Jeremiah 1:13-16 ESV
“The word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, ‘What do you see?’ And I said, ‘I see a boiling pot, facing away from the north.’ Then the Lord said to me, ‘Out of the north disaster shall be let loose upon all the inhabitants of the land. For behold, I am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, declares the Lord, and they shall come, and every one shall set his throne at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its walls all around and against all the cities of Judah. And I will declare my judgments against them, for all their evil in forsaking me. They have made offerings to other gods and worshiped the works of their own hands.’”
In what ways is the American church at large today making
offerings to other gods and worshipping the works of her own hands? How is she
forsaking the Lord? What evils is she involved in? (You can apply this to
wherever you live but America is all I know.)
Well, I began to become aware of some of these things in
January of 1999, I believe it was, but all these things had been building for
many years. A. W. Tozer, a man of God who died in the 1960s, I believe, saw
what was going on in the American church at large back in the 1940s, and
perhaps even before then. My favorite writing of his is called “The Old Cross
and The New,” and it speaks of the changes that Tozer was seeing back then (1).
And then in 2004 I went to a district prayer conference, and
the Lord really spoke to my heart in so many ways there through all the
speakers. And these are a few things that jumped out at me that were said there:
“The church is in crisis – the crisis of Supremacy of Jesus Christ. It is
indistinguishable between the lives of evangelical Christians and the world. We
need to get back to the basics – we need to put our focus on Jesus and the
cross of Christ instead of on the teachings of man.” Amen!
So, what was becoming evident to me was that “the church”
was transitioning away from traditional evangelical Christianity and was moving
in the direction of modernism and the culture and of big business. And they were
now marketing “the church” to the people of the world just like any other
business. And so this was no longer the body of Christ gathering together to
honor Jesus Christ with their lives, but this was a conglomerate of big
business, the government, the world, and some Christians gathering together to
grow their kingdoms of men.
Now, not every congregation of Christians is in this same
boat, but this does appear now to represent the vast majority of what is called
“church” today here in America. And so “the church” was no longer the body of
Christ, and so they ceased to be the church. For they are institutions of men
being run like any business of man with a goal to draw in large crowds of
people from the world into their gatherings. And so they are gearing their gatherings
to attract the people of the world.
And so the preaching of the cross had to go, because it
offends people. And so they altered the gospel message and they reduced it to a
mere profession of faith in Jesus Christ which assures “the believer” that his
sins are all forgiven and that heaven is now his eternal destiny, regardless of
how he lives his life on the earth. And they taught against all works, even the
works of God which he has assigned us to do (Ephesians 2:10). And so many taught
against repentance and walks of obedience to Christ, too.
So, this altered gospel has no one dying to sin and walking
in obedience to the Lord, as required by God, but they prayed a prayer and made
a profession and so now they feel that heaven is secured them regardless of how
they live. And so sin is running rampant in these modern market-driven
churches, because they have denied the working of the Holy Spirit in their lives,
and they are following the teachings of man, instead. And the fear of God is no
longer being taught.
And so the American church, at large (not every single
congregation) is on a massive spiritual and moral decline, and truly it is
indistinguishable between the lives of evangelical Christians and the world,
although there is a remnant of true followers of Jesus Christ, but we are few
in number by comparison to the masses who are participating in these
market-driven churches and who have bought into the altered gospel which does
not require you to forsake your sins to follow Jesus in obedience. So the
American church at large is definitely under the judgment of Almighty God.
Jeremiah 1:17-19 ESV
“But you, dress yourself for work; arise, and say to them everything that I command you. Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them. And I, behold, I make you this day a fortified city, an iron pillar, and bronze walls, against the whole land, against the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the people of the land. They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I am with you, declares the Lord, to deliver you.”
So, what’s our responsibility in all of this? First of all
it is to make sure our hearts are right with God and that we are dying daily
with him to sin and to self and that we are following him in obedience to his
ways. And then we need to be people of God who are speaking out about these
things and who are proclaiming the truth of the gospel and who are confronting
the lies. And yes, other professing Christians and even pastors of “churches”
will fight against us, because most of them don’t want to hear the truth, but
they want to follow after the lies, for the lies are what draw in large crowds
of people from the world.
But the people need to hear the truth in contrast to the
lies for so many of them are being deceived by these charlatans and wolves in
sheep’s clothing who are telling them pleasant things and not the things they
don’t want to hear. And so many people are being led to hell on the promise of
heaven, and so the truth has to go out. And the truth is that if sin is what we
practice, and if righteousness and obedience to our Lord are not what we
practice, we will not inherit eternal life with God regardless of what our lips
have professed. So please take this to heart.
Have
Thine Own Way, Lord
Words
by Adelaide A. Pollard, 1907
Music
by George C. Stebbins, 1907
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Thou art the potter, I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Search me and try me, Master, today!
Whiter than snow, Lord, wash me just
now,
As in Thy presence humbly I bow.
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Wounded and weary, help me I pray!
Power, all power, surely is Thine!
Touch me and heal me, Savior divine!
Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine
own way!
Hold o'er my being absolute sway.
Fill with Thy Spirit till all shall see
Christ only, always, living in me!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z11avpKNLsA
Caution: This link may contain ads
(1)
http://www.ldolphin.org/oldcross.html
All of a sudden this
site is being marked “Unsecure.” I noticed the same with other sites which
recited Tozer’s entire article (at least I believe it to be the entire
article). While other sites which have edited the article are not being marked
as “unsecure,” it would appear.
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