04/08/24 DON'T BE SILLY

04/08/24 DON'T BE SILLY

Twikth are for kidth you thilly wabbit.

And actually, the local church is for believers, and The Church is for God.

The New Testament view and model for the local church was, "a called out group of believers who gather together."

The historic model for the local church, from the Pergamos Period until the Philadelphian Period (Revelation 2:12 through 3:6), was that the church was a body of believers and unsaved, nominal believers.

Since the Philadelphian Period (Revelation 3:7-13), the local church model (especially in the west), has been a gathering of believers and non believers, and a primary venue for evangelism. This changed the view that church services were believer oriented, to sinner oriented. This was a good tool for evangelism, while we were in the Open Door era of the Church, but it also changed the mission from edification of believers (establishing and building up believers in the faith and mutual support in times of persecution and suffering), to evangelizing the unsaved community (rather than going out to reach the lost, the local church turned its energy and effort to bringing them in to be converted). This weakened the ministry of edification and allowed for a corruption of behavior, leadership, doctrine and mission, which has become the standard position of local churches in the modern west.

Concerning the universal view of the the mission and ministry of the local church, the gathering of believers has continued to be the model for local churches. This is partially due to unrestrained opposition from societal and regional cultures, and resistance to the gospel, partially due to the persecution by other religions and partially due to political forces in those areas. Again, the gathering for the building up of believers is the New Testament standard.

Biblically, the Philadelphian Period gives way to the Laodicean Period, or the lukewarm, worldly, self sufficient, sinful, spiritually bankrupt, blind and naked false representation of Christianity. The Laodicean Church is a religious institution, calling itself Christian, but shutting Jesus out. In this end time era of The Church, Christ is meeting with the few who open their own hearts and lives to Him. the true church of this period is seen as a small local gathering for edification and support (the New Testament model).
Evangelism continues, but it is more of a friendship evangelism, personal, one on one model than a Pleasure Cruise model.

The church is for believers. Believers are given the charge to go into the world and make disciples. The west is seeing our model return to the original model.

Great evangelism has taken place through the centuries when the church goes out. Do not think that it is the pastors job to reproduce sheep and grow the church. It is the responsibility of believers to go out and find, evangelize (tell the good news) and to win souls. You don't need the gift of evangelism to evangelize. You need to be spiritually alive, alert and available. He that wins souls is wise.