At what
point did the Reformation end? What
was the date of its official ending? When did we reach the full restoration of
all things? Is there no need for further change?
Although
many sectarian groups believe the Reformation ended with their particular
denominational movement, the Reformation is not over. It continues! It's a work
in progress that actually started immediately after the fall of Adam and Eve.
The real
question is, will we follow on in the example of the saints who have gone before
us? Will we do as God has done and abandon the old temple order? Will we go out to meet Him in faith as Abraham did with
Melchizedek? Or will we do as the elders of Israel did and cling to the old
order of worship, bowing our necks and resisting HIM who comes to lead us on
into His marvelous light? Will we go to Him? Will we suffer His reproach outside
the camp? Will we, like Abraham, heed God's call? Will we abandon everything
that refuses to express His glory to seek that city which He alone can build?
Will we believe the words of Jesus and seek only the economy of God's kingdom
and reject the god of mammon? Will we allow the Holy Spirit to lead us out of
the unholy mixture that has brought the church to its current powerless
condition?
Are we
calling you to follow us in a New Exodus? Definitely not! We are no one's
deliverers! Just as John in the wilderness refused to take a title to himself,
but when pressed as to who he was by the Jewish leaders said, "I am the voice of
one crying in the wilderness, saying make straight the path of the Lord," that
is our call and we are exhorting the Lord's faithful saints to once again move
freely and obey the call of His Spirit.
The Prophet
like Moses--JESUS--is still calling. He is still delivering the captives. He is
still saying, "Follow Me." He is
leading the great and final exodus and those who go out unto Him will once again
find themselves outside the camp.
God is
always calling man into a higher relationship with Himself in Christ. In order
for this to happen, we must be willing to leave behind all that we once held
dear. Even good things that God had once ordained can get in the way if we let
them become more meaningful to us than following the prompting of His Spirit.
The soulish nature of man and his need to have a permanent city or even
buildings for worship here on earth have resisted the leading of the Spirit of
God all through the ages. God made it clear from the beginning that His only
spiritual house was to be made of living stones, those that truly love and
follow Him alone.
We challenge
each of you to listen to the voice of the Spirit of God within yourself and obey
Him rather than the traditions of men that hold so many in bondage.
Do only those things He asks of you. If He says stay, then stay, but if
He is saying come out unto Him, then go forth to Him alone.
There is a continuing upward call for the saints of God. To all who hear
His call, welcome to the new exodus!
Then shall we know,
if we follow on to know the LORD:
his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the
rain, as the latter and former rain
unto the earth. (Hosea 6:3, KJV).
Notes
1 Alfred Edersheim,
Old Testament Bible
History.
Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing, 1972. Chapter 2. Online at
www.godrules.net/history.html.
2 William
Whiston, translator.
The Works of
Josephus: Antiquities Of The Jews.
Book 1, Chapter 2, pg 31.
Written in the thirteenth year of Domitian, 93-94 A.D.
3 Adam
Clarke,
Clarke's Commentary. 6 vols.
Carlton & Porter. 1857. NOTES ON CHAP. VI, Verse 5. Online version at
http://www.godrules.net/commentary.html.
4
4
J. W.
Etheridge, M.A. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel On the Pentateuch With
The Fragments of the Jerusalem Targum From the Chaldee. 1862. Section
II.
5
5 Jacques
Ellul .
The Subversion of Christianity.
Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1986. pg. 211.
6 James Strong. Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible. Grand Rapids: Associated Publishers and Authors.
Website featuring articles co-written by George Davis and Michael Clark
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