© Gary W. Crisp 2004, 2005
To begin with, I’d like to look at a word that will seem “obvious” to most of us, but as we look a little more closely, I trust we can see how it fits into this message. The word, chaos, is more or less the foundation of the teaching that follows, and its various meanings can apply very easily to what we call “a Muddle-minded Church”.
At first glance, chaos may seem like a pretty severe word to describe what we believe is afflicting the Body of Christ today, but if we would really look at the aforementioned definitions, we’ll get a clearer sense of where we’re going and what we’re about to address.
Chaos --
From what we observe of the world -- in general -- and from what we see and hear (first-hand) among the Body of Christ -- in specific -- unless we all wake up and come together in heart, mind and spirit, we are in for a rude awakening.
And we’re not talking about “coming together” as a church group or denomination... neither are we speaking of trying to form some new ministry or some new movement. What we’re referring to is not “new” at all. What we’re referring to is our coming together as Christians who have one purpose, one goal and one desire -- to see a “glorious church, a church having no spot or blemish...a church having no wrinkles”. One denomination cannot do this; one church cannot do this; one ministry cannot do this. We must awaken as the people of the Lord, as children of Almighty God, and shake off the chains of slumber and the muddle-mindedness of a confused heart.
It can no longer be church against church, brother against brother, doctrine against doctrine. We, as the Body of Christ, had best shake off anything that hinders or binds or that can prevent us from realizing our full potential in the Lord. We are afraid (from all apparent signs) that we have reached a very bad time in the history of the church, and while we have hope that there is some remedy...we are not naive. We know full well that what we are saying has never happened before (in our lifetimes), although we came close in the sixties and seventies, during the Charismatic Movement. Still, we must put forth what God has laid upon our hearts.
Let’s begin a more detailed look at the above definition of chaos, before we go any further, and allow me (if you will) to personalize this, by using the pronoun I, instead of we.
It doesn’t take much “looking” to see that there is a great gulf between most churches, and I’m speaking of those churches that are Bible-believing, Jesus-worshipping churches -- and I’m mainly referring to the churches in America. I’m told that this is also the way in other countries, but I cannot speak from experience about that. I just know that here, in America, there is so much division, strife and disunity that the Lord cannot be very pleased at all. Jesus Christ called us to be one -- in Him, in the Father, in the Spirit. He called us to love one another, and He specifically said, to His disciples and to us,
We sometimes wonder why people don’t “get it”, when we try to tell them they need the Lord as their personal Savior; we shake our heads in disbelief that more people in America, our own cities or even our own families do not have a personal relationship with the One we know can change their lives. We struggle with why there are so many “non-decisions” in our meetings or in our circle of influence. We cannot understand why the world has yet to be reached by the Gospel of Jesus Christ...as a matter of fact, to some, it seems we have “lost ground”, not “gained it” these past two thousand years, since Jesus commanded His disciples to “go out into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15 & Acts 1:8).
Part of the reason, if not the reason, we have not fulfilled the Great Commission is because we have been so divided, as a Body, and we have not shown the world or those around us that we “have love (the love of which Jesus spoke) one to another”. Consequently, we have not had one true focus. We have looked at this angle and that angle; we’ve rallied around this portion of scripture and that portion of scripture; we have formed our die-hard opinion about this verse, that verse, this meaning, that meaning, and we have clung furiously and steadfastly to our beliefs and our doctrines... all the while separating and dividing ourselves from all others who are not like us! We have cut and divided the scriptures to pieces, and -- in doing so -- we have also cut and divided the Body of Christ! Brothers and sisters...what have we done? What are we doing? As many believe, the Lord is returning soon, and to what? What kind of church will He find? Will He find, as Paul states in Ephesians 5:27 --
or any such thing; (and will He find it to be) holy and without blemish”?
(Or...a Glorious Marriage: No Spots, No Wrinkles)
The above verse is a verse often quoted, but it is a little odd that we find this verse in the midst of one of Paul’s most important teachings... that of a husband and wife being one, respecting one another in Christ. Now, just look around for a moment, thinking of those who are married Christians, who claim to know and love the Lord with all their hearts...are their marriages, their relationships with their spouse and their general respect for each other an obvious thing? Or, as so many do, do we show our “good side” in public, in church, and around our friends, while the “other side” is terribly apparent to our families at home? God help us. This ought not to be. It would be easy to get side-tracked, here, looking at husbands, wives, marriage, submission and loving and honoring -- but we will stay on course, finishing our thoughts.
Paul’s discourse to husbands and wives is a deep and profound understanding of what the church is, or should be. Now, when I speak of the “church”, let me be very clear (for I feel the need to keep reminding us)...I am speaking of that mystical Body of believers, bound together by the Holy Spirit, washed and cleansed from all sin by the Blood of Jesus, called and wooed by God the Father, to bring us all into one place, one heart, one mind...one in Christ Jesus.
Now, John 4:23 & 24 expressly tells us that the Father is seeking certain individuals. Let’s look at those verses.
The Father is specifically seeking those that will (or can, or are able to) worship Him in “spirit and in truth”. Putting all biases aside for one moment, can we at least agree that He is not talking about seeking those who are divided and fighting against one another? He is not seeking those who are so intense in their beliefs that they come close to despising or hating those who do not believe as they do, or, at the very least, they fear those that do not believe as they. John’s words to us should straighten that out: “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear has torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love” (1st John 4:18). “Fear has torment”, and “Perfect Love casts out all fear”, and “There is no fear in love”... then why is there so much fear and division between true Bible-believing denominations?
We -- as Blood-bought, Blood-washed, born-again saints of God -- ought to be doing everything within our power (and asking for God’s Help beyond our own limited power) to be certain that we are striving together for UNITY as Christians, even as Christ has asked (or commanded) of us. This is what He said in John 4:23-24 & John 13:34-35. All Christians should be focused on and striving to worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth, and we all should be showing love, one to another (and thereby showing the world of His Love), regardless of what denomination or church we belong to.
I am not talking of some unifying of churches into One World Order, so, please, do not get side-tracked with fear or doubt from my point. Neither am I saying that we should do what was attempted in the seventies, where many churches did come together, but not as “one”, as mentioned by the two previous verses. Instead, we were sort of amalgamating each other’s doctrines and beliefs... this is not what Jesus was speaking of in either of those verses in John’s Gospel. I have worshipped at various Baptist, Methodist and even Catholic gatherings. Did they all believe as I? No. Was I forced to believe as they? Again, no. Did they have a genuine love for Jesus? Some of these groups did, and that is the difference in some congregations and some denominations. Some churches in some denominations do have a genuine and real understanding of Who Jesus is and what He is in their lives, as well as the lives of others. Sadly, though, this is not true of every church in every denomination.
Now, once again, let me say that I’m speaking here of denominations who believe the scriptures to be God’s Word, who know that Jesus Christ and His shed Blood is the only Way for Salvation, who also know and expect that Jesus is coming soon. I’m not referring to those worldly and social congregations that have long since dropped out of the race (1st Corinthians 9:24-27 & Hebrews 12:1 & 2). Those “religious” ones are in a category all unto themselves, and God will judge them as to where they are. They are, however, accountable. I do not concern myself with these. I am more concerned with those who say they know, believe and follow Jesus Christ; those who read, study, pray and have hope in His soon coming. There is, though, still this gulf between so many of us. We cannot ignore it or hope that it will go away. We must deal with it, each of us in our own lives, before the Body, as a whole, can come together as Christ desired we be.
Now, concerning this gulf and chasm...there are those that see this problem, have been in the midst of this problem, and are now speaking out against what they have seen, heard or experienced. The only thing is...they are creating more of a gulf and more of a problem by the critical and bruising words they speak than bringing healing, health and unity to a world-weary church. And the Body of Christ is suffering greatly for it. To address this issue, let’s take a look at a passage from a portion of Peter’s writings...
Many of those dear saints who have seen the disunity, who have seen and been in the midst of problems and discord in the church, have become embittered by and antagonistic towards much of what is going on today among other believers. Their hearts have been hurt, as has mine; their lives have been shoved aside and discarded, as has mine; their ministries and gifts have been overlooked and ignored, as have mine, but so very many of us fall into this category of having been dejected and rejected by the church. This is nothing new, saints. Neither is it new to attack those things in the church that we really don’t understand or approve of. The first century church had to deal with the very same things. How we deal with these things is nearly as important as what we deal with. Let’s move on...
...and an unorganized primordial matter --
Many of those speaking out “about” or “against” the things in the Body of Christ -- and, again, I am talking about those who claim to be followers of Jesus Christ, and from all appearances do know Him -- are doing so in a manner which usually suggests they know lots of scripture, but as of yet have not learned how to rightly divide the Word of Truth (2nd Timothy 2:15). Oh, they quote many verses, backing up their claims of knowledge, but they sometimes end up sounding more confused than convinced by their own statements. Looking at formless void and an unorganized primordial matter, we can see how this may be, and what it is in the church today that causes this to be so. Both of these phrases do apply to what we’ve been discussing and where we’re headed.
Taking our definitions from Genesis 1:2, Jeremiah 4:23 & even looking at John 1:1-5, we can see that the Word describes formless void as “to lie waste; a desolation, as a desert; figuratively, a worthless thing; to be in vain or in confusion; an empty place, without form, a wilderness.” The key words here are “a worthless thing, in vain, in confusion and wilderness”. Nothing in God’s Word is worthless or vain, and anything that may be confusing is only because we make it so. We could also add these thoughts to formless void: “to be empty or vacuous (lacking intelligence or even being stupid -- Webster’s definition, not mine)”.
Gen. 1:2 tells us, “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters”. Clearly, until God moved upon things, there was nothing of value, nothing worthy of life, light or anything else, but when He moved...then things began to happen. So it is with us...unless and until we truly allow the Spirit of God to move upon the “face of our deep” (that being our soul and spirit), then we, too, are formless and void. And I’m not just talking about before Salvation... I’m talking of after our accepting Him as Lord and Savior. Many people know a lot (or think they do). They know a lot of scriptures, they know a lot of spiritual things, they know this or that, but they do not really and truly know Him, in the deep, deep places of their hearts and lives. They have kept Him at bay, not surrendering to Him or allowing Him to move upon the “face of their deep”.
John 1:3-5 also addresses this, as follows: “All things were made by Him; and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was Life; and the Life was the Light of men. And the light [continually] shines in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” Here, again, we have mention of darkness, and that word, used here, means “darkness of error or an adumbration, dimness, obscurity, shadow or shadiness” (and well get to this strange word, “adumbration”, a little later). So we could say, from John’s writing, that “the Light of Jesus Christ shined forth in areas of darkness and upon places of error, and His Light illuminated wherever there was dimness, obscurity, shadow or shadiness”.
From Genesis 1:2, we got this meaning: “darkness; misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, obscurity”. Also, we can derive from that word, this meaning: “to be dark (as withholding light); to darken or cause blackness; to be dim or hide”. Now, having looked at all of these definitions, let me say this...anytime we cut out, delete, omit or purposely misrepresent the Word of God, we are hiding, as it were, the Truth from those we are reaching out to, and we are “withholding light” from them. We do it in many ways, and we do it, in spite of our good intentions and zealous efforts. And, let us be clear...there are times that we do it willfully and intentionally, not accidentally or unknowingly.
I’ll say this repeatedly in this teaching, but let me be honest: There are things in Scripture I do not understand. And these are things I will not “bluff my way through”, pretending I know them, and I certainly won’t try to teach or minister on them. If I do not know something, I say so, and I leave it alone. Many years ago, in Bible school, I was taught this simple little rule of thumb: If I don’t understand something, I “put it on the shelf”. When the Lord knows I’m ready, He’ll nudge me to “take it down”. Later I may understand, and usually I see that it was something my heart just wasn’t ready for. There’s no shame to this, but we best be honest, both with ourselves and with others.
Looking at the word, darkness, we can conclude from John 1:5 that the darkness (or those obscured from the Light) could not eagerly take ahold of that Light, or seize it, or possess it; neither could they apprehend or attain it; and they could not comprehend or perceive it. It also means to “overtake” or “extinguish”, and most people use these last meanings, but the other meanings suit us better today. Those who cannot rightly divide the Word of Truth are unable to find the simplicity of that Truth, thus they live and move “in the shadows”, as it were, obscured from the Light. And they will hinder others, obscuring the Light from them as well.
Now let’s go to Webster to see what that unusual phrase, unorganized primordial matter, means to us today, in this teaching.
Unorganized, we know, meaning “in disarray; not in order, not coordinated or systematized; not organized into a union”. Primordial, from Webster, means “existing first, or in an original state; fundamental and primary”. In light of our discussion, and in light of the scriptures, we can see that it could mean “that which is most important, or the basic, fundamental things of the Word and the Ways of God”. Looking at Hebrews 6:1-3, we see this --
Paul is saying here that we need to move on, grow up and grow into our relationship with God through Christ Jesus. However, if we sit down and “camp at” just one (or even two) of the following...
- repentance from dead works
- faith toward God
- the doctrine of baptisms
- laying on of hands
- resurrection of the dead
- eternal judgment...
...we will not and we cannot grow up in Him as we should or as He desires. You can see evidence of this constantly among believers, and I am always on guard of this in my own life...and that is where a group or an individual “camps at” and focuses on one Truth, disregarding and even making light of other Truths in the Word of God. One example of this is a church or denomination that focuses mostly, if not only, on repentance from dead works. Every time you turn around, they are saying, teaching and “reminding” everyone that they must repent from their sins...repent, repent, repent is all you ever hear from them. They never move beyond repentance. It is true...we must have repentance, but it is also true, we must move on and grow and mature, “leaving the principles of the doctrine” (the basics & fundamentals) of Christ, and “go on unto perfection” (becoming complete & mature in Christ). Of course, others get side-tracked, only teaching and focusing on faith, laying on of hands or other principles, but...
...Paul says we must not do this, if we desire to move on to perfection or maturity in Christ and the things of His Kingdom. In his farewell to those in Miletus near Ephesus, Paul said these words, and they are for us as well...
When he says he did not shun to declare unto them all the counsel of God, he is saying he did not withhold, shrink back from, conceal or reserve any of God’s Holy Word...he shared all of it with them; all he knew, all he had received of God and all that he had. Why? Why had he been so careful to do this? Other than the obvious -- his being called to preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ -- he gives another answer in these verses...
Paul is clearly saying that he knows (whether from experience or by the Lord revealing it to him) there will come in real troublemakers and deceivers, very possibly from within this very group of people he is addressing. He is not mincing words, nor is he being general in his observations and awareness. He is clearly and openly warning this group of believers, from whose midst is the potential for trouble. Usually, if not always, the hidden motive of the hearts of those troublemakers and deceivers -- who dispute and attack the Word of God -- is not ignorance or even misplaced zeal...rather it is the most basic of all human nature: To get others to follow themselves. To lure others to do and believe what they believe. Oh, they say they don’t, and they persistently claim they are not doing this, but beneath their seeming care is a ravenous wolf. Or, as Jesus warned, there would be “wolves in sheeps clothing”.
It’s much like the old adage...“If something seems too good to be true, it probably is”. I’ve often wondered how Lucifer got so many other heavenly angels to follow him in revolt against a Wondrous, Holy God. How did he do it? Most probably by speaking perverse things, even as these wolves Paul mentions above. Perverse, here, means to “twist, misinterpret, or morally corrupt; to pervert, or turn away from the Truth”. And why would anyone want to “turn away from the Truth”...? I don’t really know, but it happens every day.
And that, dear saints, is what so many teachers and so-called ministers are doing today. Perverting and twisting the Word of God to suit their own thoughts, ideas and beliefs, causing many to turn away from God’s Truth, and drawing many to follow after themselves. God help anyone who does so, in the hopes of getting others to follow them. There will be a Great Day of Reckoning for all who do. We will get more “into” some specifics of what I’m saying, in regard to errant teachers and ministers who are misleading people and misrepresenting the Truth. Let me just simply say here, though...If what some brother or sister says doesn’t “sound right”, you don’t have to accept it. If you cannot understand it, no matter how hard you try, put it “on the shelf”, which simply means you’re telling God you do not understand it at the moment, but you want Him to help you “take it off the shelf” when you are ready. Our gracious Heavenly Father more than understands this; believe me, He does.
Here’s the link to next part of this teaching --
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