A falling away.

[Freth]

As I started reading the forums this morning, and private conversations, I was impressed upon to make a post on the subject of, "a falling away."

Let's unpack 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4:

1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

2 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.

• The second coming, the day of Christ, is at hand.

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;

4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.

• Let no man deceive you by any means. Deception, from men.
  
• The second coming will not happen until there is a falling away first (apostasy)...
  • a falling away (apostasia): a falling away, defection, apostasy.
    • apostasy: the abandonment or renunciation of a religious or political belief.
  • Daniel prophesied the beginning of the apostasy.
    • Daniel 7:25 And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
      • Speaks blasphemy.
      • Wears out the saints (persecution).
      • Thinks to change times and laws (of God).
      • Dark ages/Christian persecution, papal rule 1260 years.
• ...And that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.
  • He opposes God.
    • opposes (antikeimai): to oppose, to be set over against, opposite to, be adverse to (adversary), be contrary to
  • He exalts himself above all that is called God.
    • The same thing Lucifer did.
      • Isaiah 14:13-14 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.
  • He is worshiped as God.
    • Only God should receive worship.
      • Exodus 20:3 Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
  • He sits in the temple of God.
    • Physical and/or spiritual.
      • Temple (naos):
        • used of the temple at Jerusalem, but only of the sacred edifice (or sanctuary) itself, consisting of the Holy place and the Holy of Holies (in classical Greek it is used of the sanctuary or cell of the temple, where the image of the god was placed which is distinguished from the whole enclosure)
        • any heathen temple or shrine
        • the spiritual temple consisting of the saints of all ages joined together by and in Christ.
      • Romans 12:15 So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.
      • 1 Corinthians 12:12 For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so also is Christ.
      • 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
  • He shows himself that he is God.
    • Convinces himself that he is God on earth.
      • "But the supreme teacher in the Church is the Roman Pontiff. Union of minds, therefore, requires, together with a perfect accord in the one faith, complete submission and obedience of will to the Church and to the Roman Pontiff, as to God Himself." —Sapientiae Christianae, On Christians as Citizens, Pope Leo XIII, 1890

Apostasy originated in the church, and continues in the church today. He thought to change times and laws. Changes that are upheld in most every Protestant church still to this day, despite plain scripture to the contrary.
​

Conclusion:

• Let no man deceive you.
  
• The day of Christ (the second coming) is at hand.
  
• There is only one religious power in existence today with a long history that matches the description of the man of sin to a tee.
• The apostasy, or the falling away, spoken of in 2 Thessalonians 2 is none other than that which was instituted by the Roman power, and is upheld today in Protestant churches worldwide.
• The times and laws are none other than the eternal and binding laws of God.
  • Times and laws.
    • Love God
      • God is the only God. Have no other gods.
      • Do not bow down and worship any graven images, or any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.
      • Do not take the Lord's name in vain.
      • Remember His day, sanctified at creation.
    • Love others (commandments 5-10).

In these things, we can see clearly the apostasy that was described in 2 Thessalonians 2; the falling away of Christianity into disobedience, of which was prophesied to be worldwide (Revelation 13:3) before the second coming.​

 

[The Narrow Way]

Yes, I believe that Isaiah 4:1 makes it pretty clear that ALL the Churches will leave Christ ~

And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying, We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, to take away our reproach.​

Seven denotes ALL, Women stands for Churches.... One Man is Christ... They ALL want to be called CHRISTIAN while "eating their own bread and wearing their own apparel" - believing and doing what they want to do, irrespective of what God has told us to do.

 

[BobRyan]

there is a document called the "Westminster Confession of Faith" - which (like the "Baptist Confession of Faith" ) makes this statement about the falling away (in 2 Thess 2 - seen in the dark ages...

http://files1.wts.edu/uploads/pdf/about/WCF_30.pdf

XXV.VI. There is no other Head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ:a nor can the Pope of Rome, in any sense be head thereof; but is that Antichrist, that man of sin and son of perdition, that exalteth himself in the Church against Christ, and all that is called God.b

a. Eph 1:22; Col 1:18. • b. Mat 23:8-10; 2 Thes 2:3-4, 8-9; Rev 13:6.


http://files1.wts.edu/uploads/pdf/about/WCF_30.pdf
section 25:

V. The purest Churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error;498 and
some have so degenerated, as to become no Churches of Christ, but synagogues of
Satan.499 Nevertheless, there shall be always a Church on earth to worship God according
to His will.500
VI. There is no other head of the Church but the Lord Jesus Christ.501 Nor can the Pope
of Rome, in any sense, be head thereof. but is that Antichrist, that man of sin, and son of
perdition, that exalts himself, in the Church, against Christ and all that is called God.502
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Baptist Confession of Faith - sectn 26
The Baptist Confession of Faith (1689)

1. • The purest churches under Heaven are subject to mixture and error, and some have degenerated so much that they have ceased to be churches of Christ and have become synagogues of Satan. Nevertheless Christ always has had, and always will (to the end of time) have a kingdom in this world, made up of those who believe in Him, and make profession of His name.
   • The Lord Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church. In Him, by the appointment of the Father, is vested in a supreme and sovereign manner all power for the calling, institution, order, or government of the Church. The Pope of Rome cannot in any sense be head of the Church, but he is that antichrist, that man of sin, and son of perdition, who exalts himself in the church against Christ and all that is called God, who the Lord shall destroy with the brightness of His coming.

 

[rdclmn72]

The falling away happens prior to the fall of Jerusalem. Josiah instituted religious reforms and called for the observance of the approaching Passover in 621 BCE. The greatest Passover to be held before the end. After Josiah died apostate rulers reintroduced idol worship and were deluded into rebelling against Babylon.
Jeremiah addresses both groups of people, the few remaining faithful and the many that have fallen away.
Jesus refers to the wheat and the tares as both existing at the same time. Its also a description of the future events to come.