An Organized Church

An Organized Church

Every once in a while you can hear it being said, “Is your church organized?” “We are soon going to have an organized church,” etc. What do people mean by that? What they mean is that the members’ names are going to be entered on a membership list; that they are going to elect a leader, elders, and deacons according to the “biblical pattern”; and that they will have a name. Recognized then by the State and having the right to perform marriages, they think that then they have a biblical church. Thousands of Christians live in this deception, and this kind of church is like the apple of their eye. Woe to the one who touches it!

The truth of the matter is that this is a humanly organized assembly, only partly based on a biblical pattern. The church is the body of Christ of which Jesus is the head (Eph. 1:22-23), so it should be He who organizes it if it has to be organized. But can you actually organize a body? Well, this is what happens when dolls are assembled, and many dolls resemble the real thing, but their appearance is deceptive. This also applies to these humanly organized churches according to the “biblical pattern.”

The body of Christ cannot be organized; it has to be born by the word of truth. Jas. 1:18. In this work Paul was a fellow laborer of Christ, and he had to labor in birth again for the Galatians until Christ was formed in them. Gal. 4:19.

God added to the church daily those who were being saved. When there has been a revival and a flock has been born again, you cannot appoint these infants to all kinds of offices. Who among them knows their faithfulness and their gifts? And least of all these infants cannot start voting for or appointing each other. But if there is a Paul or a Timothy or a Titus among them who can give birth to them through the word of truth until Christ is formed in them, then each of them can grow up as they are being saved to the ministry to which God has called them. This liberty is present where the Spirit of the Lord is, and so they can be transformed. 2 Cor. 3:17-18.

One thing is obvious: Not all those who have been born again have victory over sin. They lie when they are in a dilemma, they get angry, are partial, play the hypocrite, like to lord it over the others, love money, are partial to relatives and friends, are anxious, etc. They are not members of Christ, but if they are being saved, they are added to the church; and as they are saved further, the body of Christ, which is the church, will become more and more visible. The one who backbites is not the mouth of Christ, but if he is being saved himself, his mouth will become the mouth of Christ. The one who works to accumulate the treasures of this earth, does not have the arms and legs of Christ, but if he is being saved they will become the arms and legs of Christ, etc.

After the Spirit’s work has thus progressed for a while, a Paul or a Titus can see what kinds of ministries God has for each of them. It is not so sure that the others can see it, but then a Paul or a Titus can appoint them by making the assembly aware of whom God has appointed. Eph. 4:11.

This liberty of the Spirit is totally excluded from these humanly organized assemblies. Someone has said, “When revival broke out, the Spirit fell on the shoemaker, the tailor, and the cleaning woman, and there was liberty for them to speak. But the next generation established Bible schools and appointed pastors, and the liberty of the Spirit disappeared; the third generation became worldly.

This is true enough, except that the backsliding occurs much faster. In our days the meetings are so programmed that there is no opportunity to come with a word that God has given you. You have to be either a pastor or a preacher. But who has received authority to bind the working of the Spirit to a preacher just because his name is advertised? Shouldn’t each single member live according to the workings of the Spirit? And if the Spirit was to select an instrument from among the members in the assembly to say what should be said, the assembly has been organized so well that he wouldn’t stand a chance. And if the Spirit has rejected the preacher, things are organized so well that he can stand and preach until his sins are revealed to everyone, and in many instances even long after that.

“How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm . . . .” 1 Cor. 14:26. You are a royal priesthood that you may proclaim His virtues. 1 Pet. 2:9. This liberty has been “organized” away a long time ago, and most people prefer to have it that way. Jer. 5:31. Then they do not bear any responsibility except for contributing to the collection, and they can always get a preacher to console them in their sins. The assembly is so well organized that they manage to pay the one preacher who is more capable than the next one to sew veils for the people of every height. Ezek. 13:18-23. And once they have really been strengthened in the belief that God does not remember their sins and all they see is “Peace, Peace!” their rejoicing is at a peak. Then they have had a good preacher and a good meeting.

It is so true what someone has said: “Their outward confession has become the shroud of many, and the lifeless form has become their casket.” They have put things into such a rigid form that they do not run the risk of having a Paul or a John without a membership card reminding them of their works. 3 John 9-10.

However, there are righteous souls who are in these well-organized assemblies, but they are discouraged. Now the time has come to tear the “magic charms” (Ezek. 13:20) out of the fowler’s hands and cast light on these so-called biblical churches. More and more people are having their eyes opened and are fleeing from Babylon. Their hearts are singing in this liberty of the Spirit in which they are allowed to serve according to the grace God gives. Yes, God will certainly see to His neglected people and prepare them for the meeting in the clouds.