In the last forum article, I talked about Matthew 24:11, which text speaks of the rise of false prophets. In this article, I want to turn to the sign our Lord mentions in verse 12: “And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”
The
first point that I need to emphasize is that the sign of which Jesus
speaks in this verse is a sign that is a result of the presence of false
prophets. False prophets preach and teach false doctrine. The false
doctrine they teach results in sin, or, as the text says, iniquity. This
is a point worth talking about. Doctrine and life belong together. The
only guarantee of a life of holiness and obedience to God is a life of
holding fast to the truth of God’s word. Teaching false doctrine always
results in a walk that is not pleasing to God but earns his judgment.
This is so important that a few illustrations will help us to understand it.
In
the Middle Ages, say from about 600 A. D. to the time of the
Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church was morally corrupt. It was very,
very bad. From the pope in Rome to the lowest monk in his monastery the
clergy were guilty of every sin known to man. They were drunken,
gluttonous, immoral, murderers (many popes died from being poisoned),
covetous beyond description and more interested in gathering riches than
caring for the souls of God’s people. It was so bad that Dante, the
Renaissance poet who lived in the 12th century, put the
current pope in the lowest spot in hell. Even more, serious people in
the church were so appalled at the wickedness of the clergy and of the
general populace that they pleaded for reform. Three times the pope
called a council to reform the church. Three times these councils met in
efforts to reform the church. Three times they were utter failures.
Why? The Roman Catholic Church was teaching false doctrine: all kinds of
false doctrine, such as the pope the vicar of Christ,
transubstantiation, the merit of good works, indulgences, and many
superstitions. The church would not repent of false doctrine, and
therefore could not reform the church.
When
the Council of Constance met, it was the greatest and most imposing
council in the history of the church, because kings were there, members
of the highest levels of clergy in the church, rulers of all the nations
in Europe and dignitaries from all levels of society. They passed many
motions to reform the terrible sins in the church, but they also
imprisoned John Hus and burned him at the stake because he had preached
the truth of God in Bohemia.
When
Luther began his work of reformation, he was almost at the beginning
confronted by men who joined the Reformation, but wanted complete and
total reformation of the whole of life immediately. Luther told them to
be patient. He said, in effect, “Just preach the word and do so in
truth. When the people hear, know and love the truth, then they will
reform their lives too. Let the word of God do its work.” Luther was a
man who could speak clearly and interestingly. Someone asked him the
question of how he could accomplish so much and stir all Europe by what
he did. He answered, “I did nothing but preach. I just sat here in
Wittenberg with my good friend Amsdorf drinking beer, and the word of
God did it all.” Luther did not mean, of course, that all he did was
drink beer. His writings come to about 64 volumes in our library at
Seminary. He did far more work than any of us will ever do. But he meant
to emphasize that the truth preached changed the morals of the people:
not decisions of councils or use of force: just preaching the truth.
That
is still true today. When the truth is not preached, morals go out the
window – even conservative teachers, some of those who are called
“Christian Reconstructionists,” which by the way, is an error taught by
“conservative” theologians, divorce their wives of many years and marry
some other woman. Several conservative scholars whose works I have read,
are guilty of boldest Sabbath desecration.
Evolutionism,
which teaches man’s animal ancestry, openly pleads for the doors of the
church to have a welcome sign above these doors, which reads, “It is
permissible to engage in premarital sex in this church.”
We
sometimes think that minor doctrinal details (or, at least, so we call
them) of the truth are not important and we can have fellowship with
those who teach false doctrine but claim to believe in sovereign grace.
But the fact is, history is littered with the wreckage of churches that
had departed only in “minor” details, but have ended up in serious
violations of the law of God.
America
has rejected the gospel and systematic steps are being taken to make
our country atheistic. These efforts are proving successful. It is now a
crime to have the ten commandments hanging in a school; to have prayers
before classes or even before football games – of all things. It is a
crime to condemn homosexuality. It is a sin to mention the name of God.
There are those who want “In God we trust” taken off our coins, and who
want the words “under God” to be driven from our pledge to the flag.
They are succeeding, slowly but surely, in all their efforts. What is
the result? A government that makes same-sex marriages legal and
approves of abortion, so that millions of unborn babies are murdered.
One
can, if he so desires, take a look at those blogs on the web that
promote the prosperity gospel. What is the result of this dreadful
perversion of the truth. The materialism that runs rampant in our
country – and in your country makes money king! Money is our idol. Money
brings happiness. Money is “Christian stewardship” (so say those who
try to justify their mad pursuit of earthly possessions by making their
sin sound like piety).
False doctrine leads to iniquity. And, if false doctrine is not stopped, iniquity is the result.
I
have written about this at some length, because false prophets and
resulting iniquity are signs of the coming of Christ. If we are to
“watch and pray,” we must be aware of these signs. And, of course, we
must not only be aware of them, but we must avoid becoming a part of the
signs themselves in our life; and we must see these things that are
happening in the world as evidences that the coming of our Lord is near.
With love for you in the Lord,
Prof. H. Hanko.
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