The Last Days Of The Church XXXVI

 If there is one silver lining in this, it’s Paul’s insistence that, at some point, such men will hit a wall and will progress no further. Not only that, but their folly will be manifest to all, just as the folly of Jannes and Jambres was. I’ve spent an excessive amount of time contemplating what will precipitate their terminal point. What is it that will cause such men to progress no further and even more have their folly exposed to one and all?

Is it that even the servants of darkness are on a leash, just as their master was concerning Job, wherein at first he was not allowed to harm his flesh, then not allowed to take his life? Is it that at some point, their mockery and heresy of the sacrosanct becomes so foul as to cause God to clean house in a fiery and permanent sort of way? Or perhaps the reality of life itself will shatter their teachings into a million pieces, thereby making their folly apparent to everyone.

Yet another possibility is that their grift is no longer profitable; it no longer generates legal tender, and so they move on to something new, more gnostic and ethereal in nature, that wouldn’t have to contend with the scriptures.

Perhaps it will be all of these things, one of these things, or none of these things, but the Word of God declares that they will not progress any further. At some point, they will hit a wall, and the damage inflicted will be wholly dependent on how fast they were going when they did.

There is a difference between advancing, being static, and retreating. Paul doesn’t say the world will be put aright, or that these individuals will no longer have sway over those they’ve already deceived, but that their progress will cease to have momentum. They will no longer progress. They will have reached a point where they can no longer make any headway or have any fresh blood bolstering their ranks.

You’d be surprised how far some are willing to go when they dig their heels in. To the last, there were people who believed that a guy in Coke bottle glasses was the reincarnate Christ, even when all evidence pointed to the contrary and their lives were on the line. Once deceived, it is a herculean task to return someone to the way of truth, and if not for the grace and mercy of God, not a one could be restored with words alone.

Since deception and deceivers have existed since the early church, Paul’s warning underscores the likelihood of an exponential growth in deceivers, as well as those who will be deceived. Jesus Himself confirms this when He tells us time and again that many will come in His name, deceiving many.

While the church is asleep, the devil is hard at work. Worse still, those within the church who claim to serve one master while doing the bidding of another are doing their best to gaslight believers into believing that standing against evil and pointing out wickedness is itself evil and unloving.

There were more pastors and preachers who jumped to the defense of the mockery of the Last Supper that went on during the Olympics a few weeks back than ever did to defend a young woman who was sentenced to three years of prison time for quoting scripture in front of an abortion clinic. Virtue signaling at its best or its worst depending on where you stand, but nevertheless putrid and grotesque.

Just like the devil tried two thousand years ago, these wolves use scripture itself to undergird their point, omitting crucial words here and there. They know they’re lying through their teeth. They know they’re excusing the vilest, most contemptible blasphemy, but they don’t care.

Be not deceived; God is not mocked. Such are the men of whom Paul warned, men of corrupt minds disapproving concerning the faith.

It wasn’t what it looked like! It wasn’t what you thought it was! You’re a bigot if you notice it anyway!

There were a thousand different ways to present this travesty, yet they chose the one that most resembled the Last Supper, the Christ, and the disciples thereof. It was as intentional as putting on socks in the morning, and don’t you doubt it for a second.

They could have had thirteen dudes in dresses jump out of a clown car, pretend to be on a rafting trip, do a tap dance number, reimagine Alexander the Great and his retinue, or sing a cappella while twirling glowsticks, but they chose to reenact one of the most important, impacting, and memorable moments of Christ’s life, next to His birth, death, and resurrection.

If you think this was an accident, then you don’t understand the devil, and he’s already won. If you’ve inverted God’s command and rather than hate evil and love good, you love evil and hate good, at least stop calling yourself a pastor, minister, leader, or whatever fanciful title you choose to cloak yourself in. Make no mistake, evil is what it was. If you try to excuse this or make allowances for it in any way, you have become what Paul warned of. How blind can a generation be to the wiles of the devil before there no longer remains any hope of its survival?

They didn’t do an oopsie, and when they got caught in open blasphemy, they even apologized after being called out on it, but to hear the tale told by some pastors, it is these mockers and blasphemers who will be the first in line at the pearly gates, and you hateful, bigoted, unloving, unaccepting peasants who deny yourselves, pick up your crosses, and follow after Christ will be on the outside looking in. That’ll teach you!

This is where we are. The words and warnings of Paul regarding the last days of the church are coming to pass in real-time, and it will only intensify, amplify, and get worse until it doesn’t. At some point, their folly will be manifest to all, and they will progress no further.

It turns out that every time perverts, pederasts, hedonists, and heretics told us we’d be on the wrong side of history if we chose to stand on the truth of Scripture, they were wrong. Demonstrably, verifiably wrong. The rest of the world is catching up and agreeing that perhaps it’s not ideal to shoot up pre-pubescent children with drug cocktails until irreversible damage is done to them after all. Wouldn’t you know it, it is they who were on the wrong side of history all along, but they tried to browbeat and guilt the people of God into silence so they could have their way without any pushback or opposition.

This time will be no different except in one sad and tragic way: while those who have no particular allegiance to Christ are warning the church that its silence will spell its doom, those who insist that they were handpicked to lead the nations into righteousness are vilifying anyone who dares to point to Scripture and call sin what it is. When the godless have more discernment than those who deem themselves godly, it’s time to pack it in and get ready for the festivities. Lest we forget, judgment begins in the house of God first, and that time is right around the corner. Looking at what’s been happening in the church of late, one might rightly conclude that it’s already begun.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.