A Sign of God's Judgment? Part 8

A Sign of God's Judgment? Part 8
Thursday, April 2, 2026 by Dr. James W. Walraven

Categories: Apostasy / Contemporary issues / Scripture discussion / Spiritual deception / The church / Thought for Today / Truth telling

Is God in the process of judging the church in our country? What do we see? What lessons would we be wise to learn from what happened to the Eastern Church and the Byzantine empire? There are all too many parallels between the church then and the church in our country now.

Our key verse, the basis for this study, has been 1 Peter 4:17 (NAU): “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”

The next verse adds, 1 Peter 4:18 (NAU): “And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the th godless man and the sinner?”

Judgment begins with the house of God. That is where it starts, but that is not where it ends. With the Muslim conquest, it was not just the church that suffered. It was not just dedicated Christians who were frequently killed, not just the churches that were looted and deliberately destroyed. Rather, one finds account after account of general plunder and mass slaughter, of towns and lands being devastated, so much so that famine sometimes followed.

What do we see in the Church in our country today? We are not talking about one denominational slice or theological stream, but the Church as a whole. Don’t we see many false “gospels” being preached? Don’t we see a church rife with syncretism? The syncretism may be a “health and wealth” cultural one, or adopting “woke theology” rooted in Marxism, as opposed to syncretism based on Greek philosophy, but our forms of syncretism are just as biblically fatal.

Are we not just as idolatrous? The objects of our idolatry may be outwardly different. Their idolatry arguably focused on the worship of images, and the belief in deification. Ours is more self-focused in terms of creature-worship, sex and other self-directed desires. But in both cases, human beings are the focus, not God.

We saw that the Eastern church neglected the true Gospel (venerating the physical object of the cross does not equate to preaching the true Gospel). Worship was formal, highly ritualized. We are no different. We too focus our worship on other things. Our services are often entertainment-driven spectacles, mirroring our culture’s values, long on “show,” short on biblical content.

How many denominations deny that salvation through faith in Christ is even necessary? How many progressive churches seek to align with the Mother Goddess? Consider how the occult has entered the church through false teachings of the NAR (New Apostolic Reformation) and the closely related signs and wonders movement, from “soul sucking” to “Christian tarot cards”, to site two well-documented examples. How many deny that Jesus is even God? Biblically speaking, are we not rife with the antichrist spirit (see 1 John)?

Then there are the divisions among the “Bible believing churches”. How many individual groups insist that all other groups that disagree with them on even the smallest points, whoever the “them” might be, are heretics destined for Hell? How is that any different from how the Eastern Church prior to the Muslim conquests, insisted on the same? It is one thing when the church defends the core tenets of the faith against error (some of that was indeed necessarily present in the Eastern Church at that time). It is quite another when the church divides over theological interpretive differences on non-essentials.

Do we really think that we will escape God’s judgment? We need to get back to believing and living what God tells us through Scripture. Salvation is through Christ, there is no one else. Do we love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength? Do we love our neighbors as ourselves? Remember, according to Jesus’s parable, the Jews’ neighbors included those they hated and culturally despised (the Samaritans). Will we collectively repent from our sin and idolatry? If not, God will judge us.

If we do repent, then there is good reason for hope. God loves us and desires that we repent, that we not have to face the consequences of His judgment. Will we do so, will we humble ourselves, or will we continue down our various destructive paths?*

*I intend to do a future series, hopefully in three months or so, on how the universalists, the NAR, (sadly) many charismatics, those who preach the prosperity “gospel,” the signs and wonders movement, the emergent and progressive churches, coupled with deepening occultic tenets and the reemergence of philosophical postmodern deconstruction, are showing signs of merging into one “church” movement.

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