God’s Plan for All Mankind

 God’s Plan for All Mankind - By Pastor Mike Taylor - https://pastormiketaylor.blogspot.com/2023/02/by-pastor-mike-taylor-does-god-have.html Does God have a plan for mankind? Has He revealed it to His people through the words of your bible? 16 “Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath days: 17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body is of Christ”. (Colossians 2:16-17) God laid down a plan, a chronological plan for the whole of mankind that is sprinkled within the pages of your bible. In Ancient Israel, during the Exodus led by Moses, Godinstituted festivals, or feasts given to the people of God led out of Egypt by His chosen messenger, Moses. These festivals were given to the nation of Israel and most of the religions of today discount these as “Jewish”, but fail to understand that thesewere given by God to humanity as a benchmark, or guide to His plan for all of mankind's redemption. I will look at them in this message as “timelines of prophecy” or what God has done for man, and what He intends to do in the near future. When our great and awesome God gave them to Israel, the people did not understand them in their spiritual application, but followed them as rituals for what God expected ofthem. They were physical representations to them that were carried out without understanding of their final outcome and what they represented. Each of these days pointed to one event, the coming of the Messiah and His redemption of all the earth and His greatestcreation, man. THESE FOLLOW IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER In the spring, begins the first of the Feasts, called Passover. In the Exodus, the Israelites were spared the death angel killing their first borne by striking the door postand the lintels with the blood of a lamb. You can read about this in Exodus chapter 12. Sadly, Israel has never gotten beyond this act of sacrificing a lamb on Passover and were observing it during the lifetime of Jesus Christ. But the life and death of JesusChrist changed this observance for all time. Jesus during the evening preceding His death, called His disciples to gather together for the last supper meal where our Lord and Savior changed the emblems of this Holy Dayfrom a lamb slain to a memorial of bread and wine. Matthew chapter 26: 26 “And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.27 And he took the cup, andgave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:26-28) Jesus proclaimed a new symbol of the Passover, the wine and the bread, a symbol of His broken body and His shed blood. Jesus did this a day before the day the Jews would beobserving the Passover with the sacrifice of thousands of lambs in the temple, because He knew that He would be the Passover offering for the sins of all mankind. At the time of our Lord’s death on the cross in the afternoon before sundown, thousands of lambswere being ritually slaughtered in the temple, but the supreme sacrifice that would take away the sins of the world, was being laid down in blood spilled upon a cruel cross at the exact moment of the events going on in the temple. Coincidence? No, God doeseverything right on time. When Jesus was laid in the tomb of a rich man, fulfilling scripture to the exact detail, He arose three days exactly from that time of His death. Exactly as scripture proclaimed and He proclaimed to the temple priest when drivingout the money changers, He arose three days later. (John 2:19-21) Upon the first day of the week, when the women came to the tomb to prepare the body for burial, they found the tomb empty and went and told the disciples who ran to find outif this event was true. Afterwards, Mary Magdalene was crying in the garden area of the tomb, when Jesus appeared to her. 14 “And when she had thus said, she turned herself back, and saw Jesus standing, and knew not that it was Jesus.15 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? whom seekestthou? She, supposing him to be the gardener, saith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou hast laid him, and I will take him away.16 Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master.17 Jesussaith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God.” (John 14:14-17) Why was this significant, and why did Jesus not want Mary to handle Him? In the temple on that morning was another event that Jesus was preparing to fulfill. That very morning is known as the “Wavesheaf Offering of First Fruits.” The primary history of this event is found in Leviticus 23:9-14: And the Lord spoke to Moses saying, "Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: ‘When you come into the land which I give to you, and reap its harvest, then you shallbring a sheaf of the first fruits of your harvest to the priest. He shall wave the sheaf before the Lord, to be accepted on your behalf; on the day after the Sabbath the priest shall wave it. And you shall offer on that day, when you wave the sheaf, a malelamb of the first year, without blemish, as a burnt offering to the Lord. Its grain offering shall be two-tenths of an ephah of fine flour mixed with oil, an offering made by fire to the Lord, for a sweet aroma; and its drink offering shall be of wine, one-fourthof a hin. You shall eat neither bread nor parched grain nor fresh grain until the same day that you have brought an offering to your God; it shall be a statute forever throughout your generations in all your dwellings.” As this action provided the first fruits of the harvest, Jesus was to ascend to the Father to be the first fruit raised from the dead. The Bible nowhere indicates that thepriests understood the ritual they were performing on Saturday evening when Jesus Christ, the archetypical Wavesheaf, was "harvested" from the material world by being resurrected from the dead. On Sunday morning, as the firstborn of many brethren, He was liftedinto and through the heavens to God's throne to be accepted by Him as the sacrifice for our sins and as our High Priest. The Feast of Weeks, or Pentecost Seven weeks from the time of the Wave Sheaf Offering is the Feast of Pentecost. It is the last Holy Day observed in the spring. When Jesus was on this earth after His resurrectionuntil the time of His ascension to rejoin His Father at His right hand, He commanded His disciples to tarry till He send them the “Comforter”. “And, behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” (Luke 24:49) Pentecost is unique among the holy days because it is the only annual feast determined by counting. All the other festivals God commands to observe on certain dates on theHebrew calendar, but we must count for Pentecost. Whether we count fifty days or seven weeks or seven Sabbaths from the day of the wavesheaf offering, we must still go through the exercise of measuring the time to keep the feast properly. Why? God does nothingwithout a purpose, and His purposes always include giving His people additional instruction for their ultimately eternal benefit. Counting to Pentecost is no exception. God gives us many numbers in His Word to give us a season to expect His return and unfoldingevents. No where in this message, can anyone proclaim that God will do this or that on a specific date. To set dates in stone is to go against what God told us that “no man knoweththe day or the hour, but my Father only" but it can give us a direction to know that events are lining up with what His Word proclaimed. So let’s recap the symbolic meaning of God’s plan for man that is replayed during the springtime of each year of man’s existence here on earth. Remember, these were symbolicin the days of Israel, but have been made real, as Jesus Christ has been crucified and shed His blood for the remission of sins for all who believe. Passover symbolizes our redemption from this world and the forgiveness of our sins. Unleavened Bread is a weeklong observance that follows Passover day and typifies our lifelong task of coming out of sin and putting on the new man in sincerity and truth. We begin to count on wavesheaf day, which occurs during this period, and the fifty days extend to Pentecost, afestival that symbolizes the harvest of God's firstfruits, as the church was born on this day. These feasts days are God’s Spring time of prophetic time markers for the redemption of His creation. Those plans have been completed. Jesus has died and rose again. We whohave believed have had His blood applied to our lives and we proclaim a memorial of His death and resurrection with the Lord’s supper of the bread and the wine until He returns to gather His church unto Himself. We seek by the power of the Holy Spirit to removesin from our lives, as portrayed by the Feast of Unleavened bread. Symbolically, we press on to become conformed to the image of the only example we have for being accepted by the Father into His presence, His Son Jesus Christ. We have before the Father, ourhigh priest and the first fruits borne of the dead through resurrection, our Lord and Savior, and we have been given the power of the Holy Spirit to be our guide, our counselor, and the power within us to complete that transformation. THE AGE OF GRACE. Between the spring and the and the fall, is the coming summer months that the harvest grows. It is the time that we are now experiencing and fast drawing to a close. We arein the age of grace, the age of the church upon this earth. During this time, many trials come upon any believer, and amongst us grow the weeds amongst the harvest…called tares in your bible. 24 “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: 25 But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. 26 But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also. 27 So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares? 28 He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up? 29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them:but gather the wheat into my barn.” (Matthew 13:24-30) We that have discernment and are following the ways of our God and Savior, know that evil abounds all around us. The tares or weeds, are right among us in the church. Duringthis summer months of the Age of Grace, God allows the wheat and the weeds to grow together, but will separate the true from the false. When will that be? As the spring time markings of the salvation of our God, brought about by our Savior Jesus Christ has been completed, and we are in the midst of the growing harvest, we awaitthe completion of God’s plan for man, as symbolized by the Feasts given by God and observed in the fall. Symbolically, we are on the cusp of the end of days that I believe, are experiencing right now. Let us now look at the spiritual meaning and applicationof these prophetic time markers that are called God’s Holy Days beginning in the fall. IN THE FALL: THE FEAST OF TRUMPETS The first time marker is the Feast of Trumpets. If you study your bible, you will notice that the trumpet was used for many points of communication to the people. Each trumpwas blown in succession in the wilderness, and during the time of the Temple of God in Jerusalem. In the wilderness, the first trump or the left horn was blown to alert the people, saying “Heads up” Attention, If you will. . The right horn, or the second blastwas designed to get the people ready to move. The last trump was used to signal, “Move out”…they were also used in battle as signals. According to Jewish tradition, the first trump is blown with the left horn of the ram Abraham sacrificed instead of Isaac (Gen 22:13). This is blown at the end of the springtime, or Pentecost that we just described above. The last trump is blown with the right horn of the ram. This is blown in this first feast of the end of the age of Grace, or the rapture of the church. The ram represented Jesus. He will sound both the firsttrump and the last trump. In the book of Revelation, John hears the sound of a loud trumpet. 10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” (Revelation1:10-13) John hears a loud trumpet and turns to see the Lord of Glory, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Paul describes this sound that I believe John heard: 50 “Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Deathis swallowed up in victory.(1st Corinthians 15:50-54) And again in 1st Thessalonians; 14 “For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. 15 For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. 16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord. 18 Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1st Thessalonians 4:14-18) A trumpet was also used to announce the coming of the KING. This trumpet that each of the apostles heard was our God, Jesus Christ sounding His coming with a shout that soundsmuch like a loud trumpet blast and is what John and Paul both heard. NO MAN KNOWETH THE DAY OR THE HOUR Another interesting fact that has been proclaimed by numerous writers, is that the Feast of Trumpets is the beginning of the secular New Year and is called Rosh HaShanah. "The problem of Rosh HaShanah is heightened by the fact that it falls on Rosh Chodesh, the new moon itself. Therefore, even in Jerusalem it would have been difficult to leteveryone know in time that the New Year had begun. To solve this problem, a two-day Rosh HaShanah was practiced even in Israel. Creating a two-day Rosh HaShanah was also intended to strengthen observance of each day; in the rabbinic view, the two days areregarded as a yoma arikhta, ONE LONG DAY. It has been called “when no one knoweth the day or the hour” Recall what Jesus told His disciples? Matthew 24 36 “ But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.” (Matthew 24:36) This was a well know feast day that any Jewish man would have recognized immediately, as it was part of their culture, and their very lives. Could our Lord be giving us a clue to His coming? What day, what year, we don’t know. We cannot say with certainty, but there has nothing to happen before the Lord breaksthrough the clouds and proclaims with a loud trumpet call, “COME UP HERE.” It is two days in Jewish culture..will Jesus come on a future "FEAST OF TRUMPETS? He did not this year, but will He come soon? Answer: no one knows...but we keep watch, as one of thesecoming years, which could be today, or next year or the year after that, then Jesus will come, and He told us plainly, that we are indeed, in the very last days of the LAST DAYS. “ So when all these things begin to happen, lift up your heads, for your redemptiondraweth nigh”....Jesus will come, and to many, He will come as a thief when they least expected Him. CONCLUSION Let me make one bold statement right here. If God has been fulfilling His plan for man in the past, on the very day of these Ancient God given time markers, called God’s Feasts,is it not plausible or even wise to conclude that God will continue to do the same for the fall feast on THE very day? If God has done this in the past, is it reasonable to expect Him to do the same in the fall observances? I know one thing, God does not change,and He gives discernment and reveals truths to His people in preparation for His movement. Our God is a God of order and He gives His people plenty of knowledge found in His Word should they read and understand with their spirits, not with their heads, butwith their hearts. DAY OF ATONEMENT, CHRIST'S SECOND COMING? Following on the heels of this aforementioned Feast of Trumpets, are the 10 days of Awe in Jewish culture, or having your name written in the God's book of life...it couldvery well correspond to the coming Tribulation, when Israel will be tried as silver is refined in the furnace, and many Gentiles will believe along with them, but many will die for that faith. Following on to the end of the Tribulation, is the next observances of the Plan for Man that God has given us in His Word, next is the “Day of Atonement.”.( at-one-ment withGod). Atonement is used in the sense of "a covering," and therefore as a means of forgiving sin. By contrast, in the burnt offering, sin is nowhere seen because it is not part of what the burnt offering teaches. In it, God is satisfied because the offererhas met His requirement through Jesus blood in his life, and by the righteous way he lives his life by following the example of His Lord Jesus. Thus, the offering shows the offerer accepted. Many believe that this is the time of the marriage supper of the Lamb, where the saints in heaven are wed to the groom, our Savior being joined to His church and the feastis completed here on earth during the Millennium . (Revelation 19:) 7 “Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God.” (Revelation19:7-9) At the conclusion of the time of feasting and being joined to our bridegroom, the Lord sets up His Kingdom here on earth, as Atonement is following closely by the Feast ofTabernacles. After destroying all rebellion with the sword of His mouth, our God, Jesus Christ will complete a prophecy marker, know as the Feast of Tabernacles, or God with us. Revelation chapter 19: 11 “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. 12 His eyes were as a flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns; and he had a name written, that no man knew, but he himself. 13 And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. 14 And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. 15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fiercenessand wrath of Almighty God. 16 And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” (Revelation 19:11-16) God will literally tabernacle with us for 1000 years and rule the nations with a rod of iron. All will be set aright and return the earth to the time of pristine conditionthat was in the time of Adam and Eve. Rebellion will be put down, sinners will be eliminated, and Satan will be bound for 1000 years in a bottomless pit. During this time, God will command that all keep the Feast of Tabernacles as read in the book of Zechariah chapter 14: 16 “And it shall come to pass, that every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORDof hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. 17 And it shall be, that whoso will not come up of all the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. 18 And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that have no rain; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep thefeast of tabernacles. 19 This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.” (Zechariah 14:16-19) Why does our Lord command us to keep this time of the Feast of Tabernacles? Because our God is finally with us, and commands us to worship Him in spirit and in truth. Allwho are mortal during this time, will be introduced, as we were to the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ and to believe on/ or not to believe on what He did. That will be the job of the redeemed Church, as Kings and Priest to guide all who are born duringthis 1000 year reign of our Lord Jesus, to the foot of the cross...Temple worship will be resumed, as Jesus cannot die again, but the symbolism will point to what He did thousands of years prior. All other markers in prophecy mentioned before and written inGod’s Word have been totally completed, but God, our Lord and Savior will continue to redeem mortals in the 1000 year reign of Jesus Christ. Men will still be of a sin nature, but not to the extent with Satan removed from tempting them. When Satan is unleashedfrom his pit, then somehow he will deceive a vast number of people that the bible speaks of in Revelation chapter 20: 7 “And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, 8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sandof the sea. 9 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.” (Revelation 20:7-9) At the end of this glorious time when Jesus will reign with righteousness and justice, that Satan will be allowed to be loosened for a short season to tempt all who have beenborn during the Millennium. It’s almost unfathomable that men and women who have been in a first person relationship with God Almighty will follow this “prince of lies”. The bible says it will be so. Hard for me to imagine, but I can’t imagine Israel in thewilderness going against the miracles of a God amongst them and following their sin nature either, but so it was. Those deceived will come against the Holy City which is the Throne of God our Savior, and fire will come down out of heaven and destroy them all. At the end of this period, when all sin is exterminated, it will prove that man cannot be trusted in his mortal state. God will remove all aliens that are not washed in theblood of Jesus Christ and the remainder will be spirit beings, as God the Father is, and as Jesus Christ is…. as the Church Saints are, so shall all men and women be. But before that is finished, there is one last feast proclaimed by God. In the Bible, it is called the “Last Great Day.”…Great because it will be the final judgment of allunsaved men and women from all of human history standing before a “Great White Throne.”. Revelation chapter 20: 11 “And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out ofthose things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”(Revelation 20:11-15) So ends the time of mankind, and the beginning of eternity...we will be with God the Father and the Lamb in the New Jerusalem and God will dwell with us forever, and ever. DECISION TIME: ARE YOU READY? How do you become written in the book of life? What is the one work that you must do that will qualify you to be counted amongst the children of God? 9 “ That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. 10 For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 11 For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.” (Romans 10:9-11) And the mini sermon that is the essence of what the bible was written for and spoke to me as a boy: 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. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. 18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” (John3:16-18) God’s plan for man embodied in these time markers of prophecy and fulfillment point to only one Man, the Son of Man….the Son of the Living God, Jesus the Christ. If you have not found this truth in Jesus Christ and His atonement for your sins, and spelled out in these biblical revival messages, I call upon you to let me introduce youto the only name that will lead to eternal life and escape eternal judgment, Jesus Christ, the Son of God. This is Pastor Mike Taylor, wishing God’s love in your life. If there is anything I can help you with, counsel you, or just listen to your prayer request,then give me an emailto pastormiketaylor@yahoo.com, or visit me online at wwww.realteam1999@sbcglobal,net God bless you, till we meet at Jesus Feet.

This End-of-the-Age Rage

 This End-of-the-Age Rage – Terry James - https://terryjamesprophecyline.com/2023/05/14/this-end-of-the-age-rage/ You have to hear it for yourself to understand. It is the manifestation of the reprobate mind—the result of turning one’s back to God and deliberately going in the oppositedirection. The sound, you would think, comes from inside asylums for the insane. But the seeming uncontrollable screeching is heard more and more as lunatic-sounding protests have grownfrom demonstrations and debates of the past, stemming from a degree of sensibility, to become guttural screams that drown out any counter viewpoint. The level of enragement that points to the reprobate mind that no longer is willing to hear what God’s Word has to say is wild animal-like—without self-discipline of any sort. Most of the rage is centered at the heart of the aberrant sexual agenda being foisted at present particularly against the very youngest. The screams are especially steepedat the center of the LGBTQ+ entities and organizations in America. Although by far in the minority of societal and cultural composition, the shrill howls of animal-like shrieking garner the attention of politicians and courts. A news itemperhaps will somewhat describe my intended point. A transgender activist let out several primal screams at a San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting last week, after SF District Attorney Brooke Jenkins declined to prosecutea Walgreens security guard who shot Banka Brown, a black transgender individual. Jenkins declared that “the evidence clearly shows that the suspect believed he was in mortal danger and acted in self-defense.” [The woman, preferring the pronoun their] expressed their (?) displeasure with an intra-scream diatribe. “I live in [District 6]. I hate a lot of people on this board…for the reasons that led up to Banka Brown’s death. So, often I prepare something—maybe it’s a little historical,may even be a little poetic, whatever. There’s a lot of performative people on this board who will say one thing and support Black people, homeless people, trans people, and then immediately stab you in the face—being racist, transphobic, anti-homeless. “So I don’t have any words prepared today. I just want you to feel our pain. I don’t know if you can at this point, based off your policy choices, but I have to pretend youhave some form of empathy left. So, I am going to spend the next minute screaming ’cause that is what is going on in here.” McGeever then gave several primal screams, saying: “That is what the trans genocide in this country, in this city, has brought me to.” As Jonathan Turley writes: “No, that is what an age of rage has brought all of us to. This entire scream session was due to San Francisco District Attorney Brooke Jenkinsannouncing that her office would not prosecute Michael-Earl Wayne Anthony, a Walgreens security guard responsible for the shooting death of Banko Brown, a Black member of the transgender community… “Our politics is now reduced to a collective scream session with zero content beyond pure unadulterated rage.” As I noted earlier, this trend was previously captured by Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) who is shown on videotape screaming about gun control in the Capitol as his colleaguesleft the floor following a vote. When Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) asked Bowman to stop yelling, Bowman shouted back: “I was screaming before you interrupted me”—which could go down as the epitaph for our age. (“AAAAAAAAAHHHH”: Trans Activist Unleashes PrimalScream at SF Board Meeting,” Tyler Durden, ZeroHedge, RR News, May 7, 2023) The screaming was indeed bloodcurdling. Those in control tried to use reason, but their effort was useless. If not insane at the moment, the individual certainly couldn’tbe differentiated from someone who had lost their mind–even by a clinical psychologist—in my opinion. And this is just the latest of a series of such baying-at-the-moon, ear-piercing-type bellowing. This type of insane rage seems to have had its genesis as an uncontrollable crying and shrieking by a woman who, back in 2016, sat on a curb when she learned that Donald Trumphad won the presidential election over her candidate, Hillary Clinton. The demonstration of the loss of sensibility now has become almost a regular feature by both men and women—especially in demonstrations that are protesting on behalf of Sodom-like activitiescarried on by LGBTQ+ and their lookalikes. These are demonstrating the “reprobate mind” before the whole world—even the world of the woke of San Francisco governmental entities. For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leavingthe natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompense of their error which was meet. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, Godgave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient. Seems to me that insane shrieking for minutes on end is not exactly convenient, especially not to the ears that have to listen. The closer time comes for Christ’s call for the Church to “Come up here!” (Revelation 4:2), the more Sodom-like the enragement manifests. The end-of-the-age rage is but another strong signal of where this generation stands on God’s prophetic timeline. He which testifieth these things saith, Surely I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus. (Revelation 22: 20)

Man of Lawlessness

 What Should We Know about the Man of Lawlessness in the Bible? Although some think that the Man of Lawlessness may represent a corrupt system or governing body, the title suggests that this advocate of religious insurrection will indeed arise in the form of a solitary being — not a demon or an angel, but a man. For believers in Christ, global catastrophes in recent years, such as pandemics, wars, and natural disasters, signify that we are experiencing biblical End Times. Though this concept is daunting, it is coupled with dichotomous anticipation for the Second Coming of Jesus and the consequential precipitation of events that will result in Him ruling the earth in a new Messianic age. Similarly, the church in ancient Thessalonica was convinced that they, too, were living in the throes of biblical Armageddon. Their fear of having missed the first phase of Jesus’ return, the Rapture (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17), induced Paul to write a second letter tothe Thessalonians with the intention of clarifying eschatological deceptions, encouraging them in their faith and instructing them on the scriptural pre-requisites that needed to be fulfilled before the Dayof the Lord took place. One such pre-requisite is the revealing of the Man of Lawlessness, a figure, a sin puppeteer — Satan — who will proclaim himself to be God in order to incite rebellion and destruction on the earth. Don’t let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshiped,so that he sets himself up in God’s temple, proclaiming himself to be God (2 Thessalonians2:3-4). This leads us to ask ourselves, who is the Man of Lawlessness? And is he already here? Who Is the Man of Lawlessness? Though some biblical scholars postulate that the Man of Lawlessness may represent a corrupt system or governing body, the title suggests that this advocate of religious insurrection will indeed arise in the form of a solitary being — not a demon or an angel,but a man. Being the conflicting representation of Jesus Christ, this figure is also known as the “Antichrist” or the “man of sin.” The following are further characteristics of the Man of Lawlessness: 1. He refuses to subject himself to any laws or authorities — he is the epitome of lawlessness, as his title suggests. 2. As a consequence of being above the law, he declares himself to be God and sits in His most Holy Place (2Thessalonians 2:4; 1 John 4:3). 3. He is not Satan; however, he will be commandeered by the devil and will represent him physically on earth as the world’s final Antichrist (2Thessalonians 2:9; 1 John 2:18). 4. He will rise to great prominence and will lure many away from God to their spiritual demise. 5. He will make a covenant with mankind during the first half of the seven-yearTribulationperiod, then break it (Daniel 9:27). 6. Although he is a man, he will possess supernatural powers and will be able to deceive people with fake signs and wonders (2Thessalonians 2:9). 7. He is known as the Son of Perdition, meaning that he evokes wickedness and destruction in others and is himself doomed to be destroyed by God (2Thessalonians 2:3,8). Where Else Is the Man of Lawlessness Mentioned in the Bible? The Book of Daniel references the arrival and ascent of the Antichrist. In Daniel 7:25, the prophet writes, “He will speak against the Most High and oppress his holy people and try to change the set times and the laws.” In Daniel 8:1-12, the prophet has a vision that describes the ascent of a “fierce-looking king, a master of intrigue” who will arise and be worshiped by the world before it is ultimately defeated. In Daniel 11:36-45, we learn that this king will exalt himself above God and will be successful in spreading lies and deception. In Daniel 11:31, he will defile the temple of God and “set up the abomination that makes desolate.” Jesus also spoke of a man who came in “his own name” and was accepted by mankind; whereas, in contrast, He came in His Father’s name and was rejected (John5:43). In Matthew 24:23–25, Jesus also warned His Disciples of false prophets and those claiming to be Christ, who would lead people astray by performing great signs and miracles. Is the Man of Lawlessness Integral to Biblical Prophecy? The rise of the Man of Lawlessness fulfills essential biblical prophecies pertaining to the End Times. His heretic reign is pre-ordained through the Tribulation period, a time in which the Christian faith is rejected, and the love of humans for one another turns cold through betrayal and hate (Matthew24:10-13). This great apostasy will provide an opportunity for the man of sin to come into being. Initially, the power of lawlessness will work covertly, for God is holding Satan’s puppet at bay. However, at the right time, God will deliberately release this unholy power (2 Thessalonians2:6-7), thereby giving sin jurisdiction over the earth. Why? God gives mankind the freedom to either embrace His Truth and accept His gift of Salvation or walk the paths of wickedness and righteousness. 2 Thessalonians 2:10 states, “They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.” God uses the Man of Lawlessness to seek out the true believers by allowing the unrighteous to believe the lies of the Antichrist (2Thessalonians 2:12) and choose him as their god. Additionally, God uses the abomination of this agent of Satan to enable two things: 1. To provide a clear marker in the biblical timeline that Jesus’ arrival on earth and his consequential judgment of mankind is nigh. 2. God will overcome the Man of Lawlessness with one breath and thereby announce the splendor of His arrival as the One True God (2Thessalonians 2:8). Is the Man of Lawlessness Amongst Us Today? Since the serpent tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the spirit of lawlessness has been interfering with humans and their affairs. At the time that Paul wrote his letter to the Thessalonians, the reigning Roman emperor Caligula had attempted to have a statue of himself erected in the Temple at Jerusalem, which would have undoubtedly had him dubbed as the next Antichrist from the Jews’ perspective. Though no one has stepped up to claim the title of the Man of Lawlessness in our time, it is an unfortunate truth that we are living in times of disorder, confusion, and false truths. Churches are striving to produce services that rival Superbowl performances, and our children are watching TV shows with immoral content and growing up believing such mindsets and lifestyles to be normal. False prophets are leading death cults and satanic acts are audaciously being performed in public arenas and being labeled “entertainment.” And let’s not forget the plotting and collusion of governments and organizations that deceive people daily. What makes it truly lamentable is that we have accepted this version of the world we live in as being true. If that’s the case, maybe the time for the Antichrist to rise is nearer than we all presume. Paul’s Encouragement to Believers Though Paul is the bearer of sobering news, he also reminds the church of Thessalonica that they are loved and chosen by God and encourages them to stay faithful to the biblical teachings that have been instilled in them by him and his fellow apostles (2Thessalonians 2:13-15). In the same way, we too as modern-day believers can remain joyful in the knowledge that we are beloved children of God, who have been chosen by Him through His grace and mercy. We need not fear the arrival of the Man of Lawlessness, for he and Satan are defeated foes. They know it, and we should know it too. Instead, let us continue to do the work of the Lord and share His gospel with a world that so desperately needs to hear it (2Thessalonians 2:16-17). Let us step out each day like the Thessalonians, full of divine encouragement and spiritual strength to fortify our every word and deed. For further reading: What Does the Bible Say about the Antichrist? How Are the End Times Described in 2 Timothy? What Is the Rapture?

The Six Stages of Antisemitism: It’s About to Get a Lot Worse…

 The Six Stages of Antisemitism: It’s About to Get a Lot Worse… - By Olivier Melnick - https://harbingersdaily.com/the-six-stages-of-antisemitism-its-about-to-get-a-lot-worse/ Antisemitism, also known as the longest hatred, didn’t happen in a vacuum. It progressively grew, morphed and reinvented itself. It has been creatively adapted to fit thetimes. As one surveys the history of the Jewish people, it quickly becomes evident that it has been and continues to be punctuated by acts of antisemitism. Forced baptisms and conversions, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Pogroms, the Holocaust and the Middle East crisis are just a few of Satan’s creative ways to turn the worldagainst the Jews. He succeeded in millions of casualties even though God promised never to forsake Israel completely (Jeremiah 31:35-37.) He has been busy on two fronts toward the same goal: the destruction of the Jews. First, he works hard at turning the Jewish people against Yeshua by erroneously making thembelieve that following Him is antithetical to remaining a Jew. Second, he has turned many within the Church against the Jews throughout history and even today with the growth and influence of Replacement Theology. Some believe that antisemitism was at its apex stage during the Holocaust and stopped after that. If history stopped, I could agree with such a statement. Still, almost eightyyears have passed, and outside of maybe slowing down a bit for two decades after the Holocaust, antisemitism is alive and well. It has been on an uninterrupted continuum since biblical days. We can also look at antisemitism as existing on a spectrum throughout the history of the Jewish people. To understand the gravity of the current situation, we must study thatspectrum. This will allow us to determine where normalization sits on the spectrum and what it means to us today. As we study the spectrum of antisemitism, one thing will become evident: Antisemitism doesn’t vacillate through history, going back and forth on the spectrum from non-existentto full force. Instead, it keeps moving in the same direction, never looking back. It might slow down a bit when a particular historical figure appears on the world scene and sees Jewish people with favor, such as–within reason–Charlemagne (747-814) or Napoleon(1769-1821). Still, it never completely ceases, even with their favorable treatment. So, the spectrum moves only in one direction at various speeds but never reverses direction. It is driven by Satan from one end to the other, without exception. The starting point of antisemitism is found in the biblical record of the Jewish Scriptures (Old Testament.) Pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph (Exodus 1), Haman in the book ofEsther, the Amalekites (Exodus 17) or even the list of people groups provided by Asaph in Psalm 83. Those are obvious examples of the enemies of Israel. Still, the animosity goes back to Genesis 3:15, when the seed of the serpent (Satan) fights the seed ofthe woman (Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah). At the origin, it was nothing more than biblical pagan jealousy. The people around Israel were jealous of the “chosen people” status of Israel declared by God (Deuteronomy7:6-8; 14:2; 26:17-19; 2 Samuel 7:23-24, Psalm 105:8-15; 135:4; Isaiah 41:8). The Jewish people have been set aside by the God of Israel for His purpose, and that makes many people jealous, For You have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Yourinheritance, as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord God.” (1 Kings 8:53). Moving into the Greek Scriptures (New Testament), we find many passages that paint part of the Jewish leadership as antagonistic to Yeshua and His followers. This doesn’tvalidate the antisemitic tone that many have tried to attribute to the Greek Scriptures. That part of the Bible is not antisemitic, but it is not within the scope of this article to address that issue. After the closing of the Canon of Scripture, from the late 1st century forward, many of the ante-Nicaean Church Fathers contributed to the building of an early anti-Jewishsentiment. The following generations of Church Fathers continued the diatribes. This section of the spectrum could be called theological anti-Judaism. It continued throughout history with various degrees of intensity, peaking at times such as the Crusadesor the Inquisition and specific recurring times on the calendar such as Holy Week as it became Classical Antisemitism. Unbeknownst to him, Martin Luther set the stage for the Holocaust in his pamphlet “On the Jews and their lies.” He never intended for the Jews to be mass-murdered, but hiswords carried much weight, which led to tragic consequences. Martin Luther couldn’t look forward to the future or Adolf Hitler, but Hitler most definitely looked back at Luther and chose to act upon the theologian’s every word and beyond. There was anothershift, and Classical Antisemitism became Racial Antisemitism. Hitler described the Jews as vermin and sub-humans to be eradicated for the betterment of mankind. He tried to support his lethal agenda against a backdrop of science by promoting Eugenics (debunkedsoon after, but seeing a bizarre comeback in the 21st century). Then came the interlude—two decades of relative respite for the Jews. The words “antisemitic” or “antisemitism” became taboo after the Holocaust. To be sure, while the wordswere avoided, the thoughts and actions continued. Yet, it was time for Satan to reinvent the oldest hatred. So, he repackaged it in the form of anti-Israelism or anti-Zionism so that an antisemite could continue their nefarious agenda without being calledan antisemite. Most scholars now agree that this period, which continues to this day, is known as the New Antisemitism. It has benefited quite a bit from the advent of the Internet and social networks. People feel good about being social justice advocateswhile they demonize Israel and the Jews. Yet, the spectrum is even broader. In 2012, in Toulouse, France, a man killed seven Jewish people total, including a rabbi and two young children at a day school. In my opinion,this attack marks when Jewish people started getting killed again for being Jewish. In 2015, during the “I am Charlie” days, a man entered a kosher supermarket on the east side of Paris, took Jewish people hostages, and ended up killing four of them. Keepin mind that killing four or more people in one event constitutes a “mass killing.” The carnage continues to this day all over the world. This is what I have called End-Times Antisemitism. It is part of the new antisemitism but is a hybrid of classical antisemitism(biblical days to Holocaust) and the new antisemitism (1948 to today). I believe that there is one more brand of antisemitism coming, and I call it Tribulation Antisemitism. It will be a time of great turmoil and destruction for the Jewish peopleleft behind. According to Zechariah 13:8-9, two-thirds of the Jewish people living at that time will perish, and one-third will survive and become followers of Yeshua the Messiah. As difficult as it is to say and comprehend, it will be a time far worse thanthe Holocaust for the Jews. While, again, this is not within the scope of this work, I believe in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial Rapture of the Church. Believers will be taken up in the air by Yeshuabefore the start of the Tribulation, also known as the Time of Jacob’s trouble (Jeremiah 30:7). The reason why I need to clarify my eschatological position is to avoid being accused of escapism. Some who do not adhere to a pre-Tribulation Rapture feel that those whodo are simply buying into a doctrine of escapism to avoid the terrible days ahead. Believing in a pre-Tribulation Rapture should encourage believers to share with the lost before we are all gone. That includes sharing with our Jewish friends who will sufferthe most during the Tribulation. I truly cannot wait for Yeshua to call us home, and yet, I can wait for Him to do so, as long as I can be used to lead more people to Him. Time is of the essence as the stage is being finalized for the antichrist and the Tribulationa little more each day. This is where the normalization of antisemitism comes on the spectrum. While antisemitism has existed since biblical days, there always were people to defend the Jews againstthe libels and the diatribes. Israel’s advocates continue to be as vocal as they can today, but they are a dying breed. What will happen when antisemitism becomes normalized and goes mainstream? This shift must occur for the Tribulation events to occur with such intensity. When normalizationoccurs, it will be open season for the Jews and those who defend them. We are not quite there, but we are very close. In other words, the stage is set for the final iteration of antisemitism… The incentive to share Yeshua with our Jewish friendshas never been so palpable!

Critically Reading Signs of The Times in The Last Days

 Critically Reading Signs of The Times in The Last Days - By RonFerguson - https://www.raptureready.com/2023/05/16/critically-reading-signs-of-the-times-in-the-last-days-by-ron-ferguson/ This is an important posting. Please do not tune out and ignore what is happening now at increasing speed. We need to be able to read the signs of the time, and that is biblical,from the Lord Himself. Matthew 16:3 “and in the morning, ‘There will be a storm today for the sky is red and threatening.’ Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky but cannot discern the signs of the times?” The Lord chastised the people for beingable to do all manner of things, but they were not able to read the signs of the times. We live in critical times and dangerous times. Surely you must be concerned about your nation and what is happening in the world? Do things seem to be spinning out of control? There is such an advance of evil in our times. In fact, wickedness advances on steroids. In the free world, changes are being implemented at such a rate, it is astounding.Any honest-thinking person must ask, “Where is all this going to end?” WHAT DOES THE TERM “IN THE LAST DAYS” MEAN? Before we go any further, there are a couple of things that need to be addressed. The first of these is the term “IN THE LAST DAYS.” What does this term mean? THERE ARE TWO USES OF THIS TERM. The first one applies to all that concerns Israel. For example, in this verse – Ezekiel 38:16 “and you will come up against My people Israellike a cloud to cover the land. It will come about IN THE LAST DAYS that I shall bring you against My land, in order that the nations may know Me when I shall be sanctified through you before their eyes, O Gog.” The armies of Gog/Magog (Russia, Iran, Libya,Ethiopia, and all the nations to the remote north of Israel) will invade Israel. Every single one of the Old Testament references to the last days – and there are so many of them – are prophetic and concern Israel. They speak of trial, blessing, and thecoming of the Lord to the nation Israel. Every single one of these references remains in the future and CANNOT HAPPEN while the Church is still on earth. Many of them are connected with “the end of the age.” For example, the disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 24 verse 1 what the signs of His coming would be and when would bethe end of the age. The end of the age regarding Israel is when the Lord returns at the Second Coming. The second use of the term “In the last days” is more New Testament and applies to the last days of the Church age. This verse relates to that time – 2 Timothy 3:1-2 “Realizethis, that in the last days difficult times will come, for men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,” (etc). Let us make that very clear. There are two ways the term “In the last days” or just “last days” is used in scripture. The first use is for the last days of the Jewish ageand for the world society. That ends at the Second Coming. It means the end of the age for the whole world, and that will end after the Tribulation at the Second Coming when Jesus returns to establish His kingdom on earth. The second use – usually found in the New Testament references – is the last days or the time before the Rapture, when the Lord returns in the air to catch up His believingpeople, as we have in these verses – 1Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we who are alive and remainshall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord.” Where are we today? We are living in the Church Age, actually right at the end of the Church Age. This is why it is so important to understand that we are right at the end.This is not a time to be slack in our Christian witness and living for the Lord. The time is short – very short! Students of Bible prophecy know that to be the case. CHURCHES HAVE FAILED IN BIBLICAL PROPHECY It is a very sad thing that so many churches neglect the study of biblical prophecy and relegate it to the unimportant. That attitude dishonors God, and Christians who goalong with that ought to be ashamed. Those churches have no expectation of the Lord’s return or the redemption of the believers at the Rapture. Churches, even denominations, do not teach the Rapture because they cannot be bothered or don’t believe it, yet the imminent coming of the Lord for the believers in the NewTestament days was an essential doctrine called “the glorious hope.” The “coming of the Lord” is what inspired godly living and gave hope to the martyrs who were being killed for the name of Christ. The neglect and dismissal of the Rapture understanding isa cunning insertion of Satan into doctrines, especially at and after the time of Constantine and in the Reformation. The Reformation did not go far enough. This is what God says about it (the church at Sardis represents the Reformation period) – Revelation3:2 “Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain which were about to die, for I HAVE NOT FOUND YOUR DEEDS COMPLETED in the sight of My God.” In a survey done on Rapture teaching in the churches, I present this, a quote from Daymond Duck: In early March 2023, prophecy teacher Amir Tsarfati wrote, “According to those who gather such statistics, of the 2.42 billion people who bear the label ‘Christian’ today,only 6.6% believe in the Rapture of the church.” The reason for that low percentage is the fault and neglect of churches and their ministers and denominations who are too careless about the Bible. It might be one thing tobe caught up in believing error, but it is almost criminal in God’s eyes to keep believing it. The Rapture will end our current Church age and the times we live in. The Church will be translated to heaven before the great and terrible Tribulation breaks out over theearth for 7 years. Any of you people who are skeptical of the Rapture and believe there is just one coming of Jesus in the future, please read the New Testament carefully and even check out material that proves all this, such as this (series on the Rapture) – https://www.sermoncentral.com/sermon-series/eschatology-rapture-bible-prophecy-and-current-affairs-sermon-series-from-ron-ferguson-22819?_gl=1*19ft8o6*_ga*MjA4NjkxMzQ5Ni4xNjcyNzM5NjA2*_ga_TRT0ERDR3P*MTY4MTM0MTQ1OC4yMTAuMS4xNjgxMzQxNDcxLjQ3LjAuMA READING THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES So far, we have spoken about the last days as they apply to Israel and to the Church and about the Rapture, so we must address the SIGNS OF THE TIMES. I am reluctant to sayit, but they are blind who can’t read the signs of the times. When Jesus upbraided those who did not know the signs of the times, don’t you think you have a responsibility to do that? Or do you think it does not apply to you? We live in such evil times, and the things that concern us are getting worse. Listen to what Paul said about the last days of the Church age – 2 Timothy 3:1 “Realize this,that in the last days difficult times will come,” (etc). That means “days or hardship” – difficult times” (NASB) and “perilous times” (AV). In examining the signs of the times, we need to understand what is meant by “difficult times.” Difficult times must be understood as something different from what has been in the past. Horrible things have featured in the past, like wars and famines and persecutionand death and other things, so what makes our times difficult or unique? Let us look at some of this. So much of what is happening is now in the global arena. [A]. MILITARY EXPANSIONISM Have you not seen how the world seems primed for war? Putin, a declared war criminal, wants to dominate and take all of Europe. Xi of China, another war criminal, wants Taiwanand then expand through Asia, and Biden won’t stop it because he is weak and not in his right mind. The “rocket man” from North Korea wants to go to war against anyone. Nations are arming to the teeth, to use that well-known expression. Some people think there will be a World War 3, but I feel confident none of that will happen before the Rapture (that is imminent). Now I want to add something else to the mix. How many remember the wars that happened among the former members of the Yugoslavian Communist Federation after Tito? Serbia,Croatia, Bosnia, and others? These were ethnic wars. What of the upheaval of civil wars when PEACE IS TAKEN AWAY? My thoughts go immediately to the USA and the racial civil war that could happen, repeated all over the world, especially in these days of massmigration of displaced peoples. Note this very carefully. After the Rapture of the Church in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15, the world will find itself in a measure of chaos. When the Church is raptured,it goes to heaven, and Revelation chapters 4 and 5 will happen. Then immediately after that, the Tribulation starts with the breaking of the first seal in Revelation 6:1, and that one is the revealing of the Antichrist/world leader. BUT the next seal, the second, is this one – Revelation 6:3-4 “When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, ‘Come,’ and another, a red horse,went out, and to him who sat on it, it was granted TO TAKE PEACE FROM THE EARTH, AND THAT MEN SHOULD SLAY ONE ANOTHER, and a great sword was given to him.” Dear readers of this article, do not dismiss this. We are very close to this event. The nations of theworld are primed for war. It just needs a trigger, and that trigger will be the Rapture. [B]. DESTRUCTION OF GOD’S DECLARED ABSOLUTES FOR MAN What am I speaking of here? Well, God instituted marriage between man and woman, but wickedness has turned that on its head by making it the perversion of homosexual marriage.It is sick, but that sickness proceeds from the corrupt nature that makes up what mankind is. The degrading aspects of homosexuality are now enshrined in the law courts of Australia and the USA and are so radical that people are now persecuted for disagreeingwith it and are losing their jobs and freedoms. It is satanic, just one more sign of the times. God established true sexuality, that of male and female: man and woman. He created them in the image of God, and for all these last 6,000 years, the world recognized maleand female genders. However, in the last few years, we have the great confusion and perversion of sexuality and gender. Some of us know this terminology from hell – LGBTQIA +, and there are more of these distortions. They call it gender identity, gender diversity, and gender fluidity. I call it demonic gender corruption. God will not allow this evil to continue for much longer, and asthe flood came crashing on the ancient world, so shall the Tribulation burst onto the earth. [C]. THE SEXUAL DESTRUCTION OF CHILDREN This is monstrous. Firstly, the abortion of the unborn is straight from hell again, for Satan hates the human race and seeks to destroy whatever he can. There are over 70million abortions performed worldwide yearly. God said, “Be fruitful and multiply,” but evil says, “Be aggressive and annihilate.” Then those who are born are subject to the destruction of true sexuality in the education systems. In some cases, young children are exposed to all sorts of perversions atschool in the sex education classes and told nothing is wrong and to go out and experiment with their sexuality. What sort of demonic monsters have gained access to these programs? How long will God continue to persevere with this evil? [D]. NATIONAL TRENDS IN THE WORLD Those who study the signs of the times are noticing several very disturbing trends. The first is that incompetent men and women have accumulated in governments, and thereis awful incompetence in governing the nations. It is as if morons now run the show. The governments of the world are turning more and more to the left, to socialism and Marxism, and all those systems are built on humanism. This is not really a surprise, asthey are all being drawn in to globalism, the one-world system. More and more arrogant people are found in government forcing their constituents to conform to a restrictive control, and those who object or disagree are canceled out in many different ways.In Australia, in the past 10 years, thousands of freedoms have been removed through legislation and penalties. Crime is out of control, and the government refuses to address it. WOKE. We have all heard it. From the Guardian Newspaper – “The word woke loosely refers to a social media-fueled, left-wing political ideology that emerged in the English-speakingworld in the early 2010s.” Anything WOKE is not Christian. It began with radical racism. It is another deep decay in society in these last days. [E]. DELUSION WITHOUT JUSTIFICATION We are having our lifestyles altered because the false delusion of climate change is unbounded. The whole world, except the Communist nations, is forced to conform to thisclimate untruth. Costs are rising, and the nations become ungovernable. Never do these fanatics and cunning destroyers ever use TRUE science to justify a climate crisis because there is no crisis. People can’t pay electricity bills, and manufacturers are beingbrought to their knees by costs they cannot recoup. National debt is so high, it cannot be repaid. Reader, where do you think this is all going? Have you considered it? That is not a difficult question. The purpose of all this is to bring the whole world under centralizedcontrol when nations are weakened so that they are no longer viable. Satan has his men in top government positions, and the heads of the USA, Australia, France, and so many more are doing the bidding of their masters. The Bible is clear about this. Straightafter the Rapture comes a man, and this is said about him – Revelation 13:3 “I saw one of his heads as if it had been slain, and his fatal wound was healed. And THE WHOLE EARTH WAS AMAZED AND FOLLOWED AFTER THE BEAST.” The whole earth will follow this mostevil man ever to set foot in the world (the Antichrist). Things are falling into place. This is NOT the time for unbelief or mocking or dismissal. The signs of the time indicate the Rapture is very close. Are you living for theLord Jesus Christ? World alignments are falling into place. The World Economic Forum and the World Health Organization are the forerunners in this New World Order, The Great Reset. It is advancingat alarming rates. I suspect those who dismiss the Rapture might also dismiss the lining up of world events – the Signs of the Times. The people in Jesus’ day could not read them, and I suspect the same today. AND WHAT OF THE CONCERN FOR JUSTICE? You Americans, have you been following the huge injustice in your nation that has caused Congressional and Senate hearings? There is corruption right through government andthe White House. Innocent people are dismissed from their jobs and penalized and arrested for not accepting the pride flag, but the grossly criminally guilty are not charged. Australia is much the same, even worse. I fear this is a worldwide trend. The denialof justice is everywhere. The righteous have a sensitivity to justice that is not generally found in an unsaved man. It is justice we must pursue, for it is the justice of God that led to our conversion. The prophet Isaiah was so burdened that the Spirit of God wrote through him – Isaiah 59:8-15 “They do not know the way of peace, and THERE IS NO JUSTICE IN THEIR TRACKS. Theyhave made their paths crooked. Whoever treads on them does not know peace. Therefore, JUSTICE IS FAR FROM US, and righteousness does not overtake us. We hope for light, but behold, darkness; for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope along the wall likeblind men. We grope like those who have no eyes. We stumble at midday as in the twilight. Among those who are vigorous we are like dead men. All of us growl like bears and moan sadly like doves. WE HOPE FOR JUSTICE, but there is none; for salvation, but itis far from us. “Our transgressions are multiplied before You, and our sins testify against us; For our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: transgressing and denying theLORD, and turning away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving in and uttering from the heart lying words. JUSTICE IS TURNED BACK, AND RIGHTEOUSNESS STANDS FAR AWAY; FOR TRUTH HAS STUMBLED IN THE STREET, and uprightness cannot enter. Yes,truth is lacking; and he who turns aside from evil makes himself a prey. Now the LORD saw, and it was displeasing in His sight THAT THERE WAS NO JUSTICE.” So much of what Isaiah wrote we see and know to be in today’s world. When the Lord returns at the Second Coming, His justice will flow through the earth. CONCLUSION – IT IS ALL IN GOD’S TIME It is not my purpose to highlight the afflictions of our times and leave it at that. All I want to do is to cause you to think about the Signs of the Times as Jesus expectedhis nation to have done when He was on earth. It is so important that we understand our times because then we understand the times that are ahead. The coming of the Lord for His Church is so very close. Once the Rapture happens, it will be too late to do the Lord’s will. You should be doing that today as if the Lordcomes tomorrow. Be busy about service for the Master. If you have been lazy, then arise and get busy! All things are falling into place, and quickly too. The last days of the Church age will see increasing turmoil and disgraceful behavior from people, for Paul stated thatwicked men will proceed from bad to worse. 2 Timothy 3:2-4 “For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal,haters of good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” I will close with a few verses about the Lord Jesus Christ, and here they are: Isaiah 30:18 “Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you, and therefore He waits on high to have compassion on you. For THE LORD IS A GOD OF JUSTICE.” Isaiah 42:1 “Behold, My Servant whom I uphold; My chosen one in whom My soul delights. I have put My Spirit upon Him; HE WILL BRING FORTH JUSTICE TO THE NATIONS.” Isaiah 42:4 “He will not be disheartened or crushed until He has established JUSTICE IN THE EARTH; and the coastlands will wait expectantly for His law.”

Fresh Warnings of the Mark of the Beast

 Fresh Warnings of the Mark of the Beast – Todd Strandberg - https://www.raptureready.com/category/nearing-midnight/ My three main interests in life are prophecy, economics, and general news. I watch several financial videos each week, and I’ve noticed that many of them are worried aboutthe implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC). They warned that such a system would give the government too much control over our lives. I am concerned because I see this device as the advanced stage of what will be the mark of the beast. A couple of decades ago, there was no possible way to implement a digitalcurrency that could conduct all financial transactions. Today, a working CBDC is being tested by several government agencies. The COVID pandemic helped set the blueprint for the mark. Millions of people couldn’t go to work, so they needed a handout from the government. The feds had the power to puttrillions of dollars into the bank account of everyone who qualified. Since the rapture will probably create far greater chaos, the Fed could offer more money to restore order. Only in this case your bank account will be with the Fed, and you’llneed to get a chip Injection to access your funds. If the government can put money into your current bank account, they can easily transfer all your funds to your new Fed account. You could be a billionaire and be separatedfrom your money by a system that the Bible warns we should not become involved with. Everyone who takes the 666 mark will be condemned to hell. “If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God …. And the smokeof their torment ascends forever and ever; and they have no rest day or night …. Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:9-12). People will not be tricked into taking the mark by accident. By accepting it, a person will be pledging their obedience to the Antichrist. There could be an oath that peoplewill be required to take. I find the mark to be one of the scariest things in the Book of Revelation. You could be a rich person but have to face starving to death to save your soul from the lake offire. The beast government will save many from dying of hunger by chopping their heads off. There is another technological development that I find equally worrying. There has been much news about the danger presented by artificial intelligence apps. The “Godfather of AI,” Geoffrey Hinton, recently resigned from his position at Google, where he has worked for over a decade. He joined a growing chorus of critics who warnof the existential risk artificial intelligence systems pose to humans. Elon Musk has warned of the danger of AI, but he founded the company that created ChatGPT, the most widely used AI app. Many of the scientists that labored to create the atomicbomb got cold feet when it came to using the bomb against Japan. When people create things that can be used for evil, they cannot be un-invented. There is one example of AI being used by criminals. Fox News reported that a Florida man received a call from what he thought was his daughter. The voice sounded just likehis daughter, but it was an AI-created clone. The scammers asked him to send $600 to resolve an undisclosed dire situation. Some people who rejected the mark may get calls from their dead relatives begging them to get chipped. Since the government records all phone conversations, AI would haveno trouble producing the voice of someone’s dead mother. AI could put pressure on holdouts by turning off their utilities, their internet, and their wireless phones. People could have their homes or cars taken from them becausethey didn’t pay loans that were paid off years ago. There will be few places to hide from an AI-driven mark of the beast system. Every true Believer should rejoice each day that God has promised to save us from an evil manwho will briefly have total control over the earth. “And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon gave him his power, and hisseat, and great authority …. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations” (Revelation 13:2; 7).

The Increasing Secularization Of The Culture

 The Lukewarm Church Has Greatly Contributed To The Increasing Secularization Of The Culture – By Ken Ham - https://harbingersdaily.com/the-lukewarm-church-has-greatly-contributed-to-the-increasing-secularization-of-the-culture/ 2 Timothy 4:3-4 KJV – “For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” One of the observations I’ve made in recent times is that basic beliefs Christians have held to for 2,000 years (and the Israelites before them for hundreds more years!) aresuddenly being portrayed as radical beliefs. At times, it’s as if those discovering that Christians hold to these beliefs are in shock that people could hold to these positions. Why is this happening? I personally think there are at least five major reasons for this. Of course, I’m sure there are more, but before we look at the five I am proposing, let’s consider some examples. Christian Organizations Want to Hire . . . Christians? We have seen secularists respond in shock that Christian organizations would employ only Christians! LGBTQ people have spoken against Christian adoption agencies that onlyplace children in homes that agree with their statement of faith. Government officials can’t believe that Christian schools don’t allow students who are transgender/gay to be part of the student body or that they won’t hire LGBTQ staff members.Christians have been taken to court for not doing things (like making wedding cakes, doing photography, etc., for celebrations of nonbiblical “marriage”) that go totally against their biblical convictions. The list goes on and on. Aliens—They’re Going to Hell!? Let me give you a totally different type of example. In 2014, I wrote a blog post on Answers In Genesis about why I don’t believe in aliens. In that blog, I used the sametype of arguments that I had used on our website in 2007. In fact, I have been giving these reasons for why I don’t believe in aliens for many years—it’s really nothing new. Not only that, but if you search the internet, you can find articles from other authorsusing arguments similar to the ones I use. Now, one of the arguments I used in that 2014 blog was in regard to the gospel. I explained that if there were intelligent beings on other planets, then they would have beenaffected by the fall of Adam because the whole creation was affected (Romans 8:22). So these beings would have to die because death was the penalty for sin. One day their planet will be destroyed by fire during God’s final judgment, but they cannot have salvationbecause that blessing is given only to humans. If intelligent beings lived on other planets, they would suffer because of Adam’s sin but have no opportunity to be saved through Christ’s sacrifice. When Jesus Christ stepped into history, he became the God-man. The Bible calls him “the last Adam” and the “second man” (1 Corinthians 15:45, 47). He became the second perfectman (Adam was perfect before he sinned), and he took the place of the first Adam by dying for the human race. As the first Adam was the representative head of the human race, so Jesus became the new head, the last Adam. So there can be no other Savior, onlyChrist. Jesus now sits in the heavens, still in human form, on his throne next to the Father. If Jesus stepped out of his human form, we would no longer have a Savior. He remains the God-man forever. But note, Jesus didn’t become a “God-Klingon,” a “God-Vulcan,” or a “God-Cardassian”—he became the God-man. It wouldn’t make sense theologically for there to be other intelligent, physical beings who suffer because of Adam’s sin but cannot be saved. So my point was that I don’tbelieve in aliens. Secularists didn’t respond to my writing on this over the years until 2014 when I used the above argument in my blog. For some reason, that blog captured their attention,and the secular media responded with headlines like these: •“Creationist Ken Ham Says Aliens Are ‘Going to Hell’ . . .” •“Creationist Ken Ham Says Aliens Will Go to Hell So Let’s Stop Looking for Them” •“Creationist Ken Ham: ‘Aliens AREN’T Going to Hell, Because They Don’t Exist, Because the Bible’” •“Creationist Ken Ham calls to end space program because aliens are going to hell anyway” Okay, there were many more ridiculous headlines, all because I used an explanation about the gospel as one of the many reasons I give to say I don’t believe in aliens. Weare certainly experiencing a time when those who reject Christianity will go out of their way to mock and attack Christians in ways we’ve never seen before in this culture. Why is this happening? Five Reasons People Are Shocked Let’s consider my five reasons: 1.In the past when the Judeo-Christian ethic permeated the culture, Christians (churches) had a somewhat favored cultural position. So Christians and Christian leaders (pastors,etc.) were highly respected. Even most non-Christians had more of a Christianized worldview. But as the culture has become more secularized and permeated by moral relativism, Christians are often seen to be the enemy and are increasingly attacked. 2.Because of intense evolutionary indoctrination in the education systems and the elevating of anything that is called “science” to a position of almost reverence, many nowsee Christian beliefs as outdated, anti-scientific, mythological, and ignorant. 3.As generations have built their thinking on man’s word instead of God’s Word and thus built a very secular worldview permeated with moral relativism, they see those who standon the absolutes of Christianity as intolerant and hate-filled for not totally accepting their anti-God worldview. Those who don’t want Christian morality want total compliance with and acceptance of their views by everyone. 4.We cannot ignore the spiritual aspect that the god of this world,Satan, has blinded people against the truth. And the more people drift from God’s Word, the more the devil will blind them to the truth. Yes, it is a spiritual issue.In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep themfrom seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4)And because it’s a spiritual issue, the solution is, always has been, and will continue to be the saving gospel! 5.Now I come to the final reason—the onethat I believe has been one of the most significant contributions to what is happening. This concerns the state of much of the church. There’s been a catastrophic generational loss from the church as the younger generations have become ardently secular witha worldview permeated by moral relativism. So many church leaders compromised Genesis with evolution and undermined the authority of the Word of God, and that causes doubt that leads to unbelief as seen in the younger generations. Much of the church did notequip generations with apologetics to withstand the attacks on God’s Word, particularly in Genesis.So many church leaders totally endorsed the pagan public education system, telling parents their kids needed to be there to be salt and thus witnesses in thatsystem. But kids can’t be salt till they have it, and if the salt is contaminated, it’s good for nothing. The majority of church kids have not survived this anti-God system. Many church leaders didn’t teach parents how to disciple their children. Many churcheswatered down the teaching of the Word and moved more toward entertainment (performance) and experiential aspects. Many churches/church leaders (and the number is increasing) have become very soft on moral issues associated with LGBTQ. There are so many otherissues associated with the church that have resulted in, by and large, a lukewarm church that has greatly contributed to the increasing secularization of the culture. Okay—there, I said it. I do believe much of the problem lies with the church. A lot of Christians look at the culture and say, “Look how bad the culture is.” I think we should be saying, “Look how bad much of the church is,” and then we should commit to praying for the church and challenging her to stand on the authority of God’sWord, from the very first verse, so we can raise up generations who know what they believe, know why they believe what they believe, and will boldly share that with others.

Fables in the Seminaries and Pulpits

 Fables in the Seminaries and Pulpits - By Daymond Duck - https://www.raptureready.com/2023/05/13/fables-in-the-seminaries-and-pulpits-by-daymond-duck/ On May 3, 2023, a Decision Magazine article was posted on Harbingers Daily about Aaron Edwards, a theology professor in England, who tweeted that homosexuality is “invadingthe Church.” Edwards said, “This is a ‘Gospel issue,’ by the way. If sin is no longer sin, we no longer need a Savior.” His statement caused a backlash that got him suspended and then fired. Jesus was addressing a group of Pharisees when He said, “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, andabode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not” (John 8:44-45). Edwards told the truth, but his religious superiors chose to reject the truth and believe a lie. Concerning money, Jesus said, “No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other” (Luke 16:13). When people who do not know what the Bible says contradict it, I suppose it can be called a sin of ignorance. But Church leaders who deliberately reject the truth (and deliberately promote a lie) are serving Satan. This is a strong statement, but those who operate in the name of God and pervert the truth (are teaching a fable). They are false teachers because they are deliberately misinterpreting the Scriptures. They do not have to do it, but they are deliberately choosing to do it. Their teaching on homosexuality is like, or the same as, those of the atheists at the World Economic Forum. Edwards is right: If sin is no longer sin, we no longer need Jesus. I will add that if the Bible and the Ten Commandments are wrong about lying, we no longer need the Bible and the Ten Commandments, and we no longer need Church leaders thatare willing to lie in the pulpit while standing in front of, or behind, a beautiful cross. Church leaders that do not believe the Bible should earn their mammon (money; wealth) another way. They would be wise to read what God did to Ananias and Sapphira for lying to the early Church (Acts 5:1-11). He will not allow them to get away with binding or restricting the Word of God on earth forever. His judgment will come upon the earth. Paul said to Timothy (and to us), “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itchingears; And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry” (II Tim. 4:1-5). The religious leaders that fired Edwards turned away from the truth because they prefer to train people to teach a fable. Here are some reasons to believe that God’s judgment could be close. One, concerning deceit: on May 1, 2023, it was reported that apoll of 1,002 adults on Mar. 30-Apr. 3, 2023, found that nearly half of U.S. adults say they have little to no trust in the media. Most are concerned about misinformation and believe that America’s politically polarized media is doing more harm than good. Two, concerning deceit and the deliberate decline of America:for weeks, the U.S. has been preparing for hundreds of thousands of undocumented immigrants to storm the U.S. border with Mexico when Title 42 ends on May 10, 2023. On May 9, 2023, it was reported that Biden’s Dept. of Homeland Security issued a press release that announced where agents would be posted to arrest dangerous illegal invaders. Put another way (in my words), the Biden administration has issued a press release that tells dangerous invaders where to cross our border if they want to get into the U.S.without being arrested. Three, concerning a normalization agreement between Saudi Arabiaand Israel: on May 5, 2023, All Arab News reported that U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham said he believes that if the Biden administration will try really hard, they can wrap up a “truly historic, game-changing deal” “before the 2024 (presidential) campaign gets intofull swing.” Four, concerning hyperinflation and a global economic collapse:on May 7, 2023, it was reported that California has defaulted on $18.6 billion of debt. Understand that the default of a state in the U.S. is different from the default of the U.S., and it is different from a global economic collapse. Nevertheless, it indicates that there are major economic problems in the U.S. despite what the Biden administration and the Federal Reserve officials say. (Note:It is common knowledge that several large U.S. banks have collapsed, layoffs are increasing, the housing industry is in trouble, and there are major problems with the economy.) (Note:On May 8, 2023, it was reported that banking problems are not just confined to the U.S. Depositors, concerned about a banking collapse in the UK and EU, have withdrawn billions of dollars from banks there.) (Note:On May 8, 2023, it was reported that Michael Snyder, author, founder of theeconomiccollapseblog.com, and frequent guest on major radio and TV programs, is predicting that the banking crisis is going to get worse.) (My opinion:If history is approaching the end of the age, and I believe it is, a global banking crisis is exactly what the Bible teaches. This will eventually lead to a new banking system with a globally trackable currency.) Five, excessive government spending (and the printing of moneywith nothing to back it up) is one of the main reasons investors are concerned about the U.S., UK, and EU economies. Nevertheless, on May 8, 2023, the Biden administration insisted that Congress has a “constitutional duty” to raise America’s debt ceiling. Pres. Biden wants to go on another spending binge with no strings attached. Six, concerning hatred for Israel at the end of the age: on May3, 2023, Islamic terrorists fired more than 100 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel. On May 9, 2023, 40 Israeli aircraft retaliated by striking targets in the Gaza Strip. Three of Islamic Jihad’s top officials were killed, and the terrorists are threateningto make Israel pay a price. (Update:On May 10, 2023, Palestinians fired scores of rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israeli leaders said the escalation will be met with a decisive response.) (Note:Israel will not have peace until they accept Jesus as their Messiah. Sadly, they will accept the Antichrist first and wind up going through the Tribulation Period.) Seven, concerning world government: on May 8, 2023, it was reportedthat the U.S. House Judiciary Committee has subpoenaed documents from two groups (the Global Alliance for Responsible Media and the World Federation of Advertisers) associated with the World Economic Forum (WEF) that the committee believes show efforts tocensor unfavorable content in the media and online. The House Judiciary Committee requested the information in Mar. 2023, but the two groups have not complied, so the committee has issued subpoenas. As I understand it, the House Judiciary Committee believes these two groups associated with the WEF are trying to stop speech and reporting in America that is critical ofthe WEF effort to establish a world government. (Note:On May 8, 2023, the Biden administration refused a New York Post request for one of its reporters to cover a Biden press conference on airline policies. About 20 empty seats can be seen in photos of the event. Biden appears to dislike the Post because it wasthe publication that broke the story about Hunter’s laptop.) (Note:During the Tribulation Period, the Antichrist and False Prophet will use the Mark of the Beast to control what people believe and say about world government.) Eight, concerning world government and corruption in the 2020presidential election: on May 10, 2020, it was reported that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) may have been involved in getting 51 people to sign a letter saying Hunter Biden’s laptop has “the earmarks of a Russian information operation.” Biden used the letter in his campaign to deceive voters about Hunter’s activities. If the CIA was involved, and the U.S. House of Representatives Oversight Committee appears to have evidence that they were, then: > The CIA helped elect a man whose slogan was “Build Back Better” (tear down America and rebuild it in a New World Order or a Great Reset) and defeat a man whose slogan was “Make America Great Again” (let us keep America’s sovereignty and make her great again). > The CIA knew the laptop was Hunter’s, the CIA helped create a lie to influence the election, the CIA enlisted people to sign onto that lie, Biden used the CIA lie to getvotes, and now the sovereignty of the U.S. is at stake. > The way I see it, the CIA illegally corrupted the election, America has been betrayed, America’s sovereignty is about gone, and the worst event in history (the rise of theAntichrist and the Tribulation Period) is staring the lost in the face (Matt. 24:22). Finally, are you Rapture Ready? If you want to be rapture ready and go to heaven, you must be born again (John 3:3). God loves you, and if you have not done so, sincerely admit that you are a sinner; believethat Jesus is the virgin-born, sinless Son of God who died for the sins of the world, was buried, and raised from the dead; ask Him to forgive your sins, cleanse you, come into your heart and be your Saviour; then tell someone that you have done this.

Turn Away from Lies

 Turn Away from Lies - Nathele Graham - twotug@embarqmail.com “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings and oppositions of science falsely so called: which some professing have erred concerningthe faith. Grace be with thee. Amen.” 1 Timothy 6:20-21. The Apostle Paul was concerned that the Gospel would be corrupted, and therefore he wrote to the pastors of various congregations urging them to stand firm on God’s truth.It would be wonderful if pastors today would stop preaching a different Gospel than found in Scripture. I hear it quite often. “I can’t find a church that teaches from the Bible”. What a sad comment on the state of Christianity. How has this happened? Scriptureis God’s truth, and is the standard of how we should live. Satan has successfully corrupted God’s truth by twisting it just like he did in the Garden of Eden. Evolution is a lie that has no place within the Christian community. Sometimes I try to rationalizethis nonsense, and it becomes so absurd that I have to laugh. Sadly, much of the Christian community has come to believe this lie rather than the truth of God’s word. With the discovery of DNA, evolution should have been put to rest,but so-called scientists and public schools just can’t get beyond the lie. Romans chapter 1 tells us what happens when the creation is worshipped rather than the Creator. I urge every person reading this commentary to study Romans chapter 1 and then look aroundand see how society has degenerated since the theory of evolution has been accepted as fact. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1. God’s truth is being rejected and Satan’s evil agenda is being embraced. When God is rejected, sin reigns. “Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God,neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds,and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.” Romans 1:21-23. There are consequences for rejecting God’s truth. “Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies betweenthemselves: who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator who is blessed for ever. Amen.” Romans 1:24-25. It’s important to understand what God sees as sin and then Christians need to oppose it and not allow sin to creep into the congregation. Don’t forget to love the sinner andlead them out of darkness and into the Light of God. You can’t do that if you agree with the sin and call evil good. God says that even if we don’t participate in the sin, but approve of it, then we are also guilty. “Who knowing the judgment of God, that theywhich commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.” Romans 1:32. God’s word never changes, so this is still true today. That’s not the only lie that the world accepts which Christians need to reject. As disclosed in Romans chapter 1, believing the lie of evolution leads to homosexuality. Ifthere’s no God to set the standard of morality, then anything goes. In our “woke” society today, there is no truth, and as in the days of the Judges, people did what they wanted. “In those days there was no king in Israel, but every man did that which wasright in his own eyes.” Judges 17:6. We see that attitude today. God should have been embraced as King over Israel, but He was rejected and people lived by their own rules. Today truth is rejected and sin is accepted. You may have been born male but, becauseyou reject reality and truth, you decide you’re a female. Then you go through the process of mutilating your body and take hormone altering drugs in order to live out the lie you think is true. Some people even believe they are a cat or a dog. “Woe unto themthat call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Isaiah 5:20. The world may accept this craziness, but it has no place within Christian congregations. As we draw nearer to the Rapture, we know that deception will be a stumbling blockfor those who don’t hold fast to God’s truth. The Apostle Paul totally changed his outlook on life after he met Jesus. The things he thought were important before Christ changed him were no longer important to him. He was a very intelligent man and while walkingin darkness, he used that intelligence for all the wrong purposes. After he met Jesus, he used his intelligence to serve God. He conformed his life to honor Jesus rather than trying to conform Jesus to himself. Because Paul submitted to God, he preached theGospel boldly with no gimmicks. Because Paul preached truth instead of lies, we can read his letters and see how we are supposed to live. “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 inmemory 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 dayaccording to the scriptures:” 1 Corinthians 15:1-4. That’s the Gospel in simple, straightforward terms. Today, we seem to rely on gimmicks to spread the Gospel. Too many pastors are afraid to preach God’s truth and Scripture is compromised. They see it asbeing more important to protect the tax-exempt status than it is to preach the truth. Above all, don’t make anyone uncomfortable about their sin, because if you preach against sin, they may not donate to the collection plate. The Apostle Paul was more interestedin preaching God’s truth than amassing a fortune. The people of Thessalonica readily received God’s truth, even without gimmicks. Why is it that today, the pure word of God is deemed insufficient? “For this cause also thankwe God without ceasing, because, when ye received the word of God which ye heard of us, ye received it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which effectually worketh also in you that believe.” 1 Thessalonians 2:13. God’s truth hasn’tchanged. People need to hear it in order to find salvation. Why do we think we need to compromise God’s truth today? Are we sharing the Gospel or something that Satan has twisted? “We are not makers and inventors; we are repeaters, we tell the message we have received” – Charles Spurgeon. What message are we promoting? Is it the same message which Paul promoted on his many missionary journeys? Is it the same Gospel which Peter embraced when feeding the flockjust as Jesus called him to do? What are people led to believe when they sit and listen to their pastor on Sunday mornings not mention Christ and why He died for us? Or when the pastor preaches about prosperity or New Age teachings? The prosperity Gospel isfalse doctrines. What about the purpose driven gimmick, or some other nonsense, instead of preaching the truth of the Gospel? Unless the pure Gospel is taught, you aren’t being given God’s truth. We aren’t to create new truths, but we are to preach the oldtruth found in Scripture. The Gospel is never to be considered old fashion, obsolete, or obscure. “New Age”, seeker friendly teachings are really just the same old lies Satan has always used to draw people away from God’s truth. Meditation and yoga are both wrong forChristians and shouldn’t be found within our congregations. We don’t see Jesus practicing these things, and neither should we. Scripture does tell us to meditate upon the things of God, and that is very different than the Eastern meditation which promotesemptying your mind. If you make your mind empty, demons can easily enter. Scripture encourages us to meditate upon God and His truth. In his first letter to the young pastor Timothy, Paul gave quite a teaching that every seminary seems to have forgotten toteach. “Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them: that thy profiting may appear to all.” 1 Timothy 4:15. Meletao is the Greek word translated “meditate upon”. According to Vine’s Expository Dictionary it means “to care for, attend carefully”. Paul encouraged Timothy to be confidentin his ministry. In verse 15, Paul tells Timothy to “Meditate on these things”. To find out what things to meditate upon, read the previous chapters. Remember, we may not all stand before a congregation and preach, but all Christians need to represent ourLord. It’s easy to sit in a pew on Sunday, or put a bumper sticker on your vehicle that says “Honk if you love Jesus”, or wear a t-shirt with a catchy saying, but it’s a lot harder to show God’s grace in our daily walk. Are you able to defend your faith? Petersays you need to and tells us how to do that. “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:” 1 Peter 3:15. You cannot have an answer for your hope if you twist your body into ridiculous positions while emptying your mind in hopes of opening chakras in order to release the kundalinispirit in you. That’s all very satanic. Sadly, this practice is permeating our Christian congregations and is practiced by many Christians. Don’t be deceived by lies. Jesus didn’t promote a “seeker friendly” doctrine. He forgave sinners, but He urged them to leave their sin behind. He knows your sins and mine, and loves us in spite ofour shortcomings. Don’t be deceived, but study Scripture and be sure your pastor preaches God’s truth from Genesis through Revelation. It’s important to encourage unsaved people to come to church, but it’s important that they find truth being preached there.Lies might fill the pews, but won’t save souls, only the truth of God can do that. That truth isn’t found in the latest trend, or a book written by someone who has written it in order to make themselves rich. God’s truth is found in Scripture. Study it. “Studyto shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 2 Timothy 2:15. If lies are sneaking into your congregation, then take a stand against the lies. If your plea for truth is rejected, find anothercongregation to join. Maybe God is calling you to start a home fellowship in your home. The Apostle Paul had a clear conscience. Although he had been, by his own description, the greatest of sinners, after he met Jesus, he only served Him and spread the Gospelwithout gimmicks. In his final meeting with the elders of Ephesus. He encouraged them to not stray from preaching truth. He was an example of how these elders, and those that have come after them, should teach. “Wherefore I take you to record this day, thatI am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hathpurchased with his own blood.” Acts 20:26-28. Paul had been guilty of great sin prior to meeting Christ, but after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, he shared the Gospel without compromise, and lived to honor Christ.Because he wasn’t seeker friendly, many people came to a saving faith in Christ’s finished work on the cross. If someone heard Paul’s words then decided to reject Jesus, Paul wasn’t guilty of that person’s eternal death. Today, there are many congregationsthat only hear lies and a watered-down Gospel. How many souls are being lost for lake of hearing truth? In his second letter to Timothy, Paul encouraged the young pastor to preach truth. “I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quickand the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.” 2 Timothy 4:1-2. Maybe instead of pastors being indoctrinated in seminaries, they should studyScripture. Only God’s word is inspired by the Holy Spirit and any teaching or practice other than that which is found in God’s word is questionable and should be rejected. “For the timewill come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” 2 Timothy 4:3-4. We are livingin that time. Sound doctrine isn’t compatible with the “woke” generation. Lies and fables are acceptable by pastors and congregations, but only God’s truth will lead a person to salvation. Turn away from lies and turn to God’s truth. God bless you all, Nathele Graham twotug@embarqmail.com ron@straitandnarrowministry.com Recommended prophecy sites: www.raptureready.com www.prophecyupdate.com www.raptureforums.com All original scripture is “theopneustos” God breathed. If you’d like to be on my mailing list to receive the commentaries just drop me an email and let me know.