REAL THING

By Rick Mathes

Philemon 1:1-3 (NASB77) ¹   Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother, to Philemon our beloved brother and fellow worker, ²  and to Apphia our sister, and to Archippus our fellow soldier, and to the church in your house: ³   Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Every time any disciple or prophet came into the presence of God, their face would hit the ground and they would tremble in reverent fear. Why? He knows all the evil that lurks in us and yet passes for church in this post-modern world. It is nothing but Kentucky Fried Christianity! If Paul were to come to life and attend our churches, most would make him vomit in the carnal hypocrisy. Let me outline to you the simplicity of what the church service should be according to the Word of God and practice of the Apostolic Church.

First of all “church” means “called out ones” or believers only. Oh there will certainly be tares mixed in with the wheat, that’s unavoidable but the heart of the service must focus on the sermon which is exclusively crafted and delivered to the elect. Don’t worry. There are plenty of special revival services for the evangelists to do but this message I am focusing on is what home churches were and should be again in memory of Philemon, Lydia, Priscilla and the rest.

It begins by converting the elect to the awakening that they are born again and saved. 5 of the His chosen come to church like metal to a magnet and the message from the pulpit is almost 100% of the reason we gather together in the first place. The message is the centerpiece of the worship experience and should never be second to anything. To awaked the predestined and to feed the believers should be the uncut Word of God, only from the breath of the Holy Spirit.

We worship His holiness and marvel at the blessings of the Cross. We are saved, forgiven and heaven bound. But if we believe we must then obey. A Savior without Lordship is a fraud and boy is the devil good and counterfeiting carnal Christians. The pillars of the original church are Bible only, Jesus only, Faith only and Grace only.

God inhabits His praises so we sing and let our voices ring our joy to the highest heavens which is akin to prayer. He knows everything about us but He loves to hear our voices like a little child to his daddy. Inevitably we have a fellowship of love and the study of His Word to hear, listen, learn, apply and evaluate. We need to return to the home churched or the post-modern culture will bury us in apostasy.