The Greatest Threat to the Church
Notes
Transcript
Introductions
Introductions
If I were to ask you today, “what is the greatest threat to the church in these times,” what would be your answer?
I can imagine that some would say; government policies that are increasingly hostile to the church, and the fact that biblical principles can no longer be taught in the public schools, or sometimes even in the public square.
You might say it’s because of the way the church, and Christian principles in general, are negatively portrayed and defamed in movies, music, pop culture, and the main stream media.
You might say it is because of the continuation to liberalize laws on personal conduct, such as the normalization of homosexual practices, and gender fluidity.
You might say it is because of the of easing of restrictions on drugs, the legalization of marijuana, the easy access to controlled substances.
I do believe each of these factors may come into play, but today I want to tell you what I think are the three greatest threats to the church today.
The first one is pastors:
Pastors
Pastors
Yes, you heard me right. I think the greatest threat to the church today comes from the pulpit. Of course there are a few Pastors and preachers out there who still preach the Word of God. The pastor previous to me in this church is a good example. But few sitting in the pews today have that good fortune to be under the teaching of a Pastor who is preaching the whole Word of God.
When the preachers with the largest audiences, the preachers with the longest reach, the preachers who are the best known are not preaching the true and whole Word of God, that is a clear and present threat to the church.
I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Let’s look at these verses a little more carefully:
Verse 1. I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ
This is Paul speaking to his young protege, Timothy and he says “I charge thee therefore before God”
He is not giving Timothy advice,
he is not making a suggestion,
he is explaining Timothy’s responsibility and emphasizing the seriousness of his commission.
As the verse continues: who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom.
Timothy will one day account for what he preaches before the One who judges all.
Now, I have some experience with judges. I have testified hundreds of time in court and I have watched other people testify; witnesses, sometime accused criminals. And in most cases they are attempting to make the judge, or sometimes a jury, believe what they have to say whether it is true or not.
A lot of time their account is believed, or not believed, based on other pieces of evidence presented in the courtroom. But can you image when you have to testify before a judge who already knows if you are telling the truth or not.
A judge that you can’t persuade by a clever turn of words. A judge who is not impressed by any legal loophole that you may try to claim. A judge that can’t be fooled. A judge who already knows everything you have ever done or said, or even thought in your entire life.
This is the judge who will judge every pastor, every preacher, every teacher, who has ever stood at this sacred desk and presumed to give God’s Word to God’s people.
I don’t want to be that preacher who has watered down God’s word to made it more palatable to an unconvicted crowd.
I don’t want to be that preacher who has left out some of the scarier scriptures about judgement and unforgiveness and unrepentance.
Verse 2 says: Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season. That means when it is convenient and when it is not convenient. It means when it is easy and when it is hard.
I don’t want to be that preacher who has neglected to teach some the scripture that has become “inconvenient” in our modern times.
But you know what, a lot of those preachers with the biggest audiences, a lot of those preachers who are the best known, don’t seem to have the same fear that I have.
(3) For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
Here is the key to the passage. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. I believe that is why we have so many empty pews in this church. Why we have so may empty pews in churches across the nation, while at the same time, certain churches have mega crowds, and mega revenue, and multiple media outlets.
For you see, those seats are filled with those people who have turned away from the truth, those with itchy ears, those who want to hear a certain message preached and prefer to believe the fables they hear from the pulpit.
We live in a society where people are no longer expected to take any responsibility for their own behaviour or even their own lives. We no longer have standards that we strive to achieve. We live in a time where everyone gets a trophy regardless of their effort or dedication to the task.
We live in a society where if we try to acknowledge merit in an individual achievement we are accused of being divisive.
If we fail in any individual effort, it is not our fault. We are just victims of the oppressive forces around us. And of course the result is the bolstering of a weak and timid spirit in that individual.
This paradigm of not taking any personal responsibility has made it’s way into the church as well. We are taught that God loves us, He loves us as we are, and like society at large, God is not going to hold us responsible for our actions. Because God is love, right? (1) (2)
Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,
And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.
He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
Today we hear a lot about the God is love part, no so much about the keep my commandments part.
That brings me to my second point. The second of my greatest threats to the church today and that is:
Lack of Fear of the Lord
Lack of Fear of the Lord
People like to hear sermons about the Love of God. God is Love is popular fare for bumper stickers and Facebook posts. Now, don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that God does not show us love, for He certainly does, but today’s preaching gives us a totally unbalanced look at the attributes of God found in scripture.
You guys know that I use computers to do research and put together sermons. I can write a sermon without a computer, and have done so many times in the past, but having those computer resources available makes the entire process more efficient and more complete than could be accomplished without these electronic aids.
Just as an experiment I did a computer search of the King James Version for the exact text “Love of God” and then did one on “Wrath of God.” The exact wording “Love of God” occurs 14 times in scripture. “Wrath of God” occurs 10 times. Now I know this is not a scientific audit, and scripture contains many more verses that go into detail about love and wrath.
But, when you look at those exact quotes, they are pretty well balanced. I don’t think preaching today is as well balanced. We hear a lot about the Love of God, but the Wrath of God is a much more unpopular subject.
When we have such an unbalanced view of the attributes of God, because of Pastors and preachers that have an unbalanced attitude about scripture, then we have another clear threat to the church. (3) (4)
Mortify therefore your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupiscence, and covetousness, which is idolatry: For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience.
I am shocked today at the lack of Fear of the Lord that we see, not only in society, but in the church itself.
The third thing I see as a great threat to the church is our unwillingness to spread the Gospel message, a failure to evangelize.
Failure to Evangelize
Failure to Evangelize
As the world becomes more and more hostile to Christians, the church has retreated into itself.
We can look at our church in two different ways. We can see the four walls of the church as our “safe space” where we can gather and sing hymns, and study scripture, fellowship, and pray to our Lord. We can think of our church as our fort, where these four walls form a barricade against the intrusions of the unfriendly world around us.
Or we can see our church as our headquarters where we go to prepare to meet the world. A place where we study, and grow, and fortify ourselves for the task that lies ahead. A place where we strengthen our relationship with the Lord.
Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Now, you may tell me that these verses are speaking about missionaries. Yes, they are, and the mission field is a big part of our responsibility. Probably no one in here is going to Ecuador or Africa or Haiti as a missionary, but we all can support missionaries who do that difficult work.
I believe these verses are speaking about something wider that the traditional missionaries that we support. Each of us has our own mission field located just outside those big glass doors on the east side of the church.
I attended a small church in Montana about 35 years ago. We financially supported a number of missionaries in places scattered across the globe. But one of the unique things about that church, is that as you were getting ready to leave, getting ready to walk out the front door, if you looked above that door, you would see a sign that read “You are now entering the mission field.”
To be a missionary you don’t have to start a church, you don’t have to construct a school, all you have to do is watch for opportunities to present the Gospel to people that you meet as you go about your life.
I’m not talking about shaking your finger or waiving your Bible at people. I’m talking about being an example of a blood bought Christian, whose very personality exudes the love and grace of God. If you are that person, you will have opportunities to be a missionary to the world. God will guarantee those opportunities if you are sensitive to His will.
Conclusion
Conclusion
I know the world today does not make it easy to be a Bible believing Christian. The world does not make it easy to walk the narrow path. But we have to bear some of that responsibility ourselves. This country was founded on biblical principles, and I know this country was not perfect as founded, but men of faith continued to work to transform this country into the greatest nation in the world. But we, through our inattention to the negative changes that seeped into our society, find ourselves in a much different situation than we were in just a few years ago.
What can we do? The only thing we can do is keep the faith. Stay true to scripture. Stay connected with our Redeemer, and follow His will for our lives. If our country is to change, it will change not with a mighty revival that sweeps across the land. It will change one soul at a time. You introduce someone to Christ, they go on and introduce someone to Christ, and so it goes. It is a slow process, but if we are faithful, it is a steady process.
To sum up, my final bit of advice is this:
1. Keep an eye on your Pastor and on preachers and teachers. Make sure they are teaching the Word and the whole Word, if not, don’t sit under their instruction.
2. Keep a reverence for the Lord. Be in awe of His majesty and His power. Never forget He is Lord.
3. Seek opportunities to share the faith with who ever will listen. Even if they seem to be unmoved, you may have just planted a seed that will continue to grow and someday bear fruit.