MOVING ON

MOVING ON

                “Therefore leaving the elementary teaching about Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying again a foundation of repentance from dead works and of faith toward God, of various washings and laying on of hands and the resurrection of the dead and eternal judgment. And this we will do if God permits.  For in the case of those who have once been enlightened and have tasted of the heavenly gift and have been made partakers of the Holy Spirit and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come and then have fallen away, it is impossible to renew them again to repentance, since they again crucify to themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.” Hebrews 6:1-6

                In the great falling away from even the elemental things of salvation we see large parts of today’s growing false church departing from the elemental truth of repentance.  And as for dead works, (That is anything that is done apart from the anointing of the Holy Spirit.) If the Holy Spirit is not in it, then it is a dead work. There are “Christian groups out there no longer teaching the resurrection of the dead or the rapture of the church, or even the second coming of Christ. There are entire denominations that don’t preach eternal judgment… who preach against the heavenly gifts of the Holy Spirit and eschew  manifestations  of the Holy Spirit or living by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God, or participating in the powers of the age to come. All of these things are being abandoned… even the new birth, and the gifts of the Spirit

                The church is in serious trouble concerning even the elemental principles of the Gospel and yet we are being called to maturity and we don’t even know what that maturity might look like. We have created a ME-centered religion that is centered in my wants and wishes. We are told that we can fulfill our dreams in Christ. We give in order to get. We are promised prosperity. We offer happiness rather than a cross. Friends, it isn’t all about me. It is about Him as my Master and me as His bond servant. It is about dying to self, not building up self. WE ARE NOT HERE TO FULFILL OUR DREAMS; WE ARE HERE TO FULFILL HIS DREAMS.

                It was for the joy set before Him that He endured the cross. Hebrews 12:1, 2 says: Therefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and sin which so easily entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us fixing our eyes on Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1, 2

                He saw you and me and His love for us, drove Him to suffer death, even the death of the cross. And don’t misunderstand what I am saying. We are promised great joy along with suffering, and in fact joy is one of the fruits of the Spirit. But joy and happiness are two different things. Happiness depends upon what is happening in our lives, but the joy of the Lord is our strength. It abides deep within us even when everything on the outside is going wrong.

                When I lost my little Desi, (My little dog) I experienced some of the deepest sorrow that I have ever experienced. Desi was much more than a pet to me. Somehow our souls had been locked together in a bond that I can’t explain. Even a month later, I am still hit with waves of sorrow as one memory or other wells up inside of me and the “If onlys “start running again. But this sorrow does not overcome me because there is a deeper abiding joy of the Holy Spirit that keeps me from going under.

                It is this kind of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit that buoys us up and keeps us from drowning. It is like the hand of Jesus lifting Peter back to the surface again and it was Peter who said: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though some strange thing were happening to you; but to the degree that you share in the sufferings of Christ, keep on rejoicing; so that also at the revelation of His glory, you may rejoice with exultation.” 1 Peter 4:12, 13

                Later on in this same chapter Peter introduces our subject for today saying: 

                “For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?  And if it is with difficulty that the righteous is saved, what will become of the godless man and the sinner? Therefore let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing what is right. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon Him because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 4:17-10, 5:6, 7

                We see large parts of the church falling away these days. Some of it is because of false doctrine, some of it because we no longer disciple incoming members, part of it is because; New Age doctrines of demons are making their way into the church. Part of it is because our churches, schools and Seminaries have been infiltrated by Jesuit agents that are steering the church away from sound doctrine and the study of Bible prophecy.

                Their purpose has been to bring Protestants back into the fold and under the control of the Papacy for the sake of unity and globalism. In other words Protestants were at one time fiercely independent, breaking with pagan traditions to serve God in Spirit and in truth. They stood upon the Word of God rather than the traditions of men. And this conviction of truth and righteousness by faith was so strong in them that they were willing to suffer persecution and death, even joyfully being burned at the stake for a cause that was greater than themselves.

                But today we see large portions of the Protestant Church giving up and renouncing their Protest and falling back under the control of Rome. They have become prophetically illiterate and spiritual dead and needing power, they are now seeking it through compromise and satanic unity under the false prophet.

                This is why it is absolutely essential that we move on into maturity now. We need to stop relying on cotton candy preaching and me-centered religion and we must press in to fulfill God’s dreams rather than our own.

                Right now, every prophetic teacher and every prophet that is worth his salt is shouting to those who will listen. They are saying that we MUST move on to maturity. We are much deeper into the end time scenarios than most people think. The spirit of antichrist is rising and gaining control of God’s chosen people, both Jews and Gentile Christians. The Vatican has control of Israel and the world and most Christians are clueless. They control the banks, the armies, the politics and the religions of the world. Everything is being drawn together into the global government of the Beast of Revelation 13.

                The Satanic trinity is about to emerge. The dragon (Satan) the Beast (The antichrist) and the false prophet, (The current renegade pope of Rome and even if he dies, an even greater evil will take his place) but they are now corralling the sheep into the pen for slaughter. We don’t see it because it appears as the industrial complex, the political movements and wars and advances in various IA and people controlling technologies. We fail to see the spiritual underpinnings of these converging elements … and since much of the church has become ignorant of solid Bible prophecy, we remain blind to the Vatican’s role in these events.

                Jesus said something interesting in Matthew 24: 44. In spite of the fact that Jesus has just given us an impressive array of earth shattering, even extinction level events, He then goes on to say: “For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour when you DO NOT THINK HE will. “ Whaaaat? With all of that going on, how can we not think HE is coming?

                He could have said that He will come as a surprise, or when He is not expected, but that is not what He said. He said that He will come “WHEN YOU DO NOT THINK HE WILL COME.” In other words, people have begun to refute the idea of His second coming, or His rapture altogether. But this is something that Pope Francis has recently stated. He said in essence that Jesus is not returning and so we must go about making this world the best it can be, which to Him means a global religion coupled with a global government and most recently he has even endorsed the microchip implant as a good thing… a gift from God.”

                And Pope Francis,( as He stated in the fall of 2015 at the fourth blood moon), he is gathering all of the religions of the world together into one global religion and according to the Bible He will cause all people to worship the Beast and his image. He is identified in Revelation 13:11, 12

                “And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb and he spoke as a dragon. And he exercised all the authority of the first beast in his presence. And he makes the earth and those who dwell in it to worship the first beast whose fatal wound was healed. “Rev 13:11, 12

                This beast that has two horns like a lamb is one who looks Christian and his two horns represent both political and religious powers. He reigns over the kings of the earth as we have seen even in our day, as political and religious leaders go to Rome to receive their marching orders.  But now we see Protestant America reaching across the gulf to embrace the hand of Rome.  So, even as we seek to protect the Jews, we are also participating in their division. Oh what a web we weave…

                This religious cabal is going to be centered in Jerusalem, for Jesus Christ is destined to reign from Jerusalem for 1000 years and it is Satan’s greatest desire to usurp this position, to pretend to be Christ and to be worshipped as Christ and to wipe out God’s people, both Jews and Christians so as to prevent the coming of the Lord.

                Friends, we are so deep into this that at any time the jaws of history can snap shut and we will find ourselves irreversibly trapped in the end time events of Mt. 24. And regardless of when the rapture occurs, we will experience most of what is stated in Mt. 24, because Jesus calls them birth pangs and not the wrath of God. Nature is turning on its head. Politics is in a shambles and moving towards globalism and Christianity is falling back to Rome. Not only that, but Rome is in control of making Jerusalem into an international city where the upcoming temple will become a counterfeit house of prayer for all nations. So the building of this third temple is at once a good thing and a bad thing, because the antichrist will take it over at some point and commit in it the Abomination of Desolation spoken of by both Daniel and Jesus.

                Well, ruling from Jerusalem is the stated goal of Jesus during the millennium, but Satan is currently building a counterfeit kingdom by which he will control the whole world until Jesus returns and destroys his kingdom by the brightness of His coming.  As Daniel 2 states:  “And in the days of those kings (The ten kings represented by the ten toes of the statue)the God of heaven will set up a kingdom which will never be destroyed and that kingdom will not be left for another people; it will crush and put an end to all these kingdoms, but it will itself endure forever.“ Dan. 2:44

                The good news is that Jesus is returning to set up a kingdom in Jerusalem that will endure forever. The bad news is that Satan is going to pull off a fake global kingdom that will enforce the mark of the beast and this mark will separate the people of God from the people of Satan once and forever.

                We will be here to face that test. This kingdom of the antichrist is in Reve. Chapter 13. The sickle harvest occurs in chapter 14 where the saints are raptured and sinners are also harvested and thrown into the winepress of God’s Wrath. Rev. chapter 15 shows the saints on the sea of glass in heaven,  having gained the victory over the beast, while chapter 16 deals with the wrath of God upon sinners here on earth.

                The huge crowd of saints in Revelation 7 and those in chapter 15 are said to have come out of great tribulation and those on the sea of glass have gained the victory over the beast and his image. We need to get our eschatology straight and stop promising people that we won’t face any persecution. Such teaching is turning the church into a bunch of weaklings, that can’t even endure a coffee stain on their dress let alone the wrath of the beast.

                Maturity is tough stuff my friends. It means following in the footsteps of Jesus no matter where he leads. And if we have already died to self and if we are already abiding in Christ we will be able to take whatever the world dishes out, for greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world.