Breaking news: Apostasy,
chameleon faith, a fallout from the true Christian faith, has overwhelmed the churches of this world. False
prophets have taken the place of Christ on the altars, claiming to be His
representatives, while they deceive followers into more miseries, instead of
revealing the mysteries of the kingdom
of God. Christ said to
them in Matthew 23:13, “For you shut up
the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you
allow those who are entering to go in.”
Before his death, Paul explicitly warned the Ephesian elders to understand what would happen after he was gone. In his day, the same apostle Paul declared, "The mystery of iniquity is already at work." After the demise of the early apostles the church quickly departed from the simplicity of the gospel. Towards the later end of the second century, most of the churches assumed a new form that is different from what the apostles left behind. To secure converts, these new breeds of church leaders could no longer depend on God, but chose to lower some of the exalted standards of the Christian faith. As a result, a pagan flood flowed into the Church and carried with it its customs, practices and idols. The same process has repeated itself in nearly every church today.
A profession of religion has become popular with the world. Rulers, politicians, lawyers, merchants, and even traditionalist join the Church as a means of seeking the respect and confidence of the society. They seek to cover all their unrighteous transactions under a profession of Christianity. The various religious bodies, re-enforced by the wealth and influence of these baptized worldlings, make a still higher bid for more worldliness and conformity with the kings of the earth so as to increase their popularity and patronage. Even the ministers array themselves in the most costly and fashionable attires, and to some, a high reward is paid them according to their talent in ministering. All things indeed that help to make religion attractive, the church now employs as its instruments.
The spirit of worldly conformity has invaded the churches throughout Christendom. "The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are lovers of the world, lovers of comfort, and aspires after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but the shrink from the least reproach... Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy is engraving on the very front of every church; and did they know it, and did they feel it, there might be hope; but alas! They cry out, 'we are rich, and increased in goods and stand in need of nothing.'" - E. G. White, "The Great Controversy" P. 262.
No wonder in His fifth letter to the Church in Sardis, Jesus Christ said: "Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you." (Rev. 3:3). Christ said to them in Matthew 23:13, "For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." Is it not true that in the churches of our time, men are taught to rest their faith upon their creed and the teachings of their church without asking any questions? The protestant evangelical churches have so tied up one another's hands, and their own, that between them all, a man cannot become a preacher at all without accepting some book other than the Bible. Religious faith appears so confused and discordant that the people know not what to believe as truth anymore.
The Bible declares that prior to the second coming of Christ, Satan will work "with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thess. 2: 9-10). Note that not until the union of the church with the world is complete throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be accomplished. The perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is right now at the door of the church.
Before his death, Paul explicitly warned the Ephesian elders to understand what would happen after he was gone. In his day, the same apostle Paul declared, "The mystery of iniquity is already at work." After the demise of the early apostles the church quickly departed from the simplicity of the gospel. Towards the later end of the second century, most of the churches assumed a new form that is different from what the apostles left behind. To secure converts, these new breeds of church leaders could no longer depend on God, but chose to lower some of the exalted standards of the Christian faith. As a result, a pagan flood flowed into the Church and carried with it its customs, practices and idols. The same process has repeated itself in nearly every church today.
A profession of religion has become popular with the world. Rulers, politicians, lawyers, merchants, and even traditionalist join the Church as a means of seeking the respect and confidence of the society. They seek to cover all their unrighteous transactions under a profession of Christianity. The various religious bodies, re-enforced by the wealth and influence of these baptized worldlings, make a still higher bid for more worldliness and conformity with the kings of the earth so as to increase their popularity and patronage. Even the ministers array themselves in the most costly and fashionable attires, and to some, a high reward is paid them according to their talent in ministering. All things indeed that help to make religion attractive, the church now employs as its instruments.
The spirit of worldly conformity has invaded the churches throughout Christendom. "The professors of religion of the present day, in every church, are lovers of the world, lovers of comfort, and aspires after respectability. They are called to suffer with Christ, but the shrink from the least reproach... Apostasy, apostasy, apostasy is engraving on the very front of every church; and did they know it, and did they feel it, there might be hope; but alas! They cry out, 'we are rich, and increased in goods and stand in need of nothing.'" - E. G. White, "The Great Controversy" P. 262.
No wonder in His fifth letter to the Church in Sardis, Jesus Christ said: "Therefore, if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I will come upon you." (Rev. 3:3). Christ said to them in Matthew 23:13, "For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." Is it not true that in the churches of our time, men are taught to rest their faith upon their creed and the teachings of their church without asking any questions? The protestant evangelical churches have so tied up one another's hands, and their own, that between them all, a man cannot become a preacher at all without accepting some book other than the Bible. Religious faith appears so confused and discordant that the people know not what to believe as truth anymore.
The Bible declares that prior to the second coming of Christ, Satan will work "with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved." (2 Thess. 2: 9-10). Note that not until the union of the church with the world is complete throughout Christendom, will the fall of Babylon be accomplished. The perfect fulfillment of Revelation 14:8 is right now at the door of the church.
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