The Storm is upon us!

The New Testament warns of an apostasy before the Day of the Lord caused by the Son of Destruction, the Man of Lawlessness.

The New Testament warns us that before Jesus returns, his Church will be invaded by deceivers, including “false anointed ones” and “false prophets.” Before “the Day of the Lord” begins, we will be confronted by “the Man of Lawlessness,” whom the Apostle Paul links to “the Apostasy,” the great “falling away” from the faith.  That time is upon us.

While many of today’s “prophets” claim that God will deliver a super revival characterized by stupendous “signs and wonders” before Jesus returns, that is not what Scripture foresees. Perhaps we should take seriously Christ’s warning: “When the Son of Man comes, will he find THE faith on the Earth?” – (Luke 18:8).

[Storm - Photo by Colin Lloyd (Denver) on Unsplash]

That same Son of Man warned us to beware of “the many deceivers” who come “in his name” and “deceive many.” They cause “lawlessness” to spread among Christ’s disciples. False prophets disseminate misleading information and lies about “the coming of the Son of Man.”

False “anointed ones” will perform impressive “signs and wonders” to seduce as many of God’s “elect” as possible away from the truth. Only those believers who persevere through this onslaught will be saved - (Matthew 24:5, 23-27).

Likewise, in the Book of Revelation, “the False Prophet” employs “great signs” to deceive many, causing men and women to submit and swear allegiance to “the Beast from the Sea.” This beastly pair will use economic sanctions to impose the agenda of “the Great Red Dragon” and to punish anyone who resists – (Revelation 13:1-18).

Already in the first century, deceivers were infiltrating the churches of Asia, “false apostles,” “the Nicolaitans,” and “that prophetess, Jezebel.” Their efforts caused some believers to engage in idolatry and otherwise compromise with the surrounding pagan culture. This “Jezebel” is described with the same language applied later to “the Great Whore, Babylon”:

• “But I have this against you, that you tolerate that woman Jezebel, she who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit fornication, and to eat things sacrificed to idols” – (Revelation 2:20).

• “Come here! I will show you the judgment of the Great Whore that sits upon many waters, with whom the kings of the earth committed fornication, and the Inhabitants of the Earth were made drunk with the wine of her fornication” – (Revelation 17:1-2).

And so, “Babylon” attempted to destroy these early congregations from the inside, the same way that Satan has been attacking the Church ever since. His efforts will intensify during the last phase of the present age; indeed, this final onslaught is underway even now. The storm of deception and lawlessness is no longer coming. It is here!

In the Book of Revelation, Satan wages war on the “saints,” the group of men who have “the Faith of Jesus” and his “Testimony.” This war includes the invasion of the Church by deceivers and their lies – (Revelation 12:17, 13:7, 14:12).

The Apostle Paul is more specific. The “Day of the Lord” and “the Arrival” of Jesus will not come until two events occur – “the Apostasy” and “the revelation of the Man of Lawlessness.”

The term “apostasy” (Greek, ‘apostasia’) is applied in Scripture to the abandonment of the true faith. When Paul warns that this “Lawless Man” will deceive those who “refuse the love of the truth,” he is referring to men and women who betray their allegiance to Jesus, and this is demonstrated by his declaration that the truth to which we must cling is “the tradition you received” from Paul and his coworkers – (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17).

This deceiver will “seat himself in the Sanctuary of God,” an act of extreme arrogance. Elsewhere, Paul calls the Church “the Sanctuary of God,” the ‘naos theou’. He does not apply this term to any building in Jerusalem. This “Man of Lawlessness” will target the followers of Jesus Christ for deception and apostasy.

HOLD FAST TO THE TEACHINGS

Paul also warned Timothy about this coming Apostasy. The time is approaching when “some will depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of demons.” In the last days, “evil men and frauds will wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.” As Paul exhorted Timothy:

• “Preach the word! Be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure the sound teaching, but having itching ears, they will heap to themselves teachers after their lusts and will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside to fables” – (1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 3:13, 4:1-4).

Paul stresses “sound teaching” as the antidote to the plague of demonic lies propagated by false teachers in the Church. The Apostle Peter also warns of “false prophets” and “false teachers” who will spread false doctrines among us in the last days - (2 Peter 2:1-3).

Scripture provides a clear and consistent warning. Before the return of Jesus, the Church will experience apostasy caused by “false prophets,” “false anointed ones,” and other deceivers, and especially “the Man of Lawlessness.”

We are not powerless. The fact that Jesus and his apostles warned of these coming events indicates that we can avoid deception and apostasy, and we will do so if we heed the words and teachings of Jesus and his true Apostles. We must, therefore, “welcome the love of the truth” if we hope to overcome Satan’s lies.

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SEE ALSO:

• Famine in the Land - (The contemporary church suffers from a famine for hearing the words of God, but it is a self-inflicted wound)

• Misdirection and Apostasy - (Believers watching for apostasy to occur outside the Church will miss the real thing since it is operating stealthily inside our congregations)

• Stand Fast in the Tradition - (To avoid deception and apostasy, believers must cling to the apostolic traditions, lest they drift away)

• Howling Imposters - (The New Testament repeatedly warns of coming deceivers and false prophets who will cause many to depart from the faith)