There
is a message being preached in certain "Christian" circles that grieves my
spirit and compels me to respond. In a nutshell, what is being taught and
widely accepted is that the Body of Christ, His Church on earth is in the
midst of this great revival that will one day soon culminate in His
return. In other words this revival is swelling the ranks of the Church to
the point where all who are INTENDED to be saved will soon
BE saved and henceforth there is nothing
left but for Jesus to come claim what is His. Those who are putting forth
this message are nothing more than spin doctors, spinning the truth of
God's Word into a lie; a lie that serves their own bellies. It is the
spirit of Satan working through the pride of unrepentant man to undermine
Jesus. It's nothing new! However it becomes more intense as we approach
the end of this age. Listen to the Apostle Paul addressing the earliest
Church:
"Take heed therefore unto
yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made
you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with His
own blood.
For I know this, that after my
departing shall GRIEVOUS WOLVES enter in among you, NOT SPARING THE FLOCK.
Also of your own selves
shall MEN arise, SPEAKING PERVERSE THINGS, to draw away disciples after
them." [ACTS 20:28-31]
These "wolves" who are using
distortions of God's Word to devour sheep are invariably standing in front
of a TV. camera reaching millions of viewers. They are often times
also standing in front of one of these so-called mega-churches. The
mega-churches are part of the props that help sell the illusion of a great
revival to the TV. audiences. Carnal minds are being sold on the illusion
that physical attendance
in a physical structure is equivalent to
being a member of the body of Christ. The reality of that illusion
is devastating. False prophets are preaching a select and distorted Gospel
in order to swell attendance which in turn swells the offering plate which
in turn enriches those presenting the message...ALL at the expense of
someone's salvation. Hell is no longer preached because it makes people
uncomfortable. Never mind that God made more references to hell than He
did to heaven. We can't have uncomfortable sinners. Are these messengers
saying that the Holy Spirit has the power to convict a sinner but not
enough power to bring him to repentance? After all, isn't THAT the whole
objective...ISN'T IT?? In conjunction with this omission comes a gross
distortion. God's nature of love and mercy are isolated. No mention is
made that He is also a just God who cannot condone sin and is capable of
wrath the likes of which will one day soon make all creation tremble. From
that omission we get- by implication- a gospel of salvation without
repentance. Added to that we are told that prosperity is ours for the
asking but in order to facilitate the process we are under moral
obligation to enhance someone else's-namely the one doing the talking.
Diseases no longer have power over us nor do the calamities of everyday
life that plague others.
My God! With a message like
that NO WONDER the seats are full at these mega-churches. They're
promising a free ride here on earth with a pocket full of money to get us
by until we can leave this earth. The kicker is that the NEXT place which
will be even BETTER than this one. Now if THAT won't bring them in, then
NOTHING will! So millions of people flock to these "bearers of good
tidings" and throw their money at them and cling to the false hope
they dangle before their faces. After all, giving money and "just
believing" is so much easier than having to discover the reality of God's
Word for themselves. Someone needs to understand that Jesus IS God's Word.
You CANNOT have a relationship with Jesus vicariously through someone
else. That's tantamount to placing them in position to be your god. And so
it is against this backdrop that millions are accepting without question
the message that the Church is amidst its greatest revival in preparation
for Christ's return
Oh, it sounds good, no
doubt. And if I wanted to look at the world around me with strictly a
"world" view, I could accept it as true. After all, the church pews are
full and based on the lavishly furnished churches, prosperity seems to
abound. The message must be true because it s working for someone. The
only problem I have with that approach is that when I accepted Jesus as my
Saviour I also accepted Him as my Lord. In so doing I surrendered my way
of seeing things to His. His perspective on ALL matters is:
"Judge not according to the
appearance, but judge righteous judgment."
[JOHN
7:24]
I can't trust myself to see the truth in a
matter. That sinful nature will cloud my vision every time. I need a
higher standard of truth.
"Sanctify them through thy
truth: THY WORD IS TRUTH." [JOHN 17:17]
Who hasn't figured out yet that appearances
can fool you? That's a lesson even a child learns at an early age. Yet
somehow as we reach adulthood we acquire this egotistical arrogance that
says "It can't happen to me." All the while Jesus is speaking to us saying
things like:
"Now the SERPENT was MORE
SUBTIL than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." [GENESIS
3:1]
"...SATAN
himself IS TRANSFORMED INTO AN ANGEL OF LIGHT; Therefore it is no great
thing if HIS MINISTERS ALSO BE TRANSFORMED AS THE MINISTERS OF
RIGHTEOUSNESS; whose end shall be according to their works." [2
CORINTHIANS 11:12-15]
"And there was war in
heaven...And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the
devil, and SATAN, WHICH DECEIVETH THE WHOLE WORLD..." [REVELATION 12:7-9]
Those are dire warnings as to the nature of
our enemy and the nature of our limitations. And yet...
The Apostle Paul did not leave
a clear or lengthy record as to the rapture of the Church therefore I'll
leave that to someone else. But what Paul DID leave a very clear and
lengthy record on was the condition of the professing Church at Jesus'
return.
See if you can spot the "revival" in Paul's
words.
"Now we beseech you, brethren,
by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto
Him,
That ye be not soon shaken in
mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as
from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
LET NO MAN DECEIVE YOU BY ANY
MEANS: for that day shall not come, EXCEPT there come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition..." [2
THESSALONIANS 2:1-3]
Paul says that Jesus will not come back
before there is a "falling away" and the antichrist is revealed. A falling
away by who and to what? This is not sounding like a church revival to me.
It has the distinct ring of a church that has become a part of the world
system that it is supposed to be separated from so much so that it is
powerless against the rise of God's arch-enemy. But let's not jump to
conclusions based on a few verses. Read on!
"Now the Spirit speaketh
expressly, that in the latter times SOME SHALL DEPART FROM THE FAITH,
GIVING HEED TO SEDUCING SPIRITS, AND DOCTRINES OF DEVILS..." [1 TIMOTHY
4:1]
"This know also, that IN THE
LAST DAYS PERILOUS TIMES SHALL COME...
HAVING A FORM OF GODLINESS, BUT DENYING THE
POWER THEREOF; FROM SUCH STAY AWAY." [2 TIMOTHY 3:1-5]
I don't know about anyone else but to me
this is starting to sound like some very serious warnings about some very
grievous times just before Christ's return. Of course ALL of God's Word is
sacred but there is something about Second Timothy that gives Paul's words
special significance. Notice that in chapter 4 at verse 6 he says:
"For I am now ready to be
offered, and the time of my departure is at hand."
Paul wrote Second Timothy knowing that he
was on the verge of death. He said so! This was his last chance to impart
whatever information he deemed most important to someone that was very
dear to his heart. Timothy was Paul's protege!' Listen to what Paul said
immediately prior to announcing his impending death.
"Preach the word; be instant in
season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering AND
DOCTRINE.
For the time will come when
THEY WILL NOT ENDURE SOUND DOCTRINE: BUT AFTER THEIR OWN LUSTS SHALL THEY
HEAP TO THEMSELVES TEACHERS, HAVING ITCHING EARS;
AND THEY SHALL TURN AWAY THEIR
EARS FROM THE TRUTH, AND SHALL BE TURNED UNTO FABLES. [2 TIMOTHY
4:1-4 ]
I submit to you that the
message of a great revival in anticipation of our Lord and Saviour's
return is a CLASSIC example of the words Paul spoke to Timothy. The
professing Church does not want to hear the truth so they flock to
teachers who tell them what they want to hear. Ironically enough it was
prophesied to be that way so God's Word is being vindicated as I speak.
Even so, those who love the truth and have it in them are bound to speak
it regardless of how it received. It is not man's place nor does man have
the ability to make God's Word bear fruit. Our job is to speak the
Word. The Holy Spirit will give the words life as God sees fit.
We pray this article has been of help to you.
Blessings,
Robert Wise