Mindonfire
Member
Do You Have the Falls?
2 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;
Have I falling away? How does one fall away from the word of God? These are two very important questions which all believers should constantly keep in mind.
We must first understand that the Falls is not always sudden. The onset of the Falls is generally a gradual occurrence, and since it is gradual it is not readily noticeable. It is almost invisible to the untrained mind. The physical materialization of the Falls may seem sudden, but the process of the Falls may be in motion long beforehand.
Jesus gave a great example of this in the parable of the 2 foundations. (Matt 7:24-27) Lets take a quick look at the man whose house fell. (Matthew 7:26-27 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.) I want you to notice the processes which caused the fall of the house. Notice that Jesus mentions all of the events that lead to fall in plural form (rain, floods, winds,). This means that these were more than one time occurrences. All of these events probably occurred over a period of years. It is also important that you notice were the fall of the house began. It did not begin with the initial rain, floods, and winds. The fall of the house began in the mind of the man who constructed it. The very moment that this individual made the decision to build his house on the sand, was the very moment that the house began to fall. This is why Jesus classified this fellow as foolish. A foolish person by definition is one who lacks the ability to make sound decisions.
1. Foolish: Function: adjective 1 : lacking in sense, judgment, or discretion 2 a : ABSURD, RIDICULOUS b : marked by a loss of composure : NONPLUSSED, ABASHED
As you can see from the parable foolishness is one of the leading causative agents of the Falls. You see the most telling trait of a fool is that he or she does not know that they are a fool. Fools are totally oblivious about their foolishness. Fools tend to see things in reverse. They tend to see themselves as rising even though they are falling. They generally see themselves as wise and everybody else as fools. I can almost guarantee you that the foolish man who built his house on the sand was laughing at the wise man who built his house on the rock. He was probably saying to himself, Look at that fool, he is giving up this beautiful beachfront location to build on those hideous rocks. This kind of reminds me of those people in Laguna Beach Ca.
I have also noticed in my going about that many believers and non-believers have adopted the dangerous attitude that the Falls could never happen to them. This is how the second causative agent of the Falls begins. These have already forgotten the warnings from Messias that we should always be wary. (Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak.) (Mark 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.) No one is given total immunity against the Falls. Even the elect of God are susceptible to it. (Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.) Peter thought that he was immune to it; after all he was the one whom Christ had heaped so much praise upon. (Matthew 16:18) Boy was he wrong. We all are familiar with Peters attitude when Messias forewarned him about his denial. (Matthew 26:34-35) (Mark 14:27-31) Oh no not me, I would never do that is basically what Peter stated. You see Peter had a prideful and haughty attitude. He thought that he was more knowledgeable that his fellow disciples and Messias. "How could Jesus say such a thing about me doesn't he now that I'm a rock" is probably what he was thinking. Oh how soon did he forget Proverbs 16:18. Those people who are prideful and haughty are generally the first ones who contract the Falls. How I cringe when I hear believers talk about their American pride. Little do they know.
As I survey America today, I see a lot of the churches showing symptoms of the Falls. I see a lot of the foolishness mixed in with the prideful and haughty attitudes. I see a lot of big houses erected on doctrines and teachings of sand. I see them laughing and carousing, oblivious to the steady and rapid decaying of their already weak foundations. The rain has been falling for quite some time. The winds have been blowing for quite some time. The floodwaters have been raging for quite some time now. Now its just a matter of when. Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.
Daniel 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
2 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;
Have I falling away? How does one fall away from the word of God? These are two very important questions which all believers should constantly keep in mind.
We must first understand that the Falls is not always sudden. The onset of the Falls is generally a gradual occurrence, and since it is gradual it is not readily noticeable. It is almost invisible to the untrained mind. The physical materialization of the Falls may seem sudden, but the process of the Falls may be in motion long beforehand.
Jesus gave a great example of this in the parable of the 2 foundations. (Matt 7:24-27) Lets take a quick look at the man whose house fell. (Matthew 7:26-27 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.) I want you to notice the processes which caused the fall of the house. Notice that Jesus mentions all of the events that lead to fall in plural form (rain, floods, winds,). This means that these were more than one time occurrences. All of these events probably occurred over a period of years. It is also important that you notice were the fall of the house began. It did not begin with the initial rain, floods, and winds. The fall of the house began in the mind of the man who constructed it. The very moment that this individual made the decision to build his house on the sand, was the very moment that the house began to fall. This is why Jesus classified this fellow as foolish. A foolish person by definition is one who lacks the ability to make sound decisions.
1. Foolish: Function: adjective 1 : lacking in sense, judgment, or discretion 2 a : ABSURD, RIDICULOUS b : marked by a loss of composure : NONPLUSSED, ABASHED
As you can see from the parable foolishness is one of the leading causative agents of the Falls. You see the most telling trait of a fool is that he or she does not know that they are a fool. Fools are totally oblivious about their foolishness. Fools tend to see things in reverse. They tend to see themselves as rising even though they are falling. They generally see themselves as wise and everybody else as fools. I can almost guarantee you that the foolish man who built his house on the sand was laughing at the wise man who built his house on the rock. He was probably saying to himself, Look at that fool, he is giving up this beautiful beachfront location to build on those hideous rocks. This kind of reminds me of those people in Laguna Beach Ca.
I have also noticed in my going about that many believers and non-believers have adopted the dangerous attitude that the Falls could never happen to them. This is how the second causative agent of the Falls begins. These have already forgotten the warnings from Messias that we should always be wary. (Matthew 26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed [is] willing, but the flesh [is] weak.) (Mark 13:37 And what I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.) No one is given total immunity against the Falls. Even the elect of God are susceptible to it. (Matthew 24:24 For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if [it were] possible, they shall deceive the very elect.) Peter thought that he was immune to it; after all he was the one whom Christ had heaped so much praise upon. (Matthew 16:18) Boy was he wrong. We all are familiar with Peters attitude when Messias forewarned him about his denial. (Matthew 26:34-35) (Mark 14:27-31) Oh no not me, I would never do that is basically what Peter stated. You see Peter had a prideful and haughty attitude. He thought that he was more knowledgeable that his fellow disciples and Messias. "How could Jesus say such a thing about me doesn't he now that I'm a rock" is probably what he was thinking. Oh how soon did he forget Proverbs 16:18. Those people who are prideful and haughty are generally the first ones who contract the Falls. How I cringe when I hear believers talk about their American pride. Little do they know.
As I survey America today, I see a lot of the churches showing symptoms of the Falls. I see a lot of the foolishness mixed in with the prideful and haughty attitudes. I see a lot of big houses erected on doctrines and teachings of sand. I see them laughing and carousing, oblivious to the steady and rapid decaying of their already weak foundations. The rain has been falling for quite some time. The winds have been blowing for quite some time. The floodwaters have been raging for quite some time now. Now its just a matter of when. Timberrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.
2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof [are] the ways of death.
Daniel 12:9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words [are] closed up and sealed till the time of the end.
Daniel 12:10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.