The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest
Vol: 159 Issue: 23 - Tuesday, December 23, 2014
How DID ''Christ'' Get Into ''Christmas'' Anyway? Every year at this time, the war on Christmas heats up with one side freaking out about Santa Claus violating the alleged 'separation clause' and the other side bearing signs saying, "Remember to keep the "Christ" in Christmas."
Well, much as I hate being a bubble buster, let us dispose of the main issues first.
"Santa Claus" is not a religious figure. Neither is he necessarily a Christian. Indeed, Christians are more likely to use the nickname "Satan Claws" to refer to the jolly old elf than they are to mistake him for a religious icon.
America's Santa Claus is really a Dutchman. New York City was originally settled by the Dutch, who named it "New Amsterdam". It was originally founded as a Dutch fur trading settlement in what is now Manhattan.
In 1664, the English conquered the area and renamed it "New York" after the Duke of York and Albany. The Dutch briefly regained it in 1673, renaming the city "New Orange", before permanently ceding the colony of New Netherland to the English for what is now Suriname in November 1674.
Some area names are still reminiscent of the Dutch period, most notably Flushing (Dutch town of Vlissingen), Harlem (Dutch town of Haarlem) and Brooklyn (Dutch town of Breukelen). The Dutch also brought Sinterklass, a mythical figure modeled after the Dutch patron saint of Amsterdam, St. Nicholas.
Before moving forward, let's set the WayBack Machine to the 4th century Roman Empire, led by the Emperor Constantine, to provide some historical context and background.
Legend says that Constantine saw a vision of a cross in the sky on the eve of battle, together with the words, "in this sign conquer".
Constantine ordered his soldiers to paint crosses on their shields, and when the battle was over, Constantine's forces held the field. Constantine then converted to Christianity, and in 313 he issued the Edict of Milan, declaring Christianity the state religion of Rome.
The problem facing Constantine was that the Romans already had a pantheon of gods, with temples in every city in the Empire. Constantine could not afford to put down a religious rebellion, so instead he worked out a religious compromise.
Roman coins minted for almost a decade after the Battle of Milvian Bridge still bore the images of Roman gods and goddesses. Then Constantine began to incorporate the pagan temples and symbols and trappings into the Roman state version of Christianity.
Gradually, these gods and goddesses were incorporated into Constantine's new religion, reinvented as Christian 'patron saints'.
The statues of Babylonian gods Nimrod, Semiramus and Tammuz became statues of Joseph, Mary and Baby Jesus. Statues of Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of love, became statues of Mary, Queen of Heaven.
The Mesopotamians, who believed in many gods, held a festival in support of their chief god, Marduk, because they believed that he battled the monsters of chaos at the beginning of each winter.
The Babylonians celebrated each new year with a 12-day festival, called Zagmuth. It is from this festival that the 12 days of Christmas is believed to have originated.
The date of December 25th comes from Rome and was a celebration of the god, Saturn, and the rebirth of the sun god.
The feast of Saturnalia was cause for much wild excitement and celebration. Gift giving and merriment filled the temples of ancient Rome, as sacred priests of Saturn, called dendrophori, carried wreaths of evergreen boughs in procession.
In pre-Christian Germany, the evergreen tree was used in worship and celebration of the yule god, also in observance of the resurrected sun god.
The evergreen tree was a symbol of the essence of life and was regarded as a phallic symbol in fertility worship. During the winter in ancient Scandinavia there would be a certain amount of days where the sun would not shine.
Upon the return of the first sunlight, the Scandinavians would hold a festival called the Yuletide.
A Yule log would be burned in a special fire, and everyone would gather around the fire and hold a great feast. To remind themselves that the spring and summer would surely return again, people in some areas of Scandinavia would tie apples to tree branches.
Both holly and mistletoe were hung in doorways of temples and homes to invoke powers of fertility in those who stood beneath and kissed, causing the spirits of the god and goddess to enter them. The holly wood was used by witches to make wands.
The legend of St Nicholas, or Sinterklass, parallels the pre-Christian worship of the Germanic god, Odin. Odin and Sinterklass shared a number of attributes, such as traveling through the air astride a mythical horse, together with a staff of mischievous elves that help Sinterklass in his annual visits.
During the Reformation, Protestants renamed the bringer of gifts from Sinterklassto the Christ Child, or Christkindl -- which was corrupted into the English, "Kris Kringle".
In 1821, the book "A New-year's present, to the little ones from five to twelve"was published in New York. It contained Old Santeclaus, an anonymous poem describing an old man on a reindeer sleigh, bringing presents to children.
It was followed up by the 1823 poem, "The Night Before Christmas" by Clement Clarke Moore. An 1863 Harper's Weekly reprint featured a drawing of a fat man with a long white beard by cartoonist Thomas Nast.
Clement Clarke Moore invented the eight tiny reindeer and named them in his poem. The ninth, Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer was invented in a 1939 booklet written by Robert May and published by Montgomery Ward.
The story is owned by The Rudolph Company, L.P. and, despite its popularity, it is not in the public domain, but is under license owned by the company. The song was written by May's brother-in-law, Johnny Marks, and became a hit for cowboy singer Gene Autry in 1949.
Department store Santas were invented in Massachusetts in the 1890's.
In the 1930's, the Coca Cola company adopted "Santa Claus" as its trademark, creating the image of the modern American Santa Claus that morons like the ACLU now claim is a "religious" figure.
In the Left's knee-jerk, blind hatred of all things Christian, it now insists on banning Santa Claus as a religious figure in most schools.
Not because Santa Claus is a fraud, but because in their confusion, they think that he is a Christian icon.
Assessment:
Before you get all angry at Santa Claus and start tearing down your tree, tinsel and decorations in order to return to the true meaning of Christmas, there IS no true meaning of Christmas.
As noted, Christmas has nothing to do with Christ's birth -- Jesus was most probably born in the spring or fall, based on the Bible's identification of the shepherds tending their sheep atop a hilltop, rather than down in a valley where they would normally be during the winter.
The Bible mentions the birth of Christ because the babe in the manger would grow up to become the Savior of the world. But it wasn't His birth that saves us. He was born a helpless baby, like the rest of us.
At His birth, He had not made a Name for Himself. He had done no mighty works. What the Bible celebrates at His birth is what He would accomplish with His death.
"A good name is better than precious ointment; and the day of death than the day of one's birth." (Ecclesiastes 7:1)If there is a true meaning of Christmas, it is that it began the process that would culminate thirty-three years later with His death and Resurrection.
In the most literal sense, the true meaning of Christmas is that it is the beginning of Easter.
Historically speaking, Jesus wasn't the reason for the season. The reason for the season was Roman politics. So, what do we do about Christmas?
Should Christians celebrate it? I can find no reason why they shouldn't.
Even though Christmas is a Roman invention and Santa is a Dutchman reinvented as a pitchman for Coke, the world sees them both as representatives of Christianity.
They aren't representative of Christianity at all, but the enemy (and his idiot minions) think that they are. And anything that bothers the enemy is ok by me.
In recent years, there has erupted a war on Christmas. Why it that? Because while Jesus was never the reason for the season historically, for Christians, He is the reason for the season now.
So at Christmas, everybody hears about Jesus in some form or another, thanks to the war on Christmas, and Satan hates that.
His invention of Santa Claus backfired -- Santa was supposed to become the reason for the season, crowding Jesus out of the picture, but instead, even his own minionsequate Santa Claus with Jesus Christ.
Instead of kids forgetting all about Jesus and focusing on Santa and Rudolf and presents Christmas trees and all the trappings, every year at about this time, a war erupts over Christmas and Santa Claus and Rudolf.
Once again, Satan's reach has exceeded his grasp. Instead of it being exclusively dedicated to greed and selfishness and capitalism, every year a battle erupts over the "reason for the season" -- which always takes the focus off of Satan Claws and his minions and puts it back on Jesus.
The harder Satan tries to remove Jesus from the picture, the more central He becomes, which is not only as it should be, but also very instructive. Satan made the same mistake two thousand years ago.
"Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." (1 Corinthians 2:8)So in essence, the war on Christmas is a war between Satan and his minions, not a war between the forces of secularism and the forces of Christ.
So should Christians celebrate Christmas? What does the Bible say?
"He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks." (Romans 14:6)The war on Christmas is intended to side-track Christians but instead, it just keeps rolling back over on the secularists. The more that the ACLU tries to turn Santa Claus into a religious icon, the more ridiculous and desperate the enemy appears to be.
"For meat destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure; but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor any thing whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak." (Romas 14:20)There is no sin in celebrating Christmas as the Lord's birthday. If one is regarding it to the Lord, then one is honoring the Lord and there is no sin in that.
Christians celebrating Christmas makes the enemy very angry, or he would not be fighting against it so hard. So this year, I'm going to celebrate it as hard as I can.
Thank You, Jesus, for stepping out of eternity and into space and time to take on the form of a mortal man. This Christmas, I will reflect on the kind of love that took, knowing that He knew what awaited Him at the end, before it ever began.
And, knowing how mad it makes the enemy, I'm going to enjoy it even more than usual.
Don't let the enemy steal the liberty procured for you at the Cross. Be happy before God this Christmas, knowing that He wants you to be.
"Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. "(Romans14:22)And may God bless us, every one!
Originally Published: December 21, 2011Featured Commentary: Born of the Virgin Mary? ~ Wendy Wippel
Archives of past issues of The Omega Letter Intelligence Digest plus many other Omega Letter member features can be found at: www.omegaletter.com
Tuesday, 23 December 2014
HOW DID "CHRIST" GET INTO "CHRISTMAS" ANYWAY? FROM THE OMEGA LETTER.
Monday, 22 December 2014
Thursday, 11 December 2014
HOW JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES ATTEMPT TO USE "MIND CONTROL" TO CONVERT YOU!
Jehovah's Witnesses and Mind Control (Thought Reform)
Are well meaning but deeply misled people knocking on your front door?
Just a few hours ago my wife and I lovingly tried to persuade two long-time Jehovah’s Witnesses that they need to re-examine their beliefs.
- Please pray for this couple. We love them for Christ's sake, we have told them the truth, and we want them to see them in heaven with the real Jesus.
Pray for them to be set free from a counterfeit Christ
Please do join us in praying for this couple, that their minds would be open to the truth as it is in the real, bodily resurrected, Jesus of Nazareth. We are praying also they would once-and-for-all reject the re-defined, re-created, “Michael the Archangel - Jesus” that was allegedly a gaseous substance that was formed/created into an “angel". This is the Jehovah's Witnesses idea of "resurrection"? Yes! Clearly then, the Jehovah's Witness "Jesus" is not the biblical Jesus of Nazareth that rose bodily from the tomb, but a complete fraud!
The Bible is clear on what type of “angel” the Jehovah’s Witnesses Watchtower Bible and Tract Society has produced:
- “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a [qualitatively] different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other [qualitatively different] gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed [eternally damned].” (Galatians 1:6-9)
My wife and I provided irrefutable evidence to this couple that the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is indeed a “False Prophet.” Their own literature claims this, yet they have made numerous false prophecies and set dates numerous times:
- "So does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet? . . . This "prophet" was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah's Christian Witnesses . . . Of course, it is easy to say that this group acts as a 'prophet' of God. It is another thing to prove it," (Watchtower, Apr. 1, 1972, p. 197)
- 1897 (Studies in the Scriptures, vol. 4, p. 621).
- 1899 (The Time Is at Hand, 1908 edition, p. 101).
- 1916 (The Time Is at Hand, forward, p. ii).
- 1918 (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, p. 89).
- 1922 (Watchtower, Sept. 1, 1922, p. 262).
- 1923 (Watchtower, Apr. 1, 1923, p. 106).
- 1925 (Watchtower, Jan. 1, 1925, p. 3).
- 1925 (Watchtower, Sept., 1925, p. 262).
- 1926 (Watchtower, p. 232).
- 1931 (Vindication, p. 338).
- 1941 (Watchtower, Sept. 15, 1941, p. 288).
- 1968 (Awake, Oct. 8, 1968).
- 1968 (Watchtower, Aug. 15, 1968, p. 494).
After these individuals each shared how they became Jehovah’s Witnesses, they clearly displayed in practice many in the Jehovah’s Witness / Watchtower organization have fallen prey to, and even have been destroyed by - mind control/thought reform. Unfortunately, one of these people was a former Southern Baptist. The other individual has been convinced since childhood (approximately since 1922) that the Jehovah’s Witnesses “are the truth.” We were told, “From the moment Gram [Grandma] heard it, she knew it was the truth.”
In just one-hour this couple displayed the fruit of being subjected to at least six (if not seven) of these following EIGHT methods of COMMUNIST MIND CONTROL:
- (1) Milieu Control, (2) Mystical Manipulation, (3) Demand for Purity, (4) Confession, (5) Sacred Science, (6) Loading the Language, (7) Doctrine over person, (8) Dispensing of existence (Source: Robert J. Lifton’s "Eight Criteria for Thought Reform”, Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of "Brainwashing" in China (the psychology of brainwashing and mind control).
Generally speaking, if Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your own front door, they will bring with them copies of their own New World Translation of the Bible. This alleged “translation” utterly destroys the biblical text to no end. It also seeks to undo historic Christian theology. Jehovah's Witnesses also will present to you magazines that are rife with false doctrine and subliminal occult (and mirror) images (Watchtower Magazine, andAwake).
Mind Control / Thought Reform
In our time together, this couple expressed the following. They:
- (1) Refused to examine the evidence of Watchtower false prophecies, declaring, “The past doesn’t matter!”
- (2) Redefined biblical terminology into Cult teachings that destroy the biblical text and the essential teachings of the Christian Faith.
- (3) Claimed that their church is “the only true church” and that one must belong to the Watchtower/Jehovah’s Witnesses organization.
- (3) Defended numerous widely refuted glaring mistakes that their “organization” has sought to cover and and do damage control with.
- (4) Considered their own "Watchtower” teachings as the ultimate truth.
- (5) Refused to further discuss Beth Sarim, which “Bro. Judge Rutherford” built in San Diego in 1929, so “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” could return to earth and rule there at “The House of Princes.” (Note: "Bro. Rutherford" lived in luxury atBeth Sarim, instead of “Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” who failed to return to earth. Rutherford then died as an alcoholic. Beth Sarim was later sold and Jehovah’s Witnesses to this day avoid this topic like it’s the plague. Most don’t know about it, but they should. (See photos here at Wikipedia.)
Throughout our conversation this couple expressed blatant denial of and rejection of doctrines that have been taught by the historic Christian church for nearly 2000 years:
- Triune Nature of the Godhead (Three Divine Persons, yet one God - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit)
- The Deity/Divine nature of Jesus Christ.
- The Deity/Divine Nature of the Holy Spirit.
- The literal “bodily” Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
- The reality of literal place of everlasting punishment/torment and eternal separation from God.
These people both declared that:
- They do not want to be “born-again.” (Note: We showed them from John 14:1-5 that Jesus Christ Himself said one “must be born again to see the Kingdom of God.” They flat-out reject Jesus' offer to be born of His Spirit and "see the Kingdom of God.”
- They do not want to go to heaven, but rather just stay here on earth.
How can they believe this?
They can and do believe this because they have chosen to believe and trust in Cultic re-definitions of biblical terms that the Watchtower organization and its "members" have foisted upon them.
Subliminal occult and satanic mirror images?
On top of all of this, they refused to examine over 40 pages of subliminal occult images and satanic mirror images that I presented to them, images THAT CAME DIRECTLY OUT OF THEIR OWN WATCHTOWER LITERATURE and CHILDREN’S BIBLE STORY BOOK.
Jesus Christ, according to Charles Taze Russell
Charles Taze Russell, the founder and first president of the Society said this:
- “....the man Jesus is dead, forever dead....” (Charles Taze Russell, Studies in the Scriptures, vol.5, 1899, p.454.)
- (Note: Charles Taze Russell started the The International Dawn Bible Students, as a splinter group, before Judge Rutherford renamed the organization to Jehovah’s Witnesses, after Russell died.)
Contrary to the false teachings of the Watchtower, Paul the apostle said:
- “Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep. After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles. And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.”(1 Corinthians 15:1-8)
Clearly the Jehovah’s have “another [qualitatively different] Jesus, a [qualitatively] different spirit, and a [qualitatively] different gospel. Paul the apostle warned :
- “But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Corinthians 11:3-4)
Jesus warned about false prophets nearly two-thousand years ago:
- “For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.” (Matthew 24:24)
Altogether, this former Southern Baptist and spouse would have been far better off many years ago testing what the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society both said and did. Instead of listening to family menbers who simply say things like, “From the moment Gram [Grandma] heard it, she knew it was the truth”, this couple should flee from the Watchtower and run to the Risen Christ Jesus.
The Apostle John warned:
- “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.” (1 John 4:1)
Educate yourself so that the Cults don't prey upon you, your family, and your friends
- Miscellaneous articles on Exposing Pseudo-Christian and non-Christian Cults(Search here also)
- Beth Sarim - Judge Rutherford’s Ivory Tower (Wikipedia)
- Chris Lawson Audio/MP3 messages (See also, Cults & Spiritual Abuse)
- Click here and visit our contact page to book an event.
Chris Lawson, Director
Spiritual Research Network
Tuesday, 9 December 2014
"WHO DENIES THE LORD?" A MUST READ ARTICLE BY "TRICIA" FROM THE "WHAT'S HAPPENING" WEBSITE!
Who Denies the Lord?
I would like to draw your attention to a verse that is much-quoted but rarely understood. Indeed, it has been the cause of much speculation over the years:
Matthew 7:21-23 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you who practise lawlessness.’
The Syriac version of the bible reads: “my Lord, my Lord” leading to discussions about how committed these people were. But that should not be our main focus at this time. The plain truth is that these people have appeared before God on “that day” with full expectation that they will be acceptable to God, and having had at least some form of Christianity or church allegiance, because they claim not only to have used the gifts of the Spirit but to have done so in the Name of Jesus.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
“Many will say to me in THAT DAY”. What day? It is the day to which He had just referred, when men shall “enter” or not enter “into the kingdom of heaven.” (See a similar way of speaking of “that day” in 2 TiM 1:12; 4:8). Lord, Lord! The reiteration denotes surprise. “What, Lord? How is this? Are we to be disowned?”
I believe the confusion over who these people are and why they are ejected from their reward can be cleared up by comparing the passage with another, equally well-known one:
Mark 14: Jesus Predicts Peter’s Denial
29 But Peter said to Him, “Even though all may fall away, yet I will not.” 30 And Jesus said to him, “Truly I say to you, that this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you yourself will deny Me three times.” 31 But Peter kept saying insistently, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And they all were saying the same thing also.
What therefore was “denying the Lord”, but the inclination for self-preservation under pressure, something we might find within ourselves in these increasingly dangerous days?
Canon Andrew White speaking to the Orthodox Christian Network, said: “Islamic State turned up and said to the children, you say the words that you will follow Mohammed. The children, all under 15, four of them, said no, we love Yesua, we have always loved Yesua, we have always followed Yesua, Yesua has always been with us. They said, ‘Say the words.’ They said, ‘No, we can’t.’ They chopped all their heads off. How do you respond to that? You just cry.” (Source)
How tragic, yet how truly glorious, was the commitment of those children who – when offered the choice of conversion to Islam or death – declared “No, we love Yeshua” and they suffered a martyrs’ death for which I am sure they are being rewarded in Heaven right now.
(By the way, this could explain why the martyrs gathered below the sacrificial altar in Revelation 6:9 are “given a white robe” instead of arriving already dressed in it. This white robe of blood-bought righteousness is owned by all who are saved, yet the sanctification of these martyrs is retrospective. Are some who choose to die rather than deny Jesus rewarded with eternal life because that faith is “imputed to them” as it was to Abraham? Rom 4:22. They might have been perhaps what we call nominal Christians, or young children, but they made a decision for Christ in the last moments of their lives. Luke 12:8 “…whoever publicly acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God.)
But to continue…
The denial of the Lord, in the bible, is to choose safety and acceptance rather than persecution and rejection. It is to value human life and this world rather than spiritual truths. This was true of Peter, certainly. It also seems to be implied in the words of Jesus about the last days, where in Luke 17:32-33 he says, “Remember Lot’s wife. Whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it.”
And also: Mark 8:34-36
And He summoned the crowd with His disciples, and said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world, and forfeit his soul?”
And Rev 12:11
“And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death”.
Peter, as we know, failed the test. But put yourself in his position and wonder if you would have been inclined to deny your involvement with this bunch of rebels in order to go on listening to the trial and staying close to the Lord you loved. Surely it was in a good cause?
Yet when Jesus returned, Peter had to repent of those three denials with three statements of allegiance and love. Three times the Lord asked, Peter, do you love me? And three times Peter needed to reply in the affirmative, to wash away his guilt. He knew himself to be an unworthy man when he knelt before the risen Lord on that beach. (John 21)
Peter had another chance, but in the last days there may not BE another chance. Those who deny him then may face the situation with which I began this post – the denial of Jesus to the Father.
He said Matthew 10:32 “Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father who is in heaven.”
2 Timothy 2:12: If we endure, we will also reign with him. If we deny him, he also will deny us.
Who then are those who are DENIED before the Father in the passage at the beginning? They are God-fearing, charismatic Christians (yes, who else would do miracles “in the Name of Jesus”).
I have always been taught that these people were rejected because they were hypocrites, liars, pretenders, people who did good works for selfish gain. They did not know the Lord. Nobody wants to say that they are people we might go to church with! That cuts too close to the bone and makes us wonder about our own selfish and cowardly actions.
Is it possible for a Christian to become so involved in good works, helping others, this whole ongoing earthly agenda of peace, love and brotherhood that he loses sight of what is really most important?
Is it possible to take your eyes off Jesus Christ and Heaven and do all “in his name” while pursuing a different goal – that of “bringing the kingdom to earth” and “enthroning Jesus in the nations” and “christianising the fallen world”? Yes, unfortunately very possible if the context of the work has shifted from salvation to domination; from evangelism to rulership; from heaven to this earth.
This World Is Not My Home
If the pleasures of this earth (even a future hope of divine restoration) take hold and replace the heavenly hope, then it is unfortunately possible for a Christian to deny the Lord in the last days, for the sake of an alternative gospel of world peace and unity! The challenges of the Lord’s return cease to make sense, and are vilified instead. Why suffer and be persecuted for something you don’t believe in any more? Such people may denounce the true Lord, along with those who believe in him.
Great Delusion
There is to come a “great delusion” and I do not believe it will be openly evil. It will be so subtle that it will test the hearts and minds of every living person. Could such a delusion sway some people off course – yes, the bible says that it will be so strong that it has the capability to deceive “even the very elect”.
Therefore, getting the doctrine right NOW is all important. The devil has been steadily working at eroding the truth for centuries but especially in the last few decades.
He has managed to replace biblical doctrine with a similar (but deadly) restoration/dominion doctrine that puts man in charge, and offers a better, brighter future for all. It is pleasing to the soul, and very attractive. It appears to be godly, and is “based on” scripture but is not truly biblical. Those who adopt it put themselves in grave danger.
Could they be some of the ones who object to being “denied” by Jesus Christ? When faced with the great delusion, because they did not “love the truth” they believe the lie and are therefore cast off.
When persecution arises, true Christians stand their ground and refuse to love this world system. But Christians who are fed the restoration doctrine of the new churches may see nothing wrong with world unity and rulership, nor even a unified world religion. To their minds it is “all in a good cause”. In the last day (although they are perhaps not even aware of it) by shifting their allegiance from God to the Earth they have denied the Saviour!
Thus, the Saviour will deny them before the throne of his Father. Peter denied by saying “I do not know the man” and here Jesus is saying “I never knew YOU!” It is their just reward.
How carefully therefore we have to guard our beliefs! How certain we need to be that nothing can sway us from our allegiance and loyalty to God.
Friday, 5 December 2014
THE LATEST PERSECUTION UPDATE FROM THE SPLENDID BARNABAS FUND.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wednesday, 3 December 2014
NATHAN JONES ON "THE END TIMES SIGNS OF WARS - THE FAILURE OF GOVERNMENT"!
The End Times Sign of Wars: The Failure of Government
Can human government be counted on to bring the world peace?
I was recently interviewed by Vic Batista, senior pastor of the Miami-based Calvary Chapel Aventuraon his radio program "The Truth Will Set You Free" via TWave Radio. "Pastor Vic" (as he likes to be called) was born in the Dominican Republic and is as active in planting churches and helping orphans there as he is in southern Florida, reaching out with the Good News of Jesus Christ to both the English and Spanish speaking audiences.
In this "The Truth Will Set You Free" episode, we'll look at the second end times signs of wars found in Matthew 24:6-7.
Be Not Troubled
Vic: In Matthew 24:6-7, Jesus talks about the signs of the end times. He says, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom and there will be famines and pestilence and earthquakes in various places."
Nathan: Concerning the signs of the end times that Jesus gave us, ten can be found in Matthew 24 and in the parallel passages Luke 21 and Mark 13. The first of those signs would be a proliferation of false prophets and false messiahs in the end times. There are about 500 cults in the United States today. We've got more false teaching and false doctrines circulating than ever before.
The second end times sign Jesus gave was that there would be a proliferation of wars. Those wars would come upon the world more frequently and more intensely and more painfully until Jesus' return. In the 20th Century, 160-187 million people died in those wars. More people died in wars during the 20th Century than all the wars combined in the millennia beforehand. So, the world is definitely experiencing wars more frequently and more intensely and more painfully, and will continue to do so before Jesus comes to rapture His Church up to Heaven. The prophetic wars that follow will all but devastate the planet.
Vic: Because of modern technology, our capabilities to inflict more damage during war are now even greater. As modern technology continues to develop, we see the possibility for even greater destructive wars and more of them.
In Matthew 24:6, it appears to me that there's a word of encouragement in the middle of all this horror, because it says, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet."
Nathan: I don't know if I'd call that encouraging or not. Maybe if you're a Christian living in Iraq or Nigeria or North Korea right now and you're fleeing for your life as the government tries to destroy you, that passage might be encouraging. It's kind of hard be not troubled about these wars when you're in the middle of one.
Obviously, though, the Lord isn't saying, "Oh, don't worry about it." Obviously we have to worry about war, especially if one is living in the middle of a conflict. What the Lord is saying is that we should not be troubled for eternity's sake because God is in control. That's what Jesus is saying here.
We're seeing the world shake and shimmy. When you've got an engine that's not firing on all cylinders, it shakes and smokes. That behavior can lead you to worry that the engine's going to explode. Likewise, the Lord's saying concerning the planet, "Just not yet." Sure, the world often looks like it's teetering on the brink of self-destruction, but Jesus wants us to know that self-destruction hasn't happened yet. It's going to get close, especially for those who lived through the World Wars or under the threat of nuclear annihilation. The world will certainly be thinking annihilation during the coming Tribulation as they hide in caves and cry out for the mountains to hide them. But, for us today, Jesus doesn't want us to be worried that we're looking at the end of the world right now. Because it's the end times it's just the beginning of the end of the world.
We have to trust that Jesus will take care of His children and protect us even unto death. Many Christians are dying out there right now at the hands of Muslims and hostile foreign conflicts. These believers in Christ are dying, and that's so sad, but they will be going to Heaven and we can glean so much hope and encouragement from that fact.
Vic: Excellent clarification, Nathan. I really believe that is so right on. Our eternal security is founded in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That's an encouragement even for right now. Sure, all the terrible signs like war Jesus told us about have to come to pass, but they don't have to freak one out if you know Jesus personally.
The True Source of Hope
Nathan: I just wonder why when we see the world falling apart, and I guess for us Americans it's a little harder because we do live in a relative time of peace and prosperity at home, why it is that we turn to ourselves or the government or something else to give us hope and encouragement. When it's not God, all those agencies can only provide a false sense of security. It's a false hope.
What man by themselves or what government can stop the wars around them? It seems like governments are incapable of stopping wars. The United Nations has been around for decades and they can never stop any of the wars around the world. You can't depend on man, but you can depend on God.
How do I know this? Let's to skip to the end of the story. When Jesus returns at the Second Coming, He defeats evil by destroying the Antichrist's forces and casting Satan into a bottomless pit. Jesus ends corrupted human government and sets up His divine kingdom which will last for a thousand years. Peace, righteousness and justice will be the way of the world during that thousand year kingdom. After that is the eternal state, where there will no longer be any more tears, or mourning, or crying or pain. Life will be perfect, and war unheard of.
In these trying times, we need to turn our faith and our trust over to Jesus Christ. He's the only one who can bring peace to this world. Jesus is the Prince of Peace.
Vic: That's an amazing fact! It's sad that so many people today are looking for peace in all the wrong places. They're even looking in a bottle or in drugs, but the reality is that the only thing that's going to fill that void of internal peace is Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.
Nathan: Exactly, only Jesus Christ can bring a person internally and the world externally true peace. Jesus is not called the Prince of Peace for nothing.
When Lamb & Lion Ministries prays daily for the peace of Jerusalem, we're not praying for the Netanyahu government to get things in order. No, we're praying for Jesus to return to defeat evil and set up His kingdom.
Humanity ever since Adam and Eve have thought that we can rule the world better than God. We believe we don't need God involved. We can rule it all by ourselves. But, isn't that like letting a toddler drive a car? Toddlers just can't drive cars, and humanity just can't rule the world correctly.
Human government has failed us. Nations might last, and even empires might last a few hundred years at the most, but that's about it. All human government will eventually fall apart because they all become corrupt. Today we're seeing America fall apart at the seams both morally and politically, and we as humans cannot do anything about that. But, we can trust that God is in control. He's bringing all of human history to that point when the world is in such dire straits that they have to call out for Jesus Christ to save us.
While There's Still Time
Vic: I believe that when people hear about more developing wars and rumors of wars, whether it's North Korea threatening to attack South Korea or Iran building nuclear weapons in order to threaten the world or whatever, it's all part of the end times sign of wars that Jesus told us would happen. People need to recognize that this is an urgent call by God for individuals to turn to Christ now while there's still time.
Nathan: Yes, indeed! Jesus actually told us in Matthew 24 and in other biblical passages what would happen just before He returns. Jesus answered that second question the Apostles asked, "When is the end of the age?" The end of this age is an event called the Rapture of the Church. We can read about that in 1 Corinthians 15 and 1 Thessalonians 4. Jesus will come down from Heaven to the clouds. He'll call out to all those who've accepted Him as Savior. Believers in Christ will be raptured — taken up — to be with Him into Heaven. The world will then be left to face the 21 judgments that God's going to unleash upon the world.
Jesus says He's coming like a thief. Now, Vic, I don't know about your experiences, but a thief doesn't call your house and fill you in for 3 a.m. on Monday to rob your house, right? He just shows up at an unexpected time and you're like, "Ahhhhh!" You're surprised. In the same way the Bible says all the way up to Jesus' return, people will be given in marriage, they'll be trading and selling and living normal lives, not expecting life to change.
Because we cannot know the day or hour of Jesus' return, the Rapture is an imminent event, meaning nothing has to happen before He returns. Jesus could even come back right this second! All of the sudden a trumpet will sound, the Archangel will call up those who believe in Jesus as Savior, and those who are saved will be raptured off this planet. Since it could happen at any time, we need to make sure that our minds and our hearts are prepared for Jesus' return by surrendering our lives to Jesus Christ.
In the fifth part of this discussion with Pastor Vic on the end times sign of wars, we'll get into the first of the prophetic end times wars — the Psalm 83 War.
This article is from the "Christ In Prophecy Journal" blog from the Lamb and Lion Ministries at:
http://www.lamblion.com/
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)