Majority Versus Minority

The Church Under Fire

Chapter Seven

Majority Versus Minority

May 28, 2023

I am still reading in the book of Acts. And Paul had just finished giving his defense to King Agrippa. Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.” (see Acts 26:30-32)

Paul then set sail for Italy, still as a prisoner, but the winds were against their ship. So Paul advised those who were in charge of his concern that the voyage would be with injury and much loss. But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. So, the majority decided to put out to sea. But then they came up against a northeaster, and so the ship was driven along by the wind. So they began to throw some of the ship’s cargo overboard. And all hope of them being saved was at last abandoned (see Acts 27:1-20).

Now, as I read through this passage of Scripture, which I have summarized in the paragraph above, I could not help but be drawn to other Scriptures and to more of a spiritual application of this lesson rather than to discuss it more on a physical level. For certain words and key phrases were standing out at me for certain. So this ends up being a perfect parable, as well as a historical account of Paul’s journeys. For I see many parallels here to Ephesians 4:11-16, which I will explain.

Tossed To and Fro

The first word that stood out to me in this passage in Acts 27 was “winds.” And that took me to Ephesians 4:14-15 ESV:

…“so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ”… 

 

And it was Paul who penned these words, as he was carried along by the Holy Spirit. And if you read all of the book of Acts, and all of the books of the Bible penned by Paul, you should soon realize that Paul regularly warned against such “winds,” that they would result in the spiritual injury and loss of many lives. But these are not Paul’s words in reality, for he was given these words by God, and now they are regarded as Scripture. And truly many people in charge (pastors, elders) are ignoring these warnings. And so they are indeed leading their flocks to death, not to life eternal.

In fact, so many pastors these days have become these men who are spreading these winds of doctrines via human cunning and by craftiness in deceitful scheming. And many of them are being taught to use cunning and craftiness and deceitful scheming and mind manipulation in order to get their people to go in the direction they want them to go. But that is not the way that the Lord wants us to go, for it is not the way of the cross of Jesus Christ, but the way of humans who are diluting and altering the character of God, of Christ, and of the gospel, to appease and to attract human flesh.

For they are telling them that all they have to do is to make a one-time profession of faith in Jesus Christ and now all their sins are forgiven (past, present, and future), and heaven is now guaranteed them when they die, but regardless of how they live. And many of them are not teaching repentance, submission to Christ, holy living, and walks of obedience to the Lord. And some (or many) are literally teaching that we do not have to repent of our sins, and we do not have to obey the Lord and live holy lives. And so they are sending their recipients to hell on the promise of heaven.

And So the Majority

So, the words and phrases “winds,” “advised,” “those who were in charge,” “injury and loss,” didn’t “pay attention,” and “so the majority” were all standing out to me at this point, and now I want to focus on “so the majority.” And I am going to relay to you a small encounter I had a few years back with a friend of mine and of my husband’s. For I had been writing on Facebook at this time, and I was examining (testing) two main writings against the teachings of the Scriptures. 

The first was some of the writings of John Eldredge. The second was the writings of the Missional Movement in their book, “The Tangible Kingdom Primer.” And this friend of ours was a follower of John Eldredge, and he and his wife were in a home Bible study group with us at the time, and we were all going through this book, “The Tangible Kingdom Primer,” which was passed off as discipleship training. And, as a disciple of Christ who has learned to test what I hear, I was looking into these writings and sharing my findings on Facebook, and this was upsetting this man friend of ours.

Then he (and his wife, I think) came over to our house, and he took me to task, and he screamed at me, and he tried to convince me that, since I was in the minority, I must be wrong, and that I needed to get with the majority, because, according to his estimation, the majority was right. So, since I was testing these people’s writings against the Scriptures, in his estimation I was wrong, but if I just accepted their teachings without question, then according to him, I would be right. But that way of thinking is so anti-biblical!

For it isn’t the majority who are in the right, for they are the ones following the broad road which leads to destruction and not the narrow road leading to life eternal with God (see Matthew 7:13-14). For those who are following the truth, who are walking in holiness and in righteousness and in obedience to the Lord, are not the majority. We are the minority, which seems to be shrinking by the day. For so many people today are buying into these various “winds of doctrine” via the cunning, craftiness, and deceitful scheming of many men (and some women) calling themselves “pastors.” And it is leading them to destruction.

So, the majority decided to put out to sea, and then they came up against a northeaster, and then the ship was driven along by the wind. And all hope of them being saved was at last abandoned. And sadly, this is where much of “the church” (the ship) is situated right now in America, being driven by these winds of doctrine via these men in their deceitful scheming, and so all hope of them being saved from their sins and having eternal life with God is being abandoned because they will not listen to godly counsel, but they are following the majority and the counsel of these “wolves in sheep’s clothing” disguised as servants of righteousness. So, don’t be fooled by them!

Jesus Christ said that if anyone would come after him he must deny self and take up his cross daily and follow him. And when Jesus took up his cross he definitely denied self and he put sin to death with him on that cross. So, we must deny self and die daily to sin and follow our Lord in obedience. For, if we hold on to our old lives of living in sin and for self, we will lose them for eternity. But if for the sake of Christ we die with him to sin and we live to him and to his righteousness, then we have eternal life in him (see Luke 9:23-26). So, please take this seriously, for your eternity depends on it.

[Matt 7:21-23; Matt 24:9-14; Lu 9:23-26; Rom 1:18-32; Rom 2:6-8; Rom 6:1-23; Rom 8:1-14,24; Rom 12:1-2; Rom 13:11; 1 Co 6:9-10,19-20; 2 Co 5:10,15,21; 1 Co 1:18; 1 Co 15:1-2; 2 Tim 1:8-9; Heb 9:28; 1 Pet 1:5; Gal 5:16-21; Gal 6:7-8; Eph 2:8-10; Eph 4:17-32; Eph 5:3-6; Col 1:21-23; Col 3:5-17; 1 Pet 2:24; Tit 2:11-14; 1 Jn 1:5-9; 1 Jn 2:3-6,24-25; 1 Jn 3:4-10; Heb 3:6,14-15; Heb 10:23-31; Heb 12:1-2; Rev 21:8,27; Rev 22:14-15] 

As the Deer 

By Martin J. Nystrom

Based off Psalm 42:1

As the deer panteth for the water

 So my soul longeth after You

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

You alone are my strength, my shield

 To You alone may my spirit yield

 You alone are my heart's desire

 And I long to worship You

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZv3jzOTE70

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