Present day Christianity is largely in shambles. So many things have changed, mostly since the early 20th century. There are still people being saved, but far fewer than there were earlier. There are some large churches in America, and other countries, but so many of them do not preach the truth. We are praying for revival. It is needed. It must happen, or we are finished as far as I can see. Now, can God send it? Of course He can! Will He? I do not know, but His purpose will be carried out.
Dear friends, don't cease to pray and witness to the lost. If revival comes, it will begin in God's house. It will go beyond that, but must begin there. For the sake of lost friends and loved ones, we must pray for revival. Someone likely prayed for you. Some say "The Lord is returning soon,so revival cannot come in our day". That may, or may not be true. Only God knows. There are some areas in the world that are having a bit of a stir, so God may not be ready yet. When He is, we better be!
With these thoughts in mind, I have written the articles I am placing here. Some of these have been published earlier. It was at least five years ago on those, so most of you have not read them. I am going to continue as I am able to serve God, and trust Him to work out His will I suggest we all do that. May these short thoughts be a blessing to you. Keep praying for me.
PRESENT DAY CHRISTIANITY
Present day Christianity has largely rejected the teaching of God's grace in its biblical fullness. Instead, we have on all sides a largely man-centered religion. "Media Event Christianity" is the norm in so many churches. The manipulation of souls and "decisionism" has given us a watered-down gospel that couldn't save a flea. It has been taught that God can only do what man "lets" Him do! But this is a far cry from the God of the Bible. He is the Sovereign of the universe! He does not need our help, we need His!
Naturally to declare God as God Almighty is going to ruffle some feathers. The Baptists of today forget the London Confession, the Philadelphia Confession, and the New Hampshire Confession of Faith, which all contain clear and strong statements regarding the Sovereign God.
The Baptists are not alone in forgetting. The Presbyterians of today often fail to take note of the old landmark Westminster Confession of Faith (which differs from the Philadelphia Confession very little). The heritage of the church is largely discarded today, and the “emerging church”, “wealth and health gospel” along with “new evangelicalism” and most of today's fundamentalism cannot shape up when compared to the faith of our fathers. Truth has fallen in the streets! (I originally wrote the majority of these words in 1983. Some things have changed for the better, but it is evident that many things are worse). We desperately need revival. I pray for it. I believe that reformation must come before true revival will come (cw)
A BLOODLESS GOSPEL
A bloodless gospel is a lifeless gospel; if the atonement be denied or frittered away, or put into a secondary place, or obscured, in that proportion the life has gone out of the religion which is professed. (cw)
REFORMED THEOLOGY- SOLA SCRIPTURA
The Arminian doctrine of election states that God looked into the future and chose those people who chose Him. In Romans 8, the Greek word for foreknew means to ‘to know beforehand’ ‘forelove’ or ‘foreappoint’, not ‘look into the future’. The Arminian absurdly believes that the eternally omniscient God looked into the future to gain knowledge from His creations. (cw)
HE MUST INCREASE, BUT I MUST DECREASE
John 3:30
I would far rather publish the good writings of my brothers and sisters than to seek glory for myself by always being the one doing the writing, or the preaching. Let Him who “ever lives to make intercession for us” (Hebrews 7:25), receive any glory that comes from these feeble publishing efforts. To paraphrase George Whitefield “Let the name of Woodruff perish, but Christ be glorified!” I only let you know who I am so that I may be of service to you in Jesus Christ. (cw)
As George Whitefield himself said:
“Unloose my stammering tongue to tell, Thy Love immense, unsearchable”.
THOU HAST REVEALED
"”At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes." Matthew 11:25
Jesus' words here show us:
To some sinners truth is revealed;
To some it is hidden and concealed. (cw)
A WARNING
This is a warning I hope we all take to heart. As people of The Word, we have to ask ourselves how we can really expect to improve on a perfect model. Cautiously I will say that some new ways of applying the unchanging biblical principles are fine...we need to be able to communicate with 21st Century culture, but we must not abandon the heart of the Gospel and basics of authentic discipleship in the process. (cw)
WHICH BOOK IS THE BOOK?
Since most things mankind learns is from books, why would men say that God's book is untrue? The burden of proof is on them, for they are saying some other writings by Bible denying atheists are more true than the Bible. They are actually saying in effect that other books are greater, more accurate, more infalliable than the Bible. The Bible claims to be the word of God; accurate; infalliable. Put it to the test! (cw)
REGARDING PRAYER
“Prayer is not overcoming God’s reluctance, but laying hold of His willingness”- According to Arthur W. Pink and others, this quote is attributed to Martin Luther. George Muller, Phillips Brooks, and Richard Trench have also been reported to have said it, but Luther was before them. It is a good and scriptural saying, maybe they all said it; I know I have often said it since I first read it in Pink’s Sovereignty of God in his chapter on prayer. It is one of my favorite books, and I suppose the one that influenced me the most regarding God’s absolute sovereignty. (cw)
OUR GREAT GOD
“There can be but one Infinite.” Elisha Coles 1608-1688
“Great is our Lord, and of great power: His understanding is infinite” (Psalm 147:5). “The LORD reigneth; let the earth rejoice” (Psalm 97:1)
2 comments:
Very good teaching, Charles. Modern day believers are making the mistake of falling into complacency! The truth is being twisted to fit man's desires and the true message of salvation through Christ alone and without compromise is not being preached. It is sad that the more knowledge this generation receives, the more they turn from their God! How can this be?
So true! So many hear the word, and yet ignore it. So may profess to know Christ, yet fail to obey His word. These are perilous times. Yet, i am encouraged that in this world there are some places where the gospel is being received more openly than in much of America. I heard testimony regarding this last night. God is not through saving people yet. Let's keep our eyes on Him, and keep our hearts right. He will still save some. We can rejoice in that. Until He comes again, let us remain diligent and true.
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