Beware Of End Time Falling Away
2nd Thessalonians 2: 1- 4 “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.”
FALLING away means religious apostasy. In a more broad definition, apostasy is a Greek word implying embracing an opinion contrary to one’s religious beliefs, leading to defection, revolt, abandonment, and renunciation of the ideas one earlier preached or stood for. In the general Christian parlance, it is called backsliding. When such happens, the more flippant individuals resort to criticising the doctrines and practices adopted by their former religious group and what our Lord Jesus Christ came for. Christians are being warned not to fall into the traps of false prophets, who are out to deceive even the very elect into falling away. There will be oppositions to God’s Word; and the man of sin, the anti- Christ will present himself as God to lead many astray. We are being warned to remain strong and faithful to Our Lord Jesus Christ. There are series of events that will serve as prelude to the coming of the end of all things. Those things will bring sorrow to many and eventually lead them to destruction, if they do not remain strong to the end. The Bible enumerated all these in Matthew
24: 3- 14, “And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? And what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world? 4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. 5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many. 6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. 7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in diverse places. 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. 10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. 11 And many
false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. 13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
A lot of events we are witnessing currently are pointers to fact that the end is near; wars are commonplace these days. Tribes, nations and groups of people no longer find it difficult invading their neighbours. Killings of fellow human beings are no longer news these days, as such violent attacks and other heinous criminal acts take place on daily basis, even in our country, Nigeria. There is hatred for one another and even the gospel preachers, nobody wants to hear about Christ these days because fear of condemnation of their evil doings. There are, indeed, sorrows in the land as a result of iniquity of many. These are bringing sadness to many people. But in the midst of all these, we are advised to endure to the end because salvation is actually coming to whoever holds unto Christ to the end. The Bible further laments in 2nd Timothy 3: 1- 4, “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, 4 Traitors, heady, high minded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” It is unfortunate that, today, many human problems are man made. People who have the opportunity to be in positions of leadership are too egocentric to act in favour of the common good. They embezzle funds budgeted for projects, thereby denying the masses social amenities. People, including constituted authorities, fail in their words, breaking