General Articles

The Lost :: By Jim Towers

Published on: by RR7

I awakened to sweet music playing on my clock radio, as I always do, and I thanked God for the good and complete rest I had just had. Then I opened the blinds to a marvelous morning and asked our Father to direct me to others in need of salvation, prayer or help along life’s way.

With the Covid fiasco fading (and other more serious viral infections being perpetrated in other parts of the world), we here in South Florida are now able to get out and about without the government breathing down the back of our necks, and so I took off for my ministry station – the fishing pier. But before I headed there, I bought a can of sardines, crackers, and a coke at a nearby store to have for lunch while at the pier, at the little shelter about halfway to the far end.

As I pulled out of the store, there was a sorrowful-looking older woman standing nearby holding a sign made from a cardboard flap that had one word emblazoned across the front – hungry. I stopped and rolled down the window as she came over to the car. The first thing I asked before I handed her the ten-dollar bill was, “Do you need prayer?” She didn’t hesitate. “Do I ever!” and she proceeded to tell me the story of her present condition. I didn’t try to stop her since I know that people in her situation often need solace and someone to listen to their plight. I made the prayer short and sweet (no showboating- it was the right thing to do.) I gave her the money and left her with a smile on her face.

And so, I made my way down to my most favorite place in the world, but not without slight trepidation upon bumping into Bill again. Bill is a collector of knives and always has at least two on his person, especially on the pier. The extremely sharp one is to fillet fish with, and He is very deft with that razor-sharp implement. As a matter of fact, I filmed a short video of him a while back filleting a Mackerel with swift and deliberate strokes only a pro could execute.

In any case, the last time I talked to Bill, I had paid him a visit at his condo to share the good news of the Gospel with him, and my visit ended with him telling me that he wasn’t interested, as he was reading a treatise written by an atheist on the foolishness of being a believer in Christ. I figured that would be the last I would speak to him and that the next time he might even attack me with his fillet knife since atheists can be a little violent when provoked. But after thinking it over and since it was such a beautiful day, I decided to go to the pier anyway. So off I went.

After finishing my lunch, I got up to make my way toward the other end of the pier, looking down over the railing at the beautiful blue water as I made my way slowly, hoping to spot a fish or two. (I once saw a three-hundred-pound grouper come up and swallow a smaller fish whole. It was the biggest fish I ever saw.)

All at once, I heard a familiar voice call out, “HEY JIM, where have you been?” There was Bill, standing in front of me. “Come sit with me,” he implored. So, I sat with him on one of the many benches that dot the pier.

“Bill, how have you been?” I asked.

“The day after I saw you when you visited me, I was admitted into the hospital. I was there for days…. I thought I was dying. It’s so good to see you!”

I couldn’t help but believe God was trying to get his attention after our little visit.

We shared pleasantries and said our goodbyes, but just before he left, I asked if he would like me to pray for him. He responded with, “I may be an atheist, but I’ll take a prayer anytime.” (Actually, I think he’s an agnostic.)

That’s what I like about being a one-on-one evangelist – the challenge and resulting surprises.

Since I love the ministry of reaching out to others, I’ve made a determination that I will also focus on the Millennials after finding that they enjoy listening to me and my encouraging words. (People love talking about themselves, about their hopes and dreams, and I’m garnering younger people as acquaintances as well.)

With multitudes dying in their sins and with the upcoming generations having lost all sense of purpose and direction in life, we can only expect that full-blown apostasy will prevail in the days ahead.

According to a survey, Millennials are “far more likely” than other generations to:

  • Define success in life as happiness, personal freedom, or productivity without oppression.
  • Consider an abortion performed to reduce personal economic or emotional discomfort to be morally acceptable.
  • Consider premarital sex with someone expected to be their future spouse to be morally acceptable.
  • Deem reincarnation a real possibility.
  • Be liberal regarding fiscal and social policies.
  • Champion liberal theology.
  • Be among the “Don’ts”—people who either do not know if God exists, do not believe that He exists, or do not care if He exists.

The nexus to this problem is that with such an attitude and mindset – truly the time of God’s wrath and tribulation period are close at hand. Albeit, we shouldn’t be surprised since so many so-called believers were worshiping idols of flesh and blood and paid little or no attention to the demonic indoctrination that was happening to our prodigy on all sides.

Young people cannot think for themselves; their brains aren’t yet fully developed, and they haven’t yet learned from experience the things they will be facing in the future. They need guidance and correction, and we foolishly only gave them encouragement to think for themselves and let them play video games endlessly while taking no thought for tomorrow.

YBIC

Jim Towers You can write me at jt.filmmaker@yahoo.com and visit me at www.dropzonedelta.com or visit my website www.propheticsignsandwonders.com

Antichrist a Reincarnation? :: By Terry James

Published on: by RR7

My just-released novel, MICHAEL: Last-Days Lightning, which all too briefly, but nonetheless, thankfully, went to number one in Christian fiction on Amazon, has sparked the beginning of a follow-up novel. I’ve tentatively given the next novel the title MESSIAH: The Prince That Shall Come.

The story will build on the protagonist’s experiencing Bible prophecy fulfillment while in a state of having dreams and visions as the result of a serpent bite he received while he was on the Island of Patmos. MESSIAH will deal with Antichrist coming to power as the world’s greatest deceiver.  This understanding is based upon Jesus’ words:

I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. (John 5:43)

Lord willing, the novel will be the third of the books that began with REVELATIONS: The Rapture Generation, in which Tyce Grayson received that snake bite.

The purpose of mentioning all of that—along with, of course, admittedly hoping to promote the novels—is that while researching for writing the third novel, I cogitated on some things about the Antichrist I’ve often wondered about over the years.

One of the primary things that has piqued my thinking—and imagination—is that there are two people in God’s Word who are given the title “son of perdition.”

British theologian Arthur W. Pink (1886–1952) more or less framed the idea that provided impetus for my thinking.

As we have seen, in John 17:12 Christ termed Judas “the Son of Perdition,” and 2 Thess.2:3 we find that the Antichrist is similarly designated—“That Man of Sin be revealed, the Son of Perdition.” These are the only two places in all the Bible where his name occurs, and the fact that Judas was termed by Christ not a “son of perdition,” but “the Son of Perdition,” and the fact that the Man of Sin is so named prove that they are one and the same person. What other conclusion can a simple and unprejudiced reader of the Bible come to? (from The Antichrist, by A. W. Pink, https://www.ccel.org/ccel/p/pink/antichrist/cache/antichrist.pdf)

Pink went on to write that he believed Antichrist, the son of perdition, will be a reincarnated individual. There isn’t sufficient space in this commentary to totally explain his thinking, but I recommend that you read at the link given above if you’re interested in why he believed this.

I can’t fully embrace this notion because of my bias against the belief in reincarnation by those held by Hindus in India and other places, and the fact that God’s Word says it is appointed unto man once to die, then comes the judgment.

That steels the notion against reincarnation in my mind, but leaves open the possibility for a return from the dead in the case of this one man—Judas Iscariot, who was apparently lost from the beginning, according to Jesus Himself in His prayer as recorded by John:

While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled. (John 17: 12)

I, nor anyone, can fully explain to my satisfaction why Judas went to “his own place” upon death, or why he was apparently instructed by Jesus to do what he was supposed to do at the Last Supper—i.e., go betray the Lord to the Judaizers and the Romans. We see these strange things in the following verses:

And after the sop Satan entered into him. Then said Jesus unto him, That thou doest, do quickly. (John 13: 27)

After Judas committed suicide, the disciples sought to replace him as the twelfth member of their group with one of two other men. They wanted the now resurrected and ascended Jesus to tell them what to do.

And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou hast chosen, That he may take part of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place. (Acts 1:24–25)

We come then back to Arthur Pink’s statement that both Judas Iscariot and the one who will be Antichrist are called not “a” son of perdition, but “the” son of perdition. These are the only two who are so-designated as this evil individual.

Pink goes on, in depth, to point out that Judas was called by Jesus “devil.”

Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil? He spake of Judas Iscariot the son of Simon: for he it was that should betray him, being one of the twelve. (John 6: 70–71)

This, Pink believed, meant that Judas was so possessed by a supernatural evil spirit–by Satan himself—that he was lost without chance of redemption. This certainly seems to be the case, considering the total context of what we know about Judas Iscariot and about salvation as given in God’s Word.

The key word in the matter seems to me to be the word “men.” Was Judas a “man” at the time of his accepting the sop given by Jesus,? Or was he something other?

We look again at the Scripture verse about death and judgment:

And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment. (Hebrews 9: 27)

Yet Judas Iscariot died, by his own hand, and went to “his own place.” Still, he is “the son of perdition”—same as Antichrist’s designation. Not “a” son of perdition, but “the” son of perdition.

Further, Pink writes the following.

It is hardly necessary to say that in the Greek there are two different words for “Devil” and “demon.” There are many demons, but only one Devil. Further, in no other passage is the word “devil” applied to any one but to Satan himself. Judas then was the Devil incarnate, just as the Lord Jesus was God incarnate. Christ Himself said so, [as recorded in John 6:70–71] and we dare not doubt His word. (Ibid.)

Pink then refers to the following Scripture to round out his thinking on the matter of Judas Iscariot being one and the same as the future Antichrist—a reincarnation, of sorts.

The Beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the Bottomless Pit, and go into perdition. (Revelation 17:8)

He points out that most expositors of his time held that Revelation 17:11 referred to the final form of Rome as the last world empire over which Antichrist will rule. But his implication was that they denied that an actual being will come from the bottomless pit as that Antichrist character (verse 8). Pink maintains that it is Judas Iscariot in a reincarnation. But it is a supernatural man, indwelt by an evil spirit like no other.

He writes:

 In Matt.12:43 the Antichrist is called “The Unclean Spirit,” not merely an unclean spirit, but “the Unclean Spirit.”…

[In] the writer’s mind there is no doubt whatever that none other than the Beast is here in view. If this be the case, then we have further evidence that the coming One will be no mere man indwelt by Satan, but a fallen angel, an evil spirit, the incarnation of the Devil. (Ibid.)

I’m not at all sure about the term reincarnation in this case. There certainly is something profound connecting Judas Iscariot and the one who will be Antichrist, however. This “beast” will be wounded as unto death, then supposedly brought back to life at the midpoint of the Tribulation—another strange element to consider.

My own thinking revolves around the prophecy that foretells the first and second beasts of Revelation being thrown directly in the lake of fire. They apparently get no time of judgment before the Great White Throne as do men of the human sort. These are apparently already judged. This, to me, means they might not be or any longer have human, redeemable traits, so are summarily cast into that final place of the damned. Nephilim? I don’t know, but it’s interesting to contemplate.

Bottom line is that if you don’t know Jesus Christ for salvation of your soul, you will end up in the place where these two beings, the Antichrist and the False Prophet, will spend all of eternity.

Here’s how to avoid their fate as well as the fate of Satan, who will be the third being thrown into that place of eternal punishment.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. (Romans 10:9–10)