Is there a Crisis in the Church?

The earth is defiled by its people; they have disobeyed the laws, violated the statutes and broken the everlasting covenant.
 (Isaiah 24:5 NIV)

by Russell Young

Could the church be in an unrecognized age of crisis?  It is prophesied that a time will come when church doctrine is no longer sound (2 Tim 4:3), that the power of the Spirit will be lacking (2 Tim 3:1-5), and that people will seek out teachers who will tell them what they want to hear (2 Tim 4:3). The Lord said that at the end he will destroy the earth and its people because of their disregard for his everlasting covenant, his laws and his statutes. (Isa 24:5) Disregard for his government is the issue that will bring an end to civilization as we know it. The decay of truth is gradual and the practices and attitudes that are so offensive to God will not suddenly appear.

It is easy to dismiss God’s prophesies with the understanding that they do not apply to our churches and that they do not apply to us. Unless Isaiah’s prophecy is wrong, and it cannot be, the time will come when the people who inhabit this earth will have departed so far from the standards acceptable to him that he will bring all life to an end.  Does the church recognize the need for compliance to his covenant, laws, and statutes?

Jesus said, “The Law and the Prophets were proclaimed until John.  Since that time, the good news of the kingdom of God is being preached, and everyone is forcing his way into it.  It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.” (Lk 16:16─17 NIV) From John’s time and the realization that a hope for a place in the kingdom of God became known people have been devising ways to gain entrance into it. Much philosophizing has allowed departure from the truths of the Word through teachings that are more acceptable to human nature.  These philosophies are having an impact.  When was the last time that you preached or heard preached the need to satisfy the righteous requirements of the law. (Rom 8:4)

Consider the common message:  Confess that you are a sinner and invite Jesus into your heart or simply be baptized and your place in heaven is assured.  Such teachings have nothing to do with God’s covenant, laws, and statutes. They make no requirements on the “believer” and offer him or her everything.  How could the message be made more attractive to those with “itching ears?” Contemporary gospel music assures humankind that God’s unconditional love and favor rests upon them and much praise is offered to God for his great mercy and blessings.  Little is being presented concerning the need for sacrificial or righteous living and of the judgment to come.  The destruction that awaits many is seldom heard.  The teaching and attitudes portrayed are far from honouring much of the teaching of God’s Word. His everlasting covenant is being broken and current teachings often allow for his laws and his statutes to be disobeyed.

Biblical truths have been abandoned in an effort to appeal to humankind and their wayward nature.  Empty promises are being uttered and false hope is being given. The work of the evil one is rampant in this world and his persuasions and lies are too appealing to refute or even, it appears, to desire to refute.

Paul wrote to Timothy: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine.  Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Tim 4:3 NIV) He also warned that in the last days people would have a form of godliness but denying its power.  And cautioned him to have nothing to do with them. (2 Tim 3:1-5) (The power of God comes through the presence and the activity of the Holy Spirit.) Has this time come? Could teachers be scratching itching ears rather than face the rejection that could possibly accompany calls to righteousness? Has the expansiveness of God’s grace replaced teachings about judgment?  Is the cost of being a disciple of the Lord being made known or has  It has been traded for the offering of “freedom” without commitment?  What is the cost of following Christ in the western world?

Should the cry of John the Baptist and the distress of Jeremiah be heard again? Where has courage gone? Paul taught: “Work out your own salvation with fear [terror] and trembling.” (Phil 2:12 NIV) God will not be mocked! (Gal 6:7)

Is there a crisis in the church?  How close is time to the fulfilment of God’s prophecies?

---

Russell Young’s book is available now in print and eBook.  The title is Eternal Salvation: “I’m Okay! You’re Okay!” Really? It is available through Westbow Publishing, Amazon, and Barnes and Noble; and in Canada through Chapters/Indigo.  9781512757514 $17.99 US

---

 

Truth: The Alternative to Telling People What They Want To Hear

Christianity 201 is the devotional blog that I write and edit, but Daily Encouragement by Steven and Brooksyne Weber is the devotional blog that I read.  The story in Monday’s edition was familiar to me, but I had not looked at it in a long time. Be sure to read C201 posts at source, your traffic is an encouragement to the creators of these ministry sites. This one appeared under the title Hating the Voice of Truth.

Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go against Ramoth-gilead to battle or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord, but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah” (1 Kings 22:6-8).

“There are those who hate the one who upholds justice in court and detest the one who tells the truth” (Amos 5:10). 

“And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you” (John 14:16,17).

Brooksyne picked up a little paperback book the other day that’s interesting to randomly peruse. It’s titled, “The Book Of Bible Names – Fast facts on all 2,026 people named in Scripture”. It’s interesting see all the names of real people I have read about at some point but in many cases have given little thought as to the origin of their names. Many of course are obscure with no biographical info about them at all, such as those in lists. But the book has an interesting way of summarizing in a few sentences the notable aspects when there is information about the person in Scripture. I expect these will be a springboard for some future study and daily encouragement messages.

When we think of prophets in the Bible we likely first consider those who have Bible books named after them such Isaiah and Jeremiah. But there were other great prophets such as Elijah, Elisha and Nathan.

One of the lesser known prophets is Micaiah (we pronounce his name like Isaiah since its spelling is very similar). His story is told in parallel accounts in 1 Kings 22 and 2 Chronicles 18. He was a prophet to the apostate Northern Kingdom and was known for telling it like it is. People like Micaiah are rarely popular but their boldness is needed for each generation! Their words and actions may not be just for their time but may also affect the following generations and he present age as well.

The Book Of Bible Names sums up his life with these words: “Prophet whom King Ahab of Israel hated because he never prophesied anything good to him. When King Jehoshaphat asked Ahab for a prophet who would tell the truth, Ahab called for Micaiah.” I was especially intrigued by the phrase, “a prophet who would tell the truth.”

The background: Jehoshaphat, king of the southern Kingdom (Judah) and Ahab, king of the northern kingdom had entered into an ungodly alliance and were preparing for an attack against their enemy, the Aramites. Jehoshaphat had agreed to proceed but then remembered that he should seek the will of the Lord. His “Charge Ahead” attitude got ahead of Moses’ command, “Listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him” (Deuteronomy 30:20b)!

So he asked Ahab, “Please inquire first for the word of the Lord” (22:5). King Ahab got together four hundred “prophets” that assured them of victory in battle. “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king” (22:6). News of victory surely was a “sign” that God was in this but Jehoshaphat, on the face of such news, detected that these were false prophets. Exercising discernment he asked, “Is there not yet a prophet of the Lord here that we may inquire of him?” (22:7). For Jehoshaphat the unfettered truth was more important than false assurance.

Indeed there was a prophet of the Lord but Ahab did not want to consult him! It seems even Ahab had some discernment but tried to ignore it, hoping to get his way.

His response is like many who don’t want to hear what God says. Instead he had gathered around him those whom he knew would say what he wanted to hear. The apostle Paul in the New Testament warned: “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear” (2 Timothy 4:3).  I think we live in such a time!

In regard to Jehoshaphat’s appeal for a true prophet of the Lord Ahab probably spoke just above a whisper through clenched teeth when he finally revealed, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the Lord”.  I think in his heart even Ahab realized this was a real prophet. Surely his eyes were full of deadly venom as he went on to confess, “but I hate him, because he does not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. He is Micaiah son of Imlah.”

So Micaiah was called and pressured by the messenger to give a prophetic word agreeable to the other 400.  He told Micaiah, “Look, all the prophets are promising victory for the king.  Be sure that you agree with them and promise success.”

But Micaiah didn’t succumb to the messenger’s ungodly counsel. He surely reasoned that kings on earth do not have the same authority as the King of heaven. His response, although obscure, is one of the greatest statements of faith and acts of obedience in the Bible, “As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what my God says.” *

The application: Today we need to take some lessons from Micaiah. He didn’t go along with the crowd just to accommodate others’ ideology, even though they represented the “experts” of their time.  Our counsel and lifestyle must reflect the principles set forth in Holy Scripture, not the ever changing values and evolving definitions presented in our present society.

Like many today Ahab hated the voice of truth but that did not keep Micaiah from boldly speaking out. May God raise up men and women today who will speak the truth to our world. We want to be two of them. Won’t you join us?

The post title reminded me of a song which Steven and Brooksyne had already linked to. Posts at Daily Encouragement include photos, suggested music and stories of their chaplaincy ministry. Here’s the song Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns.

Everything New is Old Again

This weekend I discovered a new blog listed at Alltop-Christian, titled Attempts at Honesty. In one of the posts, author Mark McIntyre was asking for guest writers and when I read his guidelines, the first thing I thought was, “I don’t have anything to submit, but he sure sounds like someone I’d like to include here.”

I decided on this one, which he titled New News, Old News.

C201 readers are encouraged to click the links and read articles at source.

New news

Malcolm Muggeridge is attributed as saying, “new news is old news happening to new people.” The writer of Ecclesiastes declares:

“Is there anything of which one might say, “See this, it is new”? Already it has existed for ages Which were before us.” (Ecclesiastes 1:10, NASB)

Humans seem to repeatedly fall into the same traps.

 
Old news

This morning in my Bible reading, I find the words of Jeremiah 5:31 anticipate what I’ve observed happening in the church at large. Rather than submitting to the word of God, many pastors and theologians stand in judgment of Scripture.

“The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule on their own authority; And My people love it so! But what will you do at the end of it?” (Jeremiah 5:31, NASB)

Through Jeremiah, God warned the nation of Israel that many of the prophets were providing a false security. They predicted peace and security, contradicting what the true prophets were saying. Rather than calling the nation to repentance and submission, they validated what the people wanted to hear.

Jeremiah tells us that when they do this, they are operating under their own authority though they claim to speak for God. Does this sound familiar? It should.

Today, we have pastors and theologians who are willing to set aside 2000 years of church tradition and the clear teaching of Scripture on issues such as marriage, family, morality and what it means to be a follower of Christ. When they do this, they are like rogue ambassadors misrepresenting the king who sent them.

Why do these pastors and theologians distort Scripture? Jeremiah tells us that in his day they did it to please the people. These prophets gained popularity and all the social and economic benefits that come with it. One can assume that the motives are similar today.

 
Judge or submit

We have two options with regard to Scripture. We can either stand in judgment of it or we can submit to it. In the end it comes down to a decision as to where the authority lies. I can assume that authority or I can submit to God’s authority. The one thing that is certain is that we cannot share it. A decision has to be made as to who is in charge.

The modern false prophets, like their predecessors, reap the social and economic benefits of reshaping their message to meet the expectations of the society. The problem is that those expectations cannot change what is really true and what is really false.

 
The real question

At issue what really is true as opposed to what we want to be true. I want to say that all behaviors are acceptable and that it doesn’t matter how one lives. But that is in contradiction to the truth. Behavior does matter. God has spoken and we ignore his speech to our peril.

The prophets of tolerance and acceptance are those who offer a band-aid as a cure to cancer. It may make it look better but it doesn’t cure the core problem.

~Mark McIntyre at Attempts at Honesty