We finished Part 1 with Hebrews 13:8. Jesus is still the same, and today's believers ought to be today's disciples. Generally they are not.
Going back 20 years or more, spreading the good news of the gospel publicly used to be a church priority, It was Jesus' instruction (the last thing He said before ascending) in Mark 16:15. Now, that is untrendy and "out of date."
This omission is particularly obvious in Australia where this writer lives. There, a Christian revolution is required.
We are now definitely in the last days predicted in Revelation. Today's USA does not compare with the great nation that older folks remember. As a flow-on, the good life of western nations is coming to an end. The falling away we read of in 1 Timothy 4:1-3 is happening. There is still time for individual Christians to change - even if their church won't. Without change, when the fast-approaching global New World Order arrives, the faith of the majority of believers will collapse like a dynamited building.
THE BROAD ROAD
With the self-centredness of the past few years being the status quo, many Christians will follow the broad road and go with the NWO flow to protect their easy lifestyles. Then, true Christians will not be the flavour of the month. There will be persecution, detention and hardship for the few who resist.The fearless love for God, determination, mental fortitude and strong faith of the Early Church will be evident only in a remnant of believers. Only they will have the wherewithal to be the overcomers that Jesus demands (several times) in Revelation 2 and 3.
Going to the front and "saying a prayer" for salvation isn't enough. Read again what Jesus has to say in Revelation.
The church must be the church that Jesus said He would build. So far we have not let Him! Today's church is bogged and clogged by human tradition and trendiness not in line with the Bible.
THE REMEDY?
Churches must revive Bible words in the preaching. Holiness, righteousness, the blood, the cross, reverence, lake of fire, need to resound from the platforms. The wrath of God has to be told along with the love of God. The message must be uncompromising, challenging. Pastors, look folks in the eye and ask if their lifestyle matches that described in the Bible. It says without holiness no-one will see the Lord. Anyone responding to an "altar call" should be counselled from the Bible re the commitment to Christ, and the seriousness of it.
The existing, entertain-the-flock merry-go-round of church socials - Men's Breakfasts, Ladies' Lunches, Coffee Mornings - should be replaced with regular communal prayer sessions. Bring in three-times-a-week Bible studies where going public with the gospel, divine healing, casting out of demons, is taught from the Bible.
Let's see midweek gospel meetings (use those empty churches) where people will meet the real Jesus. They will be physically healed, delivered from satanic influence, and truly born again - if the message is biblical. Non-believers will stream in when they hear of, then see, Jesus in action.
Denominations need to abandon their traditions and do all that the Bible says. Presently they pick out Bible verses agreeing with their doctrine, and ignore the verses that don't. Having said that, thank God for those churches that do resemble what we read in Acts. There ought to be many more.
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