ab-lŭo the religious
rite of washing in expiation of sin.
to remove darkness (by bringing a
light
Patterns Legalism and Grace Alexander Campbell
John Mark Hicks
Hicks says: no one knew about a PATTERN for the Assembly until Acts was written. Therefore, the PATTERN is not in Holy Scripture.
Jeremiah.6.ask.for.the.old.paths.html
Back up to Jeremiah 5. Here, Jeremiah defines the MODERN PATTERN practiced by those who repudiated the Prophets who defined the Church or REST of Messiah both inclusively and exclusively.
Jer. 5:20 Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
Jer. 5:21 Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding;
which have eyes, and see not;
which have ears, and hear not:
Jer. 5:22 Fear ye not me? saith the LORD:
will ye not tremble at my presence,
which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree,
that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves,
yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it?
Jer. 5:23 But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
Jer. 5:24 Neither say they in their heart,
Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain,
both the former and the latter, in his season:
he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
Jer. 5:25 YOUR iniquities have turned away these things,
and YOUR sins have withholden good things from you.
Jer. 5:26 For among my people are found wicked men:
they lay wait, as he that setteth ;
they set a trap, they catch men.
căpĭo “cepit manibus tympanum,” Cat. 6, 3, 8
tympanum A. Esp., as beaten by the priests of Cybel
timbrel, etc., as a figure of something effeminate, enervating: “tympana eloquentiae,”
Quint. Inst. 5 12. 21 equally adapted either for the fields of war or for the wrestling school, and other warlike and athletic youths as types of physical beauty. Shall we then, who are endeavouring to mould the ideal orator, equip eloquence not with weapons but with timbrels?
1, 1: “carmine formosae, pretio capiuntur avarae,” “dulcedine vocis,” Ov. M. 1, 709; 11, 170: “voce novā,” id. ib. 1, 678:
carmine carmine also versus, numeri, modi): carmen tuba ista peregit ( = sonus),” Enn. Ann. 508 Vahl.: “carmine vocali clarus citharāque Philammon,” Ov. M. 11, 317; cf. “vocum,” id. ib. 12, 157: “per me (sc. Apollinem) concordant carmina nervis
The only musical melody. Melody means a series of single notes consisting with one note. modus metre, mode: “vocum,” Cic. Div. 2, 3, 9: “musici,” Quint. 1, 10, 14: “lyrici,” Ov. H. 15, 6:
THE OUTED MYSTERIES OF THE KITHERA BOYS.
Ov. Met. 1.709 And as he sighed, with his breath the Reedes he softly shooke
Which made a still and mourning noyse, with straungnesse of the which
And sweetenesse of the feeble sounde the God delighted mich,
Saide: Certesse, Syrinx, for thy sake it is my full intent,
To make my comfort of these Reedes wherein thou doest lament:
And how that there of sundrie Reedes with wax together knit,
He made the Pipe which of hir name the Greekes call Syrinx yet.
Later I thought of this clown of the flute as a grotesque modern form of the great god Pan of the forest whom the Greeks worshipped as the symbol of cosmic vitality--serene, goat-footed Pan who plays the sacred syrinx (pan pipes) in the sinking dusk and with its magic sound evokes an echo in all things: leaves and fountains shiver, the stars begin to tremble, and the shaggy goats dance at the edge of the grove. (qtd. in Kinsley, David R. The Sword and the Flute: 33, n. 49)
This is the mark of ACapella, the Pope's effeminate or castrated opra singers.
Heredotus The Effeminate Guitar Player
Sophos , ē, on, A. skilled in any handicraft or art, clever, harmatēlatas s. Pi.P.5.115, cf. N.7.17; “kubernētēs” A.Supp.770; “mantis” Id.Th.382; “oiōnothetas” S.OT484 (lyr.); of a sculptor, E.Fr.372; even of hedgers and ditchers, Margites Fr.2; but in this sense mostly of poets and musicians, Pi.O.1.9, P.1.42, 3.113; en kithara s. E.IT1238
etc.; also en oiōnois, kithara, E. IT662, 1238 (lyr.);Ephesians.4.Music.Excluded.Church.html
Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro,
and carried about with every wind of doctrine,
by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness whereby they LIE IN WAIT TO DECEIVE
Panourg-os A. ready to do anything, wicked, knavish, b. panourgôs kataskeuazesthai to be adulterated, 3. of animals, as the fox, sophos, hypokritikos legein
-Panourg-os (properisp.), on, A. ready to do anything, wicked, knavish,[1384] Behold how Ares stalks onward, 1385] breathing bloody vengeance that is hard to oppose. Just now have the hunters of wicked crimes [Panourgema] passed beneath that roof there, the hounds which none may flee. And so not long shall 1390] the vision of my soul hang in suspense.
II. in a less positively bad sense, cunning, clever, smart, “p. kai deinos” D. 1.3, cf. Pl.Tht.177a, Arist.EN1144a28; “p. te kai sophos” Pl.R.409c; “kompsos kai p.” Plu. 2.28a: Sup., Plb.5.75.2. Adv. “-gōs, p. kai hupokritikōs legein ta epē” Ath.9.407a.
Sophos , ē, on, A. skilled in any handicraft or art, clever, harmatēlatas s. Pi.P.5.115, cf. N.7.17; “kubernētēs” A.Supp.770; “mantis” Id.Th.382; “oiōnothetas” S.OT484 (lyr.); of a sculptor, E.Fr.372; even of hedgers and ditchers, Margites Fr.2; but in this sense mostly of poets and musicians, Pi.O.1.9, P.1.42, 3.113; en kithara s. E.IT1238
etc.; also en oiōnois, kithara, E. IT662, 1238 (lyr.);Jer. 5:27 As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: [a snare, gin, trap.
therefore they are become great, [magnĭfĭco make like god]
and waxen rich.
Of taking a tithe of stolen property, Abraham set the PATTERN.
Gen. 14:22 And Abram said to the king of Sodom,
I have lift up mine hand unto the LORD, the most high God,
the possessor of heaven and earth,
Gen. 14:23 That I will not take from a thread even to a shoelatchet,
and that I will not take any thing that is thine,
lest thou shouldest say, I have made Abram rich:
Gen. 14:24 Save only that which the young men have eaten,
and the portion of the men which went with me,
Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their portion.
Jer. 5:28 They are waxen fat, they shine: [making sermones]
yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked:
they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless,
yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
Jer. 5:29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD:
shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Jer. 5:30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
Jer. 5:31 The prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests bear rule by their means;
and my people love to have it so:
and what will ye do in the end thereof?
prŏphēta oraculorumque interpretes, sacerdotes Aegyptiorum,
“Aegyptius, propheta primarius,
Miriam and the prophesying Levites were primarius,ap-plaudo “bucina,
I.one of the first, of the first rank, chief, principal, excellent, remarkable (class.): “primarius parasitus,” Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 73: “quoad primarius vir dicat,” the first speaker, he who has a right to be heard
femina,” Cic. Verr. 2, 1, 58, § 58 “ Catul. 61
You who dwell on Helicon Hill, sprung from Urania, who carry off the gentle virgin to her mate, O Hymenaeus Hymen, O Hymen Hymenaeus!
And afire with the joyous day, chanting wedding melodies with ringing voice, strike the ground with your feet, with your hand swing aloft the torch of pine.
Raise high, O boys, the torches: I see the gleaming veil approach. Come, chant in cadence, “O Hymen Hymenaeus io, O Hymen Hymenaeus.”
to clap the hands in approbation, to applaud:“adplaudere atque adprobare fabulam,” “sacerdotes
Micah 2:1 WOE to them that devise iniquity, and work evil upon their beds when the morning is light,
They practise [faction] it, because it is in the power of their hand.
facio make in all senses, to do, perform, accomplish, prepare, produce, bring to pass, cause, effect, create, commit, perpetrate, form, fashion, etc. (cf. in gen.: “ago, factito, reddo, operor, tracto):
“poëma,” to compose, id. Pis. 29, 70: “carmina,” Juv. 7, 28: “versus,” id. 7, 38: “sermonem,” Cic. Fam. 9, 8, 1; cf. “litteram, commercium sermonis “formidinem,” to excite, also i. q. ludificari
Micah 2:2 And they covet fields, and take them by violence;-ŏpĕro
ŏpĕrātĭo , ōnis, f. operor, I. a working, work, labor, operation [Lying wonders]
ŏpĕrārĭus , a, um, adj. opera, a religious service
offerings: operationes denicales, offerings, Fest. s. v. privatae feriae, p. 242 Müll.; Inscr. a. 286, p. Chr. ap. Orell. 2234.
I. of or belonging to labor (class.): “homo,” Cic. Att. 7, 2, 8: “pecus,” working-cattle, Col. 6, 2, 15: “vinum,” for working-men, Plin. 14, 10, 12, § 86.—
Vulg. Ecclus. 37, 13: “quos singulos sicut operarios barbarosque contemnas,” Cic. Tusc. 5, 36, 104: “quidam operarii linguā celeri et exercitatā,” fluent talkers, bad orators, id. de
and houses, and take them away: rapuerunt
so they oppress a man and his house, even a man and his heritage.
Mic. 3:11 The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
From the time that Lucifer called the "singing and harp-playing harlot" was cast out of heaven and showed up in the Garden of Eden Spiritual and literal warfare and Commercial Dispensers and performers, WORSHIP has always been the PATTERN which TURF-builders promote.
As the universal ANTITHESIS to separate people, "worship" in Hebrew, Greek and Latin means to bow low with face toward the ground, or most often FALL ON YOUR FACE with reverence and Godly Fear.
There is no God-assigned day of worship: Sabbath means REST. The godly people were quarantined to their isolated settlements and permitted REFRESHING by READING or LISTENING to the TEXT and any discussion translating or making sure that people understood that Divine-Lection.
No one is ever said to worship the Lord-God by making sermons, listening, singing, playing an instrument, acting or PAY TO PLAY.
Paul worshipped WITH his spirit. Jesus said that we MUST worship IN spirit devoted to IN TRUTH, the Word, Logos or Regulative Principle.
Romans.12.Reasonable.Worship.Word.Opposite.Music.html
The Spirit of God defines the Prophetic Command
Paul commands the RATHER
Amos 5:23 Take thou away from ME Speaking to YOURSELVES
the noise of THY songs; Rather
in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs [scripture]
for I will not hear the melody with an instrument:
singing and making melody in your
of thy viols. always [named] heart [named] to the Lord; Ephesians 5:19
Amos 5:24 But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream.
Giving thanks always for all things unto God [Theos] and the Father in the name of our Lord [Kurios] Jesus Christ; Eph. 5:20
Exodus.18.Synagogue.Church.of.Christ.html
Christ as the ROCK was God and anyone He anointed to transmit his word.
John Mark Hicks has profited by debunking God's word, Logos, or REGULATIVE PRINCIPLE. He is not diligently seeking while FLAT ON HIS FACE and he will never be able to be ENROLLED as a STUDENT-ONLY of Jesus and God's revealed WORD.
There is no reason that Theologians should know that God put His WORD into the MOUTH of the Prophets. This is the meaning of SPIRIT which produces WORDS or instruction. The Church of Christ's PATTERN is defined by the Prophets both Inclusively and Exclusively. Isaiah 55 outlaws SELLING the Free Water of the Word and Isaiah 58 outlaws seeking your own pleasure or speaking your words on the Sabbath day. God never defined a DAY of Worship or ACTS of Worship. Worship is often FALLING ON YOUR FACE in Reverence and Godly fear.
No one ever assembled on the REST day to sing with our without instruments.
The Holy Convocation on the FIRST and EIGHTH days of general assemblies
TRIBE OF LEVI COVENANT AND ASSEMBLY FORBIDDEN
Genesis.49.Levi.Cursed.Wait.for.Shiloh.html
THE SYNAGOGUE FOR THE NOT-CURSED CIVIL-MILITARY-CLERGY PATTERN
Synagogue1.html
John Calvin Numbers 10 Defining the PATTERN
http://www.pineycom.com/Calvin.Numbers.10.html
http://www.pineycom.com/Isaiah.4.The.Branch.of.the.Lord.html
STAFF: one person able to READ and/or TRANSLATE STAFF: one person able to READ that which is written for our LEARNING
Is. 4:4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the SPIRIT of judgment, and by the SPIRIT of burning.
Is. 4:5 And the LORD will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence.
Is. 4:6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat, and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time hath in every city them that PREACH him, being READ in the synagogues every sabbath day. [once each week]
Acts 13:27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their RULERS,
because they knew him not,
nor yet the VOICES of the PROPHETS
which are READ every sabbath day,
they have fulfilled them in condemning him
Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom [PATTERN] was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up for to READ. [Never on the STAFF]
Acts 13:15 And after the READING of the law and the PROPHETS the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
Neh. 8:5 And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up:
Neh. 8:6 And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
Neh. 8:8 So they read in the book in the law of God distinctly, and gave the sense, and caused them to UNDERSTAND THE READING.
umbrācŭlum , I. any thing that furnishes shade). I Lit., a shady place, bower, arbor,Verg. E. 9, 42.— B. Transf., a school: “in solem et pulverem, ut e Theophrasti doctissimi hominis umbraculis,
A covert sēcūrĭtas FROM perturbatione, “securitas inaffectatae orationis,” quietness,
from Operosus , costs much trouble, troublesome, toilsome, laborious, difficult, elaborate , costly, sumptuous Temple, from “carmina, [vocal or instrumental music] ” elaborate, Hor. C. 4, 2, 31 “artes,” skill in constructing, profession as music, “rhetorica,” Quint. 2, 17, 4: “musica,” poetry, Ter. Hec. prol. 23: “musica,” music, ars oratoris, oratoris autem omnis actio opinionibus,
PATTERN: GOD PROVIDED NO FUNDING: SCRIBES-PHARISEES-HYPOCRITES (speak, sing, play). God HIDES from the wise or SOPHISTS: speakers, singers, instrument players on the STAF
Amos 5:26 But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images,
the STAR of your god, which ye made to yourselves.
Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days,
and offered sacrifice unto the idol,
and rejoiced in the works of their own hands
Amos 5:27 Therefore will I cause you to go into
captivity beyond Damascus,
saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts.
Acts 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
and the star of your god Remphan,
figures which ye made to worship them:
and I will carry you away beyond BabylonRev. 18:22 And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee Plat. Euthyd. 289e For not only do these speech-writers themselves, when I am in their company, impress me as prodigiously clever, Cleinias, but their art itself seems so exalted [lying wonder] as to be almost inspired. However, this is not surprising; for it is a part of the SORCERERS's\ art,epōdōn tekhnēs morion mikrō te ekeinēs hupodeestera.
epōdē song sung to or over: hence, enchantment, spell, of the Magi, Hdt.1.132 ; “meliglōssois peithous epaoidaisin oute pharmaka..oud' au epōdai” Pl.R. 426b
Rev. 18:23 And the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy SORCERERS [ pharmaka] were all nations deceived.
oute pharmaka..oud' au epōdai” Pl.R. 426b
pharmaka such charms have I, Hdt.3.85, cf. Apoc.9.21
There is no Scripture for a Day of worship.
No one is ever said to worship by preaching, listening, singing, playing an instrument, acting or PAY FOR PLAY. The pattern for the church in the wilderness is always defined as the PATTERN for what identified as SYNAGOGE when the EKKLESIA assembled as School only. Worship is literally tofall on your face in reverence and godly fear. Worship in the PLACE of the human spirit is the TRUTH, Word, Logod or regulative principle.
"During the fourth century the Jews came under the influence of Greek Rationalism. In 332 BC Alexandeer of Macedonia defeated Darius III of Persia and the Greeks began to colonize Asia and Africa. The founded city-states in Tyre, Sidon, Gaza, Philadelphis (Amman) and Tripolis and even in Shechem.
The Jews of Palestine and the diaspora were surrounded by a Hellenic culture which some found disturbing, but others were excited by Greek theater, philosophy, sport and poetry. They learned Greek, exercised at the gymnasium and took Greek names. Some fought as mercinaries in the Greek armies.
"Thus some Greeks came to know the God of Israel and decided to worship Yahweh (Iao) alongside Zeus and Dionysus.Some were attracted to the synagogue... There they read scriptures, prayed and listened to sermons (explanations).
The synagogue was unlike anything else in the rest of the ancient religous world. Since there was no ritual or sacrifice, it must have seemed more like a school of philosophy, and many flocked in the synagogue if a well-known Jewish preacher came to town...
"In the second century BC Jesus Ben Sira... made Wisdom (Sophia) stand up in the Divine Counciland sing her praises:
she had come forth from the mouth of the Most High as the Divine Word by which God had created the world... Wisdom leaving God to wander through the world in search of humanity, it is hard not to be reminded of the pagan goddesses such as Ishtar, Anat and Isis, who had also descended from the divine world in a redemptive. "When monotheists fell in love with Greek philosophy, they inevitably wanted to try to adapt its God to their own." (Armstrong, Karen, A History of God, p. 67f)
Acts 15:21 For Moses of old time
hath in every city them that PREACH him,
being READ in the synagogues every sabbath day.
Paul allows support for men to GO and preach the GOSPEL only.
Doctors of the law take away the key to knowledge: God sends them strong delusions so that they believe their own lie and be damned. Lying Wonders are the show of talent: rhetoric, singing, playing instruments, acting or fleecing the lambs and CLAIMING that "a" spirit is guiding them. It's True: Spiritus used as a personification is the spirit of Abadddon or Apollyon. He is the leaders of the locusts or MUSES. The BEAST is "a new style of music or satyric drama." The satyrs were cappella actors. As a mark for the mockery of non-scholars, they always SUBVERT or pervert the Word and "sell learning at wholesale."
Embracing.Creation.Gods.Forgotten.Mission.John.Mark
Here you have to embrace that God as Jesus created the Cosmos 6000 years ago as His Eternal Fleshly dwelling place
John Mark Hicks: In this post and in a subsequent one, I will illustrate how this point has functioned in the thinking of two significant leaders in the Stone-Campbell Movement: Alexander Campbell and J. D. Thomas. Both were patternists (to differing degrees), but did not permit their patternism to trump the fundamental truth of the gospel: we are saved by grace through faith and not by works.
Paul Separated the Disciples or the SECT of the WAY from the world. The WAY of Christ is
HODOS 3. method, system,Id.Sph.218d, Arist.APr.53a2, al.; “hodō” methodically, systematically, Method-os , hē, (meta, hodos)
II. pursuit of knowledge, investigation, Pl.Sph.218d, 235c, al.; m. poieisthai to pursue one's inquiry, ib.243d; “en tē prōtē m.” Arist.Pol.1289a26: hence, treatise, Dam.Pr.451.2. mode of prosecuting such inquiry, method, system, Pl.Phdr.270c, Arist.EN1129a6, Pol.1252a18, etc.; “hē dialektikē m.” Pl.R.533c,It is of Biblical proportions that theologians or doctors of the law or just careless readers are MARKED by God as being self-condemned.
Richard Beck: As I’ve written about before, right now there are two streams in the Churches of Christ,
a sectarian stream
and an ecumenical stream.
Rirchard Beck speaks for ACU and most of the once-Christian Bible schools. Eve fell for the serpent or Musical Enchanter where SERPO speaks of a winding, twisted, crooked song intended to deceive. And vocal or instrumental rejoicing or rhetoric was outlawed for the Church of Christ (the Rock) in the wilderness. That does not prevent The ECUMENICAL on the payrole for Jesus from defining a SECTARIAN who will not take the mark of the beast: Therion in Revelation is defined as "a sudden, new style of music or Satyric drama." That is the gender slanted warning of Christ in Isaiah 3.
For disciples of the WORD:
A Church of Christ still a SCHOOL of Jesus through the Word or Regulative principle is Christ-Defined as SECTARIAN. Baptized disciples do not do "worship services" but belong to the SECT OF THE WAY: The Way is defined as synagogue or School: A Church of Christ is built upon or educated by the Prophets and Apostles.
While: ECUMENICAL defines the ANTI-Christian World View where Satan is the Kosmokrater.
A SECTARIAN is called, elected or invited OUT of the Ecumenical World and INTO the Church. They are defined as a Little Flock so tiny as not to be detected by sight, sound, motion or tithes and offerings.
While: The ECUMENICAL is almost the TOTAL world population: Jesus does not pray for the KOSMOS or ECUMENICAL world. And God HIDES from their wise or Sophists meaning speakers for hire, singers, instrument players, staff etal defined in the religionism of the ECUMENICAL such as the Jews as PARASITES.
Gary Holloway Ecumenical: In fact, our mission statement says World Convention exists "to provide a means of relating the global family to the whole Church of Jesus Christ." If that is true, then why does WorldConvention work to connect those in the Stone-Campbell Movement WORLD- wide?
First, [ecumenical] is biblical. “Ecumenical” is from the Greek word oikoumena, which is used 15 times in the New Testament for “the entire inhabited world.” The most interesting passage that relates to the modern meaning is Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”It will be preached as a JUDGMENT and will not save those OF the World who are not OF TRUTH or the lost spirits God sent Jesus and anyone on the dole to go, seek and save FROM the Crooked or Viper Race.
Those slandering as patternists, legalistics of sectarian having rejected the WORD or LOGOS as the Regulative Principle might be sent strong delusions. That would be MARKED FOR AVOIDANCE by rhetoric, singing, playing, acting and fleecing the widows. Contrary to unity in diversity Paul said that elders should eject the cunning craftsmen or sophists who are rhetoricians, singers and instrument players. That is because the performers are LYING IN WAIT TO DECEIVE.
Jesus called the FEW OUT of the World or Oikoumena or Kosmos. The World is the kingdom of Satan and he still controls the kingdoms of the World. To keep His Disciples safe Jesus told us that the Kingdom is WITHIN us and we should NOT go out when any INSTITUTION calls us to join Satan's Wrold.
Oikoumen-2 (sc. gē), hē, A. inhabited region, v. oikeo A. 1 ; then the Greek world, opp. barbarian lands, The inhabited world, “hē philia perikhoreuei tēn oi.
III. mellousa [destined to] the world to come, i.e. the kingdom of Christ, Ep.Hebr.2.5.
perikhor-euo, A. dance round, [ekeise kai to deuro] E.Ph.316(lyr.); tinaLuc.DMar.15.3 ; “ton bomon” Id.Salt.24: metaph., “he philia p. tēn oikoumenen”Trinitarians like John Mark Hicks and Rubel Shelly insists that the Spirit OF Christ is a separate person or people. The trinity is imposed to honor the spirit-dove-female enseminater and they say that God NEEDS dance parters as WE need to embrace the WHOLE WORLD when Jesus doesn't even pray for it..
Luc. Salt. 24 orkhoumenas tas Mousas,
Dioik-eō “diōkēsamēn” keep house: hence, generally, control, manage, administer, manage after one's own will and pleasure, managing to make such iniquitous profits, act collusively with ton kosmon” Id.Phdr.246c;
We will quote a scholar who set up a library as a school and people flocked to it like the synagogue as opposed to flocking to the HOUSES of the muses who sold bodies and wine.kosmos , ho, A. order, kata kosmon in order, duly, shamefully, generally, of things, natural order, ornament, decoration, esp. of women, metaph., of ornaments of speech, such as epithets, to sing sweet songs of praise, world-order, universe, first in Pythagoras, of earth, as opp. heaven, 3. in later Gr., = oikoumenē, the known or inhabited world, 5. houtos ho k. this present world, i.e. earth, OPPOSITE. heaven, Ev.Jo.13.1; regarded as the kingdom of evil, ho arkhōn tou k. toutou ib.12.31.
Pind. O. 11 My tongue wants to foster such themes; [10] but it is by the gift of a god that a man flourishes with a skillful mind, as with anything else. For the present rest assured, Hagesidamus son of Archestratus: for the sake of your boxing victory,
I shall loudly sing a sweet song, an adornment for your garland of golden olive,
[15] while I honor the race of the Western Locrians.
There, Muses, join in the victory-song; I shall pledge my word to you that we will find there a race that does not repel the stranger, or is inexperienced in fine deeds, but one that is wise and WARLIKE too.
6.10.14 The Spirit OF Christ defined the REST of the Synagogue then and the REST which Jesus or the first Joshua could not produce:
Isaiah 4: 2 In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious,
and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely
for them that are escaped [remnant] of Israel.
Isaiah 4: 4 When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion,
and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof
by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning.
Isaiah 4: 5 And the Lord will create upon
every dwelling place of mount Zion,
and upon her assemblies [Invoco called]], a cloud and smoke by day,
and the shining of a flaming fire by night:
for upon all the glory shall be a defence.Dwelling: 168. ohel, o´-hel; from 166; a tent (as clearly conspicuous from a distance):—covering, (dwelling)(place), home, tabernacle, tent.
Assembly: 4744. miqra, mik-raw´; from 7121; something called out, i.e. a public meeting (the act, the persons, or the place); also a rehearsal: assembly, calling, convocation, reading.
Isaiah 4: 6 And there shall be a tabernacle for a shadow in the daytime from the heat,
and for a place of refuge, and for a covert from storm and from rain.
umbrācŭlum , i, n. umbra (I. any thing that furnishes shade).I Lit., a shady place, bower, arbor, Varr. R. R. 1, 51, 2; Cic. Fragm. ap. Macr. S. 6, 4; Verg. E. 9, 42.B. Transf., a school: “in solem et pulverem, ut e Theophrasti doctissimi hominis umbraculis,” Cic. Brut. 9, 37: “ex umbraculis eruditorum in solem atque in pulverem,” id. Leg. 3, 6, 14.—II. A sunshade, parasol, umbrella, Ov. F. 2, 311; id. A. A. 2, 209; Mart. 14, 28, 1; Tib. 2, 5, 97; Amm. 28, 4; App. Mag. p. 315, 16.
When a group moves beyond being a place of REST from clergy and becomes A school (only) of the Word (only) it becomes a CULT and a way to pick the widows purse: Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites and the Ezekiel 33 version names slick speakers for pay, singers and instrument players performing for the audience with no intention of obeying.
sēcūrĭtas , ātis, f. securus,I. freedom from care, unconcern, composure.
“securitas inaffectatae orationis,” quietness, Quint. 11, 1, 93; cf.: “vocis ac vultus,” Tac. A. 15, 55.—
tranquillĭtas , ātis, f. tranquillus, I.quietness, stillness, tranquillity. Tac. Agr. 40 fin.
5.28.14 John Mark Hicks: Legalists or Patternists are Churches of Christ who continue to reject Instrumental Music as "worship" and who will not affirm or fellowship with those who impose "Instrumental Music as Worship." This is suppose to disable and silence those who continue to oppose those who boast about "infiltrating and diverting" other people's property. They build on the foundation of the Jacob-Cursed and God-Abandoned Levites led by David the KING and commanders of the army.
Deception in high places says that "Legalism is not permitting or endorsing the use of musical machines imposed by those pledged to "infiltrate and divert."
Truth from Bible 101a. A legalist speaks, sings, plays instruments by well-defined LAWS. Corrupting the Word is selling learning at wholesale and is defined as prostitution. It does not matter which body part you sell. Religious prostitutes among the Jews even paid the customer: this can be done with seating, sound, lights, friendship, coffee, bread and fish or even threats by claiming that you are guided by God Himself as the only Spirit Being living inside of you and telling him that YOU should give him your food money.
The PATTERN for instrumental music is the Jacob-Cursed and God-Abandoned Levites: their musical prophesying was soothsaying--Sorcery because they performed as EXORCISTS when the not-commanded animals were being slaughtered and burned. A rhetorician, singer or musician who has DEDICATED themselves to a holy place are dedicated to the HAREM: they cannot be redeemed and must be burned. ANATHEMA is any such person who claims a ROLE for which God gave no DOLE to enhance the Word of God. The Greek word for such religious operatives especially the musicians was PARASITE.Musica , mūsĭcus . a, um, adj., = mousikos.
I. Of or belonging to music, musical (class.).A. Adj.: “leges musicae,” the rules of music, Cic. Leg. 2, 15, 39: “sonus citharae,” Phaedr. 4, 18, 20: “pedes,” Plin. 29, 1, 5, § 6.—B. Subst.2. mūsĭ-ca , ōrum, n., music: “in musicis numeri, et voces, et modi,” Cic. de Or. 1, 42, 187: “dedere se musicis,” id. ib. 1, 3, 10: “et omnia musicorum organa,” Vulg. 1 Par. 16, 42.—
mousikōs: musice hercle agitis aetatem, you are in clover, i. e. living luxuriously at another's expense, Plaut. Most. 3, 2, 40.
SAYS SCRIPTURE AND ALL RECORDED HISTORY
Tertullian, De Spectaculis, Religious Drama - Music
Chapter X. Theatrical Performance and Religion
For such is the power of earthly pleasures, that, to retain the opportunity of still partaking of them,
it contrives to prolong swilling ignorance, and bribes knowledge into playing a dishonest part. To both things, perhaps, some among you are allured by the views of the heathens who in this matter
are wont to press us with arguments, such as these: commands
(1) That the exquisite enjoyments of ear and eye we have in things external are not in the least opposed to religion in the mind and conscience; and
(2) That surely no offence is offered to God, in any human enjoyment, by any of our pleasures, which it is not sinful to partake of in its own time and place, with all due honour and reverence secured to Him.But this is precisely what we are ready to prove: That these things are not consistent with true religion and true obedience to the true God.
Let us pass on now to theatrical exhibitions, which we have already shown have a common origin with the circus [Circe=church] , and bear like idolatrous designations-even as from the first they have borne the name of "Ludi," and equally minister to idols.
They resemble each other also in their pomp, having the same procession to the scene of their display from temples and altars, and that mournful profusion of incense and blood,
.........with music of pipes and trumpets,
........ all under the direction of the soothsayer and the undertaker,
........ those two foul masters of funeral rites and sacrifices.
-Plato, Euthydemus, Protagoras, Gorgias, Meno
[271a] Crito
Who was it, Socrates, that you were talking with yesterday at the Lyceum? Why, there was such a crowd standing about you that when I came up in the hope of listening I could hear nothing distinctly: still, by craning over I got a glimpse, and it appeared to me that it was a stranger with whom you were talking. Who was he?
-Lukeion [u^, to,A.the Lyceum, a gymnasium at Athens, named after the neighbouring temple of Apollo Lukeios, Ar.Pax356, X.HG1.1.33: a resort of Socrates, Pl.Euthphr.2a, Euthd.271a; here Aristotle used to discourse, whence his disciples were called Lukeioi Peripatētikoi, Elias in Cat.112.31.II. lukeion, v. lukion 1.2.-[289d] On what proof do you rely? I asked.
I see, he said, certain speech-writers who do not know how to use the special arguments composed by themselves, just as lyre-makers in regard to their lyres: in the former case also there are other persons able to use what the makers produced, while being themselves unable to make the written speech. Hence it is clear that in speech likewise there are two distinct arts, one of making and one of using.
I think you give sufficient proof, I said, that this art of the speech-writers cannot be that whose acquisition would make one happy. And yet I fancied that somewhere about this point would appear the knowledge which we have been seeking all this while.
-[289e] For not only do these speech-writers themselves, when I am in their company, impress me as prodigiously clever, Cleinias, but their art itself seems so exalted as to be almost inspired. However, this is not surprising; for it is a part of the sorcerer's art,
kai mentoi ouden thaumaston: esti gar tēs tōn epōdōn tekhnēs morion mikrō te ekeinēs hupodeestera.
-thespesios A.divinely sounding, divinely sweet, “aoidē” Il.2.600; “Seirēnes” Od.12.158; “epea” Pi.I.4(3).39; “akhetas” Ar.Av.1095 (lyr.II. more than human: hence, awful, of natural phenomena,
-[290a] and only slightly inferior to that.
The SORCERER'S art is the charming of snakes and tarantulas and SCORPIONS and other beasts and diseases, while the other is just the charming and soothing of JURIES, assemblies, crowds, and so forth.Or does it strike you differently? I asked. [The other being lyre-makers in regard to their lyres]
-ekhi^s viper, Pl.Smp.217e, Arist.HA511a16, etc.: metaph., “sukophantēs kai e. tēn phusin” D.25.96; hōsper e. ē skorpios ērkōs to kentron ib.52; cf. ekhidna.
-su_kophant-ēs , ou, ho,A.common informer, voluntary denouncer (there being no Public Prosecutor), e.g. of contraband imports, 2. in New Com., professional swindler or confidential agent, prattei d' ho kolax arista pantōn,
orig. of citizens entrusted with the collection of figs as part of the public revenues of Athens and the denouncing of tax-evaders, acc. to Philomnest.1; of denouncers of figs which had been stolen from the sacred fig-trees during a famine and had become cheap, the famine having passed, Sch.Ar.Pl.31,
No, it appears to me, he replied, to be as you say.
Which way then, said I, shall we turn now? What kind of art shall we try?
For my part, he said, I have no suggestion.
Why, I think I have found it myself, I said.
What is it? said Cleinias."Musica , mūsĭcus . a, um, adj., = mousikos.
I. Of or belonging to music, musical (class.).A. Adj.: “leges musicae,” the rules of music, Cic. Leg. 2, 15, 39: “sonus citharae,” Phaedr. 4, 18, 20: “pedes,” Plin. 29, 1, 5, § 6.—B. Subst.2. mūsĭ-ca , ōrum, n., music: “in musicis numeri, et voces, et modi,” Cic. de Or. 1, 42, 187: “dedere se musicis,” id. ib. 1, 3, 10: “et omnia musicorum organa,” Vulg. 1 Par. 16, 42.—
mousikōs: musice hercle agitis aetatem, you are in clover, i. e. living luxuriously at another's expense, Plaut. Most. 3, 2, 40.
Similar meaning:
Exegetice , es, f., = exêgêtikê, the art of interpretation, exegesis, Diom. 2, p. 421 P.
Magice - , e-s, f., = magikê (sc. technê), the magic art, magic, sorcery medicinam [dico magicenque, magices factioFactio , o-nis, f. [id.] II. (Acc. to facio, II. B.; lit., a taking part or siding with any one; hence concr.) A company of persons associated or acting together, a class, order, sect, faction, party (syn.: pars, partes, causa, rebellio, perduellio, seditio).
B. In partic., a company of political adherents or partisans, a party, side, faction
Magia , ae, f., = mageia, the science of the Magi, magic, sorcery (post-class.),
Mageia , hê, theology of the Magians, m. hê Zôroastrou Pl.Alc.1.122a
2 Sam 6:20 Then David returned to bless his household.
............ And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David,
............ and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day,
............ who uncovered himself to day
............ in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants,
............ as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself
-2 Samuel6.20] reversusque est et David ut benediceret domui suae et egressa Michol filia Saul in occursum David ait quam gloriosus fuit hodie rex Israhel discoperiens se ante ancillas servorum suorum et nudatus est quasi si nudetur unus de scurris
-Nūdo , āvi, ātum, 1, v. a. nudus, I. to make naked or bare; to strip, bare, lay bare, expose to view, uncover (syn.: exuo, detego, revelo).
1. In milit. lang., to leave uncovered, leave exposed or defenceless, to expose a place to the enemy
2. Pregn., to strip, spoil, plunder: “spoliavit nudavitque omnia,” Cic. Verr. 1, 5, 14
-Scurra , ae, m.an elegant, town-bred man; a fine gentleman, gallant, dandy. Also of an elegant debauchee, 1. A city buffoon, droll, jester (usually in the suite of wealthy persons, and accordingly a kind of parasite; syn.: -Of the clown in a pantomime, Juv. 13, sannio, parasitus) Same as -Auloedus one who sings to the flute.
-Cicero 13:29 Wherefore, not only is the military glory which you slight to be preferred to your -formula and legal pleas; but even the habit of speaking is far superior, as regards the attainment of honours, to the profession to the practice of which you devote yourself. And therefore many men appear to me to have preferred this at first; but afterwards, being unable to attain eminence in this profession, they have descended to[p. 344] the other. Just as men say, when talking of Greek practitioners, that those men are -flute-players who cannot become -harp-players, so we see some men, who have not been able to make orators, turn to the study of the law. There is great labour in the practice of oratory. It is an important business, one of great dignity, and of most exceeding influence. In truth, from you lawyers men seek some degree or advantage; but from those who are orators they seek actual safety. In the next place, your replies and your decisions are constantly overturned by eloquence, and cannot be made firm except by the advocacy of the orator; in which if I had made any great proficiency myself; I should be more sparing while speaking in its praise; but at present I am saying nothing about myself; but only about those men who either are or have been great in oratory.
-cĭthăroedus , i, m., = -kitharōdos, I.one who plays on the cithara, accompanying it with the voice (diff. from citharista by the accompanying singing),
If you want to say that the Spirit OF Christ was TOO IGNORANT to add a Guitar or Flute player then that is exactly what God wants you to do.
A LEGALIST
-artĭfex , One that is master in the liberal arts “ut aiunt in Graecis artificibus eos auloedos esse, qui citharoedi fieri non potuerint, sic, etc
—Of an orator or writer: “Graeci dicendi artifices et doctores,
B. A maker, originator, author, contriver:
-Delicatus II.Addicted to pleasure; luxurious, voluptuous; and subst., a voluptuary, a wanton.-Sannĭo , ōnis, m. sanna, I. one who makes mimicking grimaces, a buffoon (cf. scurra), Cic. de Or. 2, 61, 251; id. Fam. 9, 16, 10; Amm. 14, 6, 16.
-Părăsītus , i, m., = parasitos, lit. one who eats with another; hence,I. In gen., a guest (pure Lat. conviva): parasiti Jovis, the gods, Varr. ap. Aug. Civ. Dei, 6, 7; App. M. 10, p. 246, 35.—Hence, parasitus Phoebi, a player, actor, Mart. 9, 29, 9.—II. In partic., in a bad sense, one who, by flattery and buffoonery, manages to live at another's expense, a sponger, toad-eater, parasite (syn. scurra): “nos parasiti planius ... Quasi mures semper edimus alienum cibum, etc.,” Plaut. Capt. 1, 1, 7; cf. id. Pers. 1, 3, 3; id. Stich. 2, 1, 42: “parasitorum in comoediis assentatio,” Cic. Lael. 26, 98: “edaces parasiti,” Hor. Ep. 2, 1, 173; Juv. 1, 139. —Comically, of a whip: ne ulmos parasitos faciat, that he will make his elm-twigs stick to me like parasites, i. e. give me a sound flogging, Plaut. Ep. 2, 3, 5.—The tutelar deity of parasites was Hercules, Plaut. Curc. 2, 3, 79.
B.Transf., soft, tender, delicate (poet. and in post-Aug. prose):Cat. 20, 10
capella she-goat, term of reproach, a dirty fellow.
1.Spoiled with indulgence, delicate, dainty, effeminate: “multarum deliciarum comes est extrema saltatio,” id. Mur. 6: “deliciis diffluentes,” id. Lael. 15
-Vĕnustus , a, um, adj. 1. Venus,I. lovely, comely, charming, pleasing, winning, agreeable, graceful, beautiful, elegant, etc. (syn.: pulcher, formosus, speciosus). ]comoedia)-Eroeis , A.lovely, charming, “Haliē” Hes.Th.245, cf. h.Ven.263,h.Merc.31 ; “bōmos” Sapph.54, [a LESBIAN] cf. Ar.Av.246(lyr.); “Nēmertēs” Emp.122.4 ; “Helenēs tupos”
Eros1 [poet. form of erôs (cf. gelôs] I. love, desire, Hom., etc.
II. as nom. pr. Eros, the god of love, Hes.
Click for Church of Christ Legalists.
Wikipedia: Legalism, in Christian theology, is a usually pejorative term referring to an over-emphasis on discipline of conduct, or legal ideas, usually implying an allegation of misguided rigour, pride, superficiality, the neglect of mercy, and ignorance of the grace of God or emphasizing the letter of law at the expense of the spirit. They note that the Bible term for legalism is NOMOS in Galatians 2.No one in recorded history beginning with clay tablets did not know that vocal or instrumental sounds was the LADED BURDEN Jesus died to remove along with the Burden Laders. These noises attack the very wave nature of the not-seen matter God used to make us. That is why complex harmony or instruments are always defined for making war or sorcery-witchcraft. Those who impose musical sounds know that they "are making the lambs dumb before the slaughter." They cannot grasp that a Christian is a Disciple is a Student of Christ commanded to teach and observe what HE commanded to be taught.
Gal 2:16 Knowing that a man is
not justified by the WORKS of THE LAW
but by THE FAITH of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith OF Christ,
and not by the WORKS of the law:
for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.WORKS are always something you do: Ergs from ergon is the units used to measure expending energy. Doing work most often uses a machine or tool: the tool of doing work or making war is the parallel word ORGANON
X Ergon komize see to thine own tasks 1. in Il. mostly of works or deeds of war, “polemēia also erga thēke kallist' amphi komais placed [the reward of] noble deeds about his hair, Id.O.13.38. “erga Kuprogenous” Sol.26 ; “Aphroditēs” h.Ven.1 ; also “teknōnOrganon , to, X (ergon, erdō) A. instrument, implement, tool, for making or doing a thing,
3. musical instrument, ho men di' organōn ekēlei anthrōpous, of Marsyas, Pl.Smp.215c ; aneu organōn psilois logois ibid., cf. Plt.268b ; “o. polukhorda” Id.R.399c, al.; “met' ōdēs kai tinōn organōn”HOWEVER THE ORGAN OR HARP OF GOD IS:
2. organ of sense or apprehension, “ta peri tas aisthēseis o.” Pl.R.508b ;
"Holding" the harp in Revelation means "apprehending the Word of God."The Work of Aphrodite
Aphroditē [i_, hē, （aphros) II.as Appellat., sexual love, pleasure, Od.22.444; “hup' Apollōni psauein Aphroditas” Pi.O.6.35; “erga Aphroditēs”The Work of the Komo
komaō 2. plume oneself, give oneself airs, “toioutos anēr ōn poiētēs ou komō
poiētēs ou komō” Ar.Nu.545 poi-ētēs , inventor, II. composer of a poem, author, new dramas,
b. composer of music,
Aristoph. Cl. 545 Cho.
Spectators, I will freely declare to you the truth, by Bacchus, who nurtured me! So may I conquer, and be accounted skillful, as that, deeming you to be clever spectators, and this to be the cleverest of my comedies, I thought proper to let you first taste that comedy, which gave me the greatest labour.
An evil mind says that those who do not WORK anything based on a LAW or pattern for performance are LEGALISTS. But the false accuser knows what he is doing.
The Greek Literature is very clear that rhetoric, singing, playing an instrument, acting or dancing MUST be performed (an active verb) according to prescribe laws and patterns. Only the most trained and talented men became rhetoricians able to twist a lawsuit in order to win without regard to right or wrong.
Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites: in Ezekiel 33 the Spirit OF Christ named slick speakers or teachers for hire, singers and instrument players. The sign or mark was of speaker, performer and audience who had no intention of obeying God's Word.
Jesus said that God HIDES from the wise or sophists: speakers, singers, instrument players, actors or dancers.
In Ephesians 4 Paul said that IF you have elders as the only pastor-teachers their first duty is to EXPEL the cunning craftsmen or sophists: speakers, singers, instrument players or actors. Paul notes that the speakers, singers, instrument players and actors are LYING IN WAIT TO DECEIVE
In Romans 14 Paul used those identified by DIET to reject doubtful disputations or opinions or discussions which did not edify: Edify in the ekklesia means education only.Luke 24: 25 And he said unto them, `O inconsiderate and slow in heart,
to believe on all that the prophets spake!Luke 24: 26 Was it not behoving the Christ these things to suffer, and to enter into his glory?'
Luke 24: 27 and having begun from Moses, and from all the prophets, he was expounding to them in all the Writings the things about himself.
Peter said that we must not Private Interpret or "further expound" what Christ prophesied and Jesus made more certain and the eye-- and ear-- witnesses left for our memory. This says Peter is the way to mark false teachers.
In Romans 15 Paul silenced the self-pleasers who create mental excitement: the Greek areskos or latin placeo includes speakers, singers, instrument players or actors: the Purpose Driven Church he says is to "use one mind and one mouth to speak that which is written for our learning." For the promised comfort he added "Scripture for our comfort."
Paul silenced men and women who pretended to teach self-authored speeches which bring on wrath or an ORGY.
The purpose was that "all might be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth" the WORD or LOGOS.
The remedy was to silence those who were not minimal Christians or Disciples who attend School of the Word.
1 Timothy 2:5 (KJV) 5 For there is one God,And a host of other direct commands.
and one mediator between God and men,
the man Christ Jesus;
THE LOGOS OR REGULATIVE PRINCIPLE
Theophilus to Autolycus Doctrine of the trinity.The Spirit OF Christ in Isaiah 8 says of those who do not SPEAK the Word of God THERE IS NO LIGHT IN THEM. Jesus speaks the LOGOS of God as the only way to get LIGHT.
Chapter X.-The World Created by God Through the Word.
He had this Word as a helper in the things that were created by Him, and by Him He made all things.
He [Word] is called "governing principle", because He rules, and is Lord of all things fashioned by Him.He [Word] , then, being Spirit of God, and GOVERNING PRINCIPLEand wisdom, and power of the highest,came down upon the prophets, and through them spoke of the creation of the world and of all other things. (This was the Spirit of Christ, 1 Peter 1:11; Revelation 19:10)
For the prophets were not when the world came into existence,
......but the wisdom [Spirit in this instance is Sophia] of God which was in Him, and His holy Word which was always present with Him.
The Grace-Centered ConceptLegalism or NOMOS defined.
Plat. Laws 10.885d that before threatening us harshly, you should first try to convince and teach us, by producing adequate proofs, that gods exist, and that they are too good to be wheedled by gifts and turned aside from justice. For as it is, this and such as this is the account of them we hear from those who are reputed the best of poets [poiētōn], orators [rhētorōn], seers [manteōn], priests, and thousands upon thousands of others;
and consequently most of us,
instead of seeking to avoid wrong-doing,
do the wrong and then try to make it good.-Nomos , ho, ( [nemô] ) can mean "the Law of God" without respect to MOSES.
A. that which is in habitual practice, use or possession, .
I. usage, custom, Mousai melpontai pantōn te nomous kai ēthea kedna” Hes.Th.66; “n. arkhaios aristos”II. melody, strain, “oida d' ornikhōn nomōs pantōn” Alcm.67; “n. hippios” Pi.O. 1.101; “Apollōn hageito pantoiōn n.” Id.N.5.25; “n. polemikoi” Th.5.69; “epēlalaxan Arai ton oxun n.” A.Th.952 (lyr.); “krektoi n.” S.Fr. 463, cf. AP9.584: metaph., “tous Haidou n.” S.Fr.861.2. esp. a type of early melody created by Terpander for the lyre as an accompaniment to Epic texts, “n. orthios” Hdt.1.24; “n. Boiōtios” S.Fr.966; “n. kitharōdikoi” Ar.Ra.1282, cf. Pl.Lg.700d, Arist.Po.1447b26, Pr.918b13, etc.; also for the flute, “n. aulōdikos” Plu.2.1132d; without sung text, n. aulētikos ib.1133d, cf. 138b, Poll.4.79; later, composition including both words and melody, e.g. Tim.Pers.
APOLLO, ABADDON OR APOLLYON IS THE KING OF THE LOCUSTS OR MUSES:
PAUSANIAS ATTICA [1.2.5] One of the porticoes contains shrines of gods, and a gymnasium called that of Hermes.
In it is the house of Pulytion, at which it is said that a mystic rite was performed by the most notable Athenians, parodying the Eleusinian mysteries.
But in my time it was devoted to the worship of Dionysus. This Dionysus they call Melpomenus (Minstrel), on the same principle as they call Apollo Musegetes (Leader of the Muses). Here there are images of Athena Paeonia (Healer), of Zeus, of Mnemosyne (Memory) and of the Muses, an Apollo, the votive offering and work of Eubulides, and Acratus, a daemon attendant upon Apollo; it is only a face of him worked into the wall.As the leader of the Muses (Apollon Musegetes) and director of their choir, Apollo functioned as the patron god of music and poetry. Hermes created the lyre for him, and the instrument became a common attribute of Apollo. Hymns sung to Apollo were called paeans.After the precinct of Apollo is a building that contains earthen ware images, Amphictyon, king of Athens, feasting Dionysus and other gods.
-Mousa 1 [*maô] I. the Muse, in pl. the Muses, goddesses of song, music, poetry, dancing, the drama, and all fine arts, Hom.: the names of the nine were Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia or Polyhymnia, Urania, and Calliope, Hes.,
II. mousa, as appellat., music, song, Pind., Trag.:--also eloquence, Eur.:--in pl. arts, accomplishments, Ar., Plat.Melpô to sing or CELEBRATE. This "arousal singing" was always associated with Phoibos who was the BRIGHT ONE who is also Lucifer and Zoe. He competed with the Pythian spirit Paul cast out of the little TRAFFICING girl USED by men.
Melpô
Verb, celebrate with song and dance, melpontes hekaergon Il.l.c.; Phoibon Hes.l.c., cf. Pi.Fr.75.11; m. tina kata khelun E.l.c.; “tina kōmois” Ar. Th.989 (lyr.); “m. ōdais Spartēn” Anaxandr.41.19 (anap.); “m. ton posin” E.Tr.339 (lyr.). ; “tina kōmois” Ar.
—sing to the lyre or harp, “meta de sphin emelpeto theios aoidos, phormizōn” [APOLLO'S INSTRUMENT] Od.4.17, cf. 13.27; “melpeo kai kitharize” h.Merc. 476; Melpomenos, epith. of Dionysus at Athens, Paus.1.2.5; dance and sing, as a chorus,
Th.989 (lyr.); “m. ōdais Spartēn” Anaxandr.41.19 (anap.); “m. ton posin” E.Tr.339 (lyr.).
phoibos , A.pure, bright, radiant, “hudōr” Hes.Fr.274, Lyc.1009; “hēliou phoibē phlogi” A.Pr.22; “aigla”
II. as pr. n., Phoibos, ho, Phoebus, i.e. the Bright or Pure, an old epith. of Apollo, “Ph. Apollōn” Il.1.43, al.; rarely inverted, “Apollōn phoibos” 20.68,
kōmos , ho, A.revel, carousal, merry-making, deipna kai sun aulētrisi kōmoi” Pl.Tht.173d;Sing or celebrate a song and dance Melos 2. music to which a song is set, tune, Arist.Po.1450a14; opp. rhuthmos, metron, Pl.Grg. 502c; opp. rhuthmos, rhēma,
2. concrete, band of revellers, “k. euiou theou” Id.Ba.1167 (lyr.); esp. of the procession which celebrated a victor in games, Pi.P.5.22, etc.: generally, rout, band,
II. the ode sung at one of these festive processions, Pi.P.8.20, 70, O.4.10, B.8.103; “meligaruōn tektones kōmōn” Pi.N.3.5, cf. Ar.Th.104, 988 (both lyr.).
3. melody of an instrument, “phormigx d' au phtheggoith' hieron m. ēde kai aulos” Thgn.761; “aulōn pamphōnon m.”
2.music to which a song is set, tune 3. melody of an instrument, Mouso-polos, on, A.serving the Muses, poetic II. Subst., bard, minstrel, AS
THE: Aoidos (aeidō) A.singer, minstrel, bard, Il.24.720, Od.3.270, al., Hes.Th.95, Op.26,
III. = eunoukhos, Hsch.; cf. doidos.eunoukhos , ho, (eunē, ekhō)A.castrated person, eunuch, employed to take charge of the women and act as chamberlain (whence the name, ho tēn eunēn ekhōn), Hdt.3.130, al., Ar.Ach. 117, X.Cyr.7.5.60, etc.
A. Mousa 1 [known as filthy adulteresses and the LOCUSTS of Revelation]
I. the Muse, in pl. the Muses, goddesses of song, music, poetry, dancing, the drama, and all fine arts, H
II. mousa, as appellat., music, song, Pind., Trag.:--also eloquence, Eur.:--in pl. arts, accomplishments, Ar., Plat.[hypocrites]
Homer, Odyssey 1:[1] Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy. Many were the men whose cities he saw and whose mind he learned, aye, and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the sea
- Pi.N.7.81 Pindar, Nemean Odes 7
On this spot it is fitting to sing with a gentle voice of the king of gods.[22] since there is a certain solemnity in his lies and winged artfulness,
and poetic skill deceives, seducing us with stories,
and the heart of the mass of men is blind.
Strike up the song! The Muse welds together gold and white ivory with coral, the lily she has stolen from beneath the ocean's dew. [80] But in remembrance of Zeus and in honor of Nemea, whirl a far-famed strain of song, softly.
- To plough the same ground three or four times [105]
- is poverty of thought,
- like babbling "Corinth of Zeus" to children.
A. Melpontai Melpo celebrate with song and dance. Od.4.17, [make melody with singing and the phormizon or HARP of Apollo.] dance a war-dance in honour of Ares, Sing and play the kithera, sing and play the aulos or flute. Epithet of Dionysus. ;-)
Od.4.17
Homer Odyssey 4.[15] So they were feasting in the great high-roofed hall, the neighbors and kinsfolk of glorious Menelaus, and making merry; and among them a divine minstrel was singing to the lyre, and two tumblers whirled up and down through the midst of them, as he began his song.A HISTORY OF SCOFFING
Plat. Laws 2.657b all this lapse of time are the compositions of Isis. Hence, as I said, if one could by any means succeed in grasping no principle [Nomos , ho, (nemō) b. in VT, of the law of God, “en tō nomō Kuriou to thelēma autou” ] of correctness in tune, one might then with confidence reduce them to legal form and prescription, since the tendency of pleasure and pain to indulge constantly in fresh music has, after all, no very great power to corrupt choric forms that are consecrated, by merely scoffing at them as antiquated. In Egypt, at any rate, it seems to have had no such power of corrupting,—
The always pagan trinity musically worshipped at Mount Sinai was Osiris, Isis (mother, spirit) and Horus. Isis is a mother goddess like Cybele worshipped by an emasculated priesthood.
IF MUSICAL IDOLATRY AT MOUNT SINAI WAS A SIN BEYOND REDEMPTION WHY IS IT LEGALISTIC NOT TO USE IT AS A PATTERN AS DID THE TEMPLE?
Acts 7:41 And they made a calf in those days,
and offered sacrifice unto the idol,
and rejoiced in the works of their own hands.
Euphrainō , Ep. euphr-, fut. Att.155.12, Pi.I.7(6).3
II. Pass., make merry, enjoy oneself, Xen. Sym. 7.5hekelos
hekelos of persons feasting and enjoying themselves, ye will plunder them at your ease
Making Merry is defined as a Lying Wonder
Xen. Sym. 7.5 However, these questions also fail to promote the same object that wine does; but if the young people were to have a flute accompaniment and dance figures depicting the Graces, the Horae,1 and the Nymphs [of Zeus], I believe that they would be far less wearied themselves and that the charms of the banquet would be greatly enhanced.” "Upon my word, Socrates,” replied the Syracusan, “you are quite right;
and I will bring in a spectacle that will delight you.” [Lying Wonder]
1 Or, the Seasons. Or it may be used here in the Homeric sense of the maidens who kept the cloud gate of Heaven.
the-a_ma Dancing and singing of Hedonism sight, spectacle, symposium, drinking party. OPPOSITE mathēma
Acts 7:42 Then God turned,
and gave them up to worship the host of heaven;
as it is written in the book of the prophets,
O ye house of Israel, have ye offered to me slain beasts and sacrifices
by the space of forty years in the wilderness?
Acts 7:43 Yea, ye took up the tabernacle of Moloch,
and the star of your god Remphan,
figures which ye made to worship them:
and I will carry you away beyond Babylon.
The Star of David was originally the secret symbol of the stargazing priests, later adopted by the Israelite Kings David and Solomon and subsequently by the Hebrew people as a whole.
27. beyond Damascus--In Ac 7:43 it is "beyond Babylon," which includes beyond Damascus. In Amos time, Damascus was the object of Israel's fear because of the Syrian wars. Babylon was not yet named as the place of their captivity.
Stephen supplies this name. Their place of exile was in fact, as he states, "beyond Babylon," in Halah and Habor by the river Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes (2Ki 17:6; compare here Am 1:5 4:3 6:14). The road to Assyria lay through "Damascus." It is therefore specified, that not merely shall they be carried captives to Damascus, as they had been by Syrian kings (2Ki 10:32,33 13:7),
but, beyond that, to a region whence a return was not so possible as from Damascus.
They were led captive by Satan into idolatry, therefore God caused them to go captive among idolaters. Compare 2Ki 15:29 16:9 Isa 8:4, whence it appears Tiglath-pileser attacked Israel and Damascus at the same time at Ahaz' request (Am 3:1
John Mark Hicks means that LEGALISTS or PATTERNISTS are those who have never violated the commands against the performing arts and artists from the Church in the wilderness. You can have all of the Phds available to mankind and Jesus will still say that "doctors of the law take away the key to knowledge." You can have all of the scholarly learning your bank account can tolerate and never have learned that the fatal falls from grace are marked by the invasion of whom Christ called "the singing and harp-playing prostitute in the garden of Eden." She-he-it is defined as Lucifer fully documented by the Jews in contemporaneous literature and in the Greek literature.
Paul said that Christ gifted true churches with APT elders as the pastor-teachers. They are to eject the hypocritic artists because in Ephesians 4 he says that they are LYING IN WAIT TO DECEIVE. That is true because no reader of the Word of God could be ignorant of that which sowers of discord lust to impose.
Singers, instrument players, rhetoricians or actors are recorded as LIARS because they are highly trained in the LAWS which govern: any and all STAFF not devoted to the one-piece pattern of "teaching that which has been taught for Comfort and doctrine." All religious performers derived from Judaism are called cunning craftsmen and are called PARASITES because they make a living keeping you from hearing the Free Water of the Word. The Spirit OF Christ defined the REST for the Godly Jews who were quarantined and protected from the never-commanded sacrificial system both inclusively and exclusively.
The PATTERN was defined for the Church of Christ (the Rock) in the wilderness after the leaders led the people into the worship of the Egyptian etal trinity under Apis the golden calf. They rose up to PLAY meaning playing musical instruments which led to "playing with one another" in a perverted sense (Romans 1) God turned them over to worship the starry host (Acts 7 etal) and sentenced them back to Babylonianism. This is to be repeated with the rise of the same Babylonian Mother of Harlots in Revelation 17. She uses lusted after fruits (same as in Amos 8) The clergy robbed the people so that they could have wine, women and instrumental music in their temples. The result then and now is that the people were deliberately starved for the food and water of the Word and would be taken into captivity.
The Qahal, synagogue, ekklesia or Church of Christ (the Rock) was:
EXCLUSIVE of vocal or instrumental rejoicing or self-speak rhetoric. Jesus said that the mark of the sons of the Devil was men who spoke on their own.
INCLUSIVE of Rest, Reading and Rehearsing the Word only.
That pattern never changed for the godly people other than the Civil-Military-Clergy complex which God did not command. Jesus practiced the singular PATTERN of standing up to READ from the prophets and then decently and in order SAT DOWN.
That is the command throughout the Bible made possible when a group has APT elders and the Christ given pastor-teachers EXCISE the cunning craftsmen or sophists. Sophists include rhetoric, singing, playing instruments or acting. Only then is it possible to obey the pattern of TEACHING that which is written for our LEARNING.
-Plato Laws 10 [885d] that before threatening us harshly, you should first try to convince and teach us, by producing adequate proofs, that gods exist, and that they are too good to be wheedled by gifts and turned aside from justice. For as it is, this and such as this is the account of them we hear from those who are reputed the best of poets -[poiētōn], orators[rhētorōn], seers -[manteōn], oida], priests [hiereōn], and thousands upon thousands of others; and consequently most of us,
instead of seeking to avoid wrong-doing,
do the wrong and then try to make it good.
-manti^s pl. mantides Suid.s.v. Sibulla:— diviner, seer, prophet,. of Apollo and Cassandra, Id.Ag.1275; of the Pythian priestess, II. a kind of grasshopper, the praying mantis, Mantis religiosaLegalism under the NOT-commanded sacrificial system is illustrated by the Jacob-Cursed and God-Abandoned Levites. They were commanded to stand in ranks and execute any godly non-levi person who came near or into any supposed holy place. The Spirit OF Christ denied that God commanded any of the sacrificial system incuding soothsaying with instruments. Legalism is something you DO in the interest of causing people to "worship" or try to lead them into the presence of God. The definition of the Qahal, synagogue, ekklesia or Church of Christ (the Rock) in the wilderness OUTLAWED vocal or instrument rejoicing or elevated forms of speech. Jesus called the Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. In Ezekiel Christ identified preachers who make up better stories than the text, the singers and instrument players. Hicks and others TASKED to denounce those who feed him tries to equate obeying direct commands with keeping the Law of Moses. That is because they believe that Jesus Christ did not have a will and denounced anyone who disobeyed Him.-10.[909a] shall hold intercourse with them, save only those who take part in the nocturnal assembly, and they shall company with them to minister to their souls' salvation by admonition; and when the period of their incarceration has expired, if any of them seems to be reformed, he shall dwell with those who are reformed, but if not, and if he be convicted again on a like charge, he shall be punished by death. But as to all those who have become like ravening beasts, and who, besides holding that the gods are negligent
[909b] or open to bribes, despise men, charming the souls of many of the living, and claiming that they charm the souls of the dead, and promising to persuade the gods by bewitching them, as it were, with sacrifices, prayers and incantations,1 and who try thus to wreck utterly not only individuals, but whole families [Oikia household] and States for the sake of money
The ONLY meaning of LEGALISM identifies the MUSES promoting the LAWS of Apollo who is the Apollyon of Revelation. John calls the "lusted after fruits" as rhetoricians, singers and instrument players SORCERERS who had deceived the whole world.
Legalism or NOMOS defined.
-Nomos , ho, ( [nemô] ) can mean "the Law of God" without respect to MOSES.
A. that which is in habitual practice, use or possession, not in Hom. (cf. J.Ap.2.15), though read by Zenod. in Od.1.3.
I. usage, custom, Mousai melpontai pantōn te nomous kai ēthea kedna” Hes.Th.66; “n. arkhaios aristos”II. melody, strain, “oida d' ornikhōn nomōs pantōn” Alcm.67; “n. hippios” Pi.O. 1.101; “Apollōn hageito pantoiōn n.” Id.N.5.25; “n. polemikoi” Th.5.69; “epēlalaxan Arai ton oxun n.” A.Th.952 (lyr.); “krektoi n.” S.Fr. 463, cf. AP9.584: metaph., “tous Haidou n.” S.Fr.861.2. esp. a type of early melody created by Terpander for the lyre as an accompaniment to Epic texts, “n. orthios” Hdt.1.24; “n. Boiōtios” S.Fr.966; “n. kitharōdikoi” Ar.Ra.1282, cf. Pl.Lg.700d, Arist.Po.1447b26, Pr.918b13, etc.; also for the flute, “n. aulōdikos” Plu.2.1132d; without sung text, n. aulētikos ib.1133d, cf. 138b, Poll.4.79; later, composition including both words and melody, e.g. Tim.Pers.-Mousa 1 [*maô] I. the Muse, in pl. the Muses, goddesses of song, music, poetry, dancing, the drama, and all fine arts, Hom.: the names of the nine were Clio, Euterpe, Thalia, Melpomene, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia or Polyhymnia, Urania, and Calliope, Hes.,
II. mousa, as appellat., music, song, Pind., Trag.:--also eloquence, Eur.:--in pl. arts, accomplishments, Ar., Plat.Melpô to sing or CELEBRATE. This "arousal singing" was always associated with Phoibos who was the BRIGHT ONE who is also Lucifer and Zoe. He competed with the Pythian spirit Paul cast out of the little TRAFFICING girl USED by men.
Melpô
Verb, celebrate with song and dance, melpontes hekaergon Il.l.c.; Phoibon Hes.l.c., cf. Pi.Fr.75.11; m. tina kata khelun E.l.c.; “tina kōmois” Ar. Th.989 (lyr.); “m. ōdais Spartēn” Anaxandr.41.19 (anap.); “m. ton posin” E.Tr.339 (lyr.). ; “tina kōmois” Ar.
—sing to the lyre or harp, “meta de sphin emelpeto theios aoidos, phormizōn” [APOLLO'S INSTRUMENT] Od.4.17, cf. 13.27; “melpeo kai kitharize” h.Merc. 476; Melpomenos, epith. of Dionysus at Athens, Paus.1.2.5; dance and sing, as a chorus,
Th.989 (lyr.); “m. ōdais Spartēn” Anaxandr.41.19 (anap.); “m. ton posin” E.Tr.339 (lyr.).
phoibos , A.pure, bright, radiant, “hudōr” Hes.Fr.274, Lyc.1009; “hēliou phoibē phlogi” A.Pr.22; “aigla”
II. as pr. n., Phoibos, ho, Phoebus, i.e. the Bright or Pure, an old epith. of Apollo, “Ph. Apollōn” Il.1.43, al.; rarely inverted, “Apollōn phoibos” 20.68,
kōmos , ho, A.revel, carousal, merry-making, deipna kai sun aulētrisi kōmoi” Pl.Tht.173d;Sing or celebrate a song and dance Melos 2. music to which a song is set, tune, Arist.Po.1450a14; opp. rhuthmos, metron, Pl.Grg. 502c; opp. rhuthmos, rhēma,
2. concrete, band of revellers, “k. euiou theou” Id.Ba.1167 (lyr.); esp. of the procession which celebrated a victor in games, Pi.P.5.22, etc.: generally, rout, band,
II. the ode sung at one of these festive processions, Pi.P.8.20, 70, O.4.10, B.8.103; “meligaruōn tektones kōmōn” Pi.N.3.5, cf. Ar.Th.104, 988 (both lyr.).
3. melody of an instrument, “phormigx d' au phtheggoith' hieron m. ēde kai aulos” Thgn.761; “aulōn pamphōnon m.”
2.music to which a song is set, tune 3. melody of an instrument, Mouso-polos, on, A.serving the Muses, poetic II. Subst., bard, minstrel, AS
THE: Aoidos (aeidō) A.singer, minstrel, bard, Il.24.720, Od.3.270, al., Hes.Th.95, Op.26,
III. = eunoukhos, Hsch.; cf. doidos.eunoukhos , ho, (eunē, ekhō)A.castrated person, eunuch, employed to take charge of the women and act as chamberlain (whence the name, ho tēn eunēn ekhōn), Hdt.3.130, al., Ar.Ach. 117, X.Cyr.7.5.60, etc.
A. Mousa 1 [known as filthy adulteresses and the LOCUSTS of Revelation]
I. the Muse, in pl. the Muses, goddesses of song, music, poetry, dancing, the drama, and all fine arts, H
II. mousa, as appellat., music, song, Pind., Trag.:--also eloquence, Eur.:--in pl. arts, accomplishments, Ar., Plat.[hypocrites]
Homer, Odyssey 1:[1] Tell me, O Muse, of the man of many devices, who wandered full many ways after he had sacked the sacred citadel of Troy. Many were the men whose cities he saw and whose mind he learned, aye, and many the woes he suffered in his heart upon the sea
- Pi.N.7.81 Pindar, Nemean Odes 7
On this spot it is fitting to sing with a gentle voice of the king of gods.[22] since there is a certain solemnity in his lies and winged artfulness,
and poetic skill deceives, seducing us with stories,
and the heart of the mass of men is blind.
Strike up the song! The Muse welds together gold and white ivory with coral, the lily she has stolen from beneath the ocean's dew. [80] But in remembrance of Zeus and in honor of Nemea, whirl a far-famed strain of song, softly.
- To plough the same ground three or four times [105]
- is poverty of thought,
- like babbling "Corinth of Zeus" to children.
A. Melpontai Melpo celebrate with song and dance. Od.4.17, [make melody with singing and the phormizon or HARP of Apollo.] dance a war-dance in honour of Ares, Sing and play the kithera, sing and play the aulos or flute. Epithet of Dionysus. ;-)
Od.4.17
Homer Odyssey 4.[15] So they were feasting in the great high-roofed hall, the neighbors and kinsfolk of glorious Menelaus, and making merry; and among them a divine minstrel was singing to the lyre, and two tumblers whirled up and down through the midst of them, as he began his song.This "arousal singing" was always associated with Phoibos who was the BRIGHT ONE who is also Lucifer and Zoe. He competed with the Pythian spirit Paul cast out of the little TRAFFICING girl USED by men.
II. melody, strain, “oida d' ornikhōn nomōs pantōn” Alcm.67; “n. hippios” Pi.O. 1.101; “Apollōn hageito pantoiōn n.” Id.N.5.25; “n. polemikoi” Th.5.69; “epēlalaxan Arai ton oxun n.” A.Th.952 (lyr.); “krektoi n.” S.Fr. 463,
Pindar, Odes 5. The most beautiful chorus of Muses sang gladly for the Aeacids on Mt. Pelion, and among them Apollo, sweeping the seven-tongued lyre with a golden plectrum, [25][25] led all types of strains. And the Muses began with a prelude to Zeus, then sang first of divine Thetis and of Peleus; how Hippolyte, the opulent daughter of Cretheus, wanted to trap him with deceit
[40] The fortune that is born along with a man decides in every deed. And you, Euthymenes from Aegina, have twice fallen into the arms of Victory and attained embroidered hymns.Metaphor “tous Haidou n.” S.Fr.861. 2. esp. a type of early melody created by Terpander for the lyre as an accompaniment to Epic texts, “n. orthios” Hdt.1.24; “n. Boiōtios” S.Fr.966; “n. kitharōdikoi” Ar.Ra.1282, cf. Pl.Lg.700d, Arist.Po.1447b26, Pr.918b13, etc.; also for the flute, “n. aulōdikos” Plu.2.1132d; without sung text, n. aulētikos ib.1133d, cf. 138b, Poll.4.79; later, composition including both words and melody, e.g.
NOTE: the use of the HARP had ceased over 400 years before the time of Paul. The noted exception was women or if men "drunk, perverted or just mocking)
Epic verses were originally sung to musical accompaniment, but after the time of Terpander, as lyric poetry became more independently cultivated, the accompaniment of stringed instruments fell into disuse;
Music is a legalistic end-run to let the women and effeminate rule over you; got you trapped by a yellow line down the middle?
Isa 3:12 As for my people, children are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, they which lead thee cause thee to err, and destroy the way of thy paths.
5953. ALAL, aw-lal´to effect thoroughly; specifically, to glean (also figuratively); by implication (in a bad sense) to overdo, i.e. maltreat, be saucy to, pain, impose (also literal): abuse, affect, x child, defile, do, glean, mock, practise, thoroughly, work (wonderfully).
5954 THRUSTING youself, 5955 Grape Gleaning.
chALAL wound, profane, play flute, take inheritance, gather the grapes, playe on an instruments, pollute PROSTITUTE.Women oppressors
Nagas (h5065) naw-gas'; a prim. root; to drive (an animal, a workman, a debtor, an army); by impl. to tax, harass, tyrannize: - distress, driver, exact (-or), oppress (-or), * raiser of taxes, taskmaster.
Nagash (h5066) naw-gash'; a prim. root; to be or come (causat. bring) near (for any purpose); euphem. to lie with a woman; as an enemy,
Nagan (h5059) naw-gan'; a prim. root; prop. to thrum, i. e. beat a tune with the fingers; espec. to play on a stringed instrument; hence (gen.) to make music: - player on instruments, sing to the stringed instruments, melody, ministrel, play (-er, -ing..
Is.23:16 Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered.
Eze.33:32 And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument: for they hear thy words, but they do them not.
Women or ADULTERESS: I told you that the Mother of Harlots has landed when she uses "lusted after fruits" as singers and instrument players to oppress as SORCERERS: Sorcerers and DOGS are for burning.
I tracked down that mad wimmen run Ex-Church of Christ: lots of mocking the by the children playing in the parketplace piping hoping to get Jesus to bow and sing and dance the Dionysus initiation.
This speaks of some of the PROOF TEXTS used by the NACC to prove that plucking means making music in the church. However, all of their proof texts speak of this material. I think that God always sends you LIGHT and a way of ESCAPE when bad people PIPE hoping that you will bow, sing and dance the initiation. Only a few have eyes and ears. The old story is when the Locusts of Muses sting you in the right place you are liable to DIE LAUGHING.
The pattern defined as the Qahal, Synagogue or Church of Christ in the wilderness was at its heart a ONE PIECE PATTERN:
It was INCLUSIVE of Rest, Reading and Rehearsing the Word of God.
It was EXCLUSIVE of vocal or instrumental rejoicing or elevated forms of speech.
Jethro gave Moses the PATTERN before ISRAEL fell into musical idolatry and was without redemption.
Ex. 18:19 Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee:
Be thou for the people to Godward,
that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:
Ex. 18:20 And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws,
and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk,
and the work that they must do.
-Caerĭmōnĭa
A. Objectively, sacredness, sanctity (in this sense rare, and only in sing.): sanctitas regum, et caerimonia deorum. Caes. ap. Suet. Caes. 6: legationis. Cic. Rosc. Am. 39, 113; Tac. A. 4, 64B. Subjectively, a holy dread, awe, reverence, veneration of the Deity (external; while religio has regard both to internal and external reverence for God; rare except in sing.)
Hebrews 12:25 See that ye refuse not him that speaketh.
For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth,
much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
Hebrews 12:26 Whose voice then shook the earth:
but now he hath promised, saying, Y
et once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven.
Hebrews 12:27 And this word, Yet once more,
signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken,
as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.
Made is a "poetry word" meaning any song, sermon, musical instrument, ceremonial house, choirs, staff etal. You MAKE it God will BURN it.
Hebrews 12:28 Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved,
let us have grace,
whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:
Hebrews 12:29 For our God is a consuming fire.
Jesus said that the Kingdom does not come with observation: that means religious services with all of the performing arts and artists. Paul defines this as Lying Wonders of those whom God has deceived.
Jesus preached the gospel of the KINGDOM which is His singular rule in His Church.
What shall we say of people who are WAGED as a minister of the Word and is treacherous?
Cic. Rosc. Am. 39, 113 In a matter of this importance, when he to whom the character of the dead, the fortunes of the living have been recommended and entrusted, loads the dead with ignominy and the living with poverty, shall he be reckoned among honourable men, shall he even be reckoned a man at all?
Ostendo , A. n gen., to show, disclose, exhibit, manifest: ille dies cum gloriā maximā sese nobis ostendat, 2. Transf.: “vocem,” to make heard, Phaedr. 1, 13, 9.—Ex. 18:21 Moreover thou shalt provide
1. [select] To show, express, indicate by speech or signs; to give to understand, to declare, say, tell, make known, etc. (syn.: indico, declaro, significo).—With acc.: “illud ostendit,” Cic. Att. 1, 1, 4.—With obj.- or rel.-clause: “ostendit se cum rege colloqui velle,” Nep. Con. 3, 2:
out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness;
and place such over them, to be
rulers of thousands,
and rulers of hundreds,
rulers of fifties, and
rulers of tens:
That pattern was never violated by the godly tribes but by the Jacob-Cursed Levites
Both Jew and Gentile were prepared by attending the synagogues with their ONE PIECE PATTERN
Acts 15:19 Wherefore my sentence is,WHAT IS LEGALISM WHICH SEEKS PATTERNS BEYOND THE SACRED PAGES
that we trouble not them,
which from among the Gentiles are turned [BAPTIZED] to God:
Acts 15:20 But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols,
and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.
Acts 15:21 For Moses
of old time
hath in every city them that preach him,
being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.
PAUL PRACTICED AND COMMANDED THAT ONE PIECE PATTERN
2Corinthians 3:11 For if that which is done away was glorious, much more that which remaineth is glorious.
2Corinthians 3:12 Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech:
2Corinthians 3:13 And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face,
that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished:
2Corinthians 3:14 But their minds were blinded:
for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament;
which vail is done away in Christ.
2Corinthians 3:15 But even unto this day,
when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart.
2Corinthians 3:16 Nevertheless when it shall turn [BAPTIZED] to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away.
2Corinthians 3:17 Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2Corinthians 3:18 But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, [in the Word]
are changed into the same image from glory to glory,
even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
It is not very bright to define obedience to the commands of Christ in the prophets and apostles as legalism or patternism: these are RACA Words. They do not grasp that Christ defined the Ekklesia, Synagogue or School (only) of the Word (only) both inclusively and exclusively:
Violating the direct commands of Christ and imposing rhetoric, singing and instrumental performance (the Hypocritic arts) is NOT a sin without redemption. Rather, Christ says over and over that when people turn to religious performances claiming power to influence God that is a MARK of those who have no LIGHT in them.
To say that obeying the Prophecies of Christ and the direct commands of Jesus to be baptized and be added into the church as a "safe house" for Stone-Campbell ceremonialism is denying Christ.
Legalism is DOING something beyond the demands for a church as ekklesia or synagogue which the professional operators claim has the power--as with music--to lead you into the presence of God.
Read Isaiah 8 for the first time.
Isaiah 8:19 And when they shall say unto you,Jude MARKED those who MURMUR and complain:
Seek unto them that have familiar spirits,
and unto wizards that peep, and that mutter:
should not a people seek unto their God? for the living to the dead?
Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony:Yiddeoniy (h3049) yid-deh-o-nee'; from 3045; prop. a knowing one; spec. a conjurer; (by impl.) a ghost: - wizard.
"In Isa 8:19 the 'obhoth and yidh'onim are spoken of those who 'chirp and mutter." These terms refer to the necromancers themselves who practiced ventriloquism in connection with their magical rites. In Isa 29:4 it is said 'Thy voice shall be as an 'obh, out of the ground.'... They are stamped in these passages, as in the Witch of Endor narrative, as deceivers practising a fraudulent art. By implication their power to evoke spirits with whom they were in familiar intercourse is denied." (Int Std Bible Ency., ency, p. 690)
H178 ’ôb obe From the same as H1 (Ab, Ab, Lord, Lord sayers: apparently through the idea of prattling a father’s name); properly a mumble, that is, a water skin (from its hollow sound); hence a necromancer (ventriloquist, as from a jar):—bottle, familiar spirit.
Amos and Jeremiah speak of the Marzeah connected with the wine, women and musical instruments. The Marzeah was a festival WITH and FOR the DEAD: Israel had a COVENANT WITH DEATH.
"The marzeah had an extremely long history extending at least from the 14th century B.C. through the Roman period. In the 14th century B.C., it was prominently associated with the ancient Canaanite city of Ugarit (modern Ras Shamra), on the coast of Syria...
The marzeah was a pagan ritual that took the form of a social and religious association... Some scholars regard the funerary marzeah as a feast for--and with--deceased ancestors (or Rephaim, a proper name in the Bible for the inhabitants of Sheol)." (King, Biblical Archaeological Review, Aug, 1988, p. 35, 35)
"These five elements are:
........(1) reclining or relaxing,
........(2) eating a meat meal,
........(3) singing with harp or other musical accompaniment,
........(4) drinking wine and
........(5) anointing oneself with oil." (King, p. 37).
if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.
Isaiah 8:21 And they shall pass through it, hardly bestead and hungry: and it shall come to pass, that when they shall be hungry, they shall fret themselves, and curse their king and their God, and look upward.
Isaiah 8:22 And they shall look unto the earth; and behold trouble and darkness, dimness of anguish; and they shall be driven to darkness.
GOD HAS NOT SENT THE LATTER DAY PROPHETS WHO BLASPHEMEJude 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
Jude 14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
Jude 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
Jude 16 These are murmurers, complainers [blaming Fate], walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having mens persons in admiration because of advantage.
1113. goggustes, gong-goos-tace´; from 1111; a grumbler: — murmurer.
1114. goes, go´-ace; from goa¿w goao (to wail); properly, a wizard (as muttering spells), i.e. (by implication) an imposter: — seducer.goês A. sorcerer, wizard, Phoronis 2, Hdt.2.33,4.105, Pl.R. 380d, Phld.Ir.p.29 W.; g. epôidos Ludias apo chthonos E.Ba.234 , cf. Hipp.1038; prob. f.l. for boêisiHdt.7.191.
Epôidos [epaidô]I.singing to or over: as Subst. an enchanter, Eur.: c. gen. acting as a charm for or against, Aesch., Plat. 2. pass. sung or said after, morphês epôidonc alled after this form,
II. in metre, epôidos, ho, a verse or passage returning at intervals, a chorus, burden, refrain, as in Theocr.
E.Ba.234 Euripides, BacchaePentheus
[215] I happened to be at a distance from this land, when I heard of strange evils throughout this city, that the women have left our homes in contrived Bacchic rites, and rush about in the shadowy mountains, honoring with dances[220] this new deity Dionysus, whoever he is. I hear that mixing-bowls stand full in the midst of their assemblies, and that they each creep off different ways into secrecy to serve the beds of men, on the pretext that they are Maenads worshipping;[225] but they consider Aphrodite before Bacchus.2. juggler, cheat, deinos g. kai pharmakeus kai sophistês Pl.Smp.203d ; deinonkai g. kai sophistên . . onomazôn D.18.276 ; apistos g. ponêrosId.19.109 ; magoskai g. Aeschin.3.137 : Comp. goêtoteros Ach.Tat.6.7 (s. v. l.). (Cf. Lith. žavēti 'incantare'.)
Sophis-tês , ou, ho,
A.master of one's craft, adept, expert, of diviners, Hdt.2.49; of poets, meletan sophistais prosbalon Pi.I.5(4).28 , cf. Cratin.2; of musicians, sophistês . . parapaiôn chelun sophistêiThrêiki (sc. Thamyris) E.Rh.924, cf. Ath.14.632c: with modal words added, hoi s. tônhierônmelôn Pi.I.5(4).28 Pindar Isthmiah 5. But my heart
[20] cannot taste songs without telling of the race of Aeacus. I have come with the Graces for the sons of Lampon[22] to this well-governed city. If Aegina turns her steps to the clear road of god-given deeds, then do not grudge[25] to mix for her in song a boast that is fitting recompense for toils. In heroic times, too, fine warriors gained fame, and they are celebrated with lyres and flutes in full-voiced harmonies[28] for time beyond reckoning. Heroes who are honored by the grace of Zeus provide a theme for skilled poetsChelus 2.lyre (since Hermes made the first lyre by stretching strings on a tortoise's shell, which acted as a sounding-board), ib.25,153, Sapph.45, A.Fr.314; kath'heptatonon oreian ch. E.Alc.448 (lyr.), cf. HF683 (lyr.).
Jer 23:21 I have not sent these prophets,
Jer 23:22 But if they had stood in my counsel,
yet they ran:
I have not spoken to them,
yet they prophesied.
and had caused my people to hear my words,
then they should have turned them from their evil way,
and from the evil of their doings.
have heard what the prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying,
I have dreamed, I have dreamed. Jeremiah 23: 25
How long shall this be in the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies?
yea, they are prophets of the deceit of their own heart; Jeremiah 23: 26
Which think to cause my people to forget my name by their dreams, w
hich they tell every man to his neighbour,
as their fathers have forgotten my name for Baal. Jeremiah 23: 27
The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream;
and he that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully.
What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord. Jeremiah 23: 28
Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord;
and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Jeremiah 23: 29Therefore, behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his neighbour. Jeremiah 23: 30Behold, I am against the prophets,
saith the Lord, that use their tongues,
and say, He saith. Jeremiah 23: 31Behold, I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord,
and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness;
yet I sent them not, nor commanded them:
therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith the Lord. Jeremiah 23: 32
Jeremiah 23:33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask thee, saying,
What is the burden of the LORD? thou shalt then say unto them,
What burden? I will even forsake you, saith the LORD.
Jeremiah 23:34 And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the people,
that shall say, The burden of the LORD,
I will even punish that man and his house.H4853 maśśâ’ mas-saw' From H5375 ; a burden; specifically tribute, or (abstractly) porterage; figuratively an utterance, chiefly a doom, especially singing; mental, desire:—burden, carry away, prophecy, X they set, song, tribute. 1 Chronicles 15:27 the regulator or leader of singing.
ŏnus A. A burden, in respect of property, i. e. a tax or an expense (usually in the plur.):
B. A load, burden, weight, charge, trouble, difficulty of any kind (so most freq. in Cic.; cf. molestia):
Vulg. 2 Reg. 15, 33: “neque eram nescius, quantis oneribus premerere susceptarum rerum,” Cic. Fam. 5, 12, 2: “epici carminis onera lyrā sustinere,” Quint. 10, 1, 62.—
C. (Eccl. Lat.) The burden of a prophecy, the woes predicted against any one: “Babylonis,” Vulg. Isa. 13, 1: “Tyri,” id. ib. 23, 1.—With subj.gen.: “Domini,” Vulg. Jer. 23, 33: “verbi Domini,” id. Zach. 12, 1.
Carmen 5. A magic formula, an incantation: MALVM, Fragm. XII. Tab. ap. Plin. 28, 2, 4, § 17; cf. “Fragm. XII. Tab. 8, 1, a. ap. Wordsw. Fragm. and Spec. p. 260: polleantne aliquid verba et incantamenta carminum,” Plin. 28, 2, 3, § 10: carmina vel caelo possunt deducere lunam; “Carminibus Circe socios mutavit Ulixi,” Verg. E. 8, 69 sq.; so id. A. 4, 487; Hor. Epod. 5, 72; 17, 4; id. S. 1, 8, 19; Prop. 2 (3), 28, 35; Ov. M. 7, 137; 14, 58; Quint. 7, 3, 7; Tac. A. 2, 69; 4, 22 al.—6. On account of the very ancient practice of composing forms of religion and law in Saturnian verse, also a formula in religion or law, a form: “diro quodam carmine jurare,”
Plat. Laws 10.885b it has been already stated summarily what the punishment should be; and in respect of all the outrages, whether of word or deed, which a man commits, either by tongue or hand, against the gods, we must state the punishment he should suffer, after we have first delivered the admonition. It shall be as follows:—
No one who believes, as the laws prescribe, in the existence of the gods has ever yet done an impious deed voluntarily, or uttered a lawless word:
he that acts so is in one or other of these three conditions of mind—
either he does not believe in what I have said; or, secondly, he believes that the gods exist,
but have no care for men;
or, thirdly, he believes that they are easy to win over when bribed by offerings and prayers.1
1 Cf.Plat. Rep. 364b ff.
[364b] and disregard those who are in any way weak or poor, even while admitting that they are better men than the others. But the strangest of all these speeches are the things they say about the gods1 and virtue, how so it is that the gods themselves assign to many good men misfortunes and an evil life but to their opposites a contrary lot; and begging2 priests and soothsayers go to rich men's doors and make them believe that they by means of sacrifices and incantations have accumulated a treasure of power from the gods3 that can expiate and cure with pleasurable festivals
1 The gnomic poets complain that bad men prosper for a time, but they have faith in the late punishment of the wicked and the final triumph of justice.
2 There is a striking analogy between Plato's language here and the description by Protestant historians of the sale of indulgences by Tetzel in Germany. Rich men's doors is proverbial. Cf. 489 B.
3 Cf. Mill, “Utility of Religion,”Three Essays on Religion, p. 90: “All positive religions aid this self-delusion. Bad religions teach that divine vengeance may be bought off by offerings or personal abasement.” Plato, Laws 885 D, anticipates Mill. With the whole passage compare the scenes at the founding of Cloudcuckootown, Aristophanes Birds 960-990, and more seriously the medieval doctrine of the “treasure of the church” and the Hindu tapas.
Plat. Rep. 2.364c any misdeed of a man or his ancestors, and that if a man wishes to harm an enemy, at slight cost he will be enabled to injure just and unjust alike, since they are masters of spells and enchantments1 that constrain the gods to serve their end. And for all these sayings they cite the poets as witnesses, with regard to the ease and plentifulness of vice, quoting:“ Evil-doing in plenty a man shall find for the seeking;
1 In Laws 933 D both are used of the victim with epōdais, which primarily applies to the god. Cf. Lucan, Phars. vi. 492 and 527.
Epōdē , Ion. and poet. epa^oidē , hē, II. apptly., = epōdos 11,Plat. Rep. 2.364d
and a certain long and uphill road. And others cite Homer as a witness to the beguiling of gods by men, since he too said:“ The gods themselves are moved by prayers,“ Smooth is the way and it lies near at hand and is easy to enter;
But on the pathway of virtue the gods put sweat from the first step,
”Hes. WD 287-289
And men by sacrifice and soothing vows,
A NOTE ON OPEN FELLOWSHIP
There is not a remote hint that Alexander Campbell would "fellowship" the sects in the pattern of the later day spirit-guided scholars. There is no hint that Alexander Campbell or most early disciples who would fellowship in the sense of attending, affirming and thereby endorsing the sects: especially the instrumental sect.
A Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things--No. III. by Alexander Campbell, pp. 139-142.The Problem: as Justin notes that the Lord's Supper and the Psalms were in a separate room from the collective masses, some were saying that those who were not baptized beievers should be allowed to STAND or partake of the Bread and Juice.
I have no idea of seeing, nor one wish to see, the sects unite in one grand army.
But creeds of human contrivance keep up these establishments; nay, they are declared by some sects to be their very constitution.--These create, and foster, and mature that state of things which operates against the letter and spirit of the Saviour's prayer.
This would be dangerous to our liberties and laws.
For this the Saviour did not pray.
It is only the disciples of Christ dispersed among them,
that reason and benevolence would call out of them.
Let them unite who love the Lord,
and then we shall soon see the hireling priesthood
and their worldly establishments prostrate in the dust.
The disciples cannot be united while these are recognized;
and while these are not one, the world cannot be converted.
So far from being the bond of union, or the means of uniting the saints,
they are the bones of controversy, the seeds of discord,
the cause as well as the effect of division.
This is the "fellowship" which the "progressives" lust to thrust upon people to shame them for being separatists and sectarians. Alexander Campbell in A Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things makes it PERFECTLY CLEAR. In discussing the differences with the English Churches.
2d. We are not quite sure whether we understand you, when you say, "Having no fellowship in sacred things with those who confess and obey not the faith." We have no idea of a believer having fellowship in worship with an unbeliever. "How shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?" But we have known persons who entertain ideas on this subject which we judge to be unscriptural. Not only do they maintain that the church should sit together, (which we approve and practise,) but they entertain a dread of others seeming to join with them, of which we cannot perceive a trace in the word of God. Under the influence of this apprehension, some intimate to those who are present that they are not to stand up when the church prays or praises; others do not read the hymns lest any but the church should sing.
There is not a shadow of any such thing in the apostolic history. We find prayer employed by the apostles in order to bring men to the knowledge of the truth, Acts xxvii. 35. xxviii. 8. and no apprehensions are ever expressed of unbelievers appearing to join in worship by putting themselves in the same posture with believers.
Besides, where any number attend there generally are some disciples of Christ not connected with the church, and who consequently can, and do join in prayer and praise; and we know no reason why any man should forbid them. We know it has been said we might as well admit unbelievers to the Lord's supper as suffer them to stand up along with the church in prayer or praise.
But by receiving them to break bread, we acknowledge them to be disciples, members of the body of Christ; whereas their placing themselves in the same posture with the church, implies no acknowledgment of them, on our part, as believers.
On the whole, we think any attempt to prevent the hearers from assuming the same posture as the church, in any part of their worship, is unscriptural. It gives a false view of the encouragement given by Jesus to sinners, and while it has a show of faithfulness, it is calculated to foster a temper towards those who are without very different from what Christ has enjoined on his people. We do not know that your sentiments, beloved, differ from our own on this subject. If they do, we trust you will take our observations in good part, as we have known much evil result from the practice to which we have referred
It is legalism to use those patterns in such a way that they undermine salvation by grace through faith.
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us,
Ephesians 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins,
hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Ephesians 2:6 And hath raised us up together,
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Irenaeus Apostolic Preaching: 3. Now, that we may not suffer ought of this kind, we must needs hold the rule of the faith without deviation, and do the commandments of God, believing in God and fearing Him as Lord and loving Him as Father. Now this doing is produced |72 by faith: for Isaiah says: If ye believe not, neither shall ye understand. [10. Isa. vii. 9 ]
And faith is produced by the truth; for faith rests on things that truly are.
For in things that are, as they are, we believe; and believing in things that are, as they ever are, we keep firm our confidence in them.
Since then faith is the perpetuation of our salvation, we must needs bestow much pains on the maintenance thereof, in order that we may have a true comprehension of the things that are. Now faith occasions this for us; even as the Elders, the disciples of the Apostles, have handed down to us.
First of all it bids us bear in mind that we have received baptism for the remission of sins, in the name of God the Father, and in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who was incarnate and died and rose again, and in the Holy Spirit of God. And that this baptism is the seal of eternal life, and is the new birth and is over all things that are made, and all things are put under Him |73 and all the things that are put under Him are made His own; for God is not ruler and Lord over the things of another, but over His own; and all things are God's; and therefore God is Almighty, and all things are of God. unto God, that we should no longer be the sons of mortal men, but of the eternal and perpetual God; and that what is everlasting and continuing is made God;
SALVATION FROM WHAT?
Ephesians 2:1 And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins;
Because of Musical Idolatry God turned the Israelites over to worship the starry host (Acts 7 etc). The "play" they engaged in was the musical idolatry of the Egyptian triad imaged by Apis the golden calf.
The starry host was "Sabazianism" and being a goyim or national religion was called "demonism" by Paul speaking of Mount Sinai.
THIS LEVEL OF SALVATION IS "FROM THAT CROOKED RACE" OF VIPERS. They WANT to be baptized with WIND (spirit) and FIRE because they are denied water baptism by John.
RELIGIONISTS OUTSIDE OF GOD'S GRACESōzō sōs in Pass. to come safe, escape to a place,
2. to carry off safe, rescue from danger, ek polemou Il.; ek thanatoio Od.; apo strateias gen., ekhthrōn sōsai khthona to rescue the land from enemies, Soph.; Pass., sōthēnai kakōn Eur.
kakē a^, hē, (kakos) A. wickedness, vice, 2. baseness of spirit, cowardice, sloth,
Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Kosmos , ho, natgural, II.rnament, decoration, esp. of women; “hieros k.” OGI90.40 (Rosetta, ii B. C.): pl., ornaments, A.Ag.1271; “hoi peri to sōma k.” Isoc.2.32: metaph., of ornaments of speech, such as epithets, Id.9.9 (pl.), Arist.Rh.1408a14, Po.1457b2, 1458a33; hadumelē k. keladein to sing sweet songs of praise, Pi.O.11 (10).13 (s.v.l.).John Mark Hicks: That is my summary of what I thought was the sentiment of Cecil May, Jr.’s concluding comments in his February 3, 2009 Freed-Hardeman Lectureship speech (see my previous post).
4. men in general, “phanerōson [FAMOUS] seauton tō k.” Ev.Jo.7.4, cf. 12.19; esp. of the world as estranged from God by sin, ib.16.20, 17.9, al., 1 Ep.Cor. 1.21, etc.Hēdu^-melēs , Dor. had- , Aeol. ad- , es,A. sweet-singing, “khelidoi” Anacr.67, cf. Sapph.122（Comp.), Pi.N.2.25; sweet-sounding, “xoana” S.Fr.238, etc.: poet. fem., “hēdumeleia surigx” Nonn.D.29.287.
Surigx , iggos, hē,Pind. O. 11 There is a time when men's need for winds is the greatest, and a time for waters from the sky, the rainy offspring of clouds. But when anyone is victorious through his toil, then honey-voiced odes [5] become the foundation for future fame, and a faithful pledge for great deeds of excellence. This praise is dedicated to Olympian victors, without stint. My tongue wants to foster such themes; [10] but it is by the gift of a god that a man flourishes with a skillful mind, as with anything else. For the present rest assured, Hagesidamus son of Archestratus: for the sake of your boxing victory, I shall loudly sing a sweet song, an adornment for your garland of golden olive, [15] while I honor the race of the Western Locrians. There, Muses, join in the victory-song; I shall pledge my word to you that we will find there a race that does not repel the stranger, or is inexperienced in fine deeds, but one that is wise and warlike too. For [20] neither the fiery fox nor loud-roaring lions change their nature.A. shepherd's pipe, Panspipe, “aulōn suriggōn t' enopē” Il.10.13; “nomēes terpomenoi surigxi” 18.526; “suriggōn enopē” h.Merc.512; “hupo ligurōn suriggōn hiesan audēn” Hes.Sc.278; “ou molpan suriggos ekhōn” S.Ph.213 (lyr.); kalaminē s. Ar.Fr.719; “kat' agrous tois nomeusi surigx an tis eiē” Pl.R.399d.2. cat-call, whistle, hiss, as in theatres, Id.Lg.700c; cf. “surizō” 11.2, surigmos:—the last part of the nomos Puthikos was called surigges, prob. because it imitated the dying hisses of the serpent Pytho, Str.9.3.10.3. mouthpiece of the aulos,
This Judas bag is from the Greek:
Glosokomon (g1101) gloce-sok'-om-on; from 1100 (speaking in tongues) and the base of 2889; prop. a case to keep mouthpieces of wind-instruments in, i.e. (by extens.) a casket or (spec.) purse: - bag.
It is made up of two words:
1. Glossa (from Strong's g1100) means "speaking in tongues" especially an unacquired one.
2. Kosmos (g2889) means the "orderly arrangement" or the "adorning" world. this is derived from (g2864 or Komizo which means "to carry off."
Kosmos (g2889) kos'-mos; prob. from the base of 2865; orderly arrangement, i.e. decoration; by impl. the world (in a wide or narrow sense, includ. its inhab., lit. or fig. [mor.]): - adorning, world.
"Yet, through all there was an overarching harmony. The Greek word cosmos which we translate by universe originally meant beauty and harmony.
The Pythagoreans discovered mathematical formulae for the musical harmonies. They believed in the harmony of the sounds produced by the movement of the stars.
Therefore, they spoke of cosmic harmony of the spheres, each of
which has a different sound, but all together creating a harmonious sound. If you delete the half-poetic, mythological elements from such ideas, then you can say that they had a universal, ecstatic interpretation of reality." (Tillich, Paul, A History of Christian Thought, Touchstone, p. 333).
Kosmocrator (g2888) kos-mok-rat'-ore; from 2889 and 2902; a world-ruler, an epithet of Satan: - ruler.
Kraeteo (g2902) krat-eh'-o; from 2904; to use strength, i.e. seize or retain (lit. or fig.): - hold (by, fast), keep, lay hand (hold) on, obtain, retain, take (by).
Rulers of the darkness of this world (Gk: Kosmokrator 2888) meaning "holders of this world, or Lord of the world. This is used of Satan and his angels (John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4).
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
2Corinthians 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, [panourgia] nor handling the word of God deceitfully; [doloō] but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience [suneidēsin] in the sight of God.
Craftiness and Sophistry is something performed "OF THEMSELVES"
sophos , ē, on, A. skilled in any handicraft or art, clever, Margites Fr.2; but in this sense mostly of poets and musicians, Pi.O.1.9, P.1.42, 3.113; en kithara s. E.IT1238 (lyr.all the en oiōnois, kithara, E. IT662, 1238 (lyr.) en oiōnois, kithara, E. IT662, 1238 (lyr.)
2Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
2Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
1 Corinthians 1:21 epeidē gar en tē sophia tou theou ouk egnō ho kosmos dia tēs sophias ton theon, eudokēsen ho theos dia tēs mōrias tou kērugmatos sōsai tous pisteuontas.
1 Corinthians 1.21 For seeing that in the wisdom of God, the world through its wisdom didn't know God, it was God's good pleasure through the foolishness of the preaching to save those who believe.
The wisdom of the Kosmos is:
Sophia , A. cleverness or skill in handicraft and art
Hephaestus and Athena, Pl.Prt.32 1d; of Daedalus and Palamedes, X.Mem.4.2.33, cf. 1.4.2; in music and singing, tekhnē kai s. h.Merc.483, cf. 511; in poetry, divination
speculative wisdom, EN
Anything you can make or compose: poieō
Hdt.1.23, 4.14; “p. theogoniēn Hellēsi” Id.2.53; p. Phaidran, Saturous, Ar.Th.153, 157; p. kōmōdian, tragōdian, etc., Pl.Smp.223d; “palinōdian” Isoc.10.64, Pl.Phdr.243b, etc.; “poiēmata” Id.Phd.60d: abs., write poetry, write as a poet,
Cecil May What is Fellowship?
To consider the questions being presently considered, it is necessary to determine, “What exactly would be the result of the ‘restoration of fellowship’ that is sought?”We should noet that there was never any institutional union or unity with the Disciples of Christ-Christian Churches. "Fellowship" ALWAYS means that people will SUBJECT the lambs to the use of the hypocritic arts and crafts: rhetoric, performance singing and the use of instruments. History is absolute in proving that such music has always been the way for evil people to "set their lies to melodies to deceive the simple."
Fellowship, by definition, is joint participation. When the issue that separates is the use of the instrument in the assembly, “fellowship” seems to suggest assembling together, jointly using instruments in worship.
John Mark Hicks: In this post and in a subsequent one, I will illustrate how this point has functioned in the thinking of two significant leaders in the Stone-Campbell Movement: Alexander Campbell and J. D. Thomas. Both were patternists (to differing degrees), but did not permit their patternism to trump the fundamental truth of the gospel: we are saved by grace through faith and not by works.
"Grace" like Word and Spirit is another designator of Jesus of Nazareth Whom God made to be both Lord and Christ.
THIS LEVEL OF SALVATION IS "FROM THAT CROOKED RACE" OF VIPERS. They WANT to be baptized with WIND (spirit) and FIRE because they are denied water baptism by John.
HOW ARE WE SAVED FROM THAT CROOKED RACE?Sōzō sōs in Pass. to come safe, escape to a place,
2. to carry off safe, rescue from danger, ek polemou Il.; ek thanatoio Od.; apo strateias gen., ekhthrōn sōsai khthona to rescue the land from enemies, Soph.; Pass., sōthēnai kakōn Eur.
kakē a^, hē, (kakos) A. wickedness, vice, 2. baseness of spirit, cowardice, sloth,
Pistos (B), ē, on, (peithō):
2. obedient, loyal, “tēn tōn Athēnaiōn khōran oikeian kai p. poiēsasthai” X.HG2.4.30.
3. faithful, believing, Act.Ap.16.1, IG3.3435.C. Adv. pistōs with good faith, “mē p. katamarturētheis” Antipho 2.4.7 ; loyally, D.3.26 : Comp. -oterōs Aen.Tact.22.17.THE CROOKED RACE IS BUILT UPON THE FOUNDATION THAT GRACE WILL ALLOW THEM TO SIN. They do not have any choice: Jesus was sent to the lost spirits of spiritual israel.RELIGIONISTS OUTSIDE OF GOD'S GRACE
Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this WORLD,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Ephesians 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this WORLD,
according to the prince of the power of the air,
the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Kosmos , ho, natgural, II. ornament, decoration, esp. of women; “hieros k.”metaph., of ornaments of speech, such as epithetsto sing sweet songs of praise,THIS IS WHAT SATAN HAD THE RIGHT TO OFFER JESUS
Hēdu^-melēs , A. sweet-singing, “khelidoi” Anacr.67, cf. Sapph.122（Comp.), Pi.N.2.25; sweet-sounding, “xoana” S.Fr.238, etc.: poet. fem., “hēdumeleia surigx” Nonn.D.29.287.
PSALM 22 Prophesied that the DOGS would encompass Jesus: reproach him, expose his nakedness, sodomize according to historical understand.
PSALM 41 PROPHESIED THAT JUDAS WOULD NOT TRIUMPH OVER JESUS.
JUDAS WAS THE SON OF PERDITION.
The Judas bag is from the Greek:
Glosokomon (g1101) gloce-sok'-om-on; from 1100 (speaking in tongues) and the base of 2889; prop. a case to keep mouthpieces of wind-instruments in,It is made up of two words:A PROPHETIC PICTURE OF THE MUSICAL WORSHIP TEAM (note the Judas bag on the flute case)
1. Glossa (from Strong's g1100) means "speaking in tongues" especially an unacquired one.
2. Kosmos (g2889) means the "orderly arrangement" or the "adorning" world. this is derived from (g2864 or Komizo which means "to carry off."
THE RULER OF THIS KOSMOS IS
Kosmocrator (g2888) kos-mok-rat'-ore; from 2889 and 2902; a world-ruler, an epithet of Satan: - ruler.
Kraeteo (g2902) krat-eh'-o; from 2904; to use strength, i.e. seize or retain (lit. or fig.): - hold (by, fast), keep, lay hand (hold) on, obtain, retain, take (by).
Rulers of the darkness of this world (Gk: Kosmokrator 2888) meaning "holders of this world, or Lord of the world. This is used of Satan and his angels (John 12:31; 2 Corinthians 4:4).
John 12:31 Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
2Corinthians 4:2 But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, [panourgia] nor handling the word of God deceitfully; [doloō] but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man’s conscience [suneidēsin] in the sight of God.
Craftiness and Sophistry is something performed "OF THEMSELVES"
sophos , ē, on, A. skilled in any handicraft or art, clever, Margites Fr.2; but in this sense mostly of poets and musicians, Pi.O.1.9, P.1.42, 3.113; en kithara s. E.IT1238 (lyr.all the en oiōnois, kithara, E. IT662, 1238 (lyr.) en oiōnois, kithara, E. IT662, 1238 (lyr.)
2Corinthians 4:3 But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost:
2Corinthians 4:4 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.
2Corinthians 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
Pind. O. 11 There is a time when men's need for winds is the greatest, and a time for waters from the sky, the rainy offspring of clouds. But when anyone is victorious through his toil, then honey-voiced odes [5] become the foundation for future fame, and a faithful pledge for great deeds of excellence. This praise is dedicated to Olympian victors, without stint. My tongue wants to foster such themes; [10] but it is by the gift of a god that a man flourishes with a skillful mind, as with anything else. For the present rest assured, Hagesidamus son of Archestratus: for the sake of your boxing victory, I shall loudly sing a sweet song, an adornment for your garland of golden olive, [15] while I honor the race of the Western Locrians. There, Muses, join in the victory-song; I shall pledge my word to you that we will find there a race that does not repel the stranger, or is inexperienced in fine deeds, but one that is wise and warlike too. For [20] neither the fiery fox nor loud-roaring lions change their nature.
It is a lie to teach that the "pattern" of obeying "that which is written for our learning" is a product of rationalists or John Calvin. The Bible and all scholarship teaches that the church is built or educated on the Prophets and Apostles. "Scholars" do not grasp that the Spirit OF Christ spoke through the prophets and Jesus made the prophecies made more perfect. Christ defines the future REST both inclusively and exclusively.
Number 1. August 1, 1825, pp. 171-178 THE apostles were commissioned by the Lord to teach the disciples to observe all things he had commanded them. Now we believe them to have been faithful to their master, and consequently he gave them to know his will.
Whatever the disciples practised in their meetings with the approbation of the apostles,
is equivalent to an apostolic command to us to do the same.
To suppose the contrary, is to make the half of the New Testament of non-effect. For it does not altogether consist of commands, but of approved precedents. Apostolic example is justly esteemed of equal authority with an apostolic precept. Hence, say the Baptists, shew us where Paul or any apostle sprinkled an infant, and we will not ask you for a command to go and do likewise. It is no derogation from the authority for observing the first day of the week, to admit that christians are no where in this volume commanded to observe it. But the thought is inadmissible, consequently the order of worship they gave the churches was given them by their Lord, and their example is of the same force with a broad precept.
Why would anyone believe that Alexander would or DID fellowship (affirm, defend, support) those who could not understand the simple CENI of Jesus Christ? Like everyone else, when Alexander Campbell grasped that the Word of Christ is the authority for faith an practices he WOULD NOT fellowship collectively with a Baptist church. Rather he DID SAY that they should "come out of Babylon."
Mark 1:4 John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mark 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
Luke 4:18 The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
John Mark Hicks: In the 1825 Christian Baptist Alexander Campbell inaugurated his famous series “A Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things.” He thereby introduced “restoration” as a key term in the self-understanding of the Stone-Campbell Movement. A patternism of some sort inheres in the idea of “restoration” as Campbell used it.
John Calvin Restoration of the Church of Christ.
For where can I exert myself to better purpose or more honestly, where, too, in a matter at this time more necessary, than in attempting, according to my ability, to aid the Church of Christ, whose claims it is unlawful in any instance to deny, and which is now in grievous distress, and in extreme danger?John Mark Hicks: Campbell assumed (1) “there is a divinely authorized order of Christian worship in Christian assemblies” and (2) “the acts of worship on the first day of the week in Christian assemblies is uniformly the same.” The “authorized order” is the “same acts of religious worship” that “are to be performed every first day in every assembly of disciples” (CB 3 [4 July 1825] 164-166). Campbell believed there is a pattern (his favorite word for it, in good Reformed fashion, was “order”). Subsequent essays explained the role of breaking bread (Lord’s Supper), fellowship (contribution), and praise (singing). In addition, the “ancient order” included topics such as congregational polity (bishops, deacons) and discipline.
But there is no occasion for a long preface concerning myself. Receive what I say as you would do if it were pronounced by the united voice
of all those who either have already taken care to restore the Church,
or are desirous that it should be restored to true order.
If it be inquired, then, by what things chiefly the Christian religion has a standing existence amongst us, and maintains its truth, it will be found that the following two not only occupy the principal place, but comprehend under them all the other parts, and consequently the whole substance of Christianity,
viz., a knowledge,
first, of the mode in which God is duly worshipped; and,
secondly, of the source from which salvation is to be obtained.When these are kept out of view, though we may glory in the name of Christians, our profession is empty and vain. After these come the Sacraments and the Government of the Church, which, as they were instituted for the preservation of these branches of doctrine, ought not to be employed for any other purpose; and, indeed, the only means of ascertaining whether they are administered purely and in due form, or otherwise, is to bring them to this test. If any one is desirous of a clearer and more familiar illustration,
I would say, that rule in the Church, the pastoral office, and all other matters of order, resemble the body,
whereas the doctrine which regulates the due worship of God,and points out the ground on which the consciences of men must rest their hope of salvation,
is the soul which animates the body, renders it lively and active, and, in short,
makes it not to be a dead and useless carcase.As to what I have yet said, there is no controversy among the pious, or among men of right and sane mind.
Let us now see what is meant by the due worship of God. Its chief foundation is to acknowledge Him to be, as He is, the only source of all virtue, justice, holiness, wisdom, truth, power, goodness, mercy, life, and salvation;in accordance with this, to ascribe and render to Him the glory of all that is good, to seek all things in Him alone, and in every want have recourse to Him alone.
Number 12. July 4, 1825, pp. 161-169. But, to make this matter evident to children as well as men, we will carry it a little farther. One society of disciples meets on the first day morning and they all dance till evening, under the pretext that this is the happiest way of expressing their joy, and when they have danced themselves down they go home. Now in this there is no disorder, error, innovation, or transgression, for there is no divinely authorized order of Christian worship. The reader will observe that we do not suppose human laws or regulations of any consequence in this matter. Men may regulate the worship they require for themselves and for one another; and in relation to those regulations there may be disorder, error, innovation, and transgression.
But as none but the Lord can prescribe or regulate the worship due to himself and profitable to us; so, if he have done it, human regulations are as vain and useless as attempts to prevent the ebbing of the sea or the waxing and waning of the moon.
But to proceed: Another society meets for worship, and they sing all day; another shouts all day; another runs as in a race all day; another lies prostrate on the ground all day; another reads all day; another hears one man speak all day; another sits silent all day; another waves palm branches all day; another cries in the forenoon and listens to the organ in the afternoon; and it is all equally right, lawful, orderly, and acceptable; for there is no divinely authorized order of Christian worship. We are then, on the principles of reason, constrained to abandon this side of the dilemma,
and give up the hypothesis that there is no divinely authorized order of Christian worship. Now as one of the only two supposable cases must be abandoned, it follows by undeniable consequence, that there is a divinely authorized order of Christian worship in Christian assemblies.
John Mark Hicks: Campbell’s series intended to identify particulars where the “church of the present day” needed to be brought up to the “standard of the New Testament.” To “restore the ancient order of things” is to “bring the disciples individually and collectively, to walk in the faith, and in the commandments of the Lord and Saviour, as presented in that blessed volume” (CB 3 [7 February 1825] 124-128).
What John Mark Hicks fails to acknowledge that this is an--
Extract from the Minutes of the Baptist Missionary Association of Kentucky, began and held at the Town-Fork Meeting House, in Fayette county, on Saturday, the 11th September, 1824.
It is clear that the “ancient order” is serious business for Campbell. It is a matter of obedience to the commands of the New Testament. The series was a call to the church of his day to conform to the “order” contained in the New Testament, that is, to conform to the apostolic pattern in the New Testament.Campbell responded:
"It is obvious to the most superficial observer, who is at all acquainted with the state of Christianity and of the church of the New Testament, that much, very much is wanting, to bring the Christianity and the church of the present day up to that standard--In what this deficiency consists, and how it is to be remedied, or whether it can be remedied at all, are the points to be discovered and determined.In the deliberations intended, it is designed to take these subjects into serious consideration, and to report the result by way of suggestion and advisement to the Baptist Christian community,
John Mark Hicks: The interesting question, however, is whether he thought the “order” he discerned within the New Testament was a test of fellowship among believers.A restoration of the ancient order of things
is all that is necessary to the happiness and usefulness of christians.
No attempt "to reform the doctrine, discipline and government of the church,"
(a phrase too long in use,) can promise a better result than those
which have been attempted and languished to death.
We are glad to see, in the above extract, that the thing proposed,
is to bring the christianity and the church of the present day up to the standard of the New Testament.
Extract: and to the churches to which the members of the meeting may particularly belong. We know very well that nothing can be done right which is not done according to the gospel, or done effectually which is not done by the authority, and accompanied by the blessing of God. While God must do the work, we desire to know, and to acquiesce in his manner of doing it, and submissively to concur and obediently to go along with it."Did he believe that conformity to this order was necessary to salvation? Was it his intent to identify the marks of the church that defined the true church so that every other body of believers who did not conform to those marks was apostate and thus outside the fellowship of God?
The Real Campbell: That the fact should be acknowledged and lamented, that VERY MUCH IS WANTING TO BRING THE CHRISTIANITY AND THE CHURCH OF THE PRESENT DAY UP TO THE NEW TESTAMENT STANDARD amongst a people so intelligent, so respectable in numbers, and so influential, as the Baptist society in Kentucky; and that leaders of that community, so erudite, so pious, and so influential, should call upon their brethren to lay these things to heart, and to prepare themselves to make an effort towards reform, we hail as a most auspicious event.
The question remains yet to be decided, whether a conference of Methodistic clergy, with its bishop in its chair, and laity at home, is any reformation at all from a conclave of English prelates, headed by a metropolitan or an archbishop. It is even uncertain whether the Methodistic discipline has led more people to heaven, or made them happier on earth, than the rubric or liturgy of England.All the famous reformations in history have rather been reformations of creeds and of clergy, than of religion.
Since the New Testament was finished,
it is fairly to be presumed that there cannot be any reformation of religion, [127] properly so called.
Though called reformations of religion, they have always left religion where it was.
A disciple could never ask: "Is that a salvation issue." What is truth? They Word is truth. We don't decide salvation issues. John Mark Hicks implies that it is NOT a salvation issue and is therefore the judge.
Number 8. March 6, 1826, pp. 220-225. DEAR BROTHER--FOR such I recognize you, notwithstanding the varieties of opinion which you express on some topics, on which we might never agree. But if we should not, as not unity of opinion, but unity of faith, is the only true bond of christian union, I will esteem and love you, as I do every man, of whatever name, who believes sincerely that Jesus is the Messiah, and hopes in his salvation.Whatever the truth, Campbell noted that some things mitigate against any unity or "unionism."
And as to the evidence of this belief and hope, I know of none more decisive than an unfeigned obedience, and willingness to submit to the authority of the Great King.
Number 4. November 7, 1825, pp. 192-198. "And truly this custom, which enjoins communicating once a year, is a most evident contrivance of the Devil, by whose instrumentality soever it may have been determined."Number 8. March 6, 1826, pp. 220-225. Your objection to the weekly breaking of bread, if I can call it an objection, equally bears against the meeting of disciples at all, for any purpose, on the first day. For if you will allow that if they meet at all, there is no difficulty insurmountable, in the way of attending to this, more than to any other institution of Jesus. As often as they can assemble for worship on that day, let them attend to all the worship, and means of edification, and comfort, which their gracious sovereign has appointed.Alexander Campbell, being a Disciple of Christ, would never question "is that a salvation issue." A Disciple goes to BIBLE school and if a church was playing the organ or dancing or anything else he DID NOT fellowship them. You cannot FELLOWSHIP in the Hicksian sense without endorsing and affirming them as "just fine but different."
Number 10. May 5, 1828, pp. 437-444. No. XXIV The decorum of a public assembly is well defined, both in the sacred oracles and in the good sense of all persons of reflection. And if disciples meet not "for doing business,"John Mark Hicks: This was implicitly raised in the Christian Baptist by one of Campbell’s critics. Spencer Clack, the editor of the Baptist Recorder, wondered whether Campbell’s “ancient order” functioned similarly to the written creeds to which Campbell mightily objected (CB 5 [6 August 1827] 359-360). Campbell’s response is illuminating. He maintained that his “ancient order” was no creed precisely because he had “never made them, hinted that they should be, or used them as a test of christian character or terms of christian communion” (CB 5 [3 September 1827] 369-370, emphasis mine–and thanks to Bobby Valentine who was the first to call my attention to this statement).
but for edification, prayer and praise, or discipline, they will never need any other platform or rules of decorum, than the writings of Paul, Peter, James and John.Brother Semple, when I hear you call the church a "a corporation," the Bible "its charter," and the creed its "by-laws;" or, perhaps, you make the essay on discipline its by-laws: I say, when I hear a baptist bishop of such eminence, in the state of Virginia, in the reign of grace 1828, thus express himself, I feel almost constrained to take up my parable and sing--
But if you, brother Semple, will have the daughter attired like her mother; or if you wish any sect to become respectable in the eyes of those acquainted with the fashions in London and Rome, you must have sectarian colleges under the patronage of churches, and churches under the patronage of associations, and associations under the patronage of state conventions, and state conventions under the patronage of a constitution, creed, and book of discipline, called "church government."
And the nigher these two latter approximate to the see of Canterbury, or that of Rome, the more useful and honorable will they appear in the estimation of such christians as are deemed orthodox in the District of Columbia. I feel very conscious that the less you and other good christians say about "church government," in the popular sense, the better for its safety with the people, who have contended for something, they know not what, under this name. And just as certain am I, that if the laws governing moral and religions demeanor in [441] the epistles are regarded, as they must be by all who are really taught by God, there will be found no need for our by-laws or regulations in the congregation of the faithful, not even in cases of discipline when transgressors present themselves.
"By Babel's streams we sat and wept, "When Zion we thought on;
"In midst thereof we hang'd our harps "The willow trees upon."
He DID make the Apostolic examples a terms of christian communion in the sense that Campbell did not force non-members to sit during pray, not sing the psalms and not partake of the Lord's Supper. He would not make STONE'S or the Stone-Campbell Sect stand in the way of accepting everyone. He never envisioned fellowship between what he called sects.
What functioned as a standard is the Biblical record of what was done in the assembly. Campbell refused any Sectarian Union specificially because Stone wanted an organization which could never function without a Creed.
No. 1 pp. 124-128. All the famous reformations in history have rather been reformations of creeds and of clergy, than of religion.Campbel said that HUMAN CREEDS could not be a test of fellowship: He assuredly did not and would not fellowship those who went beyond the Biblical Statements. Because the Campbells taught:
Since the New Testament was finished,
it is fairly to be presumed that there cannot be any reformation of religion, [127] properly so called. Though called reformations of religion, they have always left religion where it was. I do not think that King Harry was a whit more religious when he proclaimed himself head of the church of England, than when writing against Luther on the seven sacraments, as a true son of the church of Rome. It is even questionable whether Luther himself, the elector of Saxony, the Marquis of Brandenburg, the Duke of Lunenburg, the Landgrave of Hesse, and the Prince of Anhalt, were more religious men when they signed the Augsburg Confession of Faith than when they formerly repeated their Ave Maria.
A restoration of the ancient order of things
is all that is necessary to the happiness and usefulness of christians.
No attempt "to reform the doctrine, discipline and government of the church,"
(a phrase too long in use,) can promise a better result than those
which have been attempted and languished to death.
Church is A School of Christ
Worship is Reading and Musing The Word of God.
No. V On the supposition that there is not, then the following absurdities are inevitable: There can be no disorder in the Christian assembly;
there can be no error in the acts of social worship;
there can be no innovation in the department of observances;
there can be no transgression of the laws of the King.
Far these reasons, viz. where there is no order established there can be no disorder, for disorder is acting contrary to established order; where there is no standard there can be no error, for error is a departure or a wandering from a standard; where there is nothing fixed there can be no innovation, for to innovate is to introduce new things amongst those already fixed and established; and where there is no law there can be no transgression, for a transgression is a leaping over or a violating of legal restraints.
Those, then, who contend that there is no divinely authorized order of Christian worship in Christian assemblies, do at the same time, and must inevitably maintain, that there is no disorder, no error, no innovation, no transgression in the worship of the Christian church--no, nor ever can be. This is reducing one side of the dilemma to what may be called a perfect absurdity.
John Mark Hicks: The pattern–the ancient order–was not a test of fellowship. It did not define Christian character. Campbell believed it was biblical and apostolic, but he did not believe obedience to it was a condition of salvation. The pattern was not a soteriological category, but rather an ecclesiological one.
No. I. The christian is a man. He has the feelings of a man. He has a taste for society; but it is the society of kindred minds. The religion of Jesus Christ is a religion for men; for rational, for social, for grateful beings. It has its feasts, and its joys, and its extacies too. The Lord's house is his banqueting place, and the Lords day is his weekly festival.
But a sacrament, an annual sacrament, or a quarterly sacrament, is like the oath of a Roman soldier, from which it derives its name, often taken with reluctance, and kept with bad faith. It is as sad as a funeral parade. The knell of the parish bell that summonses the mourners to the house of sorrow, and the tocsin that awakes the recollection of a sacramental morn, are heard with equal dismay and aversion. The seldomer they occur, the better. We speak of them as they appear to be; and if they are not what they appear to be, they are mere exhibitions of hypocrisy and deceit, and serve no other purpose than as they create a market for silks and calicoes, and an occasion for the display of beauty and fashion.
Amongst the crowds of the thoughtless and superstitious that frequent them, it is reasonable to expect to find a few sincere and devout; but this will not justify their character, else the worshippers of saints and angels might be excused; for many of the sincere and devout say, Amen!
John Mark Hicks: If he did not identify these ecclesiological particulars as tests of fellowship, then what was the purpose of the series? He tells us. He believed that the restoration of the ancient order, though not necessary for fellowship and salvation, was “the perfection, happiness, and glory of the Christian community.”
In other words, it was a means toward the unity of all believers.
Restoration of the ancient order was not for the purpose determining true vs. apostate churches, but rather to set out a program upon which all believers might unite on the New Testament alone.
No. XXI. PSALM and hymn singing, like every other part of christian worship, has been corrupted by sectarianism. This demon, whose name is Legion, has possessed all our spirits, and given a wrong direction to almost all our religious actions. A consistent sectary not only contends for a few dry abstract opinions, nicknamed "articles of belief," or "essential points," but these he sings and prays with a zeal proportioned to the opposition made to them. How loud and how long does the Arminian sing his free grace, while he argues against the Calvinists' sovereign grace. And in what animating strains does the Calvinist sing of his imputed righteousness in the presence of the Arminian, who he supposes is seeking to be justified by his works. Annihilate these sects, and these hymns either die with them, or undergo a new modification. He that sings them in the spirit of the sect, pays homage to the idol of a party, but worships not the God of the whole earth. Were I asked for a good criterion of a sectarian spirit, I would answer, When a person derives more pleasure from the contemplation of a tenet because of the opposition made to it, than he would, did no such opposition exist; or when he is more opposed to a tenet because of the system to which it belongs, or the people who hold it, than on account of its own innate meaning and tendency, he acts the sectary, and not the christian: and so of all predilections and antipathies, when they are created, guided, or controlled by any thing extrinsic of the subject in itself.Our hymns are, for the most part, our creed in metre, while it appears in the prose form in our confessions. A methodistic sermon must be succeeded by a methodistic hymn, and a methodistic mode of singing it. And so of the Presbyterian. There is little or no difference to any sect in this one particular. Even the Quaker is not singular here; for as he has no regular sermon he has no regular song, hymn, nor prayer.Those who have many frames and great vicissitudes of feeling, sing and pray much about them, and those who are more speculative than practical, prefer exercises of intellect to those of the heart or affections.
The hymn book is as good an index to the brains and to the hearts of a people as the creed book; and scarce a "sermon is preached," which is not followed up by a corresponding hymn or song...
But does the system teach that there are and must necessarily be cold and dark seasons in the experience of all christians, and that such only are true christians, who have their doubts, fears, glooms, and winters? Then the audience sings--
"Dear Lord, if, indeed, I am thine, If thou art my sun and my song,
Say why do I languish and pine, And why are my winters so long?
O drive these dark clouds from my sky, Thy soul cheering presence restore,
Or take me unto thee on high, Where winter and clouds are no more."Without being prolix or irksome in filing objections to all these specimens of hymn singing, I shall mention but two or three:--
1. They are in toto contrary to the spirit and genius of the christian religion
2. They are unfit for any congregation, as but few in any one congregation can with regard to truth, apply them to themselves.
3. They are an essential part of the corrupt systems of this day, and a decisive characteristic the grand apostacy.No. XXIII Let us analyze a few more specimens. There has been a controversy of long, standing about faith. One hymn extols faith to the following words:--John Mark Hicks: If everyone would “discard from their faith and their practice every thing that is not found written in the New Testament of the Lord and Saviour, and to believe and practise whatever is there enjoined,” then “every thing is done which ought to be done” (CB 3 [7 March 1825] 133-136). He wanted to “unite all Christians on constitutional grounds” rather than on the basis of human creeds (CB 5 [6 August 1827] 360-61).
"Faith--'tis a precious grace Where'er it is bestow'd!
It boasts of a celestial birth, And is the gift of God.
Jesus it owns a King, An all-atoning Priest;
It claims no merit of its own, But looks for all in Christ.
To him it leads the soul When filled with deep distress,
Flies to the fountain of his blood, And trusts his righteousness.
Since 'tis thy work alone, And that divinely free,
Lord, send the spirit of thy Son To work this faith in me."
Waving any discussion upon the propriety of singing praises to faith instead of the Lord, I proceed to observe that in singing the above verses we are boasting against those who are supposed to maintain that faith is not of a celestial birth, and not the gift of God. In the conclusion the singer is made to act a singular part; first to declare that he believes that Jesus is a King, an all-atoning Priest; that faith leads the soul to him, flies to the fountain of his blood, and trusts his righteousness; and yet, after having sung all this, he represents himself as destitute of such a faith as he has been singing, and prays for the spirit of Jesus Christ to work this faith in him. How the same person can sing the three first verses and the last one in this hymn I know not, unless they sing as a parrot speaks, without regard to the meaning.
To convert the above sentiments into plain prose, it reads thus: "I believe that faith is a precious grace, the gift of God, of celestial origin. I believe that Jesus is King and an all-atoning Priest; that his righteousness is worthy of my trust, and his blood purifies me from sin. No, I don't believe this but, Lord, send the Spirit of thy Son, who I believe works this grace in men's hearts; and as I don't yet believe, work this faith in me!" [406]
The “ancient order,” according to Campbell,
was the only legitimate (constitutional)
and practical means of uniting all Christians,
and it enable communities to discard their creeds
and stand on the New Testament alone.
This had nothing to do with UNITING in the Stone or denominational sense: If everyone taught that which is written for our learning then everyone would be united in the universal Ekklesia as A School of Christ Only.
The Christian System
Preface VII
The object of this volume is to place before the community in a plain, definite, and perspicuous style, the capital principles which have been elicited, argued out, developed, and sustained in a controversy of twenty-five years, by the tongues and pens of those who rallied under the banners of the Bible alone.
The principle which was inscribed upon our banners when we withdrew from the ranks of the sects, was, '
Faith in Jesus as the true Messiah,
and obedience to him as our Lawgiver and King,
the ONLY TEST of Christian character,
and the ONLY BOND of Christian union, communion, and co-operation,
irrespective of all creeds, opinions, commandments, and traditions of men.'No. III I have no idea of seeing, nor one wish to see, the sects unite in one grand army.
This would be dangerous to our liberties and laws.
For this the Saviour did not pray.
It is only the disciples of Christ dispersed among them,
that reason and benevolence would call out of them.
Let them unite who love the Lord, and
then we shall soon see the hireling priesthood
and their worldly establishments prostrate in the dust.
No. XXI. PSALM and hymn singing, like every other part of christian worship, has been corrupted by sectarianism. This demon, whose name is Legion, has possessed all our spirits, and given a wrong direction to almost all our religious actions.
A Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things.--No. V.: Order of Worship. by Alexander Campbell, pp. 164-166.
On the supposition that there is not, then the following absurdities are inevitable: There can be no disorder in the Christian assembly; there can be no error in the acts of social worship; there can be no innovation in the department of observances; there can be no transgression of the laws of the King.
The worship of a class meeting, of a camp-meeting, of a monthly concert, of an association, of a sacramental occasion, of a preparation, and of an "ordinary Sabbath," differ as much as the Jewish Passover, Pentecost, annual atonement, or daily sacrifice.
Now there were in the Jewish state solid and substantial reasons for all these varieties,
but in the christian state there is no reason for any variety.
But to proceed: Another society meets for worship, and they sing all day; another shouts all day; another runs as in a race all day; another lies prostrate on the ground all day; another reads all day; another hears one man speak all day; another sits silent all day; another waves palm branches all day;
another cries in the forenoon and listens to the organ in the afternoon;
and it is all equally right, lawful, orderly, and acceptable;
for there is no divinely authorized order of Christian worship.
We are then, on the principles of reason,
constrained to abandon this side of the dilemma,
and give up the hypothesis that there is no divinely authorized order of Christian worship.
Now as one of the only two supposable cases must be abandoned,
it follows by undeniable consequence,
that there is a divinely authorized order of Christian worship in Christian assemblies.
No. XXI. PSALM and hymn singing, like every other part of christian worship, has been corrupted by sectarianism. This demon, whose name is Legion, has possessed all our spirits, and given a wrong direction to almost all our religious actions.
The command in Romans 14 was to EXCLUDE personal discussion which did not EDUCATE: in Romans 15 he excludes self-pleasure which in Greek and latin identify all of the hypocritic arts and crafts. Only then does he command that "we use one mind and one mouth to speak that which is written for our learning." In 1 Corinthians 11:17 Paul said "your assemblies do more harm than good." Why would anyone teach that Alexander Campbell would fellowship those who do more harm than good.
John Mark Hicks: Theologically, this essentially means that eccelsiological patterns are matters of sanctification rather than justification (to use the classic terminology of Campbell’s era). The discernment, recognition and implementation of apostolic patterns were matters of growth and maturation.
The Church of Christ is defined as Qahal, synagogue or School of the Word of God. The only way to sanctify people is through the WORDS of Christ. Why would Hicks fellowship a group which does NOT read the Words of Christ but substitutes the words of a simple minded singer accompanied with instrumental noise?
A Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things--No. IV. by Alexander Campbell, pp. 158-160.John Mark Hicks: They were not the foundation of the church–who is Jesus, and the confession that he is the Christ, the Son of the Living God–but rather the sanctification of the church in conformity to a constitutional model of reading the New Testament.
In receiving members or citizens into the kingdom, or in naturalizing foreigners, it appeared, in our last essay, t
hat nothing was [158] required of them but an acknowledgment of the word or testimony
of the witnesses concerning the King, Jesus of Nazareth.
A hearty declaration, or confession with their lips,
That they believed in their hearts, that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah, the Son of the living God, the King and Lord of all, qualified them as applicants for naturalization.
In the act of immersion into this name, they renounced every other Messiah, Lord, King, or Saviour; they put off their former religion, and renounced every religious obligation to any other system or authority, and put on Jesus, as their Lord and King.
From a consideration of the ancient order it appeared, that the apostles did not command men to be baptized into their own experience, but into the faith then delivered to the saints. It was affirmed that the ancient order was wiser, safer, and more honorable to the saving truth, than the modern way of receiving members into a baptist society, and some proof was presented.
In the present essay we shall make a few remarks upon another important preliminary to the restoration of the ancient order of things.
There must be, and there shall be, an abandonment of the new and corrupt nomenclature,
and a restoration of the inspired one.
In other words, there must be an abandonment of the Babylonish
or corrupt phraseology of the dark ages and of modern discoveries,
in the fixed style of the christian vocabulary.
But we shall go on to specify a sample of those Babylonish terms and phrases which must be purified from the christian vocabulary, before the saints can understand the religion they profess, or one another as fellow disciples. I select these from the approved standards of the most popular establishments; for from these they have become current and sacred style.
Such are the following: "Trinity. First, second, and third person in the adorable Trinity: God the Son; and God the Holy Ghost. Eternal Son. The Son is eternally begotten by the Father; the Holy Ghost eternally proceeding from the Father and the Son. The divinity of Jesus Christ; the humanity of Jesus Christ; the incarnation of Jesus Christ. This he said as man; and that as God. The common operations, and the special operations of the Spirit of God. Original sin, and original righteousness. Spiritual death; spiritual life. Covenant of works, covenant of grace, and covenant of redemption; a dispensation of the covenant of grace, and administration of the covenant. Effectual calling. Free will. Free grace. Total depravity. Eternal justification. Eternal sleep. Elect world. Elect infants. Light of nature. Natural religion. General and particular atonement. Legal and evangelical repentance. Moral, ceremonial, and judicial law. Under the law as a covenant of works, and as a rule of life. Christian sabbath. Holy sacrament. Administration of the sacrament. Different kinds of faith and grace. Divine service; the public worship of God," &c. &c.
To build upon Jesus is to build upon the Prophets by the Spirit OF Christ and the prophecies made more certain by Jesus and left for out memory by the eye-- and ear-- witness apostles.
A Church of Christ is built upon the foundation of the prophets by the Spirit OF Christ and the prophecies made more certain by Jesus of Nazareth and left for our "memory" by the inspired writers leaving their "parts." The "building" is EDUCATION and the command is "that which is written for our learning."
Ephesians 2:19 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners,
but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
Ephesians 2:20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone;
Epoikodom-eō “phusei mathēmata”Ephesians 2:21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:
b. edify, “heautous tē pistei” Ep.Jud.20:—Pass., “-oumenoi en Khristō” Ep.Col.2.7.
1 Corinthians 3.[11] For no one can lay any other foundation than that which has been laid, which is Jesus Christ.Math-ēma , atos, to, (mathein) A. that which is learnt, lesson, “ta pathēmata mathēmata” Hdt.1.207; “m. mathein” S.Ph.918; 2. learning, knowledge
1 Corinthians 3.[12] But if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay, or stubble;
phront-izō , I. abs., consider, reflect, take thought, give heed, pay attention,
1. c. acc. rei, consider, ponder, “ekhthos
Colossians 2:6 As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
Colossians 2:7 Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith,
as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
Colossians 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ
Ephesians 2:22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
Acts 3:17 And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers.
Acts 3:18 But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets,
that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled.
Acts 3:19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted,
that your sins may be blotted out,
when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
Acts 3:20 And he shall send Jesus Christ,
which before was preached unto you:
Acts 3:21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things,
which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
apokata-sta^sis A. restoration, re-establishment, “tou endeous”Acts 3:22 For Moses truly said unto the fathers,
phusis u^, hē, gen II. the natural form or constitution of a person or thing as the result of growth
4. of the mind, one's nature, character, “ēthos hekaston, hopē ph. estin hekastō”
ph. phrenos” E.Med.103
A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me;
him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
Acts 3:23 And it shall come to pass,
that every soul, which will not hear that prophet,
shall be destroyed from among the people.
Acts 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after,
as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
Acts 3:25 Ye are the children of the prophets,
and of the covenant which God made with our fathers,
saying unto Abraham,
And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
Acts 3:26 Unto you first God,
having raised [from the Dead 4.produce a witness, etc. (cf. 111.6), “prophētēn humin a. ho Theos” Act.Ap.3.22]
up his Son Jesus, sent [apostellō ] him to bless you,
in turning [apo-strephō] away every one of you from his iniquities.
Ponēr-ia , hē,
ophthalmos 2. sterēsis ophthalmōn temporary loss of sight, Gal.17(1).400.
3. with a political connotation, mob-rule, Th.8.47.
John Mark Hicks: Campbell never applied the “ancient order” as either a test of salvation or fellowship. However, he did attempt to persuade others that a return to the “ancient order” was the way to restore unity to a divided Christianity.
Campbell never taught "restoring unity to a divided Christianity!" He taught the destruction of division and NOT fellowship with it. The removal of all of the things "added from silence" which caused all of the division would automatically make everyone "speak the same things" because they would speak that which is written for our learning. And since Qahal, synagogue or church has NO OTHER function beyond education, any person could fellowship any group and there COULD NOT be an organist making noise.
We have shown that to be false: while he believed there were "Christians in all of the sects" he called on them to "come out of Babylon." While he would preach in any church, he would not do so until they shut down the organists and shut down the organ. Therefore, he did NOT fellowship anyone with instrumental music. He spoke before congress but who would say that he endorsed congress?
John Mark Hicks: Subsequent participants in the “Restoration Movement” turned the “ancient order” into a test of fellowship as the fundamental identity of the New Testament church, the distinguishing mark between the true church and apostate churches. That was never Campbell’s intention and he would have regarded it as a subversion of the gospel itself–substituting the “ancient order” for the confession of Jesus as the Messiah as the true test of faith.
That was NOT even the test of faith by Jesus the Messiah! Jesus and everyone taught "the gospel OF the Kingdom of God" or the Church of Christ. To confess Jesus was to be baptized since "pistis" or believeth means to obey. If John Mark Hicks believes that he should cease being "a doctor of the law" and just go out and preach "Just Jesus." Paul never said that he would PREACH just Jesus: he said that he would KNOW a crucified Jesus. That demanded that he GO and suffer and die for teaching that which had been taught.
The Christian System
Preface VII
The object of this volume is to place before the community in a plain, definite, and perspicuous style, the capital principles which have been elicited, argued out, developed, and sustained in a controversy of twenty-five years, by the tongues and pens of those who rallied under the banners of the Bible alone.
The principle which was inscribed upon our banners when we withdrew from the ranks of the sects, was, '
A person is accepted as a DISCIPLE by confessing Jesus in baptism. However, as a Disciple he is taught to observe what JESUS commanded to be taught. Students are accepted into fellowship of all Churches of Christ. Congregations do not FELLOWSHIP those who pretend to be MASTERS and deny the CENI prounced by Jesus Christ and affirmed by most scholars.
Faith in Jesus as the true Messiah,
and obedience to him as our Lawgiver and King,
the ONLY TEST of Christian character,
and the ONLY BOND of Christian union, communion, and co-operation,
irrespective of all creeds, opinions, commandments, and traditions of men.'
There he goes again! Let's Repeat
A Restoration of the Ancient Order of Things--No. III. by Alexander Campbell, pp. 139-142.
I have no idea of seeing, nor one wish to see, the sects unite in one grand army.
But creeds of human contrivance keep up these establishments; nay, they are declared by some sects to be their very constitution.--These create, and foster, and mature that state of things which operates against the letter and spirit of the Saviour's prayer.
This would be dangerous to our liberties and laws.
For this the Saviour did not pray.
It is only the disciples of Christ dispersed among them,
that reason and benevolence would call out of them.
Let them unite who love the Lord,
and then we shall soon see the hireling priesthood
and their worldly establishments prostrate in the dust.
The disciples cannot be united while these are recognized;
and while these are not one, the world cannot be converted.
So far from being the bond of union, or the means of uniting the saints,
they are the bones of controversy, the seeds of discord,
the cause as well as the effect of division.Home PageWhen any person desired admission into the kingdom,
he was only asked what he thought of the king.
"Do you believe in your heart that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah, the Lord of all,"
was the whole amount of the apostolic requirement.
If the candidate for admission replied in the affirmative--if he declared his hearty conviction of this fact--no other interrogation was proposed. They took him on his solemn declaration of this belief, whether Jew or Gentile, without a single demur. He was forthwith naturalized, and formally declared to be a citizen of the kingdom of Messiah.
In the act of naturalization which was then performed by means of water, he abjured or renounced spiritual allegiance to any other prince, potentate, pontiff, or prophet, than Jesus the Lord.--He was then treated by the citizens as a fellow citizen of the saints, and invited to the religious festivals of the brotherhood. And whether he went to Rome, Antioch, or Ephesus, he was received and treated by all the subjects of the Great King as a brother and fellow citizen. If he ever exhibited any instances of disloyalty, he was affectionately reprimanded;
but if he was guilty of treason against the king,
he was simply excluded from the kingdom.
But we are now speaking of the constitutional admission of citizens into the kingdom of Jesus Christ, and not of any thing subsequent thereto. The declaration of the belief of one fact, expressed in one plain proposition, and the one act of naturalization, constituted a free citizen of this kingdom. Such was the ancient order of things, as all must confess. Why, then, should we adopt a new plan, of our own devising, which, too, is as irrational as unconstitutional.
Let me here ask the only people in our land who seem to understand the constitution of our kingdom and the laws of our King in these respects, Why do you, my Baptist brethren, in receiving applicants into the kingdom, ask them so many questions about matters and things which the apostles never dreamed of
Kenneth Sublett
Rev 10.06.12 3.19.13 148 5.02.14 309 12.18.14 442
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