Prof. Johan Malan, Mossel Bay, South Africa (February 2013)
The end of the church dispensation is a particularly demanding, disorderly and uncertain period in world history. All people on earth are subjected to the pressure of a transition to a new world order in which nations will lose their sovereignty. This transition is precipitated by global problems such as wars and uprisings, terrorism, difficult economic conditions caused by overpopulation, unproductiveness, overspending, unemployment, pollution and the over-exploitation of natural resources, as well as the licentiousness and anarchy which are typical of postmodern societies.
Apart from these factors, evangelical Christians are subjected to various forms of spiritual, moral and ideological pressure aimed at destroying their identity as Bible-believing Christians. It is against this comprehensive attack that the Bible warns us. We must not become part of the problem by compromising with evil; but, through faith in Jesus Christ, the power of the Holy Spirit and prophetic warnings against increased evil in the end-time, we should resolutely run the race that is set before us. Honour your irrevocable commitment to Christ by persevering single-mindedly on the narrow way without deviating from it, nor by yielding to demonic temptations to abandon the race. We are called upon to prevail against evil by not walking in the counsel of the wicked, standing in the way of sinners, or sitting in the seat of mockers (Ps. 1:1).
There are seven distinct aspects of the struggle against Christianity, and we should accept the challenge to be more than conquerors in all seven of these areas. Christians have always had a battle against evil, but in the end-time the struggle intensifies. Together with all the opportunities to work for the Lord, the spiritual war is deepening. The devil offers increased resistance in areas where his interests are threatened. Paul said: “For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries” (1 Cor. 16:9). He guarded against the possibility of being deceived by Satan, and added: “... for we are not ignorant of his devices” (2 Cor. 2:11).
We must be mindful of Satan’s plans which are aimed at making us lose our spiritual direction in life and by robbing us of our motivation to follow and serve the Lord. Evaluate yourself in the following seven areas in which end-time Christianity is involved in a fierce battle:
The new world order is rapidly manifesting in the early stages of this millennium and constitutes one of the biggest threats to evangelical Christianity. The purpose with the new world order is to establish a new, united world in which all people can live together in harmony. Its building blocks are: (a) political globalism aimed at founding a world government that treats all its citizens equally; (b) economic globalism which is committed to instituting centralised control over the world economy with a view to eradicating the difference between rich and poor; and (c) religious globalism as a spiritual driving force to promote the formation of an alliance of world religions in which all participants should collaborate as equal partners to ensure harmony and world peace.
The idea of a multireligious orientation is completely unacceptable to evangelical Christians. It amounts to treason against the Triune God if the interfaith premise is accepted that all faiths worship the same God. Evangelical Christians do not believe in a universal Creator-God who revealed Himself to some people through Jesus Christ, and to others through Mohammed, Krishna, Buddha or the ancestral spirits. Jesus was not merely one of many mediators between God and man – He is the unique Son of God and nobody can come to the Father except through Him (John 14:6).
Evangelical Christianity, therefore, excludes all other religions while the new world order follows an inclusive approach in terms of which all religions are recognised and associated with one another. This new approach has already been adopted by most countries, and that explains why there are no longer Christian constitutions and public institutions such as Christian education in most countries. Interfaith curricula are offered in which something good is identified in every religion, thereby offering common ground for interfaith dialogue and collaboration.
Christians who refuse to accept this new approach, and who maintain that only they are right and all other religions are wrong, are branded as fundamentalists who are negative and condemnatory, and therefore a hindrance in the realisation of religious globalism. Young people are intensively subjected to brainwashing of this nature.
One of the consequences of multireligious thinking is that the Bible is no longer taken seriously – neither is Jesus Christ who is the incarnate Word. Such people do not show much interest in preaching on the second coming as that forms part of biblical revelations to which they no longer attach any significance. They would rather consider the views and theories of other faiths, including the virtually extinct Maya Indians of Central America. The Maya’s theory of the end of the world that was expected to occur on December 21, 2012, was even the subject of a Hollywood movie which was everywhere viewed with great interest. The truth of the Bible is increasingly suppressed by multireligious lies.
Evangelical Christians elicit sceptical reactions when they point out that the end of the world will only occur after Christ’s thousand-year reign of peace. Before the millennial kingdom, which will directly follow the second coming of Christ, there will be a seven-year tribulation period accompanied by unprecedented divine judgements, but that will not bring about the end of all life on earth.
More than ever before, the end-time is characterised by a tremendous increase in spiritual deception. Paul says: “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables” (2 Tim. 4:3-4). This is a common tendency of our time. In all possible ways, efforts are made to undermine the gospel of Jesus Christ since it stands in the way of the new world order. The following basic aspects of our faith are substantially changed in order to use them as a foundation for false doctrines:
· The image of the God of the Bible is changed to make Him conformable to the universal god of all faiths.
· Jesus Christ is deprived of His uniqueness and Deity, and His image changed to bear likeness to that of the universally acceptable messiah of all faiths.
· The Holy Spirit is reduced to an impersonal supernatural power which empowers people to do signs and wonders and also to receive ecstatic extra-Biblical revelations of God’s will through dreams, visions, audible voices, etc.
· The Bible is reduced to the level of a human book containing many mistakes and contradictions, and which does not apply to all people of all times. It has allegedly been written in terms of a primitive and unscientific worldview and is therefore not regarded as the timeless and exalted Word of God. Because of these perceptions, the Bible is either spiritualised or interpreted historically (preterism) and therefore loses its relevance to postmodern humanity.
· Because of all these factors, the Christian faith is relegated to a position wherein it is equally treated with the other world religions. It ceases to be of unique significance, and due to people’s unbelief it no longer has the power to save. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is only a power of salvation to people who fully believe it (Rom. 1:16). Those who refuse to believe biblical promises are hardening their hearts against the gospel and therefore remain unsaved (Heb. 4:7).
Evangelical Christians should resist this spirit of agnosticism and antichristian reforms, however strong the pressure for change may be. If we change the biblical concept of God, equate Jesus Christ with the idols, no longer honour the Word of God, open up ourselves to the manifestation of foreign spirits, and wilfully embrace the decadent, end-time world order, then we have been led away with the error of false prophets and fell from our own steadfastness in Christ (2 Pet. 2:1-2; 3:17). There are unfortunately many Christians who grow cold in their zeal, falter in their faith and fall short of the grace of God.
Postmodern man of the end-time accepts no rigid rules which restrict his freedom – not in the political, religious or the moral spheres. He insists on the liberty to commit corruption, pay bribes, blackmail people, gamble, drink, engage in extra-marital relations, and also to openly follow a homosexual lifestyle if it suits him. It is ironical that the churches who should have resisted the strong movement towards immorality are themselves often protagonists for greater moral freedom, including the right to chose one’s own sexual orientation.
In 2012, a new Bible was published for gays from which all references to homosexuality were removed. On their website http://queenjamesbible.com/ the editors of the new Bible say: “It was commonly known that King James I was bisexual. Though he did marry a woman, his many gay relationships were so well-known that amongst some of his friends and court, he was known as ‘Queen James.’ It is in his great debt and honour that we name The Queen James Bible so.” It is further emphasised that the word “homosexuality” was first mentioned in an English Bible in 1946, as if to say that this concept was altogether foreign to the Bible in the original languages.
However, before 1946 other words were used, e.g. sodomites, which have exactly the same meaning. The first reference to this sin appears in the Torah which was received from the Lord at Sinai in 1312 BC. Leviticus 20:13 says: “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death.” This form of sexual perversion is contrary to the basic nature of human beings, who were created as males or females, and will therefore always be regarded as an abomination by God. Paul writes to the church in Rome about the evil deeds which are committed by such people:
“For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due” (Rom. 1:26-27). For a further discussion of what the Bible says on gays, see http://apprising.org/2012/12/15/%D1%8F-u-ready-4-the-queen-james-bible/.
An immoral life also has various other distorted characteristics which are typical of the devil and his evil kingdom. Paul refers to immoral acts as “the unfruitful works of darkness” (Eph. 5:11), “the works of the flesh” (Gal. 5:19-21), or merely as “sin” (Heb. 12:1). Evangelical Christians should be able to testify to the fact that the Lord Jesus has saved them from their sin. After that, they are commanded to grow in holiness, which will counter the possibility of again becoming entangled by sin: “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts” (Rom. 6:12).
While sin and licentiousness increase in the end-time, and truth is replaced by lies, we must persevere on the narrow way and never deviate from it. We should stand fast in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and not be entangled again by a yoke of bondage to sin.
Christians are also confronted by a big challenge to remain steadfast in their faith against the strong influence of materialism and secular humanism. The achievements of modern science, and particularly the high level of technological sophistication that has been achieved, enable many people to be successful, become wealthy and to boast in their own abilities.
When wealth increases, a person’s dependence on outside assistance is reduced, including spiritual support, and that leads to a situation in which the successful person becomes the master of his own destiny. In practice he becomes his own god. In his self-reliant position he is not conscious of his spiritual poverty and dependence upon God. The Lord Jesus says the following about such people: “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. Because you say, I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing; and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:16-17).
When a person is drawn away by wealth or the desire to be rich, he grows cold towards the Lord and eventually loses his way spiritually. Paul says: “But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and harmful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (1 Tim. 6:9-10).
That doesn’t mean that the believer is encouraged to be economically inactive or academically exempted from excellence. Paul says: “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). A Christian should always be hard-working, proving himself as a person with unquestioned integrity, who also cares for other people. However, there are limits to these aspirations: money and the desire for riches should not become an obsession to him, as he would then become a follower of the god of money, the unrighteous Mammon. We cannot serve God and Mammon (Matt. 6:24), and should ensure that our spiritual priorities are always sound. Many Christians become overly materialistic, and that renders them spiritually lukewarm, or even cold, and disinterested in the things of the Lord.
Emotional depression is the opposite of pride and self-esteem. Such people do not trust the Lord, have no confidence in themselves, show no interest in life, distrust everybody, and usually prefer death to life. Their faith is so weakened that they cannot and will not accept the promises of the Bible, and for that reason they are even reluctant to accept the salvation which is freely offered to them. Their difficult circumstances pull them down into a pit of dark thoughts, and their faith has changed into doubt or even utter disbelief.
We are warned against a mental and spiritual disposition of this nature: “But take heed of yourselves, lest your hearts be weighed down with ... cares of this life, and that day come on you unexpectedly” (Luke 21:34). Believers who do not look forward to the Lord’s return have all reason to be concerned about the sincerity of their relationship with Him. A weak faith and poor spiritual commitment often lead to moral laxity. To such a person the day of Christ’s return may suddenly dawn and find him unprepared for it. The Lord Jesus said that we should watch and pray to be worthy to escape the coming tribulation period and to stand before Him in glory (Luke 21:36). We must not lapse into prayerlessness, unbelief and self-pity as that would be contrary to our obligation to be vigilant and ready for the Lord’s sudden coming to take away His sanctified bride.
The difficult conditions of the last days may induce many Christians to become depressed and to withdraw from their many responsibilities in life. However, they will then become spiritually even weaker instead of stronger. We should fully realise that even harder times are lying ahead, and should prepare ourselves to face them without abandoning the struggle, accepting defeat and surrendering ourselves to self-pity. Paul says: “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come” (2 Tim. 3:1). The world will become more evil and the economic situation tougher, while violence, crime, and lawlessness will exponentially increase. We need to be spiritually strong to find our way through the troubled waters of the end-time’s apostatising, and to persevere to the end.
The Bible gives clear counsel on how to be spiritually sound: “Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might ... that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil” (Eph. 6:10-11). That demands that we are cleansed from all sins and evil thoughts by the blood of the Lamb (1 John 1:7). We should also have a new filling with the Holy Spirit to be endued with power from on high. We will only then be spiritually strong and also in a position to assist doubting and faltering believers: “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:1-2).
There are various warnings in the Bible against end-time Christians who become uninvolved with the work of the Lord because of having failed to watch, pray, and serve the Lord as they should. Consequently, they do not only slumber spiritually but also start doing wrong things which cause them to backslide from the Lord.
We read in the parable of the ten virgins that all ten of them represent the kingdom of heaven and that they all went out to meet the bridegroom. Only five of them were wise in the sense that they took extra oil with them. Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, which is an indication that they have fully surrendered themselves to be filled with the Holy Spirit. The five foolish virgins did have lamps as well as oil, but not enough oil. At midnight their lamps went out. Their foolishness relates to the fact that they were not filled with the Holy Spirit (cf. 1 Cor. 3:1-3; Gal. 5:17; Eph. 5:18).
There were two serious problems that were experienced by this group of ten. The fleshly ones were not yet endued with the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:8; Luke 24:49), and for that reason they could not do works worthy of repentance. No wonder that the light of their witness dwindled when circumstances became difficult. Furthermore, there was a problem of which all ten of the virgins were guilty, i.e. a reduced expectation on the coming of the bridegroom when he tarried longer than expected. They did not watch and pray, but lapsed into passivity and fell asleep spiritually. Even Spirit-filled children of the Lord can lose their vision, become lax in their commitment, and fail to observe an active expectation on the second coming. They still love the Lord and live for Him, but there are reasons for concern in their spiritual lives.
The danger is that such people who do not entertain an active expectation of the Bridegroom’s sudden coming, are inclined to pursue other objectives and to forget that they must give account of their lives before the judgement seat of Christ. Because of this, they become worldly-minded seekers of their own interests, who backslide from the Lord and become guilty of sinning: “But if that evil servant says in his heart, My master is delaying his coming, and begins to beat his fellow servants, and to eat and drink with the drunkards, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him and at an hour that he is not aware of, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites” (Matt. 24:48-51).
Are you also one of the sleeping virgins who no longer fix your eyes on Jesus Christ and live close to Him? If so, then you have fallen victim to the spirit of passivity and indifference towards the work of the Lord, and you will certainly suffer loss when the Lord rewards His servants for their labour of faith. We are called upon to be wise virgins whose lives bear witness of Spirit-inspired works: “Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his master made ruler over his household, to give them food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master, when he comes, will find so doing. Assuredly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all his goods” (Matt. 24:45-47).
One of the big dangers against which Christians should guard in the end-time is compromising with apostates and worldly-minded people. In these postmodern times it is common practice to give full recognition to all faiths, traditions and ideologies, and to openly compromise with them. The result of this approach is a large measure of tolerance towards ideas which are at variance with the Christian faith. Ultimately, all sorts of sin and false religious views are condoned and even adopted. We are warned against compromise of this nature:
“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people. Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you. I will be a Father to you, and you shall be My sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty” (2 Cor. 6:14-18).
We cannot serve two masters, we cannot love God and the world, and we cannot build a bridge between the narrow way and the broad way in an attempt to enjoy the best from two worlds. In fact, we cannot in any way compromise with something which only in the smallest way deviates from the truth of God’s Word. If there are believers who deny certain biblical doctrines, or who practice a compromising form of religion in which for instance the Old Testament Law is mixed with the New Testament message of grace, then we should stay clear of it and have no part in it. Remember that a little leaven leavens the whole lump (1 Cor. 5:6).
How can we keep our way pure? By diligently walking in accordance with God’s Word. We must be able to join the psalmist in saying: “Your Word have I hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You” (Ps. 119:11).
Steadfastly resist any inclination towards compromise as that is inherently part of our commitment towards sanctification. If we wish to be blameless in our spirit, soul and body on the day of Jesus Christ, we should pursue complete sanctification (1 Thess. 5:23-24). Sanctification demands that we should turn away from every form of evil and be cleansed from it by the blood of the Lamb (1 John 1:7). We should also be filled with the Holy Spirit in order to have the power and motivation to proceed serving the Lord under all circumstance (Acts 1:8). That is the secret of wholehearted commitment to the Lord without any compromise.
The final purpose of our faith should be that, in spite of all the conflict and attacks against us, we should steadfastly continue to serve the Lord, even under the most difficult circumstances. If we wish to prevail, one of the conditions is that we must always examine ourselves to make sure that there is nothing between the Lord and us that can harm or impede our spiritual progress:
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, ... looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God” (Heb. 12:1-2, 15).
Wonderful blessings are in store for the overcomers – i.e. those who do not find themselves among the carnal, despondent and compromising believers: “But hold fast what you have till I come. And he who overcomes, and keeps My works until the end, to him I will give power over the nations” (Rev. 2:25-26).
Everyone of us should dedicate ourselves completely to the calling to finish the race in the company of the overcomers. It will be to the glory of the Lord to be found before His throne as a conqueror in the big struggle against the kingdom of darkness, and also as a faithful worker who will not appear before Him empty-handed.