WHY THE CHURCH SEEMS TO BE COLLAPSING TODAY….
In a nutshell – THE DAY OF MAN RUNNING THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST IS OVER!!! For the Day of the Lord is fast approaching, and His genuine bride must PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD for His imminent return.
Those who prefer a more detailed response will find the answer in both the Old and New Testaments. “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, PREPARE YE THE WAY of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3). And when Jesus eventually arrived, He echoed this Scripture in Luke 7:27, “This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall PREPARE THY WAY before thee.”
The meaning is crystal clear – BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE LORD, HIS WAY MUST BE PREPARED. This is a divine imperative that cannot be violated. As it was at the FIRST COMING of Jesus Christ, so exactly will it also be at His SECOND COMING. And the way to prepare the way of the Lord is to urgently call His people back to repentance, call them to return to the ancient path. This is what John the Baptist did until he was beheaded (Matthew 3:2). And this is exactly what the Lord is doing today in raising men and women to urgently call His people back to repentance as His return becomes more and more imminent.
ONLY those who have an ear will hear this clarion call, and return to the Lord – for indeed many believers will NOT return. Significantly, the church system of today will definitely not return to the Lord. Before buttressing this point, it is important to, again, draw a parallel between what occurred before the first coming of Christ, with what is happening today as His second coming draws near.
Before the first coming, the temple of the Lord had been hijacked by men. Hijacked by the Chief Priests that were appointed by God to act in the temple on His behalf. In exactly the same way, before the second coming, the church of the Lord has been hijacked by men. Hijacked by the pastors that were anointed by God to act in the church on His behalf. It is a pattern, and it is a warning – to those who have understanding.
In rebuking the leaders of the temple in His days, please listen to what Jesus told them: “This people honoureth me with their lips, but THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the TRADITION OF MEN … that ye may keep your own TRADITION…. Making the word of God of none effect through YOUR TRADITION….” (Mark 7:6-13).
It is exactly in the same way that the church is today being run by the TRADITIONS OF MEN, not by the biblical precepts established by Jesus and His Apostles. And the difference is visible. Many people, including unbelievers, liken the church of today to a business centre, or a commercial enterprise. In contrast, is there any way that the church that we read about in the Bible can be described as a business centre? The answer is of course NO! But today, men have taken over the running of the church. They have instituted their own ideas and principles; and so, Christ is no longer at the centre of His own church that He purchased with His own blood. The church has moved away from her ancient foundation, and is now hanging on the precipice of man's finite wisdom.
For long, God has tolerated this system in His mercy. But NOW, because the return of Jesus is drawing near, things have changed! The WAY OF THE LORD IS BEING PREPARED. “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…. (Isaiah 40:4-5).
For every valley to be exalted today, repentance must be preached. For every mountain and hill to be made low, repentance must be preached. For every crooked path to be made straight, repentance must be preached. For every rough place to be made plain, repentance must be preached. The glory of the Lord will only be revealed when His way has been prepared through the repentance of His people. Therefore, REPENTANCE, urgent repentance, is the message on the heart of the Lord for His people today – for the time is very short.
But hardly would you hear most of our ‘big’ men of God reflecting this urgent divine cry for repentance. They may mention it once in a while, but it is NOT the heartbeat of their message today. Do you know why? They are no longer hearing the heavenly signals clearly. The signal of money has dulled their hearing capacity. The signal of ‘large crowds’ has dulled their hearing. The signal of gigantic cathedrals, bigger jets, bigger universities, and other carnal acquisitions have dulled their hearing. But because time is short, God is moving on. And that is why He is today using unknown ‘small’ men and women to call His genuine children back to repentance, back to Himself.
The church system of today will NOT repent. Too much is at stake. The institutions and systems we call ‘church’ today have been built on carnal wisdom, falsehood, and deception. And THEY CAN ONLY CONTINUE TO BE SUSTAINED ON THESE FALSE FOUNDATIONS. This is why they will not repent.
If these institutions dare to repent, and to follow the genuine Jesus, they will suffer HUGE LOSSES. Our men of God will suffer the loss of all that they have built over the years. They will suffer loss of effort, loss of face, loss of esteem, loss of dignity, loss of relevance, loss of possession, etc. How many General Overseers or Pastors want to go through all that???
Every spiritual man and woman knows this fact – there comes a time when a man/institution may grow too rich/big to go back to repentance. It happened to the rich, young ruler in Matthew 19:16-22. That’s why He could not follow Jesus. Too much was at stake! It also happened to the Church in Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22). That’s why they could not heed the call of Jesus to repent from their blindness and nakedness. Too much was at stake! In that story, Jesus had to go out and to start knocking on the door of WILLING HEARTS; knocking and asking for fellowship on the basis of truth, and on the basis of communion with the Father and with Himself (verse 20).
The story of the Laodicean church is a metaphor for our days. A metaphor for how the church will become so rich in our days that we will become oblivious of our blindness, nakedness, poverty, and wretchedness. A metaphor for how we will fail to hear the call of the Master for urgent repentance. A metaphor for how the Lord will, once again, begin to knock at the door of the hearts of the remnants that can still hear His gentle wooing for repentance. This is exactly the same way that Jesus abandoned the temple system for the Jewish leaders and reached out to the remnants that He turned into His disciples. It is a divine pattern. And it was written for our admonition – at least, for those who still have an ear!
Friend, do you still have an ear? Does that ear still hear the heartbeat of the Father for the hour? Or are you confusing the voice of the church system for the voice of the Father? Are you confusing religiosity for spirituality? The two are radically different.
The falsehood in the church system is not new. This falsehood has been perpetrated for decades and decades. The only reason it is becoming glaring in our days is because God is now opening our eyes to see what we have been blind to. God is opening our eyes to see the error in the church system, so that we can make an informed choice. Will you choose Christ, and His way of the cross? Or will you continue to flow with the deceptive church system?
Many have become bewitched in the church system. Many have become gullible in the church system. Many have become entrapped by their own fears and desires in the church system. So deep is the confusion today that many believe that to leave the church system is to leave Christ!!! But in reality, for many, to leave the church system is TO GENUINELY FIND CHRIST. For many, to leave the church system is to re-discover the genuine Christ they once knew and served. And this is why leaving the church system is a healthy, positive and desirable step for many genuine believers.
If the coming of the Lord catches you by surprise in the church system, at least, it will be clear that YOU MADE THAT CHOICE. For ultimately, each of us will bear the personal responsibility of giving account of our lives to God. Through THE TRUTH, Jesus Christ offers us the liberty of FREEDOM (John 8:32). And He paid for that freedom with His precious blood. That blood is still available to set us free from the bondage of the church system.
Please let us study the Bible ourselves through the help of the Holy Spirit. Let us cast aside the false Jesus that the church system has ingrained into our spiritual psyche. In finding the genuine Jesus Christ, we will indeed discover life as God intends. May the Lord give us hearts and ears that recognise the voice of the true Shepherd. And as He leads us in the narrow path, may we find the grace and courage to follow Him faithfully to the end. Amen and Amen.
Thanks for reading, God bless.
In a nutshell – THE DAY OF MAN RUNNING THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST IS OVER!!! For the Day of the Lord is fast approaching, and His genuine bride must PREPARE THE WAY OF THE LORD for His imminent return.
Those who prefer a more detailed response will find the answer in both the Old and New Testaments. “The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, PREPARE YE THE WAY of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.” (Isaiah 40:3). And when Jesus eventually arrived, He echoed this Scripture in Luke 7:27, “This is he, of whom it is written, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall PREPARE THY WAY before thee.”
The meaning is crystal clear – BEFORE THE ARRIVAL OF THE LORD, HIS WAY MUST BE PREPARED. This is a divine imperative that cannot be violated. As it was at the FIRST COMING of Jesus Christ, so exactly will it also be at His SECOND COMING. And the way to prepare the way of the Lord is to urgently call His people back to repentance, call them to return to the ancient path. This is what John the Baptist did until he was beheaded (Matthew 3:2). And this is exactly what the Lord is doing today in raising men and women to urgently call His people back to repentance as His return becomes more and more imminent.
ONLY those who have an ear will hear this clarion call, and return to the Lord – for indeed many believers will NOT return. Significantly, the church system of today will definitely not return to the Lord. Before buttressing this point, it is important to, again, draw a parallel between what occurred before the first coming of Christ, with what is happening today as His second coming draws near.
Before the first coming, the temple of the Lord had been hijacked by men. Hijacked by the Chief Priests that were appointed by God to act in the temple on His behalf. In exactly the same way, before the second coming, the church of the Lord has been hijacked by men. Hijacked by the pastors that were anointed by God to act in the church on His behalf. It is a pattern, and it is a warning – to those who have understanding.
In rebuking the leaders of the temple in His days, please listen to what Jesus told them: “This people honoureth me with their lips, but THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the TRADITION OF MEN … that ye may keep your own TRADITION…. Making the word of God of none effect through YOUR TRADITION….” (Mark 7:6-13).
It is exactly in the same way that the church is today being run by the TRADITIONS OF MEN, not by the biblical precepts established by Jesus and His Apostles. And the difference is visible. Many people, including unbelievers, liken the church of today to a business centre, or a commercial enterprise. In contrast, is there any way that the church that we read about in the Bible can be described as a business centre? The answer is of course NO! But today, men have taken over the running of the church. They have instituted their own ideas and principles; and so, Christ is no longer at the centre of His own church that He purchased with His own blood. The church has moved away from her ancient foundation, and is now hanging on the precipice of man's finite wisdom.
For long, God has tolerated this system in His mercy. But NOW, because the return of Jesus is drawing near, things have changed! The WAY OF THE LORD IS BEING PREPARED. “Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed…. (Isaiah 40:4-5).
For every valley to be exalted today, repentance must be preached. For every mountain and hill to be made low, repentance must be preached. For every crooked path to be made straight, repentance must be preached. For every rough place to be made plain, repentance must be preached. The glory of the Lord will only be revealed when His way has been prepared through the repentance of His people. Therefore, REPENTANCE, urgent repentance, is the message on the heart of the Lord for His people today – for the time is very short.
But hardly would you hear most of our ‘big’ men of God reflecting this urgent divine cry for repentance. They may mention it once in a while, but it is NOT the heartbeat of their message today. Do you know why? They are no longer hearing the heavenly signals clearly. The signal of money has dulled their hearing capacity. The signal of ‘large crowds’ has dulled their hearing. The signal of gigantic cathedrals, bigger jets, bigger universities, and other carnal acquisitions have dulled their hearing. But because time is short, God is moving on. And that is why He is today using unknown ‘small’ men and women to call His genuine children back to repentance, back to Himself.
The church system of today will NOT repent. Too much is at stake. The institutions and systems we call ‘church’ today have been built on carnal wisdom, falsehood, and deception. And THEY CAN ONLY CONTINUE TO BE SUSTAINED ON THESE FALSE FOUNDATIONS. This is why they will not repent.
If these institutions dare to repent, and to follow the genuine Jesus, they will suffer HUGE LOSSES. Our men of God will suffer the loss of all that they have built over the years. They will suffer loss of effort, loss of face, loss of esteem, loss of dignity, loss of relevance, loss of possession, etc. How many General Overseers or Pastors want to go through all that???
Every spiritual man and woman knows this fact – there comes a time when a man/
The story of the Laodicean church is a metaphor for our days. A metaphor for how the church will become so rich in our days that we will become oblivious of our blindness, nakedness, poverty, and wretchedness. A metaphor for how we will fail to hear the call of the Master for urgent repentance. A metaphor for how the Lord will, once again, begin to knock at the door of the hearts of the remnants that can still hear His gentle wooing for repentance. This is exactly the same way that Jesus abandoned the temple system for the Jewish leaders and reached out to the remnants that He turned into His disciples. It is a divine pattern. And it was written for our admonition – at least, for those who still have an ear!
Friend, do you still have an ear? Does that ear still hear the heartbeat of the Father for the hour? Or are you confusing the voice of the church system for the voice of the Father? Are you confusing religiosity for spirituality? The two are radically different.
The falsehood in the church system is not new. This falsehood has been perpetrated for decades and decades. The only reason it is becoming glaring in our days is because God is now opening our eyes to see what we have been blind to. God is opening our eyes to see the error in the church system, so that we can make an informed choice. Will you choose Christ, and His way of the cross? Or will you continue to flow with the deceptive church system?
Many have become bewitched in the church system. Many have become gullible in the church system. Many have become entrapped by their own fears and desires in the church system. So deep is the confusion today that many believe that to leave the church system is to leave Christ!!! But in reality, for many, to leave the church system is TO GENUINELY FIND CHRIST. For many, to leave the church system is to re-discover the genuine Christ they once knew and served. And this is why leaving the church system is a healthy, positive and desirable step for many genuine believers.
If the coming of the Lord catches you by surprise in the church system, at least, it will be clear that YOU MADE THAT CHOICE. For ultimately, each of us will bear the personal responsibility of giving account of our lives to God. Through THE TRUTH, Jesus Christ offers us the liberty of FREEDOM (John 8:32). And He paid for that freedom with His precious blood. That blood is still available to set us free from the bondage of the church system.
Please let us study the Bible ourselves through the help of the Holy Spirit. Let us cast aside the false Jesus that the church system has ingrained into our spiritual psyche. In finding the genuine Jesus Christ, we will indeed discover life as God intends. May the Lord give us hearts and ears that recognise the voice of the true Shepherd. And as He leads us in the narrow path, may we find the grace and courage to follow Him faithfully to the end. Amen and Amen.
Thanks for reading, God bless.
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