In 1882, philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche famously declared “God is dead.” Today, more than 140 years later, some might argue “The Church is dead.” Or... at least churches are dying. And who could blame them for thinking that? Look around. In the Western world, church attendance is plummeting. Society is changing. Biblical morality is being ridiculed. And a sense of shared values seems to be evaporating before our very eyes. The news feeds reflect this trend... and not just in America.
Here are some recent headlines: “Losing My Religion: How the UK is leaving the Church and gaining conspiracy theories”. “How Canada’s religious makeup has shifted over the past 20 years”. “Is Christianity dying in Australia? Here’s how to redeem it from the bottom up”. For many of us, these headlines might resonate. In cities and towns all over the Western world, church attendance is down.
More churches are closing each year in the United States than are opening--in some years by a margin of almost 1,500. And some predict that 1/3 of Canada’s churches may close in the coming years. So what does the future hold for modern Christianity in our Western nations? Will it die out altogether? There are answers. All we have to do is open our Bible to find them. And along the way, we might even uncover some surprising things about this topic you’ve not heard before.
So let’s explore that together, today on Tomorrow’s World. And later in the program, we’ll give you an opportunity to order today’s free offer, “Restoring Original Christianity.” So, let’s dive right in and find the answers to this question: “Are Churches Dying?” I’ll be right back. ♪ Welcome to Tomorrow’s World, where we help you make sense of your world through the pages of the Bible. Look at traditional American churches today.
As secularism makes massive inroads, it’s clear churches are in decline. In October of 2019, The Pew Research Center ran an article entitled, “In the U.S., Decline of Christianity Continues at Rapid Pace.” Here’s what the article noted: “In 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade.
Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or ‘nothing in particular,’ now stands at 26% up from 17% in 2009. In real numbers that shift represents tens of millions of people. That’s a huge change in the American religious landscape, in just ten years. So what will the nation look like after a few more decades?
Here’s one estimate, again by the Pew Research Center: “The Center estimates that in 2020, about 64% of Americans, including children, were Christian. People who are religiously unaffiliated, sometimes called religious “nones,” accounted for 30%.... [T]he projections show Christians of all ages shrinking from 64% to between a little more than half and just above one-third of all Americans by 2070.” Churches in America are on a downward trend. But again, it’s not just happening in the U. S. only.
The trajectory is the same in other western nations. Consider this report from Australia, from The Canberra Times, on June 28, 2022: “The Christian churches in Australia currently find themselves in a perfect storm. The recently released data from the 2021 census makes the reality clear. The future of Christianity in Australia will be as a minority. Just 44 percent of Australians now identify as Christians, down from 52 percent at the 2016 census.”
Again, an astonishing drop, in a short period of time, in Australia. What about England and Wales? In a 2021 census taken there, for the first time ever those who identify as Christians were a minority, down from 59.3% around 2012, to 46.2% in 2022. This is in a nation where the reigning king has as one of his official titles, Defender of the Faith. Think about that. The political ramifications for this new cultural shift are staggering.
Canada has been on the cutting edge of woke culture in recent years. And not surprisingly, the number of church-goers there has taken a massive hit. In 2001, 77% of the population identified as Christian. But by 2021, that had dropped to only 53%. What’s behind this shift? Why is it happening? Many have tried to answer the question. And certainly, one factor that has quickened the pace of falling church attendance was the COVID-19 pandemic.
Almost overnight businesses, government buildings, restaurants, gyms, movie theaters and yes, even churches--were shut down. People were told to worship from home. And technology made it possible. Many churches streamed their services. And for a short-term crisis, this certainly kept people at least somewhat connected. But fast forward to the present. For many, the temporary emergency measure has become a long-term condition. For those on the fringes, it’s become easier to simply drift away.
Others have discovered they can be a church member in the comfort and privacy of their own home, without ever having to attend a service. The advent of online worship has fundamentally changed how many people look at going to church. The online experience has undoubtedly been a blessing for churchgoers who are infirmed or otherwise can’t physically attend in person. But for those who choose to be disconnected from an actual group... that’s a disturbing trend in itself.
In how many ways are we as a society becoming more disengaged and more disconnected from each other as each week goes by? We’ve discussed where we are as a culture, our present situation. But where is it heading? What does the future hold for the churches in the western world? And more importantly, what does Jesus Christ think about all this? After all, He’s the Head of the Church, isn’t He? We’ll answer those questions in the next segment.
But first, let me offer you our free study guide, “Restoring Original Christianity.” You see, it’s not just about plummeting church attendance that we should be concerned. There’s something much more fundamentally wrong with the churches of our day. And there is a strong and urgent warning for our generation. And it will show you from the pages of your own Bible. There is a real Satan the devil who is the “prince of the power of the air” and has “deceived the whole world.”
And that includes the majority of the so-called Christian world. So don’t be deceived. Read your Bible. This study guide will help. It’s called “Restoring Original Christianity.” So, order now by calling the number on your screen, or go to TWTV.org/Original. Or you can write to one of our regional addresses. For today’s free offer call... Or go to... This clear and straight-forward resource will help you understand this vital truth-- straight from the pages of the Bible.
If you’re calling for the first time, you will also receive a free annual subscription to Tomorrow's World magazine. Ten inspiring issues discussing news, science, and modern culture will help you make sense of your world from a biblical perspective. Call today and join millions around the world who are turning to Tomorrow’s World for truth, prophecy, and hope in these confusing times. Call now! Or go to... In the last segment we saw that churches are losing members all over the western world.
Some say Christianity is dying. Is it? Will it? Does the Bible say anything about that? First, let’s get Christ’s own words about the Church that He built. In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said this... “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” The word “Hades” just means the unseen place of the dead. A pit or a grave. So, this statement means that Christ’s Church, His Church, would never die out. The grave would not consume His Church.
There would always be someone, somewhere who was a living, breathing and faithful disciple of Christ, all the way up to His return. Notice further, in Matthew 28:18, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations... teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Will Christ’s Church die out? No way.
What this passage tells us, again, is that Jesus Christ will be personally involved in directing His Church, right up until His return. Notice one more passage that shows this, in Matthew 24:14... “And this gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come.” Christ’s church will not die. We don’t have to be concerned about that. But there is something that we should be concerned about.
You see, Bible prophecy predicts not just the presence of one church that calls itself Christian, but two, in the end-times. Now, you might say, “that’s no big deal, there are hundreds and even thousands of Christian denominations.” And that’s true. In fact, according to the International Bulletin of Missionary Research, as of 2014 there were 45,000 denominations that identify as Christian around the world. But when the Bible describes the church, it doesn’t list 45,000 groups. It lists two.
It breaks down all the different churches that have multiplied through the centuries into two groups. And the future of those two groups is foretold in the Book of Revelation. The Book of Revelation is full of symbols. Floods represent armies and horns represent kings or kingdoms. And the Book of Revelation uses women to represent churches. What we find is there are two distinct women identified in the book. Let’s look at one of them.
We find a description of her in Revelation 17:1... “Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and talked with me, saying to me ‘Come, I will show you the judgment of the great harlot who sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication.’ So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness.
And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.” This is one of the women identified in Revelation. But it’s a harlot woman, committing fornication, making inhabitants of the earth drunk with spiritual error. And she is riding on a beast. In other words, she is a politically powerful church, directing the actions of a corrupt government or kingdom.
Going on in verse 4: “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS and of the abominations of the earth. I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus....”
John describes this woman, or church, as being fabulously rich. She also has harlot daughters... other churches that essentially teach the same thing, but have spun off from her. He also notes she is also responsible for putting to death true and faithful followers of Christ. The Book of Revelation shows this church will exercise great power for a period of time, but then its demise will be sudden.
Notice verse 15... “Then he said to me, ‘The waters which you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw on the beast, these will hate the harlot, make her desolate and naked, eat her flesh and burn her with fire. For God has put it into their hearts to fulfill His purpose, to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God are fulfilled.
And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth.” This powerful church--symbolically a woman--will in the end be devoured by the beast power she rode. And we're warned to not be a part of this system. Notice this in Revelation 18:4, “And I heard another voice from heaven saying, ‘Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.”
So, should we be worried about declining church attendance today? Well, there is a much more urgent concern. That is, that we don’t fall prey to a false church that is not Christ’s church at all, no matter how good it looks on the outside. Notice more detail about this woman, this church, in Revelation 13:11, “Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth, and he had two horns like a lamb and spoke like a dragon.” What do the two horns symbolize? Well, Jesus is identified as the Lamb.
So, this leader will appear to be like Christ, that he’s a man of God--a Christian. But clearly, there’s something amiss, for he speaks like a dragon. Well who's the dragon? That's Satan the devil. So this leader is speaking not the words of Christ, but the words of the devil. And he will deceive millions, and perhaps billions of people. Notice verse 13, “He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men.
And he deceives those who dwell on the earth by those signs which he was granted to do in the sight of the beast....” So, what do we see here? Bible prophecy shows a great religious revival in the future. But don’t be fooled. It will be a counterfeit. And it will deceive great masses of people into thinking they're following Christ. So how can you be sure you’ll not be deceived by this corrupt woman? Well, that’s why we are offering the free study guide, “Restoring Original Christianity.”
It’s written by Dr. Roderick C. Meredith. And in this booklet, Dr. Meredith explains, “The key issue, then, is our desire and willingness to get back to the true Christian faith, ‘the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints' (Jude 3). Are you willing to genuinely try to follow the Christianity of Christ? Or are you willing to ‘take a chance’ in your relationship with God and in your quest for eternal life?” Those are hard-hitting questions.
And they become even more urgent, as we see in the future a powerful, influential and deceptive religious revival take the world by storm. You need this booklet, “Restoring Original Christianity.” Order online, call, or write today. This clear and straight-forward resource will help you understand this vital truth-- straight from the pages of the Bible. Call now! Or go to... In the first segment of today’s program, we saw the state of declining churches today.
In the second segment, we saw that Bible prophecy predicts two women, two churches, to be around at the time of Christ’s return. The first is a harlot woman, representing a rich, politically active and corrupt church. But what's the identity of the other woman? She is identified as the faithful and obedient church following Christ.
Revelation 12:1 speaks of her: “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.” In other words, this is talking about the Old Testament congregation. The faithful men and women during that period, who were God’s people, from the time of Adam, and Noah, and Abraham and Moses.
It grew into a nation, and from that nation came the Messiah. He was born as a baby, and grew, and eventually gave His life for the sins of the world. Going on in Revelation 12:5, “She bore a male child who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron”. That’s speaking of Jesus Christ. His destiny is to rule all nations on earth, when He returns. Going on in verse 5... “And her Child was caught up to God and His throne.
Then the woman fled into the wilderness, where she has a place prepared by God, that they should feed her there one thousand two hundred and sixty days.” Now it speaks of the woman again. And it’s talking about what happened to Christ’s faithful followers within a few hundred years after the first century. You see, early in church history, there arose a branch of the church that was not faithful to Christ’s teachings.
And that branch grew so powerful it eventually outnumbered the true followers of Christ. In the booklet, Dr. Meredith explains this. He quotes from Professor Rufus M. Jones, in The Church’s Debt to Heretics.
Mr. Jones states: “If by any chance Christ Himself had been taken by His later followers as the model and pattern of the new way, and a serious attempt had been made to set up His life and teaching as the standard and norm for the Church, Christianity would have been something vastly different from what it became. Then ‘heresy’ would have been, as it is not now, deviation from His way, His teaching, His spirit, His kingdom...
What we may properly call ‘Galilean Christianity’ had a short life, though there have been notable attempts to revive it and make it live again, and here and there spiritual prophets have insisted that anything else than this simple Galilean religion is ‘heresy’; but the main line of historic development has taken a different course and has marked the emphasis very differently”.
What we find is Christ’s true followers had to flee into hiding during those intervening centuries, to escape persecution. And that’s what’s represented in Revelation 12 by the 1,260 days--symbolic for 1,260 years-- in the wilderness. Fast forward to the time of the end, in Revelation 12:7. “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, but they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven any longer.
So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." Notice this. Satan has deceived the whole world. This is critical to understand. Not only will there be great, massive deception by a false church in the last days. But when you come to understand it, the bulk of nominal Christianity has been operating under a great deception for centuries.
Most people who call themselves Christians simply follow traditions of men, not the Christianity of the Bible. So, what about those who really do follow Christ? The Bible shows God offers them protection, on earth, through the Great Tribulation. Notice in Revelation 12:13. “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.
But the woman was given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness to her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the presence of the serpent.” Some people think this refers to the church being raptured. No, it’s simply taken into a wilderness. Heaven is not a wilderness. The children of Israel came out of Egypt symbolically on eagles’ wings--that's mentioned in Exodus 19:4. But we know they just walked. Well, it’s the same concept here.
Going on, in verse 15. “So the serpent spewed water out of his mouth like a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away by the flood. But the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed up the flood which the dragon had spewed out of his mouth. And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Notice this--the indication is that those who are faithful and protected will also have been people who had the testimony of Christ and were keeping the commandments of God. That’s not the Jews, that’s God’s genuine church. For you and me, if we're really followers of Christ; if we obey His commandments--all ten of them--and are covered with the blood of His sacrifice, and are led by His Holy Spirit, He says He will watch out for us in the coming dark days. So, is the church going to die out?
Well, Christ’s church will never die. By the same token, there are sobering warnings about not being taken in by a persuasive but false version of Christianity in the future, and frankly, right now as well. And that’s why we’re offering our free study guide, “Restoring Original Christianity.” It step-by-step explains what real Christianity is. It explains how “Paul looked to Jerusalem” for guidance on matters of doctrine and practice.
It asks and answers, “What Did Christ Do on Earth?” Surely, if we're Christ’s disciples, we’d want to know how He lived. It asks, “What Did the Apostles Teach?” And “What Was First-Century Christianity Like?” Be prepared for some surprises. You may read things you’ve never seen before. You need this information. Especially as we see our world heading toward the climax of this age, the return of Jesus Christ. So, don’t forget, order now--call, click or write today. For today’s free offer call...
Or go to... This clear and straight-forward resource will help you understand this vital truth-- straight from the pages of the Bible. If you’re calling for the first time, you will also receive a free annual subscription to Tomorrow's World magazine. Ten inspiring issues discussing news, science, and modern culture will help you make sense of your world from a biblical perspective.
Call today and join millions around the world who are turning to Tomorrow’s World for truth, prophecy, and hope in these confusing times. Call now! Or go to... God’s church and Christ’s church will never die out. Those faithful and obedient and repentant Christians who follow the Lamb will be rewarded with a destiny in His Kingdom that we can only begin to fathom. Notice in Revelation 19:7.
“Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has made herself ready. And to her it was granted to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.
Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’" The faithful woman, the church--those who have given their loyalty and their allegiance to Christ--will actually be granted immortality at His coming. What a fantastic destiny for those who have eyes to see and ears to hear. Let’s all make sure we are part of that faithful and forgiven Church that will marry Christ at His return.
Thank you for watching-- and don’t forget to order your free study guide, “Restoring Original Christianity.” And keep watching for more Tomorrow’s World episodes. As Gerald Weston, Richard Ames, Wallace Smith and I explain the Good News of Tomorrow’s World, and the comfort and hope it can bring to you, your family, and all humanity. See you next time. For today’s free offer call... Or go to...
Call today and join millions around the world who are turning to Tomorrow’s World for truth, prophecy, and hope in these confusing times. The preceding program is produced by the Living Church of God. Do you have the feeling our world is going in the wrong direction-a very bad direction? Where can you turn to make sense of a world that is spinning out of control? 615 00:28:21,332 Visit TWMagazine.org to get yours now!