The Church - Preserved by God Through 20 Centuries

Brothers and sisters, I want to share something from the Acts of the Apostles first and apply it to our time and that is that Christianity has been a faith, I don't call it a religion, a faith that has been contested from the very beginning where people dispute with it and argue against it and fight against it. So let's turn to Acts chapter 2 where the first gospel message was preached and there was a great revival there and in Acts chapter 3 you read about a man who was lame sitting at the gate of the temple who was raised up, made to walk. And what is the result of this great revival? The mighty power of God being manifested that a man was sitting lame there for umpteen years was made to walk again and everybody saw it.

It was not done in some corner. It says here in Acts chapter 4, this is the result of this great miracle and revival. The priests and the captains of the temple guard, Acts 4 verse 1 verse 2, were greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming Jesus' resurrection from the dead and what did they do? They laid hands on the apostles, put them in jail until the next day.

But some who heard verse 4 believed and then the next day they got them out of the jail and again warned them and throughout the Acts of the Apostles you find there is this controversy all the time. Some people believe and some people are disturbed. You see now for example in Acts chapter 13 when Paul and Barnabas go out to preach in other places.

You read here in Acts chapter 13 and verse 42. Paul and Barnabas were going out and the people kept begging that they should hear these things again the next Sabbath. They were so hungry but when they came together they broke up the meeting.

The Jews and God-fearing proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas and some others broke up the meeting and went away. The next Sabbath nearly the whole city, Acts 13 44, assembled to hear the word of the Lord. You think it's a revival but when the Jews saw the crowds they were filled with jealousy and began contradicting Paul and Barnabas and Paul said it was necessary the Word of God should be spoken to you.

Now when you go to Acts chapter 14 and again they preached there for a long time verse 3 and what's the result? Verse 4, the people of the city were divided. Some sided with the Jews and some with the Apostles. Now that's the way I don't want to show you all the references but the whole Acts of the Apostles is like that.

Right up to the last chapter let's go to and you get time you can look through it and you'll find what I'm saying is true of the entire Acts of the Apostles. You go to Acts chapter 28 and there all gathered together in verse 23 the last chapter Acts 28 verse 23 they came to Paul who was staying in his own house and great numbers and he explained to them solemnly testifying about the kingdom of God trying to persuade them from the law of Moses and the prophets from the old Old Testament from morning till evening and some were persuaded but others would not believe and when they did not agree with one another they began leaving after Paul said the Holy Spirit spoke rightly that these people will not hear verse 26 and then when he had spoken verse 29 the Jews departed having a great dispute among themselves so what do you read right from the beginning to the end of the Acts of Apostles wherever the truth is preached there's always some group of people who will oppose it and even in those days lock them up even in jail but that's been the history of Christianity right from the beginning when whenever someone like Paul or those who walked in Paul's footsteps and proclaim the truth of God without fear and not seeking any gain there were always the devil always stirred up people to fight that you saw that in Acts of the Apostles right from chapter 4 to chapter 28 every time everywhere they go the devil is always stirring up some people to create a controversy and fight against the truth that's how it was with Jesus too if you read in the Gospels so many times he that people would believe in the whole lot of other people would come and fight against that when Lazarus was raised from the dead people believed in the Jews came and fought against that so that was and finally they crucify Jesus it was all the result of controversy against the truth why did they kill Jesus because he spoke the truth why did they fight against the Apostles because he spoke the truth now it did not end with Acts chapter 28 the rest of Christian history is the same thing throughout in the history of Christianity that over a period of time the truth that is proclaimed by the Apostles began to be compromised and when you read the history of the church in the first 300 years the truth of Christ was proclaimed in purity because of one reason if you became a Christian you'd be persecuted and wherever there was persecution the gospel remained pure for 300 years some people were imprisoned some people were killed but there was a pure gospel going out in many many parts of the Roman Empire but then what happened I'm telling you a little bit of history now sometime in the early 4th century 300 AD onwards there was a Roman Emperor called Constantine now some of you know it other for the benefit of those who don't know Constantine seemed to have somehow got faith in Christ he said he saw some vision of a cross in the sky or something like that and this is the emperor of Rome all the emperors of Rome had persecuted Christians but 300 years and lo and behold this fellow comes up and he says I've seen a cross in the sky and that helped me to win the battle so I believe Christ is the true God now he wasn't really born again far from it but somehow he became favorable to the Christians and so what happened Christianity was accepted now there's no persecution so what happened to all these priests who had temples to whatever gods they were worshiping and now they're gonna lose their job because nobody wants to go to those temples so those temples literally got converted into churches and the heathen priests became Christian priests and you can imagine the compromise that came in at that time and that is how corruption came into Christianity there was no corruption with as long as persecution was there and it's the same today in the 20th 21st century wherever there is intense persecution against Christians you have pure Christianity because people won't lay down their life for something worthless but those who really know the Lord they're willing to lay down their life for the truth now we are not living in a society where there's persecution if you become a Christian and that's why it's possible in our time for Christians to compromise but yet in such a time and this has also been true in other times in history God raises up different testimonies to stand for the truth now when you look at church history corruption came into the church very early let me give you an example in Acts chapter 20 you read about the Apostle Paul he gathered all the elders of Ephesus in verse 17 please follow me with me in your Bible and he told them I have been with you he says that's Acts 20 he's called the elders of Ephesus I mean my leaders and told them in verse that's in verse 17 and what did he tell them verse 31 this is his speech to them all the way up to 38 please be on the alert that night and day verse 31 for three years I admonished you with tears well it's such a burden that used to weep when he preached to people because he saw they were not serious why what compassion he had we think of Paul is a very strong man but he wept and he says I preached to you with tears night and day it's such a passion to preach the gospel and at the same time he supported himself he says in verse 34 he says verse 33 I did not desire anybody's money or a set of clothes those early preachers like Paul were like that they didn't want money they didn't take a collection they didn't want any gifts from anybody and how did they support themselves verse 34 he says with these hands of mine I worked and supported myself and I showed you how we must all work hard and use the money we get to help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus it is more blessed to give than to receive this is how Christianity started and Paul spent three years as we read in verse 31 now one would have thought seeing not just the preaching of Paul but the amazing example that man set there of never taking any money working with his hands late into the night in order to support himself so that he would not be a burden so different from today's preachers who always want money and always speak about money Paul never spoke about it and yet he warns them he's talking to the elders remember in verse 17 he says verse 29 I know he warned them be on guard was 28 because the Lord has appointed you as shepherds for the flock but I know you guys will not be faithful imagine telling a group of elders I don't know Ephesus is probably a big church for 500 people maybe there were five six elders there and he tells him you know I have spent three years with you but I know this that after I leave savage wolves that means false teachers verse 29 will come and confuse the flock here and what will you elders do when that happens from among you maybe I don't know there's six or eight elders there some of you will speak something different in order to draw away disciples after you imagine this wonderful church that Paul had planted with six or eight elders leading these maybe five hundred people in that church and among these six or eight elders a conflict comes as to I want people to follow me or this fellow said I want to follow and they split this wonderful work that Paul did he says I know what will happen the Lord has shown me this will not continue I want to warn you people be careful so he said in verse 28 be on guard for yourselves in the flock because this church has been purchased verse 28 last part with the blood of Jesus Christ but in spite of that you fellows will fight with each other seeking your own and in that connection he says remember with tears was 31 I warned you so what happened to Paul's prophecy you turn over the page to Revelation chapter 2 and you see this the church in Ephesus is the best church there because you read Ephesians the one Ephesians have you noticed one thing about Ephesians there's not a single thing to correct in that church in Galatians things to be corrected in Corinthians there are things to be corrected even in Philippians there are things to be corrected but Ephesians is the one episode where there's nothing to be corrected and the most spiritual truths in the New Testament are found in Ephesians which means that was the most spiritual church at that time because Paul had been there for three years but the same church about 30 years after afterwards or 25 years after Paul died you turn to Revelation chapter 2 same Paul had warned them be careful and it says here remember Revelation 2 to the church in Ephesus right to the angel means to the messenger that means to the main elder read it like that to the chief elder of the church in Ephesus the word the Greek word for angel can be translated messenger it's not that some angel in heaven looks after them but messenger means the senior elder among the elders one person would be the senior elder and called the messenger to the messenger he says I have this against you verse for you left your first love remember from where you have fallen and repent and do the deeds you did at first this is one of the elders who sat listening to Paul 30 years ago maybe he was around 35 years then and now he's about 65 years old and he's backslidden completely when he was a 35 year old he was a zealous elder Paul had appointed him 30 years later he's a thorough backslider and the Lord says to him verse 5 remember from where you have fallen remember where you were when my apostle Paul my servant Paul came and spoke to you 30 years ago and see where you are today you have left verse for your first love that is the crime that fervent love you had for me Jesus says which made you love one another as well has gone when people stop loving the Lord they stop loving one another also they start criticizing backbiting all criticism backbiting begins with our love for the Lord failing that vertical love goes then the horizontal love goes as well it's always like that and the Lord says to that church you have fallen all of you now I don't know how many people there were in Ephesus after another 30 years maybe six seven hundred people but in that group of seven hundred there were few people who were overcomers I don't know maybe 15 20 and to them he says another message in verse 7 he who has a year to hear let him hear what the Spirit says to him who overcomes I will grant to eat with me in the tree of life and you read in all the seven churches most of them backslidden so badly except Philadelphia which stood absolutely true and Smyrna two churches to true the all the other five were backslidden and one church it's amazing the last one Laodicea think of the condition of this church to the leader of this church the Lord says Revelation 3 14 to the angel of church in Laodicea right what does he say was 20 I stand at the door and knock now we use that to preach to unbelievers Jesus is standing at the door and knocking and shot but that's not what he said he said it to a church imagine a church where Jesus is outside all of us are having a meeting here and Jesus is outside and he said here let me come in and they are singing songs to Jesus here Jesus outside they're talking about Jesus here Jesus outside this is exactly one that is a condition of Christendom at that time and since that time it just declined and declined and declined and when you read the history of the church they even did not preach the gospel anymore the gospel that you know the Roman Catholic Church became powerful because Rome was the center of the world in those days and so the church in Rome became very powerful and that is what how the Roman Catholic Church developed because Rome was the center ruler of the whole world and the emperors were in Rome so when the people were converted false conversion to Christianity in Rome they became the leaders and that is called the Roman Catholic Church and whoever was the leader there became a pope that's the history of the Roman Catholic Church and that continued like that for a thousand years hardly anybody standing against it till telling you a little bit of church history towards the end of the 1400s around 1490 or so AD there was this man a monk in the Roman Catholic system whose name was Martin Luther he used to read his Bible on his knees climbing up the stairs that is the way they taught them to deny themselves and he discovered that salvation is not by putting money in the Roman Catholic offering box like they taught that's what they taught you put your money in this offering box to build a church in Rome you you will go to your relatives will go to heaven and Martin Luther stood against it and says salvation is by faith by grace through faith you can be saved and what do you think the Roman Catholics tried to do they tried to kill him they tried to kill him but some of his friends kidnapped him and some of the rulers there in Germany and all protected him and kept him safe there he sat and translated the Bible into German and that's how for the first time people had a printed Bible in the end of the 1500s and 1500s and the Roman Catholics hated that there was a small group of people who called themselves Protestants because they protested against the Roman Catholic Church but you give another and that spread the Catholics in England got converted to Protestantism but then after a couple of hundred years the church in England was called the Anglican Church that followed Martin Luther and Martin Luther had died and the church declined again there were no godly people to lead and the church in England became as corrupt as the early Roman Catholic Church then God raised up another man called John Wesley in the 1700s and he be and they this church which Martin Luther started which is now the Anglican Church would not let John Wesley in because he was preaching the truth and he was preaching holiness on top of being born again and they opposed him so he had to preach outside there was another preacher called George Whitfield at that time who also had to preach in the open air and people were converted and hundreds were converted through the preaching of John Wesley and John Wesley not only preached being born again he preached holiness to live a godly life and he had some of the finest co-workers of extremely godly people as his co-workers and that became and they were very methodical in the way they arranged their meetings and met together and people called them Methodists and that's how the Methodist Church started and it's an excellent church in John Wesley's time the most godly people on earth were in the Methodist Church but then John Wesley died and then in the late 1800s there was a man called William Booth who had a great burden for the prostitutes and the poor children and people are being labelled small children made to work in factories and he brought some prostitutes to the Methodist Church to hear the gospel but by the time the Methodist Church had backslidden too from what John Wesley preached so they told John Wesley told William Booth take away these people don't bring them here we are all dignified people don't bring prostitutes here to hear the gospel so what did William Booth do? He had to start another church because every time somebody starts a church and that backslides John Wesley has to start another one the church Wesley started backslid and William Booth had to start another one and that is called the Salvation Army and then the Salvation Army is not today what it was in William Booth's time it began to backslide at that same time also God started another group of people called the Brethren who came together simply without a priest or anything and they had elders they tried to come as close as possible to the New Testament and they hold that doctrine even till today the Brethren but the life is gone I was in the Brethren assemblies for years the words were all there but not the life of Jesus and so then another group of people said hey we need something more than this we need the power of the Holy Spirit in the early 1900s and there came the Pentecostals who preached about the power of the Holy Spirit and sometimes people imitated what was tongues and it that also got corrupted pretty soon and the early Pentecostals were very God-fearing people they were persecuted but then that also backslid because a lot of people went after money the same thing happened in many places that the devil was always looking to corrupt the leadership corrupt the group by making them go after money or something like that or lower the standards and through the generations God is at times raised up different people who stood against corruption and want to come back to the Bible bring Christians back to the truth in the Bible and that lasts for about maybe one or two generations and then declines this has been the history of Christianity right from the beginning and this is how many many groups have started and one of those groups is what we call CFC we're not the only ones the different ones God's raised up in different place we don't know all their names but we are connected with CFC and I say that is I'm just telling you how CFC started because we saw backsliding corruption in the churches I was in a Baptist Church and when I preach the baptism the Holy Spirit they said that's a false teaching don't preach that anymore you can get out of here and there was another brother with me and we left that church and started meeting in our house that's how we started CFC because they would not accept the truth and yet once upon a time the Baptist Church was a wonderful church but a hundred years later it had backslidden so what I'm saying is it's very difficult for any church to remain pure consistently unless generation after generation God raises up godly people who don't just believe the doctrine but who got a life who are filled with the Holy Spirit and who got a connection with Jesus and who live by that life so if you want to preserve this church now from corruption and backsliding how is it going to be not with just with the doctrine all these people kept the same doctrine the Anglican Church had the same doctrine that Martin Luther taught but they kicked John Wesley out of the church because holding the doctrine doesn't matter they didn't have the life they couldn't recognize godly people the same thing can happen to us that's why I gave you this history every group said we will be different we won't make the mistake the Methodist said we will not make the mistake that others made their followers made the same mistake after one two generations everything lost about two generations or three generations and then it's back to the same old cycle of backsliding corruption and God has to start something new why should it happen like that forever and ever can't we have a church that remains faithful with within that church another generation of people growing up who are absolutely faithful and true why does it have to decline do you think NCCF will decline if you look at history I say yes but it doesn't have to if God can find among you sitting here godly men and women who are not interested in money we're not interested in honor we're not interested in a reputation or anything like that but just want to preserve the church in purity and in love in purity and in love and in humility I think those are the three most important things in purity and love for one another and humility and if everybody here is gripped with that and you have a generation growing up like that God can preserve this church until Jesus comes but I don't know whether it will happen because when I look at history it never happened but if it did not happen then why can't we can't say it'll never happen why can't we decide that at least in our generation and in the next generation it will be different turn with me to a verse in 2nd Timothy in chapter 2 Paul was a man who had a tremendous burden and see his burden which he passes Timothy was his closest co-worker another generation Timothy was like a son to Paul much younger in age and he tells Timothy Timothy I'm concerned about this truth going on to the next generation after you and not only after you but the next generation after that all had a burden for four generations see 2nd Timothy chapter 2 verse 2 all four generations are in this verse he tells Timothy this is written to Timothy the things which you heard from me Paul says I am the first generation you heard it Timothy you're the second generation and trust that truth to other faithful men you do that that is the third generation and those people must teach the fourth generation so in one verse you see Paul's great burden that you got to preserve this truth to a fourth generation not just say we've got it we want the truth of Christ to go from generation to generation to generation onwards and Paul had that burden but corruption came in we don't know exactly what happened to those churches nepsis we don't know all the details but today we have so many more facilities for example many of those people in the first century they never had a printed Bible how to know what is the truth where do you study there were few you know parchment scrolls of Paul's writings maybe they were available in few churches but the majority of places in the world there was no printed Bible things changed when the printed Bible started coming from 1500s onwards but even with the printed Bible look at the number of false teachings there are today so many groups preaching all types of strange things in 70 Adventists and there are different different groups so many different names Mormons all talking about the Bible some even saying that Lucifer was a brother of Jesus Christ these supposed to be Christians all types of things so the coming of the Bible hasn't really made people to pure in doctrine but in the midst of all this going on in the world today there are probably maybe a thousand denominations in Christianity in the midst of it all God is always had I believe that some small group of people who stood for the truth so willing to pay the price willing to be unpopular no interest in money willing to sacrifice if they publish literature they give it out freely they don't make money out of it and like that they've always been people who tried to preserve the truth but it's been a very small number the way to life is narrow Jesus said and very few find it so that's true even today now why am I saying this to all of you I want to ask you personally you answer that to the Lord unto yourself do you think you will endure till the end faithful to the truth faithful to the truth of the gospel or will you also go in the same backsliding way that has happened for 2,000 years yeah everybody says we're standing for the truth but their life itself is showing that they are not following the truth divorce for example Jesus very clearly said in Romans chapter sorry Matthew chapter 4 Matthew chapter 5 divorce is adultery you read in Malachi chapter 2 God says I hate divorce Malachi chapter 2 Matthew chapter 5 divorce is adultery you think that has made any difference to so-called churches today divorce is rampant even among pastors divorce their wives marry divorced people and in fact recently there was one church where one of these divorced people came in and tried to begin to teach there in another country I had to speak to that church and turn that person out and some of those people in that church just allowed there was a conflict there some of the leaders just allowed this fellow to come and say it some others opposed it unfortunately I heard about it pretty quickly and put him out so this is what's happening and very often many leaders are too afraid to take a disciplinary action in such situation because they want to be popular wherever a servant of God wants to be popular he will never be faithful to the truth of God no true servant of God has ever been popular every true servant of God is despised rejected just like Jesus was if he stands for the truth so we are determined in NCCF to stand for the truth at any cost they're not going to compromise and I want to encourage all of you having heard a little bit about the history of Christianity to stand for the truth of God study the word don't take it lightly and don't be deceived by all the things you hear in the world around and above all keep your life pure if you watch a lot of things on the internet and make your life impure and you read the Bible I guarantee you'll go astray in doctrine you'll still come to NCCF but you will backslide in your inner life people here will not know it because they see you for two three hours a week they won't know whether you fight with your wife at home and your husband at home they don't know that they won't know what type of thoughts you are thinking whether there's impurity there they don't know what type of things you're watching on the computer screen and you can conveniently come here and break bread and do all that but I say to you you cannot fool God you cannot fool God you catch up with you and it'll people in the world are doing it but it'll go much worse for you because you're doing it claiming to be a Christian those people out in the world are not claiming to be Christians they say we are worldly we enjoy all the filthy stuff we watch pornography regularly and yell at our husbands and wives and that's all normal and if they get fed up with your wife just divorce her and marry somebody else that's how it is in the world it can happen in any church the church is full of hypocrites and let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall first dear brothers and sisters I became a Christian in 1959 67 years ago the Lord called me to serve him in 1966 60 years ago and by the grace of God he's helped me so far I believe he'll help me till the time he comes again but it's a battle I'll tell you one thing in my life if at any time in these 67 years that I've been a Christian I sought for popularity I would have gone astray long ago if I wanted to be accepted by people I would have backslidden long ago but somehow by the grace of God he kept me not at all seeking the approval of any human being nobody human being I told my wife when we were met each other before our marriage I told Annie you will always be second in my life you will never be first Christ is first and I want to be second in your life I don't want to be first in your life we will have a wonderful marriage we've had it because we are not first in each other's lives somebody else is first and both of us are determined to keep Jesus first and to speak to one another and live with one another recognizing that Jesus is there in our house all the time all the time we're not trying to have a good testimony just so that we can give a testimony to others we live peacefully who's interested in that that's honor-seeking that's 100% honor-seeking it's a sin to seek honor from people to say I want to give a testimony that we have a good family life it's garbage as far as I'm concerned so what I say is brothers I'm using that as an example for all the rest of you who are married seek to live before God's face train up your children to stand for the truth at any cost that's the next generation if Paul was concerned about the fourth generation how much more we should be concerned at least for the next generation the young people coming here I want to say to you young people watch your thought life we live in such a corrupt world even grown-up people are getting corrupted in that mind married people are getting corrupted you young people fight the battle in your thought life don't just go and watch anything on the internet that'll corrupt you keep yourself pure it's the one word I give to every young person keep yourself pure turn with me to that verse in 1 Timothy it's a word it's a word which Paul gave to Timothy in verse 22 1 Timothy 5 and verse 22 keep yourself pure or keep yourself free from sin the last part of it the last few words of 1 Timothy 5 22 keep yourself free from sin who's going to keep you keep yourself ask God for grace and keep yourself don't just pray Oh Lord keep me yes you need God's help but you have to keep yourself don't put the responsibility on God and say he didn't keep you you have to keep yourself free from sin keep yourself pure I say that to every single person sitting here I don't care how old you are I say to myself I'm 87 years old and I say keep yourself free from sin keep yourself from dirty thoughts keep yourself from getting angry keep yourself from every impurity keep yourself from hating your enemies keep yourself from a lack of love towards people keep yourself from pride especially when God blesses you keep yourself from pride humble yourself we are in a battle but we are going to win that battle the devil was defeated on the cross and I think of the words of Jesus where he said in Matthew 16 18 I will build my church that's how we started CFC Lord I can't build it I said you said you will build the church I will yield to you you build your church we're just your hands or your tongue but you're going to build it and Jesus said in Matthew 16 in I will build my church and all the powers of darkness will not be able to overcome it I said Lord that's the church I want which all the powers of darkness will not be able to overcome and when you see the history of the church how again and again and again century after century the devil has overcome every single group started by godly men who stood true I think of man like William Booth who cared for the poor little children were being exploited made to work in factories girls were being told to come as helpers in a house and they were sent straight away to prostitute houses these poor people were brought in from the villages to London and they didn't know where they were going and they were taken to prostitute house I don't deception so many people's lives ruined and one man stood against it William Booth and when he was about 83 years old he still had that fighting spirit he said as long as these things are happening as long as little children are being exploited as long as girls are being exploited right here I will fight fight fight until the end and he had a wife who was equally a God united those two people together so God is always raised up people like that what I'm saying to you married couples all of the example of these godly men and women and let's be true in our generation train up your children to be true in their generation to stay away from worldliness very often what is happening is the worldliness and come doesn't come like a flood comes like a trickle small little trickle a little bit of worldliness comes into your home oh you say that's not a big thing I fully agree it's not a big thing but wait a few years and see what happens to that trickle it will not be a trickle anymore it'll gradually become more and more and drown your children in worldliness not obvious sin but in worldliness so brothers and sisters think about these things there's a burden on my heart today let's pray search your own heart you don't have to judge anybody else except yourself I don't have to judge anybody except myself keep yourself pure keep yourself free from sin Heavenly Father you called us you've shown us so many wonderful truths in scripture we want to preserve your testimony until Jesus comes back if it is in our generation we want to be true until you come we want our homes to be godly homes we want to be free from the love of money we want to be free from getting angry we want to be free from sexual impurity in our thought life we want to be free from loving money we want to be free from any type of crookedness we want to be absolutely upright and we want our children to grow up in the same godly way we are small in number but you had only 11 Lord with whom you turned the world upside down we are much more than 11 help us to be faithful you're here Lord in our midst right now and I believe you're hearing what we say thank you for being in our midst we pray your presence will always be in our church till you come again we pray in Jesus name Amen