THE APOSTASY IS HERE

THE APOSTASY IS HERE

                “Now we request you brethren with regard to the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us to the effect that the DAY OF THE LORD has come. Let no one in any way deceive you for it will not come unless the apostasy (falling away) comes first and the man of lawlessness is revealed , the son if destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” 2 Thess. 2:1-4.

                It is time for people on all sides of doctrine to read the bible more carefully and to learn to believe exactly what it says rather than what it has been construed to say by people of differing opinions. This short Bible quotation is packed with information and yet many people ignore it and go on believing what they want to.

                What was the problem that Paul was addressing here and what was the situation?

                This situation was that false teachers had breezed into town teaching that the day of the Lord had already come. They were now in the tribulation.

                So Paul quickly fired off a second letter to the Thessalonians from Corinth announcing that the day of the Lord had not yet come and it would not come until a specific man of sin had been revealed, a specific person, a son of perdition who would claim to be God, who would take his seat in the temple of God displaying himself as being God.

                So there would be a list of specific things that would mark the coming of the DAY OF THE LORD.

1.       A great and specific apostasy or falling away must take place.

2.       This apostasy would make way for the man of sin to be revealed.

3.       This man of sin would be a singular and literal person, the embodiment of sin, an incarnate son of Satan. We know this because in Revelation 13:4 we are told that this man receives his power from the dragon. (Satan.)

4.       He would take his seat in the temple of God claiming to be God. Now if we spiritualize these things away, then we lose the specific lineup of things and events that will mark the coming of this monster. But taken literally (As we are learning to do) this lineup requires a literal temple and not  just any temple but a Jewish temple set up in Jerusalem, for the antichrist is said to break his covenant with the many after 3 ½ years and will cause sacrifice and oblation to cease.   ( Dan. 9:26, 27)

                People can argue this interpretation all they want to, but here we are in 2018, the literal temple is about to be built in Jerusalem and the spirit of antichrist is rising and the global government that he will preside over is forming and all other prophetic pictures are in place. These things are literal and not figurative.

                Now, as for the Day of the Lord, it can mean two different things. In many places in the Bible the Day of the Lord is described as a time of darkness and gloom, of persecution and upheavals of nature, of war and bloodshed… in other words the tribulation period or Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

                In other places it is described as the coming of the Lord or the resurrection of the righteous and the catching away of the faithful to meet the Lord in the air.

                So which definition of the Day of the Lord is Paul dealing with here? Well, the very first sentence tells us which one he was dealing with. He specifically says he is answering in “regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him.” This can only be referring to the rapture or the resurrection and catching away of the dead and the living saints, for at His second coming Jesus returns with His saints to take up His millennial reign. So there is only one first resurrection in which the tribulation saints are included (See Rev. 20:4) It is the rapture, or resurrection and catching away of both the resurrected dead and the living together to meet the Lord in the air. ( 1 Cor. 15:51-58, 1 Thess. 4:16-18

                In essence then we might say that false teachers had come among them telling them that the rapture had already happened and that they had now been left behind to face the tribulation. And this may not have been too hard to believe given the persecution that they were facing in their day.

                So it was highly important for their day and it remains highly important instruction for our day as well. After all there are teachers on every side of the issue today that ignore these very specific signs that must take place before the rapture can take place, and there are still others that deny any significance to a literal Jewish temple, and there are still others that don’t think we are in the end times at all, and still others that teach that Jesus won’t come until the whole world has been won to Christ in spite of the fact that Paul here talks about a great apostasy and falling away, rather than a glorious and triumphant church that simply hands a conquered world over to Christ.

                When a person carefully reads the Word and takes it literally, it becomes hard to understand how it can be so screwed up with so many opposing interpretations.

                The truth is this:

1.       There will be a literal and specific apostasy or falling away.

2.       This falling away will involve God’s people, because they couldn’t fall away if they had not first believed.

3.       There will be a very literal and specific antichrist person inhabited by Satan who will rule the world and claim to be God.

4.       He will take his seat in a literal Jewish temple, putting an end to their sacrifices and calling Himself God and this event Jesus Himself calls “The ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION” Which He says was described by the prophet Daniel. Mt. 24:15)

5.       These events are literal and they must be taken literally and because many religions do not take them literally they are sitting in the middle of a boiling pot and don’t even know that we are in the last days.

6.       There are still others who don’t know how close we are to the end simply because they are waiting for extra biblical signs to take place… signs that Jesus did not give.

                Now, as for the apostasy, for which this article is named, I believe that we are in the middle of that specific apostasy or falling away that will usher in the antichrist right now.

1.       A Covenant of peace is being negotiated with Israel and the many, even as Israel is surrounded on every side by enemy armies that want to drive them into the sea.

2.       The Jewish temple is ready to be erected and could be put up in a matter of weeks once permission is granted.

3.       Everything in our world from nature to politics is in an apocalyptic state.

4.       Everything listed by Jesus Himself in Mt. 24, Mark 13 and Luke 21 is in full swing, including earthquakes, volcanoes tsunamis, catastrophic weather events, the massive die-off of animals, birds and fish, out of control fires… the list could go on and on listing prophetic events that fill our news channels day after day.

                There is something else very specific happening concerning the falling away. I heard just the other day that a church growth instructor is now proposing that the pastors no longer mention the name of Jesus. It may offend some people and so he is recommending that pastors use the more general or generic term “God” so as to not offend those who’s perception of God is different from ours.

                In other words, these church leaders, having come from their obligatory audience with the Pope have returned to their churches to follow his protocols for a global religion and the way to do that is to become less specific about who God is. If you want to have a world religion, then you must first get rid of Judeo/Christian specifics like Yeshua/Jesus the Jewish Messiah and Yahweh or Jehovah, the God of the Jews and we must coin a more generic and universal name for an all- inclusive God. After all, the temple in Jerusalem is going to be called a house of prayer for all nations (a term that can only come true when Jesus rules the world during His millennial reign) But as for this temple being built by the New world order, it is destined to be inhabited by a false Christ who claims to be the embodiment of God on earth… the antichrist.

                This is not fairy dust and feathers my friends. Paul tells us that this very person, the antichrist will sit in the temple of God and exalt himself above every so called god or object of worship displaying himself as being God. ( 2 Thess. 2:4) and He will do so until the Lord exposes him and destroys him with the breath of His mouth and bring him to an end by the appearance of His coming. (2Thess. 2:8)

                Paul gives us a couple of reasons why this part of the church will fall away.

1.       They received not a love of the truth so as to be saved. (Verse10)

2.       They did not believe in salvation through sanctification, by the Spirit and the truth. In other words they did not walk in the Spirit as Romans 8 describes it and they did not love the Truth as the Bible teaches it in order to be saved. (Verse 13) And believe me, there is a growing disdain for God’s Word even among the falling away Christians.

                As I read these things I am becoming convinced that the revelation the Lord gave me concerning Revelation 11 may be very true. The outer court was left out of the temple when John measured it. And this is proving true of the physical temple to be built in Jerusalem. There is literally no room for the outer court because it is occupied by the Muslims (Gentiles)

                Now, remember what I have said before that whatever happens in Israel physically happens to the church spiritually, because Israel is the physical template to show us what goes on in the spiritual realm.

                Likewise then in the church, those who sought justification in the outer court, but who never entered into the Holy Place of sanctification to be sanctified by the Word, the Holy Spirit and prayer will not be fit to enter the kingdom. Once saved always saved (as it is currently being taught in some circles today) is a false doctrine that has expanded to include false grace and apostate living.

                If people never grow in the Lord… if they are never sanctified in Spirit and truth and in relationship with Jesus, they will be as Jesus described it in His parable of the sower and His seed.

                  The seed is the Word of God. (Luke 8:11) Some seed fell on rocky soil. They heard the word and responded with joy, but then fell away when temptation came. (This does away with once saved always saved right there, at least as it is believed by those who are falling away today.)This is not necessarily a hit on the Baptists because many of them qualify being saved as including all that being saved entails, but the doctrine is being abused and misused by the falling away church today. There are many godly and committed and sanctified people among the Baptists who would not think of disobeying God or forsaking Jesus even for a moment.

                At any rate Jesus lists various kinds of soil in which the seed or Word of God did not take root and it died in them. We must be good soil. We must receive the Word of God and be transformed by it. We must receive the Spirit of God and be made alive and born again by Him. We must have fellowship with Jesus for it is by beholding Him that we are changed from glory to glory. We must deny self and take up our cross and follow Jesus if we will be His disciples. One cannot live by the Spirit if self is still on the throne. And we must love not our lives unto death if need be. Thousands/ millions have died rather than deny Jesus and His Word and so we too must be prepared to stand on what we believe no matter what the devil dishes out.

                In America we have become soft Christians with very little conviction and so we have created doctrines to accommodate our softness and our lack of commitment. But judgment is upon us and the wheat and tares are being separated even as we speak and those who fall away will wonder after the Beast. Even now they are being prepared to worship the antichrist, so stand guard.

                If your church is entering into compromise of any kind… if they are becoming politically correct rather than Biblically correct, it’s time to bail. If they have to vote on whether or not to accept homosexual leadership… it’s time to bail. IF they are embracing a Gospel light that no longer uses the name of Jesus, or teaches repentance, or the New Birth or sanctification or the blood and cross of Jesus, then it is time to bail and to find a church that still preaches the truth, because if they are not preaching the whole Gospel then they are leading you toward the Mark of the Beast. If your church leadership is making a pilgrimage to visit the Pope, it’s time to bail. It is the pope that is organizing the global religion of the Beast.

                We live in tough times in which many will have to make tough decisions. May God give us the grace and the understanding to make the right choices.