General Articles

The Christmas Promise: Isaiah 9:6-7 :: By Sean Gooding

Published on: by RR7

“6 For unto us a Child is born, Unto us, a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 7 Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.”

Thanks for faithfully reading the lessons I have written over the years. This Christmas is 5 years that I have been having lessons published on Rapture Ready. It has been awesome to see what God has and is doing. As a church, we began this ministry about 11 years ago come January. We began with just 9 people getting the weekly email. By God’s power and His grace, we now mail the lessons out to hundreds, we have them published on Rapture Ready, and someone sent me a lesson of mine from another website that was getting to them somehow. To God be the glory.

Over the years He has given me helpers who edit and get them out. I wanted to say thank you to all who read, share and even critique me on the lessons. I have heard of people who have them printed and put in binders. One lady in Louisiana told me that she had the Revelation lesson printed and out in the open so that if someone broke in after the Rapture, they could read and learn what to expect. Wow!! I was caught off guard by that.

Why am I doing this and saying these things? Well, last night in our mid-week lesson on prayer, we were challenged to make one day, maybe each week or whenever, but often, a day for thanksgiving. We should have our eyes opened and be thanking the Lord for all of His blessings, no matter how small. So this is me thanking the Lord for allowing our church and me to have this writing ministry. We are humbled by His power and blessings and do not ever want to take anything for granted. We are a small church, just a handful of very dedicated people, and it is a testimony to the Lord’s power as to what has happened and the scope of the reach of this ministry. We literally get emails and communication from the ends of the earth, and we/I just wanted to say thank you, Lord!!

The next series of lessons we will embark on will be in the book of Esther. But for now, with the Christmas season upon us, I felt led to simply address this topic of Christmas today; and I am not sure how long we will deal with this, but as long as I feel led. I was just reading on Facebook a post from a friend where the Attorney General of Michigan was offended and upset that someone wished her and her son ‘Merry Christmas.’ Why not say just ‘Happy Holidays’? Her son apparently was a bit upset that someone wished them ‘Merry Christmas.’ Some of the responses to her tweet were not nice and frankly uncalled for. We have come to a sad place in our time and in our world that some would have a hard time accepting a greeting of ‘Merry Christmas.’ It offends them, and it would seem that some are deeply hurt by this.

I do not begrudge anyone their holy day. Here in Canada, we are surrounded by a myriad of religions, and on any given day, someone is celebrating something. No one asks the Muslims not to call it Ramadan, or no one asks the Jews not to call it Hannukah. We can go on, but I am sure that you get the point. Why then the attack on Christianity? I suggest to you that it is that they know the truth but refuse to submit to it since it will mean changing their whole world view.

One of the hardest things to teach to Christians is the reality of spiritual warfare. Not the spirits fighting in the Heavens or angelical wars going on that we cannot see, but spiritual warfare between humans — those that are on the side of Jesus and Light, and those on the side of Lucifer and darkness. They are both living by faith and trusting their God for the future, but only one side can be right. If Lucifer is right, then we who are on the side of Jesus are doomed, and vice-versa. There is an animosity that exists between the two sides that is palatable. I want you to be clear that those serving Satan are doing so with full conscience and total commitment. They are sadly tricked, as was Eve, thinking that Satan has something to offer them and that, somehow, he will defeat Yahweh, who made him.

Remember, Jesus called Satan the ‘father of lies’ (John 8:44). He has an army of evildoers who want to squash any mention of Jesus, any mention of Yahweh and the promise of salvation. Why? Because those who are exposed to the truth will soon be able to recognize lies. Once they recognize the lies, they can choose not to live in the lies any longer. There are very few real atheists. The vast majority of persons believe in some kind of supernatural being. Some trust in Jesus, others in Satan, and he comes in many forms. Allah is just Satan in disguise; Buddha is just Satan in disguise. I can go on, but you get the idea. All lying religions are just Satan in disguise.

Why then do they hate Christmas? Why? Well, let us look at the verses above for a few moments.

  1. The Child,

Jesus, the promised one from Genesis 3:15, the Seed of the woman who will crush the head of Satan, killing him. Well, if you are a worshipper of Satan, would you think it was a ‘Merry Christmas’? No, you would not. The whole world is celebrating the birth of the man who will destroy your leader and send you off to Hell. So, everybody please shut up with the Merry Christmas talk. No wonder it hurts them; they have to at least consider what will happen to them if Satan is defeated and killed.

This Child grew up to be a man, and He gave His life as a ransom for you and me. He took away our sins, and there is no longer any need for men to go to Hell. Salvation is paid for in the blessed blood of Jesus. You know what else they hate? that we don’t fear death. They can’t threaten us with death because we have eternal life. Now, I do not want to be tortured or to see my wife and kids hurt, but under the torture, under the hurt, under the temporary suffering, there is a Holy Spirit-powered hope that can get us through anything they can throw at us. Those who worship Satan certainly do not consider the birth of our Saviour a Merry occasion, but it is, and we just bubble over with it.

  1. The Government,

If Jesus is running everything, then Satan isn’t; and if that is the case, what of Satan’s followers? The followers of Satan want to run the government. They want to force evil on the masses as they are doing now. We have Federal Governments in North America that fund millions of abortions per year. For years, they’ve looked the other way at child sex trafficking and promoted women to have children out of wedlock so as to become more and more dependent on the Gov. The proliferation of drugs, brought in and distributed by massive drug cartels that have protection from the government, enslaves more and more people than ever before. Homosexuality and all kinds of sexual perversions are promoted by the media and the governments.

These people literally take a list of everything God calls evil and decide to make it righteous as far as man’s law is concerned. So, NO, they do not want to celebrate Christmas, the birth of the One who will bring in a righteous government, and evil will be evil and good will be good. They do not want us and anyone to celebrate the One who will arrest them and have them executed for evil. No, the birth of Jesus, the King of kings and Lord of lords, is not a joyous celebration for these rebellious men and women who think that they can shake their fists in Jesus’ face without consequence because they worship Satan, and he is their god. Little do they know that one day even Satan will bow to Jesus and confess Him as Lord. That will not be a merry day for many of these folks.

  1. The Forever,

Forever is a long time. Jesus will rule forever. These fools can only have temporary victories here on earth. Jesus will soon complete the crushing of Satan’s head and put that serpent, that snake, that deceiver, that charlatan in the Lake of Fire forever (see Revelation 20:11-15). If indeed it is a Merry Christmas for us, this is a reminder to them that their power is limited and temporary.

You know, as I write this, I can see more and more why Merry Christmas is so offensive to them; it must hurt to know that you are on the wrong side and that you have chosen the loser to follow. Sadly, many do not understand the love that Jesus has for them and that He will gladly redeem them if they will repent and turn to Him; then they too can be on the winning side. Pride will take many to Hell; they are full of pride and miss the grace of God. Sad.

We should pray for these folks to be saved, first of all, and to be voted out of office next. Then we should pray for Godly men to stand and run for office. Christians need to stop lamenting the change of our laws to liberal ones if they will not take the chance to run and be there to preserve righteous laws.

Jesus is the forever King, He is the forever Lord, He is the forever Righteous Ruler, and He is the Prince of Peace. He will bring in everlasting goodness. So, you see, it is hard for us not to wish you a Merry Christmas. We wish you to fall in love with the Child who grew up to be the man and took away our sins. We are Merry since we know that the corrupt governments of Canada and the USA and the whole earth are temporary, and one day we will live under righteous rule. And we are Merry because God has our forever secured.

Is your forever secured? You can only have security in Jesus. Merry Christmas!!

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

God gave the very first gift at Christmas, His only son, as a sacrifice for your sins and mine. Trust Jesus as Saviour, and you too will have a Merry Christmas.

God bless you,

Dr. Sean Gooding

Pastor of Mississauga Missionary Baptist Church

How to Connect with Us

On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MississaugaMissionaryBaptistChurch

Online: https://www.mississaugamissionarybaptistchurch.com/ (under construction)

Email: missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

Censorship Has Become Disgusting :: By Dennis Huebshman

Published on: by RR7

There was a post on Facebook on December 4, 2020, that had originally been posted on November 30, 2015. It was reposted now as a Christmas message for 2020. It is a poem that depicts Santa Claus talking to Jesus, and starts out, “My dear precious Jesus, I did not mean to take Your place.” The poem is not real lengthy but included such lines as, “I leave only a bag of toys and temporary joy for a season, but You leave a heart of love, full of purpose and reason.” It ends with, “And so my dear precious Jesus, I kneel here to pray, to worship, and adore You on this Your Holy Birthday.” (all emphasis is mine)

Sounds innocent enough, but what followed was disgusting. There was a place for a picture below the poem, but it had been “shadowed out” with the words “Sensitive content – This photo may show Violent or Graphic Content” imposed over the shadowed area. At the base of the frame, there is a tab that says, “see photo.” When this tab is activated, there is a famous painting of Santa Claus kneeling beside a manger with a baby in it, which obviously represents the Baby Jesus. It’s actually quite an inspirational scene.

But Sensitive? Violent? Graphic Content?? Only to Satan and all his demons and followers. Once again, the song by Barry McGuire comes to mind with the line, “And you tell me, over and over and over again, my friend; you don’t believe we’re on the Eve of Destruction!”

Before continuing, I did go to the Facebook page of the individual that originally posted the poem and picture, and the very first entry on his site is that picture, posted within the past day, that was not shadowed out but read “Merry Christmas” at the top and “Jesus is the Reason for the Season” across the bottom. Nowhere in his posts did I see anything that was remotely negative toward our Savior. It’s obvious the “shadowing” was done by Facebook. Welcome to the New World Order.

When Jesus, Paul, John, Peter and others spoke of what would be happening at the end of this age, we have right here a perfect example of what they were talking about. There is an obvious satanic attack taking place everywhere that we were warned would happen. This evil planet is being “prepped” for the appearance of the ultimate evil antichrist of the 7-year Tribulation. Many are being deceived and believe this is perfectly alright. Remember Isaiah 5:20-21; “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight.” This was written over 2,600 years ago, and represents today almost to the letter.

In Mathew 24:10, Jesus said that “many will fall away and betray one another, and hate one another.” He talks about false prophets that will arise, and many people will be “led astray.” He had no illusions about what would be taking place in our time. After all, He is God (John 1:1; John 10:30).

Moving on to 2 Timothy 3, Paul tells us in verse 1 “…that in the last days, there will come times of difficulty.” He then goes on listing numerous negative traits that will be prevalent around this time.

Looking at 2 Peter 3, we are told that “scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing; following their own sinful desires.” A current dictionary definition of “scoffing” is “Contemptuously ridiculing or mocking someone or something.” Obvious question; do we see any of that in our world today? Obvious answer; you don’t have to look very far to find it.

In 1 John 2:15, the disciple tells us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him/her.” Going to verse 18, John tells us that “antichrists” were already in the world working Satan’s evil. This was about 2,000 years ago. The five chapters of 1 John have a wealth of good information just as the original epistle of John does. John 14:6; “And Jesus said to him, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me.” Then 1 John 5:12 (and also John 3:18) tells us, “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

There are other Bible authors that speak of the end times such as Daniel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah and others.

The line that will form at the Great White Throne of Revelation 20:11-15 adds more and more names every day. There will be a majority there of all who will ever have lived on this earth, from the beginning to the very end. Jesus spoke of the broad path that leads to destruction and many that will be on it; and the narrow path with the few that will find eternal life (Matthew 7:13-14). He also tells us in Luke 9:26, “For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words, of him/her the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father, and of the Holy Angels.”

In 2 Thessalonians 2:7, Paul gives us reason to start to get excited today. “For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work, Only He [Holy Spirit] who now restrains it [antichrist] will do so until He is out of the way.” After this, the lawless one can come forth, but not with any true believers that will be here when he starts his reign of evil.

With all the evil and unsettling activity that is happening, and just looking at the speed that it all has come about, we are seeing the New World Order’s advanced preparation to welcome their new leader. No one knows who he is right now, but soon it will become obvious. Also, what’s obvious is that the delusion of 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12 has started and will only grow stronger after we’re gone.

In order for the rapidly approaching Rapture to take place, God must keep His covenant to keep all true believers from entering the wrath that is to come. Each and every one of us is indwelt by the Holy Spirit, and when He is removed to allow the antichrist to come forth, we will be taken up to meet the Savior in the air when He calls for us. This is described in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 and 1 Corinthians 15:51-53.

At first, when we “disappear,” the world will most likely rejoice. There are already “answers” being prepared as to the reason for our disappearance. One is that a “cosmic force” will remove all the “evil haters,” as the world calls all Christians, so that this world can finally be happy. However, after a time, it will become obvious that there is a dictator in charge such as this world has never seen. He will exercise control over the whole planet, and by mid-tribulation will be indwelt by Satan himself. Especially vulnerable will be God’s chosen people (Jews) that were left behind, and anyone who wishes to call on Jesus to be their Savior. God will protect and preserve a “remnant” of His people, but according to Zechariah 13:8, two thirds will be “cut off and perish.”

All this major grief can be avoided by having Jesus as our Savior before the Rapture takes place. During the event itself, there will not be enough time to call out to be saved, as it will be over in less than one second or “in the twinkling of an eye.” The steps for Salvation are simple: admit we’re sinners in need of a Savior that gave the perfect sacrifice for us (Romans 3:23 and Romans 10:9-13). Believe and have faith that He is just who He says He is, and that God raised Him on that third day after His crucifixion to conquer sin and death for us. Call on Jesus to be your Savior.

Do not add or take away any of these simple steps. Once saved, you will begin a “relationship” with the Savior, and you too will start to get excited that we’re about to leave here. The word imminent is being used to describe when He will arrive for us. Also, we will be content that we will be leaving this “disgusting” world behind to start our forever with Jesus. You too will be saying:

Come, Precious Savior!

huebshman46@gmail.com