THE GREAT APOSTASY
2 THESSALONIANS 2:1-3
OUR “END TIMES” CLOCK IS RAPIDLY APPROACHING THE MIDNIGHT HOUR. WE SAW LAST WEEK WITH ISRAEL’S RE-EMERGENCE AS A NATION, THE CREATING OF MANY OF THE CIRCUMSTANCES NECESSARY FOR THE OCCURANCE OF THE RAPTURE. OUR END TIMES CLOCK NOW STANDS AT 11:30
TODAY WE LOOK AT SOMETHING THAT IS PREVELENT IN OUR SOCIETY TODAY. IT IS AN ISSUE THAT I PLACE IN THE YEARS PRIOR TO THE RAPTURE, SPECIFICALLY BECAUSE OF THE SCRIPTURE PASSAGE OF TODAY.
VERSE 1 SPEAKS OF OUR BEING GATHERED TO HIM, WHICH I BELIEVE IS TALKING ABOUT THE RAPTURE. THERE WILL COME A GREAT DECEPTION AFTER THE RAPTURE, BUT THIS IS VERY DIFFERENT.
2 THESSALONIANS 2:11-12:
11 FOR THIS REASON GOD SENDS THEM A POWERFUL DELUSION SO THAT THEY WILL BELIEVE THE LIE 12 AND SO THAT ALL WILL BE CONDEMNED WHO HAVE NOT BELIEVED THE TRUTH BUT HAVE DELIGHTED IN WICKEDNESS.
THIS IS A LIE THAT WILL ORIGINATE FROM THE “LAWLESS ONE”, SATAN HIMSELF. THIS DELUSION WILL OCCUR AFTER THE RAPTURE WITH ONE PURPOSE, AND THAT IS TO DECEIVE PEOPLE AS TO THE TRUTH OF GOD’S WORD.
APOSTACY THOUGH IS QUITE DIFFERENT. IT INVOLVES A CONSCIOUS TURNING AWAY FROM THE DOCTRINES OF SCRIPTURE, CHOOSING INSTEAD TO FOLLOW MAN-MADE DOCTRINES OF LIES.
IN REALITY APOSTACY IS AN ATTACK ON THE CHURCH FROM WITHIN THE CHURCH. THEY MAY NOT BELIEVE IN A LITERAL HEAVEN OR HELL, SEE NO NEED TO BE BORN AGAIN, DENY THE VIRGIN BIRTH DEATH AND RESURRECTION OF THE LORD, STAND IN FAVOR OF THE VARIOUS POSITIONS OF THE L.B.G.T.Q, AND ADOPT MANY OF THE SOCIAL POSITIONS THAT THE WORLD ACCEPTS TODAY, BUT WHICH THE BIBLE CALLS SIN. APOSTACY IS A DANGEROUS ATTACK ON THE BIBLE-BELIEVING CHURCH AND IS GOING TO GROW STRONGER AS THE RAPTURE AND END TIMES APPROACH.
ROBERT L THOMAS, WRITER WITH THE EXPOSITOR’S BIBLE COMMENTARY GIVES THIS SHORT DEFINITION OF APOSTACY:
“THE WORD APOSTACY POINTS TO A DELIBERATE ABANDONMENT OF A FORMER PROFESSED POSITION”.
THE GREAT DELUSION THEN IS A SPECIFIC LIE TO TRICK PEOPLE LEFT BEHIND AFTER THE RAPTURE, NOT TO FOLLOW THE TRUTH. THE GREAT APOSTACY IS A DELIBERATE CHOICE TO TURN YOUR BACK ON ESTABLISHED DOCTRINES AND FOLLOW MAN-MADE TEACHING. PAUL SPEAKS OF THIS IS 2 TIMOTHY 4:3-4.
2 TIMOTHY 4:3-4:
3 FOR THE TIME WILL COME WHEN PEOPLE WILL NOT PUT UP WITH SOUND DOCTRINE. INSTEAD, TO SUIT THEIR OWN DESIRES, THEY WILL GATHER AROUND THEM A GREAT NUMBER OF TEACHERS TO SAY WHAT THEIR ITCHING EARS WANT TO HEAR. 4 THEY WILL TURN THEIR EARS AWAY FROM THE TRUTH AND TURN ASIDE TO MYTHS.
JESUS WARNED IN MATTHEW 24:
MATTHEW 24:4-5:
4 JESUS ANSWERED: “WATCH OUT THAT NO ONE DECEIVES YOU. 5 FOR MANY WILL COME IN MY NAME, CLAIMING, ‘I AM THE MESSIAH,’ AND WILL DECEIVE MANY
LET ME ILLUSTRATE. HOW MANY OF YOU HERE TODAY PREFER TO SKIP READING THE BOOK OF REVELATION? IT’S JUST TOO HARD TO UNDERSTAND. LISTEN TO WHAT DAVID JEREMIAH SAYS:
“MANY PEOPLE TREAT THE BOOK OF REVELATION LIKE THE PRIEST AND THE LEVITE TREATED THE MAN WHO WAS BEATEN AND ROBBED IN THE STORY OF THE GOOD SAMARITAN….THEY PASS ON THE OTHER SIDE. THE DEVIL HAS TURNED THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AWAY FROM THIS PORTION OF GOD’S WORD. HE DOES NOT WANT ANYONE TO READ A BOOK THAT TELLS OF HIS BEING CAST OUT FROM HEAVEN….NOR IS HE ANXIOUS FOR US TO READ OF THE ULTIMATE TRIUMPH OF HIS NUMBER ONE ENEMY, JESUS CHRIST. THE MORE YOU STUDY THE BOOK OF REVELATION, THE MORE YOU UNDERSTAND WHY SATAN FIGHTS SO HARD TO KEEP GOD’S PEOPLE AWAY FROM IT.”
THERE ARE TWO IMPORTANT ITEMS IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION THAT SATAN STRIVES TO KEEP FROM YOUR KNOWLEDGE.
1. THERE IS A BLESSING TO THOSE WHO READ AND OBEY IT
2. THERE IS A CURSE ON ANYONE WHO TAMPERS WITH IT.
REVELATION 22:18-19:
I WARN EVERYONE WHO HEARS THE WORDS OF THE PROPHECY OF THIS SCROLL: IF ANYONE ADDS ANYTHING TO THEM, GOD WILL ADD TO THAT PERSON THE PLAGUES DESCRIBED IN THIS SCROLL. 19 AND IF ANYONE TAKES WORDS AWAY FROM THIS SCROLL OF PROPHECY, GOD WILL TAKE AWAY FROM THAT PERSON ANY SHARE IN THE TREE OF LIFE AND IN THE HOLY CITY, WHICH ARE DESCRIBED IN THIS SCROLL.
THE WORDS OF THIS WARNING ARE VERY STRONG TO LEADERS IN THE CHURCH. YOU WILL NOT LEAD PEOPLE CONTRARY TO THE PRINCIPLES OF THE BIBLE AND NOT GO UNPUNISHED. THIS IS WHAT THE APOSTATES WISH TO DO TODAY.
THESE ARE WORDS THAT THE APOSTATE CHURCH DOES NOT WANT TO HEAR, FOR IT SPEAKS OF THE JUDGMENT THEY WILL FACE, AND THE PEOPLE WHO FOLLOW THEM FOR DISREGARDING THE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE.
SCIENCE CAN BE A PART OF THE APOSTATE CHURCH IF IT DOESN’T DRAW PEOPLE TO A FUNDAMENTAL BELIEF IN GOD. THE DISCOVERIES OF SCIENCE SHOULD ONLY LEAVE US IN AWE OF THE POWER OF GOD. IT SHOULD NEVER LEAD US TO THE PLACE WHERE WE CAN TRY TO UNDERSTAND GOD, OR LEAD US TO THE PLACE WHERE WE SAY THAT GOD HAS MADE A MISTAKE.
THERE IS A GROUP CALLED THE “JESUS SEMINAR”, WHO HAVE ATTEMPTED TO UNDERMINE ALMOST EVERY DOCTRINE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH. THEY HAVE TAUGHT THAT CLOSE HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE GOSPELS EXPOSES MOST OF THEM AS INAUTHENTIC; THAT BY INFERENCE; MOST CHRISTIAN’S PICTURE OF CHRIST MAY BE RADICALLY MISGUIDED. THEY DO NOT BELIEVE IN THE RESURRECTION, AND THAT ONLY 18% OF THE WORDS ASCRIBED TO JESUS IN THE GOSPELS MAY HAVE ACTUALLY BEEN SPOKEN BY HIM.
THERE IS AND EPISCOPAL BISHOP WHO CHAMPIONED VIEWS LIKE THESE FROM THE PULPIT:
1. THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST WAS NOT A REAL EVENT BUT A LEGEND.
2. THERE WAS NO EMPTY TOMB, NO ANGELS, NO APPEARANCES.
3. NO REASONABLE PERSON COULD BELIEVE IN THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE.
4. THE VIRGIN OF A LITERAL BIBLE, THE VIRGIN OF ANNUNCIATION, BETHLEHEM, AND THE MANGER – “WILL HAVE TO GO”
5. THE CHURCH SHOULD ACTIVELY ENDORSE AND EVEN CELEBRATE HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOUR, AS WELL AS HETEROSEXUAL LIAISONS OUTSIDE OF MARRIAGE.
WITHOUT THE WORD OF GOD AS THE STANDARD WHO DEFINES THE NORMS OF SOCIETY? THE APOSTATE WILL OFTEN WRONGLY CLAIM THE VERSE:
MATTHEW 7:1-3:
“DO NOT JUDGE, OR YOU TOO WILL BE JUDGED. 2 FOR IN THE SAME WAY YOU JUDGE OTHERS, YOU WILL BE JUDGED, AND WITH THE MEASURE YOU USE, IT WILL BE MEASURED TO YOU. 3 “WHY DO YOU LOOK AT THE SPECK OF SAWDUST IN YOUR BROTHER’S EYE AND PAY NO ATTENTION TO THE PLANK IN YOUR OWN EYE?
JESUS IS NOT SAYING THAT WE SHOULDN’T MAKE VALUE JUDGMENTS. IF A PERSON IS COMMITTING KNOWN SIN IN THE CHURCH ARE WE NOT TO ADDRESS IT? IF SOMEONE IS ATTACKING YOUR FAMILY ARE WE NOT TO ADDRESS IT? HOW DO YOU ADDRESS IT WITHOUT FIRST JUDGING THAT THE ACTION IS WRONG?
THIS PASSAGE IS NOT ABOUT MAKING VALUE JUDGMENTS FOR CHRIST TOLD US TO MAKE VALUE JUDGMENTS.
MATTHEW 7:15-19:
“WATCH OUT FOR FALSE PROPHETS. THEY COME TO YOU IN SHEEP’S CLOTHING, BUT INWARDLY THEY ARE FEROCIOUS WOLVES. 16 BY THEIR FRUIT YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THEM. DO PEOPLE PICK GRAPES FROM THORNBUSHES, OR FIGS FROM THISTLES? 17 LIKEWISE, EVERY GOOD TREE BEARS GOOD FRUIT, BUT A BAD TREE BEARS BAD FRUIT. 18 A GOOD TREE CANNOT BEAR BAD FRUIT, AND A BAD TREE CANNOT BEAR GOOD FRUIT. 19 EVERY TREE THAT DOES NOT BEAR GOOD FRUIT IS CUT DOWN AND THROWN INTO THE FIRE. 20 THUS, BY THEIR FRUIT YOU WILL RECOGNIZE THEM.
JESUS CALLED ON US TO BE FRUIT INSPECTORS. PEOPLE IN LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN THE CHURCH, OR WHO ARE WILLING TO ACCEPT LEADERSHIP POSITIONS IN THE CHURCH, MUST BE WILLING TO MAKE THESE VALUE JUDGMENTS OF WE WILL FALL INTO THE TRAP OF APOSTACY, AND PEOPLE WILL GO TO HELL AS A RESULT.
JESUS IS SPEAKING HERE OF OUR ATTITUDE WHEN PLACED IN SITUATIONS WHERE WE HAVE TO MAKE A VALUE JUDGMENT OF RIGHT OR WRONG. NOTE THE WORDS OF V.2 “YOU WILL BE JUDGED, AND WITH THE MEASURE YOU USE, IT WILL BE MEASURED TO YOU.”
JESUS IS TELLING US THAT WE SHOULD MAKE VALUE JUDGMENTS WITH COMPASSION AND CARE, REALIZING THAT IT IS ONLY THE ACTION THAT WE CAN JUDGE NOT THE PERSON. PEOPLE DO NOT GO TO HELL BECAUSE OF WHAT THEY DO OR WHO THEY ARE. CONSIDER THIS EXAMPLE OF JESUS DEALING WITH THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTRY.
JOHN 8:2-11:
2 AT DAWN HE APPEARED AGAIN IN THE TEMPLE COURTS, WHERE ALL THE PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND HIM, AND HE SAT DOWN TO TEACH THEM. 3 THE TEACHERS OF THE LAW AND THE PHARISEES BROUGHT IN A WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY. THEY MADE HER STAND BEFORE THE GROUP 4 AND SAID TO JESUS, “TEACHER, THIS WOMAN WAS CAUGHT IN THE ACT OF ADULTERY. 5 IN THE LAW MOSES COMMANDED US TO STONE SUCH WOMEN. NOW WHAT DO YOU SAY?” 6 THEY WERE USING THIS QUESTION AS A TRAP, IN ORDER TO HAVE A BASIS FOR ACCUSING HIM. BUT JESUS BENT DOWN AND STARTED TO WRITE ON THE GROUND WITH HIS FINGER. 7 WHEN THEY KEPT ON QUESTIONING HIM, HE STRAIGHTENED UP AND SAID TO THEM, “LET ANY ONE OF YOU WHO IS WITHOUT SIN BE THE FIRST TO THROW A STONE AT HER.” 8 AGAIN HE STOOPED DOWN AND WROTE ON THE GROUND. 9 AT THIS, THOSE WHO HEARD BEGAN TO GO AWAY ONE AT A TIME, THE OLDER ONES FIRST, UNTIL ONLY JESUS WAS LEFT, WITH THE WOMAN STILL STANDING THERE. 10 JESUS STRAIGHTENED UP AND ASKED HER, “WOMAN, WHERE ARE THEY? HAS NO ONE CONDEMNED YOU?” 11 “NO ONE, SIR,” SHE SAID. “THEN NEITHER DO I CONDEMN YOU,” JESUS DECLARED. “GO NOW AND LEAVE YOUR LIFE OF SIN.”
NOTE THE CONTRAST BETWEEN THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS AND JESUS. THE RELIGIOUS LEADERS WERE JUDGING THE WOMAN BY THE ACTION. POSSIBLY THEY EVEN SET HER UP TO GET JESUS. THEY HAD NO COMPASSION ON HER.
JESUS ON THE OTHER HAND WAS CALM. HE WROTE ON THE GROUND AND LOOKED AT HER ACCUSERS. THEN HE PRACTICED THE WORDS OF MATTHEW 7:2, WHEN HE ASKED “LET ANY ONE OF YOU WHO IS WITHOUT SIN BE THE FIRST TO THROW A STONE AT HER.” HE CONTINUED TO WRITE SHOWING ALL THAT THEY WERE GUILTY OF SOMETHING, NOT JUST THE WOMAN.
BUT JESUS DIDN’T STOP THERE, AFTER HE DEALT WITH THE ACCUSERS, HE THEN HAD TO DEAL WITH THE WOMAN. HE DID NOT LET SIN SLIDE. WHILE THERE WAS NO ONE LEFT TO CONDEMN HER, THERE WAS STILL ONE LEFT WHO WAS WITHOUT SIN. JESUS IN COMPASSION FORGAVE HER, BUT ALSO TOLD HER TO GO AND SIN NO MORE. THAT IS A VALUE JUDGMENT ON ADULTERY, BUT NOT THE WOMAN.
THE CALL OF THE CHURCH HAS ALWAYS BEEN “LOVE THE SINNER AND HATE THE SIN.” WE DO NOT MAKE VALUE JUDGMENTS ON THE SINNER BECAUSE THEY STAND IN JUDGMENT ALREADY, AS WE ALL DO.
ROMANS 3:23: FOR ALL HAVE SINNED AND FALL SHORT OF THE GLORY OF GOD,
YOU AND I STAND IN THE SAME POSITION AS THE THIEF ON THE CROSS, BARABBAS, A CHILD MOLESTER, HOMOSEXUAL, OR MURDERER. WHILE WE ARE AT IT WE STAND IN THE SAME POSITION AS A GOSSIPER, PERSON WITH A HOT TEMPER, A VILE AND SHARP MOUTH. WE ARE ALL GUILTY SINNERS BECAUSE WE HAVE A SINFUL NATURE THAT EXPRESSES ITSELF IN MANY WAYS. IT IS HOW WE DEAL WITH THAT SINFUL NATURE THAT DETERMINES OUR ETERNAL DESTINY.
AS CHRISTIANS JESUS HOLDS US TO A HIGHER STANDARD THAN THE WORLD. IN MATTHEW 5:28-29 JESUS SAYS:
MATTHEW 5:28-29:
YOU HAVE HEARD THAT IT WAS SAID, ‘YOU SHALL NOT COMMIT ADULTERY.’ J 28 BUT I TELL YOU THAT ANYONE WHO LOOKS AT A WOMAN LUSTFULLY HAS ALREADY COMMITTED ADULTERY WITH HER IN HIS HEART.
THE APOSTATE CHURCH BELIEVES THAT THE KINGDOM OF GOD CAN BE ESTABLISHED HERE ON EARTH DURING CHRIST’S PHYSICAL ABSENCE. THEY IN ESSENCE SAY HUMANS CAN ESTABLISH THE KINGDOM AND WE DON’T NEED JESUS.
JESUS WARNED THAT IN THE LAST DAYS, SUCH A CHURCH WOULD BE FORMED AND WOULD BRAG ABOUT ITS GROWING STRENGTH AND SELF-IMPORTANCE. IF THE REVIVAL THEY SEEK DOES NOT OCCUR QUICKLY THAT CHURCH WILL BECOME POLITICALLY INVOLVED IN SOCIETY TO MAKE THIS HAPPEN.
THE FINAL CHURCH IN REVELATION IS AN EXAMPLE OF AN APOSTATE CHURCH. LAODICEA FED BY HOT AND COLD SPRINGS FROM DIFFERENT AREAS, BUT BY THE TIME THE WATER GOT TO THE CITY IT WAS NEITHER HOT NOR COLD, JUST LUKEWARM. IT WAS KNOWN AS A RICH CITY, HAVING MANY BANKS, A MEDICAL SCHOOL, AND A TEXTILE INDUSTRY. FOR ALL IT’S WEALTH THOUGH THE CHURCH WAS ASLEEP.
OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES MENTIONED IN REVELATION, THIS CHURCH WAS THE ONLY ONE GOD GOT ANGRY WITH. IT MADE HIM SICK.
JOHN STOTT WROTE:
“THE LAODICEAN CHURCH WAS A HALFHEARTED CHURCH. PERHAPS NONE OF THE SEVEN LETTERS IS MORE APPROPRIATE TO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY CHURCH THAN THIS. IT DESCRIBES VIVIDLY THE RESPECTABLE, SENTIMENTAL, NOMINAL , SKIN-DEEP RELIGIOSITY WHICH IS SO WIDESPREAD AMONG US TODAY. OUR CHRISTIANITY IS FLABBY AND ANEMIC. WE APPEAR TO HAVE TAKEN A LUKEWARM BATH OR RELIGION.
CONCLUSION:
WE ARE NOT GOING TO DEFEAT THIS APOSTACY MOVEMENT, BUT WE DON’T HAVE TO BE A PART OF IT EITHER. THERE ARE SOME THINGS AS A CHURCH WE CAN DO TO COMBAT IT.
1. BE PEOPLE OF THE BOOK. MAINTAIN OUR STAND ON THE THEOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES OF THE BIBLE. IT MUST BE OUR FINAL SOURCE AND AUTHORITY IT THE WORLD. ALL POWER WAS GRANTED TO THE DISCIPLES BY JESUS DURING THE GREAT COMMISSION AND SO ALL POWER IS FOUND IN EACH WORD OF SCRIPTURE.
2 TIMOTHY 3:16-17:
ALL SCRIPTURE IS GOD-BREATHED AND IS USEFUL FOR TEACHING, REBUKING, CORRECTING AND TRAINING IN RIGHTEOUSNESS, 17 SO THAT THE SERVANT OF GOD P MAY BE THOROUGHLY EQUIPPED FOR EVERY GOOD WORK.
2. STUDY THE WORD OF GOD AND MAINTAIN IT ON OUR HEARTS. IT IS THE ONLY WAY TO RECOGNIZE FALSE TEACHING.
3. MAINTAIN OUR STANDARDS, BUT MAINTAIN THEM WITH COMPASSION.
4. OUR COMMUNICATION WITH THE WORLD MUST BE DONE USING THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT.
5. REMEMBER THAT THE OPPORTUNITY IS THERE FOR ANYONE TO BECOME PART OF GOD’S KINGDOM. DO NOT LET A VALUE JUDGMENT OF AN ACTION BE A VALUE JUDGMENT OF THE PERSON. THIS WAS JESUS’ INVITATION TO THE LAODICEAN CHURCH;
REVELATION 3:20: HERE I AM! I STAND AT THE DOOR AND KNOCK. IF ANYONE HEARS MY VOICE AND OPENS THE DOOR, I WILL COME IN AND EAT WITH THAT PERSON, AND THEY WITH ME.
G. CAMPBELL MORGAN SAID:
THE ONLY CURE FOR LUKEWARMNESS IS THE READMISSION OF THE EXCLUDED CHRIST….THERE IS NO OTHER CURE FOR THE MALADY OF THE WORLD, FOR THE LUKEWARMNESS OF THE CHURCH THAN THE READMITTED CHRIST.”
