the Bible gives us Insight that there will be a series of events that will shake the Church of God here on Earth the Bible speaks about certain events that will impact the Christian Community and you will find that nearly the entire chapter of 2 Thessalonians too is dedicated to warning us as Believers about these things which are to come now I won't read the entire chapter but if you read through 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-12 you'll find that the the Bible tells us several things to watch out for when it comes to the return of Christ
this passage of scripture talks about a Great Rebellion against God that will happen different translations use different terminologies but it's the same meaning over and over again in the last days there will be a great falling away a Great Rebellion the great apostasy and briefly let me read 2 Thessalonians 2:3 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 predition so we will see people falling away from Christ to put it a different way imagine
that there's a train called Christianity and this train is traveling to a destination called heaven now on this train called Christianity you can see the world you can see the glitz and the glamour of the world you could see the riches of the world you could see it all and so as this train called Christianity gets closer and closer to its destination there's a man who appears on every station this man is the Antichrist and he targets everyone on the train he calls for them to step off the train and come and enjoy life in
peace he calls for the passengers to take it easy you can come off that train and get back on at any time enjoy yourself and you see this is what happens in the last days the closer and closer we get to the return of Jesus Christ the more we will see people who have been riding this train called Christianity for many years we'll see them fall away and rebel if it's hard to believe just look at how many pastors start off well but ultimately fall and never recover this is not to judge because we all
fall but we need to open our eyes to what scripture says there's a difference between falling into sin or a moral lapse of judgment and living a double life and to further explain the role of the man of lawlessness the son of predition or in other words the Antichrist let me read the Amplified translation of 2 Thessalonians 2: 1:3 so that we can fully grasp the gravity of what we're were being told now in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to meet him we ask you brothers and sisters
not to be quickly unsettled or alarmed either by a so-called prophetic revelation of a spirit or a message or a letter alleged to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has already come let no one in any way deceive or ENT trap you for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first that is the Great Rebellion the abandonment of the Faith by professed Christians and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of Destruction the Antichrist the one who is destined to be destroyed the Bible tells us that
there will come a time where there will be a rebellion against God where people who claimed to be Christians people who professed to be Christians people who appeared to be Christians will turn their backs on the faith and walk out of the church this I believe is the effect and result of deception from the Antichrist I believe some will be deceived into walking away and others will make the choice to walk away but regardless of the method or influence the message that I would like to tell tell you today is do not be included in
this group of people which the Bible prophesizes about do not be a part of the group of people who walk away from the faith pray for discernment pray for the Lord to pour out his spirit in your life so that you would not be led into falsehood we need to stand on the core principles of the Gospel a gospel that teaches us in John 14:6 that Jesus Christ is is the way the truth and the life and there is no other way that you and I can get to heaven or get to God without acknowledging
that Christ died and rose again anyone who tells you that this isn't the case is a [Music] liar we need to stand on the core principles of the Gospel the message of John the Baptist in Matthew 3:2 is still relevant today thousands of years ago he preached the message of repentance saying repent for the Kingdom of Heaven has come near that same message of repentance is needed today you do not mix Holiness and sin you don't mix Darkness and Light good and evil do not coexist one displaces the other and so any doctrine that tells
you otherwise will lead you to deception any doctrine that tells you that you can freely sin and walk with God is lying to you in closing I pray that you will hold on to 2 Thessalonians [Music] 2:14-17 to this he called you through our gospel so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ so then Brothers stand firm and hold to the Traditions that you were taught by us either by our spoken word or by our letter now may the Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father who loved us and gave
us Eternal comfort and Good Hope through Grace Comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word why is it that nowadays you can easily come across someone who was once a Christian but they've had a change of heart and turned away how many musicians do you know who started out singing gospel music but they had a change of heart and turned away you see starting anything is easy but finishing something is hard look at it this way anyone can start a business but around 70% of businesses fail in the first 10 years
anyone can begin working towards being a lawyer or a professional athlete but not everyone is successful not everyone makes it and if you're anything like me I enjoy watching the Olympics and I especially like the track and field events now anyone can run a marathon anyone can start well anyone can start running but not everyone will finish that race or make it to the Finish Line I read an article recently that quoted Candice lingam wilgos a sports scientist and she said at the start of the race you are driven motivated as it goes on fatigue
takes over a coach for any distance will say that 2/3 in is where your form drops off and your mind goes the last part is often seen as the hardest isn't this like the Christian life I want us to look at 2 Timothy 4:7 the Bible says I have fought the good fight I have finished the race I have kept the faith now for some context Paul has been imprisoned and within his heart of hearts Paul knows that he won't survive his current stay in prison it's as if he felt that he was in the
airport and his flight to heaven was ready to depart he waited for his boarding call and so he writes to Timothy and tells him that he has lived a Christlike life with Integrity he has served his calling and his time on this Earth is coming to an end so we can say Paul finished well he finished his race well and although this is a fantastic example of someone who has run the race of Faith until the end there are examples of Christians who have fallen away Christians who started well but somewhere along the line they
lost their fire they opened up their hearts to other things that led them away from God I came across a book from a man named Tim Sledge and the title is goodbye Jesus an Evangelical preachers Journey beyond faith and in this book Tim Sledge outlines how he read the Bible cover to cover as a child how he was called to minister and Lead how he wrote books and preached the gospel only for him to come to the conclusion later in life that faith in Christ is not something he wanted now I'm not going to belittle
his personal story in any way because he went through a lot of difficulties however I would like to tell you that this is the unfortunate reality of Life some will begin in Christ but fall away later in life others will begin in the world but come to Christ later in life and this is nothing new from the very beginning when Jesus had 12 disciples they all saw the Miracles they all saw people being healed and amazing acts of God but Judas fell away the Bible actually says the devil entered his heart King Saul was an
anointed one when he started out but he lost his way and the Bible tells us that the spirit of God departed from him and he was tormented by an evil spirit he started well but he fell away in 2 Thessalonians 2: 1:3 the Apostle Paul warns the Thessalonian Believers about the coming Rebellion or apostasy that would precede the day of the Lord Lord now I would like to give you four illustrations of how someone can fall away and rebel from God firstly there can be a gradual drift imagine a ship without an anchor slowly drifting
away from its intended course apostasy often begins as a gradual Drift from prayer a gradual Drift from Reading God's word a gradual Drift from walking with God-fearing friends and opting to spend much more time with ungodly people he Hebrews 2:1 warns us and says we must pay the most careful attention therefore to what we have heard so that we do not Drift Away apostasy can start with neglecting our relationship with God slipping away from his presence and prioritizing worldly matters over spiritual ones for a Believer who once eagerly attended church and read their Bible daily
if they are not careful they can gradually find themselves to be less engaged and if this goes on for too long they will eventually replace their passion for God with worldly passions and distractions this can be the beginning of a falling away my second point is the fantasy of false teachings a man once traveled to a foreign country he was an adventurer a thrill seeker but in this particular place the resort that he stayed was a compound and all tourists were given instructions not to leave the compound under any circumstances but the man thought this
is a beautiful country every person I've come across is so friendly and welcoming what's the worst that could happen if I venture out for some sightseeing well he did so and in doing so he was exposed to all manner of danger and found himself as a victim of crime you see just because everyone he came across smiled doesn't mean they meant well and in this day and age just because someone quotes the Bible or sounds like a Christian that doesn't mean they are in 2 Timothy 4: 3:4 Paul warns for the time will come when
people will not put up with the sound Doctrine instead to suit their own desires they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear apostasy can take root when Believers are enticed by false teachings that cater to their desires rather than God's truth my third point is a deep internal issue it's all about complacency or the erosion of convictions imagine a fortress with a sturdy wall but it begins to gradually crumble under the Relentless assault of the elements apostasy can occur when a believer's convictions are eroded
over time often due to peer pressure societal Norms a desire to fit in or compromise just as Galatians 5:7 warns you were running a good race who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth apostasy may happen when we compromise our convictions for the sake of of worldly acceptance when you begin to compromise on God's standards and deem certain things acceptable even when the word of God says otherwise this is the beginning of apostasy my final example is the neglect of Spiritual armor imagine a situation where there is a fierce War raging
between two sides and there's a soldier who neglects to wear their armor on the battlefield exposing themselves to enemy attacks in Ephesians 6:1 to 11 the Bible says finally be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes apostasy can take hold when Believers neglect their Spiritual armor leaving themselves vulnerable to the enemy's attacks a more practical example of this is a Christian who over time becomes relaxed in their prayer life and begins to neglect reading the Bible
this will leave them spiritually exposed osed and unprepared to withstand the challenges of Faith now here's what the Bible says about apostasy the Amplified translation of 2 Thessalonians 2: 1:3 says now in regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to meet him we ask you brothers and sisters not to be quickly unsettled or alarmed either by a so-called prophetic revelation of a spirit or a message or a letter alleged to be from us to the effect that the day of the Lord has has already come let no one in
any way deceive or ENT trap you for that day will not come unless the apostasy comes first that is the Great Rebellion the abandonment of the Faith by professed Christians and the man of lawlessness is revealed the son of Destruction the Antichrist the one who is destined to be destroyed so if we are to deconstruct this verse we can come to the understanding that firstly there will be a gathering to meet Jesus Christ when he returns that's in verse one secondly there will be people speaking falsely people claiming to be prophetic who will aim to
deceive and say Jesus has already come that's in verse two the third point is that we are warned let no one in any way deceive or entrap you that is a clear indisputable warning to us as Believers it's a clear warning that there will be those who come to deceive there will be those who come to trap you it's a warning to all believers and then the Bible tells us that there will come a time where there will be a rebellion against God where people who once claim to be Christians turn their back on the
Lord people who once profess to be Christians will turn their back on the faith people who said the name of Jesus Christ will turn their backs on him deny him and walk out of the church I believe some will be deceived into walking away and others will will make the choice to walk away because they will be so compelled by sin so drawn to the pleasures of the world that they will be willing to enjoy sin now with no regard for the consequences to be faced in eternity now I'd like to draw your attention to
Colossians 3: 5 and 6 where the word of God reads put to death therefore what is Earthly in you sexual immorality impurity passion evil desire and covetousness which is idolatry on account of these the wrath of God is coming did you get that verse 6 said on account of these the wrath of God is coming to put it plainly stop sinning don't be given to habitual sin leave your body's sensual and self-centered desires depart from sin don't be greedy because greed is a form of idolatry as it replaces your Devotion to the Lord the bottom
line here is that when you live in these vices you ignite the anger of God these are acts of Disobedience and here's a piece of advice Disobedience comes with a heavy price Jonah disobeyed God and he was swallowed by a large fish Lot's wife disobeyed God and she was turned into a pillar of salt the children of Israel disobeyed God and ended up wandering in the desert for 40 years when you choose to act in Disobedience you ignite the anger of God so think twice before you act think twice before you reject the instruction of
the Lord once again the Bible in Colossians 3:5 and6 says put to death therefore what is Earthly in you and then it lists the following number one sexual immorality number two impurity then passion then evil desire and then covetousness which is greed can any of these things be found in your life are you living in a cycle of any of these sins if so repent now to be clear sexual immorality is anything from premarital sex adultery pornog graphy anything that is outside the parameters designed by God anything outside of a marriage covenant between a husband
and a wife is sexual immorality can this be found in your life because if it can then you are in direct Disobedience to the Lord secondly when the Bible mentions impurities I believe this can be anything and everything Unholy from Unholy thoughts or Unholy actions like like dabbling in dark spiritual things like witchcraft or fortune telling can any of this be found in your life because if it can then you are in direct Disobedience to the Lord the Bible says that evil passions and desires and greed are among those things which we should put to
death in our lives as children of God we're faced with choices on a daily basis do you choose to put to death these desires of the Flesh and uphold a Godly standard or not we have to make the choice whether to maintain Holiness or not and the thing is in today's world the devil has infiltrated and embedded himself into so many things in society he's Blended right in to such an extent that people no longer see the sin in what many may consider to be normal people no longer see the parading of sexual immorality in
movies and music today people no longer see the sin and how the world encourages and fosters the spirit of Pride and the pursuit of things of money and power sin has become accepted as the norm doesn't even shock us anymore to see sexual immorality on screen or to hear music that blasphemes the devil has managed to embed himself and blend into society he's normalized the things that lead us to sin and the thing is the devil cunningly presents these things before our eyes so frequently that it almost desensitizes us it becomes normal to see sexual
immorality on the screen and on social media it's become normal to pursue money and material things however what is normal to the world tends to go hand inand with what is sin the Amplified translation of Romans 12:2 gives a detailed account of what we need as children children of God the Bible says and do not be conformed to this world any longer with its superficial values and Customs but be transformed and progressively changed as you mature spiritually by the renewing of your mind focusing on Godly values and ethical attitudes so that you may prove for
yourselves what the will of God is that which is good and acceptable and perfect in his plan and purpose for you in other words stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you don't allow this world to mold you in its own image the key for us as Believers is that we are to be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit and it's when you allow the Holy Spirit to transform you to transform your mind and how you think it's only then that you will discern God's will the key is the Holy Spirit the
holy spirit will help you to eliminate Disobedience it's the Holy Spirit who will bring a total Reformation of how you think and once this happens once you allow the Holy Ghost to move within you righteousness will be what you pursue Jesus Christ is who you will desire and the kingdom of God is what you'll become passionate about now finally I'd like to read Ezekiel 36: 26-27 which says I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you I will take the Heart of Stone out of your flesh and give you a
heart of Flesh I will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes and you will keep my judgments and do them our hearts can so often be filled with many many things many passions many desires many goals and plans but these things pale in comparison to what the Lord has for us too often I've seen people lay the blame for their failures on the devil but the rude issue was that they never truly submitted to the Holy Ghost so they were left exposed to the enemy too many people put the
blame on their circumstances their past or even on other people but if you really get to the bottom line their issue is a heart issue their heart isn't willing to submit their their heart isn't willing to repent and turn away from sin and so today I encourage you to pray for God to renew your heart pray that he would give you a new heart that burns brightly for him if I can be honest and speak from the heart I haven't always been saved I haven't always been the good strong Christian that some may have thought
me to be I can admit the struggling that I love my neighbors as I love myself not all the time because it's hard it's hard to turn the other cheek it's hard to be a peacemaker when there are people who test you it's hard to love all your neighbors because quite simply not everyone is a nice person not everyone is easy to love and you know what else is hard living a life focused on Christ in a world that offers so many glittery distractions but here's what I want you to know have I found it
difficult to live right yes have I struggled with finding the discipline to pray on a daily basis yes has there been a day that went by when I didn't open my bible of course but here's what I found as I reflect Ed on my walk with God I realized that the reason for my struggles the thing that has caused me to have such a tough time is the fact that I've been so Reliant On My Own Strength I've tried to do things on my own but by myself of course I would find it hard to
be at peace with all men especially when they do me wrong but if I pray for grace if I allow the Holy Spirit to operate freely within me I have the strength to let things go I'm not going to be bothered by the petty things not everything done to me is worth me getting upset about by myself it's hard to live a life focused on Christ in a world that offers so many glittery distractions but if I pray for strength if I admit my shortcomings then his grace is sufficient for me God's power is made
perfect in my weakness by myself I just have too many limitations I have emotions that mislead me I have feelings that tempt me I have thoughts that cloud my judgment this is why you shouldn't try and rely on your own power and might because we all will fall short eventually if we try and do things on our own so you may be in a position where like me you're struggling to do the work of God to live righteously to live a life pleasing to God well I like to tell you to start calling on the
strength of God because on your own you'll never be able to win this battle against the devil you need the power the one working power that's in the blood of Jesus you need the power from the holy spirit because the Bible says but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you Jesus said that because he knew he knew that we would find it difficult to face life with our own strength we're limited in our wisdom in our knowledge so we need the power and might that comes when we receive the Holy Ghost
hear me when I say that we can and we should live by the power that's in the name of Jesus now the Bible says in Philippians chap 2:9 therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name and so what that means for us is that when it's hard when it's difficult and we feel weak that is when we should call on the power that's in the name of Jesus the name above every other name if you are someone who is striving to be Christlike what does that
look like in your day-to-day life how can we model Our Lives to be Faithful Servants of the Lord who do everything in their power to please Jesus Christ well I believe you need to pay attention to what Proverbs 1:7 says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge fools despise wisdom and instruction the fear of God is what motivates Godly Behavior the fear of God leads one to repent and pursue a holy life the fear of God keeps you on the straight and narrow when you fear God you do not take sin lightly
because you know that God is Holy and pure and he does not tolerate unrighteousness and impurity now the Bible also says in 1 Peter 2: 21 to this you were called because Jesus suffered for you leaving you an example that you should follow in his steps so what what does this mean for us Christ suffered and left us an example so that we should follow in his footsteps let's take a look at what this means for the Christian man or a woman the Amplified translation for Luke 9:23 says and he was saying to them all
if anyone wishes to follow me as my disciple he must deny himself set aside selfish interests and take up his cross daily expressing a willingness to endure whatever may come and follow me believing in me conforming to my example in living and if need be suffering or perhaps dying because of faith in me taking up your cross daily means you are immersed in the things of God God on a daily basis you are devoted to building a relationship with the Lord daily and what does this look like well it looks like prayer Jesus prayed often
Jesus would go to find a quiet place so that he could pray the disciples never asked Jesus to teach them how to perform Miracles or how to preach they asked Jesus how to to pray because prayer is the fundamental building block for a relationship with God When you pray you're setting aside your selfish interests because you are giving the Lord your undivided attention and focus when you pray you're humbling yourself and saying that you do not know it all further traits of a real follower of Jesus Christ are that they serve wholeheartedly all they do
is to the glory of God that's their heart's desire to glorify the name of the Lord above their own 1 Corinthians 10:31 says therefore whether you eat or drink or whatever you do do all to the glory of God I encourage you to do all that you can in God's Kingdom but do it to bring glory to him and not for yourself if you're serving serve for the glory of Jesus Christ if you're singing Sing For the Glory of Jesus Christ if you're an usher at your local assembly then do it for the glory of
Jesus Christ we need to have hearts that seek for the goodness of God to be demonstrated in our lives so in everything we do we should do it with pure intentions and godly intentions there must come a time when you as a Believer must decide I will stand strong and follow the word of God regardless of what I will have to give up and who I will have to let go of there comes a time when you have to decide I will stand and do The Godly thing I will forgive even when it's hard to
do even when I've been hurt there will come a time when you will have to decide to stand in faith even when you can't see a way out of the situation that you're in now today you may be under attack in some area of your life you have tried everything to to resolve it but nothing is working nothing is changing dear friend this is the time you ought to take a stand and believe believe in the power of the blood of Jesus it will break you out of that bondage believe in the power that's in
the blood of Jesus Christ it can set you free it can give you victory and it can loose you from any evil hold it's time to take a stand with the word of God against the forces of evil stand firm stand in confidence stand in righteousness Psalm 56:3 says when I am afraid I put my trust in you in God whose word I praise in God I trust I shall not be afraid what can flesh do to me we need to be men and women who put their trust in the Lord and mind you you
will only ever be able to stand firm when your trust is secured in the Lord so if you feel stuck if you feel under attack remember that the Bible says in Psalm 31 verse 24 be strong and Let Your Heart Take courage all you who wait for the Lord be strong Saints and stand in faith as you do this the Lord is sure to rescue you and so as children of God I believe I believe that it's time to stand stand up and lift High his Royal Banner you are are an ambassador of the most
high stand up to the lies of the enemy stand up with the truth of the Gospel stand up with the strength of the Holy Spirit stand up in God's strength and I encourage you as you stand in faith pray and ask the Lord to be with you as you stand [Music]
