Excerpt from Chapter 10 Who Will Be Raptured?

Understanding Our Present Time
Paul prophetically warned us the time would come when people would not put up with sound doctrine, but would gather teachers around them to say what their itching ears want to hear. He said they would turn from the truth and follow after myths (2 Tim 4:3-4).

This day is upon us. Tragically, we find this in university lecture halls, in movie theaters, on our televisions, and even in many churches. From digging for dinosaur bones and missing links, to people dazzled by statues seeping bloody tears, our world is in a crisis to find our origins and meaning to life. The De Vinci Code has caused many to go here and there seeking after myths and legends as well. Bookstores across America continue to expand their shelves for books about spirituality, New Age, occultism, paganism, and witchcraft. They offer tarot cards, divination sets, voodoo kits, ouiji boards, and feng sui manuals. The variety seems endless as seekers and dabblers continue to feed their curiosity of the supernatural. The manager of our local chain bookstore reports the fastest growing section is “alternative spirituality.” Myth, legend and lore will always present their alluring fantasies, but for us, let our curiosities be directed to learning more about our faith and most, knowing our Lord.

Many in our country have become fascinated with Native American religion, rituals and their gods. The kokopelli, a deity of fertility and music is frequently used ignorantly as southwestern décor. Dream catchers decorate homes, businesses and rear view mirrors. In September, thirty to forty thousand gather in Nevada and New Mexico for a pagan ritual to burn a giant effigy of a man. In October, Halloween superstores spring up all over the country generating annual retail revenue second, only to Christmas. For many, this fun, holiday is a closely guarded tradition for children to adults. Veiled as harmless entertainment and harvest festivals, many ignorant people reenact ancient Celtic pagan and witchcraft rituals. “But we are not worshipping gods,” they might say. So I ask, “Exactly, what are you doing if you are mimicking foolish rituals tied to paganism?” Should a believer, bought with the precious Blood of Jesus be doing these things in the name of pleasure and tradition? Should we be decorating our homes, businesses and landscapes with images of pagan gods? Are we not repeating what the Israelites did as they settled into the Promised Land? (See Deut. 7:3-5; 8:19-20; 12:2-3, 29-31; 13:6, 12; 18:9-14; 30:17; Josh 23:16; Jer. 44:1-10; Acts 19:18-19)

Lord, please help us! Open our eyes to the things we do that grieve your heart. Help us to cleanse our precious lands beginning with our own soul, our homes, churches and communities. Give us insight to how the deceiver, the spirit of the antichrist, is weaving his subtle, clever plan to destroy our lives, families and nation. Amen.

People are hungry for something that provides answers and solutions to life’s problems. A church which is void of the power to transform life drives people to seek answers elsewhere. We might wonder why we are not experiencing the power of God that we see in the book of Acts. Have we reasoned and rationalized our condition? Have we been seduced by deceiving spirits that suggest the Holy Spirit no longer operates as He once did? Have we also come to teach the call to holiness is old school and legalistic? Some may believe that holiness is not attainable; therefore, we should emphasize the teaching of grace alone. Nothing could be further from the truth. Scripture clearly teaches us that believers in Jesus Christ are called to live holy lives. “Without holiness, no one will see the Lord” (Hebrews 12:14). You would think this passage alone would make the subject an imperative doctrine of the church!

Instead, we have been further duped by believing that teaching holiness is unattractive, hard, and oppressive. We fear that if we teach these old-fashioned ideals, people will not come back to church. We succumb to the temptation of tailoring our message to draw large crowds of people. Instead of offering the power of the gospel we dazzle them with our sights and sounds of technology and the rhythm and beat of contemporary music. We teach them a Cliff’s Notes sermon and try to plug them into our user-friendly programs, hoping they will come back for more. To make use of an old advertising campaign from Wendy’s it is time to ask, “Where’s the beef?”

The prophet, Daniel warns us that in the latter days many people will be drawn to certain godly leaders’ because of their wisdom. By the flattery of this, some will stumble so they will be purified and refined (Dan. 11:33-35 ESV). We must be extremely careful in the gathering large crowds of people we do not stumble from pride, inflated egos, and arrogance. When we examine the life and teaching of Jesus we see that He gathered enormous crowds of people. He saw that many were following Him for the wrong reasons. Instead of seeking to please them, and strive to maintain His crowd, Yeshua would teach a hard message causing many to leave. Those who stayed with Him were those who were truly hungering for the kingdom of God (John 6:60-68).

I was watching a local TV program some time ago when the entire message was “Jesus loves you just the way you are.” The message was undoubtedly true, but half-true. We must preach the complete message which also says, “Jesus loves you enough to not leave you where you are.” Many believers live for years not knowing what it is to experience lasting peace, the resurrection power of God, and how it feels to live in freedom and anointing through the Holy Spirit.

As we return to teaching the full council of scripture, we will realize that our former strategy actually weakened the Church rather than strengthening it. We have heard it said there is strength in numbers. This is true to some extent, but there is much greater strength available to those who are living rightly before God. Soon we will begin to see the Holy Spirit move in people’s lives toward repentance and Christ likeness. As we resist sin and worldliness, the power of the gospel that truly transforms lives will become more evident. People will no longer be attracted to your church. They will be attracted to Jesus Christ.

Again, I have shared rather bluntly some criticism regarding how we have come to operate in the local church. I pray these things will be received not with offense, but truth in love. May the exposure of these things promote correction, repentance, and some effort to realign our priorities.

Let us revisit the letter to the church of Sardis in Revelation 3 in light of our focus on holiness. It would be prudent to consider this letter for application in our present day:

Revelation 3 (NIV) 2 Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your deeds complete in the sight of my God. 3 Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; obey it, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy. 5 He who overcomes will, like them, be dressed in white. I will never blot out his name from the book of life, but will acknowledge his name before my Father and his angels. 6 He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

From this letter we learn that it is possible to be a believer in Jesus Christ but be found incomplete. The reference to some believers having unsoiled clothing and found worthy implies that others have soiled clothes, are incomplete, and therefore, unworthy of walking with the Lord. It is likely that soiled clothing is used as a metaphor for the unfinished business of putting sin out of our lives. May it be suggested for us the righteousness of Christ has not found its way into the fabric of our lives to holiness. From the letter we note when He comes, those found asleep and incomplete will be left behind.