The Christ in Prophecy Journal

The Church in Prophecy (Part 3 of 4)

The Triumphant Church

Negative End Time Prophecies

The predominance of the Laodicean church today is the fulfillment of many other New Testament prophecies that point to the growth of apostasy, cultism, heresy and worldliness in the Church of the end times.

Apostasy

The picture of the Church in the end times that is portrayed in the Bible is not a very pretty one. For one thing, the Bible prophesies that the Church will be racked by apostasy. Jesus prophesied that “many will fall away” (Matthew 24:10). Likewise, Paul said the Antichrist cannot be revealed until “the great apostasy” takes place (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

Paul reveals the source of the apostasy in 2 Timothy 3:5 — “Men will hold to a form of religion but will deny its power.” As pointed out above, the fulfillment of this prophecy began in the early 20th Century with the ascendancy of the German School of Higher Criticism and its teaching that the Bible should be approached like any other piece of literature — with a critical eye. The concepts of the special inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible were rejected. The Bible came to be viewed as Man’s search for God rather than God’s revelation to Man. Churches began to reject some of the fundamentals of the faith.

This assault on the integrity of God’s Word opened the floodgates of apostasy. Before long Christian theologians and ministers were laughing about the virgin birth of Jesus, discounting His miracles, casting doubt on His resurrection, and flatly denying His second coming.

As the uniqueness of Jesus was downplayed, many denominations began to embrace the damnable doctrine of Universalism. And that is where we are today, caught up in the midst of a gross apostasy which says, “Believe what you want. The important thing is to be sincere. There are many roads to God.” All of which makes a liar of Jesus who said: “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6). The result is that there are a lot of sincere people who are sincerely going to Hell.

Cultism

A second set of prophecies warn that the Church will be assaulted by cultic deception in the end times. Jesus emphasized this point repeatedly in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:5,11, 24). And Paul underlined it in the strongest possible language when he wrote: “The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons” (1 Timothy 4:1).

The fulfillment of these prophecies began in the 19th Century with the rise of Mormonism and its demonic teaching that Jesus is the brother of Lucifer, one of thousands of gods created by the super god, Adam, an exalted man. The Jehovah’s Witnesses were next on the scene with their perverted teaching that Jesus is the Archangel Michael.

This century has witnessed the rapid multiplication of the cults, just as prophesied. Today, lifelong Christians who do not know why they believe what they profess to believe are being sucked into the cults by the tens of thousands.

Equally appalling is the direct penetration of the Church by cultic doctrine. Well known Christian leaders are advocating the ancient Shamanistic practice of visualization as the key to prayer. Others are teaching one of Satan’s oldest lies — that those who have been born again are “little gods.”

The latest cultic fad is the concept of Satanic salvation; namely, that we do not owe our salvation to the blood Jesus shed on the Cross but rather to some imaginary torment which He suffered at the hands of Satan for three days in Hell. And then, of course, there is Masonry, the oldest form of cultic penetration of the Church, with its secret blood oaths, its works salvation, and its Universalism.

Heresy

A third group of prophecies indicate that in the end times the Church will be assailed by heresies. These are doctrinal errors that do not damn the soul but which confuse and weaken the spirit.

In 2 Timothy 4:3-4, Paul says: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths.” There are many popular myths in Christendom today that either rob people of the power of their faith or else deceive them into practicing a presumptuous faith.

Among Fundamentalists there is a myth that God retired in the First Century and that with Him went all manifestations of the supernatural, including angels, demons, spiritual gifts and miracles. Among Charismatics the doctrinal abuses have been epidemic, including the following myths:

  • Faith is to be placed in your faith and not in God.
  • It is always God’s will to heal.
  • The believer has the authority of Jesus.
  • It is God’s desire that believers be financially prosperous.
  • Believers can have what they want through positive confession.

The winds of doctrine (Eph. 4:14) are blowing through the Church at gale-force and believers are being tossed here and there by the waves, all in the fulfillment of prophecy.

Worldliness

A fourth characteristic prophesied about the Church in the end times is that it will be compromised and corrupted by worldliness. We have already seen the prophetic picture of this worldly church in Revelation 3:14-22, where the church at Laodicea is described.

In fulfillment of this prophecy, our churches today are filled with cultural Christians who have accepted Jesus as Savior but not as Lord. They are schizophrenic Christians who walk with one foot in the Church and the other in the world. They are carnal Christians who shout “Hallelujah!” on the weekend but who live like pagans during the week. They are greedy Christians in pursuit of health, wealth and power. The Cross and its message of sacrifice is as offensive to them as it is to the world.

Judgment

Because of the apostasy, heresy, cultism and worldliness that the Bible says will characterize the end time Church, the Bible prophesies that the Church will come under judgment. In Revelation 3:19 Jesus says to the church at Laodicea, “Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline.”

The glitzy, overindulgent church of the last few decades is now tasting the judgment of God. Sin is being exposed. Religious empires are being dismantled. The Lord is calling us from the Cadillac to the Cross. Through discipline, the Spirit is motivating us to humility, righteousness and holiness.

Judgment has begun in the House of the Lord, where it always begins (Ezekiel 9:6 and 1 Peter 4:17). The Lord is disciplining His Church as a prelude to the pouring out of His wrath upon the world.

In the fourth and last part of this study of the Church in Bible prophecy, we’ll explore the positive end time prophecies concerning the Church.

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Dr. David Reagan

Dr. David Reagan is the Founder and Evangelist Emeritus of Lamb & Lion Ministries. He is a life-long Bible student, teacher, and preacher and he led over 45 pilgrimages to Israel. Dr. Reagan was the host of the radio then television program Christ in Prophecy for nearly 40 years.

1 CommentLeave a Comment

  • Nice post. Anyone who REALLY wants to know whats going on should definitely check this out, its a pretty scary warning from a history and religion professor.

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