In the Book of Revelation we find Jesus Christ dictating specialized messages to seven churches located along a Roman mail route some time between 90 and 100 A.D. Those churches represented the seven church eras that would come on the world scene, remain for a while, then fade away and be replaced by the next church era (age). This process would continue from that time until the Lord’s return to earth to establish the Kingdom of God. Each of the churches (eras) exhibited a unique set of spiritual characteristics that reflected the prevailing attitude of church people of that day.

Jesus had both positive and negative things to say about each of the eras until He came to the Philadelphia era of church history which ended in the late 1980’s. At that time the Laodicean era came on the world scene and has remained the dominant church system until this time and will remain so until Christ’s Second Advent which, I believe, will take place in my lifetime. I will be 84 in April. Do the math. Jesus had only positive things to say about the Philadelphia era–the era in which I came into this ministry.

However, He had only negative things to say about the Laodicean church era that replaced it approximately 40 years ago. This negative, dismissive attitude toward the Lord and His Word will characterize the world’s church system will dominate until Christ’s return, with a possible time of “revival” that will be short-lived and powerless. Read about this time using the key word–Revival. The modern (Laodicean) church was projected to be the worst era in church history in that it was prophesied to fall the farthest from the Lord and would lead the world into the Great Tribulation and Day of the Lord written about in the Book of Revelation. Read about the church eras and the Great Tribulation using the key words–Eras and Tribulation respectively.

The question is, why was there a sudden, drastic change which ended the Philadelphia era and ushered in the Laodicean era which were the exact opposites of each other? Something happened on the spiritual level that took the church from light to darkness, from obeying the God of the Bible to obeying the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). The one-word answer is: APOSTASY–a mass falling away from God that would serve as the primary sign that would announce the soon-coming return of Jesus Christ to earth. This great falling away was prophesied by Jesus in Second Thessalonians 2:3. Jesus, Who “knows the end from the beginning,” knew that a time would come when His pure, holy mustard seed-sized church would throw out the welcome mat to anyone who would enter her wide, “come as you are, stay as you are” door regardless of what they believed or did not believe. Jesus warned about this era in Matthew 7:13,14. This would cause the Lord’s tiny, Law-abiding church to grow into the huge, Catholic/Protestant Religious System it is today which has rejected His Law as its governing code. Having nailed it to the cross of Christ, she has created her own rules of life. Adam and Eve would be proud. As Jesus warned in Mark 4:30-32, His tiny mustard seed would grow into a tree and would have all manner of “birds” building their “nests” in it. We all know what birds do to trees. The Catholic and Protestant “churches” are the birds and their respective “truths” are the doctrines Satan uses to pollute the “tree”–professing Christianity, aka–“the church.”

One of the major issues that caused the church to reject God’s Word and become bloated with all manner of religious beliefs, customs, etc. is written about in chapters three and four of the Book of Hebrews. The problem revolves around beliefs and practices relative to salvation, specifically if, when and how one is saved. We will now delve into chapters three and four of the Book of Hebrews which will reveal a major reason for the downfall of Christianity. Simply speaking–the church does not believe what is written by the Apostle Paul who received His Gospel directly from Jesus Christ through revelation. Let us begin.

The first question that must be asked and answered involves to whom the Apostle Paul was writing. The people to whom he was writing were Israelites who, having heard the Gospel preached by him and others, had realized that the man Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the promised Messiah for Whom they had been looking for generations. As would be the case in every church era and in every church body, there were those who believed and obeyed His message and those who did not, which, during the Laodicean era, comprises the vast majority. Read Who Are God’s People and “My People who are Called by my Name” (key words–People and Called respectively) if you have not yet read those series.

In chapter three verse one Paul address his words to his “HOLY BRETHREN” among the Israelite believers. These were those within the church who were “partakers of the heavenly calling whose Apostle and High Priest of their profession was Jesus Christ.” In verse six Paul begins to distinguish between the contenders and the pretenders, between the talkers and the walkers within professing Christendom both then and now. Here he says that Jesus Christ is the Son of God Who is the Head of His own church, “whose church WE (Paul and the Hebrew believers) are IF WE HOLD TIGHTLY to OUR HOPE (for salvation) UNTIL THE END” (of their lives). Knowing that there were those within the church who were not what they claimed to be, Paul was addressing those who would most likely make it to the end with their holiness intact. In verse eight Paul warns his HOLY BRETHREN not to harden their hearts as most of their ancestors had following their deliverance from Egyptian slavery (vss 8-11). In verse 12 Paul tells them to TAKE HEED (be careful) “lest there be within YOU (holy brethren) an EVIL HEART OF UNBELIEF THAT COULD CAUSE YOU TO DEPART FROM THE LIVING GOD”–to commit APOSTASY (fall away from God).

In these verses Paul is warning the Hebrew Christians, including those whose intentions were positive toward the Lord, that they must be extremely careful because “Satan, like a roaring lion, is always on the prowl, looking for someone whom he may (spiritually) devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). No one, regardless of how spiritual they are or think they are, is immune to temptation. Jesus was tempted as we all are, yet He did not yield to the tempter (Heb. 4:15). Following conversion and receipt of the Holy Spirit, we must grow in faith until we are able to “… overcome (Satan) even as I (Jesus) overcame (him).” Only those who do so will “… sit with Me on My throne” in the Kingdom of God (Rev. 3:21). We must grow in faith and power until we “come to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ” (Eph. 4:13). DO NOT LISTEN TO SO-CALLED MINISTERS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS” WHO TELL YOU THAT YOU CANNOT OBEY GOD AS DID JESUS–THEY ARE LIARS SPEAKING WORDS THAT SATAN IS FEEDING THEM.

This is not a new phenomenon. In Matthew 16:15-17 and 16:21-23 we find the Apostle Peter confessing that Jesus is “… the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus told him that God had spoken those Words to him. A short time later we find that same God-used apostle accusing Jesus of either being wrong or lying. Jesus noted that Satan had spoken through him. Get this picture: Here we have a Gospel-preaching, body-healing, demon-removing apostle of God allowing Satan to use him to correct the One whom he had earlier called God’s Son. I recently heard a world-famous preacher whom God is using greatly proclaim for all the world to hear that it is impossible to obey God–the God Who commands obedience. This man openly declared that no one can be righteous; no one can do what the Almighty commands all of us to do. Admittedly, I was shocked to hear those words. This man is all over the internet and televised religion. I had wondered why he never told his hosts and their television audiences the Truth about God’s commands for obedience to His Law. Now I know why: HE DOES NOT BELIEVE GOD’S COMMANDS FOR HOLINESS, RIGHTEOUSNESS AND GODLINESS. As I have said time and again, NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER SATAN EXERCIZES WITHIN PROFESSING CHRISTENDOM. L.J.