The Invisible Church Blog

This PRIVILEGE, though beautiful when it exists has not always existed.

Throughout history, the privilege of assembly of saints has been both granted and withdrawn from the Lord’s people, by the Lord Himself. This privilege has been both exercised and denied in places like Russian prison camps etc. Even the Russians learned that when the privilege of assembly was withdrawn, the Lord’s people grew stronger.

Many today treat this privilege of assembly as though it were the 11^th commandment, and thereby give evidence that their life is in the church, not in Christ Himself. They treat it as though the attending of church fulfills a commandment of the law, and thereby attain some level of personal righteousness by it. Make no mistake people, just as it is a privilege and not a command, to fellowship with God through prayer; so to assemble with saints is a PRIVILEGE and not a COMMAND. What you need to be prepared for as we near the return of Christ is the withdrawal of this privilege, and all the more as we see it being withdrawn today. Those who make the privilege of assembly into a command, are merely doing their duty to turn the sheep back in toward the wolves. The wolves are in the pen!

When assembling is looked upon not as a privilege but as a command, you can know that the time is near for the coming of Christ. For having failed in the preventing of worship, Satan turns again to the commanding of worship as he did in the time of Nebuchadnezzar (Dan 3:4-6). At such time in the future, it will cost you your head NOT to assemble for worship (Rev 13:15). It will no longer be a privilege to assemble with brothers in Christ, but rather it will be a command to assemble for the worship of the beast. His horns will trimmed such that you cannot see them, his ugliness will be masked with beauty, he will be turned to a real fellowship kind of guy for just the purpose of receiving worship. This assembly will take place in churches, cathedrals, mosques; it will be facilitated by pastors, priests, imams; and will be all alike for the worship of the beast.

These things must be well set up before the removal of the saints through rapture, so that those who remain in the church will be easily beguiled into following their instructions. The table is set….

Luke 21:28 And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.

An interesting thing happened to me recently. There was a day when this verse was impressed upon me very strongly, and I couldn’t stop thinking about it. “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Rom 12:21. And then it happened, I was overcome of evil, I said something I shouldn’t have said. How was this to happen when I was so ‘prepared’ beforehand?

The Lord often lets us fall, and that for many a reason. Sometimes it is to humble us, other times it is to remind us that all power to resist sin comes from Him, still other times it is that He can make His power and glory known. Whatever the reason behind this one was, it didn’t end in the first half of the verse. I was overcome of evil, but now what? I was left to overcome evil with good. Aside from, but part of, making peace with God in the matter, I must do what I could to undo what I had said. I must expose it for the evil it was and soundly renounce it to all parties involved. Pride would be overcome with humility, and in that way the evil could be overcome with good. To justify the speaking would have added to the evil, but to condemn the evil specifically when it is mine, overcomes the evil for good.

It is one thing to let the evil into the nest, it is another thing to let it get comfortable there, because it tends to invite friends. When an evil comes in to your nest, and it will come in, expose it and thrust it out with all power given to you under heaven.

Again I condemn the evil, both thought and spoken.

“Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” Rom 12:21

The Bible speaks of two modes of justification. The first is how we may be justified before God, which is solely by faith. God sees and knows EVERYTHING about us including our faith. He knows whether we trust Him or not, He knows whether we are His children or not, because He can see whether we trust that the blood of Christ has truly cleansed us from all iniquity, or whether we do not. It is this which justifies us before God and it is this justification before God which is spoken of In Romans 3:28 “…a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law”, which simply means we are at peace with God, having our sins blotted out by faith in Christ.

The second mode of justification is that in which God is justified before men. Once saved, a Christian generally doesn’t leave this world, God has them stick around for a while, so by the things they do they can justify God to other men. Faith in Christ is to be accompanied by a change in men which is used of God to make Himself and His power known to other men. It is to cause men to inquire, “You were that, but now you are this, whence cometh this power to change?” To which the answer is, “To God be the glory, I have been washed by the blood of His Son.” This change is to produce the works referred to in James 2:28 “…I will shew thee my faith by my works”., for which one man shows another man of what substance his faith is, thereby justifying or making God real to his fellow man. God needs not see these things for a man to be justified before Him, however for the Christian to make God real to mankind, other men must see evidence of the work of God done in the hearts of those who profess Him.

There are masquerading fools in each case, some hanging fruit on a dead tree to give the appearance of life, and others who care not about life at all. The only one fooled in each case is the fool himself.

Christian, you are justified solely by faith apart from any work on your behalf, and you justify God before men by what you do with that faith.

Rom 3:28 “Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.”

James 2:18….I will shew thee my faith by my works.