Editor's Note: This post may be somewhat controversial. It has been written as a warning of judgments that face our world as we approach the day of judgment.
A church that I pioneered in Riverside, California recently
celebrated twenty years of service to that community. Looking back, it seems like a simpler
time. There was no real threat of
terrorism in the US at that time. The
economy was working fairly well. Race
relations seemed less tense.
The church opened on August 5, 2001 and a few short weeks
later was the attack on the World Trade center.
I remember thinking that this would cause people to come to church and
hear from God. It did to a certain
extent. People came to church, but not
many stayed for the long term. After
they began to feel better, they went back to their old habits with regard to
God.
I believe that through that attack, something changed in
America. Something was released into,
not just the US, but the entire world – A spirit – the spirit of our age. That’s what I want to post on today:
2 Thessalonians 2:1-8 (NKJV)
2:1 Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming.
The Spirit of Our Age – Lawlessness
I don’t want you to think that this is political. I am not going to preach politics:
Romans 13:1 (NKJV)
13:1 Let every soul be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God.
I believe this – God is in control and God can use
governments for His purposes; for His own reasons. He used the Assyrians, who were terrorists;
pagan, godless enemies of Israel. He
sent His people to Babylon to serve under Nebuchadnezzar, another godless enemy.
For seventy years they were subject to the whims of a corrupt government and
king.
God used those nations and those authorities as His
instrument of judgment. His purpose was
to draw the people back to Him. That was
His purpose for those leaders, so:
Joe Biden is the President of the United States; God has
ordained him for this time, in the same way that Donald Trump was ordained by
God. This is not about politics or who’s
the president, but in these times:
“In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics’. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia. – George Orwell 1984
I believe that Governments are being used by God, at this
time, to prepare for the return of Jesus.
Th main thrust of what I’m writing about is this: On September 11, 2001
a spirit was released into the earth. It
has changed the course and direction of the entire world!
Look at these changes that have taken place in the United
States.
1. The
“Patriot Act.” Formally titled: The
Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools
Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of
2001, is intended to give the government the ability to monitor terrorists’
phone calls and be able to react accordingly to protect the nation from further
attacks.
As a result, certain rights
regarding search and seizure have been disregarded. Your phone and computer are being monitored
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Whereas in the past this was only possible through the use of a warrant,
it is now routine.
It’s important to understand that
the rights outlined in the constitution are God-given rights. The Bill of Rights doesn’t list what rights
the government has granted us, it lists the rights that the government can’t
take away from us.
2.
We are seeing great government overreach, that’s
when the governments steps beyond the rights we’re guaranteed. An example would be the “Vaccine Mandate and
Passport”. You can’t work without the
vaccine. You can’t go into stores or
restaurants without a vaccine. You
aren’t able to have customers in your stores unless your staff is vaccinated.
Revelation 13:17 (NKJV)
13:17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
I’m not
saying that the vaccine is good or bad.
I’m not saying whether or not you should be vaccinated. I’m not even
saying that this is the mark, but it sure looks like practice for the
mark. It’s conditioning to get people to
accept it.
3.
There’s a lack of accountability on the part of
our leaders. A drone strike in
Afghanistan is reported to have killed two leaders of ISIS-K, when, in fact, it
killed a relief worker and seven innocent children. The president of the United States refuses to
even speak about it!
4.
Look at the massive lies in our media. You don’t
know what’s true anymore. You don’t
really know what happened. You can’t
tell if it's news or propaganda.
Another quote from George Orwell in his book 1984:
The very concept of truth is fading out in our world. Lies will pass into history.
5.
Finally, there’s the censorship of ideas and
words that don’t fit into the political narrative. The Hunter Biden laptop story comes to
mind. On social media the reporting
about it was censored. It was called
misinformation; "Russian Disinformation".
They said it was to protect us from being misled, but recently, it was
proven to be true.
I’m not being political.
This is not a political issue it is a spiritual issue, that’s pulling us
into the time of judgment. This spirit
has a name. It’s name is lawlessness.
2 Thessalonians 2:7-9 (NKJV)
2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders,
The spirit of lawlessness already exists in our world. So, we can say the spirit of antichrist
already exists…and it is growing in power every day. These are indeed perilous times.
2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NKJV)
3:1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: 2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Look at this description of people in the last days. Does it seem to you that more and more people
are acting exactly like that?
For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud…
Billionaires, politicians, Hollywood actors – The Elite!
disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, 4 traitors…
Antifa, BLM, CRT, anarchists, Marxists – The Self
Righteous!
headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God…
Pedophiles, hedonists, homosexuals, transgenders – The
Deviants!
What do these people have in common? A spirit of
lawlessness. They have turned their
backs on God. Look at this:
Romans 1:28-31 (NKJV)
1:28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God, violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31 undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful;
This is the spirit we’re witnessing in these last days. It’s the spirit of lawlessness – the spirit
of antichrist.
Our society is often defined as a “post-Christian society.”
Before Covid – It was estimated that eight thousand churches closed every year. It is estimated that in 2021, that number could climb to sixteen thousand. That equates to roughly forty churches every day. – church answers.com
People are leaving the church, both in-person and on-line;
but this is prophesied in verse three of our text.
2 Thessalonians 2:3a (NKJV)
2:3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first…
The falling away is happening right before our eyes. It is a product of the release of the spirit
of lawlessness. The next thing will be
rapture, followed by the revealing of the “man of sin” – the lawless one; the
antichrist. We are very close to these
events. My thought is that the
antichrist is alive and waiting to be revealed.
Do Not Be Fooled
The stakes are very high in our times. Time is winding up. We are rapidly approaching the end of the
church age. I believe we will see the
rapture of the church:
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 (NKJV)
4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.
“He who restrains will be taken out of the way.” This is
from our text in verse 7:
2 Thessalonians 2:7 (NKJV)
2:7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way.
I want you to think a moment how the Holy Spirit
restrains. It’s through Christians,
through our lifestyles, through our words, and through our testimonies – the
pressure that's placed on society by our beliefs. This is why it is important for Christians to
vote their consciences.
When we are removed what will be left to influence
sinners? The answer to that is their own
morality, but their morality leads to abortion;
According to the CDC there are 186 abortions per 1,000 live births. That equals 2,326 abortions every day, about 98 per hour, or one abortion every 37 seconds. – Guttmacher Institute
Their morality allows them to fight for the rights of
pedophiles. The theme for the 2015 Gay
Pride Parade in Taipei was “Act Your Love, Not Your Age”. The meaning was that
the age of consent should be repealed.
Their morality allows them to fill school libraries with
transgender and pornographic material.
The following is from a news article appearing on WND.com:
Stacy Langton opened by explaining that she watched what had happened at a Texas school board meeting after parents discovered two books accessible to their children, "Lawn Boy" by Jonathan Evison and "Gender Queer" by Maia Kobabe. Langton looked for and found the books at her own child’s school, Fairfax High School, as well as other places in the county, including Robinson Secondary School where students as young as 12 could access the books.
Langton discovered that the books depicted pedophilia and sex between men and boys, including one book that showed a fourth-grade boy performing oral sex on an adult male. – This is from Sept. 2021
https://www.wnd.com/2021/09/mom-reveals-books-school-libraries-depicting-child-porn-pedophilia/
As this woman testified before the school board, they shut
off her microphone. Those are just three
examples. I haven’t even mentioned human
trafficking, slavery, sexual abuse of children and women, racism, political
corruption or the thousands of other perversions and defilements, their
morality allows them to be a part of. If
the restraint of the Holy Spirit is removed, anything goes. Lawlessness will abound and the “lawless One”
will arise.
Let me also just say they will be happy when you are gone. They’ll be happy when you aren’t preaching
your morals to them. They’ll be happy –
until the fruits of their sin begin to be felt.
They’ll rejoice in the antichrist until the judgments begin:
Revelation 6:2 (NKJV)
6:2 And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer.
I believe this is the rise of the antichrist, a counterfeit
of Jesus, and a political leader. He
comes first as a man of peace, but eventually:
Revelation 6:4 (NKJV)
6:4 Another horse, fiery red, went out. And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another; and there was given to him a great sword.
This is war. Peace will
be taken from the earth, by the same political leader. He will make war against the tribulation
saints.
Revelation 6:5-6 (NKJV)
6:5 When He opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, "Come and see." So I looked, and behold, a black horse, and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hand. 6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, "A quart of wheat for a denarius, and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not harm the oil and the wine."
The black horse
represents famine; food shortages. The
rider, again the antichrist, will determine who gets food and who doesn’t. This is the time that the mark of the beast
will be implemented. No one can buy and
sell without the mark. Finally:
Revelation 6:8 (NKJV)
6:8 So I looked, and behold, a pale horse. And the name of him who sat on it was Death, and Hades followed with him. And power was given to them over a fourth of the earth, to kill with sword, with hunger, with death, and by the beasts of the earth.
Violence, pestilences, wild animals, a quarter of the
world’s population will be destroyed.
There will be other judgments as well, martyrs, earthquakes, asteroids
and many people will die. Hell will
follow with him.
This is to what the spirit of lawlessness leads. At the end of all of this Jesus will come
back. The power of the antichrist will
be destroyed. That will be followed by
the Day of Judgment.
Why is All This Necessary
What is the purpose of God’s judgment? It’s always to draw people back to Him. He uses governments for judgments. This post is a wake-up call, that was my
intention. I believe that we are posed
on the edge of the rapture and subsequent judgments.
World evangelism is like igniting a fire that consumes the
earth. I’m using this post to emphasize
the urgency of the fire. We stand at the
crossroads of eternity and judgment. The
Door Church in Tucson, Arizona has always been an ignition point. We have lit a blaze that is burning right now
in countless cities and nations. The
fire has been lit by the releasing of men and their wives into the nations to
enlarge the kingdom of God. Pray that it
becomes a conflagration befoe the church age winds up.
John 9:4 (NKJV)
9:4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.
The Night is coming.
The spirit of lawlessness is like twilight. The Darkness draws near!
