Prophesy for Today - The Second Coming; Issue 3

"Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him ...". This is the way Paul begins the 2nd chapter of his second letter to the Thessalonians. This is such an important doctrine that he wanted to make sure they understood. Already at that time some were distorting the event saying "the day of Christ had come", or that it was just a 'spiritual' doctrine and not real. He wrote, "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, ...". Notice the sequence of events, 1) the falling away, then 2) the man of sin (Antichrist). 


What is meant by the phrase "the falling away"? The word in Greek is 'apostasia' from which we get the word apostate. It means Christians no longer keep the Word of God, they do not obey the truth of Scripture, and they do not have the Holy Spirit to guide them because He is only given to those who obey Him (Acts 5:32). Friends, this is the condition of much of the Church today. Over a third of those who call themselves Christian do not believe in a personal devil. Almost half of those teaching our Seminaries do not believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. Even among Evangelicals (those Christians who declare they believe all the Bible), many do not believe in the gifts of the Holy Spirit for today, even though the Bible nowhere tells us they were withdrawn. It does say that the Holy Spirit is only given to those who obey Him - hmm. Their churches are filled with people who, as Christians, are divorced and remarried, some multiple times, even though God says "I hate divorce" and because of it God will not hear our prayers anymore (Malachi 2). As a result, our children are scattered all over the place with no firm foundation to grow on. Instead of being the 'salt' and 'light' of the world, our past moral foundations are being eroded and our country is walking in darkness. Christians have turned their children (their heritage in the Lord) over to a godless school system that outlaws prayer to God and any mention of the name of Jesus. Several generations have now been trained to accept the theory of evolution as fact and the Book of Genesis as myth. In 1963 & 64, we - a so-called Christian nation, allowed prayer to God to be removed from our public schools and a blind man could see the results: 

Our best students cannot compete against the students of the world in reading, science, or math. While we spend more per student than any other country except Switzerland, we have little to show for it. While the reasons for this problem are many, I suggest that the main reason is we have forsaken God, who was the reason for our prosperity and success. 


The United States is the most Christian of all the nations on earth today - and we have become apostate!


Paul said after the great falling away the Antichrist would come - are we there? Paul also wrote, "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth [will let], until he be taken out of the way." (2 Thes. 2:7). The Greek word translated 'letteth' means  'to hold back, detain, restrain'. Is Paul writing about the apostate church? You decide for yourself but, David prophesied, "If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?" - Psalm 11:3.




Although this is not a 'happy-go-lucky' teaching, don't despair. God is still on the throne of heaven and He still hears the prayers of the righteous. We can still be light and salt to this world. And, in Malachi God says, "Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them, so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name. They shall be Mine, says the Lord of Hosts, on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked." - Malachi 3:16-18.