Strengthening the Church to Trust Jesus Through the Coming Hour of Testing

One of the most significant signs of the minutes before Jesus returns is the event that the Holy Spirit terms, “THE FALLING AWAY”.

In a letter to the church in Thessalonica, Paul warns the believers: “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless THE FALLING AWAY comes first…” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) [NKJV]

This text in 2 Thessalonians is actually one of seven texts that give us information about one of the most significant future events in the Church: the “FALLING AWAY”. This book is an attempt to help the Church prepare herself to successfully engage the dynamics that are attached to this event – and so remain faithful to Jesus, through the end-times’ tribulations, and unto His coming, wherein we will hail His reign as Lord of the nations, and King over our individual lives.

I. THE FALLING AWAY • Part 1 • THE FALLING AWAY IS REAL

It is, and will occur within a historical period of time that, in the next age, we will remember with specific names, dates and events, theological heresies, strong emotions, and prominent movements attached those memories. Millions of saints will be filled with profound thanksgiving for the ways the grace of the Lord sustained them through this season, while they watched friends, family members, and even respected leaders, fall away, all around them. There will be millions of individuals who are Christians today, including numerous individuals whose names we know, who will not be standing with Jesus Christ when He returns to the earth. Some of these persons will blatantly, and obviously be out of step with the King. Millions of others will be horrified (too small a word) to hear the Lord say, “Depart from Me” (Matthew 7:23). They will be filled with eternal remorse and torment over Jesus’ evaluation of the faithless ways that they lived their lives.

II. THE FALLING AWAY • Part 2 • THE DEFINITION of FALLING AWAY

Paul refers to the FALLING AWAY with the single Greek word [ἀποστασία • apostasia] The root definition of this word = falling away; apostasy; and rebellion. Although some translations read: “the great rebellion”, none read “the great falling away”. Most major translations simply refer to it as “the falling away”.

A logical question to ask is “what is the falling away FROM?” In the context of the rest of Paul’s letter to the believers at Thessalonica, the falling away is certainly a reference to falling away from (2 Thessalonians 1:3) “faith (in Jesus Christ) that grows exceedingly”.

If we read the first chapter of Paul’s epistle, we get some strong clues about what Paul had in mind when he referred to the Thessalonians’ dynamic “faith”.

What does DYNAMIC FAITH look like?

(1:3) Paul writes: “We (apostles) are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because YOUR FAITH GROWS EXCEEDINGLY.”

This FAITH manifests itself in the way the Thessalonians believers “abound in love toward each other”. (1:3) It takes great faith to love victoriously.

According to (1:4) this FAITH is girded by “patience” as they endure intense “persecutions and tribulations”,

(1:5) says this FAITH, perseveres through “the righteous judgment of God, that they may be counted worthy of the Kingdom of God, for which they suffer.”

(1:7) says this FAITH will give “rest” to “those who are troubled… because it is built upon the knowledge that the Lord Jesus will soon be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels.”

(1:8) connects their FAITH to “obedience to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

And (1:10) details the fact that the way they live out their FAITH will “glorify” Jesus, and His ways, prior to “the Day that He returns”.

In (1:11) Paul prays “that God would count them worthy of this calling, (to magnify Christ) and fulfill all the good pleasure of His goodness and “THE WORK OF FAITH WITH POWER”; meaning that God’s power will strengthen their FAITH in ways that greatly MAGNIFY Jesus, and His ways.

(1:12) again underscores that the nature of the way the BELIEVERS show their FAITH in JESUS “glorifies the name of our Lord Jesus Christ”, and proves that the “grace of God” is real, and can be counted on to uphold real people, experiencing great distress, trouble, temptation, and persecution in this age.

With chapter one’s robust definition of FAITH in mind, we can then see that in Paul’s mind, the FALLING AWAY from FAITH would take on 9 symptoms in the lives of individuals:

1. They would stop growing in Christ-likeness,

2. Their love for each other would start to diminish,

3. They would grow impatient,

4. They would lose hope under tribulation and troubles,

5. They would sacrifice the glory of the Kingdom for temporary relief

6. They would not have peace and rest,

7. They would compromise their obedience to the teachings of Christ Jesus for the sake of earthly gain in this age,

8. They would not magnify and reflect the glory of Jesus, and His ways,

9. They would not give evidence of the power of God’s prevailing grace at work in their lives.

These are good litmus-test markers for what our lives will begin to look like when we begin to FALL AWAY from vibrant FAITH in Jesus. Beloved. This is nuclear material for all of us to consider in the place of prayer. Each of us can go before the Lord and ask, “Father…”
…show me where I’m not growing more and more like Jesus.
…show me how my love for others is diminishing.
…show me where I’m growing impatient.
…show me where fear of tribulation is robbing me of joy and hope.
…show me how I’m sacrificing the glory of Your Kingdom for my own gain, and the false glory of this world.
…show me how I am not walking in peace and rest.
…show me where I am compromising my obedience to You.
…show me how I am defaming the glory and truth of Jesus.
…show me where I am not trusting the sufficiency of Your grace at work within me.
…show me where I’ve lost the primary zeal for my life to be all about magnifying the glory of Jesus.

These are extremely important questions to consider together with the Lord. He is SO FOR US retaining, and growing in our FAITH in these hours of tribulation.

III. THE FALLING AWAY • Part 3 • THE MANY SCRIPTURES THAT SPEAK OF THIS EVENT

In addition to 2 Thessalonians 2, the FALLING AWAY, or the FALLING AWAY dynamic is detailed by numerous other New Testament scriptures. In Chronological order, these references include, Matthew 24:11–12; Luke 18:8; Timothy 1:18-20; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:1–5; 2 Peter 2; and Jude; 1.

Each of these texts add depth and understanding to the nature of the FALLING AWAY event, and are worthy of intensive, prayerful unpacking. This series will take time to study-out each of these six texts individually, even as we continue to unpack 2 Thessalonians 2. But here, we need to make an important, general point.

As we scan the list of these texts, we must stop and recognize that we have no less than five inspired, New Testament writers who give us nothing short of heaven’s perspective about a real crisis that still looms before US in the 21 century. Two writers highlight Jesus’ own warning about this time in history. Paul, Peter and Jude devote whole chapters (and more) to outline the nature of this trouble that will come to the Bride of Christ. That the Holy Spirit gave unction to so many details about this single episode, should arrest us, and sober us as we examine their Words. The weight of this topic needs to spur us to take intentional steps to not only be “hearers of this Word”, but doers also,
…who diligently look into the perfect reflection that the Word provides for our souls;
…doers who humble ourselves to let the Word identify OUR spots, wrinkles and blemishes;
…doers who let the scalpel of the Word pierce the flesh of OUR lives, so that OUR corruptions and compromises can be removed from OUR hearts.

JESUS SPEAKS OF THE FALLING AWAY TO HIS DISCIPLES
¹¹ Many false prophets will appear and mislead many. ¹² Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold. (Matthew 24:11-12)

JESUS, SPEAKS TO HIS DISCIPLES ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF HAVING REAL FAITH WHEN HE RETURNS
Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth? (Luke 18:8)

PAUL SPEAKS ABOUT THE FALLING AWAY TO TIMOTHY – THE NEXT GENERATION OF LEADERSHIP
Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, (1 Timothy 4:1)

PAUL SPEAKS ABOUT THE FALLING AWAY AGAIN TO TIMOTHY – AT THE END OF PAUL’S LIFE
But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: ² For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, ³ unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, ⁴ traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away! (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

PETER SPEAKS ABOUT THE FALLING AWAY TO THE CHURCHES WHO ARE EXPERIENCING INCREASED PRESSURE UPON THEIR FAITH

The whole second chapter of (2 Peter) is a chief scripture that gives us a boat-load of life-giving material about the FALLING AWAY.

When you go to a restaurant, you can see the name of a dish on a menu. You may ask the waitress what the dish is, how large of a portion it is, and what she thinks of the menu item, and you’ll only get a general picture of what you may expect to see on your table. However, if you go behind the scenes, enter into the kitchen and talk to the chef himself, asking him what ingredients he uses, and see how he prepares it – you will have a much greater appreciation of what you’re eating, and why it’s been prepared the way it has.

This is what Peter gives us in 2 Peter 2. He is taking us into the kitchen to understand what goes into the making of faith that “falls away”.

Peter tells us what failing faith consists of. He shows us how we can identify it eroding our faith in real time. He explains what contributes to the false, artificiality of our faith, and what the Lord does to keep our faith vibrant and alive.

This chapter is enormously helpful if we want to do more than become familiar with a chronology of events about the end times, and truly, personally cultivate a life that daily trusts, and walks out real-time faith in Jesus Christ. This is the only reason for giving ourselves to these scriptures. And this is where we will find the Spirit giving us “grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). The Lord has nothing invested in simply making individuals “experts” on identifying the events, crisis points, and stumbling blocks that compose the end of the age.

JUDE SPEAKS ABOUT THE FALLING AWAY TO THE CHURCH WHO IS BEING TROUBLED BY FALSE TEACHERS
“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” ¹⁶ These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. ¹⁷ But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²² And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³ but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh. ²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. (Jude 14-25)

What we find in all 7 of these texts about THE FALLING AWAY will, and needs to challenge what’s in the roots of each of our hearts. With this in mind, it is incumbent upon us to handle what the Word of God says about this tribulation dynamic with great care, and vigilance, heeding the Words of James the apostle: “Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.” (James 1:21)

A. JESUS SPEAKS OF THE FALLING AWAY TO HIS DISCIPLES
¹¹ Many false prophets will appear and mislead many. ¹² Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold. (Matthew 24:11-12)

In order to understand Jesus’ Words here in Matthew 24, we need to understand the greater context into which He was speaking. Jesus’ staccato prophetic observations in this chapter about the end of the age, are a part of His synoptic, Jerusalem discourse. It begins with His entrance into the city, (Matthew 21:1) where Jesus intends to finish and fulfill His earthly ministry – and it ends with the celebration of the Passover, in (Matthew 26:1), where Jesus offers His disciples His own Body and Blood, and He is ultimately taken captive by His enemies. Five chapters that move us from the national scope of His life/ministry; into Jerusalem – the capital of the nation; to the temple – the center of the capital of the nation; to Jesus Himself – the focal-point of the center of the capital of the nation; all laid down as a covenant sacrifice unto the glory of the Father.

The over-arching theme of these chapters is the Son of God coming into the world, as its rightful, and anointed King. He is a King Who is set on bringing His perfect order to bear on the nation, their religious beliefs and values, the temple, His disciples, and ultimately to individual persons themselves. His is a thoroughly replete Kingdom. And in order for it to manifest the glory of the eternal God, and life to the human world, must be manifest on all spheres with integrity. Every hidden individual thought, and every public decree is perfectly consistent with His heart. As His thoughts are perfectly aligned with the Father, so the manifest order on earth must be aligned with His own. The theme of the stories found in these chapters is a radical assertion: the materialization of heaven’s totalitarian reign of righteousness, with Y’shua the Nazarene, seated at the center of all authority over the nation of Israel.

But, what actually happens in these chapters is far from “glad embrace” of Jesus’ righteous Kingdom.

In chapter 21, Jesus comes into the city as its ordained leader, and although the people acclaim His rule, it is vastly misunderstood by everyone – including His own disciples. And those who DON’T misunderstand why He has come, vehemently oppose His exaltation. Matthew tells us, “And when He had come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, ‘Who is this?'” (Matthew 21:10) Jesus intended to move the whole city. Indeed, it was impossible for Him, being Who He is, to NOT move the whole city. Such was His ordained power.

And so, as Jesus comes into the city, He resets the order of the temple. And then He teaches from the seat of that order, within the temple, aligning human hearts with His ways. He debates, and rebukes the oppositional ways of the scribes and the pharisees. But ultimately He hasn’t come to engage in theological and ethical arguments. He’s come to establish His Kingdom, there, in the nuclear core of the city, and within the hearts of the people themselves. Those who hail His reign will ultimately allow Him access to all aspects of their lives. Those who protest His reign He will visit with judgment. Eventually, should they persist in resisting Him, they will be excluded and eliminated from the Kingdom He has come to establish.

Jesus uses His interaction with a fig-tree, as a prophetic picture of Israel’s willingness to rightfully give Him what He is worthy of. In season or out of season, Jesus is saying, “I Am worthy of receiving the fruit of your intimate love, wholehearted faith and practical allegiance.” He is that confident in both His ability to lead, and the ultimate fruit of His leadership.

For the next few stories Jesus details what allegiance to Him will look like and require – and He also depicts what resistance to His reign will bring to individuals, religious Judaism, and to the nation.

In chapter 24 Jesus gives us the macro-picture of His mission, not only to Israel, but to the whole world. He speaks in apocalyptic visions, because His Kingdom is apocalyptic. The coming of His reign in our world is meant to spell the end of an insufficient order, and replace it with a sufficient order. The insufficient order is corrupt, selfish, murderous, rapacious, faithless order. It was not the order humans were created for. The Godhead’s intent for humanity is a comprehensively, satisfying, life-giving, loving, honorable, tender-hearted, meek, humble and faith-dependent order. Jesus came to replace one kingdom with another.

“Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” (Matthew 6:10)

This means that in order for “His will to be done on earth”, the strong-will of the current order must be entirely subdued. Jesus knows the insufficient order has a very determined self-loving will. It will fight to death to retain its authority in our world – and within our own souls. And, lo and behold, this is precisely Jesus’ cure for stubborn, deficient, self-love. Death. Death to self, on a cross. The old order will not, indeed it cannot pass away without it being destroyed, in our world, AND within ourselves.

When Jesus first turned His face toward Jerusalem, back in Matthew 16, He knows the full, necessary force of the opposition He will face as His Kingdom takes aim at the seat of all human authority. It will mean death. The dominion of this age is this intractable. But He is not only speaking of His own death, He tells everyone who wants to follow Him into His Kingdom, they must thoroughly divest themselves of the deficient order of this world:

“24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.” (Matthew 16:24-25)

In truth, what Jesus is saying to His disciples is: “If you choose to be a part of My Kingdom, you need to prepare yourselves to die to the stuff inside yourself, AND die to the subtle, strong, deceptive, alluring rhetoric, ethics, and ways of the world. You need to know you’re in a fierce battle to the death… So die now. To Me. The One Who has the power to resurrect you to My Kingdom; My ways; and My power… This is the only way you may come into My Kingdom.”

This is the cosmic context that brings us to the red-letters of chapter 24. In this chapter Jesus is particularly addressing those who have announced their intention to follow Him into His Kingdom, and He is telling them of the perils that will await them as they remain faithful to His Kingdom, while still living in the old kingdom. Specifically, in verses 11 and 12 Jesus cautions them: “11 Many false prophets will appear and mislead many. 12 Because lawlessness is increased, the love of most people will grow cold.”

Here, Jesus is saying two important things about how we live faithful to His Kingdom, while still living in atmosphere of the old kingdom. In verse 11 He warns: “The old order that is passing away will animate many men who are murderously attached to the ways of the old order. In fact, the coming of MY order, will flare up a resistant response in the OLD order. You need to know this – because you are of the old order. You are susceptible to the thinking and the logic of the old order. Because of this, all of you, are easily misled.”

Friends, it’s vital that we acknowledge this about ourselves. We are like prostitutes who have only known abuse, usury, illicit gratification, subjugation, and threat. Even though we have been brought to our legitimate Bridegroom, the ways of the prostitute are still ingrained within us. It requires a renewed mind to replace the destructive thought-patterns of the old order, with the ways of our good, gracious, selfless Husband.

Jesus is saying to His Bride: “Watch out for the voice of the old order (that comes through these false prophets). Do not let them RE-subjugate your heart and your thinking to the ways of the prostitute. THAT’S NO LONGER WHO YOU ARE! “

When your whole world, the history of your world, and everything endemic inclination inside your head thinks like a prostitute, it takes SUPERNATURAL faith to think otherwise; to think like a loved, cherished, genteel, peaceable Bride. This is Jesus’ definition of true “faith” in this age.

The second thing Jesus is saying is He is reminding us that the old order – the order that we’ve come out of – is an order of lawlessness. It is made up on the fly. It reacts to human circumstances. It doesn’t have eternal perspective, and so it can’t establish laws for human behavior based on unchanging eternal values. It is a capricious way. Though it will always attempt to portray itself as stable, universal, and constant, its true way is one of anarchy, treachery and war. It doesn’t know the way to abundant, prevailing life. It destroys. It has no power to establish life.

Consequently, as it sees its own demise drawing near, it is going to use the only ultimate weapon it has to use, in order to retain its power. The desperate way of self-determination. The sure way of death, and a way that’s the kryptonite to love.

In Matthew 22, Jesus intones the pinnacle objective, fulcrum, and power source of His Kingdom. In four verses, Jesus gives us the entire “secret-sauce” to His Kingdom: 37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

This is consistent with what Paul will say later in his letter to the Romans: “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” (Romans 13:8) Lovelessness is connected to lawlessness. These are of the old order. Jesus’ Kingdom is the way of the eternal order – the order of love.

Pursuant to what we’re discussing here, what Jesus is saying is, “Watch over your love. Keep an eye on the ‘love-monitor’. My Kingdom is 110% about love. It begins with love, and it ends with love, and the total fabric in between is love. When you see your love waning – for Me, and/or for others, know that you have been assaulted by the ways of another Kingdom. Know that your ‘faith in Me’ is being shelled by the destructive, non-life-giving kingdom of lawlessness.”

This is what Jesus is zealous for us to be vigilant about. It’s why, in (Matthew 24:42, again in verse 43, and later in Matthew 25) He trumpets us to “watch therefore”. “Watch out for the false rhetorical narratives of the old lawless order coming through the false prophets. Watch out, that your own hearts do not grow cold in love. When this is happening, know that you are falling away from faith in Me.”

B. PAUL WARNS THE NEXT GENERATION OF CHRISTIAN LEADERS ABOUT THE FALLING AWAY
1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3 forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth…. 6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. 7 But reject profane and old wives’ fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. 8 For… godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance. 10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. 11 These things command and teach.

As Paul’s ministry was coming to a close, he took specific steps to make sure that the next generation of Christian leaders knew that a “FALLING AWAY” was to come.

At the outset of his message he declares that he can make this assertion with clarity and certainty because, the Spirit (has) expressly spoken this. Many who were once a part of the household of God are going to depart from “faith” in God. In this opening statement Paul is saying, “God told me to tell you…” The authority behind this prognosis is unquestionable. Paul isn’t saying, “I’ve done the sociological math, and it makes sense that…” He’s listening to the Voice of God Himself. He’s heard the Spirit issue this warning. And what He’s said is resoundingly unambiguous. “PEOPLE THAT I LOVE ARE GOING TO STOP TRUSTING ME.” The report is spiritual. And it’s going to be spiritually discerned. It isn’t natural. If you’re counting on natural methods to recognize the danger that’s coming (and that’s here), you’ll miss it. You need to be alive in the Spirit, with ears to hear His Words.

This is the truth. LEADERS WITHIN THE CHURCH OF GOD are going to see the very same signs, and the exact same symptoms, and attribute diametrically opposite causes to them. These matters MUST be seen, apprehended and understood in the Spirit. Indeed, much of what will need to be identified will only be able to be perceived in the Spirit. The fact of the matter is, MILLIONS of conservative, Bible-believing church goers will pass through the hour of the “falling away” and not know they’re walking through Biblical prophecy.

If this isn’t enough, Paul continues – not only is the falling away being forecast by the Spirit, and must it be supernaturally grasped, the falling away itself is going to be a spiritual event that has its roots in evil, spiritual forces. The devil and his angels are going to subterfuge the faith of many within the Body of Christ. And these nefarious forces are going to come at the Church with a two-pronged attack. They’re going to use all manner of deceptions (about signs and wonders, and fables and narratives), and they’re going to go after the Church’s doctrine (what the saints believe about God and His Kingdom).

It’s vital to underscore, that this attack, like the Spirit’s warning, is going to be spiritual. Although it will have natural consequences, and symptoms, the nature of the assault itself will be demonic.

The first element of the enemy’s attack will be to fill the minds of the believers with falsehoods of all sorts; urban myths, conspiracies etc. and false manifestations of spiritual gifts. Jesus, Paul and Peter all make mention of these “deceptions” in numerous discourses in the New Testament. You will hear about rumors of wars, and full-blown canards that will attempt to alarm you, and send you off chasing phantoms; imagining enemies that aren’t really there. Don’t fall for it! At the same time, there will come false prophets and false apostles with fake resumes who will be animated by demons. They will do things in your midst that will astound you. But their power is not from Jesus’ Kingdom. Their power will come from the spiritual hosts of wickedness. Know this, and don’t be bamboozled by every display of “magic”. They are attempting to bait you into a false way, that doesn’t focus on the acceleration of the glory of Jesus, that will end in destruction.

The second element of this evil strategy entails getting the brethren to believe false things about God; Who He is; what He’s like, and how He operates in the Church, and our world. This ploy is an attempt to hook our faith on false premises about God; dogma that has no power attached to it, and will only lead to spiritual futility and fatigue. Paul is adamant. The ways of these deceptions and false doctrines will divorce us our covenant life in God.

In verses 2 and 3 the experienced apostle gives the Church four ways to recognize those who are plying these deceptions and false-doctrines.

1. They will come speaking about issues and events that can be proven to be not true, and will be hypocritical to the Spirit of Christ.
2. Their own consciences will be seared, and no longer sensitive to the ways of the Holy Spirit – meaning, they will engage in sinful and unrighteous practices, and not be bothered by the fact that the behavior is evil and destructive.
3. In verse 3 Paul notes that these deceivers will “forbid people to marry”. Here he isn’t saying that the movement itself will forbid marriage. He’s telling us something about these deceivers’ authority. They will assume authority that will deny adherents various freedoms and rights, and the followers will give them that kind of slavish power over their lives.
4. These false teachers will rely heavily upon the power of religious rules and regulations, so that many become enamored with various rituals, laws and festivals, rather than focusing on cultivating godliness (verses 7 and 8) which is developing the mind, and character of Jesus.

It’s important for us to pause on these three verses and make what Paul is saying practicable to our context. The Spirit, and Paul are passionate that we know that demons are looking for ways to sow falsehoods into our family that will corrupt what we trust God for. And the way we can know that someone is working deception into the family is by the hypocrisy (not integrity) in their lives, and the exposure that their lives are feeding on (an even defending) unholy and depraved behaviors. Furthermore, this schemers from Satan will claim great authority for themselves, and delude individuals with religious rhetoric, and activities. Paul is saying, all this will contribute to beloved sisters and brothers in Christ “falling away” from vibrant faith in Jesus.

Lastly, Paul, (throughout this pericope) strongly encourages Timothy, and the rest of the next generations’ elders, to diligently heed what he is saying about the “falling away”. What the Spirit is saying about the nature of all this is worthy of your strict attention! You are being a good minister (v.6) as you help the Body stay alert, looking for signs, and symptoms of the enemy’s infiltration within the ekklesia. Paul is saying, “You are being trustworthy as you instruct the church about these matters; helping them to spiritually discern how and where the enemy is ‘seeking to devour’ (1 Peter 5:8) the faith of individuals. It is good, faithful and wise to alert the saints, exhorting them to circumspection (Ephesians 5:15), and instructing them about how to guard themselves against specific attacks against their faith, even though you, like us, will likely suffer reproach (from leaders within the Church itself) as you engage in this hard labor (v.10).

C. PAUL AGAIN WARNS THE NEXT GENERATION ABOUT THOSE WHO WILL DECEIVE AND CORRUPT THE FAITH • (2 TIMOTHY 3)

The mere fact that Paul specifically addresses the topic of false teaching, and falling away from the faith, in both of his letters to Timothy should tell us how important of an issue this is for the Church. The corruption of belief and behavior is a universal threat to the Bride of Christ. And we should not shy away from addressing it as adamantly as Paul, Jesus, Peter, Jude, and James do. In truth, Paul strongly maintains that when the Church neglects to address the unrighteous ways within her walls, all sorts of perversion of the faith will grow and corrupt many.

The third chapter in his second letter to Timothy is another replete exhortation for the next generation to be vigilant about those who would bring corrupting elements into the Body of Christ. Here is some of what Paul is saying pursuant to the topic of what contributes to “the falling away” from living faith in Jesus.

¹ But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come.
Paul is speaking, again as he was in 1 Timothy, under the unction of the Spirit, directly to us, in our hour, urging us to vigilance. “The last days” of this age when the curse of sin dominates the earth will be filled with “peril”. The greek word Paul uses is, “χαλεποί” (ka-le-poi) meaning, “hard to bear, troublesome, dangerous, harsh, fierce, and even savage.” While he doesn’t address the focal point of what’s in danger in this sentence, from the rest of the chapter it’s clear that Paul is chiefly concerned about how this “peril” will endanger the quality of the Church’s faith in Jesus.

Secondly, it is the perfectly omniscient Spirit Himself Who is telling the Church that perilous times ARE going to touch her, and present unique trouble to her faith. Dangerous, fierce and savage times WILL come to the Church. This should be a baseline understanding within any New Testament fellowship. The question is, “what is the Spirit’s wise course for navigating this “trouble”?

Verses 2-5 tell the church about the character of those who will imperil the faith of the flock: ² For men will be
lovers of themselves,
lovers of money,
boasters,
proud,
blasphemers,
disobedient to parents,
unthankful,
unholy, ³ 
unloving, 
unforgiving,
slanderers,
without self-control,
brutal, despisers of good, 
⁴ traitors,
headstrong,
haughty,
lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 
⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power.
These eighteen characteristics should be regarded as soberly as the nine fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Wherever we see these qualities being normalized, and even championed within any collection of people, we should understand that life is at risk. When we see these features within the Church, we must recognize that no matter what the group members say, faith in Jesus isn’t being activated, it’s being thwarted. Their behavioral values are telling us what’s going on on the inside. It’s telling us what the fellowship really believes.

Each of these eighteen qualities are signposts telling the church that unbelief is at work here. Conversely, each of these eighteen markers can be countered by tangible, dynamic faith in Jesus Christ.

⁵ And from such people turn away! 
Paul tells Timothy to make a separation between yourself and those who are exhibiting these norms. Distinguish what your faith is in, from what their faith is in. Make is clear. And in some cases, even remove yourself, and those who are entrusted to you as an overseer of the people of God, from the “threatening” influence of these people.

⁶ For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, ⁷ always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Now as Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, disapproved concerning the faith; ⁹ but they will progress no further, for their folly will be manifest to all, as theirs also was.

In these four passages Paul gives us specific, real-life examples of what kinds of episodes will result from those who embrace the eighteen perilous behaviors. What he takes pains to note is that those who tolerate and even encourage those who are championing these values is a stagnation of faith. In the phrases, “always learning and never coming to the knowledge of the truth”, and “they will progress no further” the Spirit is saying, “If you let these ones sway the brethren, the faith of the congregation is going to rot.” And Paul employs the resistance of Jannes and Jambres against Moses and the children of Israel’s progression in the desert as a metaphorical picture of how these ones will mute and stifle living, breathing faith in God.

¹⁰ But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, love, perseverance, ¹¹ persecutions, afflictions, which happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra—what persecutions I endured. And out of them all the Lord delivered me. ¹² Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 

Paul then references his own relationship with Timothy, and reminds him of what aspects of his own life have forged Timothy’s faith: doctrine, life-style, sense of vision and destiny, how Paul trusted Jesus, his willingness to endure hardship, his prevailing love through all things, even in the face of torturous opposition to the gospel. All these human conditions are where the genuiness of Paul’s faith in Jesus Christ was seen, and transmitted to Timothy and his fellow believers.

And this is also germane for our progressing in faith in Christ. When we share relationship with leaders in the Church who maintain pure, Biblical doctrine, live lives of integrity to the Word, are filled with Holy Spirit vision, who “live” their faith, even through times of severe difficulty, who love and love and won’t stop loving, all the time becoming more and more impassioned for the fruitfulness of the gospel – when we are in the company of others who are living their relationship with God in this manner – we can be reasonably certain that the quality of our faith – the faith that Jesus is looking for on the earth (Luke 18:8) – is sound, and strong.

¹³ But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. ¹⁴ But you must continue in the things which you have learned and been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them, ¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

Paul concludes the chapter by again reminding his protege that “evil imposters” will come. It’s important to note that the word “imposter” is used here. We need to know that these deceivers will exist among us, doing the same kind of activities, intoning the same phrases, and perhaps even use the same rhetoric as us. But inside, where the matters of the heart dwell, they will enthrone the ways of “evil”. They will think, and argue and contend in ways that will produce death – not eternal life. They will be people of great pretense; persistently “faking it” for the sake of self-image. And again, when their ways look like the eighteen qualities Paul lists in verses 2 – 5, we can know that something is “off”.

The Spirit’s antidote to the presence of these pretenders is for the Body of Christ to be saturated by the Word of God. And in the last couple of chapters he underscores the great, reliable, stable, power of giving our hearts and minds to dialoguing, understanding, praying, and doing the Word of God, with great rigor. This is how we can be bonafide “men of God” – men and women of God with “good faith”.

D. PETER WARNS THE BUFFETED CHURCH ABOUT THE FALLING AWAY (2 Peter 2)

The whole second chapter of (2 Peter) presents us with life-giving material about the FALLING AWAY.

When you go to a restaurant, you can see the name of a dish on a menu. You may ask the waitress what the dish is, how large of a portion it is, and what she thinks of the menu item, and you’ll only get a general picture of what you may expect to see on your table. However, if you go behind the scenes, enter into the kitchen and talk to the chef himself, asking him what ingredients he uses, and see how he prepares it – you will have a much greater appreciation of what you’re eating, and why it’s been prepared the way it has.

This is what Peter gives us in 2 Peter 2. He is taking us into the kitchen to understand what goes into the making of faith that “falls away”.

Peter tells us what failing faith consists of. He shows us how we can identify it eroding our faith in real time. He explains what contributes to the false, artificiality of our faith, and what the Lord does to keep our faith vibrant and alive.

This chapter is enormously helpful if we want to do more than become familiar with a chronology of events about the end times, and truly, personally cultivate a life that daily trusts, and walks out real-time faith in Jesus Christ. This is the only reason for giving ourselves to these scriptures. And this is where we will find the Spirit giving us “grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16). The Lord has nothing invested in simply making individuals “experts” on identifying the events, crisis points, and stumbling blocks that compose the end of the age.

Anyone who wants to do a deep, practical dive into “the falling away” will want to spend a good deal of time dialoguing with the Spirit about this chapter. Here is a general, verse-by-verse interpretation, and analysis of these twenty-two verses.

¹ But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 
Peter, like his contemporary, Paul, and His Master, Jesus takes direct aim at false prophets and false teachers in this chapter. Guarding the Church from the “destruction” (ala. “falling away”) that comes from embracing these falsehoods is what this section of his letter is going to address. Note that upfront, Peter references the word “destruction” eight times, and gives four examples of destruction from the Old Testament – all in this one chapter. He is shouting to us: “Take this threat to yourself, and the ekklesia serious!”

Peter’s phrase, “even denying the Lord” is diagnostic. It doesn’t only mean that the false prophets and false teachers will oppose orthodox Christology re: Who Jesus is. It also connotes a denial of the ways of Jesus, as well as a minimization of the centrality of Jesus to the ethos of the Church. Where false teachers marginalize various exhortations, and expressed values of Jesus; and where false prophets repeatedly fail to make the glory of Jesus Himself the focal point of their utterances, destruction of faith in Jesus will follow.

² And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
Peter warns that the Spirit is telling him that tragically, “many” believers will be led astray, following after the destructive ways of these false leaders. He’s not speaking about unbelievers. He’s speaking about those who had been “bought” (v.1) by the Lord.

Furthermore, he is saying, again, it’s not only their theological positions that will be corrupted; it’s the way they are living their lives; what values they espouse; what priorities they enthrone; and what narratives hold sway in their hearts; how they speak about others; how they treat their enemies and those different than themselves; how they honor or dishonor Jesus with their behavior. Sometimes the corruption of a people can best be understood, not only by the laws on their books, and the rhetoric of their mouths, but by what zeal flows through their hearts.

³ By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.
Covetousness is a key concept where falsehoods are present within the Church. It is out of their uncrucified lusts that they clamor for the adulation of the people. This is a root covetousness imbedded in every false prophet and false teacher. They want the applause of man. What’s more, their methods to gain that applause are to appeal to the covetousness in the people. And so teachings emphasize what will affirm the masses, and make the people “feel good about themselves”, rather than what is diagnostically needed for the glory of Jesus to shine through them. And prophets perpetually promise increased power, and glory for self for everyone who adheres to their transient exhortations. The people are being twice deceived; by the lusts of the false prophets, and enticed by their own lusts.

The Spirit is swift in His prognosis upon such a people. Judgment and then destruction await those who do not vigilantly consider this corruption of their ways.

⁴ For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 
Here, Peter begins several appeals to the logic of comparison, arguing first, that God’s will to punish can clearly be seen in the history of His angelic creation. God even punishes severely – and eternally. God is consistently intolerant to sin on all levels of the created order.

⁵ and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 
God judged and punished faithless, ungodly people, early on in human history.

⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 
And He brought whole cities to destruction – reducing them to ashes on account of the corruption of their ways.

⁷ and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)
He is also a just, and fully capable deliverer for all those living in filthy wickedness who take refuge in His mercies.

⁹ then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 
The Lord not only knows how to make a perfect separation between the godly and the unjust, it is His good will and intent to use His eternal power to do so. We can count on the fact that He is willing to marshal all that He is to rescue us from the dark powers of this age.

¹⁰ and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,
Here, Peter begins to drill-down into the characteristics of the ungodly. What sort of people are they? How do we recognize ungodliness within our selves, and within our ranks? Peter notes: 
• They live their lives according to the lust of their flesh (reemphasizing “covetousness” here).
• They despise authority, and live unaccountable to anyone. They are their own law.
• They put their hand to issues, and matters that are pretentious, and above their station and pay-grade.
• They move by the impulse of their own uncrucified desires.
• They are not constrained by either civility, nor fear of retribution, nor even the fear of powers greater than themselves. The greek word for “dignitaries” is “doxey”, or “glorious ones”. While the specific application is unclear, the warning is against operating in a hostile spirit of denigration and malice, rather than a spirit of humility and the fear of the Lord. We are called to honor both the Lord, as well as the order that the Lord has put into place – even for a season. This is true faith.

¹¹ whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.
There’s no escaping the warning example that the Spirit sets forth in this verse. This is a resounding prohibition, printed in bold, capital letters. If the angels, who are much greater and much more powerful than us humans, don’t revile and accuse “others” – certainly not in the throne of Heaven, then how dangerous and ludicrous is it for redeemed humanity, who is “seated with Him in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 1:20) to bring “reviling accusation… before the Lord”? We need to hear this as the “thou-shalt-not” that it is. This disallowance should bring a true sobriety to each of us, especially in a social media age, where we are perpetually consumed with temptations to “like” and “repost” and “post” our own “reviling accusations” against those set in place by the order of the Lord.

¹² But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 
The Word makes a conclusion here. It identifies those who persist in plying “reviling accusations” as “brute beasts”, who are foolishly caught in the trap of the devil. When they speak evil of others, and things with presumption, they prove that they are ignorant of what, in fact, they are doing. The Word condemns these ones as “corrupt”, and declares that, should they not repent of their behavior, they will “perish utterly”; their entire body, soul and spirit.

¹³ and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you,
Peter continues in the diagnosis of those who are behaving in unjust ways. And here we need to not excuse ourselves from the table, identifying ourselves as godly ones simply because not everything on the list doesn’t fit our self-assessment. This is where we need to invite the searchlight of the Holy Spirit to examine the deep crevices of our hearts. Are we evidencing signs of corruption that is destined for destruction? In light of the sure cure, we’d be foolish not to examine ourselves rigorously.

The Spirit promises, these ones who are walking in the ways of unrighteousness will receive the consequences of their anti-Kingdom lives. They live carousing, and pleasing the carnal pleasures of the flesh, deceived, blind to what they are accruing to themselves, running from one bar-b-q to another.

¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 
Their spirit is intent on breaking covenant after covenant, promise after promise, for nothing more than the satisfaction of today’s lust of the flesh. Their’s is a life out of control. What is more, they entice others into the same kind of behavior. Their hearts run in the deep furrows of perpetual lust. They are bound to the curse that was brought into the world through the disobedience of our parents, Adam and Eve.

¹⁵ They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
These ones are far into foul territory. And they are happily there, like a dog chasing a rabbit on a heavily traveled freeway. They can’t help themselves. They’re heading for destruction, and the danger they’re in is obscured by their libidos. They don’t even hear the many voices the Lord sends to warn them of their impending doom.

¹⁷ These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
By this point, you’re begging Peter to stop. But he continues. The Spirit is adamant that humanity sees the depth and the breadth of the danger we’re in, as we wink at the vestiges of ungodliness that cling to our lives.

The ungodly, and their false teachers are made for living water, but remain barren and dry. They are like clouds being driven by the wind; with no self-control, they are carelessly rushing toward eternal darkness.

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 
The teachers sound lofty and are filled with visions of grandeur, but are, in truth, puffed up with air. They are animated by demons, who use their lies to allure others to fulfill the lusts of their flesh. Lewdness and bawdy, brutal, base behavior mark their ways. And the ways of these ones are so compelling that they have the power to tempt others, who have formerly resisted corruption, into all sorts of similar thinking and activity.

¹⁹ While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 
Again, Peter is aiming at the false teachers: they promise liberty but they themselves are slaves of their own corrupt lusts. You need to know, that in reality; according to the right assessment of the Lord, these ones have become seduced, and taken captive by the devil.

²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. ²¹ For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
In these concluding verses, as earlier, we should make much room for pause, in the fear of the Lord. Here the Spirit of God is telling the Church, “I’m talking to you! I’m not talking about those who have no knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I’m warning you! YOU are vulnerable to these attacks from the enemy. YOU are susceptible to be led into destruction. YOU NEED THIS WARNING! YOU need to consider it attentively. YOU have the power to give yourselves back to the unrighteousness and ungodliness from which Jesus first saved you.”

E. JUDE WARNS THE CHURCH BEING TROUBLED BY FALSE TEACHERS ABOUT THE FALLING AWAY
¹ Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ: ² Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
Jude begins his short letter by getting straight to the point. He is writing to those who have been called and sanctified by God, so that they may be “preserved” in their pure faith in Jesus Christ. The apostle blesses them with the multiplication of mercy, peace and love, because he knows this is exactly the heavenly qualities that will preserve their faith. Mercy, because it keeps our heart in a right, and humble perspective about the nature of our relationship to God. Peace, that slays the temptations and unrest that cause our inner man to fear, and grumble, and restlessly pursue our own satisfaction, neglecting to guard our hearts from the creep of unbelief. And Love, on account of the fact that it is the most certain sign of living faith; increasing love for God, and manifest love for others.

³ Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. 
Here, Jude expresses the intent of his letter: “I am writing, in order to encourage you to contend earnestly for the faith.” He is wanting to give the church Holy Spirit information and strength that will help them safeguard their own internal faith in Jesus Christ, and the faith that has been, and is continuing to be delivered to all the saints, both in their locality, and beyond.

⁴ For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ.
Jude identifies that the faith of the church is being corrupted by men; false teachers, who have entered into the flock with evil intent; false teachers who should have been detected, but weren’t, and are now teaching that the grace that God gave to the church gives the church permission to engage in evil; behavior and values that is unfitting for those who claim the Name of Jesus Christ, and even makes them unrecognizable to Christ. Continuing with this mind set will lead to the destruction of faith.

⁵ But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; ⁷ as Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
In verse five, Jude begins to point out that the Lord calls such behavior “unbelief”, and reminds them that God will reprove and destroy “those who do not believe”. He highlights the fact that this punishment will be eternal, and also perhaps, like Sodom and Gomorrah, experience, present, temporal vengeance from the Lord. Lapsing into unbelief has serious, serious consequences. In both the present age, and completely, at the end of this age, God will castigate individuals, and whole communities who fall away from faith.

⁸ Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries. ⁹ Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. 
Jude describes the character and the ways of those who are troubling the church with false teachings that are causing the church to fall away from the faith. The list of qualities that Jude mentions, is very similar to the list of attributes that Paul mentions in his letters to Timothy. Those who are disturbing the faith of this church have the eyes of their hearts set on satisfying their flesh through immoral, carnal practices. They live and teach without accountability. And they speak evil of “doxes”, which literally means, “glorious ones”. They openly contend, and dispute and revile others by leveling accusations against them; something Michael the Archangel wouldn’t even do. They presumptuously speak evil of matters that they aren’t really familiar with. They sound spiritual, but are actually only speaking from their own natural accumulation of facts and assumptions. They are like brute beasts, gruff, insensitive, pushy, intolerant, and forceful; not wise, patient, or tender. And they are ignorant of the fact that what they are giving themselves to is spelling corruption and destruction to themselves, and to those who feed on their podcasts, and BLOG articles.

¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone in the way of Cain, have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished in the rebellion of Korah. ¹² These are spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; ¹³ raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
The Spirit pronounces dire warning to these ones, listing them along with the harrowing, Old Testament characters who walked in unbelief, like Cain, Balaam, and Korah. While they walk among the faithful, they are spots, wrinkles, and blemishes, (Ephesians 5:27) upon the Bride. They are so absorbed with satisfying their own lustful cravings, they are unaware of the judgment that is upon their lives. They think they are something special. But they are empty. The whims of their appetites carry them from place to place, and topic to topic. They bear no fruit. They compound the ways of death. The Vinedresser (John 15:1) is right to uproot them. Their rage swells up, and what comes out of their mouths brings shame upon their lives. The Lord has marked them for a gruesome, eternal end in the blackness of hell. The Holy Spirit speaks these words with great ferocity.

¹⁴ Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”
The Lord has been speaking about the reality of HIs judgment since the beginning of human history. His terrible wrath will consume real people; real communities. We will see it. We will cry at the picture. Some of us will even experience it first-hand. His retributive power will be stunning, and out of this world. His Words of conviction will be perfectly just, and final. Regardless of what one says they believe, it is clear the Lord’s judgment falls upon the ungodly on account of their deeds – or how they manifest their “so-called” faith. Their deeds are unChristlike, and their ways are unChristlike. These ones will be punished in the same manner as those who openly revile Jesus.

¹⁶ These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they mouth great swelling words, flattering people to gain advantage. 
Again. Jude lists the hallmarks of these purveyors of corruption: their hearts are filled with negativity, criticism, complaint, suspicion, pursing their own gratification and ease of life; they pretend to be wise and learned, bragging about their educational accomplishments, manipulating people for nothing more than their own reputation, and carnal gain. This is the third of four sections that note the traits of these “troublers”. You can hear the vehement proscription in the Voice of the Spirit as you read these texts.

¹⁷ But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ how they told you that there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These are sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.
Jude appears to try to shift his focus from describing the troublers to addressing the solution, but it’s as if he can’t uncouple himself from the intensity of what the Spirit is telling him about God’s promised wrath upon these false prophets and teachers. They will be mockers, and scoffers, who live motivated by their own “eros love”. They aren’t led by the Spirit. They’re led by their own innate urges, and they create divisions within groups and communities they are attempting to influence; divisions that are no more complicated than whether individuals are for them, or against them. In fact, the sense of Jude’s whole text is, these ungodly teachers and leaders actually need division in order to maintain a hunger within the people for their divisive teachings. It’s a double wickedness.

²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. ²² And on some have compassion, making a distinction; ²³ but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment defiled by the flesh.
Finally, Jude comes to a broad place in his exhortation where he can begin to lay out the Spirit’s strategy for the solution to the trouble the Church finds within her. First, he reminds the saints that they are “beloved”. They are recipients of the very love of God; and they are cherished objects of His love. And the apostle reflects his own love for these believers as well. This is more than a mere “title of address”. It’s a statement of the baseline nature of the covenant relationship that they have been brought into. He is saying, “Remember, you are the people of love!”

Secondly, Jude exhorts the fellowship, collectively to “build themselves up in their most holy faith”. He is telling them to mutually take action steps that will strengthen their faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. He urges them to live in such a way that your lives increase each others’reliance upon the available grace and tangible power of Jesus, Who is in their midst. When we live this way, we give courage to those around us to trust God, through all circumstances – and, pursuant to the bait of the false teachers, we don’t have to seize what we crave, like dogs who don’t believe their master will feed them. This is a task that Jude gives to the whole community. Hebrews 10:24 says it this way: “Let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good deeds.”

What’s more, Jude attaches the word “holy” to the dynamic of faith, underscoring the fact that behaviors that accompany the pursuit of “the lusts of the flesh” will draw human appetites into deeper degrees of sin and unholiness. Jude is jogging their memory: “For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy.” (Leviticus 11:44-45) Jude also knows that in order for the church to walk in holiness, it will require that they refuse their own carnal temptations, and trust God for true and abiding satisfaction. It takes faith to walk in holiness.

When Jude encourages the Church to “keep themselves in the love of God”, he is prodding them to stay within the garden of the Kingdom where growing first-commandment love for God, Himself, and vibrant love for others, is the chief goal of our lives. When this becomes our ultimate objective to our days, we will find everything we need for life, faith, and holiness from the gracious, and rewarding Hands of the Father. This is also a call to continually remind yourselves that your Father does indeed love you. And He is a lavish Provider. You don’t have to go scrounging for the mere scraps that the false prophets and teachers want you to fight others for. You are loved. The Father has given us His own Son. In the words of Paul, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32)

God is loaded with mercy. He looks for ways to extend mercy. He loves it. And He loves for us to abundantly receive it. His mercy is the walkway of our daily lives. And it will be the glory of our eternal life. We will forever revel and reveal the depth and generosity of our Father’s mercy towards us. Jude is saying here: “Learn to revel and reveal it now.” Living with conscious dependence on the steadfast mercy of God will subdue a thousand lies and self-saving seductions from the enemy.

Next, Jude identifies “compassion” as part of the antidote to falsehood and the corrosive nature of unbelief. This is a Kingdom-empowered byproduct of second-commandment love. It is seeing others who are in need and danger through the lens of the Holy Spirit, and feeling His heart for their condition, and the trajectory of their lives. It is saying “yes” not only to feelings, but to the Holy Spirit’s power to intercede in the lives of others, with prayers, words, and helpful actions that will actually give them supernatural strength to be extricated from the destructive elements that are enslaving them. Jude explains that these elements are to be abhorred. But the individual who is being liberated by the kindness of God is to be loved – always.

As we keep ourselves alive to these six or seven admonitions in verses 20 – 23, we will find renewed and reliable fortitude to resist and repel the temptations of the false prophets and teachers. Heck. We’ll have God’s power at work within us that is capable of rescuing the false prophets themselves!

²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, ²⁵ To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen. (Jude)
The last two verse of Jude are some of the most glorious in all of the scriptures – extolling the magnificence of Who our God is, and what He is effective to do in our lives, our fellowships, and our world. He is able to keep us from stumbling in our faith. He is able to transform sin-addicted beings into faultless ones, who exult in holiness, so that we are even able to stand before His glory, with exceeding joy – confident in His power, and grace within us. The power of our God to save is tremendous. And He is so wise in the ways that does save. He is deserving of every bit of glory, majesty, dominion, and power, in this age, and the next. We can give it all to Him, with no thought of retaining any for ourselves and our carnal ways – 100% positive that He “will supply all our needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) Halleluia!

F. PAUL EXHORTS TIMOTHY TO WAGE THE GOOD WARFARE
1 Timothy 1:18-20
¹⁸ This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, ¹⁹ having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, ²⁰ of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to blaspheme.
These three verses delivered from Paul to Timothy, his disciple, with such great unction, contain some of the most piercing, soul-cleansing material regarding our honest, preparations for THE FALLING AWAY, in all of the New Testament.

Here, Paul, under the constraint of the Holy Spirit, charges Timothy to remember and heed what the Holy Spirit expressly spoke to him earlier in his ministry. While we don’t know specifically what the Spirit spoke to Timothy, we do know that it was about him, personally. We understand this from the phrase, concerning you in verse 18. From the next two statements that Paul makes, we can discern that what was spoke over Timothy was meant for Timothy’s internal relationship with the Lord, as he served as an overseer of the fellowship he was serving.

First, Paul encourages his young protege to wage the good warfare. The fact that he uses the definite article “the”, underscores the reality that Paul thought of this good warfare as common to all believers, and leaders. It was not generic. It had real-life situations, issues, temptations and relationships attached to it. But it was a warfare that was familiar to Paul, and the rest of the saints.

What was the nature of the warfare itself? Paul tells us in the next phrase: have faith and a good conscience. He is saying to Timothy, “Remember to guard your heart as you serve, speak, teach, rebuke, advise, minister and protect.” This is no small task – nor is it a small sidebar to some greater matter at hand. This is the crux of the issue. This is the pinnacle of what Paul is laboring to address in his letter to Timothy. It is the substance of every bit of victory he hopes to encourage his “son” in the Lord, into.

And, for our purposes, this is the kernel of the matter for us as well as we address the tangible reality of living in an hour when THE FALLING AWAY happens all around us. We must be tender and vigilant to the daily threat of our own faith and our own conscience being corrupted by the spirit of this world. We must wage – labor, apply with cost, exert conscious effort – the good warfare within ourselves; whereby, as we serve and relate to the Body of Christ, we do what is necessary to keep our own heart responsive to the Spirit, filling our minds with HIs Words of grace, manifesting the supernatural fruit that comes from Him, walking in the blessings of the beatitudes, keeping our souls wide open to the flood of God’s conquering love, breathing the air of humility etc. THIS are the rewards of good warfare.

Paul is eager for Timothy to stay focused on his internal interactions with the Lord. He knows how easy it is for the tasks, and contentions, and zeal – even for good, Kingdom things – to turn Timothy’s impulse-power-conversations into side-bars within his daily life. He understands from his own personal history that as Timothy makes his loving responsiveness to the Lord his primary focus, he will accomplish at least four major things in his ministry:
1. By prioritizing the soft warmth of his own soul before the Lord, Timothy is not giving the devil a foothold to sow corruption (ie. malice, retribution, selfish pride, dispute, conspiracy, bitterness, etc.) within his soul.
2. By cultivating humility, compassion, and primary love for Jesus within his own life, Timothy will give his whole church, more than an example; he will be living out of the nuclear power of God’s incarnational Presence in His own life, and it will infect, and germinate the life of Christ within the lives of Timothy’s spiritual family members.
3. By routinely resting his own limitations and weaknesses into the Lord’s strength, Timothy will run further, and higher, and with greater depth and perception. He will have stamina to wage the good warfare – because he knows the things that make for securing the might of the Lord.
4. By guarding the dwelling place of God within Himself, Timothy will build a steady reliance upon the tangible Presence of the Lord within his life. This is vibrant faith. This is faith that can navigate the stormiest of seas, and not suffer shipwreck.

And Paul notes that some – undoubtably names came to the mind of Timothy as he read Paul’s words – have suffered shipwreck with regard to their faith. They once believed, and walked with living trust in the Lord Jesus. But now, as the waves of crises and the fogginess of every day life buffets them, they are tossed by their own appetites for gratification, significance, prominence, spite, glory, security, etc. and their responsiveness to the ways and the Spirit of the Lord has grown dull. They go for long periods of time, not hearing His Voice that brings transcendent wisdom and power into their lives. They grow more and more dependent upon their own thoughts – and they begin to react – rather than recognize the pathway of the Spirit. They become brittle and cautious. And as they feel the swell of their culture underneath their bows, they are easily broken on the devil’s rocks; wounded, angry, defensive, lashing out, short-sighted, and hounded by fear, rather than harnessed to love.

Paul notes that some have rejected this appeal to prioritize maintaining a responsive dependence on the Lord, and a gentle and affectionate heart. The Spirit has been speaking to them about their faith and their conscience and they’ve ignored His Voice. O, let us not reject this, beloved friends! Indeed, in this very hour, the Spirit is crying to us to not neglect this priority. If we hear His voice, and nonetheless, do not heed His Voice, we are, in fact, rejecting His Word of caution and admonition.

Paul ends this particular admonition to Timothy by referencing two individuals by name, who have apparently suffered the type of shipwreck that he has been detailing. He’s telling Timothy, “I’m talking about what you know that happened to Hymanaeus, and Alexander.” And, although we don’t know the specifics of what they did, we know the discipline, if not the horrible punishment that they were given into. Paul was saying, “They won’t listen to the Spirit about keeping their hearts mild in the Lord. Now I’ve entrusted them to satan. Perhaps, under his oppressive influence, they will flee back into the arms of our good Father.” Paul’s clear hope is that the discomfort they will suffer in the hands of satan will compel them to operate in faith with a good conscience – and lose all will and desire to blaspheme.

It’s tempting to wonder what behavior, and context Paul was referencing when he spoke of Hymaneaus and Alexander’s blasphemy. But it’s germane for us to know that it was a condition of the soul that they grew into. They didn’t come to Christ, and then one day suddenly feel an intense craving to profane someone. Blasphemy itself, is a progressive work. It operates on various scales of intensity. Essentially, it is some form of a created being cursing another part of the created order. Rather than trust, or exert faith in God’s goodness, kindness, and power, in the face of trial, or need, these ones made the choice to curse others, their circumstances, or perhaps even the authority in heaven. Ultimately, when our complaint, and cursing isn’t subdued, it will result (because that’s the nature of the fallen order) in that created being cursing God, Himself. Where these two members of Timothy’s church were in that progression, we don’t know. But it is wise for us to consider how greatly susceptible we are to the very same animosity and enmity that was stirred in them. Should we fail, or refuse to subdue it, it will certainly fester blasphemy within us – even to the point of thundering against God.

Friends. Let’s wage the good warfare (together) having faith and a good conscience, encouraging ourselves, and one another to “take every thought captive” (2 Corinthians 10:5) so that we are nurturing pliable, passionate faith in the Lord, and living in integrity of heart, without any stain of compromise, or unholiness, in all aspects of our lives.

Two (very) PRACTICAL (and intrusive) LISTS:
1. WHAT FEATURES WITHIN A CHRISTIAN’S LIFE CAN INDICATE THAT A CHRISTIAN, AND/OR CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY IS “FALLING AWAY” FROM LIVING FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST?

2. WHAT ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS THAT CAN HELP US SAFEGUARD OUR HEARTS FROM FALLING AWAY FROM VIBRANT FAITH IN CHRIST?

So, having examined seven of the key New Testament texts about FALLING AWAY, what follows is a composite list that can help us identify the patterns of the heart that contribute to THE FALLING AWAY within the individual heart, and the corporate community. It is also vital to remember that Jesus and the apostles also highlight the unique, real-time conditions of the end of the age.

In Mark 13:19-20 Jesus issues this alert: “For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be. And unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved; but for the elect’s sake, whom He chose, He shortened the days.”

Is this our generation? I believe it is wise to believe so.

Take up this list. Bring it before the Lord. Carefully examine the scriptures that are attached to the list. Listen for His distinct Voice that not only highlights sin and danger, but that also gives hope and courage to fully confront it with holy determination. Share it with your family; your small group; your prayer group; your spiritual family. It is good that we be as thorough and intentional about this as we are about completing our taxes, or writing out a will.

Then, take up the second list, and begin to meditate on all the exhortations from these seven texts that are designed to produce a tender-hearted, vigilant, responsive, teachable, pure and spotless Bride. Bring this list into the place of prayer, and begin to appeal to the Lord of mercy for the heavenly resources that will enflesh these qualities into yourself, your family, your church, your community, and our evangelical culture. God bless you as you endeavor to walk in this pathway of sure, cleansing strength, beloved.

Matthew 24; 2 Thessalonians 2; 1 Timothy 1; 1 Timothy 4; 2 Timothy 3; 2 Peter 2; and Jude.

73 EXTERNAL FACTORS and INTERNAL CONDITIONS THAT THE NEW TESTAMENT TELLS US HAVE POWER TO ERODE OUR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST

EXTERNAL FACTORS • “Out there…”
• False teachers who will attempt to deceive us in the Name of Christ. (Matthew 24:4-5)
• Tribulation that comes with persecution and martyrdom. ((Matthew 24:9)
• False prophets who will deceive many. (Matthew 24:11)
• God’s delusion, which causes many to believe a lie. (2 Thessalonians 2:11)
• The deception of demonic spirits (1 Timothy 4:1)

INTERNAL FACTORS • “Inside me…”
• Being troubled about famines, pestilences, earthquakes, wars and rumors of wars. (Matthew 24:6-7)
• Personal Offense, and hating one another. (Matthew 24:10)
• Betrayal, acting as a traitor (Matthew 24:10; 2 Timothy 3:4)
• Lawlessness, and the mystery of lawlessness. (Matthew 24:12; 2 Thessalonians 2:7)
• Allowing love (for God and others) to grow cold (Matthew 24:12; 2 Timothy 3:3)
• Laissez-faire spirit re: prioritizing the completion of Jesus’ “great commission” (Matthew 24:14)
• The temptation to save our lives, even knowing the hour is close, and fraught with trouble. (Matthew 24:15-18)
• Compromised by an over-emphasis upon family, and caring for the needs of family. (Matthew 24:19)
• Disturbed by the upheaval and apocalyptic nature of the great tribulation (Matthew 24:21)
• Embracing false signs and wonders by false christs, and false prophets (Matthew 24:23-25; 2 Thessalonians 2:9)
• Entertaining false reports about Jesus returning to a select few (Matthew 24:26)
• Shamelessly giving ourselves to eating, drinking, and getting married. (Matthew 24:38, 49; Jude 12)
• Temptation to believe the hour of Jesus’ return is delayed, and far off (Matthew 24:48)
• Placing abusive demands upon other believing servants of Christ. (Matthew 24:49)
• Participating in the deceptive power of the man of sin, the son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3, 9)
• Exalting man who opposes all that is called (of) God (2 Thessalonians 2:4)
• Refusing to receive the love of the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
• Taking pleasure in, and loving the wages of unrighteousness (2 Thessalonians 2:12; 2 Timothy 3:2, 4; 2 Peter 2:15; Jude 11)
• Rejecting a good conscience (1 Timothy 1:19; 2 Timothy 3:3)
• Growing a blasphemous spirit (1 Timothy 1:20; 2 Timothy 3:2; 2 Peter 2:2)
• Speaking lies in hypocrisy (1 Timothy 4:2)
• Participating in oppressive, legalistic authority (1 Timothy 4:3)
• Fomenting profane old wives tales and conspiracies. (1 Timothy 4:7)
• Love of self (2 Timothy 3:1,2; Jude 12)
• Love of money (2 Timothy 3:2)
• Boasting about self (2 Timothy 3:2)
• Disobedience to parents (2 Timothy 3:2)
• Unthankfulness (2 Timothy 3:2)
• Unforgiveness (2 Timothy 3:2)
• Slander (2 Timothy 3:3)
• No self-control (2 Timothy 3:3)
• Becoming brutal; like brute beasts (2 Timothy 3:3; 2 Peter 2:12; Jude 10)
• Developing a headstrong spirit (2 Timothy 3:4)
• Haughtiness (2 Timothy 3:4)
• Claiming godliness, but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:5)
• Taking advantage of the weakness of others, enticing unstable souls (2 Timothy 3:6; 2 Peter 2:13)
• Learning, but never coming to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3:7)
• Corruption of the mind (2 Timothy 3:8; Jude 10)
• Giving ourselves to destructive heresies (2 Peter 2:1)
• Following destructive ways (2 Peter 2:2)
• Covetousness, training the heart in covetous practices (2 Peter 2:3; 2 Peter 2:14)
• Filthy conduct (2 Peter 2:7)
• Defiling and walking according to the flesh; the sensual lust of uncleanness (2 Peter 2:10,13; Jude 8,16,18)
• Despising and rejecting authority (2 Peter 2:10; Jude 8)
• Cultivating a presumptuous spirit (2 Peter 2:10) 
• Self-will  (2 Peter 2:10)
• Not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries (2 Peter 2:10; Jude 8)
• Desire to bring reviling accusations (2 Peter 2:11)
• Speaking evil of things you don’t understand (2 Peter 2:12; Jude 10)
• Carousing in your own deceptions (2 Peter 2:13)
• Eyes full of adultery (2 Peter 2:14)
• Barren and fruitless, but enticed and fascinated with the storms of life. (2 Peter 2:17: Jude 12) 
• Speaking great swelling words of emptiness (2 Peter 2:18)
• Lewdness, and turn God’s grace into lewdness (2 Peter 2:18; Jude 4)
• Enslaved to corruption, while calling it liberty (2 Peter 2:19)
• Overcome by the deception of others (2 Peter 2:19)
• Being entangled in the things that pollute the world (2 Peter 2:20)
• Ungodliness (Jude 4)
• Giving yourself to sexual immorality (Jude 7)
• Pursuing strange flesh (Jude 7)
• A Dreamer spirit (Jude 8)
• Moved by rage to our own shame (Jude 13)
• Wandering Stars (Jude 13)
• Grumbling and complaining (Jude 16)
• Filled with flattery to gain advantage (Jude 16)
• Given to mockery  (Jude 18)
• Causing divisions (Jude 19)

Holy Spirit. Give me a diligent and steadfast spirit to allow You to root out the smallest of these influences in my life, that I may not grow cold in my faith in Jesus.

56 EXHORTATIONS THE NEW TESTAMENT GIVES US TO HELP STRENGTHEN OUR FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST THROUGH THE END TIMES “FALLING AWAY”

• Inquire of the Lord. (Matthew 24:3)
• See to it that no one misleads you. (Matthew 24:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:3)
• Do not allow yourself to be alarmed about the crises on the earth, or reports about the end times. (Matthew 24:6, 2 Thessalonians 2:2)
• Set your eyes on enduring to the end. (Matthew 24:13)
• Preach the gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth. (Matthew 24:14)
• Understand what you are seeing when you see the “Abomination of Desolation” (Matthew 24:15)
• Those in Judea must flee to the mountains. (Matthew 24:16)
• Do not go back to get possessions from your house. (Matthew 24:17, 18)
• Pray that you not flee in the winter, or on the sabbath. (Matthew 24:20)
• Do not believe those who say “Christ has come in secret”. (Matthew 24:23, 26)
• Learn the parable of the fig tree. (Matthew 24:32)
• When you see all these things, recognize that Jesus is near, right at the door. (Matthew 24:33)
• Trust that even when you see heaven and earth passing away, the Word of the Lord will not pass away. (Matthew 24:35)
• Be on the alert, because you don’t know the day nor the hour of His coming. (Matthew 24:42)
• Don’t allow your house to be broken into. (Matthew 24:43)
• Be a faithful, and sensible slave, who is serving others with authority, nourishing the faith of others. (Matthew 24:45)
• Do not procrastinate serving the Lord, abusing others, and indulging in carnal behavior. (Matthew 24:48-49)
• Accept the love of the truth, so as to be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)
• Understand that you are beloved by the Lord, and you have been chosen from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. (2 Thessalonians 2:13)
• Realize that you have been called to the glory of Christ. (2 Thessalonians 2:14)
• Stand firm, and hold onto the scripture bound, apostolic traditions that you’ve been taught (2 Thessalonians 2:15)
• Receive the eternal comfort and good hope by grace that comes through Christ (2 Thessalonians 2:16)
• Allow Jesus Himself to comfort and strengthen your hearts in every good work and word. (2 Thessalonians 2:17)
• Align yourself with the Words and prophecies that have been spoken over you. (1 Timothy 1:18)
• Fight the good fight according to the power of the Word of God entrusted to you. (1 Timothy 1:19)
• Keep a living faith, building yourself up in the most holy faith. (1 Timothy 1:19; Jude 20)
• Keep a good conscience. (1 Timothy 1:19)
• Learn not to blaspheme. (1 Timothy 1:20)
• Remember that everything that God creates is good. Don’t prohibit anything. Receive it with thanksgiving. (1 Timothy 4:4)
• Sanctify everything you engage in with the Word of God, and with prayer. (1 Timothy 4:5)
• Point these things out to the brothers and sisters, and prove to be a good servant of the Lord. (1 Timothy 4:6)
• Nourish yourself and others in the Words of faith, and good doctrine; prescribe and teach these things. (1 Timothy 4:6, 11; 2 Timothy 3:15; Jude 17)
• Stay away from worthless stories and conspiracies. (1 Timothy 4:7)
• Discipline yourself for the sake of godliness. (1 Timothy 4:7)
• Labor and strive to set your hope on the Living God and Savior of all humanity. (1 Timothy 4:10)
• In speech, conduct, love, faith, and purity, show yourself an example of those who believe. (1 Timothy 4:12)
• Give your attention to the public reading, to exhortation, and teaching. (1 Timothy 4:13)
• Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you. (1 Timothy 4:14)
• Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them; pay close attention to them; persevere in these things. (1 Timothy 4:16)
• Realize that difficult times will come; and recognize the character of the unrighteous. (2 Timothy 3:1ff)
• Avoid those who are given to these unrighteous behaviors. (2 Timothy 3:5)
• Realize that if you live a godly life you will be persecuted. (2 Timothy 3:12)
• Realize that false prophets will come and deceive many. (2 Peter 2:1)
• Realize that false teachers will come and secretly introduce destructive heresies. (2 Peter 2:2)
• Recognize the spiritual condition of these false teachers. (2 Peter 2:2-3)
• Trust that the Lord will punish these false ones, and understand on what account He is punishing them. (2 Peter 2:3-22; Jude 5)
• Receive the multiplication of the mercy, peace and love of God. (Jude 2)
• Contend earnestly for the faith that was once for all time handed down to the saints. (Jude 3)
• Pray in the Holy Spirit. (Jude 20)
• Keep yourself in the love of God. (Jude 21)
• Look forward to the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 21)
• Have mercy on some who are doubting. (Jude 22)
• Save some – even snatching them out of the fire. (Jude 23)
• On some have mercy with fear, even hating the garments that are polluted by the flesh. (Jude 23)
• Lean into, and bless the One who is able to protect you from stumbling. (Jude 24)
• Ascribe eternal glory, majesty, dominion, and authority to God, and our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 25)

THE FALLING AWAY AND THE MAN OF LAWLESSNESS

In 2 Thessalonians 2, the apostle Paul dynamically links the FALLING AWAY to the appearance of the man of lawlessness. This is one of four terms that the scriptures use to reference the antiChrist (1 John 2:18) – the human person. The other two terms are the beast (Daniel 7; Revelation 11:7; 13), and the son of perdition (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

The term “antichrist” is a combination of ANTI (against or instead of) and CHRISTOS (Messiah, Christ).

The apostle John asserts that there were already many antichrists that have gone out into the world in his day. And so we must understand the term in both a general sense, as well as in a specific and personal sense.

There are many antiChrists in our world. There are many who, like many liberal theologians and leaders, Muslims, cults (ie Jehovah’s Witnesses, and The Latter-Day-Saints) who actually deny that Jesus of Nazareth was God, in Human flesh. Then there are many many more people on the earth who may acknowledge true theology, but who, like Peter in Matthew 16, refuse the way of the cross; the purpose for which “Christ” was anointed. We do well to consider the dangers contained in both of these contra-Kingdom avenues; the theological, doctrinal error, as well as the theopraxis, or practical error.

There will be one antiChrist who will be a real man, who will be understood as the antiChrist by the whole earth before the return of Jesus. Biblical teachers and scholars have believed that the antichrist is a deceiver (2 John 1:8); a lying pretender who portrays himself as Christ; he is a counterfeit or diabolical parody of Christ himself. This antiChrist will be the ultimate wolf in sheep’s clothing; the ultimate swindler, and imposter of all that christ is. He will be both sanctimonious, for the purposes of hoodwinking millions, and he will be a con artist.

In his commentary on the first epistle of John, B. F. Westcott states: “It seems to be most consonant to (agreeable with) the context to hold that antichristos here describes one who, assuming the guise of Christ, opposes Christ. Thus, the Antichrist assails Christ by proposing to do or to preserve what He did while actually denying Him.” (The Epistles of St. John: the Greek text, with notes and essays by Westcott, Brooke Foss, 1825-1901 Commentary).

This description of the antiChrist as a deceiver fits with Jesus’ call for His disciples to watch out for false christs, and false prophets in (Matthew 24) who will mislead many people. (Matthew 24:5)

The atmosphere of all that Jesus is warning us about in Matthew 24 is shrouded in deception, artifice, pretense and treachery. Again, this is the opposite way of Jesus Who spoke truth openly, exerted the authentic power of heaven, with all humility and transparency, for the purpose of self-sacrificial love.

It therefore, makes sense that Paul associates the FALLING AWAY with the end times, and the arrival of the man of lawlessness. He is called “lawless” because he will secretly stand against the law, and the ways of Christ, (See Matthew 5:17-18) exert lawless power, and hustle others into championing his lawless power, so that they essentially deny Jesus, and lose faith in the way of Christ (Matthew 7:12) upon the earth.

But many, including many Christians, will have no clue that they’re being deceived. They will continue to operate in pretentious power, even praying for healing and direction in Jesus’ Name, all the while operating in a spirit that is contrary to, and even hellishly antagonistic to the bona fide way of Jesus.

And Jesus said to (the lawyer), “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the great and foremost commandment. The second is like it, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’  Upon these two commandments hang the whole Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40) “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 7:12)

It’s important that we tie what we’ve said up to this point, together. We’ve acknowledged that the FALLING AWAY will be accompanied by the antiChrist, who will be a great deceiver, and his influence will contribute to millions of individuals and even believers to not trust Jesus and His ways of love, but to trust the brute and beastly ways of the flesh. What’s essential about this summary is that we notice that it is all accomplished without knowing that we are falling away. In fact, the falling away will be fulfilled under the guise of becoming outwardly religious.

The moment just prior to Jesus describing the coming of the end of the age, the disciples heard their Rabbi excoriate the religious leaders of their day. Granted, Jesus’ ministry had been speckled with confrontation with the religious elite, but here, Jesus unleashes the full force of His wrath:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may also become clean. “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. (Matthew 23:25-27)

Can you imagine how stunned, trembling, uneasy, and perhaps even nervous the disciples were hearing these words from Jesus? These were vaunted life-long heroes of their families and their culture, who were heaped with honor at the festivals, and sat in the places of great prestige in the synagogue. (Matthew 23:6) And Jesus was leveling them to dust.

Jesus concluded His arraignment against these role-models with the general estimation: So you too, outwardly appear righteous to people, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. (Matthew 23:28)

I have to believe that this final sentence lingered with Jesus disciples, after they had left the presence of the Pharisees. Who could hear these Words of ire from the mouth of the Son of God, Himself, and not also walk away wondering how true this indictment was about themselves?

And this is where we need to be in our discussion about all things antiChrist, the falling away, and lawlessness. If we’re walking away from the conversations, the articles, the posts, the sermons and the books, content that we have a better handle on the perils of the end times – and if we don’t find us asking: “Jesus. How is this true of me?” – we’re placing ourselves in great, pompous danger.

The biggest hazard for believers in navigating the times of the antiChrist, and the falling away, is that we don’t consider how we, ourselves are being influenced by the dynamics that swirl all around us. Let me say this again: The most hazardous reality that Christians will face during the end of the age, is our blithe assumption that we will not be touched by the trouble, the deception, the lawlessness, and the hypocrisy.

Whether it’s a contentious belief that the Church will avoid the hour of tribulation, or the judgmental spirit that aims all of God’s punishment on someone else, or the cultural Hallmark card theology that pronounces salvation upon all the people like me, or the assumption that we know just enough Bible to know that we are above being deceived – if we’re not reading these texts about FALLING AWAY without asking the Holy Spirit, “How am I falling away in my faith in Jesus”, we are engaging the topic – a topic that Jesus took great pains to unveil precisely because He knew the pitfall that it would pose to billions of souls on earth – irrationally and absurdly.

And at that time many will fall away, and they will betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people. And because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will become cold. (Matthew 24:10-12)

Unless we can fall to our knees as we read these three verses and implore the Holy Spirit to show us:
• Am I among the “many”? How do I know if I am, or not?
• Where am I betraying others in the Family of God? Where am I betraying Jesus? Where am I betraying the universal ways of our household of faith?
• Where does hatred have access to my heart? Where am I excusing hatred, and a spirit of enmity, antipathy, and animosity?
• How am I myself upholding a false way, and/or championing a false way? (The false prophet is only dangerous if you believe, and act upon, his/her false prophecies)…
• Where have I become mislead in ways that are leading myself and others to destruction?
• How am I justifying a lawlessness that is contrary to the ways of Christ within me, my family, my church, my community?
• How is my love doing? Where am I growing dim in my passion for Jesus? Where am I becoming luke-warm in my love for others? Where is my sympathy, compassion and empathy for the brethren, and/or for the lost becoming cold?

If we want to deal with the topic of the antiChrist, and the FALLING AWAY in these end times, we cannot avoid asking ourselves these vital reflection questions.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 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. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed. Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

1 John 2
18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us.
20 Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
21 I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
25 Now this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
27 Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him.
28 And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by him.

The final, and supreme manifestation of the “spirit of antichrist” that John speaks of in 1 John 2: will be the Antichrist. I believe this is something that is still in the future. I want to examine some very important passages of Scripture so that you are not unaware of what Satan is planning.

In 2 Thessalonians 2, Paul deals with the appearance, revelation, and manifestation of the Antichrist. He also addresses preparation for the Lord’s return. And they are very closely intertwined, because the final satanic act before the return of the Lord will be the revealing of the Antichrist. In fact, Paul says that the Lord will destroy the Antichrist with the brightness of His coming. In 2 Thessalonians 2:1–2 we read:

“Now brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us.”
The word coming there is the word parousia in Greek, which is normally used for the second coming of Jesus.

Paul wrote, “Don’t be shaken or troubled, neither by spirit, or by word or by letter as if from us,” because he knew that many Christians would be prepared to believe specific predictions as to when Jesus would return. I certainly have heard plenty of these predictions over the course of my ministry, and I am amazed at the multitudes of Christians that become fixated on them.

Let’s look at 2 Thessalonians 2:3:

“[Don’t be deceived] as though the day of Christ had come. 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.”
The term falling away in Greek is apostacia, meaning an apostasy—a deliberate rejection of revealed truth.

This verse offers two titles of the Antichrist. First, he is the man of sin—or man of lawlessness. He is the supreme embodiment of man’s rebellion against God and rejection of God’s laws. He is also called the son of perdition, the one who is headed for a lost eternity. Judas Iscariot is the only other person in the New Testament who is called son of perdition. He was a false apostle.

So we see three different names for the same being: the Antichrist, the man of lawlessness, the son of perdition. And we have one other important name in Revelation 13:1. This is part of a vision that John had in this revelation.

“I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. And the dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’”
Here we see the fourth title: the beast—a person who is going to arise to whom Satan (the dragon) will give his power. Why will Satan give his power to this person? Because that will enable this person to gain dominion over the entire human race and to persuade the entire human race to do the one thing that Satan wants most: to worship him. This is his goal. He has been working on this patiently for many centuries, and he is very near to the achievement of his goal at this time.

Notice one of his heads had been “mortally wounded” and healed. There is a sort of false resurrection here. I don’t know whether this person will be assassinated, but he will apparently be dead, and he will return to life.

In Revelation 5:5, John had seen a vision of a scroll in the hand of God, and there was no one who was found worthy to open the scroll. So John was weeping.

“But one of the elders said to me, ‘Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.’ And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain.”
John was looking for a lion, but the lion is a lamb. That is a deliberate contradiction. God’s appointed ruler does not have the nature of the beast. He has the nature of the Lamb. And He is highly exalted above all others because He laid down His life. He humbled Himself. He went the way of meekness and humility, because He did not resist His arresters and His persecutors. I believe that the church in these days is going to need to display the same nature. And I don’t believe it is easy.

We have seen that the people worshiped the beast. And they all were convinced it was hopeless to make war with the beast. I’m not certain what sort of circumstances will convince “all the world” that it is futile to fight back. When you consider the age of technology and weaponry in which we currently live, it is easy to believe that the situation pictured here could be very close.

In Revelation 13:6–7 we see the antichrist take action:

“Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. And it was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them.”
He is the open challenger of God. He is not a secret enemy; he shakes his fist in the face of Almighty God. And who do you think granted him permission to make war with—and overcome—the saints? I presume it is God, which is a very sobering thought. Let’s never forget that Christianity is not all easy victory.

Let’s go further and look at verse 8:

“All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.”
What a dramatic statement! The entire human race will worship him—except those God has chosen for Himself.

I want to finish by looking again at 2 Thessalonians 2:3:

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [the coming of the Lord] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed.”
I believe this falling away is taking place in the world today. Through the centuries there have been church leaders who have been wicked, but they have not openly denied the great basic truths of the Christian faith. In fact, those truths have been the means they used to support their power. But the twentieth century saw church leaders deny the great basic truths of the Christian faith: the deity of Jesus, His virgin birth, His atoning death, His physical resurrection and His return. I don’t believe this existed in any previous century. I believe that we are already confronted with the apostasy. Always remember that the church is the bulwark against error. So Satan has to penetrate the church before he can break through with his error.

V. DECEPTION and the FALLING AWAY

The apostle Paul warns the church to NOT BE DECEIVED about this FALLING AWAY. The FALLING AWAY will consist of millions/billions? of Christians believing the lies of the devil, and not loving the truth, so as to be saved. (2 Thessalonians 2:10)

There are more than 30 distinct warnings about the nature of spiritual deception contained within the New Testament:

Matthew 24:4,11; Mark 7:21-23; Acts 13:10; Romans 1:28-30; Romans 3:12-14; Romans 16:17-19; 1 Corinthians 3:17-19; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15:33; 2 Corinthians 11:2-4; 2 Corinthians 11:13-14; Galatians 6:3-4; Galatians 6:7-8; Ephesians 4:14-15; Ephesians 4:22-23; Ephesians 5:1-21; Colossians 3:2-8; 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12; 1 Timothy 4:1; 2 Timothy 3:13; Titus 1:9-11; James 1:14-16; James 1:19-27; 1 Peter 2:1-3; 1 Peter 3:8-11; 2 Peter 2:1, 3; 2 Peter 2:13; 1 John 1:7-9; 1 John 2:26; 1 John 3:6-8; 2 John 1:7-8; Revelation 12:9-10; and Revelation 13:11-15.

Here is a summary of 42 vital, life-cultivating truths about deception that come from these 30 New Testament texts.

1 • Many will come and attempt to deceive us. We can count on deception coming.

2 • Deception will come in a variety of ways. It’s not only coming from one political party; or doctrinal heresy; or philosophical world view. The devil will attempt to wrest us from faith in Christ, in every way possible.

3 • Deception is a force that God will allow us to be overcome by, in order to chastise us into righteousness.

4 • The appearance of “the lawless one” will be accompanied by great lies, and deceptive signs and wonders

5 • The devil’s purpose for deceit in the world is ALWAYS to destroy. 100% of the time.

6 • Deception will always entice us into taking pleasure in wickedness.

7 • Deception is primarily spiritual. Deception is supernatural, not primarily logical and temporal. It is empowered by demons. Wherever you find deception, you find demonic activity empowering the lies.

8 • Deception will increase on the earth, the closer we come to the return of Jesus.

9 • Imposters, false teachers, apostles and prophets are first influenced, and saturated by lies themselves. Deceivers are first deceived.

10 • Covetousness is the doorway to being enticed by deceit, and deceitful narratives. We become deceived, just like our parents, Adam and Eve, because the lie becomes attractive to us, for any number of lustful reasons. Pick the lust. It has the power to deceive our souls, and bring us to eternal destruction.

11 • It will seem as though God is allowing deceit to bear fruit in the human culture, without repercussion. He is, and He isn’t. Ultimately, all deceit will be visited with judgment and holy destruction.

12 • All deception is unrighteousness.

13 • Deception walks and lives life among us. It is present to our daily lives.

14 • There will be many false leaders who attempt to deceive disciples of Christ.

15 • Satan will even attempt to deceive humanity by creating false Christs.

16 • On account of the curse, deceit, and deceitfulness, ultimately comes from within the fallen, human soul. Our baseline, endemic way is to deceive, and be deceived.

17 • All deceit is evil, and has a viral capacity to defile the human soul, and human relationships.

18 • Deceit is an attempt to pervert, and make crooked the pathways of the Lord that require that we travel them by faith.

19 • Deceit comes with baggage. It is filled with all unrighteousness. And will always lead to increased wickedness, greed, evil; envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; gossip, slanderer, hatred, insolence, arrogance, boasting, and disobedience.

20 • No human is devoid of deceit. In our day to day state, we are both deceived, and we deceive.

21 • Deception, because it is rooted in self-exalting beings, has as its intent to divide. And a lie will always ultimately militate against unity.

22 • Deception will entice us to become experts in what is evil.

23 • The antidote for deception, and self-deception is to become humble, foolish, and impoverished in spirit. This is the ONLY way the power of a lie can be broken in a person, community, or nation. Not any bit of truth has the capacity to break the supernatural power of a lie. (And certainly not a “strong delusion” from God, Himself)

24 • Satan clothes himself in deceit, and even disguises himself as a messenger of light.

25 • Prideful boasting and egoism is the nuclear center of the power of deception.

26 • The more people give themselves to deception, the more their ways will be unstable, and tossed from issue to issue, and season to season.

27 • Recovery from deceit requires a retraining of the mind. It isn’t merely about being delivered from a lying spirit. NO ONE knows that they are being deceived while they are being deceived. It requires outside intervention and revelation that has the power to pierce the heart that’s entrapped within whatever it is that’s keeping our heart attached to the deception.

28 • We are not to partner in any way with those who are plying deceit.

29 • Being baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit is the cure for living in deceit.

30 • The retraining of the mind, entails getting our minds and hearts rooted in the wealth of Christ, and majoring on growing in revelation about Who He is.

31 • Deceivers will come and ply deceit for the sake of their own self-gain, and increase.

32 • The Word of God, internalized within ourselves, is the only way to be extricated from the ubiquitous deception that lives within our own hearts, and the whole world.

33 • If you watch long enough, malice will always accompany a lie. This is the great danger in conspiracy theories. The true power beneath every conspiracy theory isn’t its truthfulness or its deception. It’s the malice it foments in the broadcasting of the lie.

34 • A lie will pretend to be peace, but will constantly stir up animosity and hatred.

35 • Adultery, whether in the natural, or the spiritual, will always be built on lying, and deceit.

36 • The blood of Jesus Christ, the One Who made Himself naked and vulnerable on a cross, has the power to cleanse the human soul of every vestige of deceit and pretense.

37 • Jesus has come to destroy the power of the devil. This means Jesus has come to destroy the power of deceit.

38 • All deceivers will practice sin, and encourage others to practice sin.

39 • The antiChrist will be the greatest deceiver in the history of humanity.

40 • The Lord is a Rewarder of those who divest themselves of all deceit. What He can give us as we live in the light of all truth is vastly incomparable to the meager rewards we get for plying deceit. It’s not even a comparison.

41 • Breaking our agreement with the spirit of accusation will also break the power of deception in our lives. Do you want to find those who are walking in truth? Look for those who are not walking in the spirit of accusation.

42 • The chief objective of deception, and all the power of deception is to hook the human soul into worshipping, honoring, esteeming and bowing down to someone other than Jesus Christ – under the penalty of death.

The New Testament points to a devolutionary power of deception. The longer we embrace a lie, the more it corrupts our lives, and our world. This is what the 7 stages of deceit looks like:
1. Satan is the father of lies. Deceit originates within the devil.

2. Satan entices human beings into believing lies by appealing to our own appetites, lusts and cravings.

3. When we believe the lie, it is sin. A lie never promotes faith, nor honors God, nor our great need for God.

4. The lie causes our hearts to militate against the way, the truth and the life. (Often, in spite of our religious rhetoric…)

5. We begin to order our world, our values, and our relationship to good and evil within our world according to the lie.

6. We become false, and pretentious.

7. The lie in us will ultimately work (and justify working) death upon others, and ultimately will bring death down upon ourselves.

8. In the end, all deceit will be visited by God’s judgment and wrath, and will be utterly destroyed, along with the false prophet, the beast and the devil himself.

1 John 2:26 These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, regarding the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit, or a message, or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. No one is to deceive you in any way! For it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, 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. Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that he will be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is removed. Then that lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will eliminate with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not accept the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.

1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.

2 Timothy 3:13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

2 Peter 2:1, 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

2 Peter 2:13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you.

Matthew 24:4,11 And Jesus answered and said to them, “See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will mislead many people… And many false prophets will rise up and mislead many people.”

Mark 7:21-23 For from within, out of the hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery, deeds of greed, wickedness, deceit, indecent behavior, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile the person.

Acts 13:10 You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

Romans 1:28-30 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a depraved mind, to do those things that are not proper, people having been filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, and evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,

Romans 3:12-14 They have all turned aside, together they have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, there is not even one. Their throat is an open grave, with their tongues they keep deceiving, the venom of asps is under their lips; their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.

Romans 16:17-19 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them. For such people are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting. For the report of your obedience has reached everyone; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good, and innocent in what is evil.

1 Corinthians 3:17-19 If anyone destroys the temple of God, God will destroy that person; for the temple of God is holy, and that is what you are. Take care that no one deceives himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor those habitually drunk, nor verbal abusers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

1 Corinthians 15:33 Do not be deceived: Bad company corrupts good morals.

2 Corinthians 11:2-4 For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his trickery, your minds will be led astray from sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if one comes and preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted, this you tolerate very well!

2 Corinthians 11:13-14 such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

Galatians 6:3-4 If anyone thinks that he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But each one must examine his own work, and then he will have reason for boasting, but to himself alone, and not to another.

Galatians 6:7-8 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a person sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

Ephesians 4:14-15 We are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of people, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, that is, Christ.

Ephesians 4:22-23 Rid yourselves of the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you are to be renewed in the spirit of your minds.

Ephesians 5:1-21 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. But sexual immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be mentioned among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness or foolish talk, or vulgar joking, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no sexually immoral or impure or greedy person, which amounts to an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. See that no one deceives you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not become partners with them; for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), as you try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. Do not participate in the useless deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them; for it is disgraceful even to speak of the things which are done by them in secret. But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light. For this reason it says “Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” So then, be careful how you walk, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, in which there is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your hearts to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to our God and Father; and subject yourselves to one another in the fear of Christ.

Colossians 3:2-8 that they would attain to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. I say this so that no one will deceive you with persuasive arguments. For even though I am absent in body, I am nevertheless with you in spirit, rejoicing to see your orderly manner and the stability of your faith in Christ. Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed, and overflowing with gratitude. See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ.

Titus 1:9-11 Hold firmly the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, so that he will be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to refute those who contradict it. For there are many rebellious people, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, who must be silenced because they are upsetting whole families, teaching things they should not teach for the sake of dishonest gain.

James 1:14-16 But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it has run its course, brings forth death. Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters.

James 1:19-27 You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an active doer, this person will be blessed in what he does. If anyone thinks himself to be religious, yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this person’s religion is worthless. Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

1 Peter 2:1-3 Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander, and like newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the word, so that by it you may grow in respect to salvation, if you have tasted the kindness of the Lord.

1 Peter 3:8-11 All of you be harmonious, sympathetic, loving, compassionate, and humble; not returning evil for evil or insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you would inherit a blessing. For, “The one who desires life, to love and see good days, must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit. He must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

2 Peter 2:12-`14 But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, using abusive speech where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions as they feast with you, having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having hearts trained in greed, accursed children.

1 John 1:7-9  If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 3:6-8 No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him. Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

2 John 1:7-8 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward.

Revelation 12:9-10 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation, and the power, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown down, the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

Revelation 13:11-15 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. He exercises all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who live on it worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. He performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of the sky to the earth in the presence of people. And he deceives those who live on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those who live on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. 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 all who do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.

VIBRANT FAITH
When Jesus returns, He’s told us that He will be looking for one thing on the earth – faith. Amidst the intense darkness and chaos in the nations, He will be looking for women and men who shine like the stars in the heavens. Jesus won’t be primarily filled with vengeance. He will be consumed with passion – breaking into a world, looking for His wife, who will be found singing her Bridegroom’s songs of deliverance amidst the wastelands of perversion, bloodshed, and demonic wickedness. Through the storms, these ones will stand out with traits that are uncommon, contrary to the status quo, and supernaturally cultivated. In spite of the devil’s rage, these ones will be living in ways that declare, “This world will soon belong to my Husband. It doesn’t belong to power of the evil one. The resurrected Jewish Man, the Messiah, Y’Shua of Nazareth, has been given authority over the earth. And we have aligned our heart, and our ways to be in league with His reign, as He comes to visit every enemy of love with His wrath.” These “heart alignments” will manifest themselves as more than single-points of doctrine. They will incarnate, declarations about Who Jesus is, having bloomed from dogma into human qualities; not merely words on a page, but lifestyles that are ablaze with features that are statements of faith, themselves. These ones will possess testimonies of tempered trust that tell heaven and earth, “We trust Our King to keep our life secure, to keep our heart alive, and our soul from death. Our minds are focused on Him and His salvation. Blessed is He Who comes in the Name of the Lord”.

Since it is the chief activity of the Holy Spirit to prepare the wife of the Lamb, these righteous ones will have yielded themselves to His preparatory work, and bear the fruit of His Holy nature. Although many from their company fell back; some to meager faith, while others perhaps to a loss of saving faith, these ones will have prevailed over the great threats of the hour through the gracious blood of the Lamb, the living word of their testimony re Who their Savior is – not even loving their lives unto death, which they rest assured, is only the first death, not the second. (Revelation 12:10)

Here is a list of twelve qualities that will mark the spirit of the Bride for Whom Jesus will come at the end of the age. This is a comprehensive list, but not an exhaustive list. It speaks of what a whole, healthy, radiant faith looks like through the Eyes of our Trinitarian God.

Humility

First commandment love for God

Second commandment agape love for others

Joy

Peace

Patience

Kindness

Goodness

Reliability

Meekness and Gentleness

Holiness and a self-controlled distaste for impurity

Compelling unction to testify about Jesus’ sufficiency, power, and majesty

FAITH WORKING IN LOVE
1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

2 Corinthians 8:7 But as you abound in everything—in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in all diligence, and in your love for us—see that you abound in this grace also.

Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love.

Ephesians 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints,

Ephesians 3:17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Ephesians 6:23 Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1:4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints;

1 Thessalonians 1:3 remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father,

1 Thessalonians 3:6 But now that Timothy has come to us from you, and brought us good news of your faith and love, and that you always have good remembrance of us, greatly desiring to see us, as we also to see you—

1 Thessalonians 5:8 But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet the hope of salvation.

2 Thessalonians 1:3 We are bound to thank God always for you, brethren, as it is fitting, because your faith grows exceedingly, and the love of every one of you all abounds toward each other,

1 Timothy 1:5 Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith,

1 Timothy 1:14 And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 2:15 Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.

1 Timothy 4:12 Take Heed to Your Ministry. Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

1 Timothy 6:11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness.

2 Timothy 1:13 Hold fast the pattern of sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.

2 Timothy 3:10 But you have carefully followed my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, long-suffering, love, perseverance,

Titus 2:2 that the older men be sober, reverent, temperate, sound in faith, in love, in patience;

Titus 3:15 All who are with me greet you. Greet those who love us in the faith. Grace be with you all. Amen.

Philemon 1:5 hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints,

1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?

1 John 5:1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him.

Revelation 2:19 “I know your works, love, service, faith, and your patience; and as for your works, the last are more than the first.

As we make it our aim to cultivate these dynamics in ourselves, we will be giving ourselves to the triumphant might of the Spirit Who will cause us to come forth with more than the correct answers to a multiple-choice theology test; but as living, aromatic witnesses to the glory of Who Jesus is.

INCLUDE IN PREVIOUS CHAPTERS
• THE FALLING AWAY is happening on many many levels across the globe, and within many many Christian groups and denominations – conservative and liberal; evangelical and false justice movements. THE FALLING AWAY will not occur on account of a single strategy of deception. The enemy of our souls sow tares into the field in many and diverse ways. What these “tares” will all share in common is that they will draw our faith in Jesus away.

• THE FALLING AWAY is a falling away of those who once believed, once pursued first-commandment love for Jesus, once prayed, once made disciples, once loved by faith, and once laid hands on the sick… etc.

• It’s not unlikely that many will FALL AWAY in reality, while the husk, or the rhetorical substance of the faith remains. ala. They will continue to draw near with religious looking activity, but, as Jesus spoke through Isaiah: 8 “‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me, 9 and they worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the wisdom of men.’” (Matthew 15:8-9; Isaiah 29:13)

LAST THREE CHAPTERS
1. God will actually SHAKE our world to test, purify and fortify our faith in Jesus.

God’s purpose for ALL the political shaking, the cultural shaking, the economic shaking, the spiritual shaking, the racial shaking, and the internal shaking, is to bring us to THE DESIRE OF ALL NATIONS, Himself.

1 Peter 1:7
“Genuineness of faith”…

Who wants endless shaking? If, through all our shaking, and our shaking of others – if we never land on Him for eternal security for our soul, and internal security for our heart and spirit, no matter how right, and justified we think we are, all the shaking is for naught. We are never satisfied in Him, and He never fills us with His glory.

“For thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the Lord of hosts.” (Haggai 2:6-7)

What are you being shaken by today, beloved one?

Health? Family? Finance? Doubts? Relational adversity? Threats from our world?

Jesus. Bring me to the stability that can only come from You. I need Your strength in my inner man again, today.

Among other things, THE FALLING AWAY consists of a negative response to the judgments of the Lord that are on the earth. Instead of “learning righteousness” (Isaiah 26:7) the ones who fall away are taken captive by false narratives that take the eyes of the Bride off of Jesus while stimulating fear, offense and deception. “Shaking everything that can be shaken.”

2. The condition of FALLING AWAY can only be sufficiently addressed through the supernatural work of repentance. Repentance can only be engaged through intimate dialogue with the Holy Spirit over the Word of God. It requires that each of us “Seek His Face” (Psalm 27:8) so that we can know what is causing THE FALLING AWAY; we can hear His personal remedy to THE FALLING AWAY, and we can know His intimate power to effectively cure us from THE FALLING AWAY.

Because He is a Father of love, THE FALLING AWAY will also be accompanied by many many prophetic messages emphasizing the need for repentance to millions in the Church who are being enticed by competing allegiances, growing cold in their love for Jesus and falling away from faith that glorifies Him.

3. The antidote to THE FALLING AWAY from Jesus Christ is to be “unyoked” from the things that are leading us into a coldness of faith, (repentance), and to become, and learn to live “yoked to Jesus Christ”. (Matthew 11)