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GOD Has Done It
Answering the Third Rebellion
The Two Brothers
Long ago before God's Law was codified in any way there were two brothers who claimed to be following the Lord. The younger offered a sacrifice of the firstborn of his flocks while the older offered the firstfruits of his crops. Outwardly it looked as though both were offering righteous sacrifices but it was not as it appeared. For the younger brother was following the true pattern and the older was not. The true spirit of the brothers was soon revealed. God accepted the younger brother's sacrifice because it was done with a pure heart and in obedience to the pattern God had revealed, and rejected the older brother's sacrifice because it was done in rebellion to the pattern He had revealed by His Word and with an impure heart. The consequences were fatal. The older brother soon revealed his deep-seated hatred and envy. Instead of repenting he turned around and murdered his younger brother.
This is the well-known story of Cain and Abel (Gen.4:1ff). It is a story that has repeated itself a hundred-thousand times throughout all generations in the stories of peoples following different doctrines yet claiming to represent God. The common factor is that those who wage war against the Light try to extinguish it in God's Name. They cannot part from their fellow Christians in peace because they are not driven by the peace of God, but by hatred. The only way they can justify themselves is by trying to first convert their former brethren and then, failing that, bring increasing pressure to bear on them; and then, failing that, try to exterminate them. What ever they do, they are incapable of leaving their former friends alone.
Today we are witnessing the same forces in action. Claiming to represent God, a faction of former members of the New Covenant Church of God have come forth with their own pattern of Gospel life and have sought to persuade the remaining faithful of their position. Having failed to achieve their objective, they have started telephoning and writing to our people almost every day, getting into contact with former enemies, and becoming more abusive as time goes on. Today we hear our leaders described as "psychopaths" and their own people likening their own imaginary return to the Church as "a dog returning to its vomit." The old pattern of persecution is there for everyone to see.
God Has Spoken
The new doctrine of the schismatics is that the New Covenant is purely of the heart and that there are no leaders in the New Covenant other than the invisible Lord Jesus Christ. They refuse to acknowledge the pattern for Church organisation and government described in the New Testament and say that it is all of the "Old Covenant". By direct implication, though they have been reluctant to say it directly, they are saying that the apostles and prophets have taken a wrong turn. In effect, the schismatics claim they have found a superior way and therefore put themselves above the New Testament wherever it does not agree with their doctrine.
New Covenant Christians -- members of the New Covenant Church of God -- are, like other Christians, people of the Book. We do not claim to be superior to the apostles of the New Testament but consider ourselves subject to them -- and would subject ourselves to them, even our own apostles, were Peter, James and John to return to the earth to rule the Church of God with a mandate from the Lord.
The scriptures state:
"It was He [CHRIST] who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers....." (Eph.4:11, NIV).
I repeat, it was CHRIST who ordained that the Church should be led by leaders, not the apostles or other men.
Therefore we ask the schismatics in all soberness what they believe:
- (1) That Christ was a misguided liar;
- (2) That the apostles were misguided liars;
- (3) That the writers of the New Testament were misguided liars;
- (3) That they are liars!
They must choose!
How can the schismatics expect us to take them seriously when they do such violence to the Scriptures? They want us to believe their "dreams" and "revelations" but not the New Testament -- at any rate, not the parts of the New Testament that disagree with them.
Since the New Testament contains (according to them) a mixture of "Old Covenant" and "New Covenant" they must either "purify" it (by taking out what they do not like) or by writing their own Testament -- or, more likely, by claiming no written scriptures at all!
A Sober Warning
This ought to be a sober warning to people not to appoint themselves as judges of God's Word by taking one or two scriptures out of context and ignoring those they don't like. This is how all cults are formed. They even claim that they have nothing to receive from other Christians but have a call to only give. They walk in their stubbornness of their own pride and in blindness to the Word in the light of the noon day sun!
The schismatics are playing with fire and it will, sooner or later, badly burn them and the others they lead into their delusion.
As for us in the New Covenant Church of God, we will follow the Lord our God and His Word. Amen.
Historical Footnote
The schismatics, after less than a year, sub-divided into three separate factions, and then disappeared back into the world.
This page was created on 15 May 1998
Last updated on 15 May 1998
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