The Advent Part 22
If in any way we are led by the spirit of this world, if our goal is to raise up men and glory in men, if we attempt to highlight our accomplishments, our virtues, our wisdom, rather than God, if we seek position and power, rather than to humbly serve the household of faith, then it is better that we abandon our studies concerning the congregation of God and seek our place in a denomination or a ministry or a manmade organization that more readily match our innermost convictions and true intentions.
If in our estimation the ends justify the means, and we are prepared to turn the words of the prophet Samuel on their ear and tell people that sacrifice is indeed better than obedience, then it is useless to seek out what it means to be a member within the Body of Christ. The only way one can walk the narrow path of faith, is to learn to avoid the thousands of other paths and alleyways that have been etched out by the hands of men, then summarily decorated with flowers and greenery. Yes, the paths of men are pleasing to the eye, they attract the flesh that still struggles to get free, they are groomed and manicured, and fancifully decorated, but they do not lead to life, they do not lead to Christ, and they do not lead to the cross.
A true believer, one who is born again must know that the Congregation of God exists, and due to the anointing, and divine grace that they have received, and that abides in them, that believer is able to find His place within the congregation, and recognize it for what it is.
1 John 2:27, “But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.”
If we study the Holy Scriptures under the guidance and tutelage of the Holy Spirit, we discern, and clearly so, that there is a vast difference between a system that has been fashioned, built up, and led by the wisdom and will of men, and the Ecclesia, the Congregation of God, which is one in Christ and is led by Him.
The Congregation of God does not receive anything in its midst that is not of God. In the New Covenant as well as in the Old Covenant God established an order, and guidelines to which we as believers must adhere. Just as it was in the Old Covenant, we who are of the New Covenant must hold to the commands of God, and not allow that which is defiled, wicked, and not of God to remain in our midst.
Tolerance of sin looks good on paper to some, but it is the most destructive force within the Body of Christ. Sin does not remain isolated, it spreads and metastasizes, it corrupts and defiles, until its ultimate goal is reached, that of destroying its host, of killing off the member, or the body altogether if possible.
Just as God commanded Israel of old that their camp should remain holy that He may walk in the midst thereof, He commands us today to keep the camp holy that He may likewise walk in our midst.
The Word tells us that God does not change, and just as He turned away from Israel when He saw the unclean things among them, He turns away from those who claim to serve Him when He sees the unclean things among them. Although sin might be a subjective term to some within the church today, and to others the notion of sin entirely nonexistent, God still calls sin, sin, and when He discovers sin in the camp He judges in righteousness and holiness.
Those who are at this time gathered together in prayer and supplication were the core group through which the Congregation of God would be birthed through the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost. On the day, more were added to this number, as the Word tells us they numbered one hundred and twenty souls, and when the power of the Holy Spirit fell on them, they became one body, with one purpose, and one goal.
1 Corinthians 12:12-13, “For as the body is one and had many members, but all the members of that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Christ. For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body – whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free – and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.”
Yes, the body has many members, but it only has one head and that is Christ Jesus. Anyone that attempts to supplant, usurp or displace the authority of Christ and take it upon themselves is attempting to remove the head from the body thereby effectively killing the body.
We treat so lightly those who by their actions prove themselves to be enemies of Christ, having infiltrated the Body of Christ, and attempting to dismantle it from within.
‘Well you know brother, it’s just a difference in doctrine that’s all, you say Jesus is they only way, they say there are many ways, and in the end it will all come out in the wash.’
Pardon my bluntness, but that’s the coward’s justification for inaction each and every time. Men who say that Jesus is not the only way, that He is not the only truth, and that He is not the only life, are calling Jesus a liar to His face, and negating the need for Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection, since other ways already existed by which men could be reconciled unto God.
We either tether ourselves to the truth, or we get swept away in the lie. We either stand in Christ, or fall with men; the choice is up to us.
With love in Christ,
Michael Boldea Jr.
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