Imposters Procede from Bad to Worse

Read II Timothy 3:1-13. Paul stated in verse 13, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

As it is impossible for a goat to become a sheep, it is impossible for a reprobate to become a Christian. Professing Christendom is full of shams. Few today love the naked truth. According to the Scriptures, truth is unchangeably the same.

There is no English tense corresponding to the Greek perfect tense. In Matthew 2:5 and 6, the apostle was inspired to write, “…In Bethlehem of Judea; for this is what has been written [gegraptai] by the prophet; AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.” The aid of the Spirit in understanding the truth of Scripture is not outside of Biblical truth (subjectivism), but of it or in it. Matthew used the verb gegraptai, which is the inflected form of grapho. The inflected form is a third person singular perfect passive indicative of grapho. The perfect tense expresses perfective action, completed action with continuing results, or completed with a resulting state of being. The action may not be going on, but the results are continuing. What makes the perfect tense so wonderful? The fact that must be seen is that both point action and linear action are combined.

Think of all the gifts and prophecies that are given to the sheep of Christ and the prophecies that are in the perfect passive indicative mood. The verbs are used intensively, which is like the emphatic present. Past action is not the point of emphasis, because the emphasis is on the resultant state of being. What is written in the prophets continues to exist. The passive voice denotes “it stands written.” The objective truth applied by the Holy Spirit gives the chosen sheep more and greater assurance.

Christ, by His sacrificial death, did not purchase salvation conditionally. He purchased salvation absolutely and perfectly. Therefore, there are no conditions on the part of the elect for its application. Once the life has been bestowed, the recipients have the ability to repent and believe in a true conversion experience.

Christ’s Shepherd character may be illustrated by seven shepherds of the Old Testament: (1) Abel, the providing shepherd (Gen. 4:2); (2) Abraham, the separating shepherd (Gen. 13:8, 9); (3) Isaac, the peaceful shepherd (Gen. 26:19-22); (4) Jacob, the purchasing shepherd (Gen. 30:31; 31:40, 41); (5) Joseph, the prophetic shepherd (Gen. 37:2); (6) Moses, keeper of the flock shepherd (Ex. 3:1); and (7) David, the powerful shepherd (I Sam. 17:34, 35).

The good Shepherd not only gives life, but He gives it in full abundance. However, He does not give judgment in abundance, because judgment is according to justice. The saint and sinner alike get what they deserve—and only what they deserve— when it comes to judgment. What about people who cry, “What have I done to deserve this?”

In Matthew 16, the assembly is presented in its relation to the kingdom. In chapter 18, the assembly is viewed in relation to its responsibility. There is no guarantee and final victory of local assemblies in time. In Matthew 16:18 and 19, the assembly is connected with the eschatological kingdom—the future. The disciples had a foretaste of the kingdom in their experience on the Mount of Transfiguration (Matt. 17:1-13). Hence, the kingdom could never be committed to imperfect men. That is why Paul made light of the Corinthians when he said, “…I wish that you had become kings so that we also might reign with you” (I Cor. 4:8). Such authority could never be committed to imperfect men. The assembly must be perfected to reign with Christ over the nations of the world. Assembly or church history proves the evil and disaster of believing the imperfect assembly has the authority that religionists claim.

In Matthew 18:18 and 19, Christ said, “Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound [perfect tense] in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed [perfect tense] in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.”

Many arguments can be given to show the difference between the assembly and the kingdom in the study of Matthew 16 and 18, but the foundation of them all is the diversity of the mediating work of the Holy Spirit in the assembly and the unmediating reign of Jesus Christ in the kingdom. The assembly and kingdom can be equated no more than imperfection and perfection, or the believer in his perishing body and his glorified body.

The idea of a present kingdom and authority exercised by men on earth is not too far from Roman Catholic teaching. They say the church (assembly) is God’s visible kingdom on the earth. Some non-Catholics make the same claim. While Roman Catholics claim authority is invested in the Pope (succession of Popes), most non-Catholics say authority is given to all believers in the church (assembly). Therefore, both Catholics and non-Catholics see the kingdom already existing but in different forms. The idea that saints already possess the kingdom, with its authority, has led to all kinds of heresies and extravagant claims of authority and fanaticism among Catholics and non-Catholics alike.

Our Lord had been preaching humility to His disciples, and now He manifests it in His own self-humiliation. He did not take a stand on His dignity as the Son of God, thus claiming to be free from servile obligations. It is not a mark of greatness to bluster about rights. There is a lesson in all of this for us as saints living in difficult times (II Tim. 3:1-13). In the presence of all the fast-growing evil, to repeat our opening statement, Paul said, “But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse…” (II Tim. 3:13). There is little (almost none) assembly discipline today. It surely seems strange to read and hear about something that is never practiced, but that is the greatest problem facing the institutional assembly.

King James Bible—Matthew 16:19; 18:19 “And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” “Again I say unto you, That if two of you shall agree on earth as touching any thing that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven.”

NASB Updated Edition—Matthew 16:19; 18:19 “I will give you the keys of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven.”

In Matthew 16:19, “shall have been bound” is a periphrastic future perfect passive participle of the Greek verb deo. Also in verse 19, “shall have been loosed” is a periphrastic future perfect passive participle of the Greek verb luo. The same thing is found in Chapter 18.

The assembly is presented in her relation to the kingdom. In Matthew 18, the assembly is viewed in her present responsibility. Authority is limited to the local assembly, and there is no reference to the keys. Jesus Christ is seen on the Mount of Transfiguration as Christ shall appear in His coming and His kingdom (II Tim. 4:1). This future coming and kingdom will be the fulfillment of Matthew 16:19. The King James Bible says that God’s action in heaven is contingent upon what Peter and his successors do on earth. However, the Greek construction in the KJB is the opposite of what we consider to be true. This drives us to the Greek text which concludes with great joy.

Many arguments have been given and can be given, but the foundation of them all concerning the distinction between the kingdom and the assembly (church) can be summed up in the following difference: We have the mediating work of the Holy Spirit in the assembly that Christ is continuing to build, but we have the unmediating reign of Jesus Christ in the kingdom as a prophetic fulfillment.

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The NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE—UPDATED EDITION is the source of all Scripture quotations in this message, unless otherwise noted.