For the basis of our study today we are discussing one of Christ ‘s most profound and puzzling parables recorded in Matt. 13:36. Isn’t it strange that no other parable of this segment of seven recorded here ever puzzled the disciples as did this second one concerning the wheat and tares growing together.
In a previous article we discussed and showed these seven parables to have been the seven gentile church ages as recorded in Revelations 2 and 3, but related by Jesus here in parable form.
Already Christ had spoken four parables which, if understood correctly, the fourth parable was Christ’s way of revealing in parable form there would be a dark age period through which the true church must pass on its way to glory. During that dark age period there would arise another church and here Christ shows during that period what this other church would do to the Word of God. That church which arose and held rule over the religious world throughout the dark ages is none other than the Roman Catholic Church!
PUZZLED DISCIPLES
Verse 36 informs us, having dispersed the multitude Jesus entered a house nearby and was asked by his puzzled disciples the meaning of the parable of the tares in the field. Something he said earlier relating to that second parable had greatly disturbed them. Why should his disciples make inquiry concerning only the second parable? What was in that particular parable which puzzled them more so than all the others? Christ presents further explanation unto his disciples although here again he does not explain it unto them in full detail.
Part I —Parable Explained: SOWING SEED
Let us examine verses 37-43, as he begins delivering only a brief explanation of this mysterious parable. He that soweth the good seed. saith Christ, is the Son of Man. Therefore we must first pause to recognize and establish the basis for these first two parables, concern themselves with sowing seed. Yes, sowing seed is what Christ is discussing. In brief, parable one showed it was none other than the sowing of this true revelated seed of the Word of God which began first to be sown by the Lord himself that produced the beautiful first age of grace.
GOOD SEED PRODUCES FIRST AGE
As the true revelated church, the body of Christ produced by this true seed had stood so loyal throughout the first age to the Word of God, time progresses on until it is now ready to enter into the second age sometime after 153 A.D. From parable two it is still evident that the good seed of truth is still being sown in the field. However we note as did the puzzled disciples that in parable two something else had also been sown (past tense) in the field along with the good seed. Verse 37, He that sowed the good seed is the Son of Man who is the Lord Jesus Christ himself, referring to his own past tense work which had been accomplished throughout his first church age closing out a time period of approximately 153 A.D.
The field, says Christ, is the world, yet the world spoken of here must not be simply referred to as merely the planet earth, instead it refers to more or less the world in general in all its social makeup.
DISTINGUISHING TWO SEEDS
Here in parable 2; Christ begins to make a clear distinction between the two seeds now being planted in the world as he says, the good seed are the children of the kingdom who are the born again people of God who— Being born again or being born from above, makes up God’s spiritual kingdom inside the soul of this special class of people. Christ declared the kingdom of God is within you, the born again believer. The Apostle Paul, commenting further on the kingdom of God, declared it not a kingdom of meat and drink but instead it is peace, joy, and righteousness in the Holy Ghost (Rom. 14:17). Proof once again the kingdom of God is not a visible kingdom. instead it is a kingdom made up strictly of people who are the born again family of God, verse 38.
The reason the children of the kingdom are these born again or make up this family of God is simply because they have experienced by an incorruptible seed of God a born again experience. Peter declared the family of God is a people born, not by corruptible seed (which produces a natural family), but by the incorruptible seed which is the precious Word of God, the word of Eternal (I Pet. 1:23). Therefore, this spiritual birth which comes from above can only be produced by the true word of revelation and never from the word of theology! I repeat, the spiritual birth comes only through the implanting into the heart of a person by the Holy Ghost the true seed word of revelation; And as that revelatory word or that true infallible revelated Word of God is planted within your bosom and quickened and revelated by the Holy Ghost, it is that Holy Spirit who not only gives Eternal life to the inner man but at the same time baptizes us into the mystical body of Christ (I Cor. 12:13). That beloved is why you absolutely must have the Holy Ghost, for as Paul declared, without the Spirit of Christ (which is none other than the Holy Ghost working in the earth throughout the Grace Age to bring salvation to mankind) you’ are none of his!! O how important it is that we experience this new birth! (Jn. 3:3) The Holy Ghost must enter inside the believer’s life in order to take the true seed word in the believer’s heart and by watering that seed of revelation in his soul brings forth Eternal Life.
WHAT NEW BIRTH ACCOMPLISHES
What will this new birth accomplish? It brings new understanding. Furthermore, it places the born again individual in a status of new fellowship and on special talking terms with God, our heavenly Father, that while we still live in this wicked, evil world, because of the working of that Holy Spirit in our lives we are no longer considered by the Almighty as one of those of the world. WHY? Because the born again saint who has the Holy Ghost working in his life, according to– Rom. 8:54, does not think as the world thinks nor does the born again believer live as the world liveth. Writing to the Romans Paul declared, the worldly, unregenerate people feed strictly off the thoughts supplied by or from the lower nature, meaning the flesh.
Not so with the born again who, according to Paul, live not after the ways of the flesh. Instead they live, mind or think only as the Holy Spirit directs them. Paul further declared they who are led (in thought and action) by the Spirit of God are the sons of God (Rom. 8:14). Jesus remarked to the disciples (Matt. 13:38) the children of the kingdom are none other than the children of God.
DEVIL PLANTS TARES
Note and the tares or wild wheat seen also appearing in parable two are children of the wicked one who are the children of the devil who he planted within the kingdom of heaven (though never into the kingdom of God). To whom is Christ now referring concerning these tares? Here is a statement totally unfamiliar to all the disciples who have left all to follow him–Later tares are to be planted within the field For what purpose? This the disciples could not understand? Bear in mind, when our Lord made reference to the tares or children of satan or better still, the followers of Satan being planted into the kingdom of heaven, he did not have in his mind that every living soul who could not be classified in the born again category who lives out here in this unbelieving world was a tare!
NO TARES IN FIRST AGE
Absolutely not! How could such a thought possibly have been in his mind in connection with only the second church age seeing the unbelieving, evil world was absolutely just as much present during the first age as they were in relation to the second age, YET IN THE FIRST AGE THERE WERE NO TARES MENTIONED!
Therefore what Christ is saying as he makes reference to the tares or followers of satan seen appearing only in the second age, he is showing that somewhere within that second church age, sometime after 153 A.D., there would begin to appear an entirely new group of believers within the kingdom of heaven who would be identified among the good seed, yet they would be a people whose lives would never measure up to the spiritual nature or spiritual character as those born again children of the kingdom. WHY? Because these tare believers, followers of Satan, would by no means ever have the same true revelation on the scripture as did that group classified as the born again children of God. No, instead Christ informed his disciples the unregenerated tares or the wild wheat who were planted or sown by the enemy strictly is the children or followers of the wicked one! Note who they will always follow–the wicked one!! These tares are make – believers, professing Christians, yet Jesus, knowing the end from the beginning, declared well over 150 years before any of this ever happened that the enemy would sow these tares and that enemy is the devil himself! The harvest, according to verse 39, is that period of time required to bring to maturity all the labor and work of both these seeds (good and bad) in parable two once they have reached their final stage of maturity and growth at the close of the grace age. In verse 39 Christ declared the harvest he will bring to maturity reaping both the results or fulfillment of the good seed as well as the bad comes at the end of the world (or end of age), a time when God brings to a final climax all the world’s evil.
MYSTERY REAPERS
And note this, it will be about that time at the end of the age, Christ declares in verse 39, that he will send forth his mysterious reapers into the harvest. These are referred to in the parable as angels (plural) who are to do a precise work. According to Christ these unidentified angels (plural) make their appearance to perform their ministry around the time of the closing of the gentile grace age! If we are living in that hour–be on the watchout for those reapers of God!
BURNED WITH FIRE
Continuing on in verse 40 Christ shows what happens to the tares as well as the wheat once they reach maturity and are ready for the harvest. The destination of the tares in the field which have been permitted to grow together with the wheat is first of all to be gathered together and later burned in a fire! That beloved is exactly what will happen to all the proud deceived, religious tares, unbelieving followers of Satan at the close of this age. Whereas the pure wheat, once it has endured its winnowing process will be gathered together into the barn.
ANGELS SEPARATE
Verse 41 declares at the end of the age the Son of Man will send forth his angels. And note, it is the angels, not the rapture of the church as some have thought, which shall gather out of his kingdom certain things. Please listen carefully to what this final ministry which consists of far more than one reaper will do in the kingdom of heaven. This ministry will gather out all things that offend! When do they do this? Sometime before the rapture of the true bride church.
The religious world’s faulty interpretation of this passage (and they shall gather out all things that offend) is to them the operation of the rapture — this is not true! Their carnal theory has always been, everything will simply continue on in the kingdom of heaven as always, right up until the time of the rapture of the church. And the rapture itself is the very means whereby God will do this separating. But this is not what Jesus said! In verse 41 Jesus declared that they (my angels of ministers) through a certain process will do the gathering out process will do the gathering out and the separating of all things that offend me. No, beloved the rapture is not the separation. The rapture or the catching away is only the climax of what God has accomplished through his seven church ages in calling out a people and separating them for his glory to be married unto him. The separation spoken of in Matt. 13:41 takes place here in this world. some time before the rapture consummates the closing out of all things. The rapture takes away from this planet all those who are ready and earnestly looking for the appearing of Christ.
PASSAGE LAYING DORMANT
Finishing these statements in verse 41-43, Christ completes his brief interpretation of what he had earlier presented in parable form to the multitude by the Sea of Galilee. This profound explanation presented to these disciples which carries more or less an endtime setting, has laid dormant in the scripture centuries of time hardly disturbing a soul. Through the centuries as man has read this, naturally he formed in his mind somewhat of a dim outlook as to just how all this would be applied once the hour had arrived for its fulfillment. Why had man in the past read it only through a dim outlook? Simply because it was nowhere near God’s harvest time. In other words these end time scriptures did not actually apply to any believers of the past;
BENEFITS ENDTIME BELIEVERS
However, once time has drawn near to the close of the age when at last time would now produce that prophesied harvest of both seeds and there was to be that GREAT SEPARATION of seed here in the field, who else beloved, other than those endtime believers, do you think should know what this thing is all about? It is these endtime believers who are going to be affected by the results of it. It is none other than the children of God standing at the closing of the age who absolutely must be able to recognize through the Holy Spirit what this GREAT SEPARATION is all about, else how would the true believer in that hour know in which direction to turn to escape or in what way to allow their personal lives to be affected by those prevailing religious conditions going on in that how as well as to be able to recognize certain things being preached and taught in the religious world near the closing of the age! No beloved, God will not permit his children of the kingdom during that period to walk blindly into something.
Will they not through the Holy Ghost be able to recognize what God is doing on their behalf in that hour? Most assuredly. Therefore I repeat, it is only the children of God being affected during that hour who will definitely know what this separation of seed is all about!
Part 2—Tare Entry and Growths
Concerning the religious tares not to be plucked up, Matt. 13:26-30, which Christ declared were to be allowed to grow together (along with wheat in the field) we must roll the calendar of time back to the second age called Smyrna (153 A.D.-312 A.D.), whereby we may watch these two elements of believers referred to now as wheat and tares growing together in the kingdom of heaven. Why should we be interested in this particular period? Because it is what was permitted to happen in that second age that has greatly affected every religious life of days gone by! Affecting every past generation of mankind as well as today! Why?
TARE’S VIEWPOINT
The main reason the unbelieving world today has raised up so bitterly against religion, kicking the Bible and prayer out of the public school and opposing everything religiously or morally within our social structure that religion in general through the years has stood for is simply because this unbelieving world has never been permitted to see anything about Christianity other than the tare’s viewpoint of what Christianity is all about! No beloved, this evil world has never had the privilege to observe the true wheat grain’s value of true Christianity. Why? Because what happened in the second parable or second church age caused the true Christian to always be in the small minority, although May I remind you, in the beginning it was not so! Thus since the 3rd Century the true Bible believing Christian has always had to play the role of the underdog and suffer the consequences produced by tare believers.
Since that 3rd Century the true believer has lived in the realm of the minority and never in the majority!
GROW TOGETHER
Could the true born again Christian ever change their status of position? No beloved, not since the surprised discovery of the tares already growing in the field had been made and God declared to his servants who wondered where they came from to leave them alone, not pluck them up which has also been planted in the kingdom of heaven. else you may uproot some of the wheat also. Instead, let them grow in the field together, and grow they have!
Because this was permitted, May I say, throughout every church age in the past whenever there would ever be any kind of move of God which would stimulate and regulate the born again believer of that period of time unto a deeper walk in the scriptures I want you to know that same revival would produce and hatch out just as many tare believers, if not more who had also gone right along with that same move of the spirit as did the true believer! And recall, they would grow together until when—it would continue in this fashion. Christ said, until the GREAT SEPARATION at the very end of the age!
GATHERING OUT OFFENDERS
However when that hour of harvest at the end of the age had arrived Christ promised to do something, he promised to send forth the ministry of his reapers or angels. For what purpose–to first gather out of his kingdom all things which would offend. But the question is, OFFEND WHO? Offend God, of course! Therefore it should be noticed all things which offend God will first be separated within the kingdom before the rapture transpires.
For a moment let us examine more closely the word OFFEND to see what its meaning is. You may be surprised to discover its meaning. OFFEND means to mislead someone or misguide someone or cause someone to miss the mark! Thus we are better able to understand Christ’s personal feeling toward an offender such as these tares when he told the disciples it was better that a millstone be tied around the offender’s neck and he jump into the sea and drown himself rather than offend or mislead one of these little ones who has believed on me! Another meaning to the word offend is to go contrary and what could be more offensive than someone deliberately going contrary to God’s revelated Word. If someone truly wanted to offend the Lord there is no better way to offend him than to go contrary to his word! Remember this, when the Greek word for offend was placed in this verse, God certainly did not have in mind the creating of some natural human offense, created against another human being. By no means, instead God is definitely referring to certain people such as these tares who are in his kingdom doing certain things which greatly offend him. Remember the offense spoken of here related only to his spiritual kingdom. Therefore, Christ, through his anointed end time fivefold ministry referred to as reapers and angels (plural or more than one) in the parable of that hour will remove all things through the preaching of his word that offend him!! Not only does it say they will remove all those who offend, but it also says these reapers or angels will remove all those who work or do iniquity in his kingdom as well! O, how important it is that we of this end time see that through this endtime fivefold ministry all those offensive things (Matt. 13:41) shows God intends to remove from his kingdom before the rapture through these reapers who are more than one! Just how many ministers will there be? I do not know, but be sure of one thing, there will be just enough of them to get the job done!
1ST MENTION OF INIQUITY
What a loose interpretation of this word iniquity the modern age embraces! May I remind you when the Apostle Paul warned the Thessalonians using the word iniquity, he never once referred to any such light, loose term of iniquity as used by modern religion today (2 Thes. 2:7) explaining to the true revelated church how the mystery of iniquity was already busy at work and would eventually climax in the role of the man of sin or the man of lawlessness) I who in the closing hours of time i would sit in the rebuilt temple of God at Jerusalem! Paul’s statement does not refer to some t unbelieving, drunken, card shark or some man of the world in general trying to slip unnoticed into the church fellowship body during that first age when he spoke of the mystery of iniquity already at work (54 A.D.)
INIQUITY—WHAT DOES IT MEAN?
The word iniquity tsed here means lawlessness or one who breaks or offends the Word of God. Thus this statement of workers of iniquity or tare believers in parable two would positively leave the unbelieving world completely on the outside of the entire picture of the church seen in the first age. While on the other hand it brings to our attention the word offense as well as the word iniquity are two terms relating to the same individuals who are in the kingdom of heaven but who attempt to live, to teach, to act, to believe, to respond or to be affected by that which is totally contrary in certain respects to what is shown by the Word of God. While may I remind you that on the other hand the true born again believer in the kingdom of God does not create offense toward the Word of God nor does the true believer work iniquity. He is forever trying, by the grace of God, to live and walk uprightly for whosoever is born of God does not commit sin—meaning the born again does not practice sin. By no means does the born again practice being disobedient to the Word of God. Instead the true believer of the kingdom will always earnestly strive to be obedient to the Word of God seeing he has been born again by that very incorruptible seed—THE WORD OF GOD! Thus it is the revelation of the Word and not the theology of the Word which brings the believer Eternal Life.
WORKER OF INIQUITY OPERATES GIFTS
Speaking of those in the last days who shall be rejected because they were workers of iniquity or were classified with the spirit which works iniquity.. we hear Christ declare in the final portion of his sermon on the mount just how straight (NT. strait) and narrow the gate is which leads into eternal life and how few there would be who would actually find Eternal Life, while the vast multitude of religious people, would take to the broad way in search for life only to be deceived. For Christ warns the people concerning false prophets (iniquity workers) who will come in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravening wolves who won’t stay with the Word)–a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, says Christ, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. By their fruits or works you would know false prophets. Then Christ finishes with Matt. 7:21-23 declaring that everyone calling him Lord would not enter the kingdom of heaven, it would only be those who would do the will of e the Father or Eternal Spirit in S heaven, for Christ declares many in that hour will say, Lord, Lord, (let us in). have we not prophesied in Thy name and in Thy name cast out devils and in Thy name done many wonderful works. Ordinarily you would think Christ would be thrilled with a group of such caliber, however, in verse 23 a most shocking thing was announced unto this multitude who had listened to false prophets and missed the strait gate of Acts 2:38 and gone down the broad road—I NEVER KNEW YOU, depart from me ye that work iniquity!
WHY REJECTED
Note, this multitude worked iniquity! Do not hastily form an opinion that Christ rejected and cast out this deceived group at the end of the age simply because they had prophesied, worked miracles, cast out devils and done many other wonderful works in his name! No, he was against this group because they had worked iniquity! A clue to this iniquity working group and what they had not done with the Word causing them to miss the mark is in verses 24-28 where Christ completes his sermon on the mount with this warning —
Christ declared those who hear his savings but will not obey them (such as these iniquity workers had done is likened unto a foolish man building his (spiritual) house upon the sand and when the rain, flood and winds beat against this house it was certain to have a terrible fall.
SOWING INIQUITY SEED
Therefore we can see those workers of iniquity during the close of the grace age who, in reality, received their beginning in spirit only way back around 54 A.D. where Paul first speaks of the mystery of iniquity already at e work in that early hour. There was this spirit, though not making much of a headway into the fellowship of saints, nevertheless, there were some few who were already affected. Yes, there were some already in the kingdom who were living, teaching, acting, believing, responding, and more than anything else, being affected by something or other that was totally contrary to the revaled word of God! By 54 A.D. tare seed I was attempting to be sown!
TARES NOT AT PENTECOST
Concerning the tare believers seen in parable 2 that Satan had already sowed in the field, of whom Jesus showed would be allowed to grow with the true seed, we are fully aware this entire picture concerning tares had to begin somewhere. We realize their beginning was not at Pentecost, through the obedience of Acts 2:38, shows that strait gate (Matt. 7:13-14) produced only true born again revelated believers who walked is and followed in true apostolic doctrine, and continued to do so throughout that entire first generation (some 40 years) following Pentecost. Those who the al Holy Ghost is adding to the church daily are those who are saved and make up the children of the kingdom in Matt. 13:38, Acts 2:41- 47.
If the tares or wild wheat seed were not sown by Satan into that first generation of disciples to be It produced in the second age, where then did the groundwork for the sowing of the tares secretly begin within the kingdom of heaven? One thing is certain, the tares are not the true born again children of God! Then who are they, and what is their purpose within the kingdom? Why did Christ show their first appearance as plants sprouting up in the second parable? This certain class of people or believers who through the centuries of time have continually entered in, once the kingdom of heaven began receiving them somewhere in the second stage or within that second church age called Smyrna. Rev. 2:8-11 had Satan progressed enough to begin gaining a foothold within the local apostolic churches.
LOST FIRST LOVE
Recall how the scriptures Revelations 2:4, referred to the first church age called Ephesus, lasting between 53-152 A.D. as having lost their first love for the word of truth. Notice, this was the only thing Christ held against that first age! That first age having lost its first love for the Word of God, once they reach the period of time required for the second church age they are now no longer that people who examine so called apostles coming through the land by giving them the Word test as the first age did, who tried them who said they were apostles and found them to be liars. Rev. 2:2. So-called, self-appointed apostles were found to be liars! How—through the WORD test!
GRADUAL CHANGE
With that first love gone, satan was able to gain his foothold in the second age through deception and by misleading and perverting the Word of truth–AN ACT SATAN COULD NOT GET AWAY WITH IN THE FIRST AGE! No beloved, Satan did not gain entrance into the church in the second age by merely telling one great big lie! Instead he entered through merely twisting the truth a little here and a little there, simply giving it a slightly different slant than what the apostles and fivefold ministry of the early church had presented to the first generation of true believers within the church of that hour which I remind you was an hour when there were no tares present whatsoever!
To give you an example of how slowly but efficiently Satan made his move and succeeded somewhere within the second age; is for one to only look and see how Satan is working through the gradual changing of the Constitution of the U.S. He is changing it so gradually and slowly no one is actually aware of what he has done until it will be too late!
Let us examine more closely this offense or mystery of iniquity. as Paul called it. seeing it began to gain a foothold somewhere within that second age or, shall we say, Satan was permitted by the Holy Spirit to mingle his followers among the true line of Christians who from this time on will nowhere in history ever be allowed to become separated, not until the end of the age when Christ will send into his kingdom his last Ministry, the reapers, and removes all things which offend or work iniquity against the Word! Throughout history each time God moved spiritually on behalf of his true believers to bless them. The tares also received or drank from the blessing as well, seeing now the rain (of God) shall fall on the just and unjust alike, on the wheat and cocklebur in the same field. Both drink the water of blessing: The tares as well as the true seed shout the victory of the blessing: Why, because the tares, once they had been sown into the field and made their appearance there in the second age, began reaping the same benefits that falls in behalf of the true children of God. Nevertheless, Christ shows the day will come at the end of the age when God has promised to bring the entire thing to the ultimate test of his Word.
ORDAINED TO INVADE EVERY MOVEMENT
Therefore don’t you endtime believers for a single moment ever think this spirit of anti-Christ is something limited strictly to the modern religious denominational world! That anti-Christ spirit is absolutely as close to your endtime believers as the end of your finger is to your nose! This anti-Christ spirit was ordained to invade every movement of the Spirit of God. (including this last one).
WORKING SO CLOSE
As a matter of fact, scripture declares and so did the message to the Laodicean age that in the last days this anti-Christ spirit will be working so close to that of the true spirit of God, if it were possible that spirit would absolutely deceive the very elect. But thanks be unto God this spirit, no matter how close it is (or works) to the true Spirit, in the last days within this final restored movement of the Spirit before Christ comes, will in no way deceive or mislead the very elect of God!
BIBLE IDENTIFICATION
There is one Bible way of identifying this spirit and beloved, if there was one way this spirit could be identified in its working in its beginning stages then thank God there is also a way it will be identified in its closing stage at the close of the age! May I say if ever this world is plunged into another war you just remember you will see this spirit manifest with your naked eye!! Because this anti-Christ spirit at present is working feverishly. God will permit world conditions to hasten and bring it into the open in its final hour.
This GREAT SEPARATION as it is consummated and climaxed at the end of the age. briefly before all the tares of the carnal church of the Babylonian world (not the spiritual revelated church) plunges itself off into the tribulation period, will serve two purposes. (1). It will bring about a true spiritual unity unto the bride of Christ while. (2). It will bring about false unity to the church of the anti-Christ. The church of the anti-Christ along with the world in its popular makeup will be united together into one world unity; while on the other hand, the church of the living God, though it he a small nucleus of people scattered over all the earth, will have enough spiritual insight to avoid or refuse to how unto the church of the anti-christ brought about in that hour through his unity. The true saint of God or bride of Christ in that hour will have their faith strictly restored back to the Lord Jesus Christ and his true revelated Word, while the anti-Christ spirit must continue to work in these final hours so close to the true spirit of God until it has at last deceived every last soul who was not an elected child of God, Rev. 13:8. Therefore, if this anti-Christ spirit in the last day, spoken of by Christ will work in its final stage so close to the true working of the true Spirit of Christ that were it possible the very elect themselves would be deceived, would it not be profitable from the scriptural standpoint to see if we cannot identify the working of this dreadful spirit; especially in its original beginning as it first began to attack the church during the first age. After seeing that, then let us drop down to examine this spirit in its final deceptive stage where Christ speaks of the GREAT SEPARATION to take place at the closing of the age.
HISTORY OF CHURCH
In its original beginning the true church began at a time when no tares were present, beginning in Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost through the Spirit to enter into the believer’s life in the upper room and filling them with the Holy Ghost. The church in turn comes into the streets of Jerusalem and introduces this salvation of the Lord Jesus Christ to 3000 precious souls who the Holy Ghost also added to the church.
In such a perfect state we see the doctrine this church taught: the things it did: the way it lived; how it conducted itself through a generation of time, I remind you, when there were positively no unbelieving tares within it. The early history of that first generation of saints is carefully recorded in the Book of Acts while their doctrines are recorded throughout the epistles. Doctrinally we see what the true church stood for in that first generation when all who were in the church were considered true believers. We also see the spiritual framework of revelational truth which held it together causing every believer to speak the same thing. No wonder during that first generation of believers the true church was a body of people of such unity. The scriptural revelation was all the same, whether Jew or Gentile. It won’t always remain this way but it was the same during the first generation of believers after Pentecost. And may I say within that first generation after Pentecost, approximately 40 years; you simply do not have three separate conflicting interpretations of the scriptures being taught anywhere within that early church! Jews converted to Christ as well as pagan, heathen gentiles converted, all entered in at the same spiritual door as shown in Acts 2:38. May I remind you that a came in believing the same identical revelation concerning this One God of heaven. All believers of that first generation or first 40 years after Pentecost knew who this God was and this God of the Old Testament, called Jehovah, was none other than one Spirit who had been manifested in the person of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, called both Lord and Christ (or the anointed one). They knew because of the teachings of the fivefold ministry that God was manifested or seen in human flesh in the person of Jesus who was the Christ. Throughout that first 40 years after Pentecost, following the birth of the church (when no tare believers planted by satan were present) the heathen gentile world being taught by the fivefold ministry ( Eph. 4:11-12) was taught that Jesus who was the Christ was none other than the Incarnate God, the Jehovah of the Old Testament.
ANTI-CHRIST SPIRIT PRESENT
Turning into I John 2:18 an epistle written by the e John himself around 90 A.D., approximately 57 years after the birth of the church at Pentecost, still in an hour when the tares have no foothold, it is here we begin to notice the first true identity of that spirit of anti-Christ and what its presence was causing among the true believers. Remember Paul referred to this spirit as the mystery of iniquity working back in 54 A.D., however it is now around 90 A D. where we witness the second generation of believers on the scene carrying on the work of the first generation yet still within that first age. Paul referred to this thing as the spirit of iniquity and Jesus long before that, had referred to it as-those who offend and work iniquity would one day be separated.
LAWLESSNESS
Iniquity, you recall, means lawlessness and lawlessness represents anyone who trans-gresses or breaks a law. Placing that word in the spiritual setting of the scripture means this–anyone who works iniquity is a person who is breaking or refusing to obey the Word of God. The living revelated church, not yet infested with tares was progressing forward in that first age still embracing their true scriptural unity of the Word. Why? Because their understanding of the scripture had remained the same. The Apostle Paul who passed off the scene somewhere around 63-64 A.D. had declared that they all speak the same thing scripturally and to he of the same mind, one toward another. Beloved, as long as you have believers living in that atmosphere everything will be wonderful. Throughout that first generation following Pentecost all the believers were speaking the same message: thinking scrip-turally the same thing and acting the same way because their scriptural belief was still all the same. In such a setting as that you can’t help but have unity.
WRECKING FELLOWSHIP
Satan saw this beautiful unity of the Word in operation through the life of both Jew and gentile believer and said within himself, I am going to wreck that fellowship and unity. However it is not until the second generation after Pentecost that Satan can even stand a slim chance of trying to wreck the beautiful fellowship of the kingdom of God.
The first gentile church age began at Ephesus under the preaching of the Apostle Paul around 53 A.D. That first age itself was even called Ephesus because the Ephesus Church had set forth such a beautiful spirit in unity, doctrine, christian living etc., God decided to use it to signify the spirit that overshadowed the first church age. Shortly after the beginning of that church among the gentiles, when God officially opened the gentile church age around 53 A.D., do we hear our first report that there is such a thing as the mystery of iniquity already at work.
SATAN’S APPROACH
What is the plan of Satan and how will he approach it? What kind of wrecking crew does Satan intend to use to disperse this beautiful fellowship of unity among the true saints of God? We recall in the very beginning of Genesis that Satan, after seeing such beautiful work of God in the Garden of Eden in order to destroy that unity he had to implant certain thoughts in the mind of a creature called a serpent who in turn implanted his thoughts into the mind of the woman Adam’s bride who note-is a type of the church, the bride of Christ. This woman, after listening to the serpent, would in turn break or deny the Word of God. Therefore Satan, within that second generation, began to take hold of men’s minds who for some reason possessed no true revelation in their bosom as to what this thing is actually all about. Nevertheless, there is always certain people around who are sensitive enough to recognize God has done something great for his people and the fascination as well as the attraction of it becomes a growing factor within these people causing them to be drawn to the mere fellowship although not the true Christianity side because they never once experienced the new birth, they only recognized a movement to be a growing, progressive thing. It is exciting and thrilling and it is such things as these that always gets to them. It is this class after a while, once the excitement and thrill of the movement of God begins to wear away, that satan is able to begin to take over that person’s mind because now that the excitement and thrill of the spiritual movement of God has worn off, it becomes a selfish, fleshly motive of desiring to be influential or to be recognized in this movement of God. Therefore it isn’t long until Satan begins to take what little understanding of the scripture the person has and begins to slightly alter, rearrange or change it, alter, rearrange or change it, decorating their understanding to make it somewhat more appealing or perhaps a little more simple to the unbelieving world. That beloved is exactly what Satan has done as we approach the year 90 A.D. and see John’s recording of I John 2:18 where we hear that aged old apostle declaring unto young converts of the church during that second generation of the first gentile church age. Little children, it is the last time and as you have already heard (before 9 0 A.D.) that anti-Christs shall come…. Now watch the word offense and iniquity used by the Lord in his parable, as well as Paul writing to the Thessalonians where Paul not only used the words the mystery of iniquity is at work but also climaxed it using the expression, the man of sin. Here we see John using the word anti-Christs. Don’t try to separate these words, they are self-explanatory seeing each one points to one and the selfsame object and thing. All these words produce the same type of person who is influenced by the same type of spirit and produce the same objective of the devil.
How old is the church at this hour? It has been in operation approximately 55 years when John, who is now the only one of the original apostles left alive is writing to his converts, the little children begotten by the gospel of Christ telling them it is the last day. And notice anti-Christs are already on the scene,coming and going!
GODHEAD REVELATION ATTACKED
In order to wreck this pure scriptural unity of faith enjoyed by the first generation of saints of the first age, satan must first destroy the true revelation in the believer’s mind as to who God really was. Because if you do not know who you are on fellowshipping terms with, how then would you know how to approach him? Remember as we look back through time I want you to know in that early church there was no division, no fussing, no confusion among the true believers as to whether God was one, two or three. Irregardless whether they were Jewish or gentile believers they knew exactly how many God was. He was only one Spirit – (Eph. 4:4).
To prove this point, the background of the Jew had been to believe in one God (Mk. 12:29-33) though the gentile’s background was just the opposite, he had always believed in more than one God. He had a god of health, fertility, love, sun, moon, etc. however, Jehovah God had reserved himself one race of people to convey to the human gentile world the revelation of himself—that he was only one God! That race was a small minority race called Israel. No Jew in his right mind could possibly believe God was three persons such as the gentiles later taught. God is one spirit who fills the entire universe! Furthermore he is the father of all creation: the father of everything that lives, moves and breathes—
This was the joy and beauty of early Christianity, to realize the grace of this one spirit God had visited the gentiles to take out a people for his name. (Acts 15:14), a people whose minds had been all divided and split over the terms of God’s plurality. How this glorious faith of the revelation of who Christ was excited them, realizing through the revelation of truth that he was none other than this very incarnate God himself manifest in human form had come to earth and walked among men. Walking among the Jewish race he left an infallible imprint upon their minds that they should take this revelation and spread it to the ends of the earth! And wherever this revelation traveled, it was accompanied by the presence of the Holy Ghost who is none other than the Spirit of God working in the earth to convict mankind that he is a sinner and needs to be reconciled back to God, (Jn. 16:7-11), and placed on talking terms with him.
TOOK TWO AND MADE ONE
The Holy Ghost taking this in-spired revelation began witnessing and testifying of it through the church of that first generation. Out of pagan temples came new gentile converts who through the same revelation of truth by the Holy Ghost could see that God was one and had walked on earth in flesh in the person of Jesus the Christ. Though the gentiles had never known met or fellowshipped Christ in the flesh, nevertheless they gladly accepted him through the Spirit because the revelated message they heard was one which the Holy Ghost had presented to illuminate their understanding. Thus with joy unspeakable and full of glory, both Jew and gentile alike in that first generation after Pentecost openly embraced that same faith. No other religion in the world could boast of what these could, God had taken twain both Jew and gentile, and through the preaching of this gospel (Eph. 2) made himself one new man by breaking down all the agnostic, racial, religious barriers, and molding both Jew and Gentile together in to this one continuous revelation of who Jesus was, made himself one new family of people in which God, by his Spirit, called the Holy Ghost could dwell. And the Holy Ghost, the Father dwelling in us is that gift of life Peter told 3000 on the day of Pentecost that they also might have, Acts 2:38. This Holy Ghost or Spirit of Christ now living in the believer, is their Eternal Life and that presence of the Holy Ghost brings into every true born again child of God those very same attributes of Christ enabling the believer through these attributes of Jesus the Christ dwelling inside him to be able to declare with the Apostle Paul, Christ in me the hope of glory! (Col. 1 :27)
WORLD SAW CHRIST
Wherever this revelated church, consisting of both Jew and gentile during that first generation, yes, and even on into the second generation journeyed — the world saw Christ. No, they did not see Christ in his flesh but they were able to see Christ in the individual lives of the church because he lived in the hearts of everyone of them, for in that hour there were no tares mingled into the church to divide or pollute their fellowship!
For Christ to live in you and become your life (Col. 3:4) does not make you another Jesus but by having his attributes in your life it will make you to be in his likeness or better still, to live the same objective he did— that is, being pleasing in all things to the plan and will of the Eternal Spirit, the heavenly Father.
OFFENDING THROUGH INIQUITY SPIRIT
Such a picture of how the church was successfully presenting Christ to the world was what satan desired to destroy among those early Christians, therefore I ask you, in order to do this, what kind of human mind or instrument will Satan begin to work through to break up this beautiful fellowship?
How does Satan plan on harassing the early church? Through this spirit of iniquity! This spirit can be so real and wonderful at times often it will act just like a Christian spirit, even talk and think like a Christian spirit, however somewhere deep down inside there is always a motive that has not been seen! Nevertheless, when the time arrives God will always permit that unholy motive to spring forth. Satan is going to use just such a motive and when he does, look out, something in the mind of that person is going to become twisted and once it is twisted it will become contrary to the revelated truth of all the other Christians! Watch this, no sooner does that teaching become twisted in the individual’s mind than does that person get a different viewpoint of the scripture!
BREAKING FELLOWSHIP
In the hour of 90 A.D. such things had already begun to rise up and show itself in the church fellowship. John read about it, he sensed it. Already he had preached to the little children of God, young converts, and is now writing unto them in I John 2:18 saying, little children, it is the last time. In verse 19 we hear him saying, they went out from us because they were not of us! Here for the first time we witness that spirit of Iniquity making some headway because certain ones in the church now break fellowship with true believers. As that spirit first began to come around (54 A.D.) it could not remain causing broken fellowship to develop seeing it was not the hour for that. The age had not fully come to a close, nevertheless as this spirit of iniquity seeking to offend (God) came in to harass the fellowship of the church, it came with only one purpose in mind and that was to plant its own seed and produce its own revelation concerning this one God in Christ. 2 Cor. 5:19, with whom the church was fellowshipping. By 90 A. D. the Holy Ghost in the church body who opposed this spirit (yet permitted it to work) raised up against this iniquity spirit to cause it to conic forth and manifest itself. Its manifestation resulted in various individuals leaving the fellowship of the true body of Christ rather than repent and remain in the fellowship. In other words, the Holy Ghost would not permit these people to remain in the body of the fellowship with conflicting ideas!
GONE OUT
Hence, in the closing hour of that first age when that spirit of iniquity was already on the scene we hear John the beloved state — they went out from us but they were not of us. for had they been of us – they (more than one) would have no doubt continued with us. Understand beloved, John is not saying these certain individuals who left the church’s fellowship left because they were in search of a better paying job with higher wages or a more suitable climate in which to live. O no, had that been the case John would have never said one thing about their leaving. Somewhere in their minds they had received a little different revelation from what the apostles and early church were fellowshipping around and this is what split their fellowship! John said they went out from us because they were not of us for had they been of us they would no doubt have continued in fellowship with us.
John continued by saying, they went out of our fellowship that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us! It simply means they were not of the same revelation and same true spirit that the body of fellowship was walking in. O, how often had these same individuals set in a service singing the same songs, testifying the same, living up to those certain standards and even acting the same, yet John says they were not of us! Beloved this was not a group of visitors or strangers who got up and walked out of service! No, this is people who sat in the fellowship for quite some time but now the hour had arrived that the spirit of anti-Christ would rise up and show itself.
BELIEVER’S INSPIRATION
In verse 22 we note John describing the belief of that anti-Christ spirit in their hour! Recall, in verses 20-21 John commended the little ones by saying, little children you have an unction or anointing from the Holy One and you know all things. What John is saying is you have an inspiration from your teacher, the Holy Ghost, and because of that Holy Spirit living in you you know what to believe. It does not have to be explained over and over to you.
WHO IS A LIAR?
I have written unto you, verse 21 declares, because you know the truth and you know no lie is of the truth (you have been well taught, you are not ignorant, you know what truth is). Now I am going to show you what a bare faced lie is, says John, as he now closes in on his purpose or objective for writing. Verse 22 who is a liar but , he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ, he is an anti-Christ (meaning he is against Christ). Bear in mind, in that hour for a man to have accepted the one true revelation of Christ which brought him into the fellowship of true Christians, how that this anointed one. Jesus the Christ. was God in flesh to fulfill Isa. 9:6 and now for some reason, that individual to later change this revelation in his mind to another frame or line of thinking concerning Christ not being the very God of the Old Testament but instead that he is another person (perhaps a second person), John calls that person a liar. Being a liar means he is an anti-Christ. the wrong spirit is on him! This spirit or mystery of iniquity is causing him to receive an incorrect meaning to the revelation of Christ that all the true Christians had received. He is an anti-Christ that denieth the Father and the Son. Therefore we can see those who went out from them, influenced by an anti-Christ spirit, were definitely denying something relating to this Eternal Spirit God of the Old Testament who was robed in flesh in the person of Jesus the Christ–which the entire true body of fellowship was accepting in 90 A.D.!
TRY THE SPIRITS
John, in the 4th chapter, has by no means departed from his subject of this anti-Christ spirit as he approaches the subject from another viewpoint or angle declaring in verse one–beloved, believe not every spirit but try the spirits to see whether they are of God. Because here in 90 A.D. many false prophets had already gone out into the world. These false prophets were none other than teachers of whom Christ warned the believers in his sermon on the mount, declaring them to be ravening wolves in sheep’s ravening wolves in sheeps-clothing and by their fruits you would know them. These men who from one standpoint acted like Christians and on some points perhaps even taught the same teaching as did the true church yet the main thing which would identify these men as being totally wrong was their warped revelation concerning the Godhead! And today we hear people say, oh what difference does it make whether there is one, two or three? All I can say is, had anyone ever asked the Apostle John that question he would have told them to sit down and he would have informed them exactly what he recorded in 2 John 7-11, any man who transgresses and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ hath not God, he that abideth in the doctrine of Christ hath both the Father and the Son. If any come to you and brings not this doctrine (of Christ) do not even allow him in your house or bid him God speed! It was important to the early church what you believed concerning the Godhead, for I say unto you if you did not abide in the same revelation the early church did to them it simply meant you did not have the Holy Ghost because that was one way the early church knew you did not have the Spirit of Christ in your life. If you did not stand up for and accept the same Godhead teaching or any other scriptural teaching this little body of people embraced, they all knew you did not have it because you could not be in the body of Christ in the early days and have three or four different revelations concerning the same scripture as people do today! The early church would not accept it!
However, by 90 A.D. certain individuals sitting in the fellowship among the believers no longer believed this and the true believers of that hour said, we will not shake your hand until you repent of that!! They had every right to do this because the true church knew the spirit of antagonism could not fellowship where the Holy Ghost was! When God comes into an assembly to fellowship the people he comes in to fellowship us only on one ground and that is the basis of what this Bible has to say! No, he does not fellowship me on the basis of my ideas. We have a modernistic religious world today who believes God will sit around any old sloppy table and allow mankind to sit before him in just any old kind of spirit and serve him old cold soup, etc.. and that God is overjoyed to fellowship with them on such a carnal basis as that—he did not in the early church and he will not today! If God ever fellowshipped with you he will fellowship you around truth!
I am completely aware how God in his long suffering mercy has dealt with mankind throughout the ages as man strayed away from the true path of righteousness and revelation of which the early church fellowshipped. Nevertheless, I have you to know, God does not intend for us to always be left in ignorance as to what truth is. Somewhere he intends to shake us and awaken us to the reality that he has a book called the Bible and furthermore can he ever teach us anything out of it.
RECOGNIZED ANTICHRIST SPIRIT
Therefore we can see, as John wrote these things in his epistle that the Christians of that hour were more than able, because of the Spirit of Christ that lived within them and their knowledge of what truth was to be able to identify and recognize that spirit of anti-Christ whenever it popped up in their midst. In that early church when those believers came to church they came for the purpose to learn truth! We close the first age by saying, the Holy Ghost would not permit unbelievers with contrary revelations to sit in the congregation of the righteous. instead he ran them out of the fellowship!
SECOND CHURCH AGE
However, passing out of that first age over into the second age after 153 A.D. things are somewhat different because as Jesus explained in the opening of this second parable the ministry of the first age is now all asleep, meaning they had died off, early apostles, fivefold ministry all dead. Satan now sees his big opportunity to smash the fellowship of the church. Thus with that same old spirit of offending or misleading using the same old approach he used around 90 A.D. and on into those closing hours of the first Gentile age, he once again uses these same type individual teachers with the same perverted revelation of the godhead. Satan continually knocks at the second church age door until finally somewhere enough individuals who had already begun to lose their conviction and loyalty to truth, began opening their minds to this spirit of iniquity or anti-Christ and once they do satan sees to it the wrong revelations are planted in their mind. As John declared, in 90 A.D. they speak of the world and the world hears them. In other words their twisted revelations always appeal to the carnal mind whereas the true revelation of Christ always appeals to the truly born again family of God who were predestined and elected before the foundation of the world. ( Rom. 8:29)
Let someone receive a revelation that is absolutely out of this world and 100 miles off scriptural basis and there are always those certain minds ready to grab hold of it! Whereas if it were the truth from God’s word, isn’t it strange how they would be ready to fuss and argue about it! When these teachers of whom John spoke could no longer get along with the true fellowship of God’s saints they went out from among them, since they are of the world and speak of the world and the world hears them, where else could they go but out unto the worldly minded to receive their converts? Continuing on into the second age, it is here we really begin to feel the impact of what these teachers have produced, for Christ showed that tares would begin to appear in the second age in a startling number!
Once that pathetic hour, spoken of by Christ in the second age, had arrived, I can see these church assemblies of Asia and Europe began to open their doors to this spirit of iniquity or anti-Christ, opening unto these false teachers who through the sowing of their false revelations offend God. The church’s first love now gone, the old guards of the faith died off, that old firmness of foundation now gone satan more than ever begins to hit that second church age with this offensive, producing tares and driving a wedge deep into the church’s fellowship which fulfills exactly what Christ spoke in parable two!!
NO LONGER SEPARATED
Perverted revelations concerning the Godhead are continually sown!! What do you suppose satan had in mind as he set out to change the Godhead revelation? Somewhere he has an objective all his own, however that objective will not be manifest until the church has reached the Pergamos church age. Once the Godhead revelation is perverted it causes continual bickering and fussing inside the church fellowship. Christ’s second parable concerning the second church age is where the unbelieving tares in great number, sown by satan invades the kingdom of God and disturbs even greater the true disciples’ fellowship. Because according to the scripture God will no longer allow the wheat that he sowed and the tares the devil sowed to grow or remain separated in the kingdom of heaven. From here on, Christ says, the two will grow together and grow together as they did! It was this growing together as the tares began to far outnumber the true seed that they caused great heartache to the true saints of God in centuries to come. I want you to know, at this point in parable two the Holy Ghost will no longer drive out the unbeliever (who have conflicting revelations) from the fellowship of the true saints as he did in 90 A.D.! From this time forward they grow together and Satan’s mystery of iniquity grows stronger than ever before! False apostles and false teachers are on the rampage with their false revelations.
ANTICHRIST SPIRIT INVADES ALL MOVEMENTS
In the second age the church having lost its first love, no longer tried apostles by the Word to see if they were true, thus many false apostles, iniquity workers with anti-Christ’ spirit revelations which were totally unrelated to the true word of God now bombarded the church fellowship. And never forget this, it will always be that way for may I say, the anti-Christ spirit is strictly of the devil and regardless to whichever movement the Holy Spirit is working in to benefit his saints of that hour, whether it be the second age or whether it is the final stage of Laodicea that anti-Christ spirit which will not change in its tactics will also he present! As this spirit Influences a man’s teaching or preaching it will never line up with the revelation of the word of God but instead will always somewhere deviate just enough from the revealed scripture found in your Bible to become anti-word—meaning against the Word of God! Since, beloved, it is an anti-Christ spirit of the devil working in whichever movement God may be working in, this spirit entered that movement to hinder and oppose the true revelation God was projecting in that hour! Thus it becomes anti-word! Get this, only a deceived person motivated by this anti-Christ spirit can rise up against God in the holy scriptures becoming anti-Christ and anti-word! This spirit now becomes anti-church for now it is “anti” in its full makeup and remember ANTI means AGAINST!
MAJORITY VOTE
Once the revelation concerning the Godhead and the deity of Christ was changed or altered by these unbelieving tares of the second age along with their new ideas, the universal church slowly reaches the 4th Century or the opening of the third church age around 312 A.D. Time has brought the universal church into another generation of people as well as another ministry and they are now much farther up the line in their false revelation. Throughout the Roman Empire the universal church faces a greater element of friction, fuming and arguing than ever before as the ministry itself becomes more divided over these issues. Finally the teaching of the godhead becomes first priority with the Roman Emperor Constantine who, supposedly, has accepted Christianity as Christianity is taught in that hour. This confusion bringing great division throughout the empire has caused all the bishops of the empire to be called to a council table at Nicea in 325 A.D. Something will happen here for the first time in the history of the church!! The church will adopt, not by a revelation of the Holy Ghost, but by a majority vote what the religious world accepts and teaches today. Christ who is declared in Rev. 1 to be the First and Last through this council now becomes the Second Person!
CHRIST BECOMES SECOND PERSON 325 A.D.
No, it has not been by Holy Ghost conviction and revelation that brought these (mostly tares) bishops to Nicea instead it has been the invitation or orders from the Roman Emperor Constantine himself, demanding once and for all the question of the godhead be settled. And they are to reach some kind of decision and form a church doctrine that all the churches would be able to accept. By a majority vote, the decision that was reached was–God had to be three persons, each person separate and distinct from the other. And by a majority vote for the first time in history Christ becomes the Second Person! This lie of the devil or church doctrine came about by the majority vote! Remember, a majority vote usually is made for one purpose, to please the mass of people, however in the beginning It was not so! Thus in 325 A.D. the deceived, unbelieving tares absolutely instituted their doctrine of the trinity declaring there were three separate persons in the Godhead. Such a doctrine as this could well fit the Roman world of that hour.
We see the devil’s purpose all along through these tares had been to establish himself a church of his own and he did this by first of all destroying the true fellowship of the early church while at the same time slowly laying the groundwork for his own church. Along with this one twisted revelation of the godhead he finally succeeds in perverting, Satan saw to it this same spirit of iniquity in time to come would pick up still more misleading teachings for his church to embrace.
SCRIPTURE SAYS NO
Because of this lie now taught in the church, thousands upon thousands of people throughout the dark ages believing Jesus was no more than the second person of the trinity died and entered their graves believing as soon as they entered glory they would see three persons sitting there! Never once realizing it was totally impossible to link that line of thought up with the holy scriptures to make it read that way! Once you try to place such a carnal theory of the godhead into the gospel of Luke and Matthew you will run straight into trouble! Why? Read Luke’s account of the angel’s visit to Mary (Lk. 1:35) where he informed her that she had been chosen to conceive and bear a son whose name would be Jesus. Furthermore, the angel said the son she would bear would be called the Son of God. To this Mary being astonished asked, this Mary being astonished asked, how can such a thing be seeing I know not a man? The Holy Ghost shall overshadow thee, was the angel’s reply. Therefore face it, if the Holy Ghost is going to do this work of conception in Mary’s body and he, as the trinitarians teach, is another entirely separate person called the Third Person, totally separate and distinct from God the Father who according to this same teaching is First Person—watch what you will run into when you place that teaching in the Bible! Remember the angel had already declared the baby Mary is to bring forth is to be called the Son of God.
WHO IS FATHER?
Watch closely–Who is this baby’s Father, first person or third person? If the conception of the Son of God is brought about by the Holy Ghost as the Bible teaches, (Matt. 1:18-20) who the trinitarians declare is the third separate person of the trinity, how on earth can baby Jesus possibly be the Son of God and be conceived by the Third Person, the Holy Ghost!! To do so would cause Christ to have two daddies, one by whom he was conceived and the other he calls father! See how foolish! Nevertheless that is what people want to believe. Biologically no child can have two fathers! The truth of the matter is, the Holy Ghost and the Father who is God is one and the selfsame Spirit! (Eph. 4:4)
STRIPPED OF GARMENT
Thus, once the devil had seen to it in 325 A.D. by a unanimous vote the true revelation of Christ was perverted making Jesus the Second Person, Satan now has a platform on which to build his church. And for centuries history reveals the universal realm of Christianity holds is and embraces Satan’s LIE. Therefore Satan’s attack against the early church was designed to strip her naked, strip her naked of every true divine revelation of the word of God which was her spiritual clothing to hide her nakedness!
Are you aware the only garment of righteousness the church was ever to be clothed In is the righteousness of Jesus Christ, Rom. 13:14? Furthermore beloved, .It Is totally Impossible for you to put on that garment of righteousness but only as you see Christ revealed in the holy scriptures. When the Bible declares in Rom. 13:14, put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ and make no provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust thereof, what do you think the Holy Spirit through Paul’s writing meant? It means you put him on in the revelation as the Bible portrays him unto your mortal soul. No one will ever be able to put on Christ by putting on a lot of perverted teachings!
Thus Satan carried the body of believers from Nicea in 325 A.D. into the dark ages for 1000 years where he completely stripped her of every revelations truth Christ in the beginning had dressed her up in. Through the tares who carried the anti-Christ spirit upon them and were Satan’s iniquity workers he stripped the church of every true Bible teaching embraced by the early believers long before any tares were sown in the kingdom. As Satan attacked every true biblical teaching from within the fellowship he would not stop until he had successfully sowed enough tares or followers of his own to make up the majority in the fellowship of the church of that hour who would become sensitive enough to the anti-Christ spirit to remove every righteous teaching in the scripture! He would sow and sow until he had enough people to lean to this perverted side to accomplish his will! Thus his own followers would far outnumber the truly born again seed of God.
SWITCHING BAPTISM
Bible doctrine after Bible doctrine, through each consecutive age, fell victim to the vicious attacks of that anti-Christ spirit, that mystery of iniquity which had now become strictly anti-word. From an anti-relevation opposing the godhead in 325 A.D. we next see that spirit come against true scriptural water baptism according to Acts 2:38 for remission of sins which is the literal fulfilment of the Great Commission in Matt. 28:19, Mark 16:15, Luke 24:47, John 20:23.
Yes, not long after 325 A.D. do we see scriptural water baptism becoming the issue. Out goes water baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for a triune baptism. Though history shows there still were those who insisted on believing and practicing the true way of baptism according to Acts 2:38, those same people and preachers soon became more and more the minority element in an hour of strong anti-wordism. Now the small minority or true seed of God in the kingdom face their greatest opposition ever as they are constantly attacked by the tares through this anti-Christ spirit which was permitted since the second century to grow together.
Though immersion in water was still practiced it was not according to Acts 2:38. Instead it now became the repeated words recorded in Matt. 28:19 because satan saw he could use that passage for his triune baptism to introduce into the life of the believer his triune godhead or trinity better than any other verse! This baptism introduced you unto an unscriptural trinity of persons, by having each convert baptized in the names of three separate persons–one called Father, another Son and the third, Holy Ghost. To the carnal mind this sounded most logical and sensible, thus out of the realm of water baptism around 370 A.D. came the in-stitution of infant baptism. something which would go unchallenged for approximately 1200 years until a group during the early Reformation would challenge this teaching. This group which first refuted infant baptism teaching, using as a scriptural basis that Christ was baptized as an adult, came from a group of persecuted believers called Rebaptizers or what is known in history as Anabaptist. Infant baptism is absolutely contrary to the concept of the scripture! No where in scripture did Jesus ever endorse water baptism for infants. True, Christ blessed the little children saying, let them come unto me but that does not give them eternal life.
Thus in water baptism the tares succeeded in changing the mode from immersion to sprinkling as well as the authority of what was to be stated over the converts when baptizing them according to Acts 2:38. From Infant Baptism was later instigated Confirmation into the church. Baptism in water is completely removed and sprinkling becomes the mode. All these things now, more than ever, begin to take on a pagan identity which of course greatly pleased many of the new Roman converts. Rome, you recall, still ruled the world and Rome as well as their subjects for so long had been nothing but pagans.
UNIVERSAL REVIVAL
Therefore these so-called Roman Christians who are mostly tares move out now under the banner of Christianity into a universal revival, because Roman pagans were not required to change many of their old traditions in order to come into the universal Roman church. Tares of our day have changed little from their pagan ancestor’s position in the 4th and 5th Century. You can still fill most any building today, provided you make the gospel you preach so appealing that every old beer drinker, cigar and cigarette smoker, card shark and every immoral, profane person can sit in the service and never feel molested or discouraged by it! Don’t require any confession of sin, simply have him join the church like it was some lodge!
BIBLE DOCTRINES DESTROYED
By the time we move into the dark ages which will last for 1000 years, a period often referred to as the devil’s millennium, one by one all these biblical teachings of the early church are substituted for carnal ideas. The doctrine of predestination as well as the security of the believer were scriptural doctrines now forgotten. Why would you need a doctrine of predestination or security of believers in such an hour as this, seeing in the beginning of that dark age satan’s followers were now merely Confirmed into the church instead of being born again and placed there by the Holy Ghost!
JOIN OR DIE
Everything in that hour becomes a forced issue! The church now in this period demands membership at the point of the sword and as territories of barbarians are conquered at the point of the sword they were forced to unite with the Roman church or die! In other words, to fulfill the great commission of Christ their idea was to make you accept Christianity (their version). Therefore, why preach predestination or security of the believer as taught in the Bible when now it has turned out to be a program where you will be forced to join the church! There could be no place for such doctrines in this kind of a setup. By the time all this action is forced upon the conquered people, join or die, and they are forced to embrace the ideas of that church of the day which are contrary to scripture, – naturally the church loses all ci scriptural revelation of truth and she becomes less and less spiritual and more and more carnal;
With each passing generation the church now becomes more carnal minded as outward association and outward ambitions pertain more to the world in general. Thus the church becomes more and more politically and socially motivated.
A NEW INFALLIBILITY
Moving on deeper into the apostasy of the dark ages, satan continues stripping little by little the church of all her spiritual clothing until finally she reaches the place, having now lost all previous convictions concerning the supreme authority of the scripture, feeling the Bible is no longer the infallible written Word of God, we now begin to see the emphasis being placed upon the infallibility of one religious bishop of the church who is to be known as the Pope! Why had satan performed such a trick? Why had he stripped the church of all her spiritual clothing or revelation of Christ, gradually removing it from her and robing her in traditions? It had been his way of slowly slipping into hoodwink the people, doing so gradually had required the work of many centuries and many generations. Thus no one was fully aware of what satan was doing. As long as you have people who believe the Bible is the infallible written word of God, there is always a good possibility that God always can drive a revelation home within the minds of those people; However on the other hand, once the majority of the people no longer hold a reverence for the word of God as infallible and they begin to treat it as though it is just another book full of traditions, filled with history, etc., as had satan sowed the idea to the world of that hour a theory which many even hold today; once a people reaches that point, you can see definitely where they will rely more and more upon the fact that the Pope and his office is infallible as he speaks as the mouthpiece of God in respect to the doctrines of the church.
REACHES HEIGHT
Studying history we see the church during that dark age period reaching the heights of its power during the years 1198-1216 under Pope Innocent III, at which time kings and emperors did obeisance (reverence) to the pope and all men acknowledged him as their superior and as the earthly representative of God. History reveals that pope after pope, before the reign of Innocent III, had constantly changed the framework of the scripture and instituted tradition. Thus by the 13th Century we see where it had led. No wonder mankind through the dark ages groped as a blindfolded person, the Bible practically a forgotten book. You do not know how to read it; only the priest knows how to read it, the congregation was told. Only the priest knows how to interpret it. Well, all I can say is he was not doing a very good job of it seeing how he was continually taking from and adding to it!
Once the infallibility of the pope was instituted, the supreme authority of the Bible to the church meant no more than a catalogue would today. Sanctification is no longer a state and walk of life by the believer in the holiness of God. The baptism of the Holy Ghost as I an experience taught in the t scripture also now has been lost I and replaced by a wafer on the tongue or substituted by church membership, confirmation, etc.
Therefore they changed and changed until finally they had destroyed all the truth of the original church as satan leads his religious program into the depths of the dark ages. In the Dark Ages we see a church structure totally constructed by satan himself. No longer do you see a fivefold ministry, it is now a priesthood to lead the church. Every doctrine, every revelation embraced by that early church has literally been destroyed. Remember, the Lord had declared in parable two let them both grow together.
NO SALVATION OUTSIDE ROMA CHURCH
Prior to the 16th Century only the Catholic Church was recognized in Europe. The pope had come to believe all political and secular authority should be subject to the church. Having destroyed the authority of the Bible as well as now forbidding any subject of the church to have one in their possession, is there any wonder the church of the Dark Ages could teach there is no salvation outside the Roman Catholic Church when the Bible plainly declares there is no salvation outside the Lord Jesus Christ, Acts 4:11-12 and no other foundation can any man lay than that which is already laid, the Lord Jesus Christ, NOT THE CHURCH AT ROME. (I Cor. 3:11)
DEATH TO ALL HERETICS
Passing into the 13th Century, that period when the power of the Catholic Church reached its height under Innocent III and kings and emperors bowed before him. acknowledging him to be their emperor bowed before him, acknowledging him to be their superior and earthly representative of God, during that period when the church enjoyed the peak of both secular and religious favor she conducted successful wars against opposing religious groups, sought to suppress heresy by torture and death and received vast sums of money from all her subjects in Europe. Many degrading and unChristian social, political and religious practices, most of them regarded as normal at the time, now came into the life of the church. Reform movements arose such as the Albigenses and Waldenses who stressed the scriptural authority and basis for Christian life and doctrine had successfully been snuffed out by the 12th Century.
John Wycliffe, 1320-1384 known for his translation of some of the scriptures into English, preached against the corruption within the church, acknowledging the Bible as the final source of truth, op-posing bitterly the pope. Thus in 1401 possession of an English Bible was made punishable by death and the followers of Wycliffe were forcibly suppressed. John Hus, 1369-1415, a professor and powerful preacher in Prague was publicly burned at a stake for denouncing the excesses of the church as he too, claimed the Bible was the highest authority. Even in Italy, the stronghold of the church, voices were being raised against the evils within the church. In Florence, Savonarola, 1452-1498, a popular and influential preacher, an acquaintance of Michel Angelo opposed the authority of the pope. He was condemned, tortured and publicly burned at the stake in 1498. Before the 16th Century (1500) the church was too powerful to be greatly threatened by these brave patriarchs of the faith who courageously opposed wrong as they saw it. By the 13th Century there wasn’t enough truth left within the framework of Roman Catholicism which now calls herself the church of the living God, the universal church of God, to fill a small pamphlet!
In the 14th Century William of Occam, 1280-1349 a respected theologian revived some of the major claims of the Waldenses such as the pope is not infallible and the Bible is the only final authority in matters of faith and conduct. These and other voices were soon snuffed out who called for purification of the church.
DARK AGE SALVATION
Often we are asked the question, were there any Christians during the Dark Ages? Christ said there was! Rev. 2:24-26. Christ said certain ones in that group or age would be with him in glory. In other words in the resurrection of all saints, Christ will receive a certain portion of his bride from that age as well as all the others.
It is quite true the saints of the Dark Ages—did not have the revelation of all the truth to walk in that you and I have been privileged to see and hear, nevertheless what little they were able to see, hear and understand placed such a fervency in their hearts that it succeeded in keeping their hearts in tune and in love with God. Therefore God reckoned salvation to that soul while on the other hand there would be vast multitudes of people attending the same cathedral who simply did not have God on their minds in the least. They were in the cathedral because they felt compelled to be there and believe me they were compelled Therefore we identify the believers of that hour as having something in their life that would not permit them to line up with that false church and most died for the faith they embraced, some 68 million died at the hand of this church, Rev. 17:6, 19:2. The Inquisition ran deep with the blood of the martyred saints. Nevertheless Christ declared to the Dark Age saints to as many who did not know this doctrine, that is, have relationship with this doctrine and which have not known the depths of satan as they (the tares) speak, I put upon you none other burden.
Part 3—Antichrist Spirit in Reformation
No wonder through the Reformation, beginning in the 16th Century that the Lord would start a program of reform or reconstruction of Bible truth! Why? Because that thing called by the world, the church, had through the centuries become so anti-word it absolutely was none other than the anti-spirit bitterly working against the true revelated Spirit of Christ! Therefore, since God had no intention of permitting the church to remain in such a degraded stage as this he had to bring about a reform or reformation and praise God, slowly step by step, just as she went into the Dark Ages, slowly through the Reformation God would lift her from the long dark age teaching back to the revelatory truth of his word!
The beginning of the Protestant Reformation is generally dated in 1517 when Martin Luther nailed his 95 thesis to the church door of Whittenberg and although Luther did not foresee this as an act to be regarded as a direct attack on the pope, it eventually caused Luther to become a fugitive. No it was not his intentions by doing this to found a new church. Luther had become an Augustine monk in the Catholic Church and even though his vows were extreme and his penance was severe he could not find peace for his soul for many years. Finally, climbing the stairs on his knees to kiss the feet of a statue at the top. Luther heard the voice of God–Martin Luther, the just shall live by faith. It was an experience which gave him new enthusiasm and power as a religious leader. The head of the monastery thereupon sent him to Whittenberg where he preached at the university utterly sincere and now devoted to the Lord through his new revelation-that the just shall live by faith. He was very dissatisfied with many practices of the Catholic Church, practices which had been criticized for centuries. Luther became especially angry with the intensive pressure put upon the ignorant peasants to buy indulgences so the pope could have enough funds to build St. Peter’s Cathedral in Home.
The doctrine of indulgence taught the pope could grant forgiveness to the sinner thus shortening his stay in purgatory and the poor were spending much needed money for these assurances. Luther’s 95 thesis stresses justification by faith. the authority of the Bible, the priesthood of all believers, the important role of the Holy Spirit. Luther claimed God forgave sincere men directly and he appealed the scriptural authority to support his claims thus degrading the authority of the sacred traditions of the church. It seemed as though all Germany, after having read his 95 thesis which was printed and distributed, rallied behind him as his ideas gained printed and distributed, rallied behind him as his ideas gained wide support and acceptance in Germany, explaining why he did not suffer torture and death as had the other martyrs who rose against the church. Germany had waited for someone to put into words what everyone was thinking but was afraid to say concerning the sale of indulgences and other abuses. Luther was tried and found guilty by the church but was protected – from the fury of the religious court.
ANTICHRIST SPIRIT PROMOTES VIOLENCE
Followers of Luther were cut off from the Catholic Church by the Council of Trent 1545-1563 and (movement). And do you think the anti-Christ spirit remained in the old system? Absolutely not!
Luther never encouraged violence but believed in preaching the Word then allowing the Word of Truth itself to bring the reform. However, radical fanatics entered with new light leading thousands away with such cries as–forget Luther’s way, follow the Spirit–the dead letter killeth– follow your impulses to produce the reformation! Of all the ridicule and suffering received by Luther from church and state, nothing grieved him as did these fanatics!
Because wherever truth is being taught in any revelatory form, that anti-Christ spirit must enter into that young movement and by bringing enough tares in especially by the second generation of the beginning of that truth, satan by this time has enough voice that he can prevent the movement as a whole from going on in any further truth of God’s Word!
Therefore, succeeding in stopping the movement from going in further truth, satan caused it to organize around the truth which had already been given, thus causing the movement to fail to link up with more truth!
REVOLT SPREADS TO SWITZERLAND
Luther’s fame spread to other European countries. Switzerland became a second powerful center of the Reformation. A parish priest at Zurich. Ulrich Zwingli, 1484-1531, became familiar with the writings of Luther and began to preach strongly against abuses within the church, giving the flock new knowledge by instructing them directly from the Bible which he regarded as the final authority of the church. Like Luther he opposed the sale of indulgences and the worship of relics of the saints. The reform that Zwingli promoted was even more far reaching than Luther. He taught the Bible did not require the priest to abstain from marriage. Furthermore he refuted the Catholic doctrine that the bread and wine became the body and blood of Christ in the mass, claiming the Communion was merely a service of remembrance. Although mass was continued, the sermons spoken in the language of the people were made the heart of the service.
Seeking to modify the practices of the church, so they only included those things expressly commanded in the New Testament, Zwingli removed from the churches all pictures, tapestries, candles, ointments and even organs. The reform movement was gaining rapid momentum. Some aspects of the movement went farther than either Luther or Zwingli desired, for example, in Zurich a group of protestants who opposed infant baptism as not being scriptural and was nothing more than a convenient invention of the church declared all Christians should be baptized as adults so they could openly declare their faith and experience of conversion. Zwingli emphatically opposed these who he called Rebaptizers or Anabaptists and under his leadership they were persecuted and driven out of the city although their doctrine did not disappear.
REVOLT IN HOLLAND
A converted priest from Holland, Mennosinons, 1492-1559, joined this Anabaptist movement giving it wise and practical leadership. The man who later becomes the founder of the Mennonites.
REVOLT IN FRANCE
France was not untouched by the spirit of renewal sweeping Europe because John Calvin, 1509-1564,- of Catholic background and a student at the Univ. of Paris began secretly to read the forbidden writings of Luther and became convinced Luther was right. This resulted from his witnessing the death of a heretic who showed such a countenance of joy it rebuked his own darkened heart. Upon joining a group of protestants he was twice arrested and imprisoned, losing the opportunity for a promising career as lawyer. Calvin decided to go to Switzerland where greater safety was granted to protestants. At the age of 26 he published the Institutes of the Christian Religion which became one of the most powerful books of the Reformation. John Calvin was the man to whom God restored the truth concerning the eternal security of the believer. Because of Calvin’s dedicated preaching and ministry Geneva, Switzerland became a stronghold for protestantism. Calvin stressed the moral life and demanded strict obedience. His congregations could be fined for laughing or sleeping in church and imprisoned for rolling dice or wearing fashionable clothes. Each congregation of his movement were ruled by elders who met in a meeting called the presbytery. Presbyterians even trace their original origin to John Calvin in Geneva.
COUNTER REFORM
Reformed churches in Europe and America regard Zwingli and Calvin as their founders. By 1545 the protestant reformation — had been well planted in Germany. Switzerland, France. Holland and England. The Catholic Church having lost much which they now sought to regain through a vigorous effort called the counter reformation that takes place in the latter half of the 16th Century just as the protestant reformation was reaching its peak. The Catholic Church at Trent called for a council which met at different times up until 1563. Their first demand was. all protestants re-unite with the Catholic Church and conform to its doctrines. Since the protestants refused to concede, a holy war was launched against them in Germany and they were defeated by the Catholic forces. Because so many Catholic leaders acknowledged the need for a genuine reform within their church, nothing really came of the defeat other than hindering the growth of protestantism in Germany;
RELIGIOUS WARS
However hostility and repression continued to mark the relations of the two religious bodies throughout the 17th Century and between 1618-1648 Europe’s bloodiest religious wars broke out. Protestants revolting against Catholic political and religious control in Prague led to two Catholic regents being murdered. The revolt quickly spread and soon Germany, Austria and Hungary were entangled in horrible strife and open warfare. This continued till both sides had their population greatly reduced, their people brutalized and their fields and towns destroyed, and the remnants of Christian virtue and sentiment all but eradicated. Protestants and Catholics alike seeking by evil means to force their beliefs on the opposite side succeeded only to bring the life in western Europe to the brink of destruction. Thus in 1648 a treaty of Westphalia brought this open warfare to a conclusion by providing Lutherans, Reformed and Catholics equal civil and religious rights in Germany and Switzerland. Each state or province in Germany was to be totally Lutheran, Reformed or Catholic, according to the decree of the head of each state. Because of this people who wanted to be in various religions often had to migrate to another province.
MORAL LIFE OF PROTESTANTISM UNCHANGED
True, the seed of the tares through the anti-Christ spirit had been well sown into the European reformation because over the next fifty years (1650-1700) following the close of the religious war is not exactly what one might expect to witness concerning the moral life of protestantism considering the high price, (blood). which had been paid for this freedom! It seemed the German Lutheran as well as the Reformed churches now become bogged down with theological controversies as well as being plagued with the dissatisfaction of their own people who are severely irritated at the low, loose. worldly moral state of protestantism before 1700! Furthermore, various individual groups are demanding changes such as a more dedicated and simple life of Christianity or they intend to separate from this immorality of life such as these state churches were producing!
Up to this point, the protestant reformation seemed to have been an empty gain of only a few renewed Bible doctrines because protestantism as a whole, both clergy and layman, had not received much of a renewal in the spiritual life. Moral decay and debauchery still plagued both protestantism and Catholicism–with the exception of a few. Adultery and drunkenness and sensuality still marked the life of the German nobility of that hour. And again with few exceptions, the clergy of the state churches are now enjoying a tax protection while deliberately turning away from the deplorable lives of the German upper class, even giving praise to this hypocrisy and history says they were participating in such immoral acts themselves! Drunkenness and immorality plagued both religions, while many were lazy, worldly and possessing little concern for the needs of their spiritual charge! Church attendance had become a compulsory thing under penalty and that penalty and punishment enforced by the state. The deplorable condition in the lives of European protestants before 1700 shows why the revelation on holy living given to John Wesley was desperately needed in 1738!
REVOLT IN SCOTLAND
It was a stirring and bloody hour in Scotland in the year 1407 when a Wycliffe scholar in Perth was burned at the stake and also as late as 1494 when the Archbishop of Glasgow arraigned 13 Lollards on charge of heresy and time was still not right for revolt in Scotland even in 1546 when George Wishart in whose company John Knox made his first appearance into Scottish history was put to death for heresy for denying there were seven sacraments and a priesthood of all believers. Know who had been in exile returned in 1559 to Scotland wherein every city, town and countryside rang with the words “John Knox is come.” Thus, under his stirring leadership Knox broke the yoke of Roman Catholicism in Scotland with Parliament declaring, the Pope no longer has jurisdiction here. While in exile John Knox came under the power-ful influence of the teaching of John Calvin. Concerning John Knox Queen Mary once said I had rather face an invading army than face the prayers of John Knox! He was given the truth that restored the doctrine of predestination in the scripture and the movement called Presbyterian formed around that revelation. However again to make sure the followers of that truth would go no further and to make sure they would not unite with any other truth, as always ratan, through the anti-Christ spirit which always comes in to work beside the true Spirit of Christ, planted into the movement enough tares to spread extreme predestination teachings as well as other extremities and bottle up the truth in a separate denomination system as quickly as possible. The anti-Christ spirit, by the second, third and fourth generation usually had such good control of the way the movement should go.
No, the devil could never stop the truth from going forth from the throne of God into the hearts of people, yet he could do the next best thing and that would be to hinder the truth through his anti-Christ spirit from spreading further! Therefore by bringing this anti-Christ spirit into whatever movement the Spirit of God was moving, he was able by sowing his tares into the movement of truth, his iniquity workers, to prevent or hinder the truth in a measure by bottling it up, surrounding it with organizational teachings. And by binding the movement he could prevent those within that movement or those who would later join it, from walking on in any further truth with God. Having bogged the movement down, causing it to walk no farther in revelation of truth or ever being able to link up with other truth, by the time the second and third generation comes on the scene, he had enough tares planted within it he could steer it in almost any direction he chose . As a matter of fact, could these loyal, brave reformation leaders see what these tare believers have done to their movements which they started by preaching the divine truth of God’s word surely they would turn over in their graves!
WESLEY AND SANCTIFICATION-1738
The restored revelation of SANCTIFICATION in the 18th Century and the holy dedicated life was restored by a man who had received an experience at Aldersgate in England while studying the works of Martin Luther. More than one man was used in God’s reformation to restore to the church those great truths which had been stomped out by the anti-Christ spirit centuries and centuries before. Nevertheless in the very heat of these revivals of truth the anti-Christ spirit moved right in alongside the Spirit of Truth through the workers of iniquity placed in each movement by satan himself. Satan was always successful in preventing the movement who started out to follow truth from ever walking on any further in the truth, by bottling them up in a system. Thus preventing them as a whole from ever uniting with the other truth already restored In the reformation by other reformation leaders. And I say again, could these early reformation leaders such as Wesley, Calvin, Knox, Luther see where the anti-Christ spirit through the tares have now led their followers in to, such as the World Council of Churches who, through the ecumencial spirit intends to unite all religions into one, would certainly cause them to turn over in their grave!
20TH CENTURY PENTECOST
At the turn of the 20th Century as the religious world was still em-bracing the doctrine of the trinity as laid down in 325 A. D. God began to visit through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit those hungry hearted trinitarian denominational people in various movements who were simply hungry for a deeper move of the Spirit of God. From this Holy Ghost experience naturally these people were all kicked out and rejected by their old established movements because these old established bottled up systems, now controlled or guided by the anti-Christ spirit through his tare believers who for many generations having had control of the situation do not want anything to do with this new truth! Not one old denomination ever carried new truth. God would always reveal his new truth to the people connected with some system and as always, those new receivers would have to go on the outside of the old organized systems to preach their new truth! Pentecost was no exception to the rule!
From the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on these various denominational people came the movement known as the 20th Century pentecostal movement which has spread over the earth. At this point in the reformation God was restoring his nine spiritual gifts to the body of Christ. Thus they began to teach according to Acts 2:4 believers could have the baptism of the Holy Ghost and could speak with other tongues as the Spirit gave utterance.
ONENESS PENTECOST
Out of this burning revival, around 1912 God gave into the midst of this very same people the revelation of the one God and baptism in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of sins as taught by the early church in the first age. However we see the same pathetic story repeat itself! As always with each separate movement who had been forced to come out of organized religion to embrace and walk in any new truth restored back to the church by the Holy Ghost—these oneness people were no exception! Just as this truth had to move on the outside of organized religion the anti-Christ spirit, which has been in every denomination, moves out with it to do as much damage as possible to offend the Spirit of Christ! Thus as no exception, this spirit working so close to the Spirit of Christ impresses the new movement of truth as he moves in and begins to plant his tare believers that they too can do far more with this truth provided they will place it in an organization; Thus by bottling up the new revelation into a tightly organized program and adding many extreme positions to muddy the water around the truth, satan succeeds in bottling up the people who, having accepted this truth, will not be permitted to link up nth other truths just as valuable as the one they embrace. With all the truth now restored in the earth although sorry to say bottled up in separate little containers of denominationalism, can you not better see why it was of a necessity that God send a prophet messenger to this gentile religious world in these last days? The message brought by this messenger to a lukewarm Laodicean church age already filled with separate religious ideas simply boils down to this, this prophet messenger took the restored truths delivered by every reformation leader and placed them all into one message as they should be. He took what Luther restored along with the revelational truth Calvin, Knox, Wesley and both sides of Pentecost movements restored, placed all these divine scriptural truths back into one gospel message and declared CHURCH HERE IS WHAT YOU SHOULD BELIEVE!
SALVATION RESTORED
Remember, this message was not a message consisting of merely one major point of revealed truth as had been in the earlier reformation ministries. O no, there can never be another organization. We have had enough of those God knew that. Therefore when the pen; tecostal movement of the early 20th Century had moved out so far as it could and the godhead revelation restored into it around 1912, along with the true water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins according to Acts 2:38-with this revelation that completed the salvation program of God for his believers which he had restored through the reformation because watch, from the beginning of Luther in 1515 with the revelation the just shall live by faith until the final revelation came to the church of the godhead and true water baptism around 1912. God had completely restored back in operation all scriptural teachings which dealt with the entire plan of an individual’s personal salvation as taught by the ministry of the early church in the first church age!
Without Faith it is impossible to please God! The Bible teaches the just shall live by faith and by grace through faith you are saved. We can go from that faith doctrine of revelation to all the other restored revelatory truths and doctrines given back by the spirit of God in the reformation. True faith leads each believer to know they are eternally secure in Christ as well as being predestined and sanctified. Certainly each true believer according to the New Testament must have the baptism of the Holy Ghost as well as being baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins according to Acts 2:38. Truly we can see out of this reformation period of some 400 years God had restored the truth. He had restored the formula of how he has scripturally purposed to beget every son and daughter into himself. However never forget as step by step we saw through the reformation God making many moves through the Holy Ghost to restore truth unto his people, we also have seen how that anti-Christ spirit moved right out of the dark ages over into each reformation move and planted tares into the very movement within which the Spirit was working in the kingdom of heaven! Beloved that anti-Christ spirit never leaves that movement until his job is finished which does not come until the end of the age when he has successfully delivered all movements into one big bundle!
ANTICHRIST SPIRIT
Yes, as the truth of each divine revelation was embraced in the hearts of true believers we can say by the time the first generation of that particular truth passed off the earth, within that second generation the anti-Christ spirit could find enough hearts who no longer walked feverently after the revelation of that truth, could implant ideas in their minds and thus by adding into that group many tare people–by the second and third generation could take that movement and already having long since bottled it up where the people could no longer walk in creeper truth of God plunge it right back into spiritual darkness! …
By planting his tares and raising them into influential positions, the total movement would sooner or later reach a point where it would draw a line on God and refuse to walk any further in truth. Once that particular movement had become established, after several generations it simply had too many tares identified within it to ever allow the movement as a whole to be carried into any further truth or ever be allowed to link up with any other truth already in the earth. The tares could see to it through this deceptive anti-Christ spirit sowing his wild revelations that this movement by drawing a line on God’s Word would soon be identified back with the old spirit of the system in which they had all come out.
Now the movement will never again rise or go any further in truth of the scripture and thus by the third and fourth generation it is almost totally impossible to recognize what the initial truth was under the reformation leader as it first went forth in the hour when there was no extremity or carnality connected to it! By the third and fourth generation there is enough tare believers in any particular movement to take the entire movement and ditch it thus blending the spirit of that movement right back into the same type spirit of ancient Catholicism out of which they had all come! Therefore is there any wonder since being of the same spirit once the light and message of the movement has moved out, is there any wonder in the last day they would unite together and be represented in one big bundle of tares to be burned by the judgment of God, bound together by an ecumenical spirit of Rome because in that hour every true seed will have heard his final call of Rev. 18:4-5 and will have already fled organized Babylon!
WORKING IN FINAL ORGANIZED MOVEMENT
I want to touch briefly on the final movement of pentecost and show how the anti-Christ spirit moved into that movement to of-fend Christ by producing many extremes to hinder the movement’s growth. Please do not think I am picking on this movement because I am not. If you think the anti-Christ spirit did a great damage in planting many extremities into this oneness move of pentecost, just wait until we touch that final movement and show how the anti-Christ Invaded this final move of God with such extreme ideas that it would deceive the very elect if possible! That is how close the anti-Christ spirit would operate to the true spirit in the endtime Bride move; For instance, it is no doubt the first time in the history of the church that the anti-Christ spirit ever sought to deceive the followers of a message by making many of them believe the instrument God used was the Lord Jesus Christ himself.
PARTING FROM TRUTH
Christ had restored the doctrine of the Godhead and true water baptism in the midst of the trinity pentecostal believers who, as a whole, refused it. Other movements who claimed to have the Holy Ghost fought this revelated truth tooth and toenail. Why? Because there is enough tares already planted along with the true seed to raise opposition against it. The anti-Christ spirit rebels against truth as always, forcing these pentecostal believers who accepted this new Godhead revelation out of their fellowship into what should have been a far greater light for those who moved out to embrace the truth! But would they move on into further truth? Not as a whole for they stopped and played around with the scriptures and do you know what some of them did through influence of that anti-Christ spirit—they began to leave the path of true revelation.
THREE EXTREMES
Being revelatory minded, satan saw the opportunity to plant revelations of his own in their midst. This was done as always to muddy the water around the truth that God had placed in their midst by giving different extremities to frighten as many people as possible away from the true revelatory teaching of the scriptures carried by the movement. In order for this spirit to work and offend the true Spirit of Christ in every way possible some of these believers took off into Adventism preaching the seventh day or Saturday was the correct sabbath or day for the church to observe saying Sunday (first day) was no longer the day of worship as the early church had always observed because it was on that day (first) Christ, their Lord and Saviour rose from the dead to give them new life. No, the devil does not want anyone to take the truth and follow God but only so far. That holds true with any movement!!
As a matter of fact satan plants enough tares in any genuine movement of the Spirit of God to make sure that movement goes only so far and then he shoves it off out into error. That anti-Christ spirit hangs around long enough to make sure these people do not go any further with God in further revelation of truth. And if they stop somewhere along the way the devil will always have two or three revelations he can throw in right quick which will always excite a certain group. That is exactly what he did in the oneness movement. While some took off after sabbath keeping (Saturday) do you realize what that led them into? From there they went after the teaching of abstaining from meats (pork, etc.) and began to teach others they should abstain also.
If you refuse to go on with God in truth you are bound to go somewhere else! Always remember, that truth you once heard can only take you so far. If you do not allow it to lead you into further truth by linking up with other scriptures of truth it will surely take you off into another direction!!
Therefore while some went after this teaching others who say they saw the revelation of the one God and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38) went out of the original oneness message to begin to teach what is known as Jesus Only, a doctrine totally unscriptural! Others said through baptism of water you are to be baptized into Jesus. Friend, no man can put you into Jesus. Paul said the Holy Ghost baptizes us into the mystical body of Christ. Others went so far as to say the blood of Christ is applied only in the water. ttemenwer tms movement came I out following a divine revelation of the one God, however look at what all is in it now! Others went so far in this movement to spiritualize the communion saying, we no longer • need the wine and bread because the Lord is the bread of life and the Holy Ghost is the wine. 0, such • nonsense!
What is it? Nothing but an anti-Christ spirit brought in alongside the true spirit to tear down the revelation of Jesus Christ which the Spirit of Christ himself is establishing into his true body. One of two things will happen–that anti-Christ spirit will always TAKE FROM or ADD TO the word being restored! It has followed that pattern in every movement. Therefore in the oneness element of pentecost you have those three great extremes.
It should be noted all those in pentecost, both trinity and oneness were teaching the religious world that speaking in tongues was not merely an evidence that one might have the Holy Ghost provided they would say AMEN to every revelatory truth in the word of God but instead they were both teaching tongues was the initial or the only evidence that one had the Holy Ghost. To them the initial evidence of having received the Spirit was speaking with other tongues, however the interesting part is both these elements were speaking in tongues yet at the same time branding each other as false and their teaching as coming out of the pit of hell! Now beloved face it, the Holy Ghost does not teach any such stuff as that.
NOT SPIRIT OF CONFUSION
Whatever is biblical and scriptural the Holy Ghost will never oppose. Why? Because he cannot oppose his own words! Therefore we say another spirit entered which could blast the true teaching of God revealed by the Holy Ghost but just remember the Holy Ghost can not do that! If you have the Holy Ghost, that Spirit inside you will say amen to everything written in the word of God. This lets us know that everyone who thinks they have the Holy Ghost just simply does not have it, they only think they do. Christ said, how belt after the Spirit of Truth is come he will guide you into all CONFUSION or take you up one dead end street after another….Is that what Christ said? A thousand times no! Christ said the Spirit would quicken you and refresh your remembrance unto all the truth, did he not?
Beloved can you not see why it was imperative God send a prophet to take all these revelatory truths delivered throughout the age of Protestantism, truths which were continually bottled up in manmade Systems, and this prophet of God, William Branham, as we said brought the message which simply embraced all revelatory truths taught in protestantism and placed them all in one message telling the church to get back to this. No other reformation leader taught the Bible in the fullness of its revelation as did this endtime prophet. Neither would any movement which had been founded by their particular reformation leader’s message ever embrace a message delivered by another reformation leader who had a great following also. For instance the Methodist were just as eternally secure as the Baptist and the Baptist were just as sanctified as the Methodist because in that hour they lived just as clean a life as did the Methodist. It was just the fact these various denominational people were so bottled up in these manmade systems which had been produced by these anti-Christ spirits and held in line by these tares they did not know it! Satan had simply refused to permit any of them to see truth any farther than what their particular movement had taught. Beloved. God never intended to lead his church out of the dark ages and then to allow it to sit bottled up In that kind of condition, therefore he sent this messenger who cried out COME OUT OF HER MY PEOPLE AND BE NOT A PARTAKER OF HER SINS AND THAT YOU RECEIVE NOT OF HER PLAGUES FOR HER SINS HAVE REACHED INTO HEAVEN AND GOD HAS REMEMBERED HER INIQUITIES, Rev. 18:4-5.
HEADED FOR CHAOS
In this closing gentile age of universal confused Christianity which was already represented by the spirit of Roman Catholicism as one huge bundle of tares is none other than a body of ANTI-word, ANTI-spirit. ANTI-this or that, While on the outskirts of that system are many other large organizations such as Lutheranism; Knoxism; Calvinism; Wesleyanism; Pentecostalism and other segments of “isms” who also have refused to march on with God in truth. Once they have refused to march on with God in further truth they could become no more than what their mother was. She was an organized structure, they too had become nothing but an organized structure and were being motivated by the same spirit which established and controlled her;
Therefore in the close of this age when all these “isms” were in full operation, churning out their theories and extremities, God sent a man with a message to this age. Why had God done this? Because he saw the universal realm of Christianity was heading straight for the brink of chaos as she had before entering the dark ages. Therefore God sent a man with a message to clear up a lot of confusion and call out a people from all these various “isms” which had once been influential in carrying his truth. And as the multitude began following this man out of spiritual Babylon, he turned and screamed to the multitude, GET BACK TO THE WORD OF GOD BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE. JUDGMENT IS COMING! I ask you, had God not sent that prophet messenger to Laodicea, WHERE WOULD MANY OF US BE TODAY?
Be sure to receive the next issue or Part 2 of THE GREAT SEPARATION as we trail that antichrist spirit which invaded this endtime movement to do all the damage possible in offending God more so than in any movement previous!
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