By God's Spirit

I know your works as well as your labor and endurance, and that you cannot tolerate evil. You have even put to the test those who claim themselves as apostles (but are not), and have exposed them to be false. I am also aware that you have persisted consistently, endured much for the sake of my name, and have not grown tired.
Revelation 2.2-5

These late days have indeed marked a resurgence in public proclamation and the diligent, if cold, pursuit of doctrinal knowledge. The great, far-reaching engine known as the Internet, hath left an indelible impression upon the rise of the "commendable church"—its loud preaching, its zeal for head-knowledge, and its strict, though often selectively merciless, administration of the church law. Behold the spectacle: Even those outside the very covenant of Christ are made aware of ministers' visages and their names upon the public board, whensoever they perform a deed deemed worthy. The visible church hath sung God's praises and performed its every task, albeit often in earthly comfort, invoking His Holy Name. Yet, I confess, the declaration, "In Jesus' Name," is now become a cliché of no spiritual value, as common and thoughtless as the mere period that closes a sentence. There she stands in the temple, filled with great knowledge, yet the mind's grasp is fleeting. The Head doth easily forget , and when it desires to recall truth without the necessary labor of understanding, its impulse is to retreat into the hollow comfort of ritual and outward form.

I find it appalling how people forgot that in high school one can memorize the day's lesson without understanding it. Understanding is what gives worth to knowledge. Applying it in real life is evidence you've understood. I've always told my children, if they memorize the lesson, they will forget it in a month or two, but if they understand it top to bottom, then they can teach it to others even in their old age.

But I have this against you: You have departed from your first love.

The difference between the visible but lukewarm church and the invisible but true church is not in its social standing and financial capacity. It is in its understanding and living out of the two great commandments. The visible church will have an eye for accomplishing more (Matthew 7.22), the invisible church will remain faithful to what God has entrusted to it (Matthew 25.21). Faithfulness trumps accomplishments every time. Be it in this world and in the next. The visible church will do everything in the name of God, the invisible church will do everything for the love of God.

Love for God is the difference. It is what makes the motivation pure. Oh, but many will claim a great love for God without the evidence of showing mercy for their fellow-believers, and even those who think differently than they do. The professing church has forsaken love and mercy in exchange for denomination and doctrine. Perhaps it believes itself 'established' and better when lined up against the seven churches in Revelation.

Therefore, remember from what high state you have fallen and repent! Do the deeds you did at the first; if not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place – that is, if you do not repent.

Let us consider this truth with gravity: the Lampstand is not the promise of salvation, but the very power to bear witness for our Christ! Yet, reflect upon the multitude of professing churches throughout the land , and consider how pervasive the spiritual darkness remains. Think upon the plight of the heathen sailors, striving with all their might to keep the sinking vessel afloat, while the prophet Jonah lies below, given over to the sleep of indifference! Behold the many boastful pastors, with their meticulously prepared sermons that possess no spiritual fire, for they utterly fail to bridge the dreadful chasm between the stern admonitions of Holy Writ and the present, bitter reality of the world! The visible Church reveals itself to be what it has ever been: fearful and faithless to truly lay down its neck for the advance of the Gospel. It possesses no true soldiers of the cross, but only mere attendees who warm the seats. It boasts no generals fit for spiritual warfare, but only hireling shepherds who care not for the flock. It possesses no heavenly power, but relies on the weak scaffolding of man-made programs.

But let the soul be comforted! Despite the spectacle of the visible institution, God is, even now, ceaselessly building His true Church! And whom does the Master Builder employ for this eternal work? He bypasses the high and the mighty, choosing instead the Gideons , the weak, the lowly, the few, those who are unsure yet entirely willing to be used by His hand. His instruments are never the corporate, the polished, or the financially sound, but rather the foolish things of this world, selected to confound the wisdom of men. He seeks not the merely professing who speak His Name, but the truly believing who live in holy fear and love.

He does not call forth the ordained showman with his fine cloth and practiced eloquence, but rather the camel-skinned, rugged, unpopular, and ridiculous prophet, whose only authority is the Word of God upon his tongue and the fire of the Spirit in his very being. Thus, we rest secure in the knowledge that His work will be completed, not by the strength of man, but by the power of Him who chooses the weak to shame the strong.

Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit,  says the LORD of hosts.
Zechariah 4.6