How did the Apostles deal with heresies in the church ? A heresy is a belief or teaching that goes against the doctrines of GOD, Christ, the prophets and the Apostles.
The Apostles were not concerned with controlling the people in the church but rather preserving the truth of the gospel. There was a rising threat to the gospel in the first century. The Apostles show this fact in their letters to the churches and to church ministry at that time. Persecution against the church was coming from Rome and the Jews. There was the Judaizing heresy, the Gnostic heresy, the Docetism heresy, the Trinity heresy, those teaching the resurrection had already occurred, those given over to an assortment of sins, the ignorance concerning the resurrection, the focus placed on the men who baptized rather than on GOD and Christ and many more. Today these and other heresies are what make up modern day Christianity. Paul spoke fervently in his condemnation of heresies in Galatians,
2 Corinthians, 1 Timothy,
2 Timothy, Romans and Titus. Peter warned about false teachers as did James and John. This was the first thing Jesus warned about in his Olivet discourse, “Take heed that no one deceives you.” Matthew 24:4
Does GOD hate lies ? Proverbs 12:22 Proverbs 6:16-19 Revelation 21:8 Yes HE does.
A lie from someone who has not been given the Holy Spirit is vastly different from a person who is thought to have the Holy Spirit. A lie from someone Usually happens with a babe in Christ because mature elect saints have been in Christ longer and have been taught more. Paul was not one to take it easy on people in the church who committed heresy. I do not think the other Apostles did either. A lie, a heresy, must be confronted head on otherwise it will not be solved and as Paul,said, “it will spread like a cancer.” 2 Timothy 2:17
Trying to be gentle in combat usually gets you killed, so will not vigorously combating lies and heresies. Go and read in Galatians or Corinthians how angry Paul was and the warnings of punishing the offenders saying “I will not spare”. 2 Corinthians 13:2
Today the church has no Apostles or ministry because GOD eliminated them all. The problem of lies and heresies are dealt with by GOD and Christ, not the elect. Only GOD can put you in HIS church and only GOD can remove your from HIS church. GOD will blot out the names of liars and heretics from the book of life. I am not an Apostle, I am a new covenant prophet because I am taught by GOD through Jesus Christ by divine revelation. All of GODS elect saints today are taught in this way. GODS spirit bears witness with our human spirit that the elect saints are GODS children. Do a search of the scriptures about how a person comes to know and understand spiritual truth. You will find there is only one way and that is for GOD to teach you.
John 6:44-45 “everyone who has learned from the FATHER must come to me.”
If this happens then your beliefs, your faith and knowledge is sure and true. You, unlike the world’s churches, were taught by GOD and not men. There can be no comparing these two things because neither has anything to do with the other.
I have been described by some as wanting my own way, of being vindictive and overbearing when it comes to defending the truth of GOD.
How do you think Jesus, Paul, Peter, James or John would react to a lying situation ? Oh, they wouldn’t want to offend him, they would have to understand him better, they must show constraint and compassion, REALLY !!! Then you do need to go back and read again just what would happen to someone who attempts to bring a lie into the church.
When Jesus rules in the kingdom of GOD he will do so with a rod of iron, not a wet noodle. If a person has a problem with understanding a doctrine then they should in a loving and humble attitude express their concerns to the other mature brethren and in like manner the mature brethren give an answer, but the answer should not be interrupted by objections and attempts to prove a lie.
This is part of the discerning of spirits in 1 John 4:1-6 A person must hear the mature saints not argue with them. If they can’t understand the mature saints then they are not of GOD.
1 John 4:6 “We are from GOD. Whoever knows GOD listens to us; whoever is not from GOD does not listen to us. That is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.”
OH, that’s being really to hard on this person, who do you think your are, this isn’t the gospel of Lee, this isn’t the church of Lee. Do you know how many times I have heard that, too many, and each time I get really angry. When all else fails to support their lie they resort to assassinating my character. This is also a Satanic device.
In 1 Corinthians 14:29-33. Paul explains how a church meeting should operate. First, all those present are prophets, note women are not excluded, Paul says “for you all can prophesy in turn”. Now as the prophets speak, if something is revealed to someone the first speaker should stop and all should hear that one out and determine if the prophesy is from GOD or not. This is further verified in 1 Thessalonians 5:20-21 1 John 4:1 This is how things are supposed to work in the church and it will play out almost precisely as Paul outlined in the scriptures.
The resurrection is part of the core of the gospel. That after having lived our lives being under GODS workmanship by surrendering ourselves to HIM, then even if we die we in faith believe that we will be raised, resurrected as spirit beings , from the dead, made alive and conscious again at the return of Jesus Christ. The lie of immediate life after death destroys the message of the gospel. To believe that even the willful sinners of Noah’s day have immediate life after death in some spiritual prison gives what is a gift of GOD to the saints only to willful sinners. To confuse the prayers of saints, given before they were martyred, which are like incense to GOD, and to think the hearing of those prayers are the actual living people who prayed them is heresy. To believe that the transfiguration was literal rather than a vision is heresy. To believe the parable of Lazarus and the rich man is literal is heresy. To think Jesus did not die but somehow survived death and was yet alive is heresy. To think that GOD periodically changes doctrine to allow for favoritism of some over others is heresy. To think that Jesus didn’t have a human spirit is heresy. The death Jesus saves us from is the second death not the first unto which all are appointed. Therefore when we die we are disembodied unconscious spirits awaiting a resurrection from the dead at the return of Jesus Christ. This is the truth of the gospel, the hope, the promise, the faith and anything else is a lie.
No comments:
Post a Comment