Reprinted from Rev. Benjamin A. Cremer’s Substack

 I am a Christian.

I believe in the separation of church and state.

I believe in democracy.

I believe that the government should not favor any one religious group, including my own.

I believe people should be free to live according to their own beliefs.

My faith compels me to pursue the common good for all, not control.

My faith compels me to see every human being as created in God’s image, worthy of honor, dignity, and respecting their free will, whether they share my beliefs or not.

There are many of us out here.

The reason I don’t want a “Christian nation” isn’t because I’m against Christianity.

It’s because I have studied church history in depth and have seen the tremendous harm caused by the church crawling into bed with the empire.

Separation of church and state is best for everyone.

It is a patriotic act to oppose Christian nationalism.

It is a patriotic act to uphold the separation of church and state.

It is a patriotic act to uphold the freedoms of all your fellow citizens, no matter if they believe the same thing as you do or not.

The separation of church and state protects Christianity rather than threatens it.

It protects Christianity from becoming corrupt by the allure of political power, wealth, and privilege, which causes it to abandon the gospel of Jesus.

It protects Christianity from nationalism.

It helps keep Christianity Christian.

Once the church crawls into bed with the empire, it loses its ability to prophetically speak truth to power. It becomes a mouthpiece for the empire instead.

Beware of any Christian movement that needs a government in order to succeed.

Beware of any government that needs a Christian movement in order to succeed.

“My kingdom is not of this world.” -Jesus (John 18:36)

In the Last Days- The Signs of the Times

 December 28, 1891 

BY ELDER A. T. JONES 

UNDOUBTEDLY the one text of Scripture that is oftenest referred to as proof of the millennium and the conversion of the world, is that one which speaks of the nations beating their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. There are two places in the Bible where these words are used,—Isaiah 2:2-4 and Micah 4:1-5. These are almost precisely alike, except that where one uses the word “nations” the other uses “people,” and the statement in Micah is a little longer than that in Isaiah. That the reader may have the full benefit of the text and this discussion of it, we here print it in full.  

“But in the last days it shall come to pass, that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall judge among many people, and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks; nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid; for the mouth of the Lord of hosts hath spoken it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever.”  

Now let us examine this closely and see what it teaches. When is this scripture to apply?—“In the last days.” Who is it that shall say these things?—“Many nations [Isa., “Many people”] shall come and say;” etc. Exactly! In the last days then many people shall say that “the law shall go forth of Zion and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” In the last days many people shall say, The nations “shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks.” In the last days many people shall say that “nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” In the last days many people shall say, “Peace and safety,” because “they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig-tree; and none shall make them afraid.” And, too, they will say that “the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” All these things many people will say in the last days.  

But what saith the Lord? “In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.” Verses 6, 7. This shows that at the very time—in that day—when “many people” are saying all those things, there will be some who will be “driven out,” “afflicted,” and “cast off,” and that these will be a “remnant.” And it is this “remnant” which the Lord says he will gather and over whom he will reign in Mount Zion forever.  

This is clearly against the idea of the conversion and gathering of all the world, for if that were true then there would be no “remnant” at all, nor would there be any that were “cast off” or “driven out” or “afflicted.” How could there be any afflicted or driven out when every man could sit under his vine and under his fig-tree, with none to make afraid, and when none should ever learn war any more? Plainly there could not be. Therefore the text does not at all teach that there shall be a millennium of peace and safety and the conversion of the world. It only teaches that in the last days many nations or people will say so, and will say that the Lord has said it; while the Lord himself says that “in that day” there will be a remnant, who will be cast off, driven out, and afflicted, and that this remnant he will gather, and will reign over them in Mount Zion forever.  

That this is the true explanation of the text we have the whole Bible on this subject in proof.  

1. Let us follow this “remnant” and see what further is said about it. In Joel 2:30, 31, the Lord says: “I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come.” And in verse 32 he says that “there shall be deliverance” “in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.” And in Zephaniah 3:8 we read: “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger; for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy.” Can it be possible that the Lord is going to assemble a converted world to pour upon such a people all his fierce anger? Not at all. The word of God knows no such thing as the conversion of the world, that is all. The prophet proceeds (verse 12): “I will also leave in the midst of thee an afflicted and poor people, and they shall trust in the name of the Lord.” This is precisely what the Lord says in Micah 4, while many people are saying “Peace and safety,” and that the world shall be converted. This is further shown by the next verse. It speaks of this afflicted and poor people as the “remnant of Israel,” saying, “The remnant of Israel shall not do iniquity, nor speak lies; neither shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth; for they shall feed and lie down, and none shall make them afraid.” This whole connection shows that the time here spoken of is the same as that in Micah 4, and that the remnant here referred to is the same as the remnant there referred to, and that this remnant will be poor and afflicted, cast off and driven out.  

This is confirmed by another reference to this remnant. Revelation 12:17, says: “The dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The dragon is said, in verse 9, to be “the devil,” “Satan.” The “woman” is the church of God. The devil is wroth with the church of God, and goes to make war with the remnant of her seed. The devil works through earthly powers and agencies. In stirring up kings, and people, and nations to oppress the church he has ever endeavored to destroy her. This is continued even to the end, in a war with the remnant of Israel, the last of the church of God. Says the Lord by Daniel, speaking of that great power that so long wore out the saints of the  Most High. “I beheld, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them; until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.” Daniel 7:21, 22.  

Here, then, is the story of the remnant. It is the last of the church. The people who compose it keep “the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The devil, through the powers of earth, makes war upon them. By this they are “cast off” “driven out,” and become an afflicted, and poor people. But there is deliverance in the remnant who the Lord calls, for, “In that day, saith the Lord, will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is driven out, and her that I have afflicted; and I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation; and the Lord shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even forever.” “And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire; and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.” Revelation 15:2. Those who got this victory are they who kept “the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus;” and these are the remnant, who are driven out and afflicted, but whom the Lord gather, and over whom he reigns in Mount Zion forever.  

Yet at the very time when the devil is thus making war upon the poor, afflicted, but loyal remnant of the church of Christ, the popular pulpit, and the worldly church, will sing of peace and safety and the conversion of the world, and will think that because the world finds it to its interest to ally itself with the already too willing church, therefore the world is becoming converted, and a millennium of peace will reign on the earth! Right here the reader may with profit read carefully the whole of the second chapter of Isaiah. It is too long to quote here.  

There is another line of scriptures that also prove positively that this promise of peace and safety, and of beating swords into plowshares, and spears into pruning-hooks, is only the saying of “many people” and not of the Lord at all. Notice, the time at which the prophet says that many people will say these things, is “in the last days.” Now what does the Lord say shall be the condition of things in the last days? This:—  

“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” 2 Timothy 3:1-5.  

This is what God says there will be, in the last days; and this is exactly what now is, as any one can see who will look. Nor is there promise of these bad men growing better and better, until all shall be converted and there be left none wicked on the earth. On the contrary, this word says “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 3:13. And in the face of these plain positive declarations of the word of God, pulpit and platform, priests and people, will declare that the world is growing better, that everything prospers and is on the highway to the millennium. It is too, but not such a millennium as they are looking for and preaching, but one of destruction and devastation.  

Again, Says the Lord by the prophet Joel, “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe; come, get you down; for the press is full, the vats overflow; for their wickedness is great.” Joel 3:13. When is the harvest?—“The harvest is the end of the world.” Matthew 13:39.  

Who holds the sickle to reap withal?—“I looked, and behold a white cloud, and upon the cloud one sat like unto the Son of man, having on his head a golden crown, and in his hand a sharp sickle. And another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to him that sat on the cloud, Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. And he that sat on the cloud thrust in his sickle on the earth; and the earth was reaped.” Revelation 14:14-16.  

This is the time, and the event, that is spoken of by Joel, “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe”—the end of the world is come. And when that time comes, the word of God says, “Their wickedness is great.” Therefore any preaching that promises a reign of righteousness on this earth before the end of the world, is contrary to the word of God. What further says the Lord, of this time? This:—  

“Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles [nations]; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up; beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruninghooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong. Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O Lord.” Joel 3:9-11.  

Then he continues in verse 13, “Put ye in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe,” etc. Therefore the word of God is plain that the promises of peace and of the increase of righteousness, that will be heard in the last days, are only the words of many people, and not the word of God; of a people too, who are “lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God,” and who have a form of godliness, but deny the power thereof; and from whom it is the duty of all who fear God, to turn away.  

When this people say, Peace and safety, God says there shall be “fear, and the pit, and the snare,” and “sudden destruction” upon the inhabitants of the earth. When they say, “Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more,” the Lord says, “Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near, let them come up.” When they say that “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning-hooks,” the word of God says, “Beat your plowshares into swords, and your pruning-hooks into spears.” When they shall say that the world is growing better and better, know of a surety that God says, “Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse.” When they speak of the time when the world shall be converted, God says that at that time, “their wickedness is great.”  

We are now living in the last days, in the very time when many people are saying all these things that are directly contrary to the word of God; and not only that, but are said contrary to that word, in the very presence of the evil times and events that the word of God shows shall be. From such turn away, for whoever trusts in such promises of peace and safety, and follows in the way of such words shall not know peace. For the day of the Lord is at hand, and as a destruction from the Almighty shall it come. “Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your heart, and not your garments, and turn unto the Lord your God; for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness.” Joel 2:12, 13. SITI December 28,  1891

“ Religious Liberty No. 1” The Southern Watchman

 August 15, 1905 

RELIGION is “the duty which we owe to our Creator, and the manner of discharging it.”  

Liberty is “the state of being exempt from the domination of others, or from restraining circumstances. In ethics and philosophy, the power in any rational agent to make his choices and decide his conduct for himself, spontaneously and voluntarily, in accordance with reasons or motives.”  

Religious liberty, therefore, is man’s exemption from the domination of others, or from restricting circumstances: man’s freedom to make his choices and decide his conduct for himself, spontaneously and voluntarily: in his duty to his Creator, and in the manor of discharging that duty.  

Since God has created man, in the nature of things the first of all relationships is that to God; and the first of all duties could be nothing but duty to God.  

Suppose a time when there was only one intelligent creature in the universe. He was created: and his relationship to his Creator, his duty to his Creator, is the only one that could possibly be. That is the first of all relationships that can possibly be. Therefore it is written that “the first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord: and Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength.” All there is of any soul is first due to God; because it all came from God. This, therefore, is the first of all commandments, not because it is the first one that was ever given by spoken word, or that was ever written out; but because it is the first that could possibly be; and this because it is the expression of the first principle of the existence of any intelligent creature. The principle was there, inherent in the existence of the first intelligent creature, in the first moment of his existence.  

Now, though that is the first of all possible relationships, and the first of all duties; though that relationship and duty are inherent in the very existence of intelligent creatures; yet even in that inherent obligation, God has created every intelligent creature free—free to recognize that obligation or not, free to discharge that duty or not, just as he chooses.  

Accordingly it is written: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve.” “Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” Thus it is absolutely true that in religion—in the duty which we owe to our Creator and the manner of discharging it—God has created man entirely “exempt from the domination of others and from restricting circumstances;” has made him free “to make his choice, and decide his conduct for himself, spontaneously and voluntarily.” Thus religious liberty is the gift of God, inherent in the gift of rational existence itself.  

Any service as to God that is not freely chosen by him who renders it is not service to God. There can be no virtue in it; there can be none of God in it. Any service rendered as to God that is not freely chosen on the part of him who renders it cannot be of God; because “God is love”: and love and compulsion, love and force, love and oppression, never can go together. Therefore any duty, any obligation, anything, offered or rendered as to God that is not of the individual’s own freely chosen choice, can neither be of God nor to God. Accordingly when the Lord created whatever creature—angel or man—in order that that creature should be happy in the service of God, and in order that there should be virtue in rendering service or worship to God, He created him free to choose to do so.  

And freedom to choose to do so carries with it, and in it, freedom to choose not to do so. Therefore, when God says to all creatures, “Choose you this day whom ye will serve,” it is left to each creature in the universe to decide for himself in his own freedom what he will do; whether he will serve God or not. And when in that freedom he makes a wrong use of his choice, and chooses not to serve God, then, even then, mark it—even then, God, being God, does not persecute him, does not set him at naught, does not hunt him; he does seek him; yet not to pursue him, but, as it is stated in the parable of the one sheep that was lost away on the mountain alone, he goes to find him, and seeks him to bring him back.  

Therefore note this truth: When God has made every creature perfectly free to choose to serve him, and in that, free to choose not to serve him—when that creature exercises his choice in the way not to serve God, even then God only loves him: for God is only love. The only disposition that God has toward him is to love him, and by every possible means to win him yet to the choice to love him and serve him. That is God, and that is religious liberty. A. T. JONES. SOWA August 15,  1905

–——————-

“Religious Liberty No. 2” 

ATJ 

ALL that was said in the preceding article of God’s disposition only to love, and not to condemn or oppress, one of his children who has made a wrong use of his freedom to choose, and has chosen not to honor God, is fully expressed in that proclamation and revelation which God made of himself, of what he is, when in the mount, as Moses was there with him, God promised to make all his goodness to pass before him, and to make him acquainted with himself. Then in this revelation of himself, the Lord passed by before Moses and proclaimed: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin.” This is what he is, not what he does—as if he could do something else. No, this is what he is; and in this he is God. He cannot cease to be God; and therefore cannot cease to be what is here said, for this is what he is.  

What is it, then, that he is?—Merciful—full of mercy. Mercy is the disposition, the very heart’s life, to treat people better than they deserve. That is himself, and he never treats anybody, he never will treat anybody, he never can treat anybody, in any other way than better than he deserves; because merciful is what he is. Therefore, when one, in his freedom of choice which is essential to virtue, which is essential to happiness, and to the true worship of God—when in the exercise of that freedom, any person exercises it the wrong way and makes the wrong choice, makes the wrong use of it, God is ever merciful to him, treating him better than he deserves, in order that he may be brought to reverse his choice and put it on the right side.  

Next he is gracious. Gracious is favorable, extending, holding forth favor. And this God does to all creatures, whatever their condition or position may be. God being God, being gracious, he is gracious to every creature, whatsoever the creature may be and whatsoever his condition may be. Consequently when any one exercises his choice in the wrong way, makes a wrong use of it, instead of God abandoning him, threatening him, throwing him over, persecuting him, blotting him out of existence, he is ever gracious, holding forth to him favor, not in any sanction or approval of his wrong course, but in order that if by any possibility he may reverse his choice and use it on the right side.  

God is not only merciful and gracious, but long-suffering. The definition of God’s long-suffering is “salvation”: “The long-suffering of our Lord is salvation.” Then when one makes the wrong use of his freedom, turns his choice to the wrong side, and goes the wrong way, all the disposition that God has toward him, all that God has for that person, all that he holds out to him is mercy and grace and salvation, seeking to save him from that wrong course, to win him from the wrong use of his choice, to awaken him to himself and to God that he may choose to make the right use of his freedom of choice and choose to recognize and serve his Creator.  

By the way, I just now used the expression, “Awake the person to himself,” —awake him to himself and God. This recalls the word that Jesus spoke in the parable of the prodigal son. That parable tells this whole story. There was that son, who chose to leave his father’s house and go off for himself; but he made the wrong choice when he started. He was free to choose to do just as he did, but he made the wrong choice, and things did not go well with him.  

When he made the choice to live outside his father’s house, and away from his father, he went down and down and down, until he reached such a point of deprivation that he fain would have picked up the husks and wrung some more substance from them after they had been abandoned by the swine. When he reached that point,—remember the record is in the words of Jesus—“he came to himself.” And the next thing in the record is, when he came to himself, he thought of his father. And the next thing is that he said, “I will arise and go to my father.”  

Note the moment he came to himself, the first thought was of his father. And what, all this time, was the father’s attitude toward him? While that son was away, wasting his father’s substance and degrading himself in riotous living, thus lost to himself and to his father by his wrong choice, his father was still thinking of him, was still waiting for him, was still longing that he would come to himself, and come home. And when at last this son did come to himself, and think of his father’s house, and said to himself, “I will arise and go to my father,” even when “he was yet a great way off, his father saw him,” and when he saw him he “ran” to meet him with joyous welcome, caresses, and kisses.  

What is that parable for? What does it tell?—It tells the heavenly Father’s attitude toward those who make a wrong use of the freedom which he has given to every soul. It tells the divine story of religious liberty. Otherwise, there would be no such thing as freedom. If it were not so, if God treated any creature otherwise than just that way, the word freedom would not express it, for it would not be freedom; for then the service might be of constraint, not willing, and so have the taint of bondage  not the fragrance of freedom. Bear in mind that the freedom of which God is the Author and Giver is freedom indeed. Absolutely, infinitely, and eternally it is so. A. T. JONES. SOWA August 22,  1905

Christian Profession and Anti-Christian Practice” The Southern Sentinel and Herald of Liberty

 January-March 1897 

THERE are multitudes of people who profess to be Christians.  

The vast majority of this multitude are diligently endeavouring to secure legislation enforcing their religious views upon all the people.  

They desire and require that religion shall dominate politics, shape the laws, and control the state: they want a union of religion and the state.  

In truth they want a religious state; an earthly, political, kingdom of God; with “Christ reigning as King” and throughout the nation, through themselves as His representatives.  

All this is seriously proposed by people who seriously profess to be Christians.  

What, then, is it to be a Christian? What is Christianity anyhow?  

In the Scriptures it is written that  Christ left us “an example that we should follow His steps;” and that “He that saith that he keepeth His commandments ought himself also so to walk even as He walked.”  

It is Christianity to follow His steps alone, to walk only as He walked. For again it is written, “As My Father sent Me, even so send I you;” “as He is, so are we in this world;” and we are “in Christ’s stead.”  

What steps, then, did Christ take toward the domination of the politics of His day? What steps did He ever take to gain control of the government, or to dictate in the affairs of the state?—Just none at all. Everybody knows that He never in any way gave the slightest indication of any such thing.  

This, too, in spite of many solicitations of different kinds. He was not only more than once openly invited to do so; but it was the longing expectation of the whole people to whom He came. So strongly was this implanted that they were willing to take Him by force and set Him at the head of the government.  

Yet never by a word, a look, or any sign whatever, would He countenance any such thing. On the contrary He openly repudiated every suggestion of the kind; and withdrew Himself from the people who were bent on having it so, and went away by Himself alone and prayed for the people that they might have better views of Himself and of His mission to the world.  

Was this because politics was so pure, laws so just, and government so altogether correct, that there was no call for any readjustment, no room for any reforms? Was there at that time no need of careful watching to see that none but good men should hold office?  

Were such as these the reasons why Christ had nothing to do with politics, nor with affairs of government in any way? Not by any manner of means. Corruption in politics and in office was never more rife than at that very time, and in Judea. Then as it was altogether from choice, and not at all from lack of necessity or opportunity that Jesus had nothing whatever to do with politics nor any of the affairs of the government, wherein do the churches, leagues and societies of to-day follow His steps in their persistent intermeddling in these very things? And when they do not walk as he walked, wherein are they Christians?  

It was His steady refusal to countenance the political aspirations of the people, which, more than anything else, caused the scribes, the Pharisees, the lawyers, the priests, and the Herodians, to reject and persecute Him. These were the church-leaders of that time, and correspond to the sects, leagues, unions, and endeavour societies of the present day.  

It was to the Pharisees with the Herodians that He announced the everlasting principle of the separation of religion and the state, in the words, “Render unto Cesar the things that are Cesar’s, and unto God the things which are God’s.” And when the whole combination together had made against Him the false charge that He would make Himself a king, He answered them and all other combinations for all time, “My kingdom is not  of this world:” “My kingdom is not from hence.”  

Such was ever His word and His attitude. Such has been His will concerning His church, from the foundation of the world. He is “the same yesterday, and to-day, and forever;” and it was impossible that, when He came into the world, He should walk contrary to all the instructions that He Himself had given before He came into the world.  

And now to all the church combinations, leagues, unions, and endeavor societies, that are afflicting the politics, shaping the laws, and directing the government of the country, He pointedly exclaims, “Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?”  

Why do you call Him Lord, and then do your own will? Why do you profess to hold His word in reverence, and then utterly disregard that which from beginning to end is one of the great vital principles of that word? Why do you bear the name of Christ, while in this great matter you walk directly opposite to the way in which He walked?  

Surely nothing can explain this contradiction between profession and practice, but worldly ambition that can never learn anything, and religious bigotry that is never content without power. 

A. T. JONES. SSHL January-March 1897, page 31-SSHL January-March 1897, page 34.4

Biblical Light and Darkness

The Purpose of the “Church”

The church is not a worship service- it is a government outpost

By Dale Moreau

The Church Is Not a Worship Service — It Is a Government Outpost

Most Christians think they are attending a worship service.

The New Testament thinks they are assembling at a government outpost.

That difference is not semantic. It is structural. It reshapes how we understand authority, gathering, discipleship, and even the meaning of “church.”

When Jesus says in Gospel of Matthew 16:18, “I will build my church,” He does not announce the creation of a religious event. The word ekklesia did not mean “worship service” in the first century. It referred to an assembly—an authorized gathering called for civic purpose. In Israel’s Scriptures, it echoes the qāhāl, the covenant assembly gathered before Yahweh at Sinai. That assembly was not convened for inspiration. It was convened for covenant. Law was given. Allegiance was declared. Boundaries were established.

Assemblies govern.

If we read Scripture inside a Divine Council framework, this becomes even clearer. The biblical story unfolds in a world of contested authority. Deuteronomy 32 describes the nations allotted and divided. Psalm 82 portrays corrupt rulers judged by the Most High. Authority over the nations is not abstract; it is territorial, personal, and accountable. The earth is not spiritually neutral ground.

Then Christ ascends.

Paul writes in Letter to the Ephesians 1:20–23 that Jesus is seated “far above all rule and authority and power and dominion.” That is governmental language. It is jurisdictional language. It is cosmic enthronement language. The ascension is not a sentimental goodbye; it is a coronation.

But what happens next is the part most Christians have never been taught to see.

In Ephesians 3:10, Paul says that through the church the manifold wisdom of God is made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. The church is not merely worshiping upward; it is declaring outward. The gathered assembly becomes the visible announcement that a new King reigns and that His jurisdiction has begun to press into contested territory.

That is not metaphor. That is cosmology.

An embassy is foreign soil planted inside another nation. It carries the authority of its homeland while physically existing in contested space. It does not blend into the culture around it. It represents another throne.

This is how the early Christians understood themselves. When believers gathered in homes under Roman rule, they were not hosting a spiritual event. They were publicly confessing that another Lord reigned. In a world where “Caesar is Lord” was political orthodoxy, “Jesus is Lord” was a counter-claim. It was not merely devotional language. It was jurisdictional defiance.

Every Lord’s Supper was covenant renewal under a different King. Every baptism was a transfer of allegiance. Every prayer was petition directed toward a throne higher than Rome’s.

Modern church culture has quietly reduced gathering to atmosphere. We evaluate sermons by emotional impact, music by aesthetic preference, and community by personal fulfillment. But if the church is a government outpost, the gathering cannot be reduced to inspiration. It is about allegiance. It is about formation. It is about embodying the rule of heaven in visible, lived obedience.

When believers forgive one another, something more than relational harmony occurs. Rival powers see a kingdom that does not fracture under offense. When believers endure suffering without renouncing Christ, something more than personal resilience is on display. Allegiance is being demonstrated. When believers refuse idolatry—whether ancient or modern—the boundaries of heaven’s jurisdiction are being asserted in contested space.

The rulers and authorities are not spectators to a religious performance. According to Paul, they are learning something through the church. That means our gathering has cosmic visibility. The church is not performing for God; it is bearing witness before the unseen realm that the throne has changed hands.

This is why reducing church to a worship service is not a harmless shift in vocabulary. It flattens the metaphysical drama of the New Testament. It domesticates a movement that was born as a declaration of regime change. The earliest Christians did not believe they were attending weekly encouragement sessions. They believed they were participating in the visible manifestation of a kingdom that had invaded history.

If that sounds dramatic, it is because the New Testament is dramatic. The ascension of Christ is not spiritual poetry. It is a claim that all authority in heaven and on earth now belongs to Him. An authority that comprehensively cannot remain abstract. It must take shape somewhere. It must have an embodied presence. It must be represented.

That representation is the church.

When believers gather, heaven plants its flag. Not in spectacle. Not in triumphalism. But in covenant loyalty, embodied obedience, and public confession. The assembly becomes the living announcement that this territory, however contested, is not ultimately owned by the powers that claim it.

Most Christians walk into church wondering whether they will feel uplifted.

The New Testament envisions believers walking into assembly aware that they are stepping into an embassy of a King whose authority extends far above every ruler and power.

The difference is not stylistic.

It is cosmic.

And once you see the church as a government outpost rather than a worship service, you cannot unsee it.

What Does The Disciple Mean By These Words?

The pendulum of my christian experience has swung to either extreme over the last 30 years.

During much of that time I would have to say that I was pre-occupied with my own status among my brothers and with God. I was what some would call a "works" man.

I spent a lot of time trying to understand how to improve my character and be an example to others because I wanted others, christian and non, to know "the power of God" to change their lives. That was my witness because I didn't think too much of the door to door type of witnessing or the typical methods of "winning souls".

As I think about it now, there was nothing really wrong with this approach. If more christians had this type of attitude there would probably be many more souls added to the church daily.

That would be good.

However, I don't know if that would be enough.

I don't know about you but I have been coming to a realization over the past decade or so. A realization that has actually changed the way that I look at my walk with Christ and God. It hasn't been Earth shattering. But, then again, still, small, voices rarely are.

I don't know whether you have thought this or not, but, when I listen to most sermons and when I talk to most self professed christians, I rarely hear anything about loving one another or loving sinners. Not only do I not hear anything about it, I don't see self professed christians loving anyone but themselves.

I am not joking.

When is the last time you heard a parishener say anything compassionate about their pastor or any church leader, let alone the alcoholic down the block? When is the last time you saw a fellow congregant go out of their way to do something for someone just because Jesus would do it?

I'm not talking about the church food bank program or the weekly drive to get more people to attend a evangelistic meeting. Those don't count because some do those things just to be seen.

It's a good question to say the least.

We hear a lot from the church about this type of person or that type of person being bad. Many sermons do nothing more than to sow seeds of division rather than reconciliation. Let's face it, there is a lot of hate in the church.

I was reading in the first epistle of John, chapter 2 and ran across this:

6He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

 7Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

 8Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

 9He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

 10He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

 11But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

What exactly did the apostle mean by this passage? Is it relevant now? If so, how does it apply?

I'm just asking....