THE GREAT APOSTASY

Excerpt from the book The Great Impersonation: How the Anti-Christ Has Deceived the Whole World By Eli James

"But, beloved, Remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ; How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit." – Jude, 17-19.

"…the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God..." And "...the day of Christ is at hand…then shall that wicked one be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming: Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved." – 2 Thes. 2:2-10.

The Great Apostasy is the falling away of the faithful from the faith. That faith, known as Christianity, has been fading slowly since about 1850. It was about that time that a new type of "minister" began to appear. This new type of minister was a rationalist who did not believe everything the Bible said because it appeared to contradict science. Darwin’s Theory of Evolution seemed to be a plausible alternative to Biblical origins; and the amazing technological advances of the industrial revolution gave secular reasoning a tremendous impetus. Academics and theologians began making concessions to the rationalists who seemed to have all the answers at the time. The famous Scopes trial resulted in a defeat for Biblical literalism. Agnosticism and even atheism crept into the ranks of the theological seminaries. It appeared that science was now leading the world and the Gospel was falling behind. As Nietszche put it: "God is dead."

For secular society, all of this was to be expected. However, the way in which the Christian churches began to emulate secular philosophy is truly astonishing. Indeed, by the 1960's, it was common to hear the phrase "There is no God" coming from the pulpits of "modern" Christianity, not just from Jewish and liberal college professors. Some churchgoers sat passively, others dropped out in shame and disgust, as more and more preachers began preaching the "social gospel" instead of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Slowly but surely, the various denominations of Christendom fell into apostasy.

"I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised about the continuing deterioration of our churches or the apparent unwillingness of Christians to defend Christianity. After all, the Apostle Paul warned (2 Thessalonians 2:3) that the Day of Christ couldn’t come until there first come a falling away. All we have to do is look around our own communities, read our newspapers or watch television to see signs of this apostasy. Yet, each time we do, a pang of sorrow overcomes us as we realize just how much our loving Lord is defamed and how far our churches have fallen from the very foundation of our faith." – Brooks Alden, under the heading of NEWS ALERT, from the October 2001 issue of "Thy Kingdom Come".

What is so astonishing is how our so-called Christian churches have been able to focus on a very narrow aspect of Biblical teaching, namely, the doctrine of personal salvation, to the exclusion of numerous other doctrines of equal or greater import. Such themes as Israel’s national salvation, the leaven of the Pharisees, the Second Coming, prophecy, Yahweh’s Law, and the apostasy itself are not even mentioned in the mainstream pulpit. These subjects have become unfashionable or taboo. In their place, a whole range of non-Biblical themes are espoused: One World Government, gay lib, feminism, the conversion of "God’s Chosen People", the rapture, tolerance for anti-Christ doctrines, multiculturalism, faith without the law, etc., etc.

Just as the rabbis had invented and built up the Talmud, the Catholic Church invented its own doctrine and liturgy. When the Reformation rebelled against these abuses, the Faith was restored for a time; but with Protestantism now going the same route of inventing scripture, the Great Apostasy has come into full bloom. Christianity is no longer recognizable as the "faith of our fathers," Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I do not wish to insinuate that all of the followers of each of these religions is an apostate; but I am asserting that the various priesthoods have been apostasized, or Talmudized, if you will.

But among many of the faithful, there is the notion that we can pick and choose doctrine from the Bible, keeping what we like and discarding what we don’t like. This idea is completely false. The Bible specifically states that we must keep the WHOLE LAW. If we deviate in any small way, it is as if we have broken the entire law. "For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." – James 2:10.

We must strive to be perfect Christians, not lukewarm Christians, if we wish to obtain heaven. "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect." – Matt. 5:48 "...because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew thee out of my mouth." – Rev. 3:16.

Here follows a list of abuses:

If your church teaches that God’s Law is no longer in effect, i.e., it was "nailed to the cross", then your church is in a serious state of apostasy. "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy but to fulfil." -- Matt. 5:17. See also John 7:49.

If your church teaches that there is no God, your church is an Apostate Church. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God." – Ps. 14:1.

If your church teaches that homosexuality is acceptable to Yahweh, then your church is an apostate church. "For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature..." – Rom. 1:26. Who created nature? "And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet." – Ro. 1:27. The diseases of homosexuality give the average homosexual a life span which is only half that of the heterosexual. Do these apostate churches suppose that God wants us to be rebellious, lustful, and disease-ridden? See also Deut. 23:17.

If your congregation accepts witches and warlocks, then your church is an apostate church. "...neither shall ye use enchantment." – Lev. 19:26. See also Deu. 18:10.

If your pastor teaches the Rapture doctrine, then your church is an apostate church. "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved." – Matt. 24:13.

If your church accepts usury practiced by anyone, then your church is an apostate church. "Thou shalt not lend upon usury to thy brother." – Deut. 23:19. Usury means, very simply, lending money at interest. Virtually the entire commercial world is guilty of this sin. See also Exod. 22:25, Lev. 25:36, Neh. 5:10.

If your denomination teaches that the Jews are Israel, then your church is in a state of apostasy. "But I have made Esau bare, I have uncovered his secret places, and he shall not be able to hide himself: his seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbors, and he is not." – Jer. 49:10.

If your denomination teaches that Jesus Christ was a Jew, then your denomination is apostate. "If God were your Father, ye would love me: for I proceeded forth and came from God; neither came I of myself, but he sent me...Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do." – John 8:42-44. Jesus is of God. The Talmudic rabbis are of the devil. How much clearer can it be?

If your denomination preaches ecumenism, then your church is an apostate church. "Fulfil ye my joy, that ye be likeminded, having the same love, being of one accord, of one mind." – Phil. 2:2. Ecumenism is syncretism, the combination of unresolved opposites and contraries. "No man can serve two masters." – Matt. 23:10.

If your congregation denies the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you are an apostate.

If you fail to teach the Bible to your children, then you are an apostate. "Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law...keep my commandments and live." – Prov. 4:1-4. Are your children captives of the godless public schools?

If your church ignores any one of the Ten Commandments, then your church is an apostate church.

If your denomination fails to warn you about the leaven of the Pharisees, then you might as well belong to the synagogue of Satan.

If your church preaches race-mixing, then your church is an apostate church. "And the seed of Israel separated themselves from all strangers, and stood and confessed their sins..." – Neh. 9:2. "And that we would not give our daughters unto the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons..." – Neh. 10:30. "Now it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated from Israel all the mixed multitude." – Neh. 13:3. This is God’s Law: No race-mixing. The opposite is man’s law, the doctrines of men: modernism, Talmudism, liberalism. See also I Kings 8:52,53; Lev. 20:24; Deut. 32:8-12; Ezra 6:20,21; Ezra 9:1-3.

If your denomination teaches "liberation theology", then your church is full of the apostasy of the anti-Christ.

If your church teaches that faith alone will save you, that church is teaching apostasy. "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?" – James 2:14. "But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only." – Jas. 1:22.

If your church teaches that abortion is acceptable, then your church is in a state of apostasy. "And whoso shall receive one such little child in my name receiveth me. But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea." -- Matt. 18:5,6. Does not abortion prevent these little ones from being received by Him?

If your church fails to teach the revelation of prophecy, then it is in a state of apostasy.

With regard to "liberation theology," we must adduce some relevant quotes:

"Liberation theologians manifest a disturbing double standard. While they are understandably critical of right-wing dictatorships (which they simplistically equate with capitalism), their silence about and sometimes explicit support for left-wing dictatorships (Cuba, Nicaragua, Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and Marxist dictators in Africa) raises serious questions about their commitment to democracy." -- Ronald Nash, Liberation Theology, p.7.

"God works through Marxist revolution in order to bring all men together." -- Emilio Castro, General Secretary, World Council of Churches.

"The Bible teaches communism." -- Jose Miranda, Marx and the Bible.

"Liberation theology was doing more to promote revolutionary change in Latin America than all the millions of books on Marxism has been able to achieve." -- Fidel Castro.

"It was, therefore, most appropriate that the World Council, headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, and under the leadership of Lenin Peace Prize recipient and United Presbyterian Church minister Eugene Carson Blake, would direct the Liberation Theology (LT) movement among Protestant denominations in the late 1960s." -- William McIlhany, Liberation Theology, p. 21.

"Doctrines of devils," indeed.

How many of these abuses is your church guilty of? The above list could go on for several more pages. I do not wish to badger the reader with a thousand grievances. I wish merely to demonstrate how deeply this state of apostasy has set in and how far we have wandered from true, Biblical Christianity. We have most definitely substituted the "doctrines of men" for the Law of God, so that now we have not only Jewish Pharisees, but Catholic Pharisees, Lutheran Pharisees, Episcopalian and even Hindu and Muslim Pharisees. It seems to be a matter of the human course of events that, given enough time, the priesthood of any religion becomes self-serving and corrupt.

Bear in mind that all of these things were prophesied by your God, your King, and your servants, the Apostles. It should be very humbling for you to realize that your God knows your inclinations so well. He knows our pride and our arrogance. He knows we are stiff-necked and disobedient. He has told us beforehand how we will stray and how we would accept evil as good (liberalism) and good as evil (moral relativism). How we would reject His Law in favor of our own opinions. How we would follow our lusts rather than accept His blessings. How we would resent His authority. How we would reject His leadership and fatherhood. How we would misunderstand Him completely. All of these things are the consequence of our fall from grace. And yet, in spite of all this, He tells us that He will not abandon us completely. He will have mercy on us if we will just repent and obey His Law. This six thousand year period of probation is His demonstration to us of how miserable we become without Him, for He is our very source of LIFE. If anything, it is a demonstration of how much He loves us that He has put up with us for so long and with so little appreciation on our part.

But the probation period is about to end. The Great Apostasy is upon us.

Now, the afore-mentioned abuses are the abuses of apostate Christianity. The secular world is even worse:

"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, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;" – 2 Tim. 3:1-4.

Does this sound like the "me generation": slackers, rappers, deadheads, dopeheads? And don’t forget the well-educated atheists and agnostics who know it all. Up until 1950, no one could have imagined that our society would become so unraveled. And then back to phony Christians: "Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away." – Vs. 5.

Society is in a state of meltdown. Ignorance and arrogance rule the day. Children rage against the machine. Mothers do not have time for their children. Husbands don’t have time for their families. Television and movies become ever more sick and slick. Politics and greed buy off the poor and steal from the productive and mock the assiduous. Teenagers are captives to drugs, loneliness, alienation and confusion; and their suicide rate steadily climbs with the materialism of our age. Consumers are captives to debt. Rape is like a new sport on campus. Cheating is commonplace. Indeed, the Spirit of the Age is Materialism, a Satanically-inspired materialism, which passes itself off as enlightenment and tolerance. In reality, it is death and taxes. Our values have been turned upside down. Silently, gradually, and stealthily, this materialism has taken over our whole planet; and even those who consider themselves religious are as guilty as the non-religious. It is only a matter of degree. We ignore God’s Law at our own peril; and the most perilous times are just ahead.

It should be very humbling to realize that God chose prophets to put in writing exactly how we would stray. It shows that we are so predictable in our apostasy, so weak, so vain, so foolish – just like Adam and Eve in the Garden. They too thought that they were too smart to be deceived into self-destruction. Now we know better about them. But do we know better about ourselves?