My dear brothers and sisters in Christ, I implore you with all my heart and in sincere love for you:
Do not fall away from your faith in Christ Jesus!
In the above verse (2 Thes 2:3) the Apostle Paul is telling us that the second coming of Christ will not happen unless the apostasy (the great falling away) comes first.
2 Thessalonians 2:1-2
Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him, we ask you, brothers and sisters, 2 not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by the teaching allegedly from us—whether by a prophecy or by word of mouth or by letter—asserting that the day of the Lord has already come.
So, let’s now examine what the word apostasy means.
The Greek word for apostasy used in this verse is ‘apostasia’ (Strong’s 646 pronounced ‘ap-os-tas-ee-ah’) and its expanded meaning is: defection from, apostasy, a falling away (from a previous stance), an abandonment of a previous belief.
Paul tells us quite clearly that this falling away by professing Christians will take place and exhorts us not to let anyone or anything deceive us or entrap us into falling away from Christ! Beware of wolves in sheep’s clothing and do not become friends with the world – a friend of the world and its practices is an enemy of God!
Matthew 7:15 (AMP)
“Beware of the false prophets, [teachers] who come to you dressed as sheep [appearing gentle and innocent], but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
James 4:4 (NIV)
You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.
In God’s eyes when we become aligned with the world, He considers us to be adulterers and His enemies.
How will I know if I am falling away?
1. When you are alarmed, frightened and living in continual fear!
‘Watch out and see that you do not become alarmed.’ In other words, be aware of what is happening in the world around you but do not be alarmed by it nor involved in it!
Matthew 24:4-8 & 10 (AMP)
4 Jesus answered, “Be careful that no one misleads you [deceiving you and leading you into error]. 5 For many will come in My name [misusing it, and appropriating the strength of the name which belongs to Me], saying, ‘I am the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed),’ and they will mislead many. 6 You will continually hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end [of the age]. 7 For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. 8 But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs [of the intolerable anguish and the time of unprecedented trouble].
10 At that time many will be offended and repelled [by their association with Me] and will fall away [from the One whom they should trust] and will betray one another [handing over believers to their persecutors] and will hate one another.
2. When you have unconfessed or wilfully hidden sin in your life.
Isaiah 59:2 (NIV)
But your iniquities have separated
you from your God;
your sins have hidden his face from you,
so that he will not hear.
Having unconfessed or hidden sin in our lives hinders our relationship with God. We need to honestly examine ourselves regularly against the standard that God sets for us in the Bible – we know when we are not in right standing with God. The longer we take to confess our sin the colder we will become towards the things of God until we fall away completely.
3. If you have allowed unbelief and stubborness into your heart
Hebrews 3:12 (AMP)
Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God.
If you do not believe any part of the Bible or you stubbornly refuse to trust God with all your heart, then you are falling away from God – the writer of Hebrews calls this ‘a wicked, unbelieving heart’. When you set yourself stubbornly against anything in the Bible and have unbelief in your heart you are in rebellion to God and His Word, and rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft!
1 Samuel 23a (NLT)
Rebellion is as sinful as witchcraft,
and stubbornness as bad as worshiping idols.
4. When you are paying attention to deceiving spirits – believing the lies of the devil about things that are contrary to the Word of God.
1 Timothy 4:1-2 (NIV)
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 2 Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.
So, deceiving spirits are those that lead people away from the truth of God’s Word and they abandon the faith, they then come to us as wolves in sheep’s clothing and teach false doctrines which are the doctrines of demons the servants of the devil. Beware of these demons who come in the human form of false prophets and teachers! Their father is the devil the father of lies. These demons that control the lives of these false prophets and teachers want to devour you!
Always be on your guard – study the Bible so that you will be able to know the truth and recognise lies!
1 Peter 5:8 (AMP)
Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour.
John 8:44 (NIV)
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
2 Peter 3:17 (AMP)
Therefore, [let me warn you] beloved, knowing these things beforehand, be on your guard so that you are not carried away by the error of [unprincipled men [who distort doctrine] and fall from your own steadfastness [of mind, knowledge, truth, and faith],
Be careful who you believe and who you follow. Stay away from anybody who teaches anything that is contrary to the Bible and introduces the doctrines of man. Anything that does not align with the Word of God is a false teaching no matter who brings it. Get to know the Bible for yourself so that you will not be deceived!
The Bible warns the Church against falling away!
Let the following scriptures speak for themselves. Use them to examine yourself – repent and ask forgiveness where you need to, above all be honest with yourself because God already knows you – nothing is hidden from Him. Let the conviction of the Holy Spirit wash over you and bring healing to your soul so that you can move on to maturity in Christ Jesus! It is time for today’s Church to get right with God and reject any teaching that is contrary to the word of God!
Remember Jesus suffered and died for you, His blood was shed so that you can receive eternal life through Him. Therefore, do not keep on sinning and being disobedient to the teachings of the Bible, do not let your sin go unconfessed!
Hebrews 6:4-8 (AMP)
4 For [it is impossible to restore to repentance] those who have once been enlightened [spiritually] and who have tasted and consciously experienced the heavenly gift and have shared in the Holy Spirit, 5 and have tasted and consciously experienced the good word of God and the powers of the age (world) to come, 6 and then have fallen away—it is impossible to bring them back again to repentance, since they again nail the Son of God on the cross [for as far as they are concerned, they are treating the death of Christ as if they were not saved by it], and are holding Him up again to public disgrace. 7 For soil that drinks the rain which often falls on it and produces crops useful to those for whose benefit it is cultivated, receives a blessing from God; 8 but if it persistently produces thorns and thistles, it is worthless and close to being cursed, and it ends up being burned.
Do not be intolerant to the teachings of the Bible!
2 Timothy 4:3-4 (AMP)
3 For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold, 4 and will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fictions [and will accept the unacceptable].
Die to self and embrace humility! These last days will be difficult unless you are living in the fulness of Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit! Keep your eyes on Jesus the author and perfecter of your faith. Do not lean on man or your own understanding – the only rock we can lean on is Jesus Christ, the Rock of Ages – live your life in the Spirit! (Romans 8).
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (AMP)
But understand this, that in the last days dangerous times [of great stress and trouble] will come [difficult days that will be hard to bear]. 2 For people will be lovers of self [narcissistic, self-focused], lovers of money [impelled by greed], boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane, 3 [and they will be] unloving [devoid of natural human affection, calloused and inhumane], irreconcilable, malicious gossips, devoid of self-control [intemperate, immoral], brutal, haters of good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of [sensual] pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding to a form of [outward] godliness (religion), although they have denied its power [for their conduct nullifies their claim of faith]. Avoid such people and keep far away from them.
Do not be disdainful of the last days or you too will perish!
2 Peter 3:3-4 (AMP)
3 First of all, know [without any doubt] that mockers will come in the last days with their mocking, following after their own human desires 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming [what has become of it]? For ever since the fathers fell asleep [in death], all things have continued [exactly] as they did from the beginning of creation.”
Psalm 1:1-2 (NIV)
Blessed is the one
who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,
2 but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.
Always be open and honest with yourself in your relationship with God because you cannot hide anything from Him and there is no place you can go to where He cannot see you!
Psalm 139:4,7-8 (NIV)
4 Before a word is on my tongue
you, Lord, know it completely.
7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
When we take our eyes off Jesus and go our own way, there is only one way we go and that is back to destruction!
Jeremiah 7:23-24 (NLT)
23 This is what I told them: ‘Obey me, and I will be your God, and you will be my people. Do everything as I say, and all will be well!’
24 “But my people would not listen to me. They kept doing whatever they wanted, following the stubborn desires of their evil hearts. They went backward instead of forward.
Matthew 24:37-39 (NIV)
37 As it was in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. 38 For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; 39 and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them all away. That is how it will be at the coming of the Son of Man.
Revelation 20:15 (NIV)
Anyone whose name was not found written in the book of life was thrown into the lake of fire.
2 Peter 2:4 (NLT)
For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment.
Prayer
Dear Father in Heaven
I pray in the Name of Jesus that you would keep me from falling away. Help me Lord to be obedient to your Word in all things. Lord, I ask that you keep my feet forever on your path, the path that is your will for my life. Keep me forever in your arms that I may be aligned with your heartbeat! Let me not fall away from you ever. Amen.
To Jesus belongs ALL glory, honour and praise!
Jesus the Name above all names!
Glory to God. second coming of Christ and falling down about Christians. Very useful. God blesses
ReplyDeleteVery well put together. God bless you Ray
ReplyDelete