But before we get into the text and into the message this morning, we're going to pray and ask for God's blessing upon us in His Word. Heavenly Father, I come before you this morning in humility knowing that this is your Word. This is your truth. This is the only truth. Lord, I know that you promised that your Word will be effective, that it will accomplish all that you've purposed it to do. It will not return to you, Lord. That's my confidence, Lord, as I stand here this morning and proclaim your truth. Father, pour out your spirit upon us in great measure, that we may come to recognize the need, our desperate need, Lord, for you and for Jesus. We pray in his name, amen. So what is apostasy? Well, apostasy is defined as a total desertion of or departure from one's religion, principles, party, cause, et cetera. Well, apostasy in the Christian church is when they stop teaching the truth and make up their own religion. They can't even really use the word gospel because gospel means good news. It's the good news of Jesus' true salvation and that we're saved by grace and not by works. Apostasy is the false teachings of false prophets and teachers that Paul and John and Peter warned us all about. Apostasy is taking Christ out of Christianity. Then it's just religion and idol worship. Apostasy is abandoning the truth. One of Jesus' I am statements is I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. He didn't say I am a truth. He's the truth. Apostasy is molding Jesus to fit into society. Today's Jesus is in favor of murder for convenience and sexual perversion. Apostasy is preachers not teaching the full Bible, but just picking and choosing what won't offend anyone. Jesus offended a lot of people, especially the religious leaders who thought they were pleasing God. Apostasy is a church service that's an entertaining rock concert and light show, followed by a nice little TED Talk. Apostasy is preachers teaching good thoughts, self-love, positive thinking, believe it and you can achieve it. In 1964, Paul Harvey, a popular radio talk show host, did a skit called If I Were the Devil, listing all the things that he would do if he were Satan and had control of the world. I want you to pay attention and see how accurate his statements are today. If I were the Devil, by Paul Harvey, 1964. If I were the Prince of Darkness, I would want to engulf the whole world in darkness. I'd have a third of its real estate and four fifths of its population, but I wouldn't be happy until I had seized the ripest apple on the tree, thee. So I would set about however necessary to take over the United States. I'd subvert the churches first, and I would begin with a campaign of whispers. With the wisdom of a serpent, I would whisper to you as I whispered to Eve, do as you please. To the young, I would whisper that the Bible is just a myth. I would convince the children that man created God instead of the other way around. I would confide that what's bad is good, and what's good is square. That's old-fashioned for those of you who don't know that term. In the old, I would teach to pray after me, our father, which art in Washington. Then I'd get organized. I'd educate authors in how to make lurid literature exciting so that anything else would appear dull and uninteresting. I'd threaten TV with dirtier movies and vice versa. I'd peddle narcotics to whom I could. I'd sell alcohol to ladies and gentlemen of distinction. I'd tranquilize the rest with pills. If I were the devil, I'd soon have families at war with themselves, churches at war with themselves, and nations at war with themselves, until each, in its turn, was consumed. And with promises of higher ratings, I'd have mesmerizing media fanning those flames. If I were the devil, I would encourage schools to refine young intellects, but neglect to discipline emotions. Just let those run wild, until before you knew it, you'd have to have drug-sniffing dogs and metal detectors at every schoolhouse door. Within a decade, I'd have prisons overflowing and have judges promoting pornography. Soon, I could evict God from the courthouse, and then from the schoolhouse, and then from the houses of Congress. In his own churches, I would substitute psychology for religion and deify science. I'd lure priests and pastors into misusing boys and girls and church money. If I were the devil, I'd make the symbol for Easter an egg and the symbol of Christmas a bottle. If I were the devil, I'd take from those who have and give to those who wanted until I had killed the incentive of the ambitious. And what will you bet I couldn't get whole states to promote gambling as the way to get rich? I would caution against extremes in hard work, in patriotism, in moral conduct. I would convince the young that marriage is old-fashioned, that swinging is more fun, that what you see on television is the way to be. Thus, I could undress you in public, and I could lure you into bed with diseases for which there is no cure." In other words, if I were the devil, I'd just keep right on doing what he's doing. Now, both Jesus and Paul warned us that one of the many signs of the end times is the apostasy of the church, or its falling away. Jesus told us about it in Matthew 24, verses 10 to 11, where he said this, and many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. Paul wrote, Don't be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun. Don't believe them, even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision, revelation, or a letter supposedly from us. Don't be fooled by what they say, for that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the one who brings destruction. 2 Thessalonians 2, 1-3. Friends, that great rebellion against God, it's happening now. Paul wrote to Timothy in 1 Timothy 4, verse 1, he said this, now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith, they'll follow deceptive spirits and teachings that shall come from demons. And again in 2 Timothy 4, verse 3, we see this, for a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching, they're gonna follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. So how does a sophisticated society become so horrific? Well, according to the Bible, it is a disregard for truth that leads to spiritual breakdown and demoralization of a nation. The Bible tells us, God shall send them a strong delusion that they should believe a lie, that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2, 11 and 12. And in Romans 1, 18 we see this, for the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Well, Josh Tupos, he's a writer for the Amos 3-7 Ministries, he writes this, he says, Postmodernity represents the exact same irrational philosophies that helped give rise to the most horrifically evil totalitarian fascist regimes of Italy, Spain, and Germany in the 20th century. These irrational and deconstructive seeds and thoughts will inevitably lead to moral breakdown and apostasy in the Church that will subsequently unleash a monster comparable to those fascist regimes of the 20th century. unless Christians contend for the faith once delivered to the Saints. So where do we go? What do we do? It's the answer to this problem that's not only plaguing the United States, but has truly become a global phenomenon. The answer is the same as it always has been. Turn to the Word of God for direction, for answers, for settled peace, for hope, want to look at the passage from 2 Corinthians 4 for a sermon I've entitled, The Gospel of Christ and the Glory of God to find answers and hope for those of us living in these very precarious times. This is what it says, We renounce disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth, we would commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing. In their case, the God of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake. For God has said that light shine out of darkness has shown in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Well, what do we see here? I think we can break these verses down into four points for the sermon this morning. First point's gonna be this, the ministry of the gospel. The ministry of the gospel, that's found in verse one. Secondly, the merits of the gospel. The merits of the gospel, that's gonna be in verses two to four A. Third is gonna be the message of the gospel. And that's in verses four B to five. And lastly, the mode or method of the gospel in verse six. And I'll explain what I mean by that when we do get there. So what is this ministry of the gospel that Paul's talking about here in verse one? Well, we see He begins with the words, therefore, having this ministry. And the word therefore, of course, tells us to look back at what Paul has been talking about in the previous section, namely in chapter three, to get a clear picture of this ministry He and all Christians have been given. Now, we see in chapter three, Paul's comparing the covenant of Moses, which he refers to as a covenant of death, and one that came with a fading glory, to the new covenant in Christ, which he calls a covenant of life, which came with an eternal, unfading glory. But why does that even matter? Why emphasize the difference between these two covenants? Well, Paul himself gives us the answer to this question at the end of verse one, where it says, so we do not lose heart. And with the spiritual climate in today's culture, that would be very easy to do. From the Truth of God website, we see the following quote about worldliness in the church. Eric Luddy, who's president of Eldersley Mission Society, likewise expressed his concerns about the church seeking to attract the world by appearing cool. He says this, the problem is, Jesus wasn't cool. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not, Jesus didn't do it the world's way. He came in and typically offended the world. We actually want to indict Jesus and say, you know what? If you'd have known as much as we know, you would have done it differently. We want to appeal to the world's sensibilities and somehow draw them to the gospel. Jesus didn't do any of that. Luddy says that giving people the undiluted truth is the only way to bring relevance to Christianity. The key is we lift up the Gospel. We give the straight and narrow path. We give it undiluted. And people will start respecting us because we're not giving them something that will merely tantalize the flesh. We're giving them something that will bring life to their spirit. You see, it's because of the surpassing greatness of this new covenant, this covenant of reconciliation bringing wicked, sinful people who are haters and enemies of God back into a right relationship with Him, because we, by the mercy of God, get to be part of this massively important plan of God, we're able to look beyond the immediate conditions of the church and know that God has this. It is His plan of redemption, His plan of restoration, and it will be completed in His time and in His way. And because we understand the glory of the gospel of Christ and the source from which it comes, we don't have to conjure up some man-made schemes to get the job done. And that brings us to our second point this morning, which is the merits of the gospel. Look again at verse two, where we see Paul declaring that he and the apostles have renounced disgraceful and underhanded ways. He also throws the term cunning in with these descriptive words, which literally mean hidden, secret, shameful ways. Methods, which if people were to know the truth behind what was done, if the motives and the methods were brought out in the open, it would cause a person to simply hang their head in shame for what they had done. How many pastors and religious leaders today simply use Christianity as a self-serving means by which they enrich themselves at the expense of and to the detriment of others' spiritual welfare? Health and wealth preachers come to mind as one example of those who get fat off the lives of others. But we also see in this verse that Paul declares that they refuse to tamper with, or in the Greek, to falsify or adulterate the word of God. Adulterate simply means to corrupt, to debase or make impure by the addition of a foreign or inferior substance or element. In other words, they refused to water down the facts of the gospel. Unlike so many religious leaders today, they planted themselves firmly on the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ as their battle cry. They believe that if they stuck to the simple truth of the gospel message, that would be enough, in the eyes of God, to be considered worthy of acceptance, confidently, and with a clear conscience. Now, in so many churches today, people are not fed with the solid meat of the truth of God's word. Instead, they're fed meat that's been turned into pate, baby food, like strained beets. None of what they're being given is going to spur them on to growth and maturity, but will forever leave them in a state of spiritual infancy. The church leaders are not challenging them with the truth of the whole counsel of God, but rather selectively choose those things that will not ostracize them from the rest of the culture. They would rather go with the flow than swim upstream against what is popular. The very thought of being counter-cultural is frightening to them. But there's another reason besides the truthfulness of the gospel, which allowed Paul and the early church leaders to trust in the merits of the gospel and not feel the need to fancy it up or somehow make it more acceptable to the unbeliever. They knew, as do we, that the gospel is powerfully adequate to save those who were appointed unto salvation from the foundation of the world. However, that being said, they also knew that if people were not able to see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, it was not because of some deficiency in the message, but an inability on the part of the hearer to comprehend the truth. The reason, as stated in our text this morning, is because Satan has blinded the eyes of those who are perishing so as to keep them from seeing the light of the glory of Christ. It wouldn't matter how creative they were with their delivery of the message because this is a spiritual problem. And the answer to that spiritual problem is found in the two remaining points today. Now the last half of verse four and verse five give us our third point this morning which is the message of the gospel. It says they don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God. You see, we don't go around preaching about ourselves. We preach that Jesus Christ is Lord, and we ourselves are your servants for Jesus' sake. The message that Paul is counting on, and by proxy, us as well, is Christ's glory manifested in the good news of the cross. Jesus Christ, who is the exact likeness of the Father, God, the second member of the Trinity, yet he gave up that equality with God, not counting it as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up this divine privilege and he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. And then, having appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal's death on a cross. But because he wasn't guilty of any sin, His death was not for His benefit, rather, His death on the cross was God's way of bringing us back into fellowship with Him. You see, it was Jesus' death which paid for the wages of my sin and the sins of anyone who would trust in that willing sacrifice that He made. There is no other way. There is no other gospel that will completely remove our guilt from before the presence of God. Who will one day judge all people? God's standard is perfection. And since no created person ever has or ever will meet that standard, we need God to apply the perfection of Jesus to us in order that our reconciliation to Him may be complete. We just praise God for the cross. Without it, we're lost. And yet, to many, it's foolishness, a stumbling block. But to those called by God to salvation, both Jews and Gentiles, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. This foolish plan of God is wiser than the wisest of human plans, and God's weakness is stronger than the greatest of human strength." 1 Corinthians 1, 24-25. In the apparent weakness of Jesus at the cross, God accomplished the greatest feat ever in all of history, past, present and future. Salvation for those who will simply, by faith, let God be their God and Savior. This is the message that Paul is counting on to be the effective means by which people would be saved. He understood the need to keep the main thing the main thing, because there is no other means by which we must be saved. Now, church leaders today deceive many into believing and hoping in a false gospel, diminishing the danger to their current life here and now, as well as their eternity, by downplaying the severity of God's view of sin. And it's just poor choices, they say. A mistake, perhaps, but certainly not an offense to a holy God. No, no, no, see, that's just too harsh, you see. God is love and He loves everybody the same. Blah, blah, blah. Simply not true. It's hogwash. Sin is a big deal to God. If it wasn't, why did it take the Son of God dying a horrible, brutal death in order for God's anger to be appeased? Why, if sin wasn't a big deal? In fact, our sin is so pervasive in our life, it has penetrated to the very core of our being. It's so deeply ingrained in our person that we are absolutely helpless and hopeless to do anything about it. Most of the time we don't even know the depth of our offenses against God because we're so used to having sin in our lives that we're oblivious to its presence. So the question is, is how can we eradicate it or overcome it by our own strength and cunning if we can't even see it? We need divine help. And that brings us to our fourth point this morning, the mode or the method of the gospel. Well, what in the world do I mean by that statement? My point is simply this, by what means is the gospel effective? Why does it work? Why are people genuinely changed in ways that we're able to see and concretely measure rather than simply having to take somebody's word for it? In other words, what is its modus operandi? What is its method for operating? Well, let's look again at verse six to help us understand what it is I'm trying to say here. For God, who said, let there be light in the darkness, has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ. So what we see Paul doing here is comparing the effective power of the gospel with the power which brought light out of darkness at the beginning of creation. And that power is God. he is declaring that the message of the gospel works to transform lives because it is empowered by the same sovereign God who creates something out of nothing simply by the power of his word. There's a term that is used by those in theological circles that's called the divine initiative. This refers to that first step of salvation which is brought to pass in our lives unilaterally and exclusively by the power of God. That's what Paul's talking about here in verse six, when he says, God has caused this light to shine in our hearts. Ephesians chapter two, we see the same message being proclaimed by Paul, where he says this, once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil, the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature, we were subject to God's anger, just like everybody else. Verses one to three. Our condition is desperate. R.C. Sproul puts it this way in his lecture on the fallenness of man where he says, the term total depravity was coined to mean that sin affects the whole person. The total essence of our humanity is fallen. That is our minds are fallen. Our wills are fallen. Our bodies are fallen. The whole person is caught up in this fallenness. Sproul continues, though, by declaring what he believes to be the two most important words in the Bible. And they're found in verse four in Ephesians 2. And they are, but God, who is rich in mercy. Not, but we who still had an island of righteousness finally lifted ourselves up from our bootstraps, or inclined ourselves to change our ways, or, but man who is powerful morally said no to this wicked course and quickened himself from the dead. That's not what the Bible says. It says, but God, who is rich in mercy, has made us alive, quickened us, even when we were dead in our transgressions. Remember, I said our condition was desperate. Well, it's actually a lot worse than desperate. It's hopeless. Because as you can see here in Ephesians, Paul tells us we are dead in our transgressions. It isn't that we're just sick. No, we're dead. Unless someone else acts on our behalf, We, as dead people, can do absolutely nothing. Sproul uses the following example. He says, the man has gone under for the third time. He's at the bottom of the sea. God dives into the water, takes that dead man, that corpse from the bottom of the sea, brings him out onto the dry land. Then he leans over and gives him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. He breathes into him his life, and that man is restored from the dead. That's what the Bible is saying about the divine initiative, both here and in Ephesians, as well as in verse six of our sermon this morning. The first step of bringing life back into a corpse that causes one to be transformed and transferred from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of light is accomplished by God, not by man. Of course, after God quickens us, then we choose, we believe, we embrace Christ and repent, but we do all these things because we're now alive to the things of God by the grace of God. But the first step, the initiative, the being made alive from the dead, that is the work of God and the work of God alone. For by grace you have been saved through faith in that and out of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not a result of works that no one should boast, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians chapter two, verses eight to 10. I started this sermon with a quote from Paul Harvey from 1964, which painted a pretty good picture of our current society. I want to finish up my sermon this morning by looking at another man who had a lot to say about the future of our country. I came across a warning from a man who lived more than 100 years ago. You probably heard of him. His name's General William Booth. He's the founder of the Salvation Army. Before it was known as the Salvation Army, though, his organization was originally named Christian Revival Society. This unique preacher had a burning passion to see true revival come to his generation. And as the 20th century began, Booth was asked by someone what he saw as the greatest danger for the next 100 years or so. His vision included six parts that are relevant to us today. In fact, I think maybe even more so than when he preached them. His revelations have proven to be extremely accurate. This is what he identified as the chief dangers that we're gonna confront us in the coming century. Number one, politics without God. General Booth saw that there would be a day when civil government in the Western world would no longer have the fear of God. I mean, I thank God for the founding of this nation. At least for now, we do still have in God we trust on our currency. But the question for us now is, what God do we really trust in anymore? Is it the one true God? Is it the creator of heaven and earth? Or is it one of the many false gods worshiped in America today? Which God are we really trusting in? If some of our leaders had their way, they would right now remove God from our public life altogether. They're already starting to do it, so when will God judge America? Perhaps He already is. Perhaps it has already begun, and yet we are just too blind to see it. Where's the real power of the word of God in America today? That power is lacking. Second thing you saw was heaven without hell. I challenge anybody to name a preacher today, at least in the media world, who will still preach a message of hell. It's difficult to come up with one. In fact, we have countless preachers who go out of their way not to even mention hell. But consider these scriptures and what God has to say about those who deceive others. Again, Romans 118, which we referenced earlier. For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness. Ephesians 5, 6. Let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of these things, the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. We desperately need men of the cross, men of the word who still call themselves preachers of the gospel and will be bold enough to say there is still a heaven to gain and a hell to fear. Third thing was salvation without repentance. If you were to ask Christians today to repent, many would wonder, repent, what does that mean? From what? Forgiveness from sin without repentance from sin is the popular message of the day. But John the Baptist said it this way in Matthew 3, verses 7 to 8. He said, you brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come? Therefore, bear fruit in keeping with repentance. So the message today must still be to repent and to flee from the wrath to come. But what we hear today from a totally self-absorbed consumer church is, just fix my problems. And it's not my fault. We want forgiveness, but we don't want to repent. was right. Repentance is a forgotten, lost word in the Church today. Fourth thing was salvation without regeneration. General Booth predicted that we would see increasing numbers of people claiming to have salvation, yet not having truly become new creatures in Christ. The preaching of, you must be born again, must be rediscovered in our gospel message. It was central to Jesus Clarity on these points is even more crucial today because we live in an hour when a counterfeit New Age gospel is preached on every corner. We're told that we can be saved without getting bogged down in boring, old-fashioned, stuffy doctrine. And the idea of being saved without going overboard with a lot of Bible language, doctrine, and ultimately truth tickles the ears of many people. Most preachers today couldn't even biblically define regeneration, much less actually preach it boldly in their pulpits on Sunday mornings. We do have salvation without real regeneration. Fifth thing he said was there was gonna be religion without the Holy Spirit. Now not many have understood as well as Booth that conforming to a religious standard is quite different from genuine conversion accomplished by the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 3.5 says that in the last days, we're gonna face an epidemic of those who have a form of godliness, but deny its power. Jude, he sounded a similar warning. He said in the last days, there's gonna be an increase of those who are devoid of the Spirit. Jude 18 and 19. Years ago, a great man of God said this. He said, if the Holy Spirit left the planet tonight, at midnight, Tomorrow morning, 99% of church activity, church programs, Christian ministry would go on untouched. Sad commentary, and I agree with him. Too often we simply do church out of habit or tradition without any clear understanding of the mandate given to us by Christ. It's done entirely in our own power, trying our best to compete with the world. And I'm convinced that the so-called church in America will simply just show up for a good show, not ever really know or be able to discern if it's actually from the Holy Spirit or not. I mean, it's a good show. So we go and watch as spectators. But it might not be the Holy Spirit. We have preachers today claiming to carry every kind of strange and unbiblical anointing, yet we see Christian religion void of the true, precious Holy Spirit. last thing he talked about was Christianity without Christ. General Booth foresaw the rise of a form of pseudo-Christians characterized as those who are denying the Master who bought them. The bedrock of our message must always be the centrality of the person of Jesus Christ. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1.23, we preach Christ crucified, And in verse 18, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Why do we have such a powerless church today? Oh, we put on a good show, stir up a lot of soul-centered hype, which may result in large offerings, but there is little to no power of the Holy Spirit, because we do not preach the cross. We do not preach Christ crucified. Christian, hear me. The cross is our power. A strong delusion that all religions need to simply coexist, that no matter what you believe, we can all still get along, is infiltrating the church today. It may sound good and spiritual, but it's not scriptural. You can't find it in the Bible. And I refuse to compromise the word of God that way. May you have ears to hear, truly hear, this timely prophetic warning. Remember Paul Harvey, If I Were the Devil, from 1964? Well, here we are in the year 2021, and it's worse than either of them could have ever imagined. What we need is the gospel of Jesus Christ now more than ever, so that by its power, lives can be transformed one at a time, until all should come to the knowledge of the Son of God. The question that you have to ask yourself is simply this. Will you be part of that? Will you step up and get involved in the fray? Or will you be afraid and hide in the shadows? If Christians do not stand up and bring the gospel of Christ to this country, and ultimately the world, it's finished. It will go the way of the devil. because it's the power of the gospel, is the only thing that can transform a person's life, ultimately, one at a time, which transforms a culture. There is no other answer. Politics won't do it. Washington cannot save you, in case you haven't already figured that out. We need Christ and him alone. Let's pray. Father, I thank you again for your word. I thank you for the challenges that it brings us because it's true. And it's clear what it tells us, that we have to get engaged. We have to proclaim the gospel. We can't fear men. We can't shrink back. If we do, evil will flourish. Because there'll be nothing to stop it. But then how will we stand before you? We can only do it in shame at that day. So I pray, Lord, for each one of us here, that you would give us courage, strength, stamina for the fight, because it's not gonna be easy, it's going to be long, but we must enter the battle. We must do it for your glory, for the glory of Christ, and for ultimately our joy, because when we're doing the thing which you created us to do, then we know joy fully. So I pray that you would do all these things in Jesus' name.