March 19, 2017
Morning Service

II Tim. 3;  Paul warns Timothy of false teachings in the last days.  Read whole chapter.

 

            When Jesus spoke to the Angels of the seven churches in Revelations, He said, “He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.”  You, being the church, need to be listening to what the Spirit has to say, always.  Especially in today’s deceiving, and alluring times.  What would be the message from the Spirit today?  What is it that the church needs to hear?  The church needs to hear the pure gospel of Jesus Christ.  The Apostle Paul said in his letter to the Galatians, “Gal 1:8  But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”  We can see how important it is to preach this gospel.  There is no reason we can’t preach this gospel for it is presented very clearly in our Bible.  The gospel is the entirety of the Bible, the prophecies, their fulfillments, climaxing in Jesus of Nazareth being Lord over all.

·               In an article I’ve been reading (http://www.astudyofdenominations.com/overview/), the author divides the time, after the Apostles are taken out, into these divisions; 

·         Phase I: to 1054;  Phase II: 1054-1500;  Phase III: 1500-1800;  Phase IV: 1800 to the Present

·         Movements;  Conclusion.

Now the point I want to make is that since the Apostles, there have been many different teachings come into existence.  Many men have come up with different explanations of doctrinal points, and men have followed them.  Creating a denomination.

WHAT I WANT US TO SEE, AND UNDERSTAND IS THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO ALL THESE DIFFERENT TEACHINGS, BUT REALLY NEED NOTHING BUT THE BIBLE AS OUR SOLE AUTHORITY.  The Ecc. Writer  said this;  Ecc 12:12-13  And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.  (13)  Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.

Now, not until phase III, did man have ready access to the Bible.  This is when the printing press was invented.  Then mankind had access to the Word of God.  Now it wasn’t until the 1607 that the Pilgrims came to our great country to live.  They came with their beliefs on what the Bible taught, and it would have been with an understanding of what part of Europe they came from.  The Pilgrims, or Puritans were mostly from the Church of England, (Anglican or Episcopalian) and were trying to cleanse the church from within, of it’s corruption, and false teachings.

            HOWEVER, THE PURITY OF THE GOSPEL REMAINED IN THE BIBLE.

Now skipping to what we recognize today, that is the denominations that are around us, and what the Spirit would have us hear is this;

1.       Lutheranism:(1517) Luther split from the Roman Catholic church, thus forming his own organization. Within the next century, Luther and his theology of “faith alone” would spread throughout many portions of the Holy Roman Empire and all of Scandinavia.

2.      Anabaptism: Anabaptism (“baptism again”) derives its name from the belief that one must be baptized as an adult believer, thus requiring many individuals who were “baptized” as infants to be baptized “again.”

3.      Calvinism: In 1536, John Calvin, a native Frenchman, established his theology in Geneva, Switzerland, with his work The Institutes of Christian Religion. Calvin’s theology, heavily influenced by Augustine, was predicated on a belief that God has already determined the fate of every man, and therefore that God’s grace alone saved men.

4.    Anglicanism: Also known as the Church of England, this church began in 1537, when King Henry VIII of England split from the Roman Catholic church since the latter would not grant an annulment to his marriage with Catherine of Aragon. Anglicanism is still in existence in England and is known as the Episcopalian church in America.

5.      Baptists: The Baptist movement began in England, and in its beginning, preached and taught the need for immersion in water for the remission of sin (hence, called the Baptists). “Officially” began by John Smythe in 1608, the movement spread quickly to America, where it took root and grew. Doctrinally, however, many moved toward Calvinistic beliefs regarding salvation and baptism, where most stand today.

6.      Religious Society of Friends (Quakers): The Religious Society of Friends began with one George Fox in England in 1648 as the result of supposed “revelations” given to him.

7.      Pietism: Pietism is a movement that began within the Lutheran church in Germany in the seventeenth century.

8.     Wesleyanism: Wesleyanism derives from John and Charles Wesley, members of the Anglican church. In 1729, they performed missionary work in America, and on the trip back to England, John learned of the faith of the Moravian Brethren. When back in England, the brothers founded a Methodist society and began to speak about the need of personal faith, sanctification, and “personal holiness,” the continual development of maturity in Christian faith.

The nineteenth century saw the rise of America as a power in the world, the first government founded on the principles of freedom. The freedom of religion enjoyed in America led to a vast number of new ideas and thus divisions, and the story of these groups will occupy the majority of the rest of the history of denominations.  Here are some of the denominations that have arisen in America.

Plymouth Brethren, The Restoration Movement, or churches of Christ, and Christian churches.  Mormonism: Officially the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS), Seventh-Day Adventism: Christian Science: Jehovah’s Witnesses: The Salvation Army:  Pentecostalism/The Charismatic Movement:  International Church of Christ:

Conclusion

We have now reached the present time and can see, if only quickly and without exhaustive detail, the development of the denominations and movements that exist in the “Christian” world today. The path is difficult to determine and very confusing, yet we can see that the majority of these denominations were established on the basis of new ideas of men and those who would follow them.

New ideas of men, and those who would follow them. 

When I felt the call to preach the gospel, I looked at many of these teachings.  I spent time in some of them discerning the spirits, to see if they were of God.  There is good in all of them.  But God showed me that He will teach anyone, who is willing to learn of this gospel, the true Biblical gospel that Paul preached.  I spent 9 years in this search, and found that, the true gospel of the Bible, incorporates all of these denominational truths, that caused men to start their denominations.  We don’t need anything, but to recognize the truth, that Jesus built His church, (or called out ones), and we can find everything He wants us to do within the pages of our Holy Bible, the Word of God.  And as we found out last Sunday morning, we enter into the fellowship of this glorious church, through the waters of baptism, so that we will miss the wrath of God that is coming on all those who know not God, and obey not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

LET HIM THAT HATH AN EAR, HEAR WHAT THE SPIRIT IS SAYING UNTO THE CHURCHES.

We are to recognize that there are many teachings in our world today, but we need nothing but God’s help in studying His Holy Word.  He will teach us all the same, and there will be no confusion.

1Jn 2:27  But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

            You see, God’s Holy Spirit that you received in the beginning of your walk with God, abides in you, and He will teach you all the truths of the Word of God.  You just need to study, asking His help as you do.  He will teach us all the same thing, and bring us into the unity of the faith.

 

ALMIGHTY GOD, OUR HEAVENLY FATHER, OPEN OUR EARS THAT WE MIGHT UNDERSTAND THAT OUR DESIRE SHOULD BE TO PLEASE YOU, AND TEACH THE GOSPEL OF THE BIBLE.  AMEN.