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Tag Archives: Persecution

The Silent Treatment….or how to respond like an infant.

08 Wednesday Apr 2015

Posted by abbasgirlme in Abusers passive and agressive, Biblical Love, Coma of the Soul, Damned, Dead Conscience, Did God Really Say?, False Conversion, God's Husbands, God's Wives, God's Word, Hatred for God, Heart contents, Idols of death, Is Your Sin Actually Killing You?, Jesus Christ Alone, Little god, Living the word of God, Love like Christ, Nature of Sin, No Fruit, Religious Non-Regeneration, Reprobate Minds, Submission, True nature, Truth, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth, Your sin is killing you

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Have been hearing a lot about this kind of thing lately. Horrifically, this is a behavior found among those who from one side of their mouths profess Christ, while from the other show the truth of their ever abiding wickedness through their refusal to communicate as godly men and women, choosing instead to try to control those who call them to any semblance of normalcy or godliness with their silent disdain and rebellion against ever having to live rightly. As evil grows daily, it seems this one does as well. So, for everyone who has to or has had to deal with these emotional fetuses….And in these last days it seems there are many who have had to and still do….please know beyond a shadow of a doubt what it is that you are dealing with. And for those who use this tactic to control their environment, their “loved” ones, and those closest to them, make no mistake, this is not how any Christian, twice born behaves….

One of the more frustrating passive-aggressive tactics to those on the receiving end is “the silent treatment”.

The silent treatment is an abusive method of control, punishment, avoidance, or disempowerment (sometimes these four types overlap, sometimes not) that is a favorite tactic of narcissists, and especially those who have a hard time with impulse control, that is, those with more infantile tendencies.

The silent treatment can be used as an abusive tactic that is the adult narcissist’s version of a child’s  “holding my breath until you give in and give me what I want.”

It is one of the most frustrating tactics and can provoke even the most patient person. Depending on the method used, it can make the person on the receiving end feel powerless, invisible, intimidated, insignificant, “dissed”, looked down on, disapproved of, guilty, frustrated, and even angry.

Let’s start with some four common examples of silent treatment (there are more):

1.When the abuser (and make no mistake–the silent treatment is a form of abuse) gives you the cold-shoulder and refuses to speak to you for a period of time because you refuse to acquiesce to his or her demands. This is manipulating you with silence.

An example might be your mom wants you to come for the holidays and you can’t this year, so she either refuses to take your phone calls or she speaks to you in curt, clipped sentences. Or you confront your spouse on an issue that needs to be addressed, and they suddenly go silent on you, act like you are not even speaking and then find a reason to escape the situation, and upon return they either act like you have said nothing to them, or continue giving you the silent treatment.

2. When the abuser gives you the cold-shoulder and refuses to speak to you because you’ve said/done something that bothers them and will not accept any reasonably sincere apology. This is punishing you with silence.

An example might be if you were late to meet a friend at the theater and you missed the event because of your tardiness. Even if you have a legitimate reason, you are generally on time, and you apologize profusely your silent-treatment might include the cold-shoulder from your friend or answering you in curt, clipped sentences while refusing or barely acknowledging your apology.

3.When the abuser gives you the cold-shoulder and refuses to speak to you because you’ve said/done something that bothers them and will not even tell you what it is that you’ve said or done, leaving you powerless to make an apology. This is punishing and disempowering you with silence.

Your spouse refuses to speak to you or stomps around answering you in curt, clipped one-word answers. When you ask what’s bothering them, they say: If you cared about me/loved me, you’d know what’s bothering me. If you cared you’d apologize for what you did. Or they say nothing at all.

4. When the abuser completely ignores what you’ve said, changing the subject or just staying silent to a question or statement that generally requires a response.This is disempowering you and “one-upping” you with silence.

It’s a favorite tactic of particularly infantile narcissists.

The silent treatment is often a sign of an immature or otherwise dysfunctional emotional life. A life never regenerated by the power of the Holy Spirit. It is completely contrary to how God says we are to work out our problems. It is completely the opposite of love. It is as much an act of hatred as lying is. It is the hallmark of a person who pretends to want to resolve issues, problems or conflicts, but who, by the very fact that their response guarantees no resolution, demonstrates a complete self centeredness and hatred for the one they use this infantile tactic on. This is the action of a raging controller. This is the action of a reprobate. These people will talk with everyone except the one person they should be engaging and communicating with…you.

For those in or getting out of a romantic relationship with a self-absorbed individual, the silent treatment can feel like a punishment worse than death.

The silent treatment is a form of emotional abuse typically employed by people with narcissistic tendencies. It is designed to (1) place the abuser in a position of control; (2) silence the target’s attempts at assertion; (3) avoid conflict resolution/personal responsibility/compromise; or (4) punish the target for a perceived ego slight. Often, the result of the silent treatment is exactly what the person with narcissism wishes to create: a reaction from the target and a sense of control.

The target, who may possess high emotional intelligence, empathy, conflict-resolution skills, and the ability to compromise, may work diligently to respond to the deafening silence. He or she may frequently reach out to the narcissistic person in person, via email, phone, or text to resolve greatly inflated misunderstandings, and is typically met with continued disdain, contempt, and silence. Essentially, the narcissistic person’s message is one of extreme disapproval to the degree that the silence renders the target so insignificant that he or she is ignored and becomes more or less nonexistent in the eyes of the narcissistic person.

The emotional maturity of a typical narcissistic person is akin to a 5-year-old child who pouts and refuses to play with a friend in the sandbox because the friend wants to share the pail and shovel. The 5-year-old refuses to talk with the friend and angrily storms off to play on the jungle gym with someone else. The bewildered child with the pail and shovel may feel confused, rejected, and may not understand why they can’t share. He or she just wanted to build a sand castle together.

Because no further communication can ensue unless and until the narcissistic person decides to give the target another chance, a false sense of control is nurtured. Often, the narcissistic person will demand that the target apologize for whatever inflated transgression the target may have committed (the target may have set a limit, required a form of accountability, or asserted a boundary against emotional abuse, for example). Sometimes, a person with narcissistic qualities will decide to abandon and discard the relationship when his or her partner presents an ultimatum or attempts resolution requiring compromise. The person with narcissism may prefer to end the relationship and start over rather than be in a position of potential abandonment. The 5-year-old storms off and plays with a new, innocent target on the swing set. It is too much work to share the pail and shovel. Instead of communicating with the one they should be talking to, such as the husband, the wife, a friend…they will talk to someone else (triangulation is a favorite tactic, as is “divide and conquer”), playing the part of the one wounded, while they are the ones who wound. Some even stooping to misrepresenting the situation all together, presenting themselves as victims, misunderstood, “abused” by your “ultimatums” because they are fundamentally incapable of accepting responsibility, boundaries, or any such parts of normal life, thinking they are somehow “above” that or the exclusion to the norm. These other behaviors are part and parcel with the “silent treatment” abuse of a person who is a narcissist. It is not, however, any behavior that is part and parcel of one who is truly regenerated in Christ.

If they say they love you, and yet this is how they treat you…their actions obviously belie their proclamation. The silent treatment is to control, manipulate, and belittle you. It is used to escape having to handle life as an normal adult. They employ it so as to never have to put their money where their mouth is so to (not) speak. It is how children try to get away from being held responsible for their own actions and sin (let’s punish mommy and daddy and make them feel bad and they will stop making me do anything I don’t want to do). It is the relationship choice of a full grown brat, and a narcissistic one at that. It goes against every instruction in the word of God regarding how to grow in godliness and in godly communication. It is utterly rebellious and hateful. It is a most demonic form of abuse as it’s cowardice knows no rival, and it’s destructiveness is an A bomb to any relationship. And who does God say seeks to destroy? Right. Exactly.

Do not accept emotional abuse. Know that you are worthy of a healthy relationship with someone who can communicate in a mature, emotionally healthy manner. Play with someone who has the ability to share the shovel and pail. You deserve no less. And in a professing Christian home there is no excuse for this kind of behavior, it is wicked, sinful and more akin to Satan than having any representation of Christ, whatsoever.

If you or someone you know uses this demonic tactic to control the ones they say they love, be assured there is no rebirth present there. However, God has provided a way of salvation, a way of deliverance from the satanic bonds that bind you in this. Living in this way is sinful. And I John tells us that no one who is in Christ lives in habitual sin. No one. How about you stop giving the silent treatment to the gift of REAL regeneration? You can be free, a new creation with a new Father. This Father offers you life everlasting. The father you have now only promises you your emotional payoff du jour, but in reality offers you death and everlasting Hell. You are living as an arm of the devil when you do this behavior. As you destroy anything good in your relationships. And if married and behaving this way, it is even more heinous and rebellious against how God commands you to live in the relationship He created, HE gave to you to represent Him in. So go home and talk WITH your spouse. Get off the phone, shut down the emails, stop talking to everyone you should not be talking to and talk with the one you should be communicating with, the one who you have treated in this manner. Your spouse, your friend, and always the Lord. For as you treat them, you treat Him. Repent. Do it now, while God still graciously gives you one more breath. He may give you more. Use them to build godly communication with those you proclaim love to. Before it is too late. Or do you not realize that you have been overplaying your card and one day you, yourself will render it ineffective to the one you are attempting to control with your abusive silence and stonewalling?

And then there is God who will not let your wickedness go unpunished. While you may have no genuine care for those you profess to love, God does!

Jesus cares for and protects and defends His own, His Bride, fiercely. God will not let the wicked go unpunished. And anyone who abuses God’s child shall indeed reap what they have sown. Reprobates all, they are ravenous wolves who do not sleep until they have accomplished their evil deeds, hurting those in their paths who have shown them their own sin and responsibility in that sin. God will have just vengeance for the abuse of His dear children….and no silent treatment toward Him shall ever control that outcome. No pretending innocence will ever deceive a high and holy God who will not tolerate the sinner forever, but will rightly throw them into the Lake of Fire for eternity. Abusers be warned.

Luke 17:1-3…He said to His disciples, “It is inevitable that stumbling blocks come, but woe to him through whom they come! “It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were thrown into the sea, than that he would cause one of these little ones to stumble. “Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him.…

Mark 9:42…”If anyone causes one of these little ones–those who believe in me–to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were thrown into the sea.

I John 1:5-10..This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

John 3:21…But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God.

1 John 2:4…Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.

1 John 4:20…Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.

Proverbs 15:12…A scorner loves not one that reproves him: neither will he go to the wise.

Psalm 18:27…You save the humble but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

Proverbs 21:4…Haughty eyes and a proud heart– the unplowed field of the wicked–produce sin.

Proverbs 6:-19…There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

John 8:44….You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

http://www.whatstandard.com/

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The End Time: Love gone cold in a world gone cold: Spurgeon and “A Prophetic Warning”

27 Friday Feb 2015

Posted by abbasgirlme in Apostates, Condemned to Hell, Dead to truth, Easy Believe-ism, Given Over, God glorifying?, God's Word, Hatred for God, Heart contents, Heresy, Homosexuality, Idols of death, Jesus Christ Alone, Last Days, Lying, man's depravity, Nature of Sin, Powerless Spirituality, Reprobate Minds, Result of depravity, Results of Feminism, results of humanism, Results of Ongoing Sin, Results of paganism, Sin, Sin KILLS, Teaching, True nature, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth, Watchman, Wide Gate to Hell

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Love gone cold in a world gone cold: Spurgeon and “A Prophetic Warning”

What word in the New Testament is used only once, in Matthew 24:12?First, the scene.

Olive Trees With Yellow Sky and Sun. Van Gogh 1889

The disciples had asked Jesus about the Temple, the times, and when His return would be. His answer is the longest discourse in the NT after the Sermon on the Mount, and the longest answer to any question the disciples asked. It comprises the entire chapters of Matthew 24 and goes on to Matthew 25. The response, given on the Mount of Olives and thus known as the Olivet Discourse, is about the Tribulation period. The Time of Jacob’s Trouble, when Jesus pours out His wrath on the unbelieving world, and punishes Israel for the final 7 years of time, three and a half of which are called the Great Tribulation. (Revelation 12:14, Daniel 7:25; Daniel 12:7).

Jesus lists the conditions that will be on earth during the time, synopsis of the lengthier descriptions of the judgments of Revelation 6-18, which parallel Matthew 24 and 25. Jesus said one of the conditions on earth will be:

And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12)

The “many” here means the “majority.”

Jesus means lawlessness in the spiritual sense. The Tribulation will be a time when Jesus asked if He would even find faith on the earth, so few will real believers be, (Luke 18:8) compared to the numerous population that will revel in a false religion of the global deception that the antichrist will perpetrate. The Greek synonyms for lawlessness in this verse are disobedience and sin, the end-result of a negative influence on a person’s soul.

iniquity is especially injurious to the growth of love.
~Charles Spurgeon

It is an interesting metaphor, the love gone cold. We often think of love between a man and a woman or husband and wife, in romantic terms as fiery, hot, the spark between us, a fire is kindled. When love dims between unsaved people, the songsters sing of love cold as ashes, the fire is gone out, the heat is gone. Of course, the songsters and poets mean sexual love and romantic love, but it is a common metaphor, love is hot or cold.

The unusual word Jesus uses uniquely here in Matthew 24:12 is psuchó. Psucho is used this one and only time in the NT. Strong’s Concordance defines it:

originally, “to breathe out,” cf. J. Thayer) – properly, “to blow, refresh with cool air” (figuratively) “to breathe cool by blowing, to grow cold, ‘spiritual energy blighted or chilled by a malign or poisonous wind’, used only in Mt 24:12.

Here Jesus means the love of Christians will grow cold. Love will be cold for Him, and love will be cold for each other (the two greatest commandments).

What could not be accomplished by persecutors outside the Church and traitors inside, would be attempted by teachers of heresy—“Many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many.” They have risen in all ages! In these modern times they have risen in clouds till the air is thick with them, as with an army of devouring locusts!

These are the men who invent new doctrines and who seem to think that the religion of Jesus Christ is something that a man may twist into any form and shape that he pleases. Alas that such teachers should have any disciples! It is doubly sad that they should be able to lead astray “many.” Yet, when it so happens, let us remember that the King said that it would be so.

Is it any wonder that where such “iniquity abounds” and such lawlessness is multiplied, “the love of many shall grow cold”? If the teachers deceive the people and give them “another gospel which is not another,” it is no marvel that there is a lack of love and zeal.

Spurgeon, sermon #3301, A Prophetic Warning

Spurgeon spoke more as to the specifics of what causes love to grow cold, as the Strong’s definition interestingly shows us from this basis, “spiritual energy blighted or chilled by a malign or poisonous wind'”. Spurgeon poetically and theologically describes just howspiritual energy is blighted-

Iniquity is naturally opposed to Grace, but it is most of all injurious to the Grace of love. If sin abounds in a Church, it is little wonder if the love of many should grow cold. Young members introduced into the Church after a short time find that those whom they looked upon as being examples are walking disorderly and using lightness of speech and of behavior. Those young people cannot be very warm in love—they are led to stumble and are scandalized. Older saints who have for years held onto their way in integrity, and by Grace have kept their garments unspotted from the world, see those around them who have come into the Church who seem to be of quite another race, who can drink of the cup of Belial and of the cup of the Lord, who seem to follow Christ and the devil, too! Seeing this evil, these godly men and women gather up their garments in holy indignation and find it difficult to feel the love of purer days.

Oh, Friends, if the frost of sin rules in a Church, every tender flower is injured and nothing flourishes! Love is a sensitive plant and if it is touched by the finger of sin, it will show it. The lilies of Love’s Paradise cannot bloom amid the smoke and dust of unholiness!

I was reading the passage this week and thinking deeply about the theological definitions and implications of love gone cold (and Revelation 3:15-16 also). I was also reading the ‘Christian” headlines and noting the devastating apostasy abounding, the acceptance of gay marriage in the church, the refusal to draw doctrinal lines between believers and unbelievers, the refusal to rebuke false teachers, the refusal even to recognize them, the seeking after pornography, the ridiculous church services that are mere entertainments for the goats…and I noted finally the weather.

I could not help but notice the rapid apostasizing of “Christians” and the rapid cooling of the world, especially Israel and America. The word psucho and its definition, “to breathe cool by blowing, to grow cold”.

Love gone cold in a world gone cold
Niagara Falls, frozen over. Photo: Lindsay Dedario/Reuters

 

 

 

The End Time: Love gone cold in a world gone cold: Spurgeon and “A Prophetic Warning”.

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James White on Rick Warren’s capitulation to Rome part 2

03 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by abbasgirlme in Apologetics, Apostates, Christ, Christian focus, contending for the faith, Doctrine matters!, End of Days, False Christs, False Fruit, GOSPEL, Heresy, Intolerance, Intolerance of Sin, Jesus Christ Alone, Last Days, Liars, man's depravity, Obedience to the word, Powerless Spirituality, Religious Non-Regeneration, Result of depravity, Results of paganism, Sin, Submission, Teaching, True nature, True Obedience to God, True Regeneration, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth, Watchman

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Here is a great follow up to James White of Alpha and Omega Ministries’ concern over Rick Warren’s capitulation to Rome part 1. He examines the Judaizers of Galatians and shows that even a minute change in the Gospel of Christ is a total abandonment of that Gospel. The strongest language in the New Testament is spoken against those who pervert the Gospel. Compared to much of today’s professing Christianity, the Judaizers look extremely conservative and even almost orthodox, and yet Rome makes the Judaizers look like amateurs in perverting Christ’s Gospel.

The video is 14 minutes and White also has good words for how to comment on the situation (hint: not angrily nor arrogantly) and he also expresses a biblical stance on why we should be concerned when we do speak up over these matters.

http://the-end-time.blogspot.com/

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True Grace Distinguished from the Experience of Devils

29 Saturday Nov 2014

Posted by abbasgirlme in Abusers passive and agressive, Apologetics, Apostates, Christ, Christian focus, Condemned to Hell, Deliverance, Demons, Easy Believe-ism, Encouragement, End of Days, False Conversion, False Fruit, God's Word, GOSPEL, Hatred, Hatred for Christ, Hatred for God, Heart contents, Heresy, Intolerance of Sin, Jesus Christ Alone, Last Days, Liars, Lying Lips, man's depravity, Obedience to the word, Powerless Spirituality, Practical Atheism, Practical Diest, Practical Gnosticism, Pride, Religious Non-Regeneration, Result of depravity, Results of Ongoing Sin, Results of paganism, Sexual Sin, Sin, Teaching, Tolerance, True nature, True Obedience to God, True Regeneration, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth, Watchman

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A Sermon by Jonathan Edwards, originally delivered in 1752.

The modern language translation is copyright William Carson (1994). Permission is granted for reproduction, so long as this file is not altered, this notice is included in any reproduction, and it is not sold for profit.

THIS is the face of the one who abuses. THIS is the mind of the abuser. And churches, pastors, counselors, THIS is what you are really dealing with. This is a warning to us about how far the disguise of a wicked man can go. As many of us know and you need to find out, before you deal with even one more abuser and his victim, in the church this is usually his wife. Do not add to her abuse. Do not allow the wolf to blame the sheep for being eaten. And be assured, in every congregation there sits at least one abuser, and to the world he looks like the nicest Christian man you could meet. He is neither.~AGM†

A good resource for pastors, counselors, and for the abused themselves:

http://www.amazon.com/A-Cry-Justice-Anna-Wood-ebook/dp/B00CF12XN4/ref=cm_rdp_product

To listen:

https://archive.org/embed/TrueGraceDistinguishedFromTheExperienceOfDevils

Sermon in print:

“Thou believes that there is one God; thou dost well: the devils also believe, and tremble.” — James 2:19

Subject: No such experiences as the devils in hell are the subjects of are any sure sign of grace.

Observe in these words, — 1. Something that some depended on, as an evidence of their good estate and acceptance, as the objects of God’s favor, viz. a speculative faith, or belief of the doctrines of religion. The great doctrine of the existence of one only God is particularly mentioned probably because this was a doctrine wherein, especially, there was a visible and noted distinction between professing Christians and the heathens, amongst whom the Christians in those days were dispersed. And therefore, this was what many trusted in, as what recommended them to, or at least was an evidence of their interest in, the great spiritual and eternal privileges, in which real Christians were distinguished from the rest of the world.

  1. How much is allowed concerning this faith, viz. that it is a good attainment. “Thou dost well.” It was good, as it was necessary. This doctrine was one of the fundamental doctrines of Christianity and, in some respects, above all others fundamental. It was necessary to be believed, in order to salvation. To be without the belief of this doctrine, specially in those that had such advantage to know as they had to whom the apostle wrote, would be a great sin, and what would vastly aggravate their damnation. This belief was also good, as it had a good tendency in many respects.
  2. What is implicitly denied concerning it, viz. that is any evidence of a person’s being in a state of salvation. The whole context shows this to be the design of the apostle in the words. And it is particularly manifest by the conclusion of the verse, which is,
  3. The thing observable in the words, viz. the argument by which the apostle proves that this is no sign of a state of grace, viz. that it is found in the devils. They believe that there is one God, and that he is a holy, sin-hating God and that he is a God of truth, and will fulfill his threatenings by which he has denounced future judgments, and a great increase of misery on them, and that he is an almighty God, and able to execute his threatened vengeance upon them.

 

Therefore, the doctrine I infer from the words to make the subject of my present discourse is this, viz. nothing in the mind of man that is of the same nature with what the devils experience, or are the subjects of, is any sure sign of saving grace.

If there be anything that the devils have, or find in themselves, which is an evidence of the saving grace of the Spirit of God, then the apostle’s argument is not good; which is plainly this: “That which is in the devils, or which they do, is no certain evidence of grace. But the devils believe that there is one God. Therefore, thy believing that there is one God is no sure evidence that thou art gracious.” So that the whole foundation of the apostle’s argument lies in that proposition: “That which is in the devils, is no certain sign of grace.” — Nevertheless, I shall mention two or three further reasons, or arguments of the truth of this doctrine.

 

  1. The devils have no degree of holiness. And therefore those things which are nothing beyond what they are the subjects of cannot be holy experiences.

The devil once was holy. But when he fell, he lost all his holiness and became perfectly wicked. He is the greatest sinner, and in some sense the father of all sin. John 8:44, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do: he was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there was no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.” 1 John 3:8, “He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.” He is often spoken of, by way of eminence, as “the wicked one.” So, Mat. 13:19, “Then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart.” Verse 38, “The tares are the children of the wicked one.” 1 John 2:13, “I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one.” Chap. 3:12, “Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one.” Chap. 5:18, “Whosoever is born of God — keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.” So the devils are called evil spirits, unclean spirits, powers of darkness, rulers of the darkness of this world, and wickedness itself. Eph. 6:12, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”

Therefore, surely those things which the minds of devils are the subjects of can have nothing of the nature of true holiness in them. The knowledge and understanding which they have of the things of God and religion cannot be of the nature of divine and holy light, nor any knowledge that is merely of the same kind. No impressions made on their hearts can be of a spiritual nature. That kind of sense which they have of divine things, however great, cannot be a holy sense. Such affections as move their hearts, however powerful, cannot be holy affections. If there be no holiness in them as they are in the devil, there can be no holiness in them as they are in man, unless something be added to them beyond what is in the devil. And if anything be added to them, then they are not the same things. But [they] are something beyond what devils are the subjects of, which is contrary to the supposition, for the proposition which I am upon is, that those things which are of the same nature, and nothing beyond what devils are the subjects of, cannot be holy experiences. It is not the subject that makes the affection, or experience, or quality holy. But it is the quality that makes the subject holy.

And if those qualities and experiences which the devils are the subjects of have nothing of the nature of holiness in them, then they can be no certain signs that persons which have them are holy or gracious. There is no certain sign of true grace, but those things which are spiritual and gracious. It is God’s image that is his seal and mark, the stamp by which those that are his are known. But that which has nothing of the nature of holiness, has nothing of this image. That which is a sure sing of grace, must either be something which has the nature and essence of grace, or flows from, or some way belongs to, its essence. For that which distinguishes things one from another is the essence, or something appertaining to their essence. And therefore, that which is sometimes found wholly without the essence of holiness or grace, can be no essential, sure, or distinguishing mark of grace.

 

  1. The devils are not only absolutely without all true holiness, but they are not so much as the subjects of any common grace.

If any should imagine, that some things may be signs of grace which are not grace itself, or which have nothing of the nature and essence of grace and holiness in them; yet, certainly they will allow, that the qualifications which are sure evidences of grace, must be things that are near akin to grace, or having some remarkable affinity with it. But the devils are not only wholly destitute of any true holiness, but they are at the greatest distance from it, and have nothing in them in any wise akin to it.

There are many in this world who are wholly destitute of saving grace who yet have common grace. They have no true holiness, but nevertheless have something of that which is called moral virtue. And [they] are the subjects of some degree of the common influences of the Spirit of God. It is so with those in general that live under the light of the gospel and are not given up to judicial blindness and hardness. Yea, those that are thus given up, yet have some degree of restraining grace while they live in this world, without which the earth could not bear them, and they would in no measure be tolerable members of human society. But when any are damned, or cast into hell, as the devils are, God wholly withdraws his restraining grace and all merciful influences of his Spirit whatsoever. They have neither saving grace nor common grace; neither the grace of the Spirit, nor any of the common gifts of the Spirit; neither true holiness, nor moral virtue of any kind. Hence arises the vast increase of the exercise of wickedness in the hearts of men when they are damned. And herein is the chief difference between the damned in hell and unregenerate and graceless men in this world. Not that wicked men in this world have any more holiness or true virtue than the damned, or have wicked men, when they leave this world, any principles of wickedness infused into them. But when men are cast into hell, God perfectly takes away his Spirit from them, as to all its merciful common influences, and entirely withdraws from them all restraints of his Spirit and good providence.

 

III. It is unreasonable to suppose that a person’s being in any respect as the devil is, should be a certain sign that he is very unlike and opposite to him, and hereafter shall not have his part with him. True saints are extremely unlike and contrary to the devil, both relatively and really. They are so relatively. The devil is the grand rebel, the chief enemy of God and Christ, the object of God’s greatest wrath, a condemned malefactor, utterly rejected and cast off by him, forever shut out of his presence, the prisoner of his justice, an everlasting inhabitant of the infernal world. The saints, on the contrary, are the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, members of the family of the glorious King of heaven, the children of God, the brethren and spouse of his dear Son, heirs of God, joint-heirs with Christ, kings and priests unto God. And they are extremely different really. The devil, on account of his hateful nature, and those accursed dispositions which reign in him, is called Satan, the adversary, Abaddon and Apollyon, the great destroyer, the wolf, the roaring lion, the great dragon, the old serpent. The saints are represented as God’s holy ones, his anointed ones, the excellent of the earth, the meek of the earth, lambs and doves, Christ’s little children, having the image of God, pure in heart, God’s jewels, lilies in Christ’s garden, plants of paradise, stars of heaven, temples of the living God. The saints, so far as they are saints, are as diverse from the devil, as heaven is from hell. And much more contrary than light is to darkness. And the eternal state that they are appointed to is answerably diverse and contrary.

Now it is not reasonable to suppose that being in any respect as Satan is, or being the subject of any of the same properties, qualifications, affections, or actions, that are in him, is any certain evidence that persons are thus exceeding different from him, and in circumstances so diverse, and appointed to an eternal state so extremely contrary in all respects. Wicked men are in Scripture called the children of the devil. Now is it reasonable to suppose, that men’s being in any respect as the devil is can be a certain sign that they are not his children, but the children of the infinitely holy and blessed God? We are informed, that wicked men shall hereafter have their part with devils, shall be sentenced to the same everlasting fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels. Now, can a man’s being like the devil in any respect be a sure token that he shall not have his part with him, but with glorious angels, and with Jesus Christ, dwelling with him, where he is, that he may behold and partake of his glory?

 

 

IMPROVEMENT

 

The first use may lie in several inferences, for our instruction.

 

  1. From what has been said, it may be inferred, by parity of reason, that nothing that damned men do, or ever will experience, can be any sure sign of grace.

Damned men are like the devils, are conformed to them in nature and state. They have nothing better in them than the devils, have no higher principles in their hearts, experience nothing and do nothing of a more excellent kind, as they are the children and servants of the devil, and as such, shall dwell with him, and be partakers with him of the same misery. As Christ says, concerning the saints in their future state, Mat. 22:30, “That they shall be as the angels of God in heaven.” So it may be said concerning ungodly men in their future state, that they shall be as the fallen wicked angels in hell.

Each of the aforementioned reasons, given to show the truth of the doctrine with respect to devils, holds good with respect to damned men. Damned men have no degree of holiness. And therefore those things which are nothing beyond what they have, cannot be holy experiences. Damned men are not only absolutely destitute of all true holiness, but they have not so much as any common grace. And lastly, it is unreasonable to suppose that a person’s being in any respect as the damned in hell are, should be a certain sign that they are very unlike and opposite to them, and hereafter shall not have their portion with them.

 

  1. We may hence infer, that no degree of speculative knowledge of things of religion is any certain sign of saving grace. The devil, before his fall, was among those bright and glorious angels of heaven, which are represented as morning-stars and flames of fire that excel in strength and wisdom. And though he be now become sinful, yet his sin has not abolished the faculties of the angelic nature. As when man fell, he did not lose the faculties of the human nature. — Sin destroys spiritual principles, but not the natural faculties. It is true, sin, when in full dominion, entirely prevents the exercise of the natural faculties in holy and spiritual understanding, and lays many impediments in the way of their proper exercise in other respects. It lays the natural faculty of reason under great disadvantages by many and strong prejudices, and in fallen men the faculties of the soul are, doubtless, greatly impeded in their exercise, through that great weakness and disorder of the corporeal organ to which it is strictly united, and which is the consequence of sin. — But there seems to be nothing in the nature of sin, or moral corruption, that has any tendency to destroy the natural capacity, or even to diminish it, properly speaking. If sin were of such a nature as necessarily to have that tendency and effect, then it might be expected that wicked men, in a future state, where they are given up entirely to the unrestrained exercise of their corruptions and lusts, and sin is in all respects brought to its greatest perfection in them, would have the capacity of their souls greatly diminished. This we have no reason to suppose, but rather on the contrary, that their capacities are greatly enlarged and that their actual knowledge is vastly increased. And that even with respect to the Divine Being, and the things of religion, and the great concerns of the immortal souls of men, the eyes of wicked men are opened, when they go into another world.

The greatness of the abilities of devils may be argued from the representation in Eph. 6:12. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers,” etc. The same may also be argued from what the Scripture says of Satan’s subtlety. Gen. 3:1; 2 Cor. 11:3; Acts 13:10. And as the devil has a faculty of understanding of large capacity, so he is capable of a great speculative knowledge of the things of God, and the invisible and eternal world, as well as other things. And must needs actually have a great understanding of these things, as these have always been chiefly in his view, and as his circumstances, from his first existence, have been such as have tended chiefly to engage him to attend to these things. Before his fall, he was one of those angels who continually beheld the face of the Father in heaven. And sin has no tendency to destroy the memory, and therefore has no tendency to blot out of it any speculative knowledge that was formerly there.

As the devil’s subtlety shows his great capacity, so the way in which his subtlety is exercised and manifested — which is principally in his artful management with respect to things of religion, his exceeding subtle representations, insinuations, reasonings, and temptations, concerning these things — demonstrates his great actual understanding of them. As, in order to be a very artful disputant in any science, though it be only to confound and deceive such as are conversant in it, a person had need to have a great and extensive acquaintance with the things which pertain to that science.

Thus the devil has undoubtedly a great degree of speculative knowledge in divinity, having been, as it were, educated in the best divinity school in the universe, viz. the heaven of heavens. He must needs have such an extensive and accurate knowledge concerning the nature and attributes of God, as we, worms of the dust, in our present state, are not capable of. And he must have a far more extensive knowledge of the works of God, as of the work of creation in particular. For he was a spectator of the creation of this visible world. He was one of those morning-stars (Job 38:4-7), “who sang together, and of those sons of God, that shouted for joy, when God laid the foundations of the earth, and laid the measures thereof, and stretched the line upon it.” And so he must have a very great knowledge of God’s works of providence. He has been a spectator of the series of these works from the beginning. He has seen how God has governed the world in all ages. And he has seen the whole train of God’s wonderful successive dispensations of providence towards his church, from generation to generation. And he has not been an indifferent spectator. But the great opposition between God and him, in the whole course of those dispensations, has necessarily engaged his attention in the strictest observation of them. He must have a great degree of knowledge concerning Jesus Christ as the Savior of men, and the nature and method of the work of redemption, and the wonderful wisdom of God in this contrivance. It is that work of God wherein, above all others, God has acted in opposition to him, and in which he has chiefly set himself in opposition to God. It is with relation to this affair, that the mighty warfare has been maintained, which has been carried on between Michael and his angels, and the devil and his angels, through all ages from the beginning of the world, and especially since Christ appeared. The devil has had enough to engage his attention to the steps of divine wisdom in this work. For it is to that wisdom he has opposed his subtlety. And he has seen and found, to his great disappointment and unspeakable torment, how divine wisdom, as exercised in that work, has baffled and confounded his devices. He has a great knowledge of the things of another world. For the things of that world are in his immediate view. He has a great knowledge of heaven, for he has been an inhabitant of that world of glory. And he has a great knowledge of hell, and the nature of its misery. For he is the first inhabitant of hell. And above all the other inhabitants, has experience of its torments and has felt them constantly for more than fifty-seven hundred years. He must have a great knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, for it is evident he is not hindered from knowing what is written there, by the use he made of the words of Scripture in his temptation of our Savior. And if he can know, he has much opportunity to know, and must needs have a disposition to know, with the greatest exactness; that he may, to greater effect, pervert and wrest the Scripture, and prevent such an effect of the Word of God on the hearts of men, as shall tend to overthrow his kingdom. He must have a great knowledge of the nature of mankind, their capacity, their dispositions, and the corruption’s of their hearts. For he has had long and great observation and experience. The heart of man is what he had chiefly to do with, in his subtle devices, mighty efforts, restless and indefatigable operations and exertions of himself, from the beginning of the world. And it is evident that he has a great speculative knowledge of the nature of experimental religion, by his being able to imitate it so artfully, and in such a manner as to transform himself into an angel of light.

Therefore it is manifest from my text and doctrine that no degree of speculative knowledge of religion is any certain sign of true piety. Whatever clear notions a man may have of the attributes of God, the doctrine of the Trinity, the nature of the two covenants, the economy of the persons of the Trinity, and the part which each person has in the affair of man’s redemption, if he can discourse never so excellently of the offices of Christ, and the way of salvation by him, and the admirable methods of divine wisdom, and the harmony of the various attributes of God in that way; if he can talk never so clearly and exactly of the method of the justification of a sinner, and of the nature of conversion, and the operations of the Spirit of God, in applying the redemption of Christ, giving good distinctions, happily solving difficulties, and answering objections, in a manner tending greatly to enlighten the ignorant, to the edification of the church of God, and the conviction of gainsayers, and the great increase of light in the world. If he has more knowledge of this sort than hundreds of true saints of an ordinary education, and most divines; yet all is no certain evidence of any degree of saving grace in the heart.

It is true, the Scripture often speaks of knowledge of divine things as what is peculiar to true saints. As in John 17:3, “This is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou has sent.” Mat. 11:27, “No man knoweth the Son, but the Father: neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him.” Psa. 9:10, “They that know thy name will put their trust in thee.” Phil. 3:8, “I count all things but loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.” But then, we must understand it of a different kind of knowledge from that speculative understanding which the devil has to so great a degree. It will also be allowed, that the spiritual saving knowledge of God and divine things, greatly promotes speculative knowledge, as it engages the mind in its search into things of this kind, and much assists to a distinct understanding of them. So that, other things being equal, they who have spiritual knowledge are much more likely than others to have a good doctrinal acquaintance with things of religion. But yet such acquaintance may be no distinguishing characteristic of true saints.

 

III. It may also be inferred from what has been observed, that for persons merely to yield a speculative assent to the doctrines of religion as true is no certain evidence of a state of grace. My text tells us that the devils believe. And as they believe that there is one God, so they believe the truth of the doctrines of religion in general. The devil is orthodox in his faith. He believes the true scheme of doctrine. He is no Deist, Socinian, Arian, Pelagian, or antinomian. The articles of his faith are all sound, and in them he is thoroughly established.

Therefore, for a person to believe the doctrines of Christianity merely from the force of arguments, as discerned only by speculation, is no evidence of grace.

It is probably a very rare thing for unregenerate men to have a strong persuasion of the truth of the doctrines of religion, specially such of them as are very mysterious, and much above the comprehension of reason. Yet if he be very confident of the truth of Christianity and its doctrines, and is able to argue most strongly for the proof of them, in this he goes nothing beyond the devil, who doubtless has a great knowledge of the rational arguments by which the truth of the Christian religion and its several principles are evinced.

And therefore when the Scripture speaks of believing that Jesus is the Son of God, as a sure evidence of grace, as in 1 John 5:1, and other places, it must be understood, not of a mere speculative assent, but of another kind and manner of believing, which is called the faith of God’s elect, Tit. 1:1. There is a spiritual conviction of the truth, which is a believing with the whole heart, peculiar to true saints, of which I shall speak more particularly.

 

  1. It may be inferred from the doctrine which has been insisted on that it is no certain sign of persons being savingly converted that they have been subjects of very great distress and terrors of mind, through apprehensions of God’s wrath, and fears of damnation.

That the devils are the subjects of great terrors, through apprehensions of God’s wrath, and fears of its future effects is implied in my text, which speaks not only of their believing, but trembling. It must be no small degree of terror which should make those principalities and powers, those mighty, proud, and sturdy beings, to tremble.

There are many terrors that some persons who are concerned for their salvation are the subjects of, which are not from any proper awakenings of conscience, or apprehensions of truth, but from melancholy or frightful impressions on their imagination, or some groundless apprehensions, and the delusions and false suggestions of Satan. But if they have had never so great and long continued terrors from real awakenings, and convictions of truth, and views of things as they are, this is no more than what is in the devils, and will be in all wicked men in another world. However stupid and senseless most ungodly men are now, all will be effectually awakened at last. There will be no such thing as slumbering in hell. There are many that cannot be awakened by the most solemn warnings and awful threatenings of the Word of God — the most alarming discourses from the pulpit, and the most awakening and awful providences — but all will be thoroughly awakened by the sound of the last trumpet and the appearance of Christ to judgment. All sorts will then be filled with most amazing terrors, from apprehensions of truth, and seeing things as they are, when “the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men (such as were the most ofty and stout-hearted, most ready to treat the things of religion with contempt) shall hide themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and say to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of his wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?” Rev. 6:15-17. — Therefore if persons have been first awakened, and afterwards have had comfort and joy, it is no certain sign that their comforts are of the right hand, because they were preceded by very great terrors.

 

  1. It may be further inferred from the doctrine, that no work of the law on men’s hearts, in conviction of guilt, and just desert of punishment, is a sure argument that a person has been savingly converted.

Not only are no awakenings and terrors any certain evidence of this, but no mere real work whatsoever, though carried to the utmost extent. Nothing wherein there is no grace or spiritual light, but only the mere conviction of natural conscience, and those acts and operations of the mind which are the result of this — and so are, as it were, merely forced by the clear light of conscience, without the concurrence of the heart and inclination with that light — is any certain sign of the saving grace of God, or that a person was ever savingly converted.

The evidence of this, from my text and doctrine, is demonstrative because the devils are the subjects of these thing. And all wicked men that shall finally perish, will be the subjects of the same. Natural conscience is not extinguished in the damned in hell, but, on the contrary, remains there in its greatest strength, and is brought to its most perfect exercise, most fully to do its proper office as God’s vicegerent in the soul, to condemn those rebels against the King of heaven and earth, and manifest God’s just wrath and vengeance, and by that means to torment them, and be as a never-dying worm within them. Wretched men find means in this world to blind the eyes and stop the mouth of this vicegerent of a sin-revenging God. But they shall not be able to do it always. In another world, the eyes and mouth of conscience will be fully opened. God will hereafter make wicked men to see and know these things from which now they industriously hide their eyes. Isa. 26:10, 11, “Let favour be showed to the wicked, yet will he not learn righteousness: in the land of uprightness will he deal unjustly, and will not behold the majesty of the Lord. Lord, when thy hand is lifted up, they will not see: but they shall see, and be ashamed for their envy at the people, yea, the fire of thine enemies shall devour them.” We have this expression often annexed to God’s threatenings of wrath to his enemies; “And they shall know that I am the Lord.” This shall be accomplished by their woeful experience and clear light in their consciences, whereby they shall be made to know, whether they will or not, how great and terrible, holy and righteous, a God Jehovah is, whose authority they have despised. And they shall know that he is righteous and holy in their destruction. This all the ungodly will be convinced of at the day of judgment, by the bringing to light of all their wickedness of heart and practice, and setting all their sins, with all their aggravations, in order, not only in the view of others, even of the whole world, but in the view of their own consciences. This is threatened, Psa. 50:21, “These things thou hast done, and I kept silence: thou thoughtest that I was altogether such a one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.” Compare this with the four first verses of the Psalm. — The design of the day of judgment is not to find out what is just, as it is with human judgments. But it is to manifest what is just; to make known God’s justice in the judgment which he will execute to men’s own consciences, and to the world. And therefore that day is called “the day of wrath, and revelation of the righteous judgment of God,” Rom. 2:5. Now sinners often cavil against the justice of God’s dispensations, and particularly the punishment which he threatens for their sins, excusing themselves, and condemning him. But when God comes to manifest their wickedness in the light of that day and to call them to an account, they will be speechless. Mat. 22:11, 12, “And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding-garment. And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither, not having a wedding-garment? And he was speechless.” When the King of heaven and earth comes to judgment, their consciences will be so perfectly enlightened and convinced by the all-searching Light they shall then stand in, that their mouths will be effectually stopped, as to all excuses for themselves, all pleading of their own righteousness to excuse or justify them, and all objections against the justice of their Judge, that their conscience will condemn them only, and not God.

Therefore it follows from the doctrine, That it can be no certain sign of grace, that persons have had great convictions of sin. Suppose they have had their sins of life, with their aggravations, remarkably set before them, so as greatly to affect and terrify them. And withal, have had a great sight of the wickedness of their hearts, the greatness of the sin of unbelief, and of the unexcusableness and heinousness of their most secret spiritual iniquities. Perhaps they have been convinced of the utter insufficiency of their own righteousness, and they despair of being recommended to God by it. [They] have been convinced that they are wholly without excuse before God, and deserve damnation. And that God would be just in executing the threatened punishment upon them, though it be so dreadful. All these things will be in the ungodly at the day of judgment, when they shall stand with devils, at the left hand, and shall be doomed as accursed to everlasting fire with them.

Indeed there will be no submission in them. Their conscience will be convinced that God is just in their condemnation. But yet their wills will not be bowed to God’s justice. There will be no acquiescence of mind in that divine attribute, no yielding of the soul to God’s sovereignty, but the highest degree of enmity and opposition. A true submission of the heart and will to the justice and sovereignty of God is therefore allowed to be something peculiar to true converts, being something which the devils and damned souls are and ever will be far from. And to which a mere work of the law, and convictions of conscience, however great and clear, will never bring men.

When sinners are the subjects of great convictions of conscience, and a remarkable work of the law, it is only transacting the business of the day of judgment in the conscience before-hand. God sits enthroned in the conscience, as at the last day he will sit enthroned in the clouds of heaven. The sinner is arraigned as it were at God’s bar. And God appears in his awful greatness as a just and holy, sin-hating and sin-revenging God, as he will then. The sinner’s iniquities are brought to light. His sins set in order before him. The hidden things of darkness, and the counsels of the heart are made manifest, as it will be then. Many witnesses do as it were rise up against the sinner under convictions of conscience, as they will against the wicked at the day of judgment; and the books are opened particularly the book of God’s strict and holy law is opened in the conscience, and its rules applied for the condemnation of the sinner, which is the book that will be opened at the day of judgment, as the grand rule to all such wicked men as have lived under it. And the sentence of the law is pronounced against the sinner, and the justice of the sentence made manifest, as it will be at the day of judgment. The conviction of a sinner at the day of judgment will be a work of the law, as well as the conviction of conscience in this world. And the work of the law (if the work be merely legal) is never carried further in the consciences of sinners now than it will be at that day, when its work will be perfect in thoroughly stopping the sinner’s mouth. Rom. 3:19, “Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law; that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God.” Every mouth shall be stopped by the law, either now or hereafter; and all the world shall become sensibly guilty before God, guilty of death, deserving of damnation. And therefore, if sinners have been the subjects of a great work of the law, and have thus become guilty, and their mouths have been stopped, it is no certain sign that ever they have been converted.

Indeed the want of a thorough sense of guilt, and desert of punishment, and conviction of the justice of God in threatening damnation is a sign that a person never was converted, and truly brought with the whole soul to embrace Christ as a Savior from this punishment. For it is easily demonstrable, that there is no such thing as entirely and cordially accepting an offer of a Savior from a punishment which we think we do not deserve. But having such a conviction is no certain sign that persons have true faith, or have ever truly received Christ as their Savior. And if persons have great comfort, joy, and confidence suddenly let into their minds, after great convictions, it is no infallible evidence that their comforts are built on a good foundation.

It is manifest, therefore, that too much stress has been laid by many persons on a great work of the law preceding their comforts, who seem not only to have looked on such a work of the law as necessary to precede faith, but also to have esteemed it as the chief evidence of the truth and genuineness of succeeding faith and comforts. By this means it is to be feared very many have been deceived and established in a false hope. And what is to be seen in the event of things, in multitudes of instances, confirms this. It may be safely allowed that it is not so usual for great convictions of conscience to prove abortive, and fail of a good issue, as for lesser convictions. And that more generally when the Spirit of God proceeds so far with sinners, in the work of the law, as to give them a great sight of their hearts, and of the heinousness of their spiritual iniquities, and to convince them that they are without excuse, and that all their righteousness can do nothing to merit God’s favor. But they lie justly exposed to God’s eternal vengeance with mercy — a work of saving conversion follows. But we can have no warrant to say, it is universally so, or to lay it down as an infallible rule, that when convictions of conscience have gone thus far, saving faith and repentance will surely follow. If any should think they have ground for such a determination, because they cannot conceive what end God should have, in carrying a work of conviction to such a length, and so preparing the heart for faith, and after all, never giving saving faith to the soul, I desire it may be considered, where will be the end of our doubts and difficulties, if we think ourselves sufficient to determine so positively and particularly concerning God’s ends and designs in what he does. It may be asked such an objector, what is God’s end in giving a sinner any degree of the strivings of his Spirit and conviction of conscience, when he afterwards suffers it to come to nothing?

If he may give some degree that may finally be in vain, who shall set the bounds, and say how great the degree shall be? Who can, on sure grounds, determine that when a sinner has so much of that conviction which the devils and damned in hell have, true faith and eternal salvation will be the certain consequence? This we may certainly determine, that, if the apostle’s argument in the text be good, not anything whatsoever that the devils have is certainly connected with such a consequence. Seeing sinners, while such, are capable of the most perfect convictions, and will have them at the day of judgment, and in hell, who shall say, that God never shall cause reprobates to anticipate the future judgment and damnation in that respect? And if he does so, who shall say to him, What dost thou? Or call him to account concerning his ends in so doing? Not but that many possible wise ends might be thought of, and mentioned, if it were needful, or I had now room for it. — The Spirit of God is often quenched by the exercise of the wickedness of men’s hearts, after he has gone far in a work of conviction, so that their convictions never have a good issue. And who can say that sinners, by the exercise of their opposition and enmity against God, which is not at all mortified by the greatest legal convictions, neither in the damned in hell nor sinners on earth, may not provoke God to take his Spirit from them, even after he has proceeded the greatest length in a work of conviction? Who can say, that God never is provoked to destroy some, after he has brought them, as it were, through the wilderness, even to the edge of the land of rest? As he slew some of the Israelites, even in the plains of Moab.

And let it be considered, where is our warrant in Scripture, to make use of any legal convictions, or any method or order of successive events in a work of the law, and consequent comforts, as a sure sign of regeneration. The Scripture is abundant, in expressly mentioning evidences of grace, and of a state of favor with God, as characteristics of true saints. But where do we ever find such things as these amongst those evidences? Or where do we find any other signs insisted on, besides grace itself, its nature, exercises, and fruits? These were the evidences that Job relied upon. These were the things that the Psalmist everywhere insists upon as evidences of his sincerity, and particularly in the 119th Psalm, from the beginning to the end: these were the signs that Hezekiah trusted to in his sickness.

These were the characteristics of those that are truly happy given by our Savior in the beginning of his sermon on the mount. These are the things that Christ mentions, as the true evidences of being his real disciples, in his last and dying discourse to his disciples, in the 14th, 15th, and 16th chapters of John, and in his intercessory prayer, chap. 17. These are the things which the apostle Paul often speaks of as evidences of his sincerity, and sure title to a crown of glory. And these are the things he often mentions to others, in his epistles, as the proper evidences of real Christianity, a justified state, and a title to glory. He insists on the fruits of the spirit; love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance as the proper evidences of being Christ’s, and living in the Spirit: Gal. 5:22-25. It is that charity, or divine love, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy, etc. that he insists on, as the most essential evidence of true godliness. Without which, all other things are nothing. Such are the signs which the apostle James insists on, as the proper evidence of a truly wise and good man. Jam. 3:17, “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.” And such are the signs of true Christianity, which the apostle John insists on throughout his epistles. And we never have anywhere in the Bible, from the beginning to the end of it, any other signs of godliness given, than such as these. If persons have such things as these apparently in them, it ought to be determined that they are truly converted, without its being first known what method the Spirit of God took to introduce these things into the soul, which oftentimes is altogether untraceable. All the works of God are in some respects unsearchable. But the Scripture often represents the works of the Spirit of God as peculiarly so. Isa. 40:13, “Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counselor, hath taught him?” Ecc. 11:5, “As thou knowest not what is the way of the Spirit, nor how the bones do grow in the womb of her that is with child: so thou knowest not the works of God, who maketh all.” John 3:8, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.”

 

  1. It follows from my text and doctrine, that it is no certain sign of grace that persons have earnest desires and longings after salvation.

The devils, doubtless, long for deliverance from the misery they suffer and from that greater misery which they expect. If they tremble through fear of it, they must necessarily, earnestly desire to be delivered from it. Wicked men are, in Scripture, represented as longing for the privileges of the righteous, when the door is shut, and they are shut out from among them. They come to the door, and cry, Lord, Lord, open to us. Therefore, we are not to look on all desires that are very earnest and vehement, as certain evidences of a pious heart. There are earnest desires of a religious nature, which the saints have, that are the proper breathings of a new nature, and distinguishing qualities of true saints. But there are also longings which unregenerate men may have, which are often mistaken for marks of godliness. They think they hunger and thirst after righteousness, and have earnest desires after God and Christ, and long for heaven. When, indeed, all is to be resolved into self-love. And so [it] is a longing which arises from no higher principles than the earnest desires of devils.

 

VII. It may be inferred from what has been observed, that persons who have no grace may have a great apprehension of an external glory in things heavenly and divine, and of whatsoever is external pertaining to religion.

If persons have impressed strongly on their minds ideas obtained by the external senses, whether by the ear, as any kind of sound, pleasant music, or words spoken of excellent signification, words of Scripture, suitable to their case, or adapted to the subject of their meditations, or ideas obtained by the eye, as of a visible beauty and glory, a shining light, golden streets, gates of precious stone, a most magnificent throne surrounded by angels and saints in shining ranks, or anything external belonging to Jesus Christ, either in his humbled state, as hanging on the cross with his crown of thorns, his wounds open, and blood trickling down, or in his glorified state, with awful majesty, or ravishing beauty and sweetness in his countenance, his face shining above the brightness of the sun, and the like. These things are no certain signs of grace.

Multitudes that are now in hell will have ideas of the external glory that pertains to things heavenly, far beyond whatever any have in this world. They will see all that external glory and beauty, in which Christ will appear at the day of judgment, when the sun shall be turned into darkness before him, which, doubtless, will be ten thousand times greater than ever was impressed on the imagination of either saints or sinners in this present state, or ever was conceived by any mortal man.

 

VIII. It may be inferred from the doctrine that persons who have no grace may have a very great and affecting sense of many divine things on their hearts.

The devil has not only great speculative knowledge, but he has a sense of many divine things, which deeply affects him, and is most strongly impressed on his heart. As,

First, the devils and damned souls have a great sense of the vast importance of the things of another world. They are in the invisible world, and they see and know how great the things of that world are. Their experience teaches them in the most affecting manner. They have a great sense of the worth of salvation, and the worth of immortal souls, and the vast importance of those things that concern men’s eternal welfare. The parable in the latter end of the 16th chapter of Luke teaches this, in representing the rich man in hell, as entreating that Lazarus might be sent to his five brothers to testify unto them, lest they should come to that place of torment. They who endure the torments of hell have doubtless a most lively and affecting sense of the vastness of an endless eternity, and of the comparative momentariness of this life, and the vanity of the concerns and enjoyments of time. They are convinced effectually, that all the things of this world, even those that appear greatest and most important to the inhabitants of the earth, are despicable trifles, in comparison of the things of the eternal world. They have a great sense of the preciousness of time, and of the means of grace, and the inestimable value of the privileges which they enjoy which live under the gospel. They are fully sensible of the folly of those that go on in sin, neglect their opportunities, make light of the counsels and warnings of God, and bitterly lament their exceeding folly in their own sins, by which they have brought on themselves so great and remediless misery. When sinners, by woeful experience, know the dreadful issue of their evil way, they will mourn at the last, saying, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof, and have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me! Pro. 4:11, 12, 13.

Therefore, however true godliness is attended with a great sense of the importance of divine things — and it is rare that men who have no grace maintain such a sense in any steady and persevering manner — yet it is manifest those things are no certain evidences of grace. Unregenerate men may have a sense of the importance of eternity, and the vanity of time, the worth of immortal souls, the preciousness of time and the means of grace, and the folly of the way of allowed sin. They may have such a sense of those things, as may deeply affect them, and cause them to mourn for their own sins, and be much concerned for others. Though it be true, they have not these things in the same manner, and in all respects from the same principles and views, as godly men have them.

Second, devils and damned men have a strong and most affecting sense of the awful greatness and majesty of God. This is greatly made manifest in the execution of divine vengeance on his enemies. Rom. 9:22, “What if God, willing to show his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much long-suffering the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction?” The devils tremble before this great and terrible God and under a strong sense of his awful majesty. It is greatly manifested to them and damned souls now. But shall he manifested in a further degree, in that day when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven in flaming fire, to take vengeance upon them. And when they shall earnestly desire to fly, and be hid from the face of him that sits on the throne (which shall be, “because of the glory of his majesty,” Isa. 2:10) and when they shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. When Christ comes at the last day, in the glory of his Father, every eye shall see him in that glory (in this respect, that they shall see his terrible majesty), and they also that pierced him, Rev. 1:7. Both those devils, and wicked men, which tormented and insulted him when he appeared in meanness and ignominy, shall then see him in the glory of his Father.

It is evident, therefore, that a sense of God’s terrible majesty is no certain evidence of saving grace. For we see that wicked men and devils are capable of it. Yea, many wicked men in this world have actually had it. This is a manifestation which God made of himself in the sight of that wicked congregation at mount Sinai, which they saw, and with which they were deeply affected, so that all the people in the camp trembled.

Third, devils and damned men have some kind of conviction and sense of all attributes of God, both natural and moral, that is strong and very affecting.

The devils know God’s almighty power. They saw a great manifestation of it when they saw God lay the foundation of the earth, etc. and were much affected with it. They have seen innumerable other great demonstrations of his power, as in the universal deluge, the destruction of Sodom, the wonders in Egypt, at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, causing the sun to stand still in Joshua’s time, and many others. — And they had a very affecting manifestation of God’s mighty power on themselves in casting all their hosts down from heaven into hell. And have continual affecting experience of it, in God’s reserving them in strong chains of darkness, and in the strong pains they feel. They will hereafter have far more affecting experience of it, when they shall be punished from the glory of God’s power, with that mighty destruction in expectation of which they now tremble. So the devils have a great knowledge of the wisdom of God. They have had unspeakably more opportunity and occasion to observe it in the work of creation, and also in the works of providence, than any mortal man has ever had. And have been themselves the subjects of innumerable affecting manifestations of it, in God’s disappointing and confounding them in their most subtle devices, in so wonderful and amazing a manner. So they see and find the infinite purity and holiness of the divine nature, in the most affecting manner, as this appears in his infinite hatred of sin, in what they feel of the dreadful effects of that hatred. They know already by what they suffer, and will know hereafter to a greater degree, and far more affecting manner, that such is the opposition of God’s nature to sin, that is like a consuming fire, which burns with infinite vehemence against it. They also will see the holiness of God, as exercised in his love to righteousness and holiness, in the glory of Christ and his church, which also will be very affecting to devils and wicked men. And the exact justice of God will be manifested to them in the clearest and strongest, most convincing and most affecting, light, at the day of judgment; when they will also see great and affecting demonstrations of the riches of his grace, in the marvelous fruits of his love to the vessels of mercy, when they shall see them at the right hand of Christ, shining as the sun in the kingdom of their Father, and shall hear the blessed sentence pronounced upon them, and will be deeply affected with it, as seems naturally implied in Luke 13:28, 29. The devils know God’s truth, and therefore they believe his threatenings, and tremble in expectation of their accomplishment. And wicked men that now doubt his truth, and dare not trust his word, will hereafter, in the most convincing, affecting manner, find his word to be true in all that he has threatened, and will see that he is faithful to his promises in the rewards of his saints. Devils and damned men know that God is eternal and unchangeable. And therefore they despair of there ever being an end to their misery. Therefore it is manifest, that merely persons having an affecting sense of some, or even of all God’s attributes, is no certain sign that they have the true grace of God in their hearts.

Object. Here possibly some may object against the force of the foregoing reasoning, that ungodly men in this world are in exceeding different circumstances from those in which the devils are, and from those which wicked men will be in at the day of judgment. Those things which are visible and present to these, are now future and invisible to the other. And wicked men in this world are in the body, that clogs and hinders the soul, and are encompassed with objects that blind and stupefy them. Therefore it does not follow, that because the wicked in another world have a great apprehension and lively sense of such things without grace, ungodly men in their present state may have the same.

Ans. To this I answer: It is not supposed that ever men in this life have all those things which have been mentioned to the same degree that the devils and damned have them. — None supposes that ever any in this life have terrors of conscience to an equal degree with them. It is not to be supposed that any mortal man, whether godly or ungodly, has an equal degree of speculative knowledge with the devil. And, as was just now observed, the wicked at the day of judgment, will have a vastly greater idea of the external glory of Christ than ever any have in the present state. So, doubtless, they will have a far greater sense of God’s awful greatness and terrible majesty, than any could subsist under in this frail state. So we may well conclude, that the devils and wicked men in hell have a greater and more affecting sense of the vastness of eternity, and (in some respects) a greater sense of the importance of the things of another world than any here have. And they have also longings after salvation to a higher degree than any wicked men in this world.

But yet it is evident that men in this world may have things of the same kind with devils and damned men, the same sort of light in the understanding, the same views and affections, the same sense of things, the same kind of impressions on the mind and on the heart. The objection is against the conclusiveness of that reasoning which is the apostle’s more properly than mine. The apostle judged it a conclusive argument against such as thought their believing there was one God an evidence of their being gracious, that the devils believed the same. So the argument is exactly the same against such as think they have grace, because they believe God is a holy God, or because they have a sense of the awful majesty of God. — The same may be observed of other things that have been mentioned. My text has reference, not only to the act of the understandings of devils in believing, but to that affection of their hearts which accompanies the views they have, as trembling is an effect of the affection of the heart. Which shows, that if men have both the same views of understanding and also the same affections of heart that the devils have, it is no sign of grace.

And as to the particular degree to which these things may be carried in men in this world without grace, it appears not safe to make use of it as an infallible rule to determine men’s state. I know not where we have any rule to go by, to fix the precise degree in which God by his providence, or his common influences on the mind, will excite in wicked men in this world, the same views and affections which the wicked have in another world. Which it is manifest, the former are capable of as well as the latter, having the same faculties and principles of soul, and which views and affections, it is evident, they often are actually the subjects of in some degree, some in a greater and some in a less degree. The infallible evidences of grace which are laid down in Scripture are of another kind. They are all of a holy and spiritual nature. And therefore things of that kind which a heart that is wholly carnal and corrupt cannot receive or experience, 1 Cor. 2:14. I might also here add that observation and experience, in very many instances, seem to confirm what Scripture and reason teaches in these things.

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The Salvation of Israel

28 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by abbasgirlme in Apologetics, Biblical Evangelism, Christ, Christian focus, contending for the faith, Deliverance, Doctrine matters!, Encouragement, God's Word, GOSPEL, Hatred for Christ, Hatred for God, Israel, Jesus Christ Alone, Last Days, man's depravity, Obedience to the word, Pride, Protection, Result of depravity, Sin, True nature, True Obedience to God, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth, Watchman

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To counteract the Replacement Theologians and those who are being led to the edge of it, before you jump in…AGM†

Romans 11:25,26…25 For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in. 26 And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:

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The Post Rapture Survival Guide

07 Monday Jul 2014

Posted by abbasgirlme in Apologetics, Biblical Evangelism, Christ, Christian focus, contending for the faith, Deliverance, Doctrine matters!, Encouragement, End of Days, False Christs, False Conversion, False Fruit, Fear, God's Word, GOSPEL, Hatred for Christ, Hatred for God, Heart contents, Heresy, Jesus Christ Alone, Last Days, man's depravity, Obedience to the word, People Disappeared, Protection, Rapture, Rest, Result of depravity, Results of Feminism, results of humanism, Results of paganism, Sin, Submission, Teaching, Tolerance, True nature, True Obedience to God, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth, Watchman

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by Kurt Seland   

The purpose of this manual is twofold:
First of all, it is to warn those who receive this manual prior to the rapture of the events that will take place in the last days as foretold in the Bible. Based on what the Bible has to say about future events, nobody in their right mind would want live on earth after the rapture. Hopefully, many will read, believe, seek God, repent and be saved. Salvation is very simple, so simple to attain, in fact, that most people cannot accept its simplicity; thereby reject it completely. However, it is complex because it is life-changing and based on that which we cannot see; it is based on faith. Simple, because Jesus does all the work. If you want to be saved and have eternal life, simply pray in belief and humility to Lord Jesus:

“Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner and ask you to forgive me of my sins and prepare for me a new heart. I surrender my life to you.”

Secondly, to those left behind after the rapture, this is indeed a survival manual. You still have an opportunity to repent and have eternal life. The same prayer of salvation is applicable to you; the only difference is that you will spend a little time experiencing a taste of hell while you remain on earth.

Let me be really frank with you. If you are reading this manual and the rapture has already occurred, then you probably are not going to physically survive; you most likely will die sometime un the next few years. This manual is about the survival of your soul. You are going to go through terrible suffering. The only question that remains is whether you will go to Heaven or go to hell when you die.

Definition: Rapture–This is the event that will occur when Jesus calls His followers (both gentile and Jewish believers) with a trumpet blast, and in the “twinkling of an eye” they will be removed from the earth and transported to be with Jesus in the heavens.

Biblical Foundation for the Rapture

“Take notice, I am telling you a secret. We shall not all die but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet call. For the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall all be changed” (I Corinthians 15:51-52).

“For with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and the trumpet of God, the Lord Himself will descend from Heaven, and those who died in Christ will rise first. Afterward we, the living who remain, will be caught up along with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we shall forever be with the Lord” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17).

“…For I am going away to prepare a place for you. And when I have gone and have prepared a place for you, I will come again and take you to Myself so that where I am, you also will be” (John 14:2-3).

Events and Circumstances Prior to the Rapture

At the time that this manual was being written, and for the remainder of the time left in this age, the one word that describes the condition of the world is change. All of this change is being accomplished through the work of Satan, as he cannot tolerate anything that originated from God’s creation. Originally, the Bible tells us that when God created the world He declared that it was “good.” That means that it was perfect and no changes were necessary. Included in His creation were standards to live by that He gave to Adam and Eve. These standards covered everything from how to live in our private lives, to proper domestic relationships, to principles for governing a community. Satan seeks to change everything that God has created and established, thus he has used his power and influence in the world to make subtle deviations to God’s original plan. Satan’s goal is to establish a world order headed by his protege (the world dictator known in the Bible as the Beast and anti-christ) who will spend his time and effort changing everything to be in opposition to God’s will as expressed in the Bible. This is predicted in the Bible in the book of Daniel: “and he will intend to make alterations in times and in law.”

POLITICAL

In today’s political environment there is no effective leadership in the world. Every nation lacks strong and competent leaders able to deal with the problems at home and abroad. The United States, which has been the world leader for the last 50 years, has steadily lost its influence among other nations because of political leaders in the United States who have no moral center to direct their decision making process. However, this distrust and dislike of government and government leaders is not just an American phenomenon but is a common theme in Europe, South America, Asia and the entire world. Because of this leadership vacuum in the world, there is now an opportunity for a man to arise who is very charismatic, strong, and attractive to peoples of all nations. Based on the prophecies in the Bible such a man will arise, and he will be successful in uniting the various nations to rule as a dictator.

The move to unite the world under one government has been active since the early 1950’s, and in recent years this has become more of a reality as many nations have given up their sovereignty to the United Nations during armed intervention of conflicts (eg. Kuwait, Somalia, Bosnia). In these conflicts, the nations of the world contributed manpower and machinery to be used under the flag of the United Nations. The United States of America surrendered its sovereignty in these situations to much weaker nations by allowing its military to be controlled by these nations. In addition to these military actions the nations of the world also agreed to control trade and labor practices with international treaties such as NAFTA and GATT.

There is no dominant nation to provide leadership to the world, thus the stage is set for a man to arise out of the masses to unite the world as dictator.

SOCIAL

The foundational building block of society, that element which has always been responsible for social order and peace, is the family, and it has been virtually destroyed. The family is to be a man, his wife and their children. The man provides for the wife and children, the wife nurtures and educates the children, and the children obey their parents. In a community of families, adults hold the other adults and children accountable for their actions. The family is based on marriage.

Marriage is an institution of God and therefore hated by Satan. The devil has worked very hard, primarily through communications media such as TV, movies, news journalists, and entertainment in general to convince women that marriage is detrimental to their freedom and fulfillment in life. Satan has deceived women into believing that they have the same sexual desire as men and that all differences are the result of culture. Satan has worked hard to divide men and women and have them at war with one another, and because of this, the violence between men and women has dramatically increased.

Civil war has been a constant theme of this age and unrest will continue into the end times: man vs. women, black vs. white, Muslim vs. Jew, Catholic vs. Protestant, Muslim vs. Christian, one Muslim faction vs. another Muslim faction, one black African tribe vs. another black African tribe, nation vs. nation, people vs. people. Whatever divides people into different groups, Satan uses to inspire hate, strife and violence.

Homosexuality and all sorts of perverse behavior are accepted as normal. The world dictator (anti-christ) himself will not have the normal sexual attraction to women and may be asexual. Many theologians believe that he will probably be openly homosexual as indicated in the Bible in the book of Daniel 11:37: “and he will show no regard for the gods of his fathers or for the desire of women”. And therefore, after the rapture, more than likely marriage will be discouraged or illegal, and homosexual and lesbian relationships highly encouraged.

ECONOMIC

On the economic scene, the trend is toward poverty for the masses with wealth concentrated into the hands of very few people. These controllers of the wealth will be the kings of commerce and banking and also be the power behind politics of the world. Small businesses are merged into larger companies and the larger companies merge with themselves to increase profits. The result is huge multi-national companies that have no allegiance to any community, state, nation or people, whose only allegiance is to increased profits for management and shareholders. The result is workers who are little more than peasants and presidents of companies who are more and more like kings. It will be these “kings” who usher in the world dictator to protect their wealth and power. Expect all commerce, buying and selling, to be controlled by a mark on the right hand or forehead of every person who wants to participate in the economy. Only those people with the mark will be able to buy and sell, but the consequences of taking the mark is eternal damnation (Rev 14:9-11).

Therefore don’t take that mark. You will have a very difficult time surviving, and probably won’t, but you will save your soul. Again, don’t take the mark on your right hand or forehead.

GEOPHYSICAL

In the gospel of Matthew, chapter 24, Jesus spoke to his disciples and indicated to them that one of the signs of the time of the end of the world would be, “…as it were in the days of Noah so will the coming of the son of man be.” We read in Genesis that in the days of Noah “the earth was filled with violence.”. This speaks not only of the violence that men inflict on one another–war, civil wars, rape, brutality, murder, abortion, and other indiscriminate, random acts of violence, but the earth itself is also filled with violence. We see increasing earthquakes, volcanoes, hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, drought, lightning storms and unusual atmospheric phenomena. While all of these have existed in the past, over the last 50 years, the number and intensity of these conditions and the property damage associated with these natural catastrophes has increased. As the level of violence that the human species has inflicted on one another has increased, so has the violent reaction of the earth increased.

Signs of the Times

When Jesus’ disciples asked Him about the signs that would be a precursor to His coming and the end of the age His response, recorded in Matthew 24, was:

Wars and rumors of wars
Nation will rise against nation. It is very interesting to note that the Greek word that is translated as nation is “ethnos” which deals with ethnic background and race. Most of the wars and conflicts in the 1980’s and 1990’s are wars among ethnic groups and tribes.
Kingdom will rise against kingdom
Famines
Earthquakes are like the early pangs of childbirth. As the time grows nearer and nearer to His coming, the frequency and intensity of these five signs will increase.
The followers of Jesus will be handed over to be persecuted and killed. This is happening with more frequency in the Muslim controlled nations in the Middle East, and in Africa where Black Muslims are enslaving Black Christians.
Christians will be hated by all nations on account of His name. In many parts of the world, Christians are jailed and killed for their beliefs; in the United States those who are Christians are hated by the media and liberals, and are known by the code words “religious right.”
Many will fall away…that is, many who claimed to be Christians will recant their faith, and betray and hate Christians.
Many false prophets will arise and deceive many.
Due to excessive lawlessness, the love of many will grow cold.
The Rapture

This is an event that will not be hidden. The concept of the rapture has already been made known to the masses. It will be treated with ridicule, contempt and mockery by the world’s media, but God will see to it that it will be highly publicized before it occurs just so that those left behind might still come to their senses. It will occur in the open, and everybody left behind will know someone who was raptured.

It will happen suddenly, unexpectedly, and lightning fast–“in the twinkling of an eye,” as the Bible puts it. And there will be evidence all over the world that this event occurred. Some national leaders will disappear, celebrities in entertainment and professional sports will disappear, entire families will disappear, disbelieving spouses will see their mates vanish, children will disappear. Bank accounts, homes, cars, businesses and relationships will be left behind. The problem for the world’s leaders will be trying to convince people that it didn’t happen. Because if the world’s leaders admit that it did happen then, logically, everything Christians preached about Jesus Christ being the Son of God, the Savior, the Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings and everything that Jesus preached and taught must be true. And if all of this is true, then the only logical response would be to fall on one’s knees before God in confession and repentance and absolute submission to every word of God (as revealed in the Bible). But all of this is diametrically opposed to the way of the world, which preaches freedom from the constraints of God’s word, perverse sex, materialism and the devaluation of human life. So, although the rapture will shock everybody and will be covered in the media and everybody left will be aware of someone who is gone, the leaders of the world will begin their great deception, trying to convince the population left behind that there was no rapture.

How is this going to be accomplished? Well, pretty easily because most of the people left behind are already in a state of deception. They have been deceived into believing that Jesus is not the Messiah; they have been deceived into believing that the word of God is not true; they have been deceived into living a lifestyle that only brings constant pain and suffering instead of the freedom and paradise that God offers. The world’s leaders will declare that there was no rapture, that a mass hysteria took place, and the news media will follow the party line. Then to make things easier, shortly after the rapture, one-fourth of the world’s population will be decimated due to wars, famine and plague. Those who were raptured will be counted among the dead.

After the Rapture

Shortly after the rapture, a seven-year period known in the Bible as the Great Tribulation will take place. It will begin with the signing of a peace agreement between Israel and her enemies and it will end with the physical return of Jesus Christ to set up His kingdom on earth. In between, will be seven years of terror for those on earth. The following events and trends will take place in that seven-year period:

 

A man will arise who will achieve victory after victory both in politics and in war(Rev 13:7). This man, who should be easily identified by his rapid rise and popularity, is your the anti-christ. Many people believe that this person must be Jewish. That is, in order for Jews to accept him as Messiah, only a Jew will suffice. This is not necessarily the case. The Bible does not specify that he is a Jew, and it does not specify nationality. Only God-fearing Jews will require a Jewish Messiah. The liberal, ungodly Jews who dominate Israel will be as lost when it comes to Biblical truth as the Gentiles of the world and will be deceived by his charisma, and more than likely, the desires of the world’s media. Currently the new nickname for the United States is the Great Satan. This may have some significance.
Violence will increase in all parts of the world, both nation against nation (ethnic wars) and domestically. Men will indiscriminately slay one another as peace will be removed from the earth (Rev 6:3-4).
There will be extreme inflation, poverty, and lack of food as one day’s wages will buy enough food for one day for one person (Rev 6:5-6).
In a very short period of time, one-quarter of the earth’s population will be killed due to wars, famine, pestilence and wild beasts. These wild beasts could very well be viruses, bacteria and other microbes. In late 1995, Time magazine ran a cover story on the rise of new infections and called microbes “malevolent little beasts” (Rev 6:7-8).
Many people will experience a religious conversion and become followers of Jesus Christ and most of these people will be hunted down and killed (Dan 7:21).
There will be a great earthquake, the sun will be blackened, the moon will turn red and all mountains and islands (which are underwater mountains) will be moved (Joel 2:30-32).
There will be a brief period of calm on the earth following this great earthquake which will give those who survive a false sense of security.
One-third of the earth, one-third of all of trees and all the green grass will be burned up due to a comet or meteor that hits the earth (Rev 8:7).
A meteor will hit the earth causing the sea to become like blood, killing one-third of all sea creatures and destroying one-third of all shipping (Rev 8:8-9).
A “star” named Wormwood will fall from the sky and poison one-third of all fresh water killing many people (Rev 8:10-11).
The sun, moon and stars will be darkened by one-third. The day and night will be reduced by one-third. There is some speculation that this means the rotation of the earth will be changed so that a day lasts only 16 hours instead of 24 hours (Rev 8:12).
Fearsome locust-like beings will be released from underground who only attack people who are not followers of Jesus Christ. These attacks will be very painful but last only 5 months (Rev 9:1-11).
An army of 200 million horse-like creatures will kill one-third of mankind (Rev 9:13-19).
Two men (known as witnesses, see item 7 below) of Jewish origin will preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ for 3 1/2 years and be killed at the midpoint of the 7 year tribulation. These two will be responsible for a 3 1/2 year world-wide drought and will be killed by the anti-christ (also known as the beast in the Bible).
People will be required to receive a mark on their right hand or forehead in order to buy and sell. Those who receive this mark will develop a loathsome and malignant sore on their bodies within a short period of time (Rev 13:13-18).
The oceans will chemically change and become like the blood of a dead man (congealed?) and everything in the sea will die (Rev 16:3).
The fresh waters will become like blood (Rev 16:4-7).
The sun will scorch the people on earth with fierce heat (Rev 16:8-9).
The throne of the anti-christ and his kingdom will become darkened (Rev 16:10-11).
The Euphrates river will dry up allowing the kings of the east to march westward (Rev 16:12).
The kings of the world will gather their armies together to battle God at Armageddon. There will be an earthquake so great that all of the mountains and islands will disappear. There will be hailstones weighing close to 100 pounds that will crush the armies that have gathered (Rev 16:17-22).
Shortly after this great earthquake, Jesus Christ will return with His army to claim the earth as His possession (Zech 14:3-5).
The Two Witnesses
These two men are God’s gift to the people of the earth who refused to submit to the lordship of Jesus Christ prior to the rapture, but who will recognize the error in their life and seek God knowing the terrible mistake they have made. These two men will proclaim the gospel and provide hope for those left behind. Their message is for the salvation of the soul. They will have no message as to how you can avoid the hell that life on earth has become, because there is no hope to avoid that tribulation. If you are left on earth, then your destiny is to suffer and more than likely die. But you still have the hope of salvation. Listen to what these two men are preaching and turn to God.

The Bible does not say who these two men are. Many speculate that they are Elijah and Enoch, two ancient prophets of God who never died. Regardless, they will be responsible for many of the natural catastrophes that will wreak havoc on the property and economy of the earth. They will have the power to prevent rain, and there will be a 3 1/2 year drought on earth until they die. They will turn water into blood and cause all kinds of plagues on earth and, in general, make life miserable for those who are living on earth. Also, they will be invincible, as many will try to kill them only to be killed by their own hands. Those who attempt to blow them up will themselves be blown up; those who attempt to shoot them will have their guns explode in their hands; those who attempt to poison them will be poisoned by their own efforts. Only the world dictator will be able to kill them and only when God allows it.

The purpose of all the misery that these two witnesses inflict on the earth dwellers is to turn people back to God in repentance. The misery will be so great that when the world dictator does finally kill these two, the world will rejoice in a Christmas-like celebration, giving gifts to one another. Three and one-half days after their death they will be resurrected and, in full view of the entire population of the world, ascend to heaven at the command of God when He calls them to “Come up here.” Shortly after he kills the two witnesses, the world dictator will declare himself to be God. He is the anti-christ.

The 144,000 Jewish Witnesses
Shortly after the rapture, God will call His army of 144,000 Jewish believers into service to provide a voice of hope for Jews throughout the world. The best friends and most staunch supporters of Jews have always been true, believing Christians. It was this element of the world’s population that provided help and support for Israel and Jewish people. The rapture removed the Christian people from the earth and awakened the 144,000 to their purpose. These 144,000 preach to Jews worldwide that Jesus is the Messiah. These 144,000 will be spread out worldwide and more than likely go about in pairs, two by two, as Jesus instructed His disciples to do. It will be these 144,000 who will oppose Israel signing a peace treaty for protection; it will be the 144,000 who will identify the anti-christ for who he is; it will be the 144,000 who will warn Israel of the treachery of the anti-christ, and it will be the 144,000 who will lead the Jews worldwide to the hiding place prepared for them by God in the Judean desert. These 144,000 Jews are going to be strange people by normal standards: they will be celibate, very bold, fearless, spiritually strong and probably very much like John the Baptist. You can read more about the 144,000 witnesses in Revelation 14.

Money
Hard currency will become obsolete. This is no surprise, as banks and governments have been working to eliminate currency, coin money and paper transactions for decades. Currency and coin is expensive to produce, lends itself readily for drug trafficking and, with high tech equipment, is too easily counterfeited. Banks desire to eliminate the teller position as an expense item, and with the elimination of paper checks and currency, all financial transactions can be handled with a computer. The debit card will become the tool for all personal financial transactions. However, at some point after the rapture, probably right after the two witnesses are killed, everyone will be required to get a mark on their right hand or forehead in order to buy and sell. Do not, do not, do not under any circumstances participate by receiving this mark. All those who receive this mark known as “the mark of the beast” are doomed for eternity. By taking this mark you are swearing allegiance to the anti-christ. You may as well attempt to enjoy life as best you can because eternity for you will be hell. It is at this point that God will have separated His followers from Satan’s followers. Those who have taken the mark will persecute those without the mark. God will render judgment on those with the mark by inflicting them with a disgusting looking and very painful ulcer covering their bodies.

So how can a person without the mark survive and still buy and sell? Again, this will almost be impossible, but there will be people who are part of the anti-christ’s regime who don’t believe in the anti-christ; they are just “survivors” who pick the “winner” and seek to profit from that relationship. Therefore, save up for yourself gold; gold has always had value as money and always will, even in a cashless society. Identify one of these profiteers and seek to purchase food and living supplies from him. However, don’t ever disclose to him how much gold you have and where it is. You want to be more valuable to him as a dealer than as a bounty. By the way, you will have a price on your head for not taking the mark. Obviously you won’t be living an open life, as you will be in hiding somewhere at a remote location or in the forest on the outskirts of a large city. Your only goal will be to eat to live and hope to escape the militia hunting for you and those like you. Should you get caught, your fate will be either death or slavery.

If you receive this manual before the rapture and plan to be around after the rapture, then start storing up food and living supplies and put them into hiding in some remote and difficult to access area. You should include weaponry to defend yourself and medical supplies as part of your living supplies.

Safety Concerns
This era will be the most violent of times in the history of the world. Death, brutality and destruction will be part of everyday life. One of the defining characteristics of the last days following the rapture will be a lack of peace. There will be civil wars throughout the world: people will kill one another indiscriminately. Random acts of violence will fill people with fear. Car-jackings, home invasions, drive by shootings, and bombings will all increase with an intensity that will leave people with absolutely no sense of security.

In order to survive this time, you will need to remove yourself from society and live in a remote area that is difficult to access. Getting together with a group of like-minded people would provide additional support and safety.

As mentioned earlier, stock up on food, medicines, living supplies, weaponry and gold. You will need enough for 7 years. Don’t plan on being able to supplement your food with hunting and fishing because the stocks of wild animals and fish will have been depleted and destroyed by the 3 1/2 year worldwide drought and three successive meteor-like or comet-like objects that strike the earth sometime after the rapture. The 3 1/2 year drought is brought on by the two witnesses. The first object from outer space to strike the earth will destroy 1/3 of all trees and all the green grass on earth. The second object, more like a meteor, strikes the sea and destroys 1/3 of all sea creatures and 1/3 of all shipping. The third object turns 1/3 of all fresh water poisonous and kills many people. Needless to say, all of this will also seriously deplete the food supplies for the world’s population, causing food prices to skyrocket. Those people in the world who never before missed a meal or worried about food will become very familiar with hunger pangs and the feeling of going without food for long periods of time. This will be one of the causes of the increased violence as people become more self centered, short-tempered, and competitive for the food sources in short supply. As Jesus spoke to His disciples about these days, He said, “people will betray one another and hate one another…the love of many will grow cold.”

Health Concerns
Prior to the rapture, the world experienced an increase in health-related catastrophes, an increase in new infectious diseases and an increase in the return of diseases thought to have been eradicated or brought under control. The past two decades have brought on AIDS, EBOLA virus, flesh-eating bacteria, the return of tuberculosis, incurable gonorrhea, herpes and many other virtually incurable sexually transmitted diseases. After the rapture, things do not get better, as one quarter of the world’s population will die as the result of wars, famine and plague. Sometime after the two witnesses are murdered and after people are required to take the mark on the right hand or forehead, there will be a terrible plague causing a loathsome and malignant ulcer on the bodies of those who have taken the mark. This will be a very ugly and very painful sore that will make life miserable for those who have it.

In addition to all this, because of the poor economic situation worldwide and the 3 1/2 year drought that depletes the world’s supply of water, sanitation practices will deteriorate even in what were advanced nations in Europe and North America. With the short supply of water, there won’t be sufficient water for flushing toilets, taking baths, washing clothes and transporting wastewater to treatment facilities. This will result in the increase of typhus, cholera, salmonella and E.coli infections.

Therefore, since you have decided to reject Christ’s offer to join in the rapture, your concern is how to maintain good health in the post rapture era. You must build a supply of multiple vitamins with particular emphasis on anti-oxidants such as C and E and minerals. It will also be necessary to have a supply of disinfectants, particularly one that can be added to water to make it potable.

Above all, do not accept the mark of the beast on your right hand or forehead. If you do take the mark then nothing can be done for you. You will suffer the malignant ulcer making the rest of your life almost unbearable. Did you ever have a canker sore in your mouth? If so, then you know how painful that one little canker sore was. Now think of having canker sores all over your body, on your genitalia, in your mouth. Think how painful and unbearable your life will be. Then follow that misery with eternity in hell. Don’t take that mark.

http://www.raptureready.com/rr-survival-guide.html

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Christians Offended By The Bible??

30 Sunday Mar 2014

Posted by abbasgirlme in Apologetics, Apostates, Christ, Christian Activism, Christian focus, contending for the faith, Deliverance, Doctrine matters!, Easy Believe-ism, End of Days, False Christs, False Conversion, False Fruit, God's Word, GOSPEL, Hatred for Christ, Hatred for God, Heart contents, Heresy, Jesus Christ Alone, Last Days, man's depravity, Obedience to the word, Pride, Protection, Religious Non-Regeneration, Rest, Result of depravity, Results of Feminism, results of humanism, Results of paganism, Sin, Submission, Teaching, Tolerance, True nature, True Obedience to God, Truth, Uncategorized, Unchanging Word of God, Undeniable Truth, Watchman

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Reblogged from Growing Home….excellent!
http://www.growinghomeblog.com/

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I saw a quote on Pinterest that said, “The world is a magical place full of people waiting to be offend by something.” Ain’t that the truth? America’s biggest problem isn’t bullying, intolerance, a Muslim invasion, or defending the constitution; it’s a generation of people who believe they’re entitled to not getting their feelings hurt.

And I’m not just talking about the left. Christians can be just as wimpy and thin-skinned, and their demand for tolerance (i.e. permission to live as they please) by warping terms like “grace,” and “Christian liberty” are no less obnoxious.

We say we want to live according to God’s will, but please, just don’t be spouting off any Scripture passages pertaining to education, fertility, divorce, debt, modesty, welfare or any other part of my fleshly desires that I’m not ready to bring into captivity and make obedient unto Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5)

If we have a sneaking suspicion that God’s Word might not be in line with our desires, we can choose not to investigate Scripture and call it “a matter of Christian liberty.” Like the stork with his head in the sand, if we don’t know what God says about a matter, it must be because He hasn’t said anything about it. This is a great band-aid ’til someone rips it off by laying God’s revealed will plainly before our face. Then we demand “grace.”

If we truly want others to extend more grace to us, we must be willing to change. Grace doesn’t mean, “I’m-saved-anyway-so-please-stop-telling-me-how-the-Bible-says-I-should-live.” Grace means, “God’s-unmerited-favor-makes-me-earnestly-desire-to-live-according-to-His-commandments-out-of-gratitude-for-purchasing-my-pardon-on-Calvary’s-tree.” Grace is not about being content with where we are. The Gospel compels us to conform to Christ because if we love Him, we will desire to keep His commandments (John 14:15).

Different people will have different interpretations of God’s Word, and it should upset us when it’s twisted, thwarted, misquoted, or taken out of context – but that’s not the point of this post. Neither am I encouraging Bible-thumping, speck-pointing, self-righteousness, or any other Pharisaical behavior condemned by Jesus. Heidi St. John said it best in her excellent post Dear Church, Let’s Talk About What Really Matters, “It’s easier to follow a checklist of do’s and don’ts than it is to do the harder work of studying the Bible and listening to God for ourselves.”

My point is simply this: if we claim to be Christians, if we want to live a holy life, if we yearn to be sanctified, if the Word of God means anything to us at all, we cannot be offended by it. We can be taught, reproved, corrected, convicted, and trained by Scripture (2 Timothy 3:16), but to grow angry, bitter, uptight and resentful because someone made a decision based on a Bible passage that pricks our own conscience, is a sign of spiritual immaturity and evidence that our spirit still has a mighty war to wage against our carnal nature.

If a fellow believer states that their reason for homeschooling, head-covering, wearing skirts, living debt-free, or not using particular vaccines because of aborted fetal content is a personal conviction based on principles they believe are biblical, our reaction should not be one that automatically assumes judgement, legalism, or self righteousness (unless of course, they are indeed making a blanket statement and turning Scriptural inferences and principles into universal commands).

Instead, we ought to be like the Bereans and examine the Scriptures to see if what they are saying is true (Acts 17:11). A mark of a true Christian is the desire to obey God’s commands (John 14:15). Do we desire holiness and conformity to Christ badly enough to let go of comfortable routines and conveniences that are found wanting when we measure them according to God’s revealed will? Are we living in such a way that when someone gives a biblical defense for a certain practice, our own position is solidified because it is rooted in God’s Word? Are we eager to study what God says about a matter or content with pat answers that keep the possibility of change at bay: “Well, this is what works for us so we’re sticking with it,” “The Bible is silent on that issue,” “That’s a matter of Christian liberty,” “That’s just not reasonable and God knows it’d never work for our family,” “I’m not patient, rich, smart, feminine, or good enough to do that.”

The Bible is foolishness and an offence to those who are outside of Christ, but to those who have been saved by the power of the Holy Spirit, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow and judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) It must transform our lives and daily renew our minds because, as Kristy put it in Why I Choose to Be a Conservative Christian, “Christianity is not about rules, it is all about life. The life of Christ.”

“For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.” Ephesians 2:10

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Prayers of the New American Youth

12 Monday Aug 2013

Posted by abbasgirlme in Atheism, Doctrine matters!, End of Days, False Christs, God's Word, Hatred for Christ, Hatred for God, Heresy, Last Days, man's depravity, Marxism, Patriotism, Result of depravity, results of humanism, Results of paganism, Socialism, Teaching, Tolerance, Truth, Uncategorized, Undeniable Truth, Watchman

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Reblogged from The Master’s Slave:

http://revivalandreformation.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/prayers-of-the-new-american-youth/

 

Not quite sure what to say about this video.  Regardless of your political views, this is disturbing, blasphemous, and incredibly sad.  It actually reminds me a LOT of the kind of activities seen not so long ago when a charismatic leader in Europe first took the stage and the Disciple’s Prayer of Matthew 6 was changed to become a prayer to him.  Of course, if I compared it to that I would be a fanatic…right?

You gotta watch this one to believe it:

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Christians: Culture Warts or Faithful Servants? (Part I)

29 Saturday Sep 2012

Posted by abbasgirlme in Apologetics, Christ, Christian focus, contending for the faith, End of Days, False Christs, God's Word, GOSPEL, Heresy, Last Days, Patriotism, Protection, Rapture, Rest, Submission, Teaching, Tolerance, Truth, Uncategorized, Undeniable Truth, Watchman

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CULTURE WARTS or FAITHFUL SERVANTS? Part 1

According to recent polls, most young people “have graded Christianity, and so far, the grades aren’t looking good.” Young believers do not want the name “Christian” because of “the baggage that accompanies the label.”

We all have baggage, but there is something very fishy going on here. Why is the most ethical, humane movement in two thousand years of Western history now covered in abject shame? Christianity has become “unchristian.”

Much of the malaise of the young is due to the culture’s intimidating opposition to the biblical world and life view, which sees Christianity as the great obstacle to a better human future. This pressure produces various reactions:

  • Silence is a virtue: Campus ministries, mission organizations, large sections of the Evangelical church are hospitals for the hurting, but their mouths are closed;
  • Deeds not creeds: avoid hot button issues. Christians invent a non-offensive Gospel, limiting their witness to “missional” socio-economic and environmental issues;
  • Cultural approval: Opposition will disappear if the church down-plays law, sin, the Cross, and personal salvation;
  • The Right Label: Jesus followers, not “Christians”;
  • Cultural adaptation: absorb the culture’s good, life-enhancing, progressive agenda; stop trying to save souls.

In the meantime, while our hearts may be warm, we are losing our voice, which is just what the godless culture ordered!

Liberals have been saying this for years. Lloyd Geering, an apostate Presbyterian of the last generation, states:

Christianity…needs to be seen not as something eternally fixed but as an ever-changing and developing process. The modern secular world is all part of that evolving process.

Main-line churches, faced with a dramatic loss of members and funds, in the words of one journalist, have undertaken “a great experiment to redefine [themselves] through an intense engagement with the surrounding secular world…to blur the boundaries between religion and the broader society.”

Why is Christianity so unpopular now?

The most satisfactory answer, in my opinion, is the documented fact that influential segments of the culture have recently converted in one form or another to religious paganism and have thus abandoned the fundamental worldview notions of orthodox Christianity. The younger Christian generation faces the enormous danger of allowing the culture to throw out our baby with their “baggage.”

It is crucial to understand the deeply anti-Christian origins of the present culture.

Among the first signs of this pagan conversion was the New Age movement (1960s–90s), which has matured into today’s progressive “New Spirituality.” Now the old hippies are joined by millions of ordinary, middle-class citizens in saying, “I’m spiritual, but not religious.” This common phrase needs to be decoded.

  • Spiritual means “I define my own god whom I conveniently find within” (One-ism). It is authentic, and clearly good.
  • Religious is a code word for the religion based on divine revelation from the outside (Two-ism). It is an external imposition and clearly bad.

The once-marginal New Age has gone mainstream under our noses.

The catalyst for our present situation is the radical, marginal movement that occurred in the Sixties—the “Cultural Revolution.” Dr. Elizabeth Fox-Genovese was a radical feminist, Marxist American Historian, who taught at Harvard. In 1998, after her conversion to Roman Catholicism, and near the end of her life, she observed about the Sixties cultural revolution in which she was an enthusiastic participant: “within a remarkably brief period …has occurred a cataclysmic transformation of the very nature of our society.”As a historian, with a front row seat, she recognized that there was nothing “normal” about the Sixties cataclysmic transformation. In other words, the “new normal” is not normal.

The rising generation may not know the historical details, but the soul of this “progressive” view of life and the culture it spawned are profoundly opposed to historic Christianity. It is foolhardy to expect our culture to approve the Christian faith, when it was created with the very intention to eliminate that faith. More often than not, when the culture “approves” of a Christian action, that action is probably “unChristian.”

If you want to know the thinkers who mentored the “influential segments of the Sixties culture” you will have to wait for the next Inside/Out!

Suffice it to say for now that the origins of the present culture plunge deep into the occult, while its future projects include the silencing of Two-ist Christianity altogether. It can only be countered by courageous Christian believers from this rising generation who are willing to engage the revolutionary intellectual “strongholds,” the “arguments and “lofty opinions raised against the knowledge of God,” in order to “take every thought captive to obey Christ…” (2 Corinthians 10:4-5) with “transformed minds” (Romans 12:2) by understanding and imitating “the mind of Christ” (1 Corinthians 2:16). Just do it!

(InsideOut Article ) by Dr. Peter Jones on September 12, 2012

http://truthxchange.com/section/articles/insideout/

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The Grim Reality of the Last Days~John MacArthur

29 Wednesday Feb 2012

Posted by abbasgirlme in Christ, False Christs, God's Word, Heresy, Truth, Uncategorized, Undeniable Truth

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The Grim Reality of the Last Days

Mark 13:1-13

Let’s go to the gospel of Mark, our familiar location. When I have been kind of discussing what we might do after the gospel of Mark, thinking about after a little bit of a break this summer for me and Patricia, a little time away, we’ll come back and it has been suggested to me by several people that we ought to do the gospel of John, and go back through and start again on the story of Christ from a completely different viewpoint, from the person of John, because it’s been essentially 40 years since we had the opportunity to do that. So that’s just how much people love the story of Christ. You cannot get enough. So I’m weighing that wonderful consideration.

I think we’re all finding out that this is a very dangerous planet to live on. You…you can get caught in a war, a war that you really had nothing to do with and become a victim of the hatred and the greed and the struggle for power by people in high positions. We are watching essentially war stretching across the Middle East, very much aware of it. Now that war engages virtually the world in a no-fly zone of Libya, a coalition of nations coming against Muammar Gaddafi. Before it’s all over, there will be thousands if not tens of thousands who die. That’s really nothing new for us.

It’s a dangerous world as well because you can be the victim of an earthquake, or a tsunami. You can be the victim of a famine because you can’t get to the food or the food can’t get to you because of a natural disaster. You can be the victim of a fire, or a flood, as we see repeated again and again throughout the world.

In spite of the fact that living in this world has its bliss and its blessing, and in spite of the fact that our world, our planet bears the marks of divine creation, and the benevolence of God is in the very fabric of life on this planet, in spite of the fact that riches are provided for us and provisions are provided for us, the backside of all those provisions puts us in really imminent danger. We can be killed by disease. We can be poisoned in our food. We can be radiated to death. All of these things are the backside of the blessings. We create civilizations, we create crops, we create dams to dam up the water. We harness all the resources in the world and yet we have to do everything we can to create the prevention of those very things destroying us. It is a very dangerous place to live. Disaster is all around us. War and death are ever present from a myriad of ways.

This, by the way is no surprise to anybody who understands the Bible. Human history is no surprise to God and it is no surprise to our Lord Jesus. If you go to Mark chapter 13, we’re going to find Jesus on the last day of His public ministry in Jerusalem, Wednesday of Passion Week. On Thursday He will prepare to celebrate the Passover with His disciples. On Friday He will be crucified. On Sunday He will be raised from the dead.

But here on this last day of public ministry, He has brought that public ministry to an end and now He is speaking to His disciples as of verse 43 in chapter 12, He calls His disciples to Him. And for the remainder of this day and the next day, He focuses on talking to them.

In this portion that is recorded for us by Matthew in Matthew 24 and 25, and also by Luke as we have recently seen in Luke 21, He gives a picture of history to come. This is prophetic. It is predictive. And it will be very familiar to you because this is exactly the way history has gone.

Now this will be a shock to the disciples. It will be the shock of all shocks to them, what our Lord says, because they are anticipating the Kingdom. After all, the King has arrived. They are convinced Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the Messiah and that He is the One who will establish His Kingdom. They believe that they are about to experience the establishment of that glorious Kingdom. They are familiar, for example, with Isaiah 9, that the government shall be on His shoulders, that He will literally take over the rule not only of Israel but of the world. They are familiar with Zechariah 14 which lays out in detail how the coming Messiah establishes His rule in the world. They’re familiar with every Old Testament promise that looked forward to that Kingdom. Messiah is to come, establish the Kingdom, destroy all the enemies of God, destroy all the enemies of Israel, restore the glory of Jerusalem gather the Jews into the land, set up His Kingdom there, and from that vantage point rule the world.

Israel then would be the favored nation on the planet. Righteousness and peace and knowledge and truth would fill the earth. And life the way it was would be no more. Jesus clearly is the Messiah, announced by John the Baptist, validated by miracles, and truth teaching. He entered Jerusalem on that Monday of the very week that we’re looking at now and He was given an appropriate messianic welcome. Everything looked like it was on schedule. And then somebody hit the pause button and we’re still in the pause mode. What seemed to be imminent came to a halt.

So the question comes from the disciples in this passage, when is the Kingdom coming? They now know that rather then are talking about a Kingdom, Jesus has been talking about His death, specifically. The chief priests and the leaders of Israel will arrest Me and beat Me and mock Me and crucify Me and I will rise again. They have been told that repeatedly.

Looking beyond that, they assume that if that is the case, when He rises then He will immediately establish His Kingdom. That’s what they expect. It’s that expectation that’s behind His words in chapter 13. Let’s look at them.

Just so you get the full picture, let me read this to you. “As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.’

“As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives opposite the temple, Peter and James and John and Andrew were questioning Him privately. ‘Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?’ And Jesus began to say to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you. Many will come in My name saying, “I am He,” and he will mislead many. When you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened, those things must take place but that is not yet the end, for nation will rise up against nation, and Kingdom against Kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places. There will also be famines. These things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.

“‘But be on your guard, for they will deliver you to the courts and you will be flogged in the synagogues and you will stand before governors and kings for My sake as a testimony to them. The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. When they arrest you and hand you over, do not worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour, for it is not you who speaks but it is the Holy Spirit. Brother will betray brother to death, and the father his child, and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.

“‘But when you see the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION standing where it should not be, let the reader understand, then those who are in Judea must flee to the mountains. The one who is on the housetop must not go down and go in to get anything out of his house. And the one who is in a field must not turn back to get his coat, but woe to those who are pregnant and to those who are nursing babies in those days. But pray that it may not happen in winter, for those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now and never will. Unless the Lord had shortened those days, no life would have been saved, but for the sake of the elect whom He chose, He shortened the days. And then if anyone says to you, “Behold, here is the Christ,” or “Behold, He is there,” do not believe him, for false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show signs and wonders in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But take heed, behold, I have told you everything in advance.

“‘ But in those days after the Tribulation, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light and the stars will be falling from heaven and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken, then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory. And then He will send forth the angels and will gather together His elect from the four winds, from the farthest end of the earth to the farthest end of heaven.

“‘Now learn the parable from the fig tree when its branch has already become tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near. Even so, you too when you see these things happening, recognize that He is near, right at the door. Truly I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will not pass away, but of that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son but the Father alone.

“‘Take heed, keep on the alert for you do not know when the appointed time will come. It is like a man away on a journey, who upon leaving his house and putting his slaves in charge, assigning to each one his task, also commanded the doorkeeper to stay on the alert. Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know when the master of the house is coming, whether in the evening, at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning in case He could come suddenly and find you asleep. What I say to you, I say to all, be on the alert.’”

This must have been a stunning experience for them to hear these words because it was clear from these words that it was going to be a rather significant amount of time have to pass to fulfill these things. Wars, rumors of wars that were going on all the time, indicate that there were more to come, not a war, or a rumor of wars. Kingdoms against Kingdoms, nations against nations, earthquakes in various places, various kinds of famines, persecution, extensive persecution from the Jews from the Gentiles in families, specific events start in verse 14, the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, the time of the Tribulation, and only after that will come the sign of the return of the Lord Jesus.

So our Lord clarifies the issue of His return and establishing the Kingdom by saying, there will be time that passes, that time will manifest the same disastrous conditions that have been a part of life on this planet since the Fall of man. Wars and disasters and disorders and distress and it will go on for an extended period of time. Believers will be subjected to persecution and even martyrdom. False Christs, false prophets will fill up history with their deception before He comes.

So between the first coming of our Lord and the Second Coming, history will be marked by relentless trouble, trouble that will eventually will escalate in the period of the Tribulation, as it is called here, the final few years of human history in which trouble reaches absolutely epoch proportions.

If you break this passage up, you can break it up a number of ways, the first two verses talk about the destruction of the temple. And then verses 3 through 13, which we’ll look at tonight, talk about present history. And then verses 14 through 23 talk about the future specific Tribulation time. And then from verse 24 on, it speaks of His Second Coming.

So in between the first and Second Coming, life on this planet will be marked by relentless trouble. That general period of time and the trouble that will be part of that period of time is described in verses 5 to 13 in specific and we’ll see that in a moment.

Let me just add a footnote here. This is another evidence of our Lord’s deity because the things that He said would be true are in fact true. He predicted the destruction of the temple in verses 1 and 2 and it was destroyed in 70 A.D. He predicted that not one stone would be on another, and that’s exactly what happened in 70 A.D. and its never been rebuilt. He predicted the nature of life on a corrupt cursed planet, and everything He said is true. And if you want to get all that He said, you put Matthew and Mark and Luke’s account together and you get the full picture of what life is like on this planet. All the things that He said would come to pass, have come to pass and they are very familiar to all of us.

We conclude from that, and this is an important thing to hear, the Bible always perfectly corresponds to reality. When the Bible says something will be a certain way, that is exactly how it will be. It will be what Scripture says it will be, both in general terms as well as in absolutely specific terms. You have a specific event in 70 A.D. that fulfills the words of our Lord and fulfills what the Scripture records. You have the very general description of time between the two comings of Christ that we obviously know is the way life really is. And in the future time of Tribulation, the very specific things mentioned there concerning the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION and the end of that period, the sign in the sky of the return of Jesus Christ, it will all be exactly the way the Scripture says it will be because any examination of history and comparing history with what Scripture says always validates the Scripture.

Let me say it again. The Bible always perfectly corresponds to reality. Whatever the Bible says about creation is in accord with reality. Whatever it says about God is in accord with reality. Whatever it says about man is in accord with reality. Whatever it says about history is the way it really is. And it cannot be denied.

Now as we look at the verses, we’ll start at verse 1 and go down to verse 13, I just want to pull out a few points. First of all, our Lord predicts destruction, verses 1 and 2. As He was going out of the temple, one of His disciples said to Him, ‘Teacher, behold what wonderful stones and what wonderful buildings,’” commenting on the temple where Jesus had been teaching each day that week. “And Jesus said to him, ‘Do you see these great buildings? Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.’”

Now we remember the familiar experience our Lord has in the temple. He basically comes to the temple on Monday after His triumphal entry, He returns to the temple on Tuesday and throws out all the buyers and sellers, all of the robbers that had filled up that place. Then He comes back on Wednesday and occupies that temple for the full day on Wednesday. And for one day in the midst of hundreds of years of history, that place is proclaiming the truth for a change because the truth Himself is holding class in the temple.

The end of the day, He leaves the temple. Heading east, because He was staying with His friends, Mary, Martha and Lazarus, who lived out the east side of the temple gate, the eastern gate, up over the tip of the Mount of Olives to the east, down into the little village of Bethany, a couple of miles away.

So as they leave the temple at the end of the day in the dusk, headed for Bethany, one of the disciples looks, perhaps all of them were looking at the beauty and the wonder of this incredible temple. As I told you this morning, it was overlaid with gold, it was a massive building. It had been being built for literally decades. By the time it was destroyed, it had been under construction for eighty years. It was a massive monument to the architectural brilliance and genius of Herod, as well as to his desire to demonstrate how wealthy he was. Coated with gold and covered with votive offerings of all kinds that demonstrated the rich gifts that had been given to add to the beauty of the building.

In the morning when you came over the top of the Mount of Olives, you couldn’t even look at the building because the morning sun reflected off the gold would blind one. In the evening its glory was only slightly diminished, perhaps the most strikingly beautiful building in the ancient world. They’re impressed. What wonderful stones and what a wonderful set of buildings. But Jesus responds by saying, “Not one stone will be left upon another which will not be torn down.”

You know, the disciples are fully aware of the apostasy of the place. They’re fully aware of the corruption because they know what Jesus has done in there twice…once in the beginning of His ministry in John 2, and once just Tuesday of this week, He did essentially the same thing. They are aware of the corruption of the religious system of Israel. They have been the enemies of Jesus through His whole ministry and therefore they have been the enemies of His followers, His Apostles and His disciples.

There’s an interesting portion of Scripture in Luke 19 that maybe should be noted at this juncture. Luke chapter 19 and verse 40, familiar. Jesus said, “I tell you, if these become silent,” and He’s referring to people who were saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord. Peace in heaven and glory in the highest.” They were hailing Christ. Jesus responds because the Pharisees reacted. The Pharisees in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, rebuke Your disciples, they shouldn’t be saying this. They shouldn’t be hailing You as the King.”

But Jesus answered, “I tell you, if these become silent, the stones will cry out in testimony to Me.” What stones? What stones? The next verse. “When He approached Jerusalem, He saw the city and wept over it.” Then He said in verse 43, “The days will come upon you when your enemies will throw up a barricade against you and surround you, and hem you in on every side and they will level you to the ground and your children within you and they will not leave in you one stone upon another because you didn’t recognize the time of your visitation.” And it’s at that point that He entered the temple on that Tuesday to cleanse it.

What stones would cry out in testimony to Jesus? I’ll tell you. The stones that the temple used to be made of. The stones that would cry out would be the stones lying in rubble, left by the judgment of God. All that beauty that those men saw as they left was a symbol of corrupt apostate religion. The house of Israel, Jesus said, in Matthew 23:38 and 39, is left desolate. The cup of God’s fury is full. It’s all coming down. And in 70 A.D., that’s exactly what happened.

So the first thing He predicts is destruction, destruction of that temple and as we all know, history records that’s precisely what happened.

At that moment, we come to verse 3. They’re reaching now the Mount of Olives and they sit there, opposite the temple…As He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, opposite the temple. They’re still looking at that building. Our Lord is looking with a mixture, holy anger, and sadness because, you remember, I just read that He wept over the city of Jerusalem. He said, “How often I would have gathered you but you would not.” They have a perfect vantage point sitting on the Mount of Olives. If you’re sitting on the Mount of Olives even today and you look directly west, you will see the temple wall, the temple ground. They would have seen the temple itself rising above that eastern wall. As they sit and look, having just heard from the lips of Christ that the whole thing is going to come down, their gaze must have been even intensified. Peter, James, John and Andrew, kind of the inner circle…Peter, James, John and Andrew, two sets of brothers who were part of the more intimate group that were around Jesus, they questioned Him privately. And this is their question, verse 4, “Tell us, when will these things be and what will be the sign when all these things are going to be fulfilled?” They want to know when the end of apostate Judaism is coming, but they also want to know when the establishment of the divine messianic kingdom is coming.

In fact, their question is bigger than the destruction of the temple because in Matthew 24:3 Matthew records that they asked about the coming of the end of the age…the coming of the end of the age. And the sign of the end of the age…and even the word “coming” means presence, parousia. When will there be divine presence, the end of this age, the end of this age, if you will, of apostasy and the fulfillment of all Kingdom promise, how soon will it come? And they’re still asking this question 40 days after the Resurrection because in Acts chapter 1, after 40 days of being instructed by Jesus, they still ask the question…Will You at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel? They think maybe all it was going to be was 40 days of wars, rumors of wars, nation against nation, kingdom against kingdom, earthquakes, famines, etc., etc.

But our Lord gives them in this passage of Scripture the full answer. In fact, this is the longest answer recorded in Scripture to any question asked of our Lord and it’s very important for us to understand the future.

Now just a note at the moment here. Our Lord is clearly pessimistic. There are people who think the world is going to get better. They have a label, they’re called post-millennialists. That view says that the world is going to get better and better and better and go right into the Millennial Kingdom. And Christ will come at the end of the Millennial Kingdom. The Millennial Kingdom will be the product of the efforts of the church and the redeemed in the world. They will produce a better world. They take over the institutions of man and they produce a better world, they produce the Kingdom and they give it to Christ.

Well, I’ll promise you one thing, Jesus was not a post-millennialist. He certainly didn’t believe things were going to get better and better and better. This is a long pessimistic look at history. He doesn’t say when. In fact, He says, “No one knows, not even the Son of Man, only the Father.” But He does define the nature of human experience while history waits for His return. While history is waiting for Him to come back, there will be a barrage of false Christs, false Messiahs, false teachers, false prophets, wars, disasters, persecution, all through human history and getting worse and worse and worse. And at the end, the explosion of these kinds of things will reach epoch proportions that are described in Revelation 6 through 19 in a seven-year period called a time of Tribulation. Even the latter half of that is a time of Great Tribulation, the last three and a half years being the worst of all.

These prophecies do not describe 70 A.D. That’s impossible. And yet there are people called Preterists who say that everything that our Lord predicted here came to pass in 70 A.D., or by 70 A.D. That is an impossible interpretation, to be sure. And there’s no need for that You can take Scripture at face value.

And by the way, this fits in to an essential understanding of the deity of our Lord, it validates His deity by being absolutely accurate. Another thing to say is the Second Coming is not an optional doctrine. The Second Coming is not a doctrine to be amused by. It is not a doctrine in which you have the freedom to take any view you want. The Lord said something, not everything. I know it’s popular today to change views on the Second Coming. There’s only one biblical view and there’s only one accurate understanding of the Second Coming and that is the understanding of the Second Coming that is yielded by a historical, grammatical, contextual explanation, the meaning of the text…by the same rules you interpret everything else. I covered a lot of that in the book that I wrote called The Second Coming. The church lives in anticipation of Christ’s return. The things that have been indicated here are happening now through all of human history, we aren’t yet at the ABOMINATION OF DESOLATION, the time of the Tribulation, the time of the Great Tribulation, or the return of Jesus Christ. It is impossible to stuff these things in to the event of 70 A.D. or any other event in the past.

So the Lord then begins with the immediate destruction of the temple, and He was absolutely accurate about that, as all Scripture is obviously, absolutely accurate.

The second thing He talks about as He discusses this period of time is that it will be marked by deception. The first thing is destruction of the temple and then deception, this being a general reality. Between the time He leaves and the time He returns, the world will be subjected to relentless deception by spiritual frauds. Verse 5, “Jesus said…this is the beginning of His response, ‘See to it that no one misleads you.’”

To start with, when you begin to examine the future, make sure you don’t get connected to people who are misinforming you. If you want a name, stay away from Nostradamus and the Ilk that follow that particular genre. Don’t follow deceivers, there will be many. The latest in the moment in which we live is Harold Camping(?) of Family Radio who has now established another date for the coming of Christ. He already established one and that was wrong. Now he’s at it again. False teachers, false prophets, false Christs will fill up the centuries and they will make false prophecies about all kinds of things, do not be deceived. Do not be misled. How do you avoid being misled? By staying true to the Scripture.

Now these people who come along who want to convince you, some of them are even going to be so bold as to acknowledge themselves as Christ. Verse 6, “Many will come in My name saying, ‘I am He,’” and mislead many. There will be Christ figures, the bizarre kind like Charles Manson and the People’s Temple leader, Jones, are simply illustrations of the myriad of these false Christs, these people who claim to be Jesus. They will continue to deceive. They will all have followers who will follow them in many cases to death.

Go over to verse 22. You heard me read this, “False Christs, false prophets will arise, show signs and wonders in order to lead astray, if possible, the elect.” They can’t lead the elect astray but they will lead those who are not true believers to follow them.

I want to just talk about that for a moment, in a way that perhaps will be interesting to you. There are always false prophets, always false teachers, we know that, always people who claim to be Jesus, claim to be Jesus Christ, some more notable than others. But as you get to the end of human history and you get in to the period of time called the Tribulation, there is a specific fulfillment of this prophecy that I want you to understand, and it has to do with Islam.

Most people think of Islam as an utterly distinct religion from Christianity, with no connection to Christianity. We would think if someone is a Muslim, they have absolutely no connection to Christianity. And there are many religions that have no connection to Christianity, Hinduism has no connection to Christianity, Buddhism has no connection to Christianity, many others have no connection. It’s amazing how many do connect because Satan wants to counterfeit and deceive and get as close to the truth as he can.

There are actually confessed evangelical people who think that. Muslims not only believe in God because they are monotheist, believing in one God, but who think that Muslims are okay because they actually believe in Jesus. And by the way, they do. Brian McClaren an Emerging Church heretic writer in his book The Secret Message of Jesus says, and I quote, “All Muslims regard Jesus as a great prophet. A shared reappraisal of Jesus’ message could provide a common ground for urgently needed religious dialogue. This reappraisal of Jesus may be our own way of saving a number of religions, including Christianity,” end quote.

So if we want to save Christianity and save other religions, we need to all get together and that should be easy for us to do because we can start with the Muslims because they already believe in Jesus. A popular speaker and author, Tony Campolo, says, quote: “When we listen to the Muslim mystics as they talk about Jesus and their love for Jesus, I must say it’s a lot closer to New Testament Christianity than a lot of Christians.” Really! So you think that the Muslim Jesus is the same Jesus?

I can help you with that because they describe Jesus. The Muslim Jesus plays a crucial role in Islamic eschatology. Now you do know that the Muslims have an eschatology. In other words they have a theology of the end. They know where they’re going, according to their writings. They know where they’re going.

Let me describe the Muslim Jesus to you. This is out of their own writings, the Koran and the Sunnah. The Koran is supposedly the word of Allah, actually the word of Satan, but they think it’s the word of Allah. The Sunnah…the Sunnah are the words of and the works of Mohammed. The Koran then constitutes their holy Scripture and the Sunnah, sometimes called the Hadith constitutes their holy tradition. Their theology comes out of the Koran and the Sunnah, just as Roman Catholic theology comes out of the Bible and Tradition, or Judaism comes out of the Old Testament and rabbinic tradition…the Muslims have two sources of authoritative truth.

In their system they have Jesus. Jesus was a man, he was not God. He did not die, he went to heaven like Elijah. He did not die, therefore he did not rise. He did not rise, therefore he did not provide an atonement for anyone because no one can provide an atonement for anyone else. He is a man. He is a prophet. He is nothing more. He went to heaven like Elijah. And he’s in heaven right now, standing alongside Allah, waiting for Allah to send him back. In their system, this man, this prophet Jesus who is now in heaven, never having died, plays a key role in the end times because he will return from heaven without dying, he will come back when Allah sends him back.

Now the question to ask, is why would Allah want to send Jesus back? He has a lot of prophets to pick from, why does he send Jesus back?

Answer…so that when he shows up he can correct all the Christians who have misunderstood who he is. The sources for this, again, are the Koran and the Sunnah. The great event of the coming of Christ, or coming of Jesus, is so that this prophet, this man who comes back can straighten out the misdirected, misguided, misconceiving Christians who think He was God who died and rose again and provided atonement…he’ll come back and straighten it out. And by the way, after he gets here, he’ll get married, have children and die and be buried next to Mohammed. That’s the Muslim Jesus.

In Islamic eschatology, there are three great signs of the end of history…three great signs. There are some lesser signs, or some minor signs, or some major signs. In their eschatology, again quoting their sources exclusively, there are three great signs of the end of history. And each of them is a man. Let me tell you about those three men.

First of all, the first man that will come in the end of history is the Mahdi…M-a-h-d-i. Sometimes he’s called the Twelfth Imam. Every time Ahmajinedad over in Iran gives a speech, he gives glory to the Mahdi, glory to the Twelfth Imam, every time. He’s waiting for the coming of the Mahdi.

What is he coming to do? He’s coming, listen carefully, to slaughter all who will not worship Allah, convert to Islam. They are identified in their writings as pigs and dogs. And to establish the everlasting world dominating kingdom of Islam. That’s what he will do.

The Mahdi, or the Twelfth Imam, that means the guided one, is the long-awaited savior. He is the establisher of the final Caliphate. The world must follow him as he takes over or he will destroy all enemies of Islam. He will come and he will carry on holy war and either you convert or you’re killed by the Mahdi. He will have an army. His army will be a massive army and his army will go from nation to nation to punish the unbelievers. The holy writings of Islam say that this army will carry black flags. And on those black flags there will be one word and that one word will be the word Punishment. By the way, the Iranian army today carries black flags. They want to be ready for the coming of the Mahdi.

He will lead the army of black flags first to Israel, slaughter all the Jews, and then he will establish his rule in Jerusalem on the temple mount. That’s what their literature says. Slaughter the Jews, establish his rule on the temple mount.

According to their holy writings, the Mahdi will bring rain and wind and crops and wealth and happiness so that all will love him and no one will speak of anyone but him. Their writings say the Mahdi will come and make, at first, a peace agreement with the Jews and the west for seven years. The reign of Mahdi will last seven years in which he establishes Islam on the earth.

Their holy writings say this, the Mahdi will come riding on a white horse, and it even says in their writings, “As it says in Revelation 6:1 and 2. Saddam Hussein, by the way, painted murals of this Mahdi on a white horse all over Baghdad. And he comes carrying a sword to kill the infidels.

When the Mahdi arrives, he will discover hidden scriptures, he will discover them, interestingly enough, somewhere near the Sea of Galilee and there will be there hidden scriptures, hidden gospels and a hidden Torah and they will be the true scriptures which will be used by the Mahdi to show the Jews and the Christians they were wrong, that their scriptures were the false scriptures.

Let me summarize. The Mahdi will be a messianic figure. He will be a descendant of Mohammed. He will be an unparalleled, unequaled leader. He will come out of a crisis of turmoil. He will take control of the world. He will establish a new world order. He will destroy all who resist him. He will invade many nations. He will make a seven-year peace treaty with the Jews. He will conquer Israel and massacre the Jews. He will establish Islamic world headquarters at Jerusalem. He will rule for seven years, establish Islam as the only religion. He will come on a white horse with supernatural power. He will be loved by all people on earth.

If that sounds familiar, that is a precise description of the biblical Antichrist…absolutely step-by-step-by-step-by-step. The Bible’s Antichrist is their Mahdi. We know that the rider on the white horse in Revelation 6 is the Antichrist. They use that verse to describe their Mahdi.

Why am I giving you all this? Because the description of the Mahdi is exactly the description of the biblical Antichrist, the beast of Revelation 13, and you go into any kind of a study of that and you will find that all the details match up perfectly. The Bible’s Antichrist is Islam’s Savior and world conqueror who establishes a universal Islamic kingdom.

And there’s a second sign, a second person, and it is Jesus. The Mahdi is not Jesus. The Mahdi is greater than Jesus, and that’s important to their system because if you have somebody greater than Jesus then the Christians were wrong. So Jesus will return. Yes, Muslims believe that Jesus will come again. They believe in the return of Jesus, not the true Jesus, the Jesus of Islam, not God, didn’t die, didn’t rise, didn’t provide a sacrifice for sin, but he does return. He’s a prophet and he comes back and he has one purpose when he comes back and that is to assist and aid the Mahdi. He returns, listen to this, as a radical Muslim. He comes back as a radical Muslim. He will arrive, by the way, at a minaret near Damascus. And he will come back holding the wings of two angels who flew him down to meet the gathering army of the Mahdi in the east, the army of the black flags.

Jesus when he comes back will pray to the Mahdi who is greater than he. He will acknowledge the Mahdi as his lord. He will make a pilgrimage to Mecca. He will worship Allah and thus he will lead all Christians who will follow him to reject their notion of Jesus and accept the real Jesus who is nothing but a prophet and a man. He will establish worldwide Sharia law. He will become the greatest Muslim evangelist and he will be the final witness on the day of judgment against non-Muslims. Christians everywhere will affirm that they were wrong, that the gospel is wrong, the New Testament is wrong, He didn’t die, He didn’t rise, He isn’t God, He isn’t the Son of God. He Himself will come back and point out how wrong we’ve been. He will correct all misinterpretations and all misrepresentations.

Let me quote what their literature says. “He will shatter crosses.” That’s metaphoric for the destruction of the church, a symbol of Christianity being placed in the church. He will kill pigs. He will abolish the tax on non-Muslims because there won’t be any living non-Muslims, can’t tax dead people. And then he will do one more thing. He will kill the Islamic Antichrist. He will kill the Islamic Antichrist. Then he will die and be buried by Mohammed, but not until he has destroyed Christianity by revealing who he really is.

Who is this? You compare what he does to the false prophet in the book of Revelation, chapter 13, 16, 19, 20 refer to the beast coming out of the earth, the false prophet, who aids and abets the Antichrist. He is as the Mahdi is the exact replica of the Antichrist, the Jesus prophet in Islam is the exact parallel to the false prophet who aids and abets the Antichrist. One of their writings says he espouses the cause of the Mahdi. He is the Mahdi’s executioner. He is the Mahdi’s enforcer. He is the Mahdi’s prophet. And it is he who kills the Antichrist.

That leads me to the third person. The Antichrist will show up. The Muslims call him Dajjal, he is the great deceiver. He comes to earth on a mule and he’s blind in one eye. He is an infidel. He is a false miracle worker, this Antichrist, this Islamic Antichrist. But you know who he claims to be? He claims to be Jesus, the son of God. He claims to be deity. He will attempt to stop the Mahdi and the true Jesus but the true Jesus will slaughter him.

This is their view of the true Christ. Our Jesus is their Antichrist. Our Antichrist is their redeemer. It is a satanic counterfeit that is in complete reverse. The army…this is a quote… “The army of Satan will be led by a person who will claim to be Jesus Christ.” There will be a battle. The Muslim Jesus will fight the false Jesus and kill him and establish Islam forever. The truth is, the true Jesus will destroy the Antichrist and the false prophet and establish His Kingdom forever. This is Satan’s complete counterfeit, Muslim world domination.

Now somebody might say, “Well, when you think about the future and what’s going to happen in the world, don’t we have a revived Roman Empire? Doesn’t that mean the west? You remember that the image in Daniel 2 of the final world empire had two legs and the Roman Empire had the west and the east? You know, of course, if you know history that the western part of the Roman Empire basically dissolved and the east survived for a thousand years or more so that at the time of the New Testament, sixty percent of the Roman Empire was land that is now under Muslim control…at least 60 percent. The vast majority of the Roman Empire in New Testament times is today under Muslim control and Islam is moving across the west rapidly in Europe, isn’t it?

When you have a picture in Ezekiel 38, you have a picture of the Antichrist, Gog and you have the listing of eight nations, that will be a coalition for the Antichrist. All eight of those are Muslim nations, all eight of them. And they ring the Mediterranean to Libya.

In Revelation 17:9 to 11 it says there were six kingdoms and then a seventh and finally an eighth. What is the seventh? Well there’s been a discussion about that, it well could be the Ottoman Turk Empire which lasted five hundred years and didn’t really fall until the modern era. The Turkish Empire was the last Caliphate which ended in 1923 and they’re waiting for the restoration when the Mahdi comes.

So right at the very end somebody is going to say, “I’m Jesus.” Somebody else is going to say, “I’m Jesus.” Who you going to believe? That’s just one form of this deception that will show up at the end, and even now it’s deceiving people. There are a whole world of Muslims who think Jesus is someone He is not and consequently reject the true Jesus. Do not be deceived. There’s a world of Muslims deceived about the person of Jesus Christ. You cannot accommodate that by saying, “Isn’t that wonderful, they love Jesus.” They don’t. Any other Jesus than the true Jesus is not Jesus. And if you worship any other than the true Jesus, you are cursed.

So destruction and deception. Maybe just a few minutes on disaster, verses 7 and 8. This is so obvious. The third aspect of looking at the future, when you hear of wars and rumors of wars, do not be frightened, those things must take place, but that is not yet the end. For nation will rise up against nation and kingdom against kingdom.

This is human history. Wars, hot and cold wars between nations and kingdoms have been a reality through every year of history. And we’re not getting any better. We’re not really evolving too well, are we? Our Lord accurately foresaw the world would never know peace, never…never improve morally, never improve socially, never improve spiritually that it would rather devolve and devolve and devolve into worse and worse condition. By the way, as many as ninety-five percent of societies throughout history have engaged in war. It’s ubiquitous. And as technology increases, so does killing power. And it’s amazing to read the theories of why people make war. I won’t explain them, I’ll just list a few of them that I found. There’s the Marxist theory which has to do with economic inequality. There’s the evolutionary theory which has to do with the survival of the fittest. There’s behavioral theory that there’s some people who have an inherent violent bend. There’s the demographic theory, the Malthusian theory it’s called of expanding population that leads to conflict. There’s the rationalistic theory, having to do with information asymmetry, some people just don’t have enough information. Then there’s the political science theory, a quest for security, and on and on and on. And we know that James says you war because you lust and because you hate.

Since 1985 up until recently, almost a half a million people have died every year in war. In World War II seventy-two million people died. In 755, let’s go back to 755 to 763, a period of time, the great war in China, thirty-six million people died. In the Mongol Conquest in the thirteenth century, thirty to sixty million, twenty million in World War I and so it goes. And that is human history and it’s not changing. It will escalate. Wait till we get to Revelation 6, 9, 16, and you see the wars at the end, massive death will take place, massive death.

And not only war in this category of disasters, there will be earthquakes in various places. There will also be famines. Luke’s account says great earthquakes, seismos megalos, mega quakes, like the 9-point quake 80 miles off the shore of Japan. Through history, millions and millions, countless millions have died in earthquakes. I read this week that there are one-half million earthquakes a year every year. You are on a shaky place. A hundred thousand of them are felt. But half a million register on Richter scales.

Luke 21 also adds there will be plagues, terrors and great signs from heaven. You want plagues, how about the black death, 1300’s in Europe, carried by rats, killed 60 percent of the population of Europe in excess of a hundred million people. How about 40 million plus in the great influenza, the early twentieth century. Great signs from heaven, terrors, fires, diseases, heat, cold, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought. It’s a dangerous place. And the worst is yet to come. Revelation 6 and Revelation 8, our Lord says, “Those things…in verse 7…must take place but that’s not yet the end.” It’s the nature of living in a cursed planet. It’s not yet the end. In fact, if you will look at the end of verse 8 it says they’re merely the beginning of birth pangs. That’s an analogy of a woman’s contractions. They are separated, they are mild, and they intensify and intensify and intensify to a great degree just before birth. What we’re seeing in human history is just the beginning, is just the mild contractions. Wait till you see what’s going to happen just before the very end.

Two thousand years of these milder contractions will explode in the end, in the time of Tribulation described starting in verse 14 and more in detail in Revelation 6 through 19. Amazing predictions by our Lord…destruction, deception, disaster. A fourth, distress…distress. From conditions that effect the whole world, our Lord turns to conditions that effect believers. This, I’m sure, the disciples didn’t want to hear. Verse 9, “Be on your guard, for they will deliver you to the courts. You will be flogged ,” and so he goes. Be on your guard. A shock to their senses. It’s not going to get better, it’s going to get worse. This isn’t what they expected with the arrival of Messiah, it’s not what they wanted. Persecution, distress to the believers.

Well, that’s not new. He told them this was going to happen back in chapter 10. “I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves. But beware of men for they will hand you over to the courts, scourge you in the synagogues.” That was way back at the beginning of their time as disciples. But I think they probably thought, “Oh, we’ll we’ve already suffered that. Yeah, we’ve already faced the hostility of the Jews.” We’ve already seen their hatred and animosity, even though there is no record in the ministry of Jesus that they were ever hauled into court and scourged and flogged. Maybe they thought that was metaphoric talk and that was all past.

Not so, the next night, Thursday night when they gather in the Upper Room, our Lord is going to tell them for sure in case they were wondering that this is definitely still future. If the world hates you, John 15:18, you know it hated Me before you. A slave is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. And then He says in chapter 16 verse 2, this is on Thursday evening in the Upper Room, “They’ll make outcasts from the synagogues of you. They will kill you thinking they are offering service to God.

You haven’t yet experienced this. You will experience it and as 2 Timothy 3:12 says, “All who live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,” it will be worse and worse, it will escalate. Specifically they will deliver you to the courts and you’ll be flogged in the synagogue. That’s Jewish persecution. The courts of Israel were in synagogues. Courts were held in synagogues, cases were tried in synagogues by local appointed judges and scourgings were decreed in synagogues. And they were carried out and executed there. Never more than 40 lashes. That was the maximum, 40 lashes and they always gave 39 because they didn’t want to miscount and go over the limit. That’s why Paul says, “Five times I received 39 lashes from the Jews.” He was hauled in to synagogues. He was accused of blasphemy and he was beaten.

But persecution will not only come from the Jews, and by the way, the book of Acts will give you the story of this, Acts 4, 5 , 8, 12, 13, 21, 22, 25, 26, you’ll have in all those chapters in the book of Acts, the record of Jewish persecution. But it won’t only be Jewish execution, he tells them…go back to Mark…it will be Gentile persecution. The middle of verse 9, “You will stand before governors and kings for My sake as a testimony to them.” Acts records that as well. Gentile persecution in chapter 16, 17, 18, 21, 24, 25 and 26 as well. So it will come at you from the Jews, come at you from the Gentiles.

By the way, when you get to Revelation 6, 7, 13, 17, 18, you see the worst persecution just before the Lord comes. The big picture is, false religion has massacred Christians and it’s doing it right now as we speak in this modern world. Why do they do this? They do this because they hate Christ. That’s why they do it. They resent Christ. They do it for My sake, verse 9, for My sake, because of Me. As Paul said, “I bear in my body the marks of Christ.” Or as He said to the Colossians, “I fill up in my flesh the sufferings of Christ.”

It’s a serious thing. They’re thinking the Kingdom and He’s telling them it’s not what you think…it’s not what you think. But in the midst of all of it, this is so wonderful, in the midst of all of it, you will give a testimony to them because all that persecution will not break your faith, all that suffering will not cause you to deny your Christ. In the midst of all that suffering, grace will abound to you. Where there is this kind of persecution, where there is this kind of suffering, grace abounds. Second Corinthians 12 tells us that. The Lord gives us whatever grace we need, doesn’t allow us to be tempted above we are able. It gives us a way of escape. And what will happen is, you will in the midst of that suffering give a testimony. We have a record of that, don’t we? Foxes Little Book of Martyrs. I have three original volumes in there and they’re this big….the record of all the people who gave testimony to the honor of Christ in the midst of facing death.

And with that warning comes a promise. The gospel must first be preached to all the nations. In spite of the hatred, the gospel is going to go to the ends of the world. They will not stamp it out. In fact, we always say the blood of the martyrs becomes a seat of the church. In Acts 1:80 He said, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel.” Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, the ends of the earth, be My witnesses.

We are two thousand years after that and the gospel has for all intents and purposes covered the world, hasn’t it? It’s covered the world. Two thousand years later it has spread to the ends of the globe. Just what Jesus said. You can’t kill it. Just imagine this. He’s sitting there with these twelve men, one of whom was going to betray Him in a few hours. That little group of nobodies and Jesus says, “From you the gospel will cover the globe.” What a prophecy that has come to pass.

Matthew 24:14 then adds, “Then shall the end come.” Persecution, yes. But in spite of that persecution, the promise that the gospel will cover the globe and then a personal promise in verse 11, “And when they arrest you, and when they hand you over, don’t worry beforehand about what you are to say, but say whatever is given you in that hour for it is not you who speak but it is the Holy Spirit.” Isn’t that a wonderful promise? Sometimes you read about the martyrs singing hymns, giving testimony to Christ. I’ve spent years and years and years reading those testimonies and the power of the Holy Spirit would come upon them and they would utter things that in the human moment were just way beyond human strength and power. This is comfort.

So they get a promise and a comfort. None of your opponents, Luke 21:15 says, “None of your opponents will be able to refute it. Your testimony will be so powerful.” That’s what happened. Virtually all of the Apostles were martyred. The last of them, John, ended up in exile, a kind of permanent martyrdom. They were killed in a myriad of different ways, beheaded., crucified. That didn’t stop the spread. And in the moment of their death, as with all true believers through history in the midst of persecution, the Spirit of God was there to lift them above human strength to say things that were basically generated out of their hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit.

In verse 12 Jesus says, “Not only will you be persecuted by the Jews and persecuted by the Gentiles, you’ll be persecuted in your own family. Brother will betray brother to death. And a father his child and children will rise up against parents and have them put to death.

I just can’t imagine how hard it was for them to hear this. They had so much hope. Oh there are people who say, “Well, Jesus came, made a good effort, and miserable failure.” Huh, He predicted exactly the way history would go, exactly the way it would go. There would be literally animosity in a family.

Go back to Matthew 10, it’s all in Matthew 10, it’s in Matthew 14. How many times do you remember Jesus saying you have to hate your father, hate your mother, your sister, your brother, even your own life to be My disciple? This is reality. And again I say, reality corresponds to Scripture. Jesus was correct about the destruction of the temple. He was correct about endless deception, escalating at the end so you have Jesus here and Jesus there. He was correct about disasters of all proportions escalating. He was correct about the distress of persecution and martyrdom and about the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth. He must be God. Only God knows that.

And then one final statement. Verse 13, “You’ll be hated by all because of My name.” It will be because of Me. “But the one who endures to the end will be saved. The one who endures to the end will be saved.” What do you mean saved? Taken to glory. Taken to heaven. What do you mean the one who endures to the end? How can we survive? How can we handle this? How can we handle Jewish persecution, Gentile persecution, family hatred, family persecution, family execution? How can we handle it?

Well the truth is, the one who endures to the end, he will be saved. And what are we learning from that? That false Christians will not be able to handle it. By your endurance, Luke 21:19, you will gain your lives. You don’t earn salvation by endurance. You prove you have the real thing by endurance. Superficial faith will collapse under persecution. “They went out from us because they were not of us,” 1 John 2:19. This is basic gospel truth, authentic, God-given faith will endure because the Holy Spirit will provide strength, God will provide grace. Trouble, deception, persecution, suffering will burn up the chaff, it will reveal the shallow, weedy, rocky ground of false profession. And under these kinds of pressures, superficial interest in Christ will have no endurance. And so I say again, we don’t earn our salvation by enduring, we don’t keep our salvation by gritting our teeth and enduring. We demonstrate our salvation by enduring. We have a salvation that’s a gift of grace. It’s authenticated in the midst of suffering.

James, “Count it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance.” True faith is strengthened to endure.

Peter, 1 Peter 1, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead to obtain an inheritance imperishable, undefiled, will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power of God through faith, for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.” Then this, “In this you greatly rejoice, even though now for a little while if necessary you have been distressed by various trials so that the proof of your faith being more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

The testing of your faith produces endurance. The testing of your faith proves to you that it’s the real thing.

So our Lord gives warning, promise, comfort and even heavenly hope in the face of the way history inevitably must go. That covers all of history until the time of the Tribulation triggered by the event of verse 14, which we’ll look at next Sunday.

Father, we thank You for the wonderful time we’ve had tonight in Your Word. It stretches us, it expands our understanding and our thinking, and it challenges us. It draws us into Your Word to know more and to understand more. How we hunger to know that we might know You and that we might understand the world the way the world really is. Thank You for the reality of Your Word, the truthfulness of Your Word that gives us an accurate understanding of everything that’s going on around us. It is a dangerous place to live, even though there are marks of Your benevolence and Your common grace all around us. It is a dangerous place to live. And we need to be sure that we have been rescued from that danger ultimately by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Whatever might come, be it war or earthquake or famine, or fire, or flood, or persecution, or whatever may come, we know that we who have that faith which is a gift from You, the real thing, will endure to the end and enter in to Your glory. That ultimate promise secures us in the midst of everything.

We thank You for that as a gift of grace we acknowledge that we cannot earn it, we can do nothing to keep it, it is You who grant it and You who sustain it. We thank You for that. May we be faithful to so live that we would bring honor and make a testimony such as the martyrs through history have made to Your glory in the face of every difficulty. Be honored in every life, we pray. These things we ask for the glory of our Savior. Amen.

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Luke 18:8”
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