What on Earth is Going on in The Church!

 

 

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By Hiram E. Sutton

Christianity is under attack as never before, not only from the outside but from numerous cancers within.

 

By way of application scripture admonishes the shepherds of the flock to (1) declare the whole purpose of God and to, (2) be on guard for themselves and the flock. It warns them that spiritual attacks would be both external and internal. This act of looking out for themselves and the sheep was to be applied by way of diligence and discernment. It's execution was of upmost importance to the apostle Paul, so much so, that for a period of three years he did not cease to admonish each one with tears as he spoke to the Elders of the church of Ephesus (Acts 20:17,27-31)

 

In contrast and unfortunately many pastors and Christian leaders today have either, been asleep at the helm or made light or ignored those who are sounding the alarm, as a result "many" unorthodox doctrines and teachers have crept into the church either via the pulpit, written literature (books), television and radio. False teachers have exploited all channels of media to get their message out and with a great deal of success. 

 

 

Among the leadership and laity there seems to be indifference and blissful  / intentional ignorance of what God has said in the prophetic scriptures concerning the increase of deception via false teaching and teachers as we approach the end of the age. (Matthew 24:4-5;1Timothy 4:1;Acts 20:26-31; 2 Peter 2:1-2). It is during this time Satan will launch his most seductive and vicious attacks against the people of God, therefore it is imperative to put on the "Full Amor" of God. (Eph 6:11-12)and be in obedience to the word of God.

 

There is blatant disobedience by refusing to mark them that cause divisions and offences contrary to biblical truth (Rom 16:17-18; 2Thess 3:14). This is not an exposure of those we have a disagreement with on the minor doctrines of the faith or the correct interpretation of difficult passages that have no bearing on the major tenants of the faith but teachings that are foundational to the Christian faith i.e., denying the deity of Christ, his work in salvation, the nature of the triune God, etc. It is these major doctrines and others that are now under attack within the church. The very under pinning's of our Christian faith.


We are explicitly warned not to allow false teachers to teach in our churches nor give them any encouragement (2 John 1:10).  By way of extension this would include the buying and selling of their books and materials, teaching their messages and methods to others. If we do, we take part in their evil deeds (2 John 1:11). God's will is that we walk in truth (3 John 1:4) not in duplicity or false hood.  It's imperative that one understands that the leaven of false teachings and teachers will not stop at the point of entry but will spread through out entire congregations and even effect other areas of doctrine and practice of the Christian walk.

 

One disturbing trend that I have begun to run into is that some churches will have an orthodox doctrinal statement but they engage in interfaith ecumenical associations, sell books authored by those who practice and teach non Biblical things such as contemplative spirituality, Word of Faith Theology and invite heretical teachers to their churches to teach their congregations, allow its members to be part of secret organizations such as Free Masonry, Eastern Star, etc.without uttering one word of rebuke or correction. This is a sinister act because of the fact that is being done by pastors who claim to be orthodox in doctrine. Sherry Neese makes the following comment concerning this alarming behavior in her article called "Heresy By Proxy":

"Pastors, teachers and ministry leaders with heretofore unblemished reputations enjoy positions of trust in ministries and churches and may have laid down a track record for the truth of the Lord for many years. They may have never preached or taught anything questionable or even remotely heretical from their venues of ministry yet they have started taking up with known wolves. They may lack any evil intent and could be unaware that they have been deceived and are in fact a detriment to the blood-bought Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. These double-minded individuals have a "form of godliness" but are in fact betraying the Lord they profess to love. They want the grass on both sides of the fence. They preach words of truth on the one hand, but abuse the trust that has been placed in them and mock God by their actions. Their error is obscured behind the skirts of truth and it is next to impossible to find a speck of error in their actual teaching. The old adage "Actions speak louder than words" describes this scenario perfectly. To coin a new phrase, "You are what you promote.

These teachers practice heresy by proxy. A proxy is someone who stands in for another. They consort with heretics and thereby encourage their followers to partake of their apostasy. They mix truth and error, a deadly concoction. They give the impression that the truth they speak is compatible with the falsehood they endorse. This is not ‘guilt by association," this is guilt by endorsement. Flirting with deluding spirits and doctrines of demons is dangerous business and they do so at great peril

 ....But those who wear their evangelical fundamentalist that's one day and then buddy up to apostates and heretics the next pose a greater danger than the false teachers themselves! (see full article Heresy By Proxy).


 For a shepherd of God's people to allow such things as discussed in this article is tantamount to spiritual abuse of the people of God. It leaves the people of God at risk, scattered, confused and a prey to those who seek to destroy them (Ezekiel 34:3-10). God will hold shepherd's such as these accountable.

Unfortunately more and more are participating in duplicity and or false hood, both leaders and church members now speak the synergistic language of compromise between truth and error, rather than speaking with the pure speech of Biblical Truth. This clearly revels that the professing church is in crisis and at a crossroads on its future direction; according to scripture its' direction is "The Apostasy. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).I want to close this iteration of the article on a point of observation. It is interesting to note the fact that God is raising up a people who have a passion for his truth and are proclaiming it. Some of these folk are well learned via higher schools of theological learning, some are pastors and teachers while others are not well known nor are they part of an institutional ministry but are ministering to the body of Christ as independent discernment and apologetic ministries. They are warning the church of approaching dangers by proclaiming the word of God with passion, accuracy and under much criticism, threat of dis-fellowship, in some cases even the threat of death. The Bible calls these folks watchmen (Ezekiel 33:7, Is 62:6).


Could it be that we are seeing a reaction to the failure of leaders within the church to do what God has called them to do and as a result God is raising up a people who will be obedient to his word and warn of the spiritual dangers that are coming against the church.


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