Falling Away

Now we beseech you, brethren... That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of  Christ is at hand, Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away at first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped... (2 Thessalonians 2:1-4a).

As the end draws near and Christ's coming gets closer, the Bible tells us that there will be a great falling away from the faith. Satan will entice many away from the truth and gather them for himself. He will convince people that they don't need to go to church, and they don't need God. As this happens, things will become more and more difficult.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables (2 Timothy 4:3-4).

There are even preachers who will be part of this movement. They will water down the Word of God so that it offends no one, and everyone can feel good about themselves. They will be all-inclusive, all-accepting. Congregations will look just like the rest of the world, and all sorts of sin will be tolerated if not accepted.

And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many, And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold (Matthew 24:10-13).

All of this encourages selfishness, and that means a lack of sincerity in loving others. People will be greedy and backstabbing, out to get as much as they can for themselves. Truth, honesty, and integrity become things of the past on many different levels, and Christians will need to be bold and courageous if they keep to their faith, and we don't betray our Lord.

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