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write of a coming apostasy from the
truth: "For I know this, that after
my departing shall grievous wolves
enter in among you, not sparing the
flock. Also of your own selves shall
men arise, speak ing perverse
things, to d raw away disciples after
them" {Acts 20:29-30).
Here Paul was warning the lead–
ers of the Ephesian church that
others would infi ltrate and that
even sorne of their own number
would apostatize and lead many off
into false religion!
Notice the apostle Pau l's in–
spired description of these false
ministers: "For such are false apos–
tles, deceitful workers, transform–
ing themselves into the apostles of
Christ. And no marvel; for Satan
himself is transformed into an
angel of light. T herefore it is no
great thing if h is [the devi l's] min–
isters also be t ransformed as the
ministers of righteousness; whose
end shall be
according to their
works"
( lf
Cor. 11:13-15).
Paul says these fa lse ministers
APPEAR to be righteous. But actual–
ly, Satan is the master deceiver–
and these are his ministers!
T hese false ministers teach a
doctrine of " no works"- no
obe–
dience to God's law.
But Paul said
they are going to be judged by the
very thing they OENY! For their
"end" shall be "according to thei r
WORKS"!
Paul also showed thc Thessalon–
ian Christians that the day of the
Lord could not come unti l a great
apostasy took place. He wrote: " Let
no man deceive you by any means:
for that day shall not come, except
there come a fall ing away fi rst, and
that man of sin [or Iawlessness] be
revealed, the son of perd ition; who
opposet h and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that
is worshipped; so that he as God
si t teth in the temple of God, shew–
i ng himself t hat he is God"
( ll
Thess. 2:3-4).
All reputable Greek lexicons or
interlinears will show you that this
"man of sin" should be called the
"man of LAWLESSNESS"-for the
original Greek word means "op–
posed to law" or " lawless."
Speaking of that very time, Paul
said, "For the mystery of LAWLESS–
NESS doth already work" (verse 7,
Panin translat ion).
36
Yes, even in Paul's day, a form
of Chr istianity was beginning to
develop within the Roman Empi re!
It was based on accepting the NAME
of J esus-but teaching a doctrine
of lawlessness and denying his com–
mand and example to obey the
commandments of God.
The Bible shows that this false
religious system-this false "Chris–
tiani ty"-will continue to develop
un til the end of this age. "And then
shall that Wicked be revealed,
whom the Lord shall consume with
the spiri t of his mouth, and shall
destroy with the brightness of his
coming: even h im, whose coming is
after the working of Satan with all
power and signs and lying won–
ders" (verses 8-9).
Here is a clear description of
what culminates in the ti me of
Ch r ist's Second Coming: a GREAT
APOSTASY that shall have seduccd
the world (verses 10-12).
The " Little Floc k "
T he last book in the Bible, the book
of Revelation, wr itten by the apos–
tle John, also tells the same story.
In Revelation 12, we find a descrip–
tion of the t rue Church.
It
existed
through the centuries as a small ,
persecuted Church, which had to
flee for safety (verse 6).
But at the t ime of the end thcre
is to be a war in heaven: "And the
great dragon was cast out, t hat old
serpen t, called t he Devil, and
Satan, which deceiveth the
whole
world:
he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels werc cast out
with him" (verse 9). Here Satan is
clearly described as deceiving this
ENTI RE ear th!
Can we believe that the Bible
really
means
what it says?
T hen follows a description of how
the people of God's true Church–
the "little flock" of Jesus (Luke
12:32)-will be protected from the
final tribulation-a persecution in
the name of rel igion. Satan is angry
with this small, but obedient
Church-for its members
obey
God's law.
"And the dragon was
wroth with the woman, and went to
make war with the remnant of her
seed, which keep the command–
ments of God, and have the testimo–
ny of Jesus Christ" (Rev. 12: 17).
Notice that the Chu rch that is to
be protected by. God is an OBE-
DIENT Chu rch- obedient to the
commandments of God.
Bu t the description obviously
implies that it is small and perse–
cuted- NOT a great denomination
or movemen t bri nging abou t a
great, world-shak i ng s pi ritual
awakening in our time.
Prophesie d to Happen
No. There is NOT going to be a
grcat spirituaJ awakening to God's
TRUTH befare Ch r ist's Second
Coming!
Rather- unless our peoples re–
pent of breaking God's law-we
will see the greatest reviva! of sin
and degradation and lawlessness in
the entire h istory of this earth!
T hough worldwide we are wit–
nessing the reuniti ng of long–
d ivided chu rches, and even growing
interdenominational rapport, these
wi ll pale into insignificance in the
face of a truly earthshaking reli–
gious revitalization that will take
place on the European continent!
l t is NOW taking shape!
lt
will be a
religious-pol itical reviva! of the
ancient Roman Empire with its
ancicnt church-state-military com–
bination.
lt
will at first appear harm–
lcss- in fact, even beneficent.
On attaining power over the
coming Roman Empi re, its leader
will appeal to the masses as their
Savior against atheistic commu–
nism and from the religious confu–
sion and hedonism into which
America and the British peoples
have fal len.
This coming religious revitaliza–
tion in Eu rope wi ll bring punish–
ment upon America and Bri tain
because we have forsaken our God
and his commandments!
It is nice to think sweet thoughts
and hope for sorne worldwide spir–
it ual rejuvenation. But what you
need to do is to face up to the
truth!
lt
is high time you realized that
something is terribly wrong with
the confusion of denominations
that is being palmed off as "Chris–
tianity" today.
ft
is time we learned that the
modero rel igious phi losophies that
deny God's law and authority are
condcmned in t be Bible as evil. l t's
t ime we all changed and began to
study and believe what is in the
Bible! o
The
PLAIN TRUTH