Series on the Modern Lukewarm Evangelical Church – No. 7

To summarize, Satan has continually sought to compromise and corrupt God’s design, organization, and operation of the church (i.e., “church government and operation”) during the seven periods of the Church Age. This church government and operation is portrayed by and rests upon the leadership gifts given to the elders of the church and the gifts of the Spirit given to all members of the body of Christ. When Satan corrupts the operation of the leadership gifts as well as the gifts of the Spirit, he has successfully corrupted the organization and operation of the church. When the local members of the body of Christ abandon, misuse, compromise, or corrupt these gifts, it creates disarray and dysfunction within the church and hinders the accomplishment of the church’s mission outside of the church. Satan’s attacks are blocked to the degree that the church follows God’s plan and pattern for the church’s organization and operation established in the first century New Testament church.

In the study of church history, it will be helpful for the reader to read Revelation chapters 2 and 3 where John records Christ’s message to the seven churches of […] Continue Reading…

Series on the Modern Lukewarm Evangelical Church – No. 6

Satan hates God but has no power to strike directly at Him. Satan’s arrogant pride caused him to attempt to raise himself to the level of God. Perhaps this was the first time any being ever chose to sin against God. As a result, Satan and one-third of all the angels who cast their lot with Satan were cast out of Heaven to earth. The only means left for Satan to strike back at God was to separate mankind from God by causing men to sin and thus destroying mankind’s eternal relationship with their Creator. Satan’s attack on mankind began in the Garden when he deceived our first ancestors and caused them to be cast out of the Garden just as Satan was once cast out of Heaven.

Christ’s completed work on the cross provided for the remission of the sins of mankind and a means to re-establish relationship with God. Forty days after Jesus’ resurrection from the grave, the church was established on the Day of Pentecost. Thereafter, the universal church was and remains populated by all born again believers around the world. This became Satan’s new target […] Continue Reading…

Series on the Modern Lukewarm Evangelical Church – No. 5

The God of the Bible is the God of order, and this order can be readily seen and understood. The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:1 that “In the beginning God created…” What did he create? He created the heaven and the earth and much more. In all of His creative efforts he had a purpose. He revealed to humanity that He was a glorious God and that He was their creator.

1 The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. 4 Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. [Psalm 19: 1-4. NLT]

His creation was not an accident that brought chaos. His creation was a complex delicately balance order encompassed within the universe. At the beginning, God’s revelation was for all humanity, but sin entered His creation and broke the intimate relationship between the creator and His special creation—mankind. In time He chose a single man through whom […] Continue Reading…

Series on the Modern Lukewarm Evangelical Church – No. 4

In Part II we learned:

• The reasons Christians should be concerned about false teachers and false teaching in our supposedly more enlightened modern times
• The definition of False Teaching
• Not all who disagree with us on some biblical doctrines and other interpretations of Scripture are false teachers
• Identifying marks of false teachers

Examples of False Teaching and False Churches & Movements

Before we name false teachers in the evangelical church or claim some association therewith, it seems appropriate that we identify many of the teachings that are being taught, more or less, by various false teachers. This list of false teachings include (1) specific teachings that are false and (2) movements and denominations that teach false doctrines and practices based on the philosophies that are diametrically opposed to, placed above, or are substituted for the truth of God’s Word. Any church that teaches false doctrine is considered a false church.

Not included in this second group are religions that do not claim at least some association or connection with Christianity (e.g., Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism). By their denial of Christianity altogether, these religions are without doubt classified as being false religions. The […] Continue Reading…

Series on the Modern Lukewarm Evangelical Church – No. 3

In Part I we learned:

• The modern evangelical church contains many high profile false teachers who call themselves Christians. These false teachers occupy various roles within the church including pastors, evangelists, teachers, missionaries, writers, and leaders of various para-church organizations. These false teachers are influencing uncountable millions of Christians in evangelical churches across America and around the world. This invasion has allowed many false teachings to infiltrate and lead astray the hearts and minds of individual Christians, the local church, denominations, and other Christian organizations from the lowest to highest levels.

• The source of false teachings (lies and deceptions) is philosophies and traditions of men, the principles of the world, and false religions.

• Finally, we looked at multiple warnings in the New Testament from Paul, Peter, Jude, and Jesus about false teachers and false teachings in the church. The essence of the warnings was that false teachings are a dangerous threat to the church and must be exposed and avoided.

Why should Christians be so concerned with false teachers and false teaching in our enlightened modern […] Continue Reading…