A Great Departure from the Faith :: By Sean Gooding
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3
“Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”
The apostle Paul also wrote in 1 Timohty 4:1-3, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.”
He also wrote in 2 Timothy 3:1-4, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, high-minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.”
I recently saw a short video where the commentator was talking about a recent survey that was done among thousands of churches, and they were asked about the importance of sound doctrine versus being relevant. Only about 2% of the churches out of thousands thought that sound doctrine was important.
My daughter attends a Pentecostal church in New Brunswick, and even they do not associate with another Pentecostal church in town because they deny the Trinity, among other doctrinal issues.
A few years ago, one of the ladies in our church was staying with her daughter in another town. She attended a Baptist church there and was astonished that the Pastor did not use a Bible text, nor did he read from an open Bible and cite a text as he taught. I wanted to make sure that I included a Baptist example as well because it not just the Pentecostals that are in error.
We often hear debates either in person or online about Catholic doctrine, including that Mary was sinless and that she was a perpetual virgin, the doctrine of transubstantiation, and others, which are simply heresy.
In Canada here, there are large Reformed churches that teach Calvinism and never have an invitation. I have spoken to a Pastor of one of those churches myself, and he could not cite the plan of salvation in the Bible. Maybe, just maybe, he was an anomaly. But here is what we know:
God, through the pen of Paul, reminded us time and again that in the last days there would be a great departure from the faith. The Lord’s churches would walk away from the clearly stated and clearly written truths of the scripture for a variety of reasons. One of the reasons is that men and women have their consciences seared, burned like with a hot iron, and they have no feelings. The Word of God has no effect on them anymore. It just bounces off their hearts, and they cannot see the truth.
But notice a little piece that we can often overlook; see 2 Timothy 3:2, ‘disobedient to parents.’ Sadly, a lot of kids who grow up in Christian homes will fall away and depart from the faith because we tolerated a lot of disobedience. We were too gracious and did not hold them to true accountability. This leads them to think that God won’t hold them accountable either. This is a sad situation. I am astonished at how many kids in the Lord’s churches grow up and do not know the truth, or they know it and turn their backs on it.
In 2 Timothy 3:3, we find that one of the great departures will be in the area of ‘natural affection’: men sexually attracted to women and vice versa. I continue to be astonished by how many churches are led by gay, trans, and drag-queen individuals. One leader – I can’t use the term Pastor with a straight face –had his church helping him choose his ‘drag-queen’ name. This is crazy but becoming all too normal.
There are countless ‘teachings’ – again, I cannot use the term sermon – that call into question Jesus’ motives, Jesus’ holiness, and yes, even right out claim that Jesus was wrong. At this point, the idea of a sound, conservative doctrine church is almost weird.
Just a few weeks ago, the leader of a very large and prominent church attended and preached in a very effeminate looking outfit. He is a very tall man, and it simply looked odd and could not be missed. There is a sad trend to make men effeminate, and sadly, that can be projected on Jesus as well.
So, we can see that the departure is in many areas: doctrine, the destruction of the family power structure, the questioning of Jesus’ holiness, the authenticity of the scriptures, the denial of doctrine, the feminization of the Gospel, and downright heresy. We can see that we are either in the last days or running headlong to them with some fervor.
For those of us left who preach the truth, who hold sound doctrine sacred, and hold to the perfection of Jesus and the totality of His sacrifice, the road ahead seems dark; the path we are on seems fraught with many perils and traps. But stay the course, contend, as Jude says, for the faith, and let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus. Soon, our faith will be sight, and our hope will be fulfilled. Our enemies will soon come face to face with the Jesus they hate, and we will come face to face with the Jesus we love and who loves us.
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