Talking about the division of the church of God is hard to believe but it happened of old and is happening even in a deadly rate and proportion nowadays.
Knowing that God is a Spirit one must understand that he is omniscient, omnipotent and omnipresent. In the scriptural version of saying things it goes this way, "God, who at sundry times and in diverse manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets" (Hebrews 1:1).
To trace this back to the ancient days we can only remember Adam, Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah. But to look deeper into the situation of the church we can understand that, early on, a schism evolved since then because of the sinfulness of man. Adam and Eve were cursed, and then, begat Seth who was born after Adam fell from the grace of God and was expelled from Eden. Now, Seth who was righteous begat Enos and it was in the time of Enos that men began to call upon the name of the Lord (Genesis 4:26), and so on, and so forth, until we see Noah finding grace in the sight of God.
However, do not forget that all of them begat sons and daughters other than the ones mentioned. In short the world was populated by these. Imagine, also, the situation that Adam lived for 930 years which goes to say that he lived to see until the time of Methuselah. His sons downline must be hearing how he was expelled by God from the garden of Eden.
Also, it should be surprising to note that Enos the grandson of Adam just began to call upon the name of the Lord from out of the blue which is a feat alien to Adam and Seth at that time, meaning, this suggest a division of the church which was run by the faith of Seth unto God, and the church which was run by the faith of Adam unto God. Taking note also that all of them begat sons and daughters.
Meditating on this epoch it rings a bell that right at those times the church of God was already divided as God would reveal new things unto the children of Adam at their respective generations. The vestiges, however, of God's will for a man to be holy and perfect is that by the time Enoch was born he was translated into heaven like Elijah and Jesus Christ. In the time of Noah all of the children of Adam and Lamech other than sons of Noah and their wives were never spared from the great flood that came. This is a strong biblical proof to the division of the church of old!
As an evidence to the evolution and division of the church of God it is that the laws were also changed from time to time and from one generation to another generation. Adam's laws coming from God on food was simply stated as,
Genesis 1:29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
In the time of Noah this commandment on the food was to change saying,
Genesis 9: 3 Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.
Genesis 9:4 But flesh with the life thereof, which is the blood thereof, shall ye not eat.
In much later time, which is in the time of Moses, the food on the moving thing will have to be classified as clean and unclean. All these point to the changes that denote a change in the laws brought about by a man of God and, therefore, simply points to the cause of the division of the church not because of the change of the laws but because man is a laggard to change.
In truth, God only speaks to the man whom He chose to reveal his mysteries which is become the present truth. This is the reason why Jesus was crucified teaching men new things demonstrating the power of the Spirit over the laws written for he is the law himself.
In the final analysis, man is the cause of the division rather than God because of lack of understanding. The spirit of understanding has this to say, God is not the law but he is the law himself!
This means that God can change the laws and this is the indicator of the church with the true God for its laws are made for a man to hearken and to heed so that he may know that he is God who can make man holy and perfect. Secondly, the true church is populated by the saints, the believers, the faithful, the ones with the Fear of the Lord and the Servant or God himself who is a Spirit which dwell in a man.
Given the crack on this thing, it is now easy to understand why there is Islam, and Buddhism, and Hinduism, and Judaism and many more. This is the work of God from ages and ages, and from eons and eons, and from generation to generation.
Man who is fueled with lust, envy, and greed, being carnal, and for reasons of resource hunting are pushed to live separately or, else, if they will have to live together, still in one contiguous land, then there should be a Jacob to bless them with diverse blessings just as what Abraham and God did to Isaac and Ishmael. The case of Jacob and Esau is another case of the division of the church.
It must be recalled and understood that God has fairly warned each tribe not to interfere with one another's business when, for example, Israel with Moses were to conquer the promise land inhabited by a people that God hated because of their abominations.
It must also be clear that if the people today were filled with the Spirit of God then they should have known his will for them to be holy and perfect and there would have been no war and violence on earth. But now we see that man is the root cause of every sorrow and grief and affliction and plagues and sword and famine, which is to say, his sins against God.
God promised peace and unity saying, if a man's ways please God he even makes his enemies at peace with him.
Hear, therefore, the cause of the division of the church of God: people do not have the Spirit of God but rather are unclean filled with all lusts and filth in the flesh and in the spirit.
Moving, forward into the New Testament we can see the church of John the Baptist different from the church of Jesus Christ and later the church of the apostles of Jesus Christ different from the church of Paul who is preaching the gospel of the uncircumcision and the apostles at Jerusalem preaching the gospel of the circumcision. While the men of understanding condescended with Paul on his gospel of the uncircumcision like James, John and Peter it was the Jews who withstood against the teachings of Paul.
To be particular about this, the church of Paul was even infiltrated with dissemblers and false brothers who would lead the faithfuls, even the very elect, in to believing a lie. So Paul said, some preach out of contention, some of envy, and some for filthy lucre.
Today, we can see churches and denominations not being able to agree among themselves of the law or which of the laws written to follow. All of them are living in the old truth and not the present truth.
All these is because they lack the knowledge and do not have the understanding on the scriptures and the power of God. Verily, also, this is because there is no Spirit in them and the proof that they do not have the spirit is the fact that they cannot bear forth the fruit of the spirit which is love. joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and temperance.
Jesus, therefore, aptly, warned his children since, then, saying, by their fruits ye shall know them.
If all men were only able to understand this very secret or had they met the man with the Spirit of God then they would have long turned their swords into plowshares.
Now, tell me who among them are ministers of the spirit? Know that one can never be a minister of the spirit if one does not have the qualification of being clean, undefiled, unblemished, without blame and without wrinkle and without sin. This, without a doubt, only belongs to God who comes in the flesh.
Look for the church which have the Spirit of God or which is led by the Man of God for many have already come in the name of Jesus and have deceived many in his name _ the name Jesus!
In fact, a prophecy on the schism of the church is prophesied by John in his revelation making mention of the seven (7) churches of Asia:
4Revelation 1:4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
11Revelation 1:11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
Out the seven(7) churches prophesied there is only one that is perfect which is the church in Philadelphia. The rest of the churches have their blemishes which God is against. The prophecy on these churches are as follows: the church at Ephesus is the one that leave their first love of God; The church in Smyrna is populated by the blasphemers and worshippers of Satan; the church in Pergamos holds the doctrine of Balaam (greedy of gain); the church in Thyatira allows the false prophets and the deceivers to seduce the servants of God; the church in Sardis have works which is not perfect; the church in Laodicea is lukewarm, wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked; and the church in Philadelphia is the perfect one which has the keys of David and will be worshipped by them who comes from the synagogue of Satan.
Revelation 3:9 Behold, I will make them of the synagogue of Satan, which say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie; behold, I will make them to come and worship before thy feet, and to know that I have loved thee.
It is noteworthy that the perfect church is going to be populated by the worshippers of Satan in addition to the perfect inside it. These worshippers are right now being cleansed and purified and sanctified inside the church of Philadelphia. They are the subjects for change.
Deplorably, the change which the Spirit brings is never visible in and among the leaders of the churches that now mushroom everywhere. They are all gone for money or for fame and for preeminence. This is what the atheists are seeing in them. There is no peace and their peace cannot heal but slightly.
It is, therefore, of no great wonder why this world is in great trouble. The Church is divided or there is no church at all that is true. Seek the truth and you shall find. Knock and the door shall be opened. Ask and it shall be given.
Walang komento:
Mag-post ng isang Komento