As we covered previously, the primary work of the kingdom is restoration. It is God's nature to restore that which has fallen, and when He does, He will make that which has been restored better than before, just as the "new creation" is even greater than the former. The restoration that we are called to accomplish now is helping to prepare the way for His kingdom. Because the church is the primary vehicle for the restoration of the earth, the church needs to be restored first. Therefore, we must have a vision for a complete restoration of the church, expecting the latter glory of His temple to be even greater than the former.
As the Lord taught, those who are forgiven much, love much, and this too, will be true of the church. Even though she may have fallen to spiritual adultery and harlotry, she will be restored, and even become a pure chaste virgin again. This is an ultimate restoration, and we must always keep in mind that "with God all things are possible" (see Matthew 19:26).
During the Middle Ages, the church was so powerful that kings throughout the Western world had to bow the knee to the church before they could be coronated, seemingly fulfilling the prophecy of Revelation 17:18, "And the woman (the harlot) whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth." You may remember from history how kings had to go to Rome and literally climb the hill on their knees to seek the pope's blessing before they would be coronated. This gave immense and very corrupting power to the church.
Because the church was so powerful, the positions of authority in the church were actually sold for great sums of money. This led those who were the most greedy and corrupt to fill many of the positions of leadership in the church. The subsequent plunge into darkness was so great that the church began to sell indulgences, actually the selling of the forgiveness of sins, so that even those who had died could be ransomed out of purgatory with money.
This was considered the greatest of all affronts to the cross because the forgiveness of sins had already been purchased by the blood of the Son of God. This was even considered by some of the Reformers to be the very "abomination of desolation" which had been prophesied. Others believed that the "abomination of desolation," or the "abomination that desolates," was "the sacrifice of the mass," which placed all of the authority for forgiveness of sins in the hands of the priests, putting them in the place of Christ as the mediators between God and men.
This doctrine of the sacrifice of the mass was established on the belief that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross only paid for Adam's sin, and for our daily sins and failures we had to have another sacrifice. The priests, by making the authorized incantation, was supposedly able to literally change the bread and wine of communion into the body and blood of Jesus and offer Him again for each of our sins. This made all men dependent on the priests for the forgiveness of their sins, and made them the mediators in place of Christ. This error is addressed specifically in such Scriptures as Hebrews 9:24-28, and I Timothy 2:5-6:
not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another--
He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.
And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,
so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation (NKJV).
For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus,
who gave Himself a ransom for all... (NKJV).
As stated, many reformers considered the mass to be "the abomination of desolation," or "the abomination that desolates," because it completely desolated the church by removing Christ as the Mediator, and the cross as the remedy for our sins. The penalty was death if someone was caught reading a Bible during those times—even for priests if they were not specifically authorized to read it. Also, if the Scriptures were read in church, it was in Latin, a language few could understand. It is easy to see how such darkness could come over the earth. Imagine how much deception would be in the church if no one was allowed to read a Bible for over one thousand years. Look how much deception is in the church, even with all of the Bibles we now have! This is mostly because few who have them actually read them.
When Martin Luther, a mere monk from an obscure village in Germany, started reading the Bible, and then resolved to take his stand on its truth without compromise, it shook the world, and the whole world began to change more than any conqueror had ever changed it. It is one of the great revelations for all time of the power of biblical truth in the hands of just one person courageous enough to refuse to compromise its truth.
Just as the Gnostic gospels that were promoted by the heretical sects during the first few centuries of the church age, and have recently been promoted again through such things as The Da Vinci Code book and movie, we should resolve even more to love the Scriptures, know them, and obey them. When we see the enemy coming in with such an onslaught, we should take our stand with even more resolve and devotion to stand for what is being attacked.
However, we should also keep in mind that there is a ditch on either side of the path of life. Just reacting to something will usually cause us to over-react and fall into the ditch on the other side. Gnostic means "knowledge," and this whole attack is but another attempt of the serpent to seduce the bride of "the last Adam" just as he did the first. During the Middle Ages, there was such an overreaction to this false "knowledge" of Gnosticism that they swung to the opposite extreme and started rejecting all knowledge so that everything was to be accepted just on "faith." The answer to the temptation is not just to refuse to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, but to eat from the Tree of Life—Christ Jesus Himself. The answer is not to swing to the opposite extreme by rejecting all knowledge, but to seek the true knowledge.
Just as the Gnostic doctrines asserted that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene, and started an earthly bloodline, Jesus did not marry anyone because He was betrothed to another—the church. His bride and His bloodline, is after the Spirit, not the flesh. Though the bride of the last Adam may have fallen and must be restored, the last Adam did not fall, but remained faithful unto death.
It is true that it would not have been a violation of Jewish Law for Jesus to be married, and that Judaism did promote marriage, but nowhere does the Law forbid one from remaining single. Singles, especially those who remained single for the purpose of serving the Lord with more devotion, were always acceptable in the Jewish community. Additionally, though it would not have been a violation of any Law for Jesus to have been married, as a priest it would have been a violation for Jesus to have married Mary Magdalene, because the priests were required to marry either virgins or the widow of a priest. Jesus, being the High Priest could have never violated this if He was to "fulfill all righteousness" (see Matthew 3:15).
Obviously, Mary Magdalene did not qualify to be the wife of a priest. However, she and any other harlot or sinner could qualify to be the wife of the Lamb as a member of His church. However, this is a spiritual union, not a natural one.
There are many heresies that have arisen and continue to "deceive even the elect" (see Matthew 24:24 NKJV), based on trying to make people feel special or "the elect" somehow because of their physical bloodline. The New Testament has a lot to say about those who foolishly seek to establish their significance because of their genealogy. Such false doctrines draw away those who are weak in their own identity or purpose, and who do not really understand the spiritual nature of the call. Why would anyone who is born again by the Spirit of God, becoming a son or daughter of God, care anymore about their physical bloodline?
The seed of the serpent, or the seed of Cain, who was "a tiller of the ground" (see Genesis 4:2), is actually identified by its earthly mindedness. The focus of the earthly seed will always be on the natural and fail to perceive the true nature of our calling which is by the Spirit. This is why the seed that became Christ had to come from the Holy Spirit and not in the natural. Those who are His are born again by the same spiritual seed.
It is because of the spiritual nature of the call and the bloodline, which make all true believers fellow heirs with Christ that all, regardless of their past, race, or family, can be born again and "all things have become new" (see II Corinthians 5:17 NKJV), just as if they had never sinned. The worst harlot can be born again and become a new, chaste virgin to Christ, and a part of His bride.
Can a church institution that has become a harlot with the systems of this world be likewise born again and become a pure, chaste virgin to the Lord again? I have personally learned to never restrict the potential of God's grace to renew and transform anyone or anything.
While I have resolved to never compromise the basic and important truth that Jesus alone is the Head of the church, and that His cross alone is the source of our atonement, forgiveness of sins, and acceptance with God, and as the Scriptures make clear, there is no more need for more sacrifices for sins, I have also resolved to grow in love and hope for all people and all churches. Regardless of their past or present condition, I know they can be born again, renewed, and become a part of the bride our King is worthy to have.
We must always keep in mind that the Lord is returning for a bride, not a harem. The church at the end will be in unity, and she will be pure and chaste, in every way free of the seductions and spirit of this world. Those who love the Lord, who are the true friends of the Bridegroom, also love and serve the church, helping to make her ready in every way for her King. If we compromise on the basic truth of the Scriptures, the church will never get clean and restored. However, let us hold fast to the truth with a devotion to help renew and restore her, not to bring further division.
