Just an outward form?? The Church needs God….The church would not be church if it did not have God.
The song says, “let the church be the church, let the people rejoice….be it known that the people are the church….they’ve settled, the question, they’ve made their choice.” Hallelujah!!! And Jesus is the Head! Paul in writing Timothy speaks of a time when even in the church, I believe, there will be a distressful time when some will oppose the truth and deny the real power of God. Read with me from 2 Tim. 3:1-7, I am quoting from the NRSV. “You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them! For among them are those who make their way into households and captivate silly women, overwhelmed by their sins and swayed by all kinds of desires, who are always being instructed and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”
I think the thing that stands out to me is the part where it says “holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power.” That could include almost any church group in North America. A form, a pretense, but no power. I hate a car with no power…my new car has 70 more horsepower than my last one and I love it…the last one was good but this one is better. When I step on the gas I expect it to move. You can’t deny its power. However, if I never started the engine and did not access the power then it wouldn’t be a car, it would only look like a car. It is the same with the church, it needs to access by faith the power that is available to it. We may look good but if we deny the power of God in the church then we will never know the real blessing that the church can be and the blessing that we can offer to those in need. It seems that the time spoken of in these verses has arrived.
The song says, “let the church be the church, let the people rejoice….be it known that the people are the church….they’ve settled, the question, they’ve made their choice.” Hallelujah!!! And Jesus is the Head! Paul in writing Timothy speaks of a time when even in the church, I believe, there will be a distressful time when some will oppose the truth and deny the real power of God. Read with me from 2 Tim. 3:1-7, I am quoting from the NRSV. “You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them! For among them are those who make their way into households and captivate silly women, overwhelmed by their sins and swayed by all kinds of desires, who are always being instructed and can never arrive at a knowledge of the truth.”
I think the thing that stands out to me is the part where it says “holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power.” That could include almost any church group in North America. A form, a pretense, but no power. I hate a car with no power…my new car has 70 more horsepower than my last one and I love it…the last one was good but this one is better. When I step on the gas I expect it to move. You can’t deny its power. However, if I never started the engine and did not access the power then it wouldn’t be a car, it would only look like a car. It is the same with the church, it needs to access by faith the power that is available to it. We may look good but if we deny the power of God in the church then we will never know the real blessing that the church can be and the blessing that we can offer to those in need. It seems that the time spoken of in these verses has arrived.
posted by Randall | 7:49 a.m.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home