Think Things are Bad? You Ain't Seen Nothing!

Think Things are Bad? You Ain't Seen Nothing! - By Don Twobears - http://www.raptureready.com/2018/07/26/think-things-bad-aint-seen-nothing-don-twobears/

 

Ephesians 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."

 

2 Timothy 3:1-7 "This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. 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."

 

I remember as a very young boy being on our 30-day Leave Vacation, driving to the State of Washington to be with Grandparents, Aunts and Uncles and cousins. Back in those days, we never had 4 or even 2- lane Highways; it was simply 2 lanes all the way there. My Dad would always drive - and in every case, for far too many miles and hours. The problem was, it took four full days to drive there and then back, so we would have 22 days to enjoy.

 

As was the entire trip, my Sister and I would spend a lot of time sitting up front and talking to my Dad, helping to keep him awake and cognizant. Back in those days, everyone had a job to do. That was just the way things were.

 

I remember riding along for several hours, and then I would ask, "Are we at the Deck yet?" What I truly meant was the "Dock," which we had to ride on a Ferry to Orcus Island. "Not yet Son; we still have a long ways to go." And of course there were a string of Cafes and three-dollar Motels to visit. Things were very different back then; a Three-Dollar Motel would be clean and tidy, and we would stay just long enough for Dad to get some rest, about 4-6 hours.

 

The cafes were the best: good food, Country Music playing, and a chance to stretch our legs. Those old cars were hard, rough rides, but would last forever! Gasoline back then was around 20 cents a gallon; and every station was clean, with many people for the different jobs. We had many distractions along the way, including an occasional Picnic.

 

Please remember, that trip was in two directions, so games were essential...for everyone's sanity! Ha Ha! From Texas to Washington State was a little over 4 thousand miles, and we loved every mile of it - well...except for my Dad.

 

We always had to have a Picnic in the Mountains of Colorado, such a wonderful place...back then: Pikes Peak, Santa's Workshop, Inn of the Gods - everything was clean and well taken care of. How different things are today...from back then! Everywhere we went, people were nice and always helpful: a thermos of coffee at no cost, and they always gave me the little creamers. Mom used to want them, but then would say, "No! Donnie boy, you drink them; they go right to my hips!" Whatever that meant...right?

 

Of course, back then there were things like "Respect for others" which, it would seem, is so lacking everywhere today.

 

A hamburger back then was so cheap, yet so good and filling; and it was always served with a smile from the waitress. A Family of four could easily eat for less than 10 Dollars, and that included an occasional Coke Cola...a REAL Coke Cola, That is! Everywhere we went, people were working hard; things needed to be clean and ready. Of course, we were living in the Eisenhower Era. Needless to say, I loved those times. We were safe and happy; we were together and having a great time!

 

Yuppers, things took a little longer back then driving; but all in all, the trip was really nice and the people were great.

 

For a moment, may I refer you back to the two passages of Scripture at the beginning of this article? Am I the only one that notices how different everything is today, even on long trips? That second verse in 2 Timothy has truly come to bear! Go to any City today and the violence is unbelievable! In other words, there is NO RESPECT for anyone or anything!

 

Go ahead and try to purchase a "Good Quality" Hamburger. It's always pre-frozen meat and bread. And GIVE you anything? You best walk in there with 100's of dollars in your pocket, because everything is high priced! And you can forget those smiles and well wishes from anyone.

 

No one cares anymore; you as a customer are a nuisance and a bother. And this is from High-School-aged people that do not want to be there. Work for an income? You must be crazy...money is to be given to them because they are so wonderful. Trust me; I am surprised that very few ever get sick from the food, it's that bad nowadays. And best of all, you get to pump your own gas, at least to the tune of $3.00 a gallon! What has happened, ya'll?

 

Watch the News today and see how our Politicians are "Robbing you and me!" They Tax the Elderly for their Social Security...or at least, they tax mine! Our Troops have little in the way of income, and The Lord have mercy if you are Retired from the Military.

 

Can you say "Evil in High places?" Burn our own Flag, Throw it on the ground and walk on it? Sending Millions from countries that hate us? Turning a "Blind Eye" to criminals in High Places, sweeping the crimes under the rug, so to speak. And the list goes on and on, presumably without end...and everyone is okay with this? Please, re-read that second Passage of Scripture once again. Here's another one for ya:

 

Luke 17:26-30 "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded; But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all. Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed."

 

The violence will be such that it will rise to the ears of the Lord God. Remember what happened afterwards...The Flood. And as it was in the days of Lot, the Lord destroyed the entire area with Fire and Brimstone. Do you think we are there...today? I surely do!

 

Luke 17:1-2 "Then said he unto the disciples, It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones."

 

The Lord calls us "These little ones!" This being the case and we are seeing Prophecy coming to bear, how bad do you think this world has become? Do you believe the Lord God hears everything that is going on today? Please remember, The Lord God is "All Powerful, everywhere at once, and knows everything." Omni-Present, Omniscient, Omni-Powerful. And what do we call everything going on nowadays? SIN.

 

Have you noticed that the young are dying at younger ages? Have you noticed the Pestilence across the world is worse by the day, and even eradicated diseases are back? Look at Tuberculosis, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Polio. Then there's the outbreak of Cryptosporidium, so much Heart Disease (CAD), Strokes and the like? Do you realize the "Last Days" are here and now? Once the Lord comes for HIS Own in the Rapture, things afterward are truly going to be "Hell on Earth!" Here's the reason... SIN.

 

Okay...you don't like hearing about that? Well, let me say this: YOU need to take your Sin to the Cross of Jesus Christ and let HIS Blood cover that Sin; otherwise, YOU will NOT see Heaven. MY Friends...it does NOT matter who you are...YOU need Jesus Christ! There is no better time than right now...to make that crucial decision to follow Jesus Christ. If you do not do anything else in your life, that decision is the Ultimate. And, my Friends, You must be sincere about that decision. There are no halves to be had; it is 100% or nothing. Here's the important thing...YOU must do this for YOU.

 

No one can Pray you into Heaven; it does NOT work that way, and the Bible says so. You do this for yourself...or it will be a total waste of your time. Be angry at me; that's okay, but you must make that decision, and you must do so with your entire Heart. Jesus Christ IS the ONLY WAY to Heaven!

 

Think you have it bad right now? Wait till after the Rapture...you'll be horrified...to say the least! And to think, my Friends, it was your choice the entire time. I did NOT say all this; the Lord God said so in HIS Holy Word, the Bible. Read it...while you still have time to do so. Just so you know...The Rapture of the Church of Jesus Christ...is really...really...CLOSE!

 

John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."

 

All Scripture comes from the King James Version of the Bible.

The War on Truth - Part 1

The War on Truth - Part 1 - Pete Garcia -

http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8685

 

When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice; But when a wicked man rules, the people groan. Proverbs 29:2

 

Many believe that the longest war the United States (US) has been involved in is the War on Terror. Some think it is the War on Poverty. In reality, the longest war we have been fighting is the War on Truth. To be honest, the war on truth has been going on for a lot longer than our existence as a nation. It goes back to the Garden of Eden when Satan, disguised as the serpent, confronts Eve and directly challenges the single, solitary rule God gave her and Adam by saying Hath God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'? (Gen. 3:1)

 

Author's note: Before moving on, please watch this brief but excellent video on what Leftism really looks like here. While Leftism (Vis a Vis Socialism, Marxism, Humanism, Liberalism, etc.) is not ALL that ails the US and the West, it is a significant contributing factor to its rapid decline and preparation for the final gentile kingdom (the Beast) to appear on the world stage.

 

The Past

 

Since the mid19th-century, the modern leftist movement of philosophers, socialists, Marxists, and communists (and all there in-between) have been hyper-focused on applying their anarchistic principles to four major areas of Western Civilization: The family unit, morality, politics, and religion. The reason they want to apply anarchy to the West, is so to destroy it and restructure it after their own image. To the average person, Leftism makes no sense. It shouldn't. While Leftism sounds good in theory, it has failed practically everywhere it has ever been tried. The reason it fails every time, is that human nature is corrupted and selfish. We are not as altruistic as we think we are. So what is the appeal after all this time? Well, since Leftism's (for lack of a more definitive word) religious nature matches its political nature, we can simply call it what the Apostle Paul did back in the first century, a "doctrine of demons."

 

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons 1 Tim. 4:1

 

Leftism is a socio-political philosophy that has been applied to science, religion, economics, and politics. It centers its views on the class-identity and redistributive wealth along with the abolition of private property. When leftist-ideology is applied to the political-economic spectrum, it is commonly referred to as Marxism. Marxism traces its roots back to two German philosophers and social/economic theorists named Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the mid-19th-century. Although they primarily dealt with politics and economics largely from a materialistic standpoint, their theories have been incorporated into societal changes as well via cultural Marxism.

 

Many Americans are familiar with political correctness, yet may not be familiar with its origins in cultural Marxist theory. While classical Marxism argued that capitalism and the class structure it created must be overthrown because it is oppressive to workers, cultural Marxism argues that it is not economics that creates oppression but rather the nuclear family, traditional morality and concepts of race, gender and sexual identity. These are the chains of tyranny which must be broken by revolution. (Link)

 

While Europe and Russia would take the lead in succumbing to the results of varying strains of leftist ideology, the US would not be far behind.

 

From the 1920s thru the 1950s, the left's attempts at subverting the United States politically failed to gain serious traction in the US due to the public awareness of the Bolshevik Revolution in Tsarist Russia, the rise of socialism via the German Nazi party, and the Italian fascist Mussolini. This along with the chilling effects of freedom on Eastern Europe with the onset of the Iron Curtain being drawn everywhere the USSR controlled.

 

With a Cold War of geopolitical containment ensuing for much of the rest of the 20th-century, leftists inside the US were largely constrained to non-sanctioned social/political activist movements. However, their efforts at introducing cultural Marxism should be viewed largely as a success, seeing just how far they have managed to infiltrate the US education system, the media, pop culture, and the Democratic Party.

 

From the smoke-filled backrooms of pubs and diners in Austria and Switzerland at the turn of the 20th-century, leftists (primarily socialists and communists of varying stripes and flavors) used to gather in small secret groups to discuss their ideas for radical social revolution. Marxism at its root depends upon class struggle and identity politics. The idea that wealth should be distributive and not hoarded and controlled by the bourgeoisie was popular message amongst the working class of society. Because Marxism is antithetical to the Biblical Christianity in almost every conceivable way, it is no wonder why it is used by atheists and skeptics as a socio-political foundation for their already aberrant religious ideations. God deals with the foundational principles of Marxism in the Ten Commandments in that "you shall not covet your neighbor's house; you shall not covet your neighbor's wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor's." (Exodus 20:17)

 

Nevertheless, with modernization transforming the second industrial revolution era with greater and greater intensity, along came the rapidity by which change would come. One particular area (or medium) that took off like a lightning bolt was the motion-picture industry. The motion picture industry (or film industry) became very popular and took up residence in Los Angeles, California (aka Hollywood). Between the 1920s-40s, the film industry was flush with money, influence, and popularity. Not content with just entertaining, filmmakers now had a national platform to set themselves out to be the moral compass of the nation. Early examples of this are with films like DW Griffiths' Birth of a Nation (1915) and Intolerance (1916). Still, socialists and leftists recognized the value early on in using this medium as a subtle way to message their assault on liberty and capitalism via the big screen. Across the pond, the Third Reich would later use this as a powerful propaganda machine with their Triumph of the Will (1935).

 

However, it was not just the political ends they aimed their cameras towards, but to societal change. The corruption of Hollywood began in its infancy and had the loose morals to prove it. While the rest of the civilized west still largely operated under Victorian principles, Hollywood (as with the rest of the international film communities) promoted a Laissez-faire attitude toward morality and socialism, especially after the west's victory of WWII. While redefining morality was central to Hollywood leftists, their liberal political views were what caught the attention of government officials. This triggered the McCarthy Trials for the Un-American Activities Committees in the 1950s. While largely ridiculed and demonized in the decades since, it appears that Sen. Joseph McCarthy was on to something after all.

 

Using new information obtained from studies of old Soviet files in Moscow and now the famous Vanona Intercepts -- FBI recordings of Soviet embassy communications between 1944-48 -- the record is showing that McCarthy was essentially right. He had many weaknesses, but almost every case he charged has now been proven correct. Whether it was stealing atomic secrets or influencing U.S. foreign policy, communist victories in the 1940s were fed by an incredibly vast spy and influence network. (Link)

 

Let us bring this realization of leftist-infiltration to our current times. When we look at the presidential election of a political outsider like Donald J. Trump to the office of president, we must view his popular message of drain the swamp through a different lens. Many tend to think that "the swamp" is a recent phenomenon beginning with Bill Clinton; however, that is not the case.

 

Asked whether McCarthy had understood all the forces arrayed against him, Herman said no, that McCarthy hadn't realized he'd be fighting against much of the Washington establishment. President Truman was fearful that exposures would reflect on key Democrat officials, he said, and big media and the academic world were very leftist, a heritage of the Depression and World War II. High government officials also feared investigations of their past appointments and associations with people who turned out to be communists or sympathizers. (Link)

 

The Present

 

As you can see, the swamp has been around a long time and they will not go quietly into the night. Nonetheless, even the idea of what a swamp is has largely been muddled. To the political left, the swamp is/are the capitalist cronies on the right (the bourgeoisie) lining their pockets to keep the proletariat (working class, minorities) down. To the political right, the swamp is career politicians and bureaucrats. However, what the swamp really is, are bureaucratic ideologues (left and right) who only care about staying in power. They would sell their own mothers down the river to keep their fiefdoms in place.

 

However, a distinction must be made between the swamp and what we call the deep state. While they often intersect and can sometimes be one in the same, the swamp are the corrupted career bureaucracy types. The deep state are those within the defense and intelligence communities that operate autonomously from the legitimate government. Moreover, as is the case, one often enables the other, as their aims are largely the same. To be the power behind the throne, untouchable, and unmovable. While not purely leftist in their ideology, they are leftist in their actions because they operate under the same principles when applied to politics and economics. On a larger scale, the left uses both the swamp and the deep state to achieve their goals for corrupting the system and destabilizing a western-society rooted in Judeo-Christian ethics and principles.

 

Leftist infiltration into American culture has been like a cancer growing silently in the American body for the last 100 years. Not just the American body, but in the body of Western Civilization. It silently emplaces its people into prominent positions of power and then use that power to remove threats to their globalist agendas. So what is the left's ultimate agenda?

 

Global domination in a singular, socialist, atheistic, world-system. An all-powerful oligarchy that controls all materials, all military power, and all flows of information. To achieve that end, they have moved forward with three overarching strategies:

 

1. Dumb down the masses (courtesy academia, media, and pop culture)
2. Redefine language and history (courtesy leftist education systems, seminaries, media) largely through political correctness (See Frankfurt School and Cultural Marxism)
3. Apply the Dialectical Method to implement rapid, draconian laws. IOW, legislation through crisis (courtesy the swamp and deep state)

 

[Hegelian] (Thesis� antithesis� synthesis)

 

The first step (thesis) is to create a problem. The second step (antithesis) is to generate opposition to the problem (fear, panic and hysteria). The third step (synthesis) is to offer the solution to the problem created by step one: A change which would have been impossible to impose upon the people without the proper psychological conditioning achieved in stages one and two. (Link)

 

From Lenin to Hitler and from Mao to Obama, the left uses the same old tactics in implementing their overarching strategies.

 

1. Propaganda messaging. If you repeat a lie long enough, people will begin to believe it.
2. Divide the masses. Get one group pitted against the other, and/or create scapegoats that the public can channel their anger against. In Vladimir Lenin's day, it was the bourgeoisie. In Hitler's day, it was the Jews. These days, the left has channeled their angst against Christians, conservatives, and Israel.
3. A natural precursor or even an outcropping of dividing the masses is creating identity politics. What this does is create victimhood classes who demand retribution for real or imaginary slights, crimes, and abuses committed against them.
4. Harass, sabotage, protest, and use violent tactics to intimidate and silence your opponents.

 

The leftists are in this for the long game and any election, judicial ruling, media loss, anything that does not advance their cause is automatically deemed illegitimate. If a judicial ruling is emplaced that advances their cause, it is as if it had been written in stone (ex. Roe v. Wade). If it does not advance or help their cause (Defense of Marriage Act), they will work relentlessly until it is changed. The embracement of wickedness as a right and a norm, not only has the foreboding of divine judgment, but the increasing constraints of legal, physical, mental, and emotional bondage that becomes overbearing to a population. This becomes increasingly self-evident as politicians and leaders descend into madness and intend on dragging everyone else along with them.

 

Americans are unaware of a decline in our individual liberty, and the reason is obvious: the decline rarely takes the form of sudden deprivations but, instead, takes the form of unnoticed erosion and thus, we come to regard whatever state we are in, as a normal condition. ~Leonard E. Read

 

Next week, The War on Truth: Conclusion

The Thousand Year Reign

The Thousand Year Reign - Jack Kinsella -

www.omegaletter.com

 

Scripture reveals that there are still two Dispensations remaining between now and the destruction of universe and its replacement with the 'new heavens' and 'new earth' as described by the Apostle Peter.

 

"But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up." (2nd Peter 3:10)

 

Peter refers to this as the "Day of the Lord" and later, the "Day of God" (2nd Peter 3:12). This is different than the "Day of Christ." The "Day of Christ" is the day He returns for His Church at the Rapture.

 

"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto Him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand." (2nd Thessalonians 2:1-2)

 

While the "Day of Christ" refers to the ingathering of the Church at the Rapture and the Bema Judgment for rewards, the "Day of the Lord" refers to judgment for sin; judgment against the Gentile nations; judgment against unbelieving Israel and the final judgment at the Great White Throne.

 

It is important to remember that "Christ" is not God's last Name; it is His title. "Christ" is the Greek equivalent [Christos] to the Hebrew Messiah [Mosiach]. The Day of the Lord is therefore significant of judgment, whereas the day of Christ signifies redemption.

 

So, here is the chronology remaining for the human race: the current Dispensation [the Church Age] comes to an end at the Rapture as part of the Day of Christ.

 

The Raptured Church attends the Bema Seat Judgment (2nd Corinthians 3:11-15), the marriage supper of the Lamb (Revelation 19:9) and accompanies Him to the earth at His triumphant Second Coming. (Jude 1:14-15)

 

The Tribulation Period is its own Dispensation, in addition to being a resumption of the Age of the Law - it represents the 70th Week of Daniel.

 

The revealing Angel gave Daniel an panoramic view of Israel's history, beginning with the order to rebuild Jerusalem and the Temple and ending with the coming of the Messiah.

 

Daniel's outline is interrupted at the end of the 69th week (of years) with the 'cutting off' of the Messiah and resumes with the revelation of the antichrist when he confirms a seven-year peace treaty between Israel and her enemies.

 

How can we know that the 70th Week is set apart from the Church Age? The angel listed six specific things to be accomplished during the 70th Week, from Israel's perspective:

 

"Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy."

 

Before going down the list, notice that the 70th week is for Daniel's people, [the Jews] and Daniel'sholy city [Jerusalem] and NOT for the Church.

 

1. "Finish the transgression" - yet future for Israel/accomplished at the Cross for the Church.

2. "Make an end of sins" - sin loses its power over believers at regeneration - regeneration is a function of the Cross in the lives of believers

3. "Make reconciliation for iniquity" - simply stated, it means to make restitution [payment] for sin. Accomplished at the Cross for believers - yet future for unbelieving Jews

4. "Bring in everlasting righteousness" -- Christ returns to set up the Millennial Kingdom with Himself on the Throne in Jerusalem.

5. "Seal up the vision and prophecy" - the fulfillment of all Messianic prophecy - yet future

6. "Anoint the Most Holy" - the Mosiach is 'anointed' King as per Israel's ancient custom and reigns over mankind for a thousand years - the "Millennial Kingdom."

 

The Church has no role to play during the Tribulation, which Scripture identifies has having two specific purposes; the judgment of a Christ-rejecting world and the national redemption of Israel.

 

The Church was judged at the Cross and found judicially blameless by grace through faith. The Church neither rejected Christ nor has need of further redemption.

 

Consequently, the Church does not remain on the earth beyond the Church Age.

 

Assessment:

 

So, who inhabits the Millennial Kingdom? According to Scripture, there are but two groups who survive the Tribulation - believing Gentiles and believing Jews.

 

In Revelation 19:11-16, we find the return of Jesus Christ to the earth. This is His Second Coming. The Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:51-53) is an appearing of Christ in the air. That is not the same as His Second Coming.

 

This is included, I believe, to draw a distinction between the Rapture and the Second Coming of Christ. There is no mention in Revelation 19-20 of any kind of rapture event where believers receive glorified bodies.

 

The prophet Joel, in his description of the Tribulation Judgment, was clear and specific concerning those to come under Tribulation judgment:

 

"Proclaim ye this among the Gentiles; Prepare war, wake up the mighty men, let all the men of war draw near; let them come up . . . Assemble yourselves, and come, all ye heathen, and gather yourselves together round about: thither cause thy mighty ones to come down, O LORD. Let the heathen be wakened, and come up to the valley of Jehoshaphat: for there will I sit to judge all the heathen round about." (Joel 3:9,11-12)

 

The believing Gentiles are non-Jews who come to faith during the Tribulation. Note that they are distinct from the 'new creature' of the Church Age.

 

Jesus said that He will separate the 'sheep' [righteous, or believing,] nations from the 'goat' [unrighteous, or unbelieving] nations. The goats are cast into the Lake of Fire whereas the sheep [the righteous Gentiles] survive and live on into the Millennial Kingdom.

 

By implication, no unbelieving Gentile will survive the Second Coming. The righteous Gentiles, or sheep, will live on into the millennial kingdom. They will give birth to children and will populate the earth. However, these are not the only ones who will be producing children during the millennial kingdom.

 

The impression is given that when Christ returns, all Israel will trust in Him (Zechariah 12:10). They, too, will not receive glorified bodies (as those did who were raptured prior to the tribulation). They also will produce children during the millennial kingdom.

 

To summarize, the Millennial Kingdom will be populated by believing Gentiles, Israel, and the resurrected/raptured believers whom, according to the Apostle Paul, will hold positions of authority and judgment as well.

 

"Do ye not know that the saints shall judge the world? and if the world shall be judged by you, are ye unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Know ye not that we shall judge angels? how much more things that pertain to this life?" (1st Corinthians 6:2-3)

 

According to the Prophet Isaiah, during the Millennial Kingdom, the earth is restored to its original ecological balance, and lifespans return to what they were prior to the Flood. ". . . for the child shall die an hundred years old" (Isaiah 65:20)

 

Everyone who enters into the Millennial Kingdom will be a believer, but the Scripture say that children will be born to believing Jews and Gentiles.

 

And, as incredible as it sounds (what with Jesus Himself on the throne and resurrected believers in glorified bodies running around directing traffic, or whatever) many of those born into the Millennial Kingdom will reject Christ, and they will, once again, gather themselves together to do battle against the Lord of Hosts. (Revelation 20:7-10)

 

And with that act, the final curtain comes down on the human race. "For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind," writes the Prophet Isaiah. [65:17)

 

Which leaves us contemplating the question asked by the Apostle Peter; "Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness?"

 

That's a question that each of us has to answer for ourselves in this life. For it will surely be asked of us as we seek admittance into the next.

A Growing Lawlessness

A Growing Lawlessness - Alf Cengia -

http://www.omegaletter.com/articles/articles.asp?ArticleID=8688

 

One only has to read one's preferred daily media feeds to see that there's a growing lawlessness in this world. That said, I should also interject myself here and admit that some people don't believe the world is getting any worse from a moral or criminal standpoint.

 

A friend once mentioned an article which cited data showing a statistical decline in crime in a particular region. Of course, there are a few ways to artificially reduce crime statistics. One is to fail to document them. Another way is to change the definition of what constitutes crime.

 

Perhaps Broward County Sherriff Scott Israel is a small example of this phenomenon. He once boasted of a reduction in crime arrests under his tenure. Yet some have questioned his methodology. A writer for The Capitolist notes:

 

... taking into consideration Israel's own comments, the BCSD's own written policies discouraging arrests, and the crime and arrest data for the relevant years - is that it does, in fact, appear that the BSO, under the leadership of Sheriff Israel and in collaboration with the BCSD, were engaged in a deliberate effort to avoid arresting Broward County students, even when they had committed crimes.

 

When we reclassify crimes we automatically change the data and results (assuming the collection procedure is reliable). If a Leftist Totalitarian system could document "thought-hate-crimes" - you know, like having the wrong opinion about immigration, gender etc - the crime rate might skyrocket.

 

On the other hand, a Far Right Totalitarian system might classify all abortions as criminal. It might also treat all homosexual acts and same-sex marriage criminal as well. This would likewise raise the crime statistics.

 

Showing an obscene graphic of a be-headed president might be deemed tasteless in one system, depending upon who it was. It would be punishable hate-speech in another. So we see that in a secular society one can tweak the data based on a fluid standard and get different results.

 

While there may be many overlaps, what constitutes a crime in Western nations will often differ in Islamic countries. Islamic nations (even allegedly Democratic ones) generally hold to at least some form of Sharia Law.

 

Note that if you Google Sharia Law (SL), one of the first entries will be the obligatory Snopes whitewash. There are plenty of other apologetic examples. Robert Spencer is summarily dismissed as an alarmist-hater even though he thoroughly analyses the Qur'an in his critiques.

 

In point of fact SL nations severely punish Christian proselytism, apostasy and homosexuality. Organizations like Gatestone Institute have documented the problems of creeping Sharia in the West. Islam's Whitewashers dutifully ignore problematic cultural and SL issues regarding Islam in Western cities.

 

While what constitutes lawlessness can be fluid in a given culture, the Bible is explicit. God's Word is the true standard of defining lawlessness.

 

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness. 1 John 3:4

 

Western societies have largely moved away from Judeo-Christian influences. We've seen other influences impact the West while Christianity and the Bible's teachings have been steadily suppressed. Tragically, many professing Christian leaders have distanced themselves from biblical standards in order to accommodate sin.

 

In his book The Rage Against God, former atheist Peter Hitchens wrote on the ramifications of a "de-Christianized" [Post-Christian] society. The background of the following comment is his return to Britain after being away for some years. His observations are worth noting:

 

The accelerating decline of civility in Britain, which struck me very hard when I returned there in 1995 after nearly five years in Russia and the USA, has several causes. The rapid vanishing of Christianity from public consciousness and life, as the last fully Christian generation ages and disappears, seems to me to be a major part of it. I do not think I would have been half so shocked by the squalor and rudeness of 1995 Moscow if I had not come from a country where Christian forbearance was still well established. If I had then been able to see the London of 2010, I would have been equally shocked. (p. 91- emphasis mine)

 

No doubt many Britain citizens will disagree with Hitchens. They may be generally happy with how it is now (2018 at time of writing). They'll decry Brexit and despair of opposition to aspects of immigration, or those who warn about the encroachment of Islam into England. They will see the departure of archaic biblical values as a positive and a signal to better times.

 

The Bible agrees with Peter Hitchens. Paul Washer has noted that:

 

...whenever God is removed from a society or culture, something must take His place. What often takes the place of God in a godless culture is the state. The state, in time, begins to demand worship and obedience so that it can rule over even conscience and religion. (High King of Heaven p 283)

 

I believe God the Holy Spirit is the ultimate Restrainer of lawlessness. While I think God restrains evil in several ways - one being a plurality of governments - the Christian Church (through the Holy Spirit) is a major form of restraint.

 

The Apostle Paul talks about the Lawless One in 2Thess 2:2-12.

 

...who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God. 2Th 2:4

 

For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way.

 

...and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness. 2Th 2:10-12

 

The coming of the Lawless One is God's judgment on a world which rejects the truth. Can you imagine a time - perhaps after the rapture - where lawlessness is allowed to run amok (Jer 17:9-10)? Such a world will become a type of hell on earth. We may already be seeing glimpses of this where Christianity has been effectively suppressed.

 

The Son of Man will send forth His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them into the furnace of fire; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Mat 13:41-42

 

Even before the coming of God's wrath, death could overtake us, and then judgment (Heb 9:27). If you haven't already accepted Christ as your Lord and savior, now is the time to do it!

 

Time waits for no one.

 

Maranatha!

Watchman Warning: Pax Antichristo

Watchman Warning: Pax Antichristo - By Hal Lindsey -

https://www.hallindsey.com/ww-7-25-2018/

We often hear that peace in the Middle East cannot happen - that the region is doomed to perpetual war. Even optimistic estimates have said that the current turmoil will last for at least several more generations.

But the Bible indicates that in the next few years that region is destined for two eras of peace. I call the first one Pax Antichristo - the peace of Antichrist. It will not last long, and it's not the kind of peace a sane person would want.

Right now, it may seem difficult to imagine peace of any kind in the area. There's a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, but Hamas continues its terror attacks along the border, and Israel retaliates. I wonder how bad it would be without the cease-fire.

Iran continues to fund the Hamas military machine. That's interesting because Iran is a Shiite nation, and Hamas is a Sunni group. Iran usually supports only fellow Shiites. Sunnis and Shiites have been in a life and death struggle for the direction of Islam since Muhammed died in the year 632. That's 1,386 years of anger, war, suspicion, and strife. But Shiite Iran supports Sunni Hamas because they know Hamas is a thorn in the side of Israel. And they hate Israel so much that they are willing to cross their most revered lines in order to attack it.

Iran also supports Hezbollah, a Shiite terror group operating out of Lebanon. Western intelligence sources say that Hezbollah has an arsenal of 130,000 missiles aimed at Israel. As I've pointed out before, that's more than all the missiles of western Europe combined. A terror group was able to amass that many missiles because Iran was paying for it.

Israel recently shot down a Syrian warplane that crossed into the Golan Heights. Syria is another proxy for Iran. Even with Iranian troops on the ground in Syria, they prefer to have their proxies fight for them.

With the Syrian Civil War winding down, there's no longer an excuse for the presence of Iranian troops in Syria. But don't hold your breath waiting for them to leave. With actions all over the Middle East, Iran is in no position to take on Israel directly, but they've been remarkably honest about their goal. They intend to utterly destroy the Jewish State. Sitting on Israel's northern doorstep puts them in a good position for future invasion.

Ezekiel 38 says that in the end-times, Iran will attack Israel. But they won't do it alone. They will be part of a coalition of nations led by Russia and including Turkey. It's no accident, then, that both Russia and Turkey also have troops in Syria and are in an alliance with Iran.

So far, Russia has stayed out of Israel's way in Syria. Prime Minister Netanyahu has met with Putin or his subordinates several times over the last few months. Syria seems to be the primary point of the discussions. The United States also has a presence in Syria, but, for now, Russia sits in the catbird seat. It looks like Putin will decide what happens next in that war-torn country.

After President Trump's Helsinki summit with Putin, the President seemed to believe the Russians were working toward a secure Israel. "We discussed Israel and the security of Israel," he said, "and President Putin is very much involved now with us and the discussion with Bibi Netanyahu on working something out with surrounding Syria... and specifically with regards to the security and long-term security of Israel."

But it would be deeply surprising if the long-term security of Israel amounts to much of a priority for Vladimir Putin.

So, how will the Antichrist pull off a peace treaty between Israel and her enemies? Surprisingly enough, movement is already underway. Recently, Saudi journalist Sukina Meshekhis called on all Arab nations to take bold steps for peace. She said, "We must advance peace with Israel, even if we have to make concessions."

Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman seems to be thinking along the same lines. As regent for his ailing father, King Salman, the Crown Prince now effectively runs Saudi Arabia. In an interview with Time Magazine, he said that Israel and Saudi Arabia "have a common enemy" - an obvious reference to Iran. He said that both Israel and the Palestinians "have the right to live and coexist."

Those kinds of remarks from the leader of Saudi Arabia would have been unthinkable a few years ago. It foreshadows a time when Antichrist will be able to bring the parties together - though only briefly.

In English and in much of the western world, the word "peace" has come to mean "the absence of war." The Hebrew word for peace - "shalom" - includes much more. It carries the connotation of total well-being. According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, it literally means "completeness, soundness, welfare."

Strong's Concordance says "shalom" refers to being "well, happy, friendly" and having "health, prosperity, peace." The King James Bible translates it as "favor," "good health," "peace," "prosperity," and "rest."

That describes the kind of peace we all long for - the kind of peace Jesus will bring to the whole world at His second coming. "Shalom" will be a hallmark of Christ's millennial reign. Isaiah 11:6-7 says the peace of that time will be so great that it even extends to the animal kingdom. "The wolf will dwell with the lamb, And the leopard will lie down with the kid [baby goat], And the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; And a little boy will lead them. Also the cow and the bear will graze; Their young will lie down together; And the lion will eat straw like the ox."

Isaiah 2:4 also speaks of the peace during that era when it famously says, "They will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, And never again will they learn war."

Since the earliest days of the human race, young men (and in many generations young women) have learned the arts of war. But when Jesus returns, such learning will never be needed again.

 

 

Just over two months ago, the world watched as the United States opened its embassy in the city of Jerusalem. President Donald Trump was not only fulfilling a campaign promise, but he was, according to him, simply recognizing reality. Jerusalem is and has always been the capital of Israel.

 

The move pleased many and it angered many. Much of the world held its breath as it awaited a violent eruption of protests and retribution that never came.

 

The Palestinians promised a cataclysm, but didn't produce one.

 

Nonetheless, the world watched... and waited.

 

The ancient Bible prophets foretold that Jerusalem will become the focal point of the world. It is.

 

We know the nations of the world will one day gather against it. And we know that, eventually, many of those nations will coalesce into formidable blocs that will oppose each other. Those groups of like-minded nations will become enemies that go to war against each other.

 

The Bible says that it will culminate in a final conflict that the world has come to know as "Armageddon."

 

"Armageddon" looms over the world. It's never far from the thoughts of even unbelievers.

 

Remember "Carmageddon" to describe several significant freeway traffic disruptions? Or "Snowmaggedon" to describe a major snow disaster in Canada?

 

The world has a similar fascination with the word "apocalypse."

 

Despite an overwhelming lack of Bible literacy, fascination with Armageddon continues to grow. People seem to sense that something huge and awful will soon befall our planet, but few know any specifics.

 

The Bible, on the other hand, gives a great deal of specific information about both the battle of Armageddon and the events surrounding it. Daniel 11 gives us one of the most compelling accounts.

 

There have been but the merest glimpses of Armageddon-like violence in world history. Dresden, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, to name a few. The real thing will be dreadful beyond words. The Bible predicts the number of deaths during that time as like nothing else imaginable.

 

The world system will fall apart in almost every way, starting with the totalitarian rule of the Antichrist and the False Prophet. War will rage with all the fury modern technology makes possible.

 

Never before in history could humanity do to itself what the Bible describes in the last 3 1/2 years before Jesus Christ returns to earth.

 

But now, it can do just that. And in today's newspaper you can read the specific names of the nations described by the ancient prophets as they begin to align themselves in perfect accordance with what the Bible predicts.

 

Which can only mean one thing: the "time of the end" described to Daniel by the angel Gabriel is upon us.

 

If you are not ready for the sudden appearing of Jesus Christ to call away all true believers, then don't hesitate to accept the full gift of pardon that His death on Calvary purchased for you. And if you have received His pardon and follow Him, then now is the time to make certain your family, your friends, and those around you have heard the Good News and have had a chance to prepare themselves, too.

 

This week, I'll give you an overview of the run-up to Armageddon. You will recognize all of the players and be stunned by how close those days may be.