Saul, whose name was later changed to Paul, was converted to Christianity in AD 35. By AD 40, there were thousands of converts to Christianity, and most of them were Jews. This was about to change, however, and it started with a man named Cornelius. Cornelius was a Gentile Roman centurion and is described as a devout man and one who feared God. One day in a vision, an angel of God came and spoke with Cornelius. Acts 10:3 says this occurred in the 9th hour of the day (the same hour of the day that Jesus died on the cross). The angel told Cornelius to call the apostle Peter to his house.

The next day, Peter had a vision from God in which he was commanded to kill and eat unclean animals. This occurred in the 6th hour (the same hour of the day Jesus was put on the cross).

“But Peter said, ‘Not so Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean.’ A voice spoke to him and said, ‘What God has cleansed you must not call common'” (Acts 10:14-15).

This was done 3 times and then the vision ceased. Notice the use of the multiples of the number 3, which connotes divine perfection.

Afterward, while Peter was wondering what this vision meant, the 3 men whom Cornelius had sent arrived at the house where Peter was staying and inquired of him. The Spirit told Peter to arise and go with them, doubting nothing, for He had sent them. The next day, Peter traveled with the men to meet Cornelius. As Peter proclaimed the gospel to Cornelius and his family, he realized the meaning of his vision; God was calling both Jews and Gentiles to Christ. While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those of Cornelius’ household who heard the word. The Jews who had come with Peter were astonished because they heard the Gentiles speak with tongues and magnifying God. Peter commanded the Gentiles to be baptized in the name of the Lord.

In AD 43, the church in Jerusalem sent Barnabas to minister in Antioch; Barnabas went to Tarsus to bring Paul back to Antioch to minister with him there. Paul and Barnabas spent the next year teaching the believers in that city. Later, the two men were commissioned as the Church’s first missionaries. In AD 44, King Herod Agrippa 1 began arresting Christian leaders, starting with James, the brother of John. James was the first apostle to be martyred. He was executed with a sword. Peter was also arrested but was miraculously delivered from prison.

The persecution in Jerusalem grew, and believers fled to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Syrian Antioch. The dispersed Christians brought the gospel with them, and the Church grew and spread despite great persecution. Soon after that, God struck down Herod for his exceeding sinfulness.

The book of James was written by Jesus’ half-brother. It was the first book of the New Testament to be written, in approximately AD 45. The order in which the books of the New Testament were written is a topic of much scholarly debate. Here is the order I believe is most accurate:

1) James – AD 45
2) Galatians – AD 49
3) 1 Thes. – AD 51
4) 2 Thes. – AD 52
5) 1 Cor. – AD 56
6) 2 Cor.- AD 57
7) Romans – AD 57
8) Mark – AD 58
9) Matthew – AD 60
10) Luke – AD 60
11) Ephesians – AD 60
12) Colossians – AD 60
13) Philemon – AD 61
14) Philippians – AD 62
15) 1 Timothy – AD 62
16) Acts – AD 62
17) 1 Peter – AD 63
18) Hebrews – AD 63
19) 2 Peter – AD 64
20) Jude – AD 65
21) Titus – AD 66
22) 2 Timothy – AD 67
23) Rev. – AD 95
24) John – AD 95
25) 1 John – AD 96
26) 2 John – AD 96-100
27) 3 John – AD 96-100.

In AD 48, the leaders of the church in Antioch held a prayer meeting in which the Holy Spirit showed up. As they were worshipping and fasting, the Holy Spirit told them to prepare their two prominent leaders, Paul and Barnabas, for missionary work to proclaim Christ and plant churches. The church prayed over the men, laid hands on them, and then sent them out along with John Mark to preach the gospel of Christ. Their first missionary journey started in Syria and then on to Cyprus and Perga, where John Mark left to return home against Paul’s wishes. The two men continued on to Galatia and the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. They eventually returned to Antioch and reported to the church there that God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles (Acts 13:1-14:28).

Many Gentiles became Christians as a result of Paul and Barnabas’ missionary work. However, back in Jerusalem, some Hebrew Christians responded by insisting the new converts obey the law of Moses (including circumcision), which they thought was necessary for salvation. After hearing of this, Paul and Barnabas returned to Jerusalem to meet with the other apostles. This meeting of the apostles in Jerusalem became known as the Jerusalem council and occurred in AD 49. Paul, Barnabas and Peter all testified that both Jews and Gentiles are saved by faith (by the grace of God) in Jesus, apart from keeping the law.

James, the half-brother of Jesus, was the leader of the Jerusalem church at this time and announced the council’s decision that Gentiles were free from the law, which was not necessary for salvation. This decision reinforced the inclusion of Gentiles into the church. Some 16 years after the crucifixion, James explained what Jesus had told the disciples in Matthew 21:43 when he said,

“Therefore I tell you that the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to a people who will produce its fruit.” James spoke up and said, “Brothers, listen to me. Simon (Peter) has described to us how God at the first visited the Gentiles to take out from them a people for His name” (Acts 15:13-18).

The Greek word for “to take” is ‘labein,’ which means to receive, lay hold of, take. The Greek word for the preposition ‘from’ is ‘ex,’ which means from out, out from among. This passage reveals a slight hint of the Rapture as it conveys the idea of carrying away, removing, or taking to one’s self. Do you think the Holy Spirit had a part in inspiring these particular words that James spoke and which Luke later recorded in the book of Acts?

James then said, “And with this the words of the prophets (Jeremiah 12:15 and Amos 9:11) agree, just as it is written: ‘After this (after the taking out of Gentiles), I will return and will rebuild the tabernacle of David, which has fallen down; I will rebuild its ruins, and I will set it up, so that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does all these things'” (Acts 15:15-17).

The apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to send Paul and Barnabas, with Judas and Silas (who were also prophets) back to the Gentile brothers in the churches of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. They carried with them a letter from the church of Jerusalem, which declared the decision of the Jerusalem Council.

Paul’s second missionary journey lasted from AD 49 to 52 and is recorded in Acts chapters 16-18. While Paul and Silas (and later Timothy) had gone through Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to preach the word in Asia. That night a vision appeared to Paul, where he was persuaded that the Lord had called them to preach the gospel in Macedonia (Greece). While Paul was traveling from country to country, he wrote 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. He wrote 1 Thessalonians to the church in Thessalonica, urging them on through their persecution (earlier Paul had to leave Thessalonica because of this persecution).

It is in 1 Thessalonians that Paul first mentions the Rapture, while he is commending them for their faithfulness. “And how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come” (1 Thes. 1:9-10).

It’s not clear what Paul is saying here at this point in time, but with latter scripture, we learn the “wrath to come” is a phrase for the Tribulation that Jesus will save (rescue) believers from by means of the Rapture.

The next mention of the Rapture is found in 1 Thes. 2:19. “For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? For you are our glory and joy.”

The coming (parousia) Paul is referring to here is the Rapture and not the 2nd Coming. Paul regards the believers in Thessalonica as his “crown of rejoicing” because he sees them as trophies of the victory of the gospel which he preached. The crown of rejoicing is one of 5 crowns that will be rewarded to believers in heaven (at the Judgment/Bema Seat of Christ per 2 Corinthians 5:10) for their faithfulness. For more information on these crowns, see: Biblical Significance of the Number 5: Part II :: By Randy Nettles – Rapture Ready

This is further expounded upon in the next chapter. “So that He [Jesus] may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ [at the Rapture] with all His saints” (1 Thess. 3:13).

We will discover who these saints are in the next chapter.

These three references to the Rapture are clarified in Paul’s full revealing of the Rapture in 1 Thes. 4:14-17. This is the first time the Rapture (catching up) of the Church (both living and dead) is taught in detail.

“For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”

This revelation was proclaimed as truth from God with Paul’s words “by the word of the Lord.” The Rapture was a mystery unknown in the Old Testament times until the Lord finally revealed it to Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles.

THE DAY OF THE LORD

Coming immediately after Paul’s revelation concerning the rapture of the church, it is natural to want to know when this will occur. In 1 Thess. 5:1-11, the apostle does not give times and dates but instead speaks on a much larger doctrine of scripture, the day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is a time of special divine visitation from the Lord mentioned often in both the Old and New Testaments. Paul declared, “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, you have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction comes upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape” (1 Thes. 5:3).

So why does Paul start speaking about the day of the Lord immediately after his revelation of the Rapture? The answer is: the Rapture is the start of the day of the Lord. Like a thief in the night, who comes without warning, the Rapture will occur and the day of the Lord will begin.

“The future period of God’s intervention in the world will begin at the Rapture and will include the period of trouble preceding the 2nd coming of Christ and the establishment of God’s kingdom in the earth. The day of the Lord also includes the millennial kingdom. The entire period before and after the 2nd coming of Christ will constitute a special divine intervention and rule of righteousness on the earth in the way that is not being experienced in the present age. The teaching that the day of the Lord does not begin until the 2nd coming is refuted by the fact that it includes the great tribulation. Joel made it clear that the day of the Lord included the great tribulation before the 2nd coming (Joel 2:28-3:2). The time of restoration of Israel (Joel 3:16-21) following the great tribulation is related to the 2nd coming and will be fulfilled in the millennium.” {1}

1 Thes. 5:3 refers to the start, middle, and end of the 7-year Tribulation. “Peace and safety” refers to the start of the Tribulation when the Antichrist confirms a 7-year covenant with Israel and the many. “Sudden destruction” comes upon Israel and the elect when the Antichrist breaks the covenant at the mid-point of the covenant (3.5 years) and persecution of the Jews begins. Israel will not escape their Great Tribulation until Jesus returns at His 2nd Coming.

However, the Lord has other plans for His church, “For God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with him” (1 Thes. 5:9-10).

Pauls’ prayer for the church at Thessalonica and believers everywhere (and for all generations) reads as follows: “Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely; and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be preserved blameless at the coming (the Parousia of Christ at the Rapture) of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful, and also will do it” (1 Thes. 5:23-24).

In 2 Thes. 1:6-10, Paul describes the 2nd Coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and what it will be like in that day, “since it is a righteous thing with God to repay with tribulation those who trouble you, and to give you who are troubled rest with us when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed.”

In 2 Thes. 2, Paul is writing another letter to the church at Thessalonia. In response to a mistaken belief (by false teachers who were spreading “fake news” – some things never change) that the day of the Lord had already begun. The church was being persecuted at this time, so it is easy to see how they could fall for this lie. This alarmed the Thes. church because they had understood Paul to say they would not be in this time of trouble because they would have been raptured before it began. The Thessalonians would have thought they had missed the Rapture because they weren’t really saved.

Paul wrote, “Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him (at the Rapture), we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come” (2 Thes. 2:1-2). Paul had to remind the Thessalonians about the chronological order of the day of the Lord. “Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God” (2 Thes. 2:3-4).

The “falling away” are the English words used in the King James (and New K.J.) translation of verse 3. The Greek word is ‘aposasia’ and means apostasy, rebelling, or departure. The root word from which it comes, ‘aphistemi,’ means to withdraw or remove. There are two theories on what this falling away or departure means in relation to the timing of the day of the Lord. The first theory is that there will be a great falling away or departure from the faith in the Lord before the Antichrist is revealed.

The second theory is that the falling away/departure will not be spiritually but physically, as in the rapture of the Church. Those who claim that the falling away is the Rapture believe that these verses back it up: “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. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming” (2 Thes. 2:7-8).

The “He who restrains” is the 3rd Person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. He will be removed (partially), or taken out of the way when the church is raptured. Unrepentant mankind will then reap what they sow…the whirlwind (chaos and destruction)!

Soon after the Rapture, the Antichrist will be revealed by his confirming a 7-year covenant with Israel and the many. When he breaks the covenant at the mid-point of the covenant and proclaims he is God, there will be no doubt he is the Antichrist. Because the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of the power of Satan, and he can perform miracles, signs, and lying wonders, the unrighteous will fall for his unrighteous deception because they did not receive the love of the truth that they might be saved.

“And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness” (2 Thes. 2:11-12).

The unbelievers who are left behind after the Rapture will continue in their sin of unbelief and will not accept the truth regarding Jesus and the Rapture. Instead, they will believe in the lies, deceptions, and signs of the Antichrist and the false prophet and will share in the fate of the unholy trinity… Satan, Antichrist, and false prophet.

In 1 Corinthian 2, Paul speaks about a mystery of a wisdom of God that has been hidden throughout the ages. “But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory” (1 Cor. 2:7-8).

Paul’s reference to the “rulers of this age” is not to the Romans or the High Priest in Jerusalem, but to Satan and his demons.

Jesus called Satan the prince of this world three times in the book of John (12:31, 14:30, 16:11). Paul called him the god of this age in 2 Cor. 4:4. Paul is saying that if Satan and his minions (both demonic and human) knew what the consequences of Jesus’ death were (salvation to all believers, both Jews and Gentiles), they would have done everything possible to prevent the crucifixion. By resurrecting many saints at the time of his resurrection (Matthew 27:52-53), Jesus proved He was the Son of God and had power over life and death for all of mankind.

Once Jesus arose on the third day, Satan realized he was a defeated foe. This realization was probably accompanied by a memory; a memory of long ago (about 4,000 years) in the garden of Eden when God gave the very first prophecy after the fall of mankind. “And I [God] will put enmity between you [Satan] and the woman, and between your seed [the Antichrist] and her Seed [Jesus, the Son of man]; He [Jesus, the Son of God] shall bruise your head, and you [Satan] shall bruise His [Jesus’] heel” (Genesis 3:15).

Yes, Satan had (only) bruised the Son of man’s heel due to the resurrection of Jesus on the third day. Jesus will destroy the Antichrist, and eventually, Satan will be cast alive into the Lake of fire (with the Antichrist and false prophet). The evil one knew at this point that God’s prophecy will be completely fulfilled, and he will eventually be destroyed. He knows God’s word will always come true, and yet he tries in vain to prove God a liar. He has undertaken an impossible task… a fool’s errand, for God cannot lie. He is the embodiment of truth.

This is another reason why Jesus never taught on the doctrine of the Rapture before the church was established and the Holy Spirit given. Jesus did not want Satan to know about the supernatural beginning of the church (with the giving of the Holy Spirit to believers), and he certainly didn’t want him to know about the church’s supernatural end at the “catching up” of both the living and dead in Christ at the Rapture. A good general never gives away his battle plan.

Paul, quoting Isaiah, had this to say about what the future holds for those who put their faith in Jesus Christ: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him” (1 Cor. 2:9).

I think Paul is referring to the many mansions [in the New Jerusalem] Jesus was talking about in John 14:2, where He will take us to after the Rapture. I actually like the way Isaiah put it: “For since the beginning of the world, men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, nor has the eye seen any God besides You, who acts for the one who waits for Him [at the Rapture?]. You meet him [in the air?] who rejoices and does righteousness [Christians?], who remembers You in Your ways” (Isaiah 64:4-5).

Isaiah didn’t know about the doctrine of the Rapture; however, he was aware of the rewards for those righteous saints who obey the word of the Lord.

Of course, once Paul revealed the mystery of the Rapture to the apostles and the rest of the world, Satan became aware of it as well. Satan, like the rest of mankind, doesn’t know the day or hour of the Rapture. All he knows for sure is that it will precede the end-times judgments and will take place when the church reaches its full number (per Romans 11:25). Only God knows what that number is. All Satan can do is play defense and try to keep as many people as possible from hearing and responding to the gospel. He also creates division in the church regarding doctrine and the timing (or belief) of the Rapture.

After the Rapture, Satan and his seed, the Antichrist, will play their part in God’s unfolding drama (plan) known as Jacob’s trouble. They will not be able to escape their fate when they encounter the Son of God, Jesus Christ, as He returns to the earth as King of Kings and Lord of Lords.

There is more to come regarding Paul and his revelations, including the Rapture, in part III.

Randy Nettles

nettlesr@suddenlink.net

Endnotes: Every Prophecy of the Bible by John F. Walvoord, published by David C Cook, pgs. 474-475

 

A One-World Religion. Sounds exciting and promising, doesn’t it? After all, in our world today, there are some estimates of over 30,000 Protestant denominations worldwide, so this promise of a global faith means that we will all get along… right?

Well, maybe not, but more on that in a bit. While that number of 30,000+ Protestant denominations has been hotly contested, with some stating there are only 9,000 Protestant denominations worldwide, that is still a huge number of churches with varying interpretations of the Bible and, sometimes, vastly different methods and traditions on how to worship God. So how could anyone pull all of us together to worship in one accord? Who could perform that miracle, and has it already begun?

We’ll talk more about the “who” in a bit, but let’s take a look at the “how” first and see if it has already begun in our churches today. The first thing we have to understand is that the One-World Church does not worship the God of Holy Scriptures who sent His Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and rise again as payment for our sins and who will be sending His Son again soon – very soon. In fact, the False Prophet directs all to bow down and worship the AntiChrist.

Paul writes in his first letter to Timothy, “Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron” (I Timothy 4:1-2, KJV). Are we seeing this in the churches today?

1. “Some Shall Depart from The Faith”

There are so many examples of this today, it is a challenge to know where to start. An article I read recently states that according to a poll by Probe Ministries, “70% of Christians believe other religions can lead to heaven, too,” thus denying the foundation of true Christianity, that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life and the only way to salvation.

This pluralism, the belief that there are many roads to salvation and not just through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, is pervasive, has infected many of our churches today, and is one of the steps leading to this false religion of the Tribulation. Satan has to first convince the church that Jesus is only “one of many” ways to salvation, thereby perverting the truth of Holy Scripture.

Of course, this pluralism isn’t anything new. It has, in fact, been going on for some time. But it is only in the last few decades that it has become so pervasive and so blatant. Reverend William Swing, the Episcopal Bishop of San Francisco, hosted a meeting at Stanford University in 1997. Delegates numbering in the hundreds, from churches and religious organizations all over the world, attended to begin drafting a charter for an “international interfaith institution to be called The Organization of United Religions.”

Also in 1997, many of those same people gathered in Melbourne, Australia, for a conference on religion and cultural diversity. At the end of the conference, it was agreed that the one cardinal sin was “absolutism,” or the belief that there is only one way to salvation.

One of the most popular workshops at this conference was led by an ordained Christian minister, Dr John Bodycomb OAM, at that time a full-time chaplain at the University of Melbourne. The workshop titled “Religious Fundamentalism” was an all-out attack on those of us who believe in the inerrancy of the Bible, calling “Christians who believe in the Bible and embrace creationism as “mean-spirited.” He also called them “authoritarian and dictatorial,” “violent,” “aggressive,” “pathological,” and “dangerous.” He characterized them as people who are incapable of independent thinking and who “brandish their floppy Bibles like weapons.”

There is much more that could be written about this organization and this evil that is penetrating even the deepest wells of religion across our globe today, but let’s move to the current time when the most blatant example of this pluralism is being built.

The headline on the Vatican News reads, “Abrahamic Family House in Abu Dhabi to open in 2022,” and the opening sentence proclaims this as, “The cultural landmark in the UAE capital, which includes a synagogue, a church and a mosque, is meant to be a beacon of understanding and peaceful coexistence, inspired by the Document on Human Fraternity.”

This “beacon of understanding and peaceful coexistence” has been brought about largely through the joint efforts of Pope Francis and a Sunni Muslim, Grand Imam Ahmed el-Tayeb of al-Azhar, who also co-authored the “Document on Human Fraternity” on February 4, 2019. Reading through this document is enlightening, and I highly recommend it. It can be found here: https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/travels/2019/outside/documents/papa-francesco_20190204_documento-fratellanza-umana.html

While God is mentioned several times in this document, co-authored by the head of the Catholic church, there is not one mention of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. It should also be noted that the church that is a part of this three-pronged complex on the island in Abu Dhabi cannot display the cross, as it is illegal to display any Christian symbols in the UAE.

While all this “peace and understanding” sounds nice, remember Paul’s words to the church at Ephesus, “Let no man deceive you with vain words: for because of these things cometh the wrath of God upon the children of disobedience. Be not ye therefore partakers with them. For ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light: (For the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness and righteousness and truth;) Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:6-11, KJV).

2. “Giving Heed to Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils” In Church History

Throughout church history, there have been periods of time when the church was influenced, indeed changed by worldly constructs, concepts, and beliefs. A few examples of those times are listed below.

1. Arianism – Arius, a prominent leader of the Church of Alexandria in Egypt, denied the dual nature of Christ as both man and God. Arius was a talented man and a gifted promoter of his pronouncements, who used songs and easily remembered sayings to convince many that Christ was not God. It wasn’t until 325 AD, when Emperor Constantine summoned all Christian bishops to Rome, that Arianism, which had by that time spread worldwide, was overcome. It was at this Council of Nicaea that the Divinity of Christ became a foundational tenet of the church.
2. The Crusades – While many have been taught that the Crusades were about bringing others, mainly Muslims, to Christ, history shows us that wasn’t the primary focus. By the 11th century, the Islamic empire had spread and had captured the Holy Land. The beginning of the Crusades was to take back the Holy Land, not to win souls to Christ. It could be argued that there were many benefits to the Crusades – it sparked an interest in education across the Middle East, which may have led to the Renaissance, it improved trade routes, and it expanded the power and reach of the Roman Catholic Church.
3. The “Holy Inquisition” – led by the Roman Catholic Church, the period of the Inquisitions was characterized by mass murders, horrors in enslavement, and torture during the Middle Ages.
4. Apartheid – Primarily led by the Dutch Reformed church, apartheid enforced segregation against non-whites in South Africa in the mid-20th century.

Although the non-whites were the majority of the population, they were forced to live in separate areas, use separate public facilities, and worship separately from whites. It wasn’t until President F.W. de Klerk’s administration in the 1990s that those racial laws were repealed and their constitution rewritten. Nelson Mandela and President F.W. de Klerk were both later awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in overcoming apartheid.

1933. Prohibition – The 18th Amendment of the United States, ratified on January 16, 1919, and put in effect one year later, prohibited the sale and import of alcoholic beverages from 1920 to 1933. This movement was largely invoked by mainly Protestant social leagues, such as The American Temperance Society, founded in 1826, which led to other powerful social influences, such as the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, founded in 1873.

While the goal may have been admirable – to remove the negative results of drunkenness – the methodology and the purpose itself was carnal and led to a false belief that alcoholic beverages are banned, or called a sin, in the Bible. That’s just simply not so. Remember, Jesus himself turned water into wine at the wedding, causing the host of the wedding to remark to the bridegroom, “And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now” (John 2:10, KJV).

This belief that drinking any alcoholic beverage is a sin is one that has lingered even to this day, especially among my own denomination, the Southern Baptists. Growing up, I remember hearing the old saying that “any lips that touch (wine, whiskey, beer – just fill in the blank) will never touch mine.”

While we are admonished in the Bible not to give into drunkenness, there are many verses in the Bible that show how wine is actually a blessing to us. “He causeth the grass to grow for the cattle, and herb for the service of man: that he may bring forth food out of the earth; And wine that maketh glad the heart of man, and oil to make his face to shine, and bread which strengtheneth man’s heart” (Psalm 104:14-15, KJV).

In fact, I would daresay that wine will be served at that wedding feast in Heaven when the Church is raptured. “And in this mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feast of fat things, a feast of wines on the lees, of fat things full of marrow, of wines on the lees well refined” (Isaiah 26:6, KJV).

1. Slavery and segregation in the south – While slavery and segregation were not introduced by the church, religious leaders of the time actually justified slavery and the slave trade by stating that these slave owners and traders were performing a noble Christian act by converting and enslaving Africans. Nearly a century after slavery was abolished, “less than two dozen of the South’s 100,000 white churches were known to have any Black members.” In 1957, Dr. John Buchanan, a prominent pastor and Man of the Year in Birmingham, Alabama, defended racial division and told the Birmingham News, “[T]he good Lord set up the customs and practices of segregation.”

While the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was not founded by a church, but by Confederate veterans of the Civil War in Pulaski, TN, in 1865, it was Protestant activists around Atlanta that saw its resurgence in 1915.

Were each of these periods of history the result of “seducing spirits”? That’s hard to say since most of the leaders of these various organizations are long gone, and it is difficult now to fully determine what their motivations and/or inspirational sources were. What each of these do have in common, however, is a reliance on government, or human authority, rather than God to solve the ills of society, and that is a trend that continues to this day. You cannot legislate morality or force anyone to follow God. It is and has to be a personal choice.

3. “Giving Heed to Seducing Spirits and Doctrines of Devils” In the Church Today

Studying church history is always interesting and can bring current issues within the church into clearer focus, but it doesn’t give the whole picture of where we are today. Are there “seducing spirits” in the church today?

1. “My Body – My Rights”

In popular culture today, there seems to be this concept of individual freedom without accountability that pervades our society. It denies individual responsibility or accountability, yet at the same time claims any and all “individual rights.” A good example of this is the current attitude towards abortion.

The first birth control clinic, opened at a time when birth control by any means was illegal in the United States, was opened in Brooklyn, NY, in 1916 by the Planned Parenthood Association, founded by Margaret Sanger. It was only open 9 days before police shut it down, but Margaret Sanger didn’t stop there. And today, the Planned Parenthood Association claims they and their affiliates operate more than 600 health clinics nationwide.

While the word “abortion” is not mentioned in the Bible, there are many verses about the sacredness of life and when, in God’s view, life begins. God tells the prophet Jeremiah, “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” (Jeremiah 1:5, KJV). So God knew Jeremiah before he was even formed in his mother’s womb, which would seem to indicate that Jeremiah’s life began even prior to conception.

David, in one of his Psalms, proclaims that God knew him before he was even born. “For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them” (Psalm 139:13,16, KJV).

There are many more Scriptures that could be quoted, giving evidence to 1) what God sees as the beginning of life and 2) the sacredness of life to God, but this document is not intended as a treatise on the pros and cons of abortion. The question here is, are churches today being influenced by “seducing spirits”?

The United Methodist Church, in their Book of Discipline, supports abortion in limited circumstances. “We recognize tragic conflicts of life with life that may justify abortion, and in such cases, we support the legal option of abortion under proper medical procedures by certified medical providers.” In that same paragraph, they also state, “We cannot affirm abortion as an acceptable means of birth control, and we unconditionally reject it as a means of gender selection or eugenics (see Resolution 3184).”

In a “Report of the Special Committee on Problem Pregnancies,” copyrighted in 1992, the Presbyterian Church of the USA concluded, among other statements, “The considered decision of a woman to terminate a pregnancy can be a morally acceptable, though certainly not the only or required, decision. Possible justifying circumstances would include medical indications of severe physical or mental deformity, conception as a result of rape or incest, or conditions under which the physical or mental health of either woman or child would be gravely threatened.”

It should be noted that it is recognized within the medical community that few if any abortions are necessary to save the life of the mother. Alan Guttmacher, a former President of the Planned Parenthood Association, has been quoted: “Today it is possible for almost any patient to be brought through pregnancy alive unless she suffers from a fatal disease such as cancer or leukemia, and if so, abortion would be unlikely to prolong, much less save the life of the mother.”

1. Everett Koop, M.D., former U.S. Surgeon General, stated, “Protection of the life of the mother as an excuse for an abortion is a smokescreen. In my 36 years in pediatric surgery, I have never known of one instance where the child had to be aborted to save the mother’s life.”

While these two churches accept abortion as a solution under limited circumstances, at least two other religious organizations accept it, with minimal or no restrictions. The United Church of Christ states, “After the Supreme Court decision in 1972, Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in the U.S., the UCC has joined with other faith groups to protect women’s equal and fair access to abortion and family planning which have been under attack consistently.” This clearly states their support for “woman’s choice” as to when to have children, how many to have, and the means of controlling those choices.

The Unitarian Universalist Association has also clearly stated its support for “woman’s choice” in its 1987 General Resolution: “THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1987 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association reaffirms its historic position, supporting the right to choose contraception and abortion as legitimate aspects of the right to privacy.”

The sanctity of life and when life begins are very clearly put forth in the scriptures. Whenever common culture goes against the Bible, it is up to us, as His children, to proclaim His Word and not be followers of this world.

1. His and Hers

The World Health Organization has redefined gender in today’s world. Divorcing “gender” from anatomical sexual characteristics, they have stated, “Gender identity exists on a spectrum” and “Sexual orientation is distinct from gender identity.” They further state that our perception of gender “typically aligns with the socially constructed binary of masculine and feminine forms of expression,” implying that gender is a social concept defined by man and not a spiritual concept defined by God.

This has pervaded our culture to the point where it is now frowned upon to look at gender as a binary – either male or female – construct. In a recent headline, a freshman football player was suspended from one game after stating that he believes in only two genders. The statement was apparently made on the school bus and, again, in a private text communication with another student, off school grounds.

This belief in a non-binary gender identity is even impacting how public facilities are labeled and used. In an article published on the website for the National Center for Biotechnology Information, it is argued that His and Hers restrooms have “sparked controversy to the extent that transgender people face embarrassment and even expulsion from these spaces. The lack of access of the transgender population to public restrooms has a negative impact on the physical and mental health of this population.”

Regardless of how the world defines it, we as Christians need to look at it from the biblical definition. Did God define gender? Verses in Genesis would seem to indicate so. “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them” (Genesis 1:26-27, KJV).

Jesus responded to the Pharisees when they tried to tempt him on the coasts of Judaea with the question, “Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause?” (Matthew 19:3, KJV). Jesus responded, “And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder” (Matthew 19:4-6, KJV, emphasis added).

While this concept of multiple genders has pervaded our culture, and it is clearly countered in the scriptures, the question here is: has this concept pervaded our churches? The answer is yes, it has.

In a recent announcement, the Reformed Church in America, a nearly 400-year-old denomination, has announced that it will be reorganized due to differences over LGBTQ ordination and same-sex marriages.

The Alliance of Baptists, formerly a part of the Southern Baptist Convention, adopted a “Statement on Same-sex Marriages” at their annual convention in 2004, held in Dayton, Ohio. This statement had the following bullet points:

• Supported equality in marriage for both opposite-sex and same-sex couples throughout the U.S.
• Opposed the proposed Federal Marriage Amendment which would restrict marriage to opposite-sex couples.

Earlier this year, in March ’21, the conservatives within the United Methodist Church announced their plans to break away from the United Methodist Church over disagreement with the current ordination of LGBTQ ministers and recognition of same-sex marriages.

There are more examples that could be cited, but we’ll leave it here.

There can be no question that this concept of multiple genders, which is contrary to biblical teaching, has invaded and is significantly impacting the church today.

1. Social Justice

We all want justice, right? We know our God is a just God, and we all strive to be more like Him, so why would we not strive to achieve social justice?

Well, as Voddie Baucham says, “I don’t think it means what we think it means.” In fact, Voddie Baucham does such an excellent job of explaining what it means that I highly recommend this video (“Biblical justice vs Social justice,” Voddie Baucham, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i60eQZPG5XM, February 18, 2021).

Social justice means a justice that is equitably (though not necessarily equally) distributed, where those with more – opportunity, wealth, and/or privileges – have those things taken away and given to those with less, usually by a state or governing authority.

I am a Christian, born-again, and have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, so I have no issue with sharing whatever I have with those in need. In fact, the Bible tells us that pleases God, “But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased” (Hebrews 13:16, KJV).

We are also told that, in giving, we receive as much and more than we give, “Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again” (Luke 6:38, KJV).

So giving and sharing is a basic tenet of Christianity. But that giving and sharing is from one to another, as needs arise. It is giving and sharing freely, not imposed by government or men’s authority. Taking from one and giving it to another by government is stealing, to put it bluntly. The real danger is that those in authority will be inclined, given human nature, to take from their enemies and give to their friends, regardless of needs or equality. In fact, that is exactly what has happened in those countries where socialism has taken over – the balance of power, privileges, and wealth were taken from one group and given to another group, but not always fairly and almost never equally.

Instead of removing the oppressors and raising up the oppressed, what socialism has accomplished is actually just swapping those roles – making the oppressed the new oppressors and the old oppressors the new oppressed.

The question here is whether this has permeated our churches, and the answer has to be an unequivocal “yes.”

Perhaps the most obvious example of this is the National United Methodist Church’s home page, where they proclaim, “At National UMC, we are…Passionate about Social Justice” (https://nationalchurch.org/) over an image of clear blue skies with the LGBTQ flag waving in the background. Again, to quote Voddie Baucham, “I don’t think this means what we think it means.”

Social justice, while sounding like a good and positive thing, is not biblical justice. Social justice is built on the concepts of critical race theory and intersectionality, neither of which are biblical concepts. Social justice attempts to define us by what group we are in, but God deals with each of us individually. He knows us and has known us since before we were even formed in our mother’s womb. Social justice looks at our outward appearance. God ignores the outward appearance and looks at our heart.

Don’t be deceived by nice-sounding phrases, as many of our churches are today. Go first to God’s Word and let His voice guide you.

The One-World Church, during the time of the Tribulation, is led by the False Prophet, as described in Revelation:

“And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men” (Revelation 13:11-13, KJV).

This second beast is given powers just like the beast that precedes him – the AntiChrist – and his primary purpose is to lead all to worship that first beast. He is able to perform great wonders, even causing the idol, or image of the first beast that will be created, to speak. “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed” (Revelation 13:15, KJV).

It is he, the False Prophet, who brings about and forces upon all mankind the infamous “mark of the beast.” “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six” (Revelation 13:16-18, KJV).

We do not know, as of this writing, who the False Prophet will be, just as we do not yet know the identity of the Anti-Christ, and we won’t know until the signing of that seven-year peace treaty with Israel, signaling the beginning of the Tribulation.

If you are reading this today and you have not yet given your life to Christ, then I beg you, please do it now. It doesn’t matter what sins you have committed in the past. It doesn’t matter what lifestyle you have lived. It doesn’t matter how unworthy you may think you are.

God meets us where we are. He called me back after 25 years of living in sin, doing whatever my heart desired, and ignoring the truth I would find in His words. He knew where I had been, but He also knew where I could go with His guidance. He knows where you have been, too, and He knows what you can accomplish for His glory, with His love, mercy, and forgiveness overflowing and surrounding you.

Susan Mouw, Author

The Road to the Cross
Go Set A Watchman
(Coming soon) As In the Days of Noah
Website: roadtothecross.org