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*There is a special message at the end of this article.*
Before the global flood that wiped out all land dwellers excluded from the Ark, man had become godless. In fact, God saw that wickedness abounded and every imagination and thought of man was continually evil (Gen 6:5). This godlessness was so complete that Noah alone was found perfect in his generation because he walked with God (Gen 6:9). This caused God to bring severe judgment upon man and earth, which brought about a new beginning on a reshaped earth. From then until now, man has walked in differing degrees of godlessness. Soon, Jesus will remove from the earth the dead in Christ and the last of those living godly at the rapture, making room for a world condition that could be named The Return of the Godless. Incredibly, this return to godlessness is already underway. How can this be?
To answer this question, one might begin by asking how the whole world is returning to such godlessness, even though the church, which is considered the salt that holds putrification at bay, is still here on earth. The simple answer is the true remnant church, which will soon be raptured, is shrinking at an alarming rate, and this diminishment is beginning to show in that the world is now becoming more godless as each day passes. Unfortunately, this process will continue and even accelerate until the rapture, after which only the godless remain. The obvious question then is why is the true church receding? There are actually several reasons this is happening:
First, once the lie of evolution gained a foothold, the Bible was relegated to the status of a great book on par with other well-known works of fiction. This is because you cannot have two diametrically opposed beliefs be true at the same time. After all, the proponents of evolution challenged the validity of God’s Holy Word by providing an alternative that wicked men craved. This new paradigm allowed men to reject the idea that their wayward lifestyles would bring them into condemnation before a Holy God. Therefore, through deception, the fable (evolution) has become the taught law of the land, and the truth (the Bible) has become a book of stories (fables). This is why the generations which were taught evolution from grade schools to institutes of higher learning have begun to leave the church in droves.
Second, the many false prophets Jesus warned about have arisen, and they are misleading those in the church away from the absolutes of the Bible, as well (Matt 24). [1] These are they who pervert the gospel of Christ (Gal 1:7). They secretly bring in damnable heresies which even deny Christ who paid the price for all who believe (2 Pet 2:1). Peter goes on to say these false prophets and teachers will, for greed’s sake, exploit many with deceptive words (2 Pet 2:2-3). Paul told us they did this in order to draw men unto themselves (Acts 20:30).
The third reason for the return of the godless is a side effect of the first two reasons. As faith in the Christ of the Bible diminishes because of the acceptance of fables and false prophets, the true salt and light ebbs. This recession results in mankind becoming increasingly selfish. We can glean from Scripture exactly why this is happening. We know that “faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God” (Rom 10:17). Therefore, with fewer available to preach the true gospel, fewer hear it, and fewer obtain saving faith in Christ.
The antidote to each of these causes is a good dose of the truth. The problem is that the airwaves are full of hyper-sensationalized messages presented by false prophets and teachers. Where, seemingly, each new message is more important than the last. This fuels the need for the next secret message or mystery these prognosticators will present. Incredibly, some of the false ministers are authors who sell out books even before they are released. Because of this, the false have gained such a foothold in the church that the true remnant barely gets a word in edgewise.
At this point, you may be asking yourself, if this is truly the case, how do I know what is true? Ah, the quickest way to discern who is true and who is false is who they leave you seeking. Paul told us these liars would be known because they will draw disciples unto themselves. Therefore, those true to God will herald Jesus Christ, and the false will trumpet themselves.
Two additional points about what causes people to become godless should be considered here: Why do people believe the lies, and what approach do the liars take?
Believing Lies
The Apostle Paul had much to say about the fact that people will believe in the false. In fact, in his last correspondence to the church, he encouraged Timothy to “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Tim 4:2-4). emphasis mine
This means people will, of their own free will, turn away from the truth proclaimed by the faithful toward a multitude of teachers who preach a message they desire to hear. The prophet Isaiah said these kinds of people are they “Which say to the seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits” (Is 30:10). Simply put, many do not want to hear the truth, and they willingly turn from it and believe whatever lie/s makes them feel better about their sinful lifestyle.
Elsewhere, Paul identifies why people turn from the truth and accept lies as their portion. First, they change the truth of God into a lie and worship the creature more than the Creator (Rom 1:25). Second, they do not like to retain God in their knowledge (Rom 1:28). Because of this, God turns those who reject Him over to reprobate minds which causes them to do things that are not convenient or, said another way, these will do things that are improper. This brings us to the next question, what approach do the creatures that are worshipped take in order to deceive?
Crafters of Deception
The reason why deceivers deceive has already been established; they desire to draw others to themselves (Acts 20:30). Precisely, these are the kind of people who desire that other people worship them; therefore, they practice deceit. The question at hand is, how do they accomplish this? How do they turn people away from worshipping God toward worshipping them? The answer is simple.
As noted by Peter, those who practice deception will privily bring in damnable heresies (2 Pet 2:1). In modern English, this same phrase could read, ‘They will introduce, by way of revealing secrets, opinions that bring forth destruction.’ This statement may give rise to another question, what destruction is brought forth by these secret revelations? The answer is one that has been seen since the very first deception in the Garden of Eden: Secret knowledge gives rise to turning away from worship of the creator toward desire for secret messages and the ones who bear them. The first such deception is a great example:
The most subtle (cunning) creature that God made, the serpent, beguiled Eve by first planting a seed of doubt about what God said by uttering this statement, “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?” (Gen 3:1). This is exactly what evolutionists and false prophets and teachers do; they first create doubt about the truth, which has already been revealed by God, by introducing their secret message/s by which they intend to deceive the hearer.
After getting her attention, the serpent revealed a secret to Eve, “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:4-5). The express purpose of this lie was to cause rejection of God’s sovereignty. In fact, believing this lie caused man to no longer consider God as supreme. This lie fostered the belief that men were gods, which resulted in bringing God down to man’s level and elevating man to God’s level. [2]
Many false prophets and teachers have echoed this particular damnable heresy. I will not name names here; however, a simple internet search with the search line ‘little gods – doctrine‘ will reveal those who further this deception. [3] Interestingly, many of the false prophets and teachers involved in the particular heresy are also responsible for countless other false doctrines that have plagued the church for decades. This is because they have a simple misunderstanding of who God is. Therefore, they approach Bible study from the perspective that they are god, and they twist Scripture to say what they want it to say, often by ripping scriptures out of context and adhering them to others they have done the same thing to. The result is a Frankenstein doctrine that looks nothing like what the ‘Creator of the Universe’ actually intended.
Unfortunately, this particular lie (secret message) has brought more destruction than one can ever imagine. Countless souls have passed on thinking they were no longer accountable to a Holy God who controls what happens to their soul after death. Sadly, absent repentance and belief in Christ’s atoning work on the cross, they will not only die in body, but they will also suffer the second death (Rev 2:11; 20:14).
This is just one example of how secret messages can bring about destruction on a massive scale. This is why it is so important to understand that the Bible is an instruction manual for all believers. Therefore, each and every person has a responsibility to understand what God has passed on to us, and the best way to recognize a counterfeit message is to know the authentic. After all, if each of us studies God’s Word with the intent to show ourselves approved unto God (2 Tim 2:15), we will not quickly fall for secret messages that are intended to draw men unto men. Paul said it this way:
1 Timothy 6:20-21a
“O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called: Which some professing have erred concerning the faith.”
Unfortunately, the profane and vain have become commonplace, and it shows in the recession of the church and the return of the godless. Many believe this will change for the better through a worldwide revival. However, thorough examination of Scripture depicts just the opposite. In fact, God’s Word tells us that the church will be in great decline at the end of the age, which is upon us. [4] Jan Markell recently wrote a very concise article about this topic that should be read and shared. Here is a link: The Slippery Slope: Harbingers of Total Tyranny. [5]
Ironically, it is this very message that should cause us to look up. The sad part is much of the professing church is believing and praying for the opposite of God’s will for this moment in history. They are praying that God comes in the form of revival when they should be praying, ‘Jesus, come quickly for the bride’ (Rev 22:17). [6]
Conclusion
Sadly, the return of the godless started long ago as men rejected the truth for fables. The most unfortunate part is the rise of those who lead others to godlessness, especially within the church. You see, when you examine the text about men being godless before the flood, you see that they were still doing the things that make society what it is; they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage (Matt 24:37). This means, when God testified that men’s thoughts were continually evil (Gen 6:5), He was actually saying their thoughts were all about self and not about Him at all. This is what believing in fables and the secrets and mysteries of false prophets and teachers lead to — self-centeredness or, put another way, godlessness. Thus, “The Return of the Godless.”
Special message…
**Please allow me to reiterate what I consider a most important tool for deciding whether to listen to someone or not: When they share, who and what do they leave you thinking about?
If, after hearing their message, you desire to know more about the messenger and their secret messages or mysteries, they should be considered very dangerous. This is because listening to them will draw you onto a path they are creating which is often bereft of the truth of Scripture. Following the false on this broad path leads to destruction (Matt 7:13). Think about evolution in this context. Had those who knew the Bible taken a stand, this errant message and resulting belief system would not have achieved the success it has in deceiving the masses.
On the other hand, if, after hearing their message, you desire to know more about Jesus and the written (revealed) Word of God, they are probably ok. At the moment, they are following Christ along the narrow way, and they are safe to follow. However, the reason I include the qualifier ‘probably’ is their message must ‘continually’ be examined against the absolute truth of the Bible in order to be considered trustworthy. The Bereans excelled at this (Acts 17:11). This is because some may have started out very well and ended up bankrupt, like Judas, who betrayed Christ, and those who forsook the Apostle Paul (2 Tim 4:10, 16).
Think about this for a second. It was not until he penned his last letter to Timothy that Paul said this: “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith” (2 Tim 4:7). Therefore, even the godliest are in a fight for the faith until their last breath. This means the message of each minister must be examined until they finish the race.
May the Lord grant each of us eyes to see and ears to hear in this time of great deception which Jesus warned us about:
Matthew 24:4-5
“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” emphasis mine
Website: In His Commission
[1] For greater understanding, see the article, “The Rise of Many.”
[2] For greater understanding, see the article, “The Greatest Lie Ever Told: The Origin of All Lies.”
[3] For greater understanding, explore this, “Little gods – doctrine.”
[4] For greater understanding, see the article, “While We Wait.”
[5] For more information about Jan Markell, visit her website: “Olivetreeviews.org.”
[6] For greater understanding, see the article, “The Great Awakening – The Grand Deception.”
The post The Return of the Godless :: By Charles Gray Adams Jr appeared first on Rapture Ready.
