The “mark of the beast” made it way into the news this week. Three Square Market, a Wisconsin firm that deals in cafeteria kiosks brought in a tattoo artist who helped them put microchips underneath the skin of 40 employees who volunteered to receive them. This event led to a front page article in USA Today on August 4th. The article was aimed at dispelling fears that these individuals had received the mark of the beast - mentioned in Revelation 13. For this reason it was a valuable article because certain things have to be true for someone to be receiving the mark of the beast. First, let us look at some biblical facts about this time in future prophetic history. The person called, “the beast” has to have been revealed to the world. As of yet, this has not happened. There is not yet a world leader who is galvanizing the entire planet under his evil leadership. Neither is there a world leader who has been horribly injured in the head and has miraculously recovered. There is not this world leader who has the whole earth following him and worshipping him. Nor is there a second beast that has come to be a spokesman for the first one - performing great signs and wonders - even having fire fall from heaven. This second beast has yet to call the world to make an image of the first beast who had the wound in the head from which he recovered. And finally, this second spokesman, whom Bible scholars call the false prophet, has not made a worldwide cashless system of finance - a system that doesn’t allow anyone who does not have the “mark of the beast” to buy and sell anything. All these things are in plain sight for anyone who desires to read Revelation 13. So, since these things have not happened - and since this mark is voluntary - this is not it. There is a comment made in this USA Today article from a Wheaton College professor of New Testament, Chris Vlaschos, that is very instructive for us. “I think this is more of a fulfillment of end times novels and movies than the Book of Revelation itself.” That is instructive for us in that is reminds us to be fixed on the Scriptures rather than a really cool movie or novel. One of the things that saddens me is how the whole area of Bible Prophecy has been coopted by the novel and movie writers. Their focus is too often given to the fantastic and the attention getting minutia that surrounds what is actually written in Scripture - rather than the Scriptures themselves. Take for instance the recent hysteria over “blood moons” - and now currently the same kind of religious “freaking out” about the way the stars of the heavens will be configured on September 23rd of this year. For years I’ve read and watched one claim after another made that “this is the date” because of something that has rarely ever happened. Such things make for great book and video sales - but honestly - have had little if anything to do with what is actually given to us in the Word of God. As we can see from a basic reading of Revelation 13 - these events in Wisconsin are not the beginning of the rule and reign of the beast - or of the mark of the beast which will come in that time. If we are to get anything from this story it is that there are now technologies that can insert something as small as a grain of rice under our skin which can then be used to interact with computers and other devices. This device is called an RFID - which stands for Radio Frequency Identification. This is the use of radio waves to read and capture information stored on a tag attached to an object. Even Vlaschos says that though this may not be the opening volley of the apocalypse, it may be a slippery slope. Such technology had great opposition when it first came out - but now - as seen from the 40 who receive it voluntarily - it is becoming more and more accepted by our culture. Another comment made in the article caught my attention. Three Square Market, the company involved in the story, sees these RFID chips as a way for greater convenience - and then added - “ . . . would like to see payments go cashless.” Of all the statements in the article, this was the one that grabbed me. There will be a cashless society in those last days - one in which a device maybe very similar to this will be used to restrict all buying and selling. So what do we learn from all this? First of all - I would hope that we would learn the biblical exhortation to, “ . . . not go beyond what is written.” If I want to know whether something is a sign of the coming apocalypse, I’ll check it against what is written in the Bible. To blindly accept things simply because some “end-times guru” has written another book or made another movie - is to fall into the trap of which we are warned in 2 Thessalonians. 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. Then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders, 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. 2 Thessalonians 2:7-12 NASB (emphasis mine) This is a vital lesson! We are warned again and again in the Scriptures that these last days will feature many who come with statements that are not based in the truth. The ONLY WAY we will know the difference is to “receive the love of the truth.” The other admonition given to us is that we should test the spirits to make sure that they are from God. It might also be a good reminder that the book is called, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” When people talk about it - their focus should be on Him being revealed. When the topic is some cockamamie theory that requires page after page of exegetical gymnastics (and honestly they usually have little to no exegetical content at all), we should simply turn our gaze onto the Word of God - and - the One we should be awaiting - our Lord Jesus Christ Himself.
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One of the interesting things that is often overlooked by those studying the decline of the true Church and the Word of God in a society is how persecution begins and grows. The persecution that follows is often carried out by the apostate church that aligns itself with society rather than with God’s Word. One of the things I will predict (and it is kind of unfair for me to call it a prediction - because it is more like a re-visit to what has already happened in history) is that when persecution breaks out against the true Church in the United States, it will often be carried out by the apostate church that aligns itself with our immoral culture. A quick visit to Biblical history may be informative. Once Israel was delivered from Egypt, the majority of the problems and difficulties for Moses and those representing the true work of God came from the religious sector of Israel. The group led by Dathan and Abiram wanted a religion which morphed with what they did in Egypt. They were very uncomfortable with the radical laws and ways being given by Jehovah God. David’s problems stemmed as much from Saul who did not follow God fully than they did the ungodly nations that surrounded them. The people who killed the prophets were the apostate Jews who had perverted the worship of Jehovah with the customs of the nations. And who was it that eventually turned Jesus over to the Roman authorities to carry out their murderous designs - oh, that’s right, it was the Jewish religious authorities. In Acts 22:4 Paul remembered that he had “persecuted this Way to the death, binding and putting both men and women into prison.” Where did Paul get the authority to do this? He got it from the Jewish religious leaders. It is a consistent thing that the ones who hold to a form of religion, but lose it’s power and the truth of the Scriptures - will be primary persecutors of those who hold fast to these things. Those who believe the gospel to be the power of God and the only way of salvation will soon be seen to be narrow minded. Those who hold to the righteousness of God shown to us in the Word of God will be seen this way as well. Cultural Christianity will reject God’s Way (the gospel) and they will also reject God’s righteousness and embrace the way culture leads them in regard to morals. This will eventually manifest itself in a hatred of the true Church and the way they interpret Scripture. The cultural church will be far more fond of those who see Scripture more broadly. They will align themselves with those who favor a cultural interpretation of Christianity, rather than a Bible that instructs culture on moral issues. They do not want God’s righteousness or God’s way and those who hold to it will become seen as strange and different. They look down on them as ignorant and intolerant. They call them backward - and whatever “ist" is in style at the moment - racist, sexist, or maybe homophobic or sexually repressed. Whatever makes those who hold to biblical righteousness look bad. There is a principle behind this. It is revealed to us in the book of Galatians. Paul says this about those in the Spirit versus those in the flesh. “But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now also.’ Galatians 4:29 (NASB) As it was between Issac and Ishmael - it will also be between those born according to the flesh and those born according to the Spirit. The “cultural church,” which is not born again, will continue to make decisions to ape the culture as the pressure of the culture pushes the false church to adopt ungodly views. The true Church, which consists only of those born according to the Spirit, will not be willing to make unbiblical compromises. As animosity grows toward the true Church for its unpopular stands for righteousness that animosity will be held especially by those who have suppressed the truth by their unrighteousness. Persecution - even violent persecution will follow after this rejection of the truth. Let me give you an example of what we are seeing now - which will grow in the months and years to come. When someone posts that they have openly identified with homosexuality the reactions and posts that follow are almost always positive. They are congratulated for their new identification of themselves in this way. They are often even told or affirmed that God has made them this way. If someone has the audacity to respond otherwise, the bashing will begin - and often it will be unmerciful. If the person identifies as a Christian and states the Bible as the place where they got their views - it will not go well for that person. We’ve watched as it has become clear that CEO’s, sports figures, spokespersons, Chiefs of fire departments, and even down to bakers and pizza makers are going to be punished if they espouse and desire to hold such views. Currently this is primarily cultural pressure in the form of protest and boycotts. But in time it will wind up being codified into law - and the price for being a Biblical Christian will become much higher. So what do we DO? Saints, we have no other option than to continue to hold fast the Word of God as our standard. We don’t do this with a hateful and vindictive attitude. But we do speak the truth in love - which means we use wisdom as to when we speak, but if necessary, we speak. It is my opinion that Biblical Christianity is incompatible with sin. Whenever someone or some group seeks to align certain lifestyles and choices of sin as being OK with God, it will become abundantly clear that God no longer aligns with them. I am not saying that culturally they will decline. They may expand on the cultural level. But you will not find the Spirit or the presence of God among those who call what God calls sin - and acceptable lifestyle. We watched a generation in the 1960’s tout “free love” which is honestly nothing more than bondage to heterosexual immorality outside marriage. In time what the Bible calls fornication was renamed living together. As more time passed culture embraced this - although God never has (and never will). Culture continued to push its agenda - which meant having to deal with all the pregnancies that resulted from the cost of this so-called free love. From that came the culture of abortion on demand. A baby no longer was the result of sexual activity which called for responsibility to be taken by the man and woman who fornicated and now had a baby. They were not called to be responsible for their choice to be sexual immorality. Once again there was a choice to recast this situation into a more socially acceptable mold. No longer a baby - now it was a blob of tissue that belonged to the woman. It was now a part of a woman’s body, and she could do with it whatever she wanted. She could be rid of it in the first trimester - then the second - and eventually up to the moment the “whatever it was now” was to be born - at which point if the mother wanted it - it was a baby. The Bible warns that a society that rejects God - will reject God’s morality. This would begin in heterosexual immorality that rejects marriage as a prerequisite to sex. But in time things would move from heterosexual immorality toward homosexual acts. (All this is written for us in Romans 1:18-32) The Word of God says that all homosexual acts are sinful. God intended for a man and a woman to be married before they engaged in sexual activity. When it comes to two men or two women - God called all homosexual acts sinful. But as culture pushed back eventually, as we are seeing today, the culturally accepted church began to call acceptable what God can never call acceptable. Now there are growing numbers of people - and even theologians and Christian writers who say that God can bless homosexual marriage. The true Church cannot go with this - because God’s Word does not. In time the rhetoric toward those who continue to hold to Biblical righteousness will grow more and more strident. That will one day give way to the cultural church persecuting the true Church. They will do this first with words (which is already happening) and eventually with culturally accepted legal acts (because the laws will eventually call the Biblical standard espoused and taught to be hate speech). From there it is only a matter of time until violence against the “haters” will be acceptable. What is fascinating is that if we think the issue is sexual activity we are behind the times. The best way to blur all sexual morality is to deny that gender itself is nothing more than a personal choice. You are not assigned a sex at birth by God - either male or female. Your sexual activity is not governed by what biological sex you are. You have the right to such radical autonomy that you can choose whatever sex you want to be - and change it as often as it suits you. The next Supreme Court overstep will be to abolish biological gender to the ash heap of societal rejection. This is going to be fought over what bathroom (and eventually locker rooms too) you choose to use. Those who stand in the way will be called intolerant, gender lords who want to impose a gender on you rather than allow you to embrace your inner gender based on - well - based on whatever you want to it to be at the moment. Complete autonomy is the goal. Whatever a person declares to be right is right. That is unless someone declares the Word of God to be right where it defines things like gender and sexuality. THAT VIEW IS JUST WRONG! This is how the persecution of the real Church by the cultural church will happen - and actually is happening today. We are watching the fact that Biblical Christianity is untenable to those who celebrate the sexual revolution (and by the way the revolt is against God and what He says is sexually moral). Watch as this will be the path upon which persecution will travel with increasing speed. And saints - in pains me to say that we will also watch - as generations have before us have - that the willing accomplices in that persecution will often be the culturally accepted church which rejects the clear teaching of Scripture. I don’t want to hasten it. I don’t enjoy it - nor do I even want to see it. Yet, my precious brothers and sisters in Christ, it is coming. We just need to make sure that our response is one of The Truth spoken in love. We will also need to remember that God’s kingdom will not be advanced in this hour by violent, angry, armed force. May God give us grace to respond by holding fast to the Word of God. May we respond, if necessary, with the proof of our very blood if that is what faithfulness to Christ requires. And may God have mercy upon us so that our testimony would be like that of the faithful fathers who have gone before us. Just musing on the future . . . I am a pastor - and one who holds ultimate value in the Word of God and the Lordship of Jesus Christ in my life. As such I cannot compromise how I teach God's Word to fit how my culture views what God calls sin. I also cannot adopt how many in the church are altering the message of the Gospel to fit our culture's sexual revolution. (Just a note - that revolution began in the 60's when heterosexual immorality was embraced - not just in the 2000's with the most recent downward step into homosexual marriage and its legalization last summer by the courts). This places me squarely in the sites of those who at one time said all they wanted was tolerance - but who now have made it clear that they will not tolerate God's revelation on these matters. I am writing this now because the day will come when such things cannot be spoken or written without censure, severe fines, and eventually arrest. That is where our culture is going - that is where our nation is going - and that is what I am viewing at present in my mind's eye. I am neither a prophet nor a son of a prophet. But I am a student of history - both secular and biblical. Therefore here is what I see as I muse on the future. We are already living in a day when they will not put up with sound doctrine - but will gather to themselves teachers according to their own lusts. This will grow steadily worse - to the point where sexual immorality (especially "living together" and homosexuality) will rarely be mentioned. It will all be about love and tolerance and acceptance. There will be little mention of sin and how God points out exactly what sin is - and how He responds to it. Judgment will be a dirty word. In many ways the apostate church will be a tool in the hand of the enemy to attack the remnant on these matters. The statement will be something like this. "We need reasonable churches - not ones that dogmatically judge everyone according to 'their interpretation' of what the Bible means." This will be a rallying cry to shut down free speech not only in the public sector - but even within the walls of church itself. There will be a growing list of laws that hem in Biblical believers so that they cannot express their views in public. Those that do will find themselves facing the wrath of a legal system that no longer protects religious freedom when it comes to holding Biblical beliefs dealing with sin. There will be fines, re-education, and for those who continue to resist arrests. Businesses will be forced to conform to a "way of doing business" that is inclusive, except for how they treat biblical believers. Churches will be facing several changes that will soon be coming to us via the courts. There will be challenges to freedom of religion as the state forces itself into situations where the need for "thought conformity" is necessary. This will lead to first the church being told it can only preach within its walls - that internet access can be denied on the basis of hate speech (i.e. saying heterosexual and homosexual sin is wrong, gender is something assigned by God at birth). The air waves will slowly be shut down to churches as well, based on these same things. There will also be challenges to the tax exempt status of churches and gifts to them. Eventually tax exempt status and tax deductions for gifts will be either restricted (to government accepted churches) or done away with all together. The state will hold title to all benevolent giving - which will be based on their accepted guidelines (which will be politically motivated and doled out as reward for conformity to the state agenda). Eventually the psychiatric community will join the state in condemning outright those who hold to sexual immorality being sin. This will be seen as a mental disorder - making the way for some to be institutionalized for their beliefs. Pastor's sermons will become subject to law suits - if they are deemed by the state courts to contain the new definitions of hate speech. This will lead to bankruptcy for some churches - while others will accept court rulings to either fire their pastor or face serious fines and government backlash. Pastors who preach such things will be sent off to prison for "speech violations" or for re-education in some sort of internment camp. Many godly men will be detained, arrested, and will disappear in these situations. The true church will go underground in America. Facing these things - facing the loss of their leader(s) - facing the loss of their facilities - and facing the specter of losing their freedom - many will show their true colors and become apostate. They will either flock to government sanctioned churches - or will leave the things of God altogether. The church will shrink back to a size that matches those who are truly born again. It will seem sad and discouraging - but it will be a much godlier church - given to intercessory prayer - and willing to suffer for Christ any cost. There will be a brokenness that will prevail with the true remnant - and will lead to churches underground who glorify God in all they do. Many will risk gave danger to witness to others of the gospel - but oh what a glorious church it will be! Some may think I've lost my mind saying such things. Others may criticize for this sounding so defeatist. But I would only remind them that what I've described here is what has happened in the communist countries of the Soviet Union (now Russia), China, countries behind the former Iron and Bamboo curtain, and now is happening slowly in Europe and Canada. These countries are further down the road to Socialism than we are presently - but we seem to be gaining steam (Ominously so with the candidacy and success of Bernie Sanders at present). This actually is not any kind of prophecy - it is a history lesson. It is one that is NOT being taught to our children, because we've forgotten what sacrifices were made on our behalf to fight Communism and Socialism. As far as "negativism" or "defeatist" rhetoric - I can only answer that any true rallying cry needs to first swallow a cup full of realism first. I am about to issue a rallying cry - but it is one that will most likely be rejected - as it was throughout history - both biblical and secular. Church awake! These are not days in which we should falter or get lost in the midst of what is going on around us. These are days much like those Paul spoke of when he said this in Romans 13:11-14, "And this do, knowing the time, that it is already the hour for you to awaken from sleep; for now salvation is nearer to us than when we believed. The night is almost gone, and the day is at hand. Let us therefore lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave properly as in the day, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and sensuality, not in strife and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh in regard to its lusts." (NASB77) Repent and return to Jesus Christ precious saints. The day is late - very late in our nation. The stakes are enormously high in an hour in which we must prepare our hearts to be "strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might." This should not shock us that the world hates us - because it hated Him and still does. It is a day to remember the height from which we have fallen, repent, and do the first works again. Works of seeking God's face - confession of sin - submission to the Lordship of Jesus Christ - humbling ourselves and praying - and seeing our first love restored so that there is nothing - ABSOLUTELY NOTHING more precious to us than the Lord Jesus Christ. We are to remember that our battle is not against flesh and blood so violence is to be repudiated in our cause. We are to return to a white hot love for Jesus - a white hot love for one another in the church. We are to return to holiness, mortification of sin (our own), and a selfless, self-giving, gospel-centered, gospel-proclaiming life lived for the glory of God in all things. Saints - I am in the same place as all of you. Such things shake me and cause me to tremble. May it be that we tremble in fear of God and not in fear of man. May it be that our trembling and fear bring us back to Him - back to seeking, loving, and knowing Him as the greatest of all things in our lives. I dearly love all of you and only hope to be found, along with you, faithful to Him in this hour. May God have mercy on the church in the United States. - PJ - Apostasy and Pope Francis' Recent Theological Positions
One of the things that will be seen prior to and leading up to the return of Jesus Christ is called, "the apostasy." We read of it in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3. Paul spoke of it as he reassured Christians in his day that Jesus had not yet come back. One of the things associated with His return would be this apostasy. Here is what he said, "Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction," (2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, NASB - emphasis mine) Apostasy is defined this way at Dictionary.com - "a total departure from one's faith and the principles of it." We, unfortunately, have been watching this apostasy take shape in this generation for years. The Christian church has walked away from many of its principles - and fundamental beliefs. The liberal theologians of the 20th century assaulted just about every fundamental of the faith, starting with the inerrancy of the Bible and ending with a rejection of things like the virgin birth of Christ, His substitutionary atoning death, and the exclusivity of Jesus Christ as the only way of salvation. All these things are clearly affirmed in Scripture - and yet they have been dumped by liberals for several generations. As the sexual revolution has gained adherents in its rebellion against biblical morality, first heterosexual immorality was embraced (sex outside of a monogamous, heterosexual marriage relationship) then over time homosexuality was no longer considered sin. Now just about any kind of perversion is considered normal as our world devolves into its end-times rebellion against God. One group that had stood with classic Christianity in many of these battles was the Roman Catholic Church and her various popes. But with the current pope, things are changing rapidly and radically. Recently Pope Francis wrote a long open letter to the founder of La Republica newpaper, Eugenio Scalfari, in which he has stated that non-believers would be forgiven by God if they followed their consciences. Here Pope Francis redefined sin as follows, "Sin, even for those who have no faith, exists when people disobey their conscience." Therefore - if an atheist follows his own conscience, he is not guilty of sin against God. This redefinition of what God requires for us to be forgiven - and to enter heaven is nothing short of breathtaking! This most recent statement comes on the heels of Pope Francis' statement about homosexuality in July when he said, "If someone is gay and is looking for the Lord, who am I to judge him?" One commentator on these radical statements by the Pope responded by saying, "Francis is still a conservative. But what this is all about is him seeking to have a more meaningful dialogue with the world." Mr. Scalfari said in a joyful response to the Pope's letter that his comments were, "further evidence of his ability and desire to overcome barriers in dialgue with all." What we are watching is not a dialogue with the world - but a capitulation to its immorality and contrary positions to the Bible and what it says. One might think that the Pope may be in need of a dialogue with God - and some additional moments spent in Bible study. One wonders if he has recently read either Psalm 53:1 or Psalm 14:1 which reads, "The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God.'" It might serve him well also to re-read Romans 1:18-35 as well when it comes to the issue of immorality in the realms of human sexuality. For years I've wondered about the Roman Catholic Church in the end times. The reason for this has been their staunch stance for biblical morality over the years. I've also wondered about how they would fare in regard to a stance about the place the person of Jesus Christ has in salvation (even though I disagree with what they teach on this matter). The recent statements of Pope Francis have put the Roman Catholic Church far more in line with "the apostasy" than ever before. Who would have envisioned that Catholicism would step away from their fundamental moral stance - or embrace a theology that gives atheists a place in heaven without repenting of their atheism? Certainly not me! But this only makes me more aware that all that God has said continues to come to pass right before my eyes. How do these recent developments relate to the second coming of Jesus Christ? I only know that they continue to be preparation for the world at His coming. As far as where I stand on the timing of Christ's return - I continue to stand on the Bible's affirmation that no one knows the day or the hour. I also stand on the fact that the Bible teaches that Jesus Christ can return at any moment - and - that we should be ready to meet God right now. What we see with these kind of things is the "signs of the times." Just as someone would look and see gathering storm clouds and know that a storm is near - so we should see such events and know, just as the Bible affirms, that He is near - right at the door. Are you ready to meet Him today? NOTE: By the way, just in case there are those who read this who are confused on such issues - the atheist can receive God's mercy and forgiveness - but only if he repents of his foolishness in denying God's existance. When he has done this he will need to repent and put his faith in Jesus Christ and His death on the cross and His resurrection from the dead - which is the ONLY payment God accepts for sin. The sin of which I speak is the way the atheist has disobeyed God's laws and commandments (which, by the way, are found in His inerrant revelation to us, the Bible). Also, just in case there is confusion, both heterosexual sex outside of marriage as well as all homosexual sex is sin in God's sight, as affirmed by His Word in Romans 1:18-35. God affirms sex within a heterosexual marriage relationship only. Where Do We Go From Here? (An Open Letter to Christians After the Election) Day 1 – Rejoice! It is November 7th, 2012. We have a president who was duly elected by the process we agree to as a nation. That president is Barak Obama, who will now serve his second term as our president (note the word “our”). For some reason (probably because I’m a pastor and I’m used to caring for God’s sheep) I feel the need to share with the body of Christ for the next couple of days. The question I would like to address is this, “Where do we go from here?” First of all, I want to quote a Psalm God reminded me of as I met with a couple of men to pray this morning. If you don’t mind, I’d like to quote it in context. The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:22-24 As I quoted this in my mind, I only quoted verse 24 – which was enough this morning. Go ahead and say the last verse to yourself – loudly. THIS is the day – November 7 – which the Lord has made! I will (choose) to rejoice and be glad in it! That should be our heart – regardless of whether your human guy won or not. God gave us another day – that is an act of sheer mercy when you understand the holiness of God. Therefore we should rejoice and be glad in the day He gave us! Not even Al Gore can give us a day – therefore we should never take one of these things for granted. If you have another day to live – God gave that to you! Don’t waste it – live it to the full for the glory of God and the advance of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Take a look now at this verse in context. I was not aware of the context until I looked it up in my Bible. “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief corner stone. This is the LORD'S doing; It is marvelous in our eyes.” Those two verses took my breath away this afternoon. Who is this stone Who has become the chief cornerstone? It is a prophecy of Jesus Christ. It is a reminder to me that the only thing that will stand in the end is not whether a Democrat or Republican won the 2012 Presidential election. On that day both Romney, President Obama, and everyone who voted (and even those who did not) will be on their knees before the Ultimate Ruler. Why can I rejoice and be glad in the day God gave me? Because this day, as well as every other one that has ever been has been (and will be) built on that Cornerstone – Jesus Christ. God says to us in His Word, “This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” The election yesterday (and every other one before it) was man’s doing. It was men making a choice of their leader – good or bad. But the Gospel is God’s doing! There will be an end to any President’s term of service. There will NOT be an end to the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ! It is an everlasting kingdom that will endure forever. It is a kingdom not based on race, color, or creed – not based on political party – and not based on endless political commercials. It is a kingdom paid for by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ – and it is one given to men on the basis of grace. Anyone who comes in repentance of sin and faith in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord can come. Oh, and by the way, this does not come up for a vote every four years. God has done it – He has sealed it – and the resurrection of Jesus Christ put a divine exclamation mark on it for all time. Saints of God – whether you lost or won yesterday – your future is not based on a Presidential election. It is based on that rejected Stone becoming the Cornerstone! This should be “marvelous in our eyes.” So let me ask a question: Is it marvelous in your eyes? If it is not – I bet you are not rejoicing in this day either? Guess what!? You can wake up every day and rejoice, if this is your focus. For too long we’ve allowed the specter of an election to cloud our view of the glory of God’s Gospel. Take your eyes off the things of this world – and look full into the face of glory! Fix your eyes on a Savior Who endured the cross – Who was buried – and Who resurrected the third day to bring a joy into our hearts that cannot be dimmed by a mere mortal election. Where do we go from here? We go back to the Gospel of Jesus Christ – back to the Rejected Stone Who became the Cornerstone. We go to Him because that is where we should have been all along. We go to Him because the future that is truly going to matter is the one we spend in His presence for all eternity. We go because in His light we see light. We go because we need to make a serious decision whether our joy is going to based on the kingdoms of this world – or – on the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ. Where do we go from here? We rejoice – today – and every day God gives us in the future. We do so because God in His mercy has redeemed us – has saved us – and has called us to a heavenly calling. Live for that kingdom and for that calling! Events surrounding our military actions in Libya are being viewed with a collective yawn in many parts of our country. Yet what has happened and the way that it was done send shivers down the spines of those who realize that protections that our constitution are supposed to give us - and the way that it is not being followed. Yet for me, the danger here has been a long time coming - and has very little to do with our constitution.
A brief word of explanation is in order. Recent events in Libya have drawn the attention of our government. It is no shock to anyone conversant with history to know that the president of Libya is an insane thug who rules by the unjust use of power, torture, and intimidation of his people. It is just that recent events have drawn our attention to the mental unstability of Khadafi. Those events involved his people rising up and challenging his authority. As things quickly turned toxic in his nation he began to do greater and greater injustices to his people - and eventually he began using his air-force to bomb his enemies into submission. At that point the UN decided to jump into the fray - being urged by Europe to do something. What is not truthfully being reported to us is that Europe gets a large amount of their oil and gasoline from Libya - but for now we will leave that hot potatoe alone. To make a long story significantly shorter - the UN authorized a no-fly zone to be put into place. Sound military strategy and theory mandated that in doing this Libya's air defense capability be destroyed - as well as aspects of their air-force as well. This steamed ahead - and resulted in our country using its military to strike with its air-force to start the operation. Here is where things get sticky consitutionally. What the constitution requires for us to act militarily is a declaration of war. This is to be done by the Congress - who then turns the operations of the war itself over to the presidency - who then prosecutes the war toward victory. Over the past couple of decades this whole aspect of our constitutional process has gotten foggy to say the least. More and more we have chosen to have Congress approve military action short of a declaration of war. But, even in these situations, we at least followed aspects of the Constitution having Congress involved in the decision making process. But, this time, under our current administration, this process was completely ignored - and the president authorized an action on his own. He did so on his own authority - and apart from any true submission to the ruling documents of our country. Again, as I said at the beginning of this article, outside of a few statements, our country has used the ends (a crazy dictator killing his own people) to justify the means (our president ignoring the law and acting on his own). But this action - along with countless others bode very ominous things for our country. Let me explain. Jesus made a very interesting and ominous comment in the Sermon on the Mount. He said, that if the salt has lost its savor - it is good for nothing any longer, except to be thrown out and trodden under foot by men." Throughout the history of the world this has happened again and agian as nations that began with Christian principles and ways, turned from them. In each and every situation what happened was that a godless ruler arose and pretty much crushed the church as a dictatorship developed in that country. Now some reading this may not be putting two and two together, so let me make this far more plain to you. We currently do not have any political party that is willing to truly put moral issues at the forefront of its platform. Some might protest saying that the Republicans have a platform opposing abortion. This is true, but I do not think anyone is under the delusion that they truly have acted to DO something about it. In addition to this I have watched with a broken heart as this country (and both parties) have done nothing about the growing homosexual agenda. Homosexual marriage is gaining ground every year - as our elected officials have done little more than posture for votes about the issue. In the TRUE picture of our nation it is NOT the economy stupid - it is our morals - and our penchant to ignore and overlook the call of Scripture to be a godly nation that matters. Some decry the foolish decisions being made in the highest levels of our government. They wonder why decisions are being promoted that in effect are weakening and destroying our nation. Yet, none of these things are all that strange to me any longer. They are not strange because I am watching the evangelical movement in the United States leave God. They have decided that the moral issues of our day are global warming, social justice, and painting Israel as an evil state that is hurting the Palestinians. They do this while we continue to exterminate 4000 babies a day - and call what God considers an abomination - not so bad. The "Ominous" truth that I see on our horizon is that of Matthew chapter 5:13 where Jesus says, "You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt has become tasteless, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled under foot by men. We've lost our saltiness and have become as tasteless as the world around us. We no longer speak with any biblical relevence to our society - because we are fear speaking the things said in the Bible. Therefore we will continue to watch our governing officials make no sense whatsoever. They will continue to weaken our nation. They will continue to ignore the Constitution and rule on their own authority. In fact, one day, unless we repent and return to God with all our hearts, I believe we will watch as our Constitutional Republic goes down in flames and is replaced by a dictatorship or an Oligarchy of the few. In that day - in light of how unpopular true biblical Christianity is becoming, we will then watch the systematic persecution of the church in America. I know that to some this may sound borderline crazy - but the more I study the Scriptures - the more I see it rising on the horizon of our own historical context. How can we stop this from happening? First of all, I am not sure we can - nor am I convinced that God may not be engineering such a thing in His providence. The issue is if it is too late for us to truly "turn our nation around." But the real question here is not whether we can salvage our nation - but whether we are going to salvage our testimony in the midst of it. That is the real question to answer here. The church needs to repent - you and I need to repent. We need to return to Biblical Christianity - that puts the gospel and the glory and honor of God first and foremost in our lives. That would be a start. Then we need to turn from our sin and boldly preach and live the gospel of Jesus Christ. This may actually speed up the persecution in our nation. If we begin boldly proclaiming the gospel - people may become very offended with it. But that is not really the issue is it. THE issue for us is whether we are going to hold fast to the truth - preach it - live it - and if necessary - die for it. When the church begins living this way - it will return to its true roots. And those roots are not set in the protection of any one nation or people - but are firmly set in working for a kingdom that is not of this world. |
What is the Prophecy/News Update?At Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro, we believe that history is moving toward fulfilling God's plans and purposes. In an effort to help us be prepared for His appearing - and also to chronicle news items you just won't see in the national media - this page is devoted to sharing those items and their possible significance to Thank you for visiting our website! Everything on this site is offered for free. If, however, you would like to make a donation to help pay for its continued presence on the internet, you can do that by clicking here. The only thing we ask is that you give first to the local church you attend.
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