A Message to the Complacent Church, Part 1
This message comes to us from the book of Isaiah. It is an old prophecy, yet
the application is new, for our day and time, for your church and for mine!
"You women who are so complacent, rise up and listen to me; you daughters who
feel secure, hear what I have to say!" (Isa 32:9)
Who is this prophecy addressing?
Complacent women.
Women in prophecy are often used to symbolize churches (See Rev. 12 & 17).
Therefore, the women in this prophecy can be taken to represent any complacent
church.
But whose church is complacent?
When addressing the church of Laodicea, Rev. 3:17,18 gives us some insight: "
You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do
not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."
Sounds familiar, doesn't it? There couldn't be a more accurate description of
modern, western world Christianity. Think about it! We go to church once a week,
or twice, if we are lucky, we drop our money in the offering plate, we feel like
we've done a good thing, like we've pleased God, and then we go back home and
continue our lives. But we do not realize how poor, pitiful, and blind we really
are! We forget that God is looking for a relationship with us, not simply a list
of rules to be followed, and that without that love-based relationship, we are
poor, wretched, pitiful, and too blind to even see it.
Friends, the message of Isa 32 is for our churches! The complacent women
represent the modern day, western church!
And what does God say to these women? "In little more than a year you who
feel secure will tremble; the grape harvest will fail, and the harvest of fruit
will not come." (Isaiah 32:10)
What is our "harvest"? Jesus makes reference to "harvest" in Matthew: "The
harvest is plentiful but the workers are few . . . Because they were harassed
and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd." (9:27,36). Friends, the
"harvest" represents the helpless, harassed crowds of the unsaved! The same ones
we are told to bring to Christ: "Go into all the world and preach the good
news to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but
whoever does not believe will be condemned." (Mark 16:15-16)
There are a few in our western churches with a passion for the unsaved, but
compared to God's people in persecuted countries, they are pitifully few and far
between. Yet these poor, lost souls, like sheep without a shepherd, are our
responsibility!
And what happens if we don't take our responsibility seriously, if we remain
complacent? . . . "The grape harvest will FAIL"! There will be a time,
friends, when the hordes of unsaved people will no longer be able be reachable.
It will be too late! Because the church's complacency, millions will end up with
eternal punishment!
Is it any wonder that Isaiah goes on to say: "Tremble, you complacent women;
shudder, you daughters who feel secure! Strip off your clothes, put sackcloth
around your waists. Beat your breasts for the pleasant fields, for the fruitful
vines and for the land of my people, a land overgrown with thorns and
briers--yes, mourn for all houses of merriment and for this city of revelry."
Isaiah 32:11-14
It is NOW that we are called into action! Now, before the harvest fails! Instead
of resting in the false security of complacency, we are called to "Strip off
[our] clothes," - come out of our complacency-" put sackcloth around
[our] waists"-seek God's mercy-'beat [our] breasts for the pleasant
fields, for the fruitful vines and for the land of [God's] people"-go into
mourning before God, pleading with Him for the unsaved!
Enough to ponder, friend, but do ponder this: the lost of the world are our
responsibility! Now is the time for us to put off our comfortable complacency,
seek God's mercy, and go into mourning before Him, pleading for the unsaved!
Join us next Saturday for the conclusion of a message to the complacent churches
of the world.
God bless you!
Lyn
Lyn Chaffart, Author, moderator, the Nugget and the Scriptural Nuggets website,
www.sermonillustrator.org/minisermons/ , Answers2Prayer Ministries,
www.Answers2Prayer.org .