One sign of the end times will be people turning away from the faith. The Bible speaks of an apostasy, a departure from the faith in the last days (see Thessalonians 2:3). We read in 2 Timothy 4:3–4 that in the last days, some “will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, . . . will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.”
Sometimes the devil comes in like a roaring lion in his depravity. At other times, he comes in as an angel of light in his splendor. That is why the apostle Paul wrote to the churches of Galatia, “But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8).
There are people today who say that we need to reimagine the church, that we can’t do it the old way. But I don’t think we need to reimagine church. Rather, we need to rediscover the church the way Jesus set it up. We need to go back to the original template.
In some churches today, the sermons are short, more like pep talks than messages from God’s Word. I want to hear the Word of God. I want to know what the Bible says about all the things that I am going to face in life.
Paul wrote to Timothy, “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching” (2 Timothy 4:2).
The antidote to the deception we will see more of in the last days is hearing and knowing God’s Word.
