The Last Days Of The Church I

 You’ll never get a true reflection staring into a funhouse mirror. Funhouse mirrors are created with the singular purpose of distorting reality and making you see something that isn’t there. The same can be said of unbiblical doctrine and teaching. If the mirror you look into is not the Word of God but things people say about the Word of God, putting their own spin on it and twisting it to fit their narrative, you will never see your true self. You will never see your true reflection.

Likewise, you will never understand how perilous the last days will be for the church because it’s been hammered into us that we will ride the white stallions of boldness victoriously through the land, participation trophies in hand, basking in the praise of our fellow man. We’ve been told time and again by various men at various times that if you get nothing else from this book, this series, this sermon, or this talk, just remember, the greatest of greatest revivals are about to sweep the world and you will be the tip of the spear! Inconsistent with the picture the Bible paints about the last days of the church? Most assuredly, but this sounds better by country mile.

It is our responsibility to reject the allure of the funhouse mirror, for the truth it reflects is no truth at all but an artifice. It’s a trick, a figment, a mirage, something not anchored or tethered to reality. Flattering as it might seem, it is an illusion.

But it’s fun looking into a mirror that reflects a tiny waist and Popeye-like arms even though, in reality, I look like an inverted lightbulb or a pear without the stem. It’s fun to see what isn’t there, what we know can’t be there, but believing the illusion rather than reality becomes a temptation that many cannot resist.

Though it may reveal our imperfections, the mirror of God's Word is a necessary tool for our spiritual growth. There is always something we can prune, always something we can surrender, always something we can do away with, and always more of us to leave to the dust so that we may be more like Him. Sanctification is incremental, and with each passing day that we deny ourselves, pick up our crosses, and follow Him, there is less of us and more of Him. That the modern-day church has been convinced it can be perfected without the shedding of the old wineskin or that we are born again fully mature, equipped, and ready to take on the darkness is tragic and has produced an entire generation of narcissistic, overconfident toddlers with no depth, foundation, or understanding of the way.

We refuse to look into the mirror of God’s word because of what we fear it will reflect, and so we will give heed to anyone willing to show us what we want to see. The world has become increasingly averse to discomfort, being challenged, or being made to feel uncomfortable, and the church has followed suit, matching it stride for stride.

Don’t tell me I need to grow, mature, or invest time deepening my relationship with God. Rather, tell me I’m there, I made it, I’m on the mountaintop, I’ve planted my flag, and now I can sit back and wait for the great end-time revival many have promised without substantiating it biblically. It sounds too good not to be true, doesn’t it? Packed stadiums from shore to shore with millions of people hanging on our every word, flashing lights and accolades, ministries bursting at the seams, being the center of attention, and rubbing elbows with the influencers of our day.

Even though we check off every box when it comes to resembling the church of Laodicea, we’ve convinced ourselves that we are the church of Philadelphia. Anyone who dares to point out the inconsistencies, lack of commitment, confusion, gnostic pursuits, and tepid spiritual state many who claim to be believers are wallowing in is accused of being wet blankets and quenching the Spirit.

Unsurprisingly, those constantly dangling the carrot of revival never seem to mention the need for repentance, discipleship, or spiritual maturity. Their egos and God using them to usher in the last days' harvest is the singular focus, and whether those who raise a limp-wristed hand one evening or have an emotional experience that never translates to anything more substantive is none of their concern.

While many of today’s leaders paint a flattering picture of the current church and insist that this generation, above any other, is more glorious, thoroughly equipped, and sanctified, outshining their predecessors in godliness, the reality of the situation disproves their claims thoroughly.

Whether one believes that the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation were seven church ages or that you can find a reflection of each at any given time throughout history, Jesus details what He deems as faithful and true and what He deems stagnant and lukewarm.

What we think of ourselves or how we see ourselves matters little. What matters is how Jesus sees us and what He thinks of us. When we value what He values, we are in harmony with His will. When the things we value are things He deems as dung and ignore the things He deems as priceless, then though we might see ourselves in a certain light, it is self-delusion at best, if not outright self-deception.

Over the past few decades, there has been much talk, especially among Western believers, about the spiritual state of the church in the last days. To hear them tell the tale, it will be akin to a renaissance of righteousness, with billions of souls finding the light, mass revivals springing up in every place, and the children of God lauded as visionaries and trailblazers. Words like glorious, unprecedented, earth-shattering, and other such adjectives were often thrown in for good measure, and one would feel like a stick in the mud if they failed to get excited about the prospect. Who wouldn’t want a sweeping revival? Who wouldn’t want to see countless souls brought into the kingdom of God?

As the saying goes, it looks good on paper, but before we let our exuberance and excitement get the better of us, we would do well to return to the Word and see what it has to say about the last days of the church and the spiritual condition it will find itself in.

That Jesus Himself queried whether the Son of Man would find faith on the earth when He returned and left it as an open-ended question should give us a clue, but that’s too much of a downer for us to contemplate.

We ignore the cracks in the foundation, the holes in the wall, and the duplicity permeating the modern-day church, all because men who insist that the end-time revival they’ve foreseen must be fully funded before it commences have declared it to be so.

Before we commence with this study, I would like to make one thing perfectly clear: salvation, faith, and walking in the way of truth are not collective pursuits. God doesn’t grade on a curve, nor will you be held accountable for the collective failures of a spouse, a parent, a child, a congregation, denomination, or church body. The soul that sins will die. When we stand before God, it won’t be as a group or a cluster; we won’t be separated along denominational lines or other such trivialities. However, we will stand before Him as individuals, and He will judge all men individually.

Posted on 3 July 2024 | 11:40 am