We have considered those events that occurred in the church by which its form and spirit of government were altered, its doctrines corrupted, its ordinances changed, and its truths and powers subverted. We now turn to the scriptures to show that all these things were predicted by the apostles and prophets of God, being foreseen by the spirit of revelation.

1. False Teachers to Arise in the Church.—On the occasion of Paul's last visit to Ephesus, he had the elders assembled, and in the course of his address to them said:

I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Taken heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God which he hath purchased with his own blood. For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things to lead away disciples after them.^[112]

2. In his second letter to Timothy the same apostle again prophesies of the coming of these false teachers:

I charge thee, therfore, [said he], before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears; and they [the false teachers] shall turn their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.^[113]

3. Peter also prophesied the rise of false teachers in the church. In his second epistle, addressed, "to them that have obtained like precious faith," with himself—that is, to the saints; after saying that prophecy in olden time came by men speaking as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost;^[114] he then remarks:

But there were false prophets also among the people [that is, among the ancient saints], even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness with feigned words make merchandise of you; whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.^[115]

4. Hypocrisy and Austerity Predicted.—Paul also appears to have foreseen the hypocrisy that would creep into the church, together with that useless austerity of life with which men and women would become infatuated, and which, became the fountain of so much corruption. He thus speaks of it:

Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats.^[116]

5. The Rise of Anti-Christ Foretold.—Moreover, the Prophet Paul foretold the rise of anti-Christ before the glorious coming of Messiah to judgment. He plainly foresaw the "falling away"—the long night of spiritual darkness and apostasy that would brood over the world before the coming of the Son of God in the glory of his Father, to reward the righteous, to condemn the wicked. He said of this apostasy:

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and by our gathering together unto him; that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.^[117] Let no man deceive you by any means, for that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not that when I was yet with you I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [hindereth] will let [will hinder]^[118] until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; even him whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusions, that they should believe a lie; that they all might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.^[119]

6. Isaiah's Great Prophecy of the Apostasy.—Isaiah also prophesied of the universal apostasy from the gospel of Christ. After describing the earth as mourning and fading away, together with its haughty people, he said:

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.^[120]

7. It is sometimes claimed that this prophecy refers to the Mosaic law, and the Mosaic covenant, instead of the gospel of Christ. The answer to such claim is that the prophecy has reference to an everlasting covenant that is to be broken; and the Mosaic law or covenant, never was intended to be an everlasting covenant, while the gospel of Christ is such a covenant. Paul said:

The scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel to Abraham. * * * Wherefore then serveth the law [that is, if the gospel was preached unto Abraham, of what use is the law of Moses—the law of carnal commandments—how came it into existence]? It was added because of transgression, till the seed [Christ] should come, to whom the promise was made. * * * Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster.^[121]

8. From this it appears that the gospel was preached in very ancient times; that afterwards, because of transgression—doubtless apostasy—the law of Moses was added, or given in the place of the gospel, that it might act as a schoolmaster to bring the people to Christ, that is, prepare them for the gospel. Therefore, when the gospel was introduced by the personal ministry of Messiah, the law of Moses—the carnal law—having served its purpose, was set aside, and the gospel was reinstated. It will be seen, therefore, that the Mosaic law was not an everlasting covenant, but a temporary law, given for a specific purpose, having accomplished which it is supplanted by a more excellent law and covenant. It is clear that Isaiah's great prophecy had no reference to the law of Moses, but to an everlasting covenant which was to be broken, its ordinance changed, its laws transgressed. That covenant is the gospel of Jesus Christ, whose blood is spoken of as the "blood of the everlasting covenant."^[122]

9. Moreover the prophecy ends by saying that in consequence of the transgression of the law, the changing of the ordinance, the breaking of the covenant, "the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left." This predicted calamity did not overtake the people for breaking the Mosaic law. It has not yet taken place. It is a judgment still hanging over mankind for their great apostasy from the gospel of Jesus Christ.

10. John's Vision Foreshadowing the Apostasy.—Among the many revelations given to the Apostle John while a prisoner on the Isle of Patmos was one in which he saw an angel "fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, saying with a loud voice, "Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters."^[123] From this it is learned that in the hour of God's judgment the gospel will be brought to the earth by an angel, and thence proclaimed to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people, a very good evidence that in the "hour of God's judgment" all the world would be without the gospel, or why this restoration at that time and its universal proclamation if the nations at the time indicated already possessed it?

11. Thus through revelation the ancient prophets foresaw the great apostasy from the gospel of Jesus Christ. We who live now after the great event has occurred, in the light of historical facts, see it no more plainly than did these ancient servants of God through the gift of prophecy. They read the history of it by the light of revelation, we by the light of history, and the former is a light no less certain than the latter.

REVIEW.

1. By what means were the apostles and still more ancient prophets made acquainted with the great apostasy from the Christian religion?

2. Repeat the several prophecies concerning the rise of false teachers in the church.

3. Give the passage which predicts the rise of hypocrisy and austerity of life.

4. In what passage of Paul's writings is the rise of anti-Christ predicted?

5. What does letteth and let in this passage mean? Give proof.

6. State in what way Paul's great prophecy has been fulfilled.

7. State Isaiah's great prophecy respecting the apostasy.

8. What objection may be urged to our application of this prophecy?

9. How would you meet the objection?

10. What great judgment is still pending over the world because of their wicked apostasy?

11. What vision given to St. John on Patmos foreshadowed a universal apostasy?

12. If the gospel from the time it was established on the earth by Messiah's personal ministry had continued with men until now, would there be any necessity for restoring it to the earth in the hour of God's judgment?

13. Was the fact of the apostasy read by the light of the spirit of prophecy less clear than when by the light of historical facts?