I am cleansed and forgiven from sin by the blood of Christ and my
faith is in him and not in this world or the hand of man. I love Jesus
with all my heart and soul and strive to live the holiest life I can that
is pleasing before God.
I love God’s house and hearing the word of God and learning more
about Jesus and becoming more like Jesus.
This article is not about the church, believer, or pastor that is doing
the will of the father and is truly pleasing to God. It is about the
church, professing Christian, and pastor that are more concerned
about pleasing people than God and living in the deception of Satan.
I know that God has risen up the church and countless churches are
fulfilling the work of God and many souls are added to the kingdom
daily. This article is about the false worship, false Christians, and
false teachings of today. There are many churches that have false
pastors that do not preach the entirety of the Word of God, the
fallen nature of man, and the concept of sin. There are false
Christians having false worship with sin issues in their lives that
attend church regularly.
There are professing Christians and pastors that are hanging onto the
world with one hand and are holding onto God with the other hand.
They have emotional gatherings that have a form of Godliness, but
deny the power there of. The emergent, seeker friendly, and mega
churches that are accepting sin and look like the world to attract the
masses are false before Almighty God. There is a spirit of pride and
arrogance in the accomplishments of buildings and works by the hand
of man; much hype to the greatness of man and what he has
accomplished.
"But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;"
{2 Peter 2:1-2 NASB}
I love the church and believe it is God’s house and I know that God can use whatever means he wants to build the church, but
it is on holy foundations that are pleasing to him. A church that is not built upon the complete word of God, but is built upon the
things of this world and deceptions of the enemy will fail. God doesn’t change and holiness and reverence and obeying his word are
talked about throughout the entire Bible. When Moses was in God’s presence he had to take of his shoes because the very ground he
stood on was holy. When Jesus drove out the money changers in the temple it was because they had turned the House of God into a house
of merchandise. Scripture says in the Holy Bible:
And He found in the temple those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables. And He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and the oxen; and He poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables; and to those who were selling the doves He said, “Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a place of business.”
{John 2:14-16 NASB}
Scripture says that God is Holy: "but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, “ YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”
If you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay on earth;
{1 Peter 1:15-17 NASB}
When the convicting power of the Holy Spirit moves upon a person with conviction of their sins, the Holy Spirit will convict and guide.
As true believers of Jesus Christ, we are to be Godly examples of living a believer’s life mirroring Jesus. We are not perfect, but
we strive for perfection with the help of the Holy Spirit. When we truly find Jesus and have the Spirit of the living God in our hearts,
then certain practices and activities that are displeasing to God will stop. We then are more concerned about living for Christ than
for the world and self.
If these activities and behavior that are unpleasing to God don’t stop, then the church’s job should
be to guide and instruct the professing Christian back into a daily relationship with Jesus and live free from sin.
It is unrepented
sin that separates professing Christians from God. When sin is not being preached about and saints are not warned, a lukewarm church
will be the result. You cannot go from cold to lukewarm unless the professing Christian at one time knew God. They have gone completely
stale with rejecting God’s word about sin and not living truly for him. They have a form of Godliness, but deny the power of the Holy
Spirit.
Scripture talks about this in the last days that many would be lukewarm and would be rejected by God.
“I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, “ I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,”
{Revelation 3:15-17 NASB}
We are in the last days. There has been a falling away of Christians that only want to go through the motions of paying a weekly tribute
to God’s house.
The falling away is also evidenced in the reading of His word and acknowledgement that the Bible is the
infallible Word of God.
The relationship with God of many so called Christians is just a Sunday only experience; the rest of
the week is lived by worldly standards.
I believe that a pastor who preaches with conviction and passion the Anointed Word of
God and fears God more than man; helps to prepare and equip the believer for the spiritual battle that all Christians face daily.
This battle is not against flesh and blood, but a spiritual battle against powers of darkness and the forces of evil.
The Word of God, the Holy Bible talks about this spiritual battle:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritualforces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.”
{Ephesians 6:10-13 NASB}
Through church attendance; we worship in song, pray one for another, and hear the word of God. I believe to live a holy life that
is in tune with the Spirit of God, we need to assemble ourselves with other believers and hear Holy Ghost inspired reading and teaching
of God’s word. There should be holiness, faithfulness, commitment, and reverence to the house of God.
The beginnings of Pentecost
with the outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit were given to a people that practiced holiness before God in everything in their lives. Their
conduct, dress, and worship to God were all practiced with holiness before God.
The mighty move of the Holy Spirit in those church
services was powerful and was evidenced every service. Holiness mattered most in the lives of those Christians that I observed as
a child. They would not do anything that even had a shade of grey to hinder God’s spirit and their daily relationship with God.
They
spoke out against television, movie theaters, dances, and anything that had the appearance of evil. They desired to be in God’s presence
whenever possible and were full of God’s Holy Spirit.
Today, there are many churches that have only Sunday morning service. Sunday
school is not even part of these Sunday services. Midweek service is rare in many churches today. The intended purpose of the midweek
service to encourage and strengthen believers with God’s word during the middle of the work week is fading away.
Another disturbing change I have seen in some professing Christians is a blatant disregard of respect and reverence to the house of
God. The Lord demands our best to Him in honor and worship. This is an example of what’s happening among many other things. I was
taught to take my hat off in prayer and I don’t think it’s unreasonable to say the church is a house of prayer and hats should not
be worn. Other irreverent things in the church are very informal extreme dress downs that include shorts, sandals, and immodest apparel.
There are drinks provided in the foyer and brought to the pews like it were a ball game, and many other irreverent and unholy things
that I think are displeasing to God.
The extended worship service in song that cuts into the preaching of God’s Word is part of scheduled plans of service. Satan was cast
down from heaven with a third of the heavenly host and his job in heaven was worship. Is it possible that some of our music today
may not be inspired from God? The seven eleven lyrics with seven words repeated eleven times. What about churches imitating rock music
to attract numbers? I believe that music lyrics should say a message or prayer to God and bring worship that is holy unto God and
not entertaining to the masses.
. “Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
“I WILL DWELL IN
THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM;
AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
“Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE
SEPARATE,” says the Lord.
“AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN;
And I will welcome you.
“ And I will be a father to you,
And you
shall be sons and daughters to Me,”
Says the Lord Almighty.”
{2 Corinthians 6:16-18 NASB}
Another falling away I see in the church is preachers that are preaching water downed sermons. What I mean is sermons that tickle
the ear that are by design to make you feel good. These are usually followed with a pat on the back and the praise of man. These watered
down sermons rarely mention sin and hell.
As shepherds of their flock, they are not preaching about dangers to their flocks. What
happened to Hell fire and damnation sermons? I remember hearing sermons that let you know that there was a Heaven to gain and a hell
to shun.
What has happened to sermons about the rapture of truly born again saints and a world left behind in the tribulation? What
has happened to sermons that call sin what it is?
God does not change and neither do the deceptions of the enemy. There is no new sin under the sun. It is just packaged different and it may have a new look or technology to deliver it, but when you think about it there really is no new sin in our modern era. The same sins that tempted people of old are the same today.
The norm today seems to be to call what is right wrong and what is wrong right or what is holy wrong and what is unholy right. With
the direction of change for numbers and programs many of our churches are moving in the wrong direction. There are many professing
Christians that elected a president that said we are no longer a Christian nation, but a nation of Muslim, Christian, and Jew. He
also said God’s Word is too radical and basically not a guide we should live by.
We have fragmented the Christian right so that we
now have the Christian left; which embraces homosexuality, abortion, preaches tolerance of sin, and has even went as far as saying
the Bible is outdated and should not be the guide by which one lives their life.
“For the coming of the Son of Man will be just like the days of Noah. “For as in those days before the flood they were eating and
drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and they did not understand until the flood came
and took them all away; so will the coming of the Son of Man be. “Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one will
be left. “ Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one will be left.
“Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming.”
{Matthew 24:37-42 NASB}
This false church will see the error of their way in the tribulation, but it will be too late. Those left behind will be forced to
worship the antichrist and take his mark or face death by beheading. The only hope they will have is to truly accept Jesus as their
Lord and Savior and never take the mark of the antichrist even if it means death.
For the church, there has been a season of great
prosperity that can lead to temptation from what this world has to offer; and it can reach the professing Christian, church and its
pastors. I think we can see many fallen charismatic empires that started out for God, but ended in ruin because of thirst for power,
numbers, and money.
A major issue with God; is when we sacrifice holiness by mixing the world into His place of worship and
He sees shepherds of his flock preaching feel good sermons and not warning of judgment. When we mix the world into our daily life
that we know is unholy before the Lord we are being deceived by Satan.
My point is: ~ Have we sacrificed the move
of the Holy Spirit and powerful church services of yesterday for what we have today in many of our churches? Have we conceded
that numbers and financial blessing are watermarks for God’s blessing even if holiness is nonexistent and a moving of God’s Holy Spirit
is not present?
Repent and ask forgiveness of your sins, serve God with all your heart and soul, stay holy before God, and find a church to worship
God in Spirit and truth before it is too late.
“Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God,which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.”
{Romans 12:1-3 NASB}