Shalom Aleichem to you who’s reading this, we welcome you again to today’s sermon review. We thank the Lord who has called us out of denomination into his truth. Although, many of us go about to say that we are not a denomination, we do not know what it is to be a denomination. It pleased the Lord through his servant, to explain extensively “What makes a church to become a denomination”.
TEXT: REVELATIONS 17:1-3,15, ISAIAH 55:7-9, JOHN 14:6, ROMANS 1:21, 2 THESSALONIANS 2:9-11, 1 TIMOTHY 2:11-12, 1 CORINTHIANS 14:33, EPHESIANS 4:10, ROMANS 10:13-18, HEBREWS 5:4, 1 TIMOTHY 1:2-3, TITUS 1:5, HEBREWS 10:20-21, HEBREWS 8:1-2, REVELATIONS 2:1, GENESIS 10:6, GENESIS 11:1, REVELATION 1:11, JEREMIAH 51:7
Many times, we judge wrongly by confusing good for right; as long as we see good results, we conclude that it is acceptable in the sight of God. Churches think that because they are expanding, they are in the will of God. But God has his perfect will in everything he does. The thoughts of God are not our thoughts and neither his ways, our ways (Isaiah 55:7). The thoughts of God are right and his ways, Perfect. In John 14:6, Jesus said ‘I am the way, the truth…”, therefore it must mean that there are misleading paths and lies. What we do in our own way may yield results, many times, faster results. When Sarah proceeded to doing things her own way, she got result (Ishmael was not born deformed, neither was he born premature, he was a bouncing baby boy, but he was a devil). There is a perfect will of God and there is a permissive will of God. The permissive will of God cannot produce the righteousness of God (Read the story of Balaam).
If you want to know the will of God then search it in the word of God, God is not the author of confusion. The foundation of the gospel was set by the apostles and that is the standard for every believer. Anything outside that, is a denomination. You might be able to perform miracles, speak in tongues, etc. but that is not a true indication of the church, God gives his gift even to the rebellious. God can give his gifts to the stubborn and foolish in order to make them more foolish (2 Thessalonians 2:10-11). Speaking in tongues does not save you, Jesus is the only way and Jesus is the Word of God. Calling upon the name, “Jesus” will not do you any good if you do not obey the Word of God (Matthew 7:21).
When the people of Israel were thirsty in the wilderness, God told Moses to take his rod and witnesses to behold the goodness of God, God ordered Moses to smite the rock once and he did it according to the will of God. As they continued, they got to a point where they needed water again and they murmured and complained. The same God told Moses to call elders to be a witness and speak to the rock, but because of the attitude of the church, Moses took his rod and smote the rock twice, out of anger. We see that despite Moses disobedience to the Word of God, the rock still brought forth water. Yes, you can disobey God and still see result but the truth is, God is not always concerned about the result but the process; Moses had result but he did not do it in the way of God and he paid dearly for that.
In other words, God has his reasons for telling you to do some things in a certain way even though another way will lead you to a good result; God has a thought when he establishes a church. To be a church is not simply to call upon the name, “Jesus”, every denomination does so. The fact that God hears your prayer does not mean you are saved, he can hear your prayers and not take you to heaven; God hears the prayers of everyone. A woman pastor can lay hands upon you when you are sick and you receive your healing, that doesn’t change the Word of God that a woman is not allowed to teach (1 Timothy 2:11). God is not the author of confusion, he will not say one thing in his Word and say another by any means. Salvation comes by the blood and that is the only standard; God will not save some by blood and save others by water, all must be saved by his blood. God is not doubled standard!
In summary, there may be miracles, signs and wonders but the only vindication of a true church is the Word of God.
What Makes a Church a Denomination?
Denominations are human organisations that are intellectually and carnally administered and organised and God is not the author of it.
There are two primary things that make a church a denomination and these are:
- Anti-Bible Doctrine
- Man-made Organisation
The Word of God is what makes his church. If you claim to be a church and you do contrary to the Word of God, believe in three gods or make a woman preacher, then you are simply a denomination. It’s not your dressing that depicts holiness, holiness is believing and living the life of the Word of God; you cannot disbelieve the Word of God and say you are holy.
Denominations start when a church begins to have headquarters and branches, in which these branches must report every of their activities and financial account to the headquarters. There is a general overseer who is the head of the overall churches, every other branch must believe and preach what he believes ( and the day you teach contrary, you will be sacked); the general overseer has the final say. Also, denominations are governed by a set of rules and policies laid down by the general overseer. For instance, it is not found anywhere in the Bible that you must walk barefooted or wear white garment in the house of God but we see churches that are guided by these doctrines and profess that it was revealed to their general overseers by God [any dream or vision contrary to the Word of God is not of God].
Likewise, there is no place in the Bible where it is stated that you must pray with rosary or in the name of Mary, but this doctrine was laid down by the pope of the Roman Catholic; they have made the pope, overseer and not Jesus Christ. If you are a Roman Catholic, you cannot do otherwise (you have to believe what your leader believes).
The Church of God has been monetised. Many see it as a business organisation. Workers are employed as pastors and are paid salaries based on their academic achievement. If this is the case, then Apostle Peter is not qualified. But we see that when Jesus was to give the keys of the kingdom, he didn’t give it to Nicodemus or Gamaliel but to the illiterate Peter.
Again, each of these denominations have their Bible school where intending pastors have to undergo trainings according to the belief of the general overseer such that if you are trained in ‘Redeem Bible School’, you cannot Pastor in ‘Deeper life’ because they do not have the same doctrine. They can also be posted to various branches to minister. We cannot find any example of such in the Word of God. Every assembly in the body of Jesus Christ is autonomous.
So, even when a church is preaching the true Word of God but is still an organised religion it is a denomination and God is not in support.
The True Church of God
The true church of God is not an organisation but an organism in the same way that a human being is an organism; we have various parts of the body for various functions, organised by God himself (Ephesians 4:10-12). In the church of Jesus Christ, Jesus Christ is the general overseer because the church is one body, Christ being the head. He is the one that appoints his ministers and tells them where to go (they can minister in another church but God does not transfer them). Aaron was sent of God (Hebrews 5:4), it was not even Moses that called Aaron. Even Jesus did not make himself the high priest, God appointed him. You have to be called by God himself before you become a minister, but these days, it is joblessness that is calling many. The true church of Jesus Christ has no earthly headquarter but our headquarter is in heaven and our general overseer, the Holy Spirit. The true servants of God do not receive any prescheduled sermon from any earthly general overseer, they cannot have a scheme of what is to be preached but they are directed by the Holy Spirit according to the need of each local assembly.
At the same time, let’s not get it wrong. God is a God of orderliness and there is an order in the church of God, there is a pastor and there are elders, deacons, etc. and they all have their respective responsibilities. In this case, the general overseer is the pastor (he is the general overseer of his own local assembly) because God puts him in charge, he is responsible for the smooth running of the Church and will give account for everything that goes on in the Church, unto God.
Also, a pastor can pastor 2 churches if there is no one at the moment to take responsibility of the newly set up church until they can take care of themselves.
Brotherhood should abound and a local assembly should help when another is in need. It is true that every servant of God is called of God but seniority is still very applicable (you don’t expect someone who has been in the ministry for 15 years to be the same as another that has just started). In that case, an experienced servant of God can help a sister church when there is an issue that is beyond the capacity of the servant of God there. It doesn’t make him your general overseer. As earlier stated, the Body of Jesus Christ is one body but not one local assembly and every assembly in the body of Jesus Christ is autonomous.
The Origin of Denomination
To get the full understanding of this act of denomination, we have to dig deep into the beginning, answering the question – who started the act of organising people into worship? Genesis 10:1, gives a full background of its origin, Nimrod was the first to organise the act of worship, the bible talks about his kingdom which first started in Babel which represents his headquarter, and the true meaning of Babel is confusion, he operated using sorcery and all kind of works that defile the name of the lord. It was a kingdom with many system that were against God. A clearer picture is seen in Genesis 11: 1 – 8, where Nimrod gathered the people to promote an agenda of building a tower that will reach the heavens and make name for themselves, the same spirit is what we see today in our present G.Os and churches today, they are up there to make names for themselves instead of raising the name of Jesus Christ up, they are not different from their father, Nimrod who was the master mind of the “act of denominationalism”. God was against Nimrod’s motive and that is why it brought upon the earth destruction. He had to scatter them by giving them different languages. Brethren, the same holds in the denomination churches you see today making names for themselves; and that’s why it is necessary that a man who cherishes his soul to come out of denomination.
One of the things this act of organising worship does to the church is that it drives God away, and that’s why if you check the gatherings of an organised church, you’ll see that operation of the gift of God is restricted in their gatherings and they are far from hearing from God.
Roman Catholic a Pioneer of Denominationalism
Revelation 17:1 prophetically describes Roman Catholic Church and the destruction assigned to it, how its system of organising true worship crept into the church to kill the church spiritually. The bible describes her as (“A Woman”; which represents a church), to be a great whore that sited on many waters, which means that she has control over many waters. Water in this context means people, multitude, nations and tongues (Revelation 17:15). These are the people she has perverted with her abominable acts,creeds and doctrines. Brethren, you should not be carried away by the physical activities of the Roman Catholic Church (the great whore). She brought into churches perversions, she has fornicated with them and introduced into their midst abominations, and that is why today, we have wrong doctrines flying around all denominational churches. These abominations include; encouraging women to preach to mixed congregation, promoting trinity, adopting wrong baptism in the name of God the father, son and Holy Ghost.
Brethren, an end is coming to denominationalism, you cannot sit under that system and claim to be saved. In the sight of God, those in that system are spiritually naked, but there is provision for clothing if you are ready to open the door of your heart for him to enter.
God bless you, richly.