3. A Church Is a Mystery, an Assembly, a Spiritual Body

January 1, 2018 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

A Publication of Simply Church Ministry

If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

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2. Christ Ordained the Church and Builds It upon the Rock

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Jerald Finney
Copyright © January 1, 2018

Note. For more on this, see Stewards of the Mystery of the Church Found Lacking, Except for a Remnant (033020)

Members of a New Testament Church under Christ alone are stewards of the mysteries of God; therefore, stewards of the mystery of the church. God requires that His stewards be found faithful. (1 Co. 4.1-2).

The institution of the New Testament church, made up of local assemblies, is a mystery hidden in past ages and, therefore, not revealed in the Old Testament; but now “made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ep. 3.5). A mystery in Scripture means that God is revealing something that, up to that time, he had not revealed. Such a mystery has two elements: (1) It cannot be discovered by human reason. (2) It is revealed at the proper time and not concealed; and enough is revealed to establish the fact without all the details being given. Believers in a local church may understand this mystery of Christ, when they read the words of God penned by the Apostle Paul (Ep. 3:4).

Just as the church in the wilderness was an assembly called out by God, an ecclesia (see Ac. 7.38), so a New Testament church is an assembly of called-out ones. Israel, in the wilderness, was a church or assembly, but in striking contrast with the New Testament assembly. Israel in the land is never called a church; they were not all assembled after they entered the land. Born-again believers are admonished not to forsake the assembling of themselves together, not to forsake the local church, the only assembly of believers on earth (He. 10.25).

That the Gentiles were to be saved was no mystery (Ro. 9.24-33; 10.19-21).[i] The mystery was the divine purpose to make of Jew and Gentile a wholly new thing—the church made up of local autonomous New Testament bodies in this age—and in which the earthly distinction of Jew and Gentile disappears. (Ep. 2.14, 15; Co. 3.10, 11). Jesus Christ established His local assembly while he walked as the God Man on earth and appointed His local assembly as executor of His Will or Testament. For more on this, see, e.g., The New Testament of Jesus Christ: His Executor Named and Empowered. The revelation of this mystery which was foretold but not explained by Christ (Mt. 16.18) was committed to Paul.

The institution of the New Testament church is solely made up of local spiritual bodies, made up of an assembly of believers (See, e.g., Ep. 4). Christ will gather all members of his earthly family together in a general or universal assembly in the heavenly Jerusalem (He. 12.22-24) at the marriage of the Lamb (Re. 19.7-10). Before that, there will be no universal assembly.

All Bible references to a church here on the earth refer to a local body of Jewish and/or Gentile believers and not to a universal or catholic church. Nowhere in the New Testament is a church here on the earth ever referred to as anything other than a local spiritual body and nowhere does Scripture teach that a church is to have any type authority above it other than the Lord Jesus Christ. Some examples of references to churches as they existed in the New Testament are listed and quoted in endnote [ii].

Adherents can do no more than quote Matthew 16.18, 1 Corinthians 12.12-13, or other verses taken misinterpreted and taken out of context in support of the universal church doctrine. 1 Corinthians was written to a local autonomous church, with principles to be applied by all churches. One must analyze the verse in context of all immediate verses as well as all New Testament doctrine to ascertain its meaning; such an examination gives absolutely no support to a universal church doctrine for this age. See [iii] for links to more resources, a webpage with teachings and links to more sermons, and an article on C. I. Schofield’s “True Church” doctrine.

In his seven letters to seven local autonomous Gentile churches (in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colosse, and Thessalonica), the church, the “mystery from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God,” (Ep. 3.9) is fully revealed, and fully instructed as to her unique place in the counsels and purposes of God. Through Paul alone, we know that a church is not an organization, but an organism instinct with His life, and heavenly in calling promise and destiny. Through him alone, we know the nature, purpose, and form of organization of local churches, the right conduct of such assemblies, and the commandments for the earthly walk of the members.

A church is a spiritual body made up individual believing members (Ep. 4, 1 Co. 12). Each member is indwelt by the Holy Spirit and has a proper place in the local body. Christ sets some in the body as apostles,[iv] prophets,[v] evangelists, pastors, and teachers; “For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ep. 4.12). The members of the local body are to speak the truth in love, that they “may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Ep. 4.15-16).

Click here to go to Bible Study of Ephesians. Ephesians reveals the local church as God’s masterpiece. It is more wonderful that any temple made with hands, constructed of living stones, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1 presents the local church as a body.

Articles, Essays, and Other Resources Related to the Doctrine of the Church, Incorporation, 501c3, Etc.

The Local Church: A Building or What?

Bible Studies of various Books on the Doctrine of the Church.

The Biblical Doctrine of the Church

Endnotes

[i] A mystery in Scripture is a previously hidden truth, now divinely revealed, but in which a supernatural element still remains despite the revelation.

[ii] New Testament verses:

“Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied” (Ac. 9.31).
Paul said, “Likewise greet the church that is in their house. (Ro. 16.5)” Notice that the church refers to the local body of baptized believers. The house was just the place where they met; it was not a church.
Paul wrote to the church in Corinth, “Paul … Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both their’s and our’s” (1 Co. 1.1-2).
“If therefore the whole church be come together into one place….” (1 Co. 14.23).
“The churches [Not “the church of Asia”] of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house” (1 Co. 16.19).
“Paul … unto Philemon … and to the church in thy house” (Phil. 1-2).
“… [T]hat thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Ti. 3.15).
The Bible defines “house of God”: “For every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. And Moses verily was faithful in all his house; as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken of after; But Christ as a son over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and the rejoicing of the hope firm unto the end” (He. 3.4-6).
In Revelation, the Lord speaks to “the church of Ephesus” (Re. 2.1) “the church in Smyrna” (Re. 2.8), “the church in Pergamos” (Re. 2.12), “the church in Thyatira” (Re. 2.18), “the church in Sardis” (3.18), “the church in Philadelphia” (Re. 3.7), and “the church of the Laodiceans” (Re. 3.14).

[iii] Defining the word Church: Local, Visible, Institutional, never Universal; Origin of the Universal Church Exposed: Constantine, Augustine & Scofield; Rightly Dividing Baptisms: Is 1 Corinthians 12:13 Spirit baptism or water baptism?. For more in depth teachings and sermons on the church, go to the following webpage and scroll down: The Biblical Doctrine of the Church. See also, the article, Scofield’s headnote to “Ephesians” and margin notes on his false “true church” doctrine.

[iv] The word apostle, means “one sent forth,” and is is used of our Lord He. 3:1. Elsewhere it is used for the twelve who were called to that office by our Lord during His earth ministry; of Paul, called to the apostleship by the risen and ascended Lord, and of Barnabas Ac. 14:14 specially designated by the Holy Spirit Ac. 13:2. Of Matthias, chosen by lot by the eleven to take the place of Judas Iscariot, Ac .1:16-26: “And he was numbered with the eleven.” Ac. 1:26
The “signs” of an apostle were (1) They were chosen directly by the Lord Himself, or, as in the case of Barnabas, by the Holy Spirit (Mt. 10:1-2; Mk. 3:13-14; Lk. 6:13; Ac. 9:6; 13:2; 22:10,14-15; Ro. 1:1). (2) They were endued with sign gifts, miraculous powers which were the divine credentials of their office (Mt. 10:1; Ac 5:15; 16:16-18; Mt 28:8-9). (3) Their relation to the kingdom was that of heralds, announcing to Israel only Mt. 10:5-6 the kingdom as at hand and manifesting kingdom powers Mt. 10:7-8. (4) To one of them, Peter, the keys of the kingdom of heaven, viewed as the sphere of Christian profession, as in Mt. 13, were given Mt 16:19. (5) Their future relation to the king will be that of judges over the twelve tribes Mt 19:28. (6) Consequent upon the rejection of the kingdom, and the revelation of the mystery hid in God (Mt .16:18; Ep. 3:1-12), the Church, the apostolic office was invested with a new enduement, the baptism with the Holy Spirit Ac. 2:1-4; a new power, that of imparting the Spirit to Jewish-Christian believers; a new relation, that of foundation stones of the new temple (Ep. 2:20-22) and a new function, that of preaching the glad tidings of salvation through a crucified and risen Lord to Jew and Gentile alike. (7) The indispensable qualification of an apostle was that he should have been an eye-witness of the resurrection (Ac. 1:22; 1 Co. 9:1).

[v] The church was “built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone (Ep. 2.20). These “prophets” were New Testament prophets; to the Old Testament prophets, the church remained a mystery.

The mystery of the church, “Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit” (Ep. 3.5).
“To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded” (1 Pe. 2.4-6).

Written Lessons

2. Christ Ordained His Local Visible New Testament Churches and Builds Them upon the Rock

January 1, 2018 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

A Publication of Simply Church Ministry

If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

The Church’s One Foundation
Fountainview Academy

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1. Introduction

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3. A Church Is a Mystery, an Assembly, a Spiritual Body

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Jerald Finney
Copyright © January 1, 2018

Just as God ordained civil government, He also ordained His churches after the nation Israel rejected Him and the kingdom of heaven. Civil government, as we learned in earlier lessons was to secure a temporal earthly blessing for mankind. The power given by God to His churches on earth was to secure a spiritual good for their members.

When Christ asked His disciples whom they thought Him to be (Mt. 16.15, Mk. 8.29, Lu. 9.20), Peter answered, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God” (Mt. 16.16; see also, Mk. 8.29, Lu. 9.20). At that point, our Lord announced the out calling of the church when He said: “And I say also unto thee, [t]hat thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven” (Mt. 16.18-19).

The building of the institution of the New Testament church which is made up of local visible church bodies is on the rock of Peter’s confession, the Christ he confessed. Peter makes clear that the rock upon which the Lord will build the institution of the church is Christ Himself:

“To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner. And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed” (1 Pe. 2.4-9).

“This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner” (Ac. 4.11, part of Peter’s address to the Sanhedrin). From the context, it is obvious that Peter is speaking of the Lord as being the chief corner stone. Nowhere in the Bible is there any indication that Peter was the cornerstone of a universal visible or invisible church.

The words used also make clear that Christ was referring to Himself as the rock on which the church would be built. There is in the Greek [in Matthew 16.18] a play upon the words, “thou art Peter [petros—literally, ‘a little rock’], and upon this rock [Petra] I will build my church.” He does not promise to build His church upon Peter, but upon Himself, as Peter himself is careful to tell us (1 Pet. 2.4-9).

Jesus did not give Peter the keys—a key being a badge of power or authority (see, e.g., Is. 22.22 and Re. 3.7)—but to “the kingdom of heaven,” which in this age is represented by Christ’s local autonomous New Testament Churches and the individual believers therein who are to function as a spiritual body, each exercising his/her individual spiritual gifts. Peter assumed no other authority. In the council at Jerusalem as recorded in Acts 15, James seems to have presided. Peter claimed nothing more than to be an apostle by gift and an elder by office (See 1 Pe. 1.1 and 5.1). The power of binding and loosing was shared by the other apostles (See Mt. 18.18 and Jn. 20.23). Since only Christ held the keys of death and the place of departed spirits, this did not involve the determination of the eternal destiny of souls. “I [Jesus Christ] am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death” (Re. 1.18).

Isaac Backus, the great Baptist leader in New England, elaborated upon the faith confessed by Peter:

“This faith is the foundation of the church; against this faith the gates of hell shall not prevail; this faith hath the keys of the kingdom of heaven; what this faith shall loose or bind on earth, is bound and loosed in heaven…. Now it followeth, that whatsoever person hath received the same precious faith with Peter, as all the faithful have, 2 Pet. i. 1, that person hath a part in this gift of Christ. Whosoever doth confess, publish, manifest or make known Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, and Saviour of the world, that person opens heavens gates, looseth sin, and partakes with Peter in the use of the keys; and hereupon it followeth necessarily, that one faithful man, yea, or woman either, may loose and bind, both in heaven and earth, as all the ministers in the world” (Isaac Backus, A History of New England With Particular Reference to the Denomination of Christians called Baptists, Volume 1 (Eugene, Oregon: Wipf & Stock, Publishers, Previously published by Backus Historical Society, 1871), p. 12 quoting John Robinson, A Justification of Separation from the Church of England.).

Click here to go to Bible Study of Ephesians. Ephesians reveals the institution of the church as God’s masterpiece. It is more wonderful that any temple made with hands, constructed of living stones, indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1 presents the church as a body.

Articles, Essays, and Other Resources Related to the Doctrine of the Church, Incorporation, 501c3, Etc.

The Local Church: A Building or What?

Bible Studies of various Books on the Doctrine of the Church.

The Biblical Doctrine of the Church

Written Lessons

Links to Lessons on Satan

January 1, 2018 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

(1) Lucifer Becomes Satan, Deceives Mankind, and Continues To War Against God
(2) The Beast System and the Fate of the Beast
(3) Warfare with Satan: His Demons
(4) Satan’s Devises and the Believer’s Resources
(5) The Choice: God or Satan?

Click here to go links to all written lessons.
Click here to go to links to the 3 1/2 to 6 minute video lectures.
Click here to go to all lessons on the Bible Doctrine of Government.

Written Lessons

Bible Lessons on Israel

January 1, 2018 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

Click here to go to Bible Doctrine of Government.

Click the following links to go to the subdivisions on lessons on Israel.

(1) Israel, the only theocracy ordained by God
(2) Israel’s Performance, God’s Judgement, and a New Economy—God’s Grace
(3) God is the God of Israel

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Click here to go to all lessons on the Bible Doctrine of Government.

Written Lessons

d. Civil government

January 1, 2018 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

Click the following links to go to the subdivisions on lessons on Civil Government:

(1) The Ordination and Purpose of Civil government
(2) The Purpose of Gentile Civil Government
(3) Civil Government Failure and God’s Judgment of Nations
(4) God Desires that Gentile Nations Glorify Him

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Click here to go to all lessons on the Bible Doctrine of Government.

Written Lessons

1. Introduction to New Testament Church Doctrine

January 1, 2018 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

A Publication of Simply Church Ministry

If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

Previous Chapter:
A. Bible Doctrine of Government

Next Lesson:
2. Christ Ordained the Church and Builds It upon the Rock

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Jerald Finney
Copyright © January 1, 2018

These short lessons on Bible Church Doctrine reveal the truth about Christ’s true church and churches and in the process of doing so shatter myths fostered by religio-political lawyers, pastors, establishments, politicians, and theologians. “The house of God, which is the church of the living God,” is to be “the pillar and ground of the truth,” and not a bastion of the lies of Satan.[i]

Untold damage to the cause of Christ has been caused by unbridled allegorization or spiritualization of Scripture by Catholics and Protestants. Some of those religions, due to their heinous theologies (false interpretations of Scripture) have, since the early fourth century:

prostituted religion by joining hands with the state and continuing to call the resultant religious organizations “churches;”
violently persecuted and murdered others, including true believers who stood on God’s Word in spite of persecutions and martyrdom, down through the last 2,000 years;
lied about the history of true believers and churches whom they tried to stamp out and obliterate using every conceivable means, including barbaric torture, murders of horrific proportions, imprisonment, conficscation of property, and banishment.
destroyed or confiscated and held the writings and documents of those persecuted ones in their libraries;
continued their tactics as far as possible, absent the persecutions, against God’s true churches.

Satan and his demons never give up. They continue to attack on all fronts. Because of great religious victories by true believers in America, the efforts of true believers and churches can no longer be thwarted by the atrocious persecutions of the past. The First Amendment to the United States Constitution and corresponding provisions in the constitutions of every state protect freedom of religion, conscious, press, association, and speech from persecution.[ii].

Of course, the states offer churches a choice between spiritual fornication or establishment (combining with the state through incorporation or some other means) or remaining under Christ alone. Sadly, since 1954, without opposition from God’s churches and people, the federal government circumvented the First Amendment freedom from establishment by offering churches 501(c)(3) “tax exemption” which comes with five agreed to rules and a host of regulations which entwine a church with federal government red tape, regulations, and constraints. Most churches again chose to betray Christ and commit spiritual fornication with both the state and the federal government. These matters are explained in detail in resources on this Simply Church Ministry website.

Satan never ceases to fight on all fronts. He unceasingly uses any and all tactics to hide the truth about establishmentarian[iii] theology, history, persecution, and goals.[iv] Perhaps Satan’s greatest tool of warfare is lies, as always. He keeps people in the dark through lies. Most of mankind hate the light (truth, Jesus Christ[v]) and come not to the truth lies because their deeds are evil. Sadly, most churches follow Satan’s lies about these matters.

Most pastor’s have no clue concerning God’s principles for church and state and could care less. Like the church at Ephesus in Revelation 2, they have left their first love and their works, not the glory of God, have become their purpose. They have not taken the time to study the credentials, motives and teachings of “Christian” revisionists. The father of those revisionists is the devil, the god of this world. He controls the institutions of the world—civil government, secular media, secular education, and most churches. Most believers do not continue in the Word of God and studies of the Word of God, much less legal, earthly, historical facts. They have become easy prey for that old serpent and his army.

Let us never join, through ignorance of the Word of God, history, and law with those religions who have prostituted God’s church. God wants His children, and especially pastors, to take the time to study preeminent Bible issues (1 Ti. 2.15) and relevant historical and legal facts concerning the doctrine of the church.

These lessons will provide a good starting point for those who wish to step out of the dark into the light of Christ. “The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light” (Ro. 13.12). “But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God” (Jn. 3.21).

Articles, Essays, and Other Resources Related to the Doctrine of the Church, Incorporation, 501c3, Etc.

The Local Church: A Building or What?

Bible Studies of various Books on the Doctrine of the Church.

The Biblical Doctrine of the Church

Endnotes

[i] John 8:39-45: “They answered and said unto him, Abraham is our father. Jesus saith unto them, If ye were Abraham’s children, ye would do the works of Abraham. But now ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God: this did not Abraham. Ye do the deeds of your father. Then said they to him, We be not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God. Jesus said unto them, If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me. Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.”

[ii] See, ESSAYS, ARTICLES, AND OTHER RESOURCES RELATED TO THE DOCTRINE OF THE CHURCH, INCORPORATION, 501C3, ETC. , See also, e.g., Church Internal Revenue Code § 508(c)(1)(A) Tax Exempt Status for full explanation of church 508(c)(1)(A) status. That article explains why 508(c)(1)(A) status puts a church under the same rules and regulations that come with 501(c)(3) and the authority of the Internal Revenue Service regardless of whether the IRS has the resources to enforce the rules and regulations that come with the status. This short article is very basic. This essay also has links to other essays which fully explain 501(c)(3) status.

[iii] Establishmentarian definition: “Adhering to, advocating, or relating to the principle of an established church; a person adhering to or advocating this.”

[iv] The history of religious freedom in America and the past, present, and future of the efforts of the religious Calvinists, Catholics, and Charismatics to return America to the days of Old World establishment and persecutions are chronicled in The Trail of Blood of the Martyrs of Jesus/A Case of Premeditated Murder/Christian Revisionists on Trial/The History of the First Amendment.

[v] John 14:6 “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

Written Lessons

(5) The Choice: God or Satan?

January 1, 2018 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

A Publication of Simply Church Ministry

If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

Click here to go to links to all written lessons on Satan.
Click here to go to the written lessons.
Click here to go to the 5 minute video lectures.

Jerald Finney
Copyright © January 1, 2018

The choice is between the things of God—the eternal, heavenly, and spiritual—or the things of Satan—the temporal, earthly, and Satanic.

Does God desire that a government be under Satan? No! Pursuant to the Word of God, God desires every government—self-government, family government, civil government, and church government—to be under Him. But He gives every government a choice.

A nation (civil government) can repent and turn to God at any time. God through Jeremiah said:

“At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them” (Je. 18.7-10).

Click above image to to to “Is Separation of Church and State Found in the Constitution?

In America, a church can choose, as will be seen, to remain totally under God without persecution. By choosing to become a temporal, earthly, legal entity such as a corporate (aggregate of sole) 501(c)(3) a church combines the earthly, temporal and Satanic (see our previous studies in this section on Satan) with the heavenly, eternal, and spiritual.

An lost individual can repent toward God and put his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ to save him. See God’s Plan of Salvation. A saved person can utilize the resources in Satan’s Devises and the Believer’s Resources. Each individual in a family (father, mother, child) has a duty under God to follow God’s precepts within the family.

It is important to remember, however, that God gives every individual, every family, every church, and every nation a choice between going by His or Satan’s principles. All individuals and institutions are doomed, sooner or later, if they let Satan’s principles of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and/or pleasure influence them to give in to their lusts and follow him. Ultimately, as the Bible reveals, one’s only hope is to come to God with a humble and contrite spirit, repent of sins, and trust the Lord Jesus Christ as his/her personal savior. This will be the beginning of a new life in which one who continues in His Word will become His disciple and will know the truth which will set him free (See Jn. 8.31-32).

The way of god of this world: death, hopelessness, hate, destruction, and eternal torment.

The way of God: faith, hope, love, edification, eternity with God.

Click here to learn how to be saved.

Click here for more on the responsibilities of those who have been saved.

Sermon series on Satan by Pastor Jason Cooley of Old Paths Baptist Church:

Satan Your Enemy – 14 Sermons
Satanic Roots of Evolution – 5 Sermons
Satanic Roots of Rock Music – 4 Sermons
Satan’s Gospel – 2 Sermons

Written Lessons

(4) Satan’s Devices and the Believer’s Resources

December 30, 2017 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

A Publication of Simply Church Ministry

If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

Click here to go to links to all written lessons on Satan.
Click here to go to the written lessons.
Click here to go to the 5 minute video lectures.

“To Satan, under God, was committed upon earth the power of death (He. 2:14). Cast out of heaven as his proper sphere and ‘first estate,’ he still has access to God as the ‘accuser of the brethren’ (Re. 12:10) and is permitted a certain power of sifting or testing the self-confident and carnal among believers (Job 1:6-11; Lk. 22:31-32; 1 Co. 5:5; 1 Ti. 1:20); but this is strictly permissive and limited power, and believers so sifted are kept in faith through the advocacy of Christ (Lk. 22:31-32; 1 Jn. 2:1).

The vision of Satan in Ezekiel 28, as we have seen, is not of Satan in his own person, but of Satan fulfilling himself in and through an earthly king who arrogates to himself divine honours, so that the prince of Tyrus foreshadows the beast (Dan. 7.8; Rev. 19.20).” Individuals, families, and churches are also targeted by Satan and his demons, as we learned in lesson 3.

Satan’s privilege of access to God as accuser will someday be withdrawn (Re. 12:7-12). At the return of Christ in glory Satan will be bound for one thousand years (Rev. 20:2) after which he will be ‘loosed for a little season’ (Rev. 20:3, 7-8) and will become the head of final effort to overthrow the kingdom. Defeated in this, he will be finally cast into the lake of fire, his final doom. The notion that he reigns in hell is Miltonic, not biblical. He is prince of this present world-system, but will be tormented in the lake of fire.”Except for a remnant, individuals, families, churches, and nations choose the principles of Satan over the principles of God.

Our Lord demonstrated how to counter the temptations offered by Satan in Matthew 4.8, 9:

“Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; And saith unto him, All these things will I give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.”

The believer is also told, “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Ephesians 6:13 Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” (Ep. 6:11-13).

Then, in Ephesians 6.14-18, we are told what that armour is:

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints.”

Also, love God, not the world. That means love the eternal, the heavenly, the spiritual not the temporal, the earthly, the fleshly. 1 John 2.15-17 says “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”

Sermon series on Satan by Pastor Jason Cooley of Old Paths Baptist Church:

Satan Your Enemy – 14 Sermons
Satanic Roots of Evolution – 5 Sermons
Satanic Roots of Rock Music – 4 Sermons
Satan’s Gospel – 2 Sermons

Written Lessons

(3) Warfare with Satan: His Demons

December 30, 2017 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

A Publication of Simply Church Ministry

If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

Click here to go to links to all written lessons on Satan.
Click here to go to the written lessons.
Click here to go to the 5 minute video lectures.

The Adamic Covenant, the covenant God made with Adam at the fall, promised the ultimate destruction of Satan through the “Seed of the woman.” Then began his long warfare against the work of God in behalf of humanity, which still continues.

Satan is a murderer and a liar, the father of lies (Jn. 8.44). He blinds people to the truth. “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them” (2 Co. 4.3-4).

At the same time Satan is blinding people to truth, he indoctrinates people into his world principles. The world system is Satan’s work. The “order,” “arrangement” under which Satan has organized the world of unbelieving mankind upon his principles of force, greed, selfishness, ambition, and sinful pleasure is imposing and powerful with armies and fleets; is often outwardly religious, scientific, cultured, and elegant; but, seething with national and commercial rivalries and ambitions, is upheld in any real crisis only by armed force, and is dominated by satanic principles.

The world system was the bribe which he offered to Christ (Mt. 4:8-9). Of that world-system he is prince (Jn. 14:30; 16:11) and god (2 Cor. 4:4).

As ‘prince of the power of the air’ (Ep. 2:2) Satan is at the head of vast host of demons.

Demons are not to be confounded with the angels mentioned in 2 Peter 2.4 and Jude 6:
Demons are spirits (Mt. 12.43, 45); and Satan’s emissaries ((Mt. 12.26, 27; 25.41).
They are so numerous as to make Satan’s power practically ubiquitous (Mk. 5.9).
They are capable of entering and controlling both men and beasts and earnestly seek embodiment, without which, apparently, they are powerless for evil (Mt. 12.43-44; Mk. 5.10-12).
Demon influence and demon possession are discriminated in the New Testament. Instances of the latter are Matthew 4.24; 8.16, 28, 33; 9.32; 12.22; Mark 1.32; 5.15, 16, 18; Luke 8.36; Acts 8.7; 16.16.
Demons are unclean, sullen, violent, and malicious (Mt. 8.28; 9.33; 10.1; 12.43; Mk. 1.23; 5.3-5; 9.17-20; Lk. 6.18; 9.39).
They know Jesus Christ as Most High God and recognize His supreme authority (Mt. 8.31-32; Mk. 1.24; Ac. 19.15; Ja. 2.19).
They know their eternal fate to be one of torment (Mt. 8.29; Lk. 8.31).
They inflict physical maladies (Mt. 12.22; 17.15-18; Lk. 13.16). But mental disease it to be distinguished from the disorder of mind due to demonical control.

Demon influence may manifest itself in religious asceticism and formalism (1 Ti. 4.1-3), degenerating in uncleanness (2 Pe. 2.10-12). The sign of demon influence in religion is departing from the faith, that is the body of revealed truth in scriptures (1 Ti. 4.1). That demons maintain especially a conflict with believers who would be spiritual (Ep. 6.12; 1 Ti. 4.1-3).

All unbelievers are open to demon possession (Ep. 2.2). The resources of the believer are prayer and bodily control (Mt. 17.21), “the whole armour of God” (Ep. 6.13-18). Exorcism in the name of Jesus Christ (Ac. 16.18) was practiced for demon possession. One of the awful features of the apocalyptic judgements in which this age will end is an irruption of demons out of the abyss (Re. 9.1-11).

Sermon series on Satan by Pastor Jason Cooley of Old Paths Baptist Church:

Satan Your Enemy – 14 Sermons
Satanic Roots of Evolution – 5 Sermons
Satanic Roots of Rock Music – 4 Sermons
Satan’s Gospel – 2 Sermons

Written Lessons

(2) The Beast System and the Fate of the Beast

December 30, 2017 Jerald Finney Leave a comment

A Publication of Simply Church Ministry

If you miss one part of the puzzle that is being put together in these studies, you will never see and understand the whole picture.

Click here to go to links to all written lessons on Satan.
Click here to go to the written lessons.
Click here to go to the 5 minute video lectures.

The language in Ezekiel 28.1-19 goes beyond the king of Tyre to Satan, once Lucifer, inspirer and unseen ruler of all such pomp and pride as that of Tyre.[i] In Ezekiel 28, the vision is not of Satan in his own person, but of Satan fulfilling himself in and through an earthly king who arrogates to himself divine honors so that the Prince of Tyrus foreshadows the combining of all national governments with the religion of Satan (establishments which combine Satan’s tactics and goals through combinations of church (religion) and state); and the beast system which will be established in the end times (Da. 7.9; Re. 19.20).

The order of world events is:

The continuous working of the mystery of lawlessness under divine restraint which had already begun in the apostle’s time and will continue until the last days (v. 7). Satan, the devil, goes about on this earth, “as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pe. 5.8).
The apostasy of the professing church ( 2 Th. 1:3; 18:8; 2 Ti. 3:1-8).
the removal of that which restrains the mystery of lawlessness (vs. 6-7). The restrainer is a person–“he,” and since a “mystery”[ii] always implies a supernatural element. this Person can be none other than the Holy Spirit in the church, to be “taken out of the way” (v. 7).
The manifestation of the lawless one (vs. 8-10; 7:8; 9:27; Mt. 24:15; Re. 13:2-10).
The coming of Christ in glory and the destruction of the lawless one (v. 8; 19:11-21).
The day of Jehovah (vs. 9-12; 2:12).

See 2 Thessalonians 2:3-11[iii].

The beast will establish the final and ultimate ecclesiastical and governmental tyranny described in Daniel 7.9, 11 and Revelation 13. To the beast Satan will give the power which he offered to Christ (Mt. 4.8, 9; Re. 13.4).

All but the remnant will worship the dragon (Satan) which gave power unto and the beast; and they will worship the beast. The beast will continue forty-two months. During that time, he will speak great things and blasphemies against God, his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. He will be given power to make war with the saints and to overthrow them. Everyone “whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” will worship him. (Re. 13.3-9).

The false prophet in Revelation 13.11-18, antichrist, with “all the power of the first beast before him,” will cause “the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast….” He will deceive those on the earth by miracles. He will tell those on the earth to make an image to the beast. “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name” (vs. 16-17).

Political Babylon will destroy ecclesiastical Babylon, which is apostate Christendom, headed up under the Papacy (Re. 18). Finally, “the beast, and the kings of the earth, and their armies” will gather “together to make war” against Christ and his army. “And the beast [will be] taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both [will be] cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Re. 19.20). Christ will cast that old serpent, Satan, “into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled” (Re. 20.2-3). Finally, after Christ’s millennial reign, Satan will be loosed for a little season to go out and deceive the nations and gather them to battle (Re. 20.3, 7-9). Fire will come “down from God out of heaven and devour them.” Satan will then be “cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever” (Re. 20.9-10).

For our purposes in this study, keep in mind that the spirit of antichrist is working within the world today, against individuals, families, churches and civil governments (nations). Never forget that Satan is the God of this world.[iv] When a church, for example, combines the things of Satan, the temporal and earthly, with the spiritual, eternal, and heavenly that church has combined the things of Satan with the things of God thereby polluting the body of Christ and starting down the road to apostasy.

Dear believers, please continue studying these lessons as they put in place all the pieces of a puzzle, a complete picture of God’s desired relationship of church and state and Satan’s counterfeit of that relationship.

Sermon series on Satan by Pastor Jason Cooley of Old Paths Baptist Church:

Satan Your Enemy – 14 Sermons
Satanic Roots of Evolution – 5 Sermons
Satanic Roots of Rock Music – 4 Sermons
Satan’s Gospel – 2 Sermons

Endnotes

[i] Other instances of God indirectly addressing Satan are seen in Ge. 3.14, 15 and Mt. 16.23.

[ii] A “mystery” in Scripture is a previously hidden truth, now divinely revealed; but in which a supernatural element still remains despite the revelation.

[iii] “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie.”

[iv] The Bible makes clear that Satan is the god of this present world, the prince of this world:

John 12.31: [[Jesus said] ‘Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.”
John 14.30 “Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in me.”
John 18.36: “Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.”
2 Corinthians 4:4 “In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.”
Ephesians 2.2: “Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience.”
Ephesians 4.3 goes on to say, “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
Ephesians 6.12: “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

The local church sanctified and cleansed by the washing of water by the word——————–A ministry of Charity Baptist Tabernacle of Amarillo, Texas led by Pastor Ben Hickam. "Would to God ye could bear with me a little in my folly: and indeed bear with me. For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ" (2 Corinthians 11:1-3). ————————————Jerald Finney, a Christian Lawyer and member of Charity Baptist Tabernacle, having received this ministry in the Lord, explains how a church in America can remain under the Lord Jesus Christ and Him only. "As every man hath received the gift, even so minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth: that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise and dominion for ever and ever. Amen" (1 Peter 4:10-11; See also, Ephesians 4::1-16 and 1 Corinthians 12:1-25). "Take heed to the ministry which thou hast received in the Lord, that thou fulfil it" (Colossians 4:17). "And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church" (Ephesians 1.22; See also, e.g. Colossians 1:18).

Endnotes

The Church’s One Foundation Fountainview Academy

Endnotes

Endnotes

The Church’s One Foundation
Fountainview Academy