hen the Savior was speaking to His eager listeners in the well-known "Sermon on the Mount" discourse as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, He said unto them, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you... Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:7,13,14)

There is a crisis in Christianity today, a silent enemy that sneaks into churches and drains away vital energy from those who would direct their worship to the Throne of Heaven. Paul warned about it in his ministry; every apostle and disciple who wrote a book of the New Testament addressed it in one way or another, yet their earnest instructions go largely unheeded by a multitude of professed followers in whom the Scripture is truly fulfilled; they profess the promises of Heaven, "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." (2Timothy 3:5) The name of this enemy is Compromise.

Most, upon hearing the word, will immediately begin to have pictures of "secret sins," and indulgences in the flesh that are quickly regretted once performed. Yet Compromise has another face, one that is more subtle, more sinister. Jude wrote in his contribution to the Sacred Scriptures, "it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints." (Jude 1:3) Even before the apostles left the earth, false doctrines and incorrect interpretations of the Gospel were creeping in unawares – seducing souls from the narrow way. These challenges were met head-on by the writers of the New Testament, and we have the record of their entreaties, their warnings, and even their commands. In spite of this there was, as Paul foresaw, a "falling away." (2Thessalonians 2:3) With the coming of the papacy, the principles that the followers of Christ had long upheld were surrendered – either to the fear of persecution or the executioner's blade. For centuries there was a stain imposed upon the character of the gentle Redeemer in men's minds, a stain that has yet to be scrubbed away. The Inquisitions, the Crusades and other "holy" wars, these continue to affect our global culture though centuries have passed.

The history of the Reformation is a record of the attempt to recover that vital, primitive Christianity from the mouth of the enemy of souls. Brave men, crying out against the abominations being done in the name of God, began to cast off the traditions which disagreed with the Scriptures, and made a heroic effort to fulfill the will and wishes of the One who paid the price for our sins, that terrible and infinite price that will be the subject of our conversation and adoration for ceaseless ages in glory. Many paid for their fidelity with their own lives, and we who are the recipients of their gift (an eventual – if unsteady – religious freedom) have a great debt; we owe them for their testimony, and for the Savior who sent them to us.

But have we paid that debt? Have we attempted to live up to the worthy name for which they died?

The apostle Paul gave us a description of the Church. He wrote of the members that they are to be "of one accord, of one mind." (Philippians 2:2b) To this end he wrote, "Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Yahshua the Messiah, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you; but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment." (1Corinthians 1:10)

But there are divisions among the churches claiming to be Christ's. There are contentions among humans, all claiming to be led by the same Spirit, yet the apostle asks the question, "Is Christ divided?" (1Corinthians 10:13) The answer is No. Christ is not divided, and neither is His body. There is an objective "truth," there is an objective "right," and human interpretations, human wisdom, do not result in many equally valid, yet contradictory "forms" of Christianity, "For Yah is not the Author of confusion, but of peace, as in all Churches of the saints." (1Corinthians 14:33)

Yes, there are many members in the Body of Christ (Romans 12:4); however some who style themselves teachers, some who are intimate friends with the demon of Compromise, apply this Scripture in a way never intended by the author, or by the Spirit of Truth that inspired him. To let Paul complete his thought, he said, "So [therefore] we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another." (verse 5) Can this be applied to different denominations, all teaching opposing doctrines, all claiming the favor and blessing of the Messiah, all claiming to be of one Body? The Bible teaches us how to know. Are they members one of another? Do they all have the same beliefs? Do they all have one doctrine, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism?" (Ephesians 4:5) Do they all say the same thing regarding the nature of God, the meaning of Salvation, the assurance of Salvation, the afterlife? Is there a single teaching, even one, that is common to all denominations considering themselves Christian? There is not one – not even the meaning of the Cross – yet some brazenly declare this multitude of voices to be "all part of the plan" of the Most High!

Are there many roads to God? The Bible teaches that there is a way to sanctification, but it is strait and narrow. The Messiah was accepting, and loving, and ever willing to meet people where they were – but He was not willing to compromise the truth. He loved all men, yet He rebuked them when they strayed from the path He was outlining for their lives. He embraced human weakness, yet He wrote the record of willful sins in the sand with His finger, and on golden pages in His Book of Remembrance. Both are true, both are part of His nature, both are Love. Love does not compromise the truth, or it would cease to be Love.

We must be united; but we cannot be united at the cost of compromising the truth. If there is an objective "right" way to read the Scriptures, it is our responsibility – it is our privilege – to seek it out and to follow it. That is what Church Membership is all about. Christ prayed to His Father that His followers "may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me." (John 17:23) Why do the atheists sneer at the Christians? Why do the evolutionists hold the believers up to contempt? Why are so many in the nominally Christian churches asleep, struggling with sins that should have been once confessed and eternally put away? Why hasn't our Master returned? It is because we have not yet come together according to the prayer of faith – we have not yet become ONE, even as the Father and Son are one. (John 10:30) The world does not yet know that Yah has sent the Christ, and that He has sent us to testify of Him.

There are not many churches. There is one Church; the word "churches" as used in the New Testament applies strictly to congregations, not to self-sufficient religious institutions, each teaching its own "spin" on the Gospel. There is a word for this kind of confusion in the Bible, in which everyone speaks his own language – it is called Babylon. In the last days, there will be a "confusion" of the spirit, a multitude of voices, all claiming to be teaching the truth. The principles of the dark kingdom have never changed, however... it is still called Babylon by those who know it. (Revelation 16:29)

But there IS a unity possible. For those in the Spirit, it is the only kind of fellowship that is possible. For those who walk not after the flesh, how can disagreements about religion not wither and die in the light of the Spirit of Truth that leads us all into a knowledge of all things? (John 16:13) To make the statement that we have no way of truly knowing the "right path," to claim that we are all just "doing our best," and can safely accept the church that fits our perceptions the most comfortably – to claim that Christ has more than one valid Church on planet earth is to deny the very Spirit that was sent to unify believers. To adopt the position of compromise regarding the doctrines our Master gave us is verily to resist, to blaspheme the Holy Spirit – and those who continue to maintain this position are in the gravest of danger. The last Book of the Bible tells us of Heaven, "And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's Book of Life." (Revelation 21:27)

If a thing is not true, it is a lie. If a thing is not according to the teachings of Scripture, the true teachings of Scripture, it is not true. We can no longer afford to claim we don't have the tools to learn the truth. We can no longer deny the power of Godliness, and become complacent in our faith. We can no longer go on pretending that everything is fine, when one teaches (for example) that the Sabbath is the 7th day of the week, and is a continuing blessing for Christians, but another believes that it was taken away from us – nailed to the Cross of Calvary, or changed to another day. One teaching is true, the other is a lie – and because we have the Spirit of God, we are able to know what the truth is. The true believer trusts the power of Yahweh, and knows these things are so. Somewhere deep within the heart of even the most lethargic convert, if the Spirit is moving with him, he knows that these things are so. "I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth." (1John 2:21)

There is a truth, an objective truth, and it can be for us an assurance of Salvation. Because Christ sent us His Spirit, we may ask, and it will be given to us. We may seek, and we will surely find. The confidence that we will find is the very essence of faith. "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:32) There is a Church on earth that is faithful to the Messiah's commands. There are a people who are "getting it right," and preparing to meet the Son of Man when He returns for His people. There are those on the planet who have a new heart and a right Spirit, and it is time that they find each other. It is time for the light to be separated from the darkness, as it was at the Creation, and then, and only then, can life begin. (Genesis 1:4) There is a Church that understands these things, and that is seeking out these believers, and joining us one to another as members of one Body. There is a Church in which unity may come without a loss of individuality, without a loss of freedom, that image of God that our Creator gave His own life to protect.

If you, dear reader, feel a hunger and a thirst for this kind of unity, for this kind of sure covenant of faith, then this book was written for you. Going back to where we began, with the words of Yahshua during His sermon on the mount, we find that most precious promise falling from His lips: "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." (Matthew 5:6) Only believe, and nothing shall be impossible unto you.

This book is a series of 7 sermons delivered by pastor Walter "Chick" McGill of the Creation Seventh Day Adventist Church in 2001. I have attempted to preserve them intact, word-for-word whenever possible, altering the text only where it is necessary for reasons of clarity, to add new insights, to generalize a specific teaching, to emphasize a principle, or to include other supporting Scriptures. The spoken word is not always smoothly translated into that which may easily be read, and so at times it has been necessary to modify the sentence structures or the wording in order to communicate the intent of the speaker. By the Spirit of Yah, the message is intact, and it is my faith that these humble efforts have been guided by One greater than myself, One infinite in knowledge, One more interested in gathering His people together than I have the capacity to experience.

I send this work into the world, therefore, neither the author nor truly the scribe, yet intimately concerned with its reception by those whom I would gladly receive as my brothers and sisters in Christ. With a few more notes on the technical aspects of this work, I invite my readers to continue on, and to drink of this clear fountain.

The following devices have been employed in order to facilitate the readers' comprehension:

1. All Bible readings are from the King James Version unless otherwise noted, with the exception of the Names being changed. Some examples:
• "God" becomes "Almighty One" and "the LORD" becomes "Yah" in the Old Testament readings.
• "Jesus" becomes "Yahshua", "God" becomes "Yah," and "Lord" becomes either "Yah" or "Yahshua" depending on the subject of the New Testament verses.
2. Pronouns referring to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit ("He," "Him," "His," "It," etc.) are all capitalized in Bible verses. So are certain key terms such as "Book of Life" and "Woman" when used in reference to the Church.
3. I will sometimes capitalize the word Church, and sometimes leave it with a small "c." This is not an inconsistency – where I use the word "church" it refers strictly to the organizations that claim that title. When I use the form "Church," it is in reference to the spiritual Body of Christ, the Body of believers that is currently (or from the perspective of the timeframe used) being faithful to the Head, which is Yahshua.
4. Sentences that are "broken" as the speaker moves from one idea to another are sometimes preserved "as is," with ellipses [...] indicating this shift in subject matter.
5. Pastor Chick’s more brief comments on Bible verses are added directly into the verses in [square brackets]; his longer comments and discussions of the verses are recorded outside of the "quotation" signs that enclose the verses' text.
6. Verses are not always quoted in full. Generally, only those portions quoted by the speaker are recorded with the reference given in (parentheses) or mentioned before the quote itself. These transcripts are obviously not intended to replace the readings of the Scriptures, but students are encouraged to have their Bibles handy to see the original text, unbroken by comments and insertions, in order to get the most meaning out of both the passages and these studies.
7. My comments, usually editorial insertions, are added in {curly brackets}.
8. Additional studies on key subjects are indicated by {1} numbers, and the corresponding footnotes at the end of each chapter make references to documents included in the Appendices.

May Yah bless the reader as this work is examined.
- David P. Aguilar

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