THE ANTI-CHRIST IS A MASTER DECEIVER

by Pastor Joseph Chambers

There has never been a deceiver more subtle than the Antichrist. He is "right now" preparing our world for the greatest deception in human history. The church world that the misses the Rapture will actually take Satan's mark and believe it is of God.

 

The Antichrist will convince a multitude that he is the true Christ and they will happily take his mark. The mark will be a badge of honor to those that sell him their souls. The  church world is probably 95% lost at this time and going in the direction of an even greater deception.

 

The mark of the Antichrist has more to do with his "nature" than the tattoo he will demand on your forehead or right hand. The Bible clearly identifies five aspects of the Antichrist that will deceive the world and cause an incredible multitude to be eternally damned. Many are concerned about his "MARK 666" but never give a thought to his nature.

 

Notice how the Bible clearly warns us of this truth. As John watches he sees "... the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, if any man worship the beast and his image, and receive his mark in his forehead, or in his hand... And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name" (Revelation 14:9, 11).

 

In both verses, we are warned that men will follow him in worship and receive his mark. There is no question but that our world is experiencing a deluge of the nature of this future beast. This article has one goal of helping you identify his nature. When the Rapture occurs, the world left behind will have already been prepared for his "MARK".

 

HIS NATURE IS THE PRELUDE TO HIS MARK OR TATTOO. We call his nature that is gripping our world, "THE SPIRIT OF THE ANTICHRIST."

 

The Scripture says, "... this is that spirit of Antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world" (1 John 4:3).

 

We must recognize the spirit of this beast that is preparing our world for his mark. There are millions that have so surrendered to the nature that it will make no difference when they take the mark. The mark cannot be received until the man of sin, the beast himself, is revealed, but the nature and his worship can be experienced already. Let's try to identify his nature to the best of our understanding of truth

 

Revelation 13:11-13: "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men."

 

The FIRST expression of his nature is to dilute the Bible so that truth becomes relative instead of authoritative. Almost the entire church world has bought into the new Bible versions that shatter the infallible source of His glorious truth. This is clearly Satan's design. The devil does not want to destroy the Bible, that would cause a revolution; he wants to create a spirit of denial of numerous parts of the Scripture.

 

The Antichrist does not need for you to reject the entire Bible, just a small part of it. You will be just as eternally lost by turning away from some Scripture that you call cultural, outdated, or some other adjective as if you rejected the whole. This nature of the beast is on a binge to get you questioning God's absolute Truth.

 

SECOND: The beast nature is to destroy the beautiful sense of our sacred temple of the human body. The body or the temple of every living person is a sacred creation intended to be the temple of His Holy Spirit.

 

"If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are" (1 Corinthians 3:17).

 

The appearance, the dress, the morality, the language and the treatment of your body as a holy temple is a biblical requirement; and you cannot serve God if you treat this truth lightly.

 

"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols?

 

For ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you." (1 Corinthians 6:4-17).

 

"Meats for the belly, and the belly for meats: but God shall destroy both it and them. Now the body is not for fornication, but for the Lord; and the Lord for the body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?" (1 Corinthians 6:13, 19).

 

The church world has rejected the beauty of a godly life lived so tenderly that the temple/body is filled with His glory and power and looks like a light from His transforming grace. The world cannot see inside the temple, they can only see the outside reflection.

 

2  John:9-11: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds."

 

THIRD: The Antichrist nature is to deny all of the laws of God, and His commandments. The new religious philosophy says, "Free as a breeze to do as you please." It is from the enemy of truth, the beast. I call this "religious philosophy" because it surely is not "religious theology." It's the nature of the beast.

 

The Bible says, "And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him" (1 John 2:3-4).

 

Those words are utterly rejected by most of the church world because of the spirit of the Antichrist. This Antichrist spirit wants everyone free of any restrictions because restrictions are how we discern right from wrong, good from bad and darkness from light.

 

FOURTH: His nature is to promote biblical knowledge without a Biblical experience. Our world is full of religious people that know a lot about the Bible but have no experience with the person of Jesus Christ. Religious colleges and universities are abounding. Religious books line the walls of religious bookstores and all types of communication methods are flooded with religious teachings.

 

All of this is empty until the soul has a transforming experience of being born again - a radical change - and surrenders to a cross-bearing life with Jesus Christ. Satan and his beast love religion, but they are terrified by the Holy Spirit's transformed relationship with the Lord of the church. Satan and his angels have never ceased to be religious. The Beast that gives life to the image has a nature of false religion.

 

"And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon" (Revelation 13:11).

 

"Horns on a lamb" is the exact opposite of the Lamb of God.

 

The FIFTH nature of the new beast and his new religion is righteousness without godliness. Righteousness is imputed; it is the work of grace; and no amount of good works can earn righteousness. The saving grace is His gift and we come to Him without trusting anything of ourselves.

 

But, the new theology flooding the church is to deny the effect of that righteousness and to leave the religious man free of the radical change demanded by Scripture. Christ's righteousness is not a head matter, it's a heart matter; and it will totally alter your life.

 

"For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins" (Hebrews 10:26).

 

"Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord" (Hebrews 12:14).

 

Our churches are full of religion but very few are living examples of Jesus Christ. This is the design of the Antichrist. Can you hear it in John's description of the Beast: "Horns like a lamb but sounding like a dragon?"

 

Zechariah 14:12-13: "And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem; Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a great tumult from the Lord shall be among them; and they shall lay hold everyone on the hand of his neighbor, and his hand shall rise up against the hand of his neighbor."

 

The nature of the beast is to promote programs without power and emotions without the supernatural works of His Holy Spirit. The life of the church is the resurrection life of Jesus Christ and that life is supernatural. The Church must be alive with His presence or it becomes a tool of the new religion that the coming beast loves. It's amazing to watch how quickly the Church begins to welcome the strange fire of psychology, psychiatry, and even false spirits of witchcraft.

 

Every action of Satan is only slightly removed from its original beauty in the Creator. Hypnotism is a counterfeit of the gifts of discernment, the strange fires of the Charismatic world are only slightly removed from the pure gifts of the Holy Spirit. Satan is a deceiver and can imitate the real very cleverly. The Word of God must always be the basis of discernment.

 

Conclusion: We are living on the edge of His return, and deception is everywhere. A pure Bible and a faithful church to that Word is our guide and hope. Be a radical Christian and cling to truth with all your life. The coming of our Lord can be expected at any moment. John saw this dark Antichrist spirit and a wide-awake Christian can certainly see the "lurking" presence now spreading his venom.

THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS

There are not many ancient cities still standing, though there are remnants of several. When it comes to the oldest cities remaining that have been continuously populated since birth, 7 of the top 10 remain in biblical territories. Damascus remains against all odds.

 

Jerusalem, estimated to be about 5,000 years old, is generally ranked #10 or #11 among the oldest, by those in-the-know, and has a place predicted in the future history of the world, a burdensome place for all mankind. In the last days, the world's armies are to surround Jerusalem in a final apocalyptic war among mankind but will suffer disaster and defeat. God is speaking:

 

"And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it." Zechariah 12:3 KJV

 

Jerusalem is known in the Bible as the City of David. Islamic centers of education (madrassas) usually teach that Jerusalem was never a part of Israel, Solomon's Temple never existed, that Israel is basically a lost and defiled mistake and should not exist. In essence, the Muslims are really God's chosen; not the Jews.

 

None the less, there is plenty of archaeology that tells the truth, though facts often seem to be unimportant. Jerusalem during ancient times was the capital city of Israel, the location of Solomon's Temple and Holiest of Holies, the City of David the King of Israel.

 

So it is interesting that just this week the United Nations met on whether Jews should even be allowed to be in Jerusalem or the mount where Solomon's Temple is believed to have existed. That would be the place that Muslim conquerors of Jerusalem built al Aqsa Mosque, Dome of the Rock. Right on top of the temple they say never existed.

 

The banishment of Jews from Jerusalem was delayed in the United Nations vote, but the lobbying goes on. Jerusalem was recaptured in 1967 when Muslim nations once again attacked the reborn nation of Israel. Prophets proclaimed that God would one day restore Israel to all her ancient land. That would include Jerusalem.

 

According to sixdaywar.org:

 

On June 7, 1967, IDF paratroopers advanced through the Old City toward the Temple Mount and the Western Wall, bringing Jerusalem's holiest site under Jewish control for the first time in 2000 years. There are sound recordings of the scene, as the commander of the brigade, Lt. General Mordechai (Motta) Gur, approaches the Old City and announces to his company commanders, "We're sitting right now on the ridge and we're seeing the Old City. Shortly we're going to go in to the Old City of Jerusalem, that all generations have dreamed about. We will be the first to enter the Old City..." and shortly afterwards, "The Temple Mount is in our hands! I repeat, the Temple Mount is in our hands!" General Rabbi Shlomo Goren, chief chaplain of the IDF, sounded the Shofar at the Western Wall to signify its liberation. To Israelis and Jews all over the world, this was a joyous and momentous occasion. Many considered it a gift from God.

 

After the recapture of Jerusalem, the Israeli military and rabbis knew that prophecy was being fulfilled and they were the witnesses.

 

"For some two thousand years the Temple Mount was forbidden to the Jews. Until you came- you, the paratroopers- and returned it to the bosom of the nation. The Western Wall, for which every heart beats, is ours once again. Many Jews have taken their lives into their hands throughout our long history, in order to reach Jerusalem and live here. Endless words of longing have expressed the deep yearning for Jerusalem that beats within the Jewish heart. You have been given the great privilege of completing the circle, of returning to the nation its capital and its holy center...Jerusalem is yours forever." Commander Motta Gur

 

Now the world is in a tizzy, all because of Jerusalem. It has become a burdensome stone.

 

President elect Trump claims he will recognize Jerusalem and move the United States Embassy from Tel Aviv (the capital of Israel according to the world) to Jerusalem (the capital according to God), a first. Never has there been a U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem or recognition that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

 

October 23, 1995, the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 was passed overwhelmingly by the United States Congress. By 1999, the embassy was to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem; and Jerusalem would be recognized as the proper capital of Israel. Never happened. Too burdensome.

 

Former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, because of the war the move and recognition may cause, ignored the public law. National security interests at risk. Enabling the devil's work is a better description.

 

If God said Israel would be restored to its ancient borders in the end times, the world cannot prevent it. That does not mean the world will not go to war because of it. Jerusalem is burdensome, indeed; and has become more so since 1967.

 

The prophecy about Jerusalem becoming a burden for the entire world has come to fruition right in front of many of our own eyes. A small, walled city, a city where Jesus was tortured and killed and the prophets were stoned to death for telling truth is still turning the gears of civilization, like it or not.

 

There is another prophecy concerning Damascus, Syria and the last days. This has not come to fruition.

 

Damascus is arguably the #1 oldest, continuously-occupied city in the world. Archaeological discoveries indicate the city has been populated for more than 11,000 years, continuously. It also awaits destiny, a prophecy that Damascus would be utterly destroyed, never to be rebuilt again. Though this prediction has not been fulfilled, as Syria's war grows more brutal, the possibilities of destruction are increasing. Look at Aleppo. Look at Palmyra.

 

"See, Damascus will no longer be a city but will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted and left to flocks, which will lie down, with no one to make them afraid. The fortified city will disappear from Ephraim, and royal power from Damascus; the remnant of Aram will be like the glory of the Israelites," declares the Lord Almighty. Isaiah 17:1-2 NIV

 

A heap of ruins is what has become of two other Syrian cities with very long histories: Aleppo, Syria's largest city before the war, and Palmyra. Both cities are in ruins and are less than 200 miles from Damascus.

 

Saul, who became Paul, was blinded on the road to Damascus nearly 2,000 years ago while on his way to persecute and kill the followers of Jesus. It is ironic that Damascus, because of the road to Damascus and Paul's blindness, became the largest Christian city of its time.

 

If President elect Trump moves the embassy, which he should, to Jerusalem, it may well be the catalyst that leads to the fulfillment of the many prophecies pertaining to this era. The story is getting pretty difficult to deny.

 

With the departure, in essence, of the United States from the arena of the Middle East, the void has been filled by Russia. This has evolved in less than 8 years. The possible scenarios of Damascus' destruction are many, but my guess is that Israel will carry out the prophecy's fulfillment. The prophecy was given to Israel as a warning.

 

When the troops of Israel's enemies congregate in Damascus, preparing for war; they will get it.

 

I do not believe Donald Trump has any idea the role he is getting to play in the history of the world and the change of things.

EZEKIEL'S WAR PROPHECY ABOUT TO BE FULFILLED?

 

After eight painful years of democrats running Washington D.C., and by extension, large portions of the world, November 8th, 2016 will forever be branded in their minds as an American version of "Nakba Day." 

 

This day of calamity has engendered much angst, aggression, and vitriol because it caught them completely unaware. All the "experts" had Hillary Clinton enthroned as president with electoral landslide. This is because liberals in media, academia, and Hollyweird had become so entrenched and brainwashed with their own propaganda that they truly believed their reign of power would never come to an end.

 

This level of complete disconnect from reality, really only has two examples that even quantify as comparable in recent times: Adolph Hitler's belief that he could usher in a 1,000 year Reich, and our modern-day North Korean propagandists promoting Kim Jong Un as a demi-god. Unfortunately for most of American, liberal angst and disillusionment do not remain shuttered in safe-spaces very long. It is seething, and seething leads to violence, and violence to lawlessness. And because their political losses were so massive, the lefts' only options remaining are either outright civil war or death by a thousand cuts. It should be no surprise that no US President has ever been more grateful to trade in the blistering political intrigue of D.C., for the blistering Saudi Arabian summer heat as President Trump is.

 

As noted author and professor, Victor Davis Hanson rightfully stated in a recent television interview, this relentless and vitriolic onslaught on the President (and anyone associated with him) as a slow-motion coup. It is open and active attacks are meant to derail and dethrone the current US President by any means necessary. In other words, it is active political warfare meant to override the results of the election by other means.

 

Unfortunately, Pres. Trump has almost as many enemies on the right, as he does on the left. Fair to say when you threaten to drain the swamp, it rattles all the cages. Entrenched power (right or left) does not go quietly into the night. Liberals, globalists, and socialists despise the restraints put on power by the Constitution and have been trying to usurp it for the better part of two centuries. If Obama was meant to be the death-stroke to the Constitution, then Hillary was certainly meant to be the nail in its coffin. Trump's victory thus derailed all that and has rattled the doors to the very gates of hell itself, awakening a dark and angry spirit.

 

Assessment

 

Although the current political and intrigue might seem unprecedented, it was, however, not unforeseen. God has already seen how this plays out and as One who appoints kings and kingdoms (Daniel 2:20-22), this is working out exactly according to His plans and His purposes. Trump was meant to win at this particular point in history. I believe that while we don't/can't know the plans and purposes exactly, we can make some interesting observations about the signs of the times.

 

As mentioned in previous briefs, I believe that in dealing with the nation of Israel, God has used times and patterns in time to draw attention to their unique role they play on the world's stage. God seemingly dealt with Israel in times past in reoccurring 490-year cycles. The last (Daniel's 70 Weeks) has one remaining week of years left to finish. Although I am not a prophet nor omniscient, I can read what God's word has to say and apply a little bit of geopolitical common sense to our current day and age to forecast likely outcomes. A recap:

 

• 1897-2017=120 years, First Zionist Congress convenes
• 1917-2017=100 years, Balfour Declaration
• 1947-2017=70 years, UN Partition Plan approved on 29 November 1947. Israel waits till May 14th, 1948 to declare statehood triggering first Arab-Israeli War.
• 1967-2017=50 years, Israel regains all of Jerusalem back in Six Day War
• 1977-2017=40 years, beginning of "Land for Peace" with the Camp David Accords
• 1987-2017=30 years, Temple Mount Institute founded

 

Let's say hypothetically that all of these numbers and their alignment with biblical patterns are completely coincidental. Let's say that I and others are just reading way too much into 2017 this year is no more significant to Israel than 2013 was. How much longer then, does the nation of Israel share the same global stage as the universal body of Christ (i.e., the Church)? If we look back at the first century, Israel and the Church only overlapped by 37-38 years roughly. We know God is longsuffering (2 Peter 3:9), so perhaps that explains why we are approaching 70 years this time around. So the two things we can know for certain is that Daniel's 70th Week will play out exactly according to Scripture, and the Church is not destined to be on the earth when this does happen. (1 Thess. 1:10; 2:19; 5:1-11, Revelation 3:10)

 

Puzzling Pieces

 

It is interesting that we see Donald Trump shock the world by taking the highest office of the most powerful nation on earth in the 40th year after the beginning of the Camp David Accords. As you know, the Camp David Accords began a 40-year unicorn-hunt trying to find this ever- elusive peace deal. The only problem with any Arab-Israeli peace deal is that it's hard to have real peace with a group of people who have sworn to annihilate you and drive you off into the ocean. Thus, the West (the EU and US) have only ever become increasingly drunken with political blindness that they could divide and parcel out Jerusalem to whomever they chose and peace would ensue (Zech. 12:2-3).

 

I will also gather all nations, And bring them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat; And I will enter into judgment with them there on account of My people, My heritage Israel, Whom they have scattered among the nations; They have also divided up My land. Joel 3:2

 

Trump has called the Israeli-Palestinian peace deal the ultimate deal he'd love to broker. But he's also stated that any peace deal, ultimately, has to be one that both the Israelis and Palestinians unequivocally supports. His Jewish son in law Jared Kushner, along with his daughter Ivanka, are set to play central roles in any future peace deal. Part of this deal is making the Sunni Arabs happy by ensuring their own continued authority in a region racked by upheaval and coup d'états thanks in part to Obama's Arab Spring. Trump is set to openly endorse (a US first) the creation of an Arab NATO, which is designed specifically to counter terrorism and the growing Iranian threat of destabilization across the Middle East. This, of course, will have the unintended (or perhaps intended) consequence of driving Iran further into Russia's bearish arms. This will naturally draw in another Middle East outcast, Erdogan's Caliphate (formerly known as Turkey), and any other nation too destabilized to muster a proper army. I am looking at you Sudan and Libya!

 

Any student of the Bible already knows where this article is headed. Ezekiel 38-39 is a prophecy about a coming war (never been fulfilled) in which an alliance of nations come against Israel in the last days called the battle of Gog and Magog. The nations mentioned for sure are Libya (Phut), Sudan/Somalia (Cush), and Iran (Persia). Other nations we can be fairly certain of through historical references look an awful lot like Russia and Turkey. A wise old man once said, "If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck." We see in the Middle East a resurgent Iran, aligned tightly with a resurgent Russia, and drawing in an angry Turkey (see the reference back to ducks).

 

In this war, the modern day equivalents of Europe (merchants of Tarshish and the young lions thereof) and Saudi Arabia (Sheba and Dedan) do not side with Israel, but merely lodge a complaint at this gross example of wanton violence committed by Gog and Magog's coalition. If the Arabs were to form a NATO-type organization, and they are only slightly more inclined to be friendly to Israel as they would be Russia/Iran alliance...how does that old saying go "Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake" (Napoleon Bonaparte)...what do they have to lose? The answer: nothing. They're letting one enemy fight another while it weakens both.

 

As crazy as we may like to think Russia, Turkey, and Iran might be, they will not make a military move like that so long as the United States remains firmly entrenched in Israel's good graces (or vice-versa). Something has to sideline the United States first and potentially make it so that the EU has no time or taste for action in regards to coming to Israel's aid. To be fair, the EU doesn't have much military muscle, to begin with, so without US backing, the EU could not march off for another Holy Land Crusade even if it wanted too.

 

So the real question is, what sidelines the United States from backing one of our strongest allies?

 

Two of the most likely courses of action could come in the form of some type of economic-Armageddon which makes it impossible for the US to act even if it wanted too. Or it could be the Rapture of the Church, which would at the very least, decimate the US's ability to project military power abroad by instantly removing millions of people from the United States, thus throwing the nation into massive turmoil. Strategically speaking, having a lot of born-again Christians in a nation is not geopolitically good for that nation as we draw near the end. Which is perhaps why we see the aggressiveness of the antichrist spirit infecting every aspect of American life.

 

Psalm 2 notes that the leaders of the world are actively working against God and His Anointed (Jesus Christ). We see the United Nations and almost every government ignoring the persecution of Christians worldwide, and also working to divide and diminish Israel. The last days according to the Bible are replete with passages which speak to two basic categories: increased evil and violence and that all the nations of the world will come against Israel. We need only look around today to see a world embroiled in violence and wickedness. We need to look no further than the United Nations, EU, and former US administration's continued assault against Israel's existence. Setting aside the time-date "coincidences" of the last 120 years, IF these are not the tell-tale signs of the very last minutes of the last hour, I do not know what is. But God does. And God looks at man's scheming and machinations, of setting up thrones made of crumbly sand and HE laughs. A frightening thought indeed.

 

Why do the nations rage,

And the people plot a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves,

And the rulers take counsel together,

Against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying,

"Let us break Their bonds in pieces

And cast away Their cords from us."

He who sits in the heavens shall laugh;

The Lord shall hold them in derision.

Then He shall speak to them in His wrath,

And distress them in His deep displeasure:

"Yet I have set My King

On My holy hill of Zion."

 

Even so, Maranatha!

MIDNIGHT APPROACHES

By Matt Ward

"Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who lead many to righteousness, like the stars for ever and ever." (Daniel 12:3)

 

The world today seems to be spiraling out of control. Amidst the ever-increasing carnage and chaos there does not seem to be any one person, group, country or international body with the ability restore calm, or even basic common sense. We are living in the age of chaos.

 

We are met daily by scenes of butchery via 24-hour news. From the ruin that once was Syria and the active genocide taking place there, to the open use of WMD's (by whichever ever side), and subsequent retaliations by the United States.

 

We see a resurgent Russia and Iran invading the Middle East and making no bones about the fact that in their estimation, Syria now belongs to them. How long until they turn their gaze upon little Israel, and her significant "spoils?" Not long now.

 

We see a nuclear armed and belligerent North Korea led by an unhinged and crazed madman. We are witness to the United States of America apparently locking itself into a mutual cycle of ever-increasing escalation with this reclusive and crazed power.

 

Where is this heading and where will it end? World War III? Or will it fizzle out and amount to nothing? How will this affect us? Will any of it touch us personally?

 

We must understand that the battles and confrontations we see manifesting in the physical world today are mere weak reflections of the battles taking place in the spiritual world at the same time.

 

The battle that began eons ago in the Garden of Eden is likely to soon reach its climax in our own age, quite possibly during our own lifetimes. Of all people, we as Christians have been blessed to have the future history of the earth's final years revealed to us in advance through God's Holy Word. The Bible, uniquely, is our guide throughout this final cataclysmic chapter in earth's history.

 

We stand today on the threshold of these cataclysmic events, and to some that brings a sense of dread and foreboding, even fear. But God does not intend for us to fear what is to come:

 

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

 

It is for this reason that God tells us the end from the very beginning, as Isaiah testifies:

 

"I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come. I say, 'My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please.'" (Isaiah 46:10)

 

Amos tells us that the reason God reveals these things is because He intends for his people to know both His Sovereign will, and how human history will work itself out according to His purpose,

 

"Surely the Sovereign LORD does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets." (Amos 3:7)

 

Jesus Christ, whilst speaking to his apostles on the Mount of Olives, shortly before his crucifixion, explained that he was telling them in advance about his death so that when it happened, they would believe in Him,

 

"I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe." (John 14:29).

 

The same is true of all prophecy. Indeed, that is in part why prophecy exists, and understanding this is intrinsic to following Jesus. As John says in his Revelation,

 

"For it is the Spirit of prophecy who bears testimony to Jesus." (Revelation 19:10)

 

God tells us, in exquisite detail, what will happen in the future because when it does happen, or when we can begin to see its imminent fulfillment, as we do now, He wants this foreknowledge to bolster our faith in His Son, Jesus. God uses prophecy to direct us to Jesus Christ.

 

We are not to approach this time as the unbelievers of this day will:

 

"People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken." (Luke 21:26)

 

"We are to look upon these days calmly, with insight, as ones who have been told ahead of time, and with a "sound mind." (2 Timothy 1:7)

 

As Christians we need to accept that a cosmic war that began many eons ago is now reaching its conclusion. Beginning in the Garden of Eden, with the subtlety of Satan beguiling Eve, human history has been played out against the backdrop of this cosmic war ever since. Scripture reveals to us that whilst Satan is no match for God Himself,            he is nonetheless a significant foe who throughout the ages has exacted a great price on humanity itself, and caused inestimable damage to believers of all kinds throughout all ages.

 

Though Satan is not to be feared by true believers in Jesus Christ, nor is he to be taken lightly either.

 

Satan, in the Garden of Eden, usurped mankind's rightful ruler ship over this world. Adam's right to rule this earth was given to him by God Himself (Genesis 1:26-28;  Psalm 8:5-8). There is no such right of rulership given over to Satan, yet in his diabolical scheming, he has taken what is rightfully not his via subterfuge.

 

In his tempting of Jesus, when asking the Son of God to worship him, Satan showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and proclaimed this: "I will give you all this power and all their glory - for it has been surrendered to me..."

 

The word surrendered in the original Greek is paradidomi, indicating that Satan's  current rulership of this world was relinquished, abandoned, abdicated, given over or "surrendered" by Adam, in his disobedience. Satan is therefore the de-facto ruler of this creation. Very soon though, the Messiah Jesus Christ, will be taking that rulership back (Revelation 11:15).

 

We see this process beginning even now.

 

It is during the Tribulation period, now increasingly clear on all our collective horizons that God will finally reclaim ownership of this earth. At this point, in 2017 there are very specific restrictions and commands over what the forces of evil can and cannot do on this earth. They are being actively restrained on account of the awesome might and irresistible power of God Himself.

 

As believers in Jesus, we have a secure and Blessed Hope. Even though the study of these biblical end times is spiritually edifying in itself for us, it is nonetheless deadly serious in its implications. None of us today should be under any illusions as to how very bitter this period we are currently living through is going to increasingly become-as we approach the Tribulation period.

 

This final hour will be characterized by severe testing and hardship, and it is an hour that is almost upon us. There has simply been no period in previous human history with which to compare it, nor will there ever be again. No comparison can be made in terms of the pain and suffering it will bring, the terrible number of innocents who will lose their lives; the vast and completeness of the destruction of this final hour and the sheer scale of the evil that will be unleashed and manifested upon this earth-both visible and invisible.

 

The horrendous apocalyptic events, the privation, persecution and martyrdom are all going to be very real indeed for those living through it. It will be a time of unrestrained horror and few who witness its beginning will live to see its ending (Matthew 24:22).  We are witnesses today to the increasing daily encroachment of this evil into our world, which is also a sure sign of the judgment of abandonment.

 

It is sobering indeed to think that before the removal of the Church, as those final days draw closer and closer, there is a real and growing possibility that we may all individually experience first-hand the beginnings of the great persecution and the horrors that will characterize it.

 

Darkness is overcoming this world, and it is bringing with it a visceral hatred for those who genuinely believe in and love Jesus. We are witnesses today to the increasing abandonment of our society because God is giving people in active rebellion to Him over to a reprobate mind.

 

The current raging debates surrounding LGBTQ+ issues, who can or cannot use locker rooms, at what age a child should be able to "transition" from a male to a female, are all symptomatic of this and indicative of how late this hour really is. The intensity of such discussions, which are becoming increasingly militant, is because God is increasingly giving people over to the desires of their hearts:

 

"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts." (Romans 1:26)

 

Yet God does not give them over to this reprobate mind simply because of their immorality, but also because they refuse to honor God as He should be honored-as King, as God omnipotent and as the Creator:

 

"Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done." (Romans 1:28)

 

This ever-growing hatred for true believers is only going to  increase and will find its ultimate expression in the mass Christian genocide of the Tribulation period under the direct hand of Antichrist himself. (These are the Tribulation saints; those who are saved after the Rapture.)

 

Yet when we consider the Tribulation and its horrors, we must consider one important fact; this period in time is a part of God's master plan to finally bring to an end the satanic rebellion that began in the Garden all those many millennia ago. In doing so, God will once again bring complete restoration to the universe, to this earth and to humanity itself. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ then this means complete restoration for you also.

 

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." (1 John 3:2)

 

Few Christians today have a realistic, conceptual understanding of what Jesus Christ actually did for them on the cross, aside from "forgiving our sins." Jesus Christ has restored you. He has made you complete before God, sinless and perfect. As a believer, you have been adopted into the inner sanctum of God's family, a position you will hold for all eternity. You have become part of a royal priesthood, a peculiar people. When the Lord God comes near to you, He smells the fragrance of Jesus upon you; and when He looks upon you, He sees the radiance of Jesus covering you. The righteousness belonging to God's Son has been imparted to you, forever:

 

"This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe." (Romans 3:22)

 

As if this were not enough, Jesus Christ has also made you perfect, spiritually and physically. That this achievement of physical perfection has not occurred yet does not change the reality of it. It is as certain as eternal life is for those who believe in the power of His name:

 

"Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:12)

 

Your eternal life, though lived in the future, is not something you will "collect" at some point after death, it is a present possession right here, right now.

 

Though we are currently below the angels, of all their various ranks and powers, in His victory at the cross and in His resurrection, Jesus became in His humanity superior to all angels in every way:

 

"...who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand-with angels, authorities and powers in submission to him." (1 Peter 3:22)

 

As believers in Jesus we share in this superior position and will do so in the future; experientially, not just in rank but also in abilities. Some of us will actually sit in judgment on fallen angels. (1 Corinthians 6:3)

 

Although it is unclear whether as resurrected believers we would have any part in physically casting these fallen angels into the abyss (in Scripture it is always angels fulfilling this role), there is no doubt when as resurrected believers the superior properties of our resurrected bodies would mean that we would be certainly capable of doing so (Isaiah 24:21-22).

 

Jesus has seated you next to Him, in the heavenly realms, now and for all time to come:

 

"And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus." (Ephesians 2:6)

 

That verse confirms our future. It is your future in Jesus Christ. But first comes tribulation for this world. There is a heated debate raging within Christianity as to the exact timing of the Rapture of the Church, which is not going to be examined here. What I do intend to state with a degree of certainty is that things will never be as free and as easy as they are for Christians right now.

 

You are never going to be as free to witness to the lost or as able to step out in faith without fear of consequence as you can right now. Our God, who pulled you from the fire and saved you, though you were steeped in sin, still loves the rest of humanity deeply. He loves each and every person in it, right down to the most abhorrent and despicable.

 

He has tarried so long because of His deep love, because he wants all people to be saved:

 

"The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance." (2 Peter 3:9)

 

It is exactly because of this love that God allows each person the freedom to decide for themselves what they think is good. If a person chooses friendship with God through Jesus Christ, then he will come and make his home with that person. If an individual chooses to walk away from God and follow their own path, God will allow it.

 

But there will be consequences. One of which we are witnesses of today, which is-the increasing corporate abandonment of this nation and other Western nations to their own sin:

 

"Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows." (Galatians 6:7)

 

The singular focus of our lives, at this late hour, should be as Jude admonished:

 

"...save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear-hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh." (Jude 1:23)

 

We are living in a war and it is growing in intensity all around us, every day. It is also rapidly drawing to a conclusion. It may be your testimony alone that proves the eternal difference for individuals who even now stand on the edge of the literal abyss.

 

Charles. H Spurgeon once said, "The gospel is like a caged lion. It does not need to be defended, it simply needs to be let out its cage!"

 

In these last days this is our task, this is our mandate:

 

"Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." (Matthew 28:19)

 

Let the gospel out of its cage and watch it run free! Time is short.