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 CONFESSIONS OF A PROUD CHURCH -by Greg Gordon

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[b]Confessions Of A Proud Church[/b]
[i]by Greg Gordon[/i]

A confessional of the church age that “needs nothing”

THE GREATEST DANGER

Do we have a broken heart for the state for the Church? There are so many dangers in a Church age that is content, prosperous, fat, and “having need of nothing!” Christ’s last words to the Church was “repent” in the letters of Revelation because he said “I know thy works.” Christ knows your works nothing is hid from His eyes. Many Christians are living in utter sinful lifestyles that grieve the heart of God. Francis Frangipane said: "The greatest danger facing the Church today is exhaustion because God is resisting us as a proud Church." The scriptures say plainly: “God resists the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble.” If you do not humble yourselves now then there will be a “day” of humbling to come. We must relent and humble ourselves while it is still called “today.” The time is short. Leonard Ravenhill stated it is “either Pentecost or Holocaust.” These are our choices! We must either humble ourselves and allow God to revive His Church or continue in our proud self-confident Christianity and send the multitudes to hell.

14 “WE HAVE” CONFESSIONS...

Hear the heart searching words of Horatius Bonar as he openly confesses to the ministers of his day the short-comings of the Church of Jesus Christ and calls for a introspection of our hearts:

1. We have been unfaithful. The fear of man and the love of his applause have often made us afraid. We have been unfaithful to our own souls, to our flocks, and to our brethren; unfaithful in the pulpit, in visiting, in discipline, in the church.

2. We have been carnal and unspiritual. The tone of our life has been low and earthly. Associating too much and too intimately with the world, we have in a great measure become accustomed to its ways.

3. We have been selfish. We have shrunk from toil, difficulty and endurance, counting not only our lives dear unto us, but even our temporal ease and comfort. We have sought to please ourselves, instead of obeying Romans 15:2: "Let every one of us please his neighbor for his good to edification."

4. We have been slothful. We have been sparing of our toil. We have not endured hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ. Even when we have been instant in season, we have not been so out of season; neither have we sought to gather up the fragments of our time, that not a moment might be thrown idly or unprofitably away.

5. We have been cold. Even when diligent, how little warmth and glow! The whole soul is not poured into the duty, and hence it wears too often the repulsive air of routine and form. We do not speak and act like men in earnest.

6. We have been timid. Fear has often led us to smooth down or generalize truths which if broadly stated must have brought hatred and reproach upon us. We have thus often failed to declare to our people the whole counsel of God.

7. We have been wanting in solemnity. How deeply ought we to be abased at our levity, frivolity, flippancy, vain mirth, foolish talking and jesting, by which grievous injury has been done to souls, the progress of the saints retarded, and the world countenanced in its wretched vanities.

8. We have preached ourselves, not Christ. We have sought applause, courted honor, been avaricious of fame and jealous of our reputation. We have preached too often so as to exalt our-selves instead of magnifying Christ, so as to draw men's eyes to ourselves instead of fixing them on Him and His cross.

9. We have used words of man's wisdom. We have forgotten Paul's resolution to avoid the enticing words of man's wisdom, lest he should make the cross of Christ of none effect. Thus, by avoiding the offense of the cross and the foolishness of preaching we have had to labor in vain, and mourn over an unblest, unfruitful ministry.

10. We have not fully preached a free gospel. It is only a free gospel that can bring peace, and it is only a free gospel that can make men holy.

11. We have not duly studied and honored the Word of God. We have given a greater prominence to man's writings, man's opinions, man's systems in our studies than to the Word. We have drunk more out of human cisterns than divine. We have held more communion with man than God.

12. We have not been men of prayer. The spirit of prayer has slumbered amongst us. The closet has been too little frequented and delighted in. We have allowed business, study or active labor to interfere with our closet-hours.

13. We have not honored the Spirit of God. It may be that in words we have recognized His agency, but we have not kept this continually before our eyes, and the eyes of the people. We have not given Him the glory that is due unto His name. We have not sought His teaching, His anointing-the "unction from the Holy One, [whereby] ye know all things" (1 John 2:20).

14. We have had little of the mind of Christ. We have come far short of the example of the apostles, much more of Christ; we are far behind the servants, much farther behind the Master. We have had little of the grace, the compassion, the meekness, the lowliness, the love of God's eternal Son. His weeping over Jerusalem is a feeling in which we have but little heartfelt sympathy.


MORE CONFESSIONS...

We are full of presumption.
We exalt our group and personal doctrines.
We are self-sufficient.
We are unwilling to pray.
We are too proud to truly ask for help.
We have a critical spirit.
We do Kingdom business by the world's standards.
We do not tremble at the Word of the Lord.

We are full of hypocrisy.
We have dethroned Jesus and enthroned ourselves.
We are trapped in self consciousness.
We are ensnared by the love of money.
We have gone to bed with the world.
We promote personalities rather than principles.
We do not know how to humble ourselves.
We are full of excuses - refuse to take responsibility.
We are competitive with one another.
We are carnal in our leadership.
We have a controlling spirit.
We are self-seeking.
We deny the Lordship of Christ.
We purport to repent without repenting, giving God's spiritualese.
We do not have the fear of the Lord.
We do not trust God's grace or mercy.
We have confused obedience and grace.
We are adulterers and fornicators.

We have refused to preach and teach the whole truth.
We have pleased men rather then God.
We have exchanged righteousness for self righteousness.
We have evangelized but have not discipled.
We have sinned so that grace may abound.
We do not know what manner of spirit we are.
We have turned the ‘sermon on the mount’ to mourning of the sermon.
We refuse admittance, confession, heart ward repentance.

We do not truly believe that;
We are wretched, poor, naked, blind, miserable.
We hate correction.
We despise shame.
We will not suffer.
We prophecy lies and have no shame nor trembling.
We refuse to contemplate.
We do not hate our lives in this world.
We have the plank of an I in the eye.

We will forever be learning without coming to the truth.
We will not weep over our condition.
We will miss the very help that contrition brings.
We will read all these things and cast them aside.
We will let this all slip right on by.


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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

 2006/12/16 0:34Profile
Peacecraft
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Joined: 2006/12/8
Posts: 93
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 Re: CONFESSIONS OF A PROUD CHURCH -by Greg Gordon

Man is so incredibly stupid and selfish. I often wonder why God made us the way he did. How God desires the companionship of such vile people I do not understand. So many people want to hear God say to them "Well done good and faithful servant." When I look at myself I can't even comprehend that God would say that to me because I'm hardly good or faithful. I get sick of people who think we are so spiritual, blah, blah, blah, we only look good beause we are surrounded by spiritual midgets and a world that has gone so bad and rotten anything half-decent appears to be good. Even if we did lots of great and wonderful deeds... they are nothing more than filthy rags. This writing scares me, it grieves me because I know that many of these confessions should indeed be my own. Thanks again for writing.


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Laura

 2006/12/16 1:11Profile
crsschk
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Joined: 2003/6/11
Posts: 9192
Santa Clara, CA

 Re: Confessions

Laura,

Quote:
This writing scares me, it grieves me because I know that many of these confessions should indeed be my own.



Indeed, this almost as if it never occurred in such force before;

"I know thy works"

Quote:
When I look at myself I can't even comprehend that God would say that to me because I'm hardly good or faithful. I get sick of people who think we are so spiritual, blah, blah, blah, we only look good beause we are surrounded by spiritual midgets and a world that has gone so bad and rotten anything half-decent appears to be good.



Yes, precisely! It has been a long and difficult struggle to just attempt to strip back and strip off the pretensions of the most noble ... faith.
Am hesitating purposefully. In stark honesty to hear the word "Christianity" outside these days is to cause a great grieving of spirit. "No, it is not that!" This, this confessing, this root of repentance, this coming clean ... this admitting. This, which Greg has drawn together may be the most important beginning ever to grace this place if it could but be embraced as the foundation from which all else is formulated. Something of a shock treatment to arrest ourselves and alarm ourselves, to put the fear of God back into us that Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, even the misunderstood John, the emoting, loving disciple who stated;

Rev 1:16 And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Rev 1:17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Things have gone so south that to [i]fear not[/i] is to take the medicine before the illness.


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Mike Balog

 2006/12/16 8:13Profile
sermonindex
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Joined: 2002/12/11
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 Re:

Quote:
"I know thy works"


Oh if we could have a [b]full[/b] revelation of this truth. It [b]would[/b] change us!


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SI Moderator - Greg Gordon

 2006/12/17 3:13Profile
ChrisJD
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Joined: 2006/2/11
Posts: 2895
Philadelphia PA

 Re:

Just read this and thought it was appropriate for our current concerns. The simplicity of it...is just striking, against the backdrop of all that we appear to be as a people.


[b][size=xx-small][color=000000]And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of them, And said[/color][/size][/b]


Quote:
[b][size=xx-small][color=660033]Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.[/color][/size][/b]



Quote:
[b][size=xx-small][color=660033]Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.[/color][/size][/b]


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Christopher Joel Dandrow

 2006/12/20 12:57Profile





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