You will notice that I have repeatedly emphasized the words, denomination and organization. I have not said much about the church. In times of relative peace from intense persecution, Gods church has organization. In times of great persecution, each faithful soul and the few around him must stand alone or in little companies, without any organizational support or guidance whatsoever. Then there are those times of apostasy, when faithful souls dare not lean on their church organization for encouragement or guidance. Gods church has organization, but the organization is not the church. What then is the church? The true church is composed of faithful souls. In the Spirit of Prophecy, we are told it is commandment-keeping people who compose Gods true church. However, we are also told that there will be tares in the church. In regard to church organization, many people tend to swing to one or the other of two extremes. They either fear it, or idolize it. Some want to have nothing to do with organization, while others want it to do their work for them and save their souls. They hope that the work it does in their stead will help get them to heaven. But the truth is that neither the organization nor the church is the issue. The basic issue throughout the ages, and in the Final Crisis, is your and my personal relationship to Jesus Christ, and our obedience to His Inspired Writings. Organizational relationship is only on the periphery of the matter.
Posted on: Tue, 15 Apr 2014 02:32:09 +0000
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