We, in the church today, are in the position of preparing ourselves for the return of Jesus.
Many of the exhortations in this book are given to help us to position ourselves in the scriptures in all things so we will stand approved in Jesus, the Word, in the last days.
The apostle Paul said the day of the Lord would not come until the apostasy came first into the churches.
II Thessalonians 2:3-8 NASB Let no one in any way deceive you, for it (the day of the Lord) will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
Do you not remember that while I was still with you, I was telling you these things? And you know what restrains him now, so that in his time he will be revealed. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming;
The apostasy was restrained by the Holy Scriptures. This held antichrist back. Antichrist is opposite of scripture. When churches began removing various portions of scripture, the restraint holding the lawlessness back from the church group was removed and antichrist moved into the church.
Jesus said: The man who marries a divorced woman commits adultery. Mt. 5:32 & Mt. 19
When churches changed this doctrine and permitted divorce and remarriage at will in the congregation, it opened the door for antichrist in the church group.
But Paul said this had to happen before Jesus returns.
This really puts us at the end-times.
Many other doctrines of Christ are also being changed in churches today.
We must be sure we are living in God's truth on these matters such as divorce, remarriage, homosexual-lesbians.
Also the churches are taking on many beliefs of the world which are opposite to Bible.
For example: The world is beginning to teach that drunkenness is a disease, not a sin. But the Bible lists drunkenness as a work of the flesh, a sin, and even says they who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. I Corinthians 6 & Galatians 5
The exhortations presented in this book help us to realign ourselves with doctrines from the Bible and set us into a sound position, ready for the return of Christ.
Joan Boney