Rise and Fall
of
By Nick Bibile
In 1534 King Henry VIII, wanted to get a
divorce and the Pope did not allow. Then King Henry of
In 1517 just 17 years before King Henry VIII,
the protestant reformation began in
In 1558 Queen Elizabeth I succeeded, queen
Mary. During this time, the Puritan movement began to grow in
In 1630, while still aboard the ship that
brought them across the ocean, John Winthrop—though a layman—preached a sermon
entitled "A Model of Christian Charity." Just as one would avoid
shipwreck at sea, said
Our Puritan Founding Fathers established the
law of God as a foundation in this new land,
Harvard's "Rules and Precepts adopted in 1646 included the following essentials: "Every one shall consider the main end of his life and studies to know God and Jesus Christ which is eternal life. Seeing the Lord giveth wisdom, every one shall seriously by prayer in secret seek wisdom of Him. Every one shall so exercise himself in reading the Scriptures twice a day that they be ready to give an account of their proficiency therein, both in theoretical observations of languages and logic, and in practical and spiritual truths...." 52 percent of the 17th century Harvard graduates became ministers!
By
the turn of the century in 1701, Christians in the
Between (1741-1744) there was the Great Awakening in which began in 1741 as God
poured out his spirit upon this nation during the time of Jonathan Edwards and
George Whitefield’s preaching as a result towns, cities and states were
converted to Christ. In 1741, Jonathan Edwards preached one of the greatest
sermons called Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. He had to pause his sermon, as he had to pause while the people wept
and cried out in terror upon hearing about God. People were awakened by the
spirit of God as they realized how they have offended God and sinned against
their Creator, there was true repentance. It was like a great wave of the
spirit that awakened sinners masses were converted to Christ. The university
Then
there was the second Great Awakening, which began in 1791. People traveled as
far as 100 miles to hear the Presbyterian minister James McGready, the power of
God fell from heaven and there hundreds and thousands were saved. That was the golden era of
But
there was a change and the change began with Charles Finney (1792-1875) who
preached from God centered religion to a man centered religion. But God used Asahel Nettleton (1783-1844) to
show the errors of Finney’s theology. There were as many as 30,000 converts in
Nettleton’s ministry.
Finney’s false teaching, which centered on man and pleased the flesh, did not
die. It was Charles Finney
who brought human efforts and human manipulation to the church, and today our
theology is shaped by the influence of Charles Finney (1792-1875). Finney was a
Pelagian, and denied the original sin. Charles Finney was an evangelist and
became very popular in
As a result, there came the floodgates of false doctrines. There was Atheism,
Agnosticism, Evolution, Freemasonry, Humanism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, New
Age and a new religion is born almost everyday. Today the dreams of the Pilgrim
Founding Forefathers have become a nightmare.
Verse 18) Why is it that wrath of God is revealed from heaven against ungodliness and unrighteousness? Because they have suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. What is suppress means? It means to over power, to crush, to destroy, to press down the truth so it will not come up.
We
see today many churches are getting bigger and bigger, many evangelistic
crusades, many decisions are made for Christ, yet at the same time, there is
more crime, murder, rape, robbery, etc. than there has ever been before.
During the time of our early puritan forefathers, Sunday was a day not for recreation and sports but for worship and meditation. The shops were closed on Sundays only the emergency services were opened. But today the some churches have Saturday services so they can watch the football games on Sunday. The churches have gymnasiums, coffee shops, people run to church for one hour so they can go back and watch their sports on TV.
Verse 18 says, they knew the truth; verse 21 says they knew God. They knew God but suppress the truth, who knew God? Not the unbelievers, they do not know God but the ministers and pastors. They have taken the absolutes out, lowered the standard of the word of God in order to gain the crowds. They use the worldly gimmicks to gain the world. Some churches are using worldly entertainment and amusement to please the worldly appetite. Bigness of the church has become the standard for success, while our land is going to hell!!
During the time of our puritan fathers, they preached a pure gospel, uncompromised gospel that hurt the flesh but profited the soul. Bible was the soul authority and the word of God applied to every area of life. They had a godly fear, which brought godly lifestyle, neighborhoods and society were changed. But today we see the result of the corrupted gospel, a corrupted society. Corrupted mind brings corrupted actions. Our whole nation is filled with wickedness.
What God calls sin, is not called sin today but a ‘weakness’. What God calls homosexuality is called ‘gay rights’ or ‘an alternative lifestyle’ What God calls perversion is called ‘adult entertainment or pornography, what God calls immorality is called ‘new morality’ what God called cheating is called ‘abnormal social development’
Read Romans 1:24-27. Here we see God giving them up. God withdrawing his face from them, leaving them to their own sinful nature. Three times, it says, “God gave them up” We see homosexuality here. Men and women left their natural nature but men having sex with men and women with women, lusting after another with wicked passions.
Le
Le
1Cor 6:9 Or do you not
know that the unrighteous will not inherit the
Romans
See Romans 1:32. Not only they practice these things but also they approve them who practice. They applause them who practice. Today there are homosexual ministers who are preaching from the pulpits of the churches. Homosexuality is in the high places, some states are already legalized homosexual marriages, evil judges have been appointed who have taken God out and substituted with humanism.
These people will not acknowledge God; they have some light of God’s knowledge yet they loved their pleasures of sin. Instead of being filled in the Holy Spirit, they were filled in the unholy spirit, a wicked spirit, away from Christ. Appetite for covetousness never satisfied always looking for new material things, getting into debt, credit card debts, financial problems due to covetousness, not knowing how to be content.
1Ti 6:6 But godliness with contentment is great gain.
Malice is doing mischief to others, so you get a kick out of it. Just imagine the wild fires began by arsonists. Full of envy. People become envy because they do not have what their neighbor has, so they try to compete with the neighbor.
Philip 2:3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Murder – this is where when anger explodes, you take the law into your own hands. You will see abortion as millions of infants are murdered every year, you hear on news how infants are found in trash bags, husbands murdering wives, murder on the streets, murdering cops, gang crimes, murder in schools. While churches are busy in building programs, making their kingdoms big, the nation is dying. Many Christians are sitting comfortably while the nation is drowning.
Mao Tse-Tung, the
prominent Chinese Communist leader, he killed 30, million people as there were
no absolutes, he did what was right in his own eyes. Joseph Stalin the communist party leader of
Today in our nation, humanism has crept into churches, politics and homes. They have taken the absolutes out; the word of God is the rule of faith. They have taken God out from homes, schools and what can you expect? A moral society? No a corrupt evil society.
There is existentialism, which means be happy today and die tomorrow.
Romans
While you are on this earth, enjoy. Existentialism is in the church today. Some false ministers are preaching God wants you to be rich. The prosperity doctrine is very pleasing to the flesh, these ministers are making money out of the Bible for their own flesh, and these ministers are soul killers.
Then there is relativism, which means the Bible is old fashioned, it was ok for the past but now we are living in a modern era so the Bible is not relevant for today. Today universities and schools are packed with ungodly teachers who have taken God out and brought evolution; there is a young generation that is coming up who does not know the Lord.
Judges
On
Many people looked to God that day as there was a fear in the nation but how soon that fear is gone as people are back to their sinful ways, God is not mocked and he can use pagan nations to bring judgment to those who are living in sin. Our nation can be reached, not by might, nor by power, but by the Spirit of God!