2 Thessalonians 2 v 1 - 4: "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,
2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."
This day of the apostate church shall not come before two things happen. First there will be a falling away, or many who turn away from God's truth to follow other religions, or become atheists.
Secondly, the Antichrist shall be revealed, the man of sin and son of perdition. One that opposes God and exalt himself above God, wanting to be known as God.
Back in the early 1980's there was a man called Benjamin Creme, who took adverts in all the world's leading newspapers, to announce the coming of the Messiah, also known as the Mahdi to some Arab sects, or the 13th reincarnation of Buddha etc. Truly on that day Christians awaited the Rapture as an absolute surety.
And here we still are in 2019, and watching as many mingle truth with error in churches around the globe, and the falling away from the truth accelerates. Jesus Christ came to this planet when there was nothing but apostasy. The best of a bad lot were the hypocritical Pharisees of whom Paul, who wrote the verses above, was one.
The Pharisees convinced Pontius Pilate to crucify Jesus, as He was a blasphemers of their law. He spent His time showing that their law was not good enough. He stopped them stoning a woman caught in adultery. He showed mercy. He healed on the Sabbath. He showed love. They hated it.
Hatred and fear produce persecution. The name of Jesus Christ is higher than every other name... Phillipians 2 v 9 - 11: "Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:
10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;
11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Kings and Queens, who exalt themselves above the common herd, expect to have people bow and curtsey to them, because at the name of Jesus every knee should bow.
His name is exalted by God, but those who fear and hate Him use His name as a curse. The Illuminati, that secret brotherhood out of which the Antichrist shall be introduced to the World as their God, made a pact with Satan on 1 May, 1776, that by the year 2000, in exchange for phenomenal wealth they would stamp out the name of Jesus Christ forever.
The names of some of those who made this promise were, Rockerfeller, Rothchilds, Voltaire etc. Not long after this the American Declaration of Independence was signed in Philadelphia on 4 July 1776. Those who are able to play Conspiracy Theory will perhaps connect some dots.
The Declaration of Independence was put together by Benjamin Franklin and some other prominent Freemasons. The Illuminati meet in the lodges of Freemasons. However, they did not succeed in stamping out the name of Jesus Christ, and never will, because His name is higher than any other name.
Satan trembled at the sound of that name. Demons flee at the sound of that name. All power is given in that name, so proclaim it from the rooftops. Use it freely. Sing it sweetly.....
Jesus is the sweetest name of all,
and He is just the same as His lovely name.
That's the reason why I love Him so,
because Jesus is the sweetest name of all.
When people feel awkward about the name of Jesus it because they have begun to turn away from Him. When people ask that His beautiful name be discarded in Interfaith meetings because it offends other religions, then Interfaith should be shunned by Christian believers.
Interfaith collects those who are falling away from the uncompromised truth of Jesus. He came to defeat apostasy and begin a new creation body of sold out believers. Sold out to absolute truth and total faith in the promises of God.
We owe Jesus our lives, literally and spiritually. He bought us out of the hand of Satan with His shed Blood. He died to release us from eternity in Hell. There was no other way, no Plan B. If He failed, we were forever lost. We owe Him more than can ever be repaid in one lifetime.
The coming apostate church, rooted in Interfaith, New Age and the agenda of the Antichrist, will produce a terrible persecution on any who believe in Jesus Christ and the Second Coming. The night or darkness is coming in which the whole world will be like it was in the USSR behind the Iron Curtain.
Bibles were forbidden. Gathering to worship God was forbidden except in state-controlled orthodox churches. Pastors were imprisoned for preaching the true gospel. Many died. Total persecution of the righteous, but it made them incredibly strong. They were so powerful that the Communist government had to stop the persecutions!
During the Rhodesian war their savage rebels were greatly feared. They hid in the Bush and Rhodesian forces would go in to flush them out. One day a bunch of rebels invaded a church. They threatened with their guns and told any non-believers they could leave, the rest would be killed. Quite a number fled. When they had gone the rebels laid down their weapons and said, now that the informers are out, we want to surrender to Jesus. The last days will have many events like this.
In the very last hours of the last days before the Rapture, persecution of Christians will play a huge part in gathering the righteous sheep away from the unbelieving goats. It will be the time of the harvest of souls that will be made ready to be caught away into the air to be joined to the Head of the Body of Christ. The Bridegroom will be made whole again ready for the Marriage Feast of the Lamb.
The persecution of the Jews will be at fever pitch worldwide and they will all be regathered into Israel and awaiting Armageddon. The day when all the armies of the world advance on Israel to destroy her, the Lord Jesus Christ with His Body of multiple millions of saints will come to Israel and destroy that army instantly. 200 million will lose two thirds of their forces dead the rest fleeing!
Jesus will rescue His Bride, Israel, and take her to continue the marriage feast and be re-united with her at last. What a day of rejoicing that will be. When we all see Jesus we will sing and dance the victory.
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank You for revealing Your plans in the Bible so that we will not be afraid at the unfolding events at the end of this age. We see the signs of it starting and we wonder when, why, what comes next. Lord keep us faithful and strong when it becomes unpopular to be so. Keep us able to witness to those who want to be saved. If everyone knew the terrible end some will experience, everyone would become a Christian immediately. I pray it would be so. In Jesus' name. Amen.
