When the writer reads this he understands that it is Christ that adds to His church daily such as should be saved. A debate on this verse would focus on the "should be saved" portion. The debate should, however, be upon "the Lord" portion of this verse. The writer (and majority of his readers) understand that God sovereignly and irresistably adds to His church those for whom Christ died. We understand that the term "church" refers to the mystical body of the "called". Those who are added to the church are ushered in by the Spirit's irresistable work of regeneration and subsequent conversion. The Spirit uses the applied Word of God to bring about this new life. The writer understands that the above can be expanded, but he presents merely the gist.
While the above could certainly be a point of debate, the above is not the point of this posting. The point of this posting is to assault those who worship and lust after numbers. The average preacher today is a luster of numbers. The world accuses preachers of greed. As is usually the case, the world is wrong. Most preachers are not greedy of financial gain. They are greedy of church growth for pride's sake. They sacrifice scripture truth to the alter of the god that is church growth. They use code words like "soul winning", "outreach", and "being burdened for the lost" in order to grow their "business". I call it "business" because they use worldy business methods and ignore the scriptures' injunction to "love not the world" and "the friend of the world is the enemy of God." Number-lusting preachers tell their starving flocks that "the blood of the lost will be on their hands!" This is the heresy that many missionaries are happy to use. While the false preacher will defend the heresy, he will reject the God-honoring preachers who can truly feed the flock.
These preachers use "VBS" and gifts/awards in order to bribe kids to come to church. The whole purpose in bringing the children to church is in the hopes of blackmailing the parents to come and hear their deceived kids sing unscriptural songs by unqualified teachers and hear a false gospel message.
Preachers are willing to forsake God's teaching on repentance and sanctification to "get people saved". They will redefine "belief" to be an acknowledging of a series of (misrepresented) facts by bowed heads and raised hands. If no one raises their hand, the "minister of light" will falsely say, "I see that hand," which will cause a whirlwind of hands being raised by the unregenerate (to the excitement of the number-lusting preacher.) The preacher then will brag on the number of people he has "brought to the Lord" while neglecting to acknowledge his denial of biblical truth.
If you are a pastor, preach the truth and let God add to your number as He sees fit. This writer left a church a couple years ago because of the above. He now teaches sound, historical Christianity to a handful of people in his home, and is willing and able to defend his teaching. He would rather teach the handful of people who love the Lord and His Word than a churchful of carnal number-loving tares. Growth of the individual is a sign of God's blessings and not the growth of a church through the denial of God, His demands, and His truths.
Buried in Christ,
St. Loder
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