Archive for June, 2015
Technocracy to Tribulation
Technocracy to Tribulation highlights many things that have been happening in society that have been moving the world toward the Battle of Armageddon. Satan has deftly used the world’s resources and leaders to bring about a one world system that comprises politics, economy, social mores, and all the rest. God will even give Satan a very large helping hand when He (God) pours out a delusion over the earth that will cause people to believe Satan’s lies wholeheartedly (2 Thessalonians 2:11). While it may seem unfair that God is helping Satan out, God only sends the delusion because people have consistently rejected God’s truth. God doesn’t send the delusion willingly, but only because this is what the world actually wants (Psalm 2).
Who or What is the Restrainer that Paul Speaks of? Part 3
The mere fact that Christians live on this earth goes much further in keeping God’s judgment at bay than the fact that righteous Lot lived in Sodom and Gomorrah. In spite of how evil this world is becoming (and will become), the fact of the Church’s presence acts as a wall of sorts that keeps evil in check. It is not the Church itself that has that power, but the Holy Spirit who resides within the Church. It is He who stands up to Satan and even though Christians are persecuted and even martyred for their faith almost daily throughout the world, this does not mean that the Holy Spirit is somehow weak or losing His grip. The Holy Spirit – through the Church – restrains evil, keeping the world from what it will one day become.
Who or What is the Restrainer that Paul Speaks of? Part 2
Paul implies that the Thessalonian readers already knew who the restrainer was because Paul had already told them (“you know what restrains him”). With reference to evil – the lawless one, defined also as the “mystery of lawlessness” – that is defined with a personal pronoun as well. Evil resides in Satan. He is thoroughly evil and one day, he will have a “spiritual” son who will do his bidding. That son will be the Antichrist and he will be completely indwelt by Satan. In fact, this “indwelling” will mimic the way the Holy Spirit indwells each believer.
Who or What is the Restrainer that Paul Speaks of? Part 1
How does one come away from a verse like that and determine that it was not God Himself who restrained Satan? It can only be done through exceedingly poor and sloppy exegesis of His Word. God spoke a warning to Satan, telling him he could do anything he wanted to Job except touch him on his person. Later, we know that God modified this to allow Satan to do what he wanted with Job except take his life. Why did Satan obey? Because it was God who gave him his marching orders, not some impersonal barrier or “restraint” that has no mind or power of its own. The restraint was literally God’s Word, which is God Himself (John 1:1).
An Event That Will Shatter World Equilibrium
It is the Rapture that is expectantly waited on by the powers of darkness. They know that once it occurs, the Holy Spirit will no longer have the invisible Church through which to work, to convict the world of sin and to call them to righteousness. At that point, Satan and his minions will have far greater leeway to work. They will not hesitate to use every dark art to their advantage as they race toward the culmination of human history in Armageddon. Satan actually believes he has a chance of “besting” God, but we know that Satan (via Antichrist) will be destroyed by a word from the mouth of our returning Jesus, during His Second Advent (2 Thessalonians 2:8).
Pope Francis Equates Bible to Qur’an; Christianity to Islam
PLEASE NOTE: It has come to our attention that we used a spoof site – the National Review – as the source of this article. We nearly made a similar mistake with another article a while back, but caught our mistake in time.
Not to excuse our mistake, but with so much out there about how this particular Pope has been moving toward Islam, even recently praying in a Turkish mosque, it gives one reason to pause.
That said, we should have checked our sources more carefully and we appreciate a reader bringing this to our attention. We will be removing this article soon.
Salvation is By Faith; Rewards Gained are by Faith AND Effort
If that is the case, then the thief on the cross was blessed indeed because he never had the opportunity to “lose” his salvation once given (Luke 23) by living longer than that particular day on which he was granted salvation. But what kind of tragic cruelty is this? That God, who grants salvation based on the recipient’s faith in Him, will remove that salvation once a person’s faith wanes? I hear people state that they hope to be found faithful. The entirety of their salvation rests on this wish of theirs. They say they won’t know until they die. The Bible grants us confirmation of our salvation, yet to hear some tell it, we are reliant upon the Ancient Egyptian form of religions where our deeds – good and bad – are weighed and that determines whether or not we were able to keep our salvation! This is absurd. Our deeds – both good and bad – are “weighed” to determine what, if any rewards will be ours, not whether or not we will keep or maintain our salvation. That is God’s department. Read about this in 1 Corinthians 3:10-15 where the believer’s works are judged. The outcome determines what we gain or lose in the next life with respect to rewards and privileges, not whether or not we continue to have salvation.
Christian Suffering to Gain Rewards and Benefits?
More than once the apostle Paul speaks about suffering for Christ. In fact, he actually seemed to relish the idea because it would allow him to share in Christ’s sufferings, not as being equal to Messiah – there is only ONE Messiah/Savior – but as a true believer who wants to be able to fully identify with his Master as much as possible.
Believing Faith vs. Evil, Unbelieving Heart for the Christian
However, based on my previous articles connected somewhat to this article, I fully believe that true Christians can have small to huge issues with unbelief. Having said that, I want to be sure that people know I fully believe the Bible teaches eternal security. I do not believe, like some, that our salvation can be lost. I appreciate the earnestness of those who believe such a position and their desire to prove their love and loyalty to the Lord, but for me, the true reality is that salvation is totally God’s department. He calls, He saves, He secures, He seals, He guards, He will bring those who trust Him for salvation into eternity. He will also judge all believers regarding their works and folks, if you learned one thing from my previous series on salvation, it is this: the works that we do here and now are based on belief or unbelief in God, period.
Yes, Christians CAN Fall Away from God…
When we choose to disbelieve God, we do so because we have chosen to believe something else. This stems from an evil heart, a heart that is extremely difficult to know and understand (cf. Jeremiah 17:9). It’s not “backsliding” as if we simply lost our footing while trying to climb up a metal slide. It is giving way to an evil, unbelieving heart! Maybe if we were willing to call it what it is, we would be more willing to humble ourselves and acknowledge that we are capable of doing what Moses did, what David did, what Peter did and what others have done.
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