“Holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; avoid such men as these” (2 Timothy 3:5). It was twenty years ago this fall that I met some of the nicest lost people I have ever met. I know that statement sounds pretty judgmental if not downright cruel. But it is an appropriate statement when one considers the true Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed in the Scriptures. I was in my first semester of college and faithfully participating in the life and ministry of the local Baptist Student Union. I noticed a couple young ladies who would come in and hang out in the lobby of the BSU almost every day. What intrigued me about these two ladies was they had very long hair, dressed modestly (they always wore a dress), never wore make-up, and seemed genuinely interested in mine and others’ religious experience. We quickly developed a friendship and a few of my BSU brethren and I accepted their invitation to attend their midweek “church” service on several occasions. It didn’t take me long to figure out this so called “church” was nothing more than one expression of unbelief after another. They had “a form of godliness, although they denied its power.”

The very first thing noticed was about this “church” was their woman pastor. This immediately brought to mind Paul’s instructions concerning pastors and church leaders. “An overseer, then, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife…” (1 Tim. 3:2). “The women are to keep silent in the churches; for they are not permitted to speak, but are to subject themselves…for it is improper for a woman to speak in church” (1 Cor. 14:34-35). Paul here is not suggesting women are inferior or that they can’t say anything in church, but he is giving us God’s instructions concerning church leadership, particularly the office of elder/pastor. The second thing I noticed was the whole service seemed to be quite disorderly. They would run around, shout, clap their hands, and carry on in such a way that one wondered two things: what they were drinking and what was coming next. But God’s Word reminds us, “All things must be done properly and in an orderly manner” (1 Cor. 14:4). One would assume this rule applies to worship services in the local church. After all this carrying on, the woman pastor would then proceed to “preach,” which consisted of nothing more than picking a chapter from the Bible and reading it with an extra syllable (“uh”) on the end of nearly every word. There was no verse-by-verse exposition of Scripture. This was probably by design as any verse-by-verse exposition would surely reveal the error and outright rebellion of their unbelief. Despite all this, the one thing that both irked and saddened me to no end was their focus on tongues and the magic words, “in the name of Jesus Christ,” that they insisted must be said over a person at his or her baptism in order for salvation to occur. They had “a form of godliness, although they denied its power.” They denied Christ’s finished work on the cross and His subsequent resurrection as sufficient for salvation. It wasn’t “salvation by grace through faith” (Eph. 2:8) but rather words and experience that saved. The words, “in the name of Jesus Christ” said over you at your baptism and the experience of speaking in tongues was the necessary formula for salvation—never mind what the Bible actually teaches. But what is to be said of their so called experience of speaking in tongues? The Bible reminds us that Satan is the great deceiver “who disguises himself as an angel of light” (2 Cor. 11:14). What better way to deceive than to give someone the false notion they are saved because of some ecstatic experience.

It is interesting to note that nearly every verse they used to justify the necessity of speaking in tongues refers to the false gibberish of counterfeit pagan ecstatic speech found in the first century (and even today I might add). Not only this, but their proof texts for being baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 2:38; 8:12, 16; 22:26) have nothing to do with words said over a person at their baptism. Instead, the phrase used in these passages indicated, for the new believer, it was a crucial but costly identification to accept—that they were identifying with the Lord Jesus Christ, knowing that such identification may very well result in their execution for their faith. As far as words said at baptism, in the early church, baptism was always “in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit” (Matt. 28:19). That formula, which has no saving merit by the way, is the same formula for baptism the Church is to employ today. We are to “make disciples…baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that [Christ] commanded [us]” (Matt. 28:19-20). If I add to or subtract from what the Word of God teaches about salvation and following Christ, what I have in effect done is deny the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. In so doing, one indicates they have “a form of godliness, although they have denied its power.” They may be some of the nicest folks you will ever meet. But the sad reality is they are lost, having denied the power of the Gospel. The Bible says, “Avoid such men as these.”

“Do this, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is near. Therefore let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts” (Romans 13:11-14). Current events in our world point to the very real possibility that Jesus Christ will return for His Church at any moment. This truth is so spectacularly clear that I am amazed that most Christians have failed to take notice. This indicates a bigger problem—the Church is asleep! It is no wonder, as many churches, both mainline and conservative, have bought into Satan’s lie that the Church has replaced Israel and prophecy, as it relates to the end times, should not be taken literally, but rather spiritualized. However, the God of the Bible does not have a speech impediment. His Word is to be taken literally. Even if something within Scripture is symbolic, there is always a literal meaning behind the symbolism. So, the problem really is one of unbelief. Many in the Church today simply do not believe God when it comes to matters concerning the end of the age. A tragic result is that many in the Church are asleep—ignorant of the times in which we live and the things that are coming upon this world. They may as well be sleep walking!

There is so much going on today that indicates two things. First of all, God is setting the stage for the final fulfillment of all end times prophecy. Secondly, the return of Christ for His Church is very near. Consider the many things in play today that indicate the brevity of the hour. Israel is back in the land—the key to end times prophecy (Ezek. 36-37). The rise of the European super-state and Mediterranean Union is laying the foundation for the rise of a modern form of the ancient Roman Empire (Dan. 2, 7). The current worldwide economic troubles, as well as terrorism, have the nations of the world marching lock-step towards globalism (Dan. 2, 7; Rev. 17). The desire of the Palestinians to take God’s Covenant Land as their own, as well as, the whole Middle East Peace Process has key world leaders working day and night to forge a solution—a solution that seems to allude all who busy themselves with it (Ezek. 35; Dan. 9; Zech. 12). The rise of an Iranian led, Russian equipped coalition that will come against Israel in the near future is quickly taking shape (Ezek. 38, 39). In fact, there is so much going on concerning Iran right now that one can hardly keep up. It seems the whole thing is rushing quickly towards war. Could it be that the prophesied War of Gog and Magog (see Ezek. 38, 39) is on the near horizon? If so, what does this say about the nearness of Christ’s return for His Church? If war breaks out in the Middle East, as I suspect it soon will, the world as we know it will change. The world economy may very well collapse as oil surges to hundreds of dollars a barrel. Add to that the very real possibility of a nuclear exchange in the Middle East and the world will beg for a leader to put things in order—to guarantee peace between Israel and her enemies, thus protecting world access to oil. “And he will make a firm covenant with the many for [seven years]” (Dan. 9:27). Such a leader is coming. He will arise out of Western Europe. The Bible refers to this individual as “the beast” (Rev. 13), and the more commonly known title of Antichrist (1 John 2). He most likely is alive and well on planet Earth today. The hour is indeed late. It is time for the Church to wake up!

When Paul says to “awaken from sleep,” he means to awaken from spiritual apathy and lethargy, or to put it another way, unresponsiveness to the things of God. When we consider the nearness of Christ’s return for His Church and the judgments upon this world that will follow, we must wake up, lay aside and forsake our sins, live a life that is pleasing to God, “put on the Lord Jesus Christ” (the ongoing spiritual process of sanctification), and be about our Father’s business. Sadly, many in the Church are content to keep sleeping—oblivious to the hour in which we live and the nearness of Christ’s return and judgment. Furthermore, many are content to continue in their blindness and sin rather than repent and believe the true Gospel. They are content to mock God, either by word or deed saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation” (2 Pet. 3:4). It escapes their notice that God has directly intervened in human history in the past and He will do so again in the near future. Therefore, we must wake up and be firmly anchored in the Lord, as time is quickly running out, “for now salvation is nearer to us than when we [first] believed” (Rom. 13:11).