When you think of the beauty of Eden and the Promised Land that drinks rain from heaven, it is almost hard to believe that God’s people would disobey and choose something else that they thought would be better. It is not just people making bad decisions, behind those decisions is the great deceiver, satan who gets you to question God’s plan for you and pushes you to go your own way. For example God’s people thinking they were better off in Egypt was a lie. Numbers 11:4 “The rabble with them began to crave other food, and again the Israelites started wailing and said, “If only we had meat to eat! 5 We remember the fish we ate in Egypt at no cost—also the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions and garlic. 6 But now we have lost our appetite; we never see anything but this manna!” 18 “Tell the people: ‘Consecrate yourselves in preparation for tomorrow, when you will eat meat. The Lord heard you when you wailed, “If only we had meat to eat! We were better off in Egypt!” Now the Lord will give you meat, and you will eat it. 19 You will not eat it for just one day, or two days, or five, ten or twenty days, 20 but for a whole month—until it comes out of your nostrils and you loathe it—because you have rejected the Lord, who is among you, and have wailed before him, saying, “Why did we ever leave Egypt?” They forgot they were slaves in Egypt and did not hold on to God’s promise of a land of milk and honey. Exodus 2:23 “During that long period, the king of Egypt died. The Israelites groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help because of their slavery went up to God. 24 God heard their groaning and he remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac and with Jacob. 25 So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”
Or we have the deception of Sennacharibs messenger who said. 2 Kings 18:31 “Do not listen to Hezekiah. This is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me. Then each of you will eat fruit from your own vine and fig tree and drink water from your own cistern, 32 until I come and take you to a land like your own—a land of grain and new wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey. Choose life and not death!” The people were told not to listen and stand firm on God’s word and they listened to the right voice. 36 But the people remained silent and said nothing in reply, because the king had commanded, “Do not answer him.” Then Isaiah said, 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: “‘Virgin Daughter Zion despises you and mocks you. Daughter Jerusalem tosses her head as you flee. 22 Who is it you have ridiculed and blasphemed? Against whom have you raised your voice and lifted your eyes in pride? Against the Holy One of Israel! 23 By your messengers you have ridiculed the Lord.”
satan is constantly whispering or screaming in your ear to turn and go your own way, trying to get you to turn away from God’s word and constantly telling you God’s word cannot be trusted. Just as satan said to Eve, did God really say, he is always telling us to go our own way and away from God’s way. What he doesn’t show you is the devastation that follows. If Israel had obeyed God’s word in the first place, Sennacherib’s army wouldn’t have been attacking and the gates wouldn’t have been burned with fire and the walls destroyed. It is hard to believe that with all God did for Israel, signs, wonders, miracles, they would turn their backs on Him. Jeremiah 32:20 “You performed signs and wonders in Egypt and have continued them to this day, in Israel and among all mankind, and have gained the renown that is still yours. 21 You brought your people Israel out of Egypt with signs and wonders, by a mighty hand and an outstretched arm and with great terror. 22 You gave them this land you had sworn to give their ancestors, a land flowing with milk and honey. 23 They came in and took possession of it, but they did not obey you or follow your law; they did not do what you commanded them to do. So you brought all this disaster on them.” How could they say to an idol, “These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt”? Later Jeroboam made two golden calves and said the same. “He said to the people, “It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Here are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.” They were told, Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me,” but they did not listen.
Just as Adam and Eve turned away, Israel turned away from God their Savior and were removed from His presence. In God’s great love He made a way when there wasn’t one. It is truly hard to comprehend the rejection God’s people have towards their own God. When you think about the Jews, every year they celebrate the Passover yet reject the same God who saved them and as Paul said do not consider themselves worthy of eternal life. Stephen told the people Acts 7:39 “But our ancestors refused to obey him. Instead, they rejected him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt. 40 They told Aaron, ‘Make us gods who will go before us. As for this fellow Moses who led us out of Egypt—we don’t know what has happened to him! 41 That was the time they made an idol in the form of a calf. They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.”
Now move forward to the New Covenant. Jesus made everything new. Our life as his servants was better than anything so far. Together we make up the body of Christ, the church which is to be Philippians 2:15 “blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” We are to be a holy and blameless radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish. We were supposed to be sanctified and made new. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 3:14 “So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him.”
So how in the world could the body of Christ separate from the head and want to go back to slavery in Egypt and captivity in Babylon and loose the beautiful kingdom that we were offered? The answer is simply disobedience. Deuteronomy 32:15 “They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior. 16 They made him jealous with their foreign gods and angered him with their detestable idols. 17 They sacrificed to false gods, which are not God— gods they had not known, gods that recently appeared, gods your ancestors did not fear. 18 You deserted the Rock, who fathered you; you forgot the God who gave you birth.” The church has done the same. satan has deceived the church into believing they can go their own way and follow other gospels with no ill effect. It is important to understand that the church is not as it should be. This pandemic has exposed the churches oneness but not a oneness that should be. This oneness is the common rejection of God’s word, everyone going their own way and now all sit in the darkness, powerless to defeat our enemies. Deuteronomy 32:15 “Jeshurun grew fat and kicked; filled with food, they became heavy and sleek. They abandoned the God who made them and rejected the Rock their Savior.” 2 Chronicles 24:18 “They abandoned the temple of the Lord, the God of their ancestors, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God’s anger came on Judah and Jerusalem.”
Jesus is the light of the world but like the Jews, the church has rejected the light by changing His words. John 1:11 “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” Like those in the desert, the manna from heaven did not nourish them so they craved other food. They lost their appetite for the bread of life and looked for another source of nourishment. John 6:28 “Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” 29 Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent. 30 So they asked him, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? 31 Our ancestors ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat. 32 Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. 33 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” 34 “Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.” 35 Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. 36 But as I told you, you have seen me and still you do not believe.” John 3:19 “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” John 8:12 “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
The church decided to go their own way so as the pandemic has revealed, the church is in desolation and powerless and sits in darkness because of it. The pandemic has shown that the church is no different than any other religion and offers no proof of the life of Jesus and has no authority and no power over the evil one. It is hard to believe Eden wasn’t enough or the Promised Land wasn’t enough but what is even harder to believe is that the Kingdom of God is not enough and has been replaced by what our hands have made. As Stephen said, Acts 7:41 “They brought sacrifices to it and reveled in what their own hands had made.” Before Stephen died he said, Acts 7:51 “You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!” The church is still resisting the Holy Spirit and are still a Isaiah 30:9 “rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord’s instruction. 10 They say to the seers, “See no more visions!” and to the prophets, “Give us no more visions of what is right! Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions. 11 Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!” We have God’s word before us. Everything the church is to be is laid out in scripture yet it needed to be changed to meet our own needs and we have paid a high price for it. 2 Timothy 4:3 “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” We did not listen when Jesus said do not be deceived and the church went into desolation but because God is gracious there will be a remnant rise up in power once again. Matthew 24:22 “If those days had not been cut short, no one would survive, but for the sake of the elect those days will be shortened.
I want to look at two passages that give us a picture of the fallen church and why. The first is Jude, one chapter, but powerful. Please note that this deception started even during the early church and continues to day. Jude 3 “Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord. 5 Though you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever. 14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.” Peter said 2 Peter 2:17 “These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity.” Malachi 2:1 “And now, you priests, this warning is for you. 2 If you do not listen, and if you do not resolve to honor my name,” says the Lord Almighty, “I will send a curse on you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not resolved to honor me.”
The second passage that shows us how this rebellion has happened is Jeremiah 5. Yesterday we read that Jeremiah said Jeremiah 3:12 “Return, faithless Israel,’ declares the Lord.” Yet they did not and were taken into captivity. The problem as Jeremiah said is Jeremiah 4:22 “My people are fools; they do not know me. They are senseless children; they have no understanding. They are skilled in doing evil; they know not how to do good.” Most people who go to church really have no idea what the truth is. God tells Jeremiah to look for truth yet he could not find anyone Jeremiah 5:3 “Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent. 4 I thought, “These are only the poor; they are foolish, for they do not know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. 5 So I will go to the leaders and speak to them; surely they know the way of the Lord, the requirements of their God. But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke and torn off the bonds.” This is the same in the church today; crushed but refused to repent. The deception is so severe in the church today that people who have successfully gone their own way actually think they are proclaiming the gospel truth. The result of this lack of knowledge is 6 Therefore a lion from the forest will attack them, a wolf from the desert will ravage them, a leopard will lie in wait near their towns to tear to pieces any who venture out, for their rebellion is great and their backslidings many.” Jesus said Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Paul said Acts 20:29 “I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock.” 1 Peter 5:8 “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” This is why great discernment is needed in the church today as the enemy has already infiltrated the church.
Yesterday I talked briefly about the opposite of the beautiful bride and that is a spirit of prostitution. Hosea 4:12 “My people consult a wooden idol, and a diviner’s rod speaks to them. A spirit of prostitution leads them astray; they are unfaithful to their God. Hosea 5:4 “Their deeds do not permit them to return to their God. A spirit of prostitution is in their heart; they do not acknowledge the Lord.” By following after other gods, we commit adultery. I said earlier that bad decisions are not just poor judgment but deception from satan. satan wants you to believe that act of adultery / idolatry will have no consequences. Jeremiah goes on to say “Why should I forgive you? Your children have forsaken me and sworn by gods that are not gods. I supplied all their needs, yet they committed adultery and thronged to the houses of prostitutes. 8 They are well-fed, lusty stallions, each neighing for another man’s wife. 9 Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?” The church to this day continues to say, “What have I done,” yet God says Jeremiah 8:6 “I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle.” Jeremiah 5:12 “They have lied about the Lord; they said, “He will do nothing! No harm will come to us; we will never see sword or famine. 13 The prophets are but wind and the word is not in them; so let what they say be done to them.”
The church has given their lives to the wrong people who have led them astray. Because of our disobedience our teachers have been hidden from us. Isaiah 30:20 “Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.” People have looked to the wrong teachers and have been deceived by them. 2 Peter 2:3 “In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories.” Paul said, 2 Corinthians 11:3 “But I am afraid that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may somehow be led astray from your sincere and pure devotion to Christ. 4 For if someone comes to you and preaches a Jesus other than the Jesus we preached, or if you receive a different spirit from the Spirit you received, or a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it easily enough.” Because the people did not listen to Jeremiah 5:15 People of Israel,” declares the Lord, “I am bringing a distant nation against you— an ancient and enduring nation, a people whose language you do not know, whose speech you do not understand. 16 Their quivers are like an open grave; all of them are mighty warriors. 17 They will devour your harvests and food, devour your sons and daughters; they will devour your flocks and herds, devour your vines and fig trees. With the sword they will destroy the fortified cities in which you trust.” Jeremiah 50:17 “Israel is a scattered flock that lions have chased away. The first to devour them was the king of Assyria; the last to crush their bones was Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon.” Because the church disobeyed, God has allowed satan to “set himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God.” We are that temple!
People may ask why has this happened. Jeremiah 5:18 “Yet even in those days,” declares the Lord, “I will not destroy you completely. 19 And when the people ask, ‘Why has the Lord our God done all this to us?’ you will tell them, ‘As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your own land, so now you will serve foreigners in a land not your own.” Solomon was told, 2 Chronicles 7:19 “But if you turn away and forsake the decrees and commands I have given you and go off to serve other gods and worship them, 20 then I will uproot Israel from my land, which I have given them, and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name. I will make it a byword and an object of ridicule among all peoples. 21 This temple will become a heap of rubble. All who pass by will be appalled and say, ‘Why has the Lord done such a thing to this land and to this temple?’ 22 People will answer, ‘Because they have forsaken the Lord, the God of their ancestors, who brought them out of Egypt, and have embraced other gods, worshiping and serving them—that is why he brought all this disaster on them.’” When you see a building turned into a heap of rubble you ask what happened. The church has been turned into a heap of rubble yet no one cares or even notices. Jeremiah 11:10 “Many shepherds will ruin my vineyard and trample down my field; they will turn my pleasant field into a desolate wasteland. 11 It will be made a wasteland, parched and desolate before me; the whole land will be laid waste because there is no one who cares.” The problem is most only look at the church with their eyes. They see success, buildings, website, powerful speakers, great worship yet fail to see the lack of power. This lack of power is across all churches not just the big ones. You can also have a small church in the backwoods teaching other gospels. This is why it is called deception. Deception means “the act of causing someone to accept as true or valid what is false.” What looks like truth, is not.
Then God describes why the church has become what it is. Jesus said, Mark 7:6 “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. 7 They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” Paul said to the Jews who would not listen Acts 28:25 They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet: 26 “‘Go to this people and say, You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.” 27 For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’ 28 “Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” Unfortunately the Gentiles stopped listening also. Jeremiah 5:20 “Announce this to the descendants of Jacob and proclaim it in Judah: 21 Hear this, you foolish and senseless people, who have eyes but do not see, who have ears but do not hear: 22 Should you not fear me?” declares the Lord. “Should you not tremble in my presence? I made the sand a boundary for the sea, an everlasting barrier it cannot cross. The waves may roll, but they cannot prevail; they may roar, but they cannot cross it. 23 But these people have stubborn and rebellious hearts; they have turned aside and gone away. 24 They do not say to themselves, ‘Let us fear the Lord our God, who gives autumn and spring rains in season, who assures us of the regular weeks of harvest.’ 25 Your wrongdoings have kept these away; your sins have deprived you of good. 26 “Among my people are the wicked who lie in wait like men who snare birds and like those who set traps to catch people. 27 Like cages full of birds, their houses are full of deceit; they have become rich and powerful 28 and have grown fat and sleek. Their evil deeds have no limit; they do not seek justice. They do not promote the case of the fatherless; they do not defend the just cause of the poor. 29 Should I not punish them for this?” declares the Lord. “Should I not avenge myself on such a nation as this?”
Jesus warned us about false prophets and false teachers. Matthew 7:15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” Matthew 24:4 “Jesus answered: “Watch out that no one deceives you. 5 For many will come in my name.” 10 At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, 11 and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” We were told exactly what would happen if we listened to them although the church was deceived into thinking that time was always in the future never in the present. But it is the present. 2 Peter 2:1 “But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.” 1 John 4:1 “Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.”
The church has listened to the wrong words and do not know the voice of God. Instead of standing firm on the word of God, men and woman have distorted the words of the living God and the church has listened and has been led astray. Jeremiah 23:36 “But you must not mention ‘a message from the Lord’ again, because each one’s word becomes their own message. So you distort the words of the living God, the Lord Almighty, our God.” Acts 20:30 “Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them.” This has been going on since the early church and millions have lost their lives because of it. The abomination that causes desolation is among us, yet like the world the church can’t wait to get back to being the same. People want to go to the cottage, to the beach, to the mall, to Disney land, camp, travel and cruise. Everyone wants life to be the same as it was before the pandemic. The church also wants to get back to what it was doing before this pandemic struck. They say we will be better for it. We will be stronger. The church unfortunately won’t be unless there is repentance. If the church keeps going as it was, there is only death and destruction waiting. If we want to return to the beautiful kingdom God has for us, the church must turn from their wicked ways. Jesus said, Luke 13:23 “Someone asked him, “Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?” He said to them, 24 “Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to. 25 Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Sir, open the door for us.’ “But he will answer, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from.’ 26 “Then you will say, ‘We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 “But he will reply, ‘I don’t know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evildoers!” Matthew 7:13 “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.”
If the church would return to God, God has said we would find Him once again. Chronicles 30:6 “People of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that he may return to you who are left, who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. 7 Do not be like your parents and your fellow Israelites, who were unfaithful to the Lord, the God of their ancestors, so that he made them an object of horror, as you see. 8 Do not be stiff-necked, as your ancestors were; submit to the Lord. Come to his sanctuary, which he has consecrated forever. Serve the Lord your God, so that his fierce anger will turn away from you. 9 If you return to the Lord, then your fellow Israelites and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will return to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to him.” Jeremiah 29:10 “This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.” Matthew 7:7 “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Revelation 3:15 “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. 21 To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. 22 Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
The church cannot continue as it has on the empty paths or with the façade of holiness, 2 Timothy 3:5 “having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over gullible women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, 7 always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.” God has shown the world that the church is not what it is supposed to be. Every denomination, independent, charismatic or non, from Catholic to Pentecostal and Baptist to Methodist and everything in-between has been shown for what it is but what will come of it. Yes some have seen an increase due to their online presence but Catholics will still be Catholics and Baptist still Baptists and so on and so on but the church will still be heading in the wrong direction. Jeremiah sums this all up when he says Jeremiah 5:30 “A horrible and shocking thing has happened in the land: 31 The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” Will you hear well done or I don’t know you.
Until God sets the church straight and empowers His people once again with His presence, Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Jude 17 “But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18 They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. 22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh. 24 To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25 to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”
