Beginning Of Church’s Lukewarmness
Like I said earlier, the last group of people in my village, the idol worshippers and the churchgoers, who were not born again later joined, I mean idol worshippers and unrepentant churchgoers.
The churchgoers dominated them, compelled them to join them to church. Join the zone, get baptized, and start taking Holy Communion. The youth among them literally forced their old parents, real idol worshippers to follow them to church, forced them to wed at old age and join the zone.
Once you meet up, get baptized in water, you become a member and if you die, the zonal branch will bury you, pray high-level prayers for you and assure their living members that the dead went to heaven. The priest will pray on the grave, anoint it and the deceived members will believe that he went to heaven. Heaven became very cheap and as they go to church, belonged to a particular zone, they still worshipped their idols freely. Most of their priests are in modern cult but they practice biblical idolatry. Surprisingly, the youth and women among them began to read the bible, form groups, clap hands in their groups and speak in tongues like Pentecostals. Few of them, among, the youth were ordained as priests and began to preach like Pentecostals, speak in tongues.
Confusion Among Believers
With time, everyone began to go to church. The church elders, senior ordained priests and bishops tried to stop them but could not. Now, everyone carry bible, preach, pray, clap hands, speak in tongues and perform miracles. There is confusion everywhere because everyone, each party, both the Pentecostals, believed that they are children of God. Everyone speak the same Christian language, praise God, God bless you, sing the same song and heal the sick.
‘And Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharaoh, and they did so as the LORD had commanded: and Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh, and before his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called the wise men and the sorcerers: now the magicians of Egypt, they also did in like manner with their enchantments. For they cast down every man his rod, and they became serpents: but Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods. And he hardened Pharaoh’s heart, that he hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said’ (Exodus 7:10-13).
Moses and Aaron were in one side, with a rod while Pharaoh, his wise men, the sorcerers and magicians were in one side with their enchantment. Both produced result and made Pharaoh to harden his heart. Both parties separated and continued with what they believed, challenging themselves from time to time.
‘And Moses and Aaron did so, as the LORD commanded; and he lifted up the rod, and smote the waters that were in the river, in the sight of Pharaoh, and in the sight of his servants; and all the waters that were in the river were turned to blood. And the fish that was in the river died; and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink of the water of the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. And the magicians of Egypt did so with their enchantments: and Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, neither did he hearken unto them; as the LORD had said’ (Exodus 7:20-22).
‘And the LORD spake unto Moses, Say unto Aaron, Stretch forth thine hand with thy rod over the streams, over the rivers, and over the ponds, and cause frogs to come up upon the land of Egypt. And Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt. And the magicians did so with their enchantments, and brought up frogs upon the land of Egypt’ (Exodus 8:5-7).
‘And the LORD said unto Moses, Rise up early in the morning, and stand before Pharaoh; lo, he cometh forth to the water; and say unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Let my people go, that they may serve me. Else, if thou wilt not let my people go, behold, I will send swarms of flies upon thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy people, and into thy houses: and the houses of the Egyptians shall be full of swarms of flies, and also the ground whereon they are. And I will sever in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, that no swarms of flies shall be there; to the end thou mayest know that I am the LORD in the midst of the earth. And I will put a division between my people and thy people: tomorrow shall this sign be’ (Exodus 8:20-23).
‘And it came to pass on the morrow, that the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of the house: and David played with his hand, as at other times: and there was a javelin in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the javelin; for he said, I will smite David even to the wall with it. And David avoided out of his presence twice’ (1Samuel 18:10-11).
The Downfall of Authentic Christianity
As I searched the scriptures, I discovered that every genuine thing that God does, Satan would try to bring along counterfeit to confuse the minds of men, deceive his followers and harden their hearts. Moses and Aaron’s group, the Pentecostals, continued until God gave them victory, their opponent, confessed that power pass power.
‘And these are the names of the sons of Levi according to their generations; Gershon, and Kohath, and Merari: and the years of the life of Levi were an hundred thirty and seven years. The sons of Gershon; Libni, and Shimi, according to their families. And the sons of Kohath; Amram, and Izhar, and Hebron, and Uzziel: and the years of the life of Kohath were an hundred thirty and three years. And the sons of Merari; Mahali and Mushi: these are the families of Levi according to their generations’ (Exodus 8:16-19).
But instead of the Pentecostals of our time to continue, they compromised and left the source of their power, which is preaching, teaching and discipleship. They followed the servants of Pharaoh, the sorcerers, the magicians and continued in competition. They compromised, modified their preaching, their teaching, bowed to the pressure groups, influenced by Satan and self who judge things carnally by outward appearance only. They craved for popularity, praise of men and they backslide.
‘Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! For so did their fathers to the false prophets’ (Luke 6:26).
Today, everyone is seeking for prophecy, no one is ready to preach, teach and tell people the truth. Once you can prophecy, tell people what they want to hear, even if you are a devil, they follow you anywhere you go. Before, ministers were likened to –
Ambassadors (Ephesians 3:20),
Servants (Philippians 1, Galatians 1:10),
Builders (1Corinthians 3:10),
Chosen Vessel (Acts 9:15, 2 Corinthians 4:7),
Stewards (1 Corinthians 4:1-2, Luke 16:1-2)
Ministers of the New Testament (1Corinthians 3:6, 4:1-2).
But today, reverse is the case, our modern ministers are small gods, occult grandmasters and if you question their actions, they will curse you. They forget that Christ in the body carried out a divinely appointed mission. He mixed up, humbled himself and revealed the love and grace of God to man. He gave up everything – position, right, glory, life to reconcile man to God. With that mission accomplished, He left the world and went to the father in heaven.
When He left, He left the church behind to carry out and continue the same mission to reveal God to man through Christ and reconcile man to God through Christ to the whole of humanity. Every member of the church is expected to do the will of God in carrying on the mission of Christ. Jesus went to individuals, preached in the cities, sent his disciples. They evangelized, edify, witness, worship, testified, taught and disciple. They practiced personal evangelism and their preaching produced conviction of sin but today, reverse is the case. The whole church has backslide, seeking for personal gain.
‘The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise’ (Proverbs 11:30).
Churches are no longer winning soul; they are winning people’s money. The word win is a military term. To win a city is to lay siege on it and take it. It calls for skill, patience, bravery and endurance. It is also an occupational term. Like a fisherman, the soul winner, in the face of all kinds of weather and risks, applies himself to the task of skillfully bringing the sinner to Christ. Moreover, it is a matrimonial term. To win a soul to Christ is like winning a bride for the bridegroom and it takes prayer, affection, attention, sincerity, sacrifice and honest communication.