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Bible-believing Christians are being alienated from society and are being increasingly subjected to persecution. The speed at which this has happened in recent years is absolutely breathtaking.
Jim Garlow is a Nazarene minister who pastors the Skyline Church in La Mesa, California. He is considered to be an expert on Church history. In a recent presentation to the National Religious Broadcasters, Pastor Garlow presented a sweeping overview of the relationship between Bible-believing Christians and American society.
From 1607-1833, Bible believing Christians were the establishment of this nation. That is for 236 years!
From 1833-1918, we were the predominant force. That is only 85 years. Notice how these periods decrease rapidly.
From 1918-1968, the sub-dominant force was Bible believing Christians for about 50 years.
Then the big turning point came in the 60's, from 1968-1988 we were a sub-culture for 20 years.
From 1988-1998, Christianity became a counter culture for 10 years.
From 1998-2008, Christianity became an antithetical culture for 10 years.
And, finally, from 2008 to the present, Christianity became a persecuted culture.
An overwhelming majority of Americans — 85% — claim to be Christians, but the evidence of Christianity in the lives of most of them is almost nil. They purchase lottery tickets, frequent R-rated movies, watch trash shows on TV, purchase pornography, idolize crude and vulgar musicians, frequent abortion clinics and compile a divorce rate that equals non-Christians.
They are what might be called "Cultural Christians" — born into a Christian family, raised going to church, but without any personal relationship with Jesus. Another characteristic of Cultural Christians is that they rarely if ever read the Bible. This has resulted in gross biblical ignorance and the undoing of doctrine.
Ignorance of God's Word has even become true of Evangelical Christians, the very people whose identity in the past was linked to their reliance on the Bible for their ultimate authority in all things.
Surveys by the Barna Group reveal that among those claiming to be Evangelicals today:
- 19% are living with a partner outside of marriage.
- 37% do not believe the Bible to be totally accurate.
- 45% do not believe that Jesus was sinless. These are evangelicals folks.
- 52% do not believe Satan is real.
- And 57% do not believe that Jesus is the only way to eternal life despite the fact that He said so.
- And 57% believe that good works play a part in gaining eternal life.
As you can see from these survey results, the term "Evangelical" has lost its meaning.
It is no wonder we have professing Christians voting for candidates who promote homosexuality, same-sex marriage, abortion, and casino gambling. Or, professing Christians who vote out of greed for the candidate who offers to give them the most, regardless of the candidate's wretched lifestyle or beliefs about social and moral issues. Or, professing Christians who vote on the basis of race or ethnicity, regardless of a candidate's viewpoints concerning vital moral issues.
Public opinion polls concerning the fundamental beliefs of Christianity consistently reveal that the number of true Bible-believing Christians in America today is less than 10%. It's no wonder that during the past 50 years our society has secularized and paganized so rapidly.
The Sealing of Fate
We are a nation shaking its fist at God. We are literally crying out for God's judgment. God has been very patient with us, as He always is. But consider the words of the prophet Nahum:
"A jealous and avenging God is the LORD;
The LORD is avenging and wrathful.
The LORD takes vengeance on His adversaries,
And He reserves wrath for His enemies.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power,
And the LORD will by no means leave the guilty unpunished."
(Nahum 1:2-3a)
Yes, God has been patient, but His patience is wearing thin. God has sent prophetic voices to call us to repentance. And when we turned a deaf ear, He began sending remedial judgments.
But, our faces have become harder than stone, and the result is that we are now wallowing in immorality, violence and greed.
The first chapter of Romans reveals how God deals with a rebellious people. He will step back. He will lower the hedge of protection and allow evil to flourish. The first result of that action it says in Romans 1 will be the outbreak of a sexual revolution, which occurred in this nation in the 1960's.
If the nation refuses to repent, God will take a second step back, lower the hedge of protection again, and a plague of homosexuality will be unleashed. And that happened in our nation in the 1980's, and it accelerated in the 1990's.
If the nation continues in its sin with no sign of repentance, God will step back a third time, lower the hedge again, and the society will be delivered over to a "depraved mind" that will result in its destruction.
The time has come for God to deliver us over to a depraved mind — to deliver us from judgment to destruction. We have reached the point of no return, which is identified by the biblical prophets as the point where "the wound cannot be healed."
Only one other nation in history has been as blessed as ours, and that was the ancient nation of Judah. Like us, they rebelled against the God who had blessed them so richly. And, as with us, God sent prophets to call them to repentance. When they refused, He hammered them with remedial judgments.
When they persisted in their rebellion, God delivered them from judgment to destruction, allowing the Babylonians to conquer them and take them away from their homeland into captivity.
The fate of Judah prompted two of the saddest verses in the Bible they read as follows:
"The LORD, the God of their fathers, sent word to them again and again by His messengers, because He had compassion on His people and on His dwelling place; but they continually mocked the messengers of God, despised His words, scoffed at His prophets, until the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy."
We may experience a temporary revival, as ancient Judah did when the righteous king Josiah succeeded the monster king Manasseh, but when Josiah was killed the nation plunged right back into spiritual darkness and soon ceased to exist. Evil had just simply become too ingrained in the fabric of the nation.
Like ancient Judah, our fate is sealed. Our collapse will be just as sudden and overwhelming. Why should God treat us any differently? We can be assured that He will not.
In the spring of 2012, I believe the Lord began to move on my heart with this very troubling message. I turned it over and over in my mind, and I wrestled with it in prayer. Finally, it burned so hot in my soul that I had to put it on paper. I call it A Prophetic Manifesto. Over the course of the next two weeks, I will share with you on our television program "Christ in Prophecy" the complete message of the Manifesto. You can also watch it online and order the booklet and video from our online store.
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