Dear B...
Thank you for your phone calls. The principal problem you seem to be suffering from in the way of Enemy action is that indicated in Gal 2:4. The religious cannot stand looking at something which they have no intention of entering into themselves. They see the religious life in terms of rules, and when you analyse those rules they are prohibitions - see for instance the 10 commandments. As such they are negative, and essentially "anti-life". But these were intended to bring some kind of limit on the wrong sort of "life" 1 Tim 1:8-11. They do not apply to us because we have received God's life through His Holy Spirit, and this has set us free from the law of sin and death Rom 8:2. Romans 6 provides the basis upon which we have been freed - death and resurrection. Rom 7:1-6 that we are freed from the realm of law because we are dead from it and dead people cannot be indited of any transgression. Rom 7: 7-25 shows that the attempt to live by regulations must fail because meditation of those regulations leads to wanting to do what they prohibit. I usually illustrate this by pointing out that if I tell someone not to think of pink elephants for five minutes they will inevitably fail, unless their mind is positively engaged on something quite different. And this is the key in living righteously - our mind must be set on far higher things - i.e. the walking in the spirit - and this is what Romans 8 is about. Rom 8:9 is more accurately translated - "you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you". Here is again a real strength of an assured position. We have to know our confidence and hold onto it firmly. When we are really sure of anything then we need no rules to help up, and it never really crosses our minds that things could be other than what they are. Rules and regulations are for beginners who as yet have no living experience of what they are doing. For instance, when someone learns to drive a car he learns a sequence of rules: handbrake on, gear in neutral, choke, ignition, starter, foot on clutch, engage first gear, raise engine revs, check mirror and look over the shoulder etc. etc. But someone who has entered into the life of driving a car does all these things without any conscious effort. And so it is with Christ and living the life of faith - it is essentially very easy. Gal 2.20. And this is why Paul in Gal 4:9 speaks of what may be graphically and accurately translated as "weak and beggarly beginner's rules". Thank God we are no longer slaves to such any longer. We have been made gloriously free to do righteousness - and to live the life of an adult. Truly grown up people never live by rules in their conduct - they do what they know and believe to be the best thing. And it is this kind of maturity in thinking that Christ has brought us 1 Cor 2:16. When you are in a beautiful walled garden full of flowers, trees and fruitfulness, only someone who is very odd and anti-life would concentrate on the walls. No, there is such a rich variety of wonderful things in God's garden that we need never realise the walls are there at all! Gal 5:22-23. The only reason that Paul speaks of the other side is because those he was addressing had fallen aside from this way of fullness of life.
In dealing with those who wish to bring us into bondage we must act as Paul did, firmly and decisively. There is nothing soft in Gal 1:6-10, and this firmness and consistency of purpose is essential if one is not to be carried off like the Galatians were. You will also see this kind of attitude revealed in Col 2:8-23. Doing the right thing when no one else is is not an easy or a pleasant task. Gal 2:14 was not easy - it needs courage and you must stand firm. Peter had known what was right - God had shown him before he went to Cornelius (Acts 10) but he was not consistent - this you will find to be a common problem. Men are more attached to men's tradition than to God's law Mk 7:6-13 and the rebuke of such will not increase your popularity ratings - but neither did it raise Christ's popularity amongst those rebuked. You will also find that it will make you feel alone 1 Kings 18:22, even though it was not actually true (1 Kings 19:18) but there were not many. Remember most people, especially religious people, want to hold God and the world, and are unwilling to make the choice, 1 Kings 18:21. Am I? Are you? Remember James 4:4.
Now to move onto the question you asked first - which was where do I believe things are currently with respect to the church.
Firstly, and this probably rather startling, I believe that the church had already begun the process of apostasy before Acts 8:1. Jesus had commanded the apostles to go into all the world (Matt 28:18-20), but we see them in Acts 8:1 still stuck in Jerusalem. God had to use persecution in order to begin to get something moving again (compare Gen 11:8, commented on later in letter). The rebellion and desire for fixity of place which Stephen rebuked the Jews for (Acts 7:46-53) was evident right within the church at Jerusalem. Since Stephen had exposed this, so then God had to deal with it in his own people. Instead of being sent out messengers of the gospel to every creature, the apostles had become content to be respected and influential leaders at the church in Jerusalem. Acts 6 shows that this self-centred attitude of the Jerusalem church had led to internal frictions and divisions, and instead of dealing with the underlying spiritual causes of the malaise, they sought a way out through improved organisation. Acts 6:4 looks very pious, but was this what they had been called to do? Peter's heart attitude to gentiles is clear from Acts 10 and this attitude was undoubtedly general in the church at Jerusalem and explains why they had made no attempt to act according to Matt 28:18-20. Peter's actions at Cornelius's house revealed just how big the problem was in Jerusalem Acts 11:2. While the circumcision party was silenced by what God had done (Acts 11:18) they were certainly not dealt with, and was from here that the Judaisers went to places such as Galatia seeking that the Gentiles should come into conformity with Jewish practices (Acts 15:1) and so Paul and Barnabas went to the source of the trouble - Jerusalem - and there was a debate on the subject. The outcome of this is somewhat curious in that while the principle that the Gentiles do not have to become Jews is established, it is quite clear that there is no understanding that Jews do not have to live under law (see e.g. the proof at Gal 2:19 and the whole of Hebrews - which book proves that all the Jewish law and ritual was valueless by comparison with what is now achieved in Christ. And Hebrews was written to hebrew Christians who were precisely tempted back into Judaism out of expediency). Since the root of the problem had not been dealt with it was bound to recur. The next casualty was Paul himself - who felt bound to go to Jerusalem (Acts 19:21; 20:22 - N B the Greek here is not clear as to whether his own spirit or God's is in view. But the force of Acts 21 references obliges us to translate it as his own). He had been told by the Holy Spirit that trouble is coming (Acts 20:23). Acts 21:4 is direct prophecy not to proceed. Further indications are given via Acts 21:11-14 - but when Paul would not listen to these people who were in the Spirit there was nothing to be done except put it into God's hands (21:14). All this spiritually based counsel contrast with the counsel given him on arrival at Jerusalem (21:20-25). v23 - do what we tell you - why? - for the sake of appearances, and to pacify those "zealous for the law" (v20) contrast Heb 7:18-19. Verse 26 speaks of the presentation of an offering - contrast Heb 10:14 - showing that he himself was in a wrong place - he had forgotten Christ was the all sufficient and only offering. But, that offering was never presented because God ensured that it would not be by landing Paul in gaol. This regrettably is what happens should we go back under law. Why, though, did Paul get into this position? Because he was trying to lean over backwards to accommodate men with whom he did not agree. He understood well the need for the unity of the Spirit and he was doing what he believed was the best thing to do, and was fulfilling the desire of the Jerusalem leaders, firstly in providing for their poor, and secondly to try and heal a major breach in the church. But it could not be done. The gaol sentence ensured that he never went back to Jerusalem again. The specious arguments of influential religious will easily sway us if we are eager for unity, but if it is not of God's Spirit it will destroy us. The process of Judaisation meant that the church in Jerusalem was totally scattered in AD 70. This was God's final judgement on the Judaising church. This was the first church, and the first from which the lampstand was removed (cf. Rev 2 & 3).
The Seven Churches in Revelation are the next logical places to examine, since these were not only real churches in real places, but, as revelation is prophecy, they are typical of church types, and are a progression such that the early ones make no reference to the second coming and so will not be around when the Lord comes, whereas the later ones will be. I will not go through them in detail but points to note are that Nicolaitans are literally "Victors over the people" (laitans comes from laos from which the ecclesiastical word laity is derived). Thus this teaching and works signify the development of rulership over God's people by a group who regard themselves and whom others regard as being in a class above the ordinary - this is seen clearly in the development of the "clergy" and laity division in the episcopal churches - Orthodox, Catholic and Anglican - but is equally pervasive in non-conformist circles - under such non-biblical (at least as descriptions of leaders) titles as pastor, minister and the like. The dominance of leaders would seem to be the reason why Jezebel is able to make such an impact at Thyatira. But in all of this overcoming is possible subject to really severe conditions. Anyway have a look though these letters yourself.
The final word concerning false religion is given in Revelation 17 and 18 - the destruction of the great harlot Babylon, which in Rev 17:1-2 is revealed as the one who has controlled the world's affairs through prostitution. It will be necessary to fill in background from the OT subsequently, but in summary her position is as follows: The church is the bride of Christ, and the purpose of a wife is to operate towards her husband in such a way as shall assist him in his activities and especially that he shall be free to rule (see e.g. Prov 31:23). Babylon represents the organised, anti-God world order which has both a religious and a secular aspect which cannot be distinguished. A harlot is a woman who will give her favours to whomever will pay, and she will "help" them by so doing - but is not under proper headship authority. In Rev 17 she is revealed as the source of earth's abominations (Rev 17:5) - which is a reference to idol worship of all kinds. Likewise the woman rides on an anti-God beast (17:3). She wears purple and scarlet (symbols of political and religious power). And this horrible woman is drunk on the blood of the Lord's people (17:6). The identification made in Rev 17 is between Babylon and Rome. And all of this political and religious power has its home there, and political and religious events are controlled from there. And this of course is why the remanifestation of unity between the church of Rome and her Reformation daughters is so significant. Rev 18 shows what must be done about it by God's people (Rev 18:4) - come out firstly - but also to seek her destruction (18:6). No wonder the multitude in heaven rejoice in Rev 19:1-4.
Now I hope you have struggled through this so far despite the lack of signposts
- it is a difficult topic to speak or write on as there is so much that could
be said. Briefly what I've been saying is that error crept into the church
very early on, and takes the following forms
1) Legalism
2) Rulership over God's people by men
3) Immoral conduct and idolatry (Jezebel - and manifested in fullness in
Babylon)
4) Denials of reality of good and evil (you will find this in 1 John) and
the whole problem of large scale infiltration by false spirits and teachings
(Gnosticism).
Now since New Testament times all these things have developed more and more from those seeds, but apart from warnings (e.g. 2 Thess 2:1-12, for instance) it cannot really help a great deal on its own. But the Old Testament can, because whereas the NT deals with the early years only of the New Covenant, the OT deals with the years when all had gone wrong as well. Very roughly the Pentateuch (first 5 books of OT) correspond to the gospels. Joshua corresponds to the Acts of the Apostles. The wisdom literature (Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes) correspond to the letters (because these letters are primarily concerned with instructions on living - as Proverbs is). The only book that corresponds to the prophets is Revelation. Thus the historical books (Judges, Ruth, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles) have no NT counterpart and nor do the prophetical scriptures in any detail (especially not the post-exilic prophets). So then what do we find. These historical books and the OT prophets give us insight into how the worship of the true God is corrupted into idolatry and leads to dependence on anyone who can get things out of a hole (judges). Everyone does his own thing (Judges 21:25). Thus we see the tendency to depend on men rather than God. None of these people had the stature of Moses, or even Joshua (Note how things were going astray in Joshua's time and they failed to obey God and get rid of the former inhabitants of the land - who then corrupted them to worship Baals etc.) 1 Samuel sees the final end of tabernacle worship with the capture of the ark by the Philistines (who symbolically represent Satan and his horde). The ark never went back to the tabernacle that was made "according to the plan received on the mountain". This then led to the rejection of God as king (1 Sam 8:7) and the establishment of human rulership and its consequences (1 Sam 8:10-18) (Full time pastors / ministers / priests expecting to be paid!)
Thereafter the condition of the people depended on the quality of the king at a given time. If the king was good there was a revival and if bad, still more was added to the eventual judgement. (This parallels the periods of revival and backsliding in church history).
But eventually all of this came to an end in the exile - there were no more kings after the exile - and Baal worship came to an end (Zeph 1:4). Christ never had to deal with it. God's people were (at least largely) purified (Zeph 3:11-13). There was to be restoration - and all this then led up to the coming of the Messiah (the first time). Now I believe this is what is happening over again - but the church this time - that there is a period of refining exile which will lead to the destruction of false religion [in God's people] It has already begun in some measure in the countries where persecution is sufficiently severe for organised christianity to have collapsed - or is so enmeshed with the state that the genuine christians are meeting in cells, without organisation. And I believe this is also in the process of starting here. It is interesting that the exile of the Jews was not all at once, nor particularly dramatic, at first. Firstly the Jews were put under tribute to Egypt (symbolic of the world) 2 Kings 23:31-35 - and put their own choice of man in charge. But then after that it was Babylon (2 Kings 24:1) whom they served for a while but then rebelled.
So Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged the city and the result was that the cream of Jerusalem and the temple treasures were carried off into exile (2 Kings 24:10ff) and he placed a puppet king there. Ezekiel was among these exiles (see Ezek 1) and the first 30 odd chapters of Ezekiel cover the period before the final destruction of apostate Jerusalem (2 Kings 25). All of this has parallels for the church - some are already in exile having been exiled for rebelling against the non-divinely given leadership - and there are the ones some of whom can see that more and deeper exile is to come. At present the organised religion is still functioning, albeit with impoverishment - but it will go.
I hope you are coping with this - really it required you in person to ask questions - and you should have plenty by now!!!
But I did mention about Babylon needing an OT explanation. It is in Genesis 10 and 11. It was founded as the first element of the rule of Nimrod (Gen 10:9-10) Babel = Babylon by the way. His name means "Valiant, strong" - and he was a humanly strong man - the archetypical successful warrior. But even more important is Gen 11:1-9. Babel was the first city (Gen 10:10) and Gen 11:1-9 describes its formation - and subsequent confusion. Cities like Babel were not God's intention. His intention was that each man would be a "frontiersman" subduing an area of the Earth for God - this is the significance of "fill the earth" in Gen 9:1. Notice how similar in idea this is to Matt 28:18-20. Yet how quickly we see that under the leadership of Nimrod, men have changed so that this scattering is the very thing they fear (Gen 11:4). Gen 11:4 shows that the basis of this was self-centred - "build ourselves a city". The characteristic of a city is that it has "civic pride" - it is a place which has to have leaders, laws, government and customs [legalism, authoritarianism] in order to regulate the activities of the citizens who otherwise will get in each other's way. The frontiersman has no need of these - his activities can be regulated purely through family authority. But the city offers in return for this loss of freedom a substitute - the easy life, leisure and pleasures (good and bad) for which the frontiersman does not have time or energy. Cities have often been associated with sin, and with good reason - they are places where people do not have enough to do (contrast the outback) and so make pleasures and activities for themselves which do not have divine sanction. It is thus a place where self can be easily satisfied, with no need to consider the divine command to subdue the Earth - there are enough selfish things to do without bothering with that.
Secondly in Gen 11:4 there is an aspiration to greatness "a tower with its top in the heavens". This has religious and strength (or political) significance. It is man's attempt to climb up to God via his own efforts and make himself equal with God (cf. Gen 3:5). It is very much a symbolic building - a symbol of strength against enemies, and the thing to which everyone will look in a time of trouble - rather than depending on God for protection. Finally in Gen 11:4 "make a name for ourselves" - this is a strength against outsiders, in that reputation can be a greater human protection than force of arms. But its real power is over those within the city - as dissent can be subdued by an appeal not to "rock the boat" - to remember our reputation. These then are the features characteristic of human organised togetherness. Even the material of the bricks for the structure are man made - and bricks are all alike - how unlike natural stone. So here we perceive also that when humans organise the units of which the structure is made all have to be pressed into the same brick mould (contrast 1 Pet 2:4-8).
So what does God think of all this? Gen 11:6 reveals that what makes this possible is their unity ("one people") and "one language" - i.e. they all understand each other and have a common objective. Then follows what must be the most amazing statement in the entire scripture "nothing that they now propose to do will be impossible for them". The power of human unity and singleness of purpose and understanding will enable man to do anything. We can see how true this is in such matters as getting a man to the moon. Many people were involved who were united in their purpose, and who developed a specialised technical vocabulary to make it all possible.
But God in mercy scattered the people from Babel, so that they would not get stuck all together and have to judged all at once. Before the Flood everyone had been together sufficiently for the whole world to come under simultaneous judgement, but God had promised not to repeat this (Gen 9:15) and so he had to ensure that men would not all come under judgement of destruction simultaneously - until the right time. At the end of course, when everything comes under the rule of Antichrist, then judgement will come on the Earth at once and that will be the end of all things - the final end of Babylon in fact.
But men always want to be organised and this runs right through scripture and the history of the world. Thus compare the desires of the Israelites for a king in 1 Samuel - despite the cost. And this same desire has been the problem with the church (as described earlier - e.g. stuck at Jerusalem (Acts 8:1))- with its organisation (Clergy, organised church services), activities (women's and children's meetings etc.), so that there is no time to get alongside pagans with the gospel, the symbolic building (the church building - the focusing thing which brings "christians" together and which provides protection against scattering among the world) and the name (reputation for being "good" people, a "lively" church etc. - used to quell internal divisions). But God in mercy will destroy this illusion of unity - for it is NOT of His Spirit. This is why organisational churches are always full of disunity and why sects are for ever splintering into smaller units. Unity is not achieved this way because God's intention is that we all work on the frontier. Rather than enjoying "nice" services and "good" preachers and going to an endless round of meetings with our protective "in-group", His intention is that we are intimately mixed with ordinary non-christian people - with only the Lord Himself to protect us, to give us a reputation. If we are really properly involved with ordinary people we will not have time for religiousness any more than a frontiersman has time for city pleasures. When we do have a small group meeting we shall have time only for worship of God and pursuit of the kingdom - "Seek ye first...". When we live this way there will be plenty of time and opportunity for the gospel as we shall be living it among the people, like Christ.
It is interesting that following the scattering of Gen 11:9, we then find God on the look out for His answer to the organisational problem - it is Abraham. And how is Abraham dealt with - he is successively separated from his culture, his family and his son - to God. His is the life of faith - rather than organisation and appearances (contrast the life of Lot - whose desire for city life leads him to the destruction of all he has.)
The answer (God's answer) to human organisation is to destroy it and then to redeem men via individuals who will do His will which involves no organisation. It is quite interesting in this connection to contrast the organised rule bound religion of the scribes and pharisees and its religious separation with the non-organised ministry of the Lord Jesus among the people.
In summary, then, I believe that the basic reason for the weakness, unspirituality and apostasy of the organised church is that operates according to the principles of human organisation (Gen 11), that this has been an endemic problem in Old and New Covenants alike, and the only people God has really been able to use have been those who have been separated from it. (Abraham, Moses (remember 40 years sheep minding), David (outcast from Saul's court), Jesus Christ, Paul (in the wilderness and hated by many within the church), John (on the island of Patmos for the testimony of Jesus (Rev 1)). Organised christianity is doomed because what it produces must reproduce its character - remember what Jesus said about the proselytes of the Pharisees - twice as fit for hell.
In each generation God seems to lay hold of a few who perceive what He is doing. The tragedy is that those who follow them so often systematise this new understanding into yet another denomination in the next generation. Human organisation can persist for generations, the work of the Spirit blows for a period but then He moves on. Our mistake is to try to hang on to the moment, to try to bottle the Wind, or erect tents to contain the revelation as Peter suggested on the Mount of Transfiguration (Lk 9). This we must not do. Whatever we do must be such that when the Spirit leaves the activity it will quickly die, because it is unsupported by the human. Thus small meetings, held in homes have this character. If the Spirit is not there, people either will not come at all, or very quickly the meeting will become purely social. And so it should be.
I have written at length - over a period of 3 weeks - so I expect this letter is more than usually disjointed. I have not found it easy to write this - largely because the topic is vast and my reasons for the views I have come to hold are drawn from a very wide number of scriptures. Also I have found it rather difficult to decide upon what I can presume you to know and understand. Much may baffle you or may worry you, and I think you should find yourself asking many questions about the nature of what is real. Remember the issue is never what has the name of being christian or antichristian but rather what is being operated according to the fruit of the tree of life and what is being manipulated by the principles adopted by the prince of darkness. the most important of the latter is independence from God If something will continue to run when the Spirit of God has left it, it is not of God.
Think over what I have written. I trust the Spirit to give the understanding, but if there is anything obscure or which you feel requires elaboration, ASK.
Finally, and this is important this time, I do not believe this letter is suitable for general circulation <i.e. among B's friends, as she would not have been able to deal with their responses to it adequately. RHJ 1998>. Most are not yet ready to receive the message (Matt 7:6), many never will be, because it is the antithesis of human pride
Love in Jesus (signed) Richard