THE APOSTASY.
It has been a widely-spread and widely-received doctrine among those who profess the name of Christ, that the world is getting better, and that the preaching of the present gospel will be used of God in the conversion of the world, and the setting up of a spiritual kingdom of Christ in the hearts of men. Thousands, satisfied with a surface view of things, have accepted what their teachers have taught them, forgetting the exhortation, “Prove all things” (1 Thess. 5:2121Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. (1 Thessalonians 5:21)); and have never really searched the Word of God for themselves.
Some who read the following statement may be at first surprised, but it is nevertheless the truth. There is not a single scripture, from Genesis to the Revelation, that ever hints at the thought that the world would get better during the present hour of Christ’s absence, but several that distinctly declare the very reverse.
It is perfectly true that the kingdom of Christ will be established throughout the world, but not in a spiritual way in the hearts of all (though doubtless great numbers of Gentiles, as well as all Israel, will then be saved—Isa. 11:99They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain: for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. (Isaiah 11:9); Heb. 8:10-1210For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: 11And they shall not teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. 12For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. (Hebrews 8:10‑12)), but in actual power and glory, all kings falling down before Him, and all nations serving Him. But this will not be brought about through the preaching of the gospel of the grace of God, but by the display of God’s power in judgment.
The object of the preaching of the gospel now is not to convert the world, but for the taking out a people for His name (Acts 15:1414Simeon hath declared how God at the first did visit the Gentiles, to take out of them a people for his name. (Acts 15:14)). God is not saving people for earthly blessing, but taking out a heavenly people for heavenly blessing (1 Cor. 15:4848As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. (1 Corinthians 15:48)); not subduing the nations to the faith of Christ, but uniting a company from among Jews and Gentiles to Christ in glory, as His body and His bride, by the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven (1 Cor. 12; Eph. 1:22, 2322And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, 23Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. (Ephesians 1:22‑23)).
When the Lord descends and His saints are caught up to meet Him in the air, the present testimony of grace, the gospel of the glory of Christ, as the Apostle Paul expressly terms it, “my gospel,” will cease (Rom. 2:1616In the day when God shall judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ according to my gospel. (Romans 2:16); 2 Tim. 2:88Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel: (2 Timothy 2:8)). Then, during the short period to which we have more than once already referred in these papers, which will elapse between the rapture of the saints and their manifestation in glory with Christ when He comes to reign, a fresh testimony will go out, and the gospel of the kingdom be preached as a witness to all nations, and then shall the end (that is, of the age, not world) come (Matt. 24:1414And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come. (Matthew 24:14)).
Now whilst God in grace at the present time is taking out a people, Christians, the world itself grows worse. Revivals of truth have taken place at various periods since Christ was crucified and cast out from this scene, but the world itself, the mass, wallow in sin. Professing Christendom, cloaking itself over with a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof, is sinning against light, and God’s long-suffering grace.
In the Epistles to Timothy we have a solemn testimony as to the closing condition of Christendom (so-called). In the first epistle, 1 Timothy 4:11Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; (1 Timothy 4:1), we read, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith” (not come to it) and “giving heed to seducing spirits and the doctrines of devils.” In 2 Timothy 3:1, 131This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. (2 Timothy 3:1)
13But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:13) “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.... Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse” (not better and better), “deceiving and being deceived.” 2 Timothy 4:3, 43For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; 4And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. (2 Timothy 4:3‑4) “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned into fables.” From 1 John 4:33And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. (1 John 4:3) we find that the spirit of antichrist was already in the world at that early period; and Paul writing to the Thessalonians, reminds them that “the mystery of iniquity doth already work” (2 Thess. 2:77For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7)).
All these evils are at work around us at this moment; daily they gain ground, and men are led away into the vortex of error and deceit. Rationalism, ritualism, Romanism, infidelity (against which in germ the saint is especially warned in Col. 2) are making rapid strides. The Word of God is set aside by tradition, the teaching of the fathers, and the church, and made of none effect; often questioned, sometimes even denied. Men grow bold in their wickedness. Thousands letting slip the only safeguard, “It is written,” are carried away by the terrible tide, to find themselves eventually shut outside the closed door of grace, to come into the awful judgment of God. The predicted apostasy (2 Thess. 2) fast ripens to a head. Men’s hearts, set upon the advancement of commerce, manufactures, civilization, arts, sciences, military and naval power, and human religion, have no room for the true Christ of God. Masses are so engrossed with the affairs of this life, and deluded by Satan, that they pay no heed to the warning voice of the servants, of God who faithfully proclaim His truth, and warn them to flee from the wrath to come. Men, dear reader, are siding for Christ or antichrist.
(Continued and to be continued)