The Great Falling Away: The Apostasy of the Church

          One of the lessons we can learn from the first three chapters of the Book of Revelation is that the church has cycles (or a cycle). Much like any organization, there is growth, a plateau, then a decline. After the decline there can be a rebound, another incline, or death. The church will not die. History has taught us that and Jesus has promised it. Yet, the church does have a cycle that it seems to follow.

            In the beginning, when the people first come to Christ, they are on fire for Him. They worship in spirit and truth. They serve. They give generously. Then the fire starts to cool. Worldly cares seep in. People don’t read their Bibles like they once did. People don’t pray like they once did. People don’t attend church like they once did. Preachers don’t preach like they used to. Preachers and teachers don’t prepare like they used to. As Jesus said, they will have left their first love. Eventually, in the life of the believer, as in the life of the church itself, worship goes from relationship to ritual.

            It is no longer about Christ. It becomes more about the process than the Person. People just go through the motions. The come; they read; they pray; they give; they leave but no real change has taken place. They had no real encounter with the Savior. They received no fuel to carry them throughout the week. Like a charcoal removed from the fire, they all soon grow cold. Now, they no longer have a faith, they have a religion.

            I believe every church started out on fire for God. I believe this is true of the Catholics, the Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptist. But over time, their love for the Lord has started to grow cold. Their devotion, our devotion, is moving from relationship to ritual. Once we move in this direction, it won’t be long before the church is compromising with the world—embracing ecumenism in the name of peace.

            In several of Paul’s letters, he speaks of the falling away or the apostasy of the church. In 1 Timothy he wrote that people would ‘depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons’. In 2 Timothy he wrote that the time is coming when people would no longer tolerate sound doctrine but will acquire for themselves teachers that teach things that appease the flesh. In 2 Thessalonians he wrote that the falling away would precede the Rapture of the Church.

            What is the ‘falling away’ that Paul refers to? As one preacher once said, I don’t believe that it is some mass exodus from the church and that Jesus has to come back or there would be no Church for Him to come back for. Instead, I believe the falling away is encompassed in the words of Paul.

            First, there would be a drop in church attendance. It is no secret that church attendance is on the decline. Many churches have more empty pews now than they had in the past. This is likely due to several factors. Parents stopped teaching their children the fear of the Lord. When these children grew up, church was not on their radar. Another reason is that people are too busy with the cares of the world. Many people work on Sunday because businesses are open 7 days a week. People also use Sunday as a day of rest and Saturday (the Biblical day of rest) as pleasure day. Society frowns on church and religion. It is mocked in the media. It is satire on television. It is outlawed in schools and public buildings. Of course, the biggest reason is sin. Sin draws people from God not to Him. And since sin is so prevalent and even welcomed in today’s society, church attendance suffers.

            Second, people will depart from the faith. It is not that they stopped attending church. It’s just that they attend churches that don’t preach sin and repentance, hellfire and brimstone. Instead, these churches preach a social gospel—an I’m-OK-you’re-OK gospel. In this gospel, people don’t sin, they err. Yet, even without Christ, they can still live their best life yet. Regardless as to whether they are a Christian or not, everyday can still be a Friday. Others preach a prosperity gospel—a name-it-and-claim-it, call-it-and-haul-it gospel. Preachers in this gospel say all you have to do is lay your hands on it and claim it in the name of Jesus. God told Joshua that anyplace your feet trod I will give to you. Therefore, if you want a piece of land, walk its distance and claim God’s promise in the name of Jesus. If you want God’s best for your life, all you have to do is plant this faith seed and God will send you a harvest. As I said in my first book, God cannot be bribed!

            Finally, mainstream religions will depart from the fundamentals of the faith. Pastors (and deacons) are committing all sorts of immoral acts and the churches (congregations) are not holding them accountable. Instead, they are standing by their pastor or priest. There are Christian denominations that actually question the infallibility (without error) of God’s Word. There are Christian faiths that actually question the deity of Christ—who actually do not believe that Christ was God. Now there are Christian denominations that are ordaining homosexual ministers—people who are living in open defiance to God’s command. First of all, God called homosexuality a sin, not me. (Lev. 20:13, Romans 1:26-27) Second, God, through Paul, told Christians to avoid people who ‘have a form of godliness but deny its power (2 Timothy 3:5). Third, Paul said that all homosexuals will have their part in the Lake of Fire (1 Cor. 6:9). Not only are they ordaining homosexuals, some are even performing civil unions for them!

            In these last days, the apostasy is only going to grow. This is why it will be easier for the antichrist to come into power. What “Christians” are left behind will be so ignorant of the Word that they won’t recognize him until it is too late. On the other hand, the Bible encourages us to stay read up and prayed up. We are to work out our own soul salvation. We are to make our call and election sure. In other words, we are to stay on the straight and narrow and not to stray from God Word. We are to read it, learn it, and hide it in our hearts. We are to cling to it and stick with it no matter what the world or the church does. God’s Word is the only thing that will last. Jesus is not coming back for a congregation. He is coming back for a Bride who has made herself ready and who has remained faithful to Him.

Is Jesus the Only Way to Heaven?

Why can’t people, especially “good” people go to Heaven without accepting Jesus? The best answer to this question is found in the bible.  We need to first debunk the myth that there is such a thing as a “good” person.  Jesus said, “No one is good but One, that is, God (Matthew 19:17).”

The second question that arises is whether or not one can enter into heaven without accepting Jesus.  Jesus, Himself, proclaimed in John 14 that He was the Way, the Truth, and the Life and that no one can come to the Father but by Him. Why is He the only Way? What about Confucius? What about Buddha? What about Muhammad? What about myself? Can’t I be my own way?

     God cannot allow sin to be in His presence. Therefore, in order for us to be able to enter into Heaven, the presence and the penalty of sin must be dealt with. The presence of sin in our lives is dealt with by the Holy Spirit when He enters into us and begins the work of transformation. He convicts us of sin and deters us from sinning. The penalty for sinning is handled by Jesus.

If unrepentant people were allowed into Heaven, it would cease to be Heaven; it would be a revamp of earth—polluted both with sinful people and by people. Jeremiah said that the heart is desperately wicked…who can know it? In other words, the heart knows no bounds when it comes to dreaming up evil things. Unrepentant people would bring these evil machinations into heaven—stealing, robbing, being disrespectful, and being disobedient to God. There would be none of the peace and tranquility and righteousness that God promised. There would be no respecting and worshiping of the Father that He expects. (After all, if people don’t want to go to church now, image how they’d feel in heaven.)

To be comfortable in heaven, one needs to be transformed. They need have a heart change—a change of nature. With a transformed nature, we would not do the things that God finds offensive.  Now, I pose the question: Is Jesus the only Way to heaven and if so, why?

God told man that the soul that sinned would surely die. He allowed men to substitute animals and to temporarily offer up their blood as a sacrifice for sin. But the blood of animals really didn’t do anything. It was merely a picture of the sacrifice that was to be offered—God’s Son, Jesus.

            Jesus came to earth by the process of natural birth through the Virgin Mary. He lived a life without sin. He was crucified on a Roman cross for crimes he did not commit to atone for sins He did not commit. He became our sin bearer and our substitute. He died the death we could not die. He paid the price we could not pay. As the old saying goes, “We owed a debt [to God] we could not pay and He [Jesus] paid a debt He did not owe.” Paul said it like this: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”

            Jesus said that He was the only way because He provided the only sacrifice that was acceptable to God. God made His Son to be our sin bearer so that we, in turn, may bear His righteousness. God proved that He accepted the death of Christ by tearing the veil of the temple from the top to the bottom and by raising Jesus from the dead three days later.

            Why is Jesus the only Way? He is the only way because God said He was the only Way. If God is the offended or aggrieved party, He is the only One who can say what it takes to atone for the offense. The problem with people nowadays is that they tell God what He has to accept in order to affect reconciliation. This is, in effect, what we are saying when we say to Him that Jesus is not the only way, just one way; but there are other ways—good works, baptism, sacraments, self-sacrifice, etc.

            So the answers to the questions are simple. Is Jesus the only Way? Yes. Why? It is because God said so.