The Doctrine That Christ Hates: The Rise and Return of the Nicolaitans (Did They Ever Leave?)
Christ’s Piercing Words
In the opening chapters of Revelation, the risen Christ speaks directly to His Church—piercing words, burning eyes, a two-edged sword proceeding from His mouth. Among the commendations and rebukes, there is one name that echoes with particular disdain: the Nicolaitans.
To the church in Ephesus, He says, “You hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.” To Pergamos, a more grievous charge: “You have there those who hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which thing I hate.”
Rarely does the Lord speak with such pointed hatred. What was it that provoked such divine revulsion?
Who Were the Nicolaitans?
The Nicolaitans were not outsiders attacking the faith. They were insiders—wolves in sheep’s clothing—sowing seeds of compromise. Rooted in a doctrine that perverted liberty and corrupted grace, they encouraged the early believers to indulge in idolatry and sexual immorality under the guise of Christian freedom. They blurred the line between the sacred and the profane. They whispered, “God is gracious,” while leading souls into darkness.
Many early church fathers—Irenaeus, Hippolytus, Epiphanius—linked them to Nicolas of Antioch, one of the first seven deacons. Whether or not this connection is historically solid, what is certain is the nature of their teaching: a doctrine that offered a crown without a cross, a kingdom without righteousness, and grace without repentance.
The Meaning of Their Name
The very name “Nicolaitan” is telling: Nikao—to conquer, and Laos—the people. The conquerors of the people.
This was a sinister inversion of Christ’s model of leadership, where the greatest is the servant of all. In their wake rose a clerical hierarchy, a division between clergy and laity—a spiritual caste system that stripped power from the Body and vested it in a ruling class.
The Nicolaitan spirit enthroned man-made authority in the place of the Spirit’s leading. It built platforms and pulpits where once there had been tables and towels.
A Doctrine of Compromise
But the sin of the Nicolaitans was not merely institutional—it was deeply immoral. They taught that one could follow Christ and still feast at pagan altars. They sanctified sensuality. They preached a gospel without holiness, a salvation without separation, a Christ without a cross.
In them was the spirit of Balaam, who taught Balak to seduce Israel through compromise. And like Balaam, they prophesied for profit.
Has the Doctrine Returned?
And now, we must ask with trembling hearts: Has the doctrine of the Nicolaitans returned to us in this present age? Or worse, has it never left?
Look around the modern Church. In the pursuit of relevance, we have forsaken reverence. In the name of love, we have lost truth. Preachers boast of grace, yet never speak of sin. Congregations are entertained but never convicted. Holiness is ridiculed. Repentance is optional.
Sexual immorality is tolerated—even celebrated—and leaders who should be shepherds build kingdoms in their own names. The altar has become a stage, and the sanctuary a marketplace. We have fashioned a Jesus who fits into our culture, but not a Christ who calls us out of it.
The Nicolaitan Spirit Today
The Nicolaitan spirit thrives where there is no fear of God. It preaches freedom, but enslaves. It promotes unity, but at the cost of truth. It claims to speak for Christ, yet it is the very doctrine He hates.
Yet not all have bowed the knee. Even in Pergamos, where Satan’s throne was, there were those who held fast to His name. And even now, Christ calls out to His people:
“Repent, or I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.” (Revelation 2:16)
The Call to the Remnant
This is no small matter. The Lord of glory will not share His bride with Baal. He will not allow His house to be defiled with the teachings of those who flatter the flesh and poison the soul. The time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God. The line is being drawn.
Let every remnant heart arise and echo the cry of the saints in Ephesus:
“We hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which our Lord also hates.”
Let us cast down the altars of compromise, break the scepters of clerical control, and return to the simplicity and power of the faith once delivered to the saints. Let us be those who love truth more than comfort, holiness more than relevance, and Christ above all.
For the sword of His mouth still speaks. And the One who walks among the lampstands is watching.
At the turn of the 20th century, we witnessed the birth of two monumental Pentecostal movements. First, in 1904, came the Welsh Revival in Britain, and then, in 1906, the fires of revival swept through Azusa Street in Los Angeles. These were no ordinary stirrings, they were powerful outpourings of the Holy Spirit that would give rise to entire movements, such as the Elim Pentecostal Church in Britain and the Assemblies of God, which would spread globally and impact hundreds of millions.
From these humble beginnings, in every corner of the land, small Pentecostal churches began to emerge. Their message was simple: salvation through Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the restoration of spiritual gifts. These fellowships sprang up in the shadow of massive denominational institutions, the Church of England, the Church of Scotland, and others, hige edifices steeped in their own traditions. Yet right beside them, in modest, unassuming buildings, were these Spirit-filled gatherings where lives were being radically transformed, adults were getting saved, and the gifts of the Spirit were active and alive.
This was a profound blow to the kingdom of darkness. The enemy, seeing the explosive growth of this movement, would not sit idly by. His question became clear: How can we bring this down? And so, beginning in the 1940s, we saw the emergence of new “theological,” trends, the Word of Faith movement, the Prosperity Gospel, and of course the Charismatic movement in the 60s, which would swallow up the others and become indistinguishable.
It was a cunning strategy: If you can’t beat them, buy them. The philosophy was simple, promise the very things that human beings everywhere fear to lose: health and wealth. Whether you’re in New York City or a remote village in the jungle, the universal concerns remain the same, our bodies and our bank accounts. The enemy offered a counterfeit gospel, one that shifted the focus from the cross of Christ to the desires of the flesh.
The Charismatic Movement became a Trojan horse. It infiltrated Pentecostal churches across the globe, not with persecution, but with promises. And it worked, brilliantly, tragically. The smoke from the fire of true revival has been replaced by the smoke machines of performance and entertainment. The altars were replaced by stages, the message by motivational speaking, and the Spirit by self-help and “self,” seeking
What followed was the tearing down of the very pillars upon which the early Pentecostal movement had stood. The purity of the Gospel was traded for a gospel of gain. Faith, once the precious link to Christ Himself, was twisted into a tool to manipulate blessings. Prosperity or tge lack of it, once counted as rubbish in comparison to knowing Christ, became the goal.Christ had become but a means to a materialistic end.
It was a disaster for the Church, and a stunning success for the enemy. The people rose up and played, just as they did before the golden calf in the wilderness. Think of “holy laughter,” and roaring like animals. And today, we stand in the shadow of that fall, in the ruins of what once was a mighty move of God.
These false ideologies, health and wealth, Name It and Claim It, the separation of faith from Christ Himself, have infected almost every corner of the modern Pentecostal and non-denominational world. Rare is the church untouched. Subtle or blatant, this taint remains, and it must be recognized for what it is.
Now, in this late hour, a remnant is rising, a people who are returning to the simplicity and the power of the cross, who walk not in the counsel of the world but in the fear of the Lord. Let us not be seduced by the glitter of gain or the lure of comfort. Let us remember the foundation laid in tears and prayer and holy fire. It is time to leave the circus behind, with all its many forms of entertainment, and “come out from among her.”
As a young Christian, I found myself standing in a church one day, worshiping. In that moment, I had a vision. I saw a vase being violently thrown to the ground, shattering into countless pieces. Though some larger fragments remained, they too were gathered and thrown down again. This process repeated three times until the vase was utterly destroyed—broken beyond any hope of repair.
Then, I realized—I was the vase.
As I watched, I saw what I knew to be my heavenly Father. With small spectacles resting at the tip of His nose, He carefully picked up each tiny, even microscopic shard. With supernatural love and patience, He began to restore the vase, piece by piece, bringing it back to wholeness. What had seemed irreparably broken was being made new.
That morning, I was able to share this vision with the fellowship, and it has remained deeply significant to me. Perhaps that’s why 2 Corinthians 4 holds such a special place in my heart.
If you find yourself completely shattered today—broken by life and circumstances beyond any hope of repair—know this: there is a God in heaven who can restore you. He can heal, renew, and make you whole, just as He always intended. His Son, Jesus, was broken for us, disfigured beyond recognition, yet through the power of the Holy Spirit, He was raised from the dead. That same Spirit is reaching out to you now, ready to lift you up if you take His hand.
The beginning of the vision was a loud booming voice calling all Christians to awake , “Awake you sleepy Christians.” “Who will ascend Gods Holy Hill? Those with a pure heart and clean hands.”Then I saw thousands of baby turtles heading from the dunes towards the sea. Darkness was falling and there was a full moon that illuminated the broad beach. Before most of the turtles could cross the beach and reach the safety of the water, they were attacked by screaming seagulls. The power of the air had come to attack them, seagulls by the hundreds making a horrendous shrieking noise as they feasted on their helpless prey.Then from the dunes came raccoons and critters of every kind to join in the frenzy and drag these hapless baby turtles away. Just when I thought the slaughter could not get worse, out from under the sand came ghost crabs which tore into the turtles and dragged them down into their holes in the sand to be devoured. As all of this was going on, I could see Scripture framing this whole scene. “Many are called but few are chosen,” “Broad is the road that leads to destruction, narrow is the path that leads to life.” A handful of the turtles made it to the water.
Then suddenly I am looking at a stadium. On its platform was a sword embedded in a rock. In the stadium were thousands and thousands of young people. Teenagers, young people in their 20s and 30s. Jesus walks onto the stage and goes to the rock and pulls out the sword and turns to address the crowd of young people. Below the stage was a line of older men and women, mature saints, standing and silently praying. Behind them, between them and the stage, were thousands of flags fluttering in the wind. Jesus addresses the crowd and challenges them to come down and take up their crosses and join the fight against the great tide of evil that has deluged the land. First they must come and be prayed for and then come towards Him to join Him. In order to do that they would have to pass through the sea of flags. Then I saw that there were words written upon upon every flag. I looked closer.
On hundred of them was the word lust. On hundreds more was hate. And then there was ambition, suicide, bitterness, un-forgiveness, rebellion, greed, materialism and on it went. The call is made to the crowd by Jesus. “Will you come forward and die to these things this day?” They respond to the call to arms and begin to move forward in obedience to the call with great trembling and weeping. They kneel and pray with the men of God and then get up and move past them and with pure hearts and clean hands. They make their way towards the flags that represents what they have just laid down, they pull up the flag and they break it over their knees and throw it to the ground. Freedom rings out into the night sky, the rejoicing rises up into heaven itself. The gates of hell begin to shake as Jesus receives the reward of His suffering and the young people rise up with one voice in adoration of their King.
We are warned in the Scriptures that the times would come when men and women will not put up with sound doctrine, instead, in order to suit their own desires, they will gather around themselves a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears desire to hear. They will turn away from the truth. (2 Tim 4:2-5) We are warned that there are whole groups of “teachers,” ruining whole households by teaching things they ought not to teach, and that for the sake of dishonest gain ( Titus 1:11)
We are instructed by Paul, therefore by God, to watch and remember. Remember what? Watch for what? Remember that for three years he did not cease to warn us, night and day….with tears. Warn of us what? What would disturb the Apostle so greatly that it was his daily warning for years? Savage wolves that will (not might) come in among you and scatter the flock. Also, from among our own ranks, men would rise up and draw away disciples for themselves. False representatives of Jesus, stealing His preeminence and all for the sake of “dishonest gain.” Their gods would be money and reputations, power and prestige (Acts 20:28-31)
Part of the problem is that these hirelings, these wolves in sheep clothing, preach to willing dupes. The people, for their part, have embraced a system not found in the Scriptures. They wanted a king and they got a king.This is not the first time God has been rejected in favor of a king. Think about King Saul or even Moses, where the people would rather have Moses talk to God then to them, as opposed to them talking to God themselves. Jesus was rejected for a man of the people, Barabbas then the crowd cried out that they have to king but Caesar.
The very heart of man always wants an intermediary rather than deal directly with God through Jesus. A priest, a prophet, a minister, a senior pastor. Each of those positions not only come with finances but come with power and authority and position. They love to pray publicly to be seen, they love the best seat at the table , they want men to call them teachers, or worse, fathers.All of this appeals to the Lucifer in them, to the Diotrophes in them, to that part of the soul that wants, desires, craves for, the preeminence. It’s truly the original sin, the sin that caused Lucifer to fall, and it beats at the heart of every human in their flesh. It should never be elevated, it should be crucified.
The more I study church history the more I see a recurring problem in every age. There is a cycle of revolution that returns us to the old paths and then within a generation or less, that which revolted against the traditions of men return to what they had left behind. The second generation worships the works of their fathers and fall into traditionalism. Even as early as 85ad we had Diotrephes, arguably the first senior pastor, building his own kingdom and rejecting the preeminence of Jesus. Now, there is no doubt that he would never have said that out loud or ever actually acknowledged that to himself, but John calls him on it.
And less than 10 years later comes the book of Revelation with its dire warning to the “churches.” So, this usurping of the preeminence of Jesus in our services or order of service or liturgy or call it what you like lies at the heart of the downfall of Christendom ( not the Church, rather the system of the churches) in the west and beyond. Add the clergy/laity system and the downfall was always inevitable even if not overt.
The solution is the same as it has always been over the last 2000 years, getting back to the Word and rejecting everything that is not found within the Word. For me, it starts with 1 Cor 12 and 14. If we strove for anything that looks like that, we would be on our way to recovery/revival/reformation/revolution, call it what you may, but in it’s essence it would simply be a return to our roots and our foundation, the Lord Jesus Himself and Him high and lifted up.
And unless we stay there, within the confines of the Word of God, the coming movement would barely last a generation. Where are the men and woman who will stand and challenge those within the church systems? In the Hebridean revival the leaders asked of themselves “are my hands clean, is my heart pure?” They looked first to themselves. What does it even mean now to your average church to desire to not lift up their souls unto vanity? Rather, to desire to ascend that hill of the Lord and stand in His holy place?
For I will pour water upon him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground: I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thine offspring:(Isa 44:3) What if we are so blind to our state that we cannot see the dry ground nor sense our state? Ask the average non denomination senior pastor how “his church,” is doing and almost to a man he will say “we are doing great.” Can the man who refuses to acknowledge his sickness be made whole? How can the Holy Spirit be poured out upon his seed and his offspring be blessed?
And since the gifts of the Holy Spirit have been almost entirely done away with in every church service, how will they be called back from their sin? Even although the prophets have been banished and usurped by “senior pastors,” who perhaps follow in the traditions of Diotrephes, they still have the Word of God. The first few chapters of Revelation still cry out to the churches. The warnings are still the same. And so in the end they shall be without excuse, for the Word never changes. So, if the Lord tarries, God bless the next generation of those who rebel against the traditions of their fathers which nullify the word of God, but beware when you stand, stay tightly within the confines of the Word or you shall fall in your second generation.
For, behold, the LORD is coming forth out of his place, and will come down, and tread upon the high places of the earth. And the mountains shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be split, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.(Mic 1:3-4)
In the previous verse the word of the Lord says this …..”Hear all you peoples! Listen O earth and all that is in it, let the Lord God be a witness against you.” He is speaking to the world and He continues to speak to a lost and dying world. Matthew Henry writes “though God never deceives the faith of the upright, he will disappoint the presumption of the hypocrites.” The Lord comes forth out of His place, His seat of mercy, and comes down to us, the peoples of the earth in judgment. When His presence departs the temple, when Ichabod is pronounced over those who call themselves by His name, then follows judgment. It is a fearful thing for the peoples of the world to face a God before whom the very mountains melt away and the valleys melt like wax before the fire and the barbarians rise up as in a flood.
How often we have cried out to God to rend the heavens and come down? And how often has His mercies flowed down in torrential blessings? Yet that is not all that flows down. For everything there is a season. A time to live and also a time to die. A time of peace but also a time for war. A time for God’s blessings and mercy but also a time for judgement. We are surely facing such a time. A world who refuses to listen to God. A world who adamantly defies Him and all of His ways and all of His words. A world who mocks the living God. Oh that His name would be treasured in our streets but rather it is defiled. Defiled by the unbeliever and the presumption hypocrite who would presume upon His mercies while openly causing His name to trampled underfoot.
We are a world totally devoid of statesmen, it is part of God’s judgment. Our reliance upon our own strength and wisdom, as if they were mighty mountains, shall fail before our very eyes. And less we think too much of ourselves the barbarians rise up and rip the child from the womb and rape the women in front of their own children before burning them alive. And after they have finished their barbarous works the world either cheers or looks away, not willing to look into the darkness of their own souls as one who looks into the abyss. When we choose to look into the abyss then the abyss looks back and swallows us whole.
In order to expose the foundations, then all that lies above them must be torn down. The light of day, the light of Christ, the judgements of God shall reveal the underlying darkness of the souls of men and they shall see themselves in all of their rebellion and all of their true natures. As each veneer of civility is ripped away by God, all that is left standing will be the very essence of men. And it will be clearly shown that in this world there are but two kind of men. Those who have been transformed by God and those who are in rebellion against Him.
Just to be clear, when I say “Protestant,” I mean all of it, all denominations and non-denominations. Its not that I think that there are no genuine saints there, there are, in probably all of them. It is just that I was looking for a river to be carry me to the throne, to be engulfed in, and I found, for the most part, semi-dried up creeks. I was born and raised a Catholic in a mostly Irish Catholic community on the West Coast of Scotland. My whole education was Catholic, as it was for all working class Catholics, and it was free. One night my mother came home and announced that she had “found Jesus.” She was one of those “born-agains.” I was seven. My non-practicing alcoholic Catholic father was freaked out by it…… I was fascinated. They talked about God in chapel, but here was my wee mother claiming to actually know Him. I too longed to “know Him.” One thing was for sure, she was changed and she was bold.
All hell broke loose in our house. My father raged against my mother. He seemed to instinctively know that he was no longer “in charge,’ of her. There was something more important to her now than him. So he tried to beat Jesus out of her. In wild drunken nights he would rail against the Jesus that she believed in and that had changed her and won her over so completely. Black eyes and a broken jaw and nights where he almost killed her. And after fifteen years of this, at the age of forty nine, he got down on his knees and repented and gave his life over to the Jesus that he had assaulted and assailed so many times in his proxy war. He never drank again and my mum and dad retook their marriage vows and he was baptized. Such a huge thing for a man, already baptized as an infant who was raised by a staunch Catholic mother (my grannie)
So as you can see, I had saw the battle. I had saw how religion worked. I saw a genuine saint lay down her life for Jesus and be beaten black and blue for His sake. I had a ringside seat to the battle for a mans soul. So when I came to the Lord at the age of 26 I was ready to dive right in. I had only ever witnessed all or nothing. There was no middle ground in the battle of the ages. If I had metaphorically dived in I would have probably broken my neck as the church was only a few inches deep. Yet lets face it, when you had walked for almost two decades in the desert and came upon any kind of water at all, you would rejoice. Maybe not swim, but certainly rejoice. And those few shallow inches seemed so good. I saw other people come into the Pentecostal church from no church backgrounds and from dead denominational backgrounds and they all thought it was wonderful……..for a time.
There was multiple problems for me. I had such a great desire for genuine fellowship and discipleship. I wanted to be “a part,” of what was going on in the Body. Ushering and toilet cleaner or parking attendant was not exactly what I had in mind, yet for the most part, these were the “positions,’ available. Complain about that and you were simply proud. What I had in mind was what I had read about in the Bible. I had read the Word every day with a fierce thirst and hunger since coming to the Lord. As I read about the Body and every part having a function in 1 Cor 12 I wondered why we did not have such a Body. I left one Pentecostal non denominational church for another. I attended a Baptist church for a year. I went to a conservative Bible College. I went to Nazarene church for six months and I also attended IHOP (International house of prayer) for a year. Two of the aforementioned churches I stuck out for eight years and and seven years. I never found the river to swim in, only a trickle in the shadow of a dam (the dam being the Word and the manifest presence)
I saw patterns emerge in all of these churches I attended. In all of them the order of service was pretty much the same. There were variations but all within a popular theme. None of them allowed for the participation of the saints. All of them were tightly controlled by one man. This one man would appoint, for the most part, yes men for elders. In the end I had to think to myself “is this really different from the Catholic church?’ I know that will sound radical to some people, but in the end the Catholic church is all about authority and who wields it, certainly not the poor folks who sit in the pew. And what I had read in the Scriptures was not about authority at all, outside of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. And if Jesus and the Holy Spirit had told us that we were to gather in a certain fashion, I could not for the life of me figure out why this ultimate authority was ignored. I was looking for the river deep, that flowed from the very throne-room of heaven.
And so I left the “organized church,”which was a semi-dried up creek, looking for the freedom of the wild river. I had studied revivals and became involved in the revival ministry. This is where I met folks from all over the world who also had a longing to see, in essence, a 1 Cor 14 gathering where all of the members of the Body operated rather than one or two and the rest sat passively by until it was time to write a check or pull out their wallets. Think about it saints, why would we want to gather in any fashion other than that which the Lord lays down in His Word? Multiple centuries of tradition had transpired and conspired against the simplicity and authenticity of the earliest Church. Its the tragedy of the ages that the Body, with multiple parts, lies unused. Imagine a car without wheels, without gas, set up on blocks where people can only stare at it, for it has not the ability to fire up the engine or go anywhere. It becomes just a dusty heirloom, and we can only read about how it used to run.
I want to name some of my findings from my studies and experiences which may help to explain why there is a just a trickle in the creek as opposed to a mighty flowing river.
.1. The senior pastor. Not Biblical, a made up position.
2. The order of service, pretty much the same in any church. Not Biblical, man made.
3. The sermon that so dominates the “service.” Not Biblical, established by man.
4. The way we “break bread,” together. Not Biblical, established by man.
5. The clergy/laity divide. Not Biblical, established by man.
6. The church building. Not Biblical, established by man.
7. Ordination. Not Biblical, established by men.
8. Where is the “two or three prophets,’ who are to speak to us? (1 Cor 14:29)
10. Where are the two or three who would speak in tongues with interpretation? (1 Cor 14:27)
11. Where are the teachings (plural) and a psalm given or a portion of Scripture? (1 Cor 14:26)
12. Where are the Apostles, prophets, miracles and gifts of healing and varieties of tongues (plural) ( 1 Corinthians chapter 12:27,28)
I want to ask you brothers and sisters. Does the above describe your gathering? How can God bless something that is so far removed from what He Himself laid down in His Word? The church as we have known it is dying. It is devoid of power and passion, and passivity is the order of the day. Let Diotrephes speak and let the rest remain silent. And the rest are quite happy to dwell in a wilful ignorance. I say wilful ignorance because they can read the Word the same as you and me. They want their Moses to speak to God and for Moses to speak to them even if the mountain burst forth with earthquakes and trembling they would fall back from it.
Will you remain silent? Will you remain passive? Will you sit by and not even question the order of service you just sat through? Did that order of service resemble anything you have ever read in the Scriptures? Do you really even care? The Word of God says this is 1 Cor 12 starting at verse 7…..But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all. For to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the same Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecies, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. But one and the same Spirit work all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Do you see the richness and the depth of what has just been described. Now brothers and sisters, that is a river to swim in. That is no dried up creek. “The manifestation of the Spirit,” starts out the verse. When was the last time the Spirit of God manifested Himself among your gathering, your church, your denomination? I’m not talking about hearing a great sermon from a professional or being delighted with the professional music, I am talking about the manifestation of the Spirit. Notice that every part is “given,” by the Holy Spirit for the edification of all. These Scriptures are describing a masterful orchestra directed by the Holy Spirit Himself. Each part intimately conducted and carried out by the Conductor. It is no one man band, it is no mere trickle in a creek, but rather it is a symphony written by God Himself and it floods our souls and overwhelms our spirits and changes us as it takes us to where it wants to take us. No mere mortal can control it. Do you want to be part of the orchestra or do you want to sit by passively and listen to the tune of a one man band that entertains you for a moment?
Probably the most damaging feature of Calvin’s liturgy is that he led most of the service himself from the pulpit. Christianity has not yet recovered from this. Today the pastor is the MC, and CEO of the Sunday morning service-just as the priest is the MC and the CEO of the Catholic mass. This is in stark contrast to the church meeting envisioned in Scripture. According to the New Testament, the Lord Jesus Christ is the leader, director and CEO of the church meeting. In 1 Cor 12, Paul tells us that Christ speaks through His entire Body, not just one member. In such a meeting, His Body freely functions under His headship (direct leadership) through the working of the Holy Spirit. First Cor 14 gives us a picture of such a gathering. This kind of meeting is vital for the spiritual growth of God’s people and the full expression of His Son in the earth. ( George Barna, Frank Viola-Pagan Christianity-pg 59)
The liturgy or order of service is almost exactly the same in the vast majority of churches throughout the land, whatever denomination it is. Over the last several decades, some have flirted with allowing the Holy Spirit to move among them, but have inevitably fallen back on the order of service. To follow the instructions laid down by Scripture, almost all of the so called clergy would render themselves surplus to requirements. So the clergy have always been the keepers of the status quo. A union of hirelings who have usurped the actual workings of the Holy Spirit among the Body of Christ. I would think that the vast majority of them down through the centuries have been somewhat ignorant of the fact that there is simply no clergy in the Body of Christ, and that the Priesthood of all believers cannot function and be led by the Holy Spirit where the bondage of this system exists. We can have the clergy/laity system or we can have the Holy Spirit operate among us, but we cannot have both.
George and Frank say that this kind of meeting is vital for Spiritual growth, I would agree. How can we say that we have no need of the manna that falls from heaven, but rather we have our own means of feeding ourselves? It is delusional. Spiritual growth only comes from edification. A group can grow religiously under our present system, but they cannot grow spiritually. Stagnation, with occasional bursts of energy from fires of our own making is the best that we can expect when man is in charge of the service. The numbers attending “church,” are now in free-fall all over the world. Is this the inevitable end of a system that is collapsing under the weight of its own works? I would say yes. The church system worked in a mostly religious world. We no longer live in such a world. The paradoxical difference is that while the weight of men’s works crush people spiritually, the weight of Gods presence, His Holy presence liberates them and elevates them to high and lofty places and changes them. It exhorts them, it edifies them, it humbles them.
The Lord, in His manifest presence, always speaks to the whole. If a saint needs to be encouraged, then he is encouraged. If another needs to be humbled then he is humbled. If another needs to be lifted up from the valley floor of depression and discouragement then he will find himself flying where the eagles fly and his joy shall be complete. The sinner shall find conviction that he will have to bend to, or he will have to run into the night screaming. All of this and so much more comes when the Body operates as it is instructed to operate and where the CEO is the Lord Jesus Himself by the power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus must be preeminent. We must follow the dictates of the word of God or we shall simply be taken by the tide of this world and religion and be lost at sea. I would argue that for the most part, that which calls itself Christianity is lost as sea and the only way back is a strict adherence to the revealed word of God. It would not be a revival, nor would it be a reformation. It would be a revolution!!!, where the powers that be are upturned and the Lord Jesus takes His rightful place.
Events in the history of the churches in the time of the apostles have been selected and recorded in the Book of the Acts in such a way as to provide a permanent pattern for the churches. Departures from the pattern has had disastrous consequences, and all revival and restoration have been due to some return to the pattern and principles of Scripture (The Pilgrim Church ,E.H.Broadbent)
A permanent pattern for the Church, set down in the Word of God, found in Acts and Corinthians in quite some detail, yet almost universally ignored down through the ages. And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church ( Act 20:17) Now the word “elders,” and “presbyters,” and “overseers,” and “bishops,” all refer to the same men. It is Ignatius who starts the deviation. He as born around the year the Lord ascended into heaven. He died in 107ad. In less than 70 years we see the true birth of the clergy/laity divide, the great disaster as I call it. Now its roots had already begun to grow and around 85ad we see Diotrephes being described as “loving the preeminence.” It’s just like men to desperately want a hierarchical system and then climb the ladder to the top.
John, who excoriates Diotrephes In 3rd John, just a few years later writes Revelation. And of course the beginning chapters start out with grievious warnings from Jesus Himself to most of the churches in Asia. His first warning was that outside of repentance He would “remove your lamp-stand.” A lamp-stand holds the light. If it is removed then comes the darkness. Nothing grows in the darkness. There was various threats made against the churches by Jesus and God does not make idol threats. To the corrupted church at Thyatira Jesus says to her that if she did not repent of her sexual immorality that He would “cast her into a sickbed and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds. I will kill their children with death and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts.”
Lets face it brothers and sisters there are very few who can handle this Jesus. The Jesus who can strip away the lamp-stands of churches and leave nothing but the bare bones of religion. Without the light of Christ one is left only with a vain philosophy. Yet ambitious men can stand upon the bare bones of religion and elevate themselves above the others. While Jesus has no pleasure in institutions and denominations, men love them and men love numbers, they must have more. The more numbers, the more buildings, the more services the more one can boast in “their work.” In fact before the second century is out we come to another major deviation, infant baptism. What a great way to add to your numbers. No longer a believers baptism but an initiation ceremony that guarantees full and ever expanding buildings.
It all begins with men loving the preeminence. The desire to have authority over others. A self elevated position among the group. No longer would it be possible to invite men like John to “your,’ church, he would take the limelight away from the “clergy.” No longer would it be possible to worship in a 1 Cor 14 fashion where a plurality of peoples would be able to speak and share, this would take the limelight away from the ones who loved the preeminence. And so that old ancient curse that began with multiple churches refusing to repent even when Jesus Himself called them to it, still exists today and for the same reasons. How could these men repent of their un-biblical clery/laity divide? Admit they are wrong and always have been? They know it would end their “career,” their authority,” their standing in their community. They know they would just have to take their place with all the other brothers and sisters.
And so brothers and sisters, if there is to be a revolution among the Body of Christ the first thing to fall must be the clergy/laity divide. Only then could there truly be a return to the “old paths,’ to the Word of God and the pattern laid down. For clergy rely upon being clergy for their identity. It is who they are. They are keepers of the status quo and could never allow a 1 Cor 14 model to develop in their midst, because in a relatively short order, when order is reestablished and the Church leaders are but “elders,” and “presbyters,’ and “overseers,” then none are elevated above the other. If you have the courage, and it will take courage because of the negative reaction that will come against you, next Sunday, ask your “senior pastor,” ( a made up name) to justify to you from the Word, the clergy/laity divide. If he deems to answer your question, it should be very interesting. Please share any replies here for the saints to read.
1Sa 14:6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the LORD will work for us: for there is no restraint to the LORD to save by many or by few.
Here was a real declaration of faith! It is so simple yet so utterly profound. Jonathan quite simply believed. He completely understood who God was and how great He was and how nothing is too difficult for God. He could destroy the Philistines by a single man, by an army or all by Himself. That day Jonathan’s enemy held the high ground and Jonathan “climbed up on his hands and knees,” and his enemies fell before him. Two men killed twenty men in an are less than half an acre and it put the fear of God into the enemies camp. When God moves, the world notices and His enemies notice and the principalities and powers shake and tremble. He is the same God today as He was then. When God moves in your circumstances, against all odds and against nature itself, the world notices.
Now, compare Jonathan to his father Saul, the classic religious man. A man who does not have the Spirit of God but rather a troubling spirit. He does not have the same faith as his son therefore he has to make his own plans, he has to try and do it in his own strength and without the council of God. His directions cause chaos in the ranks. He refuses to allow them to eat honey that is literally dripping from the trees to such and extent that it is piling up on the ground all around them. The religious man refuses to allow the Holy Spirit in his midst. He would watch the people starve and be terribly weakened rather that go back on his traditions and his own ordinances. Think about the extent of Saul’s reasoning, he was ready to kill his own son, the very son who God had worked through that day to give them the victory that they wanted.
God alone works His works. The battle belongs to God. He will not share His glory with anyone and He certainly does not need the council or the wisdom of men. The wisest man in the world is as a fool unto God. When God gives you resources you must take them. True spiritual strength comes from being endued with power from on high. We are edified by the gifts and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. In no other way are we edified. We must have His wisdom. We must have His strength. We must have His glory. We must see His majesty. We must yield to Him in everything. Traditions must fall by the wayside if they get in His road. The vain works of men must cease and we must be about His works. Imagine a starving people being ordered to ignore the food that God has so clearly provided. Its almost as mad as the Philistines turning on their own and destroying themselves.
Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
What things were previously gain to Paul? Paul had just laid out his religious qualifications. He was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. No one among the group he was describing, the Christian ministers from Jerusalem, was more qualified than he was. And yet these qualifications merely led to “the righteousness of the law.” These men who boasted of their qualifications in order to elevate themselves had their mind set on the things of the world. They desired to be elevated in the eyes of men. They boasted. Yet, Paul says that their God was their belly and their glory was actually their shame.
Brothers and sisters, we are either heavenly minded or earthly minded. You cannot be both, its a mind set. Its the seat of your affections. It will determine the words that come out of your mouth and the way that you live your life before the world. Paul is having the same problem in this chapter as he had in 1 Cor 12. There he spoke of the dangers of talking about your spiritual revelations, calling himself a fool, but having been once again compelled to put a certain group of people in their place and call them out. Both in 1 Cor 12 and in this chapter he boasts about first, his infirmities and secondly his losses. For in speaking in this manner, he is humbled and Christ is elevated.
And so what is the key teaching of this chapter three? It is the dichotomy between having a “righteousness,” that comes from the law, and having a righteousness “which is from God by faith.” The first puffs you up. It seeks to elevate you. It causes you to become “enemies of the cross of Christ.” It shall destroy you. It shall cause you to worship worldly things. Your god shall be “your belly, meaning your lifestyle, gains made by merchandising the things of God, thus enriching yourself. You will seek and often attain fame and that fame, in the spiritual realm, is your very shame. The second righteousness , that which is from God by faith enables you “to know Him and the power of His resurrection.”
To know Him intimately it to gain the everlasting life, resurrection life! To have this kind of righteousness causes you to walk in resurrection power, the power of the risen Christ. This righteousness grants you the right, yes that’s right, the right and the privilege to enter into the fellowship of His sufferings. In this way we are conformed to His death, even the death of the cross and to His life, yes even the life of His resurrection. All of this leads to eternal life. Might I suggest you refrain from boasting in anything other than the cross of Christ and your infirmities and loss, that the power of Christ may rest upon you. What kind of righteousness do you have?
Years ago I saw a documentary of a certain part of Africa. For 10 long months it sees no rain. First the mighty river dries up and then it becomes pools.Then the pools slowly shrink until they are nothing more than wet mud-holes. In this particular documentary, it showed a giant crocodile that had taken up residence right in the middle of a mud-hole. Despite its presence, deer and other animals risked their very lives in order to partake in the last of the water. A small number of animals, rather than taking up residence with the crocodile,undertook a long migration in search of water. Yet almost all the animals that were indigenous to this geographic location, refused to go in search of water and died before the rains came. Animals that in normal circumstances would never come within 100 yards of a crocodile, came right up beside him in a desperate attempt to get some satisfaction, from this drying mud-hole.
When God withdraws the rain of His presence from the church we see many strange things. The majority stay where they are and slowly die as they throw their lot in with their former predators.Others, like the deer that panteth for the water-brooks, are driven to make journeys they would otherwise never make. Driven out into the deserts and dry places in their desperate desire to find living waters. The tragedy for many in the “church” today is that they can live a life, devoid of His presence, and not even know that they are dying. Imagine that this ten months without rain is a season or seasons in Christendom. Generation after generation sucking on mud, barely surviving on the moisture that remains in the mud hole. Getting down and dirty in the mud, and being dangerously close to the world as they try to survive in the dry season. To try and operate in this world as a church without the Holy Spirit and the presence of the living God is to be reliant upon a mud-hole. Vestige of some by- gone days where once the river flowed. Talk of past victories but no present life. Living on memories and manna from a bygone age.
As someone who now lives in Kansas, a place that only gets about 33 inches of rain a year, I know how dry the ground can become and how deep that dryness is. At first when it rains the rain merely flows over the top surface. The ground is so hard it does not penetrate. It needs to consistently rain over several days for the ground to become saturated,to be thoroughly penetrated. Flash floods come and go very quickly and when it is gone, it is like it has never rained because it never penetrated. Yet, when it rains consistently over time, the effects are deep and lasting.There is a deep penetrating rain coming for Gods people. He has taken His people into the wilderness, the valley of death, the valley of decision. Because of the intensity of the battle that lies just ahead of us, it was and is necessary for the Lord to take His people into the desert place of testing. They have left the mud-holes of the world and the crocodiles behind. They refused to stay and die in a place of compromise. They have been driven into the desert and there they will find the Church, in a place where it seems impossible for anything to live, never mind thrive. Survival here does not depend upon traditions or past victories or the dusty heritage of religion. No, rather it depends upon the hand of God alone., A place where we once again cry out to the Living God for Him and Him only. Those who truly desire Him will stay in this place of testing. The Remnant of Gods people will prevail for our God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.
Yes there is an intensity of persecution for Gods people just appearing on the horizon. There are storm clouds gathering even as you read this. There is coming a time such as has never been seen before for Gods people. Yet with huge storm clouds come great rain falls. God will pour out His Spirit in a such a way that His children will stand in the pouring saturating rain of His presence. And despite the intense persecution and all out war that the old serpent will wage on us, we will rejoice and glorify and lift our hands on high. We will praise God for the rain that falls. The persecution will seem light in comparison to the eternal weight of glory that is to be experienced in His presence. God will inhabit the praises of His people who worship Him with their whole hearts. Gods people will only care that His presence is with them. As long as He goes before them, they will follow. They will follow Him right into the valley of the shadow of death. For they know that He will lead them to the pure waters of life.They will allow nothing to separate them from their God. Stay the course brothers and sisters, the rain is coming, and then comes the King.
Php 2:12b … work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.
Oh the trouble this little portion of Scripture has caused! The word “work,” tends to have caused the most trouble. Of course its not the word work but rather the phrase “work out.” Which simply means to finish. When you were born again by the grace of God through faith, and not of works, lest any man should boast, a work was begun in you. Begun mind you. Something had been initiated, and that something was new life. God gave you something that He had promised, just like when God gave the promised land to the Israelites. And just as they had to possess the land then you too must possess that which was given to you. There remains the battle between the flesh and the spirit, actually its a war.
Will you fight the good fight? Will you resist the devil? Will you humble yourself? Will you forgive? Will you love your enemies? Will you draw near to God? Will you turn the other cheek? Will you refuse to seek revenge? Obedience versus disobedience. That is your work and God will not do it for you. No one can do it for you. And for those who have encountered God, you know that the greatest love story ever told was unleashed into your very being. Imagine disappointing the one who is your grand obsession? Are you not fearful of that? Does that not make you tremble? Fear and trembling not because of any dread or any fear of hell or what will happen to you, bur rather a very real fear that you would disappoint the lover of your soul. It is our lives work to be “imitators of God as dear children.” And we strive towards that place by obedience and yielding. No genuine saint willy nilly disobeys his or her Lord. Therein lies our “working out.” The lazy disobedient scoundrel who says that God has done it all and there is no part for us to play will sink down into the morass of dead orthodoxy and be left with nothing more than a mental assent to an abstract truth.
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
There is a King and His name is Jesus, and His name is above all names. He holds my heart and in the depths of who I am, He reigns. He holds the fabric of my life together, He’s the smile you’ll see upon my face. And even now in the depths of winter He is my everlasting warm embrace. The truth is high and lifted up and when it is spoken in love the whole world shakes. It puts to flight all lies and cuts through the darkness. Shall we not be filled with this love and speak the Truth? In doing so we grow in all things related to our Lord. And when everyone of us begin to move, when the whole Body moves together then the earth begins to tremble for the army of the Lord is on the march. If we shall grow, individually and corporately we must speak the truth in love. If we shall rise up and go deeper into the Father’s heart, we must speak the truth in love and walk there in. If we shall be one even as He and the Father are one it can only happen in truth and in love. They go together, no one can separate Christ into individual parts.
“The whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does it share, causes growth of the body, for the edifying of itself in love.” (Eph 4:16) This is an explosive scripture. The Body is knit together by what every joint supplies. It is only effective when every part does its share. This is the only way for growth. Despite what charlatans and hirelings and wolves might tell you, adding numbers to a gathering is not growth. Speaking the truth in love is growth. Edification and discipleship is growth. Fruits of the Spirit is growth. Sanctification is growth. When we have put off our former conduct, that is growth. Growth is about the inner man, not how many services you have. Growth is about endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. Only in Christ who is truth can there be unity, can there be one body and one Spirit. One hope, one faith, one baptism one God and Father who is above all and who is preeminent in our hearts and in our minds and our gatherings. We can grow in the desert. We can grow in the depths of a dungeon. We can grow on the mountaintops. We can grow in poverty and we can grow in sickness. Growth is not determined by our circumstances, it is determined by our desire to follow the Lord and His word, wherever that narrow road will take us.
Gal 5:1 Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.
In Galatians we see a real encounter. Paul faces them head on. How often do we see this nowadays? A traveling “apostle,” or “prophet,” will come to your church and tell everyone how good they are and how blessed they are going to be in the coming year. They will not be invited to visit near the end of the year, for that is when the resident senior pastor encourages everyone to give in order to get a tax break. An end of year giving. Yet when that year is over, here comes the wolves. Its bonus time. They invite each other to each others churches to come and “speak a word.” Listen to the word Paul speaks to the churches in Galatia, people that he had brought to the Lord himself. 1. O foolish Galatians who has bewitched you? 2. How is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage. You observe days and months and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain. 3. Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth. 4. I have doubts about you. 5. You have become estranged from Christ (let that sink in) you who attempt to be justified by the law, you have fallen from grace. 6. You ran well, who has hindered you from obeying the truth.
That’s the diagnosis and it is a devastating one. Now here is the remedy. Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. It seems incredible that this has to be restated. And there is no doubt that Paul is somewhat astonished at how far they have fallen, in fact, they had fallen from grace. The unmerited favor of God had been replaced by their own attempts to create merit and standing before God. This is not only a refutation of the truth, this is a denial of Christ Himself and Him crucified. Had they suffered so many things… in vain? Was it all for nothing? Were they merely dogs that had returned to their vomit? No, but they were in great danger of that. They must now repent and remember that it was the liberty that Christ gained for them on Calvary that had set them free and He whom the Son sets free is free indeed. The flesh wars against the Spirit brothers and sisters. It would rather rule over itself in bondage than to be vanquished and the spirit set free. We must decide these things. Shall we not trust in the finished work of the Lord? Shall we not consider this established fact that there is therefore now no condemnation to those who walk according to the Spirit and not according to the flesh? That we have been called to be more than conquerors through Him who loved us?
Nothing that we can do can establish our righteousness in Christ. Our call is simply obedience to the Word of God and the Spirit of God and this shall produce love and joy and peace and long-suffering. Goodness and faithfulness and gentleness shall be our mark. Self control shall be our way. For those of us in Christ have crucified the flesh with all of its passions and desires. The world will see something of Christ in us. They will see a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation. God’s special possession called out specifically to declare the praises of Jesus who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God. Sons and daughters who move and breathe and have our being in His grace and in His mercy. We live by His grace and in this are justified by faith. If we indeed live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit brothers and sisters. Let us not deceive ourselves for God is not mocked. What a man sows he reaps. If we sow to the Spirit we shall reap everlasting life as opposed to the flesh which reaps corruption and death. Let us not boast in anything other than the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to us and we to the world. Stand fast brothers and sisters.
Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
We are living in a day where the Gospel is under more threat than it ever has been in the last 2000 years. Quite an incredible statement when you consider the history of martyrs and persecution that took place century after century. We seem to believe that we must not condemn anyone who preaches “the gospel,’ and that the motivation must not be questioned, rather as long as the message is preached then we simply leave the motivation of the preacher to God. I agree with this. Let the Word go forth and let the Lord be the judge. Yet in the scripture we see something entirely different in regard to “another gospel.” If “another,” gospel is preached other than that which was delivered, then the one who engages in this is cursed. And unless we did not get it, Paul repeats himself ” I say again, if anyone preaches any gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” We should let that sink in for a moment. Paul pronounces a curse over those who preach a false gospel.
In the immediate context Paul is talking about legalizers or Judiazers. People who professed faith in Jesus but still were under the law and desired to see others under the law. Yet this curse is more than appropriate to ascribe to the “cheap grace” or the “prosperity gospel,” and the myriad of other so called gospels that exists today. We hear so many say “well as long as Jesus is being preached.” Jesus was being preached by those whom Paul was speaking of. In the end brothers and sisters, the Gospel is something that we receive through the Holy Spirit. And those who receive it recognize it in others. Paul did not receive it from anyone. In fact, after his salvation he was gone for three years into Arabia. And when he finally came to Jerusalem he only stayed for fifteen days where he conferred with Peter and James only, and then he was gone again for fourteen years. No one knew him personally in Judea, they had only heard of him. This “training,” that Paul received from God himself would mean that Paul would show no personal favoritism to any man, no matter what that man was perceived to be by others.
For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believes; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek.(Rom 1:16) The Gospel is simply the good news about Christ and His Kingdom. It is personified in the fact that He has set you free from the bondage of sin and death. He came to set the captive free.He came to restore the broken. He has redeemed our fallen souls. He has made a way for us to the Father and it comes only through Him. He loved you while you were yet in your sin. He who the Son sets free is free indeed, he is completely liberated from the curse of the law. And that last point is why he was so hated by many of the legalizers and why he would confront Peter to his face. Brothers and sisters, if we want to be friends with the world then never confront anyone about anything. Stay hiding in your silence. Peep out from behind your twitching curtains and watch as false gospels are taught everywhere and do and say nothing. Doing that will make you the exact opposite of Paul. There is nothing loving about fearful silence wrapped up in virtuous overtones. Its the truth that sets men free, not your love. Your love only makes a difference when it is aligned with truth. Jesus alone and His gospel is the way the truth and the life.
2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
This is such a profoundly important Scripture. Paul has battled his way through these two letters to the Corinthians. He has dealt with so many issues and a big part of his commands to the Corinthians is not to be unequally yoked, Darkness and light cannot have fellowship with each other. He is telling the Corinthians not to be deceived, how could saved and unsaved people dwell together in a fellowship? Therefore one must test themselves to see if they are even in the faith. “Do you not know yourselves that Jesus Christ is in you, unless indeed you are disqualified.” Now that word disqualified is from my New King James, other words that could as easily be used is reprobate, castaway, rejected, unapproved. There can be no question as to what is being alluded to here. If you have the Lord Jesus Christ in you, you shall know it. It is not possible to not know that Jesus dwells in you. That is why Paul is asking the question “is He in you?” If not, there is two possibilities. 1. You have never known Him. 2. You knew Him but you are now a castaway, a reprobate, rejected, unapproved, disqualified. In order to be disqualified from anything, one had to have been qualified in the first place. If indeed one is disqualified from anything in life, it means that they are no longer a part of whatever it was they were once a part of.
But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway 1 Cor 9:27. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. Rom 11:22. And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. Rev 22:19. For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end; Heb3:14. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life Rev 2:10. These an many other Scriptures allude to the fact that we can fall away or be deceived. This is why we have to “prove to your own selves,” and “examine yourself as to whether you be in the faith.” We human beings have an enormous capacity to deceive ourselves. Many will say to me in that day Lord Lord…………….and then will I profess unto them, I never knew you. Matt 7:22-23. Jesus never knew them.
This who know Jesus have been enlightened. They have tasted of the heavenly gift and are profoundly changed by it. They were given the Holy Spirit lest they be orphans, and He is in them. They have tasted of the good word of God, it has been manna to their soul and a lamp unto their feet and a light unto their path. They have been touched by the supernatural power of God. Now, having experienced all of that and then they go back to the world, the word of God says it is impossible for them to renew themselves again, they have been disqualified. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. (Heb 6:4-6) In light of all of this brothers, I say, along with our brother Paul……… examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
The desire for authority and position is an ancient one. It marks humanity. Indeed, it marks the fallen angels and Lucifer who desired God’s position. He wanted to be exalted. He wanted to be worshiped, he desired an opportunity to be regarded as God. When he speaks to Jesus face to face in the desert, his true heart is revealed for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. In the three temptations of Jesus, the first two he refers to Jesus as “If you are the Son of God.” Yet the third temptation he drops that accusation and shows Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and tells Jesus that they are all His ” if you will fall down and worship me.” You see, he knew exactly who Jesus was and now we see exactly what Satan wanted. He wanted what was not his, he wanted Jesus’ position.
Paul says, in regards to the false Apostles “that I may cut off their opportunity to be regarded just as we are.” You see what the false teachers wanted? They wanted to be regarded like Paul. They wanted what Paul had. The false Apostles desired the position so that others would serve them. So that others would elevate them and so they would be held in high regard. In other words they wanted what their master, Satan, wanted, and in order to get that for him they would be turned into angels of light and ministers of righteousness. Now remember brothers and sisters, this is all happening in the “early church.” There is nothing new under the sun. For three years Paul warned about such men, night and day, with tears, calling them out, calling them, in effect, devils in disguise. The church of today could not handle such teaching. Paul would be banned from almost every pulpit in the world.
These false teachers would share about their hard times in order to get the sympathy (and the money) of the folks. And Paul says that they gladly put up with them, he actually says that “you gladly put up with fools.” He says to the Corinthians that they put up with these men even although they lead them into bondage. Even although they devour them and take from them everything that they have and even beat them. The very essence of religiosity was threatening to consume them and they were giving themselves over to it because it is easier to be religious than it is to die to yourself and rise again in the beauty of holiness. Paul tells them that what he is about to tell them is foolish. Yet, he tells them that if suffering were the high water mark of Christianity, then he had suffered much more than any of these men. Yet, he had suffered for Christ’s sake. And he counted it all as nothing so that he may be found in Him. If he was going to boast about anything, he would boast about his weaknesses so that Christ may be elevated. Brothers and sisters, mark those who elevate themselves. Only if Christ be lifted up, only if Jesus has the preeminence can we know that the Holy Spirit is indeed among us.
I very rarely give the premise of a poem. Poems should speak for themselves. Poems can say a thousand different things to a thousand different people. A poet reaches into his heart and speaks of what he knows and presents a piece of his heart to others. What is common to him is common to humanity. When he expresses this, it touches others for they recognize that joy and pain and even agony that is common to all of us to one degree or another. Yet I would like to say a few words about this poem that I have written. It is my testimony of being saved. It is where I was. I had come out of my childhood a thoroughly broken human being. And long before my 21st birthday I had buried a son, been homeless, held my second son in my arms who had just been burned over 60% of his body with third degree burns, and suddenly I was gone. I had slipped away beneath the darkness. Into the depths of wrecked humanity. I “knew,” I would not leave this place.
And it was this “knowing,” that was the atmosphere of my own personal hell. It is impossible to convey this place of lost souls. I had walked out of the fire of my childhood and onto broken glass. And suddenly the mind is overwhelmed and you slip away. And so the poem describes a shaft of light that doggedly pursued me. I knew it was there, I ran from it. It was, of course, my Jesus. And he pursued me to the gates of hell. I cannot really describe my encounter with Him. It was an agony, for I could see myself. I, who would have destroyed every mirror in the world had to face what I had become in the incredible light of Christ. And right there I wanted Jesus to look away from me, I did not want this magnificent majestic perfect beauty of Holiness to look on something so deformed by sin. And yet He looked, despite my sin. “I love you.” And in a single moment, I was free. And so, the poem is about my journey to the light. If you know someone who is lost in the depths of darkness, maybe you could share this with them. There is but a single hope in Christ.
If my heart cries out, Lord will you hear me?
If I come to you, Lord will you see me?
What could be worse than the darkness where I stand?
To reach out through the darkness and discover there's no hand
The greater terror than the darkness of the night
Is to consider the possibility that there really is no light
To be so consumed by darkness that there is no way ahead
Is to walk in lockstep with the lost, to walk with the walking dead
Yet all along there was but a single shaft of light
That followed through the fire and was with me in the night
I ran and ran and ran from this but yet it followed me
Even to the ends of the earth and to the depths of the bottomless sea.
I had taken the wings of the morning and fled into the night
I had plunged to the very gates of hell, yet it kept me in its sight
Even in this darkness it still was light to me
I could sense that somewhere in this light I could yet be free
And so with trembling agony I stumbled to the light
I had ran with the forces of chaos and now I had no fight
So my heart cried out to Jesus "Is it true can I be free."
And in a single moment He was standing there with me.
And oh what an agony to to be this near to Him
I could see my lost humanity, that I was drowning in my sin.
And with my very last breath, He had indeed heard me
The light had come to take me home, the light had set me free.
A Call To The Remnant 