GOD LIKES TO COLOR OUTSIDE OUR RELIGIOUS LINES

GOD LIKES TO COLOR OUTSIDE OF OUR RELIGIOUS LINES

                Religion seems to be about limiting God to a set of creeds or doctrines and then enlisting people to come within those confines. Once committed to it, no further enlightenment is allowed and the Holy Spirit is safely tucked into a human box called conventional thinking.

                We tend to pick and choose a set of doctrines into which we force the Bible and to turn a blind eye to anything else the Bible might be saying. This is why the early disciples said only to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. By this they did not intend that Christians should ignore all further information, In fact Paul said to Timothy: “Study diligently to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.” 2Tim. 2:15

                Paul also told Timothy:  “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness.” 2Tim. 3:16. So why do we isolate a set of doctrines and then tag it with a denominational name? Such thinking is about to disappear as holy people of God embrace the whole Bible without manmade restrictions.

                We need to remember that when Paul said that, he was referring to the Old Testament, for with the exception for the few letters being passed around the early church, their Bible was the Old Testament and it was the foundation of the Gospel, for every page of the Old Covenant paints a picture of Christ. If we leave that foundation we will be in danger of worshipping false Christs and following after false prophets and that is just what is going on in the world today.

                Large portions of the church are thus falling away today, seeking unity through the Pope through global religion; in spite of the fact that the Pope says we cannot have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. How can people become so deluded? They are wondering after the antichrist and craving a global beast system. In fact the people will demand it

                It was Spaak who said way back in the 1950s: “The world is longing for a man with a plan and be he God or devil we will follow him.”

                One of the early 4^th century doctrines that cause the church to divorce both the Jews and the Old covenant was “Replacement Theology.” It is because of this doctrine that the church has strayed from sound doctrine and it is because of this doctrine that Israel is hated today just as they were by Hitler. We are about to repeat history.

                1 John 2: 18 warns us saying: “Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming (an end time event) even now, (in his time) antichrists have arisen; from this we know that it is the last hour.”

                Paul said to the Thessalonians: “Now as to times and epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you.” 1 Thess. 5:1. But how could Paul say this to new Christians? It was because they were Jews who had received Yeshua as their Messiah. They were already well-versed in the Feast Days and appointed times of the Lord. To them, accepting Yeshua as their Messiah had opened up the scriptures in a whole new light. It was like an explosion of fresh understanding. Then Paul went on to say that to those who live in darkness Yeshua would return like a thief in the night. They would be taken by surprise. But since the church was made up of sons of the light and of the day, that day would not take them by surprise. 1 Thess. 5:1-9.This is not true today, because much of the church has left and denied its foundations.

                Today if you try to talk about prophetic events now happening that point to the soon return of Jesus, they quickly say, “No one knows the day or the hour.” And by this they mean to shut off all discussion concerning Bible prophecy. By this one statement they will close the door to all that Jesus said to us about what to watch for. He was warning us not to be deceived… to watch and to pray… to study His word so that we would not be led astray by false doctrines and doctrines of demons.

                Replacement theology is one such doctrine that set the church off course clear back in the time of Constantine and much of the church has never recovered from it. And in spite of the fact that God has brought Israel back into its own land as promised, they deny it and in fact they are now mounting a campaign of hatred against the Jews that will soon rival Hitler’s time. Romans chapter 11 should set us straight, but it doesn’t fit our theology so we ignore it. Today some of the world’s most prominent institutions such as the Papacy, the National Council of Churches and the United Nations along with many Protestant religions, are promoting anti-Semitism.

                But mark my words, that same hatred for the Jews is simultaneously being mounted against true Bible believing, born again Christians and God’s people are destined to suffer persecution for our faith unless Jesus takes us out of here.

                Our hope is found in 1 Thess. 5:9   where Paul assured us that we are not destined for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ and also by Jesus in Luke 21:36 where He said: “Watch you therefore and pray always that you may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man.”

                That statement sort of rattles our theological cages doesn’t it? What did Yeshua mean when He said for us to pray that we may be worthy to escape all that He had just warned them about in Luke chapter 21?

                Furthermore in Revelation 3:10 Jesus, in speaking to the Philadelphia church, a church for which He had no criticism; “Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep you from the hour of temptation which shall come upon the entire world to try them that dwell upon the earth… and then He says, “Behold I come quickly.  So there was a certain group of Christians before whom Yeshua had set an open door.

                This is why we should not build doctrines upon things of which we have so little knowledge. I have traditionally not believed in a pre-trib rapture, but neither will I deny the possibility of one at least of the true Bride of Christ.  After all, there was a group of wise virgins that made it into the wedding feast and a group that did not. So whatever that means, I want to be wise. I want to have the oil. I want to be in an intimate relationship with my Lord and with His Word and I certainly don’t want to turn a deaf ear to His prophetic warnings and instructions.

                Israel was the true church and their “religion” had been designed and dictated by God Himself, and yet when Jesus came to earth He sort of used the Pharisees as a backdrop to show us what His coming kingdom would NOT be. Why? It was because they had added layer after layer to His Word. They had added the Talmud to which they paid more attention than the Torah. They had added law upon law upon man made doctrine to God’s Word.

                Why is it that every cult-like religion in the world seems to have an “infallible prophet” from whom they derive their “Truth” as if the Word of God is not adequate and the Holy Spirit is not capable to guide us into all truth? It is because their doctrines are not all scriptural and so they must lean heavily upon the prophet to secure their continued existence.

                They completely ignore God’s warning at the end of the Bible saying, “For I testify unto every man that hears the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life and out of the Holy City and from the things that are written in this book.” Wow!

                And so we have people adding to the book and replacing the book with doctrines that disagree with the book, and on the other hand, we have those who have literally dismissed Bible prophecy from their vocabulary and their study… at the very time when understanding God’s agenda is so critical. They do this in spite of the fact that the book of Revelation is a revelation of Jesus Christ. Should not we who love Him care about His agenda and how He will bring sin to an end and come to reign as King of kings and Lord of lords?

                So God does not color outside the lines of His Word, but He certainly does color outside the lines of restriction that religion has imposed upon Him. And instead of getting all defensive whenever someone sees truth differently than we do, we should really seek God’s Word with prayer, like the Bereans did, to see if by chance they are right. We should not be afraid to question what we believe as long as we sincerely desire to walk with the Lord and His Word. WE must die to self in order that the Word of Christ and the Spirit of Christ may be the treasure we hold in earthen vessels.

                We have entered into a time when all of the Bible prophecies are literally coming to pass. We have entered into a convergence of events from which there is no turning back. There have been signs in the sun, moon and stars that will never happen again and in spite of the fact that Joel prophesied that there would be signs in the sun, moon and stars before the great and terrible day of the Lord, most Christians scoff and say that this surely is not it.

                I believe that the blood moons warned us that we have entered a sequence of events that can no longer be stopped. And on the 4^th blood moon, Pope Francis came to America to announce his leadership of the coming global religion and sure enough a whole bunch of apostate Protestants ran off to Rome to join Him. Is that not significant enough? There is coming a great separation between true biblical Judeo/Christian faith and a pagan global religion that seeks unity through compromise. It is the religion of the Beast. Rev. 13

                Now, with the total eclipse across America, God announces judgment upon this nation for its sins and for rejecting Him at every level. We have brought in every false religion and demon and idol imaginable and we have raised a fist against God and His Word. Persecution is coming.

                And then with the coming sign of Revelation 12 on September 23, God is telling us that the long awaited sons of God are about to be revealed and that the 7 headed dragon ( Revelation 12 and 13) is about to pursue the woman who gave birth to them.

                We ignore all of these signs because our God has become too small and our religion too restrictive to allow that God might actually do what He said in His Word. We would rather keep it as theory. After all, if He actually did give us signs in the heavens, then we would be jarred out of our ivory towers of sophisticated education and we would have to stoop to actual fulfillment. Perish the thought.

                 And so we turn a blind eye to some of the most astounding events in history and we ignore the warnings in favor of pleasant sermons and power points and still waters. Don’t rock the boat or disturb the big tithers. The show must go on… but God has a surprise up His sleeve… a great shaking in which everything that can be shaken will be shaken and then nothing will ever be the same again and then maybe we will wake up.

                “And His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised saying, “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven. And this expression, “Yet once more” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Therefore, since we receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us show gratitude by which we may offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; for our God is a consuming fire. “Heb. 12:26-29. Selah.