The Great Falling Away

By John Stallings


Behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and deep darkness the people; but the LORD will arise over you, and His glory will be seen upon you. (Isa. 60:2)

The greatest revival  in history is here and will continue for some time. We know that a great awakening is sweeping across the nations. We look with joy as God fulfills His promise to pour out His Spirit on all flesh and empower His people to bring the gospel to all nations. What a privilege to live in this awesome hour of history!

Listen to Peter on the Day of Pentecost….

It shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams… I will pour out My Spirit in those days; and they shall prophesy… before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD. (Acts 2:17-20)

The Spirit is speaking about this outpouring in our day. We are in the middle of the great end-time outpouring of the Spirit. The Spirit  will continue to release the miracles seen in the book of Acts.

BUT CONSIDER THE CRISIS THAT IS AT HAND

We’re living under the threat of natural disasters, terrorism, lawlessness, and war. The oldest citizens among us can scarcely remember floods, earthquakes and violent storms like we’re witnessing today. –Matt.24:4-12-

Radical Islam is growing more intolerant as they seek global domination while Western governments are growing more tolerant as they legalize perversion and corruption. Fear is quickly becoming a predominate emotion.

Men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things… (Lk. 21:26)

Abortion continues to kill 4,000 babies each day in America. The sanctity of marriage has come under siege, threatening to destroy the moral foundations of our nation. Sexual immorality, both heterosexual and homosexual, is reaching epic heights of depravity.
Entire school systems are giving way to this craziness. The number of women and children being trafficked in the sex industry is growing at an alarming rate. The list could go on and on.

Satan, realizing he can’t prevail against God’s church, has joined it and is presenting “another gospel.” A new wave of confusion is systematically seducing young adults into deception. Sincere believers, once ablaze for The Lord, are being allured into compromise on biblical truths and practices.

A kind of “social gospel” is insidiously supplanting the true gospel of Jesus Christ, but no amount of ministry activity can “balance out” the profound spiritual compromises that many are making. More and more is being done in the name of justice and humanity, and less and less in the name of Jesus. In the name of tolerance we are settling for politically correct theology that trivializes God’s glory. Our works of compassion and justice must flow from allegiance to God and His Word, not take their place.

The tsunami of the greatest revival in America’s history approaches even as our nation stands on such precarious footing. The onslaught of darkness is increasing in classrooms, boardrooms, courtrooms, and bedrooms. Confusion is pouring forth from many pulpits and from the halls of Washington.

We live in a very significant hour of history. I believe we are in the time described in the Scripture as the “beginning of sorrows,” or “the beginning of birth pains,” that precedes the Great Tribulation -Mt. 24:4-8, 21. The Bible tells us that during the Great Tribulation, sin will become fully ripe with unprecedented and unimaginable levels of debauchery.

In the letter to the Thessalonians, a church that was eagerly awaiting the return of the Lord, Paul outlined a few events that will come to pass before "the day of the Lord" arrives. The day of the Lord is a general term pointing to an entire series of events that culminate with Jesus landing on the Mount of Olives and taking up the throne of David in Jerusalem.

He says in II Thessalonians 2:1-4 that two things must happen -- a great falling away, and the revelation of the Antichrist, or man of sin. He goes on to discuss this pivotal character in end time history, and then starting in verse 10 Paul introduces the theme of end-time delusion. There are constant reminders throughout the New Testament, from the teachings of Jesus Himself to the writings of Paul, John, Peter, James, and Jude, indicating that the end times will be times of great delusion and deception. These warnings are specifically directed at "the elect" that they might not also be carried away with the "strong delusion" that God will send expressly for the purpose of separating true believers in Him from those who "have not a love of the truth."

The Great “Falling Away”

Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed... (II Thessalonians 2:1,2)

There are some things in the Bible that are hard to understand and we can generally leave them open to interpretation. But there are some things that are all too clear. One of these things that should be without debate is that the Rapture of the church will not occur until after something Paul calls “a falling away” happens first.

This has always seemed strange to me but there are those who equate the “falling away” with the Rapture, or the catching up of the Lord's people to meet Him in the air [I Thessalonians 4:17]. They see the Body of Christ "falling away" from the earth as the Lord miraculously draws them up to be with Him in the air.

However, the Greek word translated "falling away" is the word "apostasia," the basis for the English word apostasy. It is the act of going back on the faith. It is a denying of the basic tenets of the faith one once held. “Falling away” is a deviation from or forsaking of an authentically established position.

While there has been a general apostasy on earth since I was a boy, it’s getting exponentially worse almost daily. This falling away will result in persecution of the true believers who refuse to follow “religion” in its retreat from true, authentic Christianity. In fact, it’s likely that it’s just this sort of persecution that will create the unity among Christians that will help them overcome the division that keeps her from coming together as one chaste virgin to meet her Bridegroom King.

Expect to see more liberalism/ modernism, also referred to as “Liberation theology” or the social gospel, continue to invade and take over more mainline Christian  denominations. We can also expect to see true Bible believing Christians come under more and more pressure to comply with the form of Christianity that will be spearheaded by the media, the press, and the United Nations. It will be ecumenical, multicultural, tolerant of other faiths and religions, and ultimately conceivably enforced at gunpoint or through other coercive means.

Before you say this is not a possibility in our lifetime; there are restrictions on preaching already being enforced in places like Australia and Canada on the preaching and teaching of Biblical truth. Laws are being passed that will make it "illegal" to teach the Biblical view when it comes to such issues as abortion and homosexuality. And this is just the tip of the iceberg and a shadow of things to come over the next decade.

T.V evangelist John Hagee recently sent lawyers to defend him from accusations he’d preached “hate speech.” Hagee said that the “handwriting is on the wall” because even though he won that round the victory cost him about ten thousand dollars. I don’t claim to be a prophet but I’ve predicted  for decades that the time would come when preaching the gospel would be costly.

A MOMENTOUS TIME IN HISTORY

I believe we’re blessed to be alive at such a time in history; a heaven sent revival flourishes world-wide in spite of the fact that we’re witnessing the slow undoing of Western civilization. Should Christ tarry His coming it will be interesting in the days ahead just to see what sort of order will come about following the collapse of much of our social, governmental, financial, and technological systems. Of course that’s just around the corner.

The Bible foretells that the current systems will ultimately be brought under the control of one great authoritarian dictator.  This seemingly benevolent dictator will become personally indwelt by Satan himself, the great enemy of God, and will bring havoc down on the heads of God's people until God Himself removes him from the scene. It’s then that God establishes His own Kingdom, with Israel serving as the planet's political focal point.

But the Falling Away is only one of the signs Paul wrote about. In addition to a general apostasy, there will also be the revealing of the man of sin.

That Man of Sin shall be revealed...

 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed... (II Thessalonians 2:1,2)

There is much written in the Bible about this man.
He is called the "Antichrist" by John -I John 2:18, 22 and 4:3, the "little horn" and the "prince that shall come" by Daniel- Daniel 7:8 and 8:9; Daniel 9:26. He is the "idol shepherd" of Zechariah 11:17. According to the Book of Revelation, where he is called "the Beast" -Revelation 13:1, he will be a much admired world leader- Revelation 13:3 and exercise incredible authority over the Western hemisphere. It is for this reason that he is often referred to as the coming "one-world leader." He institutes an economic system involving personal identification numbers- Revelation 13:18- that is used all over the world, just as credit cards are now used all over the world.

Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.-II Thessalonians 2:4

People speculate that certain current leaders have all the earmarks of the anti-Christ. I would just remind them that this is because the spirit of the anti-Christ is and has been in the world for some time. I seriously doubt any of the current “usual suspects” people point to have the power to raise the dead, a power that the “man of sin” will have.

 This man decides to break the treaty he has made between Israel and her neighbors half way through the term of the treaty, or 3 1/2 years after its signing. At that time he will enter the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem and sit himself down in the mercy seat of the Most High God and he will declare that there is no higher God in the universe then himself. He will then demand that all the people of the earth, or at least all the people under his control, worship him as God under penalty of death. The Jews will become irate saying he's blaspheming, claiming to be God. His answer will be-"You're looking at God." Paul said-"Blindness in part has happened to the Jews." On this day the scales will fall from their eyes.

According to Daniel 9, this event marks the beginning of the final 3 1/2 years of the "times of the Gentiles."

At the end of that time, the Lord Jesus Christ will return to the earth and to Jerusalem where He will fulfill the Old Testament promises to Israel that Zion shall never be without a descendant of David to rule as King. Everything on the planet will come under the direct control and supervision of Jesus, who is God in the flesh, and those who were faithful to Him and His promises during the current age the church age will "live and reign with him." (Revelation 20:4).

God shall send them strong delusion...

And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie... II Thessalonians 2:11

One of the great characteristics of the end times is described in the New Testament as deception, or delusion, on a grand, unprecedented scale. Jesus warned that the deception that is coming in His Name and accompanied by great shows of power will be so convincing that even the very elect stand in danger of being carried away in the deception.-Matthew 24:24.

In discussing the end time delusion that will accompany the world's acceptance of Satan himself as the savior of the world, Paul points out that when this "man of sin" arrives on the scene, he will be accompanied by great signs and wonders -II Thessalonians 2:9.

The world believes that Israel is an imposter in the Holy Land and is "occupying" "Palestinian" territory! The world also believes that there can be peace outside of submission to God and His authority. All of this is purely delusional. The fact of the matter is that God has given Israel to the Jews with an oath and a promise that cannot be broken. The world will know no peace until the Prince of Peace returns and takes up His rule from David's throne in Jerusalem. Anyone who has read and believes the Bible knows these things, but the world doesn't know these things.

One day soon, God, by divine intervention in the return to earth of His Son, is going to snap history in two. The climactic point of history will be reached. God is going to crown Jesus King of kings and Lord of it all. There will be a coronation in the sky. What a moment that is going to be! All of us are there in our white robes, and the orchestras of heaven are going to play. The choirs are going to sing; the angels will furnish the music.

The stars will sing together. They are beginning to find now that stars do sing. They send forth rays that make music to ears that can hear. The stars will sing, and our ears will be attuned to the songs of the universe.

And then, the angels will fold their wings. They will sit down, and then we are going to sing. We'll stand and sing redemption's theme song, "Saved, saved by the blood of the crucified One."

The angels can't join us because they never knew the joy that our salvation brings. I'm glad to be a Christian in this momentous hour. Aren’t you?


Blessings


John