The New Testament Church and the Church Today

There is one attribute that makes the New Testament Church stand apart from the professing church today, and that is the fact that the New Testament Church was based SOLELY on the Word of God through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, many of the professing churches today have turned away from the pure beginnings in the New Testament, and has become "harlot" churches. I'm not talking about all churches, but I am talking about the majority. The majority of churches out there are not the true church of God. Sure, God has His people in various denominations, but they will be called out of these fallen churches as we near the very end times ... Revelation 18:4 ...'Come out of her my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins.'

What the apostle Paul said in Timothy is so true of the many churches of today ... 2 Timothy 4:3 ...'For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.' ... The majority of professing Christians have put aside the Word of God in the Bible and have turned to the nice easy sounding doctrines taught by the many false preachers and teachers in the world. No longer do we here messages of repentance, or Godly sorrow, or turning away from your sins. But what does the Bible say?

John 5:14 ...'Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.'

John 8:11 ...'And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.'

Hebrews 10:26 ...'For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins.'

The message in the New Testament is a very clear message of the need for us to turn away from our sinful ways and follow in Christ's footsteps. Just look at the verse in Hebrews above. If, after we have come to the knowledge of the truth of Christ Jesus and continue to sin wilfully, there remains no more sacrifice for those sins, which only leaves one thing, DEATH!! And yet this kind of message is never heard in the majority of churches today. Why? Because Satan has infiltrated them, and the people only want to hear smooth sounding doctrines.

The "gospel" that is taught in churches today is a watered down gospel and is full of only half truths. "Just believe and you will be saved", is the message coming out of many churches. This "gospel" of today only reaches the flesh, rather than the heart, and it is NOT the Gospel of the Bible.

Do you realize, we will all have to stand before a Holy God one day, who is an ALL CONSUMING FIRE!?

When I look at the New Testament Church, I don't see stately buildings, or pearly white (on the outside) telly evangelists, or great big music bands, or disciples putting on pantomimes, or weekly social events. So what did they do? They turned the world upside down with the WORD OF GOD, through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:41 ...'Then they that gladly received his word were baptized: and the same day there were added unto them about three thousand souls.'

Acts 4:4 ...'Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.'

What did the New Testament Church do to convict these thousands of people to follow the Lord Jesus? They preached the WORD OF GOD. Thats it!!! They preached the Word, and through the convicting power of the Holy Spirit, thousands were added to their number. No fancy gimmicks, just the plain Word of God. Read the book of Acts, and you will find none of the disciples trying to ADD anything themselves to draw the people to God. No, they knew that the only thing that was needed was the TRUTH of God's Word and the convicting power of the Holy Spirit. Why do we trust so much on our OWN power to draw people into church today? "Our worship band and music system needs to be better", "We need to tell more funny stories", "We need to put on a show", "We need to show fancy powerpoint presentations". WE need to do this, WE need to do that. It seems to be all about what WE need to do to draw people in, rather than just preaching the true Word of God and relying on the power of the Holy Spirit to convict. I hear so many people say that we live in a "changing world", so the Church needs to change with it. What!!? Where's that in the Bible? As soon as you go down that route, you will end up being converted into acting just like the world.

Malachi 3:6 ...'For I am the LORD, I change not.'

Did you get that? "I AM THE LORD, I CHANGE NOT". The majority of churches today completely ignore the Bible truth, and believe they need to change with the world. And when you start ignoring the plain truth of the Bible, you will start heading down a slippery slope that will end in hell fire. Just look at the Lutheran church now allowing ACTIVE homosexual people to hold leadership positions in their church. Also, recently a group of protestant churches in America signed a letter SUPPORTING abortion!! Oh how well satan has deceived these professing Christians. They have become completely blinded to the truth of God's Word in the Bible. And it will only get worse unless we stand up for the TRUTH and proclaim it boldly and loudly to the world, and just maybe the Holy Spirit will convict these people of their error.

Something I see when I look at the New Testament Church is sacrifice. Unfortunately, all I see when I look at the professing church today is COMFORT, and people who just want to have a GOOD TIME! No sacrifice, no Holiness, no separating from the world, nothing like the New Testament Church. And I say that if the Holy Spirit is upon you, then you will not be satisfied with sitting amongst those in "places of worship" drinking coffee and eating biscuits!! This is not a cinema we go to, or a theatre house, or a social club, no, it's a place to WORSHIP and HONOR our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Christ Jesus, and a place to LEARN the TRUTH of His Holy Word. But why is it that the professing church needs entertainment today? Because it has lost interest in the Word of God in the Bible. People have no interest in opening the Bible and studying these days, they just want to have fun!

1 Peter 1:16 ...'Be ye holy; for I am holy.'

2 Corinthians 6:17 ...'Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.'

James 4:4 ...'Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.'

Do these verses mean anything to you? Do you feel convicted by these verses to do something about your faith? Friend, it's time to put away that empty form of religion that this world teaches, it's time to put away your carnal nature and get right with God through His Son Christ Jesus. A time will come soon, when we will all stand before Christ ... Romans 14:10 ...'for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ.'

Luke 13:24 ...'Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.'

But be warned my friend, this message will be rejected by the majority of the world. And when you make every effort to follow in Jesus' footstep, to separate yourself from this world and put on the mind of Christ to become Holy and acceptable to God, the very people who you thought were friends, will criticize you and sneer at you, saying you have a "holier than thou" attitude. Remember that the world hated Jesus too ... John 15:18 ...'If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.'

Are you preparing yourself to face the Lord God Almighty, who is an all consuming fire? It's time to start living and acting like the true New Testament Church in the Bible, and follow in the Lord Jesus' footsteps. Ask Jesus to come into your heart today, give your all to Him and let Him take control of your life.