Apostles and Elders Organizing the Church

It's wonderful to see when Calvinists repent of Calvinism and give their lives to Christ to be born-again. The particular ex-Calvinist in this video had been a Calvinist for 26 years, now he is an OSAS Arminian.

In 1833 George Wilson received a pardon from Andrew Jackson. He was guilty of robbing the federal mail and was condemned to death. Wilson rejected the pardon, so they were going to execute him. Lawyers took it all the way to the supreme court, saying you cannot execute a man who has been pardoned. The supreme court justice marshal said, "A pardon unreceived is a pardon unaffected." It was provided but not received so Wilson was executed. Therefore, there is no double jeopardy committed.

Double jeopardy has been answered by legal scholars against Calvinists who still cling to accusing Christians of violating this law. In Calvinism their own god passes over souls without grace which is itself a violation of double jeopardy because many Calvinists, embarrassed by limited atonement, place the person in Hell anyway. The Calvinist commits the very crime he accuses Christians of.

In contrast in Christianity a person goes to Hell because he doesn't appropriate God's forgiveness, whereas in Calvinism their god could have and should have saved all yet they go to Hell anyway. What love is this to be acquitted or could have been given the grace to repent and thus be acquitted yet passed over (preterition) for Hell anyway?

Many Calvinist embarrassed even further will try to say you do have a choice, but when confronted with the choice everyone refuses God, so that's why God has to regenerate people and then they have free will to accept God but never reject Him. How is this free will if they could never reject God? When asked, doesn't this seem contradictory? they say, it's just the way God does it and we are not to understand this mystery. This is the response all cults given when confronted about their specific cult teaching. This is what the ex-Calvinist, new born babe in Christ, realized and acknowledged he was never saved for 26 years while he was a Calvinist. Praise the Lord! He is our brother in Christ now.

The two part Christian, two part Calvinist and one part mingled Christian/Calvinist is still an unregenerate with his heart separated from God because he still worships a god who sends people to Hell just because they were born into sin, and this evil spirit forces salvation on people. Whenever you confront a Calvinist, keep in the forefront of your mind the 6 major sins of Calvinism to protect you from Satan's deception of simulating God's redemptive design.

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Revelation doesn't contradict itself with the final word of God (66 books of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation). Shutting your mind down is not a sign of repentance. There are consequences: "For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book: And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book" (Rev. 22.18,19).

Those who had believed on Christ "shall never perish" (John 10.28), but Mormons/LDS say they can perish.

"All things were made by him [Jesus]; and without him was not any thing made that was made" (John 1.3), but Mormons/LDS say Jesus didn't create everything.

The Triune God "who alone" (1 Tim. 6.16) is "from everlasting" (Neh. 9.5), but Mormons/LDS say He is not.

Joseph Smith was a great liar like the father of lies. His purpose was to take as many people to Hell with him as as he could, "until you...are able to dwell in everlasting burnings" (LDS President Joseph Smith, History of the Church, Vol.6, Ch.14, p.305-6, LDS Collectors Library '97 CD-ROM).

Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, and my servant whom I have chosen; that ye may know and believe me, and understand that I am he: before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me" (Isaiah 43.10).

Seems pretty clear to me God never had a God father and we will not become gods.

Therefore, Mormonism is a lie. Accept it. Take your medicine, leave the cult and give your life to the true Jesus who created all things. Otherwise, you will spend eternity in Hell Doug. ...

The authority of the elders, which we have mentioned before, is to be exercised within the local assembly, because elders are established for the local assembly. Their position and function are all related to the local assembly. Elders in Shanghai are not elders in Nanking or Peking. Whereas the gifts of God are for the whole Church, the offices are for the local assembly. There are no super elders who can control assemblies other than their local one. Elders can only govern a local assembly.

How extensive is the border of a local assembly? How large a place is required to form a local assembly? Please note that the Bible never divides the Church according to region, nor does it even place several churches under a regional church. Although there are seven churches in Asia being mentioned in Revelation, we do not find in God’s word that Ephesus or Philadelphia had been chosen to control the other six churches. We only see seven churches represented by seven golden lampstands. In the Old Testament record there is mentioned the one lampstand with seven branches; but here in Revelation are seven lampstands—not one with seven branches but seven lampstands representing seven separate churches, each emitting light and each bearing responsibility directly to Christ. Whichever church it may be, it accepts the rule of Christ and not the control of other churches. Each lampstand is independent in government, without it being managed by other lampstands. Each is responsible to its high priest, the Son of man who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. None of them is subject to any of the other churches. Though they are seven churches, they do not join to form a united church and make themselves answerable to a regional or annual conference. We may say that each is a “congregation” which takes a locality as its limit.

The Bible usually takes a city, the smallest executive governmental area, as the boundary of a local assembly. A local assembly is the unit of the Church in God’s word. It does not join with other assemblies and make the resulting larger church a central church. In other words, in the eyes of God, He has not made Rome as the central church. He never makes any local assembly the center of the churches to be in control of other assemblies. There is no center on earth in God’s government. Even Jerusalem was not a center to the early churches.

This did not rule out the existence of regions in the biblical record. Some places were so similar in conditions and needs that they would receive the same treatment in the record. For instance, it is said of Paul that he “passed through the upper country” (Acts 19.1); again, “from Jerusalem, and round about even unto Illyricum” (Rom. 15.19). ...

The Bible says:

FACT #1: God is alone from everlasting.

So whatever God is, He is alone from everlasting. Nothing comes before Him. And He was there before time by Himself alone.

FACT #2: Jesus is uncreated not just God the Father was uncreated.

Logically, if two things or entities are uncreated, alone from everlasting, then they are either two separate beings or one being. Salvation hinges on this fact. If you worship multiple beings (by even claiming the existence of 2 or 3 or more uncreated beings), you go to Hell if God is monotheistic and personally One Being instead of a corporation of beings.

FACT #3: Mathematically, there can be one uncreated being, but there is no room for other uncreated beings, because then you would have to ask yourself where these others come from.

Hence, we can be confident that the Father, Son and Spirit are one being and Mormons are going to Hell. Since we are told our God is one God, to assume more than that is the devil's playground.

Ramifications: Let's say you were to assume there were 2 uncreated beings, what's to say the person next door couldn't start up his own cult and say there were 3 uncreated beings. Or another person chose 4 uncreated beings and still another person claims 330 million uncreated beings. You could have virtually an infinite number of cults. What is the true test of who is right: 1, 2, 3, 4, 100, 1000, million, 100 million, a billion uncreated beings!? Where does it end?

It ends with the One. The Singe One Being who is God of the Bible in 3 Persons. Now you may want to argue you believe in God who is 4 Persons or 2 Persons or 10 Persons yet still One Being. It's within your rights to start up a cult like that, but it would no longer be the Mormon cult. We need evidence for such things. We see the Father, the Son and the Spirit, these 3 Persons at work, so we only have grounds for 3 Persons. The Son never claims to be the Father. The Spirit never claims to be the Son or the Father. This is how we come to the realization God is 3 Persons in the Trinity. Amen. ...

Why must a sinner be born anew? Why must he be born from above? Why must there be a regeneration of the spirit? Because man is a fallen spirit. A fallen spirit needs to be reborn that it may become a new one. Just as Satan is a fallen spirit, so is man; only he has a body. Satan’s fall came before man’s; we therefore can learn about our fallen state from Satan’s plunge. Satan was created as a spirit that he might have direct communion with God. But he fell away and became the head of the powers of darkness. He now is separated from God and from every godly virtue. This, however, does not signify that Satan is non-existent. His fall only took away his right relationship with God. Similarly, man in his fall also sank into darkness and separation from God. Man’s spirit still exists but is separated from God, powerless to commune with Him and incapable of ruling. Spiritually speaking, man’s spirit is dead. Nonetheless, as the spirit of the sinful archangel exists forever so the spirit of sinful man continues too. Because he has a body his fall rendered him a man of the flesh (Gen. 6.3). No religion of this world, no ethics, culture or law can improve this fallen human spirit. Man has degenerated into a fleshly position; nothing from himself can return him to a spiritual state. Wherefore regeneration or regeneration of the spirit is absolutely necessary. The Son of God alone can restore us to God, for He shed His blood to cleanse our sins and give us a new life.

Immediately the sinner believes in the Lord Jesus he is born anew. God grants him His uncreated life that the sinner’s spirit may be made alive. The regeneration of a sinner occurs in his spirit. God’s work begins without exception within the man, from the center to the circumference. How unlike Satan’s pattern of work! He operates from the outer to the inner. God aims first to renew man’s darkened spirit by imparting life to it, because it is this spirit which God originally designed to receive His life and to commune with Him. God’s intent after that is to work out from the spirit to permeate man’s soul and body.

This regeneration gives man a new spirit as well as quickens his old one. “A new spirit I will put within you”—“That which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (Ezek. 36.26; John 3.6). The “spirit” in these passages has God’s life in view, for it is not what we originally possessed; it is accorded us by God at our regeneration. This new life or spirit belongs to God (2 Peter 1.4) and “cannot sin” (1 John 3.9) ; but our spirit, though quickened, may yet be defiled (2 Cor. 7.1) and in need of being sanctified (1 Thess. 5.23).

When God’s life (which can equally be called His Spirit) enters our human spirit, the latter is quickened out of its coma. What was “alienated from the life of God” (Eph. 4.18) is now made alive again. Hence “although your bodies are ...