Paul teaches the Thessalonians that before the Man of Sin is revealed and before Christ returns, the Church will "fall away." To me this implies that the Church is restraining the Man of Sin from being revealed. The concept of "falling away" is much different than the concept of being snatched up (raptured). That would be a lifting up, not a falling away.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition...
In my church we have very few young people. I would estimate about 70% of the church is older than me. What is it like in other churches? Are we just going to die out, those of us with faith? According to a recent 2015 Washington Post article (link below), Christianity is down 8% in just 7 years under Barrack Obama in America.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-becoming-even-less-affiliated-with-religion/
All across Europe, Christian churches are being replaced by Mosques. In the middle east you are killed if you are a Christian which I'm sure isn't helping our numbers. Part of the reason in the decline is Christians have one wife and family size is shrinking while Muslims are allowed 4 wives and often have larger families. The other main reason is world attitude towards Christians is increasingly hostile, if not outright fatal.
[SUP]3 [/SUP]Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition...
In my church we have very few young people. I would estimate about 70% of the church is older than me. What is it like in other churches? Are we just going to die out, those of us with faith? According to a recent 2015 Washington Post article (link below), Christianity is down 8% in just 7 years under Barrack Obama in America.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...-becoming-even-less-affiliated-with-religion/
All across Europe, Christian churches are being replaced by Mosques. In the middle east you are killed if you are a Christian which I'm sure isn't helping our numbers. Part of the reason in the decline is Christians have one wife and family size is shrinking while Muslims are allowed 4 wives and often have larger families. The other main reason is world attitude towards Christians is increasingly hostile, if not outright fatal.