Coming Storm
The New Testament warns of a future apostasy caused by deceivers that will precede the day of the Lord.
The New
Testament warns repeatedly and consistently that before Jesus arrives at the
end of the age the church will find itself under assault from within by deceivers.
And before the “day of the Lord” comes, his disciples will be confronted
by the “man of lawlessness,” a figure linked inextricably to the coming “apostasy.”
Jesus warns his
disciples to beware of the “many deceivers” who will come and “deceive
many” - “false prophets” and “false messiahs” who will cause “lawlessness”
to spread, propagate false information about the “coming of the Son of Man,”
and use “signs and wonders” to deceive the very “elect.” Only the
believer who “endures to the end” through the coming onslaught will be
saved - (Matthew 24:5, 23-27).
REVELATION
Similarly, in the
book of Revelation, the “false
prophet” performs “great
signs” that will deceive many
into giving their allegiance to the “Beast from the sea.” And already in
the first century, deceivers infiltrated the churches of Asia - “false apostles,”
the “Nicolaitans,” the “teachings of Balaam,” and the “prophetess,
Jezebel” - causing some believers to engage in idolatry and otherwise compromise
with the surrounding pagan society.
And in Revelation, Satan’s “war” is NOT
waged against Israel or other nation-states, but against the “saints” - those
who have the “faith of Jesus” and his “testimony” - the very ones
who “follow the Lamb wherever he goes.” And this “war” includes the rise
of deception and deceivers in the church.
PAUL
The Apostle Paul is specific when writing the Thessalonians.
The “day of the Lord” and the “arrival” of Jesus will not come until
two events occur – the “apostasy” and the “revelation of the man of
lawlessness” when he “seats himself in the sanctuary of God.”
Consistently in the Greek scriptures, the term “apostasy”
or ‘apostasia’ refers to the abandonment of the true apostolic faith. When Paul
warns that this “lawless one” will deceive those who “refuse the love
of the truth,” he is describing Christians who apostatize. And this is
borne out when he defines the “truth” as the “tradition you received”
from him.
Paul bases this malevolent figure on the “little
horn” in the book of Daniel, the “king of fierce countenance”
who used his understanding of “dark sayings” and his “mighty power
that was not his own” to “ruin the saints” with his “flatteries” and
promises. His wickedness reached its peak when he installed the “abomination
that desolates” in the “sanctuary.”
That figure and his actions serve as the model for Paul’s “man of lawlessness” and the “apostasy” caused by him. And elsewhere, the apostle CONSISTENTLY describes the church, the “body of Christ,” as the “sanctuary of God,” not any stone building in the city of Jerusalem.
Paul also warns Timothy about
this future apostasy. The time will come when “some will depart from the
faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils.” And in
the last days, “evil men and howling imposters will wax worse and worse,
deceiving and being deceived.”
Indeed, considering what is
coming, Timothy must:
- “Preach the word, and be urgent in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine, but having itching ears, they will heap to themselves teachers after their own lusts and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables” – (1 Timothy 4:1, 2 Timothy 3:13, 4:1-4).
PETER AND JOHN
The Apostle Peter also warns
of future “false prophets” and “false teachers” who will
disseminate false doctrines and wreak havoc in the church:
- (2 Peter 2:1-3) – “But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom, the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of. And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingers not, and their destruction slumbers not.”
And the Apostle John speaks
of the coming “antichrist,” but of more immediate concern are the “many
antichrists” that are active already IN THE CHURCH. The “last
days” are underway even now, and this is demonstrated by the “spirit of
antichrist” that is at work in the deceivers and “false prophets”
who are disseminating false doctrines among believers – (1 John 2:18-22, 4:1-3).
HOLD FAST TO THE TEACHINGS
Scripture provides a
consistent warning. Before the return of Jesus, the church will experience the
“apostasy,” an influx of “false prophets” and other deceivers,
and the unveiling of the “man of lawlessness, the son of destruction.”
But the church is not without hope. The
very fact that Jesus and his apostles warned of these coming events indicates that
disciples can avoid being overwhelmed by the coming darkness. And that is accomplished
by heeding the teachings of Jesus and his apostles.
As Paul assures his readers, they will not
be overtaken by the “lawless one” as long as they “hold fast” to
the apostolic tradition handed down by him and his coworkers. And that “tradition”
is preserved in the pages of the New Testament – (2 Thessalonians 2:13-17).
