No Fear

I used to think the reason that the Church was fading so fast was because of a lack of the sufficiency of Scripture. I used to think that! I am becoming more convinced these days that the problem therein lies, not in a lack of Scriptural integrity, but rather, a lack of holy fear.

Think about it for a moment. What is is that causes one to trade in the very God-breathed Words for modern psyco-babble and hip lingo? Sure, it could very well be that the “pastor” doesn’t believe the Word of God can be relevant to his young millennial congregation, therefore falling away from the sufficiency of Scripture. But the at the very root lies the real cause. He has failed in the things of holy fear. 

In Scripture, we never see any good thing come from a lack of holy fear. Consider Nadab & Abihu, for example, Aaron’s sons who did not fear God enough to offer the proper sacrifice. 

Leviticus 10: 1-2  Now Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, each took his censer and put fire in it and laid incense on it and offered unauthorized fire before the Lord, which he had not commanded them. And fire came out from before the Lord and consumed them, and they died before the Lord.

Or perhaps Uzzah will suffice as an illustration, considering that his intentions, unlike Nadab and Abihu’s intentions, were actually good.

2Sam 6:5-7   And David and all the house of Israel were celebrating before the Lord, with songs and lyres and harps and tambourines and castanets and cymbals. And when they came to the threshing floor of Nacon, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah, and God struck him down there because of his error, and he died there beside the ark of God.

One may look at these two examples and think, “Pfft. Those were Old Testament people. We’re under the covenant of grace, now. No need to worry about silly things, like holiness, anymore.” 

Okay. I understand what you’re saying. Now that Christ mediates for us to God there is no longer a need for holy fear of God. Does this really jive with New Testament teaching?

Acts 5:1-11   But a man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold a piece of property, and with his wife’s knowledge he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it and laid it at the apostles’ feet. But Peter said, “Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land? While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? Why is it that you have contrived this deed in your heart? You have not lied to man but to God.” When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last. And great fear came upon all who heard of it. The young men rose and wrapped him up and carried him out and buried him. After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. And Peter said to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.” And she said, “Yes, for so much.” But Peter said to her, “How is it that you have agreed together to test the Spirit of the Lord? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.” Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last. When the young men came in they found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband. And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things. 

The one thing that jumps out at me from the Acts passage is that the people who heard about this incident feared! They didn’t just fear the fact that Ananias and Sapphira were killed, they feared that they had been killed because of their offense to God. In other words, they had a healthy, holy fear. They knew they weren’t in church to play or pretend. In fact, verse 13 of Acts 5 relays to us that the people would not join the disciples in worship because of fear. 

So, what has changed? 

Instead of pastors and Christians who tremble at the thought offending God, we have clowns in the pulpit that mock him. 

Rather than faithful stewards that proclaim the whole counsel of the Word, we are left with cowards that fear men and cater to their “felt needs.” 

In the stead of godly soldiers that storm the gates of Hell, we are reduced to unarmed minutemen that try to reason with vipers.

And replacing loving shepherds who protect the flock, we have turned over the watch-care of the soul to hirelings that gladly open the door for the wolves.

All of this is a direct result of no fear. Perhaps it is time to recover the fear of the Lord. It is now that we, as a Church, must stop offering our strange fire on an altar unmade by God. Let us tremble once more in the presence of pure light and fear even the veiled glory of a God who is able to snuff out our candlesticks. 

Let us be afraid. Let us be very afraid!

Heb 10:31   It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Why the Authority of Scripture Matters

1. God, who is Himself truth and speaks truth only, has inspired Holy Scripture in order thereby to reveal Himself to lost mankind through Jesus Christ as Creator and Lord, Redeemer and Judge. Holy Scripture is God’s witness to Himself.

2. Holy Scripture, being God’s own Word, written by men prepared and superintended by His Spirit, is of infallible divine authority in all matters upon which it touches: it is to be believed, as God’s instruction, in all that it affirms; obeyed, as God’s command, in all that it requires; embraced, as God’s pledge, in all that it promises.

3. The Holy Spirit, Scripture’s divine author, both authenticates it to us by His inward witness and opens our minds to understand its meaning.

4. Being wholly and verbally God-given, Scripture is without error or fault in all its teaching, no less in what it states about God’s acts in creation, about the events of world history, and   p xvi  about its own literary origins under God, than in its witness to God’s saving grace in individual lives.

5. The authority of Scripture is inescapably impaired if this total divine inerrancy is in any way limited or disregarded, or made relative to a view of truth contrary to the Bible’s own; and such lapses bring serious loss to both the individual and the church.~The Chicago Statement on Biblical Innerancy (1978)
from the book, Sproul, R. C. Can I Trust the Bible? Vol. 2. The Crucial Questions Series, pp.xiv-xv. Lake Mary, FL: Reformation Trust Publishing, 2009.

The above statement, a brief summary of several articles, was a direct result on the attack of the authority and innerancy of Scripture by liberal theologians. During the 1960'S and 1970's many began to espouse the view the the Bible was merely "suggestive" and not authoritative. As a result, many evangelical leaders met together in Chicago and drafted and published their belief of the authority and innerancy of Scripture.

But why does belief in the authority of Scripture matter? How does it affect ones life if he/she does not consider Scripture authoritative and binding upon their lives? Again, R.C. Sproul summarizes it well:

The issue is crucial. It is via the Scriptures that the church historically has claimed to understand matters of faith and life, from God’s creation of all things from nothing to the significance of the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ to the ultimate consummation of all things toward which history is moving. If the Bible is unreliable in what it teaches about these things, the church is left to speculate and has nothing of value to speak to the world. Ibid, p.xii.

Simply put, if the Bible is not God's word then we as Christians have nothing to offer the world: no future hope, no escape from our own corruption, and most importantly, no redemption from our sins!

If the Bible is not authoritative in matters of faith, and particularly life, then we are truly free to become a Flotsam and Jetsam society; and indeed, we are seeing that now as the battle for God's intended design of the family is deprecated more and more.

And because many preachers have abandoned this crucial doctrine they have given a license to their congregation to indulge in any type of sinful behavior whether Scripture speaks clearly on the subject or doesn't.

If the Evangelical church is to survive the coming cultural storms (and they are coming) then we must once again take up the mantle of such men as Wycliff, Huss, Tyndale, Knox, and a host of others who actually gave their lives in death with the belief and a conviction of the authority of Scripture. We must submit ourselves to its authority and be willing to push against the tides of our ever-shifting society–even if it means death!

A Church For People Who Don't Like ChurchSteven Long July 29

Over the last three posts we have briefly examined the seeker culture and why it is not totally Biblical. As I stated in the first post, their ideas are commendable–a desire to lead others to a saving knowledge of Christ. However, the methods go beyond what should be.

I guess this post could be considered a sort of tie-in with those posts. One of the main strategies of the Seeker church is to start a church for "people who don't like church."

So what are these pastors who conduct church for people who don't like church really doing?

First, remember that the church is supposed to be a community of God's people. I am certainly not opposed to the lost coming into church–by all means, bring them in so that they may be convicted by the preaching of the gospel. But pastors, please do not conduct a service solely revolving around lost people. The church is a corporate gathering of God's people to worship God, not to entertain those who may come in looking for a "cool" place to hang out for a Sunday morning.

Second, those who say they hate church are really saying they hate God's people. 1John 3:14 makes it clear that love for God's people is a clear indication of regeneration. If a person hates being around or in the presence God's people then he/she is probably not a Christian.

Third, those who are unregenerate are enemies of the cross (Phil 3:18) hostile to God (Ro 8:7) and consider the things of God foolishness (1Cor 1:18). They also, being in their dead state, have no spiritual discernment in order to receive truth until God removes the veil from their hearts (1Co 2:14). If this be the case, why then would pastors want to build a service around them?

Fourth, the church's mission is to make disciples (Mt 28:20). Too many pastors are concerned with being "relevant" or "cool" and forget their God-given responsibilities–to equip the saints for the work of the ministry (Eph 4:11-14).

Fifth, the meeting of God's people to worship Him is something of utmost seriousness. God does not allow us to come into His presence any way we choose (John 4:23-24). God gave His people regulations in the Old Testament to worship Him and although we are now living beneath the cross He still desires worship in the Spirit, which lost people cannot do because they do not have the Spirit of God dwelling in them (Ro 8:4).

The entire idea of a church for people who hate church is non-Biblical. If church is a gathering of God's people than to conduct services for any other purpose or motive goes against the clear teaching of Scripture. Keep this in mind the next time you are tempted to coddle the lost rather than preach the Life-giving Words that can save them.

Steven Furtick: Preaching to the Dead and Starving the SheepDan Long 6/03/12

God's Word makes it very clear that there is no such thing as a "God Seeker." As a matter of fact it is quite the opposite. The Bible labels the entire human race with these characteristics: "dead in trespasses and sins," Ep. 2:1; Ep 2:5; Col. 2:13; Mat.8:22; 1John 3:14, "slaves to sin," Jn. 8:34; Ro. 6:20; 2Pe. 2:19, "enemies of God," Ro. 5:10; James 4:4 "minds set on the flesh," Ro. 8:6-7"hostile towards God," Ro.8:7And to be even more specific, that there is "no one who seeks after God," Ro 3:10.

 Yet "seeker friendly" Pastors are twisting scripture, and taking passages out of context to make their messages more palatable to people who are at war with God, "dead in their trespasses and sins," and "enemies of God." These "Pastors" (you cant really call them Pastors because they care nothing for the sheep, but are egotistical wolves, seeking their own personal gain) have turned the purpose of the church of Jesus Christ on its head. They are adjusting their sermons, in order to placate the non Christians in their churches who are spiritually dead, and depriving those who may be genuine Christians from sound Biblical doctrine.

For example, Steven Furdick of Elevation Church said that his church does not exist for Christians. He says, even if a person in his church gave their lives to Christ as early as last week, the moment they came to Christ, Elevation Church stopped existing for them. Really??? I thought the purpose of the church was to build up the body of Christ. In Ephesians 4:11-16 Paul gives the  the genuine "purpose of the church." The purpose of the church is to " equip the saints for the work of ministry," not primarily to minister to unbelievers, but for the purpose of "building up the body of Christ," (verse 12.) The reason for building up the believer is to bring him or her to maturity in Christ, verse 13, so that the believer will not be "carried about by every wind of doctrine, verse 14, but will "grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, verse 15.

Evidently, Paul thought knowing right doctrine was top priority in order to keep the believer from falling into error. And yet "seeker friendly" Pastors like Steven Furtick say that the purpose of the Church, doesn't exist for the Christian. He says that after a person comes to faith in Jesus Christ, the next step for them is to get into a "small group and serve," not so that the new Christian can learn sound doctrine, but so that they can "serve." In his video called "What is the Purpose for the Church?" Furdick goes on to say "We preach Jesus so people far from God can know Jesus, and then we train them up so that others can know Jesus. It's called 'kingdom multiplication."

So the purpose at Elevation Church is not to make disciples, through teaching and preaching the Word. The purpose of Elevation Church is to bring people to Christ, and then immediately train those new believers to bring others to Christ. This is done at the expense of genuine discipleship. Jesus calls us to make disciples, but evangelism is only the first step. We don't immediately train people to go out and make new disciples. We are to disciple new believers by teaching them sound doctrine. And yet what does Furdick do? He mocks those who desire sound Biblical doctrine.

After mocking those who hold to the "Doctrines of Grace saying, "If you need the Doctrines of Grace by John Calvin to excite you, your in the wrong church," he arrogantly says...."there are 720 churches in Charlotte (where Elevation is located) I'm sure we can find one where you can stuff your face until your so obese spiritually that you cant even move."

What a blasphemous statement! "Whether a person is a Calvinist or not, the Christian needs right doctrine and good theology to grow. This isn't my opinion; look at what Paul says to Titus in Titus 1:9. Every Pastor is called by God to " give instruction in sound doctrine, and also to rebuke those who contradict it. "Paul also tells Titus in Titus 2:9 that he is to "teach what accords with sound doctrine."

And yet seeker friendly pastors are contradicting God's Word by avoiding sound Biblical doctrine, and even mocking those who desire it, when a genuine believer will truly desire it. I'm not minimizing evangelism. It is extremely important. We are called as Christians to reach the lost and to preach the gospel of Christ to our family, neighbors, friends, co workers, and strangers. But we are not to elevate (no pun intended) evangelism over sound doctrine. If we don't know sound doctrine how will we ever be able to disciple anyone?  Steven Furtick needs to repent of his blasphemy, and his whole idea (which is unbiblical) of the purpose of church, and do what a Pastor is called to do, preach sound Biblical doctrine, and stop starving the sheep.