LTRP Note: The following is from Harry Ironside’s book Full Assurance.
A comment put to me: “If I could only be sure I was in the right church, I would feel secure; but there are so many different churches that I get all confused and upset.”
My response: The church is not the ark of safety. The church is the aggregate of all who believe in the Lord Jesus and who have therefore been baptized by the Holy Spirit into one body. This is not a mere organization, however ancient and venerable. If you were sure you were in the right church (some earthly organization) and trusted in that for salvation, you would be forever lost! Your trust must be in the Head of the church, the risen Christ. He is the only Savior. All ecclesiastical pretension is vain, and to rest in any kind of church membership is an empty deception. Christ alone is the ark that will carry you safely through all the storms of judgment. No matter what denomination you turn to, you will never find salvation in allying yourself with it, but when you come to Jesus, you are then prepared to enjoy fellowship with His people.
I love Thy kingdom, Lord,
The house of Thine abode,
The Church our blest Redeemer saved
With His own precious blood.
(photo: bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)
There are so few biblically sound churches out there these days. It took my wife and I 32 years to find one. Calvinism, prosperity, antinomianism have flooded America and polluted the well. We all must know our Bibles so that we can tell if a church is teaching sound doctrine. We will all be judged by the word of God (John 12:48), so we better know the word of God.
https://followingjesuschrist3.com/2018/11/02/the-certainty-of-scripture-what-exactly-we-have-with-the-written-word-of-god/
Sad to say, many churches are under now, Baal worship. They have totally changed the worship, they have taken the 501(c)3 exemption and now, the govt. can tell churches what they can and cannot preach/teach including the very things that God said to stay away from. Yes, our churches have allowed the apostasy to creep in just like Jesus said would happen.
Many people are leaving churches and starting home churches and moving back to what the first century church was. They are not doing any 501(c)3 exemption, instead they take their tithes and offerings and help their home group members who have a need, plus support Christian organizations and missions without the exemption, trusting God to supply their need and not be under the thumb of the govt. God says He will bless those who give cheerfully – “pressed down, shaken together to overflowing.”
Yes, the question is asked about leadership in home churches and rightly dividing the Word. The Holy Spirit is the One who leads the Home Church. He is welcomed. There isn’t the “lording” over people by one preacher/teacher. The Home Church is made up of Christians who have seen the apostasy and too much of the world in the church they left. When speaking with the leadership about changes that were not Biblical the general answer was, “it’s a new century and there has to be changes to fit the change in the world.” Huuumm, really? The Bible has been around for many years and nothing in the Bible of what God says has changed except fleshly human thinking and adopting what the world says they need in their church.
Yes, there is an apostasy that has crept into the church and many Christians have fallen asleep and have become lazy and allowed it to take over, to now they no longer can see the truth from a lie. Very sad.
Doesn’t God tell us to come out and be separate from the world? Yes, He does. You must listen to what the Holy Spirit is saying in these last days and stop being “guilted” into “our church policy and by laws say this and that,” and if you leave the church you are sinning. Well, not when the Holy Spirit gives the green light to leave apostasy that will hurt a Christian spiritually.
The church has so compromised with the world, that now, you cannot tell the two apart. So much of the world now meshes in and blinds believers and waters down the Gospel. Why do you think there are so many “seeker friendly,” “feel good/comfortable” churches? Why are there so many false conversions? Well, it’s because they have gone soft on sin and don’t realize just how serious their sinning against Holy God is, because of the watering down of God’s Word to “fit in” to a sinners “theology” of what sin is. This is why so many true Christians are leaving churches in droves. When they confront the leadership, the leadership tells them if they don’t like what they hear, they can leave and that is exactly what many are doing and starting their own home churches.
Go research the first century or early church and you will see they had a zeal for the Lord and shared what Jesus had done. They studied God’s Word day and night. They were a unit in helping others, they worshiped the Lord with teachings from the Apostles, they honored Jesus with Communion, as He said to do in the Upper Room – “Do this in Remembrance of Me,” they worshiped Christ with music, not the smoke and darkness we now see in many churches, where you see the “worship leaders” acting like they are auditioning on American Idol. Today’s church has entered into Baal worship and many don’t recognize it, and now by default the church is controlled by the govt. with their tax exemption. This is why many are leaving their church, because it has been weakened and no longer bold to stand against false teaching. We no longer have elders who read and study God’s Word to recognize a wolf in sheep’s clothing and to take a bold stand to stop them and confront them. This is why people are leaving, the Holy Spirit has given them discernment to see what is going on and to leave.
There are very few churches that are true churches that haven’t allowed the world to creep in and deceive. The churches you see today are no longer the conscience in society. They pretty much have compromised sin to accommodate and say they are “witnessing” to the lost. . . .
If God is telling you to leave your God forsaken church – LEAVE! If you can’t find a church and believe me, they are few and far between, well then, make it a point to study for yourself. There are many resources that can help you to study. Get a Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance, Nave’s Topical Bible, Unger’s Bible Dictionary, Spurgeon’s Sermons, as a matter of fact, try to get as many of the 1600 and 1700 century preachers teachings – they are awesome. Read Francis Schaeffer and Edith Schaeffer’s works/writings. Matthew Henry’s Commentary. You can find some of these reference books in used books stores, others you can order through Amazon. Believe me, once you decide to dig into God’s Word for yourself, the Holy Spirit will be right there helping you and will open your eyes to see the truth and what is happening around you.
His body the church…not an organization but an organism.
Each believer is set in that body as He sees fit…given a gift for the edification of this body of believers wherever they are.
May this truth be taught to all true believers.
At the time of the writing of the founding documents of America, church and denomination were considered to be synonymous. I suspect that that is what the questioner was worried about more than a particular house of worship. There are numerous denominations that claim the mantel of being the one true church. it is my contention that if you cannot walk away from your denomination of choice, you’ve turned it into an idol.
that goes for followers of famous teachers who refuse to admit it if/when they speak falsely in Gods name.
many pastors think themselves noble for only speaking what they are for and not for what they are against. Jesus boldly spoke the truth to everyone including the false teachers. Paul imitated Jesus by doing the same. Ought we all hold our church leaders to the same standard?
Please be cautious with the Messianic/Hebrew Roots, there is much confusion and false teaching within their congregations also. We watched as some were so drawn into Judaism that they denied Jesus Christ as Son of God and Risen Savior!!
First it is true that God is the Head of the Church. Second there are many statement in the Bible Old and New the warn us off false teachers. Especially in the time before Christ’s return. Many earthly and heavenly signs match those recorded in the Bible. In these later Days. Based on these observations I do believe our Lord is coming soon and the New Earth and Heaven is coming sooner rather much later. Therefore the drive to find those of like minded individuals is a deep desire in many people. So staying away from false teachers, False doctrine is dangerous. You cannot just pick and choose what is good and what is bad out of a teachers mouth. you either trust them or you don’t. Many people are being forced to do that today, That goes does for giving also. Be very careful were you give your money, For me I kinda like the messianic jews church on Saturdays. When I find one I would like to try it hits all the boxes.
We will never be in a perfect church until the Lord comes for His own. We just have to find a place where heresy is not being preached and the members are trying to obey God’s will, where the whole Bible, Old and New Testaments are studied and anti-biblical morality is not allowed to continue. There must be an emphasis on repentance and a new life in Christ. We must try to lead a righteous life before others and be a witness to non-believers in word and in deed. Reading the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation every year has been the biggest help and joy for me.
What a Wonderful message!
Jesus Christ IS the head of the “true church!”
Ephesians 1:22 And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,
Ephesians 1:23 Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.
Revelation 1:5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Revelation 1:6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.