Is The Christian Church Now A "Little Flock" ? NO.

[God's Truth]

Not at the present time...no.

No such time will Jesus be divided.

 

[JudgeRightly]

No such time will Jesus be divided.

Are you disallowing God from having different programs for different groups of people at different times?

 

[steko]

No such time will Jesus be divided.

I never said that Jesus is divided.
You are not understanding the point.
The point is that the word 'church/assembly/congregation/ekklesia' is used to describe different assemblies of people.
The word 'church/ekklesia' simply means 'an assembly of people, assembled for one purpose or another, not always the same.

For instance:
This verse speaks of the whole assembly of the nation of Israel:

Act_7:38 This is he, that was in the church[ekklesia] in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

and is not this assembly/ekklesia which is the body of Christ...the church/assembly.

Col_1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church[ekklesia]: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

There are local churches/assemblies/ekklesia, each being different assemblies/ churches:

The church/assembly at Ephesus was not the church/assembly at Corinth. They were different assemblies, yet individual true believers from each of those different assemblies/churches were part of the one church/assembly which is a spiritual entity called the body of Christ and whose citizenship is in heaven.

The word 'church' simply means 'assembly'.... not always the same 'assembly'.

 

[oatmeal]

Do these three Bible verses teach that Christians are now,
and will be in the future, few in numbers? No!

(A) Luke 12:32's "little flock"
(B) Matthew 7:14's "only a few find it"
(C) Matthew 22:14's "many are invited, but few are chosen"

Why not few in numbers?

Because there are well over 2,300,000,000 Christians in the world
.and 2.3 billion Christians cannot be a "little flock" or only a "few".

There are over 16,000,000 Southern Baptist in the United States.
Sixteen million Christians cannot be a "little flock" or a "few."

There are over 1300 Protestant mega-churches in the United States
with weekly attendance over 2000. That many Christians cannot
be a "little flock" or just a "few."

There are over 3000 Catholic churches in the world with a weekly attendance
of over 2000. This many Christians cannot be just a "few" or a "little flock."


Anticipated objection:

"Those people up there are not true Christians."___John Small Church

My reply to John Small Church:

It is absolutely impossible for you to know for certain that they are not
true Christians. You do not have the power or the authority to judge
the hearts of other people. That's just a fact and its an absolute fact.
Only God has the power and the authority to judge the hearts of people
and to know if they are, or are not, true Christians.

I say all this, John Small Church, in the spirit of love and kindness.
Remember this: You, like all Christians, are imperfect. You are not sinless.

Therefore any one of those 2.3 billion Christians could look at the
imperfections in your life and they could say about you, what you
just said about them, namely that you are not a true Christian.
So the conversation can end up like this:

Bob: I am a true Christian, but you Tom, are not a true Christian.
Tom: No Bob, I am a true Christian, but you are not a true Christian.
Bob: No Tom, you do not meet my standards for being a true Christian.
Tom: No Bob, you do not meet my standards for being a true Christian

________________


I plan to consider these 5 biblical passages regarding the
HUGE-ENORMOUS numbers of the Christian Church.

(1) Genesis 22:15-18 with
(2) Galatians 3:6-9 with
(3) Romans 4:16-17 with
(4) Hebrews 11:11-12 with
(5) Revelation 7:9-10

Meanwhile this thought:

"As of the year 2015, Christianity has more than 2.3 billion adherents,
out of about 7.5 billion people. The faith represents one-third of the
world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with the three
largest groups being the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and
the Eastern Orthodox Church."__wiki

______


Clearly, Christianity is not now a "little flock" and it is impossible to interpret
the Bible as teaching that the Christian Church is always going to be a "little
flock." When was Christianity a "little flock"? Answer: It was a "little flock"
at the time the Lord Jesus spoke the words of Luke 12:32. At that time
there was probably less than 300 Christians in the entire world of the
1st century. The Christian Church is not a "little flock" now and
will never again be a "little flock."

So?

So clearly these verses . .

(A) Luke 12:32's "little flock"
(B) Matthew 7:14's "only a few find it"
(C) Matthew 22:14's "many are invited, but few are chosen" . . .

. . .are NOT predictive of the future of the numerical size of the Christian Church.



`

Those verses have nothing to do with Christianity.

They deal with Jesus serving and ministring to the lost sheep of the house of Israel

Matthew 15:24
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Christianity did not start until the day of Pentecost at the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit

 

[JAGG]

Those verses have nothing to do with Christianity.

They deal with Jesus serving and ministring to the lost sheep of the house of Israel

Matthew 15:24
But he answered and said, I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

Christianity did not start until the day of Pentecost at the outpouring of the gift of the Holy Spirit

Thanks for your comments. I have no desire to discuss Dispensationalism
in this thread. My goal in this thread is to establish as true the proposition
that Christendom is not now, and never again will be, few in numbers.
Why do I want to do this? Because a significant number of Christians
on the Internet quote . .

(A) Luke 12:32's "little flock"
(B) Matthew 7:14's "only a few find it"
(C) Matthew 22:14's "many are invited, but few are chosen" . . .

. .. . . as proof texts saying that Christendom is now, and will always be, few in numbers.

I prefer to emphasize the following:
There are well over 2,300,000,000 Christians in the world
.and 2.3 billion Christians cannot be only a "few".

"As of the year 2015, Christianity has more than 2.3 billion adherents,
out of about 7.5 billion people. The faith represents one-third of the
world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with the three
largest groups being the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and
the Eastern Orthodox Church."__wiki

`
`

 

[God's Truth]

I never said that Jesus is divided.
You are not understanding the point.
The point is that the word 'church/assembly/congregation/ekklesia' is used to describe different assemblies of people.
The word 'church/ekklesia' simply means 'an assembly of people, assembled for one purpose or another, not always the same.

For instance:
This verse speaks of the whole assembly of the nation of Israel:

Act_7:38 This is he, that was in the church[ekklesia] in the wilderness with the angel which spake to him in the mount Sina, and with our fathers: who received the lively oracles to give unto us:

and is not this assembly/ekklesia which is the body of Christ...the church/assembly.

Col_1:18 And he is the head of the body, the church[ekklesia]: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the preeminence.

There are local churches/assemblies/ekklesia, each being different assemblies/ churches:

The church/assembly at Ephesus was not the church/assembly at Corinth. They were different assemblies, yet individual true believers from each of those different assemblies/churches were part of the one church/assembly which is a spiritual entity called the body of Christ and whose citizenship is in heaven.

The word 'church' simply means 'assembly'.... not always the same 'assembly'.

There is only one church and it is the body of Christ.


Colossians 1:24
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.

Ephesians 1:22 And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 5:30
For we are members of His body.

 

[steko]

There is only one church and it is the body of Christ.


Colossians 1:24
Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.

Ephesians 1:22 And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

Ephesians 5:30
For we are members of His body.

So... according to your unwavering stance, since there is only one ekklesia in Scripture, Acts 19:32 is logically referring to the church, the body of Christ.

I disagree that Acts 19:32 refers to the Church, the body of Christ, nevertheless they are called the 'ekklesia'.

 

[God's Truth]

So... according to your unwavering stance, since there is only one ekklesia in Scripture, Acts 19:32 is logically referring to the church, the body of Christ.

I disagree that Acts 19:32 refers to the Church, the body of Christ, nevertheless they are called the 'ekklesia'.

You keep bring up a scripture that is speaking of pagans. The church has nothing to do with pagans.

 

[truechristian]

Do these three Bible verses teach that Christians are now,
and will be in the future, few in numbers? No!

(A) Luke 12:32's "little flock"
(B) Matthew 7:14's "only a few find it"
(C) Matthew 22:14's "many are invited, but few are chosen"

Why not few in numbers?.


`

CATHOLICS are pagans who worship idols of Ishtar/Venus the Queen of Heaven and their sungod Baal.
All 1.3 billion of them men, women and children will be destroyed just as GOD regulalry destroyed nations of idolaters in the past!

FYI the pagan catholic church you call Christian is actually Simon Magus's imitation that he set up in Rome with many sorceries and magics.

 

[steko]

You keep bring up a scripture that is speaking of pagans. The church has nothing to do with pagans.

The word 'church' is German.
The translators chose that word to refer to the Christian Assembly and it was transliterated into English.
The word in the Greek is ekklesia.
Ekklesia is variously translated as church, assembly, congregation, etc,.
There is only one ekklesia/assembly which is the 'church, the body of Christ'.
There are other 'assemblies/ekklesia' in the Bible that are not the body of Christ church.
'The church in the wilderness'-KJV of Act_7:38 is corporate Israel and is not 'the church body of Christ'.

 

[God's Truth]

The word 'church' is German.
The translators chose that word to refer to the Christian Assembly and it was transliterated into English.
The word in the Greek is ekklesia.
Ekklesia is variously translated as church, assembly, congregation, etc,.
There is only one ekklesia/assembly which is the 'church, the body of Christ'.
There are other 'assemblies/ekklesia' in the Bible that are not the body of Christ church.
'The church in the wilderness'-KJV of Act_7:38 is corporate Israel and is not 'the church body of Christ'.

To get saved one must go through Jesus as what he taught in the New Testament. That is the point I make.

 

[steko]

To get saved one must go through Jesus as what he taught in the New Testament. That is the point I make.

Okay. I've got other things to do now.

 

[oatmeal]

Thanks for your comments. I have no desire to discuss Dispensationalism
in this thread. My goal in this thread is to establish as true the proposition
that Christendom is not now, and never again will be, few in numbers.
Why do I want to do this? Because a significant number of Christians
on the Internet quote . .

(A) Luke 12:32's "little flock"
(B) Matthew 7:14's "only a few find it"
(C) Matthew 22:14's "many are invited, but few are chosen" . . .

. .. . . as proof texts saying that Christendom is now, and will always be, few in numbers.

I prefer to emphasize the following:
There are well over 2,300,000,000 Christians in the world
.and 2.3 billion Christians cannot be only a "few".

"As of the year 2015, Christianity has more than 2.3 billion adherents,
out of about 7.5 billion people. The faith represents one-third of the
world's population and is the largest religion in the world, with the three
largest groups being the Catholic Church, Protestantism, and
the Eastern Orthodox Church."__wiki

`
`

Good thing I was not referring to dispensationalism then, I was referring to the truth that Jesus was a minister to the circumcision, ie, Israel.

Romans 15:8

Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

 

[God's Truth]

Okay. I've got other things to do now.

No one was put in Christ yet. We are put in Christ after he did and ascended to heaven. It happens when he sends his Spirit to live in the saved.


1 Corinthians 10:3 They all ate the same spiritual food 4 and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Nevertheless, God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the wilderness.

 

[God's Truth]

Good thing I was not referring to dispensationalism then, I was referring to the truth that Jesus was a minister to the circumcision, ie, Israel.

Romans 15:8

Now I say that Jesus Christ was a minister of the circumcision for the truth of God, to confirm the promises made unto the fathers:

Jesus came to give a new covenant that would be based on faith. Those Jews who already had faith in God before Jesus came, they now had to go through Jesus and have faith in him to remain Gods, and the rest of the Jews were cut off to the same place as the disobedient Gentiles. Jesus said when he is crucified then all could come to him to be saved, the Gentiles and even the cut off Jews; but they have to get saved the same way, through obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

[Trump Gurl]

CATHOLICS are pagans who worship idols

You're an idiot and an imbecile.

 

[truechristian]

You're an idiot and an imbecile.

Trumpy, You're an idiot and an imbecile. You have cognitive dissonance and strong delusions because you will not look at the evidence I quoted.
If you don't see it it isn't real is childish.
Satan is delighted how so brainwashed you pagans are!