The word “progressive” means to “push the envelope” as they say in the social world. It means to not be held back or limited by the way things were or were done in the past. “Progressive” means to go beyond the limits set by those who have gone before us. When President John F. Kennedy said that America was going to the moon, he was referring to progressively developing technology which would give Americans many wonderful inventions, accomplishments, etc. beyond anything they had ever known before. As citizens, we cheered and embraced the various items invented and discovered made possible by America’s progressive mind-set and actions.

However, what is good on the physical level is not necessarily good on the spiritual level. When the Old Testament God (the Word Who later came to earth as Jesus of Nazareth) gave mankind the Ten Commandment Law from atop Mt. Sinai (a.k.a. Mt. Horeb) He did not add anything to it or speak about improving it in the future. In fact, in Deuteronomy 5:22 it is written that, having given the Israelites the Ten Commandments, “He added no more” because the Law was perfect. He made no provisions for future corrections. Because the Israelites immediately broke His Law, He gave them the sacrificial law that would come to an end with His death and would be “nailed to the (His) cross” (Col. 2:14) many generations later.

Today we are seeing the world-wide church calling for and entering into a “progressive era” that Jesus Christ warned His true saints about in Revelation 2 and 3. There we find Him dictating letters to the seven church eras that would come on the religious scene over the following 2000 plus years of church history which had begun on the Day of Pentecost in 31 A.D. and end upon His return. Modern religious progressives believe that they are the avant-garde (forerunners, ground-breakers) of a religious movement designed to leave behind the policies and practices of the past and to move on to ever higher levels of religious correctness. Of course, they “know” that God approves of their many “improvements.” And they are right. However, the god they serve is “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4), about whom Jesus said: “Satan has deceived the whole world” (Rev. 12:9), specifically the religious world.

As the writings of the original apostles reveal, today’s progressives are simply applying modern principles to a movement that began in the early church when Satan raised up his church in Rome two years after her (Christ’s church’s) founding. Learn about this abomination in the series titled Simon Of Samaria: The Legacy. Key word–Simon. With the rise of the Catholic Church in 33 A.D., the war for the souls of salvation seekers began in earnest. The earliest written record of an apostle addressing this issue (that I can find) is in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the church at Corinth in which he chastised them, saying that if someone presented to them “another Jesus” they would embrace him. Progressivism had already raised its hideous head. Today’s version of Progressivism is simply a more advanced version of that movement.

The Lord, “knowing the end from the beginning” (Isa. 46:10), came back to earth around 40 years later and dictated seven letters to the seven church eras into which the church would evolve from 31 A.D. until the end of the world as it would be known at that time–meaning today. The seven eras would reflect the spiritual conditions of seven churches then in existence in seven cities located along a Roman mail route in Asia Minor at that time (90-100 A.D.). Each era would be identified by the city in which the church of that day was located. The cities were Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. Christ’s description of the final church, which was then located a city called Laodicea, perfectly describes the modern day two-headed, multi-bodied religious abomination known as “the church” which will be the final church system to ever exist.

Though I have written about the modern church several times, the Lord rousted me out of bed at 10:30 p.m. this morning to begin this series. He is instructing me to go into more detail concerning the spiritual condition of this change-obsessed, ultra-progressive, anti-law, man-centered, Satan-empowered religious system known today as “Christianity.” I believe the reason for yet another expose of the Laodicean catastrophe is due to the fact that the vast majority of readers of this website are presently or have been earlier involved in that system. For a general study of the spiritual condition of all seven church eras read the series using the key word Eras.

Christ’s name for the spirit of this final age of the New Testament Church is “Laodicean.” Today many of those who have embraced the Laodicean spirit call themselves “Progressives” in honor of the Satanic spirit that directs their religious thoughts and actions. The spirit of the (Laodicean/Progressive) age has infiltrated every level of the church system. Among the Protestant Churches there is a group that is known for their belief in the Word of God as it is written. A recent poll found that 54% of these so-called “keepers of the faith” believe that abortion is within the will of God. Read Abortion: God’s Word on the Subject. Key word–Abortion. Though I had known for decades that those so-called Biblical conservatives were as sinful as all others in “the church,” that figure nevertheless shocked me. Since learning of their abortion stance I have become so hardened against professing Christendom that I am not sure they can surprise me, though they never tire of trying. For example, I recently heard of a church pastor who told her parishioners that they need not ask forgiveness for having sinned. She explained that Jesus, knowing what they were going to do, has already forgiven them before they commit it. Another false prophet told his youth group that God wants His people to have fun. Sexual intercourse is fun. Therefore, they are free to have sex as often as they please, for in so doing they please God.

By observing what the Laodicean Church is preaching and doing today we know that the apostasy–the church-wide falling away from God that Paul prophesied would take place just before Christ returned–has begun and is increasing in speed and influence (2 Thes. 2:3). By this we know that the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord lie ahead of us in the near future. Read about the church’s apostasy using that word as the key. Read about the Tribulation Period using Tribulation as the key word.

Reminder: for several years I have been predicting a nation-wide (American) religious revival, especially among the younger adults. That is beginning to take shape. However, as I predicted, those getting “saved,” etc. are going into the same religious serpent that led the nation away from God in the first place. That two-headed, multi-bodied, Satan-empowered beast is called “the church.” Read Second Corinthians 6:14-7:1 to learn what God says about that serpent. L.J.