Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.(Acts 20:28)
I have heard several preachers recently say things like “people are leaving the churches to find God.” In today’s post-Christian era, more than ever, we are to recognize the sobering truth that we are not called to “go to church;” but we are called to “be the church.” One person I heard has called people leaving the church to find God “church refugees.” People who are done with “church” the way we know it today.
As Christians in this world today, we are to do whatever it takes to be close to Jesus and to help others to do the same. The major factor that is causing all of the trouble is that of authority. When we ask someone to describe the great commission, to tell us how it begins, the answer we hear most is “Go!” Jesus does say “go and make disciples” As true as this is, Jesus also says that, we are often missing the whole point of this text in Mathew 28. The great commission starts with Jesus. It starts with and under His authority. And Jesus will never give that to another.
So he came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth is given to me. So go and make followers of all people in the world. Baptize them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (Mat 28:18-19)
The Bible reveals that the very first thing Jesus mentions in this “great commission” is that of HIS AUTHORITY. When Jesus talks about the church and the great commission, Jesus starts by asserting His own authority as the foundation of the church in all it’s forms today. It is the very authority of Jesus Himself by which His Church is to thrive and prosper as they go out into the world with “the everlasting gospel,” as depicted in Rev 14:6-7. The great commission as depicted in the Bible does not mention human authority of any kind. Not once. There is no place for the church in the “time of the end” (Dan 11:35,Rev 3:10) to assume authority that Jesus did not authorize.
Jesus did not, nor will He ever give His authority to any human being, no matter how important they say the person assuming Christ’s authority is in “the news.” Our so called news rarely reflects what the Bible says on anything. Jesus makes it all so simple. He just tells us in Mat 28:20 after He asserts His authority over the Church (Mat 28:18) that we are to GO but on HIS authority! And then Jesus says the one thing that today’s churches simply will not do:
“Teach them to obey EVERYTHING that I have told you to do. You can be sure that I will be with you always. I will continue with you until the end of time.” (Mat 28:20)
Jesus did not once give His authority to any human for any reason. In one text God asserts as much by saying:
I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images. (Isa 42:8)
I will not give my glory unto another. (Isa 48:11)
History shows us all too well what happens when finite, fallible humanity tries to wrest away the clearly stated authority of Jesus and to brute “church” into their own ways and standards, completely ignoring that word “EVERYTHING” in Mat 28:20. If Jesus says ALL AUTHORITY has been given Him over the church, then He would be a liar if in fact certain ecclesial authorities have said how they were given His authority to run the church by human maxims that deliberately do not include that EVERYTHING in Mat 28:20 Why would Jesus say that “ALL AUTHORITY” was given Him if He in fact did intend to “transfer” His authority to fallible, pride-filled human beings?
The remedy for this false system of religious deception is found in the “everlasting gospel” of Rev 14:6-7
I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters. (Rev 14:6-7)
THIS everlasting gospel admonishes us to “give glory to God,” not to human dictates and maxims.
When God commissions His ministers to announce to the world that the hour of his judgment is come, that Babylon has fallen, and that whoever worships the beast and his image must drink of His wrath poured out un-mingled into the cup of His indignation (see Rev 14:8-12), a threat more terrible than any other that can be found in the Scriptures–no human being, except at the peril of their soul, can treat these warnings as nonessential, or pass them by with neglect and disregard. Making little or no difference between the holy or the unholy. Lifting up human authority in all things church at the cost of not being able to glorify God, as it says in Rev 14:6-7
This is why the urgent necessity exists in every age for the most efforts to understand the work of the Lord, the great commission, lest we lose the benefit of the present truth. This is especially true today, when so many evidences indicate the soon coming of earth’s final crisis.(Rev 3:10)
One of the biggest reasons that Jesus begins the great commission by assuring us of His own authority over the church and the great commission is just that. Rev 14: 6-12 asserts that “Babylon” has fallen, and this fall can be traced back as far as you like, and will always show us how human authority has ruined church as we know it, or should know it. This is why the angel says: “come out of her my people.” (Rev 18:4)
Human authority asserted over the church will one day meet its demise. We can be thankful that Jesus tells us in Rev 18:4 and other places that He has His people in every church. “Come out of her My people” is the great moral imperative that our Lord has given us and it means we must relinquish all of the human authority in our churches to the authority of Christ alone.
I recently read a quote from a book about last day events, and it went like this:
“we should now acquaint ourselves with God by proving His promises.” (Great Controversy, pg 622)
Here is the “precious promise” (2 Pet 1:4) that Jesus gives us for His end time church:
And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. (Mat 16:18)
It is obviously impossible that this verse could mean the authority of Jesus was somehow “transferred” to a fallible, sometimes Christ-denying human being! (Mat 26:75) After the scriptures we have covered so far in this article, how could anyone believe that Jesus would now contradict His own Word to cede His authority over His church to human beings so bent on denying His authority in so many ways?
Mathew 16:18 does tell us that Jesus said “on THIS Rock I will build my Church. THAT ROCK was not a human being other than our Savior and Lord Jesus “THE Christ.” And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ. (1 Cor 10:4)
O come, let us sing unto the LORD: let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation. (Psalms 95:1) see also Deut 32:15, 2 Sam 22:47, 1 Cor 11:24-25
We need to stop seeing the great commission as “going to church” that we might view it as us being the church. We were not created as human doings (as in going to church) but rather, as human beings who are the church because they carry within themselves the assurance of “Christ in you, THE hope of glory” (Col 1:27).
Peter reminds Christians that they are the church built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, meaning amongst other things that the first church was never, nor ever will be a certain denomination that today, by its pretended authority, claims to be the “first church.” The Bible says Jesus Christ is the cornerstone of the church both yesterday and today (1 Pet 2:4-6). The Bible is clear that the authority of/for the church in all ages and in all of its manifestations rests ONLY on the authority of Jesus. This is the basis by which our Lord said “THEREFORE Go and make disciples.” The Bible is clear that all believers of all ages must be “mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of the apostles of the Lord AND Savior.” Meaning of course, leaning unto the authority of Christ Alone.
All believers are enjoined to “the church of the living God” (1 Tim 6:17) by faith in Jesus Christ as Savior AND Lord,(Isa 43:11, Luke 2:11), the same faith that Peter expressed. (see also Eph 2:20-21). Jesus praised Peter for his confession of faith. It is faith like Peter’s that is the foundation of Christ’s Kingdom. Today’s Church is called “the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” which means by the authority of Jesus our Savior and Lord. Jesus Himself said “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6)
When we see how the everlasting gospel of Rev 14:6-7 calls people back to God and to worshipping Him as Creator and Lord, then we begin to realize that we have been lied to regarding Church authority. ANY church policy, rules, legislations or practices that limits or prevents the “job description” that Jesus gives us in HIS great commission of Mat 28 is to be rejected as falsehood and left to those who would reject the authority of Christ in His own Church, in favor of the human dictates of unconverted souls who presume authority that they do not have.
As activity increases and people become successful in doing any work for God, there is danger of trusting to human plans and methods. There is a tendency to pray less, and to have less faith. Like the disciples, we are in danger of losing sight of our dependence on God, and seeking to make a savior of our activity. We need to look constantly to Jesus, realizing that it is His power which does the work. While we are to labor earnestly for the salvation of the lost, we must also take time for meditation, for prayer, and for the study of the word of God. Only the work accomplished with much prayer, and sanctified by the merit of Christ, will in the end prove to have been efficient for good.—(The Desire of Ages, 362.) {Prov 29.4}
The Savior’s commission to the disciples included all the believers. It includes all believers in Christ to the end of time. It is a fatal mistake to suppose that the work of saving souls depends alone on the ordained minister. All to whom the heavenly inspiration has come are put in trust with the gospel. All who receive the life of Christ are ordained to work for the salvation of their fellow men. For this work the church was established, and all who take upon themselves its sacred vows are thereby pledged to be co-workers with Christ. {DA 822.2}
United in Christ and all that He has said. This is the message of the three angels in Rev 14. The “church of the living God” is to both carry this truth forward and to present it by the authority of Jesus!”