RESTORING TRUE CHRISTIANITY
Restoring true Christianity must be unending. Around 200 years ago our forefathers in the faith realized that it was time for them to get back to the Bible and break free from denominationalism. They were willing stand up for God’s truth and to hold fast the doctrine within our Bibles as Paul commanded Timothy:
2 Timothy 1:13 Hold
fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love
which are in Christ Jesus.
All it takes is one generation to either grow the church or severally damage the church. Unfortunately, it did not take long after forefathers in the faith had moved in the right direction that a new generation was born that was in desperate need of being taught the importance making the Word of God their rock. Since they were not, history shows that the church began to suffer once again from lack of knowledge, and many Christians slowly but surely left the church and went back to existing denominations, or they created new ones.
This is why restoring true Christianity must be unending. Each new generation must be taught about God because if they are not, the church will suffer. Even those that are in the faith must constantly refresh themselves with God’s teachings because is seems to be in man’s nature to forget about God and what He has done for us in our lives.
An example of how a new generation can affect the church can
be seen from Joshua. During Joshua’s days the children of
Judges 2:10 When
all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation
arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for
I want you to understand
that all it took was one generation to change the children of God from being
faithful to unfaithful. Understanding this should motivate us to teach each new
generation about God and the importance of holding fast to the doctrine of
Christ.
We also cannot be like
the Samaritans that we read about in:
2 Kings 17:33 They feared the LORD, yet served their own
gods -- according to the rituals of the nations from among whom they were
carried away.
It is not enough to fear
God or just to know about Him, we must be fully committed to Him. We cannot
serve Him on one hand and continue you to live in sin on the other. The farther
we move away from God’s Word, the more we are going to find ourselves
compromising God’s truth with man’s ideas.
It is easy for us to
drift away from God’s truth, and to let the next generation be unfaithful
because moving away from God’s Word happens gradually. When things happen
gradually, you don’t realize the damage that is done until much later. It is
kind of like the example of the frog. If you try to put a frog in boiling
water, it will jump out right away, but if you put it into cool water and
slowly turn the temperature up it will not jump out and will boiled alive
because gradual change is much more difficult to notice. This is why the writer
of Hebrews warns us:
Hebrews 2:1 Therefore
we must give the more earnest heed to the things we have heard, lest we drift
away. 2 For if the word
spoken through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and
disobedience received a just reward, 3
how shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation,
As Paul taught:
2 Thessalonians 2:15
Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught,
whether by word or our epistle.
We need to understand
that Satan is at work and he wants us to fail to teach the next generation, and
he wants us to wavier in our faith and compromise God’s truth. We must never
forget the devil is the father of lies (Jn. 8:44) and as Paul says:
2 Corinthians 11:14 And no
wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. 15 Therefore it is no great
thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness,
whose end will be according to their works.
Satan wants you to
believe restoring Christianity as it was 2,000 years ago is impossible and
impractical in a modern society. He wants you to believe that
Ephesians 5:6 Let no
one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God
comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7
Therefore do not be partakers with them.
Do not be deceived by the
devil or those who are working for his cause because God has not changed and
His Word has not changed. If we are going to be pleasing to Him, we must
worship Him in Spirit and in truth (Jn. 4:24). If we worship Him any other way,
then our worship will be in vein.
People have a tendency to
want to do whatever is popular, and Christians who are weaker in the faith will
allow the world to influence them and they will adopt manmade doctrines just so
they can fit in, but John tells us:
1 John 2:15 Do not
love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love
of the Father is not in him. 16
For all that is in the world -- the lust of the flesh, the lust of the
eyes, and the pride of life -- is not of the Father but is of the world.
Jesus warned us that the
road to heaven is difficult (Mt. 7:14), but the reward of heaven is worth it
all, so we must sometime go against the grain. Sometimes a church will find
itself chasing after manmade ways
because the elders of the church do not stand up for what is right, and they
allow themselves to bullied into something false. Elders should never
compromise God’s truth even if half a church walked away because God would
rather have half a church worshiping Him correctly then a whole church
worshiping Him in vein.
The world has been pressing
in hard against the church trying its best to corrupt the faithful and to train
the new generations in the way of the world. Usually, if you want to see the
direction the Lord’s church is headed just look at the denominations and how
they are being influenced by the world because they will usually adapt worldly
practices before they end up influencing the Lord’s church later down the line.
One example that comes to
mind is how many denominations have noticed how they have started losing
membership especially with their youth, so in order to try to save their youth,
they created a worship service just for them. They are attempting to appeal to
a generation who is no longer satisfied with traditional worship as they call
it and so they allow them to dress how they want, and them jam out with
Christian based music. Some from these denominations would disagree with me,
but it easy to see that they are simply trying to entertain these younger
folks.
But they are finding out
it is that it is not working because their membership is still declining. As
far as I am concerned, if worshipping God His way is not good enough for these
younger folks, then they are lost anyways because they are not interested in
worshipping God in spirit and is truth.
The denominations have
been doing things like this for years, and in last couple years we have heard
of several congregations of the Lord’s church that have started thinking this
way. They have started adding musical instruments, giving women roles they God
has not authorized, they have starting using praise teams and some have started
teaching that baptism is not necessary for salvation.
If we want to remain true
to God we must plead with our brothers and sisters in Christ about the
importance of restoring true Christianity and to reject all manmade doctrines:
Romans 12:2 And do
not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your
mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect
will of God.
Colossians 2:8 Beware
lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the
tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not
according to Christ.
Of course the only way
that we can be prepared to deal with false teachings and the influence of the
world is by being students of the Bible. Far to many Christians are ignorant
when it comes to God’s Word. I am sure you have heard that phrase ignorance is
bliss, but when it comes to ignorance of God’s Word, your ignorance can cost
you your soul and cause you to face the torments of hell. As Hosea said:
Hosea 4:6 My
people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected
knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have
forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.
As Jesus said in Jn. 8:32,
the truth will set you free, but if we continue to neglect God’s Word and live
in ignorance, we will be destroyed, and we will have no idea when something
false is being taught. So, we must never stop teaching the basic principles of
the Bible so that the faithful will remain faithful, and so that next
generations will be properly trained in the way of God.
We have a great challenge
before us, but we must never relent on emphasizing the truth about God and how
we must worship Him in Spirit and in truth. One of the most important places
that we must begin in training the next generation of Christians is in the
home. Far too many Christian parents have become lazy at the job that God has
given them as:
Deuteronomy 6:6"
And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 "You shall teach them
diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house,
when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 "You shall bind them as a
sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 "You shall write them on
the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Ephesians 6:4 And you,
fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the
training and admonition of the Lord.
Parents I want you to
understand that if you do not get involved with teaching your children about
God by your example and by God’s Word, then you are going to lose your children
to the world. The latest statistics I have came cross says that 7 out every 10
children raised up in the church will leave the church by their 2nd
year of college.
Sometimes, we have around
30 children in our church on Sunday morning and that is wonderful, but if these
numbers hold true, only 9 of that 30 will remain faithful to God. Only 9 will
most likely make it to heaven. Those numbers should upset you, but I can
promise you this, we do not have to let these number come true. We can defy the
current trend and take action starting today and make sure that we keep the
majority of our children faithful to Lord.
We can do this by
training them at home. We should not expect our children to get all their
education about God at church because it is not enough. Your children are being
influenced by world in many ways. For example, when you send your children to
public school, not only do they get taught the fundamentals of education, they
are also taught about evolution, and how we should accept people no matter what
they believe in or do. The language in the text books are being changed and
some text books starting at the youngest grades are teaching how its normal for
a child to have two moms or two dads. They are teaching that truth is relative
and many other things that contrary to God’s Word.
The world understands
that if they train our children with information like this, that they can
change our nation. Adolf Hitler understood this, which why he said:
“Let me control the
textbooks and I will control the state..” Adolf Hitler
During a speech he
delivered on November 6, 1939 Hitler said:
“When an opponent declares, ‘I will not come over
to your side,’ I calmly say, ‘Your child belongs to us already…. What are you?
You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a
short time they will know nothing else but this new community.’”
If we do not combat the
worldly views our children are being taught in their textbooks, then we will
lose our children without even knowing it.
After I written this
lesson, I heard a man on radio from
Of course, our children
are also being influenced by their friends and by what other kids their age are telling them.
Many times they will start thinking like those that are around them because
they do not want to be different because they want to be popular.
If that did not make our
jobs hard enough, we have to combat what
Before you can ever begin
to train up your child in the admonition of the Lord, you must be committed to
serving God. You cannot teach your child with mere words on they should live
their lives and expect them to remain faithful because, they must see you
living the life of a Christian. They must see your dedication to God because
your example is the greatest influence on your child because if you do not
practice what you preach, then your children are not going to listen.
For example, if you tell
your children how important it is that they attend all the church services because
Christ purchased the church with His own blood, but they see you only attending
when you feel like it, or they see you missing church because you want to watch
TV or pursue a hobby, do really think they are going to consider attending
church important when you do not do it.
Many other examples could
be given, but the simple message is, practice what you preach. You are the one
that sets the standard, so don’t be surprised when you child follows your
example, instead of your empty words.
Once you have made the
commitment to serve the Lord and you are being a Christ-like example, then you
can be effective at training your child up in the way of the Lord, but you must
make time to do this. We don’t seem to mind to make the time to get involved in
our children’s activities such as sports, choir, band, or some hobby, but many
times we cannot seem to find the time to have Bible study or to talk about God.
Which is more important? I hope that you agree that God is more important. So,
if you examine yourself and you realize that you are neglecting opportunities
to train you child in the way of the Lord, I hope you start making time for it
and I would suggest that you pray to God for guidance in this area because the
fate of our children, and the fate of the church rests in your hands.
We are very fortunate
here at Lone Grove to have so many children because they are the next
generation that can either grow the church or help destroy it. I hope this
lesson will open your eyes to how important it is that we train this next
generation so that they will not compromise God’s truth and that they will in
turn teach their children the same message, so that the Lord’s church will
remain strong and faithful to Lord in the future. So, lets us never grow weary
of doing our part to restore true Christianity by teaching God’s Word to future
generations and teaching them to live by it so they will not compromise God’s
truth or turn to the world.
(Adapted
in part from Sacred Principles on which we Stand – John Waddey)