Light is sown like seed for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Psalm 97:11
Wednesday, November 30, 2016
Monday, November 28, 2016
Civil War and the Coming New World Order
Reposted from omegaletter.com
Witnessing Tools
Monday, November 28, 2016
Pete Garcia
This is quite a difficult and sensitive topic being discussed here today. But I feel that it is warranted, given what we are seeing play out before us. I don’t have any particular scriptural basis for it, other than it being more of an observation of the times. If anything, I would liken it to the condition Jesus laid out for His disciples when asked what the signs of the end would be when He said…
Nation (ethnos) would rise against nation (ethnos), kingdom (political power) against kingdom (political power) …and the love of many will wax cold… (Matt. 24:7, 12)
There is a storm brewing in our land, and has been for some time. Those dark, foreboding clouds have always been on the horizon, but now they are overhead and our grumbling like a Kansas thunderstorm laden with the potential for torrential rains, lightening, and tornados. While history is not everyone’s favorite subject, it should be something we reconcile frequently. Studying history helps illuminate the challenges and similarities that our ancestors faced and may help us recognize the challenges we face in our own day and of days yet to come. The reason for this is because although the times change and the technology changes--the human condition never does. We tend to make the same mistakes over and over because we are a fallen race riddled with sin…and given enough time, history tends to repeat itself without fail.
On November the 9th, 2016, quite possibly the largest political earthquake ever felt in the United States occurred in the wee hours of the morning with Republican Donald Trump’s victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. So stunning was the loss for Clinton and the Democrats that the media, the glitterati, the newspapers, print journals, pundits, and comedians all had assumed that her victory was so certain, that the election itself was just a formality. But since that day, the stammering and speechlessness has turned increasingly vitriolic and toxic as the reality that Donald Trump really will be the next President of the United States.
Since then, we’ve been witness to an increasing number of “spontaneous” anti-Trump demonstrations along with a rash of growing anti-police violence. These protests are “spontaneous” in the same sense that Benghazi was a result of an ‘anti-Islamic’ video on YouTube. In all actuality, these protests are part of a greater concerted effort by uber-leftist/globalist groups like George Soros Incorporated and MoveOn.org, who are attempting to upend the system in the wake of their stunning political defeat. So if they can’t win politically despite the rampant fraud and voter machine rigging, they will attempt it by funding and fomenting violence.
The attempt now by the media to link the ‘rise in white power groups’ to Trump’s victory, is another attempt to get him to backpedal. Their rise (neo Nazi’s and the like) are not a result of Trump’s election, but a reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement that have sprung up across the nation and have hijacked the narrative on race.
Along those same sentiments is a growing call for secession from the Union from more traditionally liberal states like California and Oregon as a more formal protest against a Trump presidency. In the past, conservative states like Texas have threatened secession due to President Obama’s federal overreach but it seemed more bark than bite. At the very least, things could get to the point where California itself divides between the liberal south and central, and the more conservative north. But one thing to watch here is the momentum of the movement at the state level and to what degree Governor Jerry ‘Moonbeam’ Brown supports it as an act of defiance over the ‘sanctuary city’ status they will maintain despite federal threats of financial penalties.
But in watching the ‘useful-idiot’ movement (and media) attempting to justify their actions of blocking traffic, destroying private property, killing cops, threatening to kill cops, and provoking random violence, it reminded me of the events leading up to the American Civil War. Let us recap:
1820: The Missouri Compromise-Allowed Missouri to be a slave state, but added Maine as a free state to balance out Congress. Also divided the slave territories along the 36 by 30 parallel.
1831: Nat Turner’s Rebellion-slave uprising killing 60 whites. Quelled after two days, 55 slaves, including Nat Turner, were executed, along with 200 more who were lynched.
1846-1850: Wilmot Proviso would have (it failed) outlawed slavery from expanding into the newly acquired territories at the end of the Mexican-American war, which gained the US much of the southwest including California.
1850: The Compromise of 1850-New western territories in the would be slave states, but compelled the northerners to abide by the Fugitive Slave Act, which required them to return fugitive slaves back to the South.
1852: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” popular book on slavery conditions in the south, considered by the north shocking and horrifying, but disparaging to Southerners who viewed this as gross mischaracterization.
1854-1861: ‘Bleeding Kansas’ The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 overturned parts of the Missouri Compromise, by allowing these states to determine whether or not to be free or slave. The both went free after a bloody, five year struggle.
1857: The Dred Scott Case-The Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property, further complicating the North’s opposition to slavery.
1859: John Brown’s Raid-White Southerners and freed black slaves raided ammunition arsenal and began arming other groups to rise up. Was captured and executed becoming a martyr to the Abolitionist movement.
1860: Election of Abraham Lincoln-The election of the Republican A. Lincoln was overwhelming, considering he was not even on the ballot in many southern states. His election was followed by the secession of South Carolina some 30 days after. Six more states would secede by the spring of 1861.
1861: Battle of Ft. Sumter-Following S. Carolina’s secession, Ft. Sumter suddenly found itself on foreign land. Lincoln decided to send supplies and was met with a Southern blockade. This sparked the start of the actual Civil War.
(Reference: http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-overview/triggerevents.html)
Assessment
As you can see, the Civil War didn’t start because Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected as President. Lincoln’s election was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. There were decades of unchecked grievances and emotions leading up to the election of 1860. Former President Thomas Jefferson made this forewarning upon hearing of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 on slavery. In it he…
“Considered it at once as the (death) knell of the Union. It is hushed indeed for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, oral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper.”
Thomas Jefferson saw slavery as an issue that would not simply go away by appeasement and compromise. It would continue to fester in the hearts and minds of Americans (both for and against), until it resolved itself in the bloodiest war ever waged by Americans. In regards to this concept of unchecked grievances, I would like to draw a parallel to the issues of our day. The battle over the hearts and minds of Americans has been over a century in the making, and is so ingrained into our culture that we no more think about our eroding liberties than a frog thinks about the water he is in warming up.
There would be no need to work for liberty were liberties not being lost. Most Americans are unaware of a decline in individual liberty, and the reason is obvious: the decline rarely takes the form of sudden personal deprivations but, instead, takes the form of unnoticed erosion, and thus we come, as do the Russians, to regard whatever state we are in as a normal condition.” Leonard E. Reed, (1965)
The outrage by normal Americans over the past eight years has resulted in the loss of some 900 Democrat seats of power, the rise of the Tea Party movement, and culminated with the election of Donald Trump primarily because of Obama’s overreach. He didn’t do anything different than any other president before him, which was to create more bureaucracy, more overreach, and add to our burgeoning national deficit. Obama simply got too greedy, too fast. His federal abuse was too obvious and it awoken the silent majority much in the same way that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor awoke a largely isolationist-minded American public in the 1940s.
Understand that there has already been a soft coup in this nation going back a hundred years or more. This coup began with the varying ideological theories from people like: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Margaret Sanger, John Dewey, and many others who at their foundation, espouse a rabid anti-Christian, anti-American, and anti-Constitutionalist ideas. Although the aforementioned specialize in different areas (economics, science, eugenics, psychology, and education), they all feed off of each other and use each other as stepping stones to validate their own agendas.
Their goal, largely accomplished today, was to spread this infectious ideology first through European seminaries, universities, and then on to the rest of the world via public education and governance. This then would be reinforced through the relentless “consensus-mantra” beatings by media and pop culture on the average citizenry. Now those most indoctrinated by socialism (in its varying forms) are firmly embedded in most of the western governments. Their goal is a one-world system. But first they need to ‘divide and conquer’ which is why we see the parties (even within themselves) so divided over fiscal, social, and political issues we face today.
Although the swing left was greatly exacerbated during the Clinton and Obama administrations, Hillary’s third term was meant to be the icing on the cake. It was meant to usher in an avalanche of demographic change via massive, unchecked immigration that would change the electoral make up of this country forever, so that no Republican could ever win again. This is why this Trump win is such a stinging defeat. They (media, politicians, “experts”) were so sure it would happen that Clinton never even thought to write her concession speech. Such was the power of the media to distort the facts on the ground. Even now, you can see now how the media is already trying to shape what President Trump’s agenda should be. This is the same media that completely got the election wrong. They keep trying to shape the argument that what real American’s are angry about, is their talking points.
To set the record straight about the average American:
We aren’t angry over “climate change.”
We aren’t angry because men can’t use women’s restrooms.
We aren’t angry because we hate immigrants.
We are angry because the progressive-left has hijacked the Constitution and is trying to redefine it into something it was never intended to be-- a license for lawlessness leading to a global government.
We are angry about unchecked immigration, sanctuary cities, overwhelming national debt, global trade deals that would crush the US economy, and an overburdened, and under resourced military.
We are angry at the lawlessness and corruption permeating every facet of our society.
We are angry that the America we got the privilege to grow up in, will not exist for our children at the current rate.
Conclusion
Slavery is a system of both commerce and thought, and has been around as long as man has. It always seeks to put one class above the other. One works while the other reaps the benefit of that work. In the past centuries, the workers and reapers were determined by race and ethnicity. But as the west came to abandon the actual practice of slave holding, the concept remained. In the 20th-21st centuries, the class division wasn’t so much about race as it was political and religious ideology.
While slavery was the issue of the day back in the 1850’s and was rightly rejected by the Republican Party, the issue of slavery still holds sway over the world today. This new form of oppression in the west is more akin to the proletariat versus bourgeoisie of the communist revolutions that swept through places like Russia, China, Cuba, and Vietnam in the 20th century. This new form of oppression is between the haves and have nots, the elite and the ‘unwashed’ masses, between the enlightened and the ‘deplorables’, and between the media and the alternative watchdogs. The Democrat party never abandoned the idea of slavery, they just redefined it.
Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” wasn’t based on truly helping poor, minority communities, but enslaving them into systemic poverty and guaranteeing party loyalty for decades to come. Even the leftist Snopes ‘fact checking website’ has a very difficult time walking back his vehemently racist comments. But here is the greater proof, if the Democrat party truly had the best interest of minorities in mind, democratic strongholds like Detroit, Chicago, and Washington D.C. would be beacons of peace and prosperity. But those cities, like so many others, are markedly divided between the ‘go and no go’ zones of the rich and affluent and the poor and desperate.
But to the left, even racism and slavery are only means to an end, not the end itself. It is even somewhat disingenuous to claim on the left want globalism, because there are many so called Republicans who are also in the tank for a one-world system. Racism, sexism, ‘homophobia’, ‘islamophobia’, etc., are tools they use via Cultural Marxism to create ‘identity politics’ as a means to divide and conquer a nation. To this end, the left will never concede of their own volition to constitutional governance because they’ve already spent the last 100 years corrupting the system and have come too far. For them, the Constitution is only useful in how they can use it to destroy the entire system. Put in another way, they (globalist-left and right) want us to commit constitutional suicide. Since they will never yield, we are really only left with one option if we are to preserve our way of life (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), and that is by making them bend to our will, not the other way around.
We should also accept the reality that mainstream media has become irrelevant. Their agenda, is not the American agenda. The Democrat party is in massive decline and implosion and in the process, have lost around 900 seats (governorships, congress, senate, etc.) since 2010. We can make a rather sobering assessment that the Democrat party itself will die, and out of the ashes will rise something between a mix of outright communism and Sharia Law.
They want an international system of socialism because in their heart of hearts, they truly believe that this is the only way in which man can solve all of his problems. That is why they are intent on destroying the very system that affords them the ability to even have thoughts of destroying it. And just as the Civil War didn’t start in 1820 with the Missouri Compromise, nor did it begin with Lincoln’s election, rather, it was a long series of steps that led straight to the battlefields of Antietam and Gettysburg, in which brother killed brother, and neighbor killed neighbor. We would be smart to remember the old axiom that Mark Twain once said…although history doesn’t repeat itself, it sure does rhyme.
About Pete Garcia
Witnessing Tools
Monday, November 28, 2016
Pete Garcia
This is quite a difficult and sensitive topic being discussed here today. But I feel that it is warranted, given what we are seeing play out before us. I don’t have any particular scriptural basis for it, other than it being more of an observation of the times. If anything, I would liken it to the condition Jesus laid out for His disciples when asked what the signs of the end would be when He said…
Nation (ethnos) would rise against nation (ethnos), kingdom (political power) against kingdom (political power) …and the love of many will wax cold… (Matt. 24:7, 12)
There is a storm brewing in our land, and has been for some time. Those dark, foreboding clouds have always been on the horizon, but now they are overhead and our grumbling like a Kansas thunderstorm laden with the potential for torrential rains, lightening, and tornados. While history is not everyone’s favorite subject, it should be something we reconcile frequently. Studying history helps illuminate the challenges and similarities that our ancestors faced and may help us recognize the challenges we face in our own day and of days yet to come. The reason for this is because although the times change and the technology changes--the human condition never does. We tend to make the same mistakes over and over because we are a fallen race riddled with sin…and given enough time, history tends to repeat itself without fail.
On November the 9th, 2016, quite possibly the largest political earthquake ever felt in the United States occurred in the wee hours of the morning with Republican Donald Trump’s victory over Democrat Hillary Clinton. So stunning was the loss for Clinton and the Democrats that the media, the glitterati, the newspapers, print journals, pundits, and comedians all had assumed that her victory was so certain, that the election itself was just a formality. But since that day, the stammering and speechlessness has turned increasingly vitriolic and toxic as the reality that Donald Trump really will be the next President of the United States.
Since then, we’ve been witness to an increasing number of “spontaneous” anti-Trump demonstrations along with a rash of growing anti-police violence. These protests are “spontaneous” in the same sense that Benghazi was a result of an ‘anti-Islamic’ video on YouTube. In all actuality, these protests are part of a greater concerted effort by uber-leftist/globalist groups like George Soros Incorporated and MoveOn.org, who are attempting to upend the system in the wake of their stunning political defeat. So if they can’t win politically despite the rampant fraud and voter machine rigging, they will attempt it by funding and fomenting violence.
The attempt now by the media to link the ‘rise in white power groups’ to Trump’s victory, is another attempt to get him to backpedal. Their rise (neo Nazi’s and the like) are not a result of Trump’s election, but a reaction to the Black Lives Matter movement that have sprung up across the nation and have hijacked the narrative on race.
Along those same sentiments is a growing call for secession from the Union from more traditionally liberal states like California and Oregon as a more formal protest against a Trump presidency. In the past, conservative states like Texas have threatened secession due to President Obama’s federal overreach but it seemed more bark than bite. At the very least, things could get to the point where California itself divides between the liberal south and central, and the more conservative north. But one thing to watch here is the momentum of the movement at the state level and to what degree Governor Jerry ‘Moonbeam’ Brown supports it as an act of defiance over the ‘sanctuary city’ status they will maintain despite federal threats of financial penalties.
But in watching the ‘useful-idiot’ movement (and media) attempting to justify their actions of blocking traffic, destroying private property, killing cops, threatening to kill cops, and provoking random violence, it reminded me of the events leading up to the American Civil War. Let us recap:
1820: The Missouri Compromise-Allowed Missouri to be a slave state, but added Maine as a free state to balance out Congress. Also divided the slave territories along the 36 by 30 parallel.
1831: Nat Turner’s Rebellion-slave uprising killing 60 whites. Quelled after two days, 55 slaves, including Nat Turner, were executed, along with 200 more who were lynched.
1846-1850: Wilmot Proviso would have (it failed) outlawed slavery from expanding into the newly acquired territories at the end of the Mexican-American war, which gained the US much of the southwest including California.
1850: The Compromise of 1850-New western territories in the would be slave states, but compelled the northerners to abide by the Fugitive Slave Act, which required them to return fugitive slaves back to the South.
1852: Harriet Beecher Stowe’s “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” popular book on slavery conditions in the south, considered by the north shocking and horrifying, but disparaging to Southerners who viewed this as gross mischaracterization.
1854-1861: ‘Bleeding Kansas’ The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 overturned parts of the Missouri Compromise, by allowing these states to determine whether or not to be free or slave. The both went free after a bloody, five year struggle.
1857: The Dred Scott Case-The Supreme Court ruled that slaves were property, further complicating the North’s opposition to slavery.
1859: John Brown’s Raid-White Southerners and freed black slaves raided ammunition arsenal and began arming other groups to rise up. Was captured and executed becoming a martyr to the Abolitionist movement.
1860: Election of Abraham Lincoln-The election of the Republican A. Lincoln was overwhelming, considering he was not even on the ballot in many southern states. His election was followed by the secession of South Carolina some 30 days after. Six more states would secede by the spring of 1861.
1861: Battle of Ft. Sumter-Following S. Carolina’s secession, Ft. Sumter suddenly found itself on foreign land. Lincoln decided to send supplies and was met with a Southern blockade. This sparked the start of the actual Civil War.
(Reference: http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/civil-war-overview/triggerevents.html)
Assessment
As you can see, the Civil War didn’t start because Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected as President. Lincoln’s election was simply the straw that broke the camel’s back. There were decades of unchecked grievances and emotions leading up to the election of 1860. Former President Thomas Jefferson made this forewarning upon hearing of the Missouri Compromise of 1820 on slavery. In it he…
“Considered it at once as the (death) knell of the Union. It is hushed indeed for the moment. But this is a reprieve only, not a final sentence. A geographical line, coinciding with a marked principle, oral and political, once conceived and held up to the angry passions of men, will never be obliterated; and every new irritation will mark it deeper and deeper.”
Thomas Jefferson saw slavery as an issue that would not simply go away by appeasement and compromise. It would continue to fester in the hearts and minds of Americans (both for and against), until it resolved itself in the bloodiest war ever waged by Americans. In regards to this concept of unchecked grievances, I would like to draw a parallel to the issues of our day. The battle over the hearts and minds of Americans has been over a century in the making, and is so ingrained into our culture that we no more think about our eroding liberties than a frog thinks about the water he is in warming up.
There would be no need to work for liberty were liberties not being lost. Most Americans are unaware of a decline in individual liberty, and the reason is obvious: the decline rarely takes the form of sudden personal deprivations but, instead, takes the form of unnoticed erosion, and thus we come, as do the Russians, to regard whatever state we are in as a normal condition.” Leonard E. Reed, (1965)
The outrage by normal Americans over the past eight years has resulted in the loss of some 900 Democrat seats of power, the rise of the Tea Party movement, and culminated with the election of Donald Trump primarily because of Obama’s overreach. He didn’t do anything different than any other president before him, which was to create more bureaucracy, more overreach, and add to our burgeoning national deficit. Obama simply got too greedy, too fast. His federal abuse was too obvious and it awoken the silent majority much in the same way that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor awoke a largely isolationist-minded American public in the 1940s.
Understand that there has already been a soft coup in this nation going back a hundred years or more. This coup began with the varying ideological theories from people like: Karl Marx, Friedrich Engels, Charles Darwin, Herbert Spencer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Margaret Sanger, John Dewey, and many others who at their foundation, espouse a rabid anti-Christian, anti-American, and anti-Constitutionalist ideas. Although the aforementioned specialize in different areas (economics, science, eugenics, psychology, and education), they all feed off of each other and use each other as stepping stones to validate their own agendas.
Their goal, largely accomplished today, was to spread this infectious ideology first through European seminaries, universities, and then on to the rest of the world via public education and governance. This then would be reinforced through the relentless “consensus-mantra” beatings by media and pop culture on the average citizenry. Now those most indoctrinated by socialism (in its varying forms) are firmly embedded in most of the western governments. Their goal is a one-world system. But first they need to ‘divide and conquer’ which is why we see the parties (even within themselves) so divided over fiscal, social, and political issues we face today.
Although the swing left was greatly exacerbated during the Clinton and Obama administrations, Hillary’s third term was meant to be the icing on the cake. It was meant to usher in an avalanche of demographic change via massive, unchecked immigration that would change the electoral make up of this country forever, so that no Republican could ever win again. This is why this Trump win is such a stinging defeat. They (media, politicians, “experts”) were so sure it would happen that Clinton never even thought to write her concession speech. Such was the power of the media to distort the facts on the ground. Even now, you can see now how the media is already trying to shape what President Trump’s agenda should be. This is the same media that completely got the election wrong. They keep trying to shape the argument that what real American’s are angry about, is their talking points.
To set the record straight about the average American:
We aren’t angry over “climate change.”
We aren’t angry because men can’t use women’s restrooms.
We aren’t angry because we hate immigrants.
We are angry because the progressive-left has hijacked the Constitution and is trying to redefine it into something it was never intended to be-- a license for lawlessness leading to a global government.
We are angry about unchecked immigration, sanctuary cities, overwhelming national debt, global trade deals that would crush the US economy, and an overburdened, and under resourced military.
We are angry at the lawlessness and corruption permeating every facet of our society.
We are angry that the America we got the privilege to grow up in, will not exist for our children at the current rate.
Conclusion
Slavery is a system of both commerce and thought, and has been around as long as man has. It always seeks to put one class above the other. One works while the other reaps the benefit of that work. In the past centuries, the workers and reapers were determined by race and ethnicity. But as the west came to abandon the actual practice of slave holding, the concept remained. In the 20th-21st centuries, the class division wasn’t so much about race as it was political and religious ideology.
While slavery was the issue of the day back in the 1850’s and was rightly rejected by the Republican Party, the issue of slavery still holds sway over the world today. This new form of oppression in the west is more akin to the proletariat versus bourgeoisie of the communist revolutions that swept through places like Russia, China, Cuba, and Vietnam in the 20th century. This new form of oppression is between the haves and have nots, the elite and the ‘unwashed’ masses, between the enlightened and the ‘deplorables’, and between the media and the alternative watchdogs. The Democrat party never abandoned the idea of slavery, they just redefined it.
Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” wasn’t based on truly helping poor, minority communities, but enslaving them into systemic poverty and guaranteeing party loyalty for decades to come. Even the leftist Snopes ‘fact checking website’ has a very difficult time walking back his vehemently racist comments. But here is the greater proof, if the Democrat party truly had the best interest of minorities in mind, democratic strongholds like Detroit, Chicago, and Washington D.C. would be beacons of peace and prosperity. But those cities, like so many others, are markedly divided between the ‘go and no go’ zones of the rich and affluent and the poor and desperate.
But to the left, even racism and slavery are only means to an end, not the end itself. It is even somewhat disingenuous to claim on the left want globalism, because there are many so called Republicans who are also in the tank for a one-world system. Racism, sexism, ‘homophobia’, ‘islamophobia’, etc., are tools they use via Cultural Marxism to create ‘identity politics’ as a means to divide and conquer a nation. To this end, the left will never concede of their own volition to constitutional governance because they’ve already spent the last 100 years corrupting the system and have come too far. For them, the Constitution is only useful in how they can use it to destroy the entire system. Put in another way, they (globalist-left and right) want us to commit constitutional suicide. Since they will never yield, we are really only left with one option if we are to preserve our way of life (life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness), and that is by making them bend to our will, not the other way around.
We should also accept the reality that mainstream media has become irrelevant. Their agenda, is not the American agenda. The Democrat party is in massive decline and implosion and in the process, have lost around 900 seats (governorships, congress, senate, etc.) since 2010. We can make a rather sobering assessment that the Democrat party itself will die, and out of the ashes will rise something between a mix of outright communism and Sharia Law.
They want an international system of socialism because in their heart of hearts, they truly believe that this is the only way in which man can solve all of his problems. That is why they are intent on destroying the very system that affords them the ability to even have thoughts of destroying it. And just as the Civil War didn’t start in 1820 with the Missouri Compromise, nor did it begin with Lincoln’s election, rather, it was a long series of steps that led straight to the battlefields of Antietam and Gettysburg, in which brother killed brother, and neighbor killed neighbor. We would be smart to remember the old axiom that Mark Twain once said…although history doesn’t repeat itself, it sure does rhyme.
About Pete Garcia
Friday, November 25, 2016
Wednesday, November 23, 2016
The God Without … A Thanksgiving Message
Reposted from gracethrufaith.com
A Thanksgiving Message by Jack Kelley
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100)
Each year on the 4th Thursday of November we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the US. It’s a holiday begun by the early settlers to express their gratitude to God for a bountiful harvest, and it’s patterned after the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.
After the harvest, Israelites from all over the country would gather in Jerusalem for a week long celebration. This was to commemorate the time God had spent with them in the wilderness and to give thanks for another good harvest. All year they saved up their tithes, the first born of their flocks and herds, the first sheaves of grain, the first grapes, figs, olives and other fruit and vegetables and brought it all to Jerusalem in the fall where they cooked and ate everything in a national celebration of praise (Deut. 12:5-7).
After surviving a very difficult year in the new world, the Pilgrims of New England instituted a similar, though much smaller, thanksgiving feast, again with the intent of praising God. This event finally became a national holiday in the US in 1863, but it took until 1941 to settle on the 4th Thursday of November as its official observance.
My parents made sure we never forgot that it was the Lord who provided for us and so Thanksgiving was a religious observance in our house. Prayers were offered and each family member gave thanks to the Lord for all the good things we had received.
You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today (Deut. 8:17-18).
We believed, as the Bible tells us, that even though my parents worked hard all year, it was the Lord who had given them their strength and ability and created opportunities for them. In these verses God reminded the Israelites (and us) not to forget that. After all, lots of people work hard all their lives and never seem to get anywhere. We weren’t well off, but we gave thanks for what we had because we knew where our blessings came from.
As an adult I got involved in the self-development field and began learning about the “god within”, an internal force I was told I could use to maximize my “creative potential” for success. This appealed to my ego and made me seem like the master of my own fate. I forgot all about the Lord’s admonition to remember Him. When I was born again at age 40 I finally saw that this “god within” was only my own self determination. It was really the “God without” who had been blessing me all along even though I was taking all the credit. In one of my first prayers for forgiveness, I asked the Lord to forgive me for giving myself credit for things that were gifts from Him. As I was praying about this, the phrase “God Without” kept repeating itself in my mind. What was the Lord trying to tell me?
I believe He was saying that the word “without” applies to lots of things where He is concerned, and as I continued to pray several of them came to mind.
If you’re looking for things to be thankful for (even if you live in a country where Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated) try some of these “withouts” the Lord brought to my mind. I’m sure He will bring even more to yours as you focus on them.
Love Without Limits … For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
Forgiveness Without Question … Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened (Matt 7:7-8). If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Performance Without Exception … All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. And this is the will of Him Who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up on the last day (John 6:37, 39).
Promise Without Equivocation … I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come. I say, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please … what I have said, that will I bring about and what I have planned, that will I do” (Isaiah 46:10-11).
Blessings Without Number … You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country (wherever you are). The fruit of your womb will be blessed (your children), and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock-the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks (your work). Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed (you’ll have plenty of food). You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out (when you come home at night and when you leave in the morning) (Deut 28:3-6).
Mercy Without Measure …. It is because of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassion fails not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23).
Faithfulness Without Failing … Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands (Deut. 7:9). And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
Redemption Without Retraction … “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24). For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:40).
Salvation Without Merit … But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7).
Grace Without Guilt … Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)
So in a time when mankind has all but forgotten that the Lord is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Author of all our victories, who arranges every opportunity and fashions every blessing, these “withouts” might serve as good reminders to give thanks where thanks is due.
And now may “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26) Happy Thanksgiving. 11-17-12
Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalm 100)
Each year on the 4th Thursday of November we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the US. It’s a holiday begun by the early settlers to express their gratitude to God for a bountiful harvest, and it’s patterned after the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles.
After the harvest, Israelites from all over the country would gather in Jerusalem for a week long celebration. This was to commemorate the time God had spent with them in the wilderness and to give thanks for another good harvest. All year they saved up their tithes, the first born of their flocks and herds, the first sheaves of grain, the first grapes, figs, olives and other fruit and vegetables and brought it all to Jerusalem in the fall where they cooked and ate everything in a national celebration of praise (Deut. 12:5-7).
After surviving a very difficult year in the new world, the Pilgrims of New England instituted a similar, though much smaller, thanksgiving feast, again with the intent of praising God. This event finally became a national holiday in the US in 1863, but it took until 1941 to settle on the 4th Thursday of November as its official observance.
My parents made sure we never forgot that it was the Lord who provided for us and so Thanksgiving was a religious observance in our house. Prayers were offered and each family member gave thanks to the Lord for all the good things we had received.
You may say to yourself, “My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.” But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today (Deut. 8:17-18).
We believed, as the Bible tells us, that even though my parents worked hard all year, it was the Lord who had given them their strength and ability and created opportunities for them. In these verses God reminded the Israelites (and us) not to forget that. After all, lots of people work hard all their lives and never seem to get anywhere. We weren’t well off, but we gave thanks for what we had because we knew where our blessings came from.
As an adult I got involved in the self-development field and began learning about the “god within”, an internal force I was told I could use to maximize my “creative potential” for success. This appealed to my ego and made me seem like the master of my own fate. I forgot all about the Lord’s admonition to remember Him. When I was born again at age 40 I finally saw that this “god within” was only my own self determination. It was really the “God without” who had been blessing me all along even though I was taking all the credit. In one of my first prayers for forgiveness, I asked the Lord to forgive me for giving myself credit for things that were gifts from Him. As I was praying about this, the phrase “God Without” kept repeating itself in my mind. What was the Lord trying to tell me?
I believe He was saying that the word “without” applies to lots of things where He is concerned, and as I continued to pray several of them came to mind.
If you’re looking for things to be thankful for (even if you live in a country where Thanksgiving isn’t celebrated) try some of these “withouts” the Lord brought to my mind. I’m sure He will bring even more to yours as you focus on them.
Love Without Limits … For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believed in Him would not perish but have everlasting life (John 3:16).
Forgiveness Without Question … Ask and you will receive. Seek and you will find. Knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks the door will be opened (Matt 7:7-8). If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
Performance Without Exception … All that the Father gives me will come to me and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. And this is the will of Him Who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up on the last day (John 6:37, 39).
Promise Without Equivocation … I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come. I say, “My purpose will stand, and I will do all that I please … what I have said, that will I bring about and what I have planned, that will I do” (Isaiah 46:10-11).
Blessings Without Number … You will be blessed in the city and blessed in the country (wherever you are). The fruit of your womb will be blessed (your children), and the crops of your land and the young of your livestock-the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks (your work). Your basket and your kneading trough will be blessed (you’ll have plenty of food). You will be blessed when you come in and blessed when you go out (when you come home at night and when you leave in the morning) (Deut 28:3-6).
Mercy Without Measure …. It is because of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassion fails not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness (Lamentations 3:22-23).
Faithfulness Without Failing … Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands (Deut. 7:9). And we know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Romans 8:28).
Redemption Without Retraction … “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life (John 5:24). For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day” (John 6:40).
Salvation Without Merit … But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life (Titus 3:4-7).
Grace Without Guilt … Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)
So in a time when mankind has all but forgotten that the Lord is the Giver of every good and perfect gift, the Author of all our victories, who arranges every opportunity and fashions every blessing, these “withouts” might serve as good reminders to give thanks where thanks is due.
And now may “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26) Happy Thanksgiving. 11-17-12
Monday, November 21, 2016
Ironside: “Substitution”—He Took Our Place
Reposted from www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/
November 20th, 2016
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Author: Lighthouse Trails author
bigstockphoto.com
Although the word substitution is not in the Bible, it stands for a great truth that runs through the Scriptures from Genesis to Revelation. That is, the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ, in infinite grace, took the place of poor, lost, guilty sinners, and made it possible for a holy God to reach out in mercy and save all who would come to Him in the name of His beloved Son.
I do not have one particular text in mind, but I have been thinking of five different passages in the New Testament where we get the same expression—He “gave himself”; and I want you to think with me of these Scriptures. The One who gave Himself was our Lord Jesus Christ, and I should like you to notice what it was for which He gave Himself.
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR ME
In the Epistle to the Galatians, the apostle Paul writes:
I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. (Galatians 2:20; emphasis added)Note the individuality of it. Paul, who had been a bitter persecutor of the people of God, who had been an enemy of the Cross of Christ, one day had his eyes opened, and he suddenly realized that the One who had died on that Cross went there for him, that He had taken his place, that it was love that led Him to go to that shameful death. From that moment the heart of Saul of Tarsus went out in adoration gratitude to our Lord Jesus Christ; and until the very end of his days, he found his greatest joy in trying to give some evidence, by a life of service, of his love for the One who had thus loved him.
THE WORD IS NOT IN THE BIBLE—BUT THE DOCTRINE IS
Notice how Paul speaks of Him: “The Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” There you have the very heart of the Gospel—“Himself for me.” That is substitution. Some people tell us, because we do not find the actual word “substitution” in the Bible, that the truth of it, the fact of it, is not there. And so they talk of atonement by other means than by substitution—atonement by example or atonement by reconciling love, that leads men to turn to God adoringly, simply because of the goodness that He showed in seeking them out in the person of His Son. But no, the Word of God makes it very definite. The work that took place on Calvary was a substitutionary transaction. It was the Lord Jesus Christ, God’s own blessed, eternal Son, who became man for our redemption, giving Himself on our behalf.
“The Son of God loved me, and gave himself for me.” That is the language of faith. When a poor, needy sinner looks at that Cross and sees, as it were, the blessed Savior hanging there, he says, “He was there for me; it was my sins that put Him there; it was in order that I might be fitted for the presence of God that He went into the darkness and endured the judgment of God. He is my Substitute. The Son of God loved me, and gave Himself for me.
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR US
But it is not only for me, it is also for us. In the Epistle to the Ephesians, we read:
And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savour. (Ephesians 5:2; emphasis added)I am so thankful that in my thinking I do not have to limit the gift of God’s grace in the person of His Son to just some little group, as though it were just for a small elect company that Jesus died. “He gave Himself for us.” I can look out over the whole wide world, whether men are saved or unsaved, and say to them on the authority of the Word of God that “He gave himself for us”—for everyone of us. Whether you be Jew or Gentile, whether you be very religious or have no time for religion, I would say to you, “ The Son of God gave himself for us.” He saw us in our lost condition, and He went to Calvary’s Cross in order to redeem us. That is how the prophet Isaiah puts it. He looked on down through the centuries and by faith he saw the very scene of Calvary, and he cried out, “[H]e was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).
THE GOSPEL FOUND IN THE OLD TESTAMENT ALSO “YOU KNOW THE GOSPEL, DON’T YOU?”
I remember a number of years ago, I went over to a town in Minnesota to hold some meetings. My wife and our eldest son, just a little child at the time, went with me. When we got there, a big, burly highland Scotsman met us. He said, “Now you come along with me; I am going to take you to my house. We are going to sleep you there, and then across the way at the McKenzies, they will eat you.” Of course, I new he didn’t mean anything cannibalistic, and I was glad to accept the provision made. We went to his house and settled ourselves and then went over to the McKenzies for our meal.
I remember one Sunday we left to go down to the meeting in the afternoon, and it happened that there was one daughter in the family who had not yet received the Lord Jesus Christ as her Savior. The mother said, “Will you pray for Jean? She knows the way, but somehow she doesn’t seem to want to come. She says she is young yet, and she wants to have her fling before she settles down.” Well, we did pray for her, and some way or other as I preached that afternoon in the big tent, I couldn’t help seeing Jean way in the back, eagerly listening to the message. When it was over, I thought she might be one who would move to the front when the invitation was given, but instead of that, I saw her get up and hurry away, and I felt a little bit disappointed. When I finished speaking, I felt a little bit disappointed.
When I finished speaking with those who had come forward, I went on home, and when I got there I found, as I opened the front door, my wife was sitting there with an open Bible and Jean beside her. My wife turned to me and said, “Come and join us. I am trying to show Jean that Christ died in our place, but someway or other she can’t seem to grasp it.” So I sat down with them and said something like this: “Jean, you know the Gospel, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she said, “I think I do.”
“What is the Gospel?”
“Well, it is that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures.”
My wife said, “I have been showing her Isaiah 53.”
The Bible was open at that chapter so I said, “Look, you have it right here, ‘But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.’ Don’t you see, Jean? Christ died for you, He took your place, He bore God’s judgment against your sins.”
“I see what is written there,” she replied, “but somehow I can’t get hold of it for myself. It doesn’t seem to mean anything to me.”
So we got down on our knees and prayed that the Spirit of God Himself might make the great truth of the substitutionary work of the Cross real to her; and then I said to her, “Jean, while we are here on our knees, I want you to read the words for yourself, and we will pray that the Holy Spirit will open them up to you.”
And so she read them: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Then she said, “Yes, I see it, but I don’t seem to be able to make it my own.”
CAN YOU SEE YOURSELF IN THE GOSPEL?
“Perhaps it would be different now if you will just read it again and change the pronoun, putting it into the first person singular. Read it like this: He was wounded for my transgressions’; because you see, Jean, it really means that. He was wounded for the transgressions of all of us, yours and mine. Read it that way.”
She started to read, “He was wounded for my transgressions.” She stopped as the tears began to flow. She wiped them away and read on, “He was bruised for my iniquities,” and again she stopped; and then she read, “The chastisement of my peace was upon Him,” and then she fairly shouted, “Oh, I see it! With His stripes, I am healed.” And in a moment the light had shone into her darkened heart. She saw that the Lord Jesus was her substitute; He had taken her place. We gave thanks, and then she said that she must go and tell her “Mother.” She didn’t know that all the while her mother had been standing outside the window and had heard the whole thing. Out the front door she went and down the garden path and around to the side, and she ran right into that mother’s arms, “Oh Mother, Mother, I’m saved; by His stripes I am healed.” What joy that brought to the mother’s heart, and what a happy time of rejoicing we all had then!
You see, that is substitution. That is the very pith and marrow of the Gospel. He gave Himself for our sins.
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR THE CHURCH
Next we do have a special group mentioned for whom He gave Himself. In the last part of the fifth chapter of Ephesians, we read:
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it. (Ephesians 5:25; emphasis added)When we get home to Glory, when we who have been redeemed to God by His precious blood are presented faultless in the presence of our heavenly Bridegroom, we shall look up into His face, and we shall be able to say, “The Son of God loved the Church, and gave Himself for it.”
You remember the story that is told of one of the generals of Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, and the one who overthrew, in God’s providence, the mighty Babylonian Empire. One of his generals came home from a campaign and was shocked to find that in his absence his own wife had been arrested and was languishing in prison, charged with treachery against her country, and the trial was to be held that very day. The general hastened to the court of Cyrus, and the guards brought in his own beloved wife. She, poor woman, pale and anxious, tried to answer the charges brought against her, but all to no avail. Her husband, standing near, heard the stern voice of the Persian ruler pronounce the death sentence. In a moment, as they were about to drag her away to behead her, he ran forward and threw himself down at the feet of the Emperor. “Oh sire,” he cried, “not she, but me. Let me give my life for hers. Put me to death, but spare my wife.” And as Cyrus looked down upon him, he was so touched by his deep devotion and his love for his wife that his heart was softened. He remembered, too, how faithful this servant had been, and he gave command that the wife should go free. She was fully pardoned. As her husband led her out of the room, he said to her, “Did you notice the kind look in the eyes of the Emperor as he pronounced the word of pardon?”
She said, “I did not see the face of the Emperor. The only face I could see was that of the man who was willing to die for me.”
Oh, when we get home, when we see the face of the Man who did die for us, how our hearts will praise Him! How we will rejoice in His presence as we say, “The Son of God loved me, and gave Himself for me.”
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR OUR SINS
We need to realize that He died not only to deliver us from the judgment due to our sins, but He died for us in order that we might be delivered from the power and pollution of sins right here and now in this life. In Galatians 1:4, we have these words:
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father. (emphasis added)He gave Himself for our sins, not simply that we might have our past sins forgiven, nor that we might stand justified before Him as to the future, but in order that the power of sin might be broken in our lives, that we might no longer be subject to Satan’s authority, that we might be free men and women, living here to the glory of the Lord Jesus.
This is one of those truths I do want to press upon you who have but recently been brought to a saving knowledge of Christ. Dear young Christian, do not be satisfied to know that you are saved from Hell, blessed as that is, but oh, go on day by day to a fuller walk with God, that you may be saved from sin, and that your whole life may be lived to His glory.
HE GAVE HIMSELF FOR ALL
Somebody might raise the question, “Well, it is perfectly true that it says He gave Himself for us, and He gave Himself for the church, and He gave Himself for our sins; but are you really sure that it applies to everybody? May He not, after all, have had just some particular elect company in view when He thus gave Himself, and if we do not belong to that company, what right have we to come to Him at all and to expect Him to do anything for us?” For answer, will you look at the first Epistle to Timothy, chapter 2, verses 5 and 6:
For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. (emphasis added)Oh, dear friends, do not allow anything to narrow down your conception of the inclusiveness of the work of our Lord Jesus Christ. “He gave Himself a ransom for all.” Do not try to read into that what it does not say. Some people say, “Well, of course, you know we must understand the words ‘the elect’ to come in there. He gave Himself a ransom for all the elect.” Oh no, God does not need you and me to help Him out. He knows what to say, and He means what He says. When He writes, “He gave Himself a ransom for all,” He means us to understand the words exactly as they are written.
They used to tell a story about a certain professor of theology at Princeton Seminary in the days when Princeton was pretty rigid as to what they called “a limited atonement.” One day one of the students looked up and said, “Professor, just what is our stand in this seminary on the atonement?”
The teacher replied, “Well, we stand with Dr. _____; we preach the theology of Dr. _____, and he taught a limited atonement—that Christ died only for the elect.”
Then said the student, “And over at New Haven, Connecticut, (At that time New Haven was a very sound seminary,) what do they teach there? What is Dr. Taylor’s theology?” The professor said, “Over there they teach that God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
“Oh,” said the student, “well, I’ll accept that because that is what the Bible says. That is not just Dr. Taylor’s theology nor New Haven doctrine; that is the Word of God.”
And so we say to you, whoever you may be, the Lord Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all. On Calvary’s Cross, He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. In other words, when He presented Himself there as a substitute for guilty humanity, He finished the work that satisfied every righteous demand of the throne of God and met all the claims of His holy nature, so that on the basis of it, any poor sinner in all the world who comes to Christ and puts in his claim will be saved on the basis of the substitutionary work of our Lord Jesus Christ. That is the doctrine of the atonement as we have it in the Bible. There is no other in this blessed Book, and so we put the question to you: have you put in your claim? There are a lot of people who know all about it, but they have never believed and acted upon it.
THE TRAGEDY OF FAILING TO CASH IN GOD’S PROMISES
There is a story of a veteran of the Civil War who was found living in wretched poverty. The city authorities found him in such a deplorable state that they thought all they could do was to take him to the county poor farm. One of them happened to notice something on the wall. It wasn’t exactly a picture; it looked more like a document of some kind. He took it down and looked at it, then he asked, “What is this, my friend?”
The poor old man replied, “That was sent to me by Abraham Lincoln himself, and I kept it because it has his signature on it.” It turned out to be a check. I forget the amount of money, but it was really a pension check signed by the President and sent to this man years ago. Instead of cashing it, the poor man had kept it all the time and had framed it and hung it there on the wall. In the meantime, he got poorer and poorer, until he was a candidate for the county farm. They found that the government at Washington would still honor the check, although it was years old, and so they had enough to take care of the man comfortably until he died.
Oh, do not be content just to have the statement of the substitutionary work of the Lord Jesus, but come to Him for yourself, trust Him as your own Savior. Cash in on it. He gave Himself a ransom for all.
Related Articles:
Celebrating the Atonement and the Resurrection While Promoting Contemplative – A Profound Contradiction
Understanding the Difference: Biblical Atonement or New Age At-One-Ment?
Marcus Borg on Atonement, the Resurrection, and the Son of God
The Shack Author Rejects Biblical Substitutionary Atonement
Sunday, November 20, 2016
Monday, November 14, 2016
Sunday, November 13, 2016
Saturday, November 12, 2016
“Thinking outside the box”
Reposted from lighthousetrailsresearch.com
By Tamara Hartzell (Author of Reimagining God and In the Name of Purpose)
Naturally, whether or not these stories line up with God’s Word is irrelevant to those who prefer to “think outside the box” of God’s Word. In fact, if they did line up with the Word of God, then it would defeat their purpose of “thinking outside the box.” And since “rethinking” and “reimagining” God and His Word is what people today actually want, they are turning to fables for their faith and “truth.” Fables are not the truth, and the truth is not a fable. This is why God’s Word warns that people are turning away from the truth and unto fables. Nevertheless, more and more people are trying to turn fables into the truth—i.e., “reimaginings” into reality—and are dancing around in circles desperately trying to bring the two together as one in a harmonious relationship. This is, in essence, turning the light off to look for “truth” in the corner of a dark round room.
Many people are likewise choosing to see man’s fables as the “truth” about God because man’s fables are a “reimagined” “truth” they are willing to accept. Absurdly, those who seek to justify “reimagining” God and His Word even claim that Jesus taught parables in order to teach truth to the multitudes. This claim in itself “reimagines” God’s Word in order to justify “reimagining” God’s Word. Jesus Himself gave the reason for His parables, which is the opposite of man’s imaginations in more ways than one. He spoke in parables to keep the truth away from those who did not have ears to hear and had already chosen to close their eyes and ears to the truth. Sadly, some things never change.
By Tamara Hartzell (Author of Reimagining God and In the Name of Purpose)
The importance of the Word of God simply cannot be overstated. Without it, we do not have the truth, faith, or salvation of God. And without the truth, faith, and salvation of God, we do not have God. Scripture is replete with teachings and warnings that make this perfectly clear. One example of many is 2 John 1:9:
“Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” (Psalm 119:105)
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
“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 itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:1-4)
“Take heed unto thyself, and unto the doctrine; continue in them: for in doing this thou shalt both save thyself, and them that hear thee.” (1 Timothy 4:16)
“Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.”Where do we get the doctrine of Christ in which we are to abide to have God? From the Word of God.
“But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” (2 Timothy 3:14-16)It is the faith of God that comes by the Word of God. Not only does the Word of God give us the truth and faith we are to believe in order to have God, but it also gives us the truth and faith we are to obey in order to please and serve God. And yet people in today’s Christianity are no longer willing to accept this faith as is. Rather than simply believe and obey, people want the freedom to “rethink” and “reimagine” God and His Word into a fashion that they are willing to accept and, incredibly, even go so far as to claim that God’s own Word of truth puts God in a “box.” In other words, they want the truth and faith of God set “free” from the Word of God. Thus, they do not see the Word of God as the truth but as merely a “story” with “changeable” and “debatable” “metaphor” that can be interpreted and retold however anyone chooses. This then gives people their desired freedom to “think outside the box” where they can conveniently “reimagine” their own “story” of who they “rethink” God to be.
“Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever. For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.” (1 Peter 1:23-25)
“So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17)
Naturally, whether or not these stories line up with God’s Word is irrelevant to those who prefer to “think outside the box” of God’s Word. In fact, if they did line up with the Word of God, then it would defeat their purpose of “thinking outside the box.” And since “rethinking” and “reimagining” God and His Word is what people today actually want, they are turning to fables for their faith and “truth.” Fables are not the truth, and the truth is not a fable. This is why God’s Word warns that people are turning away from the truth and unto fables. Nevertheless, more and more people are trying to turn fables into the truth—i.e., “reimaginings” into reality—and are dancing around in circles desperately trying to bring the two together as one in a harmonious relationship. This is, in essence, turning the light off to look for “truth” in the corner of a dark round room.
“The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple.” (Psalm 119:130)The light of God’s Word is just too bright for today’s light-intolerant eyes. More and more people are seeking relief outside the “box” and are intentionally turning away from the Word of God, away from the truth, away from the faith, trying to “find God” in the darkness. However, in the darkness people can no longer tell the difference between what is true and what is false, even when it is obvious. And as a result, they are blindly bearing with those who present them with “another Jesus,” “another spirit,” and “another gospel” that deceptively affirm their shift from light to darkness, and even lead them astray to another “God.” But they don’t see it that way. Since people imagine that God’s Word of truth is just a manmade “box” from which God and His truth need to be set free, they see it as simply a matter of “finding God” wherever they choose to look. Sadly, this rapidly increasing deception is clearly seen in today’s shifting Christianity.
“But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” (Matthew 6:23)
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God.” (John 3:19-21)
“For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.” (2 Corinthians 11:4)Since more and more people in today’s shifting Christianity are rejecting the Word of God as the word of man, and even accepting the word of man as the word of God, one needn’t go far to see the many counterfeits being sold to the eager buyers who see no need to beware. In fact, since people now imagine that outside the “box” of God’s Word is the “genuine” and inside the “box” of God’s Word is the “counterfeit” they will only see a need to beware of God’s Word inside the “box.” Thus, reviling those who believe the genuine is the genuine and the counterfeits are the counterfeit, they are heeding those who believe the counterfeits are the “genuine” and the genuine is the “counterfeit” because the counterfeits are the “genuine” they are willing to accept. But, naturally, those who prefer to “think outside the box” don’t see it that way.
“I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.… But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.” (Galatians 1:6-7, 11-12)
“For this cause also thank we 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)
Many people are likewise choosing to see man’s fables as the “truth” about God because man’s fables are a “reimagined” “truth” they are willing to accept. Absurdly, those who seek to justify “reimagining” God and His Word even claim that Jesus taught parables in order to teach truth to the multitudes. This claim in itself “reimagines” God’s Word in order to justify “reimagining” God’s Word. Jesus Himself gave the reason for His parables, which is the opposite of man’s imaginations in more ways than one. He spoke in parables to keep the truth away from those who did not have ears to hear and had already chosen to close their eyes and ears to the truth. Sadly, some things never change.
“And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.” (2 Timothy 4:4)If that isn’t clear enough:
“Who hath ears to hear, let him hear. And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.… For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.” (Matthew 13:9-13, 15-16)
“And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.… Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he seemeth to have.” (Luke 8:10, 18)Those who have chosen to turn their ears away from the truth and unto fables only seem to have the truth. The truth is “Thus saith God,” “Thus saith the Lord,” and “It is written.” This is the settled truth of God, which He has recorded for us in His Word. God’s truth is what it is and never changes despite man’s never-ending vain attempts to “rethink” and “reimagine” God’s Word for God. Truth tells us what is and what is right or wrong. Stories are the opposite. Stories are relativism and allow each person to decide for themselves what they want the meaning to be. This is exactly the freedom desired by those who are shifting from truth to fables. They want the freedom of uncertainty rather than the what is of certainty. Since having ears to hear the truth is necessary to be able to hear the certainty of its meaning, it was to His disciples and not to the multitudes that Jesus told the meaning of His parables:
“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. And he said unto them, Take heed what ye hear: with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you: and unto you that hear shall more be given.… And with many such parables spake he the word unto them, as they were able to hear it. But without a parable spake he not unto them: and when they were alone, he expounded all things to his disciples.” (Mark 4:23-24, 33-34)Because the Lord Jesus Christ is God, even His parables to the multitudes are “Thus saith God” and “Thus saith the Lord.” And since even the meaning of His parables has been recorded in God’s Word of truth, for us the meaning is not relative as many now think, but rather, “It is written.” On the other hand, man’s imaginative fables are nothing more than “thus imagines man.” Contrary to the popular opinion of those blinded in the darkness, they are not the truth and not the Word of God, and the Lord Jesus Christ and His teachings are not a “style” to emulate. He is the Lord, Whom we are to believe and obey.
“I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.” (Psalm 138:2)Too many people in today’s shifting Christianity are seeking to set the truth of God free from the “box” of God’s Word rather than seeking to be set free themselves by God’s Word of truth. Instead of looking for “truth” in the corner of a dark round room they would be far better served looking for truth in a corner of the “box.” But, sadly, those who are shifting from the light of the narrow way of absolute truth to the darkness of the broad way of relative “truth” are doing so on purpose, albeit blindly, along with their eyes closed and ears covered. They feel “boxed” in by the narrow way, and the broad way gives them the freedom outside the “box” to “rethink” and “reimagine” God and His narrow way into a broader “truth.” With this freedom, people can have a relationship with God however they choose, right?
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.” (1 Timothy 2:3-4)
“Then said Jesus to those Jews which believed on him, If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32)
“It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.… From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.” (John 6:63-64, 66-68)
“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” (Matthew 7:13-14)
“He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.” (John 12:48)
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Election 2016 and the Coming Rapture of the Church
Reposted from omegaletter.com
Perspective on the News
Monday, November 07, 2016
Pete Garcia
November 8th, 2016 is a day that many in the US and around the world have longed for since 2009. The US Presidential election has proven this year to be unprecedented in its twists, turns, and revelations in regards to the final two candidates. As with the previous elections, this one has divided the American public, but interestingly, has somewhat galvanized the Christian evangelical vote like never before. A civil war is brewing and the battlefield this time is not on the fields of Antietam or Gettysburg, but in the ballot boxes across the nation.
One candidate has been in the political arena in a number of roles over the last thirty years. At present, she faces charges of extreme corruption, and her power base is made up of globalists, banking cartels, Islamic nations, socialists, communists, and radicals of every type and flavor. Her worldview is blatantly secular humanist but as has been recently revealed it is bordering in and around the satanic.
The other candidate has been a successful businessman and media personality, who until recently, had not engaged much in the way of politics, but has crossed the lines to join both parties over the last three decades. His crude mannerisms, rough language, rash temperament, and economic proclivities have made him a tough candidate for Christian evangelicals to rally around…at first.
At stake are two visions of the America to come. One seeks a continuation of the last eight years. The other, more nationalist and populist, seeks to regain the former glory years of American economic and military might. Which one will emerge victorious? At this point, only God knows, but rest assured, either way, His will and His agenda will remain perfectly on track. Let us for a moment, look at the candidates and see how the political ramifications bear out in the prophetic.
Assessment
We know according to Scripture passages like Revelation 6 and 13 that the world one day ends up under the control of just one man we know as The Antichrist. He is the ‘man of lawlessness’ that Paul speaks of in 2nd Thessalonians 2, and whom John sees as the ‘Rider on the white horse’ in Revelation 6. He is able to wrest control of all the nations of the world, and subjugate everyone into one economic system of buying and selling. Until this generation that would have been impossible simply because the world lacked the technology to tie every nation and every person into one economic system.
We also know that Jesus stated the world would be like the days of Noah, and the days of Lot just prior to His return. (Luke 17) We only have cursory information on both of those time periods but what we do know is that those periods of time were wrought with violence, sexual perversion, supernatural and satanic activity, and the thoughts of man were only evil continually.
At the same time, Jesus stated that the world would not know when He would return. This cannot be speaking of the Second Coming because that is preceded by 21 specific and global judgments that will reduce the world’s population by more than half. Furthermore, once the Tribulation begins (Daniel’s 70th Week), it is marked at the halfway point by a very specific event…the abomination of desolation.
Rather, Jesus spoke of the time leading up to His return for His bride, the Church. He stated that the world, although reminiscent of the days of Noah and Lot would be carrying on business as usual. Paul added that people would be talking about ‘peace and safety’ and that this event, the Rapture, would catch the world by surprise and it would be followed by sudden destruction. Thus, the Rapture will be both surprising and catastrophic in its aftermath with the immediate removal of perhaps up to 1 billion humans from around the world.
Jesus, Paul, Peter, Jude, and John were all in agreement that global conditions would progressively go from bad to worse in every aspect of life here on earth. The closer it draws to the end, the more evil people would become, and the more ineffectual the church would become. (Matt. 24:3-14; 2 Tim. 3; 2 Peter 3; Jude; Rev. 3)
Two other very significant indicators also had to be in play for the world to be at the very doorsteps of Christ’s return; Israel had to become a nation again, and that the world would increasingly become united in their hatred of Israel. The reason they hate Israel, is because Israel is proof positive that God exists, that Bible prophecy is true, and that Christ will one day return.
So with the aforementioned signs and indicators, let us look at the scenarios each candidate brings to bear should they be the next presidential candidate on November the 9th.
A President Clinton victory
A Hillary Clinton victory on Nov. the 8th would be a resounding kick in the guts to Christians and patriotic people across the nation. It would be disheartening and I would venture to say, a bit frightening given some of her previous statements she’s made regarding reining in freedom of religion, particularly that of Christianity. The strongest case for her victory in terms of Scriptural reasoning would be that it is a resounding confirmation of the Biblical descriptions of the global conditions increasingly becoming increasingly vile and wicked.
Moreover, there is a great propensity that the first year of her term in office would largely be overshadowed by the investigations and potential indictment for illegal activity during her tenure as Secretary of State. Not to fear though, she will resort to the tactic that every other despot on the planet does when the scandal at home becomes too great-plunge us into another war. This isn’t a war in which she intends to win, she just needs the American public in a prolonged and fruitless distraction. Furthermore, an economic reckoning is coming and it will very likely fall in her lap during her first term.
In terms of Israel, she will keep the status quo with our greatest ally in the Middle East, which means she will continue the current policies of blaming and ostracizing Israel. In terms of the Church in America, she will continue pressing and crushing the civil liberties we currently enjoy: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of worship…specifically targeting only one group-Christians.
If she were to win, she’d only do so by squeaking a victory out, which would enrage a large portion of our society. Civil war is a greater potential under her than ever before, simply due to the amount of corruption and scandal she carries into the office. Furthermore, this wouldn’t be civil unrest by simply the tea party ‘mom and pop’ types…this would extend across law enforcement, military, and intelligence agencies which have become galvanized like never before to stop her.
Prognosis: A highly divided America, embroiled in internal turmoil and scandal, wrought with massive economic problems, half-handedly attempting to engage enemy forces across the Middle East, and potentially being on the receiving end of both Russian and Chinese attacks, succumbs to military isolationism, but double-downs on international economic interdependency through ramping up of NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). America rapidly in decline in terms of global standing fits nicely with a non-participant situation in terms of coming to Israel’s aid in an Ezekiel 38 scenario.
A President Trump victory
Should Donald Trump be declared the victor on November the 8th, his victory would bring a huge sigh of relief to millions of Americans and former allies of the United States around the world. The greatest moment of turmoil in beginning his transition with President Obama, would be in fact, the handing of ‘the baton’ from Obama to Trump. A Trump victory would signal a flurry of last minute edicts and executive orders from Obama to-- exonerate Hillary Clinton, further divide Israel, and force a selection of a Supreme Court justice.
In terms of social evils and the rapid cultural decline, I believe that Trump will attempt to emplace competent leaders at every level who will hold wide-scale lawlessness at bay. There is no stopping the overall direction the world is going, but a Trump presidency would start tapping on the brakes, instead of flooring the gas pedal as a Clinton presidency would.
This economic reckoning is still coming, and this will be one of the most significant things President Trump will have to contend with. Under Clinton, it would come, not because the powers that be wanted it to, but that the system itself is due for a course correction. They (power brokers, the Federal Reserve, central banks and international monetary agencies, OPEC, etc.) have largely held it at bay while Obama was busy selling off American sovereignty in exchange for an artificial economic uptick.
But with Trump, there will be no brakes, no stoppage, and no mercy in terms of how deep and far this economic downturn will be. The intent then would be to lay this all at the feet of the Republicans once and for all. Fortunately, Trump has made his fortune understanding economics, and the human condition. It is possible that he could turn this around and make the necessary changes that renegotiates our dealings in regards to currency strength, export/import balances, and the national debt.
In terms of our military standing, he would greatly revamp the ailing and strained US military forces. I would expect that anywhere the US has placed troops, he would seek also to renegotiate the terms of the arrangements so that the US is not wasting resources and potential in unnecessary commitments. I would expect that Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China would be more reluctant to test American resolve under his presidency than under Clinton’s.
Trump has made it clear that he would finally recognize Jerusalem as the sole, undivided capital of Israel, something no president has done since they recaptured the eastern half of it in 1967. Prophetically speaking, this is significant because Jesus said….and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)
I am becoming less and less convinced that this means there will be a complete absence of Gentiles in Jerusalem milling about, as this has never been the case even when they were their own kingdom. But were President Trump, the leader of the world’s greatest nation, to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel after 49 years of Israeli ownership, this could signal the beginning of the end of Gentile dominion as the world begins to enter into Daniel’s 70th Week. I believe that this is the only reason why it hasn’t happened yet.
*Put in another way, if recognizing Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel were to work in Satan’s favor, it would have already happened 49 years ago. But it doesn’t and this is why Satan has been working so hard to prevent this now through eight different US administrations.
Prognosis: This could also mark the time when Christians let their guard down in the United States. This supports the Biblically-based understanding that the church becomes largely lethargic and lukewarm. Hypothetically speaking, if Trump surrounds himself with as much Christian leadership (advisors and cabinet members) as has we have been led to believe, a Rapture would decimate much of our Executive Branch forcing a national realignment, in conjunction with an economic downturn.
Conclusion
First and foremost, the Rapture of the Church is a sign-less event. It doesn’t need anything to precede or accompany it for it to occur. That said, Jesus, Peter, and Paul allude to events surrounding it that do not give the day or hour, but point to the season for when it would occur. Secondly remember, that an economic course-correction is coming regardless of who gets elected. Lastly, remember that Bible prophecy almost exclusively deals with only Israel in regards to God’s schedule, so Israel should always figure significantly in terms of knowing where and when we are on God’s calendar of scheduled events.
Clinton would never acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. First, it would infuriate her base, and secondly, it would infuriate a great many of her Islamic donors. Trump however, has made very clear that he intends to do from day one once he assumes the mantle. How does the recognition of Jerusalem figure into Bible prophecy? Well, if my understanding of Luke 21:24 is correct, it would trigger the end of Gentile dominion, and open the gate so to speak, for the end time events setting the stage for the Tribulation.
A recognition of Jerusalem could be the trigger for several prophetic events such as Psalm 83, Isaiah 17, Ezekiel 38, and Daniel 9:27. Where does the Rapture figure into all these events? Well, it could be before or after a Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17 scenario, but it looks like it precedes both an Ezekiel 38 and Daniel 9:27 scenario…so somewhere in the middle…right about the time when people are crying out for ‘peace and safety’
Last article: Diary of a Dead Man
Perspective on the News
Monday, November 07, 2016
Pete Garcia
November 8th, 2016 is a day that many in the US and around the world have longed for since 2009. The US Presidential election has proven this year to be unprecedented in its twists, turns, and revelations in regards to the final two candidates. As with the previous elections, this one has divided the American public, but interestingly, has somewhat galvanized the Christian evangelical vote like never before. A civil war is brewing and the battlefield this time is not on the fields of Antietam or Gettysburg, but in the ballot boxes across the nation.
One candidate has been in the political arena in a number of roles over the last thirty years. At present, she faces charges of extreme corruption, and her power base is made up of globalists, banking cartels, Islamic nations, socialists, communists, and radicals of every type and flavor. Her worldview is blatantly secular humanist but as has been recently revealed it is bordering in and around the satanic.
The other candidate has been a successful businessman and media personality, who until recently, had not engaged much in the way of politics, but has crossed the lines to join both parties over the last three decades. His crude mannerisms, rough language, rash temperament, and economic proclivities have made him a tough candidate for Christian evangelicals to rally around…at first.
At stake are two visions of the America to come. One seeks a continuation of the last eight years. The other, more nationalist and populist, seeks to regain the former glory years of American economic and military might. Which one will emerge victorious? At this point, only God knows, but rest assured, either way, His will and His agenda will remain perfectly on track. Let us for a moment, look at the candidates and see how the political ramifications bear out in the prophetic.
Assessment
We know according to Scripture passages like Revelation 6 and 13 that the world one day ends up under the control of just one man we know as The Antichrist. He is the ‘man of lawlessness’ that Paul speaks of in 2nd Thessalonians 2, and whom John sees as the ‘Rider on the white horse’ in Revelation 6. He is able to wrest control of all the nations of the world, and subjugate everyone into one economic system of buying and selling. Until this generation that would have been impossible simply because the world lacked the technology to tie every nation and every person into one economic system.
We also know that Jesus stated the world would be like the days of Noah, and the days of Lot just prior to His return. (Luke 17) We only have cursory information on both of those time periods but what we do know is that those periods of time were wrought with violence, sexual perversion, supernatural and satanic activity, and the thoughts of man were only evil continually.
At the same time, Jesus stated that the world would not know when He would return. This cannot be speaking of the Second Coming because that is preceded by 21 specific and global judgments that will reduce the world’s population by more than half. Furthermore, once the Tribulation begins (Daniel’s 70th Week), it is marked at the halfway point by a very specific event…the abomination of desolation.
Rather, Jesus spoke of the time leading up to His return for His bride, the Church. He stated that the world, although reminiscent of the days of Noah and Lot would be carrying on business as usual. Paul added that people would be talking about ‘peace and safety’ and that this event, the Rapture, would catch the world by surprise and it would be followed by sudden destruction. Thus, the Rapture will be both surprising and catastrophic in its aftermath with the immediate removal of perhaps up to 1 billion humans from around the world.
Jesus, Paul, Peter, Jude, and John were all in agreement that global conditions would progressively go from bad to worse in every aspect of life here on earth. The closer it draws to the end, the more evil people would become, and the more ineffectual the church would become. (Matt. 24:3-14; 2 Tim. 3; 2 Peter 3; Jude; Rev. 3)
Two other very significant indicators also had to be in play for the world to be at the very doorsteps of Christ’s return; Israel had to become a nation again, and that the world would increasingly become united in their hatred of Israel. The reason they hate Israel, is because Israel is proof positive that God exists, that Bible prophecy is true, and that Christ will one day return.
So with the aforementioned signs and indicators, let us look at the scenarios each candidate brings to bear should they be the next presidential candidate on November the 9th.
A President Clinton victory
A Hillary Clinton victory on Nov. the 8th would be a resounding kick in the guts to Christians and patriotic people across the nation. It would be disheartening and I would venture to say, a bit frightening given some of her previous statements she’s made regarding reining in freedom of religion, particularly that of Christianity. The strongest case for her victory in terms of Scriptural reasoning would be that it is a resounding confirmation of the Biblical descriptions of the global conditions increasingly becoming increasingly vile and wicked.
Moreover, there is a great propensity that the first year of her term in office would largely be overshadowed by the investigations and potential indictment for illegal activity during her tenure as Secretary of State. Not to fear though, she will resort to the tactic that every other despot on the planet does when the scandal at home becomes too great-plunge us into another war. This isn’t a war in which she intends to win, she just needs the American public in a prolonged and fruitless distraction. Furthermore, an economic reckoning is coming and it will very likely fall in her lap during her first term.
In terms of Israel, she will keep the status quo with our greatest ally in the Middle East, which means she will continue the current policies of blaming and ostracizing Israel. In terms of the Church in America, she will continue pressing and crushing the civil liberties we currently enjoy: freedom of speech, freedom of expression, and freedom of worship…specifically targeting only one group-Christians.
If she were to win, she’d only do so by squeaking a victory out, which would enrage a large portion of our society. Civil war is a greater potential under her than ever before, simply due to the amount of corruption and scandal she carries into the office. Furthermore, this wouldn’t be civil unrest by simply the tea party ‘mom and pop’ types…this would extend across law enforcement, military, and intelligence agencies which have become galvanized like never before to stop her.
Prognosis: A highly divided America, embroiled in internal turmoil and scandal, wrought with massive economic problems, half-handedly attempting to engage enemy forces across the Middle East, and potentially being on the receiving end of both Russian and Chinese attacks, succumbs to military isolationism, but double-downs on international economic interdependency through ramping up of NAFTA and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). America rapidly in decline in terms of global standing fits nicely with a non-participant situation in terms of coming to Israel’s aid in an Ezekiel 38 scenario.
A President Trump victory
Should Donald Trump be declared the victor on November the 8th, his victory would bring a huge sigh of relief to millions of Americans and former allies of the United States around the world. The greatest moment of turmoil in beginning his transition with President Obama, would be in fact, the handing of ‘the baton’ from Obama to Trump. A Trump victory would signal a flurry of last minute edicts and executive orders from Obama to-- exonerate Hillary Clinton, further divide Israel, and force a selection of a Supreme Court justice.
In terms of social evils and the rapid cultural decline, I believe that Trump will attempt to emplace competent leaders at every level who will hold wide-scale lawlessness at bay. There is no stopping the overall direction the world is going, but a Trump presidency would start tapping on the brakes, instead of flooring the gas pedal as a Clinton presidency would.
This economic reckoning is still coming, and this will be one of the most significant things President Trump will have to contend with. Under Clinton, it would come, not because the powers that be wanted it to, but that the system itself is due for a course correction. They (power brokers, the Federal Reserve, central banks and international monetary agencies, OPEC, etc.) have largely held it at bay while Obama was busy selling off American sovereignty in exchange for an artificial economic uptick.
But with Trump, there will be no brakes, no stoppage, and no mercy in terms of how deep and far this economic downturn will be. The intent then would be to lay this all at the feet of the Republicans once and for all. Fortunately, Trump has made his fortune understanding economics, and the human condition. It is possible that he could turn this around and make the necessary changes that renegotiates our dealings in regards to currency strength, export/import balances, and the national debt.
In terms of our military standing, he would greatly revamp the ailing and strained US military forces. I would expect that anywhere the US has placed troops, he would seek also to renegotiate the terms of the arrangements so that the US is not wasting resources and potential in unnecessary commitments. I would expect that Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China would be more reluctant to test American resolve under his presidency than under Clinton’s.
Trump has made it clear that he would finally recognize Jerusalem as the sole, undivided capital of Israel, something no president has done since they recaptured the eastern half of it in 1967. Prophetically speaking, this is significant because Jesus said….and they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. (Luke 21:24)
I am becoming less and less convinced that this means there will be a complete absence of Gentiles in Jerusalem milling about, as this has never been the case even when they were their own kingdom. But were President Trump, the leader of the world’s greatest nation, to acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel after 49 years of Israeli ownership, this could signal the beginning of the end of Gentile dominion as the world begins to enter into Daniel’s 70th Week. I believe that this is the only reason why it hasn’t happened yet.
*Put in another way, if recognizing Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel were to work in Satan’s favor, it would have already happened 49 years ago. But it doesn’t and this is why Satan has been working so hard to prevent this now through eight different US administrations.
Prognosis: This could also mark the time when Christians let their guard down in the United States. This supports the Biblically-based understanding that the church becomes largely lethargic and lukewarm. Hypothetically speaking, if Trump surrounds himself with as much Christian leadership (advisors and cabinet members) as has we have been led to believe, a Rapture would decimate much of our Executive Branch forcing a national realignment, in conjunction with an economic downturn.
Conclusion
First and foremost, the Rapture of the Church is a sign-less event. It doesn’t need anything to precede or accompany it for it to occur. That said, Jesus, Peter, and Paul allude to events surrounding it that do not give the day or hour, but point to the season for when it would occur. Secondly remember, that an economic course-correction is coming regardless of who gets elected. Lastly, remember that Bible prophecy almost exclusively deals with only Israel in regards to God’s schedule, so Israel should always figure significantly in terms of knowing where and when we are on God’s calendar of scheduled events.
Clinton would never acknowledge Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. First, it would infuriate her base, and secondly, it would infuriate a great many of her Islamic donors. Trump however, has made very clear that he intends to do from day one once he assumes the mantle. How does the recognition of Jerusalem figure into Bible prophecy? Well, if my understanding of Luke 21:24 is correct, it would trigger the end of Gentile dominion, and open the gate so to speak, for the end time events setting the stage for the Tribulation.
A recognition of Jerusalem could be the trigger for several prophetic events such as Psalm 83, Isaiah 17, Ezekiel 38, and Daniel 9:27. Where does the Rapture figure into all these events? Well, it could be before or after a Psalm 83 and Isaiah 17 scenario, but it looks like it precedes both an Ezekiel 38 and Daniel 9:27 scenario…so somewhere in the middle…right about the time when people are crying out for ‘peace and safety’
For you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape… 1 Thess 5:2-3About Pete Garcia
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