Scripture: 2 Thessalonians 2 v 7 - 10: "For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:
9 Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders,
10 And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved."
Spiritually speaking the guardian of our lives on this planet is The Holy Spirit. He is everywhere at once assigning angels to protect the Body of Christ. These are the true born again believers who follow the Lamb of God.
The mystery of iniquity that is already manifest among the nations is made more visible every day. Evil is present and Psalm 127 explains it perfectly.
Psalm 127 v 1: "A Song of degrees for Solomon. Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain."
If the Lord Jesus Christ is the Cornerstone of your life, He builds you up in His image. He gives you gifts, talents, anointings, opportunities, teachings through the Holy Spirit. Unless He has full control through your full surrender to Him, your spiritual house will not be properly built. Your Pastor does not build your house, he gives you do's and don't's, he inspires you to greater effort.
Except the Lord watches over our cities, the human guardians keep watch in vain. Why? Because our God Knows everything that is about to happen and He sends His angels to protect His people. His People are Christians filled with the Holy Spirit, and the Jews who come from Isaac, son of Jacob.
Romans 9 v 4 - 8: "Who are Israelites; to whom pertaineth the adoption, and the glory, and the covenants, and the giving of the law, and the service of God, and the promises;
5 Whose are the fathers, and of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever. Amen.
6 Not as though the word of God hath taken none effect. For they are not all Israel, which are of Israel:
7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.
8 That is, They which are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God: but the children of the promise are counted for the seed."
These are the chosen people who will be rescued after Armageddon is defeated. That's when all the armies of the world join up to advance on Israel to annihilate her from the river to the sea. Jesus and His Body now caught up to be joined to Him in the sky above Earth do His Second Coming to Earth. The Antichrist has already been exposed to the Jews as an imposter when he enters the Holy of Holies in the rebuilt Temple and declares himself God. The Jews have fled to Jordan and the world's armies are coming for them.
But before all this the mystery of iniquity has been evolving for well over a hundred years. The World Wars exploded the myth of human safety. Lawlessness unfolded in deadly fashion. Sins long done in secret began to be flaunted openly. Violence was unleashed. Drug Cartels unleashed the antidote for extreme pain and suffering. The world's banks colluded to control the financial turmoil of all nations.
Communism rose in the USSR in 1918 immediately after the end of WW1. Europe was reeling from millions of deaths in the Spanish Flu pandemic. It killed another 20 million people after the 18 million lost in the War. Shock after shock. Governments took control, vaccines were expanded, and are now a weapon forced on the people of the world.
In South Africa this week there has been a peaceful but determined March through Durban to uphold General Mkhwanazi who bravely spoke out against the corruption in the Police Force from the Minister of Police to many under his authority running a drug cartel throughout South Africa.
These are the guardians of our nation destroying the very lives they are meant to protect. Our President apparently knows about it and when addressing the country chose to give special (paid) leave to the Minister and set up a long-winded Commission of Enquiry. They must be seeing the writing on the wall because their own ANC members are rejecting them.
The illegal aliens with criminal records have flooded Europe, Britain, The USA with intent to carry on lawlessness without restraint. South American bandits, Chinese Communism, Islamic Jihad are now a force to be reckoned with. The come to peaceful nations with the intention of destroying peace and forcing their ideology, religion, sharia law, drugs, violence and death upon any who object.
The Antichrist is one who will be called a man of peace until the spirit of Satan manifests in him, just as it did in Judas at the Last Supper. Judas went out to betray Jesus to the Pharisees leading to His arrest and crucifixion. Judas then committed suicide. When that same evil spirit manifests in the Holy of Holies, Israel is released from a very long spell and suddenly recognises her Messiah as being Jesus Christ.
Zechariah 12 v 10 - 11: "And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
11 In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem, as the mourning of Hadadrimmon in the valley of Megiddon."
Note that straight after they recognize their Messiah Jesus, the spectre of Armageddon in the valley of Megiddon appears. The Antichrist is desperate to salvage this situation. Jesus joining Himself to the remnant of the tribes of Israel will be the Antichrist's undoing. He has been trying to prevent that since the foundation of the world.
Revelation 13 v 8 - 9: "And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear."
The Lamb was slain before Adam and Eve were created. The Father foreknew us from the foundation of the world. Jeremiah 1 v 5: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." God knew all of us before He made Eden. He loved us always. He had plans for each one of us to overcome the damage Satan did to us when Jesus was slain from the foundation of the world.
1 Timothy 2 v 5 - 6: " For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time."
He was the Ransom for His kidnapped Bride and His Body was broken from the foundation of the world. We are the fragments of His Body to whom great violence was done before the Garden of Eden was created for the beginning of the restoration of our souls. Millions had to be wiped out because of violence and sin. Now we are at that place again. But Jesus is with us to destroy this lawlessness and chain Satan in the Abyss for one thousand years. He will use this time to restore the Earth to the way He made it.
He will be joined to His Body and be a complete Bridegroom for the marriage to His ransomed Bride who has survived all attempts to wipe her out. He will know us by our love for Israel. Because He loves her and as His Body we will feel the same way.
We must do whatever we can to say no to the Devil and his puppets. James says submit to God, resist the Devil and he will flee. Depend on it! Find a way to mount resistance to sin, lawlessness and temptation.
God is judging harshly those who steal and swear falsely in His name. Zechariah 5 v 3 - 4: "Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it.
4 I will bring it forth, saith the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof."
This is the time for us to shake off our lethargy and stand up, stand up for Jesus as the hymn goes. We are soldiers of the Cross. We are expected to be united in one spiritual army armed with spiritual weapons to fight against that which is not flesh and blood. It is against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We must pray! Pray like never before, not for our own safety and protection, we already have the Lord covering us. Whether we live or die we will be with Him. Our task is to change goats into sheep. Or rather to talk to them about Jesus and where they think they are going when they die. If they believe they are going to Heaven but have not been born again, we must bring the truth to them.
Jesus said He will protect us but we must be sensible and cautious until the storm is over. Let us not fear but have peace in our hearts and pray for those who are suffering. Bring the hope of salvation to those affected most by lawlessness.
Prayer: Heavenly Father You say in Isaiah that no weapon formed against us will prosper. We are grateful to You for shielding us against violence and hurt. Lord may Your will be done concerning the future of this country and all others as the divisions that cause instability are getting wider. The Day of the Lord is not far off which means the enemy is determined to be destructive, please guide us through the landmines of lawlessness onto the path of righteousness. In Jesus' name. Amen.