Lesson 12: The Church in Prophecy
LESSON 12: THE CHURCH IN PROPHECY
Darryl Nunnelley & David R. Reagan
Fact: There is both bad news and good news for the Church in Bible prophecy.
Key Scripture: "... upon this rock I will build My church and the gates of Hades will not overpower it"
(Matthew 16:18).
There are both negative and positive prophecies in the Bible concerning the Church in the end times. The negative ones are really awful, but the positive ones are wonderfully glorious.
The Bad News
The picture of the Church-at-large in the end times is not a very pretty one.
Apostasy
For one thing, the Bible prophesies that the Church will be racked by apostasy. Jesus Himself prophesied that "many will fall away" (Matthew 24:10). Likewise, Paul said the Antichrist cannot be revealed until "the great apostasy" takes place (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
Paul reveals the source of the apostasy in 2 Timothy 3:5 - "Men will hold to form of religion but will deny its power." The fulfillment of this prophecy began in the 1920s with the ascendancy of the German School of Higher Criticism. This school of thought, which quickly swept American seminaries, advocated that the Bible should be approached like any other piece of literature - with a critical eye. The concepts of the special inspiration and inerrancy of the Bible were rejected. The Bible came to be viewed as Man's search for God rather than God's revelation to Man. As a human product, it was considered to be full of myth, legend, and superstition.
This assault on the integrity of God's Word opened the floodgates of apostasy. Before long, Christian theologians and ministers were laughing about the virgin birth of Jesus, discounting His miracles, casting doubt on His resurrection and flatly denying His promise to return.
And that is where we are today, caught up in the midst of a gross apostasy which says, "Believe what you want. The important thing is to be sincere. There are many roads to God." All of which makes a liar of Jesus who said: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me" (John 14:6). The result is that there are a lot of sincere people who are sincerely going to Hell.
Cultism
A second set of prophecies warn that the Church will be assaulted by cultic deception in the end times. Jesus emphasized this point repeatedly in His Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24:5, 11 & 24). And Paul underlined it in the strongest possible language when he wrote: "The Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons" (1 Timothy 4:1).
The fulfillment of these prophecies began in the 19th Century with the rise of Mormonism and its demonic teaching that Jesus is the brother of Lucifer, one of thousands of Gods created by the super god, Adam, an exalted man. The Jehovah's Witnesses were next on the scene with their perverted teaching that Jesus is the Archangel Michael.
The 20th Century witnessed the rapid multiplication of cults, just as prophesied. Today, life-long Christians who do not know why they believe what they profess to believe are being sucked into the cults by the tens of thousands.
Heresies
A third group of prophecies indicate that in the end times the Church will be assailed by doctrinal error. These are doctrines that do not damn the soul but which confuse and weaken the spirit.
In 2 Timothy 4:2-4, Paul says: "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires and will turn away their ears from the truth, and will turn aside to myths."There are many popular myths in Christendom today that either rob people of the power of their faith or else deceive them into practicing a presumptuous faith.
Worldliness
A fourth characteristic prophesied about the Church in the end times is that it will be compromised and corrupted by worldliness. The prophetic picture of this worldly church is found in Revelation 3:14-22, where the church at Laodicea is described.
The seven churches depicted in Revelation 2 and 3 are symbolic of seven periods of church history. The church at Laodicea, the last to be presented, is representative of the type of church that will prevail in Christendom at the end of the Church Age.
The picture is a pathetic one. The Church is apathetic, neither hot nor cold. The apathy is a product of the Church's adoption of a worldly attitude expressed in the words, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing." Jesus responds with a scathing rebuke: "You do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked" (Revelation 3:17).
The Bible makes it clear that the Church will become so compromised in the end times that it will get in bed with the world, resulting in the disintegration of society to the point that it will become as immoral and violent as in the days of Noah (2 Timothy 3:1-5 and Matthew 24:37).
The Good News
Is there any good news about the Church in end time prophecy? Yes, there is.
Outpouring of the Spirit
The incredibly good news is that the Bible prophesies a great pouring out of God's Spirit in the end times to empower those who are receptive to stand against the onslaught of Satan.
The prophecy is found in Joel 2:28-30. The context before the passage (verse 23) makes it clear that there will be two outpourings of the Spirit (the "early and latter rain"). The early rain occurred at Pentecost when the apostles were anointed with the Spirit. The final outpouring will begin after the Jews are regathered to their land and re-established as a nation (verse 18-27).
We have been in the period of the "latter rain" ever since the re-establishment of the state of Israel on May 14, 1948. The Spirit is being poured out and the gifts of the spirit are being manifest in a way unparalleled since the First Century.
There are many other manifestations of the outpouring of God's Spirit on the Church today. In 1949 the ministry of Billy Graham took off like a rocket when William Randolph Hearst featured the evangelist in his myriad of publications. Through Graham's utilization of modern technology, he was able to reach the entire world with the Gospel.
The same has been true of the Jesus Film which was produced by Campus Crusade in 1979. It has since been translated into more that 1,600 languages and has been shown to over seven billion people, resulting in over 530 million decisions for Christ.
Modern technology has also made it possible to produce translations of the Bible quicker than ever before. The result is that the Bible is now readily available in all major languages of the world.
This explosion in outreach has produced an exponential increase in conversion. In 1800 the conversion rate was 100 per day. By 1900 it had increased to 1,000 per day. Today the rate is an astronomical 175,000 per day! And 3,500 new churches are opening every week worldwide.
Among faithful Christians, this great anointing of the Spirit is producing a remnant that is immersed in the Word, committed to righteousness, crucified to self, dedicated to prayer, surrendered in worship, zealous for evangelism and yearning for the soon return of Jesus. It is this remnant that will stand firmly for Jesus until the day He returns for His Church.
The Rapture
Bible prophecy gives the Church the wonderful promise that it will be removed from the world before God pours out His wrath in the Tribulation (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). See the chapter 14 for details.
The Second Coming
The church is promised that it will return with Jesus at the time of His Second Coming (Revelation 19:7-8, 14). This means the Church Age saints will witness His victory at Armageddon and His coronation as King of kings and Lord of lords. See lesson 18 for details.
The Millennium
The Church is promised that it will reign with Jesus when He returns to earth to reign for a thousand years from Jerusalem (Daniel 7:13-14,18,27, 2 Timothy 2:12 and Revelation 20:4). See lesson 19 for details.
The Eternal State
The Church is promised that it will reside forever on a new, perfected earth in the presence of God the Father and Jesus (Revelations 21:1-7). See lesson 20 for details.
Paul summed up the future blessings of the Church when he wrote: For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18).
Lamb & Lion Ministries www.lamblion.com