THE FALSE PROPHET
Chapter 1
“THE APOSTASY COMES FIRST”
II Thessalonians 2:3c
By
Doug Krieger
THE
CHRONOLOGY OF DECEIT
Recently,
a brother from Oklahoma wanted me to give him a “chronology of end-times
events”—you know: “What’s coming next besides the ‘Gog-Magog War,’ and so
forth. For fear that I’d be stoned as a false prophet, I thought it best to
“divert” our attention for a brief moment—not that Tom DeLay, Tim LaHaye and
President George Bush are not “hot topics”—but there’s something altogether more
fundamental to what’s happening here that needs immediate attention, so that we
can understand the “Biblical emphasis” upon topics like the DeLay/LaHaye/Bush
triumvirate (and avoid getting stoned in the process).
We’ll get back to this
threesome, but first—what does the Bible really say about where this planet is
going? Are we there yet? Furthermore, what we said in yesterday’s blog
(November 19, 2004) has (as you will soon see) everything to do with what we’re
discussing today.
Now, let’s get one thing
perfectly clear here—and this is precisely directed to my buddies on the Left:
Just because a bunch of us evangelicals believe that humanity is careening out
of control and that a future Armageddon awaits us, doesn’t mean that “us guys”
are busying about trying to make it happen! You probably see the same thing—but
instead of despair, fleeing (normally,
to Canada), fighting like mad, we’ve got a better solution . . .
To the contrary—the
inevitability of these events are cast in spiritual realities which are, once
again, unalterable. Belief in them does NOT constitute a FUNDAMENTALIST PLOT to
destroy the world—nor does it mean we’re going to sit back and play “Roll Out
the Barrel” on the deck of the Titanic; or, for that matter, “Man the bilge
pumps!” because we think we’ve got a chance to save this sinking ship. D. L. Moody once encouraged—GET IN THE LIFEBOAT AND GET IN
NOW.
The prophet bears no truck
with contemporary niceties—nor should he “test the waters,” take polls, hold his
wetted finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing, and, last of all,
remain resolute in his devotion to “seeker friendly” principles!
So—all that to say:
“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come (namely, the
“coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him”—II
Thessalonians 2:1b) unless THE APOSTASY (Grk. “falling away”)
comes first, AND the MAN OF SIN is revealed, the son of perdition, 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” (II
Thessalonians 2:3-4) (Emphasis DWK).
Yes, it’s a “chronology of
deception” that awaits the close of the age. The Thessalonians in Grecian
Province of the Roman Empire, thought they were part of Tim LaHaye’s LEFT BEHIND
series and that “The day of Christ had come” (II
Thess. 2:2); Alas! We’re stuck on the Late Great Planet Earth!
Talk about despair—forget
the white robes and, like the Millerites (Seventh-Day Adventists of old) – “Let’s all head
for the highest hill around and await the coming!” They didn’t even have time
to do that. Someone(s) had led the Thessalonians into thinking it was all
over—so, what’s the use? The Lord has returned and that’s that. “Man, I
thought there was a lot more to it.”
WHERE’S
THE LOVE BROTHER—WHY DON’T WE JUST ENJOY JESUS?
While
Barry Leventhal from Southern Evangelical
Seminary was here in Sacramento, I had a chance to hear him speak at
New Hope Christian Fellowship (a small fellowship in our area). After the
evening meeting, we talked about the TWO WITNESSES in the parking lot (strange topic to discuss—but, hey, not every day I can
converse with a born-again son from Israel’s linage; especially, since a
Palestinian Christian from Bethlehem was listening in on our conversation.
Barry and I really got
excited about prophecy and Lord’s return. After our conversation, my Arab
Christian friend said he really felt that the Bible’s emphasis was upon “Loving
Jesus” and “Loving one another” and that prophecy should not be our focus (all
that much). Well, listen—I’m all for loving Jesus and loving the brethren—but,
as I told my brother from Ishmael’s linage . . . “Have you ever noticed that in
the book of Revelation there’s hardly any mentioning of LOVE, aside from the
Philadelphian Church “leaving its BEST LOVE” and the brethren who “LOVED NOT
their lives unto the death?” Imagine that—and the book was written by the
“Apostle of Love” (you know, “For God so loved the world” . . . and a whole lot
more about LOVE).
Yet, when you get to the
very last book of the Bible—all HELL and GLORY breaks out. Nothing like getting
a reality check after lots of lightning flashes, thunder and earthquakes! Ever
wonder why new believers in Jesus are always encouraged to read the “Gospel of
John” – but why don’t we encourage them to read the book of Revelation (too)?
I’ll tell you why—because we claim we don’t want to confuse the young
believer—it’s too hard to understand, etc., etc., etc. But the truth be
known—most Christians can’t figure it out (aside from somewhere “in there”
they’re singing Handel’s Hallelujah Chorus and somewhere, sometime, Jesus plans
to come back), so let’s just “trust the Lord” and let Him figure it out for us!
Usually after the “love
part” one will hear the echo: Why can’t we just enjoy Jesus—isn’t that what the
Christian life is all about?
My answer: NO . . . that’s
NOT what the Christian life is all about. “But what about I Corinthians 13 where love trumps all?” Again, yes, love is the ultimate
divine recourse. But, within God’s eternal plan and purpose there is something
far more important TO GOD—and, that has to do with HIS GLORY! In order to get
to that full manifestation of His Glory, He must rid the universe of “all that
stuff” you read about in the book of Revelation.
And, for those of you who
are under the PROPHETICAL DELUSION that all that “eschatology” in the book of
Revelation has already happened (by no later than the end of the First Century
or around 70 A.D. – i.e., Preterism)—let me disabuse you of this utter nonsense and “reassure” you THAT THE ANTICHRIST IS COMING, who is known as THE MAN OF
SIN, THE SON OF PERDITION, and THE LAWLESS ONE we just read about in II Thess. 2.
THE GREAT
APOSTASY—THE FINAL “TRINITY OF EVIL”
So, this brings us back to
that prickly verse: THE APOSTACY COMES FIRST (II Thess. 2:3). First of all,
again, let’s get one thing perfectly clear—behind all of this APOSTASY there is
an awful figure that has yet to come upon this earthly clod. It is this one
that the Apostle Paul says:
“
. . . that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness
is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out
of the way. And then the LAWLESS ONE will be revealed, whom the Lord will
consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His
coming. The coming of the LAWLESS ONE is according to the working of Satan with
all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among
those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they
might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that
they should believe THE LIE, that they all may be condemned who did not believe
the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (II
Thess. 2:6b-12).
Right about now you’re
wondering—“Paul, where’s the love? . . . why not just ‘enjoy Jesus’ and ‘go
seeker-friendly’ on us; that way, we won’t have nightmares and all can be ‘love
and oneness.’” Furthermore, my marriage will be saved, my kids will be able to
attend private schools, my bills will be paid, and I can continue to enjoy my
place as an elder in the Church of Happyland, USA.
Well, let’s see—maybe we’re
not that close to the end—so, that thing called the APOSTASY coming first, is
probably a long ways off? Besides, there’s a bunch of Christians who teach that
everything’s going to get a whole lot better and then Jesus shows up (post-Tribulationalism; Christian Reconstructionism, Kingdom Now, Reform Theology, etc.);
then too, there’s a bunch of “social justice Christians, liberal and
conservative,” who thought the same thing until we had TWO WORLD WARS and some
gazillion disputes hither, thither and yon today!
THE
GREAT APOSTASY COMES FIRST—and just what is it?
Well, we know from what we
discussed above, who’s behind it—but what’s THE APOSTATE’S AGENDA?
A review of God’s final and
ultimate demise of the MAN OF SIN’S Empire and Agenda is told with absolute
clarity in Revelation 17, 18 and 19. An overview of Revelation with some comment on this topic of Revelation 17-19 is covered here as well.
The APOSTASY, i.e., The
Great Falling Away from the Faith, is comprised of three distinct, yet
amalgamated deceptions:
(1) Religious
Deception
(2) Commercial
Deception
(3) Political
Deception
The same APOSTATE is behind
each one of them as . . .
(1) THE MOTHER OF
HARLOTS
(2) THE KING OF
TYRE
(3) THE KING OF
BABYLON
The MAN OF SIN, THE LAWLESS
ONE, THE SON OF PERDITION, will manifest himself in a “Trinity of Evil” behind
each set of the triumvirates mentioned above:
(1) The
ANTICHRIST/BEAST
(2) The FALSE
PROPHET/SECOND BEAST
(3) The SERPENT,
DRAGON, SATAN, the DEVIL
Furthermore, the Bible
portrays THE APOSTASY or ULTIMATE DECEPTION as a “Tale of Two Cities” and
juxtaposes symbolism and apocalyptic metaphors to enhance our understanding of
the “END OF DAYS” – to wit:
(1) The Holy City,
New Jerusalem vs. The Great City, Babylon
(2) The Image of
Christ vs. The Image of the Beast
(3) The WOMAN of Revelation 12, The Bride of Christ vs. The WOMAN of Revelation 17, The Mother of Harlots
Many more “contrasts” can
be drawn in the Revelation—but these will suffice for now.
RELIGION,
COMMERCIALISM AND POLITICS
Let’s,
as they say, “cut to the chase” – APOSTASY is when, according to the Bible,
Religion—be it the Christian or the ancient Hebrews’ religion, gets involved
with POLITICS and COMMERCE (specifically: COMMERCIALISM). Now, when I say
INVOLVED, I mean INVOLVED BIG TIME!!
THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS
represents (in Revelation 17), an APOSTATE CHURCH or RELIGION which has so exposed herself to “every evil bird” of “religious
sorcery and deception” – yes, everything from the so-called “Mystical Religion
of Babylon” to the avant-garde New Age heresies that are exploding upon the
Modern Era. Don’t think for one minute that the sum and substance of all things
Roman Catholic constitutes this egregious image seen in Revelation 17! No, no, no—this HARLOT has morphed into a thousand hideous
strains—a VIRAL INFECTION SO PERSISTENT THAT IT INSINUATES ITSELF INTO VIRTUALLY
ALL THAT CALLS ITSELF CHURCH (though, thank God, they who have
“the testimony of Jesus” can be found in virtually everything that calls herself Church as well!).
But it’s not just HERESY
that we’re taking about—IT’S WHEN THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST not only embraces
FALSE PROPHETS and their FALSE TEACHINGS and DOCTRINES (i.e., known as
“doctrines of demons”) but it is when this compromised Harlot (and that’s what
the Lord calls her) perpetuates and sustains her “life-style” and “influence”
through COMMERCIALISM and POLITICS!
THAT’S THE APOSTASY—the
Marriage of Commerce and Politics with this compromised, weakened, deceived and
abused expression that claims sanctification, but is FULL OF ABOMINATIONS and
THE FILTHINESS OF HER FORNICATION (Rev.
17:4) – RELIGION!
The “old cults” of the
1700s-1800s were so overt and obvious—and the bizarre schemes foisted upon the
Church in the 1900s were, though cleverer, still discernable to most who claimed
the work of Christ in their life. But, Alas! The horrific incursion of the New
Age and the GOSPEL OF PROSPERITY, along with the POLITICIZATION OF THE
EVANGELICAL CHURCH within the last twenty-five years has simply staggered the
theological and sanctified imagination of the people of God!
Today’s immediate
deceptions are packaged in the finest of “evangelical wrappings” – and they are
embraced by the faithful who have found common cause with an ever-growing number
of “concerned souls” who, like them, wish to rise up and contend for the “common
good” here in America—and that means a RETURN TO TRADITIONAL VALUES AT ALL
COSTS!
What
the America Church faces—now that its “doctrinal underpinnings” have been so
compromised, watered down, deemphasized and, quite frankly, scripturally
demoralized to insignificance—is the greatest effort ever launched to amass
MATERIAL WEALTH and POLITICAL POWER that the world has witnessed since the birth
of Greco-Roman Man—i.e., Western Civilization!
Yes, from “Brag it to bag
it” – from “Name it to claim it” – from “The Gospel of Prosperity” to “the
Prayer of Jabez” – the Church’s coffers are being stuffed with the wealth of the
world—“I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing” – this is the
condition of today’s Laodicean Church in the world. There simply is no
doctrinal nor spurious teaching that can justify the proliferation of wealth
displayed by the Mega-Church movement of today—NONE!
And, with money comes
power—and power begets political involvement at the highest of levels. The
stories of Jezebel and King Ahab in the book of the Kings and the peculiar
“Shrine of Micah” in the book of the Judges tell it all—we’ll be sharing on
these in the daily blog to expose these wretched practices of APOSTASY in
today’s MARKET PLACE—for surely it is not the Temple of the Lord!
To decry this AMALGAMATION
OF EVIL—this TRIUMVIRATE ALLIANCE OF RELIGIOUS DECEPTION, MATERIAL GREED, and
GLOBAL POLITICAL POWER is the calling of those who shall, in the End of Days,
embrace THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS.
WHAT
SHALL WE DO?
Friend—if you truly know
our Lord Jesus and the simplicity of His wondrous forgiveness and life—then, the
Holy Spirit indwells you. As a true child of God, “He will lead you into all
truth!” (John
16:13). That is His promise; I John 2:20-21: “But you have an anointing (an “unction”) from the Holy
One, and you know all things . . . I have not written to you because you do not
know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie of the truth.”).
Ultimately—the Lord Himself
is our last resort—the only One Who can “keep you from falling, and present you
faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy” (Jude
24).
He has given you His
Word—read it, meditate upon it, pray over it—until “thy words were found and I
did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and the rejoicing of my heart” (Jeremiah
15:16).
Even so, as the tide of
deception rises—‘till the one who shall ascend from the bottomless pit appears
(Revelation 11:7)—you and I must utterly identify with the Apostle of Love, who,
like Jeremiah the prophet . . .
“. . . took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as
sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter.
And he said to me, ‘You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations,
tongues, and kings” (Revelation
10:10-11).
If we remain silent . . .
while the GREAT APOSTASY “prevails” – then, dear friends (and I say this with
holy trepidation), the Lord shall hold us accountable. But, by His grace—even
with SHOUTINGS OF GRACE, GRACE (Zechariah
4:7b)—this GREAT MOUNTAIN shall become a plain and the MOUNTAIN OF THE LORD
shall fill the earth!
But, if “the apostasy comes
first” and the “man of sin be revealed” – remember this: “The Lord will consume
(i.e., THE LAWLESS ONE) with the breath of His mouth and destroy (him) with the
brightness of His coming” (II
Thess. 2:8).
God bless and sustain us
all in these end of days . . .
Where would you like to go
now?
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