A HOUSE DIVIDED

     If you recall from a previous study, the Son of God never came to earth to launch a new religion. And if you will read the New Testament, you will see that this is true.
     When Christ spoke of the church, the Greek word for "church" is "ekklesia"---which is a body of people.  Therefore the church of Christ is ekklesia, the body of believers in Him.  And as the disciples and apostles of Christ departed Jerusalem to take the Gospel of Christ to the uttermost parts of the world, they spoke of Christ and Christ alone and people believed, were baptized, and they became part of the ekklesia.
     If you recall, too, it was under the leadership of Constantine the Great, emperor of the Roman Empire, who commissioned the empire to construct church buildings in order for Christians to have buildings just as the pagans had buildings.  And it was also Constantine who changed ekklesia to Christianity and it was he who ordered Christianity to be the state religion of the Roman Empire.
    Therefore, when ekklesia became the religion Christianity, that was the beginning of problems and the seeds of problems that were sown at that time have produced problems ever since that day:  in slow and in subtle ways.
    For now, people can be invited to church to see wonderful buildings with carpeted floors, padded pews, dangling chandeliers, and plenty of parking space.  People can be invited to hear a wonderful musical program, kids can come out on Tuesday nights to play basketball in the gym, seniors go bowling on Thursday mornings, and the little ones can make trinkets before having cookies and punch.  We have plenty of activities for everybody and surely there is a place where you can fit and be comfortable. 
   When the church of Christ became a religion, something else happened.  When the Word of God ceased to be the primary source of teaching and understanding of Christ, people divided themselves in various factions with the Protestant Reformation, the church of Christ became a house divided.  For even Jesus said, a house divided against itself cannot stand.
    When the church of Christ became the religion Christianity, and across time, this allowed elements of humanism and paganism to slowly drift into churches; whereas when people were saved up to the time of Constantine, they were freed from the bondage of paganism.
    Where is the evidence?  More than a hundred Christian churches have now departed the fundamentals of Biblical teaching and have deserted Christ to unite with Chrislam and the world church movement.  Not only have they chosen to desert Christ, but they also trying to take Christ with them and mix Him in paganism. 
    If you recall, too, after Moses delivered the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt, many of the people wanted to return to Egypt because they missed their idolatry.  They were unhappy following God.  So then today, these churches that have rebelled against God, have returned to Egypt because they attached themselves to idols.
    We should be thankful for all the Bible-believing churches today that are standing on the foundational believe that Christ is still the way, the truth, and the life.