Spiritual Forces Of The Last Days

Introduction

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent [without self-control], fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (II Timothy 3:1-5)

Several spiritual forces are operating in the world and will continue to be significant until the Lord returns.

The first three we shall mention are of God and beneficial for the righteous. The remainder are sophisticated expressions of Satan. They are so ingenious, so subtle, that only the most dedicated Christians will be able to perceive them as wicked.

The world is filled with unclean spirits and forces that are attempting to conquer God's Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. None of them shall succeed in their objective.

These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen, and faithful. (Revelation 17:14)

The intent is to deceive.

Neither Satan nor any other spiritual personage or force has enough power to overcome one of the Lord's elect. Satan's authority over God's people was destroyed on the cross of Calvary.

Therefore Hell uses deception to seduce the minds and emotions of the saints. There shall be much deception in the last days and it already is present.

For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect. (Matthew 24:24)

The main problem is not with other religions or Communism or the New Age movement.

Many teachers are warning the Christian churches of the dangers of Communism or the New Age movement or the Muslim religion. None of these present a mortal threat to the true saints. The worst they can do is to kill the bodies of the Christians. The Lord Jesus advised us to not be concerned about those who can do no more than kill the body. Rather, we are to fear God—He who is able to destroy both soul and body in Hell.

And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:28)

The answer to the question of how both soul and body can be destroyed in the spiritual Hell is found in the convergence of the physical and spirit realms in the last days.

Communism, the Muslim religion, and the New Age movement pose no great threat to God's elect because it is obvious to the saints that such are not of God. The true danger lies in the ultrasophisticated wickedness of the last days.

The error in goal and means.

It may be true that the common denominator of the deceptions of the last days is a misunderstanding of the grace of God under the new covenant. The current perversion of Paul's teaching of grace may prove to be the deadliest, the most destructive, of all the heresies that have afflicted the churches of Christ.

All the forces of the New Age, Communism, Socialism, and the Muslim religion combined probably have done little to harm the churches. God's elect are aware of the dangers in these and are watching for them. But the misunderstanding of the new covenant and the resulting doctrinal errors have destroyed the Christian testimony throughout the world.

It is taught commonly among Christians that the goal of redemption is to go to Heaven and dwell there forever in a beautiful mansion, and that the means of going to Heaven is to proclaim belief in the theological facts concerning the Nature of Christ, the atonement made by Him, and His bodily resurrection from the cave of Joseph of Arimathea.

Nowhere in the Scriptures is the goal of redemption presented as eternal residence in Heaven above. Rather, the goal of redemption is twofold: to be formed in the image of Christ, and to be perfected in union in Christ and He in us. These are the goals toward which every saint is to be pressing.

For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be changed into the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)

That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me. (John 17:21)

All of the inheritance promised to the sons of God is possible only as the believer is changed into the image of Christ and is perfected in oneness in the Father and the Son.

The current Christian doctrine concerning the role of grace in bringing us to the Divine goals is so incorrect as to be terribly destructive. This error may be the foundation of the perversions that have come forth in the last two hundred years.

The current teaching states that since we are complete in Christ our sin is not counted as sin. It says we ought to try to do good, but if we are not successful in our attempt there is no critical problem. It claims that God does not hold us guilty of sin because Christ's righteousness covers us.

Although Christian believers do not always draw this teaching to its logical conclusion, what they are stating is that if a Christian rapes and kills an individual he is not guilty before God of rape or murder because he is complete in Christ. To claim that a truly saved individual would not rape or kill someone is to dodge the issue. It is a fact that Christians sin. Either the Lord judges sin as sin or He does not.

If we claim that a true Christian would not sin we are removing almost all (if not all) believers from the Church!

Notice the following pertinent passage:

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. (I John 1:7-9)

It is held today that this passage refers to the need for the unsaved to receive Christ. As soon as they do, they are in the light and their sins are gone. The concept is that salvation is a one-time experience resulting in an eternal, unconditional amnesty. The conclusion drawn from this misunderstanding is that there never is a need for a Christian to repent, because his sins no longer are an issue—regardless of his behavior.

Here is a frightful error in theology. It has destroyed the morality of the Christian churches (and as a result of the civil governments that look to the churches for moral guidelines), and has given rise to several distortions.

The truth is, the above passage does not apply to the unsaved but to the saved. A casual examination of First John will reveal that the entire letter is addressed to the saints.

I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one. (I John 2:14)

If the letter is written to the saints, then the "we" in "If we confess our sins," is speaking to Christians, not to those outside the churches.

The true saint walks in continual repentance. As the Spirit of God points out to him the sins of his personality he confesses them and repents of them. When he does his sins are forgiven and he is cleansed. Thus his fellowship with God is maintained.

There is no genuine Christian experience apart from a continuing confession of sin and repentance.

Because of the erroneous belief that "accepting Christ" results in an eternal, unconditional amnesty, the Christians of today do not know how to respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit. If God should pour out a Spirit of revival, beginning with a conviction of sin, the churches would be unable to respond. They would perceive the convicting Presence of the Holy Spirit as being an accusation of Satan, since they are convinced that being in Christ means they have no sin.

False doctrines proceeding from the error in goal and means.

The first false doctrine we will mention is the pre-tribulation "rapture" of the believer.

Because it is believed that sin is no longer an issue in the life of the Christian, the emphasis now has been placed on avoiding physical pain. The thought is, we have no need to fear God because we are without sin; therefore we shall fear pain and seek to avoid it.

The objective of the "rapture" is to prevent the saints from suffering physical pain. The doctrine of the pre-tribulation ascension of the saints to escape pain is based on the assumption that there is no need to fear the Judgment Seat of Christ now that God has provided an eternal, unconditional pardon. "Let us flee to Heaven and avoid physical suffering at the hands of Antichrist."

Given the passages of Scripture that teach the need for tribulation, plus the history of suffering of the Christian churches, it is amazing that the fanciful concept of a rapture to avoid suffering ever gained the ground it has. An alert high-school student could easily prove from the New Testament (as well as from Church history) that God's elect often experience many forms of suffering, and sometimes martyrdom.

It is the wicked spirit of loving pleasure more than God that has given birth to the doctrine of a rapture to avoid physical suffering. The rapture never is presented as a means of glorifying Christ or of bringing us into the image of Christ or into union with Him, which are the Scriptural goals, but as a means of avoiding the pain of the great tribulation. This fact alone should have warned the churches that it is a false doctrine. The doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture is man-centered. It is in complete harmony with the man-centeredness of the Antichrist spirit.

As we have said, the error of presenting eternal residence in Heaven as the goal of redemption, and a once-for-all profession of belief in Christ as the means of attaining the goal, has made it possible for such a distortion as the pre-tribulation rapture of the believers to gain credence.

We trust that the rapture will take us to Paradise; and there is no need to worry about facing Christ even though we have been worldly, lustful, and disobedient to the call of God on our life. We are without sin and are assured of eternal residence in Paradise because of our confession of belief in the theological facts concerning Christ. This false conclusion drawn from the writings of the Apostle Paul keeps the believers in perpetual babyhood.

One of the purposes of the great tribulation is to perfect the Bride of the Lamb, separating her from the babylonish (manmade, man-centered, man-directed) confusion of organized religion. Since the current doctrine of "grace" teaches that Christians already are perfect through their association with Christ, the idea of their being perfected by suffering is not logical. The conclusion is, there is no need for us to be perfected by suffering when we already are perfect in Christ.

We understand, then, that the doctrine of the pre-tribulation rapture is no mere error in eschatology; rather, it is a time bomb planted by the enemy, the purpose of which is to prevent the present-day Christians from preparing themselves for the tribulations that are just ahead.

Another distortion in Christian thinking is the so-called "faith message." The Lord appears to be inviting us to move mountains by supernatural processes. If God has been so kind as to pardon all of our sins unconditionally it must be His will to give us whatever we speak "in faith."

We are without sin, they claim. Let us, therefore, use our "faith" (which is not true faith at all but an attempt to "believe" something into existence) to make sure we are living a pleasant life surrounded by all pleasurable things and circumstances. What an abomination! How totally unscriptural! How well suited to an age in which people love pleasure more than they love God!

The "prosperity" message is an expected sequel to the "faith" message, just as "reconstructionism" is the expected sequel to the faith and prosperity messages. The emphasis is that Christians ought to be prosperous, commanding by faith the resources of the material realm.

In spite of the warning of the Scriptures from Balaam to Judas, from Gehazi to Ananias and Sapphira, the Christians (of the wealthy nations) have been seduced into believing they are to be rich in the present world system. The love of money is characteristic of the worship of Antichrist.

The deception concerning the desirability of material riches would not have been successful had the Christians not been convinced that sin no longer is an issue in their lives and that they now are to have the best of this world—and Heaven too.

The preliminary deceptions of the pre-tribulation rapture, of "speak it into existence," and of the righteousness and desirability of possessing material riches, have brought the Charismatic believers to Satan's goal. It is to convince Christians they are to rule the present world before the Lord returns.

If the followers of Christ no longer need be concerned with the worldliness, sin, and self-will of their own personalities they can afford to turn their attention to gaining control of the civil governments. Then they will have a godly world to present to Christ when He appears. This totally unscriptural concept has gained wide acceptance among Charismatic believers under the name of Reconstructionism.

The Reconstructionists already are revealing their guiding spirit by their harsh attitude toward society and by their anti-Semitism. They will succeed in bringing persecution on all Christians as they seek to force their standards of morality on non-Christians.

The outcome of the Church Age will not be the conversion of the nations to the will of God but a company of royal priests who will rule with the Lord Jesus over earth's peoples. Their rulership will begin when He and they appear—not before.

All of God's rulers are subjected to many years of suffering. The purpose of the suffering is that they may learn obedience to the Father and come to know Him. It is only after they have been called, chosen, and proven faithful that they are fit to rule with God.

Those who are planning to rule today are not living as part of the crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord but according to their own soulish impulses—although they speak and act in Jesus' name.

The Kingdom of God shall be established on the earth by force, as the Lord Jesus descends with His army to crush all resistance. The nations of the earth will attempt to resist God's anointed, but they shall be destroyed. This is what the Scriptures teach, both the Old Testament and the New Testament.

The concept of Christians setting up the Kingdom of God by means of their faith, prior to Christ's appearing, is an Antichrist idea. It is not proceeding from the Lord but from the False Prophet.

The true Christian of today is patiently bearing his cross after Christ. He is clothing himself with the armor of righteousness, preparing himself to stand in the day of evil. He is not seeking to be wealthy. He is seeking the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, realizing that all material goods necessary for his survival and well being will be provided by the Lord.

The spirit that is teaching Christians they are to be wealthy, to be leaders of the world, to be without pain, to live in pleasure, is not of God. It is the False Prophet spoken of in the Book of Revelation.

The true saints are hearing the voice of the Bridegroom. As they laboriously place one foot after the other in the pressured way that leads to eternal life, the Spirit of God is warning them of the Antichrist spirit, of the False Prophet, of Babylon, and of Laodicea. The day will come when the preachers who are seducing God's people, inviting them to wealth and positions of power, who are of the synagogue of Satan, will come and worship God at the feet of His true saints.

He who has an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches, let him acknowledge that the love of money is the root of all evil and that God's true followers are always accounted as sheep for the slaughter. This world is not their home. Their kingdom is not of this world.

When we listen to the Lord today, does He invite us to go forth and set up His Kingdom now? He does not! He warns us to set our own house in order because the spirit of deception is in the land. Judgment and persecution are coming. There will be no rapture to deliver the believers from the seductions and persecutions of Antichrist or from the great tribulation.

The end of the age is upon us. Those who overcome Satan, the world, and their own lusts and self-seeking, will sit with Christ in His throne. Those who seek to live in pleasure, even though the pleasure is obtained in the name of the Lord Jesus, will be snared by Antichrist, by the False Prophet, and by Babylon (man-directed Christianity), and will finally be brought to unbearable remorse and torment.

Godly Forces