For I determined not to know
anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him
crucified.
(1 Corinthians 2:2)
But God forbid that I should boast
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom
the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14)
The overall state of the modern
Christian Church is of great concern to me. Why? God
has burned within me the call to be a protector of the
body of Christ and the desire to see a Church that is
truly restored to the biblical pattern. The biblical
pattern mandates that all churches that are part of the
Church that Jesus is building not only preach about
Jesus but preach the message that He preached.One
cannot preach about Jesus without preaching the message
of the cross and to preach what Jesus preached is to
preach the gospel of the kingdom.
By the Spirit, I see a remnant
Church coming forth that is preaching the Kingdom of
God and teaching the things which concern the Lord
Jesus Christ with all confidence (Acts 28:23, 31). I see a
remnant Church that preaches Jesus and Him crucified
and of which every member has denied self, forsaken
all, and taken up their cross to follow Jesus (1 Corinthians 2:2; Luke 9:23; 14:27, 33). I see a remnant Church that fits the
description found in Ephesians 4:11-16.
With my natural eyes, I observe
that most modern churches and denominations are not
following the biblical pattern or mandate. Instead,
many are substituting the heart and core of the Word of
God with other things, even good things. They are
saying some things from the Bible and doing things that
seemingly help their members personally, especially in
the area of making them feel better about themselves.
For example, like never before, churches are giving
their members opportunities to use their abilities to
help others. These opportunities seem to be growing as
personal fulfillment and purpose-driven messages expand
and take greater hold within more parts of the Church.
The membership roles also grow as people in the various
communities learn that they can come and release their
gifts and/or learn to feel better about themselves.
Many modern churches emphasize the
need to do what will help them grow in number and not
what will bring forth a Church that is mature in Jesus
and His Word. They sometimes stay true to what their
group has always emphasized about the Word and, in
addition, they come up with programs, activities, and
outreach methods to draw people of all ages and keep
them involved. Releasing individual gifts and
calling it ministry always gives people a sense of
accomplishment and fulfillment, so this has become a
favorite strategy for getting and keeping members. To
the natural eyes, all of this may seem to be good, but
as I look closely with my spiritual eyes I see
something missing.
What is missing? One of the main
things missing is the message of the cross. Preaching
Jesus and Him crucified is missing! Preaching the
denial of self, the forsaking of all, and the following
of the crucified Christ into the harvest fields is
missing. Professing Christians are being self-fulfilled
while the harvest fields remain white for harvest. John
4:35: “Do you not say, ‘There are still
four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold,
I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields,
for they are already white for harvest!”
What we have instead is a
counterfeit harvest, wherein people are drawn to a
counterfeit (mixed) message by excited people flooding
the marketplaces with the message of self—how to
feel good about oneself and how to find fulfillment for
oneself. Recently, I witnessed on television an
internationally known preacher take Romans 5:17 and
come up with driving an expensive, a very expensive,
car. I went to bed thinking about reigning in life and
driving an expensive car and using that to win certain
people who would not come any other way, according to
the luxury-car-driving-preacher. I turned the light
back on, picked up my Bible and studied Romans 5:17 in the context of the message
presented from 5:12 to 5:21. I found the message to be
about reigning over sin and death through Jesus, but I
could not find a luxury car or a luxury house in the
message anywhere. I couldn’t even find a luxury
suit to wear.
Too many modern churches are like
the church of Ephesus in Revelation 2:1-7. It had a great resume, but what mattered most
to Jesus was missing. No one in the past, present, or
future can be a real disciple without what took place
on the cross, and yet we hear less and less about the
cross in the modern Christian church. Oh, it is
mentioned from time to time, but it is not taught and
given priority according to biblical proportions. Those
who may preach good messages on the cross usually leave
out or improperly teach other vital things, such as the
baptism in the Spirit and the gospel of the kingdom.
Many churches have adopted
strategies from the world’s systems in their
efforts to reach the lost of the world. The problem
with this strategy is that the systems of the world are
under the sway of the wicked one (1 John 5:19). When the church tries to look like the world
to win the lost of the world, the world does not become
like the church; the church becomes like the world, and
its witness is damaged and/or lost. The world will
never take seriously a compromised church.
The resurrection of the dead and
eternal judgment are two of the six basic doctrines of
true discipleship (Hebrews 6:1, 2). After being resurrected, the lost and
false disciples will be judged at the Great White
Throne Judgment. After being resurrected, true
disciples of Jesus Christ will be judged at the
Judgment Seat of Christ and given rewards according to
their earthly ministry. One place in Scripture that
gives us insight concerning the believers’
judgment is 1 Corinthians 3:
11-15.
Could it be that the great resume
of the church at Ephesus, as well as the resume of good
works that many believers are presently involved in,
will be burned as wood, hay, or straw? Will there be
people who are not at the Judgment Seat of Christ but
at the Great White Throne Judgment instead because they
thought they were “okay” when they were on
earth? They were busy and fulfilled with many church
activities, but, in truth, they never experienced the
cross and never took up their cross and followed Jesus
into the harvest field with the right message and the
right motivation. Will there be people at the Great
White Throne Judgment because a true laborer of Jesus
Christ never ministered to them?
There will, in fact, be people at
the Great White Throne Judgment because they never were
ministered truth and never witnessed a true, mature
disciple of Jesus Christ who had taken up their
personal cross to follow Him. The modern church is
sadly lacking in one of the things that counts most.
The message of the cross, first of
all, teaches us about what Jesus has accomplished for
all who will by faith receive Him. It teaches that
Jesus, by the shedding of His blood and the giving of
His life, made a way for us to be redeemed to God.
Through His resurrection we, too, can be resurrected to
spend eternity together with Him. The message of the
cross goes on to teach us about our responsibility
while on earth. We are to deny self, forsake all, and
take up our cross and follow Jesus. The denying of self
includes denying the fleshly pleasures and selfish
personal ambitions and the fulfillment that many find
in doing good manmade works in the modern church. The
message of the cross includes the message that, in this
world, there will be persecution for true disciples.
Anyone who takes up their cross to follow Jesus and
proclaims Jesus and Him crucified will be persecuted.
These are hard sayings, but they
are true sayings! When Jesus preached hard sayings,
many of His disciples turned away. Many professing
Christians have already turned away from hard sayings
in our day, and many more will turn away in the future,
but there will be a faithful remnant that will not turn
away from the truth. They will, instead, turn away from
the lies, deceptions, and mixtures that are flooding
the modern church and the world. These faithful few
will unite in the unity of faith that Jesus prayed for
and looks for. They will proclaim and live by the
message of the cross.
The work of the Lord cannot be
fully accomplished without a faithful remnant Church
that is living in the unity of John 17. We need true
revival! All true revivals have to start with someone.
What about with you? Will you forsake manmade modern
church and the things of the world to follow Jesus?
Will you search intently until you find true and mature
ministers sent by God and then submit yourself to be
equipped by the Holy Spirit through them? Will you join
in the unity of faith with other disciples who have
done the same and then shine as a light for Jesus
Christ to a lost and dying world and to a manmade
church that has followed man and not Jesus? I must
declare again that if you are following partial truth,
you are following man. Distance must not matter; minds
must be renewed and freed from old ways of thinking
about church. The cost must be counted and the price
paid—the cross carried. Some will follow the
narrow road, but many others are so bound by
relationships and other things that they will settle
for half-truths and half covenants rather than wholly
following Jesus.
The Cross stands at the center of
Christendom. No one can reach God without going the way
of the Cross of Jesus Christ. There is convicting and
restorative power in the message of the Cross.
Therefore, let the Message of the Cross be returned to
its proper place in the lives of all true believers!
Let this result in a restored Church that is formed in
the image of Christ and united in faith.
______________________________
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Pastor R. Wayne Wilson
New Covenant Church of Jesus Christ
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30094 USA
770-760-1101
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