Bible Studies

What About The Remaining 99 Percent Part Two

by Doug Laird 
06/09/20
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What About The Remaining 99%?

Part Two

The Great Commission (Matt. 28: 19, 20) that the Lord gave to the Church that He designed clearly identifies what it’s primary mission was/is to be.

The Great Commission calls for the Church to preserve and to present the unadulterated Gospel Message to UNBELIEVERS. The counterplan of Satan clear. He has, “…blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the Gospel (2Cor. 4: 3 NASB).”

By definition, the “unadulterated” Gospel Message announces the need (John 3: 5) and the means (John 3: 16, 18) to secure salvation (eternal life) and is void of any of the add-ons that are the products of men.

It’s worth noting that when the spiritual adultery is the issue, it is speaking of unfaithfulness of the part of the bride (The Church) in her relationship with her husband (the Lord Jesus Christ). Adulterated versions of the Gospel Message have the support of the devil. These “different” Gospel Messages are addressed in (Gal. 1: 8).

“But even if we, or an angel from heaven , should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed (Gal. 1: 8 NASB).”

Gal. 3: 1 identifies demonic activity in the promotion of false Gospels.

By definition, an unbeliever is anyone who makes a conscious decision NOT to believe in a presentation of the Gospel Message. Anyone who leave this world in the capacity of an unbeliever will spend all of eternity in what the Bible calls the lake of fire (Rev. 20: 15).

The Great Commission also calls for the Church to make disciples out of individuals AFTER they have been born again. Satan's counterplan is to promote alternatives to the type of post salvation spiritual life of discipleship. Many such alternatives often include activities that ARE good in of themselves and have the support of certain passages of Scripture (James 2: 15, 16/Matt. 25: 35-40).

The problem is that as good as such things may be, they do not save the souls of unbelievers, nor do they, in of themselves, spiritually edify the souls or regenerate the spirits (Titus 3: 5) of the humans involved. It is only when souls are saved and/ or edified in the midst of good deeds that things of eternal value are produced.

When good deeds are produced instead of spiritual activity, it promotes a win-win scenario for the devil. His world (Luke 4: 6) benefits from the good deeds while the spiritual work that God gave to the Church is neglected.

“For what does it profit a man (in eternity) to gain (fix) the whole world, and (but) forfeit(s) his soul (Mark 8: 36 NASB parentheses mine)?”

Granted, good behavior and good deeds SHOULD be a part of the POST salvation spiritual life. But keep in mind that the post salvation spiritual life does not even begin until AFTER one has ALREADY been born again. Good behavior and good deeds has never been the means to obtain or retain salvation.

The purpose of discipleship is initially for the spiritual edification of the individual born again believer, but with the long term objective of participating in the Great Commission.

The advancing disciple’s public testimony begins with the unspoken message of the way he/she applies the principles of Scripture to his/her own life. As (if) he/she spiritually matures, he/she will be prepared and will give an answer (1Pet. 3: 15) to those who observe And inquire about what should be the differences between his/her life and the lives of worldly-minded individuals all around him/her.

Discipleship is not limited to the less than 1% of the time the average Christian spends “in Church.” In fact, 99% of one's post (after) salvation spiritual life is spent when NOT “in Church. This is the main point of this presentation.
It’s easy to be a “religious” person by fulfilling a weekly obligation to “go to Church” for an hour or so once a week. The challenge is to continue to grow in the knowledg (2Pet. 3: 18) while you’re there, and in the application (James 1: 22) of the Word of God when you’re not!

The time spent “in Church” is only the tip of the iceberg when compared to the post salvation spiritual life in it’s totality.

If one attends (or otherwise connects with) a local assembly that is of the type that God designed, it is during that less than 1% scenario that one will be continually receiving what he/she needs in order to continue to advance in the post salvation spiritual life during the remaining 99%.

During this Pandemic, traditional (face to face) local assemblies have found ways to continue doing its assigned work (Matt. 28: 19, 20) without the need to physically gather together. Internet (e.g. batmq.net), radio, the and television pulpits have been doing this for decades.

One can be obedient to Heb. 10: 25 via modern day remote means of communication. We are creatures of habit, both good and bad. Our religious habits grow the deepest roots and are not easily changed.

One of the main reasons that many Christians “go to Church” or to otherwise “gather together” is to celebrate the Lord's Supper.

Participating in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, when it’s primary purpose is accomplished, not only honors the Lord Jesus Christ, but keeps the participant firmly anchored on what was accomplished on the cross. It is on that foundation (1Cor. 3: 12) that a Biblically-oriented soul structure (Matt. 7: 24-27) is built and retained.

It is when we choose not to participate in the celebration of the Lord Supper, or when those participating in the celebration fail to achieve its intended purpose, that the quality of one's post salvation spiritual life can suffer.
Without that anchor, one will inevitably drift.

For the first two centuries of the Church that God designed, there were no officiating priests, no cathedrals, or tangible altars needed or required for the celebration of The Lord’s Supper (Communion).

At the Feast of Pentecost (when and where the Church that God established began) there were thousand of converts who later returned to the homes in various lands. Their were obviously not enough Apostles available to go to all the local assemblies to lead in the celebration of the Lord's Supper, and their were no officiating priests for the first two centuries of Church History.

Of the positions authorized for the Church (Eph. 4: 11), not one (to the exclusion of all others) was given the role of sanctifying or dispensing the elements. In their positions of leadership, pastors customarily lead the congregation in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper, but this function can be performed by any born again believer.

The teaching of transubstantiation (literally changing the elements into the body and blood of Christ) is a false doctrine. If this doctrine were true, then the DNA of the Lord's humanity could be found in the “transubstantiated” elements. The bread symbolically represents His sinless humanity (body) that was sacrificed in our behalf. The wine symbolically represents His shed blood that sealed the New Covenant between God and Man (1Cor. 11: 23-25). Note that at the time the ritual was introduced, the sacrifice had not yet been made and His blood had not yet been shed.

There is no contradiction between John 6: 47 and John 6: 48-57. It is by “believing” that one “eats” of the bread that came down from Heaven.

Celebrating the Lord's Supper is a POST salvation activity. Anything that is post takes place AFTER on has already been saved.

The man on the cross on the side of the Lord NEVER received Communion, nor did he engage in many of the activities that religious authority would have us believe is necessary to enter Heaven. Never-the-less, he was assured of eternal of eternal life.

I have observed that the same religious authorities that promote the religious traditions men as necessary, are the same ones that downplay the need to be born again (John 3: 5, 7). Other than when John 3: 5, 7 might be read, the phrase “born again” is seldom heard or promoted in local assemblies that promote adulterated Gospel Messages as the means to either obtain or retain salvation.

Every Christian Church celebrates the Lord's Supper in one fashion or another. Some do so in ways that are more consistent with Scripture than others. Many Church-goers are more concerned with convenience, socialization, family tradition, and entertainment than they are with engaging in the type of worship that glorifies God and edified their souls.

When Scripture refers to the Church in any given city of the ancient world, it was not speaking of one building or of one congregation. Epistles sent to the “Church” in any given geographic area consisted of all local assemblies that met in such places as private homes, public markets, buildings, and open-air meeting places.

The church that God designed was established at the Feast of Pentecost a few weeks after the Lord’s Ascension did not have day to day contact with the Apostles. Many of the Apostles stayed in Jerusalem. Some came back and forth on missionary expeditions. Many Epistles would later become the “books” of the New Testament were initially letters written by different Apostles to the various individuals and local assemblies scattered throughout the ancient world to address ongoing spiritual issues. Many of these same issues plague the Christian Community of our day, but God's solutions remain the same.

The question arises then, if priests, tangible altars, holy buildings, and transubstantiated elements are required to celebrate the Lord's Supper, how did the earliest believers for the first 200 years of Church history do so when such things did not yet exist.

The answer is quite simple. In the roles of leadership, clergy (when available) customarily lead the congregation in the celebration of the Lord's Supper (Communion), but this can be accomplished by ANY born again, Spirit-filled and enabled Church Age believer.

There was no transubstantiation of the elements when the Jesus introduced the ritual in the Upper Room of the private residence. There were no altars. Jesus took the bread, He gave thanks to God the Father for it, broke it, stated what the bread symbolically represented, and dispensed it to His disciples. He did the same with the wine. He declared to them (and us) for what purpose the ritual was to be repeated throughout the course of the Church Age (1Cor. 11:24-26).

To sanctify simply means to set something apart for a divine purpose. This can be done by communicating with God in prayer, with or without a clergyman leading the procedure. Much of what has become the pageantry surrounding this ritual is the products, practices, and traditions of men.

All of what Scripture requires to celebrate the Lord’s Super be done by any born again, Spirit-filled, believer.
As in ANY other legitimate form of worship, it can take place at any time and in any place. Don’t worry, Jesus is there (Matt. 18 20).

We can however, fall short of what the ritual was intended to accomplish if we are more focused on the tangible elements and the procedure, rather than on what the two elements symbolically represent. Natural man is often focused on what is tangible while being oblivious to what is taking place in the spiritual realm all around him.
Religion and religious people detest being challenged. Advancing disciplsee the need and welcome the opportunity to reinforce their beliefs or to make changes for the better.

For the first two centuries of its history, the Church that God designed got by just fine without any officiating priests, holy buildings, and tangible altars. In fact, it was when such things were brought in or back into the dispensation of the Church Age to facilitate the ever-evolving religious traditions of men that the seeds for many false teachings and practices were planted.
In God's timing, Paul who had been one of the outstanding persecutors of the early Church, became God's primary chosen spokesman (Acts 9: 15) to bring the Gospel Message to the Gentile (non-Jewish) peoples, as well.

Paul made it a practice (Acts 17: 2) to first introduce the Gospel Message in the Jewish synagogues wherever God sent Him, but he also spoke in public areas to diverse crowds, as well. The end result was that many local assemblies, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles were established in different continents.

Following the divine procedure outlined in Scripture, Biblically qualified pastor teachers from WITHIN each local assembly were ordained.

The early persecution, that was generated by both secular and religious authorities to eliminate the Church, actually contributed to it’s expansion in the ancient world. Collaboration between secular and religious authority has done extensive damage to Christian Community throughput the Church Age.

Diverse and expanded groups of born again believers gathered together (Heb. 10:25) in many different geographical areas and in many different types of structures and settings.

This became increasingly true as the Church that God designed began to spread in compliance with it’s marching orders recorded in the Great Commission (Matt. 28: 19, 20).

Among them were the “Upper Room in a private residence in Jerusalem, private homes, private buildings, market places, open-air spaces, and secret hiding places during times of persecution.

Church Age believers are commanded to gather together (Heb. 10: 25), but nowhere in Scripture are born again believers of the Church Age directed authorized to build “a” house or houses of worship, as were the believers during the Old Testament dispensation.

There is nothing wrong with building such structures as long as they are seen for what they are (a building) here in the Church Age. When Man places a higher importance on a person, place, or thing than what God intends, the door swings wide open to a host of false doctrines and evil practices that inevitably follow.

At no time has Church Age believers ever been directed to erect tangible altars in order to worship God, or to bring graven images, or apparatus to facilitate the traditions of men into the houses of worship of the Church Age.

According to 1Cor. 3: 16, all that a born again believer needs to do in order to find the nearest “temple of God” is to look in the mirror!

In addition to celebrating the Lord’s Supper for its intended purpose, the making of disciples (students and appliers of the Word of God) out of those who have already been born again was and remains to be the assigned work that the Church was given to do when gathered together. Many of the denominations and independent local assemblies that are the products of Man have alternative agendas.

Discipleship is a 7 day a week, 24 hours a day lifestyle; not something to be turned on Sunday morning and placed on hold for the rest of the week. The post (after) salvation spiritual life of discipleship consists of 168 hours a week. No one is given any more or any less time (per week) than anyone else.

Our earthly responsibilities and activities are no excuse for the lack of production of divine good, symbolized as silver, gold, and precious stones in 1Cor. 3: 14. Our earthly responsibilities and activities are no excuse for not participating in the Great Commission (Matt. 28: 19, 20).

It is when we ARE engaged in all that goes on when we are NOT in Church that 99% of our post salvation spiritual life is in view. The life of discipleship is in view regardless of where we are or what we are otherwise doing.

Yes, even when sleeping, our minds process much of the information, good or bad, that we have more recently taken into our soul structure and have allowed to become a part of our thought processes (Psalms 23:7). The “good” primarily consists of accurate Bible Doctrine. The “bad” consists of gossip and human viewpoint.

Man-made religion is a part of human viewpoint. The devil always includes enough truth in his lies to make them acceptable. Like any successful counterfeiting operation, the reception must have the appearance of legitimacy.
One can not swim in the devil’s pool and not get wet. In scenarios in whichwwhich do have a choice, we are accountable for the application of the good and the removal bad.

If Jesus were to knocking at our door, would we have to change th channel or put anything out of sight before letting Him in? The truth is that He already know before He knocked.

When we have control, we are responsible for the evil (e.g. ungodly entertainment) that we allow to become a part of our thought processes. In scenarios that we do not have control (e.g. what evil other people around us expose us to), we are responsible for what we do with it. We can hold onto the evil, or we can delete it.

The thoughts that we entertain are what determines ALL that we do say. So says Provers 23: 7.

In closing, keep in mind that even if you do gather together for an hour or so once a week to worship in a local assembly of the type that God designed, there is still another 99% of the 168 hours each week spent outside “of Church” for which we will all give an account of to God (Romans 14: 12).