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Reformed.Faithweb.com
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Jesus Christ said: "This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men." |
Evangelicalism
"Thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead."
Revelation 3:1
Evangelical churches of all persuasions have a name that they are alive. They believe the Holy Bible to be the infallible, inerrant word of God. And so it is. It is the truth and the final authority to which we must turn to end all controversy. In this we are all agreed.
In Christ's day, the Pharisees believed exactly the same thing. And Christ agreed with them on this as he exposed the Saducees for the liberal unbelievers that they were (Matthew 22:34). Yet Christ still vented his anger on the Pharisees (Matthew 23). This was because they insisted on their own interpretation of things and burdened the people with their this-worldly rules and regulations (Matthew 23:4), teaching for doctrines the commandments of men (Matthew 15:9).
Something very similar is happening today in modern "evangelicalism," and as it has been insidiously brought into the church without most people noticing it, then it needs to be brought to the attention of all true believers that are in these churches.
The problem is that although the Bible is there and is referred to on occasions to give a veneer of biblical support to what is being said, it is rather the doctrines of men that are being taught in the form of modern human psychology.
Most churches today believe that doctrine divides and so therefore it is wrong to study it. Rather we should spend all our time exuding "joy" to everybody around us and making ourselves feel "relaxed" with one another, being "happy" in all circumstances. This humanistic, godless philosophy has completely taken over all the churches that call themselves "evangelical" and it seems that our feelings toward each other have now become the be all and end all of true religion. Nothing could be further from the truth. When someone is feeling depressed the last thing they want is someone coming up to them exuding "joy." That will only make them feel even more depressed than ever! Rather we are to "weep with them that weep" (Romans 12:15).
Modern human psychology has destroyed true religion, and here are a few of the areas that it has affected:
The Doctrine of Total Depravity.
Modern psychology believes that the human-being, because it is made in the image of God, is essentially worth something. Therefore we should go about giving "hurting" people a sense of "self-worth" and "self-acceptance." This doctrine is from the pit of hell itself. Satan's whole point is to get man to exalt himself rather than God. True religion is to abase self to the dirt where it belongs and to exalt God. "The lofty looks of man shall be humbled, and the haughtyness of men shall be bowed down, and the LORD alone shall be exalted in that day" (Isaiah 2:11).
'Christ died for you, so you must be worth something,' is the cry today. The truth of the matter is that Christ died for his people even though they are not worth anything. "While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). But you will argue that when God made man, He made him "very good" in the image of God. This is true, except that he fell into sin, and that image was completely lost. "For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God," (Romans 3:23). Only when Christ regenerates a person is this image regained. "And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him" (Colossians 3:10).
The Fear of God.
Billy Graham, amongst others, has been responsible for a complete turn-around in religious views over the past few decades. To him, believers, i.e. those who supposedly "make their decision for Christ" (as though slaves to sin can have free-will!), should not fear God any more because they have been saved from hell; unbelievers must fear God because they haven't "made their decision" yet.
In reality, the exact opposite is true. It is the believer who is the one that fears God "And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation" (Luke 1:50). It is the wicked in whom "there is no fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:18, Psalm 36:1). It is the fear of God which keeps the believer walking in the way of God's commandments, and the lack of fear of God that does not inhibit the unbeliever from following his own evil ways (2 Corinthians 7:1; Ecclesiastes 12:13,14). "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding" (Proverbs 9:10).
Billy Graham is responsible for destroying the fear of God almost completely from the visible church, and he will be answerable on the Day of Judgment for this.
Dress and Behaviour in Church.
It is the spirit of the age to go to church on God's holy day dressed casually, so we can all be "relaxed" with one another, after all, "the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart" (I Samuel 16:7). However, what kind of witness is it to the world when we dress like this and have our children screaming around the church as soon as the service is over? I remember seeing three muslims walking past the grounds of a church once just after the end of a service, and the look on their faces when they saw the children playing football and rolling around in the mud, on their supposed holy day, I will never forget. Did this commend the Saviour to them? Not at all. It made me deeply ashamed of being in that church.
One of the best examples to follow is that of the Jews. They would first of all dress smartly for their Sabbath, because it meant something special to them. They would spend all day at their place of worship, engaged in spiritual activity most of the time, maybe with a fellowship meal as well, and their children would be taught from an early age to behave and be polite to people. This is a far cry from modern evangelical churches where the children are not taught to be quiet, as one of the things modern psychology teaches people is to let their children "express themselves." No-one is in the slightest bit interested in the reason for everyone being together (i.e. to worship God and think about Him), rather they cannot wait for the service to be over (the boring bit) so they can have a natter with their friends about anything and everything but the things of God. How can outsiders take these people seriously when all this is going on?
Separation from the World.
This does not mean that we should build a monastery and live away from people as much as we can. That performs no useful function at all. However, modern psychology tells us that we should be "like the world to win the world," so Christians should get involved with worldly activities so they may get a chance to "witness" to people. The problem here is that the "Christian" will always end up with no difference at all between himself and the world. The unbeliever will therefore see very little point in changing his ways and the "Christian" will simply appear stupid and be a laughing stock.
Rather we should be different from the world, and distinctly so. The best way to "witness" to the world is to be serious and sober about our religion, after all it is the truth and it is no laughing matter and should never be taken lightly. If people are going to be convinced of the truth, by God's grace, then it is when we decide to take it seriously that they are going to see the reality of it all.
Love for the Things of God.
All this humanistic philosophy leads to people worship each other rather than worshipping God. The more we concentrate on "loving" each other, the more God ends up being completely forgotten about.
It is so easy to fill our church lives with lots of meetings and activities. Outreach meetings and innovative new ways to "get people in" seem to be the obsession of the church, but all that happens in the end is that no-one comes because they can see through the veneer and realise that the church only exists to "get people in" and that there is nothing else actually there once they have got "in."
If, on the other hand, the believers concentrate on worshipping God and knowing the things of God and getting excited over the things of God, then everything else will fall nicely into place. Love for others and "evangelism" will come naturally, without thinking. That is always the best way to convince people of the truth, when it means something to us and we do not take it lightly. We should want to fill our lives with Bible studies and talking about Christ and the things of God with each other, i.e. the will should be involved, otherwise it would simply be the babblings of a hypocrite.
Hatred of the World and its Ways.
We must "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (I John 2:15).This world is passing away. It is vain and empty. It seems to me however that most "Christians" are really quite happy here. They may get a few ups and downs but when these happen so long as they think about Jesus and get a gooey feeling in their heart then that is all true religion means to them. This is pathetic.
We are "strangers and pilgrims on the earth" (Hebrews 11:13). This is not our home. "For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come" ( Hebrews 13:14). "All is vanity and vexation of spirit" under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:14). We may not like to believe this but it is true. Why are there so many exhortations in the Bible telling us not to put our trust here? Because it is all passing away.
"For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away" (James 4:14).
"Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth" (Colossians 3:2).
We must leave this place one day and so it is best that we prepare for this as soon as possible. If you had a dying relative and were told that they only had six months to live, you could choose to disbelieve it. However, when that person does die after six months then the trauma will be a lot worse for you because you had spent all that time thinking that they were not going to die. However, if you had spent that six months facing reality and the truth of the matter, then when that person died you would be far more able to cope with it as you would have had six months to prepare for the event and to come to terms with it.
It is the same in this world. It is merely a preparation place for the next. Hence the sooner we face facts and see the truth of the matter, which is that this world is in bondage to decay and that there is nothing here, then the sooner our faculties (body, soul, mind, will etc.) can come to terms with those facts and indeed see our need of Christ.
My dear friend, "let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Hebrews 12:1,2).
This world is of no consequence, so let us cast aside the way of the world and its humanistic philosophies and rather study God's Word and set our minds on eternal realities, "For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God" (Colossians3:3).
"But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation" (I Thessalonians.5:8).
"Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat" (2Peter 3:12).
Begin to take religion more seriously and heed these words I have written. Otherwise I fear that you and your church are just as "dead" as the "dead" denominations that you claim to have come out from, living on sloppy emotions and humanistic philosophies rather than the Word of God.