"Little children, let no one deceive you." 1 John 3:7
"Flee the church. God is finished with the local church. God's judgment is about to be unleashed on the local congregations. Get out." So sounds the alarm from radio and print personalities.
Will God judge the church? Peter tells us judgment begins with the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17). Inclusion on a church roll does not ensure salvation. Paul urges us to examine ourselves to see if indeed we are of the household of faith (2 Cor. 13:5). The weeds will be sorted from the wheat and burned in the fires of God's judgment (Matt. 13:14–30).
But the church is Christ's sheep pen. In it He has raised up shepherds who are to watch over and care for the sheep (Acts 28:28–30). In it the keys of the kingdom are exercised for the preservation, propagation and purity of Christ's church (Matt. 16:13–20). In it He has provided means of grace in the ministry of the Word, sacraments and prayer for the well-being, growth and effectiveness of His sheep. The fellowship of believers guards the sheep from the hardening of sin's deceitfulness (Heb. 3:12–19). Believers are given one to the other, a community to stir one another on to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:19–25)—the fruit of saving faith, the design of Christ's saving work (Eph. 2:8–10; Titus 2:11–14).
Since the local church is Christ's visible sheep pen, we wonder who in the world would ever urge sheep to leave God's provision for their safety and nurture? Who would want to bring harm and ruin to the sheep of God, under the guise of their own good? Who twists Scripture for his own purposes? Who would disguise himself as an angel of light, a wolf in sheep's clothing to lure the sheep into the darkness?
"Little children, truly, truly I say to you, come unto me from the sheep pen of the church and find life and safety," says the stranger. But when a voice seeks to compel us contrary to Christ (John 10:1–5), let us discern what it is—the spirit of the antichrist, the counterfeiter, the seducer, the father of lies seeking to devour the straggler from the flock and wanderer from the sheep pen. Rather, let us hearken to the warning of the Good Shepherd:
"Flee the church. God is finished with the local church. God's judgment is about to be unleashed on the local congregations. Get out." So sounds the alarm from radio and print personalities.
Will God judge the church? Peter tells us judgment begins with the house of God (1 Pet. 4:17). Inclusion on a church roll does not ensure salvation. Paul urges us to examine ourselves to see if indeed we are of the household of faith (2 Cor. 13:5). The weeds will be sorted from the wheat and burned in the fires of God's judgment (Matt. 13:14–30).
But the church is Christ's sheep pen. In it He has raised up shepherds who are to watch over and care for the sheep (Acts 28:28–30). In it the keys of the kingdom are exercised for the preservation, propagation and purity of Christ's church (Matt. 16:13–20). In it He has provided means of grace in the ministry of the Word, sacraments and prayer for the well-being, growth and effectiveness of His sheep. The fellowship of believers guards the sheep from the hardening of sin's deceitfulness (Heb. 3:12–19). Believers are given one to the other, a community to stir one another on to love and good deeds (Heb. 10:19–25)—the fruit of saving faith, the design of Christ's saving work (Eph. 2:8–10; Titus 2:11–14).
Since the local church is Christ's visible sheep pen, we wonder who in the world would ever urge sheep to leave God's provision for their safety and nurture? Who would want to bring harm and ruin to the sheep of God, under the guise of their own good? Who twists Scripture for his own purposes? Who would disguise himself as an angel of light, a wolf in sheep's clothing to lure the sheep into the darkness?
"Little children, truly, truly I say to you, come unto me from the sheep pen of the church and find life and safety," says the stranger. But when a voice seeks to compel us contrary to Christ (John 10:1–5), let us discern what it is—the spirit of the antichrist, the counterfeiter, the seducer, the father of lies seeking to devour the straggler from the flock and wanderer from the sheep pen. Rather, let us hearken to the warning of the Good Shepherd:
"Children, it is the last hour, and as you heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore, we know that it is the last hour. They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might be plain that they all are not of us. But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. And this is the promise that he made to us—eternal life. I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you." 1 John 2:18–26
1 comment:
I think that Prophets are hearing that we need to flee the fallen churches. God wansts us in true communion with him, not faked our by the false communion that is offered at nearly all todays churches (both Protestant and Catholid).
Take a look at "Real Communion Services"
http://thebigpicmin.wordpress.com/2009/05/18/real-communion-services/
this post talks about Jesus' sheepfold (John 10:1-10)
God Bless
Glenn
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