Useless Organization (Compilation)
The sermon discusses the potential ineffectiveness of organized churches and emphasizes the need for personal faith and revival through genuine connections.
In this sermon, the speaker expresses concern that the organized church has become useless and hopeless to God. He references the example of John Wesley and the class meetings he held, where broken individuals met with God and experienced spiritual transformation. The speaker suggests that the church today may be filled with people who have a superficial understanding of Christ, making them ineffective in carrying out God's work. He emphasizes the need for individuals to truly encounter God on His terms in order to bring about change in the world.
Full Transcript
Listen to me, dear heart. Do you know what we have done? By changing the word that first began to be spoken by the Lord, we have filled our churches with people that have less than Christ. Fifth columnists for hell that have been inoculated with just enough of the truth of God to immunize them often to the work of God.
And the consequence of this is, as I pointed out last evening, there is the possibility that the church as we know it as an organization is useless and hopeless to God. Oh, I trust I'm wrong. I trust I'm wrong.
You will go, keep on, understand, watch men in Zion. You will keep the blood from his hands. The church as we know it as an organization is useless and hopeless to God.
Oh, I trust I'm wrong. I trust I'm wrong. But as I read church history, I discovered there was a period in the history of England when the church was useless to God.
It was orthodox. It had the 39 articles. It had all of the crystallized orthodoxy of the century.
And yet it was useless to God. And God raised up John Wesley, who went out preaching and he took the broken, this man and that woman and this young person, and he met with them at 5 o'clock in the morning often. For nearly 40 years he had a class meeting at 5 in the morning because he knew that there could be nothing done through the organized church.
But God had something to do, and it could only be done by those that had met God on his own terms. The class meeting, said Macaulay, was the instrument that God used to save England from the abyss into which France fell. It may be that America has seen the infusion of its organized church with so much that has word and name and form without life that it's useless to God in such an hour of jeopardy as this.
It may be that God will have to turn to something like the class meeting in order to find broken people that can be the two or three where the Lord himself meets and where there can be released more of the spiritual power of the risen Christ that will change the day in which we live. I hope I'm wrong. I hope I'm wrong.
The church as we know it as an organization is useless and hopeless to God. Oh, I trust I'm wrong.
Sermon Outline
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I
- Introduction to the concept of a useless church organization
- The impact of diluted truth on church effectiveness
- Historical examples of church ineffectiveness
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II
- The role of John Wesley in revitalizing the church
- Importance of personal meetings and connections
- Contrast between organized church and personal faith
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III
- The current state of the American church
- Need for revival and spiritual power
- Hope for change and renewal
Key Quotes
“The church as we know it as an organization is useless and hopeless to God.” — Compilations
“God had something to do, and it could only be done by those that had met God on his own terms.” — Compilations
“It may be that God will have to turn to something like the class meeting in order to find broken people.” — Compilations
Application Points
- Engage in personal relationships within the church to foster spiritual growth.
- Reflect on the true message of Christ and avoid diluted teachings.
- Consider the importance of small gatherings for meaningful spiritual encounters.