Already At Work

Monday, October 27, 2014, 6:00 a.m. – the Lord Jesus put in mind the song, “For Our Nation.” Speak, Lord, your words to my heart. I read 2 Thessalonians 2 (ESV).

The Rebellion

Now concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come. Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

Upfront, just let me say that I am no expert on End Times prophecies. I cannot say with any certainty the precise time in which we now live in relation to these events, other than I believe we are in the season in which these things are beginning to take place. In other words, I believe there are many signs indicating that this Day of the Lord is very near, so I believe we should take notice of these signs, not so we can win arguments, but so it will transport us out of any complacency or apathy we may presently be experiencing, and so we face the reality of these events taking place in our day and time, so we know how to pray, and also so we know how we should be living, realizing that the time is near.

Ok, it says here that this day will not come until the rebellion occurs. This word translated as rebellion comes from the Greek word “apostasia” which means: “defection; revolt.” It also means to “leave, depart (away from); departure (implying desertion); a leaving from a previous standing” (Source: biblehub.com). Another word for “revolt” is rebellion. A rebellion can either be “an organized attempt to overthrow a government or other authority by the use of violence,” or it can mean: “opposition to or defiance of authority, accepted moral codes, or social conventions” (Source: Encarta). I believe it is both, and that we are seeing the signs of this taking place in our present time in history BIG TIME!

First of all, I believe the USA, underneath the authority of the New World Order (alias, the Beast) is leading the charge in overthrowing the various governments of independent nations throughout the world, including inside these United States of America. The Bible told us this time would come, so this should not catch us by surprise. Yet, this is also a great time of deception, too, and many throughout the world, and/or particularly within the USA, are being deceived by their own government leaders, by the news media, and even within the church by their church leadership. The people are being lied to, and many are believing the lies here that our government are the “good guys” who are going throughout the world “rescuing” people from the “bad guys.” The truth, however, is that we are the “bad guys” going throughout the world terrorizing, consuming, and conquering other nations.

Secondly, within the church here in the USA, in particular, there has been a definite and serious departure (desertion) from a previous standing. I have become aware of this defection just since 1999. And, since then I have watched as the church has taken a serious nose dive spiritually and doctrinally. Jesus Christ is no longer the accepted “head” of the church, but humans are in charge. Marketing 101 has replaced the Word of God and the leading and power of the Holy Spirit within the church, as the church has moved away from being the body of Christ to being a business of humans, run like any other business. And, entertainment has replaced true worship, humanistic philosophy has replaced the truth of scripture, and human marketing schemes have replaced divine intervention and leading.

The gospel of Jesus Christ is being diluted to where it barely resembles the true gospel any more. Not long ago the Lord Jesus gave me a picture of this when he helped me to see that what they have done is to divide the gospel in half, and to only teach the first half, but to hide the truth concerning the second half. In other words, most churches still teach that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth, took on human form, died on a cross for our sins, rose again, ascended to heaven, and sent his Holy Spirit to indwell the lives of his followers. They teach that we are saved by grace, through faith, and not of works, yet what they don’t teach, in most cases, is what that faith looks like. Many leave out the fact that coming to Christ by faith means we die with Christ to our old lives of living for sin and self, we are transformed in heart and mind of the Spirit of God, and that we are given new lives in Christ, “created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” [See: Ac. 26:16-18; Ro. 6-8; 2 Co. 5:15; Gal. 2:20; Eph. 4:17-24; Tit. 2:11-14; & 1 Jn. 1-5]

Added to this, at least here in the USA, is that the church has incorporated underneath the US government, which makes the government the “head” of the church in place of Christ, and it means that the church has partnered with the ungodly of this world, too. So, in a sense, our government, which is evil, has taken its seat of authority in the temple of God, the church, proclaiming itself to be God in the sense that the government has assumed Christ’s rightful position as head of his church. And, the government has no problem at all exercising that authority, either. I believe it is going to get worse very soon. As well, I believe that because the church partnered with the ungodly, that it opened itself up to bringing the ways, means and methodology of this sinful world into the church so that the church could be more appealing and acceptable to the world. This is a HUGE departure from God’s design for his church, over which he is the ONLY TRUE HEAD.

Added to that, I believe that the US government, under the authority of the New World Order, alias the Beast, is not only conquering the nations and governments of this world, consuming the world’s resources, but that they are directly or indirectly involved in the persecution and murdering of Christians throughout the world. I cannot prove this, but there is much evidence of this which can presently be found on the internet. For instance, I believe ISIS is supported and financed by the US government, and I have read articles on the internet which support this belief. Yet, my primary source of information is the Holy Spirit, who dwells within me, and who has been revealing these things to me.

Already at Work

Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by the appearance of his coming. The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false signs and wonders, and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. Therefore God sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, in order that all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

The first part of this passage of scripture has varied interpretations. I will not attempt here to give one only to say that our God is completely sovereign over all things, including over powers and authorities, dates and times, etc. The lawless one is restrained by God in one way or another, and he will only be allowed to exercise his authority on this earth because God allows it or causes it to happen, and only in God’s perfect timing.

Paul said here that the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. A mystery is something which is hidden or secret, and thus deceptive, which is why some things must be revealed to us only by the Spirit of God, because they are hidden and are covered over with lies. If the Spirit within us did not reveal these things to us, we might be easily deceived, and we might follow after the lies, thinking that what we are following is truth. So, this is why we should not be in the practice of just believing everything we read, hear or see, especially with regard to anything we see, hear or read in the news, because most of that is lies, and it is for the intended purpose to deceive naïve and unsuspecting minds. So, check out everything you hear, read and see against the Word of Truth, and with the Spirit who lives within you to counsel, guide, reveal, teach, lead, convict, encourage, and empower you.

I do want to revisit this idea here of someone restraining the man of lawlessness until the one restraining is out of the way, as I am praying and am asking the Lord for understanding here. To me, only God has the true power to restrain lawlessness, so it appears to me that somehow God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit – will somehow have to be removed. So, how could this happen? I looked up this passage in the Interlinear (biblehub.com) and the way it is worded there is that there is one restraining, at present, “until out of the midst he might be gone.” If the Holy Spirit is the one restraining, I would suggest here, not that he will leave the individual lives of true followers of Christ, but that he is being shoved (kicked) out of the corporate (rebellious) church, and that when the church no longer yields control to the Holy Spirit in its midst, but pushes him out the door (example: church of Laodicea), then he is no longer present to restrain lawlessness, because the church will no longer submit to the Lord’s authority, but has chosen human authority, instead.

Stand Firm

But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, brothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the firstfruits to be saved, through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. To this he called you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter.

So, what should our response be to all this? I believe we should each one spend some time on our knees before our Lord in prayer asking the Spirit within us to reveal to our hearts any areas of our lives where we are no longer in submission to the Holy Spirit, but where we have invited (shoved; kicked) the Holy Spirit out of our lives (no longer in control), and where we have chosen to walk again in the flesh and to follow after other gods, humanistic philosophy and the lies of the evil one in place of the truth. Then, we need to repent of any rebellion, submit to our Lord, and follow our Lord Jesus in wholehearted devotion, in love, and in submission to him and in obedience to his word. In this way we can, thus, stand firm in our Lord, in his Word, and on the gospel of our salvation, daily putting on the armor of God with which to fight off Satan’s evil schemes against us.

For Our Nation / An Original Work / September 11, 2012

Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.


Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.


Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.


Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.


http://originalworks.info/for-our-nation/
 
There are 3 main schools of thought regarding eschatology: Historicism (considered one of the two "pillars of the Protestant Reformation"), Preterism (Antichrist arose in the 1st century), and Futurism aka "Left Behind theology" (Antichrist will soon arise). Check out what "Historicism" has to say about eschatology. It was the belief of ALL Protestants worldwide up until just over 100 years ago, when it began to be replaced with Futurism, which had been rejected by the Protestants for over 300 years prior to the beginning of the decline of Historicism. Also, check out what the Early Church Fathers believed about the "Restrainer".

http://www.historicist.com/
http://nicklasarthur.wordpress.com/...-fathers-were-historicist-h-grattan-guinness/
 
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There are 3 main schools of thought regarding eschatology: Historicism (considered one of the two "pillars of the Protestant Reformation"), Preterism (Antichrist arose in the 1st century), and Futurism aka "Left Behind theology" (Antichrist will soon arise). Check out what "Historicism" has to say about eschatology. It was the belief of ALL Protestants worldwide up until just over 100 years ago, when it began to be replaced with Futurism, which had been rejected by the Protestants for over 300 years prior to the beginning of the decline of Historicism. Also, check out what the Early Church Fathers believed about the "Restrainer".

http://www.historicist.com/
http://nicklasarthur.wordpress.com/...-fathers-were-historicist-h-grattan-guinness/
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
 
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