We are at war

Dear Friends,

The church is at war. This is no new news to you, but we still need to be reminded from time to time that this world does not want Christ to triumph. Of course this war is not one that is fought with guns and bombs (except proverbial guns of truth and bombs of God’s word), it is fought with the less tangible items like prayer, the means of grace and the truth.

Satan, although he has been defanged, still prowls about like a roaring lion seeking for someone to devour. As believers who are in Christ we do not need to fear Satan but we must be wary of his ways. I have often said that Satan does not come and knock on our door and kindly introduce himself saying, “Hi there, I am Satan and I would love to tell you some lies about God. If possible, could I dissuade you from think that God is good, or possibly can I convince you that your works save you?” No, Satan does not wave a red flag with warning bells ringing the call of heresy. He loves to deceive us, just as he did our first parents.

This week the church has lost countless people to the fight. Many have walked away being convinced that God is not true. We have felt that loss here in the PCA as a pastor has stepped down. Not over some gross sin, praise God, but because his views changed on the idea level. Over this reality my heart is greatly burdened, and my prayers go out to the man and the church he left behind. We all have stories of friends or family that have walked away from Christ, people who have listened to false teaching and followed after it abandoning the teachings of the true prophet.

This is similar to what Peter wrote about in the book we will be studying over the summer, 2 Peter. In this small letter Peter is telling the believers whom he is writing to, “Beware, Remember the truths you have been taught!” Peter is preparing these believers for when he will be gone, and he is admonishing them to be on their guard there are false teachers who would seek to deceive you. Now let me be clear, I am not saying that this former pastor or the person who walked away are false teachers. Let me restate that, they are not the false teachers that Peter is warning us about. But, I would venture to say that they listened to false teaching.

Peter lays out for us two specific tests to discern whether or not a person is a false teacher whom we ought to avoid.  First, Peter tells the people that his teaching is trustworthy because he saw these things with his own eyes. If anyone contradicts what Peter is saying happened he is not to be trusted. Second, Peter tells us that there is a qualitative difference between what a true prophet teaches and what a false prophet teaches. Namely, what true prophets of God teach comes true and therefore is trustworthy. Peter warns that those who teach these false doctrines will be judged swiftly and harshly.  

Here is where we fight the war. First, we must be students of Gods word. Through this we will be equipped to identify and avoid the false teachings that would so easily ensnare us. Second, we must be prayer warriors. We must pray for our pastors, elders and deacons that their hearts would be guarded. We must pray for Christ’s church that it might be kept pure.

Dear church of Christ, we are at war, a war that is for our souls. Would you fight? Would you fight on your brother’s behalf? Would you not rest in the fight? One thing we do know is that Christ has and will triumph.