The Church in the Last Days
The clearest sign given to the Christian that we are in the last days is the falling away from true faith. The scripture gives a lot of attention to this one sign that will precede the rise of the anti-Christ. Look at 2 Thessalonians 2:
3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,
4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
People constantly try to predict the return of Christ and look at world events to see if the end is near. Christians often get concerned over governmental decisions and world events that seem to point toward specific prophecies in the scripture and spend energy trying to discern the times. Many times in history the believers have thought world events fit the end times. From Nero to Hitler to the European Union, many governments have displayed similarities to the descriptions the Bible foretells. In reality, there is absolutely no way to predict Christ’s return. Jesus made it clear that it has not even been revealed in heaven, therefore it will not be revealed on earth until the time comes. Satan also does not know when the time is, therefore we can understand why history is filled with evil men who try to become the world ruler. Satan never ceases to groom his false messiah to be ready when that day arrives. Satan’s only goal has always been to be worshipped by all of creation. This was his pride causing his fall in the beginning and is still his hope today. He will not risk missing his moment of glory.
Even so, we do have signs of the times that are provided so that those who are looking will not be caught unaware. The Bible makes it unmistakably clear that that day will not come unless the falling away from the faith comes first. The Bible makes it clear that God sees the end from the beginning and He knows exactly when it will come, but only the failure of the church will open the door to the end. Jesus said that the gates of hell cannot withstand the church and the prayer of the church will be answered by God. Then Jesus made it clear that even though these things are true, He will not find real faith on the earth when He returns. There will be religion and there will be many churches, but there will not be true biblical faith within the church as a whole when He comes back. Look at 2 Timothy 3:
1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
The peril of the church is evident in the acts of people within the church. They will be indistinguishable from the world. Self love, self-gratification, unthankfulness, unholy lifestyles, unloving, unforgiving, no self-control, etc. The fruit of the Spirit is peace, love, joy, goodness, kindness, patience, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. The latter days church will not walk in the Spirit, therefore they are missing these things and practicing the opposite. They will have a form of godliness, but no power. The same power granted to the first century church is available today. The reason the church has no power is because we have lost the concept of holiness. Without holiness, the Bible says we will not see the Lord. Without holiness – or being set apart for God, we will not have His power. Religion will abound, but true faith and true godliness will not. Jesus foretold that during this time false teachers and false prophets would arise using signs and miracles that would deceive the very elect if it were possible. In the book of Deuteronomy, God said that there will be times when God will allow false prophets to show wonders to test His people to see if they will follow God or turn from Him to follow the prophet. His word is the test – not the miracles or prophecies.
Recently I went to a faith-healer’s service. A friend invited me to come and see this man that did wonders and healings. It is ironic that he arrived just after I finished a series on the Word of Faith movement and their unbiblical (and often anti-biblical) doctrines. This man was a part of this movement and echoed their beliefs to the letter. The first thing he did was call the audience to a commitment not to judge or say anything negative. This is a common practice with false teachers. We are commanded in scripture not to judge based on appearance, but we are also commanded to judge and contend earnestly for the scriptures. Those who stress ‘judge not’ are almost always people who do not want their teaching or their lifestyles exposed by the scriptures.
I walked in very skeptical but was soon taken back by what I saw. This man performed many healings that left me surprised and I began to question what I had been teaching for so long. A woman who was supposedly blind, regained her sight; those who were deaf were claiming to be hearing; crutches were being tossed aside and the man who invited me was called up to be healed of an aneurism. This man often came to a ministry where I preached and I knew he truly loved the Lord. He had asked for prayer for his aneurism for several weeks, so when this preacher called him by name and identified his ailment, I was caught off guard. Could someone do these things if he was not of God? Could so many people be willing to lie before God and fabricate these healings?
This faith healer was in town for several weeks so I attended many meetings after this. On my third visit, the red flags began to go off in my head. At first this teacher sounded very orthodox, but soon he began to teach many unbiblical doctrines. One lady was called up and identified as a 3 time divorcee. He told her that God brought men in her life for a purpose and once they fulfilled their purpose, He took them away and she divorced. This was my first red flag. Malachi 2:16 tells us that God hates divorce. He doesn’t dislike it, or disapprove of it – He hates it. This is taught in the Old and New Testament. A woman who is divorced and remarries commits adultery. Sexual unfaithfulness is the only allowance the Bible makes for divorce. Therefore, to claim it was the will of God to do the very thing He hates is clearly a false statement.
I began to watch with greater skepticism at that point. His doctrine grew worse and his ‘healings’ were often sloppy. For example, over several weeks, one woman was healed on three different nights. One man was healed twice. I only attended 5 services so there may have been more duplicates. I also found that this healer had been convicted of fraud and spent time in jail and had been exposed nationally for fabricating healings. I also noticed that the most dramatic healings were out of town visitors from the same area. All the locals called up for healing were publicly requesting healing in their churches. Since 90% of the locals called up were from the same four local churches, I can imagine that a visitor could easily get this information by attending a local church and pass the information along. As I watched, I noticed that the ushers who came with him often pointed to people in the crowd. All of the healings were internal healings and none were visibly apparent – with the exception of the man with boots whose leg grew out (he also was healed twice). People paralyzed were never called up and people missing limbs or having deformities were rarely called up – supposedly for their lack of faith. There was one man called up that was missing half an arm. He also recently had a knee replacement surgery and was in need of the other knee and one hip to have replacement surgery. The man feebly hobbled up to be healed, was declared to be healed and hobbled feebly back to his seat. His arm was still missing and even though he declared publicly that he was healed, his knees and hip still did not allow him to walk upright. There were many other irregularities as well.
The point of this illustration is to bring to reality Jesus’ prediction that many signs would deceive the true follower of Christ if it were possible. I preached against this movement, yet I was taken back at what I saw at first glance. The Bible foretells that many will abandon the faith and go after these teachers. 2 Timothy 4 gives further details:
2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.
3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers;
4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
We are commanded to preach the word – not to preach to gather a crowd. We are commanded to convince, rebuke and exhort as we patiently teach the word. The Bible commands us to rebuke those teaching against the word. Yet the modern church claims we should not judge but let God figure it out. Our purpose is to convince the church and the world to follow the truth. Those who rebuke those who hold uncompromisingly to the truth also fulfill scripture. The time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. The end times church will seek out teachers that will tell them what they want to hear and will not remind them of the call to godliness and holiness. We see this unfolding before our eyes. If you bring in a teacher who will preach prosperity, thousands will come and most will throw money down the aisles. If you bring in a teacher who will teach things like Luke 9:
23 Then He said to them all, "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.
24 "For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will save it.
The true follower of Christ is not ‘taking back the wealth of the world’, but lays down their life, taking up the cross and following Christ. The cross is the image of giving, sacrifice and suffering. Only those who truly know Christ and see the love of God can answer that call. God does bless and gives us of His goodness, but even without the world’s image of blessing, the Christian will follow Christ.
Following Christ
What does it mean to follow Christ? Jesus said that whoever loves his life will lose it, but whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Look now at Matthew 13:
44 " Again, the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and hid; and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
This is the difference between a true Christian and a religious person claiming to be a Christian. Most Americans claim to be Christian, but only 3 out of 10 attend church and only a fraction of the attenders are willing to truly follow Christ. One major reason is that few people really understand the Christian faith. Jesus’ example drives home the point. When a man or woman sees the glory of heaven, the value of following Christ is so great that they are willing to give up everything and exchange their life in this world for the eternal life God has offered. If we don’t see the value of the love of God, we will never be willing to sacrifice this life for Him. 1 Corinthians 6 explains:
19 Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?
20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Saying a prayer does not save anyone. A salvation prayer is a guide that leads us in our decision, but many people who say the ‘sinner’s prayer’ are no closer to salvation than the unchurched culture around us. In fact, formula salvation creates a false sense of security that can blind people to their need of Christ. Salvation is an act of faith. By faith, I see my sins, my need of salvation and the promises of God. By faith I lay down my life in exchange for the new life and the new citizenship of heaven. I surrender my old life and my claims to it. Once I become a follower of Christ, I am no longer my own. I have been bought with a price – the painful price that Jesus Christ paid on my behalf. I give Jesus my life and I accept the new life He has created for me. I then become a new creature and now all things in my life are of God.
Everything I do in my life should be centered on faith in God’s plan and purpose for my life. I now can have confidence that everything that enters into my life is by the hand of God. I have often tried to explain this but have never adequately found the right words until I heard David Jeremiah quote this statement, “We don’t interpret God’s love by our circumstances, but we interpret circumstances by God’s love” I wish I had thought of that quote. I have spent countless sermons trying to adequately put into words what this quote says in one sentence. If I believe God loves me, I also believe that everything in my life works together to draw me closer to Him and works to enable me to fulfill His calling in my life. I will one day stand victorious before Him having completed the work I have been called to do.
Repentance
Repentance is an act of faith. Like the man who sold all He had to buy a field that contained a treasure more valuable than anything he currently possessed, I sell out my old life to gain the treasured new life God has created for me. It is a complete misconception that we can ask Jesus to forgive us of our sins while refusing to be delivered from our sins. An emotional experience is not the evidence of salvation. Repentance is the evidence of salvation. One of the great failures of the church is to teach repentance. Salvation is not merely a ticket to heaven, it is reconciliation toward God. We have allowed church members to fall into the error of thinking that we can accept salvation while rejecting Christ. Can someone profess Jesus as Savior while at the same time declaring by their lifestyle that He will not rule over them? This is the lifestyle of the world which is in rebellion against God, not the church who is reconciled to God. Look at James 4:
4 Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
You cannot be an enemy of God and reconciled to God at the same time. Jesus and all of the apostles taught repentance as an essential part of salvation. Look at the following passages:
Acts 26:
20 "but declared first to those in Damascus and in Jerusalem, and throughout all the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, that they should repent, turn to God, and do works befitting repentance.
Mark 1:
14 Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
15 and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."
Acts 3:
19 "Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
Acts 17:
30 "Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,
Matthew 9:
13 "But go and learn what this means: ’I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance."
Luke 24:
46 Then He said to them, "Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day,
47 "and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.
2 Corinthians 7:
10 For godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation, not to be regretted; but the sorrow of the world produces death.
2 Timothy 2:
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
23 But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife.
24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient,
25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth,
26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
We can see that scripture clearly teaches that repentance and salvation are inseparable. Are we obeying the commandment of God in Luke 24 that repentance and remissions of sins should be preached to all the nations? No, we have a gospel customized to the world. It is much easier to get converts by preaching forgiveness without repentance because it does not require a change. When the Holy Spirit enters into our life, we are a new creature – old things have passed away and all things have become new. If nothing changes in a person’s life, they may have had a religious experience, but the Holy Spirit has not indwelled and transformed them.
In Matthew 13 and Mark 4, Jesus tells about a sower that goes out to plant seeds. Some seeds are planted by the wayside and were taken by the ravens, some were in shallow ground and were scorched by the sun just as they sprang up, some were choked by the thorns. Only the seeds are the good ground produced fruit. Then Jesus interprets the parable in Matthew 13:
18 " Therefore hear the parable of the sower:
19 "When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
20 "But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy;
21 "yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.
22 "Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.
23 "But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty."
The first thing we notice is the word is the seed. Those who don’t hold to the word are not laboring for God. Anyone or any church that denies the authority and accuracy of scripture has already fallen away from the faith.
The birds that took the seeds by the wayside is Satan that sweeps away the gospel from the hearts of people who receive it. We have all seen people who heard the gospel, felt convicted by the Holy Spirit and then said a prayer asking for forgiveness. Sometimes they have an emotional charge and seem to truly desire God. However, within a few weeks or months they rapidly slip away. Sometimes we see people express a desire for God and then become worse off than they were before coming to church or a commitment to faith. Why is that? They may have been responsive to the gospel, but Satan quickly moves in to show them worldly desires and provides excuses for staying away from the church. The evidence from their life is that they never allowed the Word to take root in their life. They heard the gospel and they received it, but they never submitted their lives to God.
Some receive the word and are quickly offended when they are mocked, hurt or some statement or event turns them against the church and against following Christ. They never made the exchange. They reserved their rights and never let go so God could transform them into new creations in Christ. They get mad and walk away from God. Similarly, those choked by the world also never denied themselves, took up their cross and followed Christ. It is so easy to hold on to our life even though we know we are losing it. It is so difficult to lose our life even when we know that God gives so much more than we could ever lose.
Repentance is not an act or deed we perform to earn salvation. Salvation is by faith alone. If we have faith, we will believe the promises of God and we will be willing to repent. To repent simply means to turn from our way and to God’s way. Repentance is to surrender our will and rights and adopt the will of God. Modern theology falsely assumes that we keep our will and then God is on our side. True faith says, “Not my will, but Thine”. Repentance is a daily lifestyle of comparing our life to scripture and aligning our will with God’s will. Romans 12:
1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
Those who do not continually transform and renew their mind will soon forget the perfect will of God and will no longer prove that His will is good and acceptable. Why do so many Christians draw back from God when their desire conflicts with scripture? They believe that taking up the cross is too much of a burden because they can no longer see that God’s will is good and acceptable. They have never proven, or no longer prove the will of God and are now too short sighted to see to promises of God.
If you want a clearer sign of the times, don’t look at world events, look at the church and compare beliefs, doctrines and the practices of the people to how the Bible teaches that Christians should live. The farther these two are apart, the closer we are to the end times. The question you must ask is, “Am I following Christ or am I allowing myself to fall away from the faith?”
The Bible teaches that it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance. If we forget the goodness of God, we will have difficulty repenting. Keep in mind the promises of God: If we endure, we shall reign with Him; if He returns and finds us doing His will, Jesus promised to make us sit at the table and be served by Him; if we give to Him, He will give to us pressed down and shaken together; if we overcome, we will receive a crown, new name, eat of the tree of life and many other promises. If we humble ourselves, God will exalt us. If we suffer, we will be blessed; if we are persecuted, ours is the kingdom of Heaven.
Jesus said to seek first the kingdom of heaven and all these things shall be added unto you. If we seek our kingdom, we inherit nothing. If we seek God’s kingdom we inherit everything. If you take care of the things that are important to God, He has promised to take care of the things that are important to you. Jesus said that it is the Father’s good pleasure to give His kingdom to you. God loves you with a love beyond our understanding and it is His desire to give all that He has to you. But He can only give to you if you are in Him. God’s kingdom and promises cannot be found outside of God’s will.
Malachi 4:1 "For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud, yes, all who do wickedly will be stubble. And the day which is coming shall burn them up," Says the LORD of hosts, "That will leave them neither root nor branch.
2 But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves.
3 You shall trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On the day that I do this," Says the LORD of hosts.
It is God’s desire to arise to heal and bless those who love and fear God. You were created to have a relationship with God. God will never drag anyone kicking and screaming into heaven. We have been given the right to choose the blessing or curse. It is God’s desire for us to inherit the blessing, however, it is your desire that will be honored.
Deuteronomy 30:
19 "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live;
20 "that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days...
