Return of the Jews

No other ethnic group on earth has endured the type of hatred and scorn throughout history as the Jews have. From the ancient times to today, the Jews have been persecuted and maligned wherever they've gone in the world.

And they have also been historically targeted for extermination, going all the way back to the fifth century B.C. when Haman the Agagite, a high official in the court of Persian King Xerxes I, plotted the genocide of the Jews who were living in captivity in Persia during that time.

Haman's plot, which is recorded in the Book of Esther, was ultimately thwarted by God. More recently, six million Jews perished in Hitler's Holocaust that sought to eradicate all Jews from Europe and ultimately the face of the earth.

And Russian dictator Josef Stalin is alleged to have plotted the mass extermination of Russian Jewry before he died of a stomach ailment in 1953. Stalin believed that the Jews were behind the mysterious death of Politburo member Andrei Zhdanov, and he believed that they also wanted to kill him. Stalin wanted to murder at least 20 millions of Jews in the Soviet Union!

Whether the Jews were responsible for Stalin's death isn't known. But the Russian despot died before his plan to commit mass murder against the Jews could be carried out.

After Hitler's Holocaust, the nations of the world pledged that they would never allow murderous tyrants such as Hitler and Stalin to oppress the Jews or any other group again. That pledge didn't last long. After the United Nations voted to partition Palestine in 1948 and award a tiny sliver of land to the Jews, the Arab-Islamic world immediately declared war against the Jewish state.

Despite the incredible odds, the small Jewish nation not only fought back, but defeated its Islamic enemies in 1948. And Israel has been triumphant in every war against her foes ever since.

But that hasn't stopped the Islamic world from plotting Israel's destruction. The Iranians are planning to destroy the Jewish nation via nuclear weapons, but they too, will be stopped by the hand of God. Iran's Impending Doom

Why have the Jews suffered such abuse throughout the world for so many centuries? What is it about this small group of 12 million people that continues to make them repugnant to the entire world?

The answer can be found in the scriptures. And the answer is very simple and easy to understand: The Jews have chronically rebelled against God throughout history by breaking His laws, and they have rejected His prophets that He sent to warn them of His impending judgment if they refused to repent.

In the fifth century B.C., the Lord spoke these words to the ancient Jews through the prophet Jeremiah: "Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. And I will bring them against this land (Israel) and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them (Jews) and make them an object of horror and scorn, an everlasting ruin." (Jeremiah 25: 8-9)

Later, the Lord repeated his warning to the Jews through Jeremiah: "I will send the sword, famine and plague against them and I will make them like poor figs that are so bad they cannot be eaten. I will pursue them with the sword, famine and plague and will make them abhorrent to all the kingdoms of the earth and an object of cursing and horror, of scorn and reproach, among all the nations where I drive them, for they have not listened to my words." (Jeremiah 29:17-19)

Certainly, those prophecies have been fulfilled. The Jews have been mocked, maligned and persecuted throughout the world for over 2,500 years. And the scourge of anti-Semitism--the hatred of the Jews--is spreading across the world once again like a deadly malignancy. Never Again, a slogan that the Jews have proclaimed to never again allow the evil of anti-Semitism to influence the world against them, is indeed happening once again.

And yet, just as the Lord pronounced judgment against the Jews for their chronic rebellion against Him, he also revealed an end-time reconciliation where they would return to Him and He would embrace them once again.

 

Through Jeremiah, the Lord stated: "At that time, I  will be the God of all the clans of Israel, and they will be my people. The people who survive the sword will find favor in the desert; I will come to give rest to Israel." (Jeremiah 31: 1-2)

A growing segment among that remnant that survived the sword of persecution from the Crusades to the Inquisitions to the centuries of persecution throughout the Middle East and Roman Catholic Europe to the Holocaust is now returning to God.

The physical return was marked by the reemergence of Israel in 1948 as a sovereign world nation again after 1,800 years. But the spiritual return is manifesting in the return of the Jews to God through Jesus Christ. Many Jews are now recognizing who Christ really is and have rejected the propaganda of their ancestors who began rebelling against God Himself long before Christ appeared in the world. (1Samuel 8:6-9)

That spiritual return is taking many forms, from the burgeoning conservative movement among Jews who have rejected the historic liberalism of their parents and ancestors, to the Messianic movement that has embraced Christ as the Messiah to the growing solidarity with evangelical Christians who support Israel and the Jews.

The spiritual return of the Jews to God is prophetic. During the 8^th century B.C., the Lord spoke these words to the prophet Hosea: "For the Israelites will live many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or ephod or idol. Afterward the Israelites will return and seek the Lord their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the Lord and to his blessings in the last days." (Hosea 3:4-5)

Obviously, Hosea wasn't literally referring to King David who had died over two centuries before the prophet was born. Rather, he used David as an allegory for Jesus Christ who is Israel's eternal king.

And yet Hosea's message, revealed long before the Jews went into captivity beginning with Nebuchadnezzar's invasion of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and later under the Romans who invaded Jerusalem in 70 A.D., has been fulfilled. For many centuries, the Jews wandered the world without a king or messiah, and without any sacrifice for their sins since the Romans had demolished their temple.

But now, many Jews are finding their eternal king and prince who is Christ. And the apostle Paul also prophesied the return of his people to the Lord in the last days in his epistle to the early Roman church.

 

Paul wrote: "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of Gentiles has come in. And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: 'The deliver will come from Zion; he will turn godlessness away from Jacob. And this is my covenant with them when I take away their sins.'" (Romans 11:25-27)

The majority of Jews won't accept Christ until He comes back. (Zechariah 12-13) But a growing number of them are now fulfilling God's prophetic word by returning to Him after spending many centuries wandering in the spiritual desert of the world.

How many Jews now believe in Christ? Estimates vary from 350,000 to one million globally. For example, in 1989 the Messianic Jewish Alliance of America estimated the number of believing Jews at 350,000. Certainly, that number has increased over the past 25 years.

Furthermore, there are now an estimated 150 messianic congregations operating throughout Israel. That's significant because the Orthodox and Ultra-Orthodox Jews view Messianic Jews as a greater threat to their religion and existence than Islam.

Nevertheless, the Jews are returning to God through Christ. And while that's certainly a cause for rejoicing, some of the old, decrepit Christian denominations aren't happy about that since they embrace an unbiblical and heretical doctrine known as replacement theology that teaches that the church has replaced Israel as God's chosen people when the Jews corporately rejected Christ.

But the church has never replaced Israel. And it never will since the church age is rapidly coming to an end. In the end, the Jews will be the ones to evangelize the world for Christ once the church is gone from the world.

The Cult of Catholicism Part 3

The Roman Pontiff: Progenitor of the Antichrist

In 331 B.C., Alexander the Great, the Greek king from Macedon, invaded and conquered ancient Persia. In 325 A.D., the first ecumenical Council of Nicaea convened to combat the heresy of Arius which was more commonly known as Arianism.

What could those two events possibly have in common? Those events had this in common: The defeat of the Persians by Alexander opened the door for the first time to the influence and subsequent dominance of Europe over the ancient Middle East.

Alexander's triumph over Persia paved the way for the Roman Empire to spread its culture and authority over much of that region two centuries later.

However, here's the real relationship that binds Alexander's invasion of Persia with the first Council of Nicaea: That first ecumenical council became the foundation for the Roman Catholic Church that would become the most powerful and fearsome religious entity throughout the world for many centuries.

And Alexander's triumph over Persia made it possible for the Catholic Church to spread her influence throughout the Middle East, Asia, Africa and eventually across the entire world.

But a little known fact that's extremely important to understand is the number of years that occurred from the time of Alexander's conquest until the first Nicaea council convened--that time-frame according to the ancient 360 day calendar constituted 666 years.

The significance of that time-frame cannot be understated because that tells us beyond a shadow of a doubt that the dreaded Antichrist is going to come from the Roman Catholic Church. It was the apostle John who recorded the Revelation in about 90 A.D. who revealed that the number of the Beast or Antichrist will be 666. (Revelation 13:18)

That number will be included in the infamous mark (Revelation 13:16-17) that all of the earth's inhabitants will be required to receive if they want to live in the Antichrist's global kingdom.

Those who refuse the mark will not be able to buy, sell or transact any business. They will literally be forced to survive by their own instincts. And those who receive the mark will be condemned by God to eternal damnation. (Revelation 14:9-10)

John also said this concerning the infamous number 666: "it is man's number." (Revelation 13:18) 

What did John mean by that? He meant that the Antichrist, who many will consider to be divine, will in fact be just a mortal man. But he will be empowered by Satan who will give this wicked man "his power and his throne and great authority." (Revelation 13:2)

Many well-meaning but biblically illiterate Christians become offended when it's suggested to them that a future Roman Pontiff could be the Antichrist.

However, many early church fathers and scholars truly believed that the Antichrist will come from the Roman Catholic Church. Among them were Martin Luther, John Wesley and Cotton Mather.

Luther, who was a Catholic monk until God opened his eyes and led him away from Rome, said this concerning the identity of the Antichrist: "We here are of the conviction that the papacy is the seat of the true and real Antichrist."

And Cotton Mather, a Congregational Theologian, said this: "The oracles of God foretold the rising of an Antichrist in the Christian Church: and in the Pope of Rome, all the characteristics of that Antichrist are so marvelously answered that if any who read the scriptures do not see it, there is a marvelous blindness upon them."

Indeed, that "marvelous blindness" has fallen upon millions of Christians across the world who can't see what so many early church fathers clearly saw. Why? We'll answer that question in Part 4.

The Cult of Catholicism Part 2

The common denominator of every cult and false religion throughout history has been esotericism or the so-called existence of secret (occult) knowledge that can only be obtained by a select group of elite scholars.

And the nexus of that esotericism can be found in Genesis 3 of the Bible's first book. That's where Satan, who disguised himself as a wily serpent, deceived Eve into disobeying a direct order from God.

How did Satan accomplish that? By convincing Eve that God had hidden the real "truth" from her and husband Adam pertaining to why He refused to allow them to eat fruit from the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

Here's the serpents's encounter with Eve as described in Genesis 3: evil. Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,  but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" "You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman. "For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." (Genesis 3:1-5)

Thus, the serpent convinced Eve that he knew something that was beneficial for her. He appealed to her ego by telling her that she could be as powerful as God if she ate the forbidden fruit. 

After she took the bait, Eve persuaded Adam to eat the fruit and the first couple forever changed the course of history by introducing sin and evil into the human race. From that original sin have come all the wars, bloodshed, violence, suffering, multiplied murders etc. that have plagued mankind to this day.

However, the Catholic Church has historically taught that the Book of Genesis is nothing but a fictional account of events that never really happened. The Roman Church teaches that those events are merely allegorical stories that contain mysteries of God that can only be unraveled by Roman Catholic mystics, holy men, monks, church prophets and enlightened scholars.

Thus, according to the Catholic Church, the Bible contains some of God's truth, but not all of it. And so, when Christians claim the Bible to be the sole authority of God's truth, the Catholic Church arrogantly claims that she has other sources of God's truth that have greater authority than the Bible.  

As such, those are the sources that form the theology and liturgy of the Roman Catholic Church. Where do those sources come from? From the same source that appeared as the serpent in the ancient Garden of Eden.

Am I suggesting that Satan could be the guiding spiritual source behind the Roman Catholic Church? Yes, I am.

Isn't that harsh? It's only harsh if you can't prove that. In Part III, I'll provide the proof.

The Cult of Catholicism Part I

For many centuries, the Roman Catholic Church has been synonymous with Christianity on earth. Many folks believe that Christianity is Catholicism and Catholicism is Christianity.

Nothing could be further from the truth. There is a distinct difference between true biblical Christianity that teaches a gospel of salvation by faith and Roman Catholicism that promotes a gospel of salvation by works and rituals not found in the Bible.

Who's right? The Bible is right, not merely because it predates Catholicism by several centuries, but also because its gospel revealed in the New Testament is validated by several prophecies recorded in the Old Testament hundreds and thousands of years before Jesus Christ appeared in the world.

For example? During the 8th century B.C., the prophet Isaiah revealed that the coming Jewish Messiah would die not only for the sins of His own people the Jews, but for the entire world as well.

Isaiah wrote: "Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed." (Isaiah 53:4-5)

Certainly, Christ came and fulfilled that great prophecy 2,000 years ago when He died on Calvary's cross for all sin and He was resurrected from the dead three days later.

Christ's resurrection also fulfilled the ancient prophecies recorded by King David in 1,000 B.C. (Psalm 16:10) and Isaiah (52:13-15, 53:10-12).

If Christ indeed died on the cross for our sins, then works play no part in our salvation. If they were essential for our salvation, then Christ died on the cross in vain.

The apostle Paul wrote: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast." (Ephesians 2:8-9)

Christ said this concerning salvation and eternal life: "For God so loved the world that he gave His One and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life." (John 3:16)

In his epistle to the early Roman church, Paul wrote this: "If you declare with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. As Scripture says, 'Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.' For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, for everyone who calls on the name of Lord will be Saved." (Romans 10:9-13)

If the Bible so clearly expresses that works play no part in our salvation, then why does the Catholic Church teach the opposite? Because the Catholic Church elevates its own dogma and tradition over the Bible.

In Part II, the seduction and pride of esotericism.   

The Failure to Contend

Though Jude's epistle consists of just one chapter that appears before the Book of Revelation in the Bible's New Testament, it contains a stern caveat to the early church to never become complacent in the faith.

What did Jude write? Here's a portion of his letter: "Dear friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share, I felt that I had to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints." (Jude 1:3)

What did Jude mean? He continued: "For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you. They are godless men, who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord." (Jude 1:4)

Contending for the faith means this: That all Christians have a moral responsibility to keep the enemies of Christ out of the church.

If we fail to do that, then the church becomes vulnerable to being invaded by false preachers who use the name of Jesus Christ to promote heresies and false doctrines that destroy lives and condemn people to hell.

A good example of that can be found in many of America's African-American churches that long ago abandoned the biblical gospel for the powerless and corrupt social gospel.

The social gospel substitutes God's grace in Jesus Christ for Big Government that exploits poor people by making them a permanent dependency class beholden to big government social programs that discourage academic achievement and ruin individual incentive.

Certainly, the social gospel has deep political roots. Many politicians are political whores who offer gratuities for votes.

They exploit the poor by holding them down in poverty and keeping them dependent upon social welfare programs that never help anyone rise from the gutter. That's how many politicians continue to win elections and survive for decades in politics.

If he was alive today on the day that America claims to honor his legacy, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. would excoriate much of the church and America's political class for using African-Americans as human pawns for personal and political gain.

He would be appalled that his dream had been turned into a nightmare by ravenous wolves who slipped into African-American churches disguised as benevolent sheep.

And he would remind Christians that this is what always happens when they take their faith for granted.

Would Dr. King want to be remembered and feted by those who have defecated all over his legacy? No, he wouldn't.

Rather, if he could, he'd condemn them to hell for the carnage they've committed in his name.

Are You Rapture Ready? Part IV

Contrary to what some folks believe, I truly wish that there would be a pre-tribulation Rapture.

After all, who wants to be a Christian in a hostile world where Christians will be brutally persecuted and martyred for their faith?

And who wants to be a Christian in a world where Christians will be given the ultimatum to either worship the leader of a world government as God or be killed?

Certainly, no one wants to be a Christian in a world such as that one. Unfortunately, many Christians are going to be in that world and they're going to suffer brutal persecution.

Therein lies the true motivation behind the popular belief in a pre-tribulation Rapture--the desire to escape persecution and death.

Most pre-trib Rapture proponents will tell you that the reason why they believe the Rapture is going to occur before the advent of the Antichrist and his world government is because of a warning Jesus Christ issued concerning His return: "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him." (Matthew 24:42-44)

Pre-trib proponents claim that the Rapture can't take place during the middle or at the end of the Tribulation period because we would be expecting His return during that horrific time. They reason that the Rapture has to occur during a time of peace and calm on the earth when no one would be expecting Christ to return. 

However, consider this: If the Rapture fails to occur prior to the seven-year Tribulation period and the Antichrist appears and orders his government to begin rounding up Christians and executing them, then many professing Christians who believed that they would not be around to experience this will lose their faith. 

They will believe the Bible to be a fraud and Christ to be a liar. And they will no longer expect His return. And tragically, many will submit to the Antichrist and receive his dreaded mark that will condemn them to an eternity of damnation. (Revelation 13:16-18)

And so, the question that begs to be answered is this one: Just when will the Rapture occur? According to Christ, it will occur at the very end of the Tribulation period. Christ stated: "Then will appear the sign of the Son of Man in heaven. And then all the peoples of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matthew 24:30-31)

The apostle Paul, who understood the Rapture, wrote this: "Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18)

Paul also reveals that the Rapture is going to occur at the very end of the Tribulation period. And his revelation indicates that there won't be many Christians left on earth when Christ returns.

But is the Rapture indeed going to occur at the very end of the Tribulation period? 

Apparently, according to the ancient Hebrew prophet Daniel, there will a period of 45 days where God is going to unleash His terrifying wrath across the world for its wanton sin and rebellion before Christ returns to establish His kingdom. (Daniel 12:11-12)

When the Antichrist abolishes the daily sacrifice and sets up an abomination in the new Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, there will be a period of 1,290 days. At the end of that time period, the Rapture will occur.

Are You Rapture Ready? Part III

The Bible clearly reveals that Christians are going to be severely persecuted across the world in the very last days directly preceding the return of Jesus Christ. (Matthew 24:9)

And the Bible also reveals that the dreaded ruler of a coming one-world government, who will be the Antichrist, will put many Christians to death during this time. (Daniel 7:21, Revelation 13:7)

And so, therein lies the problem with those who believe that the Rapture is going to occur just prior to the advent of the Antichrist.

If the Rapture does indeed occur just before the Antichrist appears and assumes control of a world government, then who's he going to persecute? All the Christians would be gone from the world.

Will they be those who belong to the cults and denominations such as the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches? Those pseudo-Christians will likely embrace the Antichrist and join up with his counterfeit global religious system. (Revelation 17)

In fact, they'll believe him to be Jesus Christ when he appears because he'll possess the ability to perform supernatural signs and wonders. (Matthew 24:24, 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10, Revelation 13)

Those who promote the pre-tribulation Rapture have an answer to the question of who's going to be persecuted during the seven-year tribulation period--they'll be "tribulation saints."

What is a "tribulation saint?" According to the pre-trib proponents, a tribulation saint will be someone who will become a Christian after the Rapture takes place because they'll recognize that the Bible foretold of this event.

Does the Bible reveal the existence of tribulation saints on earth during the seven-year tribulation period? No, it doesn't. Then why do pre-trib proponents claim they'll exist? Because they need to provide an explanation for those Christians who are going to be persecuted by the Antichrist.

Furthermore, there probably won't be any bibles to read during this horrible time on earth. They'll likely all be confiscated and destroyed. And all websites that offer the bible online will probably be banned from the internet.

And so, anyone who wanted to research the Rapture or read the four gospels wouldn't be able to unless they found an old bible. And they'll probably be arrested and incarcerated if they're caught in possession of a bible.

Also, if the Rapture indeed occurs just before the advent of the Antichrist, then there couldn't be any tribulation saints because the Holy Spirit would be gone. The Bible clearly explains that no one can become a true Christian without the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:9)

Why do so many people believe in a pre-tribulation Rapture? Because it gives them the hope that they'll escape the horrible persecution that Christians are going to suffer throughout the world under the Antichrist.

But that's a false hope. Throughout the history of the church, Christians have suffered for their faith in Christ, beginning with the early church in Jerusalem under the rabbis; then later under the Romans to this day when Christians are being slaughtered by Muslims and Hindus in the eastern world and persecuted by godless humanists in the west.

There is no such thing as a pre-tribulation Rapture. In our final installment, we'll use the scriptures to pinpoint the time period when this event will occur.

Are You Rapture Ready? Part II

When Jesus Christ spoke of His return, he revealed that His church would be removed from the world at some point prior to His return.

Christ said this: "At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky, and all the nations of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man (Christ) coming on the clouds of the sky, with great power and glory. And he will send his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of the heavens to the other." (Matthew 24:30-31)

Keep in mind that since God is eternal, He reveals prophetic events in a very different context that often makes them seem imminently tied to other events.

For example, when Christ revealed that he would send His angels to gather (Rapture) His elect (true Christians), he made it sound as though this event will happen when He returns.

Indeed, the Rapture may or may not occur at the point of Christ's return. Whether that event takes place or not at Christ's return, it definitely won't take place before the advent of the dreaded Antichrist.

How can we be sure of that? Don't the pre-trib Rapture proponents predict that this event will occur just prior to the beginning of the seven-year Tribulation Period? Then who's right?

If the pre-trib Rapture proponents are right, then we have a problem because Christ Himself revealed that "no one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father." (Matthew 24:36)

In other words, if the Rapture occurs immediately prior to the beginning of the Tribulation Period, we would indeed know that Christ is going to return seven years later.

Secondly, the apostle Paul revealed that the Rapture won't occur before the Antichrist is unveiled to the world. Paul wrote: "Don't let anyone deceive you in any way, for that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness (Antichrist) is revealed, the man doomed to destruction." (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

How then, do the pre-trib proponents come to the conclusion that the Rapture will occur before the appearance of the Antichrist? They claim that Paul revealed the pre-trib Rapture in 2 Thessalonians 2:7-8 when he wrote this: "For the secret power of lawlessness is already at work; but the one who holds it back will continue to do so till he is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming."

The pre-trib proponents claim that the one who prevents the Antichrist from appearing in the world is the Holy Spirit. Therefore, when the Holy Spirit is removed from the world via the Rapture, the church will also be removed and the Antichrist will then appear.

There's a serious problem with that belief. If Paul claimed that the Holy Spirit and the church have to be removed from the world in order for the Antichrist to be revealed, then Paul contradicted himself because he earlier claimed that the church will still be around when the Antichrist appears. (2 Thessalonians 2:3)

Who then, was Paul referring to who restrains the Antichrist? He was very likely referring to Michael the archangel who protects God's people in the world. (Daniel 12:1)

In Part III, what is going to happen when Micheal is removed and the Antichrist appears.

Are You Rapture Ready? Part I

Since the late 1960s, the Rapture has emerged as the second most anticipated end-time event by many Christians behind the return of Jesus Christ.

What is the Rapture? It is Christ's prophetic end time rescue of His true church from the world to heaven just prior to a time that the bible identifies as the Apocalypse.

What is the Apocalypse? It is an historical time-period where God will pour out His wrath across the world for its chronic rebellion against Him.

Who will be taken up in the Rapture? Only those who are truly born-again in Christ. That means that only those who have truly confessed Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, and believe in His Resurrection from the dead, will be taken.

The rest--those who believe they are Christians because they were baptized as infants or because they belong to a church--will be left behind to suffer the consequences.

Though there are those who still deny the Rapture despite the abundant biblical evidence that predicts it, the question that begs to be asked is this: Just when is it going to take place?

Many folks believe that the Rapture is going to take place seven years prior to the return of Christ? What's so significant about those seven years? The Bible identifies that seven year period as the Tribulation and Great Tribulation periods that will be divided into two 3-1/2 year sections. (Daniel 9:27, Revelation 7:14)

Where is the Rapture mentioned in the Bible? The apostle Paul mentioned it in two of his epistles during his travels to the gentile world. In his first letter to the Corinthian church, he wrote this: "Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep (die), but we will be changed--in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will raised imperishable, and we will be changed." (1 Corinthians 15:51-53)

In his first epistle to the church in Thessalonica, Paul wrote this: "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever." (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)

But when? Seven years prior to the Lord's return? Pre-tribulation Rapture proponents claim that the church will be removed from the world just prior to the appearance of the dreaded Antichrist, who will rule the world with an iron fist in the last days.

Does the Bible reveal a pre-tribulation Rapture? No, it doesn't. Then what does the Bible predict? And why do so many people believe that they are going to be spared the Tribulation and Great Tribulation periods?

We'll answer those questions in part two.

A Devil of a Future

Proposed monument to Satan

In what now seems like the ancient days, anyone who spoke fondly of worshiping the devil was considered insane and in need of being institutionalized.

Obviously, times have changed. A New York-based organization called the Satanic Temple hopes to place a statue of its celestial hero on the Oklahoma State Capitol grounds and has submitted a prototype of the exhibit (pictured above) to state officials.

A temple spokesman named Lucien Greaves explained that the statue "is a symbol that is now a constitutionally protected one that stands for the rights of heretics, for tolerance and free inquiry, and for the unjustly outcast."

http://www.religionnews.com/2014/01/07/satanists-release-design-proposed-oklahoma-state-capitol-monument/

Why does the temple want to place the monument on the Oklahoma State Capitol grounds? Because, as Greaves reasons, the state capitol also has a monument displaying the Ten Commandments.

It's unlikely that the State of Oklahoma will grant the Satanic Temple its wish to put up the offensive display--at least not without a court fight. That seems more likely given that Oklahoma is a state populated by many Christians who'd be appalled by such an exhibit and would never allow it.

And yet, biblical prophecy reveals that a time is coming when the entire world will openly worship the devil. Until now, devil-worshipers have been considered on the outer fringes of society--a group antisocial rebels and drug-addled kooks whose statement of rebellion against the establishment world has been to bow down to Satan.

And until now, the devil has had to be content to receive honor and worship by masquerading as the god of various world religions. Throughout history, he's been known by such names as Molech, Baal, Min, Saturn, Ammon and Osiris.

But the bible reveals that a reprobate end-time world will openly worship him for who he really is.

The apostle John, who recorded the Revelation in about 90 A.D., wrote this concerning the end times: "The dragon stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea. It had ten horns and seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name. The beast I saw resembled a leopard, but had feet like those of a bear and a mouth like that of a lion. The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority. One of the heads of the beast seemed to have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world was filled with wonder and followed the beast. People worshiped the dragon because he had given authority to the beast, and they also worshiped the beast and asked, 'Who is like the beast? Who can wage war against it?'" (Revelation 13:1-5)

Who is the dragon? He is Satan. What is this beast with seven heads and 10 horns? It represents the coming global government that will consist of 10 nation groups headed by seven powerful rulers. 

This dreaded world government will be under the authority of Satan himself. And the world will not only recognize that, it will also openly worship the spiritual head of that government.

And so, though the very thought of paying homage to the devil is still repugnant in the eyes of millions of people, a dark time is coming when the world will worship him as god.

And the time is also coming when those who refuse to do so will be persecuted and put to death.

Why We Do What We Do

First Century Christian Church of Northern Illinois

When Jesus Christ established His church 2,000 years ago, he demanded that His followers be active in sharing the faith with a world mired in the spiritual darkness of sin, paganism, false religions, agnosticism and atheism.

In fact, Christ's command to preach the gospel wasn't optional--it was mandatory. Here's what he said: "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the end of the age." (Matthew 28:18-20)

Throughout 2,000 years, many of those who have obeyed Christ have often faced great opposition and persecution wherever they traveled. 

Many have been beaten, jailed, lost their modest possessions and have even lost their lives. Why? Because they had the audacity to declare the crucified and resurrected Christ as the one and only path to salvation and eternal life. By doing so in obedience to Christ, they declared all world religions and the prophets and gods of those religions to be utterly false.

That doesn't go over well with those who are proud of the belief systems and the gods of those belief systems they follow. And that has never gone over well with those who want to live their lives free of rules and moral accountability for their actions.

Today, atheists can be as violent and brutal to Christian evangelists as are Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus etc. And atheists are often given a pass for their mistreatment of Christians because they've successfully managed to portray themselves as a class of people victimized by religious, i.e. Christian oppression.

And so, persecution comes with the territory. Many people who profess to be Christians want nothing to do with that persecution, so they're content just to attend services once a week. For them, that's the extent of how they express their faith. Needless to say, they're the proverbial salt that has lost its saltiness. (Matthew 5:13)

What have we done at First Century Christian Church of Northern Illinois to help fulfill the Great Commission? Last year, our website: www.prophecyreviewonline.org reached 118 nations across the world. 

When you consider that there are 193 nations in the world, that's a pretty good accomplishment for a small fellowship. When the fellowship began in 1996, we had two choices: (1) we could try to build a mega-church that attracted hundreds or thousands of people, or (2) we could try to effectively present the gospel to the world in a way that wasn't being done.

We chose the latter because while big churches with big memberships look successful, they're often just another form of cultural Christianity that's based upon business models with boards and committees that create policies and itineraries.

Though we've reached 118 nations, we want to reach all 193. With the advent of electronic media, we're doing our part to help fulfill the Great Commission.

Certainly, there are those who believe that we're wasting our time. But you're only wasting your time--and the Lord's time--when all you do is hold services once a week and only want members who will agree with you.

I've been in those types of churches. They not only don't work--they stink. And they don't do anything to fulfill the Great Commission of Jesus Christ. 

Atheism and Depravity

A Nazi concentration camp guard shoots a woman and her child

Atheists love to claim that religion has historically been responsible for centuries of injustice, bigotry and mass murder throughout the world.

While there's truth to that claim, consider that some of the worst tyrants and biggest mass murderers in modern history all shared something in common--they were atheists.

Who were some of these people? They were Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao Zedong, just to name a few. They not only hated religion, they hated those who believed in God and derived special pleasure from persecuting those folks. 

And they all embraced Charles Darwin's atheistic theory of evolution because that theory dismissed God as the author and creator of life and the physical universe.

What does the theory of evolution have to do with the spread of violence, depravity and mass murder across the world? Only this: If people are truly convinced that God doesn't exist, then they cannot be held morally accountable for their behavior during their lifetimes. 

Thus, if God doesn't exist, then such moral constraints as the 10 Commandments, Mosaic Law and the Gospel are nothing but human constructs that can be perverted, ignored or changed by those in power. If God doesn't exist, then death becomes meaningless and the ultimate escape from moral accountability and judgment for one's actions.

Though he lived nearly 2,000 years ago, the apostle Paul knew the evil nature that existed in all human beings. 

And he knew what human beings who reject God and His transcendent moral laws inevitably become. In his epistle to the early Roman church, Paul wrote this: "Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them." (Romans 1:28-32)

That's a pretty accurate description of people who reject God. And it's frightening.

Furthermore, Paul prophesied that the end time world would be filled with people like that. In his second letter to fellow apostle Timothy, Paul wrote this: But mark this: "There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God  having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people." (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

The increase in lawlessness and depravity throughout the world, that really began accelerating in the late 1940s, can be traced to the decline of the Judeo-Christian influence in the world, and particularly in the west. 

What's the reason for that decline? Because the Christian Church stopped contending for the faith and made itself irrelevant. A church that can no longer effectively explain the existence of God, the sinful human condition and mankind's need for redemption from that condition through Jesus Christ, is dead and utterly useless.

And just as dead men tell no tales, dead churches make no disciples. 

And tragically, wherever there's a spiritual vacuum created by a powerless church, something else comes in and fills that vacuum. And that something else is usually the deadly poison of godless humanism.

Imagine No God

"Imagine there's no heaven...It's easy if you try. No hell below us. Above us only sky. Imagine all the people, living for today..."--John Lennon

Yes, imagine that there's no God, no rules, no moral accountability for one's thoughts, actions or words.

And imagine, as John Lennon once mused, a world that would live as one, free of the suffocating constraints of religious mores and dictates.

Actually, you don't have to imagine that. Much of the world began practicing Lennon's values-free system many years before the late pop-artist penned those lyrics to his famous song Imagine in 1970.

Much of the world began imagining no heaven or God shortly after Charles Darwin penned his famous theory of evolution in a book titled, On the Origin of Species that was first published in 1859.

In his dubious book, Darwin offered the radical claim that all physical life had no creator, but merely was the chance product of millions of years of random evolutionary forces.

Even in the 19th century, long before the advent of microbiology, Darwin's colleagues criticized his unsubstantiated theory as nonsense. Shortly after Darwin published his theory, a Harvard University geology professor named Louis Agassiz called evolution "a scientific mistake, untrue in its facts, unscientific in its method and mischievous in its tendency."
http://www.prophecyreviewonline.org/apps/articles/default.asp  

Michael Behe, a professor of biochemistry at Lehigh University, has declared the theory of evolution scientifically impossible. Here's what he said: "A single flaw in the cell's labyrinthine protein-transport pathway is fatal. Unless the entire system were immediately in place, our ancestors would have died. Attempts at gradual evolution of the protein-transport system are a recipe for extinction. At some point this complex machine had to come into existence, and it could not have done so in step-by-step fashion as Darwinian evolution would have it." (Darwin's Black Box, pp.114-115)

What does evolution have to do with the spread of moral depravity across the world? If there is no God, then there's no divine judgment at death and no one can be held morally accountable for their behavior during their lifetime.

Thus, those who committed evil atrocities during their lifetimes such as Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin fair no worse in death than those who were considered virtuous such as Pope John Paul II and Mother Teresa.

If there is no God, then all human behavior--even the worst forms of it--must be considered natural. Under a godless worldview, even pedophiles, rapists, murders etc. have every right to claim that their behavior is natural. Without God, there are no rules and "all a man's ways seem right to him..." (Proverbs 21:2)

Yes, imagine that there's no God. And imagine the consequences.

Religions of Love and Hate

Suspected homosexuals hanged in Iran

In the eyes of many, Christianity is a religion that foments discord across the world by promoting hatred and intolerance.

Why is Christianity hated by so many people? Because it classifies a host of behaviors as sinful and declares that no one who willingly practices those behaviors "has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God." (Ephesians 5:5)

Among the list of behaviors condemned by the Bible are stealing, lying, adultery, greed, fornication, witchcraft, prostitution, extortion, murder, idolatry, necromancy, sorcery and homosexuality. 

Needless to say, with a list like that, there are a lot of folks in the world who find Christianity extremely repugnant. 

And those people will do whatever they can to demean the faith by marginalizing it as a primitive and outdated belief system conjured in the minds of ignorant men. 

Concerning those who hate the truth and refuse to repent, Jesus Christ said this: "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God." (John 3:19-21)

One person who shall remain anonymous, responded to my recent post on Homosexuality and Christianity with this comment:  "Christianity is a never-ending stream of filth and a certified cancer to society." When I responded that Islam also condemns the homosexual lifestyle (Sura 26:165-166, Sura 70:80-81), he retorted that Christianity and Islam are "similar."

No, they're not. While gays have been historically persecuted by those who claim to represent Christ, Christianity doesn't encourage nor sanction the persecution of gays or anyone. Those who persecute gays and encourage others to do so, do it in opposition to what Christ taught. 

However, Islam mandates physical torture, dismemberment and even execution for those who violate Shariah Law. Muslims who refuse to carry out the punishments specified in the Qu'ran and the Hadith for violating Shariah, do so in opposition to what Muhammad taught. 

When former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to the United Nations several years ago and claimed that homosexuality didn't exist in his country, he failed to mention the reason--those who are even suspected of being homosexuals in Iran are executed.   

For the record, biblical Christianity's moral tenets are based upon the 10 Commandments, the Mosaic Law and the writings of the ancient Jewish prophets. Christianity's condemnation of the homosexual lifestyle comes from the Book of Leviticus (Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13) which is one of the five books of Moses. The homosexual lifestyle is but one of several sexual practices condemned in Leviticus.

And so, when the apostle Paul listed homosexuality among the number of behaviors that are unacceptable to God in his first letter to the Corinthian Church (1 Corinthians 6:9-11) he wasn't sharing his own opinion--he based that on the Mosaic Law.

And concerning that law, Christ said this: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished." (Matthew 5:17-18)

I guess that makes Jesus Christ, the apostle Paul and all the rest of us bigots who embrace that law. So be it.