Transcript: The Great Apostasy: A Call to Stand Firm in Faith

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music I'm calling this word today the prophesied great apostasy is now here. And God's word tells us that there is going to be a great falling away in the last days where there will be many thousands and thousands, possibly millions, of professing Christians who will turn their backs on God and succumb to the deceivers, to worldly pleasures, and finally to the new world order, which will eventually demand that all living in these days will be required to sign their life and freedoms over completely to this beast system. This complete takeover will occur and happen during the days that the Bible calls the Great Tribulation. And I believe that this is a subject that weighs heavily upon the hearts of many true believers today who are in the know as to what is happening on the world scene and the signs of the time that Jesus spoke about in Matthew 24 that are leading up to the great apostasy that is unfolding rapidly before our eyes today. Please turn with me. 2 Thessalonians 2.3 Well, unless the predicted great falling away, or better called the apostasy, happens first, the man of lawlessness will not enter upon the scene, thus ushering in the last three and a half years of the great tribulation. Now, in 1 Timothy 4, verse 1, 1 Timothy 4, 1, the scripture backs up what our previous scripture has just declared. And it says, How will this prophecy occur? And how will it be possible amongst those who profess to be Christians? And what will it look like? Well, one of the most descriptive scriptures that we come across that will define this apostasy and will answer the question, how will this prophecy occur? and how will it be possible amongst those who profess to be Christians and what will it look like? Well, in the book of Jude, we will see where he writes about this apostasy. It appears that Jude has the burden to warn against the apostasy. and in this short little book with only one chapter and 25 verses contained in it this man Jude originally planned and he had the intention when he started out in these verses to write concerning the message of the Lord's wonderful salvational truths after we see his short opening prayer He told of his plan to share about this, but then he realized that the Spirit of the Lord was leading him in another direction. Turn with me, please, to Jude 3. Jude 3. You know there's only one chapter here. So we could say Jude chapter 1, verse 3, but, you know, let's just go to it. Jude 3. Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you in regard to our common salvation. Hear that? That's what his whole concern was. But, he says, I found it necessary and was impelled to write you and urgently appeal to exhort you and for you to contend for the faith, which was once and for all handed down to the saints, the faith which is that sum of Christian belief which is delivered, which was delivered verbally to the holy people of God. Verse 4. For certain men have crept in stealthily, gaining entrance secretly by a side door. Their doom was predicted long ago. Ungodly, impious, profane persons who pervert the grace, the spiritual blessing and favor of our God into lawlessness and wantonness and immorality and disown and deny our soul master and Lord Jesus Christ. This is a brief, but it is a hard-hitting epistle written by a man who believed in not allowing the negative influence to destroy God's church. But instead, he springs into action, and he quickly unmasks the false teachers, and he warns against their apostasy. Now Jude appeals to the faithful members, and he reminds them of the apostles' teachings that they ought to hold fast to, and what they originally learned from these men. and more than ever today the church needs to be warned against the great apostasy that is happening at breakneck speed in our day right now evil and wicked apostates have slipped in and are secretly and cleverly slipping in their vile teachings and their perverted doctrines that are undermining the word of God and his righteousness and one of the greatest things that we see within the verses of this powerful little book is the unveiling of the dimensions or the aspect of apostasy and what it looks like in the departure of the faith. When one's departing from the faith, we get a good glimpse of what apostasy looks like, because apostasy is departing from the faith. Now this should be of great interest to us, precious ones. But let's first define apostasy. Apostasy, as I said, is the falling away from the faith. And the nation of Israel was a good example of this when it continually fell into repeated backslidings and God in his mercy would endeavor to call them back time after time after time. But eventually we see that the lot of the multitudes of thousands who persisted in their pride and rebellion of doing things their own way, we saw their final lot. Now apostasy is defined also as the determined or the willful rejection of Christ and his teachings by a Christian believer. And for that, to back that statement up, we're going to Hebrews 10, verse 26. Hebrews 10, verse 26. The scripture says, For if we deliberately and willingly sin after once acquiring the knowledge of the truth, there is no longer any sacrifice to atone for our sins, no further offering to which to look forward to. Verse 27, there is nothing left for us then, but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation, which will consume those who put themselves in opposition to God's word. So, by not obeying God's word, we put ourselves in opposition to him. This is a willful and determined rejection of Christ and his teachings. Well, in John 15, verse 22, Jesus says, If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. They would be blameless. But now they have no excuse for their sin. So once the truth has come into our hearing and God's will is made known, there is no excuse for sin that we now commit. God requires obedience from our hearts. And personal accountability for known sin is different from sin that results from ignorance. once you understand what you are doing is wrong in God's eyes and according to his written word then this falls under the category of backsliding and this is what happened to the Israelites in their continued apostasy and backsliding and finally their downfall and then their final doom when we do not obey the truth as we learn it we are actually turning our backs on God and are abandoning our faith, which leads to salvation. Our faith leads us to salvation, precious ones. And this saving faith is found only in God's own Son, Jesus Christ. In 2 Timothy 3.13, Paul warned Timothy that things were going to continually get worse as the church age progressed. And dear church, this is where we are today. And this is my point and objective in this message today. We need to see that we are living in those days that Paul was warning Timothy about and that Jude was warning us of in his day and also Christ, Jesus, was speaking about in Matthew 24. Now, let's pick up this verse 12 of 2 Timothy 3, and that will be verse 12, please. 2 Timothy 3, verse 12. Indeed, all who delight in piety and are determined to live a devoted and godly life in Jesus Christ will meet with persecution, will be made to suffer because of their religious stand. Verse 13. But wicked men and imposters will go from bad to worse, deceiving and leading astray others, and being deceived and led astray themselves. But as for you, continue to hold to the things that you've learned and of which you are convinced, knowing from whom you learn them. so you see here Paul told Timothy that apostasy would continue to get worse and worse as the church age progressed and people falling away is due to willful sin and will reach its climax and culmination towards the last part of the first three and a half years of the tribulation when the false prophet arises now apostasy began in the foundational years of the church. It began there. It originated there. So let's read in Acts 20, verse 25, and see that origination and what Paul was saying regarding the apostasy. Acts 20, 25. You know, Paul is speaking these words as he was bidding farewell to those whom he loved very much, whom he taught and he nurtured along in the faith. So I think we can appreciate these words in light of that scripture, of these words that he is speaking, and it kind of brings a tear to your eye. When you think that this was his farewell, the words that he spoke to his people, and how walking away, how heavy his heart must have been in knowing that he was going to leave them, and of course he had the joy of knowing where he was going, but yet he had to face that But I sure the burden was with the people that he was leaving And when we read his words let keep this in mind please as we see his great concern for those that he loved He says in verse 25, And now observe, I perceive that all of you among whom I have gone in and out, proclaiming the kingdom, will see my face no more. Therefore I testify and protest to you on this our parting day That I am clean and innocent and not responsible for the blood of any of you For I never shrank or kept back or fell short from declaring to you The whole purpose and plan and counsel of God Verse 28 Take care and be on your guard for yourselves And the whole flock over which the Holy Spirit has appointed you bishops and guardians to shepherd and tend to feed and guide the church of the Lord or of God, which he obtained for himself, buying it and saving it for himself with his own blood. Verse 29, I know that after I'm gone, here is his concern. Ferocious wolves will get in among you, not sparing the flock. Verse 30, even from among your own selves, men will come up to the front, who by saying perverse, distort and corrupt things will endeavor to draw away the disciples after them to their own party. Verse 31. Therefore, always be alert. I can imagine when he spoke these words, the feeling that must have gone with these words, the tears that must have been let with these words. Verse 31. Therefore, always be alert and on your guard, being mindful that for three years I never stop day or night seriously to admonish and advise and exhort you one by one with tears. As I said before, can we not see the heart of the apostle here? And he warns the Ephesian elders of the coming apostates after his departure. He says, they'll come in among you like ravenous wolves. not sparing any one of you. And if you've ever done any research on wolves, you'll find that wolves stalk their prey. And they'll flush out their prey. They'll stalk it, and they'll use trickery in subduing it. And this is why they say that the wolf is cunning and crafty, because it is sneaky and patient and wily before it springs upon its prey and devours it. Now Satan is likened to the wolf in scripture. The devil and his evil, cruel, and vicious horde are waging a wicked and heinous war against the church of our Lord Jesus Christ and God the Father's children. And Satan is orchestrating an all-out assault on the faith once delivered to the saints according to the scripture, in an effort to advance this great apostasy and steal millions and millions of professing Christians off their path. And now we see that Jude contained a good view of what the aspects or appearances of what apostasy might look like in our day as it did in the time that Paul and Jude warned us about and even dealt with in certain measure as it rose up in their day. But remember, it is in our day that the culmination of this great falling away or great apostasy is prophesied to reach its peak or its pinnacle, and the man of sin, the Antichrist, will then take his place in this prophetic picture. Let's look in Jude 4 and start unfolding what this assault on our faith will look like in its 3D or dimensional magnitude, its size and extent. Jude 4 again says, For certain men have crept in stealthily, gaining entrance secretly by a side door. Their doom was predicted long ago. Ungodly, impious, profane persons who pervert the grace and the spiritual blessing and favor of our God into lawlessness and wantonness and immorality and disown and deny our soul master and Lord Jesus Christ. Now, with this one scripture alone, we see these backsliders and God-haters who professed to be followers of Christ, but yet they had not continued to obey and prefer Christ's truths, but had chosen for themselves the path that leads straight to hell, just like Paul warned about in Hebrews 10, and the scripture that we previously read in verse 26, it says, if we go on deliberately and willfully sinning, once acquiring the truth of the knowledge, there's no sacrifice left to atone for. No further offering to which to look forward. There's nothing left for us then, but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and the fury of burning wrath and indignation which will consume those who put themselves in opposition to God. So in other words, there will be no excuse for sin. You see, one cannot outsmart the great judge on this day as we would stand before him and plead innocence of our sin. Well, Jude 4 shows us what the downfall of this great falling away will characteristically look like. And the men crept in stealthily. This means that they gained entrance through a side door, so to speak. Nobody really noticed when they came in. They fit in like the scripture says the wolves amongst the sheep. And they began to pervert the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ into lawlessness, into lewdness and immorality. And the scripture says that they disowned and denied Jesus Christ their Savior who came to deliver and save them from sin and vileness. so their rejecting him was when they started perverting the grace of God and they started sinning now we see four major characteristics of apostasy in the heart of a guilty sinner who will eventually fall away many of which will not even realize the magnitude of their sin until they meet their great judge on their day of judgment, or should the day of the rapture come before that, they will wonder why they were left behind. So we can see in this verse, the first characteristic of apostasy is one, great contempt for God's authority. And this is the first characteristic of the assault on our faith that the apostates at heart will use subtle rejection of God's authority. And the next characteristic, we're finding this all contained within Jude, the characteristic, second one, is rejection of God's grace. Verse 4 said, they pervert the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ into lawlessness, into lewdness and immorality. And the third assault on our faith by the apostates or our apostate hearts would be rejection of God's standards. See, by creating this sinful environment and polluting God's grace, then the righteous standards of God begin to crumble and fall apart. and then sinful and immoral practices seem to be the norm and accepted. We mix the truth with untruths. And so this practice seems to be the norm. Nobody really knows the truth because it's mixed with untruths. Thus enters the rejection of God's righteous, pure, and holy standards that he demands for those whom he calls his people. So turning the grace of God into lasciviousness, or better known in our day as unbridled lust, with appetites for sexual perversion of all kinds, from pornography, from fashion where clothing is barely there, where it's plunging in front and it's cut up from the bottom in the back and plays peekaboo with the onlooker, thus exciting their sensual passions and arouse their beast-like nature that has not been subdued by the word of God in a personal effort to hate it and fight against it. So today, the grace of God and the church concerning the subject of fashion falls under the third assault and is undermining of our faith in Christ. and you see this manner of dress in the church does not only affect women and girls but it is also a great sin amongst men and boys the clothing for both is tight and it exposes every bump and bulge and is heinous and outrageous and raunchy and abominable in God's eyes because it does not represent or manifest the modesty and purity he requires of those he calls by name to mirror his character and image to the world. So this ungodly practice in fashion apparel in the church today has been accepted as perfectly normal and acceptable by leadership. And in fact, many of these professing leaders are some of the guiltiest in setting the example of this way of dress and exciting the lust and perversion in their memberships. The soul is the seat of the senses. And it is the seat of desires and affections and appetites and passion. and without conforming to God's holy standards and rejecting his grace and his authority and his standards, then what rules is the lower nature of man, which is called the beast or animal nature, which will be acted out in the unbridled lust and the sensual pleasures. you see God hated this so much that he destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah for this very thing and please understand this practice and acceptance of it is a breakdown of taking God's grace lightly and profanes it now the last or the fourth characteristic of what this apostasy or assault on our faith will look like in its 3D or dimensional magnitudes is called the rejection of God's true church. Please notice that I said it is a rejection of God's true church. Let's turn to Isaiah 5 verse 18. Isaiah 5 verse 18. Woe to those who draw calamity with cords of iniquity and falsehood, who bring punishment to themselves with a cart rope of wickedness. Verse 19 Who say, let the Holy One make haste and speed his prophesied vengeance that we may see it and let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel draw near and come that we may know it. Verse 20 Woe to those who call evil good and good evil who put darkness for light and light for darkness who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes and prudent and shrewd in their own sight. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. You see, rejection of God's true church is where sin is not being denounced. Instead, it's being tolerated and accepted because they say, we should preach the message of God's love and not offend people with the sin issue. So sin in the church is the very issue and the reason everything else is being perverted and twisted and profane, especially in the areas of morality and true doctrine. And the apostates prefer erroneous and false doctrines, which is evil rather than upright course of conduct that God requires for those who are called by his name. And scripture says they put darkness for light. And this is figurative for preaching and teaching air and teaching doctrine and the criminal ways of living Light is figurative for a doctrine and a way of living that is upright that humble it honest pure and sincere and full of knowledge in God unadulterated word So again, the last or the fourth characteristic of what this apostasy or assault on our faith will look like in its 3D, I call it, or dimensional magnitude, is called the rejection of God's true church. so altogether we have a picture of the characteristics according to Jude as to what will set up this great falling away or apostasy to take place in our day which will be the culmination finally at the end of the age or time as we know it they are again rebellion against God's authority second rebellion against God's grace rebellion third against God's holy standards and finally the fourth is rebellion against God's true church now this great falling away or apostasy will happen as I said before the Antichrist steps into his place and ushers in the last half of the three and a half years of the great tribulation people will reject God when they reject his truth in scripture and begin to follow false teachings no matter how harmless or innocent they might appear to be. It's still rejecting and rebelling against God's true church. And it's rebelling against his grace. It's rebelling against his holy standards and it is rejecting his authority. And once a professing Christian sinks into heresy, they will eventually fall deeply into the apostasy that follows. It's like a big snowball that begins at the top of the mountain. Once that snowball ends up at the bottom, it is a huge landslide that causes sure death. So heresy is the cause, but apostasy is the effect of the great falling away. it is a crime in the church today because most Christians cannot tell the difference between God's truth and heresy and I've said it before that this great falling away is not an event that will take place at one time or will suddenly spring into existence and manifest itself but it will occur slowly and very slowly I like to use the analogy of the frog that sits in cold water and once you light the fire beneath that frog the water heats up and slowly and the frog makes no attempt to jump out because the water is gradually heating up but before long the water is in a rapid boil and the frog is churning around and around and being boiled to death and didn't even know or suspect his fate and this is how Christians are when they are being duped by false teachings they are fed this perverted doctrine little at a time until the apostasy takes a firm hold on the little faith that they had and if their faith and hope in Christ would have a solid and was foundationally strong they would have discerned the holy from the profane or the light from the darkness as our scripture has stated it. So when the apostasy has taken hold, you could not convince that victim of what they are believing is a lie and it's erroneous. You couldn't convince them of it. Because by this time, Satan has entrenched his lies so deep within their soul and their minds that they will defend it hook, line, and sinker. and they will character assassinate you, they will avoid you like the plague, they will call you religious and they will tell you, ah, you're just old-fashioned. You see, the great falling away will be so progressive where now the major movements will have affected the teachings within the church and the intensity will get to a point where it's so layered, layer, layer, layer after layer, so deeply that the false teaching will gain control in all denominations and sectors within the church. And what I'm speaking of is happening already, precious church. The perversion of the truth is so great within the church as I speak to you right now. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter, And these apostate teachers distort and confuse and mingle the distinctions of right and wrong. They mingle it. So millions and millions in the church today are living in absolute opposition to God's commands and his mandates that he deems necessary and right and just for those who are saved by his son's grace, by his death, his burial and resurrection. and not only are millions and millions of professing Christians living in opposition to God's divine law and precepts, but they condemn and argue against it because they do not practice it themselves. They run it down. And they run down those who do adhere and teach and insist that this is right and just according to God's holy standards and his all-powerful authority. You see, precious ones, God's virtue is that his honor and his integrity, his excellence, his purity and morality is highly esteemed in his eyes and should be in ours too. It is sweet and pleasurable to those who have grown to know and appreciate them. It is not bittersweet, but it is sweet. it is not burdensome but it is true freedom but the bittersweet will be the true bitterness in the end this will bring wailing and gnashing of teeth as the Bible says as those are thrown into the lake of fire because they rebelled against God's authority they rebelled against God's grace they rebelled against his holy standards and against God's true church finally the apostates in our day, even though they are guilty of their gross idolatry, their gross air and opinions of their own judgment, they still value themselves highly in their own eyes as being valuable to lead and to teach God's word and to make judgments about it and reproof those who condemn their actions and their doctrines and elicit and improper and immoral behavior. These are wise in their own eyes. They are proud, but we know that God resists the proud. Now, some of the historical examples of apostasy that had slipped in amongst believers that Jude mentions are found in verse 5 and 6. And we need to look at these. We need to understand these. Jude said the nation of Israel's apostasy was due to bottom line was unbelief. And we have about four major examples of apostasy. And these examples are found in the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. That would be our first example of gross apostasy. The historical examples of hypostasy would be the story of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jude 7 declares, So you see these lusts consume the sodomites, the homosexuals, with fire and vengeance from the mouth, the hand of God. And now these people are suffering the wrath of the eternal fire of hell. And the warning for us is to heed and not to imitate their sins, lest you suffer the same punishment that overtakes them or overtook them. You see, God is the same holy, just, and pure being that he was and he is now because God never changes. And these people did not stand in awe of him and praise him and thank him for what he did and made possible for them to inherit eternal life as they were instructed to do. Praise him. Thank him. Stand in awe and reverence him. The second major example of apostasy is sexual immorality. Proverbs 28, verse 2 declares, When there is moral rod within a nation, its government topples easily. But with honest, sensible leaders, there is stability. Jesus said in Mark 7, verse 20, He said what comes out of a man is what makes him unclean and renders him unhallowed or unholy. Verse 21. For from within, that is, out of the hearts of men, come base and wicked thoughts, sexual immorality, stealing, murder, and adultery. So we see that it is what is unclean in a man or a woman's thought life that defiles him or her. And the expression of one's thoughts and feelings is conduct, which demonstrates itself in impure, lustful, sensual advances, vile acts that lead to adultery, to fornication, and sexual perversions of all kinds. So this is saying that it really renders the soul of the individual polluted and offensive in God's sight. Now the third major example of apostasy is religious perversion. And Jude calls it, in verse 11, running riotously in the way of Cain, and have abandoned themselves for the sake of personal gain. So this is saying that they're haters of their brothers and sisters in Christ. They're murderers of their own souls because of their false doctrine, which leads to the corruption and the destruction of millions and millions of souls that God has prepared for his kingdom. So these evidence disobedience and rebellion and are proud, corrupt, and wicked. They hate true religion, which is the true doctrine of Christ. They become more favored by the millions of disobedient and end up having a spirit of hatred for the true saints of God, which will eventually lead to murder in the last days. I'm giving you only highlights here in these. I'm giving you a highlight overall today in the prophesied great apostasy is now here. It's only a highlight. now the third major example of apostasy recognized is by financial greed financial greed and this is the way of Balaam according to what Judas stated you see Balaam he was one in scripture who had a curious mixture of good and evil he was evil to the core and was greedily interested only in financial gain we could say just like Judas Iscariot was as he betrayed his lord with 30 pieces of silver and a kiss today the church is full of this financial greed and gain in every form and fashion and way and we have seen videos on YouTube where men in well-known churches are seen running across the altar in their church where people have answered the call to come and give money for which they would in return be promised great rewards in much money coming back to them It was horrible to watch People were running up to the altar and throwing cash on the altar while the pastors were running back and forth over the money screaming money cometh money cometh money money money money And a stadium, probably over 5,000 people, that were supposedly there to be worshiping that day, and they were screaming back the same words, only in a chant, swinging their arms in unison while they were captured. in this form of evil doing. They were just mesmerized by it. They were captured by it. And the only ones to get rich are those who are running after their money and leading them, these people. They're the only ones getting rich. They're running after these people's money and leading them into idolatry and eventually into the lake of fire. And this is called running greedily after the heir of Balaam. And the scripture shows clearly that they will all perish unless they repent. And finally, the fourth major example of apostasy is recognized in the rejection of divine authority. And this is called the way of Korah. Apostate Korah led the rebellion against Moses and Aaron. Cora was jealous that Aaron held the position of the high priest. And also that Moses held the highest position in leading God's people at that time. You see, greed for power and position is the downfall and the ruin of many in the church today. And we see this over and over in church splits and denominations that have existed and multiplied over the generation of time. And now, in this word today, we have seen four major characteristics of the assault on our faith that will be at the helm of apostasy and reiterating. These are rejection of God's authority, rejection of God's grace, rejection of God's holy standards, rejection of God's true church. And also, we have seen four major examples of apostasy. And they are, again, the example of Sodom and Gomorrah, which showed the perversion of homosexuality and its lifestyle. And we saw, secondly, the example of sexual immorality and the downfall of a nation, which in Proverbs 28 declares where there's moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily, but with honest, sensible leaders there is stability. We see also the third major example of apostasy is recognized by financial greed, And this is called the way of Balaam. And the fourth major example of apostasy is recognized by the rejection of divine authority, and this is known as the way of Korah. Well now, since the subject of apostasy and the great falling away is so important in the prophetic timetable and falls at the end of the age which we know we are living in at this time right now. I believe we need to have a second part, teaching and see how we are, as I said, in the last days where these examples and characteristics of apostasy are at a full-blown reality and manifestation in our day and our time. Matthew 24, verse 35 declares, heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away. So we who love the Lord must stand for pure unadulterated word of God. We must love God's word and we must love his authority his grace his holy standards and also and finally we must love his true church. After all dear ones this is the reason that God the Father had sent his son Jesus Christ to this earth. He sent him to die for her. Finally, in closing, read with me, please, Ephesians 5, verse 25. Ephesians 5, 25. God loved the church, and he gave himself up for her, so that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of the water with the word and that he might present the church to himself in glorious splendor without spot or wrinkle or any such thing that she might be holy and faultless. Hallelujah. Hallelujah and Amen. A few weeks ago we left off on a message that we called The Prophesied Great Apostasy is Now Here, Part 1. And this week we are completing the second part of this important subject. Since we are broadcasting and recording this message live, Then those of you who would like to hear the first part of this urgent and monumental subject, please go to our website. I truly believe that this is a subject that weighs heavily upon the hearts of many true believers today who are in the know as to what is happening on the world scene and the signs of the times which Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24 that are leading up to the great apostasy that is unfolding rapidly in our day. 2 Thessalonians 2.3 2 Thessalonians 2.3 declares let no one deceive or beguile you in any way. For that day will not come unless the great apostasy comes first, unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come. Please hear that again. Unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come. The man of lawlessness is revealed who is the son of doom. So, unless the predicted great falling away or better called the apostasy happens first, the man of lawlessness will not enter upon the scene thus ushering in the last three and a half years of the great tribulation. 1 Timothy 4.1 backs up what our previous scripture has just declared. But the Holy Spirit distinctly and expressly declares in latter times that some will turn away from the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared. In the first part of this series, we asked the question, how will this prophecy occur? And how will it be possible amongst those who profess to be Christians and what will it look like? Well, these questions were also answered in the first part of the series. And we found that the answers in the book of Jude, these answers were found there, laid out clearly. We see that Jude was given specifically to write about apostasy. And it appears that Jude had the burden to warn against apostasy. In Jude 3, he says, verse 4 for certain men he warns here it for certain men have crept in stealthily gaining entrance secretly by a side door their doom was predicted long ago ungodly impious profane persons who pervert the grace the spiritual blessing and favor of our God into lawlessness and immorality and disown and deny our soul master and Lord Jesus Christ. As was said before, more than ever today, the church needs to be warned against the apostasy that is happening at breakneck speed in our day right now. And one of the greatest things that we see within the verses of this powerful little book is the unveiling of the dimensions or aspects of apostasy and what it looks like in the departure of the faith. This should be of great interest to us, precious ones, if we wish to stand on our post and be on guard for what Jesus has warned us of in the Gospel of Matthew when he spoke about the end times and the great tribulation in Matthew 24, verse 10. Go there with me, please. Matthew 24, 10. And then many will be offended and repelled and will begin to distrust and desert him who they ought to trust and obey and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred. And many false prophets will rise up and deceive many and lead them into error. And the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity. Many, Jesus says, will be offended and will stumble and fall and shall apostatize from the faith. Jesus is in effect saying that many who prophesied to love me will show they didn't have a really true attachment to me and the trying times that come upon them will show that they knew nothing of genuine Christian love. These people apostatized from the faith. Let's look again at the biblical definition of apostasy. Apostasy is the falling away from the faith. The nation of Israel was a good example of this when it continually fell into repeated backslidings and God in his mercy would endeavor to call them back time after time. But eventually we see the lot of the multitudes of thousands who persisted in their pride and rebellion of doing things their own way. Apostasy is defined also as the determined, willful rejection of Christ and his teachings by a Christian believer. Hebrews 10 verse 26 In Hebrews 10 verse 26 the word says if we deliberately and willingly sin after once acquiring the knowledge of the truth there is no longer any sacrifice left to atone for our sins no further offering to which to look forward to verse 27 there is nothing left for us but a kind of awful and fearful prospect and expectation of divine judgment and fury of burning wrath and indignation, which will consume those who put themselves in opposition to God. In John 15, 22, Jesus says, If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin, they'd be blameless. but now they have no excuse for their sin. Once the truth has come to our hearing and God's will is made known, there is no excuse for sin that we now commit. God requires obedience from our hearts. It's just that way. Personal accountability for known sin is different from sin that results from ignorance, precious ones. And once you understand what you are doing is wrong in God's eyes and according to his written word, then this falls under the category of backsliding and this is what happened to the Israelites in their continued apostasy and backsliding. And there are many who deceive themselves in the church regarding their sin to continually plead their innocence or say that they did not know what they were doing was sinful and even a five-year-old knows better, but we're talking about those who are considered adults and have been in the church for over five years or more. Consequently, they never grow or mature, but rather remain blind and deaf and dumb when it comes to the things of God. And when we do not obey the truth as we learn it, we are actually turning our backs on God and we are abandoning our faith, which leads to salvation. And this saving faith is found only in God's Son, Jesus Christ. In 2 Timothy 3.13, Paul warned Timothy that things were going to continually get worse as the church age progressed. And dear church, this is where we are today. and this is my point and objective in this message today we need to see that we are living in those days that paul was warning timothy about and that jude was warning us of in his day but remember it is in our day that the culmination of the great falling away or great apostasy is prophesied to reach its peak or pinnacle. And the man of sin or the Antichrist will then take his place in this prophetic picture. Jude 4 shows us what the downfall of this great falling away will characteristically look like. And we see in these verses that we have just read where there was a great contempt for God's authority. And this is the first characteristic of the assault on our faith that the apostates at heart will use. And the second one is the subtle rejection of God's authority. The third characteristic is rejection of God's grace. Verse 4 said, They pervert the grace of our Lord into lawlessness, into lewdness and immorality. and the fourth assault on your faith is the rejection of god's standards by creating this sinful environment and polluting god's grace then the righteous standards of god begin to crumble and fall apart then sinful and immoral practices seem to be the norm thus enters the rejection of God's righteousness and his pure and holy standards which he demands for those whom he calls his holy people. This great falling away or apostasy will happen before the Antichrist steps into his place and ushers in the last three and a half years of the Great Tribulation. The great falling away will be so progressive where now the major movements in the church will have affected the teaching within the church and the intensity will get to a point where it is layered so deeply that false teaching will gain control in all denominations and sectors of the church. And what I am speaking about is already happening, dear church. The perversion of the truth is so great within the churches I speak to you right now. I cannot emphasize this point loudly enough. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. These apostate teachers and leaders distort and confuse and mingle the characteristics of right and wrong. Millions and millions in the church today are living in absolute opposition to God's commanded mandate, which he deems necessary and right and just for those who are saved by his Son's grace. And now today, I want to cover and talk about how we can recognize apostasy in our day and make sure that we do not personally fall into the hands of the evil one and lose out on eternal life. And I must say and warn some of you listening to this message, you may already unknowingly or self-deceivingly may be nestled in the deadly position of apostatizing yourself from the faith at this very moment. This message is to be both an informative one, but also it is to be one of warning and yet revelatory to many. In Luke 21, 34, Jesus said in regards to the last days that it was going to come suddenly as a snare and a trap for those who are weighed down with life's worries and concerns. For those who are involved in worldly ways, that is, all of the many forms of entertainment and sinful pleasures that defile the body, soul, and spirit. Also being party-minded, having to have fun, fun, fun, and overindulging in the latest and newest fashions, and obsessed with gadgets and movies and technology, and the list goes on. today Satan has captured the minds and the hearts not only of the youth and with this list of woes but also older professing Christian folks are just as guilty for biting the bait of Satan when it comes to having idols that Jesus says in Luke chapter 21 and paraphrasing will lull you to sleep because you did not keep your eyes fixed on him. Jesus says in verse 36 of Luke 21, keep awake and know and watch at all times. Be discreet, be attentive and ready, praying that you may have full strength and ability and be counted worthy to escape all these things that will take place and stand in the presence of the Son of Man. And this warning of staying awake and watching the times doesn't seem to be like a part-time effort to me. This is something that we need to be living and being aware of every day and also be keeping our lives free of the sinful pleasures that were named in our list of woes covered in these verses. Well, let's define apostasy again. Apostasy comes from the Greek word apostasia, and it means a defiance of an established system or authority. It means rebellion and abandonment or breach of faith. It means falling away or forsaking that which is true and right. Apostasy means also divorcement or separation. You see, we cannot part-time our Christian life and devotion to one who spilled his blood and went to hell on our behalf in order to make the forgiveness of our sins possible so that we may in return receive the gift of eternal life. Part-timing your Christianity is like trying to serve two masters. And let us not forget what eternal life is and really means. Jesus said in John 17 verse 2, when he was praying to his father before he was going to the cross to spill his life's blood for you and me. He said, Father, just as you have granted me power and authority over all flesh, over all humankind, now glorify me so that I may give eternal life to all whom you have given him. And this is eternal life. It means to know you, the only true and real God, and likewise to know Him, Jesus, as the Christ whom you have sent. And as I have just said, you cannot serve two masters, neither can I. To know Jesus Christ is to be vitally united to Him. It is like Paul said, I am a bondservant of Christ. and this is making yourself a willing slave to Christ's commands and his precepts and joyfully living in them and serving him wholeheartedly every day of your life. Let's understand what Apostle Paul meant when he said, Let no man deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first, unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians come and the man of lawlessness is revealed who is the son of doom. So we already know that apostasy means a defiance of an established system or authority. It means rebellion and abandonment or breach of faith. It means falling away or forsaking that which is true and right. Apostasy also means divorcement or separation. So this apostasy that Paul is talking about covers the woes that we talked about earlier, but also let's see what apostasy means in this verse that we have just read. The warning is, let no man deceive or trick you. And this means with false teaching or evil ways of living. now look with me please in 1st Corinthians 6 9 1st Corinthians 6 9 as Paul also clarifies this scripture those who have backslidden or apostatized from the faith do you not know that the unrighteousness and wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God do not be deceived or misled neither the impure and immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor those who participate in homosexuality nor cheats, swindlers, thieves or greedy graspers nor drunkards nor foul-mouthed revelers and slanderers nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God. And such some of you once were. I wonder how many people think of themselves as pure and holy in their own eyes, but never give thought that the terms impure or immoral pertain to those who are involved in adulterous or fornicating affairs and or see pornography or listen to the garbage on TV talk shows that are absolutely sickening in their content or watch movies with sex and violence and all kinds of lustful innuendos and then fight with graphic perverted and twisted thoughts as a result of what they have seen or partaken of. This is not living within the confines of true doctrines, dear Church, but rather shows that one has fallen away or abandon Christ's real and true Christian doctrines which will ground and equip and mature or perfect one in this righteous way of living. Paul further gives insight to what personal apostatizing from the faith can mean. Did you hear that word? Personal apostatizing, personal backsliding away from the faith can mean. Ephesians 5, 3. Ephesians 5, 3. But immorality sexual vice all kinds of impurity of lustful rich wasteful living or greediness must never be mentioned or named among you as fitting and proper among the saints God consecrated people let there be no filthy obscenity or indecency nor foolish and sinful silly and corrupt talk nor coarse jesting which are not fitting or becoming but instead voice your thankfulness to God for be sure of this that no person practicing sexual vice or impurity in thought or in life or one who is covetous who has a lustful desire for property of others or greedy for gain for more things for he is in effect an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of God of Christ. Verse 6, let no one delude and deceive you with empty excuses and groundless arguments, for these are sins, for through these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of rebellion and disobedience. Do not associate or be shares with them. The warning is that you are not to even associate with people like this. These people are to be warned of their wrong ways, and they are given the choice to conform to Christ's standards by first repenting, and if they refuse, they are not to be associated with. Our scripture in 2 Thessalonians 2, 3, and 4 again says, Let no man deceive or beguile you in any way, for that day will not come except the great apostasy comes first, unless the great predicted falling away of those who have professed to be Christians come. Apostasy and the great falling away mean the same thing. In investigating the scriptural reference for 2 Thessalonians 2.3, the term falling away in the last days, we find 2 Timothy 3.1 where Paul says, But understand this, in the last days will come perilous times, great distress, and hard to deal with, hard to bear times, for people will be lovers of self, utterly self-centered, lovers of money, aroused by inordinate greedy desire for wealth. proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They'll be abusive, blasphemous, scoffing, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, and profane. Verse 3, they will be without natural human affection, callous and inhuman, relentless, admitting of no truce or appeasement. They will be slanders, false accusers, troublemakers, intemperate, loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good. They will be treacherous, betrayers, rash, self-inflated with conceit. They'll be lovers of sexual pleasures and vain amusements more than they will be lovers of God. Verse 5, for although they hold a form of piety, true religion, they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it. Their conduct belies the genuineness of their faith. Avoid all such people and turn away from them. so far in our investigation in what apostatizing or falling away from the faith is we see that not only false teachers and leaders who are called wolves will be actively involved within the church to lead God's people astray but also sin and personal decisions to commit sin will be rampant in these last days now we're either in the category of the five wise virgins who kept their lamps full of oil in preparedness of the bridegroom's return or we are in the category of the five foolish virgins who were so caught up in themselves and the cares of the world that they neglected keeping their lamps filled. We should all stop and take a serious look at our own lives and evaluate where we stand today in this particular area of personal decision to make habitual choices that lead to sin in our lives rather than overcoming it with the help of Holy Spirit. And now with respect to our subject today and that is apostasy it is really vital that all Christians understand that there are ways that we can recognize apostasy that we can recognize apostate teachers and also why apostasy is so deadly we have pretty much covered personal apostasy in its various forms that lead us away way from keeping covenant with God remember apostasy is the defection away from the truth it is forsaking Christ by not keeping his commands and if we're not obeying God's righteous commands is a daily way of living then we're truth breakers we are those who are not faithful to live within the guidelines that our father deems necessary for righteous living and the only way that will lead to eternal salvation to fully identify and combat apostasy it is important that all professing Christians fully understand its various forms and the traits that characterize its doctrines and teachers in the forms or steps of apostasy there are usually two main types first there is a falling away as we have previously talked about. It is falling away from key fundamental principles and true doctrines that the Bible teaches. It is falling into heretical teaching that deceptively proclaim to be real Christian doctrines. And today in the church, believers are particularly vulnerable to the seduction of heresy when it comes from esteemed, well-respected or well-liked Christian leaders. but the New Testament precious ones gives many warnings about these leaders who teach heresy and it is your personal responsibility as a Christian to study and arm yourself with the truth so that you may grow in maturity and wisdom with the unction of Holy Spirit to be able to discern and know who these false teachers are today. It is your responsibility. And the second step in apostasy is there will be a complete denouncing of the true Christian faith, which finally results in the full abandonment of Jesus Christ. And as I had mentioned earlier at the beginning of this teaching, we've covered in the first part of this series the main apostasies that the Bible uses as examples in both the Old and the New Testaments. And each one of these examples always began with the first former step that leads to apostasy, and that is again falling into heretical teachings that deceptively proclaim to be real Christ-centered doctrine. Heresy simply means false doctrine or teaching, which denies or violates the purity or the unadulterated truth of God's word. Heresy is the violation of twisting one of the fundamental beliefs of the church. Say, for example, it is by Jesus Christ's death, burial, and resurrection that one may be saved from eternal damnation. Another fundamental truth is the lordship or deity of Jesus Christ. And another is the denial of hell and its existence. Well, heresy also means self-chosen doctrines that do not come from God nor are given of God. The word says, but there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them. Bringing swift destruction upon themselves, many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed, these teachers will exploit you with stories that they have made up. Their condemnation, the word says, has long been hanging over them. and their destruction has not been sleeping. So you see apostasy will begin with a gradual downhill slide into full departure from the faith. That's what our word is showing us. And this leads to the second form of apostasy which will then be a complete denouncing of the true Christian faith which results in full abandonment or divorcement of Jesus Christ. and at this point one has now become so deceived that it is easy to now live a lie. You see when you begin to act on your own choices which would be contrary to God's holy standards then you are choosing to act in opposition to God's chosen pattern and way which will lead to eternal life. And Paul warned in Hebrews 3.12 saying beware brethren take care lest there be any one of you in a wicked unbelieving heart which refuses to cling to to trust in and rely on him leading you to turn away and desert or stand aloof from the living God so Paul's warning is to beware be warned he says be observant be cautious you see the lack of personal holiness is the first major factor in backsliding and falling away from the Lord. And almost everyone who stops following or obeying God's prescribed way has been enticed by the world which belongs to Satan. So today, there is a lack of seriousness in the church regarding the call to commitment and holiness. It's become and is considered outdated and legalistic to many, yet it is a must if we are going to be accepted by God as one of his holy people. Heresy means to choose self-chosen doctrine that do not come from God. It means a chosen course or a thought or action which is one's own chosen opinion. As we have seen, heresy leads to eternal death. heresy and error lead to apostasy and apostasy is falling away from the truth and once the error of sin is pointed out to an individual that individual has the choice to repent and renounce that sin of error or heresy and turn back to God by seeking his forgiveness and if not then there will eventually be a complete falling away because the heretical belief becomes so entrenched within one's soul as a habitual way until it pollutes all aspects of a person's faith. And finally, the end of Satan's goal is accomplished, which is complete falling away from Christ or Christianity. And now finally, we come to what Jesus spoke of in Matthew 24, verse 10, when he said many will be offended and repelled and they will begin to distrust and desert him whom they ought to trust and obey and will stumble and fall away and betray one another and pursue one another with hatred verse 11 and many false prophets will rise up and deceive and lead many into air and the love of the great body of people will grow cold because of the multiplied lawlessness and iniquity and this is speaking about in the church dear ones many shall be offended and will betray one another dear church how can this happen in our day this is speaking of our day we are in the end times right now in our day and Jesus is saying that many will be offended and will stumble and fall They will apostatize from the true profession of belief in himself You see let the trying times come and you will see the true character of an individual They will accuse you, they will blame you, they will curse you, and they will slander you. Why? Why is this so? Because there was nothing of genuine, true Christian love for both Jesus Christ and or his people. In these days Jesus is speaking about, he said, people will betray one another. And those whose faith is shallow and their root of love for Christ and his word and his people will be easily apostatized without a thought because they will do all they can do to save their own flesh or skin. they will reveal the names and addresses and places of where God's people are in hiding where they live in order to save their own flesh and if we now have not love for God and his son working in our hearts with proof of our obedience to his commands then Jesus says we love him not and if we do not love him we hate him John 14 verse 15 Jesus said if you really love me you will keep my commands and he also says in John 14 24 anyone who does not really love me does not observe and obey my teachings God's Word in our heart makes us free and we are free to who love God the Father and his Son and his people freely and purely without deception. We are free of sin. And without sin in the way clouding our vision, we will understand the truth and the truth shall set us free. And then we can understand what Jesus meant in the last days when he said again, that many will be offended and repelled and begin to distrust and desert him whom they ought to have trusted and obeyed. And they'll stumble and fall away and betray one another. They will pursue one another with hatred. I believe and I am so convinced that this prophesied great falling away is and has happened in great magnitude in the church right now. And I'm not saying the fullness of it is here, but I believe a great part of it is. And millions and millions of professing Christians today have already been led astray because of false teachers and prophets and also because of personal choice to enjoy what the world has to offer. Christ's beautiful and simple truth and way of life was not exciting enough for these people. Jesus' words are about to be fulfilled in their entirety in our day. And let me say, true, genuine, or real Christians will not betray one another. Today, air, heresy, and false teaching is rampant in the church. through many deceptive means and permeates her in the way of new doctrines, denial of hell, teachings about angels, shamas, mysticism, doctrines of flying saucers and aliens and life on other planets, perverted evangelism, which is nothing more than a big marketing scam seeking warm bodies to fill the churches for greater income, bigger buildings with the latest stage inventions to create a phony atmosphere of God's Shekinah glory. What a pretense in religion. Error and heresy in false teaching about God's prosperity gospel is a heretical doctrine in saying health, wealth, and financial blessing is God's will for all Christians and that positive speech, large donations to these ministries will increase people's material wealth and God's blessing in their lives. The only ones getting rich are those who preach this abominable lie. They purport this is what living in faith is all about. Confessing these promises is perceived as true faith that God will honor rather than obedience and submission to his word. With this cesspool of filth comes rampant news releases across America telling of church leaders who have embezzled money from their churches and reports of those who have been involved in adulterous affairs, fornication and sexual deviance of all kinds, including homosexual relationships and raping of little girls by church leadership. leadership in the church on a Sunday morning. How absolutely abominable. And this ought to incense you, dear listener. You ought to be incensed. And I must say also that so many twisted doctrines in the church today are subtly leading up to the one or new world order and one world church and if you know nothing of this plan of the antichrist and those of you who are acting on his behalf then you need to do your homework you need to do your homework you need to know who they are you would be surprised to know who is involved in this movement in the church to promote this new world order. And maybe some of you listening to these apostate teachers are sitting in one of these churches and are contributing to one of the ministries as you travel around to their conferences. There are many of these well-known so-called teachers who are big time infiltrating the church and are spreading these heretical lies and twisting apostate teachings that are nothing more than doctrines of demons. And there is a world-renowned Bible teacher and author, one who is considered an authority on Bible prophecy, who teaches great air by twisting God's word and by adding his own additions to what he wants to say. For instance, regarding the scripture in Matthew 10, verse 33, where Jesus said, But whoever denies and disowns me before men, I also will deny and disown him before my Father who is in heaven. This man teaches, if you believe in your heart when you say that this is not so, then you shall be saved. So in other words, if you are standing before a firing squad, and you are told to renounce Jesus Christ so that you may live, and you do so, but at the same time, according to this apostate teacher, if you believe what you have just said in your heart is not true, then you shall be saved. What apostasy! What double-mindedness! What a liar! Are Jesus' words not clear enough when he said, But whoever denies and disowns me before men, I will also deny and disown him before my Father who is in heaven? Obviously, this man has the audacity to contradict the very truth and words of the living Christ and shows that his heart and mind have never gone through the wonderful transformation and regeneration brought about by an act of God within the soul that changes the sinful nature of the old man. and this beautiful change now enables one to respond in faith and obedience to god's precepts and specifically here in this case it would show forth in the fruit of understanding and wisdom where one who proclaims to be an authority on bible prophecy and in god's word would never think to alter or change or add to what scripture proclaims especially the words directly from the eternal living lamb of God's mouth, the very one who died for yours and my sins and says, if you deny or reject me, I will reject and deny you. You see, it is yours and my responsibility as believers in Christ to profess our faith in Christ and be willing to suffer for him. Deny means to reject. it is yours and my responsibility to uphold the truth the name and the cause of our Christ and you must never be ashamed of your relationship with your Savior and to be put in a situation where you must evidence your faith is to honor Christ before men and this is where Jesus says I will acknowledge you before my father paraphrasing saying I will tell my father of your faithfulness and loyalty to me as your savior it's a dangerous thing for anyone to deny and disown Christ before men because bottom line Jesus says so to deny and reject him before men then will bring the judgment of Christ disowning and rejecting that individual on their day of judgment and this is the truth it is a dangerous thing as well for anyone to feel so brave to change or add to what God's word says and means listen to what God says in Deuteronomy 4 verse 1 that if you do change his word. He says, Listen and give heed, O Israel, to my statues and ordinances which I teach you, and do them, that you may live and go in and possess the land which the Lord, the God of your fathers, gives you. You shall not add to the word which I command you, neither shall you diminish it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Also in Galatians, 1.9. Apostle Paul warned, as we said before, so I will say again, if anyone is teaching to you a gospel different from or contrary to that which you receive from us, let him be accursed, devoted to destruction, doomed to eternal punishment. That's pretty serious, isn't it? One last word regarding this dangerous man who scripture would define as a wolf amongst the sheep. This man, along with many others in high visibility amongst leaders in the church, have taken money, received money, from a man who has claimed to be the Messiah. Yes, this is today. His name is Reverend Moon. I believe the man is now deceased, maybe in the last year or so. But the article reporting this news story is found on Christianity Today News on their we