Jude 1:3-4 ESV
“Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.”
Oh, wow! This is a true picture of where we are here in
America today, and perhaps in other nations around the world, too. And when did
it all begin? I don’t know. I didn’t really become aware of it until 1999, but
it was another five years before I began to really see the magnitude of it all.
A.W. Tozer, a man of God who died in the early 60s, was writing about these
things back in the early 30s or 40s (definitely in the 40s). He was seeing this
then, only things are way far worse now in our day and time.
I began to have my eyes opened to this, like I said, in
1999. I was starting to see that, no matter what institutional church you attended,
across denominations, they all seemed to be following the teachings of one
specific man who was teaching them how to grow their “churches” (businesses).
He had developed a business model for a seeker friendly church that would draw
in large crowds of people from the world, and it caught on fast, and it swept
American institutional churches by a storm, though not all.
And, although he was not the one to initiate what we call “the
cheap grace gospel,” he introduced the concept to people by the masses. All you
had to do was repeat some words after someone else in a prayer, that back then
had nothing to do with repentance or obedience, and if you said you meant the
words, then you were congratulated that you were now part of God’s family, and
you had a lifetime membership, and no one could take it away. But no mentioning
then of turning from sin to follow Jesus in obedience.
But this man was not alone in what he was doing. He had
mentors and fellow workers in this church growth movement, which was really a
business expansion movement. And there were many before him and there have been
many more since then who have introduced into the gatherings of the church what
is of man and not of God, and who are teaching “cheap grace,” which does not
require the sinner to die to his sin nor to walk in obedience to the Lord
Jesus.
Anyway, this really sent the institutional church in a new
direction. Now they were being taught all sorts of marketing schemes and goals
for how to make “the church” more attractive and inviting to the world. And
pastors were now attending these church growth conferences and training classes
on how to market their “churches” to the world. My husband and I, who were
church planters at the time, attended one of these where we were told to use
needy people until we get up and running and then we want to get rid of them.
And I had a pastor at a church we were visiting at another
time tell me that in his training he was warned about people like me, i.e.
people with “strong convictions,” and so he encouraged me to go someplace else
where I would be a “better fit.” But before that he told me that I was to let
him be God’s voice to me. No. No one is God’s voice to me but God. Do I learn
things from other humans? Yes! But they are not God’s voice to me. But many
pastors are being trained to be more like cult leaders.
And yes, they are definitely perverting the grace of our God
into sensuality and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. And this is
because most of them are not teaching the true gospel that Jesus and his New
Testament apostles taught. They are teaching a diluted version of the gospel
which requires one to “believe” (not defined) in Jesus, but nothing beyond
that. They do not have to submit to him as Lord nor forsake their sins nor
follow Jesus in obedience to his ways. For they call that “works salvation.”
“For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the wound of my people lightly,
saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
when there is no peace.” Jeremiah 6:13-14 ESV
“For they are a rebellious people,
lying children,
children unwilling to hear
the instruction of the Lord;
who say to the seers, ‘Do not see,’
and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
prophesy illusions,
leave the way, turn aside from the path,
let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.” Isaiah 30:9-11 ESV
And that is exactly what is going on in today’s modern
market-driven flesh-driven institutional churches (not all congregations of
Christians). They are lying to people about God’s requirements for salvation,
and so they are leading people to hell on the promise of heaven when they die.
For they do not teach that we must die with Christ to sin, not just once, but
daily, and that we must follow our Lord Jesus in obedience, and that we must no
longer make sin our practice, or we will not inherit eternal life with God.
But Jesus said that not everyone saying to him, “Lord, Lord,”
will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one DOING the will of God the Father
who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21-23). And one day we are all going to stand
before Jesus and he is going to judge us by our deeds/works (Romans 2:6-8). And
the majority of the people will be turned away because they did not submit to
Christ as Lord, they did not forsake their sins, and they did not follow Jesus
Christ in obedience to his commands (New Covenant). So please take this to
heart.
The Prayer
Written by David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager,
Alberto Testa and Tony Renis
I pray you'll be our eyes
And watch us where we go
And help us to be wise
In times when we don't know
Let this be our prayer
When we lose our way
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe.
I pray we'll find your light
And hold it in our hearts
When the stars go out each night
Remind us where you are.
Let this be our prayer
When shadows fill our day
Lead us to a place
Guide us with your grace
To a place where we'll be safe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cqFCbtRz1Z0
Caution: This link may contain ads
P.S. This is not an endorsement of the singers other than as
musicians
No comments:
Post a Comment