LEARNING DAILY

 

1 John 2:19, They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.

 

The discussion the last few days has been about apostacy.  There is going to be a falling away from the professing church because of compromise.  William Booth (1829 – 1912) was the founder of the Salvation Army and was a strong follower of Jesus Christ.  Booth predicted that by the end of the twentieth century many would preach a Christianity that did not include Jesus Christ, hell and repentance.  I found this quote by Vance Havner (which I really like), “The biggest danger to the church is not woodpeckers on the outside, but termites on the inside.” These two men are saying that the greatest danger to the church is apostacy within the church rising from false teachers – those liberal teachers who deny and distort the truth.  Compromise! The result of compromise is the church looking no different than the world.

 

Compromise puts the truth somewhere between two extremes.  Compromise with the world often occurs when essential moral principles and doctrine is changed to be acceptable or non-threatening.  When compromise is done in these areas truth will become error and good will be called evil and evil called good”.  When your convictions, based on the truths of the Bible, become how you live, you must never compromise.

 

Why would a person within the church compromise the truth?  Let me reflect a little on my life and the lives of others that I have observed.  There are things I just did not want to give up; I wanted to do things that the Bible said were wrong.  Yes, I felt bad about them, but it took years before my love of God became greater.  Perhaps this was just plain rebellion – another reason for compromise.  I think this comes from the attitude that I am going to do what I want and ask for forgiveness later.  Others just do not know the Bible or misinterpret it to fit their life style.  I think of the parable of the rich young man who asked what he needed to do to be saved.  Jesus told him to go sell everything and follow Him.  The guy just could not do it; the sayings of Jesus were too hard, too narrow for him to live by. 

 

There could be another reason.  Jesus said those who follow Him will be persecuted.  Think back to the page of the blog about this in the Sermon on the Mount. If you follow the Bible’s teaching, you are going to be laughed at, mocked, and treated poorly at times.  Sounds like what Jesus went through.  I remember going back to the first community I taught at, walking down the street and seeing two former coaching colleagues.  We were there with a church group which they must have heard us.  The greeting was not a friendly greeting by them; it was one that mocked us for who we had become in Christ.  People do not want to deal with that.  They just go to church and do not allow the Word to change them.

 

Consider the various headlines today that talk of what the liberals and progressives want to do to conservatives and Bible-believing Christians.  They want to reprogram them, have labeled them as unloving, bigots, and accuse them of being some kind of phobia. 

Here is what I am getting at today.  If you follow the truth of God’s Word you are going to be persecuted.  To what degree, I do not know.  Sadly, this persecution is coming from those false teachers within the church itself.  In the last days, this will grow worse.  I am trying not to repeat the same things.  But open your ears to what is being taught from the pulpit.  This is what the verse above is telling us.  “They went out from us, but they were not of us”.  This is talking about antichrists, false teachers, that leave the fellowship of true believers; they were not in a saving relationship with Christ.  They have a hardened heart, reject God’s way, and continually reject the Holy Spirit’s nudging.  And, they want you and me to join them!

 

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