. . .and the Gates of Hell Shall not Prevail Against It.

As reflected in some of my most recent posts, when I think of the state of the church today, I am deeply troubled. It is times like these that I need to remind myself of the Gospel. It is not by our striving but by God's own hand that the Church shall persevere and ultimately prevail. Nothing is new under the sun. Today's heresies are simply a reincarnation of the ancient heresies of the past. Gnosticism, Pelagianism, and all the other "isms," we have them all today. They have just mutated and shape shifted into new forms. Perhaps that is another reason why we should not be so quick to throw out our church history books. The Westminster divines knew this all to well.

"This catholic Church hath been sometimes more, sometimes less visible. And particular Churches, which are members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced, ordinances administered, and public worship performed more or less purely in them. The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error; and some have so degenerated as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth to worship God according to His will." Westminster Confession of Faith, Chapter XXV -- Of the Church.