Study – Grow – Know

The “Great Falling Away” and 1 John

September 9, 2010 at 2:58 PM 10 comments

Paul clearly outlines a number of things that are to take place during these last days.  In 2 Thessalonians 2, he specifically states that the day of the Lord cannot come until a number of things happen first:

1. a falling away
2. revealing of the man of sin

Meanings or intepretations of three things keep people from agreeing:

1. does the Day of the Lord refer to ONE day or a period of time?
2. what exactly does falling away mean?
3. when is the man of sin, or Antichrist actually REVEALED?

We all have our opinions on these things, but what I want to discuss briefly today is only one aspect of the above and that is the great falling away.

The major disagreement regarding the phrase the great falling away usually centers around whether actual Christians can truly fall away from God…forever.  In other words, people believe that salvation can be lost, once it has been received from God.  There have been plenty of books written by people attempting to clarify the point, but I’d like to simply deal with aspects of God’s Word here as we attempt to clarify God’s position on the subject.

Let’s consider the text:  “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,” (2 Thessalonians 2:3 KJV).

Following the above statement, Paul explains over the long run what the man of sin (or the Antichrist) will do:

• opposes everything including God
• sets himself up AS God
• demands to be worshipped

Paul is reminding the Thessalonians what he taught them when he was with them.  Before the Antichrist will be revealed, there must be a falling away first.  The falling away is what causes people to eventually worship him because since they will have rejected God, God sends a strong delusion so that they will believe what is false (cf. 2 Thessalonians 2:11).

The falling away…what is it?  Is it a time when actual CHristians reject God, or is it a time when people who look as though they could be Christians fall away?

If we look around us, most Christians would agree that we seem to be in that time when a great falling aways is occurring.  People who spent their lives as Christians are now atheists.  Others have stopped being Christian and have become thoroughly involved with aspects of the New Age, or something else.  One thing we can certainly agree on is that people are and will continue to fall away.  That much seems clear.

What I believe is occurring is the great falling away that Paul speaks of here.  I do not believe this is something that seems like what Paul speaks of, but that this is in fact, the falling away that he preached to the Thessalonians.  I believe that this age is ending and as it ends, it is getting darker.  What I mean by that is I believe Satan and his minions are getting ready to burst through from their realm into ours.  They are held back by God Himself (and how God works through His Bride, the invisible Church).  Once the exact, preordained time comes, these devilishly evil beings will no longer be held back, and will be allowed to pour into this realm seemingly without limit.

Will we see them?  We might, but what is more important than whether we see them or not, is the fact that we will see the results of their presence and for many, it will be absolutely terrifying.  Russ Dizdar speaks of the fact that these beings will make their way into this human realm during the Black Awakening, an event that will take place throughout the world at the same time, and cause massive destruction and chaos as can be imagined.

Getting back to the falling away, I also believe that this particular falling away refers only to those who are professing Christians, not authentic Christians.  To those who have been pretending to be Christians, to those who may even think they are Christians (but have never had a spiritual transaction) and to those who are merely religious.  I will tell you why in a moment.

The visible Church is filled with hypocrites and pretenders.  It does not take a genius to figure that out.  Though the world loves to point to these people as examples of why they believe Christianity is wrong, they are probably pointing to those who are tares (those deliberately planted by Satan).  These tares will never be wheat, which means that they will never be authentic Christians, though they certainly may at times look the part.

Christians who are authentic Christians may appear to fall away…for a time only to be brought back to the Lord eventually.  Tares once fallen away, will never “come back” to Christianity.  The day of their game-playing is over.  The Black Awakening has occurred, therefore they can drop the facade and be who they are at their core.

John wrote the gospel of John and also wrote three much smaller epistles as well, 1, 2, and 3 John.  In spite of how short these three books are, there is tremendous insight in them.

In 1 John 2:18-19, we read the words, “Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.  They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.” (emphasis added)

John’s words are extremely practical here.  He first states that it is the last days, or end times (which began with Christ’s death, resurrection and ascension).  Because we are in the end times, it is common to see many false prophets and false teachers.  This is because the spirit of the Antichrist exists in the world since Christ.

When Johh speaks of “many antichrist,” he is not saying that there will be literally many of THE Antichrist.  He is saying that the spirit of Antichrist lives within many people who are opposed to God.  In fact, those who are opposed to God are of the antichrist, or Satan, if you will.  That demeanor and attitude will be seen and felt in full force with the presence of THE Antichrist.  Now, we have a taste of it with the rebellious nature of people in the world who become false teachers, false prophets, and who do so for money.  They serve themselves by preaching what people want to hear and thereby make themselves rich.

But notice what John says next.  Notice that John says these “antichrists” went out from him.  That is an extremely interesting statement because John is saying that these individuals were – at one time – part of the fellowship.  They were among other Christians and were even considered to be Christians.  There was no reason at that time to doubt their veracity.

But then notice that John states without equivocation, “they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.”  What John is saying here is very simple:  even though some men were among them and appeared to be Christians, it is now clear that because they LEFT them, going off on their own and rejecting John’s teaching, they proved that they were not truly saved.  John further states that if they had honestly been true Christians, they not only would not have left, but would have remained with John.

John then states that the reason they went out was to manifest themselves to the entire world so that…what?…so that they would be SEEN for what they were – unsaved.  That is no different than what is happening today.  Those who are falling away, do so because they are not part of the Body of Christ, but are in fact, tares planted by Satan.  It seems all too simple really.

The fact that they pretended to be part of the Body of Christ is merely fulfillment of the prophecy that Jesus gave regarding the wheat and the tares of Matthew 13.  He warned that imposters would flood into the church.  He stated clearly that the enemy would come in the cover of darkness and sow seeds that resembled wheat, but were not authentically wheat.

John indicated that what Jesus stated had come to pass.  Paul stated that it would happen in a huge way during the end times.  Yet, here we are today, acting like authentic Christians are walking away from the church!  We act as though Jesus Christ has no ability to keep His own safe.  We act as though we are surprised when someone walks away from Christianity, yet Jesus said that those impersonating Christians would come into the church.

When we see someone walk away, some assume that they must have in truth, been an actual Christian.  That’s not what either Jesus or John taught.  John seemed to understand that those who walk away do so because they were never truly part of Christianity in the first place.  Why is it we understand it differently?

The reality seems to be that the great falling away is upon us.  I believe it will not only continue, but increase in size.  That’s a good thing, because it means that the tares are leaving the church!  They are opting to no longer pretend to be something they are not.  In other words, the time has come for them to drop their facade and show their real face!

I also believe that along with the great falling away, we are going to see an unprecedented number of people who receive salvation!  As the world becomes more and more flooded with evil, God’s grace will increase!  People will have their eyes opened and will receive what they have been missing, that which is only found in Jesus Christ.  Salvation will be theirs and many of us are being used by Him now to spread His gospel message.

The tares are leaving.  They are taking their pretense, their hypocrisy, their lies, their duplicity and they are throwing all of that off, so that they can either work directly, or indirectly for their father, Satan.  No tares that Satan sows can ever become wheat.

We have very dark times ahead, but we also have wonderful times of grace, where God will impact people with His truth, His love, and His salvation.  Those who are Satan’s will become angrier and those who are destined to be God’s will find their hearts softening.

Jesus, lover of my soul!  Thank you Father God for your love, your grace, your good pleasure, and your will!  May you be blessed to live in and through us and we daily submit ourselves for your keeping, provision, and for your will.  Be glorified in all we do, think, and say!  Amen.

Entry filed under: alienology, Atheism and religion, Demonic, dispensationalism, Eastern Mysticism, emergent church, Islam, israel, Judaism, Life in America, new age movement, Posttribulational Rapture, Pretribulational Rapture, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, Satanism, Sharia Law, temple mount, ufology. Tags: 1 john 2, 2 thessalonians 2, great falling away are the tares, john says they were never christians.