Apostasy is here, now, today, it is obvious, entrenched, and far reaching. Apostasy has penetrated our religious life at every level; it has crossed, not only, denominational lines but has opened the doors to areas that were, until now, off limits: New Age, the occult, and the heretical. These areas are all favored playgrounds for this new multi-faceted apostasy. How did this happen? Where did it come from? When did it appear?

For the common Christian population this apostasy just seemed to happen, almost overnight, without warning. This, of course, is if the common Christian is even, yet, aware, or cares, that he/she has been violated. We can comfort ourselves somewhat with the notion of being innocent because it was something that happened totally against our will, or ability to prevent. Christian honesty dictates that we take another look at this situation and demand truth, of our self.

Where do we start in our hunt for truth? We start right where we are at, right smack-dab in the middle of the fulfillment of the prophecies that warned us of this very situation. (Matthew 13:24-30, Matthew 24:5, 24, Acts 20:29-30, Romans 11:19-21, 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 , 1 Timothy 4:1-3, 2 Timothy 3:1-9, 12; 4:3-4, 2 Peter 2:1-3, Revelation 13:7). As I have stated, this event has just suddenly happened, at least to the common Christian population, but there are numerous Bible references that tell us that the apostasy was already underway even in the early Church. So, for the most part, we can conclude that we are well past crossing the threshold of the fulfillment of these prophecies. It is critical that we be able to put our finger along a chronological time line and say "this is where we are at." A correct understanding of prophecy should be able to prepare us for coming events. Our duty is to survey Scripture and to identify our precise location on the spiritual landscape, before it is too late. An apostasy of the magnitude spoken of in the Bible would be a monumental occurrence, easily recognizable, and in agreement with other prophetic verses along the same time line.

The first few verses of Joel are a description of the initiation of "the day of the Lord" and of the apostasy which precedes it. What we see in these first verses is a partial answer to the question, "where did the apostasy come from?" Apostasy starts out as a gnawing and chewing plague and ends in desolation and famine, and the "day of the Lord" comes as a supernatural, unstoppable, invading nation, administering the wrath of God on an apostate people, with a climactic ending. Apostasy started slowly with the chewing away of the foundations of truth, to compromise the desires of our flesh. It progresses to the point that "truth" becomes unrecognizable, and even becomes evil. Amos 8:11 stated plainly that the end days would be characterized by a great famine of the word of God, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD:." The famine of Amos is the same as that in Joel 1, and was a prelude to the invading nation (the wrath of God), of Joel 2. Apostasy is the end result of what Jesus meant when He said, "a little leaven, leavens the whole lump." The surprising thing isn't that there is a progression in the leavening process, that we understand well enough, but that, as if all at once, this apostasy just appeared. Falling, is a characteristic of sin that we have learned to accept and live with, it is that sudden knowledge that we have reached the bottom, that finally gets our attention and causes the emergency lights to go on. The thin veneer of innocence is removed when the infestation begins to come in through the window. It is then, hopefully, that many will see that our self imposed innocence was only hiding a very corrupt, and rotting body, of past religious beliefs about God and His Son. There was a point at which the flood gates were opened and the years of stored-up denial of "Truth," a denial of the Lord Jesus to be precise, had to break through into judgment. Where did this apostasy come from? It came from you and me. Our whole path, all the way back to the Apostolic Church is strewn with pieces of truth, as we freed our self from the restrictions of sin, and practiced our God given liberty. This misery that we will soon face is an accumulation of all those compromised and negotiated agreements that were made with the world by us, and those who went before.

When we ask, where on the prophetic time line are we to place our finger?, the answer is Joel 2:1. It is my contention that the day of the Lord is at hand, literally. If it isn't then there are very many who have been fooled, by the words of the Lord. These are the days that all the Prophets spoke of, all the pieces fit.

Things are moving mighty fast now, life has become a blur, and the promise from the false prophets of modern Christianity are that we can have our "best life now." This is a lie. The present popular teaching that Jesus came to make our life better in Adam, is not true. Christ never came to make that life better, but to kill it. What you do not hear today is that there is a scandal that is associated with the true Gospel, and it can not be avoided, and still claim to be His message. Today that scandal is being avoided at all cost by preachers trying to divert our attention from what is about to happen on Planet Earth.

Be aware that His message is costly, and that sorrow is one of the characteristics of a follower of Jesus; He said so Himself. Preach the truth and see what it gets you, sorrow now, but joy later.

So you, my child, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And entrust what you heard me say in the presence of many others as witnesses to faithful people who will be competent to teach others as well. Take your share of suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one in military service gets entangled in matters of everyday life; otherwise he will not please the one who recruited him. (2 Tim. 2:1-4)