Exodus

𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥, “𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭.” 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴, “𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦,” 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯—𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴, 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴—𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦, 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘥𝘰𝘮, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘦, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘸𝘦. (Heb 12:26-28)

A great exodus is taking place in the church, which should not be confused with the great apostasy. The exodus and the apostasy are not the same thing, but they are indeed overlapping. The end-times apostasy Paul speaks about at 2 Thess 2:3 should be understood in the context of "defection" as described at Acts 21:21. The same word is used there to describe those who forsake the covenant of Moses.  Therefore, the end-times apostasy is a defection from the truth, a forsaking of the covenant made with the atoning blood of Christ for remission of sin. The great apostasy is churches teaching that sin is not sin, which ultimately leads to a denial of the Master who bought them by teaching a different gospel (2 Peter 2:1). Claiming Jesus as Savior, yet remaining in their sin and teaching others to do the same, there are many in the church who are a party to that apostasy. You can still be in the institution of the church and be a part of the apostasy. But the great end-times exodus is a different matter (Rev 18:4).

Many in the church seem to think that religion is our destination, that religion is where our faith leads. But they are sorely mistaken. Those who make religion their destination get stuck in it and never move forward in their personal relationship with God. We were created to understand God. Religion is merely a tutor. However, a pupil is not pursuing their tutor are they? No, a student pursues what the tutor is meant to teach. The pupil is pursuing understanding, the tutor is merely a guardian which initially helps to keep us on the path to right understanding. It is a means, not the goal.

When I look at what the church has become today, I see many who have made the means the goal. I see a structural behemoth built by the bricks of man that teeters under the weight of its own misguided ingenuity. There is no life in the means, there is only life in the goal. Salvation and life are not found in the church institution, nor in the people who compose it. Salvation and life are found in the cross of Jesus Christ alone. True depth of understanding of God is found in relationship with Jesus Christ alone.

The church has forgotten that true understanding only comes from experiencing the person of Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ is our destination, not religion. Genuine trust in Jesus Christ will bring you into right understanding because He is our wisdom. Is your trust in an institution or in Jesus Christ? If the institution falls, would you find yourself falling with it or would you find yourself unfazed because you are rooted in Christ Himself? Or would you find yourself apathetic because you were never truly rooted either way?

God shakes things so that the only thing left standing is what is truly rooted in Him. It is foolish for us to think that the church is somehow exempted from this. If you feel God calling you out and unto Himself, if you feel His voice in your soul calling you into the deep waters, drawing you to Himself in this great exodus, obey Him. Cry out to Him to lead you where you need to go, gathered with others of like mind and heart. It is Him alone Who you need and He is faithful and He will strengthen and guard you from the evil one who comes (2 Thess 3:3).

“𝘕𝘰𝘸 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘫𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥; 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘣𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘐, 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩, 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘔𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.” (John 12:31,32)

“…𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘵𝘰 𝘞𝘩𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰? 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘺 𝘖𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘎𝘰𝘥.” (John 6:68,69)

“𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘪𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘰𝘯 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦. 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘔𝘦, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘏𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘔𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶.” (John 16:13,14)