What Happened to the Good Old Days??????
Acts 2:37-47 & 2nd Timothy 3:1-7
In Acts the 2nd chapter we understand that this is the beginning of the church. For we know that the church began on the Day of Pentecost. Understand that at this time, the beginning of church that the church folk had nothing that they fashioned the church after as far as saying things like well that’s the way mom and dad use to do it, there was no traditionalism, they were genuine and original in their worship and praise of God. There was no competition as to our church is the largest, we have the best choir, that church has testimony service and this church doesn’t, this church has praise dancers and that church doesn’t, this church has Sunday night service and that church doesn’t, that church has Friday night service and this church doesn’t. None of that stuff was in the church of Acts. By the time we get to 2nd Timothy the 3rd chapter, the church had been around for approximately 35 years, and some things were beginning to happen in the different churches that were being established in the different areas, things were beginning to develop in different churches, attitudes and opinions began to develop, church folk were beginning to come into play. Church folk are these, they come to church on Sunday late, they never show up for Bible class or Sunday school, they never make prayer meeting, they never get into service, they always have an attitude and find fault with every other member in the church, but it’s never their fault. They give preach-a-monies and test-a-lies that seem like they could melt the walls of the church, but yet can’t live right. They do this, if the preacher is up more than 15 minutes they say to him, preach you really did a good job and as soon as his back is turned they say boy I thought he was never going to sit down. I’m talking about Church folk. Church folk because they don’t ever make it to prayer meetings don’t know how to pray for themselves and when its 3:00 in the morning and the thunderstorm woke them up they call the pastor who is sound asleep and say pastor pray for me cause I’m scared. Church folk if a sinner or stranger would ask them what time Sunday school was they would say I don’t go to Sunday school, well when is Bible class night they would say I don’t go to bible class, but let something go wrong, let someone slip, and they are the first ones to go and tell everybody’s business all over town. These are Church folk. Church folk are different from Kingdom folk. Kingdom folk are at church every time there is church. Kingdom folk no how to pray. Kingdom folk are dedicated, sincere, you don’t have to try to pump them up to get into service. Kingdom folk don’t gossip about other Kingdom folk. (Somebody say thank God for the Kingdom folk). Paul was writing to Timothy, who was a young minister that had come up under Paul, he was literally Paul’s spiritual son and he was giving Timothy a prophetic word and letting Timothy know don’t think it strange that in the church there are good and bad people, in others words there was righteous and unrighteous people there are church folk and kingdom folk in the church. He was saying to Timothy that the Gospel is a net that when cast catches all kinds of fish, so be not afraid of the so-called evil forces that our outside of the church. For in the last days there is going to be those in the church that will cause the church to go through perilous times, not so much from persecution of outside forces, but from people within the church body.
The word perilous: comes from the Greek word (Chalepos), strongly implies the immediacy of danger, it represents times that are unstable, unsteady, unhealthy, unsound, hard, furious, grievous, treacherous, dangerous and to say the least wicked.
We find that we are now living in perilous times. There are wars and rumors of wars flooding the news media. Mother’s are against daughters and fathers are against sons, wrong is being called right and right is being called wrong. Homosexuality is being embraced and referred to as a normal way of life. We recently had a 12 and 14-year-old brothers on trial for killing their father, because they said they made up their mind that they were gay and wanted to spend the rest of their lives with this 40-year-old pervert. We have 10 and 12 year old little girls dying on the abortion doctors table, because their young and immature bodies have suddenly experienced a level of shock that arrested their innocence, their purity, and their childhood and forced them to live far beyond their years, which ended up resulting in their untimely death. We have snipers killing people just as random act of violence regardless of race, gender, or age causing it to be unsafe to even leave your home anymore. We have children being taken out of their beds, beaten, raped, and murdered all while their parents are sleeping in the room down the hall. We have terrorist attacking America. Anthrax scares, and pipe bombs plaguing us everyday. We have young people disrespecting older people, children calling adults by their first names. We have every diabolical and corruptible piece of filth imaginable coming across our televisions, cartoons aren’t even clean anymore. Marriages are not lasting 6 months. Husbands are killing wives, wives are killing husbands. The world is truly living in perilous times.
There use to be a time when children had respect for adults. There use to be a time when it was hot, you could leave the front door open, lock the screen door and be safe. You didn’t have to worry about anyone coming in and slicing your throat or raping your children. There use to be a time when wrong was wrong and right was right. There use to be a time when you could put up a tent in the back yard and the kids could camp out all night, not having to worry about anything, baby don’t try that now. There use to be a time when you got a job you felt secure, you planned for the future and your retirement, you looked forward to a career with that company, but now you are blessed if you have a job from one day to the next. There use to be a time when you could walk down the street and didn’t have to worry about being hit by a snipers bullet. The world is living in perilous times, baby “What Happened to the Good Old Days”.
When we say the world is living in perilous times everyone agrees and shakes their head in disbelief on just how bad the situations has become, but let me get real close to you, let me bring it to your home. The church is in perilous times “Hell-o”. What do you mean the church is in perilous times? We have homosexuals who are still participating in homosexual activity calling themselves men and women of God sitting up in the pulpit talking about this is the way God made me and trying to hide behind the premises that you never know who you will fall in love with, besides God is love and I’m all about love. (To still a phrase from my father LOOSE HERE). Let me get even closer. We have people who call themselves saved, sanctified, holy ghost filled, fire baptized, tongue talking people of God, talking about people in the church, doing whatever they want, whoever they want, raising more hell than anyone on Saturday night and have the audacity to get up on the praise team on Sunday morning talking about “Come on let’s go higher” or on the dance team talking about “Reach up and grab it” and some have the nerve to sit up in the pulpit talking about “He that hath an ear, better get ready, get ready, get ready”.
We have men and women in the church being lovers of themselves more than lovers of God. WATCH THIS: So many times we use that to mean homosexualism, but it’s deeper than that. We must understand that the Bible is for those that are saved, for the church, those who are called by His name according to His purpose, really the only thing for the sinner is “Repent and be Baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and you shall receive the Holy Ghost.” So when we talk about men and women being lovers of themselves, let’s not push that off unto the homosexual, but pull it into the church. Why because we are talking about the church being in perilous times. O.K. then, what does it mean lovers of themselves more than lovers of God?
Let’s have a quick Bible class; we’ll go to the mountain in a minute.
WATCH THIS: Bible class is Wednesday at 7:00pm. The Bishop request every saint, every member, and even you modern day Christians to be there in order to get a deeper understanding of the word of God. Sears decides to have a madness sale Wednesday only from 7 – 9 pm. 75 – 90% off everything in the store, we say I gotta go to that sale it may never happen again, I got to get this outfit, I gotta buy that lawnmower, so you miss Bible class in order to go to the sears sale. You place your desire before God; therefore, you are a lover of your own selves more than lovers of God.
We have people in the church being boasters talking about look what I have done, my congregation is growing, my church is the biggest, I am so great, I can sing better than anyone else, I can preach better than anyone else, I can teach better than anyone else forgetting that it is all about God and that it was God that blessed you in the first place.
The church is in perilous times.
We have unholy folks in the church, people trying to hold on to the world and serve God also. We have liars in the church, false accusers in the church, heady and high minded people in the church, (you know them they are the ones we call Holier than Thou) disobedient people in the church, trucebreakers in the church, despisers of those that are good in the church. They are singing in the choir, preaching in the pulpits, they walk around here having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof. The church is living in perilous times. O Zion what’s the matter now.
There use to be a time this type of thing wasn’t in the church, there use to be a time when there was LOVE in the church, you didn’t talk about people, you didn’t try to find fault in them, but because of Love, you prayed fro them when you didn’t see them, you prayed for them instead of trying to fault in them, but that’s not the way it is any more. Services were unlike anything we have today. I can remember when we were little, my mother would put us in pajamas and we would go to church, laying down on the bench, I remember the saints of God praising God like never before. The songs were different the atmosphere was different. I remember going to church in Barberton, they had a piano that the woman couldn’t really play, but she did and a big bass drum, that the person only knew one beat, but they praised God. People were getting saved, delivered, healed, but now if the music isn’t just right, if certain people are not or are on the praise team determines how the service will go. We have become so formatted that we never let the Spirit take control, we are more concerned with were we are going to eat after church than God showing up. I ask the question “What Happened to the Good Old Days”? O Zion what’s the matter now, you don’t pray like you use to pray, you don’t walk like you use to walk, you don’t sing like you use to sing, What’s the matter now. What Happened to the Good Old Days.
I got an answer. This new generation has done so-called received a new revelation, they believe that they have a special interpretation of the scriptures, eventhough the Bible says there is no scripture given of any private interpretation, and God said I am the Lord an I change not, I am the same yesterday, today, and forever more. Yet in still we have people saying this is a new thing, they say we need to get rid of tradition, they say that we must be on a mission to destroy tradition, not realizing that what they are calling tradition is really foundation and when you begin to mess with the foundation of a structure you weaken the whole structure causing the structure to eventually collapse.
We use to have what is called tarry service, but we don’t do that anymore, WHY, because we say that tarry service is tradition, that’s what mom and dad use to do, let’s take it out we have this new revelation that you don’t have to do that anymore, because the holy ghost is a gift and all you have to do is ask for it. (Listen to what I’m saying, because you don’t have to tarry to receive the Holy Ghost) When we took out tarry service we thought we were messing with tradition, but we took out boldness. When you had to work for some it you were not going to let the devil or anything take it away from you. You had BOLDNESS.
Boldness: a: fearless before danger: b: showing or requiring a fearless daring spirit. When we got the Holy Ghost after tarrying for it our testimony was different. Your testimony went something like this: First giving honor to God who is the head of my life, saints I’m not giving the devil any glory, but I must tell my story, down through this week the devil was on my back, trying to make me feel like I was loosing my mind, but I went into my bedroom got down on my knees and began to call on the name of the Lord, I told the devil I was a child of the King and he had to leave me alone in the name of Jesus, saint I was there all by myself, I stayed on my knees so long that they started to hurt, so I got up sat on the edge of the bed and I just began to rock and moan,(have you ever had to just rock and moan) saints I was home by myself, but I felt the bed move like someone got off of it, I heard footsteps walking down the steps, I heard the door open and slam shut, saints don’t you know that that old devil had to flee, my God is an awesome God.
But now this new style your testimony goes like this: First giving honor to God the head of my life, saints I need for you to pray for me because the devil has been on my back all week long, people have been talking about me and I feel like I going to loose my mind. What Happened to the Good Old Days when we use to say, “Talk about me as much as you please the more you talk the more I’ll stay on my knees. We have lost our Boldness. There use to be a time we had David boldness, who is this uncircumcised Philistine? We would be in service and the pastor would be casting a demon out of a person, he would say saints pray, plead the blood and began to call that demon out, all of a sudden you heard a deep growl say I’m not coming out, you could be sitting all the way in the back, that boldness would kick in you would walk up to the front, put your hands on the pastors back say I got your back pastor and began to cast out that devil together, but now, we don’t have services like that, but sometimes we get one and we hear that voice, we say ok stay if you want to I’m outta hear. What Happened to the Good Old Days?
They said shut-ins are tradition, that’s what the old folks use to do, we don’t need that anymore. So they took shut-ins out of the church, thinking they were moving tradition, not realizing that tradition is inter-woven into foundation and when they took out shut-ins they also took out commitment.
Commitment: is an agreement or pledge to do something in the future; especially: an engagement to assume a financial obligation at a future date b: something pledged c: the state or an instance of being obligated or emotionally impelled. I know what someone may be saying, I’m committed, I go to church every time the doors are open not only when I can be seen, but I want you to understand totally what it means to have a total commitment. As stated minute ago, commitment is the state of being obligated or emotionally impelled. In other words it is the driving force that causes a person to do the things that they do.
We have saints that can’t totally commit to God and therefore find themselves in church one minute and out the next, they jump from church to church, talking about I got all I can get from that church and the pastor, and because of their lack of commitment they can’t grow, they can’t seem to fight the devil at anything, WHY, because of the soul-ties they have with the world they are not able to commit to God.
Soul-ties: To understand soul-ties we need to break this word down.
Soul: The soul of man is comprised of three components, Will, Intellect, and Emotion. The spiritual part of a human-being, the seat of emotions and feelings, the part of us that will live on in eternity in Heaven or Hell, The soul is part of the inner man, immortal, created to dwell within the body and is what gives the body life. The soul is the crux of all emotions, passions, desires, appetites, and it exercises mental faculties. The soul is the element that makes us cognizant of self and fashions our personality. The soul presses to achieve, social acceptance, personal gratification, and maintain a certain image. It diligently and meticulously strives for prosperity and popularity, trying to reach often-unattainable expectations.
Tie: To fasten together into a knot, to bind or confine, to stop or impede, to occupy completely.
Therefore a Soul-Tie is something or someone that stops, fastens, confines, binds, or completely occupies the spiritual part of someone and keeps them from fulfilling their destiny.” The reason people cannot commit to God totally is because of the soul-ties they still have with the world.
A soul-tie occurs when something or someone has made an imprint upon your life and you are unable to erase that impression and consciously or unconsciously become pre-occupied with that impression that you fail to envision your potential and lose your destiny.
A preacher, while preaching on the road, asked a lady he knew in the congregation how she enjoyed being married, the woman replied, “it’s O.K. but he’s no Charlie”. A couple of years later he saw the lady again and asked how’s your husband doing, she replied “we got a divorce”, it was evident that the reason for the divorce was based on the soul-ties she had with Charlie. She had put her hand to the plow of marriage and looked back, she didn’t break the soul-ties she felt for her old love interest and lost her marriage. In the spiritual when you don’t break the soul-ties of the world you are not fit for the kingdom of God, because you are still under bondage. You still have an imprint on your life.
Imprints: - to fix indelibly or permanently (as on the memory)
WATCH THIS: - If I place my hand on this wall, if this wall is never changed 20 years from now you could still find my handprint, WHY, because I made an imprint upon the wall. The devil has made imprints upon our minds and if we don’t replace those imprints with God they will continue to come into play and cause us to miss the mark.
WATCH THIS: No doubt you have seen cases of a person 30 years ago who committed a crime and it seemed as though they have gotten away with that crime, and since then their lives have changed, they have become a pillar of the community, prosperous and highly thought of, but because of the advancement of FORENSICS the police were able to match a finger print to them from 30 years ago that now will change their life forever.
When we do not change the imprints that the devil and this world has made in our lives we find that we cannot commit to God totally. That’s why he Bible says “Be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”, change the imprints of your mind.
The final thing that they have taken out of the church is the vision. They said you don’t need a vision that was for the old folks. So they took the vision out of the church, but in so doing they took out desire, because desire is inter-woven in the vision.
Desire: to have a longing for. Stresses the strength of feeling and often implies strong intention or aim.
The difference between the church of Acts and the church of today is desire.
WATCH THIS: Acts 2:42 says “And they continued steadfastly in the apostles doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.”
ª The word continued means = to maintain without interruption a condition, course, or action: to remain in existence: to ENDURE: to STAY.
ªThe word steadfastly means = firmly fixed in place: IMMOVABLE: not subject to change: firm in belief, determination, or adherence: LOYAL, FAITHFUL
The church of old had a desire to stay regardless of what would come or go, they had a desire to do the will of God, they had a desire to forsake themselves in-order to see the church continue, for the Bible says that they sold their possessions, their desire was not to gain material riches, but to continue praising God. Their desire was not to be popular, they did not look for prestige or power, they did not care about who had the largest congregation or the best choir, they had a desire to get closer to the Lord and do His will.
Today we are more concerned with how much money, how big our church, how great our choir, that we fail to continue in the apostle’s doctrine, why because we have no vision and without a vision the people perish.
There’s a song that we used to sing that we don’t sing to much no days and it is called “Let’s go way back way back in God” We need to go bad to the Good Old Days.
Elder Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
Boanerge Ministreis
