churches of today have lost the way.
If there is any doubt about the current state of our churches today, there should be none about the crowd pulling power the churches of these days have managed to harness. Over 7,000 different professing Christian church organizations have been “built” by men. Estimates place the number of professing Christians at about 2 billion. Today, in Africa and America, it is estimated that over one church is started every single day. While church attendance seems to be increasing, it is not increasing as fast as the confusion surrounding the question of which is the right church. Recall Christ said, “But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matt. 15:9).
In Mark’s parallel account of this statement, He continued, “Full well you reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition” (7:9). The Bible declares, “God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints (this refers to all congregations of the true Church, not all organizations of men)” (I Cor. 14:33).
God’s Church (composed of many congregations of saints) was to reflect peace—not confusion. After the foremost apostles died, the great apostate universal church did come in and largely destroyed the visible Church. Because of persecution, often including threats, imprisonment, torture and death, most people gave-in and departed from the truth of God’s Way and therefore from the true Church. This period is often called “The Lost Century.” Yet, as Christ promised (Matthew 16:18), His Church has always survived. It has never completely disappeared or been destroyed—though it has certainly remained a “little flock” that has kept His Word, and the Church that has always been kept in God’s name.
Most of the mainstream denominations today have a name that is different from the name of the Church of God, by which the true Church of God can be identified. God’s true Church is simply called “the Church of God.” Though some apostate denominations have wisely adopted this name, but they always seem to add a few words to it. For example, “The church of God Ministry” is not the same as the Church of God. I think every church that has ‘a name’ apart from “The Church of God” is clearly in apostasy, and you will agree with me that all well known churches today have drifted to this respect.
Peter warned, “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you” (II Pet. 2:1-3).
Thus among the converted Christians, there would be false teachers, who disown the authority of Christ –His rights over them. They will bear the name of Christ, therefore fulfilling the prophecy of Isaiah: “And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, ‘we will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach”’ (Isaiah 4:1). This refers to those who are Christians by name alone. Remember Rev. 3:1, “You have A NAME that you are alive, but you are dead.” Because they were not willing to submit to the authority of Christ, as a woman is suppose to submit to her husband. The way of truth would be bought into disrepute by their means; while in fact, by their covetousness and hypocritical words, many would be led astray by them, and they would make merchandise of Christians for their private gain, and count them as mere instruments of profit.
Before his death, Paul explicitly warned the Ephesian elders to understand what would happen after he was gone. Notice: “Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the Church of God …For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them” (Acts 20:28-30). History records that this is exactly what happened during (and after) The Lost Century.
We have discussed how this world’s churches are in confusion, divided by endless disagreement over doctrine and practice. Amos 3:3 asks, “Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” The answer is NO! This world’s churches do not practice the principle of “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God” (Luke 4:4), exactly as it is written. Instead, because they follow the many differing traditions of men, endless disagreements separate, divide and create more and more churches of men.
They generally do not “walk together” because they do “agree”— neither with each other nor with God! No wonder in His fifth letter to the Church in Sardis, Jesus Christ said: “Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.” (Rev. 3:3)
For some breaking news! Apostasy –chameleon
faith –has overwhelmed the churches of this world. False prophets have taken the place of Christ on the altars, claiming to be His representatives, while they deceive followers into more miseries, instead of revealing the mysteries of the kingdom of God. Christ said to them in Matthew 23:13, “For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in.”
Talk of denominations, different sects of Christian religious bodies and cell groups, I have attended a handful, and the best I got out of them all was more miseries. I went in search of Christ where He could not be found. Going to a church service was like going to “a cinema in war times” or going to “seek the living among the dead” (Luke 24:5); and I was doing this until I heard the call: “Come out of her my people” (Rev. 18:4). From the day I responded, I was amazed—actually stunned—at how easy it was to find direct, clear, undeniable proofs that even the most popular traditions of the big denominations were not based on the Bible—AT ALL!
Recall once again Christ’s promise, “I will build My Church” (Matt. 16:18). No matter how men interpret it, this verse speaks of a single Church! Christ continued, “…and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” He promised that His Church would never be destroyed. The more I studied the other doctrines of the Bible, the more I learned the churches of this world were wrong—on virtually everything! One plain scripture after another contradicted each traditional “Christian” idea I had been taught.
God inspired Paul to write, “Prove all things; hold fast that which is good” (I Thes. 5:21). While this obviously refers to scriptural matters, (not what kind of car to drive or house to buy) surely God would not exclude something of such magnitude—such vital importance—as the matter of where His true Church is found. Each time I studied a Bible doctrine—salvation, baptism, laying of hands, who and what God is, the gospel, death and hell, law and sin, grace and faith, being born again, the Christian Sabbath, the true origin of supposed “Christianity”, God’s holidays or ‘holy days’, where the modern-day tribes of ancient Israel are today, the sequence of prophetic events preceding Christ’s Return, the reward of believers, judgement of sinners, and so much more— I found that the churches of this world were almost invariably confused on all these and many other plain points of Bible teaching.
“Nevertheless, the solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: ‘The Lord knows those who are His’ and ‘let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity’” (2 Tim. 2:19). On that Day, God will not judge anyone with respect to his denomination or pastor, for “we shall all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.” (2 Cor. 5:10)
Since hitting the limelight in the 20th century, the Pentecostal, Protestant, and evangelical Churches have been the puppet blasting blasphemy from the pulpit of the teleprompter of the antichrist. The continually increasing doctrinal disagreements and differing traditions of the Pentecostal churches alone, have largely contributed to the ever growing number of atheists in our society today. But even these so-called atheists have got to believe that there is at least a devil somewhere that is causing all the religious confusion in the world today. Believe it or not, the devil’s deception is hitting every facet of our present world, and he has succeeded in feeding many breakaway mainstreams with his ‘satanic revelation knowledge’. However hard he tries, we (children of God) do not need to be confused about the identity of the true Church Jesus built.
Problems of the Churches in Apostasy
Apostate Christianity (departure from true biblical Christianity) in its final analysis cannot be distinguished from any other religion in the world in its quest for God. No wonder apostate Christianity will be willing to join with all the other religions of the world. These nominal Christians think they are Christian just because it is part of their culture and because they believe in a higher power. Even demons believe in a higher power. Apostate Christianity has nothing to do with a born again experience with the evidence of a Holy Spirit changed life.
Some in religious training were taught that Jesus died for their sins and that they are saved or justified, but in their lives there is no evidence by works of the Spirit. Do they really have Jesus or do they only have head knowledge about Him? Do they have “Churchianity” or Christianity?
Those that trust in their own good works to save them are self deceived and still in their sins. Those that depend on the works of the law, rather than to be saved by faith through grace are deceiving themselves. If there ever was a religion that could allow man to fellowship with God it was Judaism but the requirement was to keep all of God's law. The laws of Judaism did not achieve salvation because in man's fallen state he could never keep the whole law. Man's righteousness and good works can never bring about eternal life with God because man always falls short of the required perfection necessary to dwell in the presence of a Holy God. Yet Judaism did not fail because through the tribe of Judah a Savior from God was born.
Many of the church's traditions and practices are contrary to scripture proving that the church is far from being infallible. Satan with his wolves in sheep's clothing has infiltrated the church and corrupted it. The Church has become like the corrupted Judaism that Jesus condemned. It is largely a church of Pharisees and of blind ritual -- a church of idolatry, rote prayer, and traditions of men.
To rid most of Christianity of the church in apostasy, we first would have to go to the root of apostasy and purge out most of the doctrines that have infiltrated the most of the common church denominations.
Problems of the Roman Catholic Church
The membership of this church is more than half of all that are identified as Christianity (over one billion people) but the majority of Catholics baptized into the denomination do not even regularly practice their religion. Additionally, many Catholics know little about their own beliefs or they ignore the doctrine. Many integrate it with native pagan religions.
This denomination teaches that you are saved by grace, faith and works of merit. God's grace is something you must earn by keeping the church sacraments, traditions and rituals and by doing good works. The priests of the church are successors of the apostles and have all of Christ's authority on earth. The priests are grace dispensers and the church is infallible. If you accumulate enough merit you will go to heaven. Otherwise you will have to go through the fires of purgatory or to hell. The writings of the church fathers and the traditions of the church have equal weight with the Holy Scriptures. The members of this church are in the process of being saved by their works of merit.
The seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church are rituals for grace. The church believes that the ritual itself will dispense grace from God. It appears that the church puts the cart before the horse. No spiritual grace come from ritual, but power from the Holy Spirit is given to those who listen to God and obey Him.
The sacrament of the baptism of infants is not scriptural or logical. The ritual of baptism is for identifying believers with the death and resurrection of Jesus. Babies do not believe. True baptism is dying with Christ and by faith being born into a new creation called the "body of Christ".
The sacrament of the Eucharist should be a memorial and remembrance of Christ's broken body and shed blood for us. There is no place in scripture that says we are to offer Christ's body on the altar daily or that the bread and the wine actually becomes the body of Jesus, and by putting these elements in your stomach you will receive Him into your body and get grace from Him.
The Sacrament of contrition and penance is contrary to scripture. The scriptures say that Jesus is the only intermediator. between God and man. The doctrine that you can have your sins forgiven by confession to a priest who then intermediates and gives absolution if you do the penance he dictates, abolishes what Jesus did for us on the cross for all sin. Who is sinless enough to intermediate for us with God except Jesus, and which sin did Jesus not pay for?
This church teaches that the sacrament of confirmation is where you get the power of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures however, teach that you get the Holy Spirit when you believe and you get power to do His will when you earnestly pray for it.
Marriage is a union between two people. There is no reason given in scripture for it to be a Church sacrament or for the ceremony to be performed by a priest or clergy -- not that the practice of getting married by the elder of any church is wrong.
The ordination of a special priesthood is contrary to New Testament scripture. The scripture teaches that all in Christ are kings and priests.
The sacrament of Extreme Unction indicates that the dying get some special grace by having a priest say some ritualistic prayers over them. This is a distortion of the true biblical practices of elders praying over the sick.
The doctrine of purgatory
The doctrine of purgatory is an insult to Jesus and the finished work that He did on the cross to pay for the sins of the whole world. If we sin He is faithful to forgive us our sins if we confess them to Him. Scripture says that there is now no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus. Jesus either paid for all sins past, present, and future or He paid for none of them. Scripture teaches no other doctrine.
A few of the many other heresies:
In much of the third world Catholicism has been integrated with pagan witchcraft and no major correction is coming from Rome. Yet the Vatican rails against those who teach true Christianity to those doing such things.
The scapular is worn by some Catholics who believe that salvation can come from something they hang around their neck.
Expecting power by using Holy water, medals, holy pictures and objects blessed by a priest is simply belief in the occult. It simply is witchcraft.
Many Catholic churches allow gambling and drinking on the church premises to raise funds.
The Pope as the vicar of Christ is not scriptural and many Popes have been anti-Christ. Peter was not the first Pope. The first real Pope was Leo 1st about 400 years later. Peter was an apostle to the Jews. Paul was the apostle to the gentiles from which most post first century Christianity descended.
The former Pope called Moslems brothers, kissed the Koran and said that Moslems are on a path to God. He had a close friendship with the top leader of Eastern Pagan religion and said they were on the same path. He told Catholics that salvation of the earth comes through Mary.
Further, Pope John Paul II warned Catholics about the dangers of Christian evangelicals that teach the Bible. He welcomed non believers in Christ as brothers, but did not rescind the one hundred anathema's made by the Catholic Church against all Protestant believers. (In catholic theology the anathema's mean all Protestants will go to Hell. The anathema's came from an infallible papal decree so it can never be rescinded. Thus, the only hope of salvation for Protestants within the Catholic theology is for Protestants to return to the Catholic Church). The former pope also made pilgrim trips to Portugal to bow down and worship the stature of “our lady of Fatima” as most Catholics call the demon goddess. This is not Christian leadership, it is the type of antichrist leadership that Paul warned true Christians to beware of, and this church declares this Pope a saint.
The present Pope, Benedict XVI, apparently is no wiser about salvation theology. He seems to think that all people of good will are saved and many religions like Islam worship the same God as Christians even though Islam doctrine says that God has no Son. Some Catholics are now calling him an anti-pope because some of his views conflict with the views of other infallible popes. Oh, the Joy of blind Religion!
The Roman Catholic Church as an institution is mostly apostate. Only each individual Catholic can truly know if they are trusting in Jesus as He is define in the Bible for their salvation or if they are just trusting in a false hope of following Catholic doctrine to save them. The doctrines of the Catholic Church are convoluted and their doctrine of salvation is contrary to the clear teaching of New Testament teaching. The majority that claim to be Catholics do not even practice Catholicism.
The cult of Mary
A large sect in this church teaches that Mary is co-redeemer and that she was without sin. The scripture says that there is salvation in no other name than Christ Jesus. The scriptures also say that all have sinned including Mary. Jesus said that John the Baptist was the greatest of all born of women. Why did He not say His mother was if she was without sin? When the natural mother of Jesus and His brothers (yes, Jesus had brothers according to scripture) thought He went crazy and wanted to talk to Him, Jesus said His mother and brothers are those that do the will of His Father. Mary is not the mother of God, she is the mother of the natural body that God incarnated. Mary is not the mother of the Church. She had to believe to be saved and had to receive the Holy Spirit and become a member of the "body of Christ" like everyone else. How can Mary be the mother of a membership that includes herself?
The idea that Mary is interceding for the Christians and appearing to many and giving statements to people that are often contrary to the scriptures is an insult to Mary. The bottom line of these apparitions at the very least is a message of salvation by works which will save no one. Furthermore, many Catholics are now into witchcraft and things forbidden in the Bible because they believe in these lies. Much of what is being said by apparitions attributed to Mary parallels pagan new age teachings and doctrine of demons. Those into Marialogy like to reduce the God of the Universe to a child on Mary's breast but He is a consuming fire and the only mediator between God and man.
Saying the Rosary with its "Hail Mary's" is rote prayer to someone other than God. This is idolatry! Jesus said to pray to the Father. If He wanted people to pray to his earthly mother He would have said so. Furthermore, how in the world could anyone really believe that Mary would want to hear the same prayer over and over and over again? Do people think that she or they get power from their chanting? This is witchcraft! Even common sense should tell them that no one wants to hear the same thing over and over again. I am sure the real Mary of the Bible would tell the people who chant these prayers to please shut up.
Many times the real reasons for the rote prayer is not even addressed in the prayer service. For example, when Catholics pray "Hail Mary's" in front of abortion clinics. Their ritualistic chanting leaves the body of Christ open to much ridicule by unbelievers and all of this is a counterfeit substitution for real prayer to God about the real situation that is needing prayer. The scripture tells us not to say rote prayers as the heathen do that think they will be heard for their many words. We are told that God knows what we need before we ask. Our requests should be like a child toward his Father. Try saying the same thing fifty or more times to your earthly father or mother daily and note their response to you. Finally, most Catholics don’t even know the scriptures for themselves. All they know is some prescribed catechisms that do well to exclude the focus of the Bible. Most Catholics do not even know the second commandment because they have never come across it in any Catholic manual.
Other Apostate Believes of Major Mainstream Churches
There are about one billion others who profess that they are Christians. Most of these call themselves Protestants, although some of those labeled as Protestants are demonic cults. The majority of all non-Catholic Christians are in old mainline liberal and reformed denominations such as Protestants, Evangelicals, Pentecostals, Adventists, Baptists, or they are in independent Bible churches.
The overwhelming majority of the people in the liberal Protestant denominations have never had a born again experience nor do their lives reflect that God is indwelling them. Most of them do not regularly fellowship with other believers or attend services. Many that do attend services are Sunday Christians. There is no fellowship with Jesus or each other outside the formal church service. For the most part their Christianity is cultural and the relationship they have with God is superficial. Many believe in humanism, socialism, evolution and the basic goodness of man rather than the truths the scriptures teach. Few people in the liberal denominations know the essentials of their own faith. Many believe that all religions lead to God.
A few decades ago most Charismatic Christians split into four camps. One camp stayed with true biblical Christianity, the other camp went on to experience-based belief and have gone off into a ever descending spiral of more and more error and even doctrine of demons. The third camp calls themselves "Word Churches" they have embraced "name it and claim it" theology. The forth camp is those who have bought into Kingdom now/Reconstruction/Dominion theology that does away with pre-millennial beliefs, and the literal reading of unfulfilled prophetic scripture and replaces it with the theology that the Church will rule on earth before Jesus returns. In some of these churches, the camps overlap and it gets really hard to sort them all out. Some of the following problems may not qualify as true apostasy from the faith but they deviate from the truths of true biblical Christianity because they are doctrines of men or “legalism”.
Most believe that people are saved into the church through infant baptism, contrary to scripture
Some believe that people are saved by the mere ritual of baptism
Many have retained much of the heretical doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church
Most lord the clergy over the laity
Some do away with the inspiration and infallibility of scripture
Some put men under the authority of women contrary to scriptures, allowing women to head the church
Some condone abortion; all condone birth control, contrary to God’s regeneration plan.
Many have no salvation message and preach only a social, materialistic gospel
Many churches put a picture of a Norwegian on their wall and call him Jesus
Many think they are Christians because they were born into a Christian background, tradition or culture
Some do not believe that Jesus was God, but accept that He was a prophet of God
Some Christian denominations make Jesus a lesser God (Mormons and Jehovah witnesses)
Most do not teach the imminent return of Christ
Some let flagrant sinners lead the flock
Many Evangelicals place too much emphasis on self reliance instead of relying on the Holy Spirit
Business and success seminars are held in some church premises as if they were biblical doctrines
Many have introduced psychotherapy and its underlying psychologies in their counseling programs and replaced Godly counsel with satanic theories
Some have little or no church discipline
Some have occult-like inner meetings and birthing seminars
Some compromise essentials of the Christian faith for unity among denominations
Many pastors shop for materialistic or prestigious and divorce the flock they were called to serve
The secondary leadership in the church too often is picked because of their position in the community or the size of their bank account
Some worship the idol of money and care more about their building projects than evangelism of the lost
Most large churches have a country club mentality. They have wonderful fellowship and they have many programs for those in the club but they do little about improving the community they live in either spiritually or physically
Most have now replaced real Bible study with study of annual or quarterly magazines about Bible passages and applications for living
Many preach that all who drink any alcoholic beverages are sinning. Some even will not allow into their membership or will remove from their membership those who profess to use alcohol. They ignore or spin the fact that the Savior was called a wine bibber because He turned water into wine and that Paul told Timothy to drink a little wine for his health. They also ignore the Old Testament scripture that says wine was given to make the heart glad. Common sense and logic indicates that the scripture would not speak of drinking wine in excess and choosing elders that do not drink too much wine if drinking fermented wine was not in the permissive will of God under moderation. Alcohol abuse is a sin but the Church needs to be truthful and credible and should not unduly put its members on guilt trips. They should not label people as sinners who in faith are generally practicing something that in moderation actually could be a benefit to their health
Some have created lists of actions of the flesh that they say are sinful such as, smoking, dancing, watching movies or TV or even listening to certain Christian “rock” music. Some do not even allow musical instruments in church but these same churches ignore actions of the flesh like gluttony and gossip. They judge everyone as sinners who have the greater faith to believe that God does not abide by their list of man-made forbidden activities
Many, to be all inclusive and to reach non-believers, have made their worship service on Sunday to be a time of entertainment rather than a time to feed the flock, worship God and to provide the message of the kingdom of God
Many do not fully understand that the Christians are the temple of God. Their building is a building, not a holy sanctuary. The people who make up the Church are the holy sanctuary. There is no special grace for those who come to the front of the building to pray. This practice is fine as a testimony that one has responded to a call to be saved, to follow a church ordinance or to be prayed with by an elder, but God is not anymore present in the front of the building than He is anywhere else. God's sanctuary is in His people and He is not more present in the front of any building or near the preacher.
Most confuse being filled with the Spirit for service, with Spirit baptism and teach people that they get the Holy Spirit in a separate experience after conversion, as if you can separate Jesus and the Spirit (there is one God)
Some willfully take the place of God by trying to win souls for God through making fetish and satanic alter calls to those “who wants to be saved”. They so easily forget that only Jesus can save and God alone is responsible for the salvation of any soul. He is the One that adds to the Church, not man. Some have gone a step further in apostasy by making alter calls for backsliders in the faith, ignoring the scripture that says no one who puts his hand on the plough and looks back is fitting for the kingdom of God. They easily forget what happened to lot’s wife.
Many have back rooms where by emotional effort and peer pressure try to forcefully teach members to speak in tongues. They try to give you the Holy Ghost. Very funny!
Many say the only initial evidence of being born of the spirit is speaking in tongues and say other Christians that haven't had this experience are not born of the Spirit. By this doctrine they divide the body of Christ by saying that those faithful prophets of old who did not speak in tongues did not prophecy by the Spirit. They insult the Spirit that is obviously working through all born again believers
In many churches there is little accountability and the leadership often gets involved in various unholy scandals.
Many are ritualistic. Even though most of the members came out of ritualistic churches like Catholicism and Liberal Protestantism they have incorporated new rituals back into the Church like casting out demons classes, and healing appointments.
Many have rejected the priesthood of Catholicism but then embraced a new special priesthood position that place them as God's special anointed sons; they deceive followers that were sent by God to take other sons to God, making the Father of all flesh a Grand-father.
Some claim to be prophets and make prophetic statements, but their prophecies do not come true, yet they are still embraced as prophets by the leadership and most members, contrary to the explicit definition of a true prophet in scripture.
Some think you can become a prophet by self-appointment and self will. They also think you can learn how to be a prophet by going to a prophetic school.
Too many of the leaders are con television artists and clowning buffoons who amuse the sheep with absurd jokes about major Bible stories, and open the body of Christ to unnecessary ridicule
Too many of the leaders are hypnotists or loud mouth bully control freaks that coerce the church into altered states of reality and emotionalism. Too many confessed conversions are by coercive wisdom of men, peer pressure and emotionalism. Many are pressured to do what the leaders ask and soon fall away because their confessed conversion was not genuine
Too many of the leaders twist the meanings of scripture to support a deviant doctrine
Some teach name it and claim it and positive confession -- "if you believe it you will receive it”, forgetting that God has the final say.
Some teach spiritual laws that God is subject to them and thus make God someone to be manipulated by following some set formula designed by men
Some claim healing that never happened, hoping that this confession will really bring it about. Others proclaim rumor healing from others as gospel truth
Some deny the triune nature of God taught throughout scripture
Some teach that the King James translation is the only inerrant version (errors and all). Many teach that the King James Bible is the only correct translation and that other honest translations of scripture are Satanic
Many are embracing the Emergent or Emerging Church movement. This movement is redefining the Bible and leading many into mysticism.
Many try to advertise themselves, their denomination and the Holy Spirit through the mass media. They promise what is not theirs for the giving. They promise their members healing, salvation, breakthrough, miracles, signs and wonders, and so on, playing down God’s time to do His work, thereby leaving faithful believers completely shattered and bewildered when they go to such services and come back without those things that were promised them.
Some believe that doctrines taught by their denomination are essential for salvation and thus rule out all other Christians as even being Christian
Some allow women to pastor their churches and to rule over men contrary to scripture
Some Pentecostals still follow the teachings of those who claim there are hidden equal distance codes in the Bible even after this theory has been disproved. Some of these are even using their perceived “hidden codes” as a crystal ball to predict, prophecy and even calculate the future.
Some embrace Kingdom now/Reconstruction/Dominion theology, which does away with the restoration of natural Israel and the literal reading of unfulfilled prophetic scripture and replaces it with a strange doctrine that is not taught in the Bible. They say the Church will rule on earth before Jesus can return.
Some apply the tithe system of government for Israel to the Church. They teach that Christians are required to tithe to their church as if this is New Testament truth. It is not! There is not a word about tithing in New Testament instruction to the Church but there is teaching about cheerful free will giving. If you want to teach it as an example-fine-but what many fail to understand is that God gave individuals in the Church the gift of giving and most Christian funding is funded by such individuals. It is a well known fact that teaching on tithing does not have a long term impact on the amount of giving in the Church. This teaching unduly puts guilt and burdens on the poor that God never intended. It also tells the rich that it is in God's will for them to use 90 percent for themselves and their worldly living style when they should and could give much more. When the church in Israel needed to raise funds for the building of the tabernacle, did Moses not ask them to give from their free will, as they were moved by the Spirit? Or when the Church in Jerusalem was in poverty during the later kings, did the members tithe or did funds come from others moved by the Holy Spirit to give? When people on assistance are given exactly what they need to live on by charities or by government through the donations and taxes that comes from others, should the church then be robbing the donors and the poor by telling them to give ten percent of these funds to their church organization? Some Christians have multiple and fragmented strings of income which makes it impossible for them to pay the church stipulated percentage of their tithes without error. I can build a better case from scripture that the Church itself should be giving a tithe of its income to its needy members than the needy giving a tithe to their church. But this last point rarely happens.
Many have now bought into the seeker-friendly church growth movement. They knowingly or unknowingly use paraphrases of the Bible that sometimes twists scripture. They do not teach the gospel truth. The leadership in general sees the Church ruling on earth before the return of Christ and they tell their people that studying future Bible prophecy is a distraction to their development
Many churches leaders have blinded their followers into believing that Sunday is the Sabbath day of worship as opposed to Friday evening/Saturday as stated in the gospel. The followers on the other hand do not know enough history to know that Constantine “the Great deceiver” orchestrated the change of the original Sabbath day in order to favor the worship of the pagan sun god. Since God commanded that the Sabbath be kept forever, how did Sunday keeping originate? It certainly did not come from God or His Church. It pains me to see most of the activities that were originally suppose to be done on the Sabbath day, for example resting, being done on Sunday, while Saturday has become a day of much work, therefore capsizing the law of God
Where Did “Sunday observance” Come From?
Remember, Sunday is commonly referred to as “the Lord’s Day.” While the true Lord’s Day of the Bible is actually the Day of the Lord—the Day of His Wrath (Joel 2:1-11; Rev. 1:10; 15:1, 7), the term “the Lord’s Day” has come to be synonymous with Sunday. But why? Many believe that Jesus was resurrected from the tomb on Sunday. If Sunday can be established as the day that Jesus was resurrected, it can be a means of artificially validating and “authorizing” the keeping of Sunday by the churches of the world—in place of God’s true Sabbath. Then, the pagan Easter festival and celebration, with its Sunday sunrise services, also becomes much easier to comform to.
Many pagan festivals, including Christmas (the Saturnalia), Easter (the festival of Ishtar) and worship on the day of the Sun, were observed throughout the Roman Empire long before Christ. The apostate church simply adopted them into practice, and enforced them on all citizens in the empire through the civil government. Actually, the first one to enforce Sunday worship was not a pope or a church, but was Constantine, the emperor.
Now Daniel 7. Verse 25 sheds important light on what happened in the Roman Empire. Daniel wrote, “And he [the little horn] shall speak great words against the Most High, and shall wear out the saints of the Most High”—now get this next point and do not misunderstand—“and think to change times and laws.”
This is a remarkable statement about how the apostate church sought to alter God’s law as it had to do with time. The single most obvious way has been to change the time of God’s Sabbath to the pagan sun day. Thus altering the fourth great law of God! (More and more people today speak of Sunday as their “sabbath.”)
God has never authorized His Church or mankind to keep the pagan Sun’s day. Nor did He ever command or allow His people to keep numerous other pagan festivals and days of worship—He has always explicitly commanded against them!
When people celebrate Sunday as the “Lord’s Day,” they unwittingly celebrate the very wrath that God will pour on them for keeping this pagan custom in place of His Sabbath! Astonishing, but true.
Exodus 20:8-11 showed that Sabbath-keeping is the Fourth Commandment! The Sabbath has always been the seventh day of the week, and God never authorized Sunday, the first day of the week. God hallowed the Sabbath at Creation. Jesus kept it (Luke 4:16). So did Paul (Acts 13:42, 44; 17:2; 18:4). And so did the New Testament Church.
God has always said, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Ex. 20:8). He has never said, “Remember Sunday to keep it holy." Keeping the Sabbath as God’s command for true Christians is a big subject requiring its own large volume to explain.
In the Old Testament, Sabbath-breaking was punishable by death (Ex. 31:14 and 15). II Corinthians 3:7-8describes the Old Testament administration of a civil death penalty, which is no longer applicable, because God is now building the nation of spiritual Israel (Rom. 2:28-29; 8:9; 11:24-26; Gal. 3:29; Eph. 2:11-13, 19; I Pet. 2:5, 9).
The Sabbath was to be kept perpetually, throughout the generations of Israel. There are still generations of Israel today—and there is spiritualIsrael, which keeps the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus, and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Israel is not synonymous with Jews. The Jews, who came from Judah, represent but one of twelve tribes of Israel that descended from the patriarch Jacob. Recall that the Tribulation is “Jacob’s trouble,” not merely “Judah’s.
Take heed whether and how you will obey God. For “He that despised Moses’ law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: of how much sorer punishment, suppose you, shall he be thought worthy, who has trodden under foot the Son of God, and has counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and has done despite unto the Spirit of grace?” (Heb. 10:28-29).
During the Middle Ages, the Holy Roman Empire caused people to receive a “mark.” What was this mark? Those who had it lived—those who did not, died. This mark protected all who received it.
The Roman system “set” this mark on all who obeyed and submitted to its pagan religious practices. These included observance of Sunday as the day of worship (instead of the true Sabbath), along with other pagan holidays (Christmas, Easter and others). We saw history records that tens of millions were killed for not obeying the Roman Empire in regard to Sunday observance.
Notice this revealing verse in Daniel 7: “I beheld, and the same [little] horn made war with the
saints...” (vs. 21). This “war” is referring to the period that the Roman Empire, under the false church’s direction, put to death all those who would not worship on Sunday! Let me repeat: The universal church in Rome, working with the civil government, caused everyone under the Roman system to receive this mark. Sunday became the official day of worship for all—throughout the empire. Sabbath observance was outlawed, and anyone observing it was killed! Millions lost their lives in this persecution, and God’s Word tells us that it will happen again!
We have already seen that the book of Revelation is largely one of visions and symbols. We read that the beast “causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads...” (Rev. 13:16). What does this mean?
Let’s understand. What do people do with their hands? They work! So the “right hand” referenced in Revelation is a symbol for working—making a living. What about the forehead? The forehead is a symbol for what people believe. This is referring to one’s intellect or mind.
Again, God also has a “mark,” or a sign, He puts on those who follow His laws. In Exodus 13:9, God is explaining one of His annual Sabbaths to the nation of Israel. Notice this: “It shall be for a sign unto you upon your hand [they could not work on the Sabbath], and for a memorial between your eyes, that the Lord’s law may be in your mouth.”
This could not be more plain! Let’s examine two more passages: “Now these are the commandments...and these words, which I command you this day, shall be in your heart...and you shall bind them for a sign upon your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deut. 6:1, 6, 8), and “Therefore shall you lay up these My words in your heart and in your soul, and bind them for a sign upon your hand, that they may be as frontlets between your eyes” (Deut. 11:18).
The Fourth Commandment, of God’s Sabbath, is the one command that apostate Christianity outrightly rejects! This commandment separates those who obey and worship the Beast and those who obey God’s sign of Sabbath-keeping. It is the test command of one’s obedience to the true God.
God’s Law is not negotiable. If one breaks any of His laws, that person is guilty of sin. We saw that “sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4). If you break it, you earn a penalty—death (Rom. 6:23). So both God, with His sign, and the Beast, with his mark, identify their followers. And both bring death—if disobeyed!
You must choose which mark to take. Choose correctly, because it determines where you will spend eternity.
Now notice again Exodus 31:13: “...Verily My Sabbaths you shall keep: for it is a sign between Me and you throughout your generations; that you may know that I am the Lord that does sanctify you.”
So then, in plain terms, the mark of the Beast is Sunday-keeping and the keeping of pagan festivals—in place of God’s weekly and annual Sabbaths! Those who hallow these pegan days are simply worshipping the beast.
Today, there is no governmental power to enforce a global Sunday observance, although some government authorities are already enforcing it with their subjects. However, the final revival of the rejuvenated Roman Empire, comprising of a government sponsored apostate church soon will rise, and again have POWER to enforce Sunday worship on an unsuspecting world. They will cause all mankind worship on sunday and anyone who refuses will not be able to work (the right hand) and ultimately feed themselves. Today, all nations, in one form or another are unwittingly already following these false ways of “worship”. God warns all who will listen: “Come out of her, My people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues”!
May God help you to heed what you have learned, you can receive divine protection from the living God. Obey God, and be “accounted worthy to escape”! This also brings great reward: “And I saw thrones, and they [the faithful] sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years” (Rev. 20:4).
The identity of the Beast of Revelation and all the biggest questions connected to it, are now known to you. Some are looking for the Beast, but most think in other terms…
Some Commendations to Apostate Religion
+ They preserved the scriptures
+ Strong community orientation
+ Social Programs
+ Hates abortion
+ Teaches against the faithless practice of birth control
+ Strong school system that still teaches moral absolutes
+ Believes scriptures are God inspired
+ Some have Christian education
+ Many still believe in the infallibility of scripture
+ Most still confess most of the essential doctrines of the faith
+ Some support missionaries
+ Some have good youth and social programs
+ Some discipleship
+ Some evangelism
+ A good grasp on the doctrine of salvation
+ Strong missionary support
+ Mostly Bible centered services
+ Home fellowship groups
+ Charity
+ Enthusiastic worship
+ Strong desire to live out the Christian life
+ Most still expect the literal fulfillment of prophetic scriptures
+ Some still practice the doctrine of baptism by immersion
+ All believe that original scripture is without error
Who then is a Christian?
There are more than two billion people on the earth who identify themselves as Christians, but there are significantly fewer that are really part of the body of Christ. Jesus said you can not enter the kingdom of heaven unless you are converted as little children and born of the Spirit. The new birth from the Holy Spirit occurs when a person truly believes that Jesus is the son of God and trusts in the finished work of Jesus on the cross to atone for their own sins and to justify them before God.
The scriptures say you are saved by faith, not by your own works, lest anyone should boast. We cannot judge if a person who identifies with Christianity is really trusting in Christ or in their religion to save them. If they are trusting in their religion to save them they are no more part of the body of Christ than a Jew or Moslem or any other religion.
True Christianity is more than a religion. It is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This relationship does not depend on having all the correct theology but correct theology will result in more fruitful Christianity. A true Christian is one who is called out of the world, converted by the word of God—REAL CONVERSION. Christianity is not merely “professing Christ as Lord and Saviour” only to deny the faith to some self-imposed doctrine of men afterwards.
Thyatira: Pressure to Compromise
Some 40 miles east of Pergamos lay Thyatira, a city important for its commerce in wool and textiles. When the city was excavated from 1968 to 1971, its architectural remains showed it had the typical Roman style of colonnades and public buildings and a temple to the goddess Artemis. The city was especially famous for its fine woollen cloth, usually dyed in a shade that came to be called Thyatiran purple. It was from Thyatira that Lydia, a seller of purple and convert to Christianity, had come from (Acts 16:14).
Christ says about this Church: “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols” (Revelation 2:19-20).
Since Thyatira was a religious centre, and the home of powerful guilds demanding religious participation of their workers in their banquets, it was difficult for Christians to resist falling into idolatry. The strong trade guilds in this city would have made it very difficult for any Christian to earn his living without belonging to a guild.
But membership involved attendance at guild banquets, and this in turn meant eating meat which had first been sacrificed to an idol. If a Christian did not conform, he was out of a job. The teaching of Jezebel (probably a symbolic name) apparently reasoned that foods offered to idols are of no consequence, and consequently advised Christians to eat such meals.
But these meals all too readily degenerated into sexual looseness, and some Christians would welcome a heresy of this type because it enabled them to maintain a Christian personality while tolerating and even engaging in immoral heathen revels.
Christ reminds the Thyatiran brethren they must come out of that worldly society, no matter how enticing it appeared, and not compromise with the truth. His promises to those of Thyatira who remain faithful is that they will be arrayed, not in Thyatiran purple, a cloth used mainly by Roman royalty, but with the spiritual mantle of rulership over the nations at His second coming. He tells them that “he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have received from My Father” (Revelation 2:26-27).
In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte exiled Pope Pius VI to Valence in France. It was a most humiliating and abrupt end to a long rule of power of the Catholic Church, that lasted over a millennium. Shortly after, Christian Bible Societies spread all over the world, with their work neither unhampered nor threatened by papal or Roman constrictions. After the First World War, the Catholic Church lost its powers over most of Europe; this created an opening for different sects of Christians who were still kowtowing to the doctrines of Catholicism to spread an adulterated message of the gospel to a wounded world.
Religion was commercialized and it was constitutional to worship any ‘god’ freely, and the Church was totally free to focus her energies on translating and printing the Bible in as many languages as possible, and to conduct missionary and humanitarian activities all over the world. Thus, 1798 marks the date when the Catholic Church lost her temporal power over the kings, dukes, and princes of much of Europe. But she had already passed most of her pagan doctrines to the emerging gospel workers and missionaries to preach to the world. Jesus Christ, in His fourth letter to the church in Thyatira, warns the Church against following the doctrines of evil spirits masquerading in religious garments.
The preaching of ‘material’ gospel, widely known as ‘prosperity’ preaching, which is based on collecting offerings from the desperate ones, quickly replaced spiritual longing for God. This proliferation of religion changed the image of the Holy God to a bank C.E.O. who pays interest on deposits. Apostle Paul warns young Timothy: “But know that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money… having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away” (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
Remember, Paul warned the Corinthians “…not keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner –not even eat with such a person” (1 Cor. 5:11). There are other very strong and instructive series of warnings by Paul in most of His Epistles that the Church should recognize and not adhere to any variety of false “winds of doctrine” that may be packaged in “cunning” and “crafty” ways.
“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking misleading things, to draw away disciples after themselves” (Acts 20: 28-30).
What Paul had warned of did happen. Heretics entered not only the Ephesian congregation but most of the rest of God’s Church and subverted it into false understanding and practices. The knowledge of God’s Kingdom became lost to the overwhelming majority of those who were swept away into a false salvation. Ever since the first century, when Christ established His Church, it has always had to fight the good fight of faith; for the truth.
God’s people have always had to be careful —extremely vigilant— about the dangers of false ministers coming among them and perverting some or all of the doctrines of God. And these charlatans always teach a false gospel.
Some proclaim a “gospel of salvation” or “gospel of grace.” Others believe a “gospel of miracles” or a “social gospel” or a “gospel of paradise” or a “gospel of prosperity” or “gospel of healing” or “gospel of faith.” Still others merely think of “gospel music” as the true gospel. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the letter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim 4:1). These different gospels are all from the satanic realm!
Religion –which is simply justification of works over grace –graced the entire 19th century, and was fast eating deep into the gospel to the extent that by the dawn of the 20th century, it has succeeded in swallowing the entire truth of the gospel.
Even those who profess to worship the same God have often times been at odds with each other, to the point of spilling blood. Such has been the case between Northern Ireland’s Protestants and Catholics for generations; and more recently, many Islamic sects like Fatah, Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah in the Middle East, slaughter precious people like themselves under the covering of religion; claiming responsibility for suicide bombings and blood-filled religious wars on their own fellow Muslim brothers. Yet, could a loving God be behind such religious confusion? No. God is not the author of confusion.
Religious confusion along with doctrinal disagreement was instigated by satan –the author of confusion – and has been the cause of such violence throughout the ages. Religion, after dangling before our eyes the promise of “going to heaven”, has deceived zealots into slaughtering millions of gullible victims.
Christ says about this Church: “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first. Nevertheless I have a few things against you, because you allow that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, to teach and seduce My servants to commit sexual immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols” (Revelation 2:19-20).
Since Thyatira was a religious centre, and the home of powerful guilds demanding religious participation of their workers in their banquets, it was difficult for Christians to resist falling into idolatry. The strong trade guilds in this city would have made it very difficult for any Christian to earn his living without belonging to a guild.
But membership involved attendance at guild banquets, and this in turn meant eating meat which had first been sacrificed to an idol. If a Christian did not conform, he was out of a job. The teaching of Jezebel (probably a symbolic name) apparently reasoned that foods offered to idols are of no consequence, and consequently advised Christians to eat such meals.
But these meals all too readily degenerated into sexual looseness, and some Christians would welcome a heresy of this type because it enabled them to maintain a Christian personality while tolerating and even engaging in immoral heathen revels.
Christ reminds the Thyatiran brethren they must come out of that worldly society, no matter how enticing it appeared, and not compromise with the truth. His promises to those of Thyatira who remain faithful is that they will be arrayed, not in Thyatiran purple, a cloth used mainly by Roman royalty, but with the spiritual mantle of rulership over the nations at His second coming. He tells them that “he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations—‘He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed to pieces like the potter’s vessels’—as I also have received from My Father” (Revelation 2:26-27).
In 1798, Napoleon Bonaparte exiled Pope Pius VI to Valence in France. It was a most humiliating and abrupt end to a long rule of power of the Catholic Church, that lasted over a millennium. Shortly after, Christian Bible Societies spread all over the world, with their work neither unhampered nor threatened by papal or Roman constrictions. After the First World War, the Catholic Church lost its powers over most of Europe; this created an opening for different sects of Christians who were still kowtowing to the doctrines of Catholicism to spread an adulterated message of the gospel to a wounded world.
Religion was commercialized and it was constitutional to worship any ‘god’ freely, and the Church was totally free to focus her energies on translating and printing the Bible in as many languages as possible, and to conduct missionary and humanitarian activities all over the world. Thus, 1798 marks the date when the Catholic Church lost her temporal power over the kings, dukes, and princes of much of Europe. But she had already passed most of her pagan doctrines to the emerging gospel workers and missionaries to preach to the world. Jesus Christ, in His fourth letter to the church in Thyatira, warns the Church against following the doctrines of evil spirits masquerading in religious garments.
The preaching of ‘material’ gospel, widely known as ‘prosperity’ preaching, which is based on collecting offerings from the desperate ones, quickly replaced spiritual longing for God. This proliferation of religion changed the image of the Holy God to a bank C.E.O. who pays interest on deposits. Apostle Paul warns young Timothy: “But know that in the last days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money… having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away” (2 Tim. 3:1-5).
Remember, Paul warned the Corinthians “…not keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner –not even eat with such a person” (1 Cor. 5:11). There are other very strong and instructive series of warnings by Paul in most of His Epistles that the Church should recognize and not adhere to any variety of false “winds of doctrine” that may be packaged in “cunning” and “crafty” ways.
“Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the Church of God which He purchased with His own blood. For I know this, that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. And from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking misleading things, to draw away disciples after themselves” (Acts 20: 28-30).
What Paul had warned of did happen. Heretics entered not only the Ephesian congregation but most of the rest of God’s Church and subverted it into false understanding and practices. The knowledge of God’s Kingdom became lost to the overwhelming majority of those who were swept away into a false salvation. Ever since the first century, when Christ established His Church, it has always had to fight the good fight of faith; for the truth.
God’s people have always had to be careful —extremely vigilant— about the dangers of false ministers coming among them and perverting some or all of the doctrines of God. And these charlatans always teach a false gospel.
Some proclaim a “gospel of salvation” or “gospel of grace.” Others believe a “gospel of miracles” or a “social gospel” or a “gospel of paradise” or a “gospel of prosperity” or “gospel of healing” or “gospel of faith.” Still others merely think of “gospel music” as the true gospel. “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the letter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Tim 4:1). These different gospels are all from the satanic realm!
Religion –which is simply justification of works over grace –graced the entire 19th century, and was fast eating deep into the gospel to the extent that by the dawn of the 20th century, it has succeeded in swallowing the entire truth of the gospel.
Even those who profess to worship the same God have often times been at odds with each other, to the point of spilling blood. Such has been the case between Northern Ireland’s Protestants and Catholics for generations; and more recently, many Islamic sects like Fatah, Al Qaeda, Hamas and Hezbollah in the Middle East, slaughter precious people like themselves under the covering of religion; claiming responsibility for suicide bombings and blood-filled religious wars on their own fellow Muslim brothers. Yet, could a loving God be behind such religious confusion? No. God is not the author of confusion.
Religious confusion along with doctrinal disagreement was instigated by satan –the author of confusion – and has been the cause of such violence throughout the ages. Religion, after dangling before our eyes the promise of “going to heaven”, has deceived zealots into slaughtering millions of gullible victims.
Pergamos: “Where Satan’s Throne Is”
Pergamos, Roman capital of Asia Minor, was the centre for worship of the serpent god Asklepios Soter. This god’s massive shrine, the Asklepieion (left), attracted visitors from all over the known world. Such corrupt worship led John to refer to Pergamos as the city “where Satan’s throne is.” Like other major Roman cities, it erected temples for emperor worship, including the Trajaneum (right).There was also the worship of Athena and Zeus, with its magnificent altar dominating the city (now partially reconstructed in the Pergamum Museum in Berlin).
Next on the Roman mail route was Pergamos, the Roman capital of Asia Minor. This city would never reach the commercial greatness of Ephesus or Smyrna, but it was the indisputable center of religious, medical and artistic culture of the region. The city’s famous library, with 200,000 parchment rolls, was rivaled only by the library in Alexandria, Egypt. Christ tells the church at Pergamos: “I know your works, and where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is” (verse 13). Again, this prophecy had a literal fulfillment as well as serving as a description of a future time for the Church.
The mention of Satan’s throne in Pergamos likely refers to the famous worship of its most popular deity, the serpent god Asklepios Soter, whose Latin equivalent means “the man-instructing serpent.” The serpent god was none other than Satan, whom Revelation describes as “that serpent of old, called the Devil” (Revelation 12:9). Thus, pagan religion had its center in Pergamos.
So how did serpent worship begin in Pergamos?
Some historians trace it to the collapse of the Babylonian Empire, when some Chaldean priests established their religious centre in Pergamos. “The defeated Chaldeans fled to Asia Minor, and fixed their central college at Pergamos,” notes historian William Barker in his book ‘Lares and Penates of Cilicia’ p. 232, (1853).
Certainly the Old Testament identifies Satan’s chief seat of activity as being in ancient Babylon, where the doctrines of its mystery religion “made all the earth drunk” (Jeremiah 51:7). This would make its religious successor, Pergamos, the temporary new “Satan’s seat” of the Babylonian mystery religion.
“That seat,” comments Alexander Hislop, “after the death of Belshazzar (the last Babylonian king), and the expulsion of the Chaldean priesthood from Babylon by the Medo-Persian kings, was at Pergamos, where afterwards was one of the seven churches of Asia.
There, in consequence, for many centuries was ‘Satan’s seat.’ “There, under favor of the deified kings of Pergamos, was his favorite abode and was the worship of Asklepios, under the form of the serpent . . . Pergamos itself became part and parcel of the Roman Empire, when Attalus III, the last of its kings, at his death, left by will all his dominions to the Roman people in 133 BC” (The Two Babylons, 1959, p. 240). In this way, the Roman emperors had become the heirs of “Satan’s seat” during John’s day.
Later, when the Roman Empire collapsed, its successor, the Holy Roman Empire, would inherit the role. The Pope’s crowning of Justinian as ‘Holy Roman Emperor’ after he defeated the Ostrogoths introduced this phase in prophetic church history. Periodically, new rulers of the Holy Roman Empire emerged: Charlemagne (800 A.D.), Otto ‘the Great’ (962 A.D.). Rome succeeded Babylon as the new spiritual centre of Western Europe and the world.
Then Pope Julius came into the scene in the middle ages. He found the Catholic Church already great, with the Roman barons destroyed, and as a result of the vigour of Pope Alexander VI (his immediate predecessor), he found ready at hand a means of accumulating wealth by force of arms which had not been exploited before by the Church. He succeeded in winning over Bologna for himself and also chased the French out of Italy, and earned all the credit in as much as he did everything for the aggrandizement of the Church and not for any individual.
Pope Julius was equally succeeded by Pope Leo who followed the footprints of his predecessors, and made the Catholic Church very great and wealthy –indeed – following the “doctrine of Balaam”. Thus Christ’ warning, “But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam” (Rev. 2:14)
It is noteworthy that Revelation 17:4-5; & verse 18, reveals that in the end of time, at the fulfilment of all Bible prophesies, a powerful religious system – ‘Rejuvenated Roman Empire’ – from the ancient past will again reign over the nations and be identified as “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.”
The mention of Satan’s throne in Pergamos likely refers to the famous worship of its most popular deity, the serpent god Asklepios Soter, whose Latin equivalent means “the man-instructing serpent.” The serpent god was none other than Satan, whom Revelation describes as “that serpent of old, called the Devil” (Revelation 12:9). Thus, pagan religion had its center in Pergamos.
So how did serpent worship begin in Pergamos?
Some historians trace it to the collapse of the Babylonian Empire, when some Chaldean priests established their religious centre in Pergamos. “The defeated Chaldeans fled to Asia Minor, and fixed their central college at Pergamos,” notes historian William Barker in his book ‘Lares and Penates of Cilicia’ p. 232, (1853).
Certainly the Old Testament identifies Satan’s chief seat of activity as being in ancient Babylon, where the doctrines of its mystery religion “made all the earth drunk” (Jeremiah 51:7). This would make its religious successor, Pergamos, the temporary new “Satan’s seat” of the Babylonian mystery religion.
“That seat,” comments Alexander Hislop, “after the death of Belshazzar (the last Babylonian king), and the expulsion of the Chaldean priesthood from Babylon by the Medo-Persian kings, was at Pergamos, where afterwards was one of the seven churches of Asia.
There, in consequence, for many centuries was ‘Satan’s seat.’ “There, under favor of the deified kings of Pergamos, was his favorite abode and was the worship of Asklepios, under the form of the serpent . . . Pergamos itself became part and parcel of the Roman Empire, when Attalus III, the last of its kings, at his death, left by will all his dominions to the Roman people in 133 BC” (The Two Babylons, 1959, p. 240). In this way, the Roman emperors had become the heirs of “Satan’s seat” during John’s day.
Later, when the Roman Empire collapsed, its successor, the Holy Roman Empire, would inherit the role. The Pope’s crowning of Justinian as ‘Holy Roman Emperor’ after he defeated the Ostrogoths introduced this phase in prophetic church history. Periodically, new rulers of the Holy Roman Empire emerged: Charlemagne (800 A.D.), Otto ‘the Great’ (962 A.D.). Rome succeeded Babylon as the new spiritual centre of Western Europe and the world.
Then Pope Julius came into the scene in the middle ages. He found the Catholic Church already great, with the Roman barons destroyed, and as a result of the vigour of Pope Alexander VI (his immediate predecessor), he found ready at hand a means of accumulating wealth by force of arms which had not been exploited before by the Church. He succeeded in winning over Bologna for himself and also chased the French out of Italy, and earned all the credit in as much as he did everything for the aggrandizement of the Church and not for any individual.
Pope Julius was equally succeeded by Pope Leo who followed the footprints of his predecessors, and made the Catholic Church very great and wealthy –indeed – following the “doctrine of Balaam”. Thus Christ’ warning, “But I have a few things against you because you have there those who hold the doctrine of Balaam” (Rev. 2:14)
It is noteworthy that Revelation 17:4-5; & verse 18, reveals that in the end of time, at the fulfilment of all Bible prophesies, a powerful religious system – ‘Rejuvenated Roman Empire’ – from the ancient past will again reign over the nations and be identified as “Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of harlots and of the Abominations of the Earth.”
Smyrna: Centre of Emperor Worship
Speaking of the ‘rejuvenated’ Roman Empire, Daniel said it would be ‘‘strong as iron, inasmuch as iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything; and like iron that crushes; that kingdom will break in pieces and crush all the others.” A resurgence of the ancient Roman Empire that would bring about forced Emperor Worship is on the uprising.
The next city on the ancient postal circuit was Smyrna, about 40 miles north of Ephesus. It was a flourishing city and the main centre of emperor worship. Jesus tells the church in Smyrna: “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days” (verse 10).
These words had not only a prophetic sense, but a literal fulfillment in John’s day as well. The brethren in Smyrna knew they were special targets of the persecution under the Roman Empire, for the city’s history had shown an unwavering loyalty to Rome. Smyrna was proud that it had been declared a ‘free city’ by Rome, which meant its residents had the right to govern their own affairs. “Long before Rome was undisputed mistress of the world,” comments William Barclay, “Smyrna had cast in its lot with her, never to waver in its fidelity. The only way Church members could go about peacefully in this place was to carry a certificate showing they had offered incense to the emperor and proclaimed him lord.” Cicero, the Roman orator, called Smyrna ‘one of our most faithful and most ancient allies.’
Such was the reverence of Smyrna for Rome that as far back as 195 B.C. it was the first city in the world to erect a temple to the goddess Roma” (Letters to the Seven Churches, William Barclay, 1957, p. 29).
Now notice this story in Acts 8: 9-11: “But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries”.
Certain men like Simon above, outnumbered the true Christians by reason of excessive liberty of the Church and negligence of the truth, appeared to be pastors, deserting the law of piety, were inflamed against each other with mutual strifes, accumulating querrels and threats, rivalry, hostility, and hatred to each other, only anxious to cease any slight opportunity to enter the Church and practice their wickedness and sorceries.
Following a long chain of persecution by his predecessors, Emperor Diocletian (284 – 305), re-opened a bitter persecution on Christians who had just begun to regroup. It aws the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, in the month of Dystrus (March), in which the passover was at hand, that the imperial laws were published everywhere to tear down the churches to their foundations, and to destroy the sacred scriptures by fire. The laws issued that those in honurable stations should be degraded to ruins if thy continued their adherence to Christianity.
After the ousting of Diocletian (305) as the Emperor of Rome by Constantine ‘the Great’, he (Constantine) saw an opportunity to make Christianity the political frontline of his campaign to become Roman Emperor, so he successfully associated all the religious bodies present at the time (Judaism, Catholicism, Paganism, and the likes) –into a single Christian denomination called the Roman Catholic Church.
He provided legal grounds for those “Simonites” in the Church, and any true Christian who refused to adhere to the confederacy put in place by Constantine was immediately imprisoned and afterwards killed. Constantine (306 – 337 A.D.) also made many fabrications to the original Christianity; substituting many Christian beliefs for Pagan rights. Today, issues still arising from the council of Constantinople (381) include the Sabbath day of worship, celebration of numerous Pagan festivals such as Christmas and Easter, and worship of the dead, widely known as ‘incense’ offered to the saints.
In prophecy it is plainly shown that this papal power would with deliberate intention change the law of God, signs, times and seasons. And the Lord Jesus warned the Church of such a time like this through “the angel of the Church in Smyrna… I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of satan… Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2: 8-10).
Many true Christians in Smyrna would be discouraged because of this fierce persecution. So Christ encourages and reminds them that He is offering them something Caesar worship could never provide—the chance to live forever. He exhorts them: “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” (Revelation 2:10-11).
These words had not only a prophetic sense, but a literal fulfillment in John’s day as well. The brethren in Smyrna knew they were special targets of the persecution under the Roman Empire, for the city’s history had shown an unwavering loyalty to Rome. Smyrna was proud that it had been declared a ‘free city’ by Rome, which meant its residents had the right to govern their own affairs. “Long before Rome was undisputed mistress of the world,” comments William Barclay, “Smyrna had cast in its lot with her, never to waver in its fidelity. The only way Church members could go about peacefully in this place was to carry a certificate showing they had offered incense to the emperor and proclaimed him lord.” Cicero, the Roman orator, called Smyrna ‘one of our most faithful and most ancient allies.’
Such was the reverence of Smyrna for Rome that as far back as 195 B.C. it was the first city in the world to erect a temple to the goddess Roma” (Letters to the Seven Churches, William Barclay, 1957, p. 29).
Now notice this story in Acts 8: 9-11: “But there was a certain man, called Simon, which beforetime in the same city used sorcery, and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself was some great one: to whom they all gave heed, from the least to the greatest, saying, This man is the great power of God. And to him they had regard, because that of long time he had bewitched them with sorceries”.
Certain men like Simon above, outnumbered the true Christians by reason of excessive liberty of the Church and negligence of the truth, appeared to be pastors, deserting the law of piety, were inflamed against each other with mutual strifes, accumulating querrels and threats, rivalry, hostility, and hatred to each other, only anxious to cease any slight opportunity to enter the Church and practice their wickedness and sorceries.
Following a long chain of persecution by his predecessors, Emperor Diocletian (284 – 305), re-opened a bitter persecution on Christians who had just begun to regroup. It aws the nineteenth year of the reign of Diocletian, in the month of Dystrus (March), in which the passover was at hand, that the imperial laws were published everywhere to tear down the churches to their foundations, and to destroy the sacred scriptures by fire. The laws issued that those in honurable stations should be degraded to ruins if thy continued their adherence to Christianity.
After the ousting of Diocletian (305) as the Emperor of Rome by Constantine ‘the Great’, he (Constantine) saw an opportunity to make Christianity the political frontline of his campaign to become Roman Emperor, so he successfully associated all the religious bodies present at the time (Judaism, Catholicism, Paganism, and the likes) –into a single Christian denomination called the Roman Catholic Church.
He provided legal grounds for those “Simonites” in the Church, and any true Christian who refused to adhere to the confederacy put in place by Constantine was immediately imprisoned and afterwards killed. Constantine (306 – 337 A.D.) also made many fabrications to the original Christianity; substituting many Christian beliefs for Pagan rights. Today, issues still arising from the council of Constantinople (381) include the Sabbath day of worship, celebration of numerous Pagan festivals such as Christmas and Easter, and worship of the dead, widely known as ‘incense’ offered to the saints.
In prophecy it is plainly shown that this papal power would with deliberate intention change the law of God, signs, times and seasons. And the Lord Jesus warned the Church of such a time like this through “the angel of the Church in Smyrna… I know the blasphemy of those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of satan… Be faithful until death and I will give you the crown of life” (Rev. 2: 8-10).
Many true Christians in Smyrna would be discouraged because of this fierce persecution. So Christ encourages and reminds them that He is offering them something Caesar worship could never provide—the chance to live forever. He exhorts them: “Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the Churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.” (Revelation 2:10-11).
The First Church: Ephesus
The port city of Ephesus played a prominent role in apostolic times and is mentioned in six New Testament books. Although it was home to a large Christian congregation addressed by the apostle John in the book of Revelation, Ephesus was also a centre of idolatrous worship of the goddess Diana, whose temple (above) was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. It also boasted temples for the worship of several Roman emperors, including Hadrian, Augustus and Domitian.
The port city of Ephesus was a short voyage from Patmos. Therefore one could logically send a letter there and then on to the remaining six cities Christ mentioned. The apostle Paul had initiated a large church in Ephesus, and now Jesus addressed the members there with a prophetic message that applied to them and was predictive of the Church’s future. Jesus had told John: “Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are (at the present time), and the things which will take place after this (in the future)” (verse 19, emphasis added throughout). Hence part of the message of Revelation would apply to John’s time, and part would be for future generations.
In Ephesus was much evil to avoid— within and without the congregation. Christ recognizes the effort of the Ephesian brethren, in spite of many obstacles, to keep the faith and carry out the commission He had given them. “I know your works, your labor, your patience,” He told them, “and that you cannot bear those who are evil” (Revelation 2:2). Moreover, the Ephesian brethren had to resist the many temptations the immensely popular pagan temple worship offered them.
Thousands of priests and priestesses served the temple; many of the priestesses were dedicated to cultic prostitution. Such was the reputation of ancient Ephesus. It would have been difficult to live as a Christian in the midst of such an immoral city. Knowing this, Christ gives the brethren the hope that if they persevere in the faith they will receive something that all the temple worship of Diana could never give them—the gift of eternal life. “To him who overcomes,” He promised, “I will give to eat from the tree of life (symbolizing eternal life), which is in the midst of the Paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).
The Church in Ephesus reflects Christ’ warning to the Church ‘in-vogue’ during and immediately after the apostolic era; when the disciples of Christ were bitterly persecuted by the Romans: Emperors Julius Caesar (B.C. 42 – 37 A.D.); Caligula (37 – 41 A.D.); Claudius (41 – 54 A.D.); and Nero (54 – 68 A.D.), all made life unbearable for the early followers of Christ. These war-crazy Emperors inspired the extermination of Paul, Peter, James the great, James the brother of Jesus, Bartholomew, Barnabas, Phillip, Luke the evangelists, Andrew, and a host of many other disciples –to mention a few – except John, the Revelator.
Christ, in His first letter to the Church in Ephesus, encourages the disciples to be patient in tribulation, and endure the onslaught of the Romans, who were on the verge of wiping the whole Christian family in Asia Minor and the world over. Church historians commonly refer to the period from the mid-first century AD to the middle of the second century AD as the “lost century.” During this period, the visible Church radically changed in appearance, becoming almost unrecognizable due to Roman persecution. Remaining true believers, who were in the small minority, were forced to flee the visible majority, which had departed into error.
In Ephesus was much evil to avoid— within and without the congregation. Christ recognizes the effort of the Ephesian brethren, in spite of many obstacles, to keep the faith and carry out the commission He had given them. “I know your works, your labor, your patience,” He told them, “and that you cannot bear those who are evil” (Revelation 2:2). Moreover, the Ephesian brethren had to resist the many temptations the immensely popular pagan temple worship offered them.
Thousands of priests and priestesses served the temple; many of the priestesses were dedicated to cultic prostitution. Such was the reputation of ancient Ephesus. It would have been difficult to live as a Christian in the midst of such an immoral city. Knowing this, Christ gives the brethren the hope that if they persevere in the faith they will receive something that all the temple worship of Diana could never give them—the gift of eternal life. “To him who overcomes,” He promised, “I will give to eat from the tree of life (symbolizing eternal life), which is in the midst of the Paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7).
The Church in Ephesus reflects Christ’ warning to the Church ‘in-vogue’ during and immediately after the apostolic era; when the disciples of Christ were bitterly persecuted by the Romans: Emperors Julius Caesar (B.C. 42 – 37 A.D.); Caligula (37 – 41 A.D.); Claudius (41 – 54 A.D.); and Nero (54 – 68 A.D.), all made life unbearable for the early followers of Christ. These war-crazy Emperors inspired the extermination of Paul, Peter, James the great, James the brother of Jesus, Bartholomew, Barnabas, Phillip, Luke the evangelists, Andrew, and a host of many other disciples –to mention a few – except John, the Revelator.
Christ, in His first letter to the Church in Ephesus, encourages the disciples to be patient in tribulation, and endure the onslaught of the Romans, who were on the verge of wiping the whole Christian family in Asia Minor and the world over. Church historians commonly refer to the period from the mid-first century AD to the middle of the second century AD as the “lost century.” During this period, the visible Church radically changed in appearance, becoming almost unrecognizable due to Roman persecution. Remaining true believers, who were in the small minority, were forced to flee the visible majority, which had departed into error.
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