The Bible Provocateur
The Bible Provocateur
Understanding The Falling Away And The Signs Of The Times
What if the greatest spiritual danger isn’t outside the church but seated within it? We open the Scriptures to make a hard case: the “falling away” Paul warns about in 2 Thessalonians 2 is not a rumor, and the man of sin doesn’t need a rebuilt temple to deceive. He targets the temple that matters most—the people of God. From there we trace how fear, vague headlines, and religious spectacle can pull sincere people off center when they lose their love for truth.
We walk slowly through Paul’s argument to steady anxious hearts. Christ’s return will not be secret or questionable; it will be unmistakable. Before that day, apostasy rises and the lawless one emerges “with all power, signs, and lying wonders.” That’s the trap: visible displays that enthrall the senses but starve the soul. We contrast undeniable biblical miracles—shriveled hands restored, the dead raised—with today’s ambiguous performances and hype. The aim isn’t to mock the supernatural but to prize what heaven calls the greatest wonder: a sinner saved by grace. When God grants repentance and faith, He overturns our nature, and that is a miracle no stage can counterfeit.
We also challenge a popular timeline. The Bible knows nothing of a discrete seven year tribulation period carved from Daniel’s seventy weeks, and the kingdom of God is already present in Christ’s reign. That reframing puts the emphasis where Scripture does: enduring faith, daily humility, and a discerning love for God’s Word. We urge practical steps—cling to Christ each day, repent quickly, cultivate Scripture hunger, and use your voice to witness in ordinary spaces. Strong delusion comes upon those who refuse to love the truth; a warm heart for the Word will keep you when signs impress and crowds cheer.
If this study sharpened your discernment, share it with a friend, subscribe for more Bible‑anchored episodes, and leave a review to help others find the show. What stood out to you most—and where do you see the love of truth needing renewal today?
BE PROVOKED AND BE PERSUADED!
I am never going to stop preaching this gospel. I've been doing this since I was 18 years old, and I will not stop. I will not stop. Doesn't mean that I won't get things wrong at times. I always like to convey to people that there's a difference between telling a lie and just being wrong. There's a difference. It is intentional in that person's mind to deceive. A person can say something that is not true. That is not true. But they weren't lying. They believed it was true. So sometimes I'll get it wrong. But I'm going to do my darndest to make sure I'm not. Because I think it is incumbent upon us all to be certain that what we say we can support. And so I try to do that. But one of my primary goals, and I have said this over and over and over again, is that I want to provoke thought. The Christian collective community needs to raise its biblical IQ. Christianity needs to raise its biblical IQ. We all need to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We need to do this. And to be honest with you, it's always become something of a cliche to believe that we live in the worst possible times. And usually how bad something is from a spiritual perspective is based on what we see going on around us. But I think that what we see that is going on around us that is bad is a result of those things which we do not see, which start at the root within men's hearts, the heart of man, desperately wicked and deceitful. And who can know it? No one. No one but Christ. We have all fallen short of the glory of God as we all know. All of us, and require a spiritual intervention, as it were, in order to be aroused from the slumber that overtakes so many of us. It takes away that watchfulness that are required for us to be able to determine the signs of the times. God has given us his word so that we can understand among all things, among many things, the signs of the times. So and that leads me to what I wanted to have some confabulation, if you will, with all of you about, wanted to talk about signs of the times. Now I know that eschatological things are always a topic of excitement for a lot of Christians. And when I say eschatological or eschatology, I'm sure most of you know, but I don't want to assume everybody knows. Eschatology means the study of future things. Future things. So now people have a variety of ideas on what things, what elements outlined in the scriptures are less or next to come forward, next for us to encounter as the collective humanity that we are, what God is going to do next. And essentially, there are three basic things that are yet to happen, and that are inevitable to happen. The first is that there's going to be a great falling away. A great falling away. We see this in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2. There's going to be an apostasy, a great falling away. And then there is going to be the return of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And then there's going to be the judgment and the offering up of the kingdom of Christ unto his Father, who will be all and in all. And the intensity of tribulation comes in waves and in cycles. But the Bible knows nothing. Nothing. Of a so-called seven-year tribulation period. A seven-year period. The seven-year period that is often thought of in the scheme of things for those who hold to a seven-year tribulation period extends from one verse out of the passage out of Daniel chapter nine. The 70th week, which many of these people believe is yet future. It is not. And that he came to prepare the way for the Messiah, who would be his blood cousin, the Lord Jesus. Now, I didn't want to talk about that part of this whole thing. And the tribulation was not from 1988 to 2011. That is not true. So here's what is true. And here's what I wanted to address: the apostasy, the falling away, the falling away. And I want to show how the apostasy or the falling away is commensurate with the loosing of Satan near the end of the millennial period, the one thousand-year reign, and commensurate with that little season that is going to take place where Satan starts to wreak havoc on the world again in a way that he has not done starting with the beginning of the ministry of Christ, where you saw Christ casting out demons. Now Jesus, Jesus said that if he was casting out demons by the Spirit of God, which he was, then the kingdom of God has come unto you, which it did. Therefore, we exist in that kingdom right now. Which means that the thousand-year period or the kingdom of God that is symbolized by the one thousand-year period has already begun. We're in it. We're in it. We have been given the word of God so that we can know the signs of the times. Now, I want to deal with just the falling away part. The falling away part, the the apostasy. So I'm going to start off in 2 Thessalonians, chapter 2. And I want to read something to you. Now, brethren, chapter 2, verse 1 of 2 Thessalonians. Now, brethren, he's talking to all of us. The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him, we ask you not to be too soon shaken in your mind or be troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if it came from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means, or through any medium, is what he's saying, through any means. For the day will not come unless or until the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed the son of perdition. And by the way, the revelation or the revealing of the son of perdition is the third thing that I forgot to mention. Forgive me, when I said there were three things left to come. I did mention the loosing of Satan, but I didn't specify that tied to the loosing of Satan is the revealing of the son of perdition. So this apostasy, this falling away is what we're talking about. Now notice what Paul says. He's telling the believers, the believers and Thessalonians, because their fear was that Christ had already come the second time. That Christ had already come. And they were fearful that those who were telling them that Jesus had already returned the second and final time, they were troubled. And it's not surprising that they would be troubled. Could you imagine if you were told today that Jesus Christ has returned already? You'd be like, then why am I still here? So you can see the problem that the Thessalonians were having. You can see what he was dealing with. So Paul says, I'm asking, please do not be shaken in mind or troubled. Don't be shaken in mind or be troubled. Don't let these people who are telling you this trouble you. Because that is all that they are trying to do is to trip you up. And he says, Do not be shaken in mind or be troubled, whether by spirit or by word or by letter. As if from us. In other words, speaking about him and the other apostles, he tells the Thessalonians, When people are telling you, whether it be by spirit, by word, or by letter, pretending that they are speaking on our behalf regarding that Christ had already come. Paul is telling them, do not believe it. Do not believe it. Do not believe it. He says, They will tell you, they will tell you that this is what we have been saying, but we have never said this. We've never said this. So whether you hear, Thessalonians, Christians, all of us, whether you hear that Jesus Christ has already come, whether by spirit, whether by word, or whether by letter, and if somebody tries to tell you this is what the Bible says, do not believe them. Paul wants to make you make sure people understand. When Jesus comes back, you will know it. When our Lord Jesus comes back next time, it is not going to be questionable. It is not going to be secret, like the secret rapture that people believe. There's going to be a rapture. I won't dwell on this today. But there is going to be a rapture. But this takes place at the end of the world. It doesn't take place preceding some seven-year tribulation in a 1,000-year millennial kingdom. Because as I stated earlier, we are in the kingdom of God right now. We're in it right now. So now Paul says, don't believe him. And then he says in verse three, let no one deceive you by any means. Let no one deceive you by any means. Means refers to through whatever medium, through whatever agency someone wants to communicate to you that Christ has come. He says, do not let anyone deceive you. Because he says, the day that Christ is going to come is going to be pre is going to be preceded by a falling away that must come first. A falling away. So that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. So we are going to see this great apostasy, this great falling away, and the revelation of the man of sin being rendered, coming out into the open, claiming to be God, exalting himself above all that is called God. So now, what is this falling away? Falling away is something only those who profess to be Christian can do. Notice that I said profess to be Christian. Because apostasy or falling away is defection from the faith. It is to defect from the faith. It is to turn away from the faith. Are these people who defect from the faith Christians? No, they're not. But they say they're Christians. They say they go to church and they may go to church. They may have been baptized in the church. They may have taken communion for years. They may have responded to an altar call from an exciting sermon that they heard. They may have had people come to their house and have elaborate dinners. Yes, they may have even tithed a few times. They may be the very preacher that preaches to you every Lord's Day morning. And yet, they may not even be Christian. But yet, for all intents and purposes and for all appearances, they are Christian. Christians on the outside. Christians on the outside, wearing the right garb, listening to the right music, watching the right shows and refusing to watch the bad shows. The outside of the cup is clean. But inside, drudge and filth. Like a tomb. All beautiful on the outside. Nice headstones and crosses on the headstone, and all kind of beauty on the outside of a gravestone, and even the outside of a casket. But what's inside? Dead men's bones. Dead men's bones. You see, this should strike fear in all of us. It should strike fear in all of us. Because remember, apostasy is a defection from the faith. It means that someone who professes the faith has decided to reject it. And here is the worst part. Here's the worst part. Most of them who defect don't even know it. They don't even know it. You know why? Because they are deceived. They are deceived. They carry a Bible. They carry a Bible. And they have highlighters. And they make a lot of notes. They got notes. They got plenty of notes. They got little tabs on the Bible. They got ink pen and marks and everything all around the Bible. Mines does. They want people to see that they have been dissecting the Word of God, that they have been rightly dividing the Word of Truth. And there are a lot of people like that because they consider the connectivity that they have to the Christian faith to be something which they can capitalize on in an unholy way. Not in a holy way, in an unholy way. If I'm you, you should be meditating in your heart right now the very same thing that I am thinking about. Which is who then can be saved? How then do we know? How can we be assured that this is not us? I'm talking to you, but you gotta be thinking this could be me. I think it could be me. So what do we do? We cling to Christ. We cling to Christ, we stay connected to him daily, not every other day. Not on Christmas and Easter. Not when we are laid up in a bed wracked in pain because we got into a car accident, and that's the only time we can reach out. Now don't get me wrong, you should reach out when tragedy happens. But what I'm saying is that your faith in God through Christ needs to be a lifestyle, a perpetual lifestyle that is uninterrupted, that is not fraught with distractions that you do not overcome. This Christianity is no easy thing. This is no joke. I see Christians that come on here on my profile, and all they want to do is say things like how wrong I am about something, or they want to just be right about something. Probably never say a word to anybody about the grace that comes by Christ. But they wax bold when they come on here. And whenever somebody gets really crazy, I go look at their profile and I'm praying that they have enough people so they can go live so I can debate them. And almost all the time, they have nothing there. Christians, I encourage all of you here as a sidebar. I encourage all of you, one way or the other, if you're on TikTok, put something on your profile. Give your testimony on your profile. Put things up there to talk about what God has done for you, what Christ has done for you. Let people see it. It's okay if you don't follow mine. I don't care about that. I mean, I'd like you to be here. Don't get me wrong. But I also want you to put things out there and share the word of God, is such an easy way to do it. It's easy. Can you imagine if every single Christian on TikTok, if they put out two or three posts a day? Or even one a day, even three a week. Can you imagine how much penetration the gospel can get? God is going to have things his way, but he uses us as instruments to perpetuate his truths, which will never stop. Men cannot stop it. The word of God is going nowhere. Men have tried to put it out of existence ever since Christ came here. They tried to burn Bibles. When that didn't work, they tried to burn Christians. That didn't work. But it won't be for Christians. The burning is coming, but it's not coming for Christians. It is coming for the unbelieving world as we know. But woe unto any of us who are found at the coming of Christ when he comes back, woe unto any of us who are found to be apostates, people who knew the truth, claimed to believe it, who pretended to go along with all the things and to embrace all the means of grace that God has provided, and to be found a defector. To be found a defector. Christ. If you want heaven, you need Christ. If you want Christ, forsake your sins. Repent from your sins. Acknowledge your guilty state. Acknowledge your fallen state. Acknowledge that you have offended the thrice holy God. That's what needs to happen. Repentance. A rare word in modern pulpits. We don't want to talk about sin. We don't want to talk about hell. My sister Anna is right. Stay humble. Exercise humility. Christians, I gotta tell you, worst things for me to be able to do, the hardest things for me to be able to do is to stay humble and exercise humility. I have to deal with this every single day. Every single day. We need to fall down before him daily. Because if apostasy sets in as a result of complacent hands and becoming congealed and settled upon your leaves, you might find yourself an apostate, one who has fallen away. It says that this man of perdition, the son of perdition, Satan spawn. It says that he is going to exalt himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped. In other words, he's not going to just be over exalting himself above God. He's going to be exalting himself above everything that anybody worships. But it says here, and here's what I want you to notice. Christians, please notice this. The son of perdition says that he is going to sit in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. But I want you to notice something. When he says that this son of perdition will be sitting in the temple of God. The word temple is naos. N-A-O-S. Don't get caught up in that. But what it what it indicates is this. This is the word that Paul uses when he is talking about the spiritual temple. This is not the word that he uses when he's talking about the physical temple in Jerusalem or any physical temple. Now, a lot of Christians believe that some future Antichrist is going to come out of nowhere. He's going to step into the temple that is rebuilt in Jerusalem. Not true. And he's going to make himself out to be God. No. That would be too obvious. There is no biblical warrant whatsoever to believe that an antichrist is going to walk into a Jewish temple that is rebuilt in Israel and make himself out to be God there. That is a straight up farce. That is not a mistake. That is a lie. It is the temple of our the body of Christ. It is the temple of Christ. It is his body, his church. He's saying that the man of sin is going to come out of the church. He is going to be a member of the church. He's going to be in the ranks of the constituency of the Christian church. There's a whole lot of people that think highly of some of these wicked ministers. But this person is taking it to another level. Kenneth Copeland, Joel Osteen, Creflo Dollar, these guys, they're some bad dudes. And I don't mean in a good way. But the man of tradition that Paul's talking about here is going to be good. He's going to be amazing. He's going to be ferocious. But he's going to be appealing. He is going to be appealing. You won't be able to speak against him without people going crazy, attacking you. Paul says, Don't you remember these things? When I was with you, I told you about this. These things? I told you about this. Now I have to bring it up again. Paul tells Thessalonians, I told you this a thousand times. When I was with you, I told you about this. And here we are again. I have to explain it again to you. He says the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Keep in mind, Paul is saying that at the time he was writing to the Thessalonians, at that time, 2,000 years ago, nearly 2,000 years ago, Paul is saying that the mystery of lawlessness was already at work. It had already started. And then he says, only he who now restrains will do so until he's taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy him with the brightness of his coming. This is Paul talking. MFGC, you are right. A lot like that. Now listen to this. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power signs and lying wonders. This is when this is talking about Satan being loose for a little season that you read about in Revelation chapter 20, verse 3. That's when this is taking place. See, it takes, you're gonna need to have to to you're gonna need to be able to understand these things, but it's gonna take holding on to multiple streams of biblical understanding to tie it all together. This is when Satan is loosed for a little season. How do you know? Because it says that Christ won't come until this happens. And the only thing that makes this end is when Christ returns and he will destroy him whose coming has all the power and signs and wonders of Satan himself. But Jesus will destroy him with simply the brightness of his coming. And with the breath of his mouth. Think of that for a second. Jesus is going to destroy Satan with the breath of his mouth and the brightness of his coming. That is Armageddon. Christ appears and is done. Christ just appears. Satan is done. Jesus just comes in the brightness of his holiness and his righteousness. And sin and death and hell are all destroyed simultaneously. Do you guys believe this? Now look, it says the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying, lying wonders. Lying wonders. Let me tell you something. All these people run around talking about they're casting out demons, they're healing people, they're speaking in so-called tongues, lying wonders. Lying wonders. Some of you guys are going to like that. And with all unrighteousness and with all unrighteous deception, among those who perish, because they do not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. Those who fall prey to those to these lying wonders and signs and these satanic powers, those who fall prey to it are those who, verse 10 says, who perish. They haven't, they didn't perish at the time. It says they are alive, but they are designated to perish. Why? He tells you why. Because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. Now watch what's happening here. In verse nine, the apostle is saying that the man of sin who will come with all the power of Satan, he points out the power, Satan's power, his signs, and lying wonders. Power, signs, and lying wonders. What are these things? These are visible displays. Visible displays of presupposed spiritual powers and abilities, but they are visible displays. Paul is telling you that he is going to do these things. He is going to do these things. But they're not going to be from God. These power signs and lying wonders, they're going to happen. They're going to be visible. They're going to be believable, but they are not going to be from God. Christians are told here that we are told, Christians, in verse 10, that this unrighteous deception will be believed among those who are perishing. And here's the reason why. Because they did not love the truth that they might be saved. They loved the wonders. They loved the signs. They loved the powerful displays of spiritual events. But they did not love the truth. They counted on signs. And these signs is that which they were in love with. This is what they were about. This is what they were about. Apostates love signs and wonders, and that's what they're going to get. But Paul here says that they perish because they did not love the simple truth. This is why you can never go wrong if you just stick to the word of God. You don't need signs and wonders. They don't mean anything. If I got stage four cancer today and die, it doesn't matter to me if I get healed or not. Because I know my Lord liveth. And he shall raise me up one day, and I will stand before him in my flesh, and I will be changed after the manner of his body. We Christians will be raised from the dead, and we will have bodies like our Lord's. They were defectors. They were defectors. And my sister's right, salvation is the greatest wonder, the greatest sign that you belong to Christ that can ever take place. Salvation is what the world needs, not wonders and signs and invisible displays of so-called powers of the supernatural. There is no greater miracle that can take place on this earth than to see a sinner saved. Why? Because not because man exercised his will or his free will, that's nonsense. But because God had to upset, he had to undermine, circumvent your natural order as a sinner in order to bring you to a saving faith. Man. Speaking in tongues is real. I don't doubt. I never said speaking in tongues wasn't real. But I will tell you this the tongue speaking today has nothing to do with God. It is real, but it's not from God. Stick to the truth of the word of God. Stick to the truth and the word of God. Because you're, I'm telling you, this is what the scriptures are talking about right now. The coming of the lawless one is all is according to the working of Satan with all power, signs, and lying wonders. I never said they don't happen. They do happen. But they happen and they are believed and embraced by those who do not love the truth of words God, of the word of God. They need miraculous. They need signs. They need to feel connected. They need to feel like they are empowered. There are no tongues. Even the tongues that are going on today aren't with the Bible, what was happening in Acts chapter 2. That's not what was happening. All that hubba bubba hubba bubba bubba bubba, that is not coming from God. It means nothing. That is ridiculous. It is a counterfeit miracle. Counterfeit. It's fake. It's a fraud. Stick to the word of God. I'm not, I don't need to tell God that. I'm telling you that. Now, it says that they did not receive the love of the truth. Now notice this. Let me tell you something about let me mention one thing because I have some guy on here whose name is Pastor something or other. And I have no disrespect to you, my friend. None. I understand where you're coming from. A lot of people believe like you. When you look at every single miracle, every single miracle, sign, or wonder that you read about in the Bible, from any of the apostles, from any of the prophets, and from the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, everyone who saw them, everyone who saw them were struck with awe. There was no doubt in anyone's mind that something was happening, that what they saw happened. There was no doubt. Nobody could say what I'm saying. Nobody can say these tongues aren't real. Nobody can say that healing is not real. Nobody can say that that demoniac demoniac who was cast out was real. No one could say that. That's what they were. When it comes from God, it is unquestionable. Unquestionable. If a withered hand suddenly becomes a whole hand, you can't argue that. If a woman who had her monthly cycle all her life and it suddenly dries up, you can't argue that. You can't argue that Lazarus was raised from the dead. His dead body was there. Everyone saw it. These things that we call so-called miracles today, this isn't a miracle. These are lying wonders and signs. Same thing for you. I'm almost done. I'm trying to calm myself down because the word of God gets me excited. Now, in verse 11, and for this reason, Paul says this, and for this reason, meaning people who perish, they perish because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved. And for this reason, God, for this reason, listen, God will send them strong delusion. Why? So that they will believe the lie. God will send them the strong delusion so that they will believe the lie. Satan didn't send the strong delusion. No apostle sent the strong delusion. No prophet sent the strong delusion. No angel sent the strong delusion. Go look at verse 11. It says, God, because they refuse to love the truth, that they might be saved thereby, God will send them a strong delusion so that they will believe the lying signs and wonders and the powers and the things that Satan is doing. So Satan is going to do his lying signs and wonders. And then God is going to send a delusion to those who do not love the truth, so that they will believe what Satan is doing. And lastly, he says, they God will send them the strong delusion that they should believe the lie, that they all, listen, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness. We are talking about people. That's the last verse I'm gonna read. We're talking about people who profess to be amongst God's people. Good afternoon, Anna. You have a great day, sister. Much love to you. Can't wait to get back with you on here. So, Christians. What I learned, and what I hope you have gleaned from this passage of scripture, if you're following along, either listening or watching and listening in the word, just one thing that stands out plain. And that is that we need to seek to have a love for God's word. These people fell into this because they did not receive the love of the truth. Pick up that word of God and develop a love for it. Otherwise, you will fall for the strong delusions that God Himself says he will send. Repent and believe the gospel. And may God bless all of you. Good afternoon.