- Acts 3:24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
Your quotation does not support your contention that "the church has always been God's master plan." Quite the opposite in fact.
In truth the quotation you chose supports the Law. Here it is again along with the next verse or two which clarifies it.
Acts chapter 3
24 Yea, and all the prophets from Samuel and those that follow after, as many as have spoken, have likewise foretold of these days.
25 Ye are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.
What is
the covenant God made with the Jews - "our fathers" as Peter is quoted saying?
Verse 26 explains;
26
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities.
The promise isn't
the church. The promise is Immanuel - Jesus Christ, God with us, who brings grace for salvation.
The church doesn't save anybody.
Jesus saves. Why is this a mystery? Why is this a contentious issue? The reason is that the hearts of mankind refuse to submit humbly to the Lord of Lords - He who is King of the Jews.
Jesus was sent to the Jews FIRST so as to turn them away from their sins. Jewish worship assemblies are not held in a church. They are held in a synagogue or temple. Therefore the passage doesn't refer to a building or even to gentile assemblies. It's referring to
the covenant God made.
What is the difference between the Old Covenant and the New Covenant?
The Law remains as Jesus said, "
I did not come to abolish the Law, I came to fulfill it." (Matt 5:17) God never deletes His word, never sand bags(1) a promise. Therefore the difference in the New Covenant is the addition of God Himself into the lives of mankind in the person of Jesus Christ. The New Covenant has nothing to do with church, but everything to do with the personal intervention into the lives of men and women so as to save and sanctify them SO AS to allow them to live according to the Law.
When God revealed more of His divine plan in the pages of the Bible, the nature of it was in line with The Law. In point of fact, Jesus foretold the decline of gentile fortunes in the End Times.
"
Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled." - Jesus as quoted by Luke 21:24
Jerusalem was liberated by the IDF in June 1967. History records the decline of the church began at that time and has continued to the present day. Important polls such as Gallup and Pew, to name the best, record the decline in regular church attendance (defined as a minimum of one visit to church per month) from 1948 highs to approximately 50% in 2010. Projected trends suggest the decline will continue until 2050 when regular attendance will fall to 10%. Meanwhile the number of Jews making aliyah to Israel has increased dramatically in the same period of time (1967 - 2018). Millions of Jews are returning to Israel while millions of people are staying away from church. The evidence cannot be dismissed.
Europe, the traditional seat of Christianity, is now considered to be a secular continent (as stated by the Vatican). Asia has not embraced the gospel and despite exhaustive efforts by missionary groups in recent years the number of converts hasn't increased substantially at all. Those I've spoken to who have spent time in Japan tell me the church is stagnant. Japanese culture, not Christianity is experiencing a revival. In South America, the population has abandoned Christianity and embraced ancient pagan religions. I've been there myself and also heard sad stories from fleeing missionaries. Africa might have inherited the mantle of Christian evangelism except for numerous local wars and plagues that sweep back and forth across the continent - stifling church growth if not blotting it out altogether. African wars are sponsored by US, European, Russian and Chinese efforts to secure resources such as yellow cake(2).
In Central America, Catholic sponsored Liberation Theology is disrespected and has been generally acknowledged as a failure. Protestant mission groups report moderate success in retaining church membership, but no great increase in numbers. Protestant churches sponsor annual 'mission visits' by small groups, but these only serve as a type of
religious slum tourism. I know this because my son spent several months there and saw it first hand (over and over and over again). The church is not advancing any sort of program in Central America. It's basically treading water. American Protestants return to their homes with a renewed appreciation of their wealthy life style, but rarely give accounts of large numbers of souls saved.
In the US, the gospel has generally lost credibility and legitimacy due to more than a century of doctrines sprouting up among the lunatic fringe of society, of abuses by televangelists and the abandonment of evangelism by denominational church leaders and Christian organizations. The decline of Christendom has been bemoaned by every major leader from the Pope to scholars and theologians of good repute.
In 1967 the Holy Spirit visited the United States and blew holy fire upon the population in a general revival that has not been seen since. The June 21, 1971 issue of TIME magazine featured a story called "The Jesus Revolution". It was hot stuff back then, but church leaders of every denomination rejected the Holy Spirit and its encouragement unto salvation and sanctification. I know because I was there, witnessed the confusion of leaders and their angry reactions to it. The Holy Spirit was rejected by the church and never returned.
And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died
- American Pie Don McLean
The average church in America is in obscene debt to the amount of three to five million dollars each. If this debt were to be called, every one of them would have to close their doors. Financial mismanagement and declining membership is a curse upon the American church. Nobody seems to know what to do about it. There are a few that proceed on a responsible pay-as-you-go basis, but by and large they are the exception not the rule. The church no longer has an effective voice in American culture.
The church is most definitely NOT the master plan of the Master of the Universe. The Master Plan is Israel and the salvation that came through Israel in the person Jesus Christ. The Law remains and Israel as a nation and a people continue to prosper. The church is in serious decline for the first time in 1900 years and few seem to want to admit it. The reason is because the church has cut itself off from its own spiritual root - Jesus Christ.
When I attempted to work and study for the ministry in an official capacity, I went to seminary. After completing Masters Degree level studies in Theology and Church History, I was called into the office of the Dean of Studies and Ministry. He told me that I had to recant my faith in Christ and to cease insisting that one must be saved. "
Why can't you understand the ministry is just a job," he asked of me. THIS is the nature and substance of the church today and THIS is why the organized institutional church is most definitely NOT God's ultimate master plan.
Meanwhile religious fakers make exorbitant claims about success so as to elicit donations, most of which end up in their personal bank accounts. Its very much like propaganda issued by the enemies of the Allied powers during WWII which made false claims about fictitious victories when in fact their whole nation was collapsing around them. Abraham Lincoln once said, "you can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all of the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time." The condition of the church in the first quarter of the twenty-first century is dire and only con artists and liars suggest otherwise.
God's plan is evident in the world in the State of Israel and the testimony of the saints.
THAT dear reader is the true condition of the church today. I earnestly beg you to open your eyes and consider the obvious. The Law stands. The church is failing and the future can be seen in the fortunes of the State of Israel and the hand of Almighty God among the body of believers.
May God bless Israel and those who humbly submit to her King - Jesus Christ.
that's me, hollering from the choir loft...
(1) sand bagging - to perform a hustle or a type of cheat as in a game. A dishonest promise or action. A confidence or con game.
(2) Yellow cake is not a reference to a dessert confection. Google it. War in Africa isn't about freedom or terrorism. Its about nukes for nations and diamonds and rare earth elements for civilians - with a tiny amount of oil thrown in to lubricate the engines of bloodshed.