Apostacy—The Sign Of Christ's Return

In every age Christians have declared that the end of the age is upon us. Christ is certainly about to return. The signs are all there as proclaimed in the Gospels. Examples abound. Consider the LORD's words as recorded by St. Matthew:

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, "Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?" 

And Jesus answered them, "See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, 'I am the Christ,' and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. 

"Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name's sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. - Mat 24:3-13 ESV 

OK,  the beginning of the birth of the new age has begun. But what is the sign of our LORD's coming? What is the sign of the end of the age? If not wars, famines, earthquakes and persecutions of believers, what then? Are false prophets and lawlessness? They are indeed. Apostasy is the sign!

Who can deny that false teaching and the apostasy or falling away from the faith Jesus predicted, started already in N.T. times? Consider how Peter and the other disciples deserted the LORD during His passion. And remember that an earthquake and signs in the heavens occurred during His suffering upon the cross (Matt. 24:29; 27:45). Further, read the Epistles and you see that the Apostles and their churches had to contend with enemies both outside and from within the bosom of the church.

Gnosticism was already rampant in the second century. That strange teaching with its many forms tore the church apart for hundreds of years. It remains very active in the modern world as these prophets separate creation from redemption and rely upon personal religious experience rather than God's Word!

The LORD Jesus prophesied apostasy, denial of the Trinity, salvation by good works and all the false teachings against which the Lutheran Reformation raged. Consider also how Jesus' predictions were horribly fulfilled in the rise of the false prophet Muhammed and what a challenge to the Christian faith this religion has become now in the 21st century.

In this connection I commend to you a 2012 book by Bill Hecht, Two Wars We Must Not Lose: What Christians Need to Know About Radical Islamists, Radical Secularists, and Why We Can't Leave the Battle Up to Our Divided Government. Hecht says that radical Islamist terrorists are committed to the destruction of America and they will not let up! The second "cultural war" began in earnest in the 1940s with the separation of church and state by means of the U.S. Supreme court's decision, Everson v. Board of Education. Hecht argues that such an absolute separation was never intended by the founders of the United States. These wars, says Hecht, we must not lose. If we do we will lose our country and the freedoms it has offered from its beginning.

The rejection of Scriptural authority is a prime accomplishment of secularists working from within the church. Among the so-called mainline protestant churches there is an almost universal adoption of the higher-critical method of Scriptural scholarship. In so doing these churches have capitulated to the Enlightenment of the 18th and 19th centuries. The old confessions of these churches are now useless. Things have so degenerated that when the World Council of Churches was founded it in 1948 it was unable to affirm even the mystery of the Blessed Trinity (see Henry Bettenson, Documents of the Christian Church, 2nd ed.). One must grant that recent revisions seem to suggest some kind of agreement upon the divinity of Christ and the reality of the Trinity, but don't press too far beyond the opening words themselves to documents published by the organization.

In these next weeks I will continue to review some of the things mentioned above and explore with you how apostasy is THE SIGN of our time, the Sign pointing to the imminent return of Christ.

The Authority Of Secular Government

Why do we Christians say that we live in two kingdoms? In my previous post we heard Jesus pronounce that he came to overthrow the reign of the devil, the prince of the kingdom of darkness. Are we then saying that we live in the devil's kingdom as well as the kingdom of Christ? The Bible clearly teaches that both the devil and Christ rule over kingdoms in this world. However there is another teaching about kingdoms, namely the fact that God rules over this world in two different modes. To help us in this connection, we return to Jesus' trial before Pontius Pilate.

He (Pilate) entered his headquarters again and said to Jesus, "Where are you from?" But Jesus gave him no answer. So Pilate said to him, "You will not speak to me? Do you not know that I have authority to release you and authority to crucify you?" Jesus answered him, "You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin." - Jhn 19:9-11 ESV

Pilate had authority. He had been placed by the Romans as governor of Palestine. His headquarters were in Jerusalem. Yet Jesus said Pilate's authority had been given to him from above. In other words, he was a representative of God's rule, not merely Rome's. How strange. Listen to the Apostle Paul.

Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. - Rom 13:1 ESV

No authority except from God! The authorities that exist in this world have been instituted by God. He has given them power. They exercise their power under His authority. The Lord God rules over this world through His representatives. So Paul continues,

Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. - Rom 13:2-4 ESV

Pilate believed he derived his authority from the Roman senate and would have to answer to the same. Yes, but, said Jesus. These Jews under your authority are not merely resisting Rome; they are resisting God! And so it was that 40 years after Jesus' crucifixion God's judgment came upon the Jews and Jerusalem, together with its temple, was laid waste by the Romans under General Titus. Jesus foretold this disaster.

And when he (Jesus) drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, saying, "Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation." - Luk 19:41-44 ESV

The Romans, acting as God's avengers—to use Paul's word—carried out God's wrath on the Jews. They had rejected their promised Messiah-King who had come among them in the person of Jesus. Thus we see the two modes of government by God, one inward at work through His Spirit and the other outward at work through secular governments. God ruled over the Jews, and all of Rome for that matter, through government representatives who had authority to bear the sword and carry out God's wrath on the wrongdoer. This authority and power was outward. Those who exercised it ruled by the sword and ultimately by the fear of death. So Rome came to exercise this ultimate authority when the Jews attempted to overthrow them. As a result, Jews died by the thousands and other thousands were carried off into slavery.

Jesus recognized Rome as God's authority. The Pharisees challenged him about the payment of taxes

And they came and said to him, "Teacher, we know that you are true and do not care about anyone's opinion. For you are not swayed by appearances, but truly teach the way of God. Is it lawful to pay taxes to Caesar, or not? Should we pay them, or should we not?" But, knowing their hypocrisy, he said to them, "Why put me to the test? Bring me a denarius and let me look at it." And they brought one. And he said to them, "Whose likeness and inscription is this?" They said to him, "Caesar's." Jesus said to them, "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." And they marveled at him. - Mar 12:14-17 ESV

There were things that are Caesar's. Caesar had his authority from God to render taxes, to demand money and to establish the rule of law.  Consequently, Jesus taught, the Jews were obligated to pay the taxes, like it or not, for the sake of conscience.

Why has God established such a government, ruling by fear of the sword in this world? Because of our rebellion against His rule over our hearts. So God has established outward rule to protect and care for us and to preserve outward peace and unity. This is why we have secular government in all its many manifestations.  This outward rule of God in the world is in contrast to God's inward kingdom established with the coming of Christ. In Christ's kingdom God rules by His Spirit working through His Word in men's hearts and minds. So Paul, in full accord with Jesus, teaches.

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs--heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him. - Rom 8:14-17 ESV

To recap:

• There are two kingdoms in this world and they are locked in perpetual conflict. The kingdom of darkness is under the control and rule of the prince of darkness, the devil. The kingdom of God is under the rule and control of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ. 
• The kingdom of darkness and its prince is constantly at work to disrupt and destroy, to wreck havoc, bring chaos and death. To restrain this prince and to maintain some kind of outward peace, the Father in heaven has instituted and established the rule of secular governments.
• Christians who have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness joyfully and for the sake of conscience recognize God's rule in these secular governments. This is why they submit to these governments for the sake of conscience. 
• No one form of secular government is established by God's Word. In the course of history there have been and continue to be many forms, e.g. tribal, kings, senatorial, democratic, etc. 

Much remains to be said and taught about these matters, but that must wait for the next time.

Fishing From The Bridge

The second edition of our new Ezine, Reclaming Our Heritage, is online. I'm happy to have a number of my friends writing and contributing, but now the real challenges begin. How do we promote this thing? What's going to pull people to us? With these questions haunting my waking and sleeping hours I decided to re-visit some websites I had dropped in before. Here's what I'm finding.

What are most people searching for online? Especially, what about those who are not Christians?

For starters, people search for things that interest them! I do that. So do you.

So if we want to reach people we must develop a 'Bridge Strategy'. That simply means that the more apparently secular in its appearance, the better it will communicate with those with no Christian background. It also works with those who have some Christian background. I gather that this is what the Apostle Paul meant when he said he wanted to be all things to all men: "To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some" ( 1 Cor. 9:22)

With this strategy in mind, I'd like us to write about . . .
• Sports
• Health
• Sex and relationships
• Advice on personal problems
• Families
• Hobbies
• Humor
• Films
• Music
• News-related issues
• Famous people


Presenting yet another Bible study is not going to reach many of them, unless we "fish on the other side" by meeting them where they are currently swimming, engaging them in conversation and then proceeding to show them how that very Bible they've ignored and the Christian faith they've only heard about has answers to their concerns.

Understand me correctly. I'm not selling the Holy Spirit short. I'm not suggesting that this or any other ezine or website in and of itself can create faith. Only Christ and the Spirit can do that. However, I am pointing out that we are in a whole new world with the advent of this technology and we are called upon to be there, bearing witness to Jesus, just as Paul was doing in Corinth and Athens and Rome.

If you happen to stumble across these words and are interested in what we're doing, I'd sure love to hear from you.