STAND & COMFORT Newsletter
Email NEWSLETTER #26 (Vol 2 No 11)
By Ed Tarkowski

Gen 49:10  The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

The Church: Built On The ROCK

On an internet forum I was visiting, one string of messages concerned the timing of when Jesus began to build His church. One of the verses that kept coming up in the discussion was this:

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

The verses immediately before this read:

15  He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?
16  And Simon Peter answered and said, Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.

It had been revealed to Peter's spirit that Jesus was the Christ, and that He Himself was the Rock on which He would build His Church. This Rock would be the very Cornerstone on which the Church would be built, while those who rejected Him would find themselves outside of His Church.

Peter and Paul confirmed the words that Isaiah had prophesied:

Isa 8:13  Sanctify the LORD of hosts himself; and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.
14  And he shall be for A SANCTUARY; but for a stone of stumbling and for a rock of offence to both the houses of Israel, for a gin and for a snare to the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
15  And many among them shall stumble, and fall, and be broken, and be snared, and be taken.
16  Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples.

1 Pet 2:7  Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner,
8  And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

Rom 9:33  As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.

The ROCK In The Old Testament

In Romans, Paul confirmed that Isaiah's prophecy concerned the time when Jesus would come to Israel as the Rock whom they would either accept or reject. Each individual's response to Jesus would determine whether or not that person would be built into the Church. But what of those of Israel who lived before Christ came? The Old Testament Scriptures associate them with the Rock as well, but in a shadowed sense, because they didn't see Him clearly:

1. God established them, being their Rock (Deut. 34:2-6)
   
2. God took care of them with Rock-solid mercy and faithfulness (Deut. 32:7-14)
   
3. Some forgot the Rock that formed them (Deut. 32:15-19)

Thus Paul was able to write:

1 Corinthians 10:4  And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.
5  But with many of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

Hell Did Not Prevail Against Those In Paradise

Through the shadows of the Old Testament figures of Christ and His work, Israel drank of the Rock, which was Christ, the Rock that followed them in their journeys. For 2000 years, Israelites died, and by God's judgement each either rested in Paradise or was confined on the other side of the gulf in hell (Luke 16:23-27). Scripture speaks of these in Paradise as being gathered:

Gen 25:8  Then Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full of years; and was gathered to his people.

Deu 32:48  And the LORD spake unto Moses that selfsame day, saying,
49  Get thee up into this mountain Abarim, unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab, that is over against Jericho; and behold the land of Canaan, which I give unto the children of Israel for a possession:
50  And die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people; as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered unto his people:

Verse 50 shows that being "gathered unto thy people" means more than just being placed in the grave with other Israelites because Moses body was buried alone on Mt. Nebo.

The Old Testament Saints Placed Into The Church When Jesus Descended

In Paradise, there was a gathering of people who had drunk of the spiritual Rock, which was Christ, and who belonged to God. They were gathered there for a purpose, as a builder gathers stones to build a building. They were gathered to be built into something. They were "the spirits of just men [to be] made perfect" (Heb 12:23), members of the Church which would be taken to heavenly Jerusalem by Christ shortly after His death and resurrection, but before Pentecost:

Eph 4:8  Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
9  (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
10  He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

Heb 12:22  But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
23  To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
24  And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

"The spirits of just men" rested in their confinement in the bosom of Abraham until Christ came for them. With Christ's death and resurrection, the Cornerstone had now been laid; this was the first step in building His Church. In the Old Testament, we read of the earthly cornerstone of the temple being laid, but now a spiritual one had been laid on which all -Jewish and Gentile believers - would be built. The Church would consist of those who had died and were in heaven and also those on earth who have not died and have placed their faith in Him.

The point is, Jesus didn't begin building His Church at Pentecost. He began building it at the time He descended into the lower parts of the earth to set the captives free. Those saved at Pentecost were added to those who were part of the Church on earth:

Acts 2:47  Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.

Living And Dead Saints Make Up The Church

They were also added to those of the Church (the Old Testament "just men") who Christ had already set free and taken to heaven. Just as the gates of hell would not prevail against the church on earth, neither did they prevail against those whom Jesus set free when He descended into the lower parts of the earth to lead them out. Those to whom Christ descended literally saw Him and followed Him out, and THE GATES OF HELL DID NOT PREVAIL AGAINST THAT EXODUS. The foundation had been laid. The blood had been shed. The Perfect One had come. He would ascend to the Father as perfect Man through His own shed blood. A Man would finally enter the presence of God, taking captivity captive, and all of mankind would be invited to be added to His Church:

Heb 12:2  Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

When Jesus descended and set the captives free, He began building His Church. And by the time He implemented the earthly portion of His agenda at Pentecost, He'd already proven that the gates, or powers, of hell were powerless to stop it.

Satan's Attempts To Prevail Over The Church Continue

While Jesus goes on building His Church on a daily basis, Satan continues his attempts to stop it, trying to produce a full-fledged apostasy. We find a like situation in the writings of the early Church. The following quote is taken from the "First Catechetical Lecture Of Our Holy Father Cyril, Archbishop Of Jerusalem, Lecture XV., On The Clause, And Shall Come In Glory To Judge The Quick And The Dead; Of Whose Kingdom There Shall Be No End, c. 384 AD":

"Thus wrote Paul, and now is the falling away. For men have fallen away from the right faith; and some preach the identity of the Son with the Father, and others dare to say that Christ was brought into being out of nothing. And formerly the heretics were manifest; but now the Church is filled with heretics in disguise. For men have fallen away from the truth, and have itching ears. Is it a plausible discourse? all listen to it gladly. Is it a word of correction? all turn away from it. Most have departed from right words, and rather choose the evil, than desire the good. This therefore is the falling away, and the enemy is soon to be looked for: and meanwhile he has in part begun to send forth his own forerunners, that he may then come prepared upon the prey. Look therefore to thyself, O man, and make safe thy soul. The Church now charges thee before the Living God; she declares to thee the things concerning Antichrist before they arrive. Whether they will happen in thy time we know not, or whether they will happen after thee we know not; but it is well that, knowing these things, thou shouldest make thyself secure beforehand."

In Cyril's time, those who fell away from the faith tried to change the truth about who God is and who Christ is. These are things which Satan still attempts to do, and we now find ourselves in a time of great apostasy. In spite of many falling away, Jesus' words hold true: the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church. In spite of this pronouncement by Jesus, the adversary still tries to change God's word and distort who Christ is. It is necessary to his agenda:

2 Th 2:1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
5 Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
6 And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.

NOW You Know

It seems to me that if Paul said "NOW ye know" (v. 6), what they knew had to be related to them in the first five verses. One thing Paul mentioned before verse 6 was an "apostasy," apostasy meaning:

APOSTASY 646. apostasia, ap-os-tas-ee'-ah; fem. of the same as G647; defection from truth (prop. the state) ["apostasy"]:--falling away, forsake.

Apostasy is defection from the truth about the true God, and the great endtime defection will be brought about by evil forces opposing "all that is called God, or that is worshipped" (v. 4). Though Paul's concern is apostasy from the Chritian faith, I believe the word "all" makes this verse mean that not only will the evil forces attack the truth of who the true God is, but will tear down the gods of all the false religions as well. Why? Because the way must be cleared by Antichrist spirits for Antichrist alone to be worshipped as God.

There are indications that this is already happening. The Maitreya doctrines, for example, teach that he is made to be the god of all religions. And in "The Secret Doctrine," New Ager Helena Blavatsky presents this same idea concerning religions in the modern world, saying we are now in the time of the fulfillment of what she calls "the Secret Doctrine":

"But it is perhaps desirable to state unequivocally that the teachings, however fragmentary and incomplete, contained in these volumes, belong neither to the Hindu, the Zoroastrian, the Chaldean, nor the Egyptian religion, neither to Buddhism, Islam, Judaism nor Christianity exclusively. The Secret Doctrine is the essence of all these. Sprung from it in their origins, the various religious schemes are now made to merge back into their original element, out of which every mystery and dogma has grown, developed, and become materialised." (THE SECRET DOCTRINE: THE SYNTHESIS OF SCIENCE, RELIGION, AND PHILOSOPHY by H. P. BLAVATSKY, Volume 1, Preface, pp. 7).

There is a strong sense in the world today that the "Christ" of each of the non-Christian religions is basically the same "Christ," having manifested in the past under different names (Buddha, etc), The belief is that each religion has one piece of the entire puzzle and that when put together, the puzzle will bring forth one "Christ" who will be accepted by all. The Antichrist spirits are finding it easy to turn the heads of the non-Christian religions toward anticipation of the same Christ without forsaking their "truths." Apostasy is not a concern here, because these religions don't have the truth to begin with. If anything, they are not falling away from the truth, but from their own falsehoods.

Having said all of that, we are left with Christianity and THE truth. Apostasy is a major concern in Christianity because it has the truth that cannot be compromised nor easily formed to point to a new age Christ. It takes deceptions in the form of "new" revelations and false "signs and wonders" to accomplish apostasy in Christianity. In the endtimes, these deceptions will result in false prophets and heretics causing a defection from the truth about the true God as PREPARATION FOR a great following for the Antichrist. Therefore, Paul told the Thessalonians,

"3 Let no man deceive you by any means."

All "Gods" Must Go

Look at the two things in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 that the Antichrist and his forces OPPOSE AND EXALT HIM (the Antichrist) OVER:

4 . . . all that is called God, or that is worshipped

Now look AT WHAT HE WANTS:

to be called God and worshipped as God:

Revelation 13:4 And they WORSHIPPED the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? . . .
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall WORSHIP HIM, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.

2 Th 2:3 . . . the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above ALL that is CALLED God, or that is WORSHIPPED; SO THAT HE AS GOD sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

For this to happen, God and all "other" gods must be gotten rid of or bent out of shape so they all appear to be the same "Christ." The truth of Christianity restrains the Antichrist from coming forth, because it tells us he is not God and is not to be worshipped. But even now, the mystery of lawlessness works against that truth, as the Antichrist spirits in the world work to pave the way for the coming Antichrist:

1 John 2:18 Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that Antichrist shall come, even now are there many Antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us. 20 But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

The goal of iniquity's working is to bring forth a hidden thing; it works to a particular end. The working of the mystery of lawlessness is to minimize as much as possible all that is called God and worshipped as God BECAUSE THOSE "GODS" AND KNOWLEDGE OF THE TRUE GOD RESTRAIN THE ANTICHRIST FROM HAVING ALL WORSHIP FOR HIMSELF, AND THEREFORE RESTRAIN THE TIME HE IS TO BE REVEALED. The one thing that hinders, restrains, or detains the revelation of Antichrist, when he will sit in the temple and declare himself to be God, is this:

4 . . . all that is called God, or that is worshipped

So the mystery of lawlessness is working in two ways in order to usurp ALL that is called God or that is worshipped as God:

1. It is "merging the various religious schemes [of the false religions] back into their original element" so that the Antichrist might be revealed in his time.

2. It is warring against Christianity which holds the truth about the true God.

The truth about God is HOLDING DOWN OR HOLDING BACK the mystery of lawlessness.  The other religions will all enter the fold which accepts one man as "the Christ," which will leave Christianity standing on its own. But Jesus said the gates of hell will not prevail against the Church even if most of it enters apostasy, because the Church is more than just those of us living today. Those gathered to the Lord over 6,000 years make up the Church. There will be members on earth all the way to the end of Daniel's 70th week, no matter what the devil throws at it.

"All that is called God, or that is worshipped" is what the Thessalonians "now knew" restrained the Antichrist. Therefore, anything falsely called God or worshipped, as well as worship of the True God, is hindering the revealing of Antichrist as "God."

The Church Will Prevail Because Jesus Said So

The truth carried by the Church is what informs men about our God and the worship due Him alone. We know that the Church standing in truth and holding fast to the truth holds back the snowballing of apostasy which will lead to the revealing of the Antichrist. We also know that the Church is under attack through "new" revelations and "gospels" that propose, for example, the establishing of the Kingdom before Christ returns so He can come and just sit down to rule. There are many such examples which I can't take the time to go into now. But we know that each year over the past 30 years, the apostasy has gained strength, though it still has a way to go. One thing seems sure: the numbers in the Church who stand fast in the truth will become less and less while the apostasy grows in strength, but the Church will prevail. At the same time, Satan will pursue his purpose - to water down the truth so people cannot tell the true Christ from the false one, thus usurping Christ to the point that the Antichrist says he is God and the world follows and worships him (Rev. 13:7-8).

Jesus said He WILL build His Church, and He started doing so with the release from Paradise of the spirits of "just men made perfect" who ascended with Him to the Father. The gates of hell did not prevail against him or those lead out. In fact, all of hell was helpless to do anything to stop Him. He then sent the Holy Spirit to the Church members on earth, and the gates of hell will not prevail against it either. In one glorious future coming, Christ will gather all of those in heaven and on earth and all will meet Him in the clouds. At that time, the full body of Christ, the full Church, will be made manifest with Him. His Church will have been built and glorified. At that time, at Armageddon, the gates of hell will suffer another thorough defeat. And finally, at the end of the millennium, the gates of hell will come against the Church one last time and forever be defeated, never to rise against it again.

Knowing what lies ahead, Jesus left us with precious promises and realities to get through all of these things and to get to that point. He said,

John 16:33  These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

Matt 28:20 . . . lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

John 14:16  And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
17  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.

Mat 16:18  And I say also unto thee, . . . I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

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This newsletter will be sent out whenever I think there is something the body of Christ needs to consider, to build it up, to give it encouragement or comfort in hard times.