You all know his name and of his moral failure some time back. We don't point fingers, do we? But there was a time when anything this man said was gobbled up by believers everywhere. Most will not listen to him now, and what he says is not believed. But his message has been the same all along.

The fact is that we should decide on the truthfulness of a matter based on how it compares to the Word, not on the basis of personality. This man believed in the pre-trib rapture both before and after his "incident." It was false before and it is false now. Yes, we can point fingers at false teachings.

The preacher used a typical argument on his radio program. I hadn't heard it for quite a while, and so was shocked at the audacity of the statement. He was reading Paul's declaration in II Thessalonians 2:3 that the day of Christ will not come unless there first comes a "falling away," (for one thing) .

He stopped, realizing that to let the Word stay just as it is would be to speak against the "in" theory of the day, that Jesus will come before all the trouble and before He comes. (Yes, that is confusing isn't it? Jesus is arriving before he arrives!)

With absolutely no attempt to prove his point, to document his injection, he said, "Now that phrase 'falling away' should really have been 'departure.' " He went on with his lesson without looking back.

That's a little gimmick called "isogesis". Isogesis is when you have an idea that's outside the Bible and you try to bring it in whenever and wherever you can. It's the opposite of "exegesis" , where you try to take from the Word what it actually says, no matter how hard your pet doctrines and feelings are hurt.

No, preacher, with all due respect, the Greek "apostasia" does not mean "departure." It means "defection, forsaking, apostasy, divorce." It's used in Matthew 5:31 where Jesus talks about Moses giving a bill of "divorce". It's in Acts 21:21, that mentions those who "forsake" , or defect from, Moses. And it's in II Thessalonians. Paul is clear that a worldwide apostasy will finally be so devastating to the Christian community as to allow a lawless leader to take over.

And those are the only times the word is used in Scripture.

We can see now that the falling away, will come as persecution and worldliness, Satan's two-edged sword, will finally wear away the perseverance of the saints. Of course, some of that persection will bring the saints home.

After all the propaganda to the contrary, it seems almost unspiritual to ask God's people to look for signs of His coming. But signs the disciples asked for, and signs they got. Shouldn't we know what the signs are and be looking for them? One of them, for sure, is a falling away... not a revival, as many predict, using no Scripture to back up that wild claim. And not a departure!