Matthew 24:10-11 says, "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people."
Here I go again, quoting from one of my favorite and most referred to chapters in the Bible, Matthew 24, but nobody says it better than Jesus concerning the conditions of the end-times.
Just a few days ago my wife was reading it aloud to me and, as always, I was struck by the sheer clarity and preciseness of His teachings.
Let's start by talking about those that turn their backs on their faith. -- To have "peaks and valleys" is one thing, or "dry spells" as we refer to them, but to "turn away from the faith" is quite another matter.
How can this happen? - What could cause people to turn their backs on such a wonderful savior? -- Let's look at some of the reasons why this can and will, as Jesus says, take place in these difficult times.
I believe it starts with the foundation built either on rock or sand. Matthew 7:24-27 states, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
We already have seen what's taken place in Europe. Church attendance is down to 5% of the population in most places. - People have simply walked away from their faith because it stopped providing the foundational truths of Christ's teachings. They became complacent and lukewarm, and as a result, they died a spiritual death.
Can this happen in America? - You bet it can and it is! -- I remember back when I went to church as a young man, I never heard anything about the third part of the God-head, the Holy Spirit. He was "put up on a shelf" because of His controversial aspects. -- As a matter of fact, all I really needed to do back then was "say" that I accepted Jesus as my savior and that was enough. I then received my "Get Out of Hell Free" card and went on my merry, sinful, hypocritical way. -- I believe it was called "Eternal Security".
What about today's young people? These statistics I'm about to share may shock you, but here they are. -- Less than 1% of the youngest adult generation in America has a Biblical world view. -- This "Mosaic Generation", those between the ages of 18-23, rarely have a biblical worldview as defined by the Barna Group.
A biblical worldview, as defined by the Barna study, is -----believing that absolute moral truth exists; the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches; Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic; Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on Earth; and God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.
George Barna, who directed the research, commented on the "troubling" generational pattern that suggests, "Parents are not focused on guiding their children to have a biblical worldview." He goes on to say, "One of the challenges for parents, though, is that you cannot give what you do not have." -- The research goes on to show that only 9% of parents have this worldview!
Enough about the kids and their parents! -- What about the churches they've been attending? Isn't that the true purpose of the church? -- To teach the fundamentals, or 'worldview' of our faith? I notice crosses out front of most of them. -- I wonder how many of us really realize the full meaning of that cross.
Warren Cole Smith, an evangelical journalist and author of A Lover's Quarrel With the Evangelical Church, says that most mainstream churches have lost their way. - Instead of sticking with core biblical principles, they promote feel-goodism, technological fads, and church-as-entertainment. He goes on to say, "For the sake of money and power and status and celebrity -- we've made 'church' easy." -- I believe he is very accurate in his statement. In just the past eight years, I've personally experienced this in many instances.
2 Timothy 4:3-4 says, "For the time will come when men 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. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths."
For different reasons, Christians of various sorts have tinkered with the gospel of Christ as though it needed adjustments. -- No major alterations, most will tell us, but just some minor tweaking here and there. -- And these changes often begin by their declaring that there is no real change involved -- simply a shift in emphasis.
Here's just a couple of examples:
◆ Brian McLaren, an "emerging church" leader, described the future way of life for the Christian. In an interview July 28, 2008, on christianpost.com, he said: "I think our future will also require us to join humbly and charitably with people of other faiths - Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jewish, secularists, and others - in pursuit of peace, environmental stewardship, and justice for all people, things that matter greatly to the heart of God."
◆ Terry Neal, a faith reporter for the Hamilton Spectator stated, "We need faith, but the faiths of our fathers are tired now, or are spent forces. We must recognize this whether we are Muslims, Sikhs, Jews or Christians. We are now a global village, and only a global worldview will suffice."
And of course, there are hundreds more that are less subtle and much more obvious, but you get the picture.
So we can see how easy it is for people to turn their backs on their faith in these days. - They have no foundation with which to weather the ever-increasing storms leading up to our Lord's triumphant return.
The teachings of Matthew 24 go on to say:
◆ Verse 12 - "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold..."
◆ Verse 10 - "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other..."
And 2 Timothy 3:1-5 really sums up these times by saying, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them."
I challenge each of you to read these verses carefully, completely and prayerfully. Then I challenge each of us to go to our church bodies and ask the tough questions -- are our youth getting the fundamentals of our faith? - Are we, the adult body, being given the "food" to strengthen our foundations for these perilous times? -- Or are we getting entertained and then followed up with ear candy?
Jesus said in Matthew 24:32-34 that we will know the "season" of His return.
"Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door. I tell you the truth, this generation will certainly not pass away until all these things have happened."
I believe with all my heart that we are that generation.
Finally, in Revelation 3:14-22, Jesus tells us about the condition of the seventh church being lukewarm. He then goes on to say that He would "...spit you out of my mouth." (Verse 15)
As I mentioned earlier in this commentary, as a young man I was never exposed to the true power of God through His Holy Spirit. I praise and thank God that I've witnessed this in my life! -- Because of this blessing, I know I can now weather these coming storms. - My foundation is now solid rock!
Matthew 7:13-14 says, "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."
Remember, we are the light of the world in these dark times. -- May our light shine on as many as possible while there is still time.
Until next time,
Red