Great thread, Joe!
Coming in so late all I can do is recap... first paraphrasing your points...
The churches are the
skimmed milk of the Word
and those who hunger for meatier spiritual food
come out and seek His truth diligently [if I may add, as guided BY Him.] Further... through His spirit, the churches are serving the purpose(s) God has intended for them. Ho! Plan of God!
Now paraphrasing some grand thoughts from a few others...
And yes CIY, 'it
IS amazing that the church [Babylon]
IS the place
TO LEARN ABOUT GOD... and
you must leave and go into the wilderness to experience and come to
know God.' Further... 'And it is wonderful that God
CAUSES you to do
everything you do but still, it is through the foolishness of preaching that one is
dragged to the truth.' Great points.
Cindy I usually think of them as 'blinded' rather than 'confused,' or as Peggy said... "the truth is hidden from them."
Rom 11: 32 For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. [KJV]
This is one of those verses where it is
really fun to check all the different translations.... [check out more than these]
[Rotherham's]... For God hath shut up ALL together, in a refusal to yield...
[CLNT]... For God locks up ALL together in stubbornness...
[Online Greek-English Interlinear]... [for] together locks the God THE ALL into unpersuadableness...
[Emphatic Diaglott]... Shut up for the God THE ALL for disobedience...
The only parting thoughts of my own are that YET they STILL want to build MORE CHURCHES... more church buildings, more churches... AS IF
ONE MORE church building IS GOING TO
HELP THE SITUATION that is quite obviously "waxing worse"... and worse...
Oh Happy Day, when He wash our tears away,
Janice