Read Amos Chapter 2
A Quick Way To Kill A Church.
God declares his judgment against Judah and Israel.
Judah has rejected the law of God. They live a life of disobedience, full of lies and deception.
Israel mistreats the righteous, the needy, the helpless, and the humble. They involve themselves in sexual immorality.
They squelch the Holy Spirit and God declares they will no longer be able to do the work of God. As a result, they will no longer be able to be Swift. The strong will become weak. The talented will no longer be able to defend themselves. The brave will become cowards.
Does the way Judah and Israel lived sound anything like the church today?
Don’t get me wrong. There are still churches today who are preaching the word of God in truth, confidence, boldness and filled with the Holy Spirit. Compromising the truth is not an option for them.
Sadly, though, there are churches preaching a salvation outside of the death and resurrection of Jesus. They reject God’s word as absolute truth. They fit in with our culture’s false doctrines while proclaiming to be God’s people. They can’t see, or refuse to see, the lies and deception they are living in. Sexual immorality of all kinds is acceptable amongst the church people.
Those who are faithful are persecuted. The needy and helpless are taken advantage of.
The quickest way to kill a church is to deny God’s word as truth, thus squelching the Holy Spirit and its power (I Thessalonians 5:19-21 and II Timothy 3:1-5). Then just like Judah and israel, the church will no longer be empowered to carry out God’s tasks. They will become a lifeless Church with no power. Lies and deception will become their fruit and the master of lies and deception is the devil.
Is your church lifeless because the Holy Spirit is squelched? Is your life a representation of Truth, filled with the Holy Spirit and power? Or are you living in a life of lies and deception, no longer empowered to live a Godly life?
Jesus, rebuke me so the lies of my life are gone and the empowerment of your Holy Spirit is evident in my life and in the church.
