Why We Are Not A Denomination
Bible Answers on the End-Time Message • Sermon • Submitted
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Intro
Intro
Text - 1 Corinthians 1.10
10 Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.
Title - Why We Are Not A Denomination
Series - Bible Answers: On The End-Time Message
Objectives
understand terminologies that differentiate Christian churches and organizations from one another
understand what the Bible says about devisions within Christianity
understand why the “end-time message” is not a denomination
Background
The church started as one body of believers under the leadership of the Spirit and governance of the apostles of Christ
Slowly the churches began to suffer divisions within
In 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul was trying to resolve the growing factions within the local church
Divisions in the Early Church
Divisions in the Early Church
The church as a “sect” of Judaism?
The church as a “sect” of Judaism?
The church was at first considered by outsider Jews as a sect of the religion of the Jews
5 For we have found this man a plague, a creator of dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
What is a “sect”
Grk. HAIRESIS, a faction;
a division within a religious group
Judaism had number of sects
Pharisees
Saducees
Essenes
the followers of Jesus were considered a sectarian group under the Jewish faith.
14 But this I confess to you, that according to the Way which they call a sect, so I worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which are written in the Law and in the Prophets.
Sectarianism within the early church
Sectarianism within the early church
The apostles fought against the growing division within the church
It started as “contentions” (conflicts)
11 For it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you.
12 Now I say this, that each of you says, “I am of Paul,” or “I am of Apollos,” or “I am of Cephas,” or “I am of Christ.”
it became factions or sects
18 For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you, and in part I believe it.
19 For there must also be factions among you, that those who are approved may be recognized among you.
sects within the church are destructive
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction.
Divisions in the Subapostolic Age
Divisions in the Subapostolic Age
The subapostolic age is the time immediately following the days of the apostles up to the time when Christianity was divided into Eastern and Western Christianities.
100 A.D. to 400 A.D.
Local Leadership of Bishops
Local Leadership of Bishops
Christianity was not yet “organized”
Leadership was local; churches were led by bishops
Christianity came to be identified as the “Catholic church” - a distinction adopted to defend certain beliefs against sectarian or heretic beliefs that were arising
The First Denomination arose
The First Denomination arose
The Council of Nicea was convened
by Emperor Constantine, in 325 A.D.
to resolve the issue of the nature of the second person in the Godhead - the Son
Arius taught that Jesus of God was a created being and therefore not equal with the Father.
The result of the Council of Nicea
Arius was condemned, his books burned
the council signs a ‘confession of faith’
later Constantine reinstates Arius
the beginning of separation of East and West were formed
The East And West Separates
Nicea Council created the official doctrine of the Trinity
The Bishop of Rome began to claim prominence over other bishops, by virtue of it being in the capital
the west bowed under the power of the Bishop of Rome
the eastern churches maintained equal authority among the bishops; later called patriarchs
The Rise of Denominations
The Rise of Denominations
What is a “denominaton”?
Definitions from dictionary
The Lexham Glossary of Theology Denomination
denomination — A group of churches organized under a larger entity (the denomination) on the basis of shared beliefs or practices.
Pocket Dictionary of Theological Terms Denomination, Denominationalism
denomination, denominationalism. An organizational structure of several congregations who unite together on the basis of common doctrinal, organizational, ethnic, geographical or practical considerations even while meeting in separate localized situations. Denominationalism as a theory understands the church as consisting of a diversity of practices and beliefs under the umbrella of the larger term Christian while at the same time denying that any one Christian group can claim to be the exclusive manifestation of the church on earth.
A denomination is group of churches that organized based shared beliefs and practices
A denomination is group of churches that organized based shared beliefs and practices
Examples
Roman Catholic Church - the western churches who submitted to the rule, authority and beliefs upheld by the Bishop of Rome
Eatern Orthodox Church - churches in the western roman empire who gathered under the authority of the Patriarchs, bishop who recognized their equal authority over the churches
Protestantism
the Reformation movement that inspired churches to come out and reject he authority of the Bishop of Rome
these churches were gathered under various Reformers
Lutherans
Reformed - under John Calvin
Baptist
Denominationalism arose in the Sardisian Age
Denominationalism arose in the Sardisian Age
Sardisean Church Age
the age of Reformation in Christian History
1520-1700
1 “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write, ‘These things says He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars: “I know your works, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found your works perfect before God.
3 Remember therefore how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you.
4 You have a few names even in Sardis who have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with Me in white, for they are worthy.
5 He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.
Jesus reveals the character of the Age
“you have a name than you are alive” - the church/churches began to cling on their “name” - denomination
i have not found your works perfect - reformation movement was not the final work of God, but a beginning
remember how you have received and heart, hold fast and repent - protestant churches will go back to their RCC roots
you have a few names who have not defiled their garments - these are the few churches and believers of the age that kept the faith and died holding fast to that faith
Modern usage of the terminologies
Denomination
large Christian organizations composed of churches with similar beliefs and practices
each denomination recognize the other
no one claims exclusivity
Sect or Sectarianism
a faction within the denomination
Examples
Aglipayan Church
First Baptist, Calvary Baptist, etc.
a sect may later become a new denomination
Non-Denomination
a church or churches that separated from a denomination and chose to be independent
these churches tend to form another denomination
Why we are not a denomination
Why we are not a denomination
A denomination is more than just a name. It is a system created by man but has no blessing from God.
Marks of a denominations
Marks of a denominations
A denomination is organized by men based on their accepted beliefs and practices.
A denomination is organized and ruled by men.
Denominationalism takes pride in religious heritage and does not resolve doctrinal differences.
Negative effects of denomination
Negative effects of denomination
It limits the authority of the Holy Spirit in the Church.
It imprisons or confines people t a set of beliefs.
QUOTE
16 Now, we are an organization. We are an organization, recorded here in the—in the courts, as an organization, a group of people that’s organized together to worship Christ, but we’re not in a denomination. No one is going to dominate over us, you see. It’s not a denomination. It’s—it’s just an organization, a fellowship amongst Christian believers. People come here to the church. And this becomes their home church if they wish to come, as long as they live.
58-0927 - Why Are We Not A Denomination?
Rev. William Marrion Branham
http://table.branham.org
20 And that’s the reason that we never become a denomination. The Lord has give us the opportunity to merge this little church in many different denominations, but we don’t do it. Because, we want to stay just like this so it can be under the rulership and headship of Jesus Christ. That’s right. Whatever He reveals to us, and we see that it’s the Truth, and it lines up with His Word, all the way back and forth through the Bible, that it is the Truth, and the Spirit is agreeing on it, we have no denominational barriers to hold us from accepting That. We go right ahead into It, and move right on.
58-0928M - The Baptism Of The Holy Spirit
Rev. William Marrion Branham
http://table.branham.org
The Bible’s view on Denominationalism
The Bible’s view on Denominationalism
Denominations are simply sectarianism in its mature form
what began as heresy have widely accepted and grew ino large organizations
Denominations are a spiritual prison
because people are not free to belief as the Spirit of God teaches
Denominations are a work of the enemy.
ultimately, it is Satan who divides and conquers the people
Who are We?
Who are We?
We are a people, a fellowship of churches, that have been called out of organized religion by the message of the hour
We are a church that has been restored to apostolic beliefs and practices
We are a fellowship of churches who have come to recognize the move of God in our day, and try to remain under the leadership of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the Scriptures.
1 Oh, that you would bear with me in a little folly—and indeed you do bear with me.
2 For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.
3 But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
4 For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted—you may well put up with it!
satan is crafty
satan crafted a fom of Christianity that looks Christian, but is corrupted from its simplicty
the result is
“another Jesus” - a Jesus that the apostles did not preach and know
a different spirit - a wrong knowledge of Jesus is a channel for a wrong spirit
a different gospel - a different means of salvation
Note -
we cannot speak for EVERY message church all over the world
some message churches have come to accept heretic beliefs
more on this on the next part of our series
Conclusion
Conclusion