Corrupting Christianity

If you would, please turn with me to Revelation 17. Revelation 17, the first six verses. And there came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying to me, Come here, I'll show unto you the judgment of the great horror that sits upon many waters. Revelation, as we know, was the final book of the Bible given to John in the 90s A.D. when he himself was in his 90s. And it is a prophetic book. Now, obviously within the book, it also contains some happenings that are historic, some happenings that are both history and prophecy. Some things that have occurred to some degree in some cases and will be repeated. Here is a prophecy that he's given which pertains to our times. It pertains to certain things that have been happening along the way, obviously, and we could put dates on some of it. But it's also something that will not come to complete fulfillment until these times we are now living in. And I include, obviously, whatever time between today and the future when Christ returns.

And it should be amazement, not admiration, not the way we think of admiration.

So we read this section, The Great Whore and Her Harlot Daughters. And this great, great, in quotes, church, even in recent times, made the statement about gathering her daughters back in and to her. It speaks of a great, false church. When you look at this description, Kings of the Earth, many waters, many peoples, when you look at it, you're talking about universal. Universal Church. And the Latin word for universal is Catholic.

But what you read about here, she didn't get there overnight. It took time for the apostate church to rise in power and numbers. As far as the church. Now, the old Babylon mystery religions, that whole Babylon mysteries, that reaches all the way back long before, quote, officially, this great, false church started. But as the great, false church that incorporates that whole wrong system, it took time for the apostate church to rise. It came to represent Christianity. It came to be synonymous with Christian. It became a synonym for Christian. It came to have the state behind it. You will do what I say. How you going to make me? Sergeant, get him. Captain, get him. The state, the military arm, the swords, the spears, the military might, came to back it. To enforce its teachings and its edicts to the point of martyring, persecuting, killing, executing, torturing.

But its Christianity came to be a far cry from the Christianity of Jesus Christ. Paris. If you go to Paris, France, we had the opportunity to go to Paris because we had the opportunity to go to France, our first and only time abroad for the feast in 2013. We had a little extra time before the feast. Of course, there was time during the feast to do some touring. The feast was held down on the Mediterranean coast in South France. But Paris, they have a famous church. It's called Notre Dame. There's a university named that. It's an all-Catholic university. But Notre Dame means Our Lady. Notre Dame.

I had seen it on pictures, but when you stand and you look at it in person and you walk through it and you tour, and you stand outside and you look up at the rim parts and at the corners and around the rim on it, you are sitting gargoyles guarding it.

Why do fallen angels guard it?

Gargoyles are fallen angels. I'm not saying every fallen angel demon looks like a gargoyle. But gargoyles are not holy angels. They don't represent holy angels. Gargoyles represent fallen angels, demons. Why would you build your church building and build it with demons on the rim parts guarding your church? That doesn't make any sense, except it's because it's their property. It's their property. This prophecy here of Revelation 17 that we just read is of the great false woman, the false church. It's a far cry from the Christianity of Jesus Christ. Southern France. We toured a number of towns, cities, areas, and southern France. In one of the little towns. And of course, everyone has its church and its churches. And so many of them reach way back into the Middle Ages and earlier, and they're made of stone. So many of them are. Over the entrance to one of the churches. Here you're on the street. Here's the door on the street that opens into the church. You can go into the church building right here, the front door, opening off the street. And over the entrance to one of the churches, over the door, is Mary. I put that in quotes. Is Mary sitting on a throne with a crown on her head holding the baby Jesus? And below her, standing on either side, is a pope on either side of her. Two popes, one on either side, each holding a shepherd's staff worshiping her. Why? That's not Mary, the Virgin Mary. And that's not Jesus. That is Cimaramis and Nimrite or Horus.

Southern France, in another little city, another church, another entrance into one of this false woman's churches.

There's two figures, one on either side, standing upright. When you first glance at it, what hits your mind is you've got two men, like priests, standing in robes. They're both robed, and it's a church door, so you're thinking priests. They're standing upright. They're robed. You think they're men. And then you look at the heads, and the heads are rabbit heads, with long rabbit ears that are folded down along their head and neck. You ever hear of the Easter Bunny? Easter Bunnies standing up like men. Jesus Christ said, and you know His statement, I will build my church. That's Matthew 16, 18. I will build my church. And He did. And they were first called Christians, as we know, at Antioch. Acts 11, 26. Acts 11, 26 notates that they were first called Christians at Antioch. But what eventually came to be called and seen as Christianity by the world was a far cry from what Jesus Christ taught and preached and lived. It was a corrupted Christianity. It was a Christianity filled with corruption. How did that transpire? What led to such? What were some of the seeds of corruption?

You might say, were there elements or individuals of the true church that played a role in it? Were there any elements or individuals of the true church that were involved? Were there any elements, issues, or individuals in and with the true church that actually factored into the founding and formation of the false? What we know for an absolute fact is Christianity became corrupted. How did that corruption transpire? Again, what were some of the seeds of the corruption? Especially in regards to matters and issues that involved the true church. Let's look at some of what factored into the corrupting of Christianity. Because some of the prime elements, some of the prime factors that corrupted it originally a long, long time ago, are factors and elements that are still with us today that continue to corrupt it.

We like titles. It kind of gives us something to hang everything on. Two words. And because certain factors and elements are still with us today that continue to corrupt it, I put it in the active form, not the passive form. The word corrupt, I put it in the active form, corrupting. Corrupting, I-N-G on the end, corrupting Christianity. Because that is a process that has been going on ever since the church began in 31 A.D. on the day of Pentecost. And that activity is still going on, corrupting Christianity.

What is one of the ever present, ages old, corrupting influences that always seems to have been there and is there today in our day and age? What is an ever present, ages old, corrupting influence that has always been there at one time or another to whatever degree? Those seeking power, those wanting the prominence, those wanting prestige. Think about it. Those seeking power or prominence or maybe just prestige. Do we remember the church hadn't been going a very long time?

A lot of the people that God had called and converted who had come from other lands had come in for Pentecost. The church grew by thousands initially. Many of them were going to have to return to their homes and other lands eventually. But they stayed around. It was momentous times. And there were those of the people who maybe had some extra property, maybe they had extra money of the church, and they donated it in order to help feed and clothe and shelter those that were there with them. And it was a very generous and serving, loving thing to do. But it also had the effect of looking good to those who had ulterior motives. Oh, we can really look good if we donate something and we give and we make a pretty good show of it. Oh, the prestige and the prominence and all that will give us. So he had Ananias and Sapphira. And what they did is they sold some property. And they brought it to the apostles to be distributed. But how they presented it was that they had sold all of such and such for such and such, and here it is. But what they did is they held back a certain amount of it, but they wanted the apostles and all to think they were giving 100 percent when it was maybe 50 percent or 75 percent. We don't know. But Peter told them, he said, while it was yours, wasn't it yours? And you were free to do with it what you wanted. If you want to give half of it all, that's yours. There's no problem with that. But you have lied about it. And why did they lie? Because they wanted it to seem more generous from them than what it was because they were after the prestige and prominence and maybe a measure of power. And Peter told them, he said, you've lied, you've not lied to men. You've lied to God's Spirit. Of course, we know the account. Ananias fell down dead. A short time later, Sapphira came in. She evidently did not know what happened. She repeated the same thing. And she died. And you find that account in Acts 5, verses 1-13. We don't know much about them other than that. But what we do know, they were part of the Church. They were attending and probably baptized members. They were part of the Church. But were they corrupt? Yes. Were they corrupting? Yes. Were they involved in something that wasn't true Christianity? Lying is not part of true Christianity. I'll go to the book of Acts for another example. Acts 8. Acts chapter 8. You have here an individual, notated as Simon. Verse 9. We don't have to look at the whole account of it, but touch upon a little bit here. There was a certain man called Simon, which before time in the same city used sorcery and bewitched the people of Samaria, giving out that himself with some notice. You want to talk about power? You want to talk about prominence? Prestige? Some great one. He thrived on that and he presented himself that way. Obviously, he worked with some measure of power, not from God, but it mentions him here. Philip is preaching and he mentions in verse 13. Then Simon himself believed also.

When he was baptized, he continued with Philip.

So he became a part of the church. But notice what it says. Notice you get a little bit of an insight where his focus was. Was it on personal growth and development? No. What was he used to? Power, prominence, prestige. He wondered, beholding the miracles and signs which were done. He's really paying close attention. Then the apostles Peter and John are sent down for the laying on of hands and the receiving of God's Spirit. And so you have in verses... well, let's just pick it up in verse 17. Then laid their hands on them and they received the Holy Spirit. And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles' hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money.

Saying, give me also this power. That on whomsoever I lay hands he may receive the Holy Spirit. It was about power. It was about prominence. It was about prestige.

And Peter, in so many words, told him, you're going to the lake of fire except you repent. You and your money.

It's interesting to find it here. Gary Petty on Beyond Today, one of the programs that we have done on Beyond Today by Gary Petty, is titled, The Strange Tale of Simon the Magician. History knows him as Simon Magus. And then the substatement under it, a little bit of a synopsis says, this obscure individual may have had a profound impact on what you think is true Biblical Christianity. Another example, okay, Ananias and Sapphira. That's early in the church. Simon is early in the church. Well, let's go through the 30s and the 40s and the 50s and the 60s and the 70s and the 80s. And let's get into the 90s A.D. Let's go all the way to the end of the century, practically, where all of those original apostles are dead, all been murdered, with the exception of John, who is now an old man, and in 3 John 9, 3 John 9, John says, I wrote to the church. The true church. The church. But Deatrophies. Deatrophies was, at the least, a pastor. He may have been an evangelist as well. He may have been some kind of a regional pastor. We don't know. We do know it's the church. And Deatrophies is in a position of authority, which is supposed to be a position of service in the church, yet notice what John says. I wrote to the church, but Deatrophies, who loves to have the preeminence among them. He loves that preeminence. That's what he's in love with.

This fellowship is them. Cast them out of the church. This is church history. That's church history. That was something that was happening in the church, all too common by the end of that century. And so Deatrophies, who was a real individual, also typified an element that was like that. That desire for the chief seats, the choice seats, the prime seats of power, prominence, prestige, Christ had worked hard to eliminate from the apostles' makeup that very thing. And because they yielded, God's Spirit was able to work a different motivation in them.

You know, it's an interesting and significant notation that at the beginning of the church, there was the case of Ananias and Sivira, and at the end of that first century, there was the case of Deatrophies, and that also in between those two cases, that type of thing was sprinkled all along the way. Let's just look by just turning briefly, quickly, to a few scriptures in succession.

The first one is 2 Peter 2, verses 1 through 3. 2 Peter 2, verses 1 through 3. Peter says, and this is in the 60s A.D. Peter says, verse 1, 2 Peter 2, verse 1, But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you. There shall be false teachers among you, who privately shall bring in debitable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways, by reason of whom the way of truth shall be even evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you. Notice Acts 20, the words of Paul in Acts chapter 20 at Ephesus, knowing that he obviously knew enough at this point in terms of knowing roughly about what was going to go on with his life that he was not going to see them again in this life.

And he says in Acts 2, verses 28 through 30, he has called the elders, he has called the ministry together. He says, Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he has purchased with his own blood. Now notice what Paul says in verse 29, For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. He adds to it also, of your own selves, of you the ministry, you ministers, you elders, of the ministry of your own selves, shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them.

Jude 3 and 4. Jude 3 and 4. Beloved, the Apostle Jude, beloved, when I gave all diligence to write to you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you and exhort you, that you should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered to the saints. For or because there are certain men, crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, who were kept into the church, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, or that is, license to do wrong, and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Notice Galatians 1 in the words of Paul. And it speaks to century-wise, basically right in the midst of that century, which was still quite early in regards to the church. Galatians 1, verses 6 and 7. Notice what Paul said. We're only around the midpoint, roughly the midpoint of the century.

And he says, Galatians 1, verses 6 and 7, I marvel that you are so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2, 7. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 7. Paul acknowledges, he says, for the mystery of iniquity does already work. Babylon mystery religions reaches way, way, way back. But a great apostate church has come to encapsulate those Babylonian mystery religions.

For the mystery of iniquity does already work. Only he who will now let will let until he be taken out of the way. It's something that has been going on, is going on, and shall go on until it is stopped. Primarily, obviously, by the return of Christ. So, you have terminology like damnable heresies, false grace, another gospel, iniquity already working, and Jude admonishing to contend for the faith once delivered. And John's saying, in reminding them in the 90s A.D.

in 1 John 2.21, he makes the statement there in 1 John 2.21, he makes this statement. He says, no lie is of the truth. No lie is of the truth. There's no place in the truth for a lie.

John also says there at the end of that century in 1 John 4.1, he makes an interesting statement. He says, try the spirits. What do you mean, try the spirits? That's in 1 John 4 verse 1. He says, try the spirits. Why? Because there are many religious spirits. There are many religious fallen angels. There are many fallen angels that are religious. There are many seducing spirits. There are many corrupted attitudes. There are many corrupted approaches and perspectives. And John, at the same time that he was writing 1 and 2 and 3 John, he also was writing the Gospel of John. And he wrote in John 4 and verses 24 that true worshipers of God worship Him in spirit and in truth. God is a spirit and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth. And John acknowledged that there were many, listen carefully, there were many with them through that century who were not truly with them. What I'm speaking on today is a reality that they dealt with, we've dealt with, that shall have to be dealt with until Christ returns. But I want to read John's statement in 1 John 2 and verse 19. Did it ever occur to us that in John's day in the 90s A.D. that John was witnessing a multitude of people leaving the truth? Read 1 John 2 and verse 19. He says, They went out from us. They could not go out from them if they were not with them. You cannot go out of a place that you are not in. They went out from us. But they were not of us. He was witnessing and watching and seeing an exodus, a significant exodus from the truth. And he was notating. They didn't stay with us in the truth. They were not truly of the truth. They were not truly of us. They went out from us. But they were not of us. You look through the Scripture, false brethren, false teachers, false gospel, false grace, associates, tares among the wheat, etc. And John and the others knew that. And the prime moving before us behind it all was the great counterfeiter, the great corruptor, the unseen but present Satan. But you can't leave it there. You can't stop it there. Added to that were some of the natural negatives in our human makeup.

Some of the natural negatives in our human makeup. As I mentioned two weeks ago, in the summer of 1961, my family and I started attending services in Memphis, Tennessee. We were there for the very first service, the inaugural service, we were charter members in that sense of a brand new congregation. I forget the exact number, but there was 180-something of us there. The air was full of excitement. Everybody was thrilled. We had people there, obviously of Tennessee, Arkansas, and Mississippi, for sure. In fact, I know one man who's still alive, he's in his 90s, from Alabama, that was there. But there was full of excitement. And that fall, we attended our very first feast at Hernacles in East Texas at Big Sandy. The church exploded with growth in the 1960s. The growth in numbers absolutely exploded. Deep into the 1950s, there were only about 1,000 baptized people with this particular revival, raising up of this particular stage, era, whatever of the church, whatever term you want to use. But then when we came into the 60s, the growth in numbers just mushroomed for us. In 1961, I sat in my first church service in the true Church of God. In 1991, 30 years later, in 1991, I sat with Angela, my wife, at our headquarters in Pasadena, California, a stretch of 30 years had gone by. 30 years. As I sat there in 1991, in the midst of lectures and seminars, and what we called a refresher program for the ministry that would come in for two or three weeks, every couple of years for refresher programs, as I sat there in 1991, it wasn't my first time out there. But as we sat there, I'm sitting, we have a break, of course, and Angela and I are sitting there, along with everybody else, and I just lean into her where nobody else will hear me.

And I whispered in her ear, I said, something is wrong here. I said, something is wrong here, here, in this room, in Pasadena, in this, something is wrong here. I can't put my finger on it, but something is bad wrong. And it was later that I realized what I was sensing. I was sensing a different spirit. I was sensing a spirit of apostasy at work. Major false teachers, false brethren, false teachings were underway. And as the apostasy gained ground, and that's what it was, it was churchwide deception, it was churchwide apostasy, as it gained ground more and more of the church, accepted it, and gave it their support. There were, and there are human negatives that it magnified and gave freedom to, negatives in our human makeup that play into it. Negatives in our human makeup that play right into it. See, here's some of the things I had seen that are negatives in our human makeup, that played into the apostasy, that helped to lend its support. I had seen brethren who had grown tired of the same old truth. The same old, same old, same old truth. I had seen brethren, I had talked with brethren, it was obvious they were tired of the same old truth. It no longer excited them. It was just, eh, ho-hum, you know, just put one foot in front of the other, ho-hum. No excitement anymore with it at all. They had developed itchy ears for something new. They had failed to truly master, and you think about this, they had failed to truly master and live what they viewed as the same old truth. They had failed to put it into vibrant practice in their lives that keep it alive and thriving. They were jaded, they were bored, and they were seeking something new, and they were very susceptible to seducing spirits. Very susceptible.

I had seen brethren who were tired of the battle, tired of the spiritual warfare. They had spiritual battle fatigue. They were just tired of the fight. They were tired of the fight with self. They were tired of the fight with society. They were tired of the fight with Satan. They were tired, worn-out Christians. I dealt with people in that category. I worked with people in that category, just tired and worn out. People that were ready to throw in the towel, ready to call it quits on the fight, ready, they hadn't done it maybe just yet, but they were ready to throw that towel in. They were of the category mentioned. If you want a scripture of reference, it's Daniel 7.25. Daniel 7.25 speaks of a prophecy of the spirit of this world, which, of course, uses human instrumentality, obviously, too. One of the prophecies there that's given as a warning, it says this. You'll find this phrase in Daniel 7.25, And shall wear out the saints of the Most High. Shall wear out. That's... If Satan looks at a member of the body of Christ, and he comes to realize, I can't seduce that person away from God. I have nothing to seduce them away with. There's nothing I can offer them that appeals more to them than the kingdom of God. I cannot seduce them away. Okay, we switch to plan B. We wear them out. We just wear them out. Keep on, keep on. Hammering, hammering, battering, shall we wear them out.

Shall wear out the saints of the Most High. And sadly, I've known people who found themselves on that particular casualty list. And again, I'm talking about negatives, human negatives in our makeup that can lend itself into the success of an apostasy. I had seen some who simply wanted things to be easier with their family, easier with their friends, easier with family and friends, easier with coworkers. They were willing to compromise for comfort and convenience's sake. And that's a negative.

They were willing to compromise for comfort and convenience's sake. So these things that are also part of the makeup in our natural human makeup, that can play a role that we have to guard against. Getting jaded and bored. Getting worn out.

Wanting things easier. These were, and are some of the natural negatives that we have to deal with. An apostasy or no apostasy, those are challenges, period. But apostasy always magnifies such. It always feeds an apostasy. Some of these, some of those dropped out of religion altogether. But you know what? Many, probably the most, didn't. Didn't drop out of religion.

They simply accepted a corrupted Christianity. They simply, for some of them, they simply were returning to the corrupted Christianity they had come out of. Then for others who had not grown up in that corrupted Christianity, they weren't returning back to what they had come out of. But they simply accepted and went into a corrupted Christianity. And by doing so, they became part of the great false system. And by becoming a part, they lent it their support.

If you go with me back to Revelation, this time Revelation 18, verse 4, they lent it their support. And God has a warning for such. And God's warning to such is found in Revelation 18, verse 4.

John said, and I heard another voice from heaven saying, Come out of her my people. Think about it. Come out of her my people. Now, you can apply that to the national level, but you absolutely can also apply it to the spiritual level of the church. Because too many went into that corrupted Christianity with that great false woman.

And when I say with that great false woman, whether directly with her or indirectly with her daughters, come out of her my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. No, it didn't take me long to connect the dots. Back in 91, 92, 93, I came to realize that I was simply seeing and experiencing in my time. I'm not talking about Peter's time now, in Paul's time, in John's time, but no now in my time.

That I was simply seeing and experiencing in my time the same type of thing that had occurred in the first century Church of God. What had occurred in and with the Church in the first century, we were now simply paralleling it. We were paralleling the New Testament, those six decades or so of the Church, we were paralleling that that happened then, only it was in these times now, my time.

I used to wonder and used to think, you know, when I meet Peter someday and Paul and John, it's going to be an interesting opportunity to sit down with them and say, Sir, you live those times.

How did apostasy occur in the Church in your times? I would like to understand that better. Now I can sit down with Peter, Paul, John, look them straight in the eye. We can both look at each other and nod our heads, because the same thing that happened in their time has happened in our time. And there is a common connection of identity with that.

So human nature is still the same. The same devil is still around. He's not bound. The fundamental realities haven't changed. What has played into the situation in my time was also playing into the situation in their time.

Have you ever taken the time to read the book of Hebrews very carefully and think about, let's say as you read through it, you ask yourself one question over and over and over as you read through the whole book of Hebrews, Why is Paul writing this? Why is Paul writing this? Look at everything he's written and just ask yourself with every subject and everything that's written in the book, Why is Paul writing this? Why is he writing this?

Why is he writing this? I'm not saying you will get an answer to why he wrote everything that he wrote in there, but you might be surprised what will jump out at you. Read the book of Hebrews very carefully. Here's some of what you'll find there. You'll find tired and worn-out Christians. These are some of the things you'll find. You'll find tired and worn-out Christians. You'll find a lack of zeal and a loss of faith. You'll find neglect and compromise. You'll find itching ears. You'll find aberrating from the truth. And guess what? You will find all of this within about a 30-year span.

61, 19, 61 to 19, 91. A 30-year span. And with the book of Hebrews, it was written approximately 30 years after the Church began. And that was in the early 60s, starting into the mid-60s. But early 60s AD. And it only got worse and worse as the century wore on towards its end. What ultimately happened? What ultimately coalesced? Again, step back into our day for a moment, back to this time.

What has happened to many of the brethren in our time who have left us? Think about it for a moment. Chattanooga, as a congregation, had 500 or so at one time. Atlanta, Georgia, over here. When Ken Martin was pastoring, there was one congregation. There was 600. The next year, there was 700. The next year, there was 800. The next year, there was 900. Every year, 100 people, roughly. And they split and had two congregations. And then, by the time in the heyday, the high-point, high-watermark time of the church in North Georgia, some of you were involved, obviously.

Remember when you used to get together for the spring holidays or Holy Day at Gainesville, Georgia? There could be 2,500 people. What has happened to many of the brethren in our time who have left us? Many, to one degree or another, have simply accepted and become supportive of a corrupted Christianity.

They haven't, as we would say, dropped out of religion or dropped out of all religion as such. Neither did they back then. Now, back to that first century, and especially near the end of it, what happened to all the false brethren? What happened to all the false teachers? Where did they go? Have you ever asked yourself that question? They didn't die because they left the truth. They kept on eating, drinking, breathing, living. They didn't give up being religious, per se.

What happened to the Diotraphies? What happened to the congregation or the congregations that supported him? What happened to all the other Diotraphie types and types of congregations like his? Where did they go? What happened to all those John spoke of, who, as he said, and we read it, went out from us because they were not...they went out from us because they were not obvious. They left the truth. They didn't necessarily leave, quote, church. They didn't necessarily leave religion, obviously.

They left the truth, true Christianity. He was not saying they were no longer religious-minded. They left true Christianity for a corrupted Christianity because a corrupted Christianity was what they wanted. For whatever reasons that was more acceptable to them, they didn't leave religion. And again, what about the original and initial roles of influence by such as Simon? Simon Magus. He didn't disappear. History knows him as Simon Magus. He was very instrumental as a false prophet, a false preacher, a false teacher. All of those things coalesced in the rise of a corrupted Christianity, one that is not acceptable to God.

And as the true church, as the true church, as you go through that century and you get closer and closer to the end of that century, the true church becomes more and more top-heavy with corruption, with heresy. A dire warning was given by God. And let's read it in Revelation 2 beginning in verse 1. This is to the true church. And there's a dire warning given to the church as it was descending more and more into corruption and more and more leaving the truth and taking on falseness. In Revelation 2, in the first message of the 7 to the church of God, in the format of 7 messages to the church, verse 1, Revelation 2, speaking to that time, speaking to what was happening in the church, he says, to the angel of the church of Ephesus, right.

These things, says he that holds the 7 stars in his right hand, who walks in the midst of the 7 golden candlesticks, he says, notice verse 2, I know your works and your labor and your patience and how you cannot bear them which are evil. And think about God looking at the church at the end of that century, but also looking at the entire range of that church from the time that he began the church on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2.

And there were good things with it, yes, wonderful things. And there were wonderful and true brethren who stayed wonderful and true. But as time went on, they more and more became the minority, and more and more the majority became corrupt.

And you have tried them which say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars, and have borne and have patience, and for my name's sake have labored and not fainted. So he commends what is commendable. And there were true brethren that lived commendably and died commendably in faith in Christ.

And he acknowledges that. But again, the church more and more was becoming top-heavy, more and more reaching into and becoming a majority of those who were getting into a corrupted Christianity. And so he says in verse 4, he says, Nevertheless, I have somewhat against you because you have left your first love.

Tired, worn out, no zeal, no excitement, tired of the battle, tired of the fight, wanting convenience, wanting comfort, wanting to blend in. However you want to express it. But they left their first love. Notice what he says in verse 5.

And there's a phrase here that's not used in the other six messages. He says, Remember therefore from whence you are fallen. And he is addressing them on a church-wide basis. Where you are fallen from whence you are fallen. And repent and do the first works. The first works you reach all the way back into the book of Acts to see what a tremendous, what tremendous champions of truth, of God's love, of truly being like God, what they practiced and what they did and what, you know, and you had to reach back to those times.

The closer you got back to that time, the heavier the percentage of true Christians and true Christian activity. And do the first works or else what? Or else what? I will come to you quickly and here's a phrase that's not used with the other messages. We'll remove your candlestick. If you look at chapter 1 and verse 20, chapter 1, verse 20, right above, the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.

And notice, the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches. If the seven candlesticks are the seven churches, and he says, I will remove your candlestick out of his place. I will remove you from being my church. Except you repent. And it's said only in conjunction with Ephesus, because that was back there at the beginning. And it's also back at the time when the great false church was beginning. See, here's what happened. The time came that what had been the true church had so apostatized and become corrupted that as an organization or body of truth, it collapsed.

The candlestick was removed. There was a core of true believers, because the true church is a living organism. It's part of the body of Christ connected by God's living, vibrant Holy Spirit. But as an organization or body of truth, a grouping, it collapsed. The candlestick was removed. That group, per se, ceased to be considered in any sense God's church. But within that group, there were true believers. There was a core of true believers who simply had to reorganize the best they could and keep going. The true church did not die out. That which is true body of Christ did not die out. There will always be some who will carry on.

Even in our day and age, in Matthew 24, 24, it says, if it were possible, the deception would be so great that if it were possible, the very elect would be deceived. I don't care what anybody says. Among and with the believers of God and Jesus Christ. And I can't always say who fits this category and who doesn't, but God knows. There is a core of true believers that you cannot deceive. Because they practice the things that spare them from any risk of being deceived. Can some of the believers be deceived? Yeah, there are reasons for that. But there will always be a true core that will stick to that truth, who are not going to be deceived away from it.

Not going to be seduced away from it. Not going to be worn away from it. And the church will always go on. And the church did go on. But historically, back at that time, the true believers, the true church of God, the core that remained faithful, they went into obscurity as far as the eyes of history and the world are concerned.

They went into obscurity. They went into the shadows. From a historical standpoint, in regards to the Church of God and its events, the following century became known as the lost century. That second century, church-wise, as far as the true church of God, became known as the lost century.

And what religious books all designate as the primitive church, the early church, it went out of the view of the world because there was another church that was rising. And the church as a whole, quote all of, quote, Christianity, kind of went out of sight a little bit in one sense. But the true church of God is the one that was put into obscurity. It's like they were hidden from the eyes. And what emerged after that lost century was a far cry from what Christ found it. For all practical purposes, the true church of God went underground.

It was hidden in the shadows. And true Christianity had been replaced by a false or corrupted Christianity. The true church, true Christianity, was very small and very few and very weak. But again, what about all the others? What about all the others who had either been in or connected to the true church? Where did they go? Where did they go? Many of them actually became part of the base, part of the foundation, part of the support of the great false church. That's where many of the false brethren went.

That's where many of the false teachers went. And it wasn't like somebody sat down one day and just drew lines on paper and says, here's our parameters and here's who can be in and who not. No, they began to be held together by the common corruption, and they began to coalesce and form. And it was out of that that the great false church emerged. And again, Revelation 18.4, which we read, speaks to a warning to them, come out of her, my people. The same as that verse speaks to me and you, us, today. What the world views today as Christianity is a very corrupted form of it.

There is a great whore with harlot daughters. They share the same mainframe of false doctrine and corruption. And you know what? Many of our loved ones are caught up in it, aren't they? In general, they're deceived. They just don't know any better.

And as I said, when, here in recent times, I gave the two sermons back-to-back, Godly misfits and also functional misfits, we have to use great discretion in our dealing with them. During our best to truly let our words be seasoned with salt, to truly speak the truth in love. But we have to use great discretion in our dealing with them. But the personal, the personal, the personal bottom line for each one of us, is we cannot support, we cannot be involved in that which is corrupt, the corruption therein. To do so corrupts us. And then we thus also fall under the dire warning and condemnation of Revelation 18.4.

May we each have the faith, the conviction, the courage, as I like to say, the faith and the fortitude to live what we know. The wisdom to answer wisely. And the love and the loyalty to set the right example before the eyes of others.