A Falling Away First

II Thessalonians 2:3 – Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;

I Corinthians 10:11-15 – Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. 12 Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. 13 There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. 14 Wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from idolatry. 15 I speak as to wise men; judge ye what I say.

Acts 20:29 For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. If you are not following Jesus Christ and what his word declares, you are following something else, and that is error. Be very careful of following people because many people will willingly lead you astray as they seek approval of their disobedience.

James 4:4, Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.

Ezekiel 8:8-10, 12 Then said he unto me, Son of man, dig now in the wall: and when I had digged in the wall, behold a door. And he said unto me, Go in, and behold the wicked abominations that they do here. So I went in and saw; and behold every form of creeping things, and abominable beasts, and all the idols of the house of Israel, pourtrayed upon the wall round about. Then said he unto me, Son of man, hast thou seen what THE ANCIENTS [supposed spiritual leaders] of the house of Israel do in the dark, every man in the chambers of his imagery? for they say, the LORD seeth us not; the LORD hath forsaken the earth.

Romans 1:28-32 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Verse 32 is the clincher for the professed Christian that enjoys such things:

Who KNOWING the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, BUT HAVE PLEASURE IN THEM THAT DO THEM.

Watching/reading/listening to wicked earthly things is having pleasure in them that do them. The bottom line is that when we participate as willing observers we are having pleasure in sinners who are sinning. What abomination. Galatians testifies against the evil works that professed Christians ENJOY.

Galatians 5:19-21 – Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, 20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, 21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall NOT inherit the kingdom of God.

So does I Corinthians--

1 Corinthians 6:9 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, 10 Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such WERE some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

When you enjoy these things, you are in the flesh. When you get mad at those who tell you this truth, it shows you are in the flesh. And,

Romans 8:13 – if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

No discernment... More and more people (adults and children) have little spiritual discernment, because they do not study the Bible enough to understand the mind of Christ. Count the number of minutes you read the Bible every day compared to the number of minutes you fill your mind with things of this world. Compare the number of minutes you spend watching television with the number of minutes you spend reading your Bible, listening to spiritual music, or listening to scriptural sermons on CD or cassette. Most believers are desensitized to the wickedness around them because they are not acquainted with the Bible, as they should be.

Willing theft victims... The Devil is a thief. When you fail to pray to God and read your Bible so he can speak to you, you are being a willing theft victim of Satan. Take a spiritual inventory because something is missing in your spiritual life. When you get up from the couch after watching all the sin on television you can muster, something is missing. You're not the same person you were when you sat down to watch it--even if you don't feel any different. A thief takes your stuff by stealth. You don't realize it is missing until later on--and even then you don't know who stole it. Do you walk in the power of the Holy Ghost? Do you walk with King Jesus in holiness and righteousness? Most who profess Christ do NOT and this is a sad story because holiness is a requisite quality of any true Christian. Hebrews says without it, no man shall see the Lord. Many ignorant professed Christians blame King Jesus for not giving them power and strength when in reality they willingly give their strength to Satan, the thief. He'll clean your clock every time you do not completely dedicate yourself to Jesus Christ. Is your house a mess? Cut out the non-spiritual activities you do to relax and you'll have time to get the dishes out of the sink. Time to cook some fresh vegetables instead of opening up a can. Do your kids sit glued to the television for hours every day watching nonsense and wickedness? If so, I doubt they can they quote the Ten Commandments much less whole passages of scripture. We let our kids spend so much time with the world--we can't propel them any higher than we are. I will be very bold--

There's nothing for us in the kingdom of Satan--we are at war with his kingdom, how can we sit down smoking cigarettes in the enemy's camp?

II Timothy 2:4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.

JESUS DIED FOR THOSE UNGODLY DEEDS THAT THEY COMMIT. Saved people are SEVERED from this godless, reprobate generation. If you are not severed, please get nervous. The fear of the Lord will make you depart from evil. Then after you depart, you will see this mess like the vomit, dung and mire that it is.

Leviticus 20:26 And ye shall be holy unto me: for I the LORD am holy, and have severed you from other people, that ye should be mine.

Make a covenant with your eyes to eschew evil and to LOOK TO JESUS AND HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS ALONE!