Bible Study at Surabaya - Monday, April 09, 2007

Jude 1:4 starts to show the separation of true church from the false one.

There are four kinds of false church as follows:

1. Jude 1: 4 unshepherded church
2. Jude 1:5 law-based church
3. Jude 1:6-7 satanic church
4. Jude 1:8 fleshly church

Unshepherded church
Jude 1:4
4 For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

The term “crept in unnoticed” shows unseriousness and unwillingness about being shepherded.
The unshepherded consist of these people:

• ungodly men
• those who turn the grace of God
• those who deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ (the Trinity).

1 John 2:22
22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

A liar is he who denies God the Trinity; he is an antichrist.
Where do antichrists come from?

1 John 2:18-19
18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

“us” = the Church of God ; “they were not of us” = they have crept in unnoticed.
Thus, antichrists go out from us, but they were not of us. We should not point any country where antichrists come from because they go out from the Church of God, anywhere.

Nowadays we must have seriousness in godliness, in shepherding, and in hearing the word of God and we need to sacrifice everything but the true teaching word to be serious. If we are not serious, we will go out and become antichrist. Everything is useless without the true teaching word.

What does “go out” mean?

1. Falling away and going against the Lord
   2 Thessalonians 2:1-4
   1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you,
   2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come.
   3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
   4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
   What the son of perdition loves to do?
   1. Forsaking godliness
      Hebrews 10:25-27
      25 not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
      26 For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins,
      27 but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries.
      They habituate themselves to forsake the shepherding with no regret, even on purpose and they will refuse to be shepherded sometime.
   2. Exalting himself = being puffed up on behalf of himself against the other, so that he wants to reign and be worshiped.
      2 Thessalonians 2:4
      4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
      Revelation 13:8, 5
      8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
      5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty–two months.
      Antichrist at the beginning was a pastor/Christian, but then went out from us and became the son of perdition. He is now eager to reign and be worshiped, but God will destroy him in due time.
   2 Thessalonians 2:5-8
   5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things?
   6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time.
   7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
   8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
   Note verse 7: the mystery of lawlessness is already at work.
   The epistle Jude utterly refers to covering, which is to separate the true Church from the false one. In a field, there are wheat and tares. In the same analogy as this, in a church there is also antichrist, but the true church now restrains. If the true is taken out of the way to wilderness, antichrist will completely reign and be worshiped for three hundreds and a half. Nonetheless, he will be destroyed at the second coming of Jesus Christ and the true Church will be lifted up.
   In each shepherding, a pastor is made ruler over the congregation under the sound of trumpet / the shepherding word, not dictatorship. All that the congregation will do for the work of ministry must be based on the sound of trumpet, not the voice of man shepherd, or else they will get no advantage, lest the sound of trumpet be strange to them at the time of Jesus’ second coming because they used to hear the voice of man shepherd. For example, a man shepherd suggests them to give offering or to follow Church Service Visit. Besides, it is dangerous that elders set activities in congregation, not pastor does. The Late Rev. Totaijs has said that a pastor leads the congregation through shepherding word although there are one hundred prophets or one hundred apostles. Not being led by a pastor, Church will go toward antichrist because all persons in Church want to rule. It is indeed a serious matter for me as a pastor. I have said to the students of Lempin-El “It is better for me to get ten thousand rupiahs from the Lord than I get ten billion rupiahs from a company. It is because I live from God, not from money.” It is really my commitment to the Lord. Let us become serious because antichrist goes out from the Church with rebellion and arrogance to take the position of the Lord through a pastor.
2. Departing from the faith
   1 Timothy 4:1-2
   1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons,
   2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,
   What does it mean?
   1. They do not believe in Jesus anymore because of violent temptations (as Job had experienced) and friendly enticements (such as destiny and job).
      Many Christians forsake godliness and their faith in Jesus Christ because of destiny and job, and they will not return unless God by His Great Mercy takes them back.
   2. They hesitate and forsake the true teaching word, and give heed to heresies.
      Every deceiving doctrine has an inerasable stamp or signet for its hearers and followers that they will not return to the true one. Many are provoked to their sense of great faith; they can filter each of every deceiving doctrine by taking in the positive and cutting out the negative. Think about King Solomon, however! The magnificent wisdom of Solomon’s youth correctly solved a problematical marriage, which is one of the global issues (our wisdom is very little, comparing with Solomon’s). He was young and inexperienced, but might deal prudently by the sword in his hand. Nevertheless, he put away his sword and took the gods of his wives in his old age. Solomon had done a fatal mistake for he probably thought that he could filter the doctrines. Watch out for ourselves!The signet of a deceiving doctrine is manifested with self-truth, which means he does not want to look over himself and always blame God (the true teaching word) and others for his justification. For instance, Adam and Eve blamed God in the day of their transgression - why the Lord did not avert Eve from eating the fruit. Or, in these days the teaching word is claimed as the law, since it is contrary to the flesh, but other doctrines are considered good although they are indeed the law.
      To sum up, those who are seared with deceiving doctrines:
      • cannot look over themselves and always blame the others (self-truth)
      • blame God / the true doctrine
      • walk in sins and cannot repent
      Antichrist goes out from us but falling away and going against the Lord because of forsaking service and ministry, being arrogant through the will to reign and be worshiped. Besides, such man departs from faith to the Lord Jesus because of temptations and enticements. Such man is doubtful until leaving the right teaching word and following false doctrines.
      We need the repetitive word as the Lord said, “How often I wanted to gather”. That is to say, the shepherding word to establish our faith in facing temptations and heresies.
      Philippians 3:1
      1 … For me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe.
      “write the same things” = repeat = preach over again. This is the top secret granted to a pastor; he is the only one who can repeat the word / feed the Church. And the Church should not be bored; otherwise, their spiritual life will die. The repetitive word of God is not to bore but establish our faith in facing temptations and heresies, lest we become antichrists. Boring when hearing the word is dangerous as you bore eating, death will come. The repetitive word is as processed food in mouth and stomach until it becomes healthy nutrition (strong word to face temptations and heresies).
   3. They do not have the power of godliness, that is, renewal of life.
      2 Timothy 3:1-5
      1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
      2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
      3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self–control, brutal, despisers of good,
      4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
      5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
      A reasonable service (Romans 12) prioritizes the word of God powerful to transform our fleshly being into the spiritual one. But antichrist – who goes out from us – are not transformed by the renewal of life. Such a man comes in and goes out of the church still with the eighteen fleshly natures (egoist even to lover of pleasure). “18” consists of triple six, pointing to the signet of antichrist.
      The power of godliness to renew our life is found only in the teaching word. To what will your priority at church be given? If you serve God but not prioritize the word, you will never be renewed.
   Churchgoers might not be renewed. Why?
   2 Timothy 3:6-8
   6 For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,
   7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
   8 Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith;
   Because they reject Moses’ rod, which signifies the cross. We have to be careful because there are gullible persons in Church that can be made captive by any sayings. There is no renewal of life as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses and crept into households. Thus, they are not renewed because they reject Moses’ rod/cross.
   Exodus 7:10-13
   10 So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the LORD commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
   11 But Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers; so the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments.
   12 For every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.
   13 And Pharaoh’s heart grew hard, and he did not heed them, as the LORD had said.
   The rod was rejected and the waters were turned to blood (showing the judgment of the Lord that brings a spiritual drought and the second death). A lot of churches now reject the cross for they think of their fleshly being: “The world greatly afflicts us with sorrows, why then do we must multiply our sorrows at church?” Therefore they reject the cross and deal with fleshly pleasures. For example, the preaching of the word is shortened for the congregation’ sake; they have worked all day, lest they become more weary. This is a reasonable consideration, but has no sense of God, for it simply brings drought and death.

Apostle Peter had ever rejected the cross as Jesus said that He had to go to Jerusalem and be killed, and be raised the third day. Peter took Jesus aside and said, "This shall not happen to You!" Peter did reject the cross and he finally denied Jesus. Whoever gets dried spiritually will deny Jesus and always complain – for he cannot worship God and get no satisfaction.

Peter was actually a great man who could walk on the sea. It was so much fantastic, but because he rejected the cross, he lied and denied Jesus three times; it means he denied God the Trinity and should have become antichrist (“Whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven”). Peter opportunely heard the rooster crowing, that is, the repetitive shepherding word – simple but helpful. The shepherding word is the grace of God granted to a pastor, which is preached repetitively for our strength, our flesh and blood, not to indicate that the pastor has no more preaching material. If there had been no rooster’s crowing, Peter would have perished because the Lord would not have seen him anymore.

The rooster crowed; Jesus turned around and looked on Peter and so did Peter – so that Peter was renewed. As long as you can hear the shepherding word, you will find help – even if you cannot see it.

Luke 22:60-62
60 But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
61 And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."
62 So Peter went out and wept bitterly.

Peter denied Jesus three times. It means he became antichrist. If one resists God Father, there is a chance for help in the age of the Son of God. If one resists the Son of God, there is still a chance in the age of Holy Spirit God but if Holy Spirit is resisted, there is no help anymore because such sin cannot be forgiven. Therefore, shepherding word is important and I always pray for God’s help in preaching the word in line with Tabernacle. I cannot learn from anyone but God. Besides, I pray that the word may become shepherding word, which is able to help the congregation. I preach the word not just a duty but it can become shepherding word although it is simple as rooster’s crowing.
Verse 61; soon after the rooster crowed (the shepherding word is preached), Jesus looked at Peter mercifully. Only in shepherding we will find the mercy of God. Then Peter was renewed for he regretted and wept. If we can grieve over our sins and beg for God’s forgiveness, we begin to be renewed. But if we never regret - which means considering ourselves righteous and great -, we will never be renewed. The work of the shepherding word is the merciful sight of Great Shepherd renewing our life. Therefore, we must seriously enjoy the shepherding word that our life is always renewed.

It happens that we have served and ministered God, but not changed from the eighteen fleshly characters, just as a woman bent over eighteen years. The “18” points to the signet of antichrist. People say that he is a fabulous pastor doing many wonders, but he is actually sealed by antichrist. This is a real irony. Why does it happen?

• Because he rejects the cross/shepherding word
• Because he rejects the word of God and Holy Communion, such as Judas

Matthew 26:22-25
22 And they were exceedingly sorrowful, and each of them began to say to Him, "Lord, is it I?"
23 He answered and said, "He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.
24 "The Son of Man indeed goes just as it is written of Him, but woe to that man by whom the Son of Man is betrayed! It would have been good for that man if he had not been born."
25 Then Judas, who was betraying Him, answered and said, "Rabbi, is it I?" He said to him, "You have said it."

Unlike Sunday Service, in which wheat is mingled with tares, Bible Study Service and Holy Communion are effective to separate the true church from the false one. We must attend the service accordingly.
Verse 23 denotes the sharp word, which had directly pointed and pierced Judas “He who dipped his hand with Me in the dish will betray Me.”
Verse 24 denotes the hard word “woe to that man”.
God preaches a solid food / the word which is sharper than any two-edged sword – the only way to manifest separation.
Verse 25 denotes Judas’ refusal toward the teaching word.
God will not hear our prayer if we steal, but He will surely hear if our heart is sanctified from stealing a tithe. Tithe is not a bribe.

Judas obviously rejected the hard teaching word; his heart was never touched by the word that he still kept his wickedness. All his entrails gushed out, at last. Such must not happen to us. Let our entrails now gush out by the work of sanctifying word “Yes, Lord, I did it. Forgive me!” Our entrails do gush out and it is evident, but we are forgiven. We should not avoid the word and keep our sins, for the entrails will someday gush out but there is no more forgiveness.

I often get angry with the students of Lempin-El in emotion but there is no doubt to apologize. It is better for me to be said “bad teacher” and receive shame than I lose everything.

At the feast, John was leaning on Jesus’ bosom while Judas was leaving. It shows separation, which is truly manifested through Bible Study Service (teaching word and Holy Communion). On whose side will we be? John or Judas? John became one with Jesus, but Judas with Satan.
Thus, Bible Study Service and Holy Communion, in which there is separation between John and Jude, are important. Separation may not happen in General Service because it is general. Nevertheless, we find separation between the coverage of God like John has and the touch of Satan like Jude has.

John 13:23-29
23 Now there was leaning on Jesus’ bosom one of His disciples, whom Jesus loved.
24 Simon Peter therefore motioned to him to ask who it was of whom He spoke.
25 Then, leaning back on Jesus’ breast, he said to Him, "Lord, who is it?"
26 Jesus answered, "It is he to whom I shall give a piece of bread when I have dipped it." And having dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas Iscariot, the son of Simon.
27 Now after the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Then Jesus said to him, "What you do, do quickly."
28 But no one at the table knew for what reason He said this to him.
29 For some thought, because Judas had the money box, that Jesus had said to him, "Buy those things we need for the feast," or that he should give something to the poor.
Verse 27 proofs that Judas became one with Satan. We have to observe sharply, since a man such as Judas seemed generous and loyal to God (verse 29) – he pretended, nonetheless. He could deceive everyone, but John (verse 28). If we do not lean on Jesus’ bosom, we will be deceived by antichrist. Therefore, Bible Study Service is very important because there is a separation done by the sharp teaching word and Holy Communion.

By the sharp teaching word and Holy Communion, we will be sanctified and not deceived by:

• a man such as Judas who pretended to be generous
• money / material things (lest we fall into antichrist)

We have to be careful because the appearance of antichrist is interesting in the sight of many servants of God. Let us not become deceived with outer appearance because many follow Jude and become antichrist. Let us show firm attitude in entering the coverage of God as John who leaned on Jesus’ bosom by receiving the teaching word and Holy Communion. We have renewal of life to become holier and closer to Jesus. We lean on His bosom as a baby in His embrace.
The more we are sanctified and renewed, the closer we are drawn to Jesus Christ, as close as a baby leaning on His bosom.

Song of Solomon 8:5-7
5 A RELATIVE Who is this coming up from the wilderness, Leaning upon her beloved? I awakened you under the apple tree. There your mother brought you forth; There she who bore you brought you forth.
6 THE SHULAMITE TO HER BELOVED Set me as a seal upon your heart, As a seal upon your arm; For love is as strong as death, Jealousy as cruel as the grave; Its flames are flames of fire, A most vehement flame.
7 Many waters cannot quench love, Nor can the floods drown it. If a man would give for love All the wealth of his house, It would be utterly despised.

Verse 7 plus Revelation 12:15-17; Antichrist will drown the Church of God with the floods, but we are safe in God’s embrace.
“Nor can the floods drown it”=antichrist cannot drown the Church of God because she is in God’s embrace. We may be powerless as a baby but we are save in His embrace. We are sealed on Jesus’ Bosom and Arm, and His Name on us.

There are two possibilities for Christians left out at the second coming of Jesus Christ: they will become the followers of antichrist or they will become the target of the most terrible antichrist’s persecution.

Isaiah 46:3-4
3 "Listen to Me, O house of Jacob, And all the remnant of the house of Israel, Who have been upheld by Me from birth, Who have been carried from the womb:
4 Even to your old age, I am He, And even to gray hairs I will carry you! I have made, and I will bear; Even I will carry, and will deliver you.

“Who have been upheld by Me from birth” gives explanation to pregnant women that pregnancy should not hinder them in godliness. They however should serve God and God – not the Antichrist - will always touch their babies.

Verse 4 shows the quietest position, as a baby carried and covered.

• God will bear us = God is in charge of our life, future, and death.
  Youth, your future is in His hand. I remember my experience in sickness that I was so afraid. At that time, God reminded me about my experience when I had been a little naughty boy, playing in a river, running and falling into a pit but saved by holding grass and being lifted up by my friends. In my sickness, I could surrender to God and get strength because of thinking that life and death are in God’s hand. Our ages, jobs, etc. are in the hand of God who loves us. Students of Lempin-El, lean on Jesus’ bosom seriously, do not lean on others. When you someday become a pastor, do not lean on your congregation for you will be disappointed. Our life and death do not depend on the number of churchgoers but the love of God who is responsible for our lives.
• God will carry us = God will bear all of our heavy burdens and give rest and peace.
• God will deliver us = God has on the cross saved us, now sanctifying and renewing to perfection. We become as glorious as Jesus and not separated with Him forever.
• Gray hairs (Daniel: the Ancient of Days was seated in the throne ; Revelation: His hair was white as snow). God will bring us to His throne in New Jerusalem. We are in His embrace. Let us now become serious that we lean on Jesus’ bosom, in His embrace, lest we go out as antichrist.

God bless you!