The church has often been taught about the times of refreshing that come during seasons of revival. The first such time recorded was the birth of the church on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2) when 3,000 were saved. In Acts 4 and 5 God continued to add to the church daily while there was unity and purpose of heart which released great signs and wonders that confirmed the resurrection of Christ. And in Acts 9, after Saul was converted, the church enjoyed a season of blessing, growth, and renewal.
There were also great revivals in Old Testament times during the reigns of Kings David and Solomon, and then repentance and revival during the reigns of Kings Hezekiah, Josiah, and others (read 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 2 Kings).
But what many people don’t realize is there are also seasons when God purges His church (John 15:4-7) by allowing us to go through severe times of testing (like Israel did in the wilderness), during which the true motives of God’s people are revealed. Hebrews 3 and 4 relate how God was angry with the Jews who hardened their hearts with their incessant complaining and unbelief during times of testing. This resulted in God’s favor being lifted from a whole generation who subsequently died in the desert and never saw the Promised Land! First Corinthians 10:1-14 teaches that this failure of the Jews during this time of testing is also relevant for today and serves as a warning to the contemporary church.
Thus, there are seasons of revival for growth and seasons of testing for purging that God allows so that, ultimately, His church will be pure and fulfill its destiny in the Kingdom of God!
Although it seems we are presently in a global time of testing for both the world and church, there are also seasons of testing and purging for individual believers and specific congregations that are unique to each. During these seasons of testing, the number of people attending congregations may diminish, or there may be just a general malaise and lack of commitment in regards to financial giving and volunteerism among the fence-sitters. This will result with God’s people being purified so we will have true disciples and not just “mere Christians.”
No one who is alive today can deny that the world--especially the United States and Europe--are in a severe time of testing. (We can also include Latin America, the Caribbean, Japan, and other regions.)
This global season of testing--precipitated by the global economic meltdown--has resulted in people losing their jobs, or working 2-3 jobs, as well as overall increases in stress levels which have dramatically impacted key relationships and whole families, and the commitment people have to their churches. Consequently, this has unleashed a fear greater than the actual challenges and has revealed the hearts of those who said they had great faith and were supposedly faithful during the times of plenty before 2007.
The result in the faith community has been alarming:
-With the exception of a few, most churches have seen their tithes and offerings drop almost 40%, with even many church leaders withholding their tithes from their local churches.
-Church attendance is down because folks under stress are taking their Sundays off for themselves. Or, they are working on Sundays in a feeble attempt to pay their bills while disobeying the Lord in their giving, which violates Malachi 3:8-14.
-Many people in the Body of Christ are discouraged because they are succumbing to the overall negative global climate instead of fighting the good fight of faith. God has allowed this test to reveal to them the true condition of their false selves.
Why God allows seasons of falling away:
Ezekiel 3:20 teaches us that God allows stumbling blocks in the way of the righteous to see if they will pick them up and be ensnared by them.
We all have buttons that can be pushed by the enemy. If we refuse to deal with them, then at a certain point God will allow the devil to test us in these areas which eventuates in our falling away from the purposes of God in our lives!
John 3:16 teaches us that if we believe in Him we will not perish. “Perish” comes from a Greek word that has to do with us living in a ruined state eventually resulting in eternal judgment. When we fall away from God’s purposes for us in His kingdom, we may be deceived into thinking we are still okay with God because in our hearts we still pray and say we love Him. (Samson didn’t even know when the Holy Spirit left him! Read Judges 16:20.) But Jesus makes it clear in John 14:15, 23-24 that the ones who truly love Him are the ones who obey His commandments and keep His word. Thus, the purpose and ministry God has for us is inextricably connected with our love for God. Jesus reiterated this to Peter in John 21:15-17 when He equated loving God with feeding His sheep.
Paul the Apostle predicted in the first century there would be a great falling away from the faith sometime in his generation (1 Timothy 4:1-3). Many believe this took place around the time of the judgment of Israel in A.D. 70. During this time of great tribulation, Jesus said that as the impending judgment was coming upon the nation of Israel, men’s hearts would faint with fear. He warned them in Luke 21:34: “But watch yourselves lest your hearts be weighed down with dissipation and drunkenness and the cares of this life, and that day come upon you suddenly like a trap.”
Paul the Apostle tells us about seasons like this in Ephesians 6:10-13 when he says to put on the whole armor of God and to take our stand in the “day of evil” (seasons of satanic deception and testing).
Paul also says that in the time of testing God will send to those who refused to repent “a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false” (2 Thes. 2:10-12)!
Hence, God even allows supernatural confirmations to confirm and establish the self-deception in the hearts of those predisposed to disobey God and fall away from Him.
Furthermore, Deuteronomy 13:1-4 teaches that God allows false prophecies to actually come to pass because He is testing the people to see if they will really fear Him and serve Him no matter what! Galatians 1:6-9 states that Paul taught the church in Galatia that God may even allow an angel to appear to get them off track but that is still no excuse! He told them: “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel”!
Sometimes satanic deception is so great that whole churches experience this falling away! The books of Galatians and Hebrews were apostolic attempts to plead with and impart truth to these churches because all of them were falling away from the grace of Christ into another gospel, which was a mixture of Christianity and Judaism.
(Syncretism is when we have a mixture of Christianity or truth with another religion or system of faith that conforms to the flesh and waters down our commitment to Christ as Lord! Hence, we may even have some churches that are so compromised in their preaching that they are really preaching another gospel. For example, the liberal mainline Protestant denominations that preach a mixture of Christianity, humanism, and deism.)
In Revelation 2 and 3, Jesus warns five of the seven churches to repent or He would judge them. (Those five churches disappeared from the scene.)
What are we to do?
Leaders: Those who are leaders and workers in the church are admonished by God to care for the flock of God during seasons of testing and distress. Those leaders who are self-centered during these times and neglect the flock to take care of themselves are warned in Zechariah 10:3: “My anger is hot against the shepherds, and I will punish the leaders; for the Lord of Hosts cares for His flock.” Also in Ezekiel 34:2-6, 10: “Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding themselves, should not shepherds feed the sheep! The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the injured you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought...my sheep were scattered and you did not search for them….I am against the shepherds and I will require my sheep at their hand an put a stop to their feeding the sheep, no longer will they feed themselves.”
Like Nehemiah, leaders are admonished to stay on the wall and not stop building the local church out of fear, or waste their time answering the taunts of those lying and gossiping spirits who would like nothing better than for the work of the ministry to cease!
For those under spiritual leadership: There is a warning not to strike the shepherds during these times of testing or the sheep will be scattered (Zechariah 13:8). Thus, when we criticize or gossip against our shepherds we are self-serving and responsible for causing the sheep to be scattered. Let God deal the shepherds as He said He will do in Ezekiel 34.
Seven reasons why sheep are leaving local churches during this season of testing:
1. Because of work-related and family stress, they are spending their weekends on their own pleasures and doing their own things instead of honoring the Lord’s Day (read Isaiah 58:13).
2. People have given in to a spirit of discouragement and falling away, instead of obeying what Jesus and Paul said by watching, praying, and putting on the whole armor of God during these times. (There is nothing better than corporate church prayer meetings during these times of testing because the prayers and faith of others can lift us up when we are down in the dumps!) Hebrews 5:7 and Luke 22:44 teaches us that when Jesus was in agony He prayed even more earnestly! James 5:13 also admonishes us to pray when we are suffering.
3. Many believers are working on Sundays to make ends meet. This shows their commitment to God is less than the orthodox Jews who don’t even have Jesus in their hearts and yet refuse to dishonor God by violating their sabbath!
4. Many believers are listening to and spreading negative talk about their churches and leaders. Proverbs 6:19 teaches us that God hates divisive talk in the family of God! Ephesians 4:29 instructs us not to allow any negative or unwholesome talk to come out of our mouths but only those things that are good for edifying one another.
Slander and negative talk often results in people leaving their local churches and disrespecting their spiritual oversight. If you feel your spiritual leader has offended you or is doing something wrong, don’t just listen to slander or entertain negative thoughts. Make an appointment with them and hear their side of the story and allow for healing and reconciliation. This is the protocol laid out for believers in Matthew 18:15-18.
5. Financial pressures are causing an overall stress in relationships which also includes negative feelings towards spiritual leaders and their churches, especially when someone has to be corrected or held accountable for their ministry-related performance or because of personal issues. (It seems the overall margin for friction in relationships has been greatly reduced because of the saturation level people experience from work and economic-related stress.)
6. People are running from the pain of their stress and medicating themselves by engaging in illicit sexual relationships, substance abuse, or excessive entertainment. Hence, they feel guilty and choose to run from God and church instead of repenting and dealing with their pain through spiritual counsel.
7. Fear or paranoia spreads when one person leaves a church. Then their circle of friends wants to leave. Next, it starts a movement or exodus from a church because sheep are generally not discerning and impulsively follow other sheep they are connected to. When they see one or two sheep running away, they also run away even without knowing fully why they are afraid or running! They say to themselves, “something must be wrong with this church because my friends are leaving”! Consequently, only those who have enough integrity to speak honestly with their leaders, receive their counsel, and are praying for discernment and interpreting their experience in light of the Scriptures--instead of being led astray by false movements or led by fear or rebellion--will be safe and secure during this time.
We should know that most (if not all) churches globally and individual Christians are presently going through an intense time of testing just like the world is. This is because God is judging every aspect of His created order. Church attendance and giving is generally down everywhere I look with few exceptions.
(There are some larger churches that are growing from transfer growth. But this not true growth and will not last long because these new attendees will soon discover that the grass is not always greener on the other side--especially when they don’t deal with their own unbelief and rebellion that had a hand in them running from their church in the first place!)
In conclusion: Falling away from God and His purposes is nothing to sneeze about. Hebrews 6:1-9 teaches that it is possible for people to ultimately fall away from Christ after receiving all the fruits of salvation, power of the Holy Spirit, and the good word of God. Second Peter 2:20-22 teaches that it is actually better not to have ever known the way of righteousness than to experience Christ and turn from Him.
Let us remember one of the closing words of the author of Hebrews 10:35-39:
“Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised. For,
‘Yet a little while, and the coming one will come and will not delay; but my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.’
But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.”
Dr. Joseph Mattera
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