The Success of the Christian Church
It is only fair that if I write about The Failure of the Christian Church, I should also write about its success. After all, the intention of this section is not to discourage Christians, but to help motivate to a closer walk with God by standing on God's word and by making them aware of potential problems in the church.
The Christian church has overcome a monumental opposition throughout the centuries and has survived an incredible amount of distractions. Think about it. The Christian church started 2000 years ago in Israel in the midst of a hostile social and political setting. Jesus had established His church and ascended into heaven and left the Holy Spirit to guide us. The church was infantile in many ways, without experience, and without a structure. At first, it didn't have the New Testament scriptures. But they came. It managed to survive in spite of horrendous persecutions. It succeeded because the Lord God was with the Christians, not because the Christians were great people in themselves.
The Christian church is filled with people who love the Lord and have trusted in His saving work. None of us are perfect. But, we look to Jesus, trust in Him, and seek His face. We have our faults and shortcomings. But, in spite of the fact that we are still sinners (1 John 1:8), the Lord has blessed the church greatly and has allowed it to spread world wide. God has used and will continue to use us to teach and preach His word to countless millions. And, millions have become believers in Jesus. God has used us, this imperfect body of believers to do an incredible work. Praise God.
The church is filled with all kinds of people with all kinds of gifts and none of us is perfect. None of us has its "altogether." We often have disagreements. We often are shortsighted. But that is okay. Jesus is guiding us. He is using us. He has given us a great privilege of being used, of being sent out into the nation field, of being able to preach and teach on radio, but having Christian books distributed through bookstores all over the United States, and Europe. The gospel is spreading and more people are Christians now than have ever been Christians before.
We Christians, when we speak the gospel, are speaking the words of power and forgiveness. This is a great blessing. We have the privilege of being able to speak the holy and perfect word of God's saving grace to those who do not know Him. We who are imperfect are used by the Perfect Being to spread His word. And it is spreading.
The enemy is working harder than ever against the Christian Church. He is succeeding in many ways to bring the non-believers, and those who are members of false religions, against the truth of God's word. In fact, more Christians have been martyred in the 20th century than all other century's combined. But these Christians have stood strong for Jesus. Though many thousands have been killed for the name of Jesus, they have brought great glory and praise to His precious name.
We who are here in America enjoy freedom and prosperity. Christians have donated millions upon millions of dollars to various ministries around the world for the promotion of the gospel and it is reaching places never before touched by God's truth. For all that is accomplished successfully in God's name, may He receive the glory and honor.
