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The Christians in the city of Thessalonica were confused and frightened. False teachers had taught them that the Day of Christ had already come and they were living in the Tribulation. The Tribulation is a period of seven years of judgment on the earth. The Apostle Paul told them that was not possible. Two things have to happen before the Tribulation begins. In our text, the Apostle told them not to fear. Two events have to happen before the Tribulation begins.

1.  First, “that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first” [thus the “falling away” begins before the Tribulation].

2.  Second, “and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” [this is the Apostle’s name for the final world-dictator, the Antichrist. He is revealed at the beginning of the Tribulation. In fact the Tribulation begins with the unveiling of the man of sin – the Antichrist.].

First, the Apostasy. Second, the Antichrist. Then the Tribulation begins.

I am going to speak for a few minutes this evening on that “falling away,” that Apostasy, spoken of in our text. Click here to read my in-depth historical and theological discussion of the roots of today’s apostasy.

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I. First, the revelation of the apostasy.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first” – hē apostasia, the apostasy (II Thessalonians 2:3).

The NASB literally translates the words, “the falling away” as “the apostasy.” The word “apostasy” comes from the Greek word “apostasia.” That Greek word means “to stand away from.” It refers to a falling away from the truths of the Bible. Dr. W. A. Criswell said, “Before the ‘day of the Lord’ there will occur a marked falling away of professed believers. The use of the article [the] indicates Paul has in mind a specific apostasy” (The Criswell Study Bible, note on II Thessalonians 2:3). The Greek words are “hē apostasia” – the apostasy – never one like it before, never one like it afterwards – the apostasy. Dr. Charles C. Ryrie said, “The apostasy. An aggressive and climactic revolt against God which will prepare the way for the appearance of the man of sin, [the] great Antichrist” (The Ryrie Study Bible, note on II Thessalonians 2:3).

How does this text affect us today? The answer is simple – it affects us greatly, because we are now, right this minute, living in the end-time apostasy! I know that the apostasy will get worse – much worse. But it has started already. Dr. John F. Walvoord said that the signs in Matthew 24:4-14 “also find some fulfillment in the present age...observable now but to be fulfilled with more graphic detail in the Great Tribulation” (John F. Walvoord, Th.D., Major Bible Prophecies, Zondervan Publishing House, 1991, p. 254). That is my view of the apostasy. It began in this present age. It is “observable now, but to be fulfilled with more graphic detail in the Great Tribulation.”

The churches are in deep trouble today. All of the historic denominations have dwindled in number. Today they are only a mere shadow of what they used to be. Even the Southern Baptist Convention is now losing 1,000 churches every year! That’s right – 1,000 Southern Baptist churches close their doors forever each year. And, since 2006, the number of their baptisms has decreased every year. Southern Baptists lost “more than 200,000 members” last year (Baptist Press News). Everywhere we look we see church members who are discouraged and fearful. I don’t know of a single church that is growing from conversions. There may be one – but I don’t know where it is! The best most of them can do is “steal” somebody from another church. Our churches are sliding rapidly into deeper and deeper apostasy.

Even some of our best churches are pastored by men who are so apostate that they have “denied the power of the blood of Christ.” A number of very conservative pastors deny Hebrews 12:24, which says that the “blood of sprinkling” is in “the heavenly Jerusalem,” as the Bible teaches so plainly here. Many pastors follow these teachers – who say that the Blood of Christ is only a “metonym,” another word for Christ’s death. But Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said,

The ultimate test of whether a man is truly preaching the gospel or not, is to notice the emphasis which he places upon “the blood.” It is not enough to talk about the cross and the death; the test is “the blood” (D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, M.D., God’s Way of Reconciliation (Ephesians 2), The Banner of Truth Trust, 1981, p. 331).

Today there is a falling away from what the Bible teaches about the literal Blood atonement. Preachers may say they believe it, but I don’t know any major preacher who is proclaiming the Blood of Christ as Spurgeon and Dr. Lloyd-Jones did. God help us! We are in the apostasy right now!

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first” – hē apostasia – the apostasy (II Thessalonians 2:3).

“Signs of His Coming.” Stand and sing that chorus!

Signs of His coming multiply,
   Morning light breaks in eastern sky,
Watch, for the time is drawing nigh,
   What if it were today?
(“What If It Were Today?” by Leila N. Morris, 1862-1929).

II. Second, the reason for the apostasy.

The Bible says,

“The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12; p. 1341).

The verse says, “the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12:12).

I know this is a description of Satan’s fury in the Tribulation itself. But my long-time pastor at the Chinese church, Dr. Timothy Lin, saw something else here. He said, “Satan knows more about prophecy than many Christians.” He said that the Devil knows right now that he only has a short time before he is bound for a thousand years in “the bottomless pit” (Revelation 20:1-2; p. 1349). John Phillips wrote,

Satan is now like a caged lion, enraged beyond words… choking with fury for ways to vent his hatred and his spite against humankind (Exploring Revelation, Loizeaux, 1991, p. 160).

Satan cannot touch God in Heaven, so he rages and attacks man, God’s highest creation. The Apostle Peter said,

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary [your enemy] the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8; p. 1315).

Many lonely young people get all twisted up – and some even become demon possessed – by watching violent movies and looking at video games by the hour! Young people, stop going to those movies, and throw out those video games! Don’t become demonized! Don’t allow yourself to become demon influenced! Get all that junk out of your life! Period! We have young people come to our church who can’t seem to experience conversion, even though I preach on it every Sunday. But they are under the power of Satan through hours of video games. Video games are the modern equivalent of idols. And the Apostle John said, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (I John 5:21; p. 1325). If you want to be converted you have to get rid of those video games! You have to! Don’t let video games cloud your mind and send you to Hell!

And one more thing. Don’t forget that the Devil goes to church! Yes, Satan goes to church every Sunday! And he and his demons have really messed the churches up in the last two hundred years! I could feel my flesh crawl and my hair stand on end – when I read the account of Charles G. Finney’s (1792-1875) so-called conversion, and so-called Spirit-filling! I am certain that Finney became demonized, if not demon possessed. A friend of mine, with an earned doctorate in theology, said, “There’s a darkness about Finney. He was a tormented man.” Then that preacher said, “Have you ever seen a photograph of his eyes? He looked like a wild man.” I think he was demon possessed!

And Finney is the man who turned all his fury against Protestant conversion, and led nearly all the pastors in America (and thousands throughout the world) to give up the old way of conversion, and change it to “Decisionism” (click here to read a definition of it) – bringing literally millions of lost people into the evangelical churches. Dr. Francis Schaeffer’s last book was titled, The Great Evangelical Disaster. Why is evangelicalism a disaster? Because our preachers embraced the demonic doctrines of “Decisionism,” and turned away from classical conversion. They have turned away from conversion, preached by Jonathan Edwards, George Whitefield and C. H. Spurgeon. God help us! Millions of lost people came into our churches unconverted – and ruined them by Finney’s demonic doctrine of “Decisionism.” Finney destroyed the Congregationalists. He destroyed the Methodists. He destroyed the Presbyterians. He destroyed the Northern Baptists. And right now Finney’s “Decisionism” is destroying the Southern Baptists and the Independent fundamental Baptists, filling their churches with unconverted people – people who are so unstable that they split churches, and leave them, or stay and pollute them, and thus destroy them!

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first” – hē apostasia – the apostasy! (II Thessalonians 2:3).

“Signs of His Coming” – sing it!

Signs of His coming multiply,
   Morning light breaks in eastern sky,
Watch, for the time is drawing nigh,
   What if it were today?

We have seen the revelation of the Apostasy. We have seen the reason for the Apostasy. But I can only touch on the last two points – the result and the remedy for the Apostasy. For more on Decisionism read Iain H. Murray’s The Old Evangelicalism (Banner of Truth, 2005).

III. Third, the result of the apostasy.

The result is clear. Very few church members are saved today. They have 3 or 4-year-olds say the words of a so-called “sinner’s prayer” and then they baptize them! Horrible! No better than medieval Catholics who baptized little babies! Even worse! At least those priests didn’t give them the false assurance of “eternal security.” It is absolutely poisonous and Satanic to have children or adults baptized simply because they said a “sinner’s prayer”! God help us! In many places “Decisionism” has made a born again Baptist or evangelical as rare as a man with two heads. You almost never find one that is really converted! Now, we never say that you can only be saved in our church. But our church is a good place to be saved! I will try my best not to baptize you lost!

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first” – hē apostasia – the apostasy! (II Thessalonians 2:3).

“Signs of His Coming.” Sing the chorus again!

Signs of His coming multiply,
   Morning light breaks in eastern sky,
Watch, for the time is drawing nigh,
   What if it were today?

IV. Fourth, the remedy for the apostasy.

How can we cure the Apostasy? What is the remedy? What is the answer? The cure, the remedy, the answer – is the Lord Jesus Christ! Jesus is the cure for the Apostasy! Jesus is the remedy for the Apostasy! And, yes, Jesus is the answer to the Apostasy! The Apostle Paul knew that. And that's the reason he said,

“I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (I Corinthians 2:2; p. 1213).

Christ saves us from sin. Christ saves us from Hell. Christ saves us from the Apostasy! Come out of the dying culture of America, and its dying churches! Come out from them – and come in – all the way in to Jesus! Jesus Christ will never disappoint you!

My hope is built on nothing less
   Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness;
I dare not trust the sweetest frame,
   But wholly lean on Jesus' name.
On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand,
   All other ground is sinking sand,
All other ground is sinking sand.
   (“The Solid Rock” by Edward Mote, 1797-1874).

Tonight, there is no safe place in this world except in Jesus! Come to Him, and He will save you! Come to Jesus and He will cleanse you from your sin with His own precious Blood!