“Let no one in any
way deceive you, for it will not come unless THE APOSTASY COMES FIRST, and the
man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction” (2 Thess.
2:3). Apostasy as defined by
Merriam-Webster is: an act of refusing to continue to follow, obey, or
recognize a religious faith; abandonment of a previous loyalty.
Hey Gang: The writer
of Jude wrote the following warning, “Woe
to them! they have taken away Cain, they
have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error, they have been destroyed in Korah’s
rebellion.” (Jude 11).
When the disciples asked Jesus, “What is a sign of your coming, and the end of the age?” He listed a
whole barn full of things that we as believers should be recognize happening
all around us. But, as we read in the
above Scripture, Paul tells us there is a sign that we should be especially
aware of: there will be a very serious
falling away from the Lord, the Word and the Church – Apostasy!
In a recent periodical I read the following example of what
I believe Jesus and Paul were talking about when they said “BEWARE”, as the end draws near, the
world will fill with false prophets and teachers.
One Sunday morning, as the huge church filled with the huge
congregation, the doors at the back suddenly exploded open and three masked gun-man
ran to the front of the church with their AK 47’s and yelled at the
congregation, anyone who is not will to die right now for the Lord should cut
and run.
A mass exodus followed, not only from the pews, but from the
choir loft and, most appallingly even a minister or two joined the Exodus. After the church had emptied to a tiny
remnant the head gunman stepped to the altar and said to the Pastor, “Here
is your congregation!”
Now let me make a confession, I do not like or feel
comfortable in mega churches with all the glitter, praise bands, lights
flashing all around and songs that do not proclaim the glory, honor and power
of God Almighty. And, have you noticed,
that in recent months many of the mega churches are suddenly finding themselves
covered with egg on their face. The
Hybal’s and Shuller’s, of the world have suddenly lost their luster because
what they have advocated does not have the blessing of God over their ministry.
I learned very early, in my ministry to children who had no
background in Bible understanding, that Scripture-based songs were often the
opening that allowed me to share the love, the tremendous truth- that Jesus
came, walked in my shoes and carried my sins to the cross and washed me clean
of my past sins and transgressions, and that same love was open to them.
Notice the power in Luke’s words in Acts 17:10-11: “The brethren immediately sent Paul and
Silas away by night to Berea, and when they arrived, they went into the
synagogue of the Jews”. Now these were
more noble -minded than those in Thessalonica”.
Why? “Because they received the
word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these
things were so.”
It appears that the folks in Thessalonica had adopted the
same principle that God built into His greatest creation, MAN – WITHOUT FOODS
WE PERISH. That means an on-going input
of food whether physical food or spiritual food is essential to growth and life!
I once heard an old country preacher say,
“If it is not sacrificial, it does not carry much weight in God’s sight.” His message title that day was simply. “What
Price?” He continued by saying we need to examine our priorities by the price
Jesus paid to set us free from the bondage of our sins.
I close this Epistle with an astounding observation seen
over the past years: few people have a desire to learn one of the truly basic
subject areas of God Word – what is happening all around them and what is going
to happen in the future. True, we cannot
know the time - for only Father God
knows the exact moment He will say to His Son, time for a marriage feast, go
and collect your Bride.
Why every child of God does not crave to know the times and
the seasons that show us the time is near, when Satan is going to receive his
just reward and set God’s family free from the influences of his evilness, is
beyond my understanding. I pray
diligently for all who receive and take the time to read Gramps Morning
Thoughts, that you are as fired up about God’s total Word, including His coming
climax to this age, as I am.
Blessings,
Gramps
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