Compromised Christianity Part 1 Series

Compromised Christianity

Scriptures: John 17:17; Matthew 24:3-14; 1 Timothy 4:1-3; 5:19-20

In John 17:17 Jesus made the following request of His Father as He prayed prior to His arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” The word “sanctify” means to separate from a profane to a sacred use; to consecrate wholly to God and His service. The primary meaning of the word is not to make holy, but separation. It can also means to make holy when the person or thing sanctified needs to be cleansed from sin in order to be fit to be separated unto God and His service. Jesus asked God to sanctify His disciples through His truth which was His word. It’s the truth of God’s word once we have it internally that will give us the strength to be separated from the world in which we live in. The title of my message this morning is “Compromised Christianity.” This message is part one in this series dealing with how Christianity has been compromised as foretold in Bible prophecy.

Compromise is defined as (1) undermine or devalue somebody or something by making concessions; (2) settle a dispute by agreeing to accept less than what was originally wanted; (3) expose somebody or something to danger or disgrace.” In the compromising of Christianity, we are fulfilling all three of these definitions. We are devaluing the Word of God; we are settling disagreement by saying everyone is right and all religions lead to heaven; and we are exposing people to the danger of hell fire based on our compromised teaching. Let me put it another way. Have you ever heard a medical professional use the word, “immunocompromised”? That word is defined as, “having a weakened immune system. Patients who are immunocompromised have a reduced ability to fight infections and other diseases.” Each one of us has an immune system that fights off anything foreign that tries to enter our bodies. Our immune system is what keeps us healthy and alive. However, some people are prone to sickness and disease because their immune system has been compromised. In this case special care must be taken to keep the person healthy. These immunocompromised people cannot be around other sick people because their immune system cannot fully protect them from getting sick based on their contact with other sick people. Well the Body of Christ is in an immunocompromised state which was foretold about two-thousand years ago. The Word of God is a Christian’s immune system and it’s the Word of God that is being attacked today. We have allowed our immune systems (the Word of God within us) to be so weakened that any and every new teaching is making its way into our bodies and further incapacitating us. I want you to keep the visual of an immunocompromised (weaken) person in your mind as we go through this series.

In April of 1981, I preached my very first sermon that I titled “Time Is Running Out.” The foundation Scripture for that message was found in Matthew 24:3-8. In these verses we find where Jesus was asked by His disciples “What are the signs of Your coming at the end of the age.” Jesus replied with the following words; “…..See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and will mislead many. You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.” (Matthew 24:4-8) We will go in more depth of this Scripture later but for now I want you to consider a few things that are happening today that were not happening in April 1981 when I preached this sermon.

In April 1981, we did not have many Pastors who said that sin was not sin. Same-sex relationship, while happening during that time both within and without the Church, was generally considered to be sin. In April 1981 no one imagined that your Church doors could be closed because the Pastor said that that lifestyle was wrong. In April 1981 it was unfathomable to think that a Pastor would be labeled as promoting hate when speaking about sin; or that a person could lose their job if they said anything to a co-worker about someone’s lifestyle, even when only expressing their beliefs based on their being a Christian. In April 1981 we did not witness the President of the United States attacking anyone who disagreed with him by calling them names and assassinating their character. The most powerful man in the world carried on his shoulders the reputation of the people of the United States and he understood the impact of his actions.