There are more and more believers that are coming to the conclusion that the Church age has ended, or at least very close to its end. I believe we are experiencing the times that the epistle of Jude prophesied.
Arlen Chitwood in his book entitled Jude has expressed this very well. He said, “The present dispensation has its beginning in the Book of Acts with the Acts of the Apostles; and the dispensation will end, as described in the Epistle of Jude, with the Acts of the Apostates.”
Much of what’s happening in our Churches, among Christian people that have been gradually gaining acceptance is nothing short of disgraceful. At a time when Christians should be standing for righteousness, we are making adjustments to align with the expectations of the world. We have lowered our standards so far, mainly to get the recognition of men; that the Church is hardly looked at any longer as the moral authority it once was. The Church is seen just as another organization vying for its part of the 'economic pie'. Christians are no longer respected as we once were, instead we are seen as hypocrites.
I wish I could say with a clear conscience, that the world’s observation of us is wrong. I am afraid, they are right; we have lost our way. Just like some teachers and preachers of the precious century were shown things in the Scriptures that were relevant meet the needs of that generation, things that disturbed the Ecclesiastical minds; so today we need teachers and preachers that will dig deep into the Scriptures and meet the needs of the Church in the state we now find ourselves in. We need preachers that will be fearless and vigorous in presenting, “…thus saith the Lord.”
What we are left with in our pulpits and classrooms are mostly scribes, peddling the wares of those we follow, many of whom with all good intentions, were mislead and short-changes as far as their understanding of Scriptures are concerned. We need to move away from the stale ideas and phrases we inherited and search the Scriptures for ourselves to see if what we are doing and teaching line-up with what God says in His Word. We need fresh messages from God, directly from the Word and even if it means that we will have to unload some of what we’ve held to and be persecuted by those with whom we long associated; we must please God rather than man.
Admit that what we are often called to be party with are not Scripturally-based, instead are things that the denominations indulge.
This is not going to be easy taking a stand for God and His Word. Peter and the other disciples sought to do that in the early Church and they got strong opposition, that which we will come under could be much stronger; but we can use the same principles that Peter and the other disciples used:
Acts 5:27-29
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men .
KJV
Arlen Chitwood in his book entitled Jude has expressed this very well. He said, “The present dispensation has its beginning in the Book of Acts with the Acts of the Apostles; and the dispensation will end, as described in the Epistle of Jude, with the Acts of the Apostates.”
Much of what’s happening in our Churches, among Christian people that have been gradually gaining acceptance is nothing short of disgraceful. At a time when Christians should be standing for righteousness, we are making adjustments to align with the expectations of the world. We have lowered our standards so far, mainly to get the recognition of men; that the Church is hardly looked at any longer as the moral authority it once was. The Church is seen just as another organization vying for its part of the 'economic pie'. Christians are no longer respected as we once were, instead we are seen as hypocrites.
I wish I could say with a clear conscience, that the world’s observation of us is wrong. I am afraid, they are right; we have lost our way. Just like some teachers and preachers of the precious century were shown things in the Scriptures that were relevant meet the needs of that generation, things that disturbed the Ecclesiastical minds; so today we need teachers and preachers that will dig deep into the Scriptures and meet the needs of the Church in the state we now find ourselves in. We need preachers that will be fearless and vigorous in presenting, “…thus saith the Lord.”
What we are left with in our pulpits and classrooms are mostly scribes, peddling the wares of those we follow, many of whom with all good intentions, were mislead and short-changes as far as their understanding of Scriptures are concerned. We need to move away from the stale ideas and phrases we inherited and search the Scriptures for ourselves to see if what we are doing and teaching line-up with what God says in His Word. We need fresh messages from God, directly from the Word and even if it means that we will have to unload some of what we’ve held to and be persecuted by those with whom we long associated; we must please God rather than man.
Admit that what we are often called to be party with are not Scripturally-based, instead are things that the denominations indulge.
This is not going to be easy taking a stand for God and His Word. Peter and the other disciples sought to do that in the early Church and they got strong opposition, that which we will come under could be much stronger; but we can use the same principles that Peter and the other disciples used:
Acts 5:27-29
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man's blood upon us.
29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men .
KJV
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