The Great Apostasy

The word apostasy means falling away. In the end times there will be a great falling away of people from the Christian faith. Statistics evidence this fact. Church attendance has declined dramatically over the past 30 years. Baptisms are down as well.

The morale fabric of our nation is coming unraveled. Morale absolutes are rejected by the masses. The truth of the existence of one God is rejected by many intellectuals in favor of the belief in the existence many of deities. A lot of people believe all religions stand on equal ground none being better than the others. This is contrary to historic Christianity.

The inerrancy of scripture has been under attack for decades undermining the authority of God's word. Pulpits are filled with pastors who no longer believe in the authority of scripture and who teach messages of their own imagination. The Bible is devalued in contemporary communities and churches.

Standards for leadership in the local church are often lowered as to accommodate the compromising lifestyles of contemporary so called Christians. Morale compromise abounds in the lives of believers.

All of these are only the beginnings of the great apostasy. As the end approaches more and more people will fall away from the faith. Their love will grow cold. They will not want to endure sound doctrine but want to have their ears tickled. This is already taking place but in the end it will grow worse.

Hearts will get harder. People will become hostile to the gospel. They will reject Jesus Christ and Christianity.

In the midst of this pagan environment Satan will strike. A political leader will arise. He will oppose God and seek to exalt himself as God. Satan will empower this leader with authority. He will make war on Christians. He will eventually take over the world. A new monetary system will be put in place requiring people to take a mark in order to buy and sell goods. R.F.I.D. chips are already invented and being used.

2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 (NASB)
³  Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
⁴  who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.

Revelation 13:1-18 (NASB)
¹  And the dragon stood on the sand of the seashore. Then I saw a beast coming up out of the sea, having ten horns and seven heads, and on his horns were ten diadems, and on his heads were blasphemous names.
²  And the beast which I saw was like a leopard, and his feet were like those of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.
³  I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And the whole earth was amazed and followed after the beast;
⁴  they worshiped the dragon because he gave his authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, "Who is like the beast, and who is able to wage war with him?"
⁵  There was given to him a mouth speaking arrogant words and blasphemies, and authority to act for forty-two months was given to him.
⁶  And he opened his mouth in blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name and His tabernacle, that is, those who dwell in heaven.
⁷  It was also given to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them, and authority over every tribe and people and tongue and nation was given to him.
⁸  All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.
⁹  If anyone has an ear, let him hear.
¹⁰  If anyone is destined for captivity, to captivity he goes; if anyone kills with the sword, with the sword he must be killed. Here is the perseverance and the faith of the saints.
¹¹  Then I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon.
¹²  He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed.
¹³  He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven to the earth in the presence of men.
¹⁴  And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who *had the wound of the sword and has come to life.
¹⁵  And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
¹⁶  And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
¹⁷  and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
¹⁸  Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.



How ought we to live as these days fast approach?