Christians To Become As Numerous As The Stars In The Sky? Yes!

[JAG]

JAG Writes:

Will Christians become as numerous as the stars in the sky
and as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore? Yes!

"And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age,
was enabled to bear children because she considered him
faithful who had made the promise. And so from this one
man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as
numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as
the sand on the seashore." Hebrews 11:11-12)

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"

I think not. Why?

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.

I will post some more thoughts on this subject later . . .

``

[JAG]

Continued . . . .
`
JAG Writes:
`
Genesis 22:15-18

"The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time
and said, "I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have
done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely
bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the
sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take
possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring
all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."


Note the particulars:

(1) "I will make your (Abraham) descendants as numerous as the
stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore"

(2) "through your offspring all the nations on earth will be blessed."


Genesis 22:15-18

God said to Abraham, "indeed I will greatly bless you, and I will greatly
multiply your seed as the stars of the heavens and as the sand which
is on the seashore . . . and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall
be blessed."

Note the particulars in Genesis 22:15-18

(1) stars

(2) grains of sand on the seashore

(3) all nations of the earth shall be blessed through Abraham's
descendants. In Romans and Galatians and Hebrews the New
Testament teaches that the Christian Church is the spiritual
children of Abraham. More about that later.

Meanwhile:

How many stars are there in the universe? If you google that
question, you'll get something like this:

"Multiplying the number of galaxies, which is about 2 trillion,
by the 100 million stars in a galaxy suggests there could be
about 10 raised to the 20th power stars in the universe."

That would be trillions and trillions of stars.

Please consider these 5 biblical passages regarding the present and
coming 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

Start quote.
"So also Abraham "believed God, and it was credited to him as
righteousness." Understand, then, that those who have faith
are children of Abraham. Scripture foresaw that God would justify
the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to
Abraham: "All nations will be blessed through you." So those
who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man
of faith. Galatians 3:6-9
End quote.

In Galatians 3:6-9 Paul teaches that those who have faith are the
children of Abraham. (The children of Abraham are therefore the
Christian Church.)

In Genesis 22:15-18 God said to Abraham that he would make his
descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as numerous
as the sand on the seashore. (millions)

So?

So Genesis 22:15-18 clearly CONNECTS with Galatians 3:6-9

So?

So the numbers of the Christian Church (the children of Abraham) will be
as numerous as the numbers of stars in the sky and as numerous as
the sand on the seashore.(millions)

So?

So the following 3 verses cannot be applied to the numerical FUTURE of
the entire Christian Church . . .

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"

Those verses up there (A), (B), (C) CANNOT be given a
historically PREDICTIVE interpretation.

They MUST be interpreted ONLY as describing the numerical conditions
of the first century in which they were written.

If you interpret them to refer to the FUTURE numbers of the Christian
Church then you have created a contradiction. between
Genesis 22:15-18 and Galatians 3:6-9 (and other Bible verses too)

Again the ONLY proposition of my Opening Post and follow-up posts
is that the numerical size of the Christian Church is NOT now, and
never again will be, a "little flock" or "few" in number.


Now add Revelation 7:9-10 which says that there is a great multitude
of the saved from every nation, tribe, people and language and they
are so numerous that no one can count them.

"After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one
could count from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing
before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white
robes . . .and they cried out . . . Salvation belongs to our God who sits
on the throne and to the Lamb." Revelation 7:9-10

So?

So 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"

. . CANNOT be given a historically PREDICTIVE interpretation.
They ONLY describe the small numbers of Christians who lived
in the first century at the beginning of the public ministry of the
Lord Jesus.


Now consider Hebrews 11:11-12 and Romans 4: 16-17

Hebrews 11:11-12 says that from Abraham came descendants as
numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on
the seashore. This is a NEW TESTAMENT verse that says clearly
that the Christian Church is NOT going to remain a "little flock."
or just a "few".

Abraham's descendants have been clearly identified as the Christian
Church in the verses up-thread.

Then add Romans 4: 16-17 that teaches that "Abraham's offspring"
is the Christian Church and says clearly that "He (Abraham) is the
father of us all."

So?

So there is no POSSIBLE way to interpret . . .

(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 being historically PREDICTIVE of the FUTURE numbers
of the Christian Church.

Conclusion:

The final numbers of the Christian Church will be as numerous as the stars
in the sky and the sand on the seashore.

The Christian Church is NOT now and will NEVER again be just a "few"
or a "little flock."

This ought to cheer the hearts and minds of all we Christians.

Moreover, the Lord Jesus deserves a HUGE growing Christian Church in the
world and He is going to have that.

Christendom is right now at 2.3 billion worldwide and we are growing
like wildfire in the Global South, in places like Africa.

Also there is a HUGE growing underground Christian Church in
China. House Church.

And there is an HUGE-ENORMOUS Christian Church in South Korea.

_______________


In Conclusion . . .

"I will build my church and the gates of Hades will not overcome
it" ___The Lord Jesus in Matthew 16:18 NIV

Note the phrase "I will BUILD my church" Does not this phrase and
this verse clearly suggest that the numerical size of His church will
not forever be a "little flock" and only a "few"? My view is that the
Lord Jesus could not successfully BUILD His church if it forever
remained a "little flock" and only a "few" in numbers?

_______


Then consider the Lord Jesus's Great Commission at the end of
Matthew's gospel chapter 28.

Start quote.
"Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where
Jesus had told them to go. When they saw him, they worshiped him;
but some doubted. Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority
in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and
of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything
I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very
end of the age." Matthew 28:16-20
End quote.

Note the particulars:

(1) The Lord Jesus told His disciples to go and make disciples of ALL
the nations, teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.

(2) The Lord Jesus explained that they were to do this because He
NOW had been given all authority in both Heaven and on Earth.

(3) This "all authority" that the Lord Jesus NOW has both in Heaven
and on Earth is the reason why His disciples would be successful in
making disciples of ALL the nations. It is Jesus' power that empowers
the certain success of His Great Commission to His Christian Church.

So?

So Matthew 28:16-20 clearly teaches that the Christian Church will
not forever remain a "little flock" and only a "few" in numbers?

My view is that it would be impossible for the disciples of the Lord
Jesus to successfully make disciples of ALL nations teaching them to
obey the commands of the Lord Jesus --- and at the same time the
Christian Church remain only a "little flock" and only be a "few" in
numbers?

So?

So regarding the Opening Post and all my follow-up posts in this thread,
I conclude that the proposition "The Christian Church is NOT now and
will NEVER again be just a "few" or a "little flock{" --has been established
as true.


May God Bless Us All.

JAG

[Helena]

Sounds like good news for them, then. I'd expect their persecution complex to take a dive, but I guess we'll see.

[JAG]

Sounds like good news for them, then.
I'd expect their persecution complex to
take a dive, but I guess we'll see.
`

Helena,
Thanks for the comment.
Its gonna take mega millenniums yet ahead to hit those OP numbers.
I don't think you & I will live to see the persecution complex percentages
take a dive. I know I hope I don't --- I'm shooting for my 120th birthday
and that's all I want down here , , . lol , , ,

JAG