General Articles

The Falling Away Is Moving Right Along :: By Gene Lawley

Published on: by RR7

Was the Apostle Paul a prophet? Did he foretell anything of the future having to do with God’s plans for the age? What could he have meant when he reported, after being left for dead from a stoning at Lystra, “How he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter” (2 Corinthians 12:4)? No doubt but that he learned prophecy there, firsthand!

Therefore, when Paul writes of events to come in the future, such as in 2 Thessalonians 2 of a “falling away of lawfulness,” we can count on it being a prophetic revelation. Along with that passage, the prior letter to the Thessalonians also bears some weighty prophetic revelations that can be counted on for our future, as well. There, we are told of the coming removal of the saints from the path of God’s wrath upon the unbelieving, an event called the Rapture.

The 2 Thessalonians 2:3 passage says, “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day [of the Lord] will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”

It goes on to say, in verses 6-7, “And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. 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.” Being taken out of the way of that lawless one’s progress of evil means that those righteous ones in whom dwells the Spirit of God are gone, departed from the earth and with the Lord.

This lawless one is identified as one who eventually, then, is able to assume a position in the temple and claim that he is God and demand that all must worship him. For background on this, let’s go to Daniel 9:26-27:

“And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; and the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, and till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week, but in the middle of the week he shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, even until the consummation, which is determined, is poured out on the desolate.”

Several things are brought together in these two verses. Earlier in Daniel 9 is the declaration of a 70-week punishment of God upon the Jews for their rebellion, but the count stops at 69 weeks. (These are, strangely, weeks of years, that is, one “day” of the week is one year, so that the real count is seven years for each week.) Thus, there is the final 70th week not yet accounted for, and no other possibility remains but the seven-year treaty that is confirmed by this coming “prince” of the heritage of the Roman army, which destroyed Jerusalem and the temple in 70 A.D.

Note, now, what he does, according to Daniel’s account, where he confirms that covenant, then breaks it after halfway through it. Then he desolates the temple by standing in it and declaring himself God and demanding that all worship him. Fast-forward to 2 Thessalonians 2, now, and see what Paul reports will happen in the future—a repeat of Daniel’s prophecy. This desolation of the temple is done in the future by the clear action of an identified person, the Antichrist. The claim that the temple is made desolate by an abomination brought on at its destruction in 70 A.D. is a figment of imagination by the false teachers who twist the Scriptures to support their preconceived ideas of how God’s plan should come about. Imagine someone declaring himself God and demanding worship while the temple he is standing in is being torn down by Roman soldiers?

This lawless one, the Antichrist, will not be some obscure person from the shadows of Europe and the old Roman nation; he merely has the heritage of that ancient nation. That also is not a likely appearance of such a person, for how does he acquire the authority to confirm a covenant with many? And then, declare an end to its fulfillment at mid-term? He will be a well-known, fully accepted person whom the world will welcome as their leader when the whole world of believers is taken away in the Rapture. One such person has already been identified as having been “primed” to lead [them] into a New World Order.

The Jewish people who remain behind will believe he is the Messiah, for he makes an effort to befriend them with a peace covenant and allows their rebuilding of the temple. (It is not yet restored, as you recall, but the Jews have fully prepared for its rebuilding.) Remember, the Jews are not looking for a Messiah with nail holes in His hands.

But, how soon will these things come to pass? What about this current degradation of the world’s morality and lawfulness, the defiance of justice for all, and the demand of the immorality of the LBGTQ+ Perversion faction for equality recognition? Is it just another wave of evil like those of the past—if there were any like this?

I contend that this is the time of the end, just as predicted by Daniel, Paul, and even Jesus, who said, “When these things begin to happen, look up, for your redemption draws near” (Luke 21:28). The demands of evil people are universal and unrelenting, even permeating the highest governmental levels in many countries. The freedom of believing in God is fast losing favor among the nations, and declaring the claims of the gospel that believing it will change one’s life for the better is already essentially illegal in Canada and is looming closer in Britain. “Conversion counseling” it is called and is termed illegal in many USA states.

The collection of end-time events is bunching up, and it is hard to sort out which is coming next. We do know that this “falling away” is real and racing like so many lemmings to the destruction that can only be the end result. As righteousness is rejected and the reign of Satanic behavior multiplies, there can only be that result. “The thief only comes to steal, kill and destroy,” Jesus said in John 10:10.

We know from Scripture, now, that when this time of “falling away” comes to its climax, believers will be taken away to the Lord, and the remaining world will be in great dismay and terror with terrible conditions for survival. It will come at a time when the secular world will be feeling well and enjoying good times, according to Luke 17:26-30, which gives us that kind of a picture:

“And as it was in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: They ate, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they built, but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. Even so will it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed.”

How can it be that “good times are here” when society is crumbling before our very eyes—sexual immorality fully promoted, lawlessness upheld, and criminals allowed freedom? Police dishonored and denied authority, and many other contrasts to a peaceable culture? Yet, the economy is reported as doing well; the stock market is holding steady in a rising market. Perhaps those who ignore God have no hope and are like those Paul writes of in 1 Corinthians 15:32b, saying, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, ‘Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die!'”

Perhaps the year 2022 will be the one in which God looks down and sees the world as He saw Sodom in Lot’s day, notes that He has obtained for His namesake the measure of Gentiles He wants, and moves with judgment in mind. It is by His great mercy that believers can be “Looking for that Blessed Hope and glorious appearance (then) of that great God and our Savior, Jesus Christ” (Titus 2:13).

Contact email: andwegetmercy@gmail.com

 

Is the World Preparing for Our Departure? :: By Mark A. Becker

Published on: by RR7

 

My wife and I were having a casual conversation that resulted from a reader’s question regarding how many Christians may actually go in the rapture. This led to a thought in my mind concerning what we are witnessing in real-time when it comes to what seems obvious to be a purging of Christians in the social order of the world.

Though the beginning of this article is focused primarily on the United States, this same battle seems to be waging in many parts of the world. Below are some items of interest that we have been witnessing and what may very well be the underlying reasoning behind what we are seeing in America and the rest of the world.

Military Purge of Christians

As is well documented, conservatives are considered enemies of the state and domestic terrorists by the Biden Administration and their lackeys. The Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) have been waging a full-scale purging of conservatives within the military and society at large.

In fact, concerned conservative parents are defined as domestic terrorists by their own government.

All conservatives are not Christians, but all true Christians are conservatives. By denigrating and criminalizing conservative thought and behavior, “the powers that be” have effectively negated any societal influence of the believer in Christ.

Christian Purging from Politics and Society

Religious liberty is a threat to civil rights. This is the mantra of the Marxist Democrat and, progressively, the world at large.

According to the world system, people who are pro-life, pro-traditional family, see only two biological sexes, and don’t want special privileges allotted to people based upon their sexual preference or identity (amongst a host of other issues) need not apply to the private and public domains. Conservative Christians, according to them, are a threat to society and should have no seat at the table because of their “backward ways” – and they mean any table!

Denials of Religious Exemptions

The examples are endless of denials of religious vaccine exemptions, which will inevitably render the Christian unemployable. Now, in America, the Biden Administration is compiling a database of religious objectors to the experimental vaccines.

Though the Supreme Court of the United States ruled against the Administration’s mandates for businesses, the damage has been done. Not only will business, in general, continue their own mandates, but the Biden Administration immediately went about to urge businesses to continue to institute vaccine requirements.

Thankfully, some companies have “paused” or signed off on the vaccine mandates, but many, I suspect, will not.

Of course, now the mandates will be implemented by the states themselves, and I imagine the effect will be just about the same. We are already seeing states, cities, companies – and even the American citizenry – continue to push their draconian policies and mandates. The American Medical Association (AMA) is onboard with pushing employers to keep their mandates in place, as well.

I anticipate more public and private agencies to continue to push this same narrative. How successful they all will be is yet to be determined.

Communications from Alien Ascended Masters

The New Age has prepared the world for the taking of Christians off of the earth through encounters with aliens, angels, and Ascended Masters communicating with men and women through a technique known as channeling. Of course, we know that these aliens and Ascended Masters are fallen angels masquerading as these entities, preparing the world for what is yet to come – namely, the taking away of Christians off of the earth.

These entities claim that it will be the removal of those – namely, Christians – who are not ready to take the evolutionary jump that is required for mankind. It is these Christians who are in the way of this evolution of mankind and will be taken either by aliens, the Ascended Masters themselves, or by the consciousness of the universe as it prepares for this evolutionary leap.

Keep An Eye on Vaccine Passports

All over Europe, we are seeing mass protests against the vaccine passports. As most of us suspect, these passports seem to be the vehicle in which, pre-Antichrist, the countries of the world will keep tabs on their citizens.

How successful these protests will be is yet to be seen. But we can be assured that the globalist elites will push this agenda to the maximum to achieve their goals. And because this seems to be their goal, expect more pathogens to be in our future.

China, the Olympics, and Globalist Goals

With the China Winter Olympics upon us, one can’t help but wonder if another pathogen will be introduced to the world. What better place for a release of another microorganism as the athletes return to their homelands after the competition – and, if this were to be the case, China could always defer the blame on other countries for supposedly sending their infected athletes to the games.

I’m not making any prediction, but this possibility did cross my mind.

Gordon G. Change, for the Gatestone Institute International Policy Council, had this to say concerning China’s desire for world domination:

The next disease from China could be a civilization-killer. China’s military is working on the next generation of pathogens, a new kind of biological warfare of “specific ethnic genetic attacks.” In other words, Chinese researchers are developing viruses, microbes, and germs that leave China’s people immune but kill everyone else.

Personally, I believe that China is working hand-in-glove with the globalists to help usher in the New World Order, something that would have seemed absurd just a few decades ago. But with China’s working with United States scientists in gain-of-function research – with most of these scientists closely aligned and affiliated with the globalist elite – the Covid pandemic appears to have been much more than a chance happenstance of a leak from a lab.

China’s role in the New World Order and her soon-coming allegiance to the Antichrist system – which they are, and have been, perfecting in their own country on their own citizens – I briefly discuss in Daniel 7: The Four Beasts of the End-Times.

It will be very interesting to see what the globalist elites have up their sleeves and what they have planned that will be coming down the pike. If they are unsuccessful with worldwide Covid passports at this time, I don’t really see them looking for anything other than another pathogen to help accelerate the overall plan of mass surveillance and control.

What they are attempting to do now – with relative success – doesn’t bode well for any deviation to the passports and the eventual progression to a system that will have total medical, economic/commerce, and mass population surveillance control.

Is the Contraction Beginning to Subside?

In my article Imminence, Signs, and Feasts – Oh My! I said the following:

There is a very real indication that the church, in general, may experience a kind of “rapture fatigue” and/or will have become somewhat lethargic and apathetic when the rapture actually occurs. This makes sense when one considers “birth pangs.” Right now, there are so many indicators of the soon-approaching Tribulation period that true rapture expectations are very high – this would be comparable to a woman’s contractions increasing in frequency and intensity. After a contraction, though, comes a short period of relief and rest; or in the case of the last days, a “sense” of relief and remission.

People are funny. It doesn’t take long for us to forget and move on with our lives. This is why we must always be alert and sober, watching and waiting.

So, when it comes to a slowing down and/or cancellation of many of these mandates in response to the protests against the passports across Europe – and the soon-coming midterm elections in the U.S. – and a collective response to the pandemic becoming an endemic, this could result in an allusion to a respite from the birth pangs we have currently experienced and would seem like an opportune time for the church at large to begin to let her guard down.

But for those of us who understand prophecy, this is exactly the conditions we should expect, and which Christ would have been alluding to when He said:

“Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh” (Matthew 24:44).

Is the World Preparing for Our Departure?

When taken all together, it sure seems the world is getting ready for the rapture of the church.

With militaries devoid of as many Christians as possible, the armed forces of the world won’t feel the effect of the rapture as much had they not taken this action – most prominently, of course, within the United States.

Had the governments of the world not taken the action of removing as many Christians as possible from their role in government institutions, the effect of the rapture of the church will have been, so they think, substantially eased.

By denying as many religious exemptions as possible, thereby driving Christians from the workforce, the impact on the world economy would be blunted by the effects of the rapture of the church as well. Though the elite are in the process of destroying economies to “build back better” their desired system, they would rather it be done with as little push-back as possible, which would slow down their process with more chaos than they might desire.

But no matter what they do and how much effort they put into softening the blow, their plans won’t work.

“For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thessalonians 5:3).

While this sudden destruction may have already begun (“They Shall Not Escape” Before the Rapture?), the intense ramifications won’t play out in earnest until the seal judgments immediately after the rapture (Revelation 6: Our Marriage and The Gap).

When you really stop and think about what’s been going on in today’s world – and the outright persecution of Christians from any role within the world system and the preparations of the purging of Christians as dictated by the deceiving spirits to the New Age globalist elites – it sure does seem that the world is preparing for the departure of the church in the rapture!

Sounds like an exciting thought to me! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Love, grace, mercy, and shalom in Messiah Yeshua, and Maranatha!

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