Corruption

“How long will you falter between two opinions?” asked Elijah of the people of Israel gathered on the Mount Carmel. “If the Lord is God then follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”But the people answered him not a word.

The prophet of God proposed a challenge to the prophets’ of Baal that they should each build an altar and prepare a sacrifice, and the God who answers by fire is the True and Living God to be worshiped.

The sun was hot that day even with the cool breeze coming in from the bay at Haifa. Four hundred of Jezebel’s priests gathered around their altar chanting while hastily preparing the sacrifice for Baal. Soon they were ready and began to chant and dance around the altar. Minutes went by and then hours passed as they began cutting themselves as a way to provoke their god to action but nothing happened.

“Maybe your god is using the restroom, away on vacation, sleeping or otherwise busy?” taunted Elijah.

Now it was the man of God’s turn. Humbly the prophet prayed “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known this day  that you are God in Israel and I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. Hear me, O Lord, hear me that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”

Suddenly fire fell from heaven consuming the burnt offering, wood, stones, dust and licked up the water in the trench. When the people saw this they fell on their faces saying “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!”  and so they killed all the prophets of Jezebel with the sword.

 King Ahab’s wife, Jezebel, had brought polytheistic religion (worship of many gods) of the Sidonians into the monotheistic relationship (worship of the One, True and Living God) of Israel. Two distinct theologies, polytheism and monotheism, were not capable being joined together but created a separation between the two as oil floats upon water.

In Revelation chapter two, the letter to the corrupt church at Thyatira, Jesus says that they had allowed this seduction of Jezebel, the mixing of religions, in the church there. While there was still a remnant that remained faithful they were tolerating this apostasy.   

We know, in retrospect, that the seven letters to the seven churches in Asia Minor had a manifold-threefold prophetic purpose; Information to the churches of John’s day, a distinct church age from Pentecost to present and correction for individuals throughout history.

The church age represented by the church at Thyatira is a period from 590 A.D. to 1000 A.D., the dark ages of history when some would say that the corruption of the church was at its pinnacle. It was a time when the doctrine of the Nicolaitans, which Jesus said He hates, was being organized, added to and in full swing. It was an age when pagan practices, idolatry were being mingled with Christian works and worship.

The original command-vision of Jesus to His ecclesia had been perverted with lust for power, greed, schisms and the idea of supreme papal authority was growing out of control like a cancer. It was a duality that was in direct conflict with the simple message Jesus imparted us with which is “to love God with all your heart, mind and soul and to love one another.”

During this period of church history the Church of Rome instituted the Inquisition in much the same way Jezebel persecuted and killed the prophets of God, killed Naboth and confiscated his vineyard property. The universal church was growing both in power and centralized authority.

Jesus warned this faction at the church at Thyatira to repent, turn away from following idolatry and begin living a life that is separated (holy) unto God or else they would go through great tribulation. Although this is a picture of the future apostate church it also can apply to us. Jesus ends the letter to the church at Thyatira encouraging the faithful remnant to hold onto truth until He returns for them.

Our Lord also had six good things to say about the faithful remnant that was there. “I know your works, love, service, faith and patients; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.”

What is interesting about all six of these commendations is that they are all spiritual gifts or fruit from the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:22-26). As we begin to mature in our Christian walk we realize the depth of our depravity which compels us to surrender to the Holy Spirit. As we repent and give more and more of our inward territory to Him, He bestows these spiritual gifts upon us.

For sale

“Where can we set up our product table?” asked the young worship leader from a large church in Los Angeles.

Other people browsed the crowded tables looking for the latest “feel good” tracts that they could introduce at their own churches in the following weeks. A&R reps and other talent scouts listened to acts while sipping coffee in the main sanctuary.

“Religion is big business!” said one of the reps as he slapped his competitor on the back. “But you know we make more money on selling tee shirts, bumper stickers and concert tickets then bibles and you know how much of a mark-up we put on those!” Selah.

Is anyone appalled at the fact that religion has become a business? What have you spent on bibles, commentaries and study guides and in the last ten years? Oh my goodness you might pay upwards of eighty dollars for a good study bible as the authors are plastering their own names on the front cover. In contrast many Jews will not even pronounce the name of God.  

Many religious gatherings prefer to use study guides rather than the bible in their weekly bible studies. Maybe, studying the bible means actually reading a canonized translation then praying and asking the Holy Spirit to illuminate what you have read.

Marketing Jesus is big business as cross-shaped necklaces, coffee cups, pins, tattoos and nativity scenes bring the world into the ecclesia. Millions of dollars flows through church 501C3 organizations for extra biblical items as the “called-out” ones are being “called-into” the commercialism of Christ. 

In the book of Revelation chapter 2, the seven letters to the seven churches, the church at Pergamum was this kind of compromising church. They were living in a city that was a pagan capitol of idol worship. Located on the slopes of Pergamum were many temples to Athena, Zeus, Dionysius, Asklepios as well as several temples to Roman Emperors. We know from the book of Acts chapter 19:21 that Paul started a riot in Ephesus by preaching “The Way” which impacted the local silversmith’s business of selling trinkets of Diana and other idolatrous religious icons.

While the church at Pergamum held fast to the name of Jesus Christ, meaning that they upheld the gospel, his death, burial and resurrection, and his seat in the Godhead, Jesus said he had this against them that they held to the doctrines of Balaam and the Nicolaitans. Now this is where you need a few study helps and a good study bible with commentary. So I am not against selling bibles and extra biblical books but rather the adsorbent costs of these items and our dependence on them rather than the bible.

Thanks be to God for the Gideon’s, who still put free bibles in hotel rooms and give away cases of them on a regular basis! God always looks at the heart, judging man’s motives and every idle word he speaks. We cannot hide from the One with the eyes that are like a flame of fire. In the end Jesus will burn away the dross from our works and reward us at the Bema for what remains.

So to understand the doctrine of Balaam we need to explore the scriptures reading the book of Numbers chapters 22-25. We find that as Balak, the king of Moab watching as over two million Israelites of the Exodus descended upon his kingdom, that he hired Balaam to curse Israel in a feeble attempt to stop them from entering their lands. When Balaam refused to curse them, Balak invited the men of Israel to Acacia Grove to the sacrifice of their gods and fornicate with the women of Moab which many did.

The doctrine of the Nicolaitans is up for interpretation. The word “Nicolaitan” is a compound word made up of “nikao” meaning to conquer or rule over while “laos” means the people or laity. So this doctrine that Jesus hated is when men of the church try to conquer or rule over the body of Christ. We don’t need a hierarchy to be forgiven of our sin. The bible says that there is but one mediator between God and man and that in the man Christ Jesus.

 We should not have one foot in the world and one foot in the kingdom of God. God wants us to have both feet in his kingdom. As we near the end of the “church age” and the seventieth week of Daniel begins, we need to keep both eyes open for compromise. Daniel’s friends would not bow down to the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar and while God did not spare them from the experience of being thrown into the furnace, he walked with them through the fiery trial. Let us be set apart only for God’s use.

 

To the death

  

The sun, being just a dot high in the afternoon sky, warmed my skin as I watched the guards lead a woman to the scaffold. Clouds blew in from Boston’s harbor obscuring the sun sending some welcome relief from the fierce heat. A stiff breeze picked up some paper trash that had gathered around the base of the platform whisking it up into the air twirling it around and around in front of the woman who was now standing at the bottom of the temporary stairs.

I was chained, scantily clad in rags, with seventy other slaves who had just been unloaded from the cargo pit of the tall wooden ship named Destiny. I watched the woman slowly climb the planked stairs, her hair tied back around her head, dressed in a simple cotton robe that fell below her ankles. A man with a bible walked besides her holding her arm and she did not seem distressed or frightened.

The sun was now completely covered by clouds, sending a chill up my spine, as a flock of sea gulls  flying high above  squawked as if they objected to what was about to take place. I could hear each step the woman took as she reached the top of the hangman’s platform. Then I heard the pastor begin to speak to her.

“Mary, this is your last chance if you will only repent of your errors you will be released.” said John Wilson her former pastor at the first church of Boston and one of the Puritan ministers who had brought charges against her.

“No, I cannot, for in obedience to the will of the Lord God I came, and in His will I will abide faithful to the death.” replied Mary as she looked into the eyes of her estranged minister.

I watched in horror as her robe was bound around her ankles, a canvass bag and a rope was placed over her head. The hangman pushed the handle and a loud crack was heard, the crowd winced and many turned away as her body came to a sudden stop from the short drop. Many women were sobbing uncontrollably while  several men around the scaffold were praising God for his swift judgment as another group of Quakers dropped to their knees asking God to forgive them and welcome Mary into His presence.

What was this Quaker woman’s crime, you might be wondering, and so it should be stated here what motivated and drove these Puritans to hang a woman who simply wanted to worship God in a way she felt was right: She worshipped in a manner most agreeable to her own conscience, she refused to pay a tithe, she was against wars and fighting, she would not take any oath, she refused to pay her share of church repairs and new building projects, she would not remove her hat to show respect for a man, her use of “thee” and “thou” when addressing a single person and her missionary zeal in publishing material that she believed to be the truth.

The story of Mary Dyer is true and part of the historical record. She was hung on June 1^st, 1660 in Boston for her outspoken beliefs and her determination to tell others the truth. It is hard to believe that things like this took place in America, that people would hung just because of the color of their skin, religious beliefs or failure to pay their allegiance to the crown but it often did.

In the book of Revelation, chapter two, the church at Smyrna was known as the suffering church. It represented a time in church history from 100 A.D. to 314 A.D. when over five million Christians were martyred. The gruesome accounts of being thrown into the coliseum with hungry animals, stoned to death, placed on the rack and pulled apart, red hot metal plates placed on the body and basically anything you can imagine was used to kill Christians.

Polycarp, a student of the apostle John and a bishop of the church at Smyrna, was burned to death in the amphitheater. When the flames would not touch his body he was thrust through with a sword. The fact is Jesus promised us in this world we would have tribulation but to be of good cheer because He has overcome the world.

This is good news. There is life after death says the One who was dead and now lives forever more! Jesus is the only way to the Father God and all you have to do is believe, have faith and you will be saved Romans 10:8-10. Most of Jesus’ apostles went to a martyr’s death. It was the fact of seeing Jesus’ resurrection that strengthened their faith as they were martyred for their faith.