The church Christ built is worthless to man if it is impossible to find (or establish), if it only existed in ancient history, and cannot be known today. Fortunately, like all things that exist, there are marks of identification that allow us to know his church from those made by mere men. We are able to distinguish one thing from another in life because of characteristics that each possess that differ from another in one way or another. True, there may be many similarities, as there are say between a dog and a cat (both have 4 legs, two ears, a tail, walk on all fours, have bodies covered with hair, etc.) but the differences are such as to make identification easy in distinguishing between the two.

What are the marks of identification of the Lords church versus man made churches.

(1) The time of its founding. The Lords church began in the first century on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. Any church that was built or came into existence centuries later for the first time cannot be the church Jesus built.

(2) The builder " Christ himself built his church. If a church can trace its beginnings back to a particular man or group of men that can be named for its founding it is clearly not the church Christ built.

(3) Its name. If a church is the church Jesus built then one would expect that it would not have a name attached to it given by men. Actually, no formal name was ever given to the church Jesus built. It was often referred to by various figures such as: the body of Christ (Eph. 1:22-23, 4:12), the Lambs bride (Rev. 21:9-10, Rom. 7:4), the church of God (Acts 20:28), the church of Christ (Rom. 16:16), the church of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15), the church of the firstborn (Heb. 12:23), the household of God (Eph. 2:19), the flock of God (1 Peter 5:2), Gods field (1 Cor. 2:9), Gods building (1 Cor. 2:9), the house of God (1 Tim. 3:15), the house of Christ (Heb. 3:6), the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16-17), and, of course, the most common name used for the church in the Bible is just the word church itself as all Bible readers know.

The listing above is not an exhaustive list but it is enough of a list as to give you an idea that the church is not given a formal name in the New Testament. Are there any implications that can be correctly drawn from what has been studied here? One thing sticks out to me as I look back over the list " the name Christ or God is given in all the references found (the Lamb is Christ in the Rev. 21:9-10 reference, Christ was the firstborn from the dead in the Heb. 12:23 reference). What is the point?

The church built by Jesus does not belong to you or me or man. It is his and he is the one that is to be honored. When we give a church a mans name, or give a church a man made name, such brings no honor to God and in fact deprives him of any credit whatsoever. A man is honored by the name, or a movement or method is given honor by the name, but God is to be given glory in the church (Eph. 3:20-21), not a man or a movement. If a church has an unscriptural name it is just that " unscriptural " and there is no making that wrong right as long as the name remains unchanged. A wrong name also becomes a marker for a wrong church, a man made one rather than the one Christ built.

(4) Its members " their names. In the church built by Jesus no member was called anything other than a disciple, a brother or a sister as the case might be or just as brethren when taken collectively, a child of God, a saint, or just by the name Christian (Acts 11:26). Again this listing is not necessarily exhaustive but is sufficient to make a needed point. In the New Testament church there was no such beings as Christians who also had an additional appellation or name to distinguish them from others. This was the very thing Paul condemned in 1 Cor. 2:4 when he said, For when one says, I am of Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, are you not carnal? (NKJV)

No church that wants or insists its members be called by a denominational name in addition to the name Christian is any part of the church Jesus built. Not only is it carnal as Paul speaking by the Holy Spirit said but it is also dishonoring to God as if it is not good enough to just be called a Christian or child of God. The name Christian is a Christ honoring name. Denominational names dishonor Christ as his name is replaced for that which the Bible knows nothing about. More could be said about the name but space will not allow it.

(5) Membership " how do people become members of Christs church? This is an easily answered question. The church was established on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2. When Peter confessed Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, in Matt. 16:16, Jesus responded by saying, on this rock I will build my church. (Matt. 16:18 NKJV) But then in the very next verse he tells Peter, I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. (Matt. 16:19 NKJV) Jesus thus uses the terms the church and the kingdom interchangeably making them one and the same. The kingdom of God is not something that in our own time is yet down the road in the future. Jesus said to those with whom he was speaking in Mark 9:1, Assuredly, I say to you that there are some standing here who will not taste death till they see the kingdom of God present with power. (NKJV) Paul says some years later in Col. 1:13, He has delivered us from the power of darkness and translated us into the kingdom of the Son of his love. (NKJV)

Peter used the keys of the kingdom (the keys being the gospel message with its requirements) on the day of Pentecost. When the 3,000 that day heard the message, believed it, repented of their sins (as instructed to do " Acts 2:38), and were baptized for the forgiveness of sins (as instructed to do " Acts 2:38) they were then translated into the kingdom of God by God himself. It is in that kingdom, not out of it, where salvation is found. If saved that day, does anyone doubt that they were (?), they were that day translated into the kingdom of the Son of his love.

Men do not join the church (the kingdom of God) but rather God adds them upon conditions. The Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:47 NKJV) The conditions are those set forth by Peter on the day of Pentecost. Jesus said, Unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. (John 3:5 NKJV) There are only two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. One must be in the kingdom of God for salvation but Jesus is the Savior of the body (Eph. 5:23) which is the church (Col. 1:24). The kingdom and the body, the church, are one and the same the difference being only in the way it is being described. The kingdom has a king, the body has a head, but the same one who is king is also the head " the head of the body and of the church which are one and the same (Col. 1:24).

Membership in this body, this church of Christ, this church Jesus built, is granted only on the basis of the new birth (John 3:5). It begins with the Spirit in that through the Spirits word, the gospel message, man is led to faith and repentance and a willingness and desire to confess Christ for who he is - the Son of God - and culminates in baptism for the forgiveness of sins (Acts 2:38, 22:16) but more succinctly to put to death the old man of sin and to arise a new spiritual creation (Rom. 6:4-6). The old man dies in baptism (Rom. 6:4), we were buried with him through baptism into death. (NKJV) We come up from the water clothed with Christ (Gal. 3:27 NAS). Paul is thus able to say, For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one bodyand have all been made to drink into one Spirit. (1 Cor. 12:13 NKJV)

These then are the terms of membership if one desires to be in the church Jesus built. One can get into churches built by men on other terms, into manmade churches, but there is only one way into the Lords church. We must go back to the New Testament and enter the Lords church on the same terms of membership that they did back then. The same process that makes one a Christian also makes him a member of the church Jesus built, also adds him to the church, the Lord doing the adding when the requirements are met.

(6) Another mark of the Lords church is its organization. Each congregation was on its own running its own affairs with no guidance from any kind of national church organization. Each congregation was to have elders appointed who met certain requirements as set out in 1 Tim. 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. This group of men was sometimes referred to under various terms in the same way Christians were as discussed earlier. The terms used were elders, overseers, shepherds, bishops, pastors, and rulers. One of the requirements for a bishop or elder was that he be the husband of one wife (1 Tim. 3:2, Titus 1:6) and thus the church Jesus built was led by men. There were no women in leadership positions in the church. Perhaps the reason is given by Paul in 1 Tim. 2 when he says, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a manfor Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (1 Tim. 2:12-14 NKJV) This is a historical reason that time will never be able to change and thus it was not a matter of culture as some teach today.

If you find a congregation that is in violation of Gods plan for church leadership you can be certain, though cries may be made to high heaven, that it is not the church Jesus built. The eldership was always made up of a number of men and not just a single individual (Titus 1:5, Heb. 13:17). Thus in the church Christ built there were no women in leadership positions or teaching over men (preachers) nor was there any such thing as the modern pastor system. Those things are from men, not God.

Finally, there was a group of men known as deacons who also had an organized work to do under the direction of the eldership. Qualifications for these men are found in 1 Tim. 3:8-13. Some feel the 7 men chosen to supervise the daily distribution in the church at Jerusalem as found in Acts 6:1-6 were the first deacons. They certainly filled the role deacons might well serve.

(7) Worship of the church. The church Jesus built never prayed to saints departed or otherwise. Peter would not allow himself to be worshiped but when Cornelius attempted to do so, Peter lifted him up, saying, Stand up; I myself am also a man. (Acts 10:26 NKJV) Paul and Barnabas had a somewhat similar experience in Lystra where the inhabitants wanted to sacrifice to them but they would not have it and restrained the people (Acts 14:11-18). By contrast there is one well known religious group today whos leader not only will accept worship with men bowing down to him but is even so bold as to make himself God on earth. Praying to dead saints rather to God is a common practice among them. Needless to say you find nothing like this in the New Testament and it is thus no part of the church Jesus built.

But when we talk about the worship of the church there is more to it than just the correct object of worship " God in heaven. Jesus said we must worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:24). He then says in John 17:17 that, Your word is truth. (NKJV) This means, obviously, that man is not free to worship God just any old man made up way he chooses and call it worship pleasing to God. God gets to decide what pleases, not man. If you recall the church at Corinth in 1 Cor. 11 had a worshipping problem as it pertained to the Lords Supper. Not just any old way of doing things pleases God.

What are the acts of worship as found in the New Testament that when done in the right manner pleases God? Partaking of the Lords Supper on the first day of the week is one (Acts 20:7), prayer is another, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph. 5:19-20, Col. 3:16) is included, teaching of Gods word in which exhortation would be a part, and giving. Very few if any would object to any of these things for all are pretty much in agreement that these things can be found on the pages of the New Testament as things authorized in worship. We can do all of these things in the name of the Lord Jesus. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. (Col. 3:17 NKJV)

The problem today, when one is searching for the church built by Christ as far as it pertains to the worship, is finding a church that has not added to it. All kinds of entertainment has been made a part of the worship - plays, dramas, musical entertainment (generally called in my part of the country special music), special events, and around election time even political rallies passed off as worship service. No, if we want the church the saints had in the first century, the one that belonged to Christ, we will have to content ourselves with doing what they did under divine approval and say that is good enough for it is good indeed as it came to us from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17 NKJV)

(8) The works of the church. The works of the church I think all are pretty much in agreement on as one looks back at the church in the New Testament. What did they do? They taught the gospel, they attempted to build each other up in the faith and lend a hand to one another as needed; they were encouraged in every good work, and helped the poor and needy.

The mission of the church was spiritual but that did not mean it was divorced from the cares of this world completely. Whoever has this worlds goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1 John 3:17 NKJV)

Much that you see being done in churches today was never a part of the New Testament church. There were no ball teams, no seminars on how to do your taxes, or lose weight, no business enterprises to raise money versus giving it out of your own pocket, and the list could go on and on. We need to learn what work the New Testament churches were involved in and get back to it and forget about everything else.

In this article I have tried to set forth the marks of identification for the church Christ built. That is the church we need to be in and need to get back to. If we did all denominations would cease to exist so men will fight it tooth and nail for it is one thing to say we want it and it is another thing to really want it enough to give up the things we have for it. In other words the old saying talk is cheap was and is more than just a saying.

Can we have the church Jesus built in our own day and time? I knew a lady that once said no. She was in error. We can have it if we want it. Do we really want it is the question.

Visit dennysmith.net to read more of Dennys articles and listen to over 100 audio sermons by Waymon Swain. While preaching the gospel for over 50 years Waymon has also preached and lived in Africa having made 20 trips there in his life time. You will also find on site links to some of the better resource materials available online today related to Bible study.

Estimates are that about 9,500 people die per day in America. That means thousands of special services are carried on daily to honor the departed and ponder our own mortality. When celebrities or iconic figures die we are moved on a national scale to weigh our own brief stay on the planet. But what do we actually ponder and what questions does the death of icons provoke?

Farrah Fawcett and Ed McMahon are reported to be Catholic while Michael Jackson was a Jehovahs Witness and Walter Cronkite was an Episcopalian. Some who belong to these religions may feel assured that because of their respective religious affiliations all is well with each of them.

The Biblical view is that they may have ended up with God after death not because of their religion but in spite of it. The Bible view of salvation is quite explicit and involves no requirement to belong to any specific religion. While that may be a subject for another time it does well to remind ourselves of the thief on the cross who died next to Christ at the crucifixion.

The thief on the cross had no time to be baptized, join a religion or become familiar with scripture but Jesus promised him that he would be with him in paradise that very day. (Lk 23:43) The childlike faith that consented to the belief that Christ was not only innocent but that he was exactly who he was reported to be was all it took. That is still all it takes.

Religion and the faltering reasoning of mankind always create entrance requirements for heaven that is wrong. The Biblical view stands alone to correct this error. The most common belief is that God holds us up daily and places our lives and actions on an imaginary scale to see if our good out weigh our bads. This paints a picture of God that is ridiculous. He is not that frivolous.

In a phone conversation I had with an old friend in Washington the day after Michael Jacksons death I was to surprised to hear my friend remark that Jackson must be OK with God because he gave to over 39 separate charities. Having been well taught in scriptures I was amazed to hear my friend use the imaginary scale in the sky idea to console him self about Jacksons death.

Was Jackson redeemed because of his giving and in spite of his connection to a religion that mainstream Christianity often views as a cult, or a life that may have left a lot to be desired? My answer is simply I havent a clue. If I knew Michael Jackson well enough to say whether he answered the all important Biblical question then I could say with perfect clarity where the soul of the pop icon is at this very moment. I will leave both the question and the answer in the hands of the Almighty for now and I will not presume.

The same rule applies in my thinking as it concerns the rest of the souls of the departed icons who have drawn our attention of late. Regardless of their religious affiliations or the lack of them I cant say that each of them did not have a moment in time when they asked the all important Biblical question in their own words and in their own way. Only God knows that.

Christians are so worried that Jackson may have slipped away without reckoning with God that they began to believe a rumor floating around the internet that famed singer Andre Crouch and his wife ministered the question to Jackson shortly before his death and he responded positively. A recent report in Charisma magazine dispelled the rumor with a categorical denial from Crouch that anything like that ever happened.

When lifes greatest difficulties are all around me and I ponder my own mortality and the brevity of life I always think on the great question. Yet it is not the question alone that stands as the great comforting thought in my darkest moments. It is the answer I chose to make well over four decades past. So what is the question?

As the Apostle Paul and his young disciple Timothy travelled through ancient Macedonia they stopped to preach the gospel in the city of Philippi. They were well received until they cast an evil spirit out of a young woman who was being used to make prognostications (fortune telling) for two men who made good money for themselves as a result. For this they were thrown into a prison where they were held in chains.

They filled the night with prayer and singing praises to God which resulted in a divine intervention. There was a brief earthquake and the prison doors all flew open. The Phillipian jailer knew that to allow even one prisoner to escape would cost him his own life under Roman law so he was about to kill himself instead of waiting for a sure public execution. Paul seeing what was about to happen called out to the warden and told him that everyone was still present and accounted for and that he should not harm himself.

The Philippian jailer was so moved by the events that he came in and threw himself at the feet of Paul and Timothy and cried Sirs, what must I do to be saved? (Acts 16:30) This question is to this day the most important question any human being can ask of God. It is the crux of any true relationship with God and it cannot be replaced by religious tenants, conscience giving or imaginary scales in the sky.

The answer given by Paul is the difference between eternal life and eternal separation from God. It is a question that neither regards a persons status in life, poverty or riches, fame or obscurity or any other condition. Paul said Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31) The jailer did believe and his wife and family followed suit.

In the quiet and deeply personal moments of anyones life this question is still paramount. It is the question of the ages with an eternal result. What would your answer be?

http://www.americanprophet.org is the place for news, articles, movie and book reviews and other insights for life. Rev Bresciani is a columnist for online and print publications and has over two million readers and counting. Download your copy of Rev Brescianis eBook An American Prophet and His Message absolutely free at Sword of the Spirit Publishing

Everyone is pleased to have the grace of God in their life but are we disturbed by it when his grace shows up in the lives of others seemingly more generously than in our own? I am afraid that is sometimes the case. The parable of the laborers found in Matt. 20:1-16 is a perfect example and is also an excellent illustration of how man feels he knows more about what is just and right than God does.

The passage is too long to quote here but I will jog your memory and summarize it for you. A man had a vineyard and needed workers. He went out to hire workers for his vineyard 5 different times during the course of the day each time sending them directly to work as they were hired. At days end, as was the custom back then, each was paid. A problem arose in the hearts of the early hires at the end of the day when the owner of the vineyard paid those who came into the field last, late in the day, the same amount as those who had gone to work first. They complained feeling they had been treated unjustly. These last men have worked only one hour, and you made them equal to us who have borne the burden and the heat of the day. (Matt. 20:12 NKJV)

It is easy to read this account and at first impulse feel that indeed the earliest workers were mistreated. We have all been raised to believe in the concept of quid pro quo, so much money for so much work, pay based on the amount of work done, the more work the more money. The last workers in this parable did not do equal work, far less, yet received equal pay. To an American this seems most unjust but what was the vineyard owners response? Is your eye evil because I am good? (Matt. 20:15 NKJV) The ESV reads, Do you begrudge my generosity? The NAS reads, Is your eye envious because I am generous? The bottom line is that they were jealous and angry over the generosity shown by the vineyard owner to those hired last.

One must understand, and I think we do, that this parable is about Gods dealings with those who believe and obey the gospel. Gods grace gives a man what he needs and not what he deserves. Such was the case in this parable. His grace is not based on works, not on how much work one has done, not on how difficult it has been, not on how long one has had to endure.

God is always just in the sense that he treats us honestly and fairly and does not go back on the word he has given. In the parable those who went to work in the vineyard earliest in the day were glad to go, to have the opportunity, and agreed that the wage set was fair and the work required was just. He did not ask of them more than they could do or were willing to do.

These early workers were blessed and enjoyed grace from the vineyard owner. What had he done for them? He had given them work. Not every man was so blessed with a job. He had given them security. At the end of the day they knew their need to feed their family was going to be met. He had given them dignity and self respect. They need not hang their head in embarrassment and shame as those who could not provide for themselves and their family.

Those were great blessings in that day and they are great blessings in this day. These men were treated not only with justice but with grace in being given these blessings. They should have been in a state of thanksgiving and rejoicing and perhaps they were for a time " until the time they learned of grace given to others, grace beyond what they perceived had been given to them. Envy and jealousy arose. If we are not careful the same attitude can develop within us and for the same reason. It is the age old complaint that men have that God is not fair. In the parable the vineyard owner is representative of God. Was he fair? Did he do what was right? In the parable, as the day went on, others were hired with the last being hired at the eleventh hour, quite late in the work day. When this last set of men were hired they were told, whatever is right you will receive. (Matt. 20:7 NKJV) When they were paid at the end of the work day what did they receive? They received the same amount as did those who had worked far more hours of the day, who had endured a much greater work load because of it, and who had borne the heat of the day. But, note what those at the eleventh hour received - they had received was what was right. (Matt. 20:7)

How could that be? If I owned a business today and went out and hired men as in the parable and acted accordingly in paying them would I be doing what was right? Most would say no. In what sense then could this be said to be right? If it was right then it would have been wrong to have done it the way most think it should have been done " pay based on the amount of work done. Here is what made it right. Every man hired that day had an equal need " the need to feed himself and his family if he had one which is most likely. If it is in my power to do good and make that possible for a man can I be righteous and fail to do it? Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. (James 4:17 NKJV)

Paul told Timothy to command the rich to be rich in good works, ready to give, willing to share. (1 Tim. 6:18 NKJV)

In Matt. 25 who is it that is going to be condemned in the last day? Then he will also say to those on the left hand, Depart from me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave me no food; I was thirsty and you gave me no drink; I was a stranger and you did not take me in, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me. (Matt. 25:41-43 NKJV)

But whoever has this worlds goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? (1 John 3:17 NKJV) The eleventh hour men in the parable had a need. The vineyard owner, since he had it in his power, could not have been a just man with the love of God in his heart and done anything other than what he did. What he did was good and right. If these laborers had not had need they would not have been laboring so there was a need to be met that could not now be met by any other principle.

What was that principle? The principle of grace. God is a God of grace. If we are his children we too must have grace for others. When we take the position everyone has to earn all he gets then that locks us all out of heaven for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (Rom. 3:23 NKJV) Remember this parable is in reality about spiritual matters, not economics.

Many who work hard and make a living develop an attitude toward those who have been less fortunate than themselves. It goes something like this. See me, see what I have done, anyone could have done the same and would have if they had any get up and go about them and were not so shiftless. Look at me. Vanity, pride, arrogance all fit into one body made of dust to which it will in due time return. I have even heard preachers talk along this line.

It would be good to look closer at the eleventh hour laborers. In the parable when the vineyard owner was preparing to hire the eleventh hour workers he quizzes them before doing so and asks them, Why have you been standing here idle all day? (Matt. 20:6 NKJV) Their answer is, Because no one hired us. (Matt. 20:7 NKJV) It was not that they were lazy, not that they had not been seeking work. It may well have been simply a matter of not being in the right place at the right time. I say that because the vineyard owner had been seeking day laborers evidently all day long hiring it seems about any who would answer the call. He only runs into these men at the eleventh hour and yet they had obviously been here long enough to have been passed over by other employers as per their answer to the vineyard owners question.

Why were they passed over? Was it unwillingness to work? They went to work at the eleventh hour knowing the work day was pretty much over and that they could not realistically expect anything close to a full days wages yet they went being willing to work for what they could get. They had been passed over but it was not because of failure to seek work or unwillingness to work. People are passed over for employment for a great many reasons that have nothing to do with character in the least little bit and yet we so often see their plight as their fault for look at us, we raised ourselves up by the bootstrap and if they have any grit about them they would do the same.

We, if we are not careful, see ourselves, because we were hired, as worthy, as talented, as deserving while looking down on the other guy who was not hired. We can sin in our attitude toward others if we are not awfully careful and it is not just a matter of attitude but also of judging. Where is compassion and mercy? Where is grace? I do not judge those first hired in the parable as regards their attitude toward the eleventh hour workers for their attitude was not revealed save in one particular. They, in concern for self only, lost sight of compassion for others who had a like need (provide for myself and for my family). How easy that is to do. It is easy to do but it is still sin. Were the first hour workers treated fairly? Most certainly for they got exactly what they had been happy to agree to. Had they of been paid in private and left unaware of what the later laborers received they would have walked away fully satisfied and content. But, as it was, they were made jealous by the generosity of another, one who gave grace.

Bible teaching is that we rejoice with those who rejoice. (Rom. 12:15 NKJV) The proper attitude is to be happy and thankful for the good fortune of others. I think we know this but we have to battle human nature (which tends towards jealousy and envy) and overcome it if we are to become the person of character that we need to be having the kind of attitude God would have us have. Those first hired in the parable fell short in this respect. Jesus used the parable about the laborers in the vineyard to teach how Gods grace works for those who become Christians. We become Christians at different stages in life and in different circumstances and environments. Some have much longer to live and labor as soldiers of Christ than do others. Likewise some suffer much greater persecution than do others with the apostles being perfect examples of that. Yet, we all, if we will live faithfully unto death, receive the same inheritance.

Is it fair? Would you have it any other way? If it is your son, your daughter, your wife, your husband, your mother or dad who is the eleventh hour worker you would have it no other way. Give praise to God for his grace. We are pleased with his promise to us no matter what hour worker we end up being and rejoice in the grace he gives others. No, we would have it no other way. We will not complain and we are overcome with joy to know there is hope even yet that some will come to work at the eleventh hour, even some of our loved ones.

Visit Denny Smiths web site to read more of his articles and also listen to over 110 audio sermons on many different subjects from Where Are the Dead? to The Weavers Shuttle, to What Must I Do To Be Saved? The audio sermons are by a good friend of his, Waymon Swain. Why not visit his site now dennysmith.net? You are sure to find a sermon topic or article of interest.

A man is either led in life by his emotions or his reason and which makes all the difference in the world. A life ruled by emotions is a life destined for disaster, a life where reason is always found in the back seat where it cannot be heard over the roar of the engine of emotion as it propels an individual down the road of life.

When emotions rule your life everything is done on the basis of feelings with minimal thought being given to truth or reality. We do not see because we do not want to see. We are not looking for fear we will see. Divorce courts, bankruptcy courts, drug rehab facilities, prisons, and even the local hospitals maintain a heavy business because emotion has ruled in a life and reason took a back seat.

We have the same thing in Christianity but pay day has not yet come so we have not yet been forced to confront reality. We sometimes wonder why it is that a person cannot seem to see the truth. Well, you have to have a desire to see it and thus be looking for it to find it. Seek and you shall find (Matt. 7:7 NAS) is the rule, that is the way it works. But, one only seeks when one has a desire to find and if you are satisfied with what you have little seeking will be done.

We do not want to see a reason why we should not marry an individual we have fallen in love with. We do not see because we do not want to see. What was obvious to those looking in from the outside whose emotions were not involved is not just hidden from us but willfully so. We end up in a divorce. The same principle applies in Christianity. We see what we want to see if our religion is emotionally based and eventually, if that is the case with us, it will lead us to disaster.

Truth and reason will always win out given enough time. Emotion rules for a season, truth and reason for eternity. Gods word is truth (John 17:17). It does not matter how you feel emotionally about what he has said. It doesnt matter whether or not you like it or would like to see it changed or given a different twist than what it seems to have. Truth is not dependent upon how one feels about it. It stands on its own regardless of what the world thinks about it. I use the following as an illustration for a point I want to make.

Many who say they are Christians today want to see women given what they perceive to be a greater role in the church. But, Paul said, I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. (1 Tim. 2:12 NKJV) They say it was a cultural thing and thus relates to that time when Paul lived only. But, Paul gives the reason for his command. He says, For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. (1 Tim. 2:13-14 NKJV) If that was the reason for the command, and Paul speaking by the Holy Spirit says it was, then it was not a cultural thing and is still binding today.

Am I concerned with the role of women in the church in this article? No. But, I am making a point using that issue as an example. Emotions lead us to desire a greater role for women in the leadership and assemblies of the church. It is not Gods word that does it. But mark this down, if your religion is emotion based sooner or later you will have what you desire no matter what the Bible says. Thus many denominations now have women preaching and in leadership positions. Jesus said of Gods word that it was truth (John 17:17) but in emotion based religion truth must take a back seat and really does not matter for emotion rules whatever the issue.

An emotion based religion is a religion that will in time no longer see the need for Bible authority even though those holding to such a religion call themselves Christians. Paul said, in Col. 3:17, And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

It is a little hard to see how one can do a thing in the name of the Lord Jesus about which the Lord Jesus has said nothing. To do a thing in the name of the Lord Jesus means by his authority thus if he has not spoken on the matter he has not given authority. If as a student a teacher has given you authority, either a written word or a spoken word, to leave class you have authority to leave. But, if not and you are found in the halls you are in trouble. You acted without authority. So it is in Christianity but why is it we are able to see the principle so readily in our daily life but not in our religion?

John says, Any one who goes too far and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 9 NAS63) The side margin note says the literal is goes on ahead.

Thus, in different words, John is saying the same thing Paul said in Col. 3:17. You cannot be doing as you please, adding to Gods word, taking from it, going outside the book of authority that you have " the teaching of Christ, the pages of the New Testament.

But, when emotions rule scriptures like these do not matter. We will do what we desire word from God or no word from God and we will say whatever it is we are doing is to Gods glory and he will be pleased. Jesus said, God is spirit; and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24 NAS) Thy word is truth. (John 17:17 NAS) We say it doesnt matter for our word is also truth as much as his. (Now we do not really say that but that is the net effect of our actions for our actions speak as loudly as words.)

We become God and make the rules by which we will live and worship. Truth, reason, and objectivity are tossed out the door while emotions (subjectivity in all its purity) are given a hug. Many, many, many people will tell you today they no longer need authority from God in Christianity that they are free to do as they see best and that is exactly what they are doing.

I think one writer put it best several decades ago when he said they are ruled not by what the Bible says but by what it does not say (G. K. Wallace). It is emotion based religion. It is a religion that needs neither God nor his Bible but both must be retained to hold onto a semblance of legitimacy. It is a worship of man and mans desires.

This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as their doctrines the precepts of men. (Matt. 15:8-9 NAS) They would never admit to making commandments and would say it is a lie if you said they were doing so.

However, what if the leadership decides that next Sunday we will have a special worship service where each one present will come forward, light a candle, and kneel at the bottom of a picture of Jesus before returning to their seat. Is that not commandment making? You can find no authority for it in the New Testament and yet your leadership has said we will do this and it is forced upon you like it or not. It is as much a commandment of men as is anything the Pharisees ever dreamed up and it is going on every Sunday all across this nation in one way or another in worship services, the same general sort of thing in a thousand different manifestations.

We say it is okay, I do not mind. So what? What does that have to do with it? The question is does God mind. We say no because he knows we are doing it out of love for him. Trouble is he said, this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. (1 John 5:3 NAS) One of those commandments is that we worship him in spirit and in truth. (John 4:24) There is not a word of truth to be found in the New Testament with regards to what it is we want to do on our special Sunday.

I could probably not give a better Bible example of the destructive nature of emotions ruling in religion than the case of the Jews who refused to believe in Jesus. Their emotions ruled them, over rode all reason, and ended up destroying them. There was no reasoning with them. The miracles of Jesus were to them like water off a ducks back. So Lazarus was raised from the dead. So what? But, that is the mind set you get into when you are dealing with emotion based (or should I say emotion ruled) religion. You will never change a person whose religion is based on emotion for reasoning with them is out of the question. They do not think logically.

Saul, who became the apostle Paul, was a perfect example. If Jesus had not directly intervened miraculously on the road to Damascus it is exceedingly doubtful he would ever been converted. He could take an active role in seeing people put to death without remorse due to the hold his emotions held over him in his blind allegiance to Judaism. Stephens death at the hands of a emotional religious mob also comes to mind (yes, we know Saul was there).

Later on Saul, now become the apostle Paul, would say of the Jews, they have a zeal for God (Rom. 10:2 NAS) in reference to the Jewish nation. He would go on to say, but not in accordance with knowledge. (Rom. 10:2 NAS)

We can learn from that passage if we will. We associate zeal with deep emotions. No one is zealous who does not have deep feelings. But, according to this passage which must rule " zeal or knowledge, the emotions or the mind, which needs to be given top priority?

The reader should not misunderstand what I am saying in this article. I am not saying emotions in religion are bad. They are good. Man is an emotional creature. God made us that way. He too has emotions. (Did you ever hear anything in the Bible about grieving the Spirit or God being sorry he made man?) The central theme of this article is not emotions bad, lack of emotion good, but only that emotions cannot be the ruling force in the life of one who would live a Christian life pleasing to God and be saved in the end.

In speaking to Judah through Isaiah the prophet in Isaiah 1:18 the Lord said, Come now, and let us reason together. (NKJV) That is what we ought to do and must do (use the head, not the emotions) if we are going to do Gods will and be saved in the last day.

There is always hope for man as long as there is a Bible provided the man will go to the Bible and let it talk to him versus the man talking to the Bible. Sometimes we just ought to shut up and listen, hear and heed, but you cannot do that with emotion based religion for it must speak and have its say.

Jeremiah, the prophet of old, said, O Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself; it is not in man who walks to direct his own steps. (Jer. 10:23 NKJV) That pretty much closes the door on any allowing of our emotions to rule our life as far the word of God is concerned. There is, however, something outside man that can direct his steps. What is that? The word of God. Let us all allow it to do its work. If we do so in the end we will reap an everlasting reward.

Visit Denny Smiths web site to read more of his articles and also listen to over 110 audio sermons on many different subjects from Where Are the Dead? to The Weavers Shuttle, to What Must I Do To Be Saved? The audio sermons are by a good friend of his, Waymon Swain. Why not visit his site now dennysmith.net? You are sure to find a sermon topic or article of interest.