There is no mistake that in Europe, The United States, and in parts of the Nordic lands, the Church is in decline. Once cathedrals and white steepled meeting houses filled with the faithful; now they like a tree in Winter, the pews are bare like branches and a cold period has settled over the Church. Distrust in various denominations is at an all time high with scandals breaking like twigs in a snow capes forest.
In the West, The fervor for revivals has quieted. The zeal for tradition is chilled. Distrust has replaced devotion, and scandal now castes a shadow over the sacred. Before us is a long winter to weather. Many have abandoned the faith (Matthew 24:10, 2 Thessalonians 2:3) as the branches snap and burn. Not since the Enlightenment has there been such a bulwark of unbelief to swallow those who have been shaken by the scandals. For those of us who see the scandal separated from the Savior, that our Lord Jesus condemns these abuses (Matthew 8:6), we warm ourselves around the Holy Spirit’s Fire and bundled up for the hatred and persecution of the Church ahead. General Winter is marching for the Church. More then ever we must be ready to answer the tough questions, like “why did God allow a priest or pastor to molest me?” The standard Ariminian answers of man’s “free will” will not be sufficient. We must prepare to meet the rage and ire towards the Church over those who have profaned God’s Good Name. How do we do this? The first is to seek the answer from the Advocate, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” (John 14:26). The Holy Spirit can give us the answer that no statistic or Scripture can. So we must ever be reliant on the Lord’s wisdom in these times. From there we must be empathetic. Rather than leaping into apologetics, into a defense of our faith, listen to the disillusioned and even confess, “I too am shaken by these scandals, my faith in pious men and institutions is shaken, but my faith in Jesus is unshaken.” Here you could share how Jesus did not trust men either, “But Jesus did not entrust Himself to them, for He knew all men and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:24-25) and how He promised hidden evil would be revealed, “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known,” (Matthew 10:26), “For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be brought to light,” (Mark 4:22), “Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God,” (1 Corinthians 4:5), and that everything will be shaken in the last days, “At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens. This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates the removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain.” (Hebrews 12:26-27).
At present we must prepare for the cold bitter winter ahead. The amount of scandals from Boston (USA) to Japan, from Catholic to Pentecostal, means that the tide could very soon turn against all Christians, and the times could become like those in Emperor Nero’s day, when the Roman masses hated Christians and blamed them for burning Rome, we too could soon be in the same furnace of fury. The surge of scandals could create a Christianphobia that makes pedophile and abuser synonymous with Christian; it is possible hysteria could lead to xenophobic purge as it did in Germany in the 1940’s or in Turkey during the Armenian Genocide (this however is not likely, but possible). We must prepare for the worst and pray for the best. There is also the possibility that these church scandals could be the Beast’s means to crush the Church, “And the beast was allowed to wage war against God’s holy people and to conquer them. And he was given authority to rule over every tribe and people and language and nation.” (Revelation 13:7). The power to ruin the reputation of the Church is a weapon the Beast could be using to accomplish his work before Christ Returns.
It is important to master these two Scriptures:
“Jesus said, but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble in sin, it would be better for him (the abuser) to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” (Matthew 8:6)
“But if a servant of Christ then begins to beat his fellow servants and to eat and drink with drunkards, The Master (“Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ.
“-Matt 23:10) of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he is not aware of. He will cut him to pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth: ‘And the angels will throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.-Matt 13:42.” (Matthew 24:49-51)
From here we must tighten our resolve in Christ. To not shrink from death nor fear the ire of antichrist, “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death,” (Revelation 12:11) and “This means that God’s holy people must endure persecution patiently, obeying his commands and maintaining their faith in Jesus.” (Revelation 14:12). Public opinion is turning against the Lamb and us His Sheep over wolves who posed as sheep, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves,” (Matthew 7:15 KJV) and abused the innocent. We must denounce the evils of these scandals, but recognize that we cannot let said scandals consume the Gospel, nor let Social Justice take our eyes off Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Too many in an effort to answer the social arena over homosexuality, abortion, and more have lost their voice for Christ.
The future of the Church is not for the faint of heart. Ahead is trenches and blizzards, and hatred for us, as Jesus promised, “Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations on account of My name.” (Matthew 24:9). Perhaps we never considered people would hate us for being Christians because of scandals and wolves who abused people in Christ’s name and that it would give our Lord and us the elect who are innocent a bad reputation. I always thought the world would hate us because of the Beast and that we would be conquered (Revelation 13:7) by force of arms, now I consider it is the scandals and sexual orientation controversies that will accomplish the systematic crushing of the Church worldwide.
It is going to be imperative you have a deep personal relationship with Jesus to get through this Winter. You cannot rely on ritual and church services alone; they could be gone when churches close en masse or in droves via Scandal and the ire of public opinion (most churches in the UK are closed or repurposed into pubs and Yoga studios). While Iran may be in its Spring to Summer Season, Christian revival is strong there, the Spiritual Winter is West Bound. The cold time ahead of us will test many to the breaking point, and so you must strengthen your resolve and remember Christ’s words, “endure to the very end and you will be saved.” (Matthew 24:13). It will not be popular to be Christian, just as it wasn’t in the Early Church to 323 A.D. when Christians were made into human candles, fed to lions, mutilated, and more.
The scandals will erode the reputation of many of us innocent Christians and blacken Christ’s name to many as Satan no doubt, counts on. Make no mistake, it will take great courage to be a Christian as more scandals and horror stories break out in various church denominations. A feeling of despair and shadow is and will befall our hearts as we get lumped in with the abusers who used Christianity as a proxy to conduct their abuse and lure victims in like prey, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves,” (Matthew 7:15 KJV
Winter is here and we must be lead by The Word of God Himself to survive it. Only He, The Lord Trinity, who is a “consuming fire,” (Hebrews 12:29) can keep us from freezing to death spiritually in the dark days ahead. The time has come to pray hard and listen long to the Lord’s directions. It is do or die in Wintertime. Stand firm in your faith brothers and sisters in Christ! We together will weather this Wintry Season. Amen.
Addendum:
It is possible some of the scandals are invented by those who seek to defame the Church, and serve Satan’s purposes (Ephesians 2:1-2). For the tactics of demonization is to caste such ruination of a reputation that even if acquitted later, the damage is done. Either way the scandals will do harm to the Church and my concerns as laid out in the post will be helpful regardless how valid the accusations are, after all Emperor Nero falsely accused the Christians of arson and the Roman people believed it. So either way, we will be persecuted. Amen.
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