You?re Now Witnessing the Great Falling Away ? Now What?

Thank you so much for tuning in and Welcome everyone ? Hope you?re well!  I?m your host, Ben Lively, and you?re listening to ?Shaken Awake? ? Episode #64!  

 

I want to thank you for tuning in with us today, wherever you are and whatever you?re doing right this very moment.  It means everything to me to share the messages that God?s laid on my heart to share.  

 

And, as always, I promise you another great show ? But, more than anything, my HOPE for you today, and always, is that you have an actual encounter with the Lord, not just another podcast episode.   

 

Quick ask ? if you?ve found value in these episodes, would you take 30 seconds after the show to go to submit a quick review and star rating in your app.  This is what potential listeners look for when deciding whether to give a show a listen ? which is confirmation from other listeners that it can bring value.  Would you do that for me, IF and only IF you find value in these episodes?  For those of you that already have - I can?t thank you enough. 

 

Also, spread the word; pass on a link to your friends or family, or colleagues that the Lord prompts you to send to ? there are many people that need to hear these messages and scripture and God will see to it that it gets to them.  Then, He?ll do the rest.

 

So, without further delay, let?s get ready to invite God in with us, right here, right now, and allow Him to speak directly to your heart and minds.   

I?m going to take a break from our series on Jesus? parables as I feel a tug from God to speak on a few topics before we resume that series.  With so much evil and chaos happening in the world around us today (I know, that HAS to be the understatement of the century ? literally), with so happening in the world around us today, I can help but reveal a few things that have been revealed to me.  It is all backed up in the Bible, but I?m starting to really connect with what I?m seeing, hearing, and feeling, with what the Bible has warned us about over two thousand years ago.  I want to share them with you for two reasons:  to shine a light on what?s happening, as well as to provide a what-to-do and how-to-do-it, in these last times we?re in.  And for those that say we?re not in these last days, that?s fine too ? for no one knows the day or the hour except God.  Fair enough ? so take this podcast and consider it with the same value, as YOUR life on earth is in the last days and hours ? so does it matter in the grand scheme of eternity which way you go out?  What still holds true is what?s happening all around us today, what the Bible has warned us about, and what it?s foretold for us to do.

So, today?s topic is ?You?re Now Witnessing the Great Falling Away ? Now What?? 

 

The Bible indicates that there will be a great apostasy during the end times. The ?great apostasy? is mentioned in 2 Thessalonians 2:3. The KJV calls it the ?falling away,? while the NIV and ESV call it ?the rebellion.? And that?s what apostasy is: a rebellion, an abandonment of the truth. The end times will include an across-the-board rejection of God?s revelation, a further ?falling away? of an already fallen world.

 

Let?s face reality, folks.  Right now, as of this very podcast, Roe vs. Wade was overturned by the Supreme Court, literally yesterday in a landmark decision that overturned what the devil created 50 years ago ? and that was the legal killing of unborn babies.  It doesn?t even take a Christian to understand that taking a baby that is still inside the womb of it?s mother and murdering it by any means, is evil and disgusting to the worst degree.  Heck, if most of the world knew that there were clinics in every state doing this to animals and other inhabitants of the world, they?d lose their minds!!!  But babies???  No, that?s a different story ? so much so, that many claim that because it?s inside the mother, she should be able to pay to have her baby murdered while it?s still inside her.  By the way, most of whom are the same that said it should not be our choice to get the Covid vaccine.  So there you have a vaccine and a decision that should not be made ours, overruling the importance of having control enough to allow an unborn but alive baby murdered before it had the chance to live.  Sound harsh?  Sound evil?  That?s because it is.   I don?t have to say anymore; there?s no need to.  Murder is murder and premeditated murder is premeditated murder.  

 

But guys, that?s not even my point.  Here?s my two-fold point JUST WITH THIS SUBJECT ALONE:  Going back 100 hundred years and back centuries and centuries prior, this would have been and was so taboo and rejected, that anyone practicing abortion would likely have been hanged or labeled as a witch.  Fast forward to now, we have people rioting and boycotting and to put it simply, losing their minds over the thought there will be limitations to being able to pay a fee to have someone rip out and murder an unborn but alive baby.  THAT is my first point ? we?re that sick, twisted, evil, and as Jesus said ? ?it will be as in the days of Lot)?.I?ll get to that in a second.  My second point is, that we have an unusually significant amount of the so-called church that sides with pro-choice.  So, they?re backing it up for a woman?s right to pay to have her unborn but alive child murdered ? the same one God helped form and in the MIDDLE no less of Him forming it in the mother?s womb!!!!   They were going to be born on purpose, for a purpose ? GOD?S PURPOSE, but we are somehow to know better than Him and prematurely kill it?  THAT IS HOW SICK our world is right now!!!    If you are pro-choice and not pro-life, you CAN NOT call yourself a child of God.  You cannot and will not get that one past God.  Since He looks at the heart, yours is black if you believe in pro-choice.  That?s not MY OPINION ? That?s a biblical and Godly FACT!!!   Same with those that proactively support LBGT.  And many think a sign that states, ?I?m a Christian that Supports LBGTQIA+) somehow convinces God to allow them into His Kingdom one day.  No, He won?t and He isn?t.  You?re no better than they.  You?re one of those who are standing outside the Ark making fun of Noah and his family while they build, and joining in with all the others doing the same.  As it was in the days of Lot.  

 

We?ve got pressure now from the states and everything in between to allow drag queens (let?s just keep it simple ? God and His Word call them an abomination unto Him) ? to allow them and actively support them reading to our children in the school systems!  The same school systems that banned the Bible, and prayer, and removed God from the schools many years ago.  Not too long, for now, something like the pledge of allegiance and star-spangled banner will not only be removed but permanently banned as well!  What?s right becomes wrong, and what?s wrong becomes right.  JUST AS THE BIBLE predicted.  I couldn?t make this stuff up!  Just as in the days of Lot.  Do you understand that God destroyed the Earth with the Flood because of the state of the world and the people in it?????  Yes, He promised never to do that again, and by the way, His promise and love for us is why He literally CREATED the rainbow ? not as the universal sign for the abomination and evil known as homosexuality and pride!!!!  If He did that to the Earth so many thousands of years ago because of how evil the earth is ? and this is one of His revelations to me recently ? that is why He already knew He was going to one day destroy the world again ? this time, however, it won?t be due to the flood, and it won?t be temporary.  It?ll be, as Jesus declared, as it was in the days of Lot.  Guess what guys ? WE?RE THERE NOW!!!!!!  We?ve earned the day and hour He will appear because of the evil in the world, not because it was a random choice by God!!!

 

We?re currently, at least in the United States supposed to be dedicating this month to literally what the devil and 1/3 of the angels were thrown out of heaven for ? PRIDE!!!!  And now, we?ve got all celebrating Pride month!!!!!!  If that?s not a page out of the days of LOT and from the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah ? what else COULD BE!!!!  We are literally supposed to CELEBRATE Pride and the things that are of the world and are an abomination unto God.  And you have a huge professing-Christian population (they?re not Christians by the way) joining in as well!!!  Because their eyes have been closed along with the rest of the unbelievers.  And we thought Halloween used to be the devil?s holiday!!!!!!  Now, we are devoting an entire month to him as well!  

 

Just a quick verse to give praise to God for settling this with the naysayers listening.  James 4:4 (ESV) ? ?You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.?   I believe that?s what they call?.?Nuff said right there??.

 

 

Before we move on, another revelation I?ve been given is what?s referred to as the great falling away.  Ever heard of it?  See if this scripture that talks about it resonates with any of you:

 

1 Timothy 4:1 

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons,

Hebrews 6:4-6 

For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

Revelation 2:4-5 

But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the love you had at first. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

Hebrews 3:12-19   

Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ?today,? that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we have come to share in Christ if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end. As it is said, ?Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.? For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? ...

Matthew 24:10-13   

And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

2 Peter 2:20-22 

For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. What the true proverb says has happened to them: ?The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.?

2 Corinthians 11:3 

But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

Romans 11:19-22

Then you will say, ?Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.? That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith. So do not become proud, but fearful. For if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare you. Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise, you too will be cut off.  

Do these, or do these not speak of the times that we are in RIGHT THIS VERY SECOND!?!???!  There is hundreds more scripture that I?ve omitted ? not because they lack power and wisdom and Godliness?.but for time's sake.  GET IN THE WORD OF GOD ? if you?re not ? start today!!!  For tomorrow is not promised to anyone!!!!

 

If anyone needs to hear this right now ? we?re in the last days.  We are seeing in front of our very eyes and on the screens of our devices the great falling away.  Never in the history of mankind has the world been as it was in the days of Lot.  We?re there now.  And I will say, we?re WORSE!!!!  We have more knowledge than they did, more wisdom, and more history to show us what can and will happen if mistakes are made ? the Flood, Sodom and Gomorrah, and many other historical events should be enough to show us what can and will happen ? and so our worldwide society today is more advanced and in every way you can slice and dice it, should theoretically be the opposite of who we?ve become today.  But as God foreknew, He had a plan.  He sent His Son as the atonement of our sins, and to allow direct fellowship with Him and allow us to be saved by grace through salvation, and resurrection through Christ.   And so began our narrow path that was treaded down first by Jesus as He ascended up into Heaven to be seated on the right hand of His Father.  Our Father.  He treaded and trampled that narrow path that few find, and gave us a way out and through into His Kingdom.  

 

And now, what we?re seeing ladies and gentlemen, is the pre-separation of the wheat (true born-again and saved sons and daughters of God) from the tares (unbelievers, the lukewarm/backslidden, and those that He will one Day say ?Depart from ME, I never knew you.? ? they are the one?s today that Jesus described with such surgical precision when He said in Matthew 15:8 -  ??These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.?  And, oh my ? it?s said again in Isaiah 29:13 ? ?The Lord says: ?These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.?  Coincidence?  NOT A CHANCE!!!!!!!!!  

 

Now, look around again, figuratively and literally.  Do you see it?  Do you see the darkness all around us?  Do you see and sense the great falling away?

 

Let me see if you see the similarities as described in the Bible ? check this out??.In Isaiah 5:8?30, the prophet pronounces ?woes? or judgments on Judah for their wicked behavior. Judah had produced the ?bad fruit? of unrighteousness, as illustrated in the song of the vineyard (verses 4?7). Their wickedness even led them to proclaim sinful things as good, which is why Isaiah exclaims, ?Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter? (verse 20). Light and darkness are opposites, which adds to the significance of the men of Judah calling evil ?good.?

A major problem in Judah during Isaiah?s time was widespread drunkenness. People would wake up early in the morning to drink alcohol and continue long into the night (Isaiah 5:11). Instead of respecting ?the deeds of the Lord,? they reveled in their sin and drunkenness (verses 11?12). They did not see their sin as wickedness; rather, they called their evil ?good.?

A world in rebellion against God such as we have today, will have a skewed perspective and embrace a chaotic morality. There are many people today who still call evil ?good? and good ?evil,? as they promote behaviors that the Bible specifically calls sinful we just described but a few, but there are MANY. The celebration of homosexuality and the defense of abortion-on-demand are usually accompanied by a mockery of those who value life and promote traditional marriage. Evil is being called ?good,? and good is slandered as ?evil.?
 
Apart from God, our value system will always become disorderly. We will begin to confuse sweetness and bitterness, right?.. light and darkness, and good and evil. As a society, we have labeled biblical morality as ?intolerant? and ?oppressive.? We have also somehow taken offense at the truth that Jesus is the only way to salvation (John 14:6). ?Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil? (John 3:20).
 
Calling good ?evil? and evil ?good? is a sure sign of spiritual wickedness at work: ?The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God? (2 Corinthians 4:4).  Paul warns that the intensity of the spiritual battle will increase: ?There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God?having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people? (2 Timothy 3:1?5).
 
Everything from idol worship to evil being called good and good, evil, to being lovers of money and self, to denying our Savior or just as bad, honoring Him with our lips but not our hearts, to rejecting what little of God is still publicly worshipped?. As was in the days of Lot.  Guys, it?s right now.  As I always say, DO NOT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT ? TAKE GOD?S WORD FOR IT!!!!

 

So, before I conclude today?s message, I want to shine God?s light on His Words for us on HOW and WHAT we are expected to live like and do in these last days.  Notice he always gives warning and prophecy, but the way out?  Just like He said He would!!!!  God is GOOD, AMEN?!??!?!

 

So that I keep MY opinions at bay, I want to stick with what God says only.  I know many do not read their Bibles, so I take great pleasure in reading aloud from It.  Here it is, straight out of God?s Playbook, the Bible, for you and for me:

 

James 1:12 

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.

Revelation 3:11   

I am coming soon. Hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.

James 5:19-20   

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

1 Timothy 4:16 

Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers.

AMEN!!!!!

 

Before we wrap up ? I want to encourage you all to reflect on this message, take an inventory of where your heart is at, where we are in these last days, where to keep watch, and how to endure the race and finish in order to receive your crown.  For those of you that say, we?re not in these last days or may be thinking, I have more time to get right with God?I say to you, tomorrow is never promised.  And I will remind you and leave you with this final verse:   James 4:13-15  - Come now, you who say, ?Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit?? yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, ?If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.?

 

The only question that will remain is ? what will you do?

 

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So, before we end today?s show, I just want to thank you all again for tuning in and I HOPE you were touched by today?s message and scripture.  If you?d like to reach out to me, please call me directly at 4074933208, email me at ben@shaken-awake.com, or check out the show at shaken-awake.com.

 

Until next time, take great care of yourself and each other, and God Bless You ALL.