The Great Lie

(Written by Carl Worline)
On November 12, 2010, Universal Pictures will release a new movie entitled Skyline, which deals with alien spacecraft that suck up the humans who look into the bright blue light these spacecraft project, and then vanish. I believe this movie is more than just the product of the wild imaginations of some cleaver science fiction writers who seek nothing more than to entertain the public and win an academy award for themselves for best picture (but not in that order). I believe this movie may very well play an important role in end time prophecy.

Whether or not intelligent life exists on other worlds is irrelevant in this article and I will not debate the issue here. What is significant is that reports of unidentified flying objects has been around since the beginning of history with literally millions of people reporting to have seen them, yet official contact with their occupants has (supposedly) never been established. Our government, as well as governments around the world, have vehemently denied the existence of alien spacecraft. In fact, the vehemence in which governments have denied their existence builds a strong case for an official worldwide cover-up conspiracy, which makes the possibility of the existence of extra terrestrial life even more believable.

The Rapture of the Church is certain to cause a worldwide panic as an unbelieving public scrambles to explain the disappearance of hundreds of millions of people in an instant. We also know that the anti-Christ will be revealed and empowered immediately after the Rapture. 2 Thessalonians 2:9-12 tells us that the anti-Christ will tell a lie and that God will send a strong delusion so that all of the unbelievers who are left on the Earth after the Rapture will believe this lie:
Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all the powers and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness in them that perish; because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie. That they might be damned who believe not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

What is this lie? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but I can certainly make an educated guess. On September 21, 1987, President Ronald Reagan made what I consider to be a very prophetic statement when he told the Forty Second Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations “How quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.” I believe this great lie will be that alien beings from another world abducted the millions of people who just vanished.

Chapter 13 of Revelation also tells us that the anti-Christ will tell a lie that will cause the entire world to willingly follow him. I am at a loss to think of any other lie which the anti-Christ could use that would cause the remaining population of the Earth to forget their differences so quickly and unite with him.

The Battle of Armageddon

(Written by Joseph Chambers)
Jesus Christ – glorious in battle, triumphant over every enemy, riding a mighty white stallion – will split the eastern sky to come back to earth as the King of Kings. This is truly the colossal event and even more spectacular than Gog and Magog. The breath (Spirit) of His mouth is a two-edged sword. He has sat – at times stood – at His Father’s Right Hand for two thousand years. Now, he returns to reign over the world for a millennium.

As He returns to this earth, He will face an army from every kingdom ruled by the Antichrist. Demons will have been dispatched to gather this army and they will be chosen to be part of the most vicious army ever assembled. Each soldier will be chosen by the highest possible standard of both military and New Age religions.
 “And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet. For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:13-14).
 Every chosen warrior will have taken the Mark of the Beast will be possessed by unclean spirits and will be ready to die for this masquerade of their “christ.”

The Son of God will not return from His Father’s presence alone. The triumphant Church of the blood-washed and glorified saints will be riding with Him on their white horses. Every one of these Saints will be over-comers from their generation and each of them will be a match for Satan himself. They will have already proven that Satan could not stop their faith or compromise their purity. They will surely gleam brightly in their garments of righteousness, “And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19:14).

Even before this great drama is portrayed in Revelation Chapter nineteen, the Spirit declared that a host of angels would join the ranks for this grand moment, “When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats” (Matthew 25:31-32). To even attempt to number this multitude will be impossible. Every angel will be an experienced warrior that have fought and won numerous conflicts with their evil counterparts that rebelled with their champion, Lucifer or Satan.

This great multitude will stretch from one end of the heavens to the opposite end. The day of invisible angels will be finished and this awesome company will startle the earthly inhabitants that are still alive. The saints on their spectacular white horses will number “ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” but the angels will be innumerable. At the head of this great and awesome multitude and brighter than the noon day sun, will be the triumphant King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

The Earth Dwellers of Revelation

(Written by Dr. Thomas Ice)
Revelation 3:10 is rightly known as a passage that supports the Pre-Tribulation Rapture doctrine, but the second half of the verse introduces us to the first use of the term “earth dwellers.” “Because you have kept the word of my perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.” This is the first use in Revelation of a phrase I call “earth dwellers” but usually translated “those who dwell upon the earth.” This phrase is used eleven times in nine verses in Revelation (3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10 2xs; 13:8, 12, 14 2xs; 14:6; 17:8). “Earth dwellers” is a designation for persistent unbelievers during the Tribulation.

Like most New Testament terminology, “earth dwellers” originates in the Old Testament. A couple forms of the construct are used almost 50 times in the Hebrew Old Testament,1 not including a similar phrase, “world dwellers,” that occurs five times.2 The overwhelming majority of times that “earth dwellers” is used in the Old Testament, it is rightly translated “land dwellers” or “inhabitants of the land,” since the context references a localized area of land or country like Israel. However, in a global context, the same Hebrew phrase is best rendered “inhabitants of the earth” (Psalm 33:14; Isaiah 18:3; 24:6, 17; 26:21; Jeremiah 25:30; Joel 2:1; Zephaniah 1:18). All five uses of “inhabitants of the world” appear to be in a global context (Psalm 33:8; Isaiah 18:3; 26:9, 18; Lamentations 4:12) and in all but one instance (Lamentations 4:12) are used in the same context with “earth dwellers.” When “earth dwellers” and “world dwellers” are used in the same contexts, it serves to strengthen the notion that a global rather than local context is intended.

Every global use of “earth dwellers” in the Old Testament appears in a judgment context, and probably all phrases point to a time in the future, during the day of the Lord or Tribulation period. It is of special significance that both “earth dwellers” and “world dwellers” are used multiple times in Isaiah 24–27, often called “Isaiah’s Apocalypse.” Chapter 24 tells us that God’s worldwide judgment will come upon all mankind because of specific sins of “the inhabitants of the earth” (24:5, 6, 17). Isaiah 26:9b says, “For when the earth experiences Thy judgments the inhabitants of the world learn righteousness.” The final two verses of chapter 26 speak of the Tribulation period. Verse 20 says that Israel will be hidden away and protected “until indignation runs its course.” Since the remnant of Israel will be protected during the Tribulation, then what will be God’s purpose for the judgment of this period? Verse 21 answers that question as follows: “For behold, the Lord is about to come out from His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity; and the earth will reveal her bloodshed, and will no longer cover her slain.” Thus we see that a purpose for the Tribulation will be to “punish” the earth dwellers. This is very similar to the statement in Revelation 3:10 that says the Lord will “test those who dwell upon the earth.” It seems clear that Isaiah 24–27, and especially 26:21 provide the backdrop for understanding what is meant in Revelation 3:10, as well as John’s used of “earth dwellers” throughout Revelation.

What has happened to the Church?

Written by Grant Phillips
I noticed this morning in one of the local papers the following activities scheduled this week-end for some of the local churches:
One local church is offering an Internet safety program presentation. The Internet can be very helpful with education, purchasing, news and other ways, but it is also like walking through a mine field. One needs to be careful. Therefore, this is probably a good thing to do, even within the church scenario. There are many ways our children can be harmed via the Internet, and parents need to know what to do to protect their children and themselves.

Another local church will sponsor “Photography as a Prayer Workshop”, where they will “define prayer, basic photographic principles, and think together about the spiritual practices of photography”. Now I’m getting somewhat apprehensive. Understood, I don’t know where they are going with this, but I’m having to stretch my mind to comprehend any relationship between prayer and basic photographic principles. I also cannot seem to connect with the “spiritual practices of photography”, although I’m trying to keep an open mind.

Two churches are having a bean supper. All I will say here is that church folk sure do like to eat.
Two others are having a gospel singing. I have always noticed that many, many more people will turn out for a singing event (and/or to eat, see previous paragraph), than a Bible study.
One is offering free English classes to the international residents in the area. Now they are definitely losing me. What does this have to do with the function of the church?
Another is having “food, fun and games”. And again we eat, and have fun and play games. This is beginning to sound like the Corinthian church.
Another is having a fish fry and auction. Alas, we eat again, but this time an auction is included.

I thought this was interesting. This church is celebrating its 175th anniversary. They mention every pastor who has ever served since their beginning. They talk about their new steeple being added. They refer to their structural damage from a storm and the repair work. They inform us that they replaced the carpet with hardwood flooring and are now going to replace the hardwood flooring with carpet. They tell us about their new siding, new concrete surfaces to the entrance, parking lot, lighting, landscaping and retirement of debt. My Bible tells me that the Lord Jesus Christ is the head of the church, but there was no mention of Him. There was no mention of the souls He has saved. There was no mention of how others can come to know Him as their Savior. It was all about the building.

This next one is the crème de la crème of idiocy. They are celebrating the 50th anniversary of The Andy Griffith show on Sunday from 3 to 6 p.m. They will have memorabilia on display, trivia games on Mayberry knowledge and favorite episodes to watch. But that’s not all. They have also begun sign-up for the community basketball league for boys and girls ages five and six. The cost being $20 with scholarships available. This tops it all. Obviously, this group is big on entertainment. The Andy Griffith show?! What on earth does The Andy Griffith show have to do with what Jesus expects of His Church?! And instead of teaching children how to play basketball, as most all of the churches are now doing, what are they being taught about Jesus?

One other church was advertising that they are having a preaching service, and invited everyone to attend. One!
God help us folks! Is this what Jesus wants from His church? I have noticed church ads like these for a long time, but this time it really got to me. If this isn’t the epitome of classic Laodicean type churches, I don’t know what is.

I am not saying that the activities mentioned in these ads are intrinsically wrong. I am saying they are wrong for the Church. Again, none of the activities mentioned are bad. They are good, but any Christian who has studied the Word of God (the Bible) knows that this is not the direction that Jesus wants us to go. These things, other than the one lone church that invited everyone to come to the preaching service, can be done by the world outside the Church. Greater things are expected of Christ’s Church. It may be our opinion that these things are what the Church should do, but our opinion does not count. The only “opinion” that counts is God’s. So what does God expect from us? Let’s talk about that.

The Rising Desperation of the Satan Administration

(Written by Ben G)
First, allow me to say, I bring not an accusation against the devil, for Jude 1:9 states; "Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee."

Now, if Michael the Archangel himself isn't foolish enough to insult Satan to his face, why should any human be foolish enough to do so? Granted, some of us may have out of the heat of anger, but hopefully prayed afterward for forgiveness and protection because of their human error.

These are the last days of this age. There is no doubt about it. The bible says; "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came, and destroyed them all (Luke 17:26-27)."

It is strange to think that back in those days the world was looking a lot like ours today, except even worse. There were hybrid giants (Nephilim) who were satanic offspring of fallen angels and humans (Genesis 6: 1-4). Goliath of Gath comes to mind, for example, who was slain by David. Most likely, these giants sprung about many old Greek legends, such as Prometheus, Titan, or Zeus, etc. They were "men of renown". They were evil and wicked and spread their satanic bloodlines across the earth, raping and killing, until every thought they had in their head was evil. Obviously Satan went along with this plan to disrupt God's own plan for man and His plan for a coming Savior. The only righteous people were Noah and his family. These monsters that roamed the earth were pure evil. I can only imagine them as embodiments of demons walking the earth. Imagine everyone's a Charlie Manson, Ed Gein, or a Josef Fritzl, but worse. Obviously God would not stand for such a thing for very long, so he sent a flood to kill virtually everything so He could to start over, but with new demonic restrictions and rules set in place upon renewal.

What happened to these angelic watchers who were supposed to be looking out for us? They spotted the beautiful women, then came down and sinned by procreating with them and then were eventually laid hold of and bound in chains by God until judgment for their direct intervention and disruption in human affairs, which caused a massive pollution of human bloodlines across the whole earth. Why were Noah and his family spared? Because he was "blameless and walked with God." I am sure God binding the fallen watchers and killing everyone would have infuriated Satan to no end, for he no doubt loved how the world had become so godless, but it served as a lesson to him about certain boundaries God will not tolerate.

Today, the devil's angels know exactly what happened to their brothers in Jude 1:6, which is why they must obey God's command to not directly interfere in such a way as they did back in Genesis, because if any of them do, they know it would be the end of them, as in their incarceration would come swiftly and be thrown in a deep, dark prison like the others. Demons can and do, however, interfere in their many own spiritual ways, with each and every one of us, which can and does influence people and of course tempts them to make very poor choices at times. This direction away from God we've gone in as human beings have built up over time which has led us to the godless, corrupted state we find ourselves in today- which is similar to Noah's day. Just turn on the evening news... And it has only been able to get worse because of the human embrace of wickedness and acceptance of evil in their lives and our society. This gives evil spirits ever-growing rights of influence and power to come through and affect earthly affairs without directly breaking certain rules God laid out. Yes, fallen angels have rebelled against God, and still defy Him every day, but they still must obey his command if He gives an order. They are fallen because of free-will, not because they don’t do what God commands them. All living creations must obey Him if He gives a direct order or there lies serious consequences. Yes, demons will be going to hell, and they’re very aware of this, but they still must obey the Holy Spirit. The act of exorcism come to mind- the demon must leave that person’s body if commanded by the Holy Spirit.