Chapter 8

Pertinent Questions Considered

In this chapter will be considered a few pertinent questions that individuals might be naturally inclined to ask.

Called To What?

1. Question: Since the popular churches have, to a large extent, aligned themselves as tributaries, supporting the development of that Babylonish confederation which stands in opposition to God, what is proposed that God’s people do in terms of worship and assembly, should they decide to disassociate themselves from these various religious bodies?

In response to this, it should first be understood that it is not within the province of this writer or any human instrumentality to propose a structure for God’s people to fit into, in terms of spiritual experience, outside of what has been revealed by God. To do that would make one guilty of the very same thing that has been clearly shown to be unscriptural - that is, stepping over the leadership of Christ to prescribe a channel for Christ to work within, under obligation.

It has been shown that The Church is a spiritual entity, and hence, individuals are not called to some physical structure.

“But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect.” Heb.12:22,23.

As human beings, our eyes have become too transfixed on the physical elements of things. We always look to some other human being to direct us and tell us what to do in spiritual matters. There is a need for us to think more in spiritual terms and to seek guidance from Jesus directly. The apostle Paul tells us:

“Look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” 2 Cor. 4:18.

We need to be able to see the invisible as was said of Moses:

“He endured, as seeing him who is invisible.” Heb. 11:27.

Fellowship and Assembly

In terms of worship and assembly, the Lord tells us:

“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Matt.18:20.

Wherever people are gathered to worship God, so long as the Spirit of Christ has an influence in the proceedings, one certainly stands to gain spiritual upliftment. In fact, we are admonished not to forsake the assembling of ourselves together (Heb. 10:25). Hence, it is perfectly in harmony with Scripture for individuals to participate or even sit in at a church service where there is a spirit of reverence for God pervading the proceedings, inasmuch as one holds the right to excuse oneself from being present if the proceedings are irreverent. Neither should one feel obliged to sit and listen to false doctrine. Of course, one should always bear in mind the wisdom of tact and of acting as much as possible without offence.

Equally in harmony with Scripture are :the alternatives of fellowshipping in one’s home, or that of, a fellow believer in a home-church setting, or simply retreating at a quiet place with fellow believers.

The apostle Paul recognized these principles quite clearly as is reflected in his various movements. He was attuned to God in worship whether in a synagogue of the Jews (Acts 17:1,2), in an upper chamber with fellow Christian believers (Acts 20:7,8) or even under the canopy of heaven, as was the case recorded in Acts 16:13:

“And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”. Acts 16:13.

It should be well appreciated however that prudence and wisdom would not lead one to seek the society of those who show scant respect for God’s Word, if one’s desire is to learn further truth. For one to wade intentionally through a puddle of error, superstition and blasphemy, hoping to find some gem of truth is to place oneself on Satan’s ground and to forfeit Divine protection.

In keeping with the principles that were followed by the early Christians, each follower of Christ should try to identify, with the aid of the Holy Spirit, other believers who share a sincere desire to live righteously and to follow Christ and Christ alone, in harmony with the Scriptures. These, believers, whether two, three or any number of them, according to.’ Scripture constitutes a particular church. These should meet and pray together, strengthen each’ others faith by sharing experiences of God’s mercies and guidance and study the Scriptures to be further enlightened.

Through the work of God’s Holy Spirit their knowledge of truth will increase according as they reflect in their lives each principle learnt, and they will be led to recognize other groups of genuine believers. Their mutual concern for each other, and their concern for the world of unconverted individuals will lead them, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, to labour as did the early Christians for the salvation of sinners. Thus will be revived the true spirit of Christ as was evident in the apostles.

It is well in accordance with Scripture that the people of God work together in an organized manner, utilizing the different spiritual gifts and talents with which they are endowed in order to fulfil specific tasks in the mission of advancing the Gospel. The various systems and structures that are thus put in place, according to the particular necessities of the various tasks would therefore be regarded as facilitators and would be determined largely by the circumstances and the feasibility. Hence, no particular organizational system would be regarded as The Church, or could possibly bear in it the authority as to make one excluded from Salvation, if one is convicted in his conscience, within the bounds of truth, to labour in some other way.

The Church remains The Body of. Christ - .those who have been called out of Satan’s kingdom - those who have been born again; not some humanly instituted organizational structure.

The Bible - From Who?

2. Question: The Catholic church claims that the Bible itself came from the church and hence is subject to the interpretation of the church, rather than the dogma of the church being subordinate to the principles and commands of the Bible. How do you respond to that?

The claim of the Roman Catholic church that the authority of the church supersedes the authority of the Word of God as recorded in the Bible, because the .Bible itself came from the church, immediately elicits’ a question: ‘Did the Bible come from the Roman Catholic church? Most emphatically,’ NO!! The Old Testament writings, first of all, were in existence before the Roman Catholic church. Those were the Scriptures that the apostles and even Jesus Himself read from. Take for instance Jesus’ statement, when tempted by the Devil in the wilderness:

“It is written Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Matt. 4:4.

Jesus said “it is written ...”. Where was it written? It was written in Deuteronomy 8:3 as recorded ‘by Moses many centuries before. So, Jesus appealed to the Old Testament -. the very same Old Testament that we have today, in defence against the Devil’s temptation (yet, amazingly, some individuals who claim to be followers of Christ would have us discard the Old Testament. Amazing! Is it not? But, back to our main point.).

Matthew, the person who recorded Jesus as quoting the above statement was one of the twelve disciples who went with Jesus from place to place, and was therefore in a position, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit to record exactly what he heard. So then, where in this picture did the Roman Catholic church get involved, to justify their claim of being the one from which the Word came, hence, giving them the authority to supersede.

Consider another case. The apostle Paul, in writing to Timothy said:

“For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” 1 Tim.  2:5.

The apostle Paul says that there is only one mediator between God and human beings, namely Jesus Christ. Now, either the apostle said those words or he didn’t. If he did not say those words, then maybe there could be some room for questions. But if he did say those words, based on the record of his life and the consistency of those words with other scripture, then we know that they were inspired by God. Any attempt therefore, to nullify or alter the thought expressed would amount to nothing less than a disregard for the One who inspired the apostle with those thoughts. But what does the Catholic church say? They say that you may not go directly to Christ; you must go via the priest and also via the virgin Mary. To arrive at such an idea reflects guidance by a completely different spirit from the One that inspired Paul. It has to be, for God does not contradict Himself.

Not, Even A Bearer

The most that they could probably try to claim is the role of a bearer or guardian, like a postman who carries letters and ensures that they are safely delivered. But then, this does not authorize the postman to tamper with the contents of any of the letters. But further yet, not even such a role can they justly claim. According to the historical record, it is to the waldenses, the Albigenses, the Huguenots, later reformers like Tyndale and Wycliffe that we owe the present availability of the Bible. Many of these people copied portions of the Bible by hand, preserving it over successive generations, at times when, to be found in possession of a Bible meant death. Many of these people were brutally slain for the very reason of trying to preserve the Scriptures.

And where was the Roman Catholic church in all of this? -mercilessly hunting these people like animals, to kill them, in order that the Bible might not be distributed to the common people in their own language. Far from having anything to do with the origin or preservation of the Scriptures, the Roman Catholic church has been the greatest influence that has sought to destroy the Scriptures. As an evidence to substantiate this assertion, consider, for example, the attitude that was expressed by Pope Pius IX towards Bible societies: “Socialism, Communism, clandestine societies, Bible Societies... pests of this sort must be destroyed by all means.” - Pope Pius IX; Encyclical, Quanta Cura, Dec. 8, 1866.

Reference has been made to various ecclesiastical councils that were held by the Roman Catholic church as points in time when the various portions of the Bible were officially put together and made available as one book, as to suggest that the Bible’s existence is due to the instrumentality of the Roman Catholic church. Be assured dear reader, that every portion of the Bible was available before any such council was held.

The so-called Received Text from which the King James Version was derived had an entirely different history from the Latin Vulgate, which is the primary source of the Roman Catholic Douay Version. The Received Text was transmitted by the Vaudois and Waldensian Christians independent of Roman Catholicism.

As a result of persecution under the reign of the Roman Caesars, the early Christians fled to various parts of the world. The first Christians (who were Jewish), in obedience to the command of Christ (Luke 21:20,21) fled from Jerusalem just before its destruction in AD 70 and settled in the small town of Pella. The ecumenical Council of Nicaea (AD 325) was intended to harmonize all the various Christian groups.

However, it was perceived by some of these groups, that the city churches (which comprised mainly Gentile converts from paganism) had started to imbibe paganistic traditions which they viewed as corrupting the apostolic faith. Hence, some of these groups including those at Pella did not take part in this, or subsequent councils, which were dominated by the Bishop of Rome. Hence, there continued through the centuries a Bible-centred religion which was separate and distinct from Roman Catholicism. This, the Church of Rome tried relentlessly to extinguish by means of persecution. Hence, the people who were thus persecuted, were called Vaudois (valley dwellers) because they were forced to take refuge in the caves, catacombs, valleys and desolate places.

Whether or not there had been any ecclesiastical council, individuals who were true to God would have accepted and be guided only by such writings as reflect Divine inspiration, as evidenced by the lives of the persons who wrote them and also by the consistency of such writings with other writings that are definitely known to be inspired (like Moses’ writings and those of Jesus’ disciples, for example).

To give evidence of this assertion, consider this: The Roman Catholic church presently holds certain apocryphal writings as belonging to the sacred canon of Scripture, yet most other professed Christians reject those writings. Why is this so? For the simple reason, that the classification of certain writings as belonging to the Scripture, by the Roman Catholic church, does not in anyway determine that they will be accepted, and considered as such. In a similar way, the acceptance of certain writings then, and the continued acceptance of those same writings today, as Scripture, is not hinged on any ecclesiastical council that was held by the Roman Catholic church.

Hence, the facts declare most emphatically that the Bible in no way came from the Roman Catholic church, and there is absolutely no basis for it claiming superior authority. Such a claim is only another demonstration of the “mystery of iniquity” - that principle of men exalting themselves above God.

Good Influence?

Question: Many individuals do testify that they have come to know Christ and have developed a meaningful relationship with Him through the influence of a particular religious denomination. How then do you reconcile this positive impact of church groups with your thesis that church organizations are manmade entities that essentially hinder rather than promote genuine Christianity?

Individuals do not come to know Christ because of particular religious denominations. They come to know Christ by virtue of their coming in contact with the Bible, the Word of God. Regardless of the particular means or circumstances through which that contact with God’s Word was experienced, it is the contact and not the circumstances to which one owes his/her Christian experience.

An analogy will illustrate the point: One passes by a ditch one day and there, amidst the grime and debris one sees something that glistens. It was found to be a large diamond crystal that is worth a fortune. To what does one owe his fortune, the diamond or the ditch? Certainly the diamond! Indeed, the diamond would have been much easier to discover had it not been cluttered with the grime and debris that are associated with the ditch.

In a similar way, the Word of God, like the diamond is much easier to see when it is not cluttered. One will never probably realize how many unscriptural ideas he/she has imbibed as a result of the influence of church doctrine and dogma until one has freed himself/herself from all obligation to be guided by the same. The truth of the Scriptures will be seen in its purity, unadulterated by human philosophies, theories, speculation and expediency. The process might be gradual, but sure, once he/she stands true to himself/herself and takes the Bible for what it says under the guidance of God’s Holy Spirit.

To the scribes and Pharisees who had cluttered the truth of God with their own doctrines and dogma Jesus said:

“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.” Matt. 23:15.

Jerusalem Council

4. Question: It is recorded in the book of Acts that a general council was held at Jerusalem in order to discuss the issue of circumcision. Does this not represent the existence of a central authority that directed the body of believers that were scattered throughout the various territories?

The answer is no. It was simply a meeting of believers who came from the different territories to discuss a matter that was of common concern to them. According to Acts chapter 15, certain individuals from Judea  came to Antioch and started to teach the believers there that “Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.” Acts 15:1. Paul and Barnabas “had no small dissension and disputation with them” (verse 2), whereupon it was determined that Paul and Barnabas “should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question.” (Verse 2).

There was a group of believers - a particular church, in Jerusalem. Among this group of believers were found the disciples who had personally been acquainted with Jesus. Up until the time when Peter met with Cornelius and his family (Acts 10) the disciples had remained in Jerusalem except for those who “were scattered abroad

upon the persecution that arose about Stephen.” Acts 11:19. Hence, after the disputation of Paul and Barnabas with those individuals at Antioch it is said:

“And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.” Acts 15:4.

After the meeting in question, when a consensus had been reached, based on Divine guidance, and the believers were able to say of their decision that “it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us,” (verse 28) the resulting action was described as follows:

“Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren.” Acts 15:22.

It was not a meeting of some standing committee that periodically met to issue directives and formulate policies, as is the pattern followed by most religious denominations. The apostle Paul himself was a part of the council and as is abundantly evident, his life was that of an itinerant preacher who met his personal needs by plying his trade of tent-making (Acts 18;3; 2 Thess. 3:8).

Silas also was at that meeting and was one of the believers that returned to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. Silas followed the same course as the apostle Paul in travelling from place to place preaching the gospel, because Silas became Paul’s partner after Paul and Barnabas separated (Acts 15:37-40).

The life of the apostle Paul was not that of some resident Pastor or Bishop who was in charge of a conference or archdiocese. Neither was it that of a commissioned evangelist who was sent on particular missions, who on returning had to present a report to superiors.

The Storehouse

5. Question: If one is not connected to a church denomination, through what channel would one return to the Lord offerings and other donations out of his means?

The first thing that needs to be established unequivocally is that nowhere in the Bible is prescribed any specific channel through which Christians are required to funnel such gifts and offerings as are being returned to the Lord. Hence, church denominations do not have inherently any divine right to set themselves up as God’s “storehouse.”

Furthermore, one cannot justly claim that it is a divine imperative that one routinely donate money to church groups that are involved in such activities  as  donating medals  to  the pope  of  Babylon; investing money in business ventures that are disapproved by Scripture; hiring educational consultants from Babylon to “advise” them as to how their schools and colleges should be administrated; and  teaching  and  fostering  the  practice  of  neurolinguistic programming and other forms of hypnotism, mind-control, witchcraft and sorcery.  Such are among the heaven-insulting activities that are being carried out by some of these religious groups that claim to be God’s  “storehouse.”

More and more openly is being manifested in the popular churches the leaven of Babylon which seems to be eating at the last vestige of vital godliness that they have ever represented.

How consistent with Scripture would it be for money to be used in supporting ventures that make the truth of God available to the world!  It might even be the matter of buying books and giving them away.

Let each one be assured that if he/she takes that which belongs to God and use it to support systems that perpetrate and enhance the Devil’s work there is absolutely no Biblical principle on which one stands.   One stands on his/her own.   In addition, one becomes equally responsible for  the  activities  that  such  gifts  and donations are used to carry out, and one will certainly be required by God to give an account of his/her stewardship.