The Last Days Of The Church XII

 Paul also warns that in the last days, there will be blasphemers. Those who blaspheme God, the ways of God, the Word of God, and the truth of God have always existed in the world. There have always been men whose hearts were so darkened, whose hatred for a God they claimed they didn’t believe in reached such heights as to utter the most blasphemous things without giving it a second thought. The difference between then and now, between that time and this, is that the blasphemers will not be exclusive to those of the world but also found within the house of God.

It may seem paradoxical for someone who says they serve God to blaspheme Him, but we’ve seen it time and again, not just from the laymen but also from supposed leaders and governing bodies of churches and denominations.

Between Merriam-Webster’s definition of blasphemy and the definition of the root word for it in Greek, it is undeniable that many so-called spiritual leaders and people of the cloth are, in word and deed, blasphemers.

The modern translation of blasphemy, via the aforementioned Merriam-Webster, is the act of insulting or showing contempt or lack of reverence for God, the act of claiming the attributes of a deity, or irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable.

The translation from Greek adds an extra layer by defining blasphemy as speaking lightly or amiss of sacred things or slandering.

By these definitions, anyone who has stood behind a pulpit and claimed to be a little god committed blasphemy. Anyone who has stood behind a pulpit and twisted the Word of God to give permission to sin committed blasphemy. Anyone who showed contempt for God because they deemed Him unfair, misogynistic, non-inclusive, or outdated committed blasphemy. The list is long, and had we the time, we could go through it point by point, but there are only so many hours in a day.

Sobering as the reality of it might be, the truth of it is that some of the most lauded, celebrated, and revered spiritual leaders of our day are, by definition, the blasphemers Paul warned of.

There is a difference between those who blaspheme out of ignorance and those who do it knowingly. Given that the preachers, pastors, and evangelists who are guilty of blaspheming handle the Word and ought to know better, they cannot use the excuse of ignorance to justify the things they’ve taught and encouraged.

1 Timothy 1:12-13, “And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has enabled me, because He counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry, although I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an insolent man; but I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly and in unbelief.”

This is a man who understood what he had been and what he had been transformed into. He didn’t try to soften the blow or put himself in a better light. Were it not for his own words, we likely would have never known that Paul had been a blasphemer and an insolent man. Due to the telling of Stephen’s martyrdom in the book of Acts, as well as his subsequent reason for being on the road to Damascus, we would have known Paul was a persecutor, but that would have been all. He confesses to having been not only a persecutor but a blasphemer and an insolent man, but he’d obtained mercy because he had done these things ignorantly and in unbelief. What’s the excuse of many of today’s most prominent preachers, teachers, and pastors?

Because certain people always feel the need to one-up their contemporaries, recently, a mega-church pastor went beyond calling himself a little god and went one step further, calling himself God almighty. The hubris of some men continues to baffle me, and the fact that thousands upon thousands are cheering them like trained seals, not realizing what blasphemy is being uttered is beyond me utterly.

Then you have the new crop of prophets and prophetesses, at least in their own estimations, who declare with a straight face that they’ve been teleported to heaven via porta-potties, sat on God’s lap, braided His beard, and gave Him their indispensable insight as to how He should administrate the universe. It’s both insulting and irreverent toward God, the very definition of blasphemy.

So before we get on our soapboxes and start declaring that there are no blasphemers here, take a minute, look around, and listen to what some people are saying about everything from God to the Word of God, to the inerrancy of Scripture, to the supremacy of Christ, or the presence of the Holy Spirit, just to name a few, and then tell me that they are not a clear and present reality in our midst.

Anyone insisting that God has denied His nature and that He is no longer a holy and righteous God in order to appease and facilitate the proclivities and vices of modernity is likewise a blasphemer by definition. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in Him, there is no shadow of turning. That’s what the Book says about the God such individuals purport to serve, yet present Him as one who is willing to make concessions and change at the drop of a hat.

Men’s opinions do not supersede the Word of God. We must revisit this lesson and allow it to take root in our hearts. It doesn’t matter who said it or how well respected they are within Christian circles; if their words contradict the Word, they are in the wrong and need to be rebuked for it.

But that’s never going to happen because we like what they have to say. It tickles our ears and makes us feel good, and in the end, for many, feeling good takes precedence over being saved as long as they are constantly reassured that they are saved even though there is no fruit or transformation in their lives to confirm that reality. Believing a lie that boosts our egos is preferred to a truth that humbles us. That, too, is addressed by Paul further into his second letter to Timothy.

2 Timothy 4:3-4, “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.”

Posted on 17 July 2024 | 11:53 am