When is it Good or Bad?

When is it Good or Bad? - By Ronda Lane - http://www.raptureready.com/2018/03/18/division-good-bad-ronda-lane/

 

In this day of Orwellian obfuscation whom can we believe? The term "fake news" is thrown about freely, yet the meaning of the word seems to have two different and opposite meanings, depending upon who is using the term.

 

Have you noticed? The population of the world seems to be choosing up sides. This is seen predominantly in the political realm, but even that can easily be dissected into moral values. For instance: One political party accepts and approves of abortion, while the other political party rejects it for the truly immoral murder of innocent babies that it is.

 

This article is not intended to stump for a particular political party here in the US (or elsewhere in the world), as all political parties have been infiltrated by some very bad actors. However, when voting or choosing a candidate to vote for, we should be making that selection based on Biblical values if we are believers.

 

The point is that we are being divided. Many would say that's a bad thing. The phrase or motto "United we stand, divided we fall" has been quoted more often in this past half a decade than ever before. But whom do we want to be united with?

 

Should we just go along to get along? Appease? Be tolerant? Live and let live? Some would even attempt to claim that is a Biblical concept. I dare to disagree.

 

Let's look at the scripture which you may not see as relevant, but I would like to show you how very relevant it truly is.

 

"What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh" (1 Cor.6:16).

 

On the surface this seems to be speaking of marital or pre-marital relations. The verse prior (v.18) tells us to "flee from fornication." So one might assume that this is what verse 16 pertains to. However, in studying the entire chapter, we see that this is not merely about physical relations, but also about our relationship with the Lord. In fact, the verse prior makes it very clear:

 

"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid" (1 Cor.6:15).

 

In fact, there are numerous passages of scripture in the Old Testament where God's word likens both adultery and fornication with spiritual adultery and spiritual fornication. When we study Old Testament scripture, we see that God's word likens this condition to adultery and even prostitution (Ex.34:14-16; Lev.17:7; 20:5-6; Num.15:39; Deut.31:16; Judges 2:17, 8:27, 8:33; 1 Chron.5:25; 2 Chron.21:13; Psalm 73:27, 106:39; Ez.6:9, 23:30; Hosea 4:12, 9:1).

 

Those are but a few of the numerous times God's word called out Israel specifically for "whoring after" idols and false gods. An entire book in the Bible is devoted to using a man's life as a case in point, a parallel or symbolic picture story of what happens to those who join themselves with a harlot. The book of Hosea is a mystery to those who do not see this symbolic picture-story example as the basis. Hosea was told to marry a prostitute, Gomer. As expected, she was unfaithful to him.

 

"...And the Lord said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord" (Hosea 1:2).

 

In that same verse, not only do we see the mandate to Hosea to marry this prostitute, but also WHY: "for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the Lord."

 

You can read the entire book of Hosea and the account of what happened there in this picture story - this concept in action. Hosea was filled with heartache and heartbreak due to all the unfaithfulness Gomer committed against him. Yet the Lord mandated to Hosea to buy her back, after Gomer had left Hosea and was living in immorality and wickedness (Hosea, chapter 3).

 

God was making a point that He wanted Israel to remain separate from the other nations, to keep herself pure from the evils and practices of those other nations who worshiped false gods. Some of those evil nations would commit hedonistic sexual practices, orgies, and all other unnameable sexual sins and perversions. They were even sacrificing their own babies to the false god Moloch.

 

God wanted to show clearly two points. First, the example: that sexual relations were for the marriage bed only - that fornication, adultery, and other sexual sins and perversions led to heartache, woe, and broken families. Second, the lesson: Just as these things destroy relationships between spouses, so too does spiritual harlotry erode the relationship between the Lord and ourselves.

 

The Lord saw this wickedness and was not pleased. He pleaded with Israel to return to Him, to purify herself. Yet, often times Israel "played the harlot" (Jer.2:20, 3:1, 3:6, 3:8; Ez.16:15-16, 16:41, 23:5, 23:19, 23:44, and numerous times in Hosea).

 

"For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot" (Jer.2:20).

 

God likened Israel's spiritual condition to "playing the harlot" as being a prostitute to false gods. Today some may not be able to readily recognize the ways of the unsaved world. Why? They have infiltrated the body of Christ so much so that some sins are so commonplace. Even worse, often those sins aren't even looked upon with disdain.

 

So too have some become numb to the tactics of the devil's warfare in the use of the word "division." Some would proclaim that we (here in the US) must remain united as one people; otherwise, a nation divided cannot stand. After all, they have a point, right? They even use some scripture to back this up. Let's look at that scripture now.

 

"And Jesus knew their thoughts, and said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and every city or house divided against itself shall not stand":

 

Notice the colon at the end of that verse? It is a continuous thought interrupted by the colon. How does the thought continue? What is the rest of that statement? The very next verse...

 

"And if Satan cast out Satan, he is divided against himself; how shall then his kingdom stand?" (Matt.12:26).

 

Let's look at the book of Mark to see how it is worded there as well.

 

"And if a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan rise up against himself, and be divided, he cannot stand, but hath an end" (Mark 3:24-26).

 

Jesus had been accused of doing something horrific; they had accused Him of being led of the devil! But He truly was led of the Father and His Spirit! The point we may miss here is that we (as believers) are united in the body of Christ; we can stand firm in God's word and with His Spirit! However, if we are joined or united to the spirit of evil, the minions of the devil, we will be tainted as they and will not be able to stand. In other words: spiritual harlotry.

 

Truth is found in God's word. There is very little truth to be found in either public schools, colleges, or mainstream media. Those alternative medias that have sprung up are problematic to those who wish to squash truth. They're labeled as alt-right and then given the erroneous designation of either pro-KKK or Nazi, when 99% of all peoples with actual belief in right/conservative ideologies are in no way, shape, or form Nazi or pro-KKK, but are in fact the opposite. It's the Orwellian rabbit hole where good is called evil and evil is called good.

 

"Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!" (Isaiah 5:20).

 

I can remember vividly in the spring of 2016 being censored on Facebook. For what? For daring to quote a Bible verse. It wasn't even a Bible verse about the sins of sexual perversion. Nothing that would even seem to be controversial (not that I would shy away from such scripture as Romans 1:18-32, but that wasn't the case this time). It was Isaiah 5:20 (quoted above this paragraph).

 

Others openly mocked and ridiculed me (some still do), claiming I hadn't been censored at all. Why? Because they, themselves hadn't been censored; and so their 'normalcy bias' had convinced them that if it wasn't happening to them, then it wasn't happening to anyone. Some of them have come back to apologize to me for doubting my account of what had happened when Facebook had censored me. Why? They've now either been censored themselves, or know of others who have.

 

That was just the beginning of censorship in full, though. I noticed that Facebook wouldn't take down a Bible verse if I posted it on my own FB page or if I posted it in Christian groups, as these have limited reach. Apparently this (at the time) wasn't threatening to the powers that be on Facebook. This tactic now has a name; it's called "Shadow-banning." It looks to the one who posted the comment as if it were made public, but in fact the Facebook algorithms make sure that the post is only seen by a very limited number of viewers.

 

But the alleged crime (and subsequent censorship) occurred if I dared to post a Bible verse in the comment section under a FOX news post, or any other well-known conservative media posts on Facebook; it would often get censored with a warning or just disappear without a warning. The viewership on a FOX page (for instance) could have much more impact, and likely be seen by far more eyes than a mere post on my own page or in a Christian group page, with limited numbers of viewers.

 

The censorship got worse. Later, after the election that year, under President Trump's posts, if I posted either a Bible verse OR if I made a truthful comment supporting a conservative stance, THEN is when the censorship on Facebook really rolled into full swing. I'd have posts removed and warnings given. It hasn't gotten any better.

 

Facebook (I now refer to often as FASCIST-book or FaKebook) isn't the only one doing these things. Now big names in both conservative and libertarian voices are being censored as well. Hundreds of Twitter users were recently purged from the site. "Coincidentally" they were all conservatives! (I no longer believe in "coincidences," do you?) YouTube is also in on the censorship and banning action. They used to just pull videos down here and there. Now? They are pulling entire channels.

 

If you think this doesn't affect you as a Christian - if you think that by not ever espousing a political viewpoint on social media or video platforms - that this will keep you 'safe' from censorship, you'd better think again. Some pastors have had their entire YouTube channels REMOVED. Years' worth of sermons and videos disappeared overnight. Over a decade worth, in some cases. Just GONE! If this doesn't concern you as a Christian, maybe you'd better reevaluate.

 

The strange part of this Orwellian censorship is that what those on the left accuse others on the right of doing is, in fact, what they, themselves, are guilty of. It's the Saul Alinsky "Rules for Radicals" playbook, combined with actual Hitler tactics that the far left uses to slander the right with. They call conservatives Nazi's when they themselves (the leftists) are using actual Nazi tactics! Those same names and idioms they attack the right with are the same tactics the far-left is guilty of.

 

The upside-down world. Far worse than any fictitious novel like "1984." Far more nefarious than 'room 101' where they sent people for 're-education' and to be indoctrinated into 'double-speak', as the Orwell novel spoke of. News flash: That novel was supposed to be a work of fiction! Yet the uncreative left loved the thought of having power over others' speech so much that they've adopted many of the tactics for themselves.

 

I can remember (as can most of you) a time not far in the past when the leftist party at least pretended to stand for the common working class in the USA. They publicly rejected far-leftist ideology. They've thrown off all pretense of that now. Even their main actors and figureheads openly contradict themselves by embracing the complete opposite ideologies than they claimed to have espoused in the past.

 

You can still find a few videos of certain political figures speaking and claiming to espouse one ideology and one stance just a few short years ago; these same people are now claiming to espouse the exact opposite stance today. The flip-flopping is so overt that it is a slap in the face to the intelligence of any who can remember what was said just a few years ago. Who knows how much longer these videos will even exist since the far leftists control, not just mainstream media, but have bought out social media, search engines, video platforms, and even payment processors.

 

In case you haven't noticed, the left isn't the same party of the past now. They are far-leftist, Marxist, Darwinist, globalist, radicals now. They no longer even tolerate (in their own party) those who won't get on board with the globalist agenda. Now they demand complete allegiance to very far-leftist, globalist ideology. No wonder that party is losing lifelong members in droves. The party heads even openly admit that they cannot win an election fairly now without the help of illegal tactics.

 

Using illegal aliens is but one of the numerous evil tactics they employ. They no longer care about US citizens. Only those who've been indoctrinated in public schools and colleges with far-left ideology buy into their dystopian rhetoric. Those few who are either too young (or too ignorant) to know factual history are the easiest to manipulate.

 

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what's going on. What does it take to decipher this plan? Merely a born-again believer who actually has read and studied scripture! Those are the most dangerous to the evil agenda afoot.

 

We know that the books of Revelation and Daniel clearly define and detail a coming global government. This government will form (at the inception) with 10 kings/horns/toes as described in Daniel and Revelation. The antichrist will rise from the midst of them; they will give their power over to the antichrist. Eventually he will subdue three of the ten. The antichrist will go full speed ahead into complete control over all of mankind. Thankfully, his time for full control over the masses is limited to only the last 3.5 years of the 7-year tribulation. It's no wonder that the Lord Jesus Himself said this:

 

"For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect's sake those days shall be shortened" (Matt.24:21-22).

 

This is where it's all headed, folks. God's word foretold it all. What's sad is that the unsaved world doesn't even want to be warned about it. They laugh, sneer, ridicule, and mock us believers for trying to warn them. They don't even realize that they, themselves, are fulfilling Bible prophecy by doing so.

 

"Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation" (2 Pet.3:3-4).

 

"How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts. These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit" (Jude 1:18-19).

 

Pay careful attention to verse 19 of Jude. "These be they who separate themselves" is a very telling clue to what is occurring today. The antichrist, globalist agenda is being force-fed into society around the globe. They cannot pull their wicked desires off without first taking down the national sovereignty of all nations. They do want to divide and separate us. But seeing these tactics for what they are, should we unite with them? NO! It would be as though joining with a harlot.

 

The world is in a battle right now. But pay careful attention to the remainder of that verse (Jude 1:19) as to WHY "having not the Spirit."

 

These folks who are sold out to the devil's antichrist, globalist agenda are truly demonically led. This is a spiritual battle. No doubt about it (Eph.6:12). We who have the Spirit of the Lord should never cave into the wicked desires of the unsaved worldly. We shouldn't appease them, we shouldn't go with the flow - go along to get along. And we should never unite with them. No. We must stand firm on TRUTH. We must stand firm on God's word.

 

We must not "play the harlot" with the world. Just as the Old Testament gave us hundreds of examples of what this leads to, even more so today is the wicked agenda to drag away captive believers to appease the devil's agenda. We cannot do so.

 

In the last few years, I've often quoted 2 Tim.3:1-5 concerning the characteristics given for society in the "perilous last days." If you are unfamiliar with them, please look up the scripture now. But what often gets overlooked are the next two verses. Allow me to quote them now:

 

"For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim.3:6-7).

 

Why are these so relevant today? Why would scripture show us this picture of "silly women laden with sins" and being "led away with divers lusts"? Ask yourself why that would come right after the characteristics noted in verses 1-5? Without Old Testament background, many may misinterpret this as to being physical fornication or adultery. But what have we learned about how God's word uses this description of harlotry, whoredom, fornication and adultery? It is spiritual fornication the word is speaking of. We even see in the next verse (v.7) what the outcome of such is.

 

"Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth" (2 Tim.3:7).

 

Even more, we see the verse ahead (v.5) which warns of how this condition occurs. Why would they be tempted to fall into spiritual fornication?

 

"Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away" (2 Tim.3:5).

 

Many of these folks even claim to be 'Christians'. Yet they push ecumenicism-the joining of all false religions into one. They reject God's word; they reject the truth that Jesus alone is the only way of salvation (John 14:6, 1 Cor.15:1-4, Rom.6:23, John 3:16-18 and so many others).

 

They are trending towards the antichrist's one-world religion. They claim the lie that all paths lead to God. They also often try to claim the moral high-ground, claiming to merely want to 'help' refugees and give them aid and comfort. But the true agenda here is to bring in millions of illegal aliens, those who are not just anti-American, but anti-Christian. Bring in more division.

 

There are many nations from which they procure these illegal immigrants, but predominantly they want to bring in Muslims, because Islam is totally incompatible to not just our US constitution, but to Christianity. They are taught to violently torture, rape, enslave, and yes, even murder any who won't convert to their demonic religion. Worse? Many powers in government, those who've bought into the far-leftist globalist agenda, desire to wipe out not just the constitution, and to wipe out free speech, but Christianity as well. They want to eradicate both Jews and Christians from the face of the earth. The evil Quran promotes this.

 

The children growing up in Islam are indoctrinated with this hatred from birth. Yet to hear mainstream media speak of Islam as the 'religion of peace' is ludicrous. It hasn't even been two decades (not even 17 years) since Islamic terrorists hijacked airplanes and flew them into the World Trade Center in New York. But apparently some people have the memory of a fruit fly. They can't honestly expect anyone older than 30-35 to NOT remember this, right?

 

This again is the 'divide and conquer' strategy from the far left. They know we remember this, but they also know that many under the age of 30-35 have been propagandized and indoctrinated in the public school system. The harlot that rejects God's word and espouses Darwinian evolution. The same harlot that tells them Islam is a "religion of peace."

 

This is but another divisive tactic. Pit the young against the old - those who remember factual history against those who've never experienced or learned of factual history. The left is also pushing race war. In fact, those are just a couple of examples. They are using every divisive tactic that they can find to use. It's working. But why is it working so well?

 

Because it's a spiritual war. It's spiritual warfare as we were forewarned of in Eph.6:12. There are less true believers now than there used to be here in the US. If you doubt this statement, look at the moral values of the nation: abortion; same-sex marriage; erosion of freedom of speech (including and especially the censorship of Christian speech); booting God and His word out of the public forum, schools, courtrooms, and society.

 

So should we join in, unite to save the nation? Unite ourselves with a harlot in hopes of appeasing? NO!

 

We can't trust the mainstream media. Today the media claims false allegations, without sources, and calls them facts. The "who, what, when, where, and how" formerly taught in journalism classes has evaporated. The mandate to source all documents and news with credible, truthful sources has gone out the window as well. Truth in media disappeared.

 

It's no wonder that those who desire to hear the truth about any given matter are seeking out alternative sources for news. But now? Those same alternative news sources are being censored and threatened. Many are being hit by multi-pronged, frivolous lawsuits that can't stand up in any honest court of law. They hope to bankrupt those who must defend themselves against such outrageous lawsuits.

 

Of course the left is also banking on many compromised judges who are loyal, not to truth and the rule of law, but loyal only to the globalist, far- leftist agenda. It's hard to tell how negatively this will affect the alternative and truthful media venues. But they are certainly under attack, as are many pastors as well. We need to pray for those who are speaking truth.

 

Anyone speaking truth now is made a prey by the far-left globalists. Let's look to scripture to see how the Lord looks at corrupt judges and corrupt governments:

 

"And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey: and the Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment" (Isaiah 59:14-15).

 

"That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up" (Micah 7:3).

 

There is more scripture devoted to this topic, yet we can clearly see that the unsaved world is begging for God's wrath. He will not allow this God-hating and Christ-rejecting world to continue on unpunished for long.

 

Since we can readily see by scripture where this is headed, we also should note the hour in which we live. It's more than apparent that the devil is champing at the bit to get the tribulation started. We can see these things aligning. But the devil should know that not one thing can happen before the Lord Himself allows it, as foretold. For the Lord's divine purposes, and in His appointed time... not a moment earlier!

 

We must recognize these trends and actions for what they are... the beginnings of the globalist, antichrist system. Yes, it's rapidly forming. But we believers need not panic or worry that the Lord has forgotten us. NO! Jesus has promised to deliver us from the wrath to come (1 Thes.1:10, Rom.5:9, 1 Thes.5:9). He even tells us how He will deliver us (1 Cor.15:59-53, 1 Thes.4:13-18). The rapture!

 

We recognize how near the rapture must be due to the fact that tribulation events are lined up as well as prophetic scripture concerning Israel (such as Isaiah 17, Ezekiel 38-39 and more).

 

The rapture is imminent. It could happen at any moment, any day, any time. That is truth. The rapture could happen today! It may not happen for a while, although a far distant rapture isn't conceivable due to the prophetic scripture being aligned. Yet we know the rapture MUST occur before the tribulation commences and God's wrath is poured out upon this evil world! The weight of scripture proves the pre-trib rapture.

 

While we recognize these things, we must also recognize the plot of the devil. Yes, he wants to divide and conquer. BUT does that mean we should just go along with the far-leftist, globalist agenda, give up our US constitution, freedoms, and rights as Christians? NO! We must stand firm on God's word.

 

Let's look again at division. While division within the body of Christ is not a good thing (1 Cor.12:12, and others), we cannot confuse that with uniting with those who pervert, twist, or omit God's word, even if they call themselves "Christians." Even listening to the TV 'evangelists' (those wolves in sheep's clothing) for five minutes gives us a huge clue to where the ecumenical one-world religion of the antichrist will spring forth from. Even more so, we cannot unite with unbelievers to appease them, to join in with them. Otherwise, we are doing exactly what God called Israel out for hundreds of times in the OT.

 

Joining with the evil practices of the world is as if we were joining our bodies to a harlot/prostitute in adultery or fornication!

 

And allow me to reiterate these verses of scripture dealing with SPIRITUAL fornication and adultery one last time in closing. Think about it. Would the Lord have you join in or even appease those whose main platform includes abortion... the murder of innocent babies in the womb? Tearing them apart limb by limb, crushing their tiny skulls and harvesting their organs? (And if you think a baby in the womb is just a clump of cells, you need to educate yourself with truth! Jer. 1:5, Psalm 139:13, et al.)

 

Or would the Lord have us appease and cave into those who desire to bring in unchecked masses of illegal immigrants whose main desire is to first subdue us, eradicate Christianity, destroy the constitution, remove all freedom of speech as well as all Christian freedoms?

 

Should we join ourselves to these harlots, become united in one flesh with them, to keep the nation united? NO! Would the Lord have us join with false cults who reject God's word yet try to deceive others by claiming His name? No!

 

"Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh" (1 Cor.6:15-16).

 

Is division a bad thing or a good thing? According to God's word, that all depends on whom you are uniting with. To have fellowship with other true believers is a good thing. We are one in the body of Christ (Rom.7:4, 12:5; 1 Cor.12:12, 12:27; Eph.5:23; Heb.10:10, et al). But to be joined to a harlot? False religion? The unsaved world that desires the antichrist, global system? No. Choose wisely, time is short!

 

Let's also remember that the Lord Himself is going to do some dividing of His own. First when He removes us grace/church-age believers from this God-hating and Christ-rejecting world (1 Thes.1:10, 1 Cor.15:49-53, 1 Thes.4:13-18, et al) and delivers us from the wrath to come!

 

And later, at the end of the tribulation, He will do more dividing again (Rev.14:9-20, Matt.25:31-46, Rev.19:11-21). Those who have rejected Christ will be cast into the winepress-the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God! Those who accept the mark and/or worship the image of the beast will be cast into the lake of fire for eternity.

 

Given the lateness of the hour, we likely know people today who will be those very people spoken of in this scripture, those who will soon be entering the tribulation-the foretold time of God's wrath and the wrath of the Lamb upon this evil God-hating and Christ-rejecting world. After the rapture, those who enter the tribulation are going to suffer far worse things than has ever occurred in human history prior.

 

Yes, those unbelievers who are left behind at the rapture will still be able to come to Christ for salvation during the tribulation; but it will cost most of them their lives and heads for doing so (Rev.6:9-11, 20:4). Half of the world's population will be killed even before the second half of the tribulation begins (Rev.6:8 - 1/4 are killed; Rev.9:15 - another 1/3 of the world's population is killed). Then comes the mid-point when the antichrist takes control. Far more horrific than our minds can comprehend.

 

We likely know people today who will soon be going through these events. I pray that YOU are not one of them. I pray that you have believed on Christ Jesus for salvation, now before the rapture occurs and before the tribulation begins! Many will be dead before the mid-point of the tribulation. Some will survive into the second half of the tribulation and will wish they hadn't.

 

Considering how near these events are, I ask you...Do you want to unite with the "harlots, prostitutes, and whores" forewarned of in scripture which desire to cause spiritual harlotry? Or do you intend to stand firm in God's word, trusting in His promises? Sharing the gospel with the lost even if we are censored, ostracized, or even worse?

 

The next time you hear the 'unite at all costs' speeches, no matter how ear-pleasing they sound; consider what God's word says about whom we unite with. Choose carefully; time is short!

 

Maranatha!