No 5. Encouraging one Another.
The Falling Away before The Great Falling Away
… encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near. Heb 10.25
In the past 2000 years, Christians have ‘seen the day approaching’ according to their own observations of their ‘world’.
Expecting Christ to return is, and has been, a motivating hope for the church throughout the ‘church’ age.
So what are we ‘seeing’ in this age? Any of the following signs?
This one for sure: The Budding of the Fig Tree (Israel would be in their land) Mt 24.32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
We have seen and are seeing Wars and rumors of wars (the beginning of ‘birth pains’?) Mt 24.8
Are we hearing cries for world peace? I Thess 5:3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!”, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
We hear about the need for world peace … but we are not at the point of sudden destruction. That will come upon the world at the end of the tribulation.
***
We are seeing, or at least hearing about Christians being persecuted, killed and hated by the world, but this is not new. The martyrdom that will occur during the tribulation will be worldwide in numbers, according to John in the Revelation (7:9-17), are ‘innumerable’. We are not seeing this approaching.
Mt 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
At some point tribulation Christians will hear that other tribulation Christians begin to recant their beliefs and betray
one another. Mt 24.10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
The rise of many false prophets drawing a large following Mt 24.11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Tribulation believers will witness a massive increase in ‘lawlessness’. Mt 24.12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
Paul refers to ‘the Apostasy’, (Falling Away 2 Thess 2:3 ¶ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,)
I want to talk about the ‘falling away’ before The Falling away.
The Great Falling away that will occur during the tribulation will be connected to the antichrist’s rise to power. Paul’s wording does not require that we understand his two predictions as a sequence. His connecting word, ‘and’ can mean ‘also’. To me, the rise and influence of the man of sin will affect tribulation believers in one of two ways. Some will support one another in prayer and, if possible, form an even closer commitment to Jesus, while others out of fear for their lives will turn away from Christ.
But, as we become familiar with prophecy, we can learn some things about commitment to Christ in our own time.
Here are some things that we have witnessed in our own lifetime…
Evangelical churches up to and including the 50’s had:
What we may not have seen is that the seeds of postmodernism were taking root in universities and teachers colleges.
The trends have continued in this direction for this millennium as well.
We can put a term to what is behind it all.
Modernism itself was and is a fairly broad term, and by much of the world it was connected to art, literature and architecture.
But, when we consider its definition in connection with church, Christianity and the bible, the following definition fits fairly well..
Modernism, very simply put, represented a belief that facts could be - black and white, right and wrong. Facts could be discovered by anyone with a mind to do so.
This was a reaction to pre-modernism which taught that people should not try to think for themselves, but rather let the authorities do your thinking for you, in particular the church during the dark ages.
The early reformers were really going against the ‘system’. The church was the law. In 1530 Martin Luther dared challenge that. However, real modernism, individualism did not really get into popularity until somewhere in the late 1600’s and 1700’s.
Note: Before ‘pre-modernism’ (before The dark ages) the church of the New Testament, and for the next several generations, encouraged individuality but it was placed under the authority of the Word of God.
That changed with the rise of ‘Nicolaitanism’. When John wrote the Revelation in the 80’s or 90’s, Jesus told him to write:
To the Ephesus church,
Re 2:6 …you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
But to the church at Pergamos,
Re 2:15 … you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
The word simply means to ‘dominate over people’. It is a two-part Greek word from nicos - to dominate, and laos - people.
Church leaders are to be servant leaders. Jesus clearly said, Mt 20: 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
But, in spite of Jesus’ words, it happened. Some leaders took their position to be a place of authority. And that feeling of power became corrupted to the point of the creation of the papacy.
At that point, the church leaders and the churches who did not want to go along with the ‘system’ were forced to meet in secret and did so for over a thousand years during the dark ages. They worshiped in secret, but also came into the open to evangelize others. Many were martyred by the Roman church during that time. And many of the secret believers thought they were in the Great Tribulation.
So that era would be known as ‘pre-modernism’ (also spoken of as The Dark Ages).
Then the age of Enlightenment (known as Modernism) came into being. People could, and did read their bibles for themselves. They thought for themselves. Came up with beliefs and ideas on their own.
But there is a negative to modernism. It allowed for an individual to think and believe things that were just plain wrong. For example, a man could become convinced that his race was superior to all. He could preach it and promote it. And eventually could have subjugated the entire world if he had not been stopped. Such is the danger of modernism.
Postmodernism is now here. It is like modernism on steroids. Everybody is right in their own mind. Everybody has their own truth. People even change history to believe it according to their own preferences. Kids are encouraged to be whatever they want to be. Everything is good. Nothing is absolute, black or white.
This is coming, or has come to a church that is near you. How do we avoid being drawn into it? How do we combat it?
We have witnessed in recent history,
We can feel intimidated and just wait for the Lord to return, or we can do something about it.
Here are some facts to rest on.
God has left His Spirit here to empower the church.
- The Spirit is a source of comfort when we are depressed.
- The Spirit teaches us the absolute truths of scripture
- The Spirit accompanies the use of his weapon, the Word of God, making it sharper than any double edged sword.
- The Spirit will bring any scripture to our remembrance at just the right time.
- The 'Sword' simply needs to be used. Regardless of the negative responses being recieved from an individual as you use the word, just keep on using it, even keep on using one particular scripture that seems to fit. Eventually it will cut to the heart.
We can face the evil one head on, knowing that we are in the will of God.
In the past 2000 years, Christians have ‘seen the day approaching’ according to their own observations of their ‘world’.
Expecting Christ to return is, and has been, a motivating hope for the church throughout the ‘church’ age.
So what are we ‘seeing’ in this age? Any of the following signs?
This one for sure: The Budding of the Fig Tree (Israel would be in their land) Mt 24.32 ¶ Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh:
33 So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors.
34 Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled.
We have seen and are seeing Wars and rumors of wars (the beginning of ‘birth pains’?) Mt 24.8
Are we hearing cries for world peace? I Thess 5:3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!”, then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
We hear about the need for world peace … but we are not at the point of sudden destruction. That will come upon the world at the end of the tribulation.
***
We are seeing, or at least hearing about Christians being persecuted, killed and hated by the world, but this is not new. The martyrdom that will occur during the tribulation will be worldwide in numbers, according to John in the Revelation (7:9-17), are ‘innumerable’. We are not seeing this approaching.
Mt 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.
9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake.
At some point tribulation Christians will hear that other tribulation Christians begin to recant their beliefs and betray
one another. Mt 24.10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.
The rise of many false prophets drawing a large following Mt 24.11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.
Tribulation believers will witness a massive increase in ‘lawlessness’. Mt 24.12 And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
Paul refers to ‘the Apostasy’, (Falling Away 2 Thess 2:3 ¶ Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition,)
I want to talk about the ‘falling away’ before The Falling away.
The Great Falling away that will occur during the tribulation will be connected to the antichrist’s rise to power. Paul’s wording does not require that we understand his two predictions as a sequence. His connecting word, ‘and’ can mean ‘also’. To me, the rise and influence of the man of sin will affect tribulation believers in one of two ways. Some will support one another in prayer and, if possible, form an even closer commitment to Jesus, while others out of fear for their lives will turn away from Christ.
But, as we become familiar with prophecy, we can learn some things about commitment to Christ in our own time.
Here are some things that we have witnessed in our own lifetime…
Evangelical churches up to and including the 50’s had:
- Simpler life styles. No techie devices and distractions.
- Sunday morning and evening services. Invitations were extended after each sermon.
- Sunday school for all ages.
- Businesses closed on Sundays.
- Sports events and practices were discouraged on Sundays
- Sexual immorality, promiscuity, fornication was openly frowned upon. And in our churches it was spoken against.
- TV negative influence was in its infancy
- There was no influence via a social media
- Teaching of absolutes happened in public schools.
- A semblance of religion in public schools vis.bible reading and prayer happened daily
What we may not have seen is that the seeds of postmodernism were taking root in universities and teachers colleges.
- In the 60’s came the sexual revolution.
- Divorce rate sky-rocketed
- One parent families became popular
- In the 70’s many churches stopped having Sunday -school in favor of a multi-aged junior church with a simple lesson to suit the whole group.
- Churches changed worship to simple choruses without any in depth in theology.
- Topical, rather than verse by verse preaching, told the people what they wanted to hear.
- Bible teachers started asking questions like, “What is this verse saying to you? No, I am not asking what the verse is saying, I am asking what it is saying to you.”
The trends have continued in this direction for this millennium as well.
We can put a term to what is behind it all.
Modernism itself was and is a fairly broad term, and by much of the world it was connected to art, literature and architecture.
But, when we consider its definition in connection with church, Christianity and the bible, the following definition fits fairly well..
Modernism, very simply put, represented a belief that facts could be - black and white, right and wrong. Facts could be discovered by anyone with a mind to do so.
This was a reaction to pre-modernism which taught that people should not try to think for themselves, but rather let the authorities do your thinking for you, in particular the church during the dark ages.
The early reformers were really going against the ‘system’. The church was the law. In 1530 Martin Luther dared challenge that. However, real modernism, individualism did not really get into popularity until somewhere in the late 1600’s and 1700’s.
Note: Before ‘pre-modernism’ (before The dark ages) the church of the New Testament, and for the next several generations, encouraged individuality but it was placed under the authority of the Word of God.
That changed with the rise of ‘Nicolaitanism’. When John wrote the Revelation in the 80’s or 90’s, Jesus told him to write:
To the Ephesus church,
Re 2:6 …you hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
But to the church at Pergamos,
Re 2:15 … you have some who hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.
The word simply means to ‘dominate over people’. It is a two-part Greek word from nicos - to dominate, and laos - people.
Church leaders are to be servant leaders. Jesus clearly said, Mt 20: 25 But Jesus called them to him and said, "You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them.
26 It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant,
But, in spite of Jesus’ words, it happened. Some leaders took their position to be a place of authority. And that feeling of power became corrupted to the point of the creation of the papacy.
At that point, the church leaders and the churches who did not want to go along with the ‘system’ were forced to meet in secret and did so for over a thousand years during the dark ages. They worshiped in secret, but also came into the open to evangelize others. Many were martyred by the Roman church during that time. And many of the secret believers thought they were in the Great Tribulation.
So that era would be known as ‘pre-modernism’ (also spoken of as The Dark Ages).
Then the age of Enlightenment (known as Modernism) came into being. People could, and did read their bibles for themselves. They thought for themselves. Came up with beliefs and ideas on their own.
But there is a negative to modernism. It allowed for an individual to think and believe things that were just plain wrong. For example, a man could become convinced that his race was superior to all. He could preach it and promote it. And eventually could have subjugated the entire world if he had not been stopped. Such is the danger of modernism.
Postmodernism is now here. It is like modernism on steroids. Everybody is right in their own mind. Everybody has their own truth. People even change history to believe it according to their own preferences. Kids are encouraged to be whatever they want to be. Everything is good. Nothing is absolute, black or white.
This is coming, or has come to a church that is near you. How do we avoid being drawn into it? How do we combat it?
We have witnessed in recent history,
- The sexual revolution of the 60’s
- The rootless and anxious 70’s
- The Greed is good (or it is all about you) 80’s
We can feel intimidated and just wait for the Lord to return, or we can do something about it.
Here are some facts to rest on.
God has left His Spirit here to empower the church.
- The Spirit is a source of comfort when we are depressed.
- The Spirit teaches us the absolute truths of scripture
- The Spirit accompanies the use of his weapon, the Word of God, making it sharper than any double edged sword.
- The Spirit will bring any scripture to our remembrance at just the right time.
- The 'Sword' simply needs to be used. Regardless of the negative responses being recieved from an individual as you use the word, just keep on using it, even keep on using one particular scripture that seems to fit. Eventually it will cut to the heart.
We can face the evil one head on, knowing that we are in the will of God.