The Bible describes a church in the last days that is unlike any of the previous six churches in Revelation 2 & 3. It describes a church that is materially wealthy, that thinks it has it all but doesn’t. It is blinded to its true condition. Could this be us?
14 And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write; These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God;
15 I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.
17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked:
18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see.
19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Most scholars believe the letters to the seven churches in Revelation are literal and historical/prophetic. The last letter in chapter 3 refers to a church that is materially wealthy – even rich, but doesn’t realize that it is really lukewarm, poor, blind and naked. It is lukewarm and married to the world and all it has to offer, although rich materially – poor spiritually. Although they may think they are rich and see things and has need of nothing, they are deceived – blind! They may think they are righteous, but it is only self-righteousness and they are in reality naked! This is a damning description of the church today where entertainers strut their stuff in front of the congregations and the cameras of today’s tele-churches where hardly a negative word is ever heard. People attend to meet friends, make business contacts and impress them with their clothes and latest SUV. This is the apostate church trying to have the best of both worlds.
So how did this deception begin? Like so many things, it may have even had its roots in something good. Millions of immigrants fled Europe for America and religions freedom. The Puritans came seeking not only religious freedom but to create a "Christian" society. The pastor and the church became the center of the new communities. They had a profound influence on the founding of the country in terms of political, legal and economic systems, including a moral foundation which set us apart from other nations of the world. America became a haven for those fleeing religious persecution. There is no doubt America has deep Christian roots.
The church in America flourished. Protestant churches of all varieties proliferated. Most were small, up to 200 people, and worship centered on the Sunday morning message with the order of services (hymns, choir, responsive reading, and the benediction). In the 60’s Christian young people like myself left the traditional church and either got caught up in a para-church organization or in the loosely organized, anti-establishment, sometimes dynamic, and powerful “Jesus Movement”. Movements such as Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard came out of the Jesus Movement and became some of today’s super churches. In the late 70s and early 80s came the full-service "mega" church - bottom line, marketed oriented, seeker friendly, exciting, entertaining with a program for every possible need. The Assemblies of God, some Baptist churches and a few independents made the leap forward from several hundred to thousands of members. It is said that 60 percent of American evangelicals attend a mega church in.
Today, we American Christians sit smugly in the richest, most powerful nation on earth. We believe our nation was founded "one nation under God" by godly men. We think we are the good guys bringing the Christian and capitalist standard to the world. We are blind to the fact that we have polluted the world with our greed, lust, materialism economic exploitation and military domination. But the thing to fear isn’t our evil side but our self-righteousness side which knows no bounds. The day we set about to stamp out evil in our society and in the world is truly the beginning of the end. No other country has our crusading spirit and no one can stop us once we get started. Are we so naive to expect an evil, sinister monster to come to power? It is more likely to be an angel of light - someone who wants to restore traditional values, make the streets safe, our schools productive, full employment and above all world peace and prosperity.
And will the American church suffer? No! The church will be so caught up in the righteous causes, in the quest for unity and oneness, in bringing the kingdom of "God" to the earth, in the new legislated morality (in contrast to the true morality that comes from the Spirit transforming a Christian from within) that real Christians who would dare to oppose the program will be marginalized and eventually eliminated. The horror of what this self righteous army will do in the name of God will make the holocaust pale in comparison. This will separate the wheat from the chaff, the sheep from the goats, those who will gladly lose all for their Savior, from those who want the best of both worlds. This is one persecution that will literally come from within where brother will deliver up brother, mother daughter and so forth.
I am not judging, condemning or criticizing the institutional church. All I am saying is that in the "last days", there will be an apostate church as prophesied in the Bible. Just as in the days of Hitler, the physical institution of the church will be easily subverted and taken over. The fact of the matter is, the larger the institution the easier it is to be "compromised." Why? They won’t be “mega churches” unless they tickle the congregation’s ears so they can attract the crowds. Institutional churches are easy to locate because people meet in big buildings and the leadership is easy to identify because they work there. The clergy depends on the laity for their living. If they take unpopular stands, they are out of a job.
The true church is almost always underground, just the way it has been in China for the past 50 years. I don’t know if this story is true but it does make the point. One evening back in the 70s, the KGB busted into a clandestine Christian meeting in Moscow with machine guns at the ready. The leader said, "anyone who wants to leave had better go now." Half got up and left. They closed the door after them. The KGB leader said, "good, we needed to find out who the real Christians are. Now let’s pray."
Why was the church in Germany so easily taken over? Because, the lay people were accustomed to following the pastors and priests and did not know how to think for themselves or function on their own. If the Third Reich had gone on for longer than twelve years, I am sure a powerful underground church would have eventually come forth. But there wasn’t enough time. And there won’t be much time once the final seven year count down begins. The time to get ready is now!
There is abundant evidence that the church is not nearly as grounded in the Word of God as it was say 20 or 30 years ago. We are in an era of "pop", "feel good" Christianity where it is the "in thing" to be "born again," with little evidence of fruit or a deep commitment to the Lord. People are as illiterate about the things of God and the Bible as they are of history, geography or any other subject. Even our leaders are not clear on the basics of the faith and see little or nothing wrong with the practices and doctrines that are creeping into the church as discussed in the first section. They see nothing wrong with "Christian" psychology, the unity movements or the politicization of the Church. Some of our "greatest" teachers are so soft on the Catholic Church, they tell us that doctrinal differences don’t really matter but anyone who names the name of Christ is a Christian. Doctrine is viewed as divisive and truth is no longer based on the Word of God alone.
Pastors report frustration with the lack of maturity and knowledge of the fundamentals of the faith of their congregation. Their teaching job is never done. Year after year, they rehash the same material for the same people. They spend much of their time counseling people about their problems. Pastors tell me that people are much worse off today than 20 years ago. Yet, by spending hours on end counseling, they are always dealing with the symptoms while the real answer is a committed relationship with Jesus Christ, obedience and a living in a dynamic Christian community. Look at the programming for the typical Christian radio station or visit a Christian book store. There is a lot of information on how to feel good about yourself, cope with family, divorce, etc. But there are few who tell the truth - people are dying for lack of a vision! So what is wrong?
We have continued to perpetuate the clergy laity system. Pastors complain that the level of commitment of people to the Lord is not what it was when they were young people. A pastor I know called his job "a tow truck" ministry. Pastors feel they are dragging the wounded saints along kicking, screaming and criticizing. They teach and they counsel but with little progress. Sin, the lack of a vision and the cares of life have neutralized the average Christian. A few pastors realize that the laity needs to be afforded the opportunity to learn how to feed others in order to grow so they support Bible Studies or home meetings. Most admit they have a hard time finding mature leaders who know how to get people to participate. They end up with little teaching meetings in the home that mirror the "church" meeting where there is limited freedom and participation from the average saint. A few dominate the meetings. People are so used to being taken care of and being an observer, they have never learned to be a participant. They come to be taken care of and don’t have much to share anyway. But whose fault is this?
The condition of the modern church in America is not just the fault of the clergy who either pander to the laity so they won’t lose their job or are afraid of driving away whole factions of the membership by really preaching the truth. It is also the fault of the laity - that "part-time" Christian who goes about his business all week long, barely giving the Lord a second thought and then shows up on Sundays to sing a few hymns and be entertained. They criticize the message if it is too long, too short, if they don’t agree or if it isn’t dynamic enough. They have a cup of coffee, visit and then hurry home to their real life.
How about the gospel? Shame on the average church member! When was the last time the average Christian ever really shared the gospel with a friend or neighbor - last week, last year or ever? I am not just being critical - there are statistics to support the fact that the average Christian seldom witnesses. What kind of a relationship and commitment does a Christian have that doesn’t share his faith? At most, they try and get a friend to attend church where the pastor will preach the gospel for them.
Now for those of you who say I am being too critical and that your church isn’t that way, I would admit that you and your church may be the exception. Your pastor may be fantastic and really give the congregation the opportunity to function in a meaningful way. You may have a wonderful core of dear saints who pour themselves out to serve in Sunday School, counseling, visiting the new ones, the sick, etc. Your brothers and sisters in Christ may be your best friends - as they should be. I have been in churches like that, but we must admit, these churches are the exception rather than the rule. Most churches have a committed core but little more. And as one who has been a Christian for many years, those exceptional churches are getting fewer. I received an email the other day from a lady who had been in a Baptist Church for thirty years, and in comes a new young pastor who wants to bring in the "Counterfeit Revival" and out she goes.
Let’s look at the direction of the church as a whole. How far down can our Christian institutions go? The fastest growing churches in the U.S. are the "third wave" churches into signs and wonders and the Word-Faith churches that are into health and wealth. Have you been to one lately? Have you seen Benni Hinn slay an entire congregation in the "spirit"? Have you seen "holy laughter", heard people bark like dogs and growl like lions? Have you heard about how Jesus needed to be saved just like you, and you can be a "god" just like him? That kind of thing is going on in churches across the land.
Read Christianity in Crisis by Hank Hannegraf or his latest book, The Counterfeit Revival. Read Dave Hunt’s classics Seduction of Christianity, Beyond Seduction and the Occult Invasion, Al Dagger’s book Vengeance is Ours (an excellent study of Dominion Theology) or the Bobgan’s books on "Christian Psychology." Then you will see how far we have fallen. New Age thought and practices crept in and we didn’t even know it. The church has sacrificed sound doctrine for a false unity, "causes" for the gospel. Yet, those brave saints who would dare question, are themselves attacked as being unloving and divisive. The day when a saint is lambasted for holding public statements of public figures up to the light of the Word of God, is a sad day in the history of the church - and that is exactly what is happening. These people are vilified and people are warned not to read their books (by the way, that goes for us too). Christian Book Stores refuse to carry their work yet they carry all kinds of psychological self-help material, books proposing we take America back for Christ and all the other "pop" fads in vogue. The church ignores these warnings at it’s own peril.
Mature Christians who would dare think for themselves and question may find themselves not so welcome in some churches. They go from church to church seeking community, commitment and sound teaching but instead find people chasing miracles, experiences, fads, the latest teachings and charlatans. They flock to Promise Keepers conventions or Purpose Driven Churches not realizing how heavily psychologized, politicized and ecumenical they are. Gifted and committed Christians may find no room for meaningful involvement. If they try to speak out on issues, they are labeled as negative, unloving, rebellious and divisive and asked to leave. They realize that they shouldn’t "forsake the assembling of themselves together and even more as they see the day approaching" but they don’t know where to go. I can’t tell you how many people we hear from who have been run out of churches just because they started asking questions.
This is a foretaste of the kind of ostracism awaiting those who go against the tide. We have had hundreds of letters from people over the years who have been kicked out of churches for doing no more than asking questions. The process accelerates if newly trained pastors come in. There is a “dumbing down” of churches as they try and make them more attractive to the “unsaved” – more “seeker friendly”, less dogmatic and more like the world so people will feel more comfortable with it. What is this? Apostasy! Apostasy merely means “falling away”. The church is gradually falling away and the deception slowly dims the spiritual sight of the true saints. The church is slipping away and the slide can’t be stopped. The deception has been going on from the very beginning. Prophecy tells us it will happen. Every situation and person is different. That is why you need to be sensitive to the Lord and follow Him wherever He leads you.
Trust the Lord to lead you to like-minded saints. You can’t fix the institution but you may be able to reach some brothers and sisters in it! You may not convince those caught up in it that there is something wrong. Their minds are made up. They think they are rich but don’t realize that they “are poor, blind and naked.” (Revelation 3:17) But if others just open to the Lord, He will show them.
Continue to Chapter 15:
The Church in
Tribulation
Timing is Important
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