Jesus prophesied that on Judgment Day many would say to Him, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy, and preach, and cast out devils in Your name?" And to their shock, He will respond, “I never knew you. Depart from Me, you who work lawlessness.” In Ep. 07 of our series, "Resisting the Rise of Lawlessness" we'll face the uncomfortable reality that many in the Church are actually in the same spirit of lawlessness as the godless world around them.

Resources

• How Can I Be Saved and Still Be in Sexual Sin? (Article) By Steve Gallagher

There’s an old adage that goes like this: If you think you can’t be deceived, you’re already half-way there. With the antichrist spirit rising in our world, we must vigilantly guard our hearts with the truth of God’s Word and submission to God's authority.

Host: Steve, as we continue our discussions on Intoxicated with Babylon, we want to talk today about a chapter that you entitled “The Great Deception.” In the first part of this chapter you made this statement, “The present-day church is very comparable to the Jewish people who were following Jesus during the height of His popularity.” How is that so?

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Steve: Well, I used the story about when Jesus fed the five thousand and how excited the people were about Him. They were ready to proclaim Him King of Israel. People like the Jesus who gives them what they want, but when Jesus doesn't give them what they want, then it becomes a whole other matter.

Host: You also said that they were not as interested in serving God as they were in God serving them.

Steve: That’s basically it.  In John 6, Jesus said, “You seek Me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate of the loaves and were filled.” (John 6:26b, NASB 1995) And then He told them, “Do not work for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to eternal life.” (John 6:27a, NASB 1995) And what Jesus was saying to these people was that they weren't seeking Him because they wanted the life in God that the signs pointed to, they were seeking Him because they wanted Him to use His supernatural skills to enhance their lives on this earth.

Host: Let's fast forward to where we are in in history now. You mentioned that the end-time believers in the scriptures were warned about the same thing we should be wary of—that there is a battle going on between the carnal appetite and spiritual appetites that we experience.

Steve: Well, I think that's basically the point Jesus was making in Matthew 24 when He described the end times as being just like it was in the days of Noah. They were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying and they were being given in marriage. Jesus ties that in to this carnal lifestyle where feeding your flesh is the preeminent characteristic of your life. And He says that's the way it's going to be in the end times.

Host: The words that Jesus was using as He was talking to these folks were hard words to hear. What kind of people was He speaking to? What kind of people was Jesus looking for?

Steve: Well, one thing's for certain, Jesus was not trying to wow the crowds and win the multitudes in a sense. He wanted people as followers who really meant business with Him. He wasn't interested in superficial conversions or people who just followed Him during the good times. He wanted people who were going to be wedded to Him for better or worse. He wanted people who had a real lifelong devotion and commitment to Him.

Host: Do you think that most Christians in the church today believe or are aware that we're in the last days?

Steve: I think people understand that in a vague sort of way, but what tends to happen is that there are all the pressures at work and their busy schedules. All of that kind of forces the reality that we are in the last days into the background. So it makes for good reading or Christian movies to watch about people who were raptured and all of that stuff. But the thought of somehow being deceived by the devil into worshipping the Antichrist for most Christians would seem ridiculous because they don't see themselves in the place where they would be prone to that kind of deception.

Host: You believe that the church is already in tremendous trouble, and you listed 4 reasons that you believe that to be true.

Steve: Yeah. First is that corporately we have lost our shame of sin and our sense of the evil nature of sin. Sin just is not that big of a deal to us in the 21st century church. That makes us vulnerable. Secondly, we've become addicted to the carnal lifestyle that this world offers us. If we had to face life without all the luxuries that we have become accustomed to, many people just couldn't handle it. Also, the reality is that a large part of the church has been lulled to sleep spiritually by the soothing voice of the spirit of this world. And lastly, there's a lot of rebellion against God's authority in people's lives. All those things combined makes Christians very susceptible to deception.

Host: A little later, you talk from a slightly different perspective, but you listed several reasons why the church is not prepared for the wave of evil that's coming.

Steve: Well, it's really in the general attitudes found out in the church. One of them I kind of touched on is that people have the attitude that they cannot be deceived. And to be honest, we are all prone to that. We have a ridiculous amount of confidence in our ability to spot deception and because we believe that, it makes us all the more susceptible to it. Someone once said, “if you think you can't be deceived, you're already halfway there.”  That is just so true. Secondly, it's just self-confidence. If you were to ask most Christians, the attitude you would get is I don't care what happens or how bad it gets, I will never ever deny Christ.

Host: Yes, just like Peter.

Steve: Yes. That's a good point. And that of course is exactly what happened. And another reason the church is not prepared is because of the human tendency to prefer a lie to the truth. And I say that in the sense that most Christians think of truth as holding to correct doctrines. That's a part of truth, but truth has a lot more to do with the reality of our relationship with Jesus Christ in our daily life than it does with holding proper doctrines.

Host: You also talk in this chapter about the whore of Babylon, that there is coming a time when there are going to be those in the church that are going to fall away and are going to choose a different lover. Talk about that a little bit.

Steve: I cannot say this strongly enough. Jesus warned over and over that many were going to fall away to deception. Paul warned about it too. And in Revelation 17 we hear about the whore of Babylon, which is the apostate church. There are sections of Scripture that describe the apostate church, and I go into that in my other book Standing firm through the Great Apostasy. There are going to be a massive number of professing Christians who are going to fall completely away from Jesus Christ and whatever attachment they've had with Him. Massive numbers are going to fall away from Him and are going to end up with the mark of the beast.
         Now I know that's a very provoking statement, but Scripture is very clear about it and we might as well just acknowledge it. The reason why deception is so powerful and is going to be so powerful is that Christianity is something that is lived out in the heart. In other words, people are going to be falling away in their heart. Outwardly for some period of time, they're going to continue to go through the motions of Christianity. They're going to be in church, mimicking true Christians, singing songs, hearing sermons and filling their minds with spiritual information. Ever learning, but never able to come to the knowledge of the truth and deceiving themselves. Being deceived. Being led astray.
         That's exactly what Scripture describes for the end times and that's what I see happening right now. A large portion of evangelical Christianity has already been terribly led astray. We will see the day I believe when that part of the church is going to turn with a vengeance against true believers. And again, that's exactly what Jesus predicted would happen.

Host: Steve, you wrote, “We have already seen how a great apostasy has been predicted. The river of delusion is rising. The whole world is being swept toward the giant waterfall that will spill its inhabitants into the lake of fire. It is the broad way. It is the way of kosmos.” But you also said that Jesus was careful to show His people the way of escape. What is that way of escape? What does the listener need to do to make sure that they're prepared for what is coming?

Steve: Well, what Jesus said over and over was to be ready. To be on the alert. To be awake. What does that mean? To be spiritually awake means you must extricate yourself from the spirit of this world and you must be connected in a very real way to Jesus Christ, or you are going to be in a dangerous position as things grow darker in the days to come.

Host: But there is hope. Those who delight themselves in the Lord, those who are truly seeking after Him, He is going to keep us, if that's the path of our life.

Steve: It's His heart. It's not like God is up there waiting to throttle people into hell. That is not His desire. His desire is for all to come to repentance that they might be saved. He loves, but that doesn’t mean that He just completely throws out what it means to be in a real relationship with Him. And he's going to fight for every sincere person. He will fight for them to get them through.

One God—three persons

Divine nature—human form

God’s sovereignty—our free will

The Bible is full of profound mysteries that baffle the human mind. And for thousands of years, in trying to wrestle with these tensions, many have fallen into error.

At Pure Life Ministries, we meet many men who are living destructive, miserable lives because they’ve believed the lie that God’s free grace means we have no responsibility to live righteously.

In the past, many in the church lived in bondage, striving to earn God’s favor. But today, the pendulum has swung too far in the other direction. Many have been told that grace means they can live however they want and still be right with God. Yet Scripture paints a far different picture.

This episode:

· Imputed vs. Imparted righteousness

· Why faith must be personal

· The blessings that come from a righteous lifestyle

There is a great controversy raging within Christianity in our day. The question is: what relationship does faith have with righteousness? Of course, our concern is not with the technicalities of the debate. Our concern is whether people are being deceived into thinking that saving faith has nothing to do with the way they live their life. This is Ep. 06 of our series, "Resisting the Rise of Lawlessness."

Resources

• At the Altar of Sexual Idolatry (Book) By Steve Gallagher
• The Walk of Repentance (Bible Study) By Steve Gallagher

Adam and Eve couldn’t have realized what devastation they would cause by listening to Satan’s deception. And in the same way for us, whenever we choose to commit sin, we have no idea what the consequences might be.

But God has made a way out of this destructive path. It just requires one thing: our entire being.

In this sermon from our archives, Nate Danser breaks down the biblical pattern of restoration into four points, and exhorts us to take heart as God works in our lives.

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Some voices today call Jesus a revolutionary — someone who rejected the established order and overthrew the Jewish religious system.

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But what if this view misses the point of His ministry entirely? What if His teachings actually required more of His followers than what was demanded by the established order?

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Jesus said, “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”

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Jesus revealed that under the new covenant, the law’s demands were even stricter — but He also brought a message of repentance that made it possible to fulfill that law from the heart. The Apostle Paul would later build on this revelation in his writings, offering a deeper understanding of how the law and grace work together in the Christian life.

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This episode:
• What the New Testament really teaches about the law
• A clearer perspective of Paul’s teaching on the law
• The pathway to truly fulfilling the law’s demands
• The law’s purpose in our lives today

Nearly every aspect of a first century Jew's existence was shaped by Torah. And yet, Jesus spoke to the Jews of His day like they were habitual law breakers. Why? Because they did not comprehend that the law was meant to make them desperate for a profound inward transformation. Today in America—we need the same realization. The inauguration of Jesus as King does not do away with the demand for obedience to God's laws. We too must cry out in desperation to be delivered from self and to be made into a loyal citizen of the kingdom of heaven.

Resources

• #438 - |Victory| Emptied of Self, Filled with Power (Podcast Episode) By Pure Life Ministries Podcast
• When His Secret Sin Breaks Your Heart (Book) By Kathy Gallagher

Psalm 119 can seem like an intimidating collection of 176 verses that all feel like they echo the same theme again and again. But what if, within this expansive masterpiece of ancient poetry was a linchpin for learning to follow God’s will?

This episode:

• Explore the richness of this powerful psalm

• Uncover one of our great spiritual needs

• Learn a prayer strategy for real heart-change

In the 30th message of our "Unveiling Yahweh" series, we will be looking at God's final words to Israel before they entered the Promised Land.

God knew the difficulties Israel would face in the Promised Land:

• strong enemies
• idol worship
• sexual temptation

The odds were not in their favor.

But what Israel had was guaranteed victory if they truly lived in and obeyed God's words to them.

In today's message, Steve Gallagher takes us through these words from Deuteronomy 6 and 7, and applies them to us today.

Our fallen hearts tell us that we should be in charge of our own lives and that we should do whatever seems right to us. But this lawless lifestyle actually leads to destruction. In the 4th episode in our series, "Resisting the Rise of Lawlessness," we'll talk about the blessings that flow into the lives of those who become passionately committed to keeping God's law from the heart.

Resources

• The Walk of Repentance (Bible Study) By Steve Gallagher
• 20 Truths that Helped Me in My Battle with Porn Addiction (Bible Study) By Steve Gallagher

Our next episode of Pure Life LIVE is Saturday August 2 at 10am EST. Join us as we tackle more of the questions you submitted about navigating the devastation sexual sin causes in a marriage.

if you haven't had a chance to watch the first part of this Q&A, click here.

Timeless Truths: Satan doesn't really care if people live moral lives, as long as they never truly give their allegiance to God. This is why we must allow God to lead us into repentance from the rebellion that is in all of us.

Host: Steve, we want to finish up a discussion that we began last week on your book, Intoxicated with Babylon about your chapter titled, “The Spirit of Antichrist.” Last week we spent most of our time talking not so much about who the Antichrist is going to be, but rather the power that is going to be behind him. The spirit that is going to be so prevalent and growing in the last days. A spirit that you defined as a spirit of lawlessness.

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        We finished our discussion last week talking about how the spirit of lawlessness is manifesting itself in the Church and you have a quote in this chapter from Oswald Chambers that I want to read. He wrote, “The Bible looks on sin not as a disease, but as red-handed rebellion against the domination of the creator. The essence of sin is ‘I won't allow anybody to boss me, saving myself,’ and it may manifest itself in a morally good man as well as in a morally bad man. Sin has not to do with the morality or immorality, it has to do with my claim to my right to myself, a deliberate and emphatic independence of God, though I veneer it over with Christian phraseology.” And the reason I bring that up is because we can actually be in the spirit that we're talking about and yet have all the outward trappings of a Christian.

Steve: Oswald Chambers really put his finger right on the core of sin when he wrote this little thing here, because what he's bringing out is the fact that sin has much more to do with our relationship to God's authority than it does with morality. And you know, a superficial church will constantly parade the big sins. The things people consider as the bad sins. Homosexuality, abortion, fornication and child molestation. We love to focus on those things because since we can say, “I don't do those things,” it's so much easier to point the finger at other people in order to feel good about ourselves spiritually. But there is a greater reality of how God looks at sin that Romans 2 brings out. It reveals that we may not be doing those terrible sins others are doing, but our hearts are still just as rebellious as those other people are. And that's the part that people often do not want to face.

Host: Well, we see that in Jesus's interaction with many people. He was very compassionate and very willing to forgive the person caught in adultery, but He was very strong with those who were locked in the bondage of self-righteousness and unwilling to admit what was wrong in their heart.

Steve: Yeah. He was much stronger with those who thought of themselves as “the morally good people” than He was with the publicans and sinners.

Host: Steve, you said that there will be a sign that this evil and this spirit that we're talking about has reached its peak. What was that sign?

Steve: Well, I said the final stage of lawlessness is a stubborn refusal to repent. I expect to see that in the world but what is frightening to me is how pervasive that mentality is within the Church. We have either rationalized our behavior away because we have been emotionally deprived in some manner, or we have just completely skirted taking responsibility for what's really going on in our hearts. One way or another, people have found a way to get out of acknowledging responsibility for their sin and you hardly ever hear preachers passionately calling on people to repent anymore. That's the thing that frightens me and that is what's paving the way for the great apostasy that's headed our way.

Host: Well, you said many of those who claim to be His followers don't know what real repentance is, which may be why they're not talking about it. And you say they don't know what it is because they've never really done it.

Steve: And many of them have never done it because they've never been led to do it because their pastors have never really lived in repentance themselves.

Host: Well, certainly, Steve, as you wrote, as the enemy’s activity increases in the days ahead, we need to be very sure as Christians that our conversion is a true conversion. And of course, we could talk for hours about that but just maybe as we close today, help folks to understand what is the evidence of a true conversion.

Steve: Well, in the chapter, I used an example from the Old. It was something that one of the Israelite kings said to another king who was coming in to invade. He just wanted to surrender to this king, and he said, “Just as you say, my lord the King. I and all I have are yours.” (1 Kings 20:4b, NIV) That represents true repentance and that represents a true conversion. Complete surrender to a conquering king. That's conversion.
Too often, people look at conversion as just an alteration of their lifestyle to fit Christianity into it, but true conversion means that their kingdom has been overthrown by a new king. Something is completely different and their attitude is that they have gone from being the king of their own life to Jesus Christ being the king in a very real and practical way in their daily lives. That's what a true conversion looks like.

Host: And He is a wonderful king. And it is a wonderful freedom and joy to know Him and to give up our lives for Him.