Appendix 1

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Appendix 1. Communion of the Kingdom

The communion of the first-century Church was substantive to fill the true physical and spiritual needs of the people. Christians depended upon the freewill charity of each other, not the entitlements of Rome or the synagogue of Satan.345 This was the righteous way of God from the beginning.

Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord’s table, and of the table of devils.” 1 Corinthians 10:21

The Christian community was well-disciplined and organized from the bottom up with a system of charity rather than forced taxes. While the Roman system of political control and its usurious economy was breaking down, those who followed Christ were excluded from the dainties of those civic tables. In about AD 150, Justin Martyr, hoping to clear the misconceptions and prejudices surrounding Christianity, wrote the Emperor Antoninus Pius in defense of the Christian faith and allegiance to Christ:

And the wealthy among us help the needy ... and willing, give what each thinks fit; and what is collected is deposited with the president, who succours the orphans and widows and those who, through sickness or any other cause, are in want, and those who are in bonds and the strangers sojourning among us, and in a word takes care of all who are in need.” (Ch. 65-67)

Justin would not trade his faith in Christ for the benefits of Rome because he knew that what they offered for his welfare was truly a snare of recompense. Christians, had “had fallen into such a folly that they would not obey the institutes of antiquity.”346 These were the official temples of Rome which had been established by the government for the welfare of the people.

As with ministers like Stephen, we also see the Didache stating: 347 “Therefore, elect for yourselves bishops and deacons worthy of the Lord, men who are meek and not lovers of money, true and approved, for they also perform for you the ministry of the prophets and teachers.” 15:1

The nature of these appointments would remain the same for centuries. In the 10th century, drastic reforms were enforced to “unify the liturgy” of the Church. This authoritarian call for unity under a centralized Church had been creeping into some Church thinking from the beginning and now became a rebellion against the gospels.

Liturgy is defined as “a prescribed form or set of forms for public religious worship.”348 It is from the Greek word leitourgi and leitourgos, meaning “public service” and “public servant” respectively. Liturgy was not about singing and vestments and the smoke and mirrors of modern Christendom. It was about the public servants of the Kingdom of God operating under the perfect law of liberty in true worship of God349 by service to the people. Liturgy was the common procedures of God’s kingdom in congregations composed of, by, and for the people.

The free systems of tens, hundreds, and thousands, bound together only by brotherhood and love, had been the predominant form of successful voluntary government throughout man’s history. Similar cell patterns were evident in the persecuted Church immediately following Christ. This was the prophecy and plan of God for his called out.

And in that day seven women [churches] shall take hold of one man [Christ], saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.” Isaiah 4:1

The crucial ingredient to their success is the implementation of God’s Law summarized in the virtuous application of Christ’s two commandments. Love God and His ways with all that you think and do and actively love your neighbor’s rights to his property and family, his life and liberty as much, if not more, than you love your own. Eucharist is the Greek word for being thankful for the opportunity of giving which is the Communion of Christ in us.

The Church that comes together according to these ancient patterns and righteousness can overcome all tyrants, despots, and enemies of freedom and liberty. They may be sustained by their love in famine and blight. They may exit bondage and prosper in the wilderness. They may weather the greatest storms and cataclysms of men and nature, both past or future. They can and will inherit the earth. [see Chapter 4 of Thy Kingdom Comes.]

Footnotes

  • 345Revelation 2:9 I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich) and [I know] the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but [are] the synagogue of Satan.

  • 346Edict of Tolerance at Nicomedia, Emperor Galerius’ April 30, 311.

  • 347The Didache is mentioned by Eusebius (c. 324) as the Teachings of the Apostles following the books recognized as canonical (Historia Ecclesiastica III, 25): ...

  • 348The American Heritage ® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  • 349See Appendix 3 of Thy Kingdom Comes. What is worship.



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