NOTES ON THE TAMING OF THE CHRIST: AMERICA’S EXCHANGE OF THE FEAR OF THE LORD FOR THE ADORATION OF A MAN – (WITH VIDEO)

1. THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “So then, my dear ones, just as you have always obeyed [my instructions with enthusiasm], not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation [that is, cultivate it, bring it to full effect, actively pursue spiritual maturity] with awe-inspired fear and trembling [using serious caution and critical self-evaluation to avoid anything that might offend God or discredit the name of Christ].” – PHILIPPIANS 2:12, AMP

KEY TERMS:

• “WORK OUT.” ‘KATERGAZOMAI’ [κατεργάζεσθε]: “To work fully [zealously] in order to finish one’s course.” ALSO: “To accomplish, to produce, to bring about; to effect by [rigorous] labor in order to achieve, work out, bring about.”NOTE: “The verb κατεργάζομαι is used in the New Testament to convey the idea of working out or bringing something to completion. It often implies a process of labor or effort that results in a particular outcome. This term can refer to both physical and spiritual endeavors, emphasizing the active role of individuals in achieving a result or effect.”

• “FEAR & TREMBLING.” ‘PHOBOS’ [φόβου]: “To be put in terror, alarm or fright and thereby show reverence and respect.” NOTE: “In the New Testament, ‘phobos’ primarily denotes a sense of fear or terror, often in response to the Divine or Supernatural. It can also imply reverence or awe, particularly in the context of the fear of the Lord, which is a profound respect and recognition of God’s Power and Holiness. The term is used both in a negative sense, as in fear of Danger or Judgment, and in a positive sense, as in Reverence for God.” ‘TROMOS’ [τρόμου]: “Literally, ‘Quaking with a terrible sense of fear or dread.’” NOTE: “The Greek word ‘tromos’ refers to a state of trembling or quaking, often associated with fear or reverence. In the New Testament, it is used to describe both physical trembling and a ‘metaphorical trembling that reflects a deep sense of awe or respect,’ particularly in the presence of God or in response to His mighty works.”

QUOTATION. “It is to be called a ‘Fearful Word,’ because of the Truth and Faithfulness of it. The Scriptures cannot be broken! Here they are called the Scriptures of truth, the true sayings of God, and also the fear of the Lord, for that every jot and tittle thereof is for ever settled in Heaven, and stand more steadfast than doth the world—‘Heaven and earth,’ saith Christ, ‘shall pass away, but My Words shall not pass away’ (Matt 24:35).” ― JOHN BUNYAN, The Fear of God, 1679; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘We must be Diligent in the use of all the means which lead to our salvation, persevering therein to the end. With great care, lest, with all our advantages, we should come short.’ Work out your salvation, for it is God who worketh in you. This encourages us to do our utmost, because our labour shall not be in vain: We must still depend on the Grace of God. The working of God’s Grace in us, is to quicken and engage our endeavours. God’s good-will to us, is the cause of his good work in us.

‘Do your duty without murmurings.’ Do it, and do not find fault with it. Mind your work, and do not quarrel with it. By peaceableness; give no just occasion of offence. The children of God should differ from the sons of men. The more perverse others are, the more careful we should be to keep ourselves blameless and harmless. ‘The Doctrine and Example of Consistent Believers’ will enlighten others, and direct their way to Christ and Holiness, even as the Light-House warns mariners to avoid rocks, and directs their course into the Harbour. ‘Let us try thus to shine!’

‘The Gospel is the Word of Life.’ It makes known to us Eternal Life through Jesus Christ. ‘Running,’ denotes earnestness and vigour, continual pressingforward. ‘Labouring,’ denotes constancy, and close application. It is the will of God that believers should be much in rejoicing; and those who are so happy as to have good ministers, have great reason to rejoice with them!” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

II. TEACHING

THE TAMING. It has already been well established by Theology, Science, and Commonsense Observation that the American Church is grotesquely absent a true Fear of the Lord. As we have reviewed in previous discussions, a combination of weak Seminary training, sordid doctrines of demons such as the Faith-Prosperity aberration and the Hyper-Grace, “Seeker Friendly” gospel, and still later, the insidious scourge of Dominion Theology in so many politicized churches today have effectively:

‘Tied Christ’s Hands!’

Indeed, if such a thing could ever truly be achieved. Such Perverse Leavening of the True Gospel has left the Nation and her Church with “A toothless lion”as my devout Hispanic mother used to put it. A ‘Blasphemously Diminished Jesus,’ no longer Majestic nor All-Powerful, but rather a morbidly humanized little god whose major purpose in life is to make his subjects feel good and be endlessly happy.

To these tragic points I discovered an unapologetically scalding yet doctrinally rich and hopeful analysis by D. ALAN BAKER, former pastor, theologian, and founder and president of Journey Pastoral Counseling. The title of his prophetic essay, “Where is the Church Going in 2025?” (Jan. 1, 2025; edited).

He opens with a persuasive comparison from CHARLES DICKENS’ classic, A Tale of Two Cities [1859], his celebrated novel describing the Times of the French Revolution (The same year as publication of CHARLES DARWIN’S devastating, Origin of the Species, 1859).

“‘It was the Best of times; it was the Worst of times, it was the Age of Wisdom, it was the Age of Foolishness, it was the Epoch of Belief, it was the Epoch of Incredulity’ … In these thirty-nine words, Dickens reminds us that Two Opposites can, at the same time, be true. Where, in London at the end of the 18th century, it was the best of times, an Age filled with wisdom and belief, in Paris, it was quite the opposite; it was the worst of times, an Age of foolishness and incredulity.

Thesis. “Not to compare our time or situation with that of the French Revolution, it is apparent in the American Evangelical Church that it is a “Best of Times, Worst of Times” Era: Segments of the Church are at once healthy and unhealthy. The Church is headed in TWO OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. These Two Directions will be made more apparent in 2025. I’ll label them The Cultural Church (TCC) and The Remnant Church (TRC).

THE CULTURAL CHURCH. ‘He portends that the Future American Church will continue to Depart from the Old Disciplines with fewer Traditional Practices – Such as waiting on God, personally praying for the people, preaching the unbridled truth, or the experience of true community and fellowship.

He begins by quoting DR. DAVID WELLS, pastor, Bible scholar and former Superintendent of Canada’s Pentecostal Assemblies. “As Jonathan Edwards observed a long time ago, we act on our strongest motive. If our strongest motive, our deepest desire, is to know God, it will generate the discipline that we need to pursue this, because we will want to know God more than anything else. If this is not our strongest motive, we will find ourselves with multiple, alternative, and competing foci.” – God in the Whirlwind: How the Holy-love of God Reorients Our World, 2014; edited

Since most believer are demonstrably disinterested in the rigor, commitment and discipline required to ‘Know God,’ both the Church and the Nation are devastatingly Reduced and Disarmed, unable to cope with the explosion of False Teachers and False Doctrines in the Last Days. THE REASONS are several.

• DILUTION. “‘Diluted doctrine, diluted disciples. Weak doctrine, weak faith community. Doctrine will continue to be de-emphasized in 2025.’ TEDtalks will continue to be de rigueur, the primary teaching form. The focus of these talks will be on two things: ‘Personal Happiness and Success.’ Largely gone will be expository preaching. Rather than let God speak for Himself through the Word, preachers will express their personal opinions on what God has said. The Bible will be more decoration than foundation in many pulpits. The Church will continue to erase Biblical Language from its preaching for ‘Fear of offending people.’ Doctrine will be diluted or avoided to maintain a Seeker-Friendly Model. To its own destruction, churches will continue to ignore teaching Christian Worldview. As a result, the pew will be unable to think Christianly in an ever more pluralistic and perverse world. ‘The Self rather than God will continue to be the central teaching theme.’ Pulpits will feature psychology more than Christology and therapy more than theology. Discipleship will find itself filling out a visitor card in most churches. ‘The Culture will continue its steady infiltration of the Church as pastors fail to emphasize the Doctrine upon which The Way of Christ Culture is built.’”

• DIMINISHMENT. “‘The weakening of the Biblical Mission will continue. The Focus will be on growing our local church rather than making disciples of Jesus in all nations, beginning in our altars and cities.’ The Prize will not be Heaven’s Christ growing in the hearts and lives of people but positive numbers glowing in our reports. This is a continuation from 2023. Compassion ministry and social issues will continue to displace the verbal, propositional proclamation of the Good News of Jesus and making disciples of Jesus in all nations. Missions efforts overseas will continue to focus on projects rather than boots-on-the-ground missionaries, embedded practitioners who have built relationships, know the culture, and can speak the language. ‘Evangelism will remain dormant in the Church.’ Discipleship will remain a Five-Step Program. We will continue to miss the Missional Key: Reaching the lost is not in a more winsome presentation but ‘More Discipleship! not more buildings but more builders, not more compassion for the lost but more ‘Passion for God’ [i.e., Emotionalism]. The key is More Discipleship!”

• SUPERFICIALITY. “‘Little Doctrine and light worship mean lean discipleship. In its place, ‘Experiences’ and ‘Feelings-driven faith’ have taken root and are yielding a dangerous harvest.’ By all signs, Discipleship will continue to be equated with a Five-Week Class. Biblical Illiteracy will remain high in the Church … Sadly, Christians won’t change their handling of Scripture, still not studying the Bible, much less reading it. This will be emphasized by Pulpits where the Bible is not preached and sometimes not even carried. Worship will remain low in the Church …  Sadly, Christians will continue coming to Church not to bow in selfless worship before the Almighty but for the feel-good of a ‘Worship Experience.’ This will be emphasized by churches where a concert instead of worship is offered.”

• CHURCH IDOLATRY. “‘Sadly, without a Revival, the Focus of the Church will be Itself rather than Christ, working harder to attract attendees to the church than making disciples of Jesus.’ To attract more people, topical and practical themes focused on The Self rather than the Soul will continue to be front and center in the pulpit.’ Expository preaching and Christ-focused teaching will be the exception rather than the rule as pastors focus on ‘Believers’ Happiness’ rather than their holiness, ‘The Self’ rather than the Soul. It will be “all about the numbers,” and so Church Branding will be King! Success’ will be measured by numbers in services and events. Churches with large numbers of attendees will be held up as exemplary, whatever their principles or practices. This will translate into giving people emotion-filled ‘experiences’ in the guise of worship and preaching and teaching focused more on the Self than the Soul, more on the attendee than on God. ‘And yet, as noted above, more churches will close than are planted.’”

• RELATIVISM. “‘God gives us Salvation individually but not privately. This is a Fundamental Doctrine of the New Testament.’ Paul extensively writes about our Baptism into the body of Christ at salvation. But because of the influence of American Culture and its emphasis on individual freedoms, most American Christians are now living ‘Privatized Faith’ built on personal interpretation of Scripture and separated from corporate life in Christ. They do so thinking they are making their own decisions, not realizing how much their decisions are driven by a desire to fit in with the culture. The Bible calls this Worldliness or loving the world.  This will lead to more Religious Relativism, a.k.a. ‘My truth, your truth.’ Increasing numbers of Christians will define their faith and practice not by Biblical Teaching but by their internal compass of feelings. Because of the incredible reach and power of media, social media in particular, Christians will more than ever follow and imitate the Culture rather than the Christ revealed in Scripture – our addiction to social media and absence of Bible study make this inevitable. ‘In Reformation Language, the Church will further abandon “Sola Scriptura” for “Sola Cultura.’” Led by American Culture, many individuals will deem themselves free to interpret the Scriptures for themselves without responsibility to the Church of history or today, all the while clothing their choices in Christian wrappings. Churches or Pastors who insist on Fidelity to Church Doctrine will see these believers leave for more ‘Tolerant’ churches.

• SELF IDOLATRY. “‘And the more we neglect our souls, the more we miss the Savior.’ THE SELF is the number one obstacle to full life in Him: it’s hard for Jesus to sit on the throne of our lives when we won’t move off of it. Case in Point: The Worship of God presented as a ‘Worship Experience,’ again placing the Self at the center. All signs say this will continue. A study of current preaching reveals its focus to be not God but the Self, calling us to be ‘True to ourselves’ and presenting Jesus as our means to Happiness. ‘How canI grow my faith, be a better parent, operate in the gifts of the Holy Spirit – how can I be happy and find fulfillment?’ For Pastors, ‘How can I grow my church, be a more effective leader, be a more influential preacher – how can I be happy as a pastor?’ ‘HOW CAN I! is the Central Question in many believers’ minds and so is the Central Subject of preaching. Or is it that ‘How can I?’ is the Central Subject of preaching … and ‘I’is the Central Answer – in most believers’ minds. ‘I’ focused questions will never find satisfying answers because they are not focused on God or a life rooted in Him.”

• ISOLATION. “‘Privatized or Isolated Faith will grow among Christians.’ Believers will, effectively, deny the core New Testament Doctrine that at salvation, the Holy Spirit baptizes us into the body of Christ – to come into communion with Christ is to come into community with His body, living as active, serving members of the body of Christ (Ephesians ; I Corinthians 12-14; Romans 12; etc.). Instead, they will continue to choose the ‘Attendee Option’ they think God offers. Ironically, this will lead to a continuing dearth of meaningful relationships in the Church, even as Christians cite the loss of relationships and community in the Church as a reason for leaving a local church and the Church globally.  Note: Isolation is the number one ‘killer’ of ministers. There is no reason to believe this is not equally true of people in the pew. ‘We weren’t built to walk alone!’ Find a Mentor. Find mature peers who can share your journey in Christ. Believers in whom you can invest and who can invest in you. Jesus commanded it of The Twelve. ‘He commands it of you and me.’”

• PRESUMPTION. “‘Despite the expected improved economy in 2025, Church Finances will be even more challenged.’ The Core Issue is that churches are not teaching the Word of God, specifically, life stewardship or a holistic life in Christ. Topical, Self-Focused Preaching has displaced Doctrinal Teaching focused on Christ and Discipleship. As a result, Christians are not living as disciple-stewards but as believer-owners. Financially, this means people have separated giving from The Faith: Financial giving is seen as a personal expense rather than a holy duty (tithe) and opportunity (offerings), directed by God in His Word. This will lead to church leadership seeing themselves as Director-Owners of church finances rather than servant-stewards: They will make financial decisions based first on Money rather than ministry and programs rather than people. Until life stewardship is again emphasized, this will continue to be an issue for the Church. I’ll cite two examples: Missions and Pastoral Compensation. Feeling the squeeze, many churches will reduce or erase missions support as their first response to financial challenges, a grave mistake given Jesus’ last and most definitive command.”

• EXODUS. “‘People will continue to leave the Church altogether.’ Because of the weaknesses of the 21^st century American Church and the force of 21^st century American Culture, people will choose to abandon the Church and become full-throttle devotees of culture, following its Influencers as surrogate Pastor-Priests. But there is already a Second Exodus from Evangelical Churches, and this move will continue: The move from Evangelical Churches to Conservative Traditional and Orthodox Churches – ‘especially among young men and young families.’ Studies show that young men began this move post-Covid. In an American Culture where ‘Experts’ in medicine, government, and education don’t know what a woman is, gender is fluid, and meaninglessness is the new meaning, young parents report that their churches are not responding by teaching the Sound Doctrines of The Faith once for all delivered to the saints (Jude 3) – the teaching young parents know their children need from the church. Churches are no longer addressing this Command through discipleship ministries like Sunday School, focused groups, catechism, etc., but are given over to entertainment. Young parents will continue to respond by migrating to less experiential, more Doctrinal Churches. This exodus will most benefit Orthodox Churches.”

THE REMNANT CHURCH. “Yes, for much of the Church, it will be the Worst of Times (even if they don’t realize it), but for a sizable portion of the Church, it will be the Best of Times: There will be a powerful strengthening of God’s Remnant Church in 2025 …

In 2025, many followers of Jesus will find the Trendy Consumerism of Brand-Focused Churches unsatisfying. ‘Yes, these Churches stroked The Self but left the Soul untended and unfed.’ They were unable or unwilling to address the Deep Questions of Life: What is life, who is God, who am I, how do I know Him and live in His love, aka, reality, identity, and meaning. They will turn to Historic Faith and Traditional Churches [and Sound Doctrines] in their search for a Biblically Grounded Faith and Community.”

THE PELOTON CONFESSING FELLOWSHIP. That is US, beloved, the rag-tag leftovers of Culture Church who have found it not only wanting, but a Death Trap that now vaunts Donald Trump as Savior for America. And we say, with a metaphorical clenched fist and heart: NO! NO!

Rather we shall have Chosen Christ and the Narrow Path Less Traveled than the one the Nation is increasingly Hell-Bent on walking. We are not formally organized or ordained by some denomination, but all of us “Called to Stand for God and Truth!”

Social Media. God began drawing us together as a Network of like-minded true followers of Jesus Christ in 2020. We exist and converse on such platforms as Facebook, YouTube, and my Website, but understand that we shall have to transition to an Underground Church soon.

A small, tattered yet Divinely Strong piece of the Christian Remnant of these Last Days and Hours, beloved. ‘Come what may.’

III. LAST THOUGHTS

Today has been a rough day (Friday March 7, 2025) for the old man. Without the details: ‘The Trump Cabal among White Christians has not lessened, beloved, it has formed ranks more than ever before.’ The Last Days Darkness is beginning to envelop our torn and confused Nation as never before, and God is demanding, I say again, DEMANDING that we ‘Decide once and for all,’ what we shall believe and what we shall do.

In the first real house God built for my wife, Suzette, and I as young Christians in 1987 in Chesapeake (Great Bridge), Virginia, we decided to etch a Scripture in the then-drying new driveway. It appears below as my Conclusion to this conversation.

“If it is unacceptable in your sight to serve the Lord, CHOOSE FOR YOURSELVES THIS DAY WHOM YOU WILL SERVE: whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you live; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” – JOSHUA 24:15, AMP

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/sBDcS-VVPzU