Mark Hitchcock - The Coming Apostasy: Exposing the Sabotage of Christianity from Within

I N NINETEENTH-CENTURY F RANCE, disgruntled workers developed a subversive tactic that involved throwing a shoe into factory machinery, causing it to grind to a halt, ruining all productivity. This act of aggression became known as sabotage (from sabot, the French word for shoe). A single shoe thrown into the gears could wreak untold havoc on a well-oiled machine.

Today, we are witnessing the relentless sabotage of Christianity and the church from within. Subtle saboteurs are tossing one theological shoe after another into the machine, causing spiritual bewilderment and breakdowns.

Satan has always worked to sabotage the work of God through human false teachers. And although Satan has many shoes and strategies, his two main areas of sabotage are against the written Word of God (the Scriptures) and the living Word of God (the Savior, Jesus). Since that time, the hiss of the serpent has echoed down through the ages, from generation to generation, as he questions, undermines, and sabotages the Bible. As David Jeremiah says,

[Satan] isnt just given to one approach. If he cant take the Word of God away from us by undermining its authority, he will take us away from the Word of God by giving us another basis of authority. Satan has developed just such a substitute, and it seems to have a great attraction for many people.

Its called experience.

People become so wrapped up in their spiritual experience that they no longer look to the Word of God for their authority. Their experience becomes the determining force in their lives.

Dr. Jeremiah closes with this powerful observation:

Two groups, then, are vying for our minds but with the same end in view. [Liberal scholars] would take the Bible away from us, and those who hold to the experiential view would take us away from the Bible.

We could not agree more. Sound doctrine is under siege. The Bible is being either reduced, outright rejected, or replaced by how people feel about whatever moral or theological topic is under consideration.

However, nothing we see should surprise us. The Bible predicted that this day would come. Scripture tells us that the tide of apostasy will crest as the end draws near. This portent of the end is referred to in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 as the falling away or the final great apostasy. That season may be arriving very soon. In light of this sobering reality, our main goal in this book is to unmask the current sabotage aimed at the authority and sufficiency of the Bible and targeting the exclusivity of Jesus as the only way to God. We also want to arm you with the truth, heighten your discernment, and recalibrate your thinking and living in accordance with the plumb line of Gods truth. These are serious issues for the church and for every believer. A great deal is at stake.

May the Lord be pleased to use this book in the life of every reader as He has graciously used it already in the lives of its authors.

CHAPTER 1

GOD AND GHOST SHIPS

Some have... suffered shipwreck in regard to their faith.

1 TIMOTHY 1:19

C APTAIN D AVID M OREHOUSE was accustomed to the choppy waters of the North Atlantic, but he wasnt prepared for what caught his eye this winters day. Sailing some four hundred miles east of the Azores Islands, Morehouse encountered a disturbing sight. It was a ship, which in itself is not unusual to spot on the open sea. What was odd was that this particular two-masted brig seemed to be in great distress. Its canvas sails tattered by a relentless wind, the ship drifted aimlessly in open water. From his vantage point aboard the Dei Gratia, Captain Morehouse was unable to see anyone on deck of the wayward vessel. And so, after calling out and receiving no reply, the British captain gave orders to come alongside the mystery ship. He sent a boarding party to inspect the ship, but his first mate and two crew members failed to find a single soul aboard.

Instead, what they discovered was a full cargo containing 1,701 barrels of crude alcohol, along with a six-month supply of food and water. What was missing was the ships only lifeboat. Gone, too, were its captain, Benjamin S. Briggs, his wife, Sarah, and their two-year-old daughter, Sophia, along with eight crew members. However, they found closets of clothes left behind, suggesting a sudden departure. During the one-hour inspection, the Dei Gratias boarding crew also observed a disassembled pump and three and a half feet of water sloshing around in the hull. But aside from these curiosities, the 108-foot-long vessel appeared to be seaworthy.

The creaking ship discovered by Captain Morehouse on December 5, 1872, turned out to be the Mary Celeste. Records later showed the ship had set sail on November 7 from New York headed for Genoa, Italy. But something happened along the way, and the Mary Celeste