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Today, let us consider a sign which many would bypass or would not even want to reflect on, for we are all a part of it. As a matter of fact all of these signs of the end of the age are a definite part of daily life. Jesus spoke of a season of apostasy as a sign of the end. Although the climax with the revelation of the apostate, the antichrist, has not come we are living in the age of an apostate church. These are His words; ìBecause iniquity shall abound the love of many shall wax cold.î Mt. 24:12 Numerically the church has increased by leaps and bounds. It will continue to do so in the immediate future. However the spiritual quality, the standard of holiness, an adherence to the Word of the Lord has steadily diminished. The attitudes of the Laodicean church are prevalent, the lukewarm are about to be spued out of His mouth. Rev. 3:15-16 Quantity rather than quality has become the theme of the times. The spirit of the world and its methods have taken over until the real Spirit of the Lord has departed and a sign with the name Ichabod (where is the glory. 1 Sam. 4:19-22) has been placed over the door.
For the first time in all the years of sending out this study I am going to make some personal remarks and use them as an allegory. My beloved wife, my companion, confident and very best friend of almost seventy years is nearing the gates of glory. It is an adventure which we have talked over and are in full agreement that it is the Lordís will. In the past few years she has broken both hips, her back and now the latest, her left arm (she is left handed). She has faithfully followed the Lord for over eighty two years. Her years of ministry and their accomplishments are too numerous to record here. She has fought the good fight of faith and is gradually withdrawing from this life. The vibrancy, the love of life, the strength of youth have all been replaced by the ravages of old age (She is a month and a half from 95). Life has had itís good times and itís bad, but in the ultimate it has been a blessed walk through this veil of tears, for He, the Lord Jesus has been with us. Our love is as deeper than it ever has been. Life will never be the same without her but we will soon meet once again, at Jesus feet.
Now for the rest of the story. A parallel may be drawn between our current personal situation and the church, soon to be called to be the bride of Christ. For approximately two thousand the church has been in existence. Some segments are already dead, while others are in the process of dying. Substitutions of every kind have been made in an attempt to demonstrate the appearance of life but they are just that, substitutes. It is time to break up our fallow ground, to seek the Lord until the flood-gates of righteousness are broken open upon us. Hos. 10:12.