Wrong Church

8/14/2019 Wrong Church

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What s Wrong

Wit h The Chu r ch?

Rev ised and Enla r ged

Thomas S. Gibson


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All Scripture quotation are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB)

December 2000 Original publication (electronically: via .pdf file)

Septem ber 2002 Revised and Enlarged Edition (electronically: via .pdf file)

March 2004 Revised and Enlarged Edition (re-edited : .pd f file)

Articles, books, prophecies, and other materials are available from the web site, The

Prophetic Word: prophetic-word.org

To contact Thomas S. Gibson: , 1125 - 6 Ave, Wainwright ,AB T9W 1G2, Canad a

copyright 2000, 2002, 2004 by Thomas S. Gibson. The contents of this document isabsolutely copyrighted against any altering! You are encouraged print, copy, orrepublish this document.


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Ta b l e o f Co n t e n t s

Abou t The Prophet ............................................................................................................ 4

Preface .................................................................................................................................. 7

Introd uction ........................................................................................................................ 9

Chap ter On e: In The Begin nin g ....................................................................................... 11

Chap ter Two: Salvat ion and Bap tism .............................................................................. 14

Chap ter Three: Com munion ............................................................................................ 18

Chap ter Four: Bap tism of the Holy Spirit ...................................................................... 21

Chap ter Five: The Great Com mission ............................................................................ 25

Chap ter Six: Money, Money, Money! ............................................................................. 28

Chap ter Seven: Lead ership of the Church Bod y ........................................................... 32

Chap ter Eight: Lead ership of the Local Church ............................................................ 36

Chap ter Nine: The Role of the Four Fold Min istry ....................................................... 40

Chap ter Ten: Pride in Lead ership .................................................................................... 43

Chap ter Eleven : Subjection Within The Bod y of Christ ............................................... 45

Chap ter Twelve: Ad ultery! ............................................................................................... 48

Chapter Thirteen: So What Happened to Brother ly Love? ......................................... 50

Chap ter Fourteen: Conclusion ......................................................................................... 52


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Wh a t s Wr o n g Wi t h Th e Ch u r c h

Abou t The Pr ophe t

I was born in 1955 in Wainwright into a christian familywith two brothers and one sister. My dad was an

accountant. He was confined to a wheelchair because ofpolio when he w as young. When I was eleven we foundout he had cancer. He died w ithin a few m onths.

We went to a Gospel Mission church when I was young.They did not believe in p rophets, apostles, or tongu es. AsI grew up we changed churches for various reasons. Wealways seemed to be changing churches every few years:Nazarene, Pentecostal (PAOC), Salvation Army,Evangelical Free. At least the Pentecostals believed intongues.

Thomas S. Gibson

When I was 10 or 12 I began to have some knowledge in my spirit that I was called tobe something special for the Lord. But I did not understand, at that time, how I justknew this inside of me. I had no experience in th e Holy Spirit revealing things to m e atthat time.

I went throu gh a rebellion in my teens. I did not d o anything w rong as man y did . ButI had the idea that if I rebelled against the Lord and d id not d o any sins such as drinkingor smoking. It wou ld be okay. I just d idnt want to obey.

I was un der conviction for this rebellion. Once, in a service I went forward to accept th eLord just to get rid of the conviction I was under. I didnt mean it, and I did not foolGod for one minute!

In a short lived revival that went through Wainwright when I was turning 18, I made acommitment to serve the Lord no matter what. This time I meant it. It gave me muchpeace in m y heart and a renewed interest in study ing the Bible.

But it was in that study time that I began to realize that many of the churches I had

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gone to did not believe everything in Scripture. This started a full time Bible study inprivate. The Holy Spirit and the Bible were my only teachers.

It was at about th is time that I was shown , by the Lord, my calling. It did not happ en ina christian or even in a religious setting. I was at the Wainwright Stampede. They hadrides, the stamp ede, and of course, carnival games.

I was walking arou nd looking at th e various games. I felt the Holy Spirit prom pt m e towatch a specific game, and so I did . This particular game had a wheel which they wouldspin, with a mouse would coming out of the hole in the centre. Because of the spinn ingwheel, he would run to the outside and into one of the man y holes there. These outsideholes were numbered from 1 to 35 (or some such number; I cant remember exactlyhow high the num bers went).

As I watched, I knew in my spirit that the Lord w ould give me the first, third, and fifthnu mbers ou t of the next five games. Of course, I did n ot gamble, but just watched. TheLord gave me a number, and yes, it was the correct one. The next game He gave menothing. On the third He also gave me a num ber, and it was right. And so on throughthe fifth game, just as H e had said.

I left the area an d went for a long walk. Dur ing this time the Holy Spirit began to speakto me about my call to the prophetic office. I knew very little about it at that time, butthe sign that the Lord had given me was clear: He had called m e to the prop hetic.

Even thou gh the Lord d id not give me p roph ecy or any typ e of pu blic revelation at thattime, He did talk to me and taught me about the commitment and the sacrifice of my

call. I would occasionally receive dreams concerning my personal life, but nothing theLord w anted m e to give in public.

It was in 1985 or 86 that the Lord got me interested in computers. This interest camedirectly from Him, and not from me. I knew then that He would use them to sendprophecies He gave me to the world; but I could not understand how this wouldhap pen at that time. Telecomm un ication (as it was called then), was at a speed of 1200baud (or bps), and sometimes as slow as 300 baud. At that speed anyone could read itfaster than it came onto your screen! And computers were not interconnected as theyare now.

As the speed increased the Lord directed me to place prophecies of others (still none

throu gh m e) onto a BBS (compu ter bu lletin board service). Other comp uters could thenphone mine and read or download them. I called it The Full Gospel BBS. It was notvery successful, and I shut it down. I started it up about a year later under the nameThe Prophetic Word BBS. A little more successful, but not mu ch.

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At that time compuserve was getting popular, and I started an account there. Then theLord began giving me prophecies and I would place them as a file in the religioussection from time to time. This would have been about 1994.

Also at about the same time with the Lords instruction, I started looking into the ideaof the internet. During th is time it was totally command-line d riven, and n o such thingas a web site. By using special commands from the keyboard you could send email.While I did not go into the internet at that time, I kept an eye on it as I knew the Lordwan ted m e to go in that d irection.

However, in 1996 AGT (now known as Telus) gave Wainwright local internet access,and it was in May of that year I started The Prophetic Word web page. All of this waswith the clear d irection of the Lord (from th e beginning of my first compu ter pu rchaseand onw ard). As I said earlier, I knew that I wou ld u se it to circulate the prophecies thatHe w ould give me.

I have never married and have worked in and aroun d Wainw right all my life. Most of itas a concrete finisher for a local construction firm. But I have also w orked in the oilfieldas a crane operator and driven truck.

Thomas S. Gibson

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P r e f a c e

I approach the Bible with the understanding and knowledge that it is the verballyinspired Word of God; and as such it must be received as the authoritative Word from

God in a l l things.

This book is wr itten to all who w ill receive it: both to the christian an d to the u nbeliever.The christian, because they need to hear the truth without any interpretation by thosewho wish to have their church foremost in everyones mind; the unbeliever, becausethey realize that the constant differences in the various churchesall who believe in thesame Biblesimple does n ot m ake any sense!

The purpose of this book is to reveal the truth in a way which does not attempt tointerpret the Bible, but rather to take it at face value. What it says is what God meant tosay. There is no reason or p urpose in attempting an interpretation. If God had mean t tosay something else, He w ould have said som ething else. What need is there for man to

interpret Gods work? Ind eed, such action could be taken as blasphem y!

Yet, do we not see this very thing in the church today? We have untold denominationswhich avoid, interpret, and add to the Word of God. They avoid passages because theyhave no answerthat is, no answer to the contradictions between their beliefscompared to the Word. They interpret because they wish to make a passage saysomething it does not. And they add to the Word in order to see their beliefs in theWord wh ere it clearly is absent.

This type of activity by so-called Bible believers has got to stop. Indeed, in manychurches they have a more open approach to looking at what the Word truly says.Slowly people are beginning to realize that we must not make the basis of our beliefsthe facts that we have always been taught, but instead to find out by careful study ofthe Word what God is saying to us. It is not my purpose to belittle the beliefs of anyone church, or any group of churches, but to show clearly how the teachings from thepast simply do not align with the Word of God.

I have spend the last 30 years reading the Word only to find , time after time, a passage

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that not only contradicted what I was taught, but clearly contradicted what I hadbelieved up until that point. Again and again I would have had to change my thinkingin order to make sure that it aligned to the Word of God without any interpretation on

my part.

In the writing of this book I try and convey to others what the Holy Spirit has beenteaching m e through these years.

Thomas S. Gibson

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I n t r o d u c t i o n

A few days ago (September 2000), God gave me a title, Whats Wrong With TheChurch? I knew then that this was a subject on w hich H e wan ted m e to wr ite.

At that time God told me I would have trouble with this subject, I would not want towrite it the way in wh ich He wou ld show me. I argued w ith the Lord concerning this: ofcourse I would write it as He showed me! But as He began to reveal how stronglyword ed m uch of this writing w ould be, God w as proved correct. I did n ot want to p utforth the subject in the way in which He was showing me. I had to bow down andrepent for thinking I could soft pedd le what God h ad wanted me to pu blish!

I do not take lightly what I have written here. I have carefully researched the Word ofGod to show that these things are so. Clearly this is something that must be told! Thechurch has wandered away from the strict teaching that we find in the Bible intointerpretations that fit with their present thinking and with the political correctness of

the day.

God did not set down the words in Scripture only to have them bent out of shape bythe present day church. They are meant to be taken just the way they are found. Theymean exactly what they sayno more, and n o less!

The main thrust in th is book is to look at the p resent day evangelical christian churches.I am not looking solely at any one denomination, but rather at all protestant christianchurches as a general entity. Not every church is guilty of everything thing that ismentioned. However, these errors are known errors in man y churches.

The purp ose here is to draw an exact line between w hat is being tau ght by the churchestoday, and what is clearly taugh t by the Word of God.

Over the past several weeks (September 2000), God has been giving me propheciesagainst the organized church. It is now clear that He was leading me toward thewriting of this work.

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We must carefully compare the written Word of God to the practices and teachingsfound in the churches. We cannot allow differences between th e two.

The Revised an d Enlarged Edition

God has now (September 2002) directed me to review and add to this work additionalmaterial which He has taught me over the last two years. This new book is theRevised and Enlarged edition.

God bless you as you read w hat H e has been revealing to me.

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Cha pt e r One

I n The Beg i nn i ng . . .

In the beginning truth was given by God through the law of Moses to man. It was toshow m an what was right and w hat was w rong; and if sin was committed how to findforgiveness with God. As long as this was followed, man had a relationship with God.This was the truth of the Old Testament.

Over time it became perverted by changes made by man. To see evidence of this letslook at two qu otes of Jesus concerning the teachings of His day.

12 Then they un derstood that H e did n ot say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of theteaching of the Pharisees and Sadd ucees. Matthew 16:12

25 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup

and of the dish, bu t inside they ar e full of robbery an d self-ind ulgence. Matthew 23:25

The Pharisees and Sadducees had altered the original teachings of the law to the pointwhere Jesus had said, beware of the leaven of ... the Pharisees and Sadd ucees.

They interpreted the Word of God to their own thinking and to their own ends. Thiswas in the time of the Old Testament.

Now in the New Testament we have been given further truth. The Lamb of God (JesusChrist) has come to die for us. In place of temporary sacrifices we now have ThePerman en t Sacrifice. And with this great revelation we have come into the churchagethe age in w hich we still are living.

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In the beginning of this time we find that the church was totally in one accord. Theywould not even consider the idea that the truth should be split into sects ordenominations.

32 And the congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of

them claimed that anything belonging to him w as his own; but all things were common

prop erty to th em. Acts 4:32

Thats how it started. There was a comp lete dedication to th e things of the Lord. No onewould even consider their own desires. It was important that these things be notchanged from the original church dedication. We have been given a warning in theNew Testament to prevent the errors made by the Pharisees and Sadducees. This isfound in Hebrews:

1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we

dr ift awa y from it. Hebr ews 2:1

But we have now come to the place where the one church which was founded on theBlood of Jesus Christ has become many denominations and sects. We have drifted along ways from what was first founded! Each sect interprets the Word of God todeterm ine wh at it means. As we w ill see, not one of these denom inations really believesthe Word of God for wh at it says.

This began back in the days of the Apostle Paul. We find this warning in the letters tothe church:

6 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of

Christ, for a different go spel;7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you, and want to

distort the gosp el of Christ.

8 But even th ough we, or an an gel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary

to that w hich w e have p reached to you , let him be accursed. Galatians 1:6-8

And as it began back in those days, now it has now accelerated to the point wherechurch denominations are so numerous that they are almost impossible to count. Eachchurch puts its own spin on what it reads. In essence, they wish to twist the Scripturesto say what they have already decided it must say!

I have heard (and heard again), of many sermons preached on w hy a p articular passage

of Scripture does not mean what it literally says. It has come to the place where manydenominations sit down and determine what they believe, and then search the Bible tofind out what part of a verse they can misquote to back it up. They grab a verse hereand a verse there and come up with almost any belief system you can imagine! Butwh at does the Word say about this?

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15 Be diligent to present yourself app roved to God as a workm an w ho d oes not need to be

asham ed, hand ling accur ately the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15

We find that we must carefully study, in context, each passage. It is an error to grab averse, or a part of a verse without stud ying the context in which it is stated. I encourageall those wh o read th is to have a Bible ready to look up the entire passage wh en I quotefrom the Word of God.

In the chapters that follow I have taken broad themes and discussed them with anoutlook of how th e average christian evangelical church views it compared to what theBible clearly states. The purpose here is to establish the direction that the church hastaken comp ared to the tru th of Gods Word.

This is not mean t to be a d emeaning book. But it must be highly critical wh en there areclear and well defined d ifferences between Gods Word and the churches who claim to

follow it.

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Ch a p t e r Tw o

Sa l v a t i o n a n d Ba p t i s m

Surely the evangelical churches have not turn away from the basics of the gospel ofChrist. This is one area in which we should all agree. But as we look at the Scripturesand comp are them to the practices and beliefs of the church tod ay we will see that thereare a few d ifferences between them.

Have we taken anything out of the Biblical salvation plan? How about adding to thatplan?

Lets first look at the common statement w hich is heard in so m any chu rches. These arethe w ords ask Jesus into your heart. It sound s great. It must be in the Bible. But haveyou looked? I have, and so have others. Look all you w ant, it is not there. There are noScriptures I can quote here. It is an argument of silence. Here we have found that thechurch has indeed ad ded at least one thing to salvation.

If we are not to ask Jesus into our heart w hat are w e to do? What does the Bible say wemu st do to be saved?

9 that if you confess with you mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God

raised H im from the dead, you shall be saved;

10 for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he

confesses, resulting in salvation. Rom ans 10:9-10

There is no question here of how to be saved. It is spelled out clearly. Confess Jesus asLord of your life with your mouth. True, evangelical churches today believe this. Sowhy ad d the comment of asking Jesus into your heart? It is preached in almost all of theevangelical churches that I know of. And yet wh ere do w e find this? Only in the churchand not in the Word. It is these errors that have crept into the system and they showhow easily problems can occur.

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Another area that has been of concern to me is the BloodJesus Blood. I doubtseriously that any church would deny that the Blood that Jesus shed for our sin is part

of salvation. However, I cannot begin to count the many, many, many times I haveheard salvation preached from the pulpit, and the Blood not even mentioned. This isserious. While it is not denied, it is however, avoided.

22 And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood,

and without shedd ing of blood there is no forgiveness. Hebrews 9:22

If we begin to avoid the focal point of salvation (the Blood) then how can we believe weare leading people to the truth? The very focal point of the entire Bible is the Blood ofJesus. We mu st not belittle this. It is the most importan t point that can be m ade.

If satan, (and it is satan), can tem pt us to avoid an importan t subject such as this, he has

mad e an inroad to the p erversion of the salvation message.

I am not trying to nitpick in this chapter. I fully believe that if we can be tempted toavoid a subject as importan t as the Blood of Jesus, then w e also can be slowly led aw ayto the point of no longer mentioning the Blood at all. This will eventual lead to thesalvation message no longer containing the most important, and necessary, ingredient.It will simply be drop ped from the message, and satan will have achieved an imp ortantgoal.

This is how all perversions of Scriptu re hap pen. Satan slowly works at having a subjectavoided, then later at having it d ropp ed completely from ou r list of beliefs.

We can find another area of difference between the churches and the Bible. It is an areathat has been taken out of the Biblical salvation process and made into a religiousceremon y: that is bap tism.

16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but he who has

disbelieved shall be condem ned . Mark 16:16

Clearly we see here that baptism is part of salvation. It is not found anywhere inScripture except as part of repentance, and therefore at the beginning of the salvationwalk. And yet this is not where it is found in most churches. I do not know of anychurch which has not ripped out baptism and placed it in its own ceremony long after

the person h as been saved. Now here in the verses of the Bible can w e find any examp leof this occurring.

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Let us look at what Peter said by the Spirit:

21 And correspond ing to that, baptism n ow saves younot the removal of dirt from the

flesh, but an appeal to God for a good consciencethrough the resurrection of JesusChr ist. I Peter 3:21

Here in I Peter w e see another example of a Scriptu re which places baptism at salvation,and further, does not leave any room to place it elsewhere. But does this mean if aperson is not bap tized he is lost? Lets look at the thief which h ung beside Jesus on thecross.

39 And one of the criminals who hanged there was hurling abuse at Him, saying, Are

You n ot the Ch rist? Save Yourself and us!

40 But the other answered , and rebuking him said, Do you not even fear God, since you

are und er the same sentence of cond emnation?

41 And we ind eed justly, for w e are receiving w hat w e deserve for our d eeds; but th isman h as done nothing wrong.

42 And he was saying, Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!

43 And He said to him, Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.

Luke 23:39-43

Here was a person who could not be baptized, and yet was saved. So it is therepentance which is important. We must realize that if a person cannot be baptized,(because there is no time or because of circum stances), you are not lost.

And yet baptism is commanded in Scripture at the time of repentance. It is time thechurch retu rned to the w ays of the Bible.

Lets look at one other p assage.

26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, Arise and go south to the road that

descends from Jerusalem to Gaza. (This is a d esert road).

27 And he arose and went; and behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official

of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had

come to Jerusalem to w orship.

28 And he w as returning and sitting in his chariot, and was read ing the proph et Isaiah.

29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go up and join this chariot.

30 And when Philip had run up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said,

Do you und erstand w hat you are reading?

31 And he said, Well, how could I, unless someone guides me? And he invited Philip to

come up and sit with him.32 Now the passage of Scriptu re wh ich h e was reading w as this:

He w as led as a sheep to slaughter;

And as a Lamb b efore its shearer is silent,

So He d oes not open H is mouth.

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33 In hum iliation His jud gment w as taken away;

Who shall relate H is generation?

For His life is remo ved from the earth .

34 And the eunuch answered Philip and said, Please tell me, of whom does this

prop het say this? Of himself, or of someone else?

35 And Philip opened his mouth , and beginning from th is Scripture he p reached Jesus to

him.

36 And as they went along the road they came to some water; and the eunuch said,

Look! Water! What p revents m e from being bap tized?

37 And Philip said, If you believe with all your heart, you may. And he answered

and said, I believe that Jesus Ch rist is the Son of God .

38 And he ordered the chariot to stop; and they both went down into the water, Philip

as well as the eunu ch; and he baptized him.

39 And when they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip

away, and the eunuch saw him no m ore, but w ent on his way rejoicing.

40 But Philip found himself at Azotus; and as he passed through he kept preaching thegosp el to all the cities, un til he came to Caesarea.

It is obvious from this passage that when Philip preached Jesus to the eunuch that hepreached baptism as the way of repentance. Indeed, if we would take the time to lookat the many other verses on this subject we would find that baptism was always takenas the step of repentance from the time of John the Baptist.

We have allowed satan to deceive us to the point of removing an aspect of salvationfrom the Bible and placing it in its own special ceremony months later. It is only in ourmodern religious churches that we have taken this act of repentance and made it into aseparate commandment.

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Chap t e r Th r ee

C o m m u n i o n

Comm un ion is accepted in all evangelical chu rches. There is little or no d ifference in theway it is viewed or practiced. But I believe that even in this commonly accepted NewTestament comman dm ent there has been a serious error.

Communion has been changed in at least one way in most churches from the way inwhich it is presented in Scriptu re. Let look at wh at Jesus said w hen H e first introducedthis New Testament comm and ment.

26 And while they were eating, Jesus took some bread, and after a blessing, He broke it

and gave it to the d isciples, and said, Take, eat; this is My body.

27 And when He had taken a cup and given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, Drink

from it, all of you ;

28 for this is My blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for forgiveness of

sins.

29 But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day

wh en I drink it new with y ou in My Fathers kingdom . Matthew 26:26-29

Now there are some churches who accept the communion table accurately. But not allhave done so. Some have added something here. It is the idea that the bread and thecup are sym bolic of Christs Body and Blood.

So where do we find this symbolism? Is it anywhere in Scripture? The facts are very

simple. Jesus referred to H is taking of the bread with this statement: this is My Body.How can we get symbolism out of this is? He states positively that it is His Body.This statement makes it clear and leaves no room for doubt. There can be nosymbolism.

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What about the Blood? It states the same thing. Jesus said this is My Blood. So weagain find that there is no room for symbolism.

But does this make any real difference? Could it even be important? To find theanswers to these questions we will have to go to I Corinthians and look what theApostle Paul stated by th e Holy Spirit concerning commu nion.

23 For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus

in the night in which He w as betrayed took bread;

24 and wh en H e had g iven thank s, He broke it, and said, This is My body, wh ich is for

you; do th is in rem embrance of Me.

25 In the same way He took the cup also, after supper, saying, This cup is the new

covenant in My b lood; do this, as often as you dr ink it, in rem embran ce of Me.

26 For as often as you eat this bread or drink the cup, you proclaim the Lords death

until He comes.

27 Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthyman ner, shall be guilty of the body and the blood of the Lord.

28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and dr ink the cup .

29 For he wh o eats and drinks, eats and d rinks jud gment to himself, if he d oes not jud ge

the body rightly.

30 For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a nu mber sleep.

31 But if we judge ou rselves rightly, we shou ld not be judged.

32 But w hen w e are jud ged, we are d isciplined by the Lord in ord er that w e may n ot be

condemn ed along with th e w orld. I Corinthians 11:23-32

Here w e find th at not only is it stated that th is is the Body an d th is is the Blood of Jesus,but also that we can be judged if we eat it in an unworthy manner. This is important.We certainly do not want to eat it in an unworthy manner, because it is clearly statedthat w e can be w eak, sick and even d ie (sleep), when w e do so.

So what is eating and drinking unworthily? Certainly those who eat and drink thecommunion who have departed from the ways of the Lord, or have never repentedand become a christian, wou ld be considered to be eating and dr inking unw orthily. Thisis what most people believe it means. And it certainly does refer to this; but is it limitedto that?

Is this the only way in which you can eat and drink of the communion table in anunworthy manner? Or to go further, would eating the bread and drinking the cupwithout accepting the Body and Blood of Jesus in them (only accepting a symbolism) be

unworthy?

It is stated in verses 24 and 25 that this is the Body and it is the Blood! Therefore, howcan we get away from this lack of symbolism? Clearly we cannot. Again, we havefound that the Bible is clear on this point. Stating that this is, makes a clear point thatcannot be avoided .

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We also find the judgment for not rightly discerning (or wise understanding) in verses29 and 30. This judgment is very serious. It even goes as far as to state that there are a

number in the Corinthian church that are weak and sick, and even dead because oftheir not jud ging the body rightly.

While making these statements here may upset some, we may find a passage in theBible that w ill upset them even more. It is foun d coming from the mouth of Jesus.

51 I am the living bread that came down out of heaven; if anyone eats of this bread, he

shall live forever; and the bread also which I shall give for the life of the world is My

flesh.

52 The Jews therefore began to argue with one another, saying, how can this man give

us H is flesh to eat?

53 Jesus therefore said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you unless you eat the flesh of the

Son of Man an d drink H is blood, you have no life in you rselves.54 He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up

on the last day.

55 For My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink .

56 He w ho eats My flesh and drinks My blood abid es in Me, and I in him .

57 As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me,

he also sha ll live because of Me.

58 This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate, and died,

he w ho eats this bread shall live forever.

59 These things He said in the synagogue, as He taugh t in Capernau m.

60 Many therefore of His disciples, when they heard this said, This is a difficult

statem ent; wh o can listen to it? John 6:51-60

This is a d ifficult statement indeed. How can we, after read ing this, even consider thatthere could be any symbolism in the comm un ion table? We cannot not. That is clear.

Jesus prophesied of the coming communionwithout symbolism. He leaves no roomat all for other beliefs. It mu st be His Body and His Blood that we eat and dr ink. As weread such passages from th e Bible we realize that some chu rches have mad e a clear andsinful departu re from the written Word of God.

Again, as I said above, I wish to make it clear that there are some churches who doaccept this without an attempt to symbolize the Body and the Blood of the Lord Jesus.This is good. But I have placed this chapter here because there are so many churches

that d o add symbolism w here the Scriptu re teaching is clearly against it.

We need to repent of this sin, and move on with Jesus in a clear conscience.

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Ch a p t e r Fo u r

Ba p t i s m o f t h e Ho l y Sp i r i t

The first two chap ters of the book of Acts very much pu ts the bap tism of the Spirit intoperspective for us today. Through fasting and prayer the apostles waited expectantlyfor the power from on h igh to appear. They could not know wh at form or in w hat wayHe would appear. But appear He would because Jesus had prophesied it.

1 And w hen the d ay of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one p lace.

2 And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent, rushing wind, and it

filled th e whole hou se where they w ere sitting.

3 And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they

rested on each one of them.

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues,as the Spirit wa s giving th em u tterance. Acts 2:1-4

As we continue to read through the second chapter of Acts, and also throughsubsequent chapters, we see that all those who were baptized in repentance (SeeChapter One) also received the Holy Spirit. But there was an exception to this receivingthe baptism of pow er at the same time they were bap tized in repentan ce. This is foundin Act 19.

1 And it came about that while Apollos was at Corinth, Paul having passed through

the up per country came to Ephesus, and found som e disciples,

2 and he said to them, Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed? And they

said to him, No, we have n ot even heard w hether there is a Holy Spirit.3 And he said, Into what then were you baptized? And they said, Into Johns

baptism.

4 And Paul said, John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to

believe in Him wh o w as coming after him, that is, Jesus.

5 And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Acts

19:1-5

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Here we find that only those who were baptized into Johns baptism had not receivedthe power of the Holy Spirit. They were baptized into repentance, and had not been

baptized into Jesus because they had not yet heard about Him. Then after finding outabout Jesus they w ere re-baptized into Jesus Name and also receive the power from onhigh.

This is how the Lord has placed the power of God in the church. The baptism ofrepentance should also bring about the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the power andmanifestations.

However, in many churches today, somewhat like those in Ephesus, they do not knowabout the Holy Spirit; or at least, they do not believe it. Therefore they do not receivethe very pow er they need to serve the Lord.

This is a sad state. It is very clear in Scripture, but they close their minds and their eyesso they cannot believe or receive it. Without op ening u p their Bibles and believing whatis plainly there, they are missing out on one of the greatest joys of the christian life.

We should note that the church did not expand and grow in power until the day ofPentecost. It was this infusion of power from on high that empow ered the church in thebook of Acts.

Unless we receive this we are mentally refusing man y chapters in th e Bible. And wh ileall of us may cringe at the thought of ripping out pages of a Bible and throwing themaway, we do th is in a m ental area when w e will not accept w hat is plainly wr itten there.

As far as the receiving of the Holy Spirit is concerned we need to note that there areseveral types of man ifestations that a person can received. Usu ally one receives tonguesand sometimes some other manifestation as well.

4 Now there are a v arieties of gifts, but the sam e Spirit.

5 And th ere are varieties of ministries, and the same Lord .

6 And there are varieties of effects, but the same God who works all things in all

persons.

7 But to each one is given the m anifestation of the Spirit for the common good.

8 For to one is given the w ord of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the w ord of

know ledge accord ing to the same Spirit;

9 to another faith by the same Spirit, and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit,

10 and to another the effecting of miracles, and to another p rophecy, and to another the

distinguishing of spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, and to another the

interpretation of tongues.

11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one

ind ividu ally just a s He w ills. I Corinth ians 12:4-11

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All of these man ifestations of the H oly Spirit should be working in the body of Christ,that is, in th e church, in order that they receive edification and direction from the Lord

Jesus.

From time to time churches seem to be so taken by the m anifestations of the Spirit thatthey have begun to abuse this power. The apostle Paul had to speak to the Corinthchurch about this.

26 What is the outcome then, brethren? When you assemble, each one has a psalm, has

a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done

for edification.

27 If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be by two or at the most three, and each in

turn , and let one interpret;

28 but if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in the church; and let him speak to

himself and to God.29 And let two or th ree proph ets speak, and let the others pass jud gment.

30 But if a revelation is mad e to anoth er wh o is seated, let the first keep silent.

31 For you can all prop hesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted;

32 and the spirits of the pr oph ets are subject to proph ets;

33 for God is not a God of confusion bu t of peace, as in all the chu rches of the saints.

I Corin thian s 14:26-33

Several important points are made here through Paul. Order is important. Let each onespeak one at a time, and not at the same time to the confusion of the others. If someonespeaks in tongues, let someone interpret before going onto the next one with arevelation or a tongu e.

Second ly, a person w ho wants to speak in tongues may just be praying to the Lord , andnot have a revelation for all. In this case there would be no interp retation given by God .This person shou ld be quiet in the chu rch and sp eak at home to the Lord in tongues.

Another p oint is that the spirits of the p roph ets are subject to them. That is, when theyhave a prophecy they can hold it until the appropriate time to give it in an orderlyway.

As a p roph et myself, I have comm only noticed this. As the Holy Spirit comes strong onme w ith some proph ecy I can hold it un til the time is right. This may be w aiting for aturn , or in many cases with m e, waiting till I run (at home) for my pocket tape recorder

to record it. This way I can typ e from the tape and keep the p roph ecy. Very early on inmy receiving of prop hecies the Lord tau ght me this and emp hasized it to me.

Most, if not all, charismatic churches accept th ese things I have mentioned above.

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Most, if not all of the non-charismatic churches refuse to receive these passages fromScriptu re; or any of the many other p assages that I could quote along th ese same lines.

But it is still in th e Bible whether th ey accept it or not.

Unless the church can come to the place of receiving th e Holy Spirit when th ey repent,they have left behind the strength they need to walk the christian walk. Is it anywond er there is so little power in the chu rches these days?

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Ch a p t e r Fi v e

The Gr ea t Com m iss io n

The great commission is one subject all evangelical churches seem to agree on. Or dothey? It might d epend on how mu ch of it they are willing to accept.

Lets look at Jesus w ords foun d in Mark.

14 And afterward He appeared to the eleven themselves as they were reclining at the

table; and He reproached them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they

had not believed those who h ad seen Him after He had risen.

15 And He said to th em, Go into all the w orld an d p reach the gospel to all creation.

16 He who has believed and has been baptized shall be saved; but He who has

disbelieved shall be cond emned .17 And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will

cast out d emons, they will speak with new tongues;

18 they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it shall not hurt

them ; they w ill lay han d s on the sick, and t hey w ill recover. Mark 16:14-18

Will the churches readily accept this statement of Jesus? Some will go as far as to arguethat it does not even belong in the Bible. This comes from the fact that a few (but notall) of the oldest manuscripts do not contain it. They, of course, fail to mention thatsome of the oldest manu scripts d o contain it!

In any case, I will quote from other passages of Scripture for each and every point so

that th ere is no dou bt that a ll of these comm ents of Jesus can be show n to be accurate.

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall

be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the

remo test par t of the earth. Acts 1:8

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I feel very strongly that the m ain reason is the contradictions between the churches andthe Bible (which is what this book is all about), and the lack of the baptism of the HolySpirit wh ich w as discussed in the last chap ter.

As we look at the signs we shall see what type of church Jesus instituted on thisearththat is, the original church, the book of Acts type of church. It would be a greatstudy for all of those reading this book to look at Acts from one end to the other, andcompare it to todays church. Especially in the context of the power of the Holy Spiritwithin the church.

17 And the seventy retu rned with joy, saying, Lord, even the demons are subject to us in

Your nam e. Luke 10:17

4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues,

as the Spirit was g iving them uttera nce. Acts 2:4

19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over

all the pow er of the enemy, an d nothing sh all injure you. Luke 10:19

16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may

be healed. The effective prayer of a righteou s ma n can accomp lish m uch. James 5: 16

These signs must follow those who believe!! And this is important: that the signsfollow ! We are to follow Jesus, and the signs will follow us. If we will seek the signs,and not the Lord, w e have got it all backward . I cannot over emp hasize this. We followthe Lord Jesus by the Holy Spirits guidance. Then as we do so, the signs will followus!

If we look at the last verse that I quoted we can get to the bottom of why we are notseeing these signs following those who believe. Its the fourth word, sin. We have lookedto church doctrine to guide us; we have not looked to the Bible. We have followed theteachings of man, and not the teachings of God!

If things are to change, we must change. God is still giving the power and the signs tothose who w ill not comprom ise His Own Word.

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Chap t e r Si x

M o n e y , M o n e y , M o n e y !

There are certain grou ps of christians m inistries which have fallen into the trap of thelove of money. They make claims of one hundred fold return for giving to the Lord.This usually translates as giving to them. In the Word we read:

10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have

wan dered aw ay from the faith, and p ierced themselves with many a pan g.

I Timoth y 6:10

These are very strong words as to the motivation of ones heart. But what of the claimthat the Word promises one hundred fold return? Is this Scripture? Lets look at what

Jesus has to say.

29 Jesus said, Truly I say to you , there is no one who has left hou se or brothers or sisters

or m other or father or children or farms, for My sake and for the gospels sake,

30 But that h e shall receive a hun dred times as much now in the present age, houses and

brothers and sisters and mothers and children and farms, along with persecutions; and

in th e age to com e, eternal life. Mark 10:29-30

It is important here to realize that Jesus said, for My sake and for the gospels sake.Therefore, it is the motive for giving that is very important. To give up money orgoods for the sake of receiving a hundred times more is not the same as giving up forthe gosp els sake. It is the hearts motive th at is imp ortant here.

Those who give up for Jesus sake shall indeed see a hundred fold return for theirsacrifice. Thats what it says! Those who give up for the selfish reason of gainingfinances in this earth will not receive this blessing. Their hearts have the wrong motive.They are not giving u p for the gosp els sake, but for their own sake!

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We have been sold a bill of goods from the devil, through many false ministers andmany deceived ministers, that we should lust after money in this earth and that this isacceptable to God. Many will go so far as to twist this Scripture to fit into the worlds

own selfish lust for finances and worldly gain.

We must remember that the Bible still says the love of money is sin. It also says a lotabout wh at is gain w ith the Lord and wh at is gain with the world.

6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment.

7 For we have brought nothing into this world, so we cannot take anything out of it

e i ther .

8 And if we have food an d covering, with these we sha ll be content.

9 But those w ho w ant to get rich fall into temp tation an d a snare and many foolish and

harmful desires which p lunge men into ruin and destruction.

10 For the love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have

wan dered aw ay from the faith, and p ierced themselves with many a pan g.I Timoth y 6:6-10

Wow! These verses lay in on the line! There is no getting around it. The love of moneyis sin! It is only by godliness and contentment with what we have that we can obtaingain from God. We are to be content with food and covering. Anything else is an extrablessing from God .

Yet many christians are trying to get ahead in this world. But for what purpose? Canthey u se this money in th e age to come? Of course not! They have been d eceive with agreat deception w hich believes that th e ways of the world are acceptable to God. Theyare not; and they n ever can be.

Why do we not hear prosperity preachers preach this passage quoted above? Does itmake them nervous? I think it does, and for good reason. It would prick theirconsciences very hard!

Now there are many preachers that go on and on about giving to their work. They saythat they are always in need of money to support the work they are doing for Christ.Does this stand up to the scriptural teachings? Lets look at what Jesus said to Hisdisciples about p reparing for the m inistry.

8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons; freely you received,

freely give.

9 Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,10 or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is

w orthy of his sup por t. Matthew 10:8-10

It is obvious that Jesus expected them to take nothing extra for their journey. Theywere to walk by faith that He would meet their every need along the way. Freely they

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had received and freely they would give again. Certainly none of them begged formoney from the pu lpit. They would not even consider su ch evil deeds. If they had needof someth ing, the Lord w ould take care of it.

This is almost totally lacking in the church today. Indeed, it has gone even further.Selling various p rodu cts has become comm onp lace in the m inistry. As many say, For aminimu m d onation of . . ., and th en you get some p rodu ct. This is a thinly veiled w ayof merchand ising God and we should w onder w hat spirit is operating here. How canthey say they have the Holy Spirit wh en they act like they have a world ly spirit?

Jesus had an interesting solution to such th ings in His day.

14 And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and

the m oneychangers seated.

15 And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the

sheep and the oxen; and He p oured ou t the coins of the moneychangers, and overturnedtheir tables;

16 and to those who were selling the doves He said, Take these things away; stop

making My Fath ers hou se a hou se of merchandise. John 2:14-16

If thats how Jesus reacted to the selling of goods in the church and ministry. How doyou think He would react to what is going on today? Yes, He would be looking forsomething to make a whip out of! Can you imagine how the people would react to thisJesus of the Bible, comp ared to the One they are trying to sell!

Now I am not against prosperity. But the prosperity of God is different from theprosp erity of man. God believes in saving!

19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures up on earth, wh ere moth and rust d estroy, and

wh ere thieves break in and steal.

20 But lay u p for yourselves treasures in heaven, w here neither moth n or rust d estroys,

and wh ere thieves do not break in or steal;

21 for wh ere your treasure is, there w ill your heart be also. Matthew 6:19-21

Clearly there is only one place to save, to lay up treasure, and it is not on this earth bu tin the heaven w hich w e shall inherit. That is the only place where we should save.

In this life we are not to love money. This is the worlds security. They act and believethat they can meet their every need with it. But they have forgotten that there is an

eternity ahead, and nothing they have here w ill go with them to th e beyond .

They have been deceived greatly by their own selfish desires. It is these same desiresthat have crept into the church and have so perverted th e teachings of man y ministries.

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5 Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have;

for He H imself has said, I will never desert you , nor w ill I ever forsake you.

6 so that we confidently say, The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall

man do to me? Hebrews 13:5-6

With these verses I have come to the absolute conclusion that while God may indeedbless us with money for various reasons, we are not to seek it. It is the seeking that isthe sin, for this seeking reveals our hearts d esirethat w e are in love with it. WheneverGod provid es money or goods for us, let us be content, concentrating on service to theLord (freely giving because we have freely received), knowing that He shall meet ourevery need as they arise.

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Ch a p t e r Se v e n

Le a d e r s h i p o f t h e Ch u r c h Bo d y

Todays church leadership consists mainly of the Board (elected by the members), andthe Pastor (chosen by the board or by the members). The Board answers to themembers of the church; the members of the church answer to the Pastor; the Pastoransw ers to the Board .

Everyone answers to someone else and we have a circle. Everyone is elected. And weend up with a democracy which satisfies the government for a religious organizationthat is tax exempt; and it satisfies the w orld w hich loves to see democracy in action.

But is this compatible with the New Testament church that is given to us in the Bible?Does God sup port a d emocracy?

Lets look at the church leadership as we find it in most evangelical churches today.

___________________________| |

Board |

________________|_______________ || | | |

Helps Pastor Administration |

| |

Congregation |

|___________________________|(Congregation elects Board)

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Here we can see the circle that I was referring to above. It is a democracy circle.

But God has not given us a democratic church in the Bible. He has always had atheocratic type of governmentthat is, the Lord Jesus H imself ru les His church. Clearlydem ocracy in the church cannot be compatible with Scriptu re, but rather, w e are usingmod ern thinking to design the leadersh ip of the church today.

But w hat is the true leadership of the New Testament church?

In order to understand the references to foundations that we find in the followingpassage we need to understand how they made a foundation for a building in thosedays. They did not use concrete and steel as we do. Instead they built the foundationusing blocks of stone. The most perfectly squared stone was the cornerstone. Fromthere the rest of the foundation stones were aligned to it, making a straight stonefoundation upon w hich the building was erected.

To find the scriptu ral chu rch foun dation w e need to look at Ephesians:

19 So then you are no longer stranger and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the

saints, and are of Gods hou sehold,

20 having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus

Him self being the corner stone,

21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in

the Lord; Ephesians 2:19-21

We see that Christ Jesus is the cornerstone, and the apostles and prophets that Heappoints are the rest of the foundation. Therefore, if a church does not accept theapostle and prophet, they are clearly eliminating most of their own foundation. Howcan such a chu rch stand? Clearly it cannot!

We need to u nderstand that the apostle and proph et have not been eliminated from thenew testament church. However, they have been eliminated from most churchestoday! This is a very grievous error. If we eliminate such offices from the church, wecan no longer bu ild this church in God s Biblical order!

Once we have realized th at the found ation is made up of Jesus Christ as the cornerstoneand the rest of the foundation as the apostles and prophets, we can look at the rest ofthe leadership of the church that we find in the Bible.

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28 And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third

teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of

tongu es. I Corinthians 12:28

11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and

some as pastors an d teachers, Eph esians 4:11

It should be pointed ou t that I placed pastors and teachers together. The reason for thisis that a pastor, in Biblical terms, is a sheph erd and teacher of the congregation.

If we pu t all of this into a chart it will look like this:

__Jesus |

| |

Apostles | Foundation

| |

Prophets __|

|

Pastors and Teachers

|

Miracles

___________________|___________________________| | | |

Gifts of Healing Helps Administration Tongues

Here we find the true church leadership starts with Jesus and continues with thosewhom He has appointed within the church. In the quote from Ephesians above we seethat Jesus ap points p eople to these areas; they are not elected or chosen by men .

You will notice that in I Corinthians 12:28 that Gifts of Healing, Helps, Administration,and Tongues, are put together into one level.

However, we would be seriously in error if we took the above chart and put man incharge. Man cannot an d m ust not be in charge of the church.

In any position that God chooses to place a manwhether apostle, prophet, pastor,teacher, or whateverthat man must submit to the leading of the Lord. It must be theLord who is in charge through the m an. Any man that God calls must be in submissionto the Father, the Son, and th e Holy Spirit.

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Then as the Lord works through the ones whom He has appointed, the church will belead by Jesus above. It is important to realize that every person should submit to the

Holy Spirits leading, and therefore, each an d everyone will be working together as theLord directs.

This is the true church that God has ordained, being in total submission to Him. Ipersonally do not know of any church that follows it. But if we wish to have a churchthat truly submits to the Lord Jesus Christ, instead of to each other, we will have toconform to this mod el of subm ission that we find in the Bible!

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Chap t e r Eigh t

Le a d e r s h i p o f t h e Lo c a l Ch u r c h

Now let us look at the leadership of the local church. This has always been assumed tobe the pastor; however, there are no Scripture for this. Indeed, the word pastor onlyappears once in the entire New Testament in Ephesians chapter 4. The pastor is ashepherd, teaching and guiding the sheep. He is never referred to as a leader of thelocal assembly.

As we look at the Scriptu res we w ill find that the apostles appointed , as the Holy Spiritdirected, elders who are the leadership of the local body.

21 And after they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples,

they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,

22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith,

and saying, Through m any tribulations we mu st enter the kingdom of God.

23 And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with

fasting, they comm end ed them to the Lord in wh om they believed.

24 And they p assed th roug h Pisidia and came into Pam ph ylia. Acts 14:21-24

Here we see that Paul and Barnabus were setting up elders in the churches before theymov ed on to other cities. The elders were left in charge of the local chu rch.

5 For this reason I left you in Crete, that you might set in order what remains, and

app oint elders in every city as I directed you ,6 namely, if any man be above reproach, the husband of one wife, having children w ho

believe, not accused of dissipation or rebellion.

7 For the overseer must be above reproach as Gods steward, not self-willed, not quick-

tempered, not addicted to wine, not pugnacious, not fond of sordid gain,

8 but hospitable, loving wh at is good , sensible, just, d evout, self-controlled,

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9 holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he

may be able both to exhort in soun d doctrine and to refute those wh o contradict.

Titus 1:5-9

Here Paul leaves Titus in charge to set up elders in every city. Starting in verse 6 we seethe requirements for one to be an elder. These are strict requirements that must alwaysbe met.

1 Therefore, I exhort the elders among you, as your fellow elder and witness of the

sufferings of Christ, and a pa rtaker also of the glory that is to be revealed,

2 shepherd the flock of God among you, exercising over-sight not under compulsion, but

voluntarily, according to the w ill of God; and n ot for sordid gain, bu t w ith eagerness;

3 not yet as lording it over those allotted to your charge, but proving to be examples to

the flock.

4 And w hen the Chief Sheph erd ap pears, you w ill receive the un fading crown of glory.

5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselveswith humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to

the h um ble. I Peter 5:1-5

Here Peter exhorts the elders not to exercise power, but in humility to the Lord, leadand shepherd the flock. Humility and living as an example is the only way to trulyshepherd the flock. Exercising p ower is never allowed by those in th e leadership of thechurch.

17 Let the elders who rule well be considered worthy of double honor, especially those

wh o w ork hard at preaching and teaching. I Timothy 5:17

Elders are the main, but n ot the only, preachers and teachers of the congregation.

16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus in order that he might not have to spend

time in Asia; for he w as hu rrying t o be in Jerusalem, if possible, on the d ay of Pentecost.

17 And from Miletus he sent to Eph esus and called to him th e elders of the chu rch.

18 And when they had come to him, he said to them, You yourselves know, from the

first day th at I set foot in Asia, how I was w ith you th e wh ole time,

19 serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon

me throu gh the p lots of the Jews;

20 how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and

teaching you pu blicly and from house to hou se,

21 solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in

our Lord Jesus Chr ist.

22 And now , behold, bound in spirit, I am on my w ay to Jerusalem, not know ing whatwill happen to m e there,

23 except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds

and afflictions aw ait me.

24 But I do not consider my life of any account as dear to myself, in order that I may

finish my course, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify

solemnly of the gosp el of the grace of God .

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25 And now, behold, I know that all of you, among whom I went about preaching the

kingdom, will see my face no m ore.

26 Therefore I testify to you this da y, that I am innocent of the blood of all men.

27 For I did not shrink from d eclaring to you th e whole purp ose of God.28 Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has

made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own

blood.

29 I know that after m y d eparture savage w olves will come in am ong you , not sparing

the flock;

30 and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw

away the d isciples after them.

31 therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three

years I did not cease to adm onish each one with tears.

32 And now I commen d you to God an d to th e word of His grace, which is able to build

you u p an d to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

33 I have coveted n o ones silver or gold or clothes.

34 You yourselves know that these hands ministered to my own needs and to the menwh o were with me.

35 In everything I showed you that by working hard in this manner you must help the

weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He Himself said, It is more

blessed to give tha t to receive. Acts 20:16-35

Here Paul needed to talk to the leadership of the local church. He therefore calledtogether the elders of the chu rch.

27 Now at this time some p rophets came d own from Jerusalem to Antioch.

28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that

there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the

reign of Claud ius.29 and in the proportion that any of the disciples had means, each of them determined

to send a contribution for the r elief of the brethren living in Judea.

30 And this they did , sending it in charge of Barnabu s and Saul to the elders.

Acts 11:27-30

Here again we see that when sending to the church they sent it to the elders who wereobviously the leadership of that church.

14 Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them

pra y over him, an ointing him w ith oil in the nam e of the Lord; James 5:14

When the leadership of a church was to pray and anoint a person it was the elders thatdid so.

1 And some m en came dow n from Jud ea and began teaching the brethren, Unless you are

circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

2 And when Paul and Barnabus had great dissention and debate with them, the

brethren determined that Pau l and Barnabus and certain others of them shou ld go up to

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Jerusalem to the ap ostles and elders concerning this issue.

3 Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both

Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were

bringing great joy to all the brethr en.4 And when they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the

apostles and the elders, and they rep orted all that God had don e with them.

5 But certain ones of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed, stood up, saying, It is

necessary to circum cise them, and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.

6 And the ap ostles and th e elders came togeth er to look into th is matter. Acts 15:1-6

19 Therefore, it is my judgment that we do not trouble those who are turning to God

from among the Gentiles,

20 but that we write to them that they abstain from things contaminated by idols and

from fornication and from w hat is strangled an d from blood.

21 For Moses from an cient generations has in every city those wh o p reach him, since he

is read in the synagogu es every Sabbath.

22 Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the w hole church, to choosemen from among them to send to Antioch with Paul and BarnabusJudas called

Barsabbas, and Silas, leading men amon g th e brethr en, Acts 15:19-22

Whenever there was a question of doctrine it was to the apostles and the elders of thechurch that the question was directed. They then took this before the Lord andreported back what He answered.

The elders were clearly the leadership within the local assembly. They were the mainpreachers and teachers, guiding the local chu rch in all things.

I think it is clear that the four fold ministry (also called the five fold ministrysee

chapter 9) was part of the congregation, preached or taught from time to time, butwere themselves just p art of the local chu rch.

They continued in whatever work God gave them to do, and would submit to theelders of the local church, and of course, to the apostles within the Body of Christ.

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Ch a p t e r Ni n e

Th e Ro l e o f t h e Fo u r Fo l d M i n i s t r y

As d iscussed in the last chapter the four fold ministry takes part in the local chu rch.

(For the purpose of this book I am referring to this as the four fold ministry, asopp osed to the five fold m inistry. The reason for this is that some christians [includingme], combine pastors and teachers und er one heading.)

We need, therefore, to examine Scripture to find the role of each of the four foldministries as they did their part within the church body. We understand that each oneof them m ust subm it to the Lord an d H is direction in their lives.

19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the

saints, and are of Gods hou sehold,

20 having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus

Him self being the corner stone,

21 in whom the whole building, being fitted together is growing into a holy temple in

the Lord; Ephesians 2:19-21

The very foundation of the church is Jesus, and with Him the apostles and prophets.This shows the importance of these two p arts of the four fold m inistries.

11 And he gave some as apostles, some as proph ets, and some as evangelists, and some

as pastors and teachers,

12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the bodyof Christ;

13 until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God,

to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fulness of Christ.

Eph esians 4:11-13

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Let us look at each of the callings within the four fold ministry to see what Scripturesays about their ind ividu al roles.

Apostles

1 And some m en came dow n from Jud ea and began teaching the brethren, Unless you are

circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.

2 And when Paul and Barnabus had great dissention and debate with them, the

brethren determined that Pau l and Barnabus and certain others of them shou ld go up to

Jerusalem to the ap ostles and elders concerning this issue.

3 Therefore, being sent on their way by the church, they were passing through both

Phoenicia and Samaria, describing in detail the conversion of the Gentiles, and were

bringing great joy to all the brethr en.

4 And when they arrived at Jerusalem, they were received by the church and the

apostles and the elders, and they rep orted all that God had don e with them.

5 But certain ones of the sect of the Pharisees who had believed, stood up, saying, It isnecessary to circum cise them, and to direct them to observe the Law of Moses.

6 And the ap ostles and the elders came together to look into this matter.

7 And after there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, Brethren,

you know that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the

Gentiles shou ld hear the w ord of the gospel and believe.

8 And God, w ho know s the heart, bore witness to the, giving them th e Holy Spirit, just

as He also did to us;

9 and H e mad e no distinction betw een us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.

10 Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the

disciples a yoke wh ich neither ou r fathers nor we ha ve been able to bear?

11 But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same

w ay as they also are. Acts 15:1-11

The apostles are the highest calling among men (see chapter 7). It is their place to callup on God and follow H im in all questions of doctrine. They are to give d irection to thechurch.

Prophets

27 Now at this time some p rophets came d own from Jerusalem to Antioch.

28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and began to indicate by the Spirit that

there would certainly be a great famine all over the world. And this took place in the

reign of Claudius. Acts 11:27-28

3 But on e wh o prop hesies speaks to m en for edification an d exhortation an d consolation.

I Corinth ians 14:3

A prophet receives words, dreams, or visions from the Lord concerning future eventsfor edification (to build up), exhortation (to give warnings), and consolation.

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Evangelists

8 And on the next day we departed and came to Caesarea; and entering the house of

Philip the evan gelist, wh o wa s one of the seven, we stayed w ith him. Acts 21:8

26 But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip saying, Arise and go south to the road that

descend from Jerusalem to Gaza . (This is a d esert road.)

27 And he arose and went; and behold, there was an Ethiopian eunuch, a court official

of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians, who was in charge of all her treasure; and he had

come to Jerusalem to w orship.

28 And he w as returning and sitting in his chariot, and was read ing the proph et Isaiah.

29 And the Spirit said to Philip, Go up and join this chariot.

30 And when Philip had run up, he heard him reading Isaiah the prophet, and said,

Do you und erstand w hat you are reading?

31 And he said, Well, how could I, unless someone gu ides me? And he invited Philipto come up and sit with h im. Acts 8:26-31

Here is an example of an evangelist. Philip is called to preach and teach the wordoutside of the church. The church is evangelizedthey have already received Christ.Evangelists go to the world to show them the way of the gospel. They go whereversinners are found .

Pastors and Teachers

35 But Pau l and Barnabus stayed in An tioch, teaching and preaching, with man y others

also, the w ord of the Lord . Acts 15:35

Paul and Barnabus, along with many others, preached and taught the Word of God tothe people. This is the call of the teacher w ithin the church. Pastor means to sheph erd orguid e the people. This includ es teaching, but is not limited to it.

So we see that the four fold ministry is within the church, each d oing their part for theLord as He directs them. The Word clearly places the apostles as the leadership alongwith the elders, wh o are chosen by the Lord as the ones wh o direct the local assembly.

We also see from the Scriptures that each one must operate in humility and obedienceto the Holy Spirit. In this way there will be unity within the various callings.

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Chap t e r Ten

Pr i d e i n Le a d e r s h i p

Pride is a problem of the flesh tha t seems to affect all types of min istries. It sneaks up onyou as a thought of how much you are doing for the Lord, and then the next thingyou know you are lifted up in pride without realizing that it has happened. It is a mostdestru ctive sin; it can and d oes destroy ministries throughout the church.

You can be walking in pride and not even be aware of it. It comes to you from satanstarting in the form of noticing h ow mu ch you can an d are accomp lishing for Jesus.

Jesus spoke concerning p ride in the leadership of the church in His day:

5 But th ey do all their deed s to be noticed by m en; for they broa den their ph ylacteries,

and lengthen the tassels of their garm ents.

6 And th ey love the place of honor at banq uets, and th e chief seats in the synagogu es,

7 and respectful greetings in the m arket places, and being called by m en, Rabbi.

8 But d o not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you a re all broth ers.

9 And do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in

heaven.

10 And do n ot be called leaders; for On e is your Leader, that is, Christ.

11 But th e greatest among you shall be your servant.

12 And w hoever exalts himself shall be hum bled; and w hoever hu mbles himself shall

be exalted . Matth ew 23:5-12

The concept of not being called by a title, such as pastor, does not seem to exist in thechurches today. Just being called by a title will bring pride up in our flesh. I havepersonally been guilty of this, and the Lord took strong action against me for it. Italmost cost me my prophetic call. You see, there is no room in that type of call for yourflesh to take over. I have foun d th at I must be constantly on guar d aga inst this.

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It is a spiritual principle that if you exalt yourself in the ministry, God will bring youdown. We are to humbly follow the Lord and not seek our own gain, that is, to benoticed by men to be doing good. It is enough for the Lord Jesus to see us and He

knows of our good d eeds. No one else needs to know!

5 You younger men, likewise, be subject to your elders; and all of you, clothe yourselves

with humility toward one another, for God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to

the hum ble.

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you

at the proper time,

7 casting all you r anxiety upon H im, because H e cares for you.

8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a

roaring lion, seeking som eone to d evour. I Peter 5:5-8

These verses clearly show how dangerous and how easily we can step into pride. Pride

always seek the app roval of man ; hu mility always seeks the app roval of God.

10 For am I now seeking the favor of men , or of God? Or am I striving to p lease men? If I

were still trying to p lease men, I wou ld n ot be a b ond -servant of Christ. Galatians 1:10

Be careful of who you are trying to please. Seek only to serve the Lord and do His will.As long as the Lord knows you are obedient, that is all that is necessary. No one elseneeds to h ere about it. If God wants you to be exalted in front of men, He w ill take careof it. All boasting comes from pride which results in the exalting of ourselves instead ofthe exalting of the Lord Jesus Christ.

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Ch a p t e r El e v e n

Su b j e c t i o n Wi t h i n t h e Bo d y o f Ch r i s t

In my m any years of stud y in the Bible I have come to realize that the Kingdom of Godis willing submission to all those in proper authority over you. This is a theme that isthrou ghout the Scriptu res. The d emonic kingd om is the op posite: forced d omination ofthose you can overpow er.

15 Therefore be careful how you w alk, not as unw ise men, but as wise,

16 making th e most of your time, because the day s are evil.

17 So then d o not be foolish, but u nd erstand wh at the w ill of the Lord is.

18 And do n ot get dru nk w ith wine, for that is dissipation, but be filled w ith the Spirit,

19 speaking to one another in psalms and hymn s and spiritual songs, singing and makingmelody w ith your heart to the Lord;

20 always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even

the Father ;

21 and be sub ject to one ano ther in the fear of Christ. Ephesian s 5:15-21

The leadership within the church (see chapter 7) works in the body of Christ only ifchristians will submit to the leadership that God has placed over them. This requires ahu mility within the people to subm it to that leadership.

God w ill not force anyone to serve H im. He d esires for u s to do so, but it is our w illing

submission to His will that brings us into the true service of the Lord. It is only whenthe whole body of Christ is in submission to Jesus first, and then also to those He hasplaced over us on th is earth, that w e can have a truly un ified church.

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The attempts to compromise the gospel by agreements between various

denominations cannot bring about the unity we see in the book of Acts. We must notcomprom ise the gospel at any cost! We must return to a true Biblical based church.

As well as the submission to the leadership found in the Bible for the church, we findalso a parallel submission for the family.

22 Wives, be subject to your ow n husband s, as to the Lord.

23 For the husband is the head of the wife, as Christ also is the head of the church, He

H imself being the Savior of the bod y.

24 But as the church is subject to Christ, so also the wives ought to be to their husbands

in everything.25 Hu sbands, love your w ives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up

for her;

26 that He might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the

word,

27 that He might present to Himself the church in all her glory, having no spot or

wr inkle or any such thing; but that she should b e holy and blam eless.

28 So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who loves

his own w ife loves himself;

29 for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ also

does the church,

30 because we are m embers of His body.

31 For this cause a man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to His

wife; and the tw o shall become on e flesh.

32 This mystery is great; but I am sp eaking w ith reference to Christ and the chur ch.

33 Nevertheless let each individual among you also love his own wife even as himself;

and let the wife see to it that she fear her hu sband .

1 Childr en, obey your p arents in the Lord , for this is right.

2 Honor your father and m other (which is the first comman dm ent with a prom ise),

3 that it may be w ell with you , and th at you m ay live long on the earth.

4 And, fathers, do not provoke your children to anger; but bring them up in the

discipline and instruction of the Lord. Ephesians 5:22-6:4

This makes it clear that children are to subm it to their parents, wives to their husbands,and hu sbands to Christ. And, of course, Christ Jesus subm its to God the Father. This isthe subm ission that is required of us within th e family.

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There is yet anoth er subm ission that is found in the Bible.

5 Slaves, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, with fearand trembling, in the sincerity of you r heart, as to Christ;

6 not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of

God from the heart.

7 With good will render service, as to the Lord, and not to m en,

8 knowing that whatever good thing each one does, this he will receive back from the

Lord, wh ether slave or free.

9 And, masters, do the same things to them, and give up th reatening, knowing th at both

their Master and yours is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him. Ephesians

6:5-9

So we are to submit to earthly authority, including your boss. We are not to rise up inrevolt against them for any reason, not even to gain higher wages. Treat themprop erly. This is not the way of the world , but it is clearly the w ay of God.

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Ch a p t e r Tw e l v e

A d u l t e r y !

It is rare that a church takes a strong stand against adu ltery. I know th at some churchesdo, but th ey seem to be in th e minority.

Adultery is one of the most obvious signs of imm orality in the church. In th i

Wrong Church

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