1 Timothy 3:15, "...that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth."
God has always desired to fellowship with man, but sin came into the human family and separated God from man. The purpose of Sonship was so that God could provide the best means by which He and man could regain their fellowship, and to give dominion over the earth to man again. This fellowship is the result of the sacrifice of the Savior on Calvary. He could only do this by providing complete redemption for mankind. He is the Lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, Rev. 13:8. In short, the Sonship is about God and man engaging in a loving and healthy relationship that is void of any hindrances (sin), which would separate each from the other. For that to take place a Mediator (the Son) had to provide reconciliation between God and man. This Mediator was realized in the person of Jesus Christ.
Who Fulfilled the Sonship
Jesus Christ fulfills the Sonship. In Colossians 2:9 we are told that in Jesus dwells all the fullness of the Godhead (all the characteristics of God) bodily, and we (the Church) are complete in Him (Jesus). Paul did say that the Gospel message was a mystery, but then he went on to explain what the mystery was: “And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory” (I Timothy 3:16). Only Jesus Christ fulfills these six points. Thus proving the adage, “Jesus Christ of the New Testament is Jehovah of the Old Testament.”
Matthew 5:21-22, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Raca comes from an old Chaldean word meaning “O empty one, that is, thou worthless (as a term of utter vilification).”[1]
In a time of prayer, I heard the Voice of God speaking to me these words:
Raca. I said, “Don’t call that word on anyone’s life. My children are not Raca. My children are not cast away. My children are not forgotten just because they are not present. Pursue the absent as you sow for new.”
I believe that we are being reminded and called to once again go to the loved ones of God, and the Church, who’ve fallen and restore them.
As we plant seed hoping for a new harvest of souls it is important that we not forget those among us who are weaker, or have been injured. Just as we put up stakes in a tomato patch to strengthen the plant and keep it from falling, or breaking, we also must remember that what may appear to be a falling member is really a fellow planting of the Lord that we who are spiritual need to edify and reinforce.
The safest place in town should be with the saints of Jesus Christ, and the safest place is with the saints of Jesus Christ. His love compels us to not only fulfill the great commission, but to also make sure that everyone in the body of Christ makes the trip.
We don’t cutoff a leg because it is broken, or pluck out an eye because it has an irritant in it, and we don’t marginalize people who may be weak among us. In fact, it is in our weakness, the weakness of the body, that our strength is realized for “we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves” (Romans 15:1).
It is the will of God that we pursue and then bear the infirmities of the weak as we restore the fallen among us.
What rights have we to condemn, judge, or to cast aside the children of our Lord, when He came into the world, not to condemn His children in it, but to save them? He has provided Himself a ransom for many. He has shown us His mercy, and having believed we walk in grace being patiently taught how to live a sober and godly life. So, pass those lessons of love on to others who have fallen.
Who among us will strive to not only win a new soul to Jesus, but to also look for our missing brothers and sisters and speak words of love and restoration to them? They’re missing, but not forgotten, and just as the father looked for the return of his beloved younger son, we elder brothers should go with the same fervency and intensity that we put into the work of the field to find and bring our missing home.
Determine today, with me, that you will pursue the beloved of the Lord.
[1] According to Strong’s Hebrew & Greek Dictionaries (Entry # G4469)
Ex. 29:38-46, “38 Now this is that which thou shalt offer upon the altar; two lambs of the first year day by day continually. 39 The one lamb thou shalt offer in the morning; and the other lamb thou shalt offer at even: 40 And with the one lamb a tenth deal of flour mingled with the fourth part of an hin of beaten oil; and the fourth part of an hin of wine for a drink offering. 41 And the other lamb thou shalt offer at even, and shalt do thereto according to the meat offering of the morning, and according to the drink offering thereof, for a sweet savour, an offering made by fire unto the LORD. 42 This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee. 43 And there I will meet with the children of Israel, and the tabernacle shall be sanctified by my glory. 44 And I will sanctify the tabernacle of the congregation, and the altar: I will sanctify also both Aaron and his sons, to minister to me in the priest’s office. 45 And I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will be their God. 46 And they shall know that I am the LORD their God, that brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, that I may dwell among them: I am the LORD their God.”
Altar of Sacrifice / Brazen Altar
The Word of God contains specifications for how the Hebrews could go about fulfilling a perpetual/continual sacrifice unto God (Numbers 28 & 29).
Altars play a central role in the Word of God. It is the place where man meets his Maker. It is a hallowed place necessary for the relationship between the man and his God to flourish.
The Law of Sacrifice is that we are to be in constant communication and prayer with God. Altars play an important role in fulfilling this law.
Exodus 20:24, “An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.”
According to Walter L. Wilson, “It is called an altar of earth because it belongs strictly to this earth. God makes no provision for forgiveness and salvation after death. No sacrifice of any kind is available to the lost sinner after he dies. There is no altar in hell.”[1]
There is no altar in hell! In hell you become totally and eternally cut-off from God.
There can be no relationship without communication.
Psalm 66:18-20, “18 If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me: 19 But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer. 20 Blessed be God, which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me.”
To paraphrase this passage in a more common vernacular: “If I hold with affection an evil or unjust act, God will not listen to me.” God is not going to listen to my prayer when He knows that I am insincere about my relationship with Him and that I enjoy sin.
The Apostle Paul put it another way when writing of those who “did not like to retain God in their knowledge” and were “full of all unrighteousness,” by stating: “Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them” (See: Romans 1:18-32).
These regarders of iniquity and seekers of sinful pleasures will not be heard by God when they pray to Him in their insincerity, but for the sincere the psalmist did write, “But verily God hath heard me; he hath attended to the voice of my prayer” (Ps. 66:19). Why? Because the psalmist cried out to God and extolled Him (Ps. 66:17). He was retaining God in his knowledge – – acknowledging God and prioritizing Him above all else.
Ps. 84:1-4, “1 How amiable are thy tabernacles, O LORD of hosts! 2 My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the LORD: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God. 3 Yea, the sparrow hath found an house, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, even thine altars, O LORD of hosts, my King, and my God. 4 Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah.”
Vs. 3 = A Deserted Altar
Again, Wilson writes, “God’s people had forsaken both the worship and the service of the Lord to such an extent that the fires had gone out, the altar was cold, and no priest was near. The birds felt so much at home around these altars that they built their nests where the priests should have been serving, and the fires should have been burning.”[2]
The people of the Name failed to make Him the true Lord and King of their life and lost their intimacy with Him.
They allowed idols to replace their time at the altar of God. When do you pray? Where do you pray? How often do you pray? Have you a specific place of prayer? Is your daily and continual desire to be in constant communion with the Lord? What is the constant in your daily affairs?
You can’t hear God clearly if you are not listening to Him.
Active Listening is part and parcel of continual prayer, which is why the Apostle admonished the early Church to “pray without ceasing” (1 Thess. 5:17).
However, it is often too true that we allow the cares and troubles of life to gather in the place we once dedicated to God and now those birds and nests live in the place where once we came regularly for fellowship, repentance, communication, and relationship with God.
2 Cor. 10:3-6 contains what should be our response to the nesting birds that attempt to lodge themselves into our lives: “3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: 4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) 5Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; 6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.
Two men in the Old Testament found themselves in opposite positions of relationship to God due entirely upon their habits regarding the altar and the law of sacrifice.
ABRAHAM:
Gen. 19:27, “And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD.”
Do you have a place where you daily stand before the Lord? A lifestyle of faithfulness in communion with the Lord?
The Akedah (binding of Isaac) & The Seven-Fold Blessing of Abraham (Gen. 22). Abraham prioritized his relationship with God above all things, and the Lord revealed to him an attribute of His character – Jehovah-jireh (“Jehovah sees”).[3]
Abraham is known in Scripture as the friend of God.
JOAB:
1 Kings 2:28, “Then tidings came to Joab: for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the tabernacle of the LORD, and caught hold on the horns of the altar.”
There is no other passage in the OT where a pattern of prayer and sacrifice was established by Joab.
He had no resources to pull from because he had no relationship with God. He attempted to gain the mercy and the authority of the altar without first building a foundation of relationship with God.
God was not his priority.
Joab’s first allegiance was to himself.
Jesus Christ has paved the way for our access to the Divine with His sacrifice on the altar of Calvary. He said, “And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me” (Jn. 12:32). This “lifting” refers to the lifting up of the sacrifice upon the brazen altar by the priests. Because of Christ’s sacrifice we have been granted an avenue of access to God that Man lost in the Garden of Eden.
Hebrews 4:14-16, “14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession. 15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”
Heb. 13:15-16, “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.”
The continual faithfulness of Abraham carried eternal significance for himself, his lineage, and the rest of mankind. Our prayer habits also carry eternal weight, not only for ourselves but for others as well. When we begin to comprehend this truth we can understand the wisdom of that great missionary Billy Cole, who espoused the following ideology: “The reward for sacrifice is more sacrifice.” He also opined that “Until Jesus Christ comes there is no end to sacrifice,” which is, in this author’s opinion, the definition of the law of sacrifice because it contains the necessary ingredient of constancy.[4]
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SOURCE: [1] Wilson, Walter L. (1957, 1999). A Dictionary of Bible Types. Peabody, MA: Hendrickson Publishers, Inc. p. 9-11.
In the middle of the last century (1900s) Anthony F. C. Wallace, the historian and anthropologist, developed the concept of “Revitalization Movements.” Here are a few of his ideas:
A revitalization movement is defined as a deliberate, organized, conscious effort by members of a society to construct a more satisfying culture. Revitalization is thus, from a cultural standpoint, a special kind of culture change phenomenon: the persons involved in the process of revitalization must perceive their culture, or some major areas of it, as a system (whether accurately or not); they must feel that this cultural system is unsatisfactory; and they must innovate not merely discrete items, but a new cultural system, specifying new relationships as well as, in some cases, new traits.
…Cultures can change within one generation; and the process…is the revitalization process.
The term “revitalization” implies an organismic analogy.
“Stress is defined as a condition in which some part, or the whole, of the social organism is threatened with more or less serious damage.”
“Messianic Movements” emphasize the participation of a divine savior in human flesh in the mazeway transformation.
The presence of these movements are seen throughout history, and it can even be argued that the Scriptures make reference to language and events that are Revitalistic in nature. For example, Isaiah 30:19-23 (vs. 21, “…the is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left”).
Wallace coined the term “revitalization movements” to explain some particular historical phenomena that have taken place in the past, and according to Wallace, revitalization movements have specific identifiers:
When a culture has reached its lowest point a prophet/statesman will arise to help the people gain what has been lost.
This leader makes a plea and call to return to the conservative and fundamentalist ideas of the past.
The result is the formation of a religious method that renews the culture and continues to grow even after the prophet dies.
Some examples would be:
Handsome Lake, the Seneca Prophet (1799), called for an end on reliance of European goods, and a return to traditional ways.
Jonathan Edwards preached “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God” at a normal tone of voice at a wicked and perverse time in New England and universal repentance erupted in the audience.
John Wesley and his methodism was a call to renewed holiness.
Jesus Christ formed a new method that hearkened back to some of the principles and spirit of the Old Testament (i.e. Golden Rule) and boldly declared, “I am the way, the truth, and the life…” (John 14:6) while establishing Himself as the only “divine savior in human flesh.”
Moses reminded the Hebrews of Jehovah’s directive to them concerning their responsibility to Him and their reward for obedience and faithfulness: “Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. Ye shall walk in all the ways which the LORD your God hath commanded you, that ye may live, and that it may be well with you, and that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess” (Deut. 5:32-33).
Unfortunately, Jewish history is rife with stories of their backsliding and falling headlong into idolatry and depravity. They did not cherish their faith, not wholly, which is why the Lord said, “All day long I have stretched forth my hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people” (Ro. 10:21).
The Old Testament prophets even took pains to draw the backslidden people of the Divided Kingdom back to Jehovah through language that echoes the idea of what Wallace called “a religious revival.” Jeremiah does so with this portion of text: “…stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein” (Jer. 6:16). the problem here was that the call was made for revitalization but the people did not want it. The result for their rebellion was captivity and dispersion.
Thankfully, God had another plan and through His prophets prepared a way out of captivity and a return to Jerusalem for a remnant, who would help to usher in the arrival of the only true Savior of Mankind — Jesus Christ. This God-man divested Himself of His Heavenly glory to manifest Himself in flesh and become the Savior, but even He spoke out when he addressed Jerusalem and said (Matt. 23:37), “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!”
In today’s society it is vital that we continue to move forward without letting loose of core faith values. This can only take place when each generation of Oneness Pentecostals has a first generation experience, which, I think, will continue the march of revitalization and revival in our movement and the world.
The modern Apostolic Movement is more than a subculture. It is a counter-culture – – a new culture based on the teachings of our Messiah – the Lord Jesus Christ.
The following is derived from a symposium paper co-authored by Stewart A. Bertram and myself in the Spring of 2005 and presented to Parkersburg Bible College (Parkersburg, WV) during their annual colloquium.
The oldest permanent English settlement in America was established on April 26, 1607, in Jamestown, Virginia. This plaque was posted on the wall of the lobby of the first church built there – Acts 2:38.
History undeniably records various elements of distinctly Orthodox Apostolic doctrine in North America as early as 1677, which was only 70 years after the first permanent settlement was established in Jamestown.[1] What we will attempt to show is a chronological outline of these various apostolic doctrines and practices as they appear in the index of North American history. While many will view this as a restoration of Apostolic Pentecostal experience we maintain that it actually proves the continued existence and growth of the orthodox teaching of the book of Acts. We further assert that there have always been pockets of true believers in every century following and obeying the true message of the New Birth. Some examples record partial alignment with the Apostles’ doctrine, the following is a list of some of those instances:
Society of Friends (Quakers) – “…our tongues loosed and our mouths opened, and we spake with new tongues as the Lord gave utterance, and as His Spirit led us.”[2]
John Wesley (1703-1791) – “What so impressed and encouraged John Wesley and his followers, what so shocked, startled, and bewildered his contemporaries, is no mystery to the modern psychologist, to whom it is known as glossolalia…”[3]
Charles G. Finney (1783-1875) – “I received a mighty baptism in the Holy Ghost…No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my heart. I wept aloud with joy and love; and I do not know but I should say, I literally bellowed out the unutterable gushings of my heart.”[4]
John Miller – a Presbyterian minister wrote Is God a Trinity in 1876 and “believed that the doctrine of the trinity was not biblical and that it greatly hindered the Church….He emphatically declared the full deity of Jesus Christ.”[5]
D. L. Moody (1837-1899) – According to R. A. Torrey, Moody’s friend and associate, he once witnessed Moody walk to the pulpit to preach but instead of addressing the crowd in English he began to speak in another language. This occurred one more time before he was able to gain control and preach to the audience, but “only after much prayer and praise.”[6]
Lowell, Ohio (1835) – a group of Camisards and/or French Huguenots establish an Orthodox Apostolic Acts 2:38 believing Church, but article IX of the church constitution changes the baptismal formula from Jesus’ name to the trinitarian formula in 1847. In 1980 Dr. Nelson preaches the Apostolic message to the congregation and they convert back to the orthodox message of Acts 2:38.[7]
Dan Huntington (1850) – baptized people in Boston, Massachusetts in Jesus’ name.[8]
Canada (1854) – “There was an organization of Acts 2:38 clergymen in Canada.”[9]
America (1865) – More than 160,000 Americans spoke in tongues.[10][11]
2) Baptized over 1,500 people in Jesus’ name in Wisconsin.
3) Preached in various locations along the Mississippi River.
4) Preached a considerable amount of the time in the Salvation Army.
Charles Fox Parham – “the first leader in the twentieth century Pentecostal movement, began to administer water baptism in Jesus’ name, although he apparently did not link this practice with an explicit denial of trinitarianism.”[13] Parham also “formulated the basic Pentecostal doctrine of ‘initial evidence’ after a student in his Bethel Bible School, Agnes Ozman, experienced glossolalia in January, 1901.”[14]
[1] Weisser, Thomas. After the Way Called Heresy. 1981.
[2] Bresson, Bernard L. Studies in Ecstasy. New York: Vintage Press. 1966. p. 48-52.
[3] Bowen, Marjorie. Wrestling Jacob: a study of the life of John Wesley. London: Watts & Co. 1948.
[4] Finney, Charles G. Memoirs of Charles G. Finney, being an Autobiography. New York. 1876.
[5] Bernard, David K. The Oneness of God. Hazelwood: Pentecostal Publishing House. 1993. 31 May 2005.
[6] Darbee, Lennard. Tongues: the Dyanmite of God.
[7] Nelson, Joseph. Church History. Parkersburg Bible College. Lecture given and Church Constitution shown to class on 18 November 2002.
[8] Synan, V. Aspects of Pentecostal-Charismatic Origins, NJ: Logos. 1975.
[9] Arnold, Marvin M. Apostolic History Outline. Arno Publications, Inc. 1985.
Romans 5:12-21 12 Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: 13 (For until the law sin was in the world: but sin is not imputed when there is no law. 14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. 15 But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. 16 And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. 17 For if by one man’s offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) 18 Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. 19 For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. 20 Moreover the law entered, that the offence might abound. But where sin abounded, grace did much more abound: 21 That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.
In the beginning God made Man perfect and complete in His image and after His likeness (Gen. 1:26).
Man (Adam & Eve) was absolute in his spirit, soul, & body.
ABSOLUTE = “Perfect in quality or nature; complete. Not mixed; pure. Something regarded as the ultimate basis of all thought and being.” [1]
There are absolutes of truth, which are held by all true orthodox Christians (Christians who follow the teachings of Jesus, first century Apostles, and the prophets), and these truths include:
The eternality of the Word of God: “For Ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Ps. 119:89).
One God
The Bible standard of salvation: “…Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Acts 2:38).
The necessity of the “born again” experience: “Jesus answered…Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (Jn. 3:3).
With the existence of these (and other) absolutes, there is also another truth. The devil wishes to pervert the beauty of Man’s original design and separate him completely from his Maker.
The spirit of perversion is at work today and began with Lucifer and his rebellion against God, moved to the Garden of Eden and the serpent’s tactic of questioning and corrupting the relationship between Man and God.
PERVERSION in 1388 was defined as “action of turning aside from truth, corruption, distortion (originally of religious beliefs).”[3]
This is the devil’s tactic; to subvert, corrupt, bend, misshape, and distort what God calls “good” into something perverse. Perversion is not, of necessity sexual in connotation, but it is the turning of something pure into a wrong use.
The Fall of Man resulted in the perversion of our original state into a nature – – the Adamic nature. Because Man has fallen so far from his original state we find examples in the bible of many types of perverseness (one such illustration is the Jezebel spirit found in 1 Kings 16:31-21:25; 2 Kings 9:7-37; & Rev. 2:20-23). Trinitarianism, cessationism, & the Jezebel spirit are all perversions, but Jesus has given the Church the power and authority to help bring those stuck in error back to completeness in God and in truth.
Sin is the state of perversion from the original design and purpose of Man. The account of the Good Samaritan can be viewed as Jesus’ attempt to warn the Apostles and Church of the dangers of perversion.
Jesus came to return what was once perverted back to its original state, by His love: “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Ro. 5:6-8).
Because of Jesus Christ we now have the opportunity to walk in right relationship with Him. You’ve never met a man like Jesus. He never withdrew Himself from the lost sinners of the world (as many in the church do once they are “saves”). Instead, He went to the perverted (in spirit, soul, and body) who were looking for a change and a return to purity. He did not condemn the world, but He saved it through the work of redemption and reconciliation. He did not revile the perverse, but He removed the crookedness in them and returned them to a state of completeness. He, as the Potter, took the misshapen clay and created vessels of honor. Jesus heals, delivers, sets the captive free, restores broken homes, and places His love into right relationships.
Although tempted in all things, Jesus is our perfect example of a sinless life, and His obedience is what has reconciled Man to God. This ministry of reconciliation is the recovery of purity in our relationship with God.
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God. For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Cor. 5:17-21).
The Pillar and Ground of Truth 