The church today is a far cry from what we read in the book of Acts. What has happened? This is a question I believe many of the faith are asking but alas though there are plenty of suggestions to go by no solution seems to be in sight. The question that really needs to be asked is what is the Church currently engaged in. The church seems to be taking a nap while satan is busy at work. Eve was caught by the serpent when she was alone. My question is where was Adam? The answer is that he was probably asleep under some tree! Most people haven't realized this but Adam knew the serpent way before God created Eve.
"And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him." Gen 2:19-20
"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made." Gen 3:1
Please note that the serpent was a beast of the field and Adam is the one who gave this creature it's name. Funny how things go wrong when you're caught sleeping! This is exactly the predicament the church seems to be caught in. Knowing the danger that exists, we have altogether become blind to it. We are treading on dangerous grounds.
I have often come across the statement,"God is there, so no need to worry." from a whole lot of the household of faith. I find this statement quite amusing, in the sense people have begun to take God for granted. We are shying away from our responsibilities...so when finally things go wrong we dump the blame on Him, and this is exactly what Adam did...
"And He said, Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And the man said, The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat." Gen 3:12
Imagine Adam putting the blame squarely on God, right to His face! I'd have my knees knock like drums if I were him. Adam should have been doing his job and when things fell apart he chose to blame God for giving him the woman; who in turn gave him the fruit. I guess this could be a reminder of what we do most often when things go wrong in our lives.
What does God have to say about all this? Had we asked this question earlier we would have been in a far better position than we are in now. satan has put us into a place where we don't see the flaws in ourselves and therefore are resistant to correction. The prophet Isaiah saw the sin in others until he had a vision of God and then he saw the sin in himself. If the church seems to resist correction then sadly Jesus isn't in it's midst. These are the last days and many are such who stray from the right path under to assumption that they are still on it.
I cannot comment on the any one congregation. God birthed the church through the Holy Spirit to do His will here on earth, achieving it not by the flesh but by the Spirit only. We now have strayed from this path of God and are doing all things by the flesh thinking it is spiritual. What's the proof that we're going by the flesh one might ask...the answer is simple: had we gone by the way of the Spirit, the church wouldn't be in the trouble it is in today. Peter when he stood up to answer the crowd on the day of Pentecost ended up bringing 3000 souls to Christ. In those days that was a big number. Today we,the Church, should have been in a better position; after all we have had almost 2000 years to grow but sadly the scene is now more pathetic than ever. We are currently in a situation that those inside the Church cannot differentiate left from right! People lap up whatever is preached to them. No one really knows the word or it's power. The Holy Spirit has become a subject of teaching and not one of personal experience. There was a clear move of the Holy Spirit in those days even in times of persecution. No one took God for granted. They chose to follow the instructions from the Lord so the Church progressed in leaps and bounds. Today we rather give excuses to God, who is not interested in them:
"For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness... so that they are without excuse:" Rom 1:8,20
We see it one way while He sees it another...and we call ourselves the body of Christ. Think about it Christ wants to look right while we decide to look left. The problem with man is that he thinks he has become very wise, so wise that he cannot think beyond himself and to this God says:
"Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools..." Rom 1:21-22
The wisdom of man is directly disproportionate to God' wisdom. The sooner we realize and act the better it is for all of us. Another problem that man faces is that he has been slowly drifting from His presence. So,far has he gone that he has lost all sight of Jesus and the cross. Life has become a comedy of errors as we go by the way of the world to achieve results by trial and error. Jesus started something He saw it to the end and was able to say
"it is finished" John 19:30
He was led by the Spirit of God. Did you know that He walked with and in the Spirit of God as an example so that we might follow Him? So, the famous two words "Follow Me" were used so frequently by Him. We the church must be followers and not the leaders of Christ! We make plans and chart events and then pray asking Him to come minister and bless!It's peoples disobedience that gives God a bad name. Believe it or not the unbelievers judge God by the actions of believers!
"And when they entered the nations where they went, they even profaned My Holy name by saying to them, These are the people of the Jehovah, and they are gone out of His land." Ezk 36:20
This is a sad, sad state of affairs. We are responsible for what the people speak wrongly of God the Father. Both, Jeremiah and Daniel prayed asking God to forgive the sins committed against Him by their forefathers. I think it is time we too did the same. He died for us, restored us to a covenant relationship with the Father and in return we were to proclaim His praises:
"But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for possession, so that you might speak of the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous lights" 1Pt 2:9
Prayer
Lord guide us into the right paths. Lord show us where we have gone wrong that we may confess our iniquities and renew our stand in You Lord. Lord forgive the sins of our fathers, leaders and those who all went before us that today we may stand holy and clean before You. Your Blood has the power to deliver us from every sin and by it we can make war against those forces that war against us. We thank You Lord for You hear and answer our prayers. In Jesus mighty name we pray. Amen.
Unless we decide to do things right we will continue in the path that we are on. Lives are at stake and believe me, we really don't want to be caught at the wrong end.
"When I say to the wicked, You shall surely die; and you do not give him warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; the same wicked one shall die in his iniquity; but I will require his blood at your hand." Ezk 3:18
The Lord is explicit in His words here when He says we'll be responsible for the lost to whom we did not give God' warning (word). Brothers and sisters we cannot give account for our sins how in the world are we gonna give an account for another. Therefore, the best thing to do would be to do as He tells us. The Church needs to wake up from it's slumber and get out into the world and the only way that's going to happen is if the leadership sits at His feet and receive instructions on how to win this land for Jesus. I encourage everyone to take a moment and look inside themselves and see if your on the right track. God Bless.
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