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Are we in the Great Apostatsy

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deltadom Mar 17, 2016

The Great Apostasy
2 Thessalonians 2
2 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ[a] had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin[b] is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God[c] in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He[d] who now restrains will do so until He[e] is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness

The bible talks about the Great Apostasy I would state the church is in needs of hearing the gospel again. Formally working at the christian bookshop I found it hard to find people who just hold to the main doctrines of the christian faith, We have lots of the church into the Word of Faith Movement and the New Apostolic Reformation there is a true church.

2 Chronicles 7:14
if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

The bible also talks about a one world religion and I can see that the Interfaith movement has been rising through certain books, Andrew Whites book Father forgive them shows his interfaith connections.
http://www.uk.upf.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=223:letters-to-the-joint-celebration-of-holy-events-of-the-three-faiths-of-abraham&catid=58:interfaith&Itemid=107
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Father-Forgive-Reflections-peacemaking-Straight-ebook/dp/B00CECYNPU/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1458245115&sr=1-1&keywords=father+forgive+andrew+white

Then there has been the Popes recent statements
http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/in-first-video-message-pope-francis-stresses-unity-we-are-all-children-of-god-39381/

We have the ecumenical movement with things like Hope Together
http://ukapologeticslibrary.net/hope-08-hope-together-part-of-the-uks-biggest-apostasy/

What I find is that there is so much apostasy around
http://ukapologeticslibrary.net
http://www.piratechristian.com/fightingforthefaith/

All the major denominations have documents on the Interfaith movement.
http://www.baptist.org.uk/Groups/220648/Inter_Faith_Engagement.aspx
http://nifcon.anglicancommunion.org/
http://news.salvationarmy.org.uk/tags/interfaith
http://www.methodist.org.uk/mission/inter-faith-relations

The Great Prostitute and the Beast
Revelation
17 Then vone of the seven angels who had wthe seven bowls came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the judgment of xthe great prostitute ywho is seated on many waters, 2 zwith whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and awith the wine of whose sexual immorality bthe dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And che carried me away in the Spirit dinto a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on ea scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and git had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman hwas arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned iwith gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand ja golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of kmystery: l"Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth’s abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk mwith the blood of the saints, the blood of nthe martyrs of Jesus.1

When I saw her, I marveled greatly. 7 But the angel said to me, "Why do you marvel? I will tell you othe mystery of the woman, and of the beast with seven heads and ten horns that carries her. 8 The beast that you saw pwas, and is not, and qis about to rise from rthe bottomless pit2 and sgo to destruction. And tthe dwellers on earth whose names have not been written in uthe book of life from the foundation of the world will marvel to see the beast, because pit was and is not and is to come. 9 vThis calls for a mind with wisdom: the seven heads are seven mountains on which the woman is seated; 10 they are also seven kings, five of whom have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he does come he must remain only a little while. 11 As for the beast that was and is not, it is an eighth but it belongs to the seven, and it goes to destruction. 12 And xthe ten horns that you saw are ten kings who have not yet received royal power, but they are to receive authority as kings yfor one hour, together with the beast. 13 These are of one mind, and they hand over their power and authority to the beast. 14 They will make war on the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, for he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful.”

People are worried about the Government, God always has his true church, his true bride.

What do people think ?

Scripture will always come true. The bible predicts things like this.

sermonindex Mar 17, 2016

Hi Dominic,

I definately agree we are in the midst of the great falling away. Many other voices have been warning now for many years about the great falling away and coming persecution. These elements will serve to separate the sheep from the goats in the last days in which we live. Many know of Steve Hill who just passed away. He had a vision which I would like to share which goes right along with the many voices God has and is raising up in these days. Watch the short video below, I believe it is a word from God to Christendom………………bro Frank

https://youtu.be/WrvDO_TntMM

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deltadom Mar 18, 2016

The bible in Matthew 24 talks about worldwide persecution in the last days
Matthew 24

Matthew 24
1 And Jesus went out, and departed from the temple: and his disciples came to him for to shew him the buildings of the temple.

2 And Jesus said unto them, See ye not all these things? verily I say unto you, There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.

3 And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you.

5 For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many.

6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.

7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.

8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

9 Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name's sake.

10 And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.

11 And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.

12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.

13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.

14 And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.

15 When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:)

In this passage it talks about worldwide persecution of Christians, it also talks about apostasy both are two factors in the end times

In church we have been discussion the exact nature of the abomination of desolation , how is the third temple going to be built

To me it breaks my heart as to the apostasy in the church affects the world

1 Peter 4.
17 For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?

18 And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?

What judgement has the UK and USA got coming for our apostasy

sermonindex Mar 18, 2016

"What judgement has the UK and USA got coming for our apostasy?"

I believe that persecution is coming to the Church, the Remnant, whoever truly belongs to Jesus. I do not believe that God’s hand will be stayed in this because I believe that He has His purpose and that it is part of the prophetic calendar. So let me lay out for you how I ” see,” the times that are approaching. There is something that we call Christendom. To me, that is everything that calls itself by the name of Christ. This would include every denomination, including Catholics, Pentecostals, Baptists, Evangelicals a host of Non-denominational churches and the man in the street who does not go to any church but if you were to push him, he would call himself either a believer or a Christian.

Now let me say plainly, I believe that only a very small percentage of that which calls itself Christian is in fact true born-again, new creature in Christ, sold out disciples of Jesus. Various men have given numbers over the years, Ravenhill once said that he reckoned only 7% of professing Christians in America were actually Christians. The truth is, I have no idea. I do know that Jesus said that many were called but few were chosen and that the road to heaven was a narrow one and few there were that found it. That’s not so complicated and I see no need to complicate it further by adding to what Jesus said.

And so, how will the persecution come about and who will persecute the saints of God, martyring them and believing they are doing God a favor by doing it? Well, I believe that the vast majority of Christendom that is not saved will soon morph into the great whore church. What is this great whore church? Well it will be a church that will bring together the major religions of the world under one roof. Islam, Judaism and Christianity will join together under a false prophet who will testify to the authenticity of the man of peace, the anti-Christ. Tumultuous circumstances in the world will give rise to this anti-Christ. People of every nation will be mesmerized by him and by his displays of power. Only the saints will not fall for this grand delusion. And as they refuse to follow him they become the targets of hatred of the world in general and specifically the religious...........bro Frank


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TMK Mar 18, 2016

It does seem odd that God would punish(persecute) those who are truly His(the remnant).

sermonindex Mar 18, 2016

Todd, to suffer for Christ is to rule and reign with Christ. We know what the Apostle thought of suffering for the cause of Christ and loss for the cause of Christ. He counted it all as rubbish to be found in Him. No saint will ever suffer spiritual loss when they are persecuted for His sake.....bro Frank

1Pe 3:17 For it is better, if the will of God be so, that ye suffer for well doing, than for evil doing.

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TMK Mar 18, 2016

Hi Frank- I don't doubt the concept or the scriptures- but it still seems odd. I suppose this is because it goes against what seems just.

Perhaps a better thing to ask is "why" does God choose to persecute those who are closest to him?

Those who are closest to Him would seem to benefit the least, if there is a benefit at all. Persecution of a lukewarm believer may either make him hot, or cause him to abandon completely. But a hot believer is already hot.

See what I mean?

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deltadom Mar 18, 2016

There were many heretics in the early church who died as martyrs.
People who denied doctrines that It was a lecture by RT
Dying as a martyr is not proof of orthodoxy. I know that I could not survive 10 seconds or even 5 seconds of persecution without Jesus.

There have been many decades in Christianity in which there have been revivals in which people have not been persecuted and there have been decades of Christianity in which there has been persecution.

Romans 8:17
and if children, then heirs””heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together

Philippians 3:10
that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death

sermonindex Mar 18, 2016

Todd, you write........

"I don't doubt the concept or the scriptures- but"

But's are always dangerous Todd :) If you can see it and dont doubt it and you know that God is just then doesn't that answer your question?

As to those who are hot, then persecution is the price that goes along with that.

11Tim 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

sermonindex Mar 19, 2016

The scriptures speak of a future time when the anti-christ shall rise and crush everything that opposes him, Christians and otherwise. But right now here in the US, we are not enduring anything close to such a thing. There is however something just as terrible going on...the great falling away. Great darkness has flooded the land and has seemingly swept everything before it. I am so dismayed at the level of apostasy that I am almost tempted to exclaim like the disciples, "who then can be spared". Everywhere I see people falling away from God, abandoning the hope that they once had in Christ. It is so distressing to my soul that it keeps me on my knees for my own family and those whom God brings into our fellowship. May we all keep the fire of our first love stoked night and day and continue to encourage one another daily.

sermonindex Mar 19, 2016

Amen bro Mark. The great falling away precedes the coming persecution so when you see it begin to unfold then you know that what has to happen next comes quickly.

2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

I think one of the key Scriptures that explains the great falling away is the verses in the same chapter.......

And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: That they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. (2Th 2:10-12)

The love of the truth. Its what in the end, and always has been, the dividing line between folks. Having a love of the truth is actually a gift from God. There is a fire in the bones of those who love the truth, so much so that they forsake all else when it comes right down to it. Without this love of the truth then men will fall away as circumstances change. The cultural winds, the world and the love for it, persecution, even love for family will cause many to fall away. If one is not prepared, somewhere deep in their heart, to forsake all for Him, then they will fall away. The refiners fire reveals that which otherwise would remain hidden. Not hidden to God but hidden to men......bro Frank

sermonindex Mar 19, 2016

Amen brother Franks. Is it reasonable to surmise then that only those who survive this great flood of darkness that precedes the rising of the man of sin...will be in fact be the remnant? And what then the effect of the persecution? I would think that it will only serve to strengthen the remnant even more. The others who have fallen away during this current period of apostasy will still consider themselves christians when the beast arises, but they will only have the form of godliness, not the real thing. What will become of them I wonder? Will some of them wake up during the great persecution or will it be too late? In other words, how "final" is this delusion that is granted to them because they do not love the truth???

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TMK Mar 19, 2016

I hate to always seem to be the contrarian, but oh well.

But I don't see a great apostasy, at least not in any of the Christians and churches I know. I don't know if anyone that is a believer who has abandoned or is abandoning the faith. I see the opposite- there is more hunger and desire to grow.

It was my impression that if there will be a great apostasy that a widespread persecution would cause it because people would "chicken out." But you seem to be saying that the apostasy happens and THEN the great persecution.

I agree that America is in a dark place(sinners are getting more brazen and this is now condoned by society- i.e. other sinners) but that is not apostasy.

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deltadom Mar 19, 2016

We have things such as the prosperity gospel, word of faith movement , emergent church movement , just visit your Christian books and compare them to books a century ago.

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TMK Mar 19, 2016

Why do feel that people in the "emergent church" movement for example are apostate? Because they may not meet in a building with a steeple?

Not everyone in WOF movement is a nonbeliever. I agree they twist things but that does not make a person apostate.

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yuehan Mar 19, 2016

I actually posted a similar question to Deltadom's a while back: https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=55052&forum=35

I still don't know the answer. But in a sense, the darkness doesn't matter as much if we are focusing on the Light - and it is in the darkest place where the Light shines the brightest.

sermonindex Mar 19, 2016

Bro Mark asks .....

"Amen brother Franks. Is it reasonable to surmise then that only those who survive this great flood of darkness that precedes the rising of the man of sin...will be in fact be the remnant?"

I believe that the remnant are lovers of the truth to the detriment of everything else in his of her life. And because of that, they, rather than merely survive, stand fast in the mighty headwinds that will blow around the world. They are over-comers of these headwinds of hatred. Most of the persecutors I believe will absolutely consider themselves Christian, this is the history of the last 1700 years. After Constantine, the main persecutors and killers of the martyrs were Roman Catholics who defintely believed they were killing heretics and in doing so believed they were carrying out the work of God.

They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me. (Joh 16:2-3)

You asked brother if some will wake up? I do believe that to be true. It will only be too late when the Lord Himself returns. As these people witness God's remnant being persecuted it will, I believe, bring about two main reactions. 1. More hatred and I believe this will be the majority reaction. 2. Conviction and repentance. In the parable of the foolish virgins Jesus is warning those unprepared what happens. If they stay in their unprepared state, if there is no oil in their vessels, then they will be lost to everlasting darkness. They had a little oil, but what oil they had ran out quickly and any light they had went out......................bro Frank

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Pnutty Mar 19, 2016

And noone here interprets the falling away as the rapture? apo Away from /stasis standing.

The church, the bride church is standing away from the professed church from their place in heaven.

A true Christian can sin but not live in sin. Majority of Christians are they living in sin? They will continue to do so and call themself the church when we are out of here.


First we are taken, then the antichrist revealed.

A toddler believers reponse

sermonindex Mar 19, 2016

Hi Linda,

Its another subject which has been discussed on the forum at length. I do not believe in a pre-trib rapture and I believe I may be in the majority on this forum, just for your information. If you search in the search box on the home page of SI with the phrase pre-trib rapture you may find many interesting threads..............bro Frank

G646
ἀποστασία
apostasia
ap-os-tas-ee'-ah
Feminine of the same as G647; defection from truth (properly the state), ("apostasy”): - falling away, forsake.

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Pnutty Mar 19, 2016

For a year, Im being quite serious I never saw a search function. I looked in the beginning for a little black word to say search and only because you SAID there is a search function could I then see it as a blue square and a google blank!

Do majority here believe in Mid or Post? Ill be careful to not make any posts about the rapture then. But Id like to know the consenses.

And does majority believe in the rapture? I know many Christians do not.

This discussion is locked.

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