I have been asserting for several weeks that the professing Church in America is under judgment. One way of seeing this is in terms of what we think a successful church is. We think of successful churches as having lots of things going on and lots of activity. We think of success in terms of money and people. Jesus was certainly not a success in life or religion if those things are the standards. When He died virtually all of His followers left Him and He had no building or money. Regardless of how provocative this is, we must judge ourselves before judgment.
True success is not found in activities and things going on. The biblical church is one that seeks the Lord as their chief love and dwells in His presence. The Bible speaks of fruit as being love, joy, peace, patience and so on rather than nickels and noses. The Scriptures also speak of suffering. Let me join these points in a plain way. The church of Jesus Christ will not advance and have true fruit without suffering. Being part of a church with many activities and easy things to do is far easier than suffering and following Christ. Jesus did not command His people to gather together and do many activities; He commanded them to take up the cross and follow Him. In churches today there are many activities taking place but little suffering and following Christ. Why is that? Because it is easy to keep people busy with building programs and activities that have little or nothing to do with the kingdom of God. It is easy to appear religious when people are kept busy with external deeds. It is far easier to keep people busy in religion doing things in their own power, telling them that it is the grace of God, than it is to teach people the truth about themselves that they are helpless sinners and in utter need of grace to do anything spiritual at all as Jesus taught (John 15:4-5). It is hard to teach people the truth about depravity and their utter need of grace in their most solemn duties. We can encourage people to pray, but it takes the grace of God to truly pray. We can encourage people to seek the face of God, but God alone can show Himself to the hearts of sinners which happens by grace.
Of the seven churches in the book of Revelation, the phrase “I know your deeds” was spoken to five of them. The fact that a church has many deeds and many things going on does not mean that it has life. To the church at Sardis He said this: “I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead” (Revelation 3:1). To the church at Laodicea He said this: “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. Because you say, ‘I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,’ and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Revelation 3:15-17). To put it in graphic terms, a chicken with its head cut off has more activity than a live chicken but it does not have life itself. When people mistake activity with life, they are like a chicken with its head cut off and are sadly mistaken as the Pharisees were. They traveled across land and sea to make a convert. They tithed the herbs in their gardens. They prayed a lot, gave alms and fasted. They had a magnificent building but it was not used for the true worship of God. In the Old Testament the Jews had the tabernacle and then the temple and they thought they were blessed. But God judged them and turned them over to hardness of heart. They had a lot of religious activity going on with the feasts and special days and even the daily sacrifices. But even in the midst of all their activity, they did not know God and were turned over to hardened hearts and even gross idolatry. What they thought of as worship of God actually provoked God to anger.
Isaiah 1:13 – “Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies– I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. (14) I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me; I am weary of bearing them. (15) So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you; Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood.”
Amos 5:20 – “Will not the day of the LORD be darkness instead of light, Even gloom with no brightness in it? (21) I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. (22) Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. (23) Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps.”
In light of the texts above, it is possible there are “churches” in America with thousands on Sunday morning and yet are under the judgment of God. It is possible there are churches conservative in theology and morality that meet each Sunday lamenting liberalism and yet are under the judgment of God. Doing the religious rituals even in outward conformity to the commands of God is no sign that people are not under the judgment of God. The Pharisees were very conservative and moral and yet were children of the devil (John 8). They gave money to the poor and practiced evangelism, yet they were children of the devil. As noted earlier the churches in the book of Revelation had deeds and yet were under judgment. Perhaps what churches really need to do is stop all that they are doing other than preaching, singing and praying and seek the face of God. Perhaps everything needs to stop at times in order to seek the Lord in truth and spirit. Without the truth and spirit, we are not seeking Him at all.
Charles Finney was a famous evangelist. He went from town to town and evangelized in a way that was not in line with what the Church had practiced previously. He had many that professed conversion. When later evangelists went through the areas Finney had evangelized they found people hardened to the Gospel. Finney’s method was activity and high pressure. He pressured people who were not truly converted into making a commitment. They would tell the later evangelists that Christianity did not work for them. The area where Finney evangelized has been called “the burned over district” to refer to the fact that where he went the area was as burned with fire and people were hardened to the Gospel. Churches need to be aware of the same issue. Getting people involved in lots of activities without truly seeking the face of God by grace will lead to people being burned over. It is so easy to get people involved in the activities of the church but it has to be an act of grace for people to seek the Lord in truth and in spirit. Human beings gravitate toward busyness and activity rather than brokenness/helplessness and seeking the Lord from the heart. It is easy to get people busy, but impossible apart from grace to seek the Lord.
Let me be provocative here. Where do we see organized evangelism in the Bible? Where do we see block parties in the Bible? Where do we see a church as a whole doing evangelism in the Bible? The Bible does not give a command to do these things and it gives us no examples either. Why is it that people are so engrossed in these things and churches are said to be alive when they do these things? Because these things keep people busy in doing religious things and people like busyness. What we do see in Scripture is that God adds to the church. We are to evangelize, but that is a daily activity of people rather than a program. We must recognize the fact that the Gospel is far too great a thing to dump on a person in one meeting and is far more than a simple message. People need to hear of the terrible state that they are in regarding their depravity and what repentance really is. Repentance is not moral reform; it is to be turned from self being the center of all I do to do all out of love for God. Many of the things that we take for granted might be nothing more than traditional ways built on false theology and practice which means our busyness in religious activities actually provoke the Lord of glory. That is a sign of judgment.
Let us continue being provocative. If we are doing works of service or giving people things, does that really make them more open to the Gospel as we have heard? Most likely it makes them open to selfishly receiving free stuff and might harden them to the Gospel. Doing things for people does not make them more open to the Gospel and this is demonstrated by the fact that Jesus gave free food to people and when He taught them the truth they went away. Of all the people Jesus fed and healed how many do we know of that were converted? Were any of them? If even Jesus did not see conversions and disciples made by miracles and good works, then what makes us think we will? Remember the story of the poor man and the rich man. The rich man died and lifted us his eyes in torment. He cried out to Abraham to send someone to his brothers. Boiled down, the rich man thought that if someone would rise from the dead then his brothers would listen. Abraham said this in reply: “‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead'” (Luke 16:31). No miracle or anything else we can do will ever persuade anyone of anything if they will not listen to the Word of God.
It is a sign of judgment when churches are busy in their religious activities in the name of God and yet are not truly seeking the face of God. Isaiah 66:3-4 speaks to this: “But he who kills an ox is like one who slays a man; He who sacrifices a lamb is like the one who breaks a dog’s neck; He who offers a grain offering is like one who offers swine’s blood; He who burns incense is like the one who blesses an idol. As they have chosen their own ways, And their soul delights in their abominations, 4 So I will choose their punishments And will bring on them what they dread. Because I called, but no one answered; I spoke, but they did not listen. And they did evil in My sight And chose that in which I did not delight.” These were sacrifices that were commanded to be done, yet they did them as they pleased and lived as they pleased. They followed their own ways. The Lord is calling today for people to repent of following themselves in their religious ways and seek His face. Where are those who will listen? If no one listens, then the very religious duties and activities they trust and delight in are an abomination. Perhaps we use religious busyness and activity to keep out the true convicting work of the Holy Spirit. That is judgment.
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