October
2004
Dear brethren,
When
God commissioned Moses to construct the Tabernacle, He warned him
to make everything “according to the Pattern which was shown you on the
mountain” [Heb.8:5]. Novelty or neglect was not part of that pattern as it
was a “copy of the true” [Heb.9:24].
The house of
God, His dwelling among men, was erected according to a divine standard.
Spirit filled men, skillful in workmanship and full of wisdom in order to
instruct others, were employed in the holy process [Ex.35:30-35]. The people
of God lent their hand to the work. “Then Moses looked over all the work
and indeed they had done it; as the Lord had commanded, just so they had
done it. And Moses blessed them” [Ex.39:43].
Just so had
they done it: Nothing was added by human invention, nothing deleted by human
judgment. The house of God is to be built just so; according to Pattern.
When it is, the glory of the Lord is evident [Ex.40:33,34].
Christ
is the Pattern for the New Testament church. Both in character and
in method, He is our Standard. This is the theme of the book I’ve been
writing these past months. Currently at 250 pages, it nears completion with
two chapters remaining.
For West
Africa, we believe it will supply a broad frame of reference for the church
in that part of the world. The first part of the book sets forth Christ as
our Pattern. The following chapters outline the developments in church
history up to the modern period. Of particular emphasis are those
individuals and groups that have maintained the Pattern of Christ through
the centuries. As well, the progressive departure from the way is enumerated
and exposed.
Following are
brief selected quotes from the book that will give a flavor of its contents.
The chapter number will appear before the quote.
[1]
[Referring to the Synagogues]. The thoughts of man became elevated
to the same level as the Scriptures themselves and the ceremonial took on
the same significance as the moral and spiritual. Whenever this occurs, the
text of the Word is soon neglected and forgotten while true godliness
declines and disappears.
Stop and
think: What are the dangers of basing your faith on the explanations of men
rather than knowledge of the text of the Word of God itself?
[2]
Christ Jesus is the Pattern for the church both as to character and
in ministry. Conformity to Him is the standard. His mind is to dwell in His
own and govern their every thought and action in all humility, considering
others as more important than self [Phil.2:3-5]. In this, as in all things,
the Lord Jesus is our example that we “should do as I did to you”
[Jn.13:15].
Jesus was
utterly unlike the religion that He came to dwell among, both in character
and in approach to teaching, training, and influencing men. Because He was
greater in love, humility, and service, He called those whom lesser men cast
away ; fishermen, lepers, children, women, uneducated, and the poor.
Unlike the
Pharisees, He was not rigid in self-devised regulations which they imposed
upon multitudes whom they despised. He was no Sadducee, compromising the
Word by courting the favor of the political and influential out of a heart
filled with greed. Though a King indeed, he used no force to promote
religious ends as did the Zealots. The corruption of the Temple in Jerusalem
did not impel Him to physically isolate Himself from sinful men like the
Essenes thought they must. He was even known as the friend of tax-gatherers
and sinners while maintaining spotless integrity among them. Stop and think:
Will following the Pattern of Christ Jesus lead us to conform to popular
religious ideas and practices surrounding us?
Out of His
thirty-three years of earthly life, only three were engaged in ministry. The
remaining 91% were passed in quiet development of character and obtaining a
comprehensive grasp of eternal purposes into which the unique contribution
of His life would fit.
Though at age
twelve He was fully conscious that He “must be about My Father’s
business” [Lk.2:49], that business for the next eighteen years was that of
simple submission in the carpenter’s shop [Mk.6:3]. In such humble scenes
one learns the discipline of the often repeated mundane tasks that fit the
soul for future larger responsibilities [Lk.16:10].
Faithfulness
is cultivated, not in dramatic public exploits, but in the daily sweeping of
planer shavings. Through such menial chores one learns the discipline of
self-restraint even though one’s thoughts and ambitions are grand, lofty,
and godly.
Preparation
precedes service. God must first make the man before He can send him.
Character is the bedrock of usefulness in the design of heaven.
Apprenticeship was ever Christ’s method to instruct, train, and equip
disciples. His practice was that His followers would learn spiritual
principles by observation and participation. For them to be able to repeat
mechanically memorized information gained in a classroom setting was never
His purpose.
His school
required men to reason about spiritual issues for themselves. By
encountering life’ situations with the Word of God and by the use of
repeated questions, disciples’ inner character was developed. The
barrenness of a mere academic exercise of mind was not His aim and could
never be thought of as training.
In
self-forgetful humility, Christ is the perfect pattern of sinlessness.
Jesus’ perfection was rather seen in a pure expression of an uninterrupted
love for God and man which never was provoked to act unbecomingly by seeking
His own interests [I Cor.13:5,6].
As the King
of Truth [Jn.18:37], Christ was a controversialist who had to assail nearly
the entire religious system of His day. Yet though He contended earnestly
for the truth, Jesus possessed both fervency of spirit while tempered with
self-restraint. His manner that we must follow is that of a compelling
example of love and holiness merged with the persuasive power of truth. Lord
of all that He is, He has provided a servant’s pattern for us to imitate,
not that of lordship [see Appendix 1 NT Leadership].
Stop and
think: How does the rule of a man over one’s soul prevent someone from
following Christ?
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[4]
Perpetua c.202 AD. A beloved African sister of wealthy and noble
birth, highly educated and honorably married, was taken captive by
persecutors of the faith. Only twenty-two years old and with babe at her
breast, she was begged by her aged and pagan father to deny Christ because
of the shame that she was bringing upon the family.
What a scene
it was! Before the court and a great assembled multitude, he threw himself
at her feet, pleading with her tenderly, weeping and kissing her hands.
“My daughter,” he appealed, “pity my gray hairs, pity your father, if
I am still worthy to be called your father. Do not expose me to such shame
before men! Look upon your child - your son - who, if you die, cannot
survive without you!”
Imagine the
pull upon this daughter’s heart: the threats of merciless Rome, the honor
and loving tears of her elderly father, the cries of her infant son. How
they all pressed to the depths of her young soul! “Offer sacrifice for the
welfare of the Emperor!” demanded the governor.
And thus she
stood before her judges, the assembled crowd, her pathetic father, the
admiring hosts of heaven, and the hateful legions of hell. But firmly and
calmly like Abraham, whose eye was not upon his son but upon the God of
resurrection, she said, “That I cannot do. I am a Christian.”
Her
condemnation was sealed by that simple statement and so was led to the
stadium before the bloodthirsty throng. Yet even this did not silence Psalms
of praise to God from pouring through her pure lips before them all. Only
the tossing and goring upon the horns of the wild bull put an end to her
song here below. But she continues singing above, having entered into the
joy of her Lord where she was received with, “Well done, good and faithful
servant.”
Stop and
think: How does honoring Christ relate to honoring parents, family, and the
government? [Mt.10:34-39]. What would you have told Perpetua to do?
[6]
Initially, through meekness, love, and purity, Christianity had
spiritually triumphed over Rome. Yet in the end, through compromise, greed,
and lust, pagan Rome triumphed over the church.
It was the
church’s choice to erect its own shrines complete with images, priests,
superstitious rituals, and oppressive rule. And, like heathen Rome but even
more furiously so, the Church of Rome persecuted those who did not bow at
their altars and acknowledge their priests and pontiffs. Thus the church
that had triumphed outwardly, perished inwardly. It is not elephants that
spoil the vine, it is the little foxes [S. of S. 2:15].
With the new
capital of the Empire now moved to Constantinople in 334 AD, bishops who
once were fed to wild beasts in the Empire’s arenas now dined with the
Emperor at the palace. Those who had properties, possessions, and positions
wrenched from their hands, now had all restored and their purses fattened
from the imperial treasury.
Persecution
for righteousness’ sake once was their portion, now promotion and
enrichment. Once shame and reproach, now pride and exaltation.
The world,
formerly the church’s savage enemy, now reclined comfortably in her bosom.
Thus, though outwardly Christianity had converted the world, the world in
turn was rapidly converting the church. The devil, who has come only to
steal and destroy, has more than one masquerade to achieve his ends. The
roaring lion of Diocletian knew how to quickly slide into his subtle
serpent’s dress during the reign of Constantine and seduce the church into
his coils. What he did not achieve through fire, he managed to do by
friendship.
Augustine
of Hippo in North Africa [354-430 AD] said about the church in his
day, “The man who enters is bound to see drunkards, misers, tricksters,
gamblers, adulterers, fornicators, people wearing amulets, clients of
sorcerers, astrologers...He must be warned that the same crowds that press
into the churches on Christian festivals, also fill the theaters on pagan
holidays.” St. Boniface wrote to Pope Zachary [741-752 AD], “Young men
who spent their youth in rape and adultery were rising in the ranks of the
clergy. They were spending their nights in bed with four or five women, then
getting up in the morning to celebrate the Mass!” Pope John VIII [872-882
AD] promised to soldiers fighting bravely against the pagans, the rest of
eternal life and forgiveness of sins. Stop and think: Was this Jesus’
method and promise to His followers? [Jn.18:36; Mt.26:51,52].
Pope John
XXIII [1410-1415 AD] had the godly John Huss and Jerome of Prague condemned
and burned at the stake at the Council of Constance. Later, that same
council condemned this same John XXIII, one of the three rival Popes at the
time, “for being a mass-murderer, mass-fornicator, a pirate, rapist, and
sodomite.”
[7]
There was nothing artificial about the beginnings of Christianity.
The church received her life from the Holy Spirit of God and this became
their testimony both by word and deed. The progress of the kingdom of heaven
was due to the efforts of spiritual common believers and not from
“professional” preachers [Acts 8:4; 11:19; I Thess.1:6-8].
Apart from
organized campaigns and without exhortations to do so, simple Christians
spread the Word of life throughout the known world. The church in Rome began
and developed this way without Apostolic presence. The NT pages are
refreshingly free from the appeals for funds and pleas for laborers so
prevalent in our day.
Spontaneous
expansion begins with the joy of a new found love and purity in the light.
It breaks out in a spiritually instinctive desire to help and bless others.
Love must have an outlet, for it can only but extinguish if expended upon
self. Purity’s radiance cannot be hid. Truth’s compelling persuasion to
the soul swells within seeking to vent its internal pressure. These are the
deep wellsprings of an unrestrained expansion of true faith.
Space
would fail me if I were to include more. We give glory to God for
His help during this project and your continued prayer for us all along.
When finished we intend to have it printed in West Africa and distributed
via faithful brethren at no charge as have been done with my other
publications.
Our
earnest expectation and hope is that we will return to West Africa
by next month or December at the latest in the will of the Lord. We intend
to begin a fresh work in Sierra Leone and take periodic trips into Nigeria
to continue to strengthen and encourage the brethren there. Do pray for us
as there are many things to arrange before that takes place.
With
all of our love,
Steve and Patti
Steve's
E-Mail:
oyinbosteve@yahoo.com
Steve's
Web Site:
http://www.phillipsmissionforum.org/
Back to the Top
Are We Like Christ?
[Portions of the
book in html form.]
Begin Here
Chapter 1 - In the Fulness of Time
Download the entire book in pdf form:
Are We Like
Christ?
(pdf file: 2 mbs)
Facing the Truth, Holiness & Love of the Lord Jesus Christ
Personally & Historically
By Steve Phillips
Download the latest version of
Adobe Reader
Back to the Top
Out of the Depths
The Mystery of Suffering
By Steve Phillips
an excerpt...
For
in this we groan [2
Cor.5:2]. The body, in time, here on earth, is our present house of
sorrow. Here, while the inner man is renewed day by day, the outer man
perishes [2 Cor.4:16].
Tears become our food here by day and by night
[Ps.42:3], yet they are all, each one, recorded in His book [Ps.56:8].
There are no wasted sufferings in the economy of God.
Sorrows for a season effect eternal comforts for
suffering saints. In
faithfulness You have afflicted me [Ps.119:75].
Can you say so? It
was good for me that I was afflicted [Ps.119:71].
Is this your testimony?
When standing on eternal shores, it certainly will be.
When seen from the standpoint of an All-Wise Sovereign, you will say so.
If our trust in His kindly wisdom were but more simple, we would say so
now.
Should we for a moment be granted all-knowledge with all
wisdom to discern, along with all-power to effect any change that wisdom
perceived, we should choose for ourselves precisely the circumstance
that we find ourselves in at the moment. We would realize that these
very afflictions are the best possible situation for our eternal
well-being.
Download the entire book:
Out of the
Depths
The Mystery of Suffering
(pdf file: 300 kb)
By Steve Phillips
Back to the Top
PREACH
THE WORD
(pdf file: 1.7 mbs)
BASIC TRAINING IN
GOSPEL
PREACHING,
DISCIPLESHIP,
CHURCH
WORK
By Steve Phillips
ALL THINGS LOSS
PROSPERITY’S
DELUSION
SALVATION’S
REWARD
A Novel
(pdf file: 575 kbs)
Steve Phillips
