What voice is it that has been speaking to the churches for the past one hundred years, teaching us that the money-loving, pleasure-seeking, lukewarm church-attenders who are Gentile by race will at any moment disappear and be caught up to Heaven?

The faithful believers in the Lord Jesus need to pray that the spirits pervading Christian traditions, particularly the spirit that teaches Christians they will not be permitted to suffer and that the lukewarm church-attenders of today are accepted because of "grace," will be brought to the fire of God's Person and their true source revealed. Let each of us pray to this end.

If the churches of today are the Bride of the Lamb, the Lamb would be happier remaining a bachelor. The Christian churches of today are not the Bride of the Lamb. They are of Laodicea. Some of them are synagogues of Satan.

We need to discern what spirit is speaking to the Christian churches because many believers in the so-called Christian countries of the world are not prepared to stand in the hour of violent persecution that is at hand. If God does not carry them up to Heaven they will fall. They, because of their teachers, are not of the same stern character as the long line of Christians who have gone before them and have experienced every form of suffering.

In the future when great persecution and tribulation come upon the churches and the Christian people are terrified and lose their faith in God, falling into the power of Antichrist because they are not prepared to stand in the evil day, what will happen to the shepherds of the flock who informed them they would not be required to stand in the midst of persecution and tribulation? Will they say they are sorry for deceiving their followers? How will Christ deal with the false shepherds of today who are telling the believers they have no need to prepare for trouble?

We think that every teacher of the Scriptures will stand before the Lord with his students and will be rewarded according to his faithfulness in presenting the Word of God—both the written Word and also the current word being given by the Holy Spirit.

"Let no man deceive you"! It is our responsibility to insure we are not deceived!

"For that day." What day? The coming of the Lord. The Day of the Lord. The Presence of the Lord. The appearing of the Lord. The Day of Christ.

One of the main topics of both First and Second Thessalonians is the Day of the Lord, the return of Christ to the earth, the blessed hope of the Christian Church.

"Shall not come, except there come a falling away first." The "falling away" is the great apostasy which we know will take place in the earth before Christ returns.

As we understand it, the concept of the apostasy is that of the rejection of God's authority—and perhaps all other forms of authority that attempt to restrain the desires of human beings.

A study of history will reveal there has been a steady movement toward increased freedom of behavior on the part of human beings.

To be continued.