READ 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3

The Apostle Paul is now going to correct the errors that were being falsely circulated among the believers at Thessalonica.  

He says in verse 3, “Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except…”  Paul teaches two events will trigger the day of the Lord.

One of the events will mark the end of the church age.  The other event will mark the inauguration of the day of the Lord.  “…except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition” (vs. 3b).

A.  The first one - a falling away.  

Literally, that says -- the apostasy.  It's a definite article there.  Ever heard the word, apostasy?  The falling away.  The word there means to stand off from.  It means a departure from the faith.  Standing away from the faith.  It is similar to the word that is used for divorce in the Bible.  A divorce from the faith. A falling away from the faith.  The Bible predicts that at the end of the church age organized Christendom will be characterized by the apostasy, the falling away, the great rebellion.  In other words, large numbers of the Christian faith will depart from the very truths of the Christian faith.

This apostasy will take two basic forms. 

• There will be a DOCTRINAL departure.

• It will also be DEVOTIONAL in nature.

There will be a falling away of people's love for the Lord Jesus Christ.  I Timothy 4:1, 

“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart (that's the verb form of apostasy - some shall apostatize) from the faith…”  That is the Christian faith, the faith of the Scriptures.  Doing what?  "Giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils."  

He is saying that in the last days there will be those in Christendom that will depart from the very truths of the Scriptures, and they will be seduced by demonic spirits and will fall for doctrines of devils.

Etta Lennamon is an example of one who gave heed to seducing spirits.  She was a professor of the Bible at a seminary in Berlin and a devout disciple of Rudolph Butmon who was a very liberal New Testament teacher.  He taught that the things in the Gospels about the Lord Jesus Christ were just made up -- that they didn't really occur -- that the church fabricated this story to convince people that Jesus was the Christ.  

As a disciple of this man Butmon, Etta Lennamon taught the same thing and has written many volumes of liberal New Testament teaching. 

Ultimately, she came to know Christ as her personal Savior.  After her conversion she said that in the teaching in which she was involved -- in this liberal teaching -- she was clearly influenced by seducing spirits and doctrines of devils. She also said that she was consciously aware of the influence and the impact of the demonic in what she was teaching.  She has spoken at Southeastern Seminary and some other seminaries, giving her testimony.   Doctrines of devils.  Seducing spirits.  Departure from the faith.  Intellectually misguided.

Another characteristic of this apostasy at the end time will be devotional departure.  

The Lord Jesus says something very significant in Matthew 24:11-12, “And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. 12And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”

In the end times, he says there will be a tendency for believers to grow cold in their faith, to get indifferent in their love for the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Christianity is basically and fundamentally about God loving us, and we, in turn, loving Him.  John the Apostle states, in 1 John 4:19, “We love Him, because He first loved us.”  Christianity is loving Jesus Christ.

So, Paul says that day will not come except there be the apostasy first. 

Then he says the second thing that will take place (back in II Thessalonians 2:3) “and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”  This is a reference to the Antichrist. We'll talk about the Antichrist later in this chapter.  The revelation, the appearing of the Antichrist,  will mark the inauguration of the day of the Lord.   

Paul, here, has given us a word concerning the end-time deception and then a word correcting this teaching about the day of the Lord.  

Tomorrow we will study the end time elation.

Your Friend and HIS,

Pastor Abbott

MEDITATIONS

1.  Has anyone ever corrected some theological error in your life?  How did you respond?

2.  How might you describe the doctrinal departure we are seeing in many denominational churches today?  Give some examples.

3.  Could you say that you have seen a devotional weakening in believers today?  How is our love waning for Christ?  

4.  How are you doing in loving Jesus?  Is your love growing or is it declining?  Either way, what can you do about it?