August 26^th . 2018

9:30 am ------------------------------Present Your Bodies To The Lord – Romans 12:1-2

10:00 am ------------------------The True Lord Jesus Christ Revealed – Matthew 17:1-9

Wednesday 7:00 pm ------- Coming To Church: What is it About? – Hebrews 12:22-24

Feeding Sheep, Or Amusing Goats?

An evil is in the 'professed' camp of the Lord, so gross in its impudence, that the most shortsighted Christian can hardly fail to notice it. During the past few years this evil has developed at an alarming rate. It has worked like leaven until the whole lump ferments!

The devil has seldom done a more clever thing, than hinting to the Church that part of their mission is to provide entertainment for the people, with a view to winning them. From speaking out the gospel, the Church has gradually toned down her testimony, then winked at and excused the frivolities of the day. Then she tolerated them in her borders. Now she has adopted them under the plea of reaching the masses!

First, providing amusement for the people is nowhere spoken of in the Scriptures as a function of the Church. Where do entertainers come in? The Holy Spirit is silent concerning them. Were the prophets persecuted because they amused the people, or because they confronted them? The 'concert' has no martyr roll.

Second, providing amusement is in direct antagonism to the teaching and life of Christ and all His apostles.

When "many of His disciples turned back and no longer followed Him," I do not hear Him say, 'Run after these people, Peter, and tell them we will have a different style of service tomorrow; something short and attractive with little preaching. We will have a pleasant evening for the people. Tell them they will be sure to enjoy it! Be quick, Peter, we must get the people somehow!' No! The Lord Jesus pitied sinners, sighed and wept over them, but never sought to amuse them!

Lastly, the Apostles did not cease from preaching Christ. They had no time for arranging entertainments. Scattered by persecution they went everywhere preaching the gospel. They turned the world upside down; that is the only difference from today's church. The need of the hour for today's ministry is earnest spirituality joined with Biblical doctrine, so understood and felt, that it sets men on fire.

Lord, clear the Church of all the rot and rubbish the devil has imposed on her, and bring us back to apostolic methods! - Archibald Brown (1889

Strange But True

When the true gospel is preached, those lost in religion and in the world will accuse those who preach it of speaking strange things. I have been accused of that many times. Sadly, the Gospel is, “strange doctrine” to those who don’t know God. When Paul preached the gospel on Mar’s Hill in Athens to those overly religious (superstitious) men, they said, “Thou bringest strange things to our ears, we would know therefore what these things mean.” (Acts 17:20) They said of Paul, “He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.” (Acts 17:18) You tell folks the truth about God and they will claim that you set forth strange gods.

I’m sure that it is strange to most that God does not love everybody, and Christ did not die for everybody, and the Holy Spirit does not call and draw everyone to be saved, but only those whom God chose and gave to Christ before the foundation of the world. (Ephesians 1:4) I suppose it is strange to the unbeliever that God, in the person of Jesus Christ, would come into the world to save undeserving sinners by dying, the just for the unjust, to bring them to God. (1 Timothy 1:15, 1 Peter 3:18).

To me this gives strong proof to that old saying that I have often heard, “strange but true.” -- David Eddmenson