Apostasy
2 Thessalonians 2:1-3
1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,
2 that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
- Apostasy: apostasia {ap-os-tas-ee’-ah}
to forsake, falling away, a falling away, defection, apostasy
feminine version of the word apostasion. - Apostasion: divorce, repudiation, a bill of divorce .
The Apostasy/Great Falling Away is talking about a huge falling away from the truth or a departing from the faith. After this happens, the Antichrist is revealed and following that, the great gathering of the faithful to Christ will take place.
Apostasy > Antichrist > Jesus Christ
Jesus said that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. So if there is a great falling away from the truth, then it is obvious that it means that many shall fall away from Jesus Christ himself because he is the truth. This is consistent with one of the meanings of the word Apostasy, which is the feminine version of the word Apostasion, meaning divorce. Many shall divorce Jesus as the Bridegroom. We the Church are the Bride.
So does this mean that many will just give up the faith and no longer profess Jesus as Lord, maybe. Perhaps it means that many of the truths that Jesus taught us, will be ignored, forgotten and replaced with man-made doctrines and doctrines of demons. After all if people ignore truth, then they are ignoring Jesus himself and the very principles of the Kingdom of God. Remember Jesus told us in Matthew 7:22-24 that many shall call him Lord, but Jesus will reject them because they never actually knew him. The difference is that many shall know about Jesus, but how many actually know Jesus ? One of the first things we need to do in order to know Jesus, is to believe in the words of Jesus and to believe the words that he spoke about himself and who he is. It would be contradictory to say that you know Jesus and yet ignore his words and not believe what he said about himself.
Now it would be fair to say that if we were to compare the doctrines and interpretations of scripture from the 1st or 2nd century with today without any bias, we would clearly see that many teachings and doctrines about Jesus have radically changed over the centuries. In the beginning of the church age, Jesus was known as the Word, the only begotten Son of God, the Messiah, the Christ. The scriptures from the 1st century clearly teach that Jesus Father is our God and his God and that he was subject to God and he did only what God told him to do. We are told quite plainly by Paul in Ephesians 4:4-6, that there is only one God, the Father, Jesus is our only true Lord. In addition, there is only one Faith, one Baptism and one Spirit. Yet today we have replaced this fundamental understanding with a triune God and we have many denominations or faiths and many man-made baptisms. The trinity doctrine in particular was similar to the pagan gods of Babylon and Egypt and it must be noted that the main proponent of this doctrine was Athanasuis from Alexandra in Egypt. This doctrine was made official by a Roman Emperor who clearly had little or no understanding of scripture and it is argued that his real motive was to restore unity in his empire. Today most professing Christians also worship Mary the mother of Jesus, and she has been given the title the Mother of God. Many other Christians worship and pray to saints as well as statues/idols and icons. Much of Christianity is virtually unrecognizable from the faith that the early Christians of the bible wrote about.
In fact things got so bad during the aptly named Dark Ages, that a reformation/revolution took place that restored some doctrines and scriptures to the people. One of the truths that was restored to the church was, salvation being a free gift of God and not the result of works. Another restored truth was about salvation in Christ alone, not the church or any organization such as the Catholic Church. However, not all have accepted these truths and many others remain ignorant to other important truths that Jesus, Paul and Peter taught us.
During the time of the first Apostles and especially after they passed into the next life, many false prophets have risen up and they have deceived many. Of course we should not be surprised that such a thing has happened because Jesus, Paul, Peter and John warned us that this would happened. See 1 John 4:1
One with perhaps the biggest influence maybe Mohammed who was born into a poor family in Mecca around the year 570. At age 40, it is said, the angel Gabriel appeared to him and told him he was to be the messenger of God. He spent the rest of his life winning converts and uniting Arabia behind his new faith, known as Islam, now one of the world’s largest religions. Mohammed’s teachings were later written down to form the basis of the Koran. If you have ever read the Koran, it becomes obvious that many of the verses in the Koran are a rebellion or rejection of the Christian faith. But some of the criticism is actually justified, because it attacks the worship of Mary and Idols, perhaps these errors fueled Mohammed’s ambitions.
Remember it is prophesied in 2 Peter 2:1-3
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.
3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.
So false teachers will cause men to speaking evil of the truth and you have to wonder if Islam would even exist today if Christians kept the truth and not departed the faith by worshipping idols and changing biblical doctrine. The trouble with bad things is that many who react against them also throw out the good in the process. You may have heard the saying “Do not throw out the baby with the bath water”. Well this is one of the undesirable results of evil. When men reject evil, they often reject the good as well because of their strong distaste for that evil. Below you will see some quotes in the Koran that reject the conduct of Christians who worshipped Mary and the Trinity. Other quotes however, reject the truth that Jesus is the Son of God.
Qur’ân
Qur’ân: Say not “Trinity”: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is One Allah: glory be to him: “That they rejected faith: that they uttered against Mary a grave false charge. That they said (in boast) “We killed Christ Jesus the son of Mary the Apostle of Allah”; but they killed him not nor crucified him but so it was made to appear to them and those who differ therein are full of doubts with no (certain) knowledge but only conjecture to follow for of a surety they killed him not. Nay Allah raised him up unto Himself; and Allah is Exalted in Power Wise
Qur’ân 4:171
And behold! Allah will say: “O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, ‘Take me and my mother for two gods beside Allah’?” He will say: “Glory to Thee! Never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing thou wouldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, though I know not what in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden.
Qur’ân 5:116
O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: nor say of Allah aught but the truth. Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (no more than) a messenger from Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His Messengers. Say not “Three”: desist: It will be better for you: For Allah is One God: Glory be to Him: (Far Exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth. And enough is Allah as a Disposer of affairs.
The Night Journey, vs. 112.
“They say the Merciful has taken to Himself a son ye have brought a monstrous thing! The heavens well-nigh burst asunder thereat, and the earth is riven and the mountains fall down broken, that they attribute to the Merciful a son! But it becomes not the Merciful to take to Himself a son.”Surah Miriam, vs. 91-93. “Praise belongs to God who has not taken to Himself a son and has not had a partner in His kingdom, nor had a patron against such abasement.” Surah 19:35, 36:
“God could not take to himself any son. … When He decrees a matter He only says to it ‘Be,’ and it is.” Surah 3:51:
“Verily, the likeness of Jesus with God is as the likeness of Adam. He created him from the earth, then He said to him Be, and he was.” Surah 9:30:
“The Jews say Ezra is the son of God and the Christians say that the Messiah is the son God; that is what they say with their mouths
O ye who believe! Take not the Jews and Christians for friends. They are friend one to another.
Some have said that the New Testament is the child Old Testament and the Koran is the child of the New Testament. But what is clear is that the New Testament is in agreement with the Old and actually fulfills it. But the Koran if a child, is a rebellious child that rejects the New Testament. Other writings that came after the New Testament are many, some good and some bad. Another popular writing/book written after the New Testament is the Mormon Bible. The Mormon Bible and Mormon history contain many negative references about Christians and their apostasy.
Mormon History & Writings
Bruce R. McConkie: “Modern governments DO NOT TAKE THE LIFE OF THE ADULTERER, and some of them have done away with the supreme penalty where murder is involved-all of which is further evidence of the direful apostasy. that prevails among the peoples who call themselves Christians” (Mormon Doctrine, 1958 ed., p. 104)
Brigham Young: Apostates must leave Salt Lake City, or they must die: “I say, rather than that APOSTATES should flourish here, I WILL UNSHEATH MY BOWIE KNIFE, and CONQUER OR DIE. (Great commotion in the congregation, and a simultaneous burst of feeling, assenting to the declaration.) Now, you nasty apostates, clear out, or judgment will be put to the line, and righteousness to the plummet. (Voices, generally, ‘go it, go it.’) If you say it is right, raise your hands. (All hands up.) Let us call upon the Lord to assist us in this, and every good work.” (Journal of Discourses, Vol. 1, page 83)
The story is told of a young boy of 14 years who retreated to a forest to pray about which church he should join. As he knelt to pray, an evil force came upon him and prohibited his prayers. Moments later, he was released from bondage as “two personages” appeared before him. Upon inquiring about which church to join, one of the “personages” instructed him not to join any church because they were “all wrong”, that “all their creeds were an abomination”, and that “they teach for doctrines the commandments of men” (Joseph Smith-History, 1:14-20).
The young man in this story is Joseph Smith, Jr. The primary Christian denominations in question were Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist (Joseph Smith-History, 1:5-10). The two personages are supposedly “Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ” (Gospel Principles, 1981, p.104). This event is said to have taken place a decade before Joseph Smith formed the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. According to LDS scripture, the organization is “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth….” (Doctrine & Covenants 1:30).
Mormon Bible
The first book of Nephi 13:26
nAnd after they go forth by the hand of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, from the Jews unto the Gentiles, thou seest the formation of that great and abominable church, which is most abominable above all other churches; for behold, they have taken away from the gospel of the Lamb many parts which are plain and most precious; and also many covenants of the Lord have they taken away.
The second book of Nephi 26:20
And the Gentiles are lifted up in the pride of their eyes, and have stumbled, because of the greatness of their stumbling block, that they have built up many churches; nevertheless, they put down the power and miracles of God, and preach up unto themselves their own wisdom and their own learning, that they may get gain and grind upon the face of the poor.
21 And there are many churches built up which cause envyings, and strifes, and malice.
The person who started this organization is Joseph Smith, for the official account of why he setup his own church, see the Joseph Smith History on the Latter Day Saints web site.
Fruits
It is clear that both Islam and The Church of Jesus Christ and Latter Day Saints were founded or at least inspired by the faults and apostasy of the Christian Church and denominational division. One has to wonder if these religions would exist at all, if the church had kept the truth. Another religion that claims that the Christian Church is in apostasy are the Jehovah’s Witnesses. They have a structure of beliefs that include 144,000 people attaining heaven, Jesus and Michael the Archangel being the same person and they have made many false prophecies pertaining to the end of the world. However they are quite well informed when it comes to the origin of the trinity doctrine and other apostasies of the Catholic Church. It could be said that it is within the Devils nature to lead the people into apostasy and then also setup counterfeit opposition where people can go if they reject the apostasy. This way the Devil can have a better chance at keeping all people away from true light.
The biggest damage that apostasy has inflicted is on the Church itself. Many people in the Church really believe that denominations are of God, that God is a Trinity and that the creeds that are the foundations of these harlot systems are the foundations of true faith. The truth is however that there is one universal church called the Body of Christ. We who are part of that body exist all over the world and we are united in our faith in God and his Son Jesus Christ. The Church’s only true division should be geographical, like the 7 Churches in Revelation. Those 7 churches were not denominations, but cities. The real church is Jesus body and we who are saved are the living stones that make up this temple that God inhabits by his Spirit. It is also clear from scripture that it is Jesus who builds the church, yet history shows us that men built churches in their name or the name of another who is not Christ.
So why can’t the people see the real church in their midst. It is simply because Satan blinds them, just as he blinds unbelievers from Christ. See 2 Corinthians 4:4. the god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. Also the true Church lacks the real leadership of the Apostles. When the Church entered into apostasy, the 5 fold ministry all but disappeared. See Ephesians 4 11
And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers,
But since the Reformation, these ministries have been restored in the order that they were lost. Only recently has the Church accepted the ministry of the Prophet, while Teachers, Preachers and Elders/Pastors have been accepted for some time. What is lacking however is the ministry of the Apostle. Without the functioning of the Apostolic ministry, the Church will struggle in areas of doctrine, leadership and unity. Do you know any Apostles ? Chances are that you do not know even one. Yet we are told in Ephesians 4:12-13 that these five ministries are here for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God…, so if they are not functioning to a scale that God would prefer, then the church will not attain unity or the understanding of who Jesus really is. So is it any wonder that the church is so ignorant and divided today.
Satan blinds people from seeing spiritual truth by presenting them with a contradictory physical reality because most men are carnal minded. In the physical we can see churches and denominations all based on different creeds and most being in competition with each other. This system is not the true Church, it is actually part of the World which itself is a system. Satan is the God of this system and this system is really a prison that he has built through carnal men in order to separate people from their creator. This system promotes division, competition, condemnation of truth and the church system is an effort by the enemy to link who are not of this world back to the world. Most denominations exalt in their own names, build buildings up to heaven and many claim to be the source of salvation. This system is a repeat of the Tower of Babel, where men tried to make a name for themselves and build a tower up to heaven not only to glory in their own strength, but also to provide a means of salvation in case the earth was flooded again. The curse of Babel is division and so we see division and different languages (creeds and beliefs) in Christendom. No matter how you view denominations, you have to admit that they all have a leader at the top and that person isn’t usually Christ; in addition they also have no accountability to leaders of other denominations. Denominations is another term for division and they are living proof that the Body of Christ hasn’t attained the unity of the faith.
Division
Jesus said in Mark 3:24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. So this is an obvious tactic of the Devil, to divide and conquer. Once there is division the enemy can slip in unnoticed. But to all those who have eyes to see the true Church, we must also have eyes to see our true leaders. We must recognizes who amongst us are the teachers, the prophets, the evangelists, the elders and the apostles. When we are willing to be ministered by such people we can then attain the unity of the faith and these false religions and false teachers will pale in comparison to the true light.
So it is our unity that convinces the world that Jesus was sent by God. Here are the word of Jesus just before he was crucified.
John 17:21
that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.
To reach the unity of the brethren we need to realise what and who the true Church is, and we need to recognise those who have a ministry in God and let them administer and we need to love one another as we love ourselves. In addition to this, we all need to realise that God is our Father and we are his children, and Christ is our Lord and our brother and we are being transformed into his image. We also need to gather together in the name of Jesus and not in the name of a denomination.
To be part of the Body of Christ and to participate fully in her, means that we need to come out of the world (system) as it is written:
Revelation 18:4
Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues;
