Mohammed, the founder of Islam, was originally very pro-Christian, for his uncle whom he greatly respected was a dedicated Christian. But on one of his commercial caravan trips to Damascus in Syria he observed Christians worshipping Mary the mother of Jesus which he understood as blasphemous, and Christianity sits with the results today.

Christianity's beginnings the prime problem in congregational fellowship and church function was the relationship between Jew and Gentile (non-Jew) and the slave and the free, and it was therefore necessary that the Apostle Paul write the following for the Church and that the Holy Spirit preserve it for us today –

Sadly, as a consequence of the flirtation of Christ's Church with national authorities, the opposition to Western imperialism in some Asian countries resulted in vehement opposition to any missionary activity as it was understandably seen as

the first step in imperial intrusion.

local churches today decoratively fly the national flag of their country as if those with its citizenship somehow have a higher standing than those without, such as refugees.

This discrimination is offensive to the Holy Spirit – by Whom Christ's Church is one spiritual Body as His Bride.

one local church in which I preached (in the Lebowakgomo homeland, northern South Africa, of the Bapedi people) men and women were not permitted to sit together in their congregation during the church service (even if they were married).

In another, during South Africa's Apartheid racial system, non-whites were not allowed into membership in white churches.

So the Christian Church failed in its exemplary responsibility
as it was impregnated with the social norms and nationalist ideology of the time!

is much more than a religion.

It is the full restoration of humanity, as it was originally designed to be by God,
prior to the coming resurrection in which every individual will stand in judgement before the Lord Jesus Christ.

Even where racial, gender and class discrimination are excluded from church life, the business management methods of this world have still affected church life, and the ministry of its leadership therefore holds a higher status and is given more attention than the voice of the Holy Spirit through the worshipping congregation.

is true to the extent that when a congregation has grown to the extent to make voice amplification necessary, this is only available to those pre-approved, and should the Spirit of God then choose to address the congregation through His gifts of tongues and interpretation or of prophecy, there is no open microphone available to those thus anointed.

The consequence in the focus of a church gathering shifting from the congregation's own worship of God to the leadership's function in teaching and preaching has resulted in a damaging loss of awareness of the direct authority of the Holy Spirit's lordship within Christ's Church.

the time is also now largely past of the Church using political process to further its social influence, which often resulted in the persecution of those in whom the Spirit was renewing Christian identity, the side effects thereof still continue in many countries and belittle true Christianity in the eyes of the world.

Consequently, the nature of Christianity is portrayed as nothing more than just another religion.

Willingness to be part of God's full restoration of Christianity, as prophesied in Psalm 110:1 and 3 concerning the return of Jesus, means openness to allow the immediate authority of God, unhindered, to fully function through Christ's people, regardless of local tradition or denominational liturgy –

until the prophesied completion of what Christ began – is fully done:

Observation of shortcomings does not feed faith.
Full faith in God walks according to His Word, such as quoted above, and defies any distraction or discouragement.

Jesus Christ understood God's Word and His statement to Israel's chief priest when on trial after His arrest attests to His understanding that the executive authority of God would be visibly demonstrated in His people, His Church as His spiritual Body; a time which would climax in His own visible return –

This was Christ's prophetic view of His people, His spiritual Body, as visibly demonstrating His authority
after they had received the Spirit of God in order to continue His ministry to the whole of the world.

From this function, Satan will be cast down when Christ's Church fully concludes its mission in His name, and this event commences the 1260-day (3½-year) count-down in Church History referred to in the book of Revelation Chapters 11 & 12, concluding the ministry of Jesus to the world and their enduring persecuting in Christ's name, before He returns to cast down all opposition

in the physical inauguration of His kingdom.

confusion has been caused in Christian understanding by the misleading teaching that Gabriel's reference to ending all temple sacrifice was a reference to Antichrist's action, whereas it is actually a prophecy of the ending of the spiritual significance of animal sacrifice before God as a consequence of Christ's crucifixion atonement. The misunderstanding of the identity of the one who would end temple sacrifice before God was caused by a serious error in translation in which the word גָּבַר/gâbar in Daniel (9:27) was mistranslated as 'make' whereas it can only ever mean confirm an existing covenant, and it is there

speaking of God's Mosaic covenant with the nation, which Jesus Himself confirmed, in its full implications.

This prophecy of Gabriel explains why the public ministry of Jesus was 3½-years (half the prophetic week, which Christ's Church will complete in the last 3½-years before His return), for these last seven years was split by His atonement, which then introduced the Hidden Time of God, so the second half of the Seven is still ahead and closes this age.

Every compromise, every corruption of Christianity, is therefore a delay in the return of the Lord Jesus Christ in power!

corrupting of Christianity, in any form, relative to the quality of the spiritual character of the fellowship which identifies it as Christian, has a personal penalty attached of premature death. Even if it is simply for a dilution of Christian character in its witness, such as led directly to the public death of Ananias and Saphira in the first congregation in Jerusalem (Acts 5:9) in which their deception of the congregation is shown as lying to the Holy Spirit who dwells in the redeemed people of God, and therefore –

"You have not lied to man but to God." (5:4).

Therefore the Bible warns us concerning divisions (both within and between)

in Christ's spiritual Body, His future Bride,

in Paul's letter to the church in Corinth –

Copyright © Lloyd Thomas 2017. All Rights Reserved Worldwide.
Feel free to copy, as long as this full copyright notice is included!

FOR A ROUGH TRANSLATION SIMPLY CHOOSE A LANGUAGE