Post by Watchman on Jul 15, 2006 12:39:34 GMT -5
The Apostle Paul warned the Christians of his day:
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Acts 20:29–31).
Dear friend, for your own sake, please consider whether you are truly following "all the counsel of God". Certainly most of you may understand part of the Bible, part of Christ’s true teachings—and perhaps a little bit regarding prophecy and the awesome purpose for which God created you. However, just "accepting Jesus," joining some church down the street, and hoping to "float off to heaven" when you die is not what true Christianity is all about! Most who call themselves "Christians" have never been taught the full purpose of human existence! It is vital that you come to fully understand and follow the "whole counsel" of Almighty God (Job 15:8; Acts 20:27).
We have just read Paul’s warning that " grievous wolves" would come in and "draw away" many from the Truth of God. Paul also urgently warned God’s people about a great "falling away" He wrote:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12
Paul was describing a religious system—the "mystery of iniquity"—that was slowly but surely taking over the name of Christianity, perverting Christ’s teachings and practices, convincing people to abandon God’s great spiritual law!
Nearly all respected mainstream historians know that a massive change came over the professing Christian church within a century after Christ and the original apostles died. One historian writes: "For fifty years after St. Paul’s life a curtain hangs over the church, through which we strive vainly to look; and when at last it rises, about 120AD with the writings of the earliest church-fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul" (Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, The Story of the Christian Church, p. 41).
On whose authority did the early bishops make these drastic changes? Did God or Jesus Christ tell them to make the true church very different from the original church of Christ and the apostles?
No way!
On whose authority did the so-called "church fathers" do away with—and virtually destroy for their followers—the teachings of Jesus Christ and the original apostles? The real answer is that they had no such authority! That is why God inspired the Apostle Jude to exhort true Christians:
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 3–4
Jude tells us that true Christians will literally need to "contend"—fight—for the "faith which was once delivered unto the saints." He warns about certain men who "crept in" to turn the concept of grace into "lasciviousness"—this is lawlesness. Deceived people think that they can disobey God’s great spiritual law and still somehow enter the Kingdom of God!
This, my friends, is exactly what most "mainstream" Christians believe today. Many churches talk about the Ten Commandments as a good general guideline. But if you pin them down, the vast majority of mainstream ministers will say that a Christian is not bound to keep the Ten Commandments as a way of life! This is one reason why God inspired Jude to exhort us to contend for the true faith which was "once for all delivered to the saints."
For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Acts 20:29–31).
Dear friend, for your own sake, please consider whether you are truly following "all the counsel of God". Certainly most of you may understand part of the Bible, part of Christ’s true teachings—and perhaps a little bit regarding prophecy and the awesome purpose for which God created you. However, just "accepting Jesus," joining some church down the street, and hoping to "float off to heaven" when you die is not what true Christianity is all about! Most who call themselves "Christians" have never been taught the full purpose of human existence! It is vital that you come to fully understand and follow the "whole counsel" of Almighty God (Job 15:8; Acts 20:27).
We have just read Paul’s warning that " grievous wolves" would come in and "draw away" many from the Truth of God. Paul also urgently warned God’s people about a great "falling away" He wrote:
Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: [Even him], whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12
Paul was describing a religious system—the "mystery of iniquity"—that was slowly but surely taking over the name of Christianity, perverting Christ’s teachings and practices, convincing people to abandon God’s great spiritual law!
Nearly all respected mainstream historians know that a massive change came over the professing Christian church within a century after Christ and the original apostles died. One historian writes: "For fifty years after St. Paul’s life a curtain hangs over the church, through which we strive vainly to look; and when at last it rises, about 120AD with the writings of the earliest church-fathers, we find a church in many aspects very different from that in the days of St. Peter and St. Paul" (Jesse Lyman Hurlbut, The Story of the Christian Church, p. 41).
On whose authority did the early bishops make these drastic changes? Did God or Jesus Christ tell them to make the true church very different from the original church of Christ and the apostles?
No way!
On whose authority did the so-called "church fathers" do away with—and virtually destroy for their followers—the teachings of Jesus Christ and the original apostles? The real answer is that they had no such authority! That is why God inspired the Apostle Jude to exhort true Christians:
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort [you] that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints. For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Jude 3–4
Jude tells us that true Christians will literally need to "contend"—fight—for the "faith which was once delivered unto the saints." He warns about certain men who "crept in" to turn the concept of grace into "lasciviousness"—this is lawlesness. Deceived people think that they can disobey God’s great spiritual law and still somehow enter the Kingdom of God!
This, my friends, is exactly what most "mainstream" Christians believe today. Many churches talk about the Ten Commandments as a good general guideline. But if you pin them down, the vast majority of mainstream ministers will say that a Christian is not bound to keep the Ten Commandments as a way of life! This is one reason why God inspired Jude to exhort us to contend for the true faith which was "once for all delivered to the saints."