Apostasy

- 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4

2 Thessalonians 2:1–4 (NKJV)

1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.

- A walk through history

Growing up, I was interested in history.

I used to like to learn about all the different time periods

Like the

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Assyrians,

the Egyptian,

and the greeks.

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Even way further back, like into the time of the dinosaurs

and what we thought of as cavemen and the Neanderthal peoples.

As a matter of fact, this was one of the reasons I became interested in Theology.

Because no one could answer my most basic questions about them.

Like I would ask pastors about how could there be separate species of humans if the Bible only mentions one

And others like why aren’t the dinosaurs mentioned in the Bible etc.

These questions boggled me because they weren’t addressed in the Bible.

We are being taught this stuff in school, but the Bible seemed silent on these issues.

I would day dream about what life must have been like right before the flood.

Think about it.

Could you imagine Walking with Dinosaurs?

What I find most interesting about history is not so much the period of time of events.

- When history changes

But rather, how life must have been on the cusp of change in the Timeline of history.

For instance, pre flood life is interesting

But to me, it is far more interesting to experience what Noah’s crew did, when they stepped off onto the dry land of a new earth.

They were there, at the moment of change in world history.

They lived life before and after the change.

One day, life was one way.

The next day its totally different.

How about the wheel?

I bet there were a lot of relieved slaves and workers when that invention “rolled out” Pun intended.

Wow, talk about something that totally changed the world and how things were done.

Fast forward to middle ages.

People were employed as scribes.

Meaning their profession was writing and copying.

Then, 1436, Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printing press.

The spreading of information radically changed after that moment In history forever.

And very soon after, the profession of the scribes faded into history.

Then we have the invention of radio and television.

Now, every nation and every tongue are once again connected as they were in during the days of Nimrod and the tower of Babel.

At the flip of a switch, the world suddenly became very small.

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With the advent of air flight for travel we can be in any location on earth in a matter of hours.

Before that, is was months and years for that kind of travel.

Imagine living in the days of the titanic, within a few short years later instead of risking hidden icebergs, you could book a ticket on a plane and flown across the oceans.

Look at the history of warfare

What started out with sticks with sharp blades on the end of them, Morphed into arrows, and spears.

Then gun powder was invented and the age of the “Firearms” entered.

And changed the trajectory of world history making the last century the bloodiest on record.

Could you imagine Living in these times?

Showing up to the first battle where the enemy introduced you to gun powder.

You would quickly realize history has changed?

You and your team showed up with what you thought was normal Weapons,

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axes,

arrows,

and spears

But these dudes show up with

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rifles,

Bombs

and cannons?

Talk about bringing a knife to a gun fight.

Then, imagine how surprised the world was when warfare graduated to the age of nuclear capacity

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Like, Hiroshima and Nagasaki did at the end of WW2.

Obviously, that is what won the war.

They were on the wrong side of history & they found out the hard way

- Why aren’t people coming to church anymore?

Why mention all of this?

Because, I am convinced, we are living right now, in the cusp of another major change in world history,

Shift focus to Present Time

I attended a few Pastors meetings, and conferences not long ago

And had many conversations with pastors and leaders of churches on the subject of

Why aren’t people coming to church anymore?

Obviously, as individual churches see their numbers dwindle, they began to assume something is wrong internally.

Maybe we need to start more programs,

Maybe we need better youth events,

Maybe its the pastor, or the leadership,

or this or that

Or the worship music is too loud

or not loud enough

Or the music too old,

or its too new

Unfortunately, I think its just plain old, “They don’t want to go to church.”

They have no serious interest in coming to church anymore.

You know them, Soccer games for the kids have become more important than going to church this Sunday

The lawn has taken priority over the Lord’s day

Missing church in order to catch up on yard work or house work seems not only acceptable logic

but letting it go the entire week just to have an excuse is quite common theses days.

Using offenses is another trait that is becoming common.

The pastor did this,

or didn’t do that

Or sister so and so said this

or brother so and so did that

Its all a big excuse to cover the fact that you just aren’t interested in going to church anymore.

And you’re trying to find ways around it.

Throwing everything else under the bus to cover it.

Those excuses don't play well with me.

Because in all of my years of ministry,

I have worked under and with several self aggrandizing pastors, and leaders who,

really did offend me, or write me off etc.

And you know what?

Every Sunday, I was in church worshiping the Lord, not the pastor, or leaders or their programs.

But worshiping the Lord

So, I don’t buy all these other offense excuses.

If you really want to serve the Lord, you’d be at church every week no matter what or who is there.

I lost count at how many people have told me the reason they don’t come is because they are angry with God.

I think what we are experiencing in these days is exactly what Paul spoke of when he said the end times would be preceded by “The Great falling away”

Where many in the church would walk away from the faith

I believe the excuses are just a cover up, for simply not wanting Church.

The world is too comfortable for you to leave it.

After all, you can engage in fornication, which is widely accepted if not Promoted as a “Regular Lifestyle.”

Meaning, if you go to church you will be convicted of it.

But you don’t want to give it up.

Because you’ll be considered a

Jesus Freak,

Bible thumper

Anti-social,

or a number of the other filthy things they call Christians

- The heart of man is wicked

The world tells you the lustful desires of your heart are normal and you shouldn’t deprive yourself of your natural urges etc.

But if you go to church, you’d learn that Jesus himself said the

Heart if man is wicked, no wonder why you have such desires.

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Mark 7:20–23 (CSB)

20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of people’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immoralities, thefts, murders, 22 adulteries, greed, evil actions, deceit, self-indulgence, envy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within and defile a person.”

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Jeremiah 17:9 (CSB)

9 The heart is more deceitful than anything else,

and incurable—who can understand it?

What used to be considered normal is no longer normal

What used to be wrong is now right in the current world system

The Bible said these things would happen, and behold, we are seeing them with our own eyes Guess what?

As I said, I believe, we are living through another cusp of major change in world history,

I believe the church is currently experiencing the beginning of the Great apostasy, or the great falling away

How can we deny it?

If we examine it through what Paul wrote to Timothy in

1 Timothy 4:1–2 (CSB)

1 Now the Spirit explicitly says that in later times some will depart from the faith, paying attention to deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2 through the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared.

Who can deny this is not happening before our eyes?

And it seems we are powerless to stop it.

It’s not the programs,

its not the leaders,

its not the worship

Its because your heart isn’t right.

We had a couple of guys here last week who were traveling construction workers.

They said they try and visit a church where ever they are on sundays.

Even when we travel, we are always traveling with Sunday as our Guide post.

We take the Lord’s day seriously.

You know why?

Because God does.

I know people who have been healed by prayers from members of this Church, and have not stepped foot into this building to thank God, or these people for praying for them

They can give what ever reasons satisfy their need to justify.

But, if were me,

I would have found a Donkey to ride into church,

or got a skateboard,

or asked for a ride

Wild horses couldn’t keep me from coming to praise His name for my healing

But, as you can see, some of these pews remain empty

Shift focus to church

- We must be resolved to be the church

Now, as a church that is established, we do have a responsibility

to be ready for them when and if they come

And, to encourage them to come’

If they come when we serve food, then we need to serve more food

If they come when their kids are involved in plays, then we need to do more kids plays,

If they come when they need healing, then we pray for it when they come

When people who, do not normally attend church services are moved for what ever reasons to attend one, When they attend your church, we should be ready to receive them.

You are their only exposure or example of the benefits of worshiping with like minded believers.

You and I have a responsibility to make them feel welcome, loved, and appreciated.

This is why we take up offerings and receive tithes, so that we can be a function, effective house of prayer and worship to the Lord, for all that either,

Walk

run

stumble

sneak

tumble

carried

or wheeled in to this church.

If we don’t take care of the resources God has given us then, He will take them away,

How many churches are closing these days,

I have gone through many poor and bad neighborhoods

One thing that I always see and question constantly is all of the broken down, abandoned and closed churches

I also asked this.

Did the neighborhood fail because the churches failed?

Or did the churches fail because the people of the neighborhood failed to attend?

I believe its because the people of the neighborhoods failed to attend their churches.

When those who were for whatever reasons were inclined to go to church, there no longer was one for them to attend, and on goes the decline.

So, what does that mean for us?

We must against our fleshly desires and stay committed to our faith by not being part of this great falling away from our Lord Jesus that is happening right now before our very eyes.

We need to be shining examples of a Christian life

We need to show up to church,

We need to prioritize the Lord’s day again

Listen, if you leave the window open to Sundays the enemy will target that day to prevent you from participating In worship.

He will, cause the neighbor to want to come over and chat on a Sunday

Or, the dog will get sick on a Sunday,

Or, your favorite tv show will start on Sunday,

Or whatever will find a way to rob you of worship on Sunday

Unless, you make a decision to come to church, no matter what Happens.

Because if you don’t others are going to see you home on Sunday Barbecuing, when you should be here worshipping the Lord

Now, if you absolutely don’t like this church, there are others across the land who would be happy to have you join them

But, my guess is, if you’re not here today, you’re not at any church at all,

but rather have spent your day with the world.

Listen, we are all dirty from this world, we are sinners, everyone of us, no matter how often you come to church.

All of us struggle with the effort to things we don’t always feel like doing.

Have you ever wondered why your mind begins to stray during prayer?

It is because your flesh is still warring with your spirit.

But you must power on through that. God has given us the power to live in victory over those wicked desires.

This is a call to arms.

Do you think soldiers in combat FEEL like trudging through mud, snow, ice and rain, getting shot and threatened with death.

of course not but they are at war!

Brothers and Sisters the sooner you realize, you too are at war, the more effective you’ll become in the battle between your spirit, and this world.

You must fight through those feelings keeping you from assembling with like minded believers.

The day you miss church, could be the day, a person you know, or even invited is forced in by life circumstances looking for the hope in Jesus that you should be preaching, only to find out,

You didn’t feel like coming that day.

We who are serious Christians, need to wake up and realize

That all of these people are going to die in their sins, if we don’t reach them, on some level.

That means we need to get active in our evangelism.

And the next step in evangelism, is getting yourself to church first.

- Time is running out

We are on a sinking ship

It’s not going to get better for us church.

Its actually prophesied to get much worse, until

That great and awesome day of the Lord Jesus

and we are gathered together with Him finally to be with Him for eternity

After all, thats what the entire Bible is about anyway

Its about Him, and Him dying for our sins, so that you and I Could be reconciled with Him in heaven for eternity

He spilt His blood for you and I on that cross so that our sins would be forgiven.

Thanks to that, we have our names written in the book of life.

Invitation / Altar Call

You are not alone in this journey; we are all flawed, but Jesus' grace and forgiveness offer a path to renewal and spiritual growth. Accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior grants you the gift of eternal life and an unbreakable connection with the Creator. It is an opportunity to be washed clean of past mistakes, to find purpose, and to experience peace beyond human understanding.

Through prayer and reflection, you can invite Jesus into your heart, accepting Him as your personal Savior. Surrendering your life to His guidance will lead you on a transformative journey, transforming your life in ways you could not have imagined.

At this time we invite you to put your reservations aside, and come on down to the altar. Myself, Pastor Zach, and Sharon are here at the altar to receive you, and to help you pray for salvation.

If there be anyone here wishing to rededicate themselves to the Lord, I also invite you to come down the isle to the altar.