To make the debate more exciting, one of them will say, "Let me play the devil’s advocate and ask you this question.” Then they will state the opposing view, to add some life to the debate.
As believers, we all agree on many things when it comes to God, the Bible, and the church. Let me play the devil’s advocate and ask you a question., Suppose you were the devil and you wanted to close down God’s church, HOW WOULD YOU GO ABOUT ACCOMPLISHING THIS?
Let me suggest three things I believe Satan is doing to close the church.
I. HE ATTACKS THE CHURCH ATTENDANCE
Illus: A man wrote a letter to the editor of a newspaper and complained that it made no sense to go to church every Sunday. "I've gone for 30 years now," he wrote, "and in that time I have heard something like 3,000 sermons. But for the life of me, I can't remember a single one of them! So, I think I'm wasting my time and the pastors are wasting theirs by giving sermons at all."
Signed: Missing the message.
This started a real controversy in the "Letters to the Editor" column, much to the delight of the editor. It went on for weeks until someone wrote this clincher:
"I've been married for 30 years now. In that time, my wife has cooked some 32,000 meals for me. But for the life of me, I cannot recall the entire menu for a single one of those meals. But I do know this: They all nourished me and gave me the strength I needed to do my work. If my wife had not given me these meals, I would be physically dead today. Likewise, if I had not gone to church for nourishment, I would be spiritually dead today. When you are DOWN to nothing... God is UP to something! Faith sees the invisible, believes the incredible and receives the impossible! Thank God for our physical AND our SPIRITUAL NOURISHMENT.”
The people of God have received a lot of help from church services. It is because they have received so much help, that no other organization or institution on the face of the earth can boast of such attendance as God’s Church.
Sometimes we hear a football fan boast and say of a football game, “We had 85,000 people in attendance.”
Now that is a good attendance and something to be proud of, but it is nothing compared to God’s church. Each week, millions of people attend the house of God to worship the Lord Jesus Christ, and this goes on year after year.
While the Lord is rejoicing over this, I can assure you the devil is not pleased and will do anything he can do to try and stop every Bible-believing, Bible-preaching church from doing the Lord’s work.
Our attendance tells a great deal about us and the God or gods we serve, for example:
• People who love football attend football games or make time to watch them on television.
• People who love car racing will attend the car races or make time to watch them on television.
• People who are materialistic will make time to shop at the malls.
WHY DO THEY MAKE TIME FOR THESE THINGS?
Because these are the things they love, and their life reflects that love.
Some would argue, attendance in God’s house does not always prove that someone loves God. And we would have to agree.
They would prove their point by saying:
• Some go to the game, not because they love football, but because they love to be around a big crowd of people, and we would have to confess this is true!
• Some go to the game because a husband might have asked a wife to go, and we would confess that they are most likely right about this also.
A person can go to such places and not go for the right reasons.
The question we would ask is,
• “If a person truly loves football, why wouldn’t they want to go to a football game?”
• “And if a person truly loves the Lord why wouldn’t they want to attend church?”
Sometimes you hear folks say, “I love the Lord but I do not attend church.”
They might say they love the Lord, but their lives say there are a lot of things in their life they love more than they love the Lord.
Illus: Suppose a man that had a family treated his family like this. He says he loves them, but a lot of nights he does not come home because he has more important things to do than go home. Listen, a marriage like this can not survive.
No housewife would be foolish enough to believe that her husband loved her if he missed coming home over and over again. If she did, she would prove to be very dumb.
Why would folks think the Lord is DUMB enough to believe they love Him, when they continuously put all kinds of things ahead of him? With their mouths they say they love the Lord, but their life says otherwise.
Notice what it says in Psalm 122:1, "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."
WHY IS IT THAT SOME DO NOT ATTEND CHURCH?
If you ask people why they do not attend church, they will give you a number of excuses. Notice, I said EXCUSES, not REASONS!
There is a difference between an EXCUSE and a REASON. Sometimes we have a reason why we can not attend, but many folks have excuses for not attending.
Did you know the same excuse that people give for not attending church can be applied to football fans that love football?
Illus: Suppose a dedicated sports fan said, “I've had it! I quit this sports business once and for all. You can't get me near one of those places again.”
• Every time I went, they asked me for money
• The people I sat with didn't seem very friendly
• The seats were too hard and not comfortable
• I went to many games, but the coach never came to call on me
• The referee made a decision with which I could not agree
• I suspected that I was sitting with some hypocrites -- they came to see their friends and what others were wearing rather than to see the game
• Some games went into overtime, and I was late getting home
• The band played some numbers that I had never heard before
• I was taken to too many games by my parents when I was growing up
• I don't want to take my children to any games, because I want them to choose for themselves what sport they like best
Why is it that these ridiculous excuses are given at church, but not for sports events!
• Satan knows that if he can keep Christians out of church it will destroy their Christian testimony and make the Lord Jesus look bad before a lost world
• He knows the church is his greatest threat on this earth, and the best way to slow it down or shut it down is through church attendance
• He knows when he keeps Christians out of church they are sending a message to their family and friends that God is not worthy of having first place in their life.
How does Satan keep people out of church?
Illus: An atheist once said, “Before we can destroy Christianity we must first destroy God’s day.”
This is what Satan has been doing for some time now. Sunday, also called the Lord's Day, used to be seen as a day which God has set apart as different from all the other days of the week. This is why it is called “The Lord’s Day”
Of course every day is the Lord’s day, but this is a day of rest.
And when I say it is a day of “rest”, I am not talking about sleeping all day on Sunday.
It is the same thing we do in music. When you come to a “rest note” you stop everything and rest.
The devil has attacked CHURCH ATTENDANCE by attacking God’s day, and today stores, restaurants, malls, and places of recreation now operate on Sunday just like every other day of the week.
In a 1996 Gallup poll, 76% of Americans surveyed stated that they believe a person can be a good Christian without attending church. Apparently, that was the attitude of some at the time when the Book of Hebrews was written.
But God commands us in Hebrews 10:25, “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.” It is true that we can worship God at home and at church, but why would God put such a command in the Word of God if He didn’t intend for His people to obey it and follow it?
The point is clear - God doesn’t make useless commands for his people to follow. Christians need the church and that is why God commands them to attend.
Illus: The Musk Ox seems to have more sense than believers at times. When they are faced with danger, they form a circle with their heads and horns outward and with the young in the center. They gather for mutual protection rather than individually running away.
Faithfulness to the local church was necessary, as the author of Hebrews wrote. The devil knows that before he can stop the church, he must attack the attendance of God’s church. This is one of his biggest attacks! But also-
II. HE ATTACKS THE GIVING OF GOD’S PEOPLE
When it comes to giving, many folks think of paying the preacher.
Illus: After the church service, a little boy told the pastor, "When I grow up, I'm going to give you some money." "Well, thank you!" the pastor replied, "but why ?"
The boy said, “Because my daddy says you're one of the poorest preachers we've ever had."
Illus: A minister tells the story of a preacher who asked a man why he did not join the church. The reply was that the dying thief did not join the church and he was saved.
"Well," said the minister, "if you do not belong to a church, perhaps you help by supporting missions?" "No," said the man. "The dying thief did not help missions, and wasn’t he saved?"
"Yes," said the minister, "I suppose he was, but you must remember that he was a dying thief, whereas you are a living one." –( Christian Herald)
God gives us His blessings all week, and when we come to the House of God we should not come empty handed.
Illus: Grandma was giving directions to her grown grandson who was coming to visit. She said:
• "You come to the front door of the apartment complex. I am in apartment 14T. There is a big panel at the door. With your elbow push button 14T.”
• “I will buzz you in. Come inside, the elevator is on the right. Get in, and with your elbow hit 14.”
• “When you get out, I am on the left. With your elbow, hit my doorbell."
"Grandma, that sounds easy, but why am I hitting all these buttons with my elbow?" the grandson asked. Grandma replied, "You're not coming empty handed, ARE YOU?"
Giving does more than pay the preacher. Giving to God’s Work:
• Sends the Gospel around the world
• Provides a place of worship
• Provides heat in the winter and air-conditioning in the summer
• Provides literature for Sunday school
And much more!
Sometime ministers have to come up with different ideas to motivate people to give.
Illus: One minister was preoccupied with thoughts of how, after the service, he was going to ask the congregation to come up with more money than they were expecting, for repairs to the church building.
Therefore, he was annoyed to find that the regular organist was sick and a substitute had been brought in at the last minute. The substitute wanted to know what to play.
"Here's a copy of the service," he said impatiently. "But you'll have to think of something to play after I make the announcement about the finances."
During the service, the minister paused and said, "Brothers and Sisters, we are in great difficulty; the roof repairs cost twice as much as we expected, and we need $4,000 more. Any of you who can pledge $100 or more, please stand up."
At that moment, the substitute organist played "The Star-Spangled Banner." And that is how the substitute organist became the regular organist!
People have to be taught how to give to the Lord.
Illus: A while back, a Church's finances were a little tight so the pastor took some extra time to emphasize the importance of everyone giving their tithes and offerings.
He challenged the people to give enthusiastically because the Bible says, "God loves a cheerful giver."
While the plates were being passed to gather the offering, a little boy who hated wearing neck ties quickly slipped off his neck tie and place it in the offering plate as it went by him. His mother was shocked and said. "What do you think you're doing?" He said "The pastor said if you love the Lord put your ties in the offering plate and do it joyfully," the boy replied. "I love that man!"
Does your perspective of giving resemble that of the little boy? He gave, but out of benefit to himself.
Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins worth only a fraction of a penny. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, in Mark 12:42-44, “And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing. And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury: For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.”
It takes money to finance a church and it takes the people who love the Lord to finance this spiritual war that the church is involved in today.
Illus: When the president waged war against Iraq, he had to go before congress and ask them to finance the war. Congress could have voted “no” and we would have had to bring home all of our soldiers abroad and Saddam Hussein would still be slaughtering people by the thousands. Thank God they had enough sense to see all the evil this man was doing and voted to finance this war.
A church can only do the work of the Lord if the congregation loves the Lord enough to give and support that work. They can close their pocketbooks and we will have to bring all the missionaries home, and let the devil achieve the evil he wants to achieve.
III. HE ATTACKS THE TESTIMONY OF GOD’S PEOPLE
Illus: The later Senator Sam Irving, from North Carolina, said “Many years ago in a section of my country, known as the South Mountains, there was a custom of holding religious meetings at which the oldest members of the congregation were called upon to stand up and publicly testify of their religious experiences. On one occasion they were holding such a meeting in one of the churches, and old Uncle Ephriam Swink, a South Mountaineer, whose body was all bent and distorted with arthritis, was present. All of the other members of the congregation except Uncle Ephriam rose and gave testimony to their religious experiences. Uncle Ephriam kept his seat. Thereupon, the moderator said, ‘Brother Ephriam, suppose you tell us what the Lord has done for you.’ Uncle Ephriam arose, with bent and distorted body, and said, ‘Brother, he has mighty nigh ruint me.’" (Sen. Sam J. Ervin, Jr.; Morganton, NC, The Preacher Joke Book, edited by Loyal Jones, p. 35)
The way some people live their Christian life, you would think “He has mighty nigh ruint them!” Listen, our testimony should be that God has blessed us in such a way that our testimony would cause men to come running to Christ.
Some are quick to point out that there are folks who attend a Bible-preaching church every time the doors are open, but it has not helped them in the slightest. Listen, I will be the first to admit there are people who will:
• Use church attendance
• Use giving
… as a way of making themselves look spiritual when they are not spiritual.
I am not saying that everyone who ATTENDS and GIVES knows the Lord as their Savior. But I am saying that it would be difficult to convince people that someone had a good testimony, if they very seldom came to church and very seldom gave to the Lord.
Let me ask you a question, “If you were dying today and you wanted to call on Christians to pray for you, WHO IN THIS CONGREGATION WOULD YOU CALL?”
• Would you call on someone who very seldom comes
• Would you call on someone who attends only once a week
I will tell you who you would call, you would call on people who not only ATTEND CHURCH and GIVE unto the Lord’s work, but people you KNOW WHY THEY ATTEND AND WHY THEY GIVE! And it is because you know they truly LOVE THE LORD JESUS! They have a good sound testimony.
Conclusion:
I opened this sermon by saying, “Suppose you were the devil. What would you do to stop God’s church from going forward?” You would probably do what the devil does….
I. HE ATTACKS THE CHURCH ATTENDANCE
II. HE ATTACKS THE GIVING OF GOD’S PEOPLE
III. HE ATTACKS THE TESTIMONY OF GOD’S PEOPLE
