The Dividing of the Church
Our Israel nations are filled with phony Christians. They are people that claim to be Christians but do not have the Holy Spirit. “But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.” Romans 8: 9-10. At this time the true Christians and the phony Christians are together in fellowship, but I believe the time is fast approaching when the true Christians shall be separated and taken to be with the Lord in the Holy City and the phony Christians will be left out in despair.
A few years ago, a friend of mine was quite excited about what happened at a Christian rock-n-roll concert. He told me over two hundred young people had made first time commitments to the Lord. He then said that of course many of them will not stay faithful to the Lord and will fall into sin later, but for now they are following the Lord. This concept of a “first time commitment” to the Lord is something I do not understand. My view of salvation is that the Lord puts his Spirit in us and we become different people. We have a desire to follow and obey him. However, I have found that many Christians believe in a first commitment followed by falling away from the Lord, followed by a second commitment, sometimes followed by another falling away, followed by a third commitment and so on. One man told me he had been saved three times. After talking to him for a few minutes I concluded that his religion was a religion of confusion and I doubted whether he had ever received salvation, but God is the judge.
How many of those people making “first time commitments” to the Lord have received the Holy Spirit? The nation of Israel made a “first time commitment” to the Lord at Mount Sinai. “And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord.” Exodus 19:8. Then they fell away from the Lord. They made a “second time commitment” to the Lord in the time of Joshua. “And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey.” Joshua 24:24. Then they fell away from the Lord again and made a “third time commitment” and later a “fourth time commitment” and so on in the period of the Judges. “And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the Lord: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.” Judges 10: 16. Throughout the history of Israel the people never remained faithful to the Lord for very long, except the faithful remnant. I believe it was only the faithful remnant in each generation that had the Holy Spirit. He came to them when they needed him. The faithful remnant was always preserved. I believe it is the same today in our Israel lands.
Many people in our modern Israel lands call themselves Christians and many of them have made “first time commitments” to the Lord, being caught up in an emotional response in a revival meeting or a Christian rock-n-roll concert, but the questions concerning them should be: Have they received the Holy Spirit? Are they part of the faithful remnant? Jesus said to his disciples, “If ye love me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.” John 14:15-18.
How do we know which Christians have received the Holy Spirit and which ones are phony Christians? We cannot know. It is not our business to judge any man. The Lord warned us about judging people. (Luke 6:37). God alone is the judge. We must assume that all people that worship with us are true Christians until the day the Lord returns, and the dividing of the Church occurs.
