At that time many will turn away from the faith
and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and
deceive many people.
[Matthew 24:11]
There will be a revival of religion that will sweep the world in the last days. It will not, however, represent the truth - instead, multitudes will be deceived by false gospels, false prophets, and false messiahs preparing the way for the appearance of the Antichrist.
The church in America, and indeed the entire world, is sinking deeper into the last-days apostasy foretold by Christ and His apostles. Jesus warned that false prophets will appear and deceive many people and today as the last days draw nearer to a close, false teachers and preachers are gaining in popularity while more and more people are turning to their idols of destruction.
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. [1 Timothy 4:1]
It would appear that Satan is well on the way to success in his goal of enslaving the world, and to accomplish his dark objectives, he has reestablished his Church, Mystery Babylon [Rev. 17].
Counterfeit
Christianity
False forms of Christianity have become increasingly
popular in our culture and it seems there is a resurgence of interest in things
"spiritual." The media has been compliant with its recent offerings of
everything from Brad Pitt scaling a Tibetan mountainside in search of divine
inspiration to Nothing Sacred, the controversial TV drama that features
a sometimes fallible priest. Joan Osborne sings "What if God Was One of Us,"
while Michael Jordan, jogging in Tibet in a Gatorade commercial, encounters a
holy man who tells him "Life is a sport: drink it up."
Then there are the millions throughout the world who are involved in the occult, astrology, witchcraft, spiritism and Satanism. The Harry Potter series of seven fantasy novels promoting witchcraft among children, written by English author J. K. Rowling. have sold more than 325 million copies and have been translated into more than 64 languages.
Millions of Americans look to Oprah Winfrey and her new age advisors such as Marianne Williamson and Eckhart Tolle for counsel about their lives as they reject the saving grace of God.
The most obvious sign of the spiritual decline of the church is apathy - apathy towards the house of God, the Word of God and the presence of God. Apathy sometimes overtakes a believer - even an entire body of believers - before they are even aware anything is wrong. The fruit of apathy is apostasy.
For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. [2 Timothy 4:3-4]
Despite the clear declaration by God that His statutes, laws and judgements are everlasting, many have chosen their own way dismissing God's commandments as being meaningless in light of the end of the Old Testament sacrificial system and the destruction of the Second Temple in A.D. 70.
“It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God". - Matthew 4:4
It's rare to hear a preacher teach from "every word that comes from the mouth of God," calling his flock to fully obey God and even more rare for them to warn their flock of the consequences of their rebellion. For these and many others, they choose to practice a system laid out in the 10 planks of communism rather than the 10 Commandments system ordained by God. Some have already aligned themselves with the Antichrist system to prepare their flock to accept the mark of the beast.
The appearances of these false gospels, false Christ's and false prophets is only a prelude to the final apostasy. They are only preparing the way for the ultimate antichrist who will set himself up in the temple and declare himself to be God. You might say he is preparing his followers to accept his ultimate lie.
What fuels this apostasy?
Unbelief:
Implicit or explicit rejection of the
authority of God's Word is being spread throughout
the Church, often, it seems, with the explicit purpose of leading God's people
away from His Word, and sometimes to the active encouragement of immorality.
Pulpits across America are silent about sin and do not tell their
congregations of their need for repentance. Rather, they preach a politically
correct gospel of "tolerance" of sin.
According to Ralph Martin,
"Even when the unique and absolute claims of Christ are not clearly rejected
on an intellectual level, syncretism often fosters an emotional hostility to
such claims. This creates an atmosphere that saps the strength of Christianity
as effectively as explicit apostasy. If belief about the unique and absolute
claims of Christ is unclear, then faith is corrupted, worship becomes enfeebled
and distorted, and evangelism ceases." [Ralph Martin, A
Crises of Truth (Ann Arbor, MI: Servant Books, 1982), pg. 21.]
According to a recent survey by the Barna Research Group, while 88% believe
Jesus Christ was a real person, what they believe about Him differs sharply
from scriptural teaching. Forty-two percent of those surveyed believe that
while He lived on earth, Jesus committed sins, just like other people. Even
among born-again Christians, one-quarter believe Jesus sinned during His time
on earth.
In the book, The Da Vinci Code, author Dan Brown claims
"almost everything our fathers taught us about Christ is false." For example,
Brown suggests that Jesus married Mary Magdalene as he raises doubts of the
origins and legitimacy of orthodox Christianity. The Da Vinci Code was a
worldwide bestseller with more than 60.5 million copies sold.
Other
pulpits are silent about sin because those sitting in the pews do not want to
hear anything that might shatter their perceived security. Or, maybe the
preacher is more interested in the collection plate and he believes that if he
preaches anything controversial, he will lose some large contributors... or
worse yet, lose their 501(c)3 tax exempt status granted by the godless
emperor.
Ignorance:
Without regular communication with God through
prayer and regular, systematic study of God's Word, we are at the mercy of the
doctrinal storms that are raging in the church today. Much of Christendom is
now in an apostate condition as professing believers accept "new revelations"
even though it conflicts with the revealed Word of God.
New Age occultism of every variety is exploding not
only in the secular world but also in the church in what is indeed the greatest
worldwide revival of paganism ever known. Spanning
the globe and encompassing hundreds of millions of teachers and disciples, it
has within its fold thousands of individual cults, churches, groups, and
organizations. Those who preach a distorted gospel are even gaining strategic
leadership positions in denominations and theological schools, enabling them to
deceive and mislead many within the church.
All kinds of radical
groups claim some affinity to the gospel of Jesus Christ and only serve to
confuse the non-churched and borderline Christian. The KKK for example has as
one if its rallying cries, "We are Warriors fighting for our great white race,
our families and our savior Jesus Christ." When
Masons quote from the Bible,
references to Christ are omitted, and prayer is never allowed to be offered (in
a "well-ordered" lodge) in the name of Jesus Christ. Masons do not care whether
a person privately petitions God or Jehovah, Allah or Buddha, Mohammed or
Jesus, the God of Israel or the "Great First Cause," but in the Lodge, the only
petition allowed is to the "Great Architect of the Universe."
In many
ways the Church has turned to the beliefs, teachings and practices of the world
and the cults, from the penchant for humanistic psychology among conservative
evangelicals to the cultic affinity for godhood and the demonstration of
godlike powers among more extreme charismatics. Popular movements and teachers
are influencing the Church to take dominion over the earth, to set up the
Kingdom as a requirement for Christ to return, to produce signs and wonders,
and to solve its problems through unbiblical methods such as self-esteem
therapies, 12-step recovery programs, inner-healing rituals, "binding demons"
strategies, and "Christian" mysticism. Many professing Christian leaders
promote unity by demoting doctrine and encourage ecumenism to include even overt paganism.
Fear:
A large part of the church is held in bondage
because of fear of the unknown. They don't know their Bibles and they don't
know about the promises of God. Rather, they rely on what others tell them.
Self help books flourish and authors fill bookshelves with titles extolling
every kind of human wisdom - but they do not contain the truth of Scripture.
Fear drives some to seek knowledge in places where truth is the most
distorted. New Age teachers abound with messages from ascended masters and
spirit guides.
For example, one
popular quasi-christian movement surrounds the writings of Helen Schucman who
penned "A Course in Miracles," which teaches that the world, sin, sickness are
all illusions which can be overcome with the power of the mind. Where you find
the "Course" you will often also find teachings about reincarnation, Yoga,
dream rap, channelling, Christ consciousness, pyramidology, astrology,
meditation, metaphysics, shamanism, Hinduism, and Buddhism. You might expect to
find these teachings at some remote New Age retreat center, but incredibly "A
Course in Miracles" is the text being used by many Sunday School classes in
some mainline Christian churches. I personally was first introduced to the
study at one of Wichita's leading evangelical churches.
For many
Christians caught in the web of fear, they profess faith but look to works for
their salvation for they have no faith. They judge others according to their
works as well for that is their only barometer, i.e. that which they can see.
They walk by sight exclusively and not by faith. What can I do for God? And,
what are you doing for God? They can be very busy workers, but they do not
listen to the voice.
Carnality:
There is little
focus on Christ's second coming because that would end the pursuit of pleasure
and prosperity. Instead of Christ as the object of affection, the popular
church is attracted to a celebrity, an evangelist, a project, a political
cause, a fund-raising campaign, a new building, or supposed miracles and
healings. Faith has turned to fantasy with a message of health, wealth, and
comfort. In that kind of environment "easy believism" flourishes and many
people who associate themselves with the church aren't even Christians. They
may have a form of godliness, but they deny its power. Satan is still using
this form of deception, and often his representatives are being disguised as
ministers of righteousness. While propagating that which brings death and
darkness to the mind and heart of the sinner, they profess to be
representatives of enlightened living. This is satanic deception.
Theology in many modern churches is focused on meeting people's needs, on
solving one's own problems so one can live more comfortably. Few churches hold
to a Christ-centered faith that helps a believer stand in the midst of his
trials. "For all too often the twentieth-century church takes its cues and
defines its role by the ways of the world. It accommodates a consumer-oriented
culture that wants, above all else, to feel good. And it focuses on action at
the expense of character, on doing rather than being. There is nothing wrong
with seeking to meet people's needs or creating programs to do so. The church
setting should be an environment where non-Christians feel welcome. The church
should grow. But when programs and growth become the central focus, the church
is in danger of profaning her first Love... In danger of trivializing the
holy." [Charles Colson, The Body, pg. 381.]
Are you
prepared?
Are you armed with the truth so as to recognize the lie
and extinguish the firey darts of satan? Are you burdened with a sinful past
that weighs you down and makes you feel unworthy? Maybe you've lived a good
life, went to church every Sunday, and followed the Ten Commandments as best
you could. But, you're still unsure of what right you have to enter heaven.
Friend, there is an answer you can find right here!
The Coming Crisis And The End Of
Days
Soon this world will be thrown into a time of great tribulation.
God's word tells us that, before the end, there will only be a small number who
will stand firmly on the Rock of Truth in preparation for the crisis that is
soon to over-take the earth.
