I’m often asked about this phenomenon of speaking in tongues. Today’s charismatic church has this movement where they all scream and yell in a language no one understands. Is that what the apostles were doing when people from other nations understood what they were saying? So what did we do? We realized there was an apparent contradiction so we created an answer from our own understanding. Now we teach that there are 2 different types of gifts of tongues. One is called diverse tongues which is speaking other languages as the holy spirit gives us and the other is what we see today. Speaking in a tongue no man knows because of misunderstanding of some scriptures in Corinthians. Well I found a wonderful and biblically correct understanding from a man name Mr. Jim McClarty. Let’s check out Mr. McClarty and what he says about it. Someone asked him the question and that is presented by the “Q-” and then he goes on to answer it where it says “Jim-”
Q - I have a question for you. I have been tempted to visit this fairly large (actually huge) Church of God. I bet there at least 1,000 or 2,000 (if not more) members – which I think is too large, people get lost in the crowd. In any event, my problem with the Church of God is the speaking in tongues thing. What are your thoughts on the subject? I’m sure you must have addressed this at some point. Any guidance or thoughts? I would like to know your perspective on this.
Jim - So, speaking in tongues, eh? I do have an opinion (as you might expect). I’ve been asked about it frequently because there’s plenty of confusion out there. But, there doesn’t need to be. The Greek word that is translated “tongues” is “glossa” – from which we get the English word “glossary.” It should have been translated “language,” but during the days of King James (1611) the word “tongue” was synonymous with “language.” For instance, we still talk about people who speak a “foreign tongue.” And, that’s the way the word is used in the Bible. It means, “spoken language.” Now, the first place where the phenomenon of men speaking in languages they didn’t naturally speak (or know) was on the day of Pentecost, at the inception of the Church. Peter stood up to speak, but his audience was filled with Jews from all over the middle Asia area, who spoke a variety of languages and dialects. “And, they (the apostles) were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven. Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.” (Acts 2:4-6) What should be instantly obvious from that passage was that the apostles spoke actual foreign languages in order that the multitude could all understand. That’s what “tongues” was all about and what the purpose was. Without the methods and means of mass communication that we have available today, every area developed languages and dialects unique to themselves. But, when the time came for the Gospel of Christ to be spread abroad, the message was carried by fishermen, tax collectors, zealots and the like who spoke Greek and some Aramaic. “And they (the men from every nation) were amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans? And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born? Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappodocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. And, they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?” (Acts 2:7-12) So, God miraculously caused the Apostles to speak languages that were unknown to them and caused the listeners to hear in their own language. And, the gospel of grace spread. But again, it’s obvious that the “tongues” spoken by the Apostles were known, definable languages, not babble or gibberish.
As Paul journeyed through his ministry, he encountered many languages and preached nonetheless. As the Church grew, the gifts of the Spirit spread in order to promote the message of grace. But, some began to abuse the gifts and Paul had to correct them – “I thank my God, I speak with tongues more than ye all; yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue.” (1 Cor.14:19-20) Paul went on to instruct the Corinthian church that tongues were not to be exercised in the church meetings. The gift of tongues was a method for preaching and evangelizing among the lost. But, the church was to gather for the purpose of reading, studying, preaching and exhorting through the Word. “Wherefore tongues are for a sign, not to them that believe, but to them that believe not; but prophesying [preaching the word] serveth not for them that believe not, but for them which believe. If therefore the whole church be come together into one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those that are unlearned, or unbelievers, will they not say that ye are mad?” (1 Cor. 14:22-23) So, Paul was quite clear that speaking with tongues – other known, spoken, extant languages of the day - was for a sign to unbelievers and not something to be exhibited in the church. In the church, preaching and teaching are the priority. Now, when most people think of “speaking in tongues” they mean the sort of ecstatic utterances that we see on TBN or in Assembly of God churches. The people who exercise that sort of activity call themselves “Pentecostal” to connect themselves with the gifts that appeared at the first Pentecost. Or, they are known as “Charismatic” from the Greek word for gifts of the Spirit – “charis.” That word is also translated “grace” in many passages. There is no evidence in Scripture that any of the apostles or early church members ever broke into fits of uncontrolled verbiage and noises. When the Spirit spoke through the Apostles, it spoke a language known by the hearers for the purpose of advancing the gospel message.
The primary verse that the proponents of ecstatic utterance use is from 1 Corinthians 13:1. It’s the beginning of Paul’s great treatise on love and charity. From the context it’s clear that Paul is speaking in hyperbole, overstating his case, in order to prove that charitable love is the greatest Christian virtue. It reads - “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And, though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And, though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Cor. 1-3) Obviously, Paul was saying that even if he had every spiritual gift to the maximum but failed in charity, it was all pointless. But, at the top of his list he used the term “the tongues…of angels.” And, that did it. People have grabbed hold of that phrase and claim that their verbal recitations of noises and unknown, unrecognizable words are “the tongues of angels.” But, any honest reader of Paul’s words can see that Paul was not promoting the idea that angelic languages were suddenly available to mankind. He was saying that even if he spoke every language known among men and angels – a clear case of hyperbole – without Christian charity the sounds he made would sound like horns and cymbals. Even at Pentecost, the Apostles were not going through the gyrations and techniques advocated by modern Pentecostals in order to stimulate tongue-talking. In fact, they weren’t expecting it at all. God simply spoke through them by His Spirit and they spoke languages that were unknown to them, but known to their listeners. And, they all glorified God as a result. As far large churches uniting around tongue-talking, it does happen. Nothing unites people faster than a common experience. Like veterans getting together years after a war, they have a lasting bond because of the experience they shared. So, in order to build large congregations, many Pentecostal denominations insist that the only proof of the Spirit being in you – proof positive of your salvation – is that you talk in tongues. To be fair, many of them have backed off that position, seeing that it’s unscriptural, but there is still an undue emphasis on tongues in those churches. There’s more to say, and Paul instructed the Corinthian church about how to keep from letting tongue-talking get out of control in their meetings, but I think this is a fair overview. As for me, I’m just a stickler for the Word and I try to adjust our theology and our worship accordingly. Hope it helps.
Yours for His sake,
Jim McClarty
I would like to add a few more points from 1 Cor 14 that are taken out of context to support this gibberish language. We are actually the ones that make this wonderful Word of God contradict. We are the reason atheist have their fuel. Lets take a look:
1 Cor 14 Those who have the gift of speaking in different languages are not speaking to people; they are speaking to God. No one understands them; they are speaking secret things through the Spirit. So here we have a scripture that they use to support what they are doing. The bible says no one understand them because they are speaking things no one understands. Watch what happens when you read further down. 1 Cor 14 22a So the gift of speaking in different kinds of languages is a sign for those who do not believe, not for those who do believe. So first he says we are to speak secrets that no one understands and then he says its for the unbeliever. So we think this is a contradiction and we tried to answer it with our human wisdom to explain this. We even have an example of this from Acts. (Acts 2 4All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tonguesas the Spirit enabled them.5Now there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven. 6When they heard this sound, a crowd came together in bewilderment, because each one heard them speaking in his own language.7Utterly amazed, they asked: “Are not all these men who are speaking Galileans? 8Then how is it that each of us hears them in his own native language?) That was the sign for the unbelievers guys. That is how this gift is suppose to work. Paul even made this statement that through everything into perspective: 1 Cor 14 9So it is with you. Unless you speak intelligible words with your tongue, how will anyone know what you are saying? You will just be speaking into the air. 10Undoubtedly there are all sorts of languages in the world, yet NONE OF THEM IS WITHOUT MEANING. Then he also says, 18I thank God that I speak in more languages than all of you. 19But in the church I would rather speak five intelligible words to instruct others than ten thousand words in a tongue. How often do you hear people say I speak in more tongues than you? You don’t hear that because it doesn’t make sense to us. Think about it, Paul traveled very often… he had to go to towns where he didn’t know the native language. Thats where the holy spirit had to step in and speak to them in their language. See what happened here is, we don’t understand the language that this was written in. Thats the problem we are having.
Mr McClarty has done a wonderful job with his response. That was absolutely biblical. Now we arent going to condemn those who do speak in this false version of tongues today but what I would say to them is to at least follow scripture in how you do it. Today we have the entire gathering screaming and yelling in what they feel is tongues. Scripture gives us understanding of how to use this gift. Never were we told to all do it at once… in fact we were told NOT do that.
1 Cor 14 6 So, brothers and sisters, what should you do? When you meet together, one person has a song, and another has a teaching. Another has a new truth from God. Another speaks in a different language,and another person interprets that language. The purpose of all these things should be to help the church grow strong. 27 When you meet together, if anyone speaks in a different language, it should be only two, or not more than three, who speak. They should speak one after the other, and someone should interpret. 28 But if there is no interpreter, then those who speak in a different language should be quiet in the church meeting. They should speak only to themselves and to God.
I hope you have learned something and that you will grab hold to the understanding about this gift. Don’t feel bad if you realize you never had this gift as I have and many have… but understand that God has given you other gifts that you can utilize and win souls to Christ or help the body.
Praise Jesus!
Hyperbole is a figure of speech which is an exaggeration. Persons often use expressions such as “I nearly died laughing,” “I was hopping mad,” and “I tried a thousand times.” Such statements are not literally true, but people make them to sound impressive or to emphasize something, such as a feeling, effort, or reaction.
“Those who are supposed to rule over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them [Jesus said to his disciples]. But it shall not be so among you!” (Mark 10:42b-43a RSV)
Rather than being lords, he went on to say, disciples are to be servants of one another and the greatest is the one who is servant of all.
By these words Jesus indicates that an entirely different system of government than that employed by the world should prevail among Christians. Authority among Christians is not derived from the same source as worldly authority, nor is it to be exercised in the same manner. The world’s view of authority places men over one another, as in a military command structure, a business executive hierarchy, or a governmental system. This is as it should be. Urged by the competitiveness created by the Fall, and faced with the rebelliousness and ruthlessness of sinful human nature, the world could not function without the use of command structures and executive decision.
But as Jesus carefully stated, “…it shall not be so among you.” Disciples are always in a different relationship to one another than worldlings are. Christians are brothers and sisters, children of one Father, and members one of another. Jesus put it clearly in Matthew 23:8 (RSV): “One is your Master, and all you are brethren.”
Throughout twenty centuries the church has virtually ignored these words. Probably with the best of intentions, it has nevertheless repeatedly borrowed into the authority structures of the world, changed the names of executives from kings, generals, captains, presidents, governors, secretaries, heads, and chiefs to popes, patriarchs, bishops, stewards, deacons, pastors, and elders, and gone merrily on its way, lording it over the brethren and thus destroying the model of servant hood which our Lord intended. Christians have so totally forgotten Jesus’ words that they frequently have set up the world’s pattern of government without bothering to change the names, and have operated churches, mission organizations, youth organizations, schools, colleges, and seminaries, all in the name of Jesus Christ, but with presidents, directors, managers, heads and chiefs in no way different from corresponding secular structures.
It is probably too late to do much about altering the many structures that are commonly called “para-church” or “quasi church” organizations, but certainly Jesus’ words must not be ignored in the worship and training functions of the church itself. Somewhere, surely, the words of Jesus, “…it shall not be so among you,” must find some effect. Yet in most churches today an unthinking acceptance has been given to the idea that the pastor is the final voice of authority in both doctrine and practice, and that he is the executive officer of the church with respect to administration. But surely, if a pope over the whole church is bad, a pope in every church is no better!
It is clear from the Scriptures that the apostles were concerned about the danger of developing ecclesiastical bosses. In Second Corinthians 1:24a (RSV), Paul reminds the Corinthians concerning his own apostolic authority: “Not that we lord it over your faith; we work with you for your joy, …” In the same letter he describes, with apparent disapproval, how the Corinthians reacted to certain leaders among themselves: “For you bear it if a man makes slaves of you, or preys upon you, or takes advantage of you, or puts on airs, or strikes you in the face,” (2 Cor 11:20 RSV). Peter, too, is careful to warn the elders (and he includes himself among them) not to govern by being “domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock,” (1 Pet 5:3 RSV). And John speaks strongly against Diotrephes “who likes to put himself first, and takes it on himself to put some out of the church,” (cf, 3 Jn 1:9-10). These first-century examples of church bosses indicate how easily churches then, as in the 20th century, ignored the words of Jesus, “it shall not be so among you.”
But if the church is not to imitate the world in this matter, what is it to do? Leadership must certainly be exercised within the church, and there must be some form of authority. What is it to be? The question is answered in Jesus’ words: “One is your Master,” (Matt 23:8b KJV). All too long churches have behaved as if Jesus were far away in heaven, and he has left it up to church leaders to make their own decisions, and run their own affairs. But Jesus himself had assured them in giving the Great Commission, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the age,” (cf, Matt 28:20b). And in Matthew 18:20 (RSV) he reiterated, “… where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” Clearly this indicates that he is present not only in the church as a whole but in every local church as well. It is Jesus himself, therefore, who is the ultimate authority within every body of Christians, and he is quite prepared to exercise his authority through the instrument he himself has ordained — the elder hood.
The task of the elders is not to run the church themselves, but to determine how the Lord in their midst wishes to run his church. Much of this he has already made known through the Scriptures, which describe the impartation and exercise of spiritual gifts, the availability of resurrection power, and the responsibility of believers to bear one another’s burdens, confess sins to one another, teach, admonish, and reprove one another, and witness to and serve the needs of a hurting world.
In the day-to-day decisions which every church faces, elders are to seek and find the mind of the Lord through an uncoerced unanimity, reached after thorough and biblically-related discussion. Thus, ultimate authority, even in practical matters, is vested in the Lord and in no one else. This is what the book of Acts reveals in its description of the initiative actions of the Holy Spirit, who obviously planned and ordered the evangelizing strategy of the early church (Acts 8, 13, etc.). The elders sought the mind of the Spirit, and, when it was made clear to them, they acted with unity of thought and purpose. (“For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay upon you no greater burden …” Acts 15:28a RSV.) The authority, therefore, was not the authority of men, but of God, and it was expressed not through men, acting as individuals, but through the collective, united agreement of men whom the Spirit had led to eldership (see Acts 20:28).
The point is: no one man is the sole expression of the mind of the Spirit: No individual has authority from God to direct the affairs of the church. A plurality of elders is necessary as a safeguard to the all-too-human tendency to play God over other people. Even then, the authority exercised is not one of domination and arbitrary decree over anyone. The ability of a servant to influence anyone else does not lie in ordering someone around, but by obtaining their voluntary consent. This is the nature of all authority among Christians, even that of the Lord himself! He does not force our obedience, but obtains it by love, expressed either in circumstantial discipline or by awakening gratitude through the meeting of our desperate needs.
The true authority of elders and other leaders in the church, then, is that of respect, aroused by their own loving and godly example. This is the force of two verses which are often cited by those who claim a unique authority of pastors over church members. The first is found in First Thessalonians 5:12-13a (RSV), “But we beseech you, brethren, to respect those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love because of their work.” The key phrase is “and are over you in the Lord.” The Greek word in question is prohistamenous. Though this is translated “over you” in both the Revised Standard and King James versions, the word itself contains no implication of being “over” another. The New English Bible more properly renders it, “… and in the Lord’s fellowship are your leaders and counselors.” The thought in the word is that of “standing before” others, not of “ruling over” them. It is the common word for leadership. Leaders can lead only if they are able to persuade some to follow.
Another verse used to support command authority is Hebrews 13:17a (RSV), which the Revised Standard Version renders, “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as men who will have to give account.” The imperative translated “obey” is from the word peitho, “to persuade.” In the middle voice, used here, Thayer’s lexicon gives its meaning as “to suffer one’s self to be persuaded.” Again there is no thought of a right to command someone against his will, but the clear thrust is that leaders are persuaders whose ability to persuade arises not from a smooth tongue or a dominant personality, but from a personal walk which evokes respect.
At this point many may be tempted to say, “What difference does it make? After all, the pattern of command authority is too widely established to alter now, and, besides, many churches seem to be doing all right as it is; why try to change now?”
In response, consider the following:
The Bible indicates that any deviation from the divine plan inevitably produces weakness, division, strife, increasing fruitlessness, and, ultimately, death. The present low state of many churches is testimony to the effects of ignoring, over a long period of time, God’s way of working.
A command structure of authority in the church deprives the world of any model or demonstration of a different way of life than the one it already lives by. Worldlings see no difference in the church, and can see no reason why they should change and believe.
A command authority inevitably produces resentment, repression, exploitation and, finally, rebellion. It is the law, which Scripture assures us we can never redeem or restore, but which must, by its very nature, condemn and repress.
The desire of the Lord Jesus to show to the world a wholly new form of authority which is consistent with grace, not law, is nullified by a command structure among Christians, and the gospel of dying-to-live is denied even before it is proclaimed. This means that God is robbed of his glory and distorted before the watching world. Nothing could be more serious than this!
Admittedly, a call for a change of this nature is radical, even revolutionary. But since when was the church called to be a conforming society? Is it not high time we took seriously our Lord’s words: “it shall not be so among you”?
So there is a lot of confusion over the question of whether someone can be born gay or not. Most Christians will say NO, you cannot be born gay because they feel it makes God appear as imperfect and capable of mistakes; knowing that men with woman is the blueprint God set for us. On the other spectrum we have those who say YES you can and are born gay because of genetics and other human opinions. We have one side that wants to defend God and another that wants to defend men. Let us go into the word of God to find out exactly God’s truth of whether someone can be born with sin or not. Lets throw out our human opinions and stop trying to put our own conclusions on things so it makes sense to us. You may be surprised by the result!
In the following scripture we have David in who writes of his guilt from his adultery with Bathsheba:
Psalms 51 For I was born a sinner—yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.6 But you desire honesty from the womb, teaching me wisdom even there.
&
Psalms 58 3 The wicked are estranged from the womb; they go astray from birth, speaking lies.
Did you see what David said? There it is in a nutshell! He stated that he was born a sinner, even from the conception. That is the answer right there. It makes perfect sense now guys. Do you remember Nicodemus? When Jesus told him he must be BORN AGAIN. Nicodemus was so confused by this. He asked, “”How can a man be born when he is old?”, “Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born!”". Jesus then gives him a Spiritual Truth that is very difficult to understand.
John 3: 5Jesus answered, “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. 6Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. 7You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ 8The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”
Flesh gives birth to flesh: being born of a human woman’s womb.
Spirit gives birth to spirit: being born of from the Spirit, a spiritual womb.
The same confusion Nicodemus had, we have today. What he and we did not think about was, why would we need to be BORN AGAIN in the first place. Now we can think back to what David said, “For I was born a sinner – yes, from the moment my mother conceived me.”. David is not saying he was born with the desire to commit adultery or murder but that sinful nature was already there from conception. Is an infant born with the desire to have relations with the opposite or same sex or murderous intentions or a lying tongue? Not so, but the sinful nature was there from their conception and as that child develops those acts of that nature will become evident. The nature that rebels against God’s blueprint for us. THIS IS WHY WE MUST BE BORN AGAIN GUYS. There would be NO need for another birth if the first birth was good enough for us, good enough to save us from death. We were absolutely BORN with the sinful nature, you absolutely can be born gay, sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery, idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. This is why we were told NOT to judge others by Jesus. It’s because the sinful nature that the person we judge is born with is the SAME sinful nature the human judge has in them.
Gal 5 19The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Matt 7 :5 Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.
This is why we absolutely NEED to be BORN AGAIN. We are born with sin, all of the above. The spirit is completely different and pure.
Gal 5 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,23gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires. 25Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.
Now we find out that the argument should have never been whether someone can be born gay or not because we know we are born into sin. This is an argument that came from HUMAN WISDOM because we think we know better than God. Both sides are equally guilty of this; the believer and the non-believer. We were told NOT to use HUMAN WISDOM concerning the things of God.
1 Cor 2:13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.
What happens when you use human wisdom? It empties the power from the cross; which means, it takes the power to SAVE us. When we continue to try to explain things with our own wisdom we really cause a lot damage to the body. See the word of God tells us that the heart of us humans are wicked, even when we try to defend God based on our human wisdom that wickedness from within still corrupts that. (Jer 17:9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?) This is why we should not teach with our own opinions. Eventually putting us in this confusion we are in now. We were NEVER told to be concerned of whether someone is born gay or not. Folks, neither theories were not good enough. Being born into sin doesn’t give us an excuse to continue in it.
1 Cor 1:17b “…not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.”
Let us take all arguments that set themselves up against the knowledge of God and cast them away. (2 Cor 10:5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ,) They cause this type of arguing and fighting. They even are much of the reasons those who practice homosexuality think all Christians HATE them. It’s because we have created theories with the intentions of defending God that actually sow hate and confusion. To say someone cannot be born gay even knowing that scripture says we are born into sin at our conception seems like we are singling out those who practice homosexuality over all the other sins. I often have homosexuals come to me saying, you Christians act like homosexuality is the worse sin out there and that lying and other sins are the same. They do have a point and we need to repent for making them feel like that. We absolutely can quote scriptures that show homosexuality is NOT God’s blueprint for us but we were never told to create theories that would single them out as worse than others. I was guilty of this as well and for that I apologize to every homosexual who reads this. I use to practice the lifestyle and I remember how it made me feel hopeless in the eyes of God. When I found out that I was being judged over HUMAN WISDOM I decided to find out how God felt about my life at that time. I found out I needed to be born again and WHY I needed to be born again.
Here we will see how the early Christian handled what has become what we call church today. I was amazed to find out they actually went to live in caves away from the false Christianity.
Pagan Christianity
Upon the death of Galerius, a struggle for Imperial power broke out. In the spring of 312 Constantine (picture) advanced across the Alps to dislodge his rival Maxentius from Italy and to capture Rome. When he confronted the militarily superior Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge just outside of Rome, he called upon the God of the Christians for help. In a dream he saw a cross in the sky and the words, “in this sign conquer”. This convinced him to advance, and looked upon his success as proof of the superiority of the Christian religion. The rise of Constantine as the result of his victory at Milvian Bridge in 312AD initiated the subsequent ‘Constantinian Revolution’.
After Constantine’s victory, Christianity moved swiftly from the seclusion of the Catacombs to the prestige of affluence. In 313AD, Emperor Constantine (picture), ruling from Byzantium (now renamed Constantinople), issued the Edict of Milan, granting Christians total freedom. From here they were allowed to again meet freely for worship and openly propagate their faith. Constantine found Christians to be peaceful by nature and thought the best way to minimize any up-rising was to make his entire empire, peacefully Christian.Accordingly, he propagated the faith and supplied priests and buildings (just as the custom had been previously for imperially favored pagan religions).Constantine also abolished death by crucifixion, the battles of gladiators, and made Sunday a public holiday. However, his alleged conversion may have been no more than a cleaver political move. Catholic historian Philip Hughes writes “In his manners, he (Constantine) remained very much the pagan of his early life. His furious tempers, the cruelty which spared not his wife neither his son, Crispus, a nephew, and a brother in-law (all who threatened his throne) are … an unpleasing witness to the imperfection of his conversion”.
Chistianisation of the Roman Empire saw the beginning of Imperial interference. For example, magnificent Church buildings arose which, until this time, was foreign to the Church. Favored bishops began to adorn themselves and reign like kings, and politics entered the fold. People still half rooted in paganism, and the politically ambitious massed to the official religion which posed a new challenge for Orthodox Christianity.
Monks rose to protest the secularization. The “called out assembly” came under a under a new threat which raised the question of whether Constantine’s Christianisation of the Empire was a good thing for Orthodox Christianity or not, despite the relaxing of persecution.
Many believers protested the changes claiming the world had invaded the vineyard. Some believers withdrew and began to serve God in caves in the wilderness, so not to be ‘spotted by the elements of the contemporary faith’. They became known as hermits.
Hermits attracted great admiration and followings, much to the displeasure of the hermits themselves. One such man, Simeon Stylites, disliked the disturbance of visitors to his cave so much that he made his home on the top of a high Roman pillar. His fellow Christians faithfully passed him food and water in a basket. It is said he lived there for 30 years secluded in prayer, and at times preached powerfully to the crowds below.
By 380AD, Imperial rewards for Christians expanded to ‘penalties for non-Christians’ when Emperor Theodosius made belief in Christianity an Imperial command.
Theodosius assumed that his own will was that of Gods. However when he demanded the slaughter of 7000 Thessalonians for killing the governor, who had jailed their triumphant homosexual charioteer, he was called to repentance by Bishop Ambrose who refused him communion until he had repented several times (the dogma of the sacrament of Communion was accepted as the divine provision of receiving grace).
This event marked the beginning of a 1500-year clash between the Church and Imperial authorities.
Persecution of true believers, in the West particularly, for the next 1300 years or so was regularly ministered by the arm of the Roman Catholic Church toward any subject who refused to recant and submit to its dogmas and beliefs. Papal figures were determined not only to enforce their rule over Imperial authorities, but over any person in contempt of its ruling dogma.
The “faith” of the empire was seen as a necessary framework for a stable and God-pleasing society. Any person or sect that threatened this was quickly dealt to, usually with the support of society itself.
However, this ethos developed to excessive measures, during the Dark Ages, when Augustine’s edict of “the use of necessary force” was enforced mercilessly. Augustine founded the heavy-handed edict against the Donatists when he wrote: “Why should not the Church use force in compelling her lost sons to return, if the lost sons compelled others to their destruction? (The Correction of the Donatists, 22–24)
Christian believers were among those persecuted when; in 1095 Pope Urban II initiated the Crusades, which lasted for two centuries. Thousands of knights were sent to ‘serve justice’ in the name of the Roman Catholic Church whereupon they killed Muslims, Jews and Christians. They sawed open dead bodies in search for the gold that Muslims were rumored to have swallowed, ate the flesh, tortured, raped, sent children into slavery, and plundered, all with the assurance from Rome of automatic pardon for sins in the form of an “Indulgence”.
The Crusades left in their wake a legacy of extreme anti-Semitism, which blighted the Crusader Church. Unfortunately, the reproach has remained visceral in today’s Jewry psyche toward the Christian Church ever since.
After the first two Crusades the Roman Catholic Church, with the authoritative blessing of the Papacy, was determined to enforce what it insisted the people were to believe.
Just prior to the third Crusade of 1188, Pope Lucius III in 1184 initiated the idea of an Inquisition when he demanded his bishops “enquire” into the people’s beliefs. Anyone found to have heretical ideas, were immediately excommunicated and often handed over to secular authorities to be burnt by fire. Many true believers suffered a cruel death.
Soon after, the Fourth Lateran Council of 1215 saw Pope Innocent III provide formal provision for “State punishment of heretics”. In 1220 he took the Inquisition from the hands of the bishops and gave it to the Dominicans. 1233 saw Gregory IX affirm the Dominican role and demanded it be executed in the name of the pope. The inquisitor was subject to no law, only to that of the pope. They became judge, jury and executioner. The Dominicans became the main enforcers during the Inquisition.
In 1252 Pope Innocent IV expanded the enquiry, and created a new theology when he authorized “torture unto death to expel demons, so the heretic could die in blessedness”.
As many as 700,000 people were murdered over a 100 year period.
The first ‘Empire-wide’ persecution was under Domitian (Emperor 81-96AD).
He was the younger brother of General Titus who sacked Jerusalem in 70AD.
Domitian (picture) was naturally inclined to cruelty, which was illustrated when he slew his brother. It is said that his nephew Flavius Clemens also suffered the same fate.
Both Jews and Christians refused to give homage to the godhead of Domitian, or offer sacrifice before the image, therefore he executed them.
He enforced persecution, on this basis, adding “That no Christian, once brought before the tribunal, would be exempted from punishment without renouncing his religion.” If famine, pestilence, or earthquakes afflicted any of the Roman provinces, the Christians bore his fury.
Domitian also sought to remove the entire lineage of the Jewish King David. He knew of the rumor that a king from the line of David would one day sit in his stead. So like Herod, because of this perceived threat, he sought out and murdered any citizen known to have proceeded from David’s genealogy.
The Apostle John was exiled to Patmos about this time.
Domitian killed anyone he took objection to. For example, he killed his secretary Epaphroditus because he believed, 27 years prior, Epaphroditus had supposedly helped Nero commit suicide.
He also put to death some of his Roman senators, either through malice or to confiscate their estates. As a result, some remaining servants, made alliance with the Emperor’s wife Domitia and conspired to kill him. It is recorded that Domitia’s servant struck the first blow before the others joined in, and Domitian met his death.
When the news reached the Senators, they tore down all the images of Domitian in their chambers, and ordered all statues of him, and all inscriptions mentioning his name, to be destroyed throughout the empire. He was denied his state funeral.
By 112AD things went from bad to worse when persistence in Christianity alone became a capital offence. Christians had no option but to met for worship in Catacombs – 600 miles of underground mole-like tunnels where they buried their dead (no land was given to Christians for burial).
Ten generations were buried in the catacombs. Archaeologists later found many inscriptions of Scripture including “the word of God is not bound”.
At Lyons, in 177AD, during the fifth of the ten Roman Persecutions, those who had been scourged, branded, and exposed to wild beasts, chose to humbly disown the name ‘martyr’, preferring to confine that exalted title to Christ, saying of themselves: “we are but mean and lowly confessors”. The word martyr implied they were “a true witness of Jesus in word and deed”, to which they dared not claim.
In 249AD Emperor Decius (picture) Emperor 201-251, made Caesar worship universal and compulsory for every race and nation within the empire for two reasons.
1. Many of the pagan temples were being emptied due to Christian converts.
2. A test of political loyalty, and sign of good citizenship.
When an another outbreak of the Antonine plague of 165AD, emerged in 251 (called the Cyprian Plague after the bishop of Carthage), Decius had another bow to his armor to enforce full allegiance because any plague was believed to have been the result of someone, or some group, upsetting the Roman gods.
At its height between 251 and 266 the plague was said to be taking up to 5,000 lives a day in Rome. Just as the Jews were to later suffer the blame in the 14th century for the Black Death, here the Christians received the wrath of the empire for the Cyprian Plague.
Tertullian wrote: “If the Tiber reaches the walls, if the Nile does not rise to the fields, If the sky doesn’t move or if the earth does, if there is famine if there is plague, the cry is at once: “The Christians to the Lions”.
The anti-Christian legislation of Decius was more far-reaching in its effects than any previous persecution. The texts of his edicts have not survived however evidence of their brutal execution does. The object of the emperor was not the extermination of Christians necessarily, but the complete extinction of any religion that would not sacrifice to the emperor’s image (the symbol of the goddess Roma).
Many bishops, including Fabian (bishop of Rome) and the bishops of Alexandria, Antioch and Jerusalem, were martyred as well as many of Decius’s own guards. Theologians Origen and Cyprian were persecuted, however were not killed.
On the other hand, those who were willing to recant from “the Christian sect” were to prove their allegiance by offering oblation to idols whereupon they would receive a document (libellus) authenticating their renunciation. Historian H Chadwick states: “the number of apostates especially among property owners was immense”.
When Decius perished in a marshland during a war with the Goths in 251, the persecution ceased.
Almost immediately, the question of readmittance to the Church for the many scores of people who had committed ‘apostasy’ was fiercely debated. “What should be done with professing Christians who had denied their faith to escape persecution?” In contrast, the awe of those faithfully martyred, tortured or sent into exile was enormous.
Subsequently, policies of “re-admittance subject to penance”, and the use of the ‘treasury of grace’ obtained by the martyred, were conceived and discussed for the first time – although not formalized until Augustine’s influence in the fifth century.
One of the worst persecutions came during the reign of Diocletian (picture) 284-305AD, the emperor who had just subdued the long-standing enemy of Persia. During the greater portion of Diocletian’s reign, perhaps as a result of him having a Christian wife, the Christians enjoyed peace and prosperity. In fact, Eusebius (historian) who lived at this time wrote “the glory and the liberty with which the doctrine of piety was honored”, and that “many were flocking to the Church”.
Diocletian inaugurated a Caesar to rule the Eastern Roman empire by the name of Galerius. It was under the influence of Galerius the last of the Early Church persecutions began. In 302 he attempted to purge the empire of all Church buildings, all scripture and Christian literature. Further edicts of 303 and 304 inflicted torture and banishment upon Christians if they would not offer sacrifice. The cruelty with which these edicts were enforced, and the vast numbers of those who suffered for their faith was testified by Eusebius. Galerius went as far as massacring an entire population of a town who professed to be Christian. Many historians believe the Diocletian/Galerian persecution was the most severe of the ten Roman persecutions recorded.
After seven years of prescribing persecution, and nearing his death having failed in his pursuit of ridding the empire of Christian influence, Galerius, issued the Edict of Toleration on 30 April 311 commanding that Christians be tolerated.
This officially ended the period of Early Church persecution.
The TEN major persecutions under Roman rule are identified with the following Emperors:
I started doing a nice study of early Christian history and wanted to share this information with more people. It is amazing to know how the church developed into the condition it is today.
Now this is all information from encyclopedias and reliable websites (copy and pasted). I just made sure they correlated with other sources. Just thought I’d share with the body.
Remember this is not a surprise because we were told this would happen.
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The Rise of Christian Persecution
2 Tim 3:12 … yea and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.
The first persecution relating directly to the person of Jesus Christ was when Herod (the Great) 37-4BC, demanded the slaughter of children younger than two years of age in an attempt to annihilate the predicted new king. This identified the threat that the promised Messiah posed to all existing emperors; that is, the threat of loosing their rule. This wasn’t exclusive only to Jesus, in fact throughout the entire first century anyone, who was of the seed of David or of his generational line, risked being sought out and killed. Emperor Domitian just prior to his death in 96AD was particularly active in this pursuit.
During the Apostolic Age, persecution came primarily from the Jews, and especially from the religious fraternity of the Pharisees and the Saducees. The preaching of a crucified Messiah, whose death was directly blamed on the Judaic spiritual leadership, was highly provocative.
It was Stephens’ preaching of this fact, as he outlined the transition and fulfillment of the law in Christ, that led to his martyrdom in the presence of Saul. Saul (later named Paul) was a Pharisee active in delivering up Christians to persecution until a supernatural encounter with Christ himself on the road to Damascus perpetrated his repentance, conversion, and subsequent apostolic ministry to the Gentles.
Persecution of Christians in large numbers soon came from Rome, and for the following reasons.
1. Imperial authorities were generally tolerant of other religions providing they gave homage to the Emperor. Like the Jews, Christians would not bow, which infuriated Rome’s tolerance. Rome guarded against other sects joining Judaism in challenging the Emperors divine authority in this manner.
2. Christians were different. Tertullian was quoted in his apology “we have a reputation of living aloof from crowds”. The Christian unworldly ethic in itself was a criticism of pagan beliefs.
3. Christians were scandalously slandered because of their alleged ‘secrecy and mistrust’, including allegations of cannibalism and sexual orgies. The rumor of cannibalism came as a result of the hearing of Christians “eating and drinking of the [Lords] body”. Pliny (the elder) authorized the killing of Christians as a result of this particular rumor, accusing them of being “enemies of the human race”.
4. The Christians were accused of atheism because of their rejection of the Roman gods, and of having a “conflicting pernicious superstition”.
5. The most significant development, however, was their refusal to “worship” the emperor. The emperor was held as the symbol of the Roman goddess Roma – the spirit of Rome, to whom the grandeur of the empire was indebted, and unto whom, all were to offer sacrifice.
All the above reasons, to one degree or another, contributed to set the Roman Empire at variance against the Christian faith.
The first ‘National’ persecution was under Emperor Nero (15-68AD).
Tertullian (early Latin theologian) wrote, “Nero was the first to rage with Caesar’s sword against this sect,”
Nero (picture) was fair-haired, blue eyed, plump, with a body covered with spots. He usually appeared in public wearing a dressing gown without a belt, a scarf around his neck and no shoes.
In character he was said to have been a strange mix of paradoxes; artistic, sporting; brutal, weak; erratic, sadistic, and bisexual, – and later in life almost certainly deranged.
The fire of Rome in July, 64AD ravaged Rome for six days. Tacitus (early Roman historian) reported that “of the fourteen districts of the city, four were undamaged, three were utterly destroyed and in the other seven there remained only a few mangled and half-burnt traces of houses”.
Nero’s indifference to the suffering caused by the tragedy stirred resentment among the people, and soon rumors spread that he himself set the fire in order to rebuild the city based on his pre-drawn plans.
Nero, always seeking to be popular, therefore looked for scapegoats on whom the fire could be blamed. He found it in the relatively new religious sect, the Christians.
Tacitus again wrote, “First, Nero had some of the members of this sect arrested. Then, on their information, large numbers were condemned not so much for arson, but for their hatred of the human race. Their deaths were made a farce.”
Many Christians were crucified, or thrown to dogs and wild beasts with carcasses tied to them. Others were burned to death at night, serving as ‘lighting’ in Nero’s gardens (picture), while Nero mingled among the watching crowds. We know that the Apostles Peter and Paul suffered martyrdom at this time.
We have to start reading the word of God for ourselves as the holy spirit teaches. We will find that many of the traditions we have been taught are actually manipulations that were installed over time. Many preachers teach the tithing doctrine with good intentions. They truly believe that is what God wants; but is that what scripture says?
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Check this beautiful article by Van Robison out!
Many churches teach that tithing 10% of one’s income to the church is a part of obedience to God and a requirement in the New Testament, as well as the Old Testament. They love to quote Malachi 3:8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed me, but you say, wherein have we robbed you? In tithes and offerings.” The truth is that when anyone does an in-depth study of the tithing issue, it will be found that the concept of “tithing” is very misunderstood, even from an Old Testament perspective. Many different authors have presented in-depth studies on tithing, covering all the issues in both the Old and New Testaments. While preachers love to make Christians think that “tithing” represents 10% of one’s “income”, it is easy to prove that in fact, tithes in the Old Testament involved several tithes, used for different purposes and that tithing is not at all what Christians have been led to believe.
Since there is more than one tithe spoken of in the Old Testament, for those who have never researched and studied this hot topic, it may come as a surprise to read this: Deuteronomy 14:
* Verse 22: “You shall truly TITHE all the increase of your SEED, THAT THE FIELD BRINGS FORTH year by year.”
* Verse 23: “And YOU SHALL EAT before the Lord your God, in the place which he shall choose to place his name there, THE TITHE OF YOUR CORN, of YOUR WINE, and of YOUR OIL, and the FIRSTLINGS OF YOUR HERDS and of YOUR FLOCKS; that you may learn to fear the Lord your God always.”
* Verse 24: “And if the way be too long for you, so that you are not able to carry it; or if the place be too far from you, which the Lord your God shall choose to set his name there, when the Lord your God has blessed you.”
* Verse 25: “Then you shall turn it (note: “it” refers to the tithe of the corn, the wine, the oil, the firstlings of the herds and flocks) into money, and bind up the money in your hand, and shall go unto the place which the Lord your God shall choose.
* Verse 26: “And YOU shall bestow that money FOR WHATSOEVER YOUR SOUL LUSTETH (King James Version) after, for oxen, or for sheep, or for wine, or for strong drink, or for whatsoever your soul desires: and you shall eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you and your household.”
Do these verses not tell us, that this particular “tithe” was not money, but rather it was the “tithe” of corn, wine, oil, firstlings of the herd and flock? And was not this “tithe” used to EAT before the Lord and to be consumed by the individual and his family? Some sources believe there were three different tithes in the Old Testament. Some even say four tithes. Have you ever heard a preacher tell you that God in the Old Testament, told the Israelites to EAT (Deuteronomy 14:23) their tithes?
Jesus had this to say about tithes in Luke 11:42: “But woe unto you, Pharisees for YOU TITHE MINT and RUE and all manner of HERBS, and pass over judgment and the love of God: these ought you to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” If tithes were paid on herbs, I suppose you would have to ask the question “Did everyone grow herbs?” What about carpenters, did they pay tithes on their lumber? What about iron workers, did they tithe on iron? What about tentmakers, did they pay tithes on their tents? Even in the Old Testament, tithes involved only certain items such as herbs and firstlings of the herds, but on many other things in life, there was no such thing as “tithes”.
Another verse in the Old Testament that proves that “tithes” was something very different than what we have been led to believe by pastors and preachers of churches today, is Deuteronomy 26:12: “When you hast made an end of tithing all the tithes of your increase THE THIRD YEAR, WHICH IS THE YEAR OF TITHING, and HAVE GIVEN IT UNTO the Levite, THE STRANGER, THE FATHERLESS, and THE WIDOW, that they may eat within your gates, and be filled.” Ever hear of giving “tithes” to strangers, the fatherless and the widows? Ever hear about the “third year, the year of tithing?” Probably not and that is because the preachers don’t know the truth about tithing themselves.
A very good book that deals with the New Testament truth on tithing is: Tithing: Low-Realm, Obsolete & Defunct by Matthew E. Narramore (Copyright 2004) and can be read FREE on the Internet. It can also be purchased from the author at his website, or from Barnes & Noble, Amazon, Seed Sowers Christian Books Publishing, and from other book sources. Countless full length and in depth articles on the tithing issue inundate the Internet and can be easily located. Other authors have also published full length books on this important topic. However, if you happen to stumble across a “tithing” book by a prosperity gospel preacher, chances are you will not learn the truth about the false tithing doctrine.
Tithing and money are a constant source of spiritual abuse in the church world and basically for the reason that churchianity today insists on functioning as a business enterprise. Tithing is not only greatly misunderstood, it also causes great false fear in the lives of many.
Here is a quote I took off the Internet about the Mormon Church and their tithing policy: “Tithing is an important test of our personal righteousness.” President Joseph F. Smith (1838-1918) said “By this principle it shall be known who is for the Kingdom of God and who is against it… By it shall be known whether we are faithful or unfaithful” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 276.” Here are some astonishing notes from ex-Mormons about “tithing”. The Mormon Church is worth tens of billions of dollars as a result of tithing and from what I have read about the Mormon Church, they do not disclose how the money is spent.
Tithing is one of the great false teachings in the world of churchianity, and money is one of the false god’s of the church world.
Praise Jesus!
Please read this related post that will give you a more historical understanding of the tithe. (Biblical history not worldly history)
So this is a great article that I read which absolutely is IN LINE with scripture. Everyone is fighting about what the sabbath is. Is it Saturday or Sunday? Must I go to “church” on the sabbath? What does it mean to rest? I didn’t have to add my many words to this because this teaches wonderfully, I just added some imagery since so many of you guys seem to like them. He did not hold on to ONE scripture to support it but he used them all to work together. The Holy Spirit at work. Great Job by Mr. Meyer.
This tract is being written because we as Christians are living in a very peculiar time. In these last days prior to the return of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, there is such confusion among so many well meaning and Christian-minded people, and one great point of confusion and contention is regarding the Sabbath.
I have personally been confronted by people who condemned me and my ministry because I did not keep the Sabbath the way they were trying to keep it. There is extremism in any belief system, and that extremism occurs when proponents of a belief system do not accept the whole council of God. In this tract, we will look at the whole council of God on the subject of the Sabbath, which will bring forth a clear understanding of what it is and how it must be kept.
We will now go back to the origin of the Sabbath at the time of the creation as told at the beginning of the book of Genesis. In Genesis 2:1-3 we read, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.”
One thing that should be immediately noticed is that all of the preceding six days end with the following words, “And the evening and the morning were the (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, or 6th) day.” We do not find these words of finality or summation ending the seventh day, because in a perfect world, everyday thereafter would be a condition of Sabbath or rest and repose. That day was open-ended! Only sin could take away that condition of Sabbath or rest that was meant for everyday, and sadly, that is exactly what happened. Later, we will see how our Lord Jesus restored the perpetual and continual Sabbath to our souls.
The first time we see the word “Sabbath” is in the book of Exodus, and in Exodus 20:8-11, we find that it is given as one of the Ten Commandments as follows: “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.”
One primary point that must be noted regarding the Sabbath commandment is that it has nothing to do with going to “church“! It has only to do with the cessation from work. Nothing more and nothing less. Sinful man was ordered to do nothing on the seventh day. Thus, one day each week he would not be out there committing sin after sin after sin. It was a “do nothing” day, established as such until the Savior would come to give us victory over sin every day of the week and establish rest for our souls by his spirit dwelling within. This could be made possible only through a New Covenant established by the blood of the Lamb of God!
The Old Testament is replete with examples of Sabbath commandments, but in every example, it is under the Old Covenant of a single day of rest, which by the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has given way to a Sabbath, where every day is one where we cease from our old works. The Old Covenant, according to Hebrews 8:13, is no more! It reads as follows: “In that he saith, a New Covenant, he hath made the first old. Now that which decayeth and waxeth old is ready to vanish away.”
In Galatians 3:24-25, we are exhorted “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are NO LONGER UNDER THE SCHOOLMASTER.” Thus, the law could lead us to Christ but no further! Those who think that they are keeping the Sabbath as a day must remember that James 2:10 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.” The only one who has ever kept the Sabbath perfectly is Jesus Christ. Man cannot do what He did in keeping the law. The Lord Jesus took the law to Calvary as well as the sin of the world. It was there that the law and all transgressions met, and He bore the sin of many. See Isaiah 53.
Is there a Sabbath after Calvary? Yes! Hebrews 4:9-10 says, “There remaineth therefore a rest to the people of God. For he that is entered into his rest, he also hath ceased from his own works, as God did from his.” There are two words not found in those verses, “Sabbath” and “day.” It is becauseour rest is no longer a calendar day each week, but every day, which includes the seventh, and thus we keep the Sabbath by living a godly and blood-washed life every day. For we have ceased from our old works. Some people who haven’t come to an understanding of what covenant they are under will point out that Paul often went into the synagogues on the Sabbath. If we look at those incidents, however, we see that it was to bring those who hear out of the synagogue and that system of death. Here is what Paul the Apostle said about the seventh day as found in Romans 14:5-6: “One man esteemeth one day above another, another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord, and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it.”
We know that the Sabbath law is fulfilled in Jesus Christ and He abides within us. The seventh day Sabbath was not eliminated but fulfilled, and our Savior added six more days to that rest and gave us the timelessness of eternal life. Thus, the seventh day is kept holy with all the other days. We can worship our Lord any day and every day. We know that Sunday or Saturday is not the Sabbath but rather one of seven days, any of which can be used for worship. Acts 20:7 says, “And upon the FIRST day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.”
It is my humble prayer that all who read this will realize the joy of keeping all seven days of the week holy and thus fulfill the sacred commandment; for it is not our works but the finished work of Christ that has established the eternal timeless Sabbath of the New Covenant by the power of His blood.
Comments will be limited due to the contentious that develops from this subject. Too much legalism that do not understand the fulfillment of the law. Not everyone will be able to understand all TRUTHS but Praise God that he never wanted us to know everything to be in His Kingdom.
I often speak about the false traditions that entered the church of God and I was surprised at first to see how many did not care what the word of God says. Now I do understand it more because the sinful nature is absolutely more fun to us humans. When I talk about tithing through scripture and how our Christian version of it is NOT biblical, I can now understand how some can say I agree but it still works. It does bring in money for our building funds, to pay the ministers so it clearly works. There is a famous saying in today’s church world, which ‘is that “Church is a business”. This is absolutely a fallacy and it shows that we don’t understand the difference between the kingdom of Mammon and the Kingdom of God. In my last post I showed through scripture that they are supposed to be completely different, opposite. We have created a business called church which relates to Babylon described in Revelations. (I will touch on that later)
What I have noticed in today’s version of church is how compromising we have become. Not only compromising but we actually get inspired by the world to do things like them but place Jesus name in it to make it be considered God’s Will. The style of music, the business we created. The reasons so many Christians desire to be musicians today, is it really because doing the will of God, or is it something else?
Honestly, what I have witness is that in their mindsets it is a bit of both. While they feel they are in it to only please God, getting a huge check each time you do it is absolutely something they enjoy as well; though most will not openly speak about it. It stems from the system we created in the church world today. Instead of treating everyone equal as brothers and sisters, we created a value system on different placements in the church. Pastors/Elders, Musicians (mostly singers), and prophets are usually highly esteemed which as a result most people desire to be in those placements. We love what those placements can do for us, the money they bring in and being seen as having a more intense relationship with Christ. Since there are only 3 placements millions of people desire, it creates competition. Only so many can do the same thing.
Matt 23 8“But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth ‘father,’ for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.
My reason for this post is because I am ashamed by what is taking place in the “Church World”. Notice I keep saying Church and World together. This is because that is exactly what it is. It’s a church that is one with the world. We have TV shows like American Idol out there which is all good being that it is the world doing it. What do you think happens now? That’s right, the Church world liked what they seen and adopted an idea for a show exactly like American Idol. The show is called SUNDAY BEST, where “Christians” are judged by men on how great they sing for God. People get voted off each week because they just were not good enough in mans eyes to sing for God in the business world of Church. Is this what Jesus wanted for his church? Is this the perfect bride that he is creating? Where we judge one another based on their skills and talents; where Christians are hurt and discriminated on based on those very same skills and talents. Would Jesus be sitting in the front row of the studio while Sunday Best is taping? Is he is the room? Just because you sing a sing for God does not mean God is in the room. My friend Vanessa reminded me when we use to fellowship with Mr. Donnie McClurkin, who use to preach how we should not be watching these type of shows. How God does not want us competing against one another. Unfortunately he is now on the show as a judge. No judgement toward him on my part but I’m sure you see how it appears.
Was the early Christians way of doing things not good enough for us? They served one another and did not compete against one another. Acts 4:34 Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, 35 And laid them down at the Apostles’ feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need.”
Matt 6 1“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.
So brothers and sisters, I want you to really test yourself. Ask yourself are the things you take part in, really God’s will for us. Just because the name God is it God’s will? I see Christians loving these type of things in the body but I also see those who say they follow the Most High God following things that aren’t God’s Will. Which one are you?
Rev 18 Heshouted with a powerful voice: “Fallen, fallen, is Babylon the great! Shehas become a lair for demons, a hauntfor every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detested beast.
Matt 6
2 “When you give to the poor, don’t be like the hypocrites. They blow trumpets in the synagogues and on the streets so that people will see them and honor them. I tell you the truth, those hypocrites already have their full reward.
5 …They love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners and pray so people will see them. I tell you the truth, they already have their full reward.
Tonight I had a long road trip back to NY from visiting my best friend…my brother in Christ. One of the things I love about driving is listening to the word of God via one of my apps on my phone. (Cross Connect) I listened to Acts and began to realize even more, the differences of the CHURCH in the early church compared to today’s version of church. The gathering, the assembling and the prayer services were so different from what we are used to today. They really took care of one another and yes there were problems that occurred in those days as well; with man there will always be problems but the difference is very relevant. I myself as most of you know have been in the institutionalized church for pretty much my entire life. I got really deep into “churching” in my mid teens to my early 20′s.
Well the thing I noticed is how much todays version of church is pretty much a good show; concert like. We are told to go to a building, sit as in a concert like setting (more value in the seats closer to the stage) and watch the show until it is over. Know when to clap, know when to stand, know when to laugh, know when to leave. I remember when I was a praise team singer singing for about 3 – 4 hours entertaining the crowd until the leader made his way in the arena onto the stage (church building onto the pulpit) Sometimes we would continue to sing for hours after the leader came to have more fun. The people would cheer and clap after every song and some of them would worship Christ as we had to cheer them on to do so. They reacted the same way with the leader was preaching… cheering after every word the man spoke (I was guilty myself), but not often would you hear ONLY the preacher speaking showing that people were listening and gaining information. It basically sounded more like everyone already knew what the man was preaching being that they were YESSING and CHEERING after every sentence. Sometimes if they are too quiet they get enticed to cheer again, “I DON’T HEAR YOU SOMEBODY” or “WHERE YOU AT CHURCH” are some of the things a preacher would say when the audience appeared to be low on energy with their responses to what was being said.
Positioned on the stage every Sunday I was able to see all of the faces and often put on a more energetic performance when I saw faces weren’t so pleasant. We were often told during rehearsal to make sure we smile with passion and be energetic because we are leading the people into worship. I have sang background for unbelievers and during rehearsal they would say be passionate and energetic because the people are responding you. When the show was over the leaders would go back to their waiting rooms or sit in their beautifully crafted chairs, the praise team singers would walk off the stage and hear responses like, “YOU GUYS WERE GREAT” or “YOU GUYS REALLY BLESSED ME”. We would respond as humble as we could to make it not about us. The singers would often get offers from people waiting for us to leave the stage from people who wanted to be on the praise team, people who wanted contacts that had nice vocals, worked in studios, wanted information on the preacher or just people who like singing friends in their circle. I always ignored these similarities but the more I read the word of God, I’m able to realize that the Kingdom of God is supposed to be contrary to the ways of Mammon (the world); yet they appear to be so similar. The Church I read about in the “Book of Acts” absolutely looks contrary to the ways of Mammon. Every concert I have been to whether Christian or not had the same or very similar formulas.
The point is not that shows are bad… I enjoy a good show… I enjoyed going to “church” for the show when I was apart of it and when I just watched it, the problem is that the Church is not supposed to equate a show – its suppose to equate the Bride of Christ.
John 18: 36Jesus said, “My kingdom is NOT of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.”
Matt 6:24 “No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
Matt 23 (Jesus is talking to the crowd about the teachers and Pharisees which can correlate todays preachers and pastors) 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’
So there is a lot of confusion over the question of whether someone can be born gay or not. Most Christians will say NO, you cannot be born gay because they feel it makes God appear as imperfect and capable of mistakes; knowing that men with woman is the blueprint God set for us. On the other spectrum we have those who say YES you can and are born gay because of genetics and other human opinions. We have one side that wants to defend God and another that wants to defend men. Let us go into the word of God to find out exactly God’s truth of whether someone can be born with sin or not. Lets throw out our human opinions and stop trying to put our own conclusions on things so it makes sense to us. You may be surprised by the result!
What I have noticed in today’s version of church is how compromising we have become. Not only compromising but we actually get inspired by the world to do things like them but place Jesus name in it to make it be considered God’s Will. The style of music, the business we created. The reasons so many Christians desire to be musicians today, is it really because doing the will of God, or is it something else?
