Acts 5:38-39 “And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”
I’ve read plenty of surveys taken that had revealed the decline in Christian church attendance over the past few decades. The refusal of our government to stand by the National Motto of our country and the abandonment of biblical morality has contributed to this historical falling-off the charts in what is being called the post-Christian era. It is as the Lord Jesus said in Luke 8:11-14 “Now the parable of the Sower means this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity.
The term is apostate, and is defined as: One who has forsaken the church, sect or profession to which he before adhered. In its original sense, applied to one who has abandoned his religion. We are seeing one of the greatest departures from the faith in the history of the church. I have brought this issue up with my pastors in order to identify the root issue and form a plan of action by the church to halt and reverse this trend. Protestant Reformer John Calvin stated, “Since no man is excluded from calling upon God the gate of salvation is open to all. There is nothing else to hinder us from entering, but our own unbelief.” The darkness of unbelief cannot help but make every effort to extinguish the Light of the Word of God which exposes its depravity and rebellion.
It has been from the beginning of the Fall of Man, a battle between faith and unbelief. The unholy trinity has always been (1) the Fallen Flesh with its sinful desires, (2) the God-rejecting world system, and (3) the Tempter, the Deceiver, the devil. John Wesley stated: “As no good is done, or spoken, or thought by any man without the assistance of God, working in and with those that believe in him, so there is no evil done, or spoken, or thought without the assistance of the devil, who worketh with strong though secret power in the children of unbelief. All the works of our evil nature are the work of the devil.” The Christian church, the body of Christ, have been called to be Salt and Light in this world. The faithful born-again Believers have been commissioned to “go and make disciple of all nations”. When the light fails to stand firm and retreats, darkness advances. As Anglo-Irish statesman, economist, and philosopher Edmund Burke said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.” Don’t let it!
As the late Pastor J. Vernon McGee declared, “We can still be intelligent and believe in the Word of God, that Jesus Christ nearly 2000 years ago intruded into history and died on a cross, that He rose again on the third day boldly, ascended back to heaven, and that He is alive today. He has sent His Holy Spirit into the world, and the Holy Spirit has made Him real to multitudes in every walk of life. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. This is our message, it is changing lives, and it is still pertinent for this hour to meet the needs of the human heart. Jesus will always be the Way to salvation and eternal life.
In Christ, Brian
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