Church In The House

An overview of today’s Apostasy and its Roots

By

Steve  Bostrom

A biblical appraisal of God’s people

“Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice liked a trumpet and show my people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.  Yet they seek me daily, and delight to know my ways as a nation that did righteousness and forsook not the ordinance of their God:  they ask of me the ordinances of justice; they take delight in approaching to God”  (Isa. 58:1-2)

“Behold the LORD’S hand is too shortened, that it cannot save: neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:  But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he will not hear.  For you hands are defiles with blood, and your fingers wit iniquity:  your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.  None calleth for justice nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity and speak lies, they conceive mischief and bring forth iniquity.  The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings:   they have made them crooked paths:  whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace.  Therefore is judgment far from us, neither doth justice overtake us:  we wait for light, but behold obscurity; for brightness, but we walk in darkness.  We grope for the wall like the blind, and we grope as if we had no eyes:  we stumble at noonday as in the night; we are in desolate places as dead men.  We roar all like bears, and mourn sore like doves: we look for judgment, but there is none; for salvation, but is far off from us.  Four our transgressions are multiplied before thee,  and our sins testify against us:  for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them;  in transgressing and lying against the LORD  and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.  And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off:  for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.  Yea truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey:  and the LORD saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.  Isa.59:1-15

So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.  And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.  As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy see, nor out of the mouth of thy seed’s seed, saith the LORD, for henceforth and for ever.  Arise, shine; for thy light is come and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.  For behold the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people:  but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.  Isa.59:18-21 :  60: 1,2

• A glimpse at yesterday’s roots of today’s apostasy  Babylon’s curse ravages god’s spurned people

  Note:  the spiritual influences that conspired to erect the Tower of Babel have maintained their control over the world down through the ages through…Mystery Babylon (Esoteric Occultism) and Babylon City (Multinational Finance and Commerce)…  as exemplified by the Whore. Mystery Babylon, seated on the 7-headed beast and the City of Babylon of Revelation 17, 18.  Their influence over Christendom is also quit strong and is noted below.

• Subjugated to Mystery Babylon  serious consequences for minor offenses

The predeccessors of vast sectors of the Evangelical Church World long ago were turned over to spiritual captivity.  They were place under many of the influences for the same Babylonian spirits of Religiosity that made the Roman Catholic Church a major Enemy stronghold and a mighty instrument in his hands.

1.      The early Church under siege 

The Babylonian/Roman spirits’ assault was launched near the outset of the Early Church.  Their subversions were unleashed on various fronts:

a)      The judaizers (whose roots went back to the Babylonian Talmud) were used to negate the efficacy of faith in Christ’s full provision for sinful man…  replacing it with a legalistic bondage to the O.T, commandments

b)      The Nicolaitanes fostered the separation of clergy and laity with its ecclesiastical, hierarchic structuring.  An intermediary ministerial body to officiate between the Godhead and the members.  The use of administered “sacraments” to justify their superior status and the passive, paying, spectator-devotees

c)      False apostles, “Jezabels”, dabblers in the depths of Satan and other proficient in simulated gifts, fostered their way into influential church niches

d)      The “Balaam merchants” peddled whatever messages they could make a living off of (whatever would sell) among the churches.

2.  Negligence      Ignoring Christ’s admonition to the Asian churches, and those of Jude and Peter, God’s people did not purge from their midst, nor close their doors to, the adherents of …Corrosive teachings…Seductive giftings…Carnal lifestyles

3 Undermined     within decades, in an orchestrated subversion, the Babylonian/Roman spirits had burrowed their way into the Church through the agency of ambitious instrumentalities.

4 Turned over to captivity   In following centuries they overthrew Christianity and gained authoritarian control over her.

5 Repercussions   Over a millennium later, as the Reformation movement gathered momentum, the Protesters against Catholicism sought to reform Paganized Christianity rather that replace it with  an entirely biblical and Spirit-filled model.

a)      Their primary focus was not that of dealing with the sin and carnality that lurked in the hearts of the churched and unchurched, to see them effectively removed by Christ’s full provision.

b)      They retained numerous non-biblical doctrines traditions, and practices

c)      Consequently, they permitted a bridge over which many Babylonian/Roman spirits would cross form Catholicism into Protestantism and subvert it.

6   Self-perpetuating curses   neither the Protestant Reformers nor their Evangelical, Pentecostal and Charismatic descendants have ever fully repudiated severed or annulled the Babylonian/Roman spirits access, influence, and control over them… Nor the entirety of the religious system those spirits propagate while clothed in the sheep’s clothing of Christianity.  They have reformed Paganized Christianity to more biblical dimensions.

a)      Much as had occurred when Israel occupied Canaan but failed to annihilate all of the Canaanite nations.  She merely subjugated them only to have them later gain ascendancy, and eventually over throw her spiritually

b)      Likewise, Protestantism’s Reformation merely occupied some of the Babylonian/Roman spirits domain and contained them.  They later corrupted Christ’s followers, gained ascendancy, and spiritually overthrew them.

7   Babylon’s adopted daughters    Also, most movements, which at one time had begun outside the Protestant Religious establishments’-  In a sincere return to Scriptural practices and beliefs and in “Revival” Eventually succumbed to the Religious System they once protested

a)      They lost their spiritual distinctiveness and glory

b)      They were absorbed into the Harlet’s vast family…much as what happened to the early church after the first century

c)      Having once begun in the spirit they latter continued in the flesh through legalism and the dead letter.  Falling into the same dangers and consequences from which Paul had sought to protect the Galatians church.

The reviving of the old Roman Spiritual Empire and the church’s unwitting participation   

An objective appraisal of Today’s trends in churches and ministries demonstrates that those same Babylonian/Roman spirits continue working.  It is interesting to note that certain trends seen in the reviving of the Old Roman Empire in the political sphere (as preparation for the Antichrist’s advent are being made) their spiritual religious parallels, not only in liberal Protestantism, but now among many Charismatic clusterings and more conservative Evangelical groupings.  Consider the following . . . :

1. Toes of Iron and Clay – Man-made Unity There is an accelerating ecumenism, under the banner of ‘unity’, apostleship, city-wide churches, networking, denominational stability, etc . . . Giving little or no heed to “contending for the faith once delivered unto the saints.”

1. The man-made amalgamation of Christianity’s ‘streams’ by their leaders’ networking – networks is following the geopolitical drift towards One-World unity.
2. Humanly contrived, supported by ‘back-room’ agreements, and implemented through trial and error, these sincere (?) efforts will proved themselves to be spiritually futile, and fraught with many disillusionments. 
3. The Antichrist’s interests will find effective means to further compromise Amalgamated Christianity, and manipulate it in ways that will benefit his interests.

2.    Peter’s Proverbs Among Protestants.  Among growing numbers, there is a drift towards more Romish liturgical forms of ‘worship’, and their corresponding ‘Nicolaitane’ ecclesiastical structures.  Consider . . . :  II Pet. 2: 11-19-20-21-22.

3.    “Silver and Gold Have We Much.”  Today’s Christianity possesses an increasing abundance of material resources, finances, and economic clout.  She is becoming adept at the generation of, and a reliance on, profit margins.  She is making use of lucre to strengthen her footing within this world system, as a necessary and well justified means to gain more followers.

4.    Propagandists Brainwashing the Church – Spirits of Error Everywhere.  Not unlike the media’s barrage on Western society, using blatant propaganda techniques, disseminating mis-information, opinion manipulation, and, values clarification . . . is the enemy’s successful assault on the Church.

1. The Spirit of Truth, once given to the Church, has long been supplanted by Spirits of Error.
2. They are bringing an accelerating erosion of Truth’s standards by credible but ruinous distortions and compromises of the Full Gospel’s promises and requirements.
3. The deceptions of the seducing spirits (through their “every wind of doctrine” and “doctrines of demons”) are bearing fruit almost everywhere among Christendom.  Indeed, they have effectually brought very convincing and widely accepted strong delusions over God’s people everywhere.
4. The New Age tolerance for everything except for the intolerant has dissipated throughout the Church . . . sweeping away the Gospel’s Absolutes and the proclaimers thereof.
5. Consider . . . : I John 4:6; I Timothy 4:1-2; Eph. 4:14; John 8:47.

5.    Spiritual Subversion Made Easy – Believing Every Spirit.  The Babylonian/Roman spirits accomplished occult simulations of the gifts and ministries, attributed to the Holy Spirit’s anointing, have pervasively infiltrated the Church and deceived multitudes that bear Christ’s Name.  The Church has not tested every spirit, but rather has allowed almost anything supernatural, that is not overtly occult, into the church and behind the pulpit, not examining their fruits, to discern their spiritual source of inspiration.

6.    Inadvertent Accomplices – The Sightless Parade.  Sincere but deceived ministries trust and naively follow those they perceive to be their spiritual seniors. 

1. Not hearing from Heaven for themselves . . .
2. Nor gleaning from the Scriptures for themselves . . .
3. They blindly mislead others . . . while they themselves are being mislead.
4. They recycle and repackage what others purport to have received from the Lord and marketed abroad in their cassettes, videos, books, magazine articles, and seminars.  Consider . . . Jer. 23:30.
5. They ignore the admonition to the Last Days Church, which warns that, “ . . . There were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily (secretly) shall bring in (introduce) damnable heresies, even denying the Lord bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.  And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.”  (II Peter 2:1-2.)  Also consider the remainder of the chapter . . . II Pet. 2:3-22.

7.    Key Truths Compromised.  Even Carnality’s hold on the soul, and the condoning of sin among the general church membership can be traced indirectly to the doctrines tampered with by the Babylonian/Roman spirits.

8.    Oh, For Opened Eyes!!  The Babylonian/Roman spirits can be seen in their deceptive and manipulative work over many churches and ministries by some gifting of the Holy Spirit’s discernment, empowered to peer into the spiritual dimension.

9.    Soon To Be Courted By The Anti-Messiah.  With the continuing successes of the Babylonian/Roman spirits at eroding the beliefs and practices of general Christendom, unless there is a total reversal in the established trends, it is quite conceivable that one day soon she will be duped into receiving the False Messiah.

C.  Betrayal By The Judas Iscariot Company – Brother Against Brother.

    Many times, not only is the Enemy successful in orchestrating the downfall of God’s people, and luring them into such deception, sin, and rebellion that God must eventually forsake them . . . He later abducts them and forges then into an unwitting, but formidable force against those who truly continue to pursue the Lord and His purposes.

1. Consider . . . : Mt. 10: 21-22; John 15: 25-16:3.
2. Earthly Amalgamated Christianity may fall prey to the Enemy’s manipulations as an instrument against Heavenly Christianity, much the same way that . . .

1. Judas Iscariot betrayed the Lord Himself for personal interests.
2. Judaism, whose Pharisaism was forged in Babylon (where the Babylonian Talmud was written) was used against Christ and the Early Church; and . . .
3. Paganized Christianity’s world-wide clout effectually hampered God’s designs for well over a millennium, except in isolated pockets. 

3.  
   • Earmarks of today’s apostacy  A famine of the hearing of the full and true quickening word of God.

1. The Age of Apostasy    Contemporary Christianity constitutes the last days’ apostate church which Paul prophesied.  It comprises the Laodicean Church, if unrepentant, would be spewed out of the Lord’s mouth.  This is the ear prophesied by Paul”…when they will not endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.”  2 Tim. 4:3

1. Reciprocity   Both the flocks for harboring their lusts, and their ministries who indulge them are to blame.  Spiritually prodigal “Christians” and apostate ministries reciprocally gravitate to each other and reinforce each other’s delusions. 
2. Itching ears and for of Godliness.  The convincing deceptions to which the Lord gives them over bears some relationship to the ruling desires and inclinations of their heart. “This now in the latter times perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boaster, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without  natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady high minded, lover of pleasures more than love of God: having a form of godliness but denying the power thereof:  fro such turn away.” I Tim 3:105
3. The true frame of reference  The only things that can offer effectual protection from persuasive spiritual deceptions are….A breadth of revelation-insight given to persistent inquirers by the Holy Spirit, and a comprehensive faith in the Word, as regard the full Gospel’s provision:  with a biblical and experiential “putting off of the old man with his deceiving desire and mindset, replacing him with the corresponding Holy Spirit’s sanctification/ cleansing/ baptism/ filling/sealing/adoption /second-birthing

B  The apostate gospel  The preaching of paraphrased version  The focus and emphasis of Contemporary churches (Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Charismatic included)  are considerably divergent from that which Christ came to preach and establish.

1.      The true credentials    Christ and his apostles preached…Repentance, faith, obedience, holiness, love as necessary qualifications and evidences for the possession of eternal life.

2.       Bringing in false hopes to their ranks, and deceiving multitudes .  Those basic elements are making a decision for Christ, invited him into one’s heart, responded to a salvation altar call, said “The sinners prayer” made a profession of faith etc. (as if the saying of certain “magic” word were sufficient).  Believing (giving mental assent to) the basic orthodox evangelical doctrines.  Conforming to an acceptable standard of outward behavior, free from unseemly demeanor.  Attending certain church meetings and activities with some regularity.  These 4 basic elements do not conform to the above-mentioned N.T. standards.  The inner life and heart-condition of Today’s Christians are ignored altogether. The misrepresentations of the true Gospel’s requirements and promises foster a false hope and counterfeit conversion leading  the unwary traveler to a surprise destination, Hell!!  When they plummet off the end of life’s road.

3.      Doing what is right in their own eyes.  The apostate churches geed various combinations of the 4 following trendsetters in direction their congregations:  Traditions of men, Celebrity ministries; every wind of doctrine: Today’s Elder and the Sanhedrin (Man’s board, committees, consultants, councils,)   Almost no church anywhere corporately seeks to hear and obey “what the Spirit is saying to the churches”  The congregation hears what the pulpiteers say to the churches and at times even hear God “getting a word in edgewise”  However, there is no congregation-level follow-through.  To hear is not enough..  They each do what is right in their own eyes.

4.      Majoring on minors  The ministers preach and promote to the public what is important to them.  What ever the public is in the market for, that is fix bad circumstances, bless finances, enable for success, heal emotional wounds, answer prayer, give joy and peace, baptize with tongues are promoted intensely.  However the means of applying is power to break sin’s chains of …Lack of self control, intemperance, addictions, inner obsessions and compulsions, gluttony, lusts, perversions, fornication, homosexuality, contentions, drunkenness, resentments, gate, greed, materialism, criticism, complaining, murmuring, impatience, foolishness, anger, worldliness, marital estrangement, irreconcilable differences, envy, covetousness, jealousy, pride, vanity, dishonesty, lying, deception, hypocrisy, religiosity, idolatry, occultism, rebellion, ungratefulness, selfishness, etc…are virtually ignored.  Overlooked is His power to completely deliver His children form the curse of Adam’s inherited nature…through the Spirit sanctification/cleansing /baptism filling, sealing adoption second-birthing.  The ministers cannot lead others into what they themselves do not posses.

5.      Deceived and seduced by their own desires (lusts)  the public flocks to the apostate ministers in droves to hear echoed the fleshly values and aspirations of their own selfish hearts.  They seek spiritual help from them to attain their self-centered goals, while appeasing their conscience.

6.      Religiously incorrect  It is now improper  to call sin by its name.  The religiously incorrectness of addressing the negative issues and traits in the spiritual life of the church, the ministers and of the members for fear of …Offending parties, damaging their self-image, being disparaged by the “affirmationists”  Has neutralized the Gospel’s power.  The hew and cry of “lack of love” is raised against it everywhere!!   The true full Gospel is personally meaningless and powerless in the lives where there has been no prior conviction of sin.  There can be no conviction of sin without the accusatory proclamation of the moral law’s immutable standards and the damnation their violation incurs.  Good news is not good news unless one has been overwhelmed with the bad which the good has come to remedy.   Christ’s new law’s even more stringent than the Mosaic law, its habitual violators (Christians and non Christians alike)  will be eternally damned.  Consider Mt.5:17-18: Heb 2:1-4  1Cor. 6:9   It is the law aided by the Spirit’s conviction of sin which has been appointed to be “the schoolmaster to bring us to Christ.  Gal. 3:24

7.      Band-aids  Today’s salaried flock-herders shroud Corpus Christi’s inner rigor mortis with Religiously Correct (and culturally approved) vocabulary . . . making its diagnosis more palatable, though misleading . . . while avoiding the alarm, required for implementing the essential radical lifesaving measures.

8.      Fatal Mistake  The failure address the Sin Issue properly results in the grieving of the Spirit of Life and permits Spiritual Death’s cold breath to disable the hearts of most.

9.      A Tough Pill To Swallow  Also, neglected has been Christ’s Full Provision for victory over sin and sinfulness by mean of denying one’s self, being a true disciple of Christ, having one’s carnal, sinful nature replaced with Christ’s nature by the Spirit’s Sanctification filling, and, and active faith.

10.   Falsifying The Gospel  Any Christian doctrine which licenses the adamic carnal nature in the life of a Christian and provides for alternative remedies for its ills, is a False Gospel.

a.       The true Gospel message as taught by Paul, and confirmed to him by Peter, James, and John, includes a thorough dealing with sin and its source in one’s carnal/adamic nature, and the regrettable consequences of consenting to their ongoing presence and work in the heart.

b.      In addition to Paul’s writing, the Epistles of Peter, James, John, Jude and the Letter to the Hebrews each addresses the flesh/carnality issue from its unique perspective, attesting to the same.

c.       In God’s eyes, the corollary may be valid as well: The minister which proclaimes the Gospel falsely is a False Minister.

C.   The Apostate Belief System – Based on the Letter That Killeth  Modern Christianity’s Bible-based beliefs, teachings, and giftings are but the skeletal remains of the pulsating realities “IN Christ Jesus,” once enjoyed by the Infant Church.

1. Cherished Heirlooms – Relics From the Past  The Church today has been left with the mere doctrinal descriptions of what the First Believers once experienced.  It has the words, but not the realities, or even a revelatory understanding, of what they were meant to portray.
2. Bible Homonyms  The original meaning of many key Scriptural terms and words have mutated from its intended initial usage.

1. Many biblical words and terms, though still used widely, do not convey their original meaning.
2. Some of the more glaring examples of mutated terminology are . . .

-         ‘Christian’ (in its usage, both as a noun, and as an adjective),

-         ‘Spirit-filled,’

-         ‘Spirit-baptized,’

-         ‘Gospel,’

-         ‘Worship’,

-         ‘Repentance,’

-         ‘Holy Hands,’

-         ‘Anointing,’

-         ‘Sin,’

-         ‘Gifts,’

-         ‘Healing,’

-         ‘Carnal,’

-         ‘Talents,’

-         ‘Miracle,’

-         ‘Faith,’

-         ‘Offering,’

-         ‘Inspiration,’

-         ‘Believe,’

-         ‘Edify,’

-         ‘Blessing,’

-         ‘Church,’ etc.

3. Their misuse contributes to the Christian’s dilemma of . . . empty confessions, erroneous beliefs, misdirected faith, and . . . not truly possessing Christ’s provisions.  God’s covenant commitment does not extend to contemporary usages of His original utterances.

3.   Tidbits  :But the word of the Lord was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line: here a little, and there a little: that they might . . . fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.”  (Isa. 28:13)  Employing a vast variety of divers and sundry Minimal Dosage biblical truths, the Modern Church has proven herself to be powerless in bringing her adherents into more than a trivial, consistent possession of those realities portrayed doctrinally.

1. Witness the ‘fruit’ of the (spiritually) pre-school-level sermonettes and Sunday School ‘lessons’, disseminated month after month, year after year, decade after decade in churches everywhere. 
2. Today’s preaching is nearly as powerless as the ministry of the Law, the ‘types and shadows’, the prophecies, and the visions of O.T.  . . . which provided only verbal and symbolic depictions of vibrant spiritual realities.  They did not furnish to their hearers the means to access them or to partake of and enjoy them.

4.   Imaginary Christianity  Mere words (even anointed at times), and not the realities they were meant to portray, are the essence of Today’s Christianity.  The knowledge of the doctrine has been mistaken for the possession of its reality and experience.  Likewise, the mental endorsement of doctrines has replaced true living faith in the Word they portray.

5.   Substitutions Not Accepted  The Lord indicted His own people of Jeremiah’s day for the same substitutionary practices that prevail today.  Consider . . . : Jer. 7:22-26; 2:13.

D.   Apostate Infidelity – Harlotry With the Golden Calf of Their Imagined God

1. Historians, Not Eyewitnesses  Almost none in ministry Today has had a true revelation of Jesus Christ.  They have not had an up-close encounter with Him, much less known Him face to face. 

1. Accepting Him forgiveness, hearing His call, receiving His commissioning, and having insights into the Scriptures, are not to be confused with a revelation of His Person and heart. 
2. Consequently, Today’s ministers are powerless to be agents through who He can be revealed to those under their charge.

2.   Today, people’s ‘faith’ is founded more on their leader’s doctrinal eloquence . . . Than on the “power of God” by “the power and the demonstration of the Holy Spirit.”  Consider . . . : 1 Cor. 2:1-5

3.   More Homonyms – Hazardous Foundations  Universally, the terminologies to receive Christ, and to know Christ are used inappropriately as synonyms for . . .

1. One’s initial (though largely ineffectual) invocation of Christ into his heart, and for . . .
2. His ongoing commitment to the Christian persuasion, via a fancied devotion to . . .

-         Its Head,

-         His doctrines,

-         His behavioral requirements, and

-         Regular attendance of church meetings.

3. Very, very few have truly received Christ, or really know Jesus Christ in the true and full sense of the terms, as used in the Scriptures . . . Because of net yet having thoroughly dealt with sin.  Appropriated the death of their Old Man in Christ, after which . . . they would be empowered to “abide in Him.”
4. To their eternal detriment, knowing the Father and the Son, with the evidences expressed in John’s First Epistle is not the experience of most of Today’s Christians.  Very few display John’s proofs of possessing true Eternal Life!!

4.   Conceptual Idolatry & Christianity’s Golden Calf   Not having had a true revelation of the Lord, originating in the Spirit of God . . . well crafted simulations have been fashioned . . .

1. After Their Own Hearts  Today’s Christians have fashioned custom-made, Bible-based, mental representations of the Godhead . . . According to their own preferential concepts and doctrinal upbringing, or orientation . . . Accommodating their lusts, and providing themselves with a relative ‘peace of mind’ therein.

1)      Their Conceptual Idolatry is partially based on Biblical descriptions of divine attributes . . . supplemented by modifications of their own innovation . . . in keeping with the standards they feel they can adhere to.

2)      Their carnal hearts have deluded them into thinking God in quite sympathetic and tolerant to their besetting weaknesses and sins. 

-         “After all, He knows we’re just human.”

-         “His love covers a multitude of sins.”

-         “Where sin abounds, grace abounds much more (and covers out ongoing sinning.)”

3)  To their imaginary god they project their prayers knowing no real communion that would hold them in its grip for hours at a time. 

4)   They have deluded themselves into thinking that they know Him.

b.   Word Games  They have substituted the theological and intuitive definition of their reprobate human mind and authorities.  For a true experiential knowledge and revelation of the Godhead.

c.    Angle of Light  The ‘God’, the ‘Christ’, and the ‘Holy Spirit’ that many serve today are not the members of the Godhead they imagine them to be . . . but master imposters . . .

1)      They serve an invisible, abstract, ‘Golden Calf’.  A ‘Father’, a ‘Savior’, and a ‘Holy Spirit’ fashioned in their own likeness, to whom they ascribe the names of the Godhead.

2)      Theirs in not an Idolatry of statues or icons.  It is an Idolatry of mental images or concepts to which they ascribe the names of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit, when, in fact they are not . . . much as painting (an icon) or a statue is a representation of the idolater’s object of worship.

3)      One’s idea of who God is has supplanted the place of God Himself!!  A subtle but crucial distinction!!

d.   Utterly Deceived   Behind many of the Conceptual Idols and Evangelical Icons are deceiving demonic entities . . .

1)      Receiving the misdirected prayers and worship,

2)      Selectively giving blessings and answers to prayer,

3)      Inspiring false giftings,

4)      Personifying the Godhead, and  . . .

5)      Deceiving unwary multitudes who are made vulnerable by . . .

a)      Their lack of a true Biblical Covenant-Commitment

b)      Jesus Christ, according to His stipulated terms.

c)      Their selective belief systems.

d)      Their “lack of Knowledge.”

c.   Graven Images   In direct violation of the First and Second Commandments, representatives images of the Godhead of various types are prominently displayed most everywhere in Christendom . . .

1)      The dove, depicting the Holy Spirit, is used universally.  It happens to be a pre-Christian symbol of the pagan version of the Holy Spirit.  It also represents a pre-Catholic incarnation of the Madonna (later, Mary, Guadalupe, and others).

2)      Also, images of the Lamb, the Lion, the Fish, a Tongue of Fire (and now the Horse of Revelation), and others are found throughout Christendom.  Coincidentally, these are also part of the religions derived from Nimrod’s Tower.

3)      Christendom justifies the violation of His First Two Commandments, and other practices, with the arguments, that . . .

a)      The Enemy counterfeits that which is God’s.

b)      The same symbols were employed by the Christian of the first centuries.

c)      Everybody today, except fanatics, uses them.

E.   The Apostate Worship – Sounding Brass and Tinkling Cymbals   Today’s worship is well orchestrated, but empty: and deprived of true anointing.

1. Flesh’s Worship   Today’s ‘worshippers’ worship the worship experience . . . not the Lord Himself.
2. Human Orchestration 

1. ‘Whipped up’ praise and worship . . . with the song leader’s adept motivation techniques, and . . . the musicians’ rehearsed, orchestrated, crescendos . . . sometimes brings an air of excitement to the proceedings, assumed to the Holy Spirit’s presence (finally) descending.
2. Irregardless of how long the Holy Spirit might have been present blessing the ‘worshippers’ . . . at the prescribed time, He is summarily cut off, that the proceedings may continue as scheduled. 

3.   Excellence in Simulation – Filling in for the Holy Spirit  A full, intense, true, presence and anointing of the Lord are absent from nearly all ‘worship’, both in meetings and on recordings. 

a.       Substituting for the Holy Spirit is human Excellence in . . .

-         Gifted song service leaders.

-         Talented vocalists.

-         Master musicians.

-         Inspired Biblical lyrics.

-         And last, but not least, superb sound and recording systems.

b.      So proficient is the Excellence that most people do not seem to mind (or notice) the Holy Spirit’s absence. 

4.   Hypocrisy   Though each participant frequently feels his expression of worship to be empty, he exerts himself with the simulated joy of fulfillment . . . thinking that he is the only one having difficulty . . . when, in fact, nearly the entire congregation feels the same emptiness.

      5.   True and False Worship 

1. True worship is love’s spontaneous, profound response to the Revealed Lord.
2. True worship requires a revelation of the Lord, of His holiness, of His worthiness, and of His love, etc, and a heart that highly values those traits.
3. Without the above, it is False Worship.  It is merely a hollow exercise of “Honoring Him with their lips, but their hearts is far from Him.”  The worship is false because of . . .

1)      Singing and saying thins that have to bearing on the realities held in the hearts of the ‘worshippers’. 

2)      Employing “vain repetitions,” ascribing to the Lord holiness or worthiness, without even having a small realistic notion of what they may be.

3)      Singing hypocrisies and lies, expressing one’s love for Him, when the daily lifestyle, values, and choices exhibit a love for one’s self. 

F.   The Apostate Curse – Smitten with Blindness  Because of not having persisted in their ‘First Love,’ even while continuing to send them His Word and His wonders, He has permitted a ‘spirit of slumber’ to be given to His people.  “His table has been made unto them a stumbling” and, they have been given “eyes, ears, and a heart that perceive not.”  Consider . . . : Isa. 29:10-11; Rom. 11:7-11; Ezek. 3:27; 12:2; Dt. 29:2-4; Isa. 6:9-10; 28:11-13.

1. The Apostate Witness  The ministries of the ‘anointed Word’ and the ‘flowing gifts’ do not imply God’s approval, either of the instruments He uses, or of the recipients of the ministry.

1. They are but tokens of His mercy and power, as a testimony to His Name and to His loving heart, by which He rescues a few from among the many to participate in His true purposes.  Many misconstrue these tokens to be signs of His approval and favor, as they do a liberal cash flow.
2. Consider:  During the 40 year sojourn of the rebellious Israelites in the desert God’s blessings, supernatural provision, and miracles were showered on them (but were also mingled with severe judgments and a ‘thinning of the ranks’). 

2.   The Apostate Anointing On God’s Word   Not uncommonly, bearing a faithful witness to Himself, He provides anointing and inspiration for the preaching of His Word in pulpits everywhere (and some places He blesses with certain ‘supernatural’ giftings).

a.       However, the Word is perennially infantile in its spiritual content . . . “Precept upon precept, precept upon precept: line upon line: here a little, and there a little.”

b.      Neither in the heart of the hearers.  Nor, many times, in the heart of the speakers . . . is it accompanied by the word of . . . the “Sprit of Wisdom and Revelation in the knowledge of Christ Jesus, to illumine the eyes of their understanding” . . . His conviction of Sin, or  . . . the Fear of the Lord . . .

c.       The Word’s effect on the hearers is not unlike the hearing of the O.T. Law . . . it imparts some knowledge of the Divine Standard and promises, while . . . neither removing ‘the veil’ placed over their understanding, nor . . . providing the enablement to attain them.

3.   Buried Treasures  The Lord generally keeps certain ingredients, necessary for the full appropriation of His provisions IN Christ, hidden . . . those that make the N.T. standard and promises attainable . . . (though they remain there in His Word) . . . Consider . . . : Mt. 13:11-15.

1. They remain undisclosed because of the permissive attitude among His people towards sin and sinfulness, and its corresponding lukewarmness. 
2. The Missing Ingredients are:

1)      An understanding of the full provisions of Christ’s Gospel and grace that bring the Spirit’s true fullness, power, and enablement into the church and until one’s life, and . . .

2)      The capability to exercise a focused, applied faith therein.

c.    They have been displaced by the belief in a Partial Gospel that produces only a powerless Babylonian/Roman “form of godliness.”

d.    Multiplied preaching, teaching, seminars, and conventions will not remedy the deficiencies of the hidden Missing Ingredients. 

4.    God’s True Servants Among the Apostates  The Lord does not leave the Apostates without a message.

1. As He sent His true prophets as a witness to each generation of Apostate Israel . . . so today, He sends forth His True Preachers of True Righteousness.
2. The instrumentalities used to proclaim the Missing Ingredients to the wayward Christians frequently come wrapped in offensive packaging . . .

-         Obscuring the very message they proclaim, from those of a reprobate mind, which include . . .

-         The self-righteous,

-         The willful,

-         The proud,

-         The insincere, and,

-         The content in their carnality,

-         Those content with religious Christian placebo.

3. Reprobate churches will not receive the message of the former because of certain offensive peculiarities present in their ministries.
4. In a sense, one involuntary aspect of the ministry of the True Preachers of True Righteousness is that of being as climinatory stumbling block.  So it was with Ezekiel, Jeremiah, John the Baptist, Jesus Christ, Paul, etc.
5. Those with a heart after righteousness and after God are given a capability of spiritual perception to see through the offensive packaging, and discern the heart of the true message and of the true messenger.  Consider . . . : Mt. 13:11-12, 16.

5.   ‘Revival’ – and Apostate Conventions & Seminars  The continued teaching and preaching of manifold doctrines will not hasten the expected End Time ‘Revivals’ . . .

a.       Neither will increasing ‘expertise’ on eschatology or on the prophetic symbolisms portrayed by the O.T.’s ‘types and shadows’ . . .

b.      Nor will ‘Revival’ Conferences.

c.       If the Scribes and Pharisees of Christ’s day, ‘missed it’ totally . . . with all their dedication, study and expertise.  Today’s teachers (‘types and shadows’ and eschatology experts not excluded) have no guarantee of possessing a sufficiently accurate assessment of the Last Days’ scenario to prepare their disciples to be active participants in the Lord’s Last Day purposes.  Most likely, they all will ‘miss it,’ given the Church’s current state.

G.   The Tower of Babel and the Apostate Church – A Kingdom Divided Against Itself  Because of being Outside of Christ (of not being experientially IN Christ), the Tower of Babel’s Curse reaches even into the heart of the Church. 

1. Babel & Society  God’s Curse of the Tower of Babel, which divided mankind into many diverse languages, cultures, and religions, doesn’t seem to stop at the ethnic groupings, but reaches to even smaller groupings.

2. Babel & Protestantism  The Confusion of Tongues can be noticed even within Christianity, as noted by Protestantism’s many doctrinal dialects, customs and ethnocentricity.

1. It is seen to affect even the various Christian ‘sub-culture’ groupings, or movements.
2. All denominations have been plagued by its effects . . .
3. As has the Body of Christ at the local church level, in a majority of churches, in virtually every city, town, and village around the world.

3.    Babel & the Local Church – a House Divided Against Itself  Gene Edwards has observed in his book In the Face of a Church Split – What is OUR MISSION? the extensiveness of this tragedy.  He estimates that . . .

a.       Both the typical Christian worker and the general churchgoer will most likely pass through at least three major cataclysmic church schisms by his fiftieth birthday . . .

b.      His chance of surviving even one church split, spiritually in one piece, is less than 50%, and . . .

c.       Of the 250,000 Protestant congregations in the United States, a twelve month period is likely to see a minimum of 5,000 to 10,000 of them undergo splits.

H.   The Prodigal Church – From the Banquet Table to the Trough   Leaving the Lord and striking out on her own, Christianity dissipates her inheritance and misplaces her affections on a worldly values.

1. How She Sized Up – The Discrepancy Between Image and Substance  All too often, the image projected from the pulpit, the programs, and the building facilities . . . and the condition of those in the pew . . . are poles apart.

1. The measure of a church is not the stature of her pulpit ministry . . . though illustrious personalities and premier pulpit performances give the illusion of stellar churches.
2. Nor is it her doctrinal purity, administrative finesse, or comprehensive outreach programs.
3. In spite of their flaunted supposed-abundance, the churches in reality are poverty-stricken . . . over-indulged with the endless teachings of self-affirmation, how to get what you want, and of ‘how to bring down the glory’ . . . yet staggering from heart-malnutrition, hoping that the next seminar or retreat, big conference, or the new mega ministry speaker will end the famine.
4. It is by what is in the pew, and not by what is in the pulpit, that the Body can be truly assayed. 

2.   Misplaced Confidence in Laodicean Riches

a.       Abundant power, gifts, worship, anointing, ministry of the Word, doctrine, skills and talent, prestige, financial and material resources, real estate, and buildings, etc., have blinded the Church to true riches.

b.      Testimonies to widespread conversions, financial blessings, physical healings, visions, prophecies, supernatural signs and wonders, words of knowledge, ad infinitum . . . only serve to reinforce the simulation of Abundant Life among the many that stalk the candlestick-less assemblies.

c.       Her ministers enjoy the lavish luxuries of Five-Star hotels as they minister from place to place . . . but have no “eternal weight of glory,” occasioned by the “light momentary afflictions,” of tribulations, persecutions, jailings, etc.

3.   “Thou Hast a Name That Thou Livest, and Art Dead.”  The Church’s appearance of Life, ministry, and fruitfulness offers ‘something for everyone,’ but is of minimal spiritual consequence in their daily lives.

a.       She caters to people’s emotional, mental, and religious needs . . . but provides them with no spiritual impact.

b.      Symptomatic are the church youth groups . . . providing many attractive activities geared to aid the youth spiritually, and to protect them from worldly alternatives . . . but with negligible fruit.

1)      Most of their young people are only slightly less worldly than the North American unchurched pagan youth.

2)      Only a few continue on in the church as married adults . . . the majority is absorbed back into the world.

4.    Babylon’s Use of Concrete and Steel  True to its cultural values, the larger her following, the more successful and fulfilled Today’s Church feels . . . mistaking volume for caliber . . . Expending much effort in the quest of numerical growth.

1. Many churches design, package, and market their message and ministry according to the tastes of the populace, with effective results.
2. Before long, their sanctuaries become packed.
3. Building programs, then, must be undertaken . . . for more luxurious and more spacious sanctuaries and Christian education facilities . . . placing incredible strain on the pastor and congregation alike . . . many times to the spiritual detriment of all concerned.
4. Once completed, the new edifice must be filled to pay for itself (and to reach the lost, of course).
5. Evangelism, to fill the pew and the coffers, not to mention Heaven, is undertaken.
6. In the course of a few years, the expanded auditorium bursts at the seams.  The larger crowds require bigger buildings . . . which, in turn, require a larger cash flow for the increased operations.
7. The enterprise explodes exponentially . . . requiring for more personnel than are spiritually qualified . . . and so outside staff must be hired.
8. The visionary idealism of its founders succumbs to institutional pragmatism. 

1)      In deference to pragmatism, the operation becomes even more tither-dependent, and consequently . . .

2)      It must do nothing to alienate the contributors.

i.    Repentance and holiness (offensive and unreasonable to many of the current and potential givers) are replaced by cheap simulations.  As a result, like proliferating termites, Sin burrows throughout the very foundation of the church.

j.    Cultivating and preserving holiness, once a major aspiration, now receives only token verbal recognition when the protocol calls for it.

k.   The presence of Sin and Carnality has become an everyday (but ignored) reality in that which at one time aspired to be “glorious, pure, spotless, and without wrinkle”.

l.    The church becomes a place of spiritual Death, not Life.

m.   Concrete & Steel is a veritable millstone around the neck of Wood, Hay, & Stubble, whose weight sets her plummeting on a collision course with the Sea’s Bottom.

5.    Holy Wars & Carnal Weapons   Today’s Church fights the wrong battles with the wrong armaments.

1. Crusading for governmental justice and social morality, she mobilizes her ranks and wields ‘fleshly arms’ in an attempt to stem . . .

-         Sin’s cumulative momentum within society;

-         Her decadence;

-         The aggressive and persistent efforts of Esoteric Occultism to further Satan’s designs;

-         The presence and work of Hell’s Hordes throughout society; and  . . .

-         The ubiquitous New Age and One-World conspirators.

2. Resorting primarily to various human means of protest, resistance, legislation, and arbitration . . . the Church’s weapons are neither mighty against the Enemy’s strongholds, nor effective in stemming the tide of decadence.
3. She engages in the ‘cause of the hour,’ ignoring that . . . a number of Yesterday’s battles for social/spiritual causes were lost and forgotten.  Those battles served to divert the Church’s attention from Christ and His Heavenly strategies, and, that . . . they depleted her strength, spiritual vitality, and financial reserves . . .
4. One of yesterday’s battles was ‘Temperance.’
5. Today it is abortion, public prayer, Christian’s rights, the nation of Israel, etc.
6. Though admirable, her misdirected zeal and efforts will prove to be futile.

6.    The Whitewash Brigade   With most local churches, care is given primarily to the outward appearance of the members . . . while within lurk some of the most putrid forms of rottenness and “dead man’s bones.”

a.       Ignoring and/or covering up the loathsome sight, the ministry applies generous amounts of whitewash: the whitewash includes Religiosity’s: Good preaching, good music, good worship, Sunday morning platform productions, aggressive evangelism, admirable relief efforts, compassionate generosity, commendable behavior, and good works.  Consider Mt. 23.

b.      Using another analogy, to cover up her nakedness, Today’s Christianity dons grimy used clothes.  Consider Isa. 64:6a. 

7.    Ecclesiastic Delinquency – Prodigal & Adulterous  Much as children without the discipline of firm standards and ‘the rod’ from wise, caring, and discerning parents, become willful, rebellious, and delinquent . . .

a.       The local assembly becomes a spiritually prodigal church . . . without absolute holiness, faith, and doctrinal standards . . . enforced by prayer, counsel, and church discipline.

b.      She is given to indulging her lusts.

c.       Having willfully strayed from the Lord to strike out on her own . . . she wantonly dissipates her spiritual inheritance . . . and now subsists on a starvation diet.

I.    God’s Response to the Apostate Church – Divorce, Abandonment, and Banishment to Captivity   Spiritual infidelity lead to an estrangement of the heart from the Lord.  His Word, communion with Him in Intimate prayer, and His abiding presence . . . once held by the Church in the highest esteem and affection . . . were compromised with other ‘lovers’ admitted to her heart . . . causing her to lose her fervor.  Consider . . . : Jas. 4:4; Lk. 16:13-15; Col. 3:5.

        I.      Testimony From the Past  O.T. & N.T. Scriptures and History demonstrate that the Lord eventually abandons those who persist in abandoning His full Word, and turns them over to increasingly severe judgments.  Consider . . . : Neh. 9:26-31; Judg. 2:11-23; Ezra 8:22c.

     II.      With No Respect to Persons   Neither lineage, heritage, or even a history blessed by God – spiritual or natural – provide any assurance of God’s ongoing favor, blessing, or election.  Consider . . . : Jn. 8:33-47; I Cor. 9:23-27.

3.    His Covenant People Not Excluded   He not only allowed Judaism to die for not having persisted in the way He had established . . . He fully rejected Abraham’s descendants as His people, and repudiated His covenant with them (until the future repentance of a surviving remnant at Armageddon), though continuing to send then prophets (and now missionaries) to call out a remnant from among them.  Consider . . . : Dt. 29:18-29; 28:15-68; Ezra 5:12; Hos. 2:1-13; Jer. 3:8; Isa. 50:1; 54:4, 7-9, 5.

   III.      Even His ‘Habitation’ People   He withdrew His grace and blessing from Infant Christianity, as the Early Church abandoned the Gospel fundamentals and evolved into Catholicism, giving it over to the forces of Babylonian Darkness.

1. He threatened to withdraw His Holy Spirit from the Ephesian church, ‘just’ for allowing her love for His to cool down.  (Rev. 2:4-5)
2. He threatened to come against the Saris church like a thief in the night, unless they repented of her deadness.  (Rev. 3:1-3)
3. He found Himself locked outside of the Laodicean church and would not come inside, unless they truly heard Him and obeyed in the matters that would lead them into intimacy with Him . . . otherwise, He would spew them out of His mouth.  (Rev. 3:16-17, 20)
4. Paul warned and pronounced, “If any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be Anathema (accursed).”  (I Cor. 16:22)

5.    Our Age Not Exempted  The aforementioned precedents testify to the plausibility of His forsaking Today those who claim to be His people, while no longer truly walking in His ways . . .

a.       For He is no respecter of persons, people, churches, ministries, movements, or denominations.

b.      He has no double standards, and has no ‘favorites’ to which He gives special considerations.

6.    ‘Ichabod’ – Church Status Revoked & Diplomatic Relations Severed   Upon forsaking His people, Ichabod occurs . . .

a.       The Presence of His active leadership and participation is withdrawn from His Church.

b.      Without the Holy Spirit’s active leadership and participation, in Christ’s eyes church ceases to be a church, and lapses into being merely a religious fraternity.

c.       With the withdrawal of the ‘candlestick,’ the local church forfeits Heaven’s recognition of it as Ecclesia. 

7.    Consider . . . :  II Pet. 2: 4-10, Jude 5, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Judges, and Jeremiah.

  IV.      The Vast Array of Apostate Ministries Coping With the Absence of His Glory – ‘Making Do’ With What’s At Hand – Unskilled Laborers Doing It Their Way

1. ‘Ichabod’ – Yesterday & Today   The departure of the Lord’s Glory and of His participating presence does not occur merely because of incidental provocations against the Lord and His standards.

1. Slow To Anger   The Curse of Ichabod comes over His people in the face of persistent rebellion only after many calls to repentance and numerous warnings . . . though usually undiscerned and/or unheeded.

2. Serious Errors in Judgment   As in ancient times, when the people and their leaders misplaced their confidence in that which once housed His presence . . . (i.e. the Ark of the Covenant of Eli’s day; the Temple of Jeremiah’s day, etc.)  Rather than in the terms of t