Difference between revisions of "Man-centeredness"

Latest revision as of 15:51, 16 July 2022

Man-centeredness

And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14)

The wickedness of the church of Laodicea proceeds from a false image—the image of man as the center of the universe and God as the means by which man becomes that center. The spirit of Laodicea abounds in the Christian churches of today.

The true saints of Christ will never be satisfied with the Laodicean churches. They understand that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is not a plan for the advancement of mankind but the witness of the coming of God's Kingdom and the doing of God's will in the earth.

We now are approaching the age of Laodicea, the era when man, apart from God, attains the climax of his exaltation on the earth. The people of today are in love with themselves and increasingly are concerned with their "rights"—much more than they are with the rights of God or His Christ. Men are lovers of themselves, as Paul prophesied. Humanism is the religion of the hour. The Laodicean "gospel" does not look to the coming world of righteousness but concentrates on making the present world safe and comfortable for Christians.

The emphasis on man and his comfort and pleasure has entered the thinking of Christian people. The unscriptural doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture, with its emphasis on not allowing the believers to suffer, fits well into a humanistic, man-centered civilization.

In our time the Gospel of Christ is being preached as the God-given means of making people happy. It is taught that through Christ we can be prosperous and at ease in the present world. Through grace we shall enter Paradise when we die even though we have not been a true disciple of Christ. None of this is true.

The concept is widely held among Christians that Christ suffered so we will not be required to suffer. The truth is, we Christians are called to suffer much for the Kingdom of God.

Christ suffered in order to redeem mankind from the authority and power of Satan, not in order that people may live merrily in the world and still have fellowship with God. Through Christ we can be transformed so our behavior no longer merits Divine wrath. The process of transformation includes much pain and perplexity, much tribulation.

Christ spoke to the Laodiceans about the need for their faith to be tested in the fires of tribulation:

I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; . . . . (Revelation 3:18)

Self-centered Christianity would not be widespread if men were not becoming lovers of themselves. The believers would be better able to discern the present errors.

As we examine the Word of Christ to the church of the Laodiceans we can recognize the characteristics of some of the churches of our own time.

The church of the Laodiceans represents, according to our understanding, the type of Christianity that will be common during the great tribulation and the reign of Antichrist. Since we are drawing near to this last era we can in our own day observe many of the flaws of the church of the Laodiceans.

Continued. Man-centeredness 2

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-====Man-centeredness 2====
+====Man-centeredness ====
-. . . These are they which came out of [the] great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. (Revelation 7:14)
+And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God; (Revelation 3:14)
-Those who may have been taught there will be no Christian churches on the earth during the great tribulation may wish to consider the above verse.
+The wickedness of the church of Laodicea proceeds from a false image—the image of man as the center of the universe and God as the means by which man becomes that center. The spirit of Laodicea abounds in the Christian churches of today.
-The concept of the verse is that the "great multitude, that no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues" (Revelation 7:9) were pressured by the great tribulation into developing righteous behavior through the authority and power of the blood of the Lamb ("washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb"). The purpose of the great tribulation is to make the Wife of the Lamb perfect and complete in preparation for her marriage to the Lord.
+The true saints of Christ will never be satisfied with the Laodicean churches. They understand that the Gospel of the Kingdom of God is not a plan for the advancement of mankind but the witness of the coming of God's Kingdom and the doing of God's will in the earth.
-Also, the twenty-fourth chapter of the Book of Matthew, the principal scriptural description of the coming of the Lord, reveals that Christ's coming will take place "immediately after the tribulation of those days."
+We now are approaching the age of Laodicea, the era when man, apart from God, attains the climax of his exaltation on the earth. The people of today are in love with themselves and increasingly are concerned with their "rights"—much more than they are with the rights of God or His Christ. Men are lovers of themselves, as Paul prophesied. Humanism is the religion of the hour. The Laodicean "gospel" does not look to the coming world of righteousness but concentrates on making the present world safe and comfortable for Christians.
-As for the saints living on the earth during the reign of Antichrist, it is clear that Antichrist has been on the earth since the first century and that in the closing days of this age he will wage war against the saints and will overcome them (I John 2:18; Revelation 13:7).
+The emphasis on man and his comfort and pleasure has entered the thinking of Christian people. The unscriptural doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture, with its emphasis on not allowing the believers to suffer, fits well into a humanistic, man-centered civilization.
-The Laodicean church, the last of the seven golden lampstands, is wretched in the sight of the Lord. Such a church never could be termed "the Wife of the Lamb." But a remnant will come out of the Laodicean churches and buy the refined gold of faith purified by suffering.
+In our time the Gospel of Christ is being preached as the God-given means of making people happy. It is taught that through Christ we can be prosperous and at ease in the present world. Through grace we shall enter Paradise when we die even though we have not been a true disciple of Christ. None of this is true.
-Compare:
+The concept is widely held among Christians that Christ suffered so we will not be required to suffer. The truth is, we Christians are called to suffer much for the Kingdom of God.
-My dove, my undefiled is but one; she is the only one of her mother, she is the choice one of her that bare her. The daughters saw her, and blessed her; yea, the queens and the concubines, and they praised her. Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners? (Song of Solomon 6:9,10)
+Christ suffered in order to redeem mankind from the authority and power of Satan, not in order that people may live merrily in the world and still have fellowship with God. Through Christ we can be transformed so our behavior no longer merits Divine wrath. The process of transformation includes much pain and perplexity, much tribulation.
-So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: (Revelation 3:16,17)
+Christ spoke to the Laodiceans about the need for their faith to be tested in the fires of tribulation:
-What possibly could take place on the earth to convert her who is destined to be so undefiled and precious in her Lord's eyes into one who is "wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked"?
+I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; . . . . (Revelation 3:18)
-The world, Satan, and our own lusts and self-will continually attempt to keep us blind and naked. The ready availability of all forms of sin will cause the majority of the people of the last days to become cold in their attitude toward God and His Christ.
+Self-centered Christianity would not be widespread if men were not becoming lovers of themselves. The believers would be better able to discern the present errors.
-Also, Babylon (man-directed Christianity), Antichrist, and the False Prophet will be major forces of corruption in the end-time. Babylon is the spirit of religious organization, that is, of man attempting to build the Kingdom of God in his own wisdom and strength. The spirit of Babylon is the worship of churches.
+As we examine the Word of Christ to the church of the Laodiceans we can recognize the characteristics of some of the churches of our own time.
-Continued. [[Man-centeredness 3]]
+The church of the Laodiceans represents, according to our understanding, the type of Christianity that will be common during the great tribulation and the reign of Antichrist. Since we are drawing near to this last era we can in our own day observe many of the flaws of the church of the Laodiceans.
+Continued. [[Man-centeredness 2]]
+[[Category:Sermons WOR]]