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Does it really matter to God how we worship Him? Will
He accept our worship as long as He sees that we are
sincere? Did the original, Apostolic faith have a clear
standard by which the converted were to live by? Does
God expect us to carefully search for the truth of His
will regarding how we worship Him? Did the early Church
remain true to the will of God? Did Jesus warn of false
prophets coming with signs and wonders to deceive His
followers? Were there problems with false teachers in
the early Church? Were false teachers easily
recognizable? Was it really Satan, the Devil who sent
these men into the Churches of God? Was their main
objective to take brethren away from the truth and true
worship? What are some of the identifying traits of the
original faith? What are some of the identifying traits
of false Christianity? Bible
Translation: NASV
DEFINITIONS
Apostasy: The
defection from the tenets of the true faith. RSV, -“the
Rebellion”, a rebellion against the truth. To exchange
the truth for a lie and fall away from the teachings of
the true faith.
Apostate: A
person who was once enlightened to Christ and the true
faith but has turned away from practicing the tenets of
the faith. It is appointed for a person to die once and
then face the judgment of God; a person who has become
apostate is doubly dead. He is waiting to die the
natural death and at judgment will face the second death
in the Lake of Fire. One who has lost his salvation. One
who is lost forever and whom God will not grant
repentance to. One who does not love the truth and one
whom God has given the spirit of delusion causing him to
actually believe the lie that he is still in God’s
grace. An apostate person cannot know that he is
apostate but he has gone past the point of return. One
who has been rejected by God because they continued to
practice sin.
Truth: The
fundamental meaning of reality, as opposed to mere
appearance or false pretense. In the Book of John, the
truth stands for the absolute Divine reality as
distinguished from all existence that is false or merely
seeming. Truth can be described as God’s will. Jesus is
the embodiment of truth, He declared, -“I am the
Truth.”The Bible is the truth. The Word of God,
whether written or prophetically spoken is truth. The
holy spirit is the spirit of truth.
Worship: To
bow before or yield to, expressing the act and attitude
appropriate to behaving toward a sovereign Deity.
Worship means “worth-ship”, meaning worthy to submit to.
To praise, extol and obey. To faithfully follow the
tenets of the truth faith.
The
Faith: The original teachings of Jesus and His Apostles
and the practice of the tenets of true religion. This
includes trusting in the redemptive work of the cross
for one’s salvation. Faith is the assent of the mind to
the truth of God’s revealed will. It means putting ones
trust in the Person of Christ and His teachings. James
wrote, -“Faith without works is dead.” The
works he was referring to is the following of the
teachings of the true faith.
TRUE WORSHIPERS
1. Does God require His
worshipers to worship Him in truth? John
4:20-24 / John 4:1-10 / Matthew 22:16 / John 1:17 / John
5:33 / John 8:44 / John 8:31-32 / John 16:13 / John
17:17 / Romans 1:18-32 / Romans 2:8 / Galatians 3:1
(KJV) / 1 Corinthians 13:6 / 2 Corinthians 6:1-8 / 2
Corinthians 13:8 / Ephesians 6:13-14 / 2 Thessalonians
2:1-12 / 1 Timothy 2:3-4 / 1 Timothy 3:15 / 1 John 2:3-4
/ 2 John vs 4 / James 1:18
Answer_______________
❖ Jesus said that the Father must be worshiped in
__________ and __________
Scripture__________
❖ Jesus said that the Father was seeking . . .? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Who did Jesus tell this to? __________
Scripture__________
❖ What city were they in when this happened? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Did the inhabitants of that city know who they
worshiped? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Did they believe that they were worshiping the God of
Israel? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Jesus taught the _______ of _______ in truth
Scripture__________
❖ ________ and __________ were
realized through Jesus Christ
Scripture__________
❖ Who bore witness and testified of the truth? __________
Scripture__________
❖ There is no truth in the __________
Scripture__________
❖ Jesus said that if you know the truth it will make you __________
Scripture__________
❖ Can a person really be set free without the truth of
God? __________
Scripture__________
❖ But to know the truth He said one must ____________ in
the __________
Scripture__________
❖ The holy spirit is called the _________ of __________
Scripture__________
❖ Jesus said that Christians are __________ in
truth and that God’s ________ is truth
Scripture__________
❖ According to Romans, the wrath of God is revealed
against who? _____________________
Scripture__________
❖ The ungodly exchanged truth for a __________
Scripture__________
❖ Because of this God gave them over to what? __________
Scripture__________
❖ According to Romans 2, is the truth something that
must be obeyed? __________
Scripture__________
❖ ________does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but
rejoices with the truth.
Scripture__________
❖ According to 2 Corinthians, Christ’s ministry must
come in the________ of __________
Scripture__________
❖ Who said, -“For we can do nothing against the
truth, but only for the truth”? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Paul said to take up the full armor of God and
_________your __________ with
truth
Scripture__________
❖ What does God send upon those who will not receive a
love of the truth? ________________
Scripture__________
❖ What will ultimately happen to those who do not
receive a love of the truth? __________
Scripture__________
❖ “They did not receive a love of the truth so as to be___________.”
Scripture__________
❖ Is it necessary to receive the truth and love the
truth to be saved? __________
Scripture__________
❖ God desires all men to be saved and come to
the___________of the __________
Scripture__________
❖ What must be the Pillar and Support of the truth? __________
Scripture__________
❖ The truth is not in one who does not keep God’s _________________
Scripture__________
❖ John was very glad to find some ___________in __________
Scripture__________
❖ God brought us forth by the Word of truth to be a kind
of _______
________of His creatures
Scripture__________
Commentary: The
Church is the “pillar” and “support” of the truth,
therefore Christians must know and defend the truth. The
Church has an adversary in which there is no truth and
who is committed to the destruction of the truth. God
can only be worshiped in spirit and in truth and He is
seeking those who will receive and practice the truth.
It is necessary to receive and love the truth to be
saved. It is clear by the abundance of Scripture that
the original faith taught and lived by, is a clearly
defined standard which they called “the truth”.
Christians are sanctified (set apart) by this truth and
this truth is the Way of the original, Apostolic faith.
Jesus Himself, is the Truth.
ATTACK ON THE
ORIGINAL FAITH
2. Is it necessary for
Christians to fight to restore and preserve the Original
Apostolic Faith? Jude
vs 1-4 / Galatians 2:4 / 2 Peter 2:1-3 / Matthew 7:15-23
/ Matthew 24:3-5, 24 / Acts 20:28-30 / Romans 16:17-18 /
2 Corinthians 11:3-4, 13-15 / 3 John /
Answer_______________
❖ Jude, the brother of Jesus, wanted to write the Church
about our common __________
Scripture__________
❖ Jude felt it was necessary to write and urge the
Church to contend for original __________
Scripture__________
❖ Certain men had crept in who were turning God’s __________into_____________
Scripture__________
Quick Definition: “licentiousness”
meaning “license to commit sin”
❖ These false teachers were marked out for _______________
Scripture__________
❖ According to Galatians false brethren desire to bring
Christians into __________
Scripture__________
❖ False teachers were prophesied to arise and bring
destructive___________into the Church
Scripture__________
❖ Peter prophesied that __________would follow them
Scripture__________
❖ Because of them the __________of____________would
be maligned (evil spoken of)
Scripture__________
❖ Jesus warned that false prophets, though ravenous
wolves, would come in _________clothing
Scripture__________
❖ Did Jesus say that they would even perform miracles in
His Name? __________
Scripture__________
❖ At judgment, Jesus will say to them “Depart from Me,
you who practice __________.”
Scripture__________
❖ Will some false prophets be advocates of lawlessness-
Grace without works? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Jesus prophesied that many would come in His Name but
would __________many
Scripture__________
❖ Jesus warned that false prophets would show
_______and__________to__________many
Scripture__________
❖ Paul urged the Romans to _______ away________
those who teach contrary to the original faith
Scripture__________
❖ Did Paul warn that some would teach a another Jesus
and a different Gospel? __________
Scripture__________
❖ False Apostles disguise themselves as servants of ________________
Scripture__________
❖ Do we learn by John’s third letter that he was not
received by some of the Church? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Who was the false teacher who had gained power over
this Church area? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Was he putting all of those who received John’s
teaching out of the Church? __________
Scripture__________
Commentary: John
was the last living Apostle and wrote this letter in his
old age. By this time some of the Church had been
deceived by false doctrines and had left the true faith.
Even before this time, Paul was having similar trouble
and wrote Timothy -“You are aware of the fact that
all who are in Asia turned away from me.”As we
witness in the Church at Galatia, Judaizing Christians
had infiltrated the Church teaching that the Gentile
converts must receive circumcision and be directed to
keep the whole Law of Moses. (613 Laws of the Book of
the Law / Sinai Covenant) We see in Paul’s letter to the
Churches in Colossae that a new brand of Christianity
arose called Gnosticism. It was a mixture of Greek
Philosophy and Christianity with an emphasis on severe
treatment of one’s own body and a hatred for flesh
itself. Then there were those who were teaching a
message of Christ and Grace alone without works. These
were turning the grace of God into a license to commit
sin, notice, -“And why not say (as we are
slanderously reported and as some claim that we say),
“Let us do evil that good may come.” Their condemnation
is just.” (Romans
3:8)
3. Does God change? Malachi
3:6 / Numbers 23:19 / James 1:17 / Hebrews 13:8
Answer_______________
Do Christians worship
the same God as the Israelites did? Acts
24:14 / Acts 3:13
Answer_______________
OLD TESTAMENT
EXAMPLES
4. Does it matter to God
how we worship Him as long as we are sincere? Deuteronomy
4:2 / Deuteronomy 12:28-32
❖ God warned natural Israel to not ________nor __________from
the Word which He commands
Scripture__________
❖ God said not to learn how the __________worshiped
their gods
Scripture__________
❖ God said not to worship Him as the pagans worshiped
their __________
Scripture__________
❖ Did God warn Israel to be careful how they worshiped
Him?__________
Scripture__________
5. Lessons from the
Golden Calf incident. Exodus
Chapter 32
❖ When Aaron, Israel’s High Priest made the Golden Calf,
what did he call it? ______________
Scripture__________
❖ Did Aaron make a god of Egypt or an image to honor the
God of Israel? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Did God accept this worship? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Aaron declared, “Tomorrow
shall be a feast to the __________”
Scripture__________
❖ Did the children of Israel give of their personal
items of gold to make this image? __________
Scripture__________
❖ God told Moses to go down from the Mountain because
the people had __________themselves
Scripture__________
❖ Because they had not walked carefully before the Lord,
He wanted to __________them
Scripture__________
❖ How many Israelites were slain that day because of
this sin?__________
Scripture__________
❖ God said, “Whoever
has sinned against Me, I will blot him out of ______
________”
Scripture__________
6. Lessons from David
trying to transport the Ark on a New Cart:1
Chronicles Chapter 13 /
1 Chronicles Chapter 15 /
1 Samuel 6:1-8
❖ God had commanded that the Ark of His Presence was to
carried only by His __________
Scripture__________
❖ David had attempted to transport the Ark of the
Covenant on a __________
Scripture__________
❖ What pagan people captured the Ark? __________
Scripture__________
❖ How did they return the Ark to Israel? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Did King David attempt to carry God’s presence as the
Philistines did? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Even though David was known as a man after God’s
heart, did God accept this? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Whom did God strike down as they carried the Ark on
the new cart? __________
Scripture__________
❖ Though David was singing and dancing before the Lord,
did it stop God’s anger? __________
Scripture__________
Commentary: The
King of Israel was commanded to carry the first five
Books of the Bible with him at all times and to read
from it every day. The instructions of how God wanted
His Presence to be carried was in the pocket of David’s
robe but David had failed to carefully inquire of it
first. Notice that God was aware of David’s plans yet He
did not warn this prophet or send a prophet to him. God
clearly expected David to follow His Word and was angry
when he failed to do so. Let us remember that this is
the same God which we worship today, so shouldn’t we be
equally careful in worshiping God according to His will?
We must learn what David learned that day; that God must
be worshiped in spirit and truth and according to His
Divine will.
6. Were the Old
Testament examples recorded for us so that we do not
make the same mistakes? Book
of Jude / 2 Peter Chapter 2
Answer_______________
HISTORY
The Bible clearly reveals that the early
Church was under attack by false teachers who were
bringing in apostate teachings. It is not the purpose of
this study to give a detailed description of how the
Church changed through the ages, but it most certainly
did change. In Scripture, we need only to read the
condition of the seven Churches of Revelation Chapters 2
and 3 to see that there were some very serious problems
arising. Jesus found fault with five of them and
commanded them to repent and return to the true faith.
As we see in Acts 15 and Galatians 1 & 2, the
early Church looked to Jerusalem and the original
Apostles to guide them in the true doctrines and tenets
of the faith. Even the Apostle Paul went up to Jerusalem
to present to Peter and James what he had been preaching
to the Gentiles in order to make sure it was in line
with the original faith. This all changed when Jerusalem
was sieged and destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D., which
was right after Paul’s execution and more than 20 years
before John wrote Revelation.
In time, the Churches began to look to the Church at
Rome as its guide. But dramatic changes were also taking
place in this Church. The Apostle Paul had warned the
Christians there to, -“Keep your eye on those who
cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the
teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.” (Romans
16:17) Since the Roman Empire ruled the known world at
the time, the Roman Church possessed and exercised a
degree of power and influence. By the second Century
A.D. the Church had forsaken observing the Passover and
instituted a Sunday Eucharist in its place. Most of the
Churches followed their lead, with the exception of the
Churches in Asia Minor.
By the early fourth Century, the Roman Church actually
began to receive power from the Empire itself. Soon,
this Church claimed dominion over all the Christian
Churches and demanded that they yield to and accept its
teachings and rulings. With the power of the Empire
behind it
the Church eventually used force, arresting, torturing
and executing those who refused to yield to its
dictates.
Through time, this Church moved far from the original,
Apostolic faith. The Bishop of the Roman Church was
pronounced the “Vicar of Christ”, meaning that he ruled
in place of Christ. Soon, the Pope was able to exercise
absolute power even over Kings.
Some of the original doctrines that the Church abolished
are, ❖ the removal of the Second Commandment ❖ the
replacement of the Sabbath with Sunday ❖ the replacement
of Jesus as our Advocate before God, with His mother as
our Advocate ❖ the replacement of praying to the Father
in Jesus’ name, with praying to Mary, the mother of
Jesus ❖ the replacement of the Passover with a Sunday
Eucharist ❖ the replacement of God’s Holy Days with
pagan Holidays. The Roman Church eventually made it
illegal for the Bible to be printed in any language
other than Latin.
The Church eventually fostered the
doctrine that Mary, the mother of Jesus was the Queen of
Heaven, and like Jesus, was also immaculately conceived.
They began to teach that Mary remained a virgin the rest
of her life, though the Scriptures clearly say that
Jesus had brothers and sisters. The Church became
steeped in ceremony and tradition
When some daring men defied the Church and translated
the Scriptures into common languages which they could
readily read and comprehend, they were astonished to see
that much of what they had been taught could not be
found in Scripture. This began what is now called the
“Protestant Reformation.” The Reformers were seeking to
find the true original faith delivered by the Apostles.
Some came farther out of the apostasy than others. The
Lutherans renounced Papal authority and the worship of
Mary. Later some came to the truth that baptism must be
by immersion and not by merely sprinkling, these were
called “Baptists.” Later some came to believe in the
spiritual gifts spoken of in 1 Corinthians and were
called “Pentecostals” because the holy spirit was
originally poured out on the Day of Pentecost in 31 A.D.
Some restored the Fourth Commandment and were called
“Seventh Day Adventists.” Each movement found its
comfort zone and settled there.
Certainly, much progress has been made, but there are
some identifying traits of the early Church which none
of the above mentioned Churches exhibit in there
entirety. The early Church kept the Passover and the
Biblical Holy Day Festivals but with Christian meanings. The
Scriptures show that Jesus and His Apostles kept the
Sabbath Day. They observed the Biblical food laws of
Leviticus 11. Though they knew that they were saved by
grace through faith, they kept the Ten Commandments. The
early Christians sought after and operated in the
spiritual gifts of the holy spirit. The early Church
experienced visions, miracles, healings and power over
the forces of darkness. The early Christians had a deep
and outgoing love for one another.
FINAL COMMENTS
The purpose of this Bible Lesson is to show that
Christians have an obligation to contend earnestly for
the original Apostolic faith. It is designed to show by
Scripture that false teachings had been spreading
through the Church almost from its conception. You, the
Christian are shouldered with the responsibility of
seeking for the truth. “God
is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in
spirit and truth.” (John
4:24) |
