The Great Apostasy: Understanding the Prophesied Falling Away from Christianity

Understanding the prophesied falling away from Christianity

The signs of the times leading up to the great apostasy

The biblical definition of apostasy and its characteristics

The importance of contending for the faith in the face of apostasy

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... Thank you. 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 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 ask 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, Beloved, my whole concern was to write to you in regard to our common salvation, but I found it necessary and was impelled to write you and urgently appeal to and exhort you to contend for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints, the faith that is the sum total of Christian belief which was delivered verbally to God's holy people. Verse 4, for certain men, he warns, hear 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 apostatize 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. So you see, 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. and 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 2nd 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 is 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 seem to be like a part 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 bond servant 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 1 Corinthians 6.9, 1 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's 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 sharers 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. 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 and its various forms that lead us away 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 as a daily way of living then we're truce breakers we are those who are not faithful to live within the guidelines that our father deems necessary for righteous living in 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 form or 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. An 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 into seed and lead many into error. 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 verse 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 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 statutes 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 receive 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 website. Mr. Moon is a self-appointed Messiah and has financially sponsored an organization called the Coalition of Religious Freedom. And the man I have been speaking about, who is the world-renowned great Bible scholar and prophecy authority, is the co-chairman of this organization. He and his many friends have received monies from this false messiah for things like this organization just mentioned, but also they receive money from this false messiah in order to keep their churches or organizations from going into bankruptcy. What a sellout. This Bible expert and prophecy authority is one amongst the many professing Christian leaders who are involved in the new world order or one world government it is sometimes called, and also the One World Church. These go hand in hand. This in itself is a great betrayal to the body of Christ. And this most of all is a betrayal and the denial of our Lord Jesus Christ. This demonstrates a hatred for Christ and those whom he died for. And let me say, real Christians will not betray one another. But those who profess to be real or genuine Christians, but yet follow their own deceived mental or cerebral ideas, are apostates. And it will be these, and those that follow them, who will easily turn and hate one another, because they were not true followers of Christ. They had no root in Him. and they are proving this by their heretical lies and teachings today. It's time to wake up, church. It is time to wake up. And if you've never heard of the New World Order and the One World Church and the FEMA caskets and the detention centers and the RFID chip which will allow the government to know your whereabouts and also it is said that you will not be able to buy or sell without this chip. Does this sound like the warning in Revelation 3.16? Does that speak about the mark of the beast? Do your homework. And also we have the new health care system called Obamacare, which is reported to have what is coined as death panels. This, in effect, will be a panel of government-appointed experts who will decide if you or I shall receive health care benefits when we become ill or need surgery or emergency treatment. This is being instituted in America right now. In other nations, this health care package is called socialized medicine. The death panels simply mean that there is a government expert between the doctor and the patient who will decide whether or not anyone with a debilitating disease will be euthanasized. That means to be put to death by lethal injection like a criminal on death row would be. The reason behind this will be because it is not cost effective by government decision to spend health care monies on someone who is not productive in society, but only a drain on its finances. And this will be especially so with the elderly. The elderly today are those who are considered the baby boomers, those in the age range today in around 65 and those above. And if you've not heard of these things, then you've not been alert to where this present government is taking you nor what is happening in the breakdown in the church at large. but take heart if you are one of those who have not heard of all of these things but yet you have a longing in your heart to know God and his truth and follow him but may have been sheltered away in a church or ministry that doesn't teach about Christ's prophecy in Matthew 24 or specifically in the book of Revelation about the time of the Lord's coming it is never too late to be in the know so that you can begin to pray. When I say take heart, I mean that it is going to be in this way that Jesus Christ will return. All of these things that I have been speaking about must happen. In Matthew 24, Jesus speaks about what the end times as we know it will look like and be like. everything I've been speaking to you in this word today will be in the way in which the prophesied great apostasy or falling away will usher in the great tribulation and all else that will follow it and lead up to Christ's return hallelujah hallelujah yes we should be indignant and incensed about the evil in the world and especially those in the church who are apostates leading millions astray. And these only have a form of godliness. But they denied the power of Christ to change their lives to where they would desire to turn completely and allow His Spirit to renew their poor wretched souls by transforming and maturing them to look and act like their pattern, Jesus Christ. In Matthew 10, verse 21, Jesus says in the last days these pretenders of the faith the backsliders the apostates the half-hearted professors of the faith and parents betray their children and brethren will betray brethren brothers will be trade brothers and so on there will be such a hatred of Christians that people will point them out to the authorities in order to save their own skin. And bottom line, this is nothing more than the deep and deadly hatred of the human heart towards the gospel truth of the living God. Our Lord said in Matthew 24 verse 34, Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my word shall not pass away. Jesus spoke the words in this chapter where he's speaking and telling and giving warning of the end times and dear ones his words and warnings are coming to pass now and very quickly so in our day you must know that nuclear war is one command or word away we have nations with evil minded men who currently have these warheads aimed at our country while I speak to you. Our nation is in the worst depression it has ever known. We are financially bankrupt. We are morally bankrupt. We are spiritually bankrupt. But you must know, this is all a part of the plan of the evil elite who have planned for decades and been ushering in the new world order and the one world church. This is nothing more than communism. Headed up by cleverly orchestrated people through Satan the devil, he uses evil-minded people to carry out his schemes and plans to thwart God's plan. Well, we know who wins. Praise God, we know who wins. But it is time to wake up. These days are upon us. And it's time to look at yourself and truly evaluate your standing in the light of truth and scripture. And we're talking about eternal life. Eternal life is found only in Jesus Christ. We're living at a time in the church where truth and untruths are mingled together and people cannot decipher one from the other. False teachers and prophets who are called wolves amongst us are so skilled in twisting air to imitate truth, and these lies are constantly being mistaken for truths. It takes a keen eye and an ear these days to know the difference. This keen eye and ear is trained by the unadulterated truth which is found only in God's Word. and this will require that believers in Christ grow in great maturity and wisdom and learn to walk in the spirit in these days that lie ahead. Time is short. I say it again, time is truly short. Satan disguises himself as an angel of light and he does this through the apostates who appear to be harmless on the outside but inside they speak dramatic words of heresy and air and twist it to fit their own selfish agendas in order to build their own kingdoms. It's amazing that what Christians once called sin is now tolerated as acceptable behavior in the church today. Christians like the world are no longer ashamed of their sinful conduct, but only openly flaunt it in the guise of so-called Christian liberty, which is nothing more than toying with the grace of God and taking his precious grace lightly. God takes sin, apostasy, and false teaching very serious and is quite angered by it. And we can see this because it is evidenced by the fact that every New Testament book except the book of Philemon contains warnings about false teachings. And scripture tells us that apostasy will only get worse as Christ's return approaches. And we have covered this word where Jesus says many will fall away and will betray one another. They'll hate one another. And Paul echoes Jesus' words in his inspired writings as well. Paul told the Thessalonians that a great falling away would precede Jesus' second coming and that the end would be characterized by the tribulation and hollow religious charlatans. He said in 2 Timothy 3.1, Realize that in the last days, difficult times will come. Men will be holding to a form of godliness, although they've denied its power. avoid men such as these I cannot stress enough in closing that it is critical now more than ever that every believer be praying for discernment and that you'll be fighting against personal apostasy in your own life and that you'll be aware of those who bring teachings that oppose truth that is in your Bible the only way that you can know the truth is to live it and only the truth will set you free you and I are told to contend for the faith that is once for all been delivered up to us personally once and for all and through these two teachings on the great apostasy is now here part one and part two we have covered the main points in which the ways of apostasy will come and assault our faith and we have seen in scripture what apostasy looks like in both the old and the new testaments and you have heard what personal apostasy is made up of and also you've heard about those who are called wolves and apostate teachers and prophets who bring new ideas and present them as truths from god i want to stress that all of these things are happening at an unbelievable rate right now in the church. All of these must happen before the man of sin takes his place in Jesus' prophetic timetable. Wars and rumors of wars are happening around the world, and nuclear annihilation now faces us here in America. And I have said it and will say it again. If this president's inauguration takes place this month, we will see all chaos break loose in America, and all other hidden things that are in the package with the health care bill will be let loose upon us, and it's going to blow your mind as to what is to come. There's a saying that says, you ain't seen nothing yet. Dear church, you must remember that God has promised to take care of those who truly love Him. And if you are one of those who truly love Him, then you've nothing to fear. The tribulations that are coming in our lives due to this great plan of the Antichrist amongst us are not going to be easy. They will be difficult. But we don't need to be paralyzed with fear. Because Christ in his word says, I did not give you a spirit of fear, but rather a spirit of power, of love and a sound mind. His spirit lives within us. He's given us all power we need if we have faith in Him and are obeying Him. It's better to be well informed and aware that the things that are coming to pass are pointing to soon coming return of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this should excite and thrill our hearts. 1 Peter 1.7 says, These have come so that your faith of greater works than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. And even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. so if we live by the Holy Spirit let us also walk by the Spirit and have our lives and conduct controlled by the Spirit of Lord this is maturity let us not waste our time from this day forth make a sincere commitment to your Savior it is only here that we will have true discernment to make wise choices as we come face to face with the times yet ahead of us, which will be crucial to our salvation. May God have mercy upon us all. you

Playlist coming soon.