Western Christianity December 2020
Welcome to the monthly Restorers message from Bruce Billington at Strategic Resource Training. In this December 2020 audio, Bruce continues on from his message last month regarding the great blessings we as the Western world have enjoyed and how Jesus must define us. We hope that you enjoy this message. Please find below the talking notes for this message. If you have any questions please contact us at admin@strategicresourcetraining.com
Western Christianity 2021
Curse of Western Christianity
Last month we spoke of the great blessings, we in the Western world have enjoyed over a long period of time now.
This included the abundance of food, shelter and health care we enjoy, the Biblical resources we have, more so than ever now with the web and the endless realm of abundance life offers us. It certainly exceeds anything even Kings and Queens enjoyed 150 years ago.
These are all things we should be thankful and grateful for. So much of it is the result – or should we say was, the result of building the foundations of our society upon the Word of God.
Today, that continues to disappear at an alarming rate and when that does happen, the blessing of God goes with it. We considered this from Isaiah 5 last month – which tells us that when this happens the fruit begins to fall on the ground and rot.
God and Prosperity
One of the biggest problems today is our refusal to accept or come to terms with any form of pain, suffering or self-denial within the Kingdom of God.
We hear so much teaching and preaching that a loving God would never allow us to suffer, so it must be the devil – God only wants to bring us worldly prosperity.
This terribly unbiblical viewpoint presents God – and us – with some real problems.
God loves us too much to deny us transformation, which is His main goal for us, beyond salvation. The problem is that suffering is a part of that process as the N.T. Scriptures make so clear.
From Paul
Romans 5:3 – And not only this, but we also exult in our tribulations, knowing that tribulation brings about perseverance;
Romans 5:4 – and perseverance, proven character; and proven character, hope;
Romans 5:5 – and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.
From Peter
1Peter 4:12 – Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you;
1Peter 4:13 – but to the degree that you share the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing, so that also at the revelation of His glory you may rejoice with exultation.
Paul’s Warning to those Preaching a False Gospel
Gal. 1:8 – But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed!
Such preaching will cause many hearers to stumble and even lose their faith. Our pursuit of such a false Gospel, attempts to make Christianity about us, not God.
This can relate to so many things – Biblical disciplines; moral or sexual purity; fellowshipping with others. Instead we replace this with entertainment; excessive consumption and licentious behaviour.
If something doesn’t particularly please us or offer us any personal gain, we are not going to respond, despite how much the Scriptures endorse it.
Cross-less Christianity
We have to understand that in essence, God wants to change us to be like Jesus and just like Jesus, we have to learn obedience and discipline by the things we suffer.
The real problem here is that we resist the most crucial aspect of Christianity – and that is the cross!!!!!
The curse of Western Christianity today is that we demand that it be cross-less.
As well as having to battle against this from our upbringing, our education and from being constantly assailed by the world’s system – we have the added problem of similar teaching coming from the pulpit and Christian leadership, where there is a terrible lack of preparing our people for what it truly means to be a disciple of Christ. If we are going to go anywhere with God we are going to have to overcome this.
Jesus Must Define Us
It is too easy for us to treat Jesus as an added extra to all we already have in life. Paul teaches in Galatians that the cross is a stumbling block to those who won’t accept it. The cross is a symbol of power and wisdom but it is also a symbol of humility, self-denial and sacrifice. We can’t choose one part and do away with the other.
Our problem is that we tend to see the cross only as a place for the forgiveness of sins – a painful place where we get right with God and then quickly move on to His blessings. From this point we also want His resurrection power to come upon us – yet we don’t want the price tag that comes with it.
Servitude or Power
Many Christian Leaders in the Western world today have chosen power over servitude. They want numbers, money, accolades, recognition and the best of everything. There is no servitude here.
The only safe way God can confidently release His power upon us is for us to humble ourselves before Him and allow Him to bring a deep work of His Spirit into our lives that will cause our fallen nature to be nailed to the cross.
Let’s look at what Jesus says about this.
Luke 14:27 – “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.
Note the word “cannot.”
He is not saying He won’t allow it. He is saying it cannot happen. That is different. It is the way our whole faith has been wired and there are
In John 12:24-25, Jesus talks about our life having to be like a grain of wheat that must first die to bear fruit. He goes on to say that if we love our life we will lose it.
What He is doing here is calling us to lay down all that we call life – lay it all down for His sake – our selfish, demanding nature has to be put to death to enable the life of God in us to bring forth fruit.
Our Selfish Life
Our selfish life keeps us in the fallen world so we cannot access the spiritual realm and that’s where God is asking us to live. We use our intellect, emotions, and affections in all that we do but problem is they are all fed and empowered by our fallen nature or our selfish desires, instead of from the life of God – therefore we are virtually impotent in the spiritual realm and that is where life is really lived – furthermore, our fallen nature is also where all things selfish and sinful, originate from.
The apostle Paul saw this very clearly. In Phil 3:10 he prayed that he may know Christ and the power of His resurrection.
But in the same breath (i.e. in the same verse) Paul also asks for the fellowship of Christ’s sufferings and to be conformed to His death. Paul knew that God’s blessing and God’s power come with Jesus suffering. It is one whole package and Paul sought God for it all.
What we produce from Christianity without the cross is a forsaken individual, a forsaken church and a forsaken nation. Things which have taking centuries to build, often on the blood of the saints, are being stripped out of our society while we make barely a murmur. This is tragic.
If we don’t pick up all aspects of the cross – we will never see the blessing and power of God come upon our lives or our nations. In fact, we will continue to lose what currently is left.
Joshua 5:13-15 “Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, “Are you for us or for our adversaries?”
He said, “No; rather I indeed come now as captain of the host of the LORD.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to him, “What has my lord to say to his servant?”
The captain of the LORD’S host said to Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy.” And Joshua did so.”
Joshua has been told to be bold and lead the people in to take the Promised Land. He is fired up and is not about to take any rubbish from the enemy. So, he sees this guy with a sword in front of him and makes a demand – “whose side are you on?”
But suddenly everything changes.
The Lord stares Him down and says – “Wrong question. I am God – so get your shoes off – you are standing on Holy ground!”
Here is the Gospel in a sentence. What a statement! This is what Jesus came to produce in His disciples. We should settle for nothing less.
Conclusion
We can still fix this. We can change it. But We have got to come into a whole new reverence for God. We have got to see who He is and what He requires of us and place this first in our lives.
We have got to place God in the highest place in our lives and begin to work towards what He wants not what We want if we are ever going to move into what He has for us and begin to win back what has been lost.
We are going to have to break right away from the concept of “what can God do for me and get right back to what is it you require from me Lord?”
We need to get our shoes off and realise that we are standing on holy ground. Our only motivation in anything we do should come out of a love for God and just as importantly, out of a fervent desire for His kingdom.
Let’s consider this over the break and come into 2021 with a whole new perspective and purpose.
God bless you,
Bruce Billington