Hi,
Do you think the church has failed and continues to fail? We don't evangelize anymore like Billy Graham, Reinhard Bonnke, how will they know the truth unless we evangelize?
Can the church through prayers & evangelism avert or minimise some of the spoken words? Example being bring the catholic believers to the true light. Do you think recent remarks by pope to bless gay couples is a back door to allow the sin in church? My friends though catholic confess lordship of Christ so they are saved? It's in some practices and believes we part, right? Being in Italy I bleed to see them bow to Mary, san pio etc
Thanks
Hi,
there are a few questions there so I'll split them up and just write briefly on each...
Do you think the church has failed and continues to fail?
There are always good churches sticking to the Word and following His commands, but it is true that this last age before the Lord returns is seen predominantly in the message given to Laodicea in Revelation 3 - and that is of the church being comfortable and worldly. This is especially true in the Western world, but not everywhere. When you look at the Bible, it says quite a bit about the conditions of the last days within the church before the Lord's return and there are many warnings given for the difficult days at the end when people will be lovers of themselves, money and pleasure, and not God. It speaks about apostacy, people departing from the faith in the last days (2 Thes 2:3, 1Tim 4:1-3., 2Tim 3:1-6, 2 Tim 4:2-3). So it is not surprising what we see. A lot of countries that have had God's blessing and revival in times past have now become comfortable and apathetic and have turned from God. This is not to say that there are not good true 'Philadelphia' type Churches out there that have 'kept my command to endure patiently'. And note that I am mostly speaking about the Western church. There are some wonderful things happening in parts of Asia, the Middle East and African countries where many are being saved. But a lot of that happens in the midst of persecution and trials for believers. More on this below...
We don't evangelize anymore like Billy Graham, Reinhard Bonnke, how will they know the truth unless we evangelize?
Yes obviously we are to evangelize but it also requires God's Spirit to be moving for salvation to occur. There are parts of the world where it is 'raining' so to speak. That is, the Holy Spirit is drawing and convicting people, leading to salvation. There are other places that have had the 'rain' of the Holy Spirit in the past and are now dry. It is like what is portrayed in the book of judges. It is all about cycles. There we see this ongoing cycle of sin, repentance, deliverance, apathy and sin again... and on it goes. Many of the Western nations have seen revival and salvation in the past, but they are currently dry. My mother went to a Billy Graham 'crusade' back in the day, in both England and New Zealand, and they were events that almost stopped the city. Exaggerating there a bit but they were big events and most knew about it. Non-Christians in their thousands went and many were saved. But we aren't in that day now. I can't speak for other countries but if there was a big evangelism event by a well known Christian in my country, the media wouldn't even cover it and non-Christians wouldn't be interested or know about it. The church is largely irrelevant in my country from what is seen in the media - or portrayed in a bad way to increase controversy. I think for a lot of the West, we have had prosperity and peace for so long that most unbelievers are 'comfortably numb' to the Gospel message. Now that may change. And we are certainly to evangelize personally. But for movements like we have seen in the past, it will likely require some type of difficulty in the country for the hearts of the people to think of salvation and eternal matters once again. And that will likely come the way things look on the horizon. So there is always a hidden blessing in difficulty and tribulation - both on a personal and national level.
Can the church through prayers & evangelism avert or minimise some of the spoken words? Example being bring the catholic believers to the true light.
Yes, of course. God still calls us to be salt and light in the community and sphere of influence that we have (Matt 5:13-16). We are to pray for the moving of God's Spirit upon our nation and upon the hearts of those we know that are unsaved. You will see this in the Apostle Paul's life. He was especially burdened by his own people, the Jews, and prayed for them. And he also shared the gospel wherever and whenever he could. We see this taught in Romans 10:
Rom 10:1 Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved.
Rom 10:13-15 for, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." (14) How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? (15) And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, "How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!"
https://www.gotquestions.org/salt-and-light.html
Do you think recent remarks by the Pope to bless gay couples is a back door to allow the sin in church?
I think the Pope is a dangerous and deceptive man. There are several statements that he has made over the years which shock even Catholics. He has been called the most liberal Pope ever and is certainly working to change the Catholic church. Now many will say it needs to change, but he is working to bring the different faiths together. He often comes across more as a politician, talking about climate change and woke issues, than as a representative of Jesus who has the gospel and salvation at the fore-front of their heart and message. Rock Harbor church recently did an update on him where they called him the most spiritually dangerous man in the world. If interested: https://youtu.be/va6feoQDzSs?si=9s6e8OU4XE0-HuH0&t=702
My friends, though Catholic, confess lordship of Christ - so they are saved? It's in some practices and believes we part, right? Being in Italy I bleed to see them bow to Mary.
There are some different practices and beliefs amongst churches but when they involve salvation and the person of Jesus, we have a problem. You need to remember that Jesus said:
Mat 7:21-23 Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. (22) Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' (23) Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
A person might say that Jesus is their Lord but if they are still trusting in their works, as the Catholic church teaches, then they are not saved. This is not to say that there aren't saved Catholics. But if they have truly seen that salvation is by faith through grace and not of works, I can't personally see how they would remain in the Catholic church. It is important that a person is truly trusting in the real Jesus, and in His work for salvation alone. Not praying to and relying upon Mary, baptism in the Church, the sacraments or anything else. Christ alone. Faith alone, Grace alone. Some links if interested:
https://carm.org/roman-catholicism/a-list-of-false-teachings-in-the-roman-catholic-church/
https://carm.org/cut-and-paste/cut-catholic/
https://jesusplusnothing.com/series/post/revelation-2-thyatira-church-corrupted
https://jesusplusnothing.com/series/post/what-exactly-does-it-mean-believe-jesus
Hope this helps.
God Bless.