| ----------------------------------------------------------------------- ( D ) CHRIST THE WORD, THE ROOT, THE ROCK EQUALS A FIRM FOUNDATION 15. But if I tarry long, that thou mayest know how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth. - 1 Tim. 3:15 18. Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. - Romans 11:18 Notice in Pauls� letter to Timothy that he writes of the church of God as being the house of God and that Gods� church is the pillar and ground of truth. Is Paul then characterising the church as itself being inherently truth ? No. Truth must come from some source outside of the church. God certainly happens to be the source from which truth eminates because He is truth, ( Deut. 32:4 / Isaiah 65:16 / Zech. 8:8 / John 14:6 ). Truth comes from God, into His church. Therefore the church is the pillar and ground of truth because the church is of God. God, Christ, is the foundational root of truth which bears the church. If we take notice of Pauls� statement in Romans chapter 11, we find that his remarks echo Christs� words to the disciples in Johns� gospel chapter 15. Christ is the root, the vine which supports and gives life to His branches, the individual saints of God. The picture which 1 Timothy, Romans and Johns� gospel all present are a foundational attribute of Jesus Christ, the Truth, the Word of God. Thus making Christ the chief corner stone, the foundational root of Gods� household of saints as stated in Ephesians chapter 2 and 1 Peter 2. And again, if we look at verses such as Matthew 7:24-27, Luke 6:47-49 and 1 Corinthians 10:4, we find that Christ is the Rock. Christ who is Truth, the Word of God, is therefore by necessity and inherent quality, the foundation of Truth and therefore the foundational Rock, that chief corner stone of the Christian church. Of particular note in both Matthews� and Lukes� gospels is that when Christ gives the example of the stability and foundational attributes of a rock, the Lord makes a direct equation of such attributes to His spoken word. Thereby revealing to the reader that His Word, the Word of Truth, is a foundation which supports and stabilizes. His Word of Truth can be trusted. With Christ, the Word of God, as the chief corner stone of our spiritual foundation then there is no loss, no damage, nothing stolen, no process of deterioration and no complete destruction. Christ is a spiritual foundation which no being, neither natural or spirit, can take away or destroy. This same incorruptible and indestructible quality is then also justifiably true of the apostle and prophet of God who form the rest of the church foundation along with Christ. Therefore, God has not been restoring His apostles and prophets in the present day Christian church. He simply has never needed too. When it comes right down to it, the mindset and notion that God is and has been restoring His apostles and prophets, ( of whom His own Word makes very clear that they help comprise the foundation of the Christian church ), is really unfounded and devilish. However, having said all this. Let us examine in more scriptural detail, the faulty mindset which claims that God is and has been restoring that foundation during the past 100 years or so. We have to examine why God has had to restore, ( at least as it is alleged ), that portion of the church foundation which comprises His apostles and prophets. What would cause the foundation of God to be lost in the first place ? Is something like that kind of scenario even plausible to consider ? Is such a scenario substantiated with sufficient scriptural backing ? What forces could either partially deteriorate or completely destroy and do away with the foundation of God ? Is that scenario substantiated by Gods� own Word ? What being or power, either natural or spiritual, has ever been able to steal away the foundation of God from the church and thus caused a necessity to restore that foundation ? In the next few segments, I want to scripturally examine these ideas of Gods� foundation possibly being lost, stolen, in a state of deterioration or altogether destroyed. In doing so, the reader should further be able to realize the absurdity of a mindset which claims that God has been restoring His apostles and prophets to His Christian church. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- |