Matthew
24:10-14 “And then many will be offended {and} repelled
{and} 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. And many false prophets will rise up and deceive {and}
lead many into error. And the love of the great body of people will grow cold
because of the multiplied lawlessness {and} iniquity, But he who endures to the
end will be saved. And this good news of the kingdom (the Gospel) will be
preached throughout the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then
will come the end.” QAB
The Lord Jesus Christ will first come and snatch
away His True Church consisting of those that have been regenerated and born
again. All of the children of God who are watching and keeping sober live in
anticipation of our Blessed Lord Jesus’ second coming to the earth to rule in
Righteousness and to be Glorified in us His saints. The Lord Jesus explains the
many events to the early Apostles that will take place before He comes with
accompanying signs they should be looking for during the course of their lives.
One of the biggest signs our Lord spoke of prior to Him coming to rapture us up
to be with Him is a falling away from the true faith once and for all handed down
to the saints (Apostasy). The Apostle Paul writing to the Thessalonian brothers
and sisters wanted them to not be alarmed or deceived about our Lord’s second
coming and he said, “For that Day will not come unless the falling away
comes first.”
Deuteronomy
13:3 You shall not listen to the words of that prophet or to that dreamer of
dreams. For the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord
your God with all your [mind and] heart and with your entire being. QAB
Therefore, the Apostasy must be of the signs of His
second coming the most important. The discourse our Lord has with these
original Apostles serves to further confirm that it is not His intention for
any of His brethren to look too far into the future and fix their focus or
energy there, but because of Apostasy and deception He desires us to cultivate
a moment by moment daily communion with Him. It would have only discouraged
these men if they knew that it would be over 2,000 years and our Lord still
would be reigning from His Throne of Grace at the Father’s Right hand. We all
who love the Lord Jesus Christ must live every day as if He will rapture us
that very day. The type of people we should be everyday are people living holy
and godly lives as we look for our Lord’s appearance and in so doing we will
help to hasten His coming. During those early days of the Church of Jesus
Christ, the Apostle John spoke of many anti-christ already in the world and
they surely saw the beginning of the falling away in those early days. The
Apostle Peter also spoke of the horrible destruction that would be wrought by
these people in the visible Church.
2
Peter 2:1-3 BUT ALSO [in those days] there arose false prophets among the
people, just as there will be false teachers among yourselves, who will subtly
{and} stealthily introduce heretical doctrines (destructive heresies), even
denying {and} disowning the Master Who bought them, bringing upon themselves
swift destruction. And many will follow their immoral ways {and} lascivious
doings; because of them the true Way will be maligned {and} defamed. And in
their covetousness (lust, greed) they will exploit you with false (cunning)
arguments. From of old the sentence [of condemnation] for them has not been
idle; their destruction (eternal misery) has not been asleep. QAB
The English word offended
our Lord used in Matthew 24:10 comes from the Greek word skandalizo, which means to entrap, that is, to trip
up, to stumble, or entice to sin, Apostasy or displeasure; make to offend.
The Apostle Paul used the phrase “a falling away” in 2 Thessalonians 2:3 and
that English phrase of words comes from the one Greek word apostasia, which means a defection from truth.
When we read the above passage of Scripture from the Apostle Peter and what the
Apostle Paul wrote to the Thessalonians and dig into the definition of the word
our Lord used we can see that He continued to translate the same message
through them as He spoke from His own lips, because He wanted them as well as
us today to be very sober, vigilant, and watchful because our adversary the
devil does not have horns and a tail with a pitch fork, but on the contrary the
devil is in many Church buildings every week preaching and teaching lies that
will eternally dam the souls of men, women, boys and girls. These people are
nice, intelligent, and successful at presenting their great swelling words to
many unsuspecting souls looking for an easy message without the daily bearing
of their cross for Jesus Christ. They are anti-christ that the Apostle John
spoke of and the false prophets our Lord refers to in Matthew 24:11.
Jeremiah
23:16 Thus says the Lord of hosts: Do not listen to the words of the [false]
prophets who prophesy to you. They teach you vanity (emptiness, falsity, and
futility) {and} fill you with vain hopes; they speak a vision of their own
minds and not from the mouth of the Lord. QAB
Ezekiel
13:6 They have seen falsehood and lying divination, saying, The Lord says; but
the Lord has not sent them. Yet they have hoped {and} made men to hope for the
confirmation of their word. QAB
Remember these words from our Lord when He said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and
spacious {and} broad is the way that leads away to destruction, and many are
those who are entering through it. But the gate is narrow (contracted by
pressure) and the way is straitened {and} compressed that leads away to life,
and few are those who find it.” The way of those who have apostasia and skandalizo is the wide gate or wide road our Lord speaks of here
that appears to lead to Heaven, but it does not. The indulgence of sin is what
these men and women preach and teach (being under grace) to people and it is a
contributor of the abounding increase in the lawlessness in society spoken of
by our Lord in Matthew 24:12, because many visible Churches that can be seen by
the world are not our Lord’s true Church and those visible Churches serve more
to be a stumbling block to those still lost in the world rather than salt and
light. It is the Laodicean Church of health, wealth, and prosperity, rich and
in need of nothing and our Lord said that visible Church was wretched,
miserable, poor, blind, and naked and made Him want to vomit. It is the seat of
liberalism, legalism, and license and the enemy of the souls of men and women
has lodged himself in these schools, ministries, churches, and other “Christian”
organizations and he works to keep people blind from the simplicity of the
gospel of repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, but the end for these
deceivers is sure, swift, and sorrowful as they are ushered into the place
where their spiritual father satan will reside for all eternity.
2
Corinthians 11:13-15 For such men are false apostles [spurious, counterfeits],
deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles (special messengers) of Christ (the
Messiah). And it is no wonder, for satan himself masquerades as an angel of
light; So it is not surprising if his servants also masquerade as ministers of
righteousness. [But] their end will correspond with their deeds. QAB
1
John 2:26 I write this to you with reference to those who would deceive you
[seduce and lead you astray]. QAB
Revelation
19:20 And the beast was seized {and} overpowered, and with him the false
prophet who in his presence had worked wonders {and} performed miracles by
which he led astray those who had accepted {or} permitted to be placed upon
them the stamp (mark) of the beast and those who paid homage {and} gave divine
honors to his statue. Both of them were hurled alive into the fiery lake that
burns {and} blazes with brimstone. QAB
“The devil and his instruments may prevail far in
deceiving poor souls; few find the strait gate, but many are drawn into the
broad way; many will be imposed upon by their signs and wonders, and many drawn
in by the hopes of deliverance from their oppressions. Note, Neither miracles
nor multitudes are certain signs of a true church.” Matthew Henry 1662-1714
“No one sets out to become an apostate – it’s never
the result of one abrupt, drastic turn away from the Lord. Instead, apostasy is most often the
product of a pattern of sinful compromises that harden and gradually steer a
professing believer away from the truth.” John MacArthur
“Only a love for the truth and a willingness to do
what the Word of God says will preserve us from the apostasy that Scripture tells us
will overtake the world.” T. A. McMahon
If
you do not know the Lord Jesus Christ and His amazing healing power, pray this
from your heart to the Lord Jesus Christ (you speaking directly to Him), Dear
Lord Jesus, I confess to You that I am a sinner and I need Your forgiveness. I
believe You shed Your Blood and died for my sins. I believe that You rose from
the dead proving that You alone are God. I repent of my sins. I want to turn
from my sins. I ask You Dear Lord Jesus to come into my heart and take control
of my life. I want You to be my Lord, Savior, and my God. Amen...
Sincerely in Christ,
Clifford D. Tate, Sr.
Author of “Silent Assassins of the Soul - Are you
Broken by Pornography and Masturbation? You can be Restored by the Lord Jesus
Christ and brought into Deliverance, Freedom, and Victory! A Guide for Men and
Women in the Enemy’s Crosshairs” e-book available now @ Amazon Kindle, @ Apple
I Bookstore for IPod, Barnes and Noble for Nook, Reader Store for Sony Reader,
Kobo, Copia, Gardners, Baker and Taylor, and eBookPie…
