Learning the “falling away” of 2 Thessalonians 2 verse 3 is critical to “the day of Christ”, challenges serious Christians in respect of the company they keep, and the church they support! Leaving one’s church, or religion, is not a light matter! As we abandon our own ways, and cease from our own understanding to trust in The Lord with all our heart, Proverbs 3:1 to 7, responsibility rests with the individual to evaluate personal experience with what the scriptures teach! How does the religious group one is affiliated to, measure up to the doctrinal standards laid down in scripture? How do our expectations, and beliefs developed from studying The Word, vary from those of our fellowship? Have we applied ourselves to study, and understand scripture to make an accurate assessment, and will our decision be based on blind “faith”, or confidence in Christ? Only by studying The Word, 2 Timothy 2:15, do we learn about God, that God is “not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance! 2 Peter 3:9.
The Word puts proper perspective into the matter. “Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, 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 first, and that man of sin be revealed the son of perdition”. 2 Thessalonians 2:1 to 3 Old KJV. Properly interpreted, with scripture interpreting scripture, these verses mean the one-thousand-year reign of saints with Christ on Earth, will not take place unless God’s people learn to obey God, and depart from apostasy! The “man of sin” must be revealed, and this is the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the mother of harlots, and abominations in the Earth! Revelation 17:5. As a body, Christians are divided, and “dispersed”! Consequently, any united Christian stand against corruption, is delayed!
Disciples who have diligently studied prophecy, will confirm perilous times are in the future. Matthew 10:35 and 36, 2 Thessalonians 2:7 to 12, and Matthew 24:9 to 28. The wrath of God comes upon the children of disobedience, Ephesians 2:2, 5:6, and Colossians 3:6, and the day is coming in which the slain of the Lord shall be many. Isaiah 66:16. Scripture urges God’s people to go into hiding until the indignation be overpast, Isaiah 26:20 for the time is come that judgment must begin in the house of the Lord! 1 Peter 4:17.
Exhorted to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, Ephesians 5:11, we must understand “the church” the world sees in the year 2020, has done nothing to teach men “all things” Christ taught. Matthew 28:20. There is little or nothing men may see of the Kingdom of God on Earth, and if we examine the quality of teaching in denominational churches in light of what the scriptures teach, we will surely understand our Lord’s words, “neither do men light a candle to put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light to all that are in the house”. Matthew 5:15. “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. Romans 1:18. Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them”. Romans 1:19. Truth seeking Christians have been truly deprived of proper teaching! After due diligence to examine the scriptures, we will understand our Lord’s words, “a city set on an hill cannot be hid”! Matthew 5:14. God Almighty, our Lord Jesus Christ, wants His church, His bride, to separate herself from the world, and to enter into her closet! He wants His children to remove themselves from denominational “Christendom”, because it is false, and it is about to be severely judged!
Those who have studied prophecy will endorse we are at the end of the age of Antichrist. The world is about to go through the Great Tribulation beginning with the 2nd woe in The Revelation, and the 3rd woe comes quickly. Revelation 11:14. This is the consummation, Daniel 9:26 and 27, after which Christ’s bride goes forth out of her closet to rule and reign with Christ a thousand years in the Messianic age of the Kingdom of God on Earth. Predicting the awakening of man in the first resurrection, the scriptures are very clear on these matters, and “the church” men may see in the world, has done little or nothing about teaching these things!
The Doctrine of Abandonment relates only to the serious Christian who studies God’s Word to learn the principles and precepts of the Christian faith! Exhorting us to repent, Luke 24:47, to seek the truth with all our heart, 1 Samuel 12:24, Jeremiah 5:1, and John 4:23, to call for justice, Genesis 18:19, Proverbs 21:3, Isaiah 9:7, Isaiah 56:1, Isaiah 59:4, and Jeremiah 23:5, and to establish judgment in the gate, Amos 5:15, the Churchgoing Christian has to admit their Church has nothing to do with running the Courts to see justice is done! Zechariah 3:7. They also have to admit their “Sunday Sabbath” church, is at variance with the 7th day Sabbath keeping churches, and the Jewish religion! Luke 13:10 and 14. Who is right, and who is wrong becomes the primary question only studious Christians can answer, and it is well to note our Lord Jesus observed the Jewish Sabbath Day! Where Sunday ‘Sabbath keepers’ stand with this knowledge, is a matter for them to take before our Lord, and it is worth noting God blessed the 7th day, Genesis 2:2 and 3, Exodus 20:11, and 31:17, and commanded man to hallow this day! Clearly churchgoing Christians of the 3rd millennium believe they have the right to tell God which day suits them, and they would do well to read Romans 14:5 and 6, in the old King James, very slowly!
The Sabbath is a sign between God and His people. Exodus 31:13, and 17, Ezekiel 20:12, and 20, It is a commandment, as it is an instruction to do justice and judgment, yet these are areas wherein modern-day churches simply do not conform to what scripture teaches! It is in these, and other observations, that serious Christians begin to discern right from wrong, and question whether they should continue to support their apostate “Church”, or leave, and follow in Christ’s footsteps, as Christ leads His sheep to better pasture. “Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers and shut thy doors about thee”; Isaiah 26:20, and “Come out of her my people that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues”, are very difficult to misinterpret! In the judgment of His Kingdom, 2 Timothy 4:1, our Lord is going to gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, to burn them, and the righteous shall shine as the sun. Matthew 13:37 to 43.
By Lester Oliver Thomas Flock © 2020