THE LORD HAS BUILT HIS CHURCH
I am continuously inundated with the statement, "Don't worry, the Lord will build His Church..." The last time I checked, the church of Christ, i.e., The Christian Faith was built by about 120 Jews and Jews Proselytes (converts) as far back as 30 A.D., according to Acts 1:15 (theopedia.com). Whoever reads the bible and watches the movie The Passion of Christ, will be persuaded that the foundation of The Christian Faith was laid on the intriguing process of persecution, prosecution, and crucifixion of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, The Messiah. His authentic resurrection ultimately represents the damp-proof course (DPC) that separates His glorious emergence from the pit of death. Please pardon my engineering analogy 😎
I hereby submit that the Lord has built His church and the gates of hell shall not prevail. The gates of hell represent barriers that hold souls in captivity. Gates of hell 'pulai hadou' literarily means, 'realm of the dead'. These days, it appears there are more and more men of God who are hell bent reinforcing the gates of hell. Many pastors these days no longer make the work of serving God honorable. The encouraging news however is that one cannot get a 'fake' where there is no original.
Yes the Lord has built His church and will continue to build it. However many 'gatekeepers' of the present day church continue to conform with Isaiah's prophesy. "His watchmen are blind, they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yes, they are greedy dogs which never have enough. And they are shepherds who cannot understand; they all look to their own way, every one for his own gain, from his own territory." (Isaiah 56:10-11)
Whoever is not concerned about some 'men of God' destroying what Christ has built is dead on the inside. Wherever 'men of God' have mutated to 'gods of men', there are problems. We should not desist from making the malaise a conversational issue. EGOISM (the habit of valuing everything only in reference to one's personal interest, selfishness, etc) has overcome ALTRUISM (the principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others).
To continue to hide behind the phrase, "don't worry, the Lord will build His church...." is begging the issue. It is cowardice personified. Yes the Lord will build His church, but must we look the other way when evil is perpetrated and ungodliness is entrenched in the house of God? Will we be worthy of Him if we do not take our cross daily and follow Him? (Matthew 10.38). Should we be oblivious of the admonition of Amos 6:1. "Woe to you who are at ease in ZION, and trust in Mount Samaria, notable persons in the chief nation, to whom they house of Israel comes." Yes the Lord will build His church, but it is not our place to tear it down. That will amount to crucifying Christ all over again. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches; to him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life which is in the Paradise of God" (Revelation 2:7)
THE VERDICT
"When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul." (Ezekiel 3:18-19)
PRAYER POINTS
1. Lord teach me your ways and uphold me with you Hand of righteousness. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, and He will have mercy on him; and to our God, For He will abundantly pardon. (Isaiah 55:7)
2. Lord open my eyes to see and open my heart to receive your admonitions with accompanying grace, so that I can finish well. "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall. No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:12-13)
3. Lord cause me not to be a castaway at the end of my high calling. “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’" (Matthew 7:21-23)
Pastor Niran