.
2Ths 2:1-4 . . Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon
shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter
as from us, that the day of Christ is at hand.
. . . 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; who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called
God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sits in the temple of God,
presenting himself that he is God.
Some religions have a rather bad habit of predicting the Lord's return. For
example the Watchtower Bible And Tract Society predicted his return for
1878, 1881, 1914, 1918 and 1925. Armageddon was predicted for 1975 and
that flopped too.
One of the salient features of the day of Christ is that there will be a one
world religion. All currently known forms of religion will be banned upon
penalty of death. That means Christianity in all its Protestant and Catholic
forms and denominations will be illegal; as well as Islam, Mormonism,
Baha'i, Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Scientology, et al, and even atheism
and agnosticism-- everybody will be required to worship that man of sin; the
son of perdition.
The koiné Greek word for "falling away" is apostasia (ap-os-tas-ee'-ah)
which means: defection from truth; viz: apostasy. This is not the same as
heresy. An heretic stays with his church and undermines its unity by subtly
introducing unapproved doctrines; while an apostate doesn't stay, but
instead totally renounces his church, and quite possibly his entire
denomination, and walks away; sort of like a Baptist switching to
Seventh Day Adventism.
In the future; people will apostatize to save their skins and here's why:
"And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns
like a lamb, and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercises all the authority of
the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell
in it to worship the first beast, whose fatal wound was healed. And he
performs great signs, so that he even makes fire come down out of heaven
to the earth in the presence of men.
. . . And he deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs
which it was given him to perform in the presence of the beast, telling those
who dwell on the earth to make an image to the beast who had the wound
of the sword and has come to life. And there was given to him to give breath
to the image of the beast, that the image of the beast might even speak and
cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed." (Rev
13:11-15)
In my opinion, the man to fear is not the first beast, but the second because
of his miraculous powers. Anyway since no one on earth at present has
fulfilled any of those predictions, then it's a safe bet that the day of Christ
isn't in progress yet so don't worry about it. In point of fact, believers are
commanded to abstain from worrying about it.
NOTE: The disclaimer below is located in the paragraph 12, under the
heading; "Who is leading God's People today?" of the Feb 2017
Watchtower—Study Edition:
"The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible. Therefore, it can err in
doctrinal matters or in organizational direction. In fact, the Watch Tower
Publications Index includes the heading “Beliefs Clarified,” which lists
adjustments in our Scriptural understanding since 1870. Of course, Jesus did
not tell us that his faithful slave would produce perfect spiritual food."
In spite of that disclaimer; faithful, hard working JWs go door to door all
over the globe propagating Watchtower Society teachings as if they're
honest to gosh true and reliable.
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