THE END-TIME MARK OF THE ANTICHRIST (V)

(…continued from part 4…)

(V)        The evil character of Daniel’s ‘abomination of the desolation’ can never be Antiochus Epiphanes, the vile Syrian king -as commentaries of J.F.B. and Albert Barnes point. John Gill’s slant towards Titus Flavius Vespasianus, the tyrannic Roman emperor, cannot be favoured, in view of the chronology of the one remaining week. Matthew Poole’s attempt to substitute Emperor Titus with Jesus is a complete “No, no!” It cannot be the jihadism of Mohammedism as Adam Clarke sees it. Of the seventy weeks of prophecy, the existential incarnation of Christ saw Him leaving the earth in the sixty-ninth week. He was to “finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy,” but, just one more week the Lord left in an ascension to heaven. Why? Jesus would not perpetrate any abominable evil. The ‘body that thou hast prepared me: (Hebrews 10:5)’ is a sown seed which must be allowed to fructify: The Church.

   The seventy weeks is purely soteriological, incarnational and a conscious, engendered intent to solidify the foundation for the Adamic emancipation from the destruction of the original sin. God must, ergo, be the actuating Actor of this event. It must be purely Jewish as well: for it says, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression (Daniel 9:24). Jesus, born a Jew, did not stay here to the end of the prophetic 70. Did He reject God’s will or did He honour it? We understand that Christ will never ever go against the Father’s will. John 10:30 “I and my Father are one.” 1John 5:7, “For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” Jesus honoured the will of the Father by suffering the Holy Spirit’s indwelling of the born again Christian, to birth the Church, the mystical body of Christ. “And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever” [John 14:16].

   Intercalation! That is what the Church age happens to be.

    Seven more years to go, and, He left. What did the wisdom of God do? He paused the seventy weeks; in-between it, He wisely sandwiched the Church age. The Temple worship thus suspended, the Holy Spirit left the holy of holies. The Temple worship was essentially rendered nugatory at the ascension of Jesus Christ. It is this suspension that negates the possibility of the final taskmaster of Israel to be any of Muhammad, Titus Flavius or Antiochus Epiphanes. Jesus said, “And the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come” [Matthew 24:14]. ‘World’ in this verse, is oikoumenē (oy-kou-men’-ay) ‘the whole inhabited earth; the world; the inhabitants of the earth; men; the universe; the world.’ The word ‘nations’, ethnos (eth’-nos), is: ‘a race (as of the same habit), that is, a tribe; (specifically) a foreign (non-Jewish) one (usually by implication pagan).’

                Contrary to the exposition of some commentaries, as these definitions have unraveled, the evangelism is not solely for the Jewish nation of her twelve tribes. It is for the entire races of the whole world. This evangelism is essentially the business of the born-again Christians. They will take the word of God to the whole wide world before the emergence of the Beast -son of perdition. His new world order of Nazification accounts for his bestiality. The word of God does not see him as an Adam. When the Church is translated a la rapture, the remaining seven paused years continues. So, we will not be here at all!

                Pauline exaltation says, “But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul” [Hebrews 10:39]. Who do not draw into perdition? Christians! The word ‘perdition,’ used by Jesus for Judas in John 17:12, and which Paul describes the Antichrist in 2Thessalonians 2:3, is apoleia (a-pō’-lei-a), meaning: ‘total destruction, ruin or loss (physical, spiritual or eternal).’ The great tribulation can never involve true Christians. It is meant for the unbelieving Israel and the Gentile nation that spurned the gospel that was preached throughout the world.

Folks, this is why you just must be born again (John 3:7) before your earthly time is up! Pray the prayer of all prayers: the one that gets you born again. Are you ready? It must come from the core of your heart, and believing every word. Here we go; say:

Dear heavenly Father, I come to you now, in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins. I believe that You raised Him from the dead (for my justification). I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!

. (…to be continued…)

Read part 4 here

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THE END-TIME MARK OF THE ANTICHRIST (IV)

The prince of this world is judged (John 16:11).

(…continued from part 3…)

(IV)      The rapture. It exempts the Christians from the great tribulation. Amen! Lego (le’-ğō), meaning: “1. (properly) to “lay” forth. 2. (figuratively) to relate. 3. (by implication) to mean;’ is the Greek word for ‘they shall say’ of 1Thessalonians 5:3. ‘Peace’ is eirene (ei-ree’-nee) ‘1. peace. 2. (by implication) prosperity;’ while ‘safety’ isasphaleia (a-sfa’-lei-a), meaning: ‘security.’ Why would Paul assure Christians in the succeeding 4^th and 5^th verses that the tribulation should not ‘overtake’ them? ‘Overtake’ of verse 4 is katalambanō (kat-al-am-ban’-o) ‘to lay hold of; to seize upon, take possession of; of evils overtaking one, of the last day overtaking the wicked with destruction, of a demon about to torment one.’

Emmaus bound disciples met with the risen Jesus

                                                                                                                                                               Reverend Chris Okotie taught that the three and half years of Jesus’ ministry will account for the first three and half years of the Antichrist. This happens to be the reason why he must of Divine decree, toe the line of peace, if the Antichrist must deceive the world of his salvific mission. Prophet Daniel asked “How long shall it be to the end of these wonders?” The next seventh verse of Daniel chapter 12 had the angelic answer, “for a time, times, and a half.” Three and half years! Revelation 12:14 “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.” Why should the fatidic ‘for a time, and times, and half a time’ be given in reference to the ‘woman’? It is simply because of what the ‘woman’ is; it is the Greek gune (ǰ ï-nee’) ‘a woman, (specially) a wife.’ Christians constitute the Bride of Christ, a woman. Revelation 11:3; 12:6 and 13:7 all point to an eschatological the three and a half years. 

                Of veridical perception is Satan’s title as the god of the world’s system. He wants to be worshipped. He will get this crave in the seven years of the tribulation. Revelation 13:15-17 “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. 16) 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. 17) 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.”

TRIBULATION!

                The verb, ‘causeth’ is poieo (poi-ye’-ō): ‘to make or do.’ It properly refers to a single act thus differing from prasso (pras’-sō): ‘1. to practice, i.e. perform repeatedly or habitually. 2. (by implication) to execute, accomplish, etc. 3. (specially) to collect (dues), fare (personally). Remember that Jesus teaches that when all these things are happening, it is really not the end. The taking of the mark of the Beast will be a one-time affair of after the rapture, and never, as the Scripture reveals, before we, the born-again Christians, are taken out of the turbulence, which will be wreaked upon the people who are left behind.

                The antichrist cannot exercise his wickedness on the Bride of Jesus. It will be tantamount to carrying out a physical sexual rape on God’s wife. Who will allow that? Certainly not God! The Antichrist cannot touch the Christians simply because we are the body of Christ, the Second Member of the Godhead. He has no authorization to touch us.    

We will be in heaven all through the (3 ½ years) of tribulation.

                We are the spiritual phenomenon! The physical representation of the Christ. How can we be subjected to bestial worship? It will be unfair to some of us who would lack enough faith to face the Antichrist. The truth is that our continued existence on earth together with this son of perdition will harm the lawless one, so, greatly. One angry effusive torrent of the glossolalia –ma so kakada na hashasha landia waka!– will blind and overwhelm him. His father, Satan, has no answer to what the Holy Spirit pours forth from our tongues! Two captains will not be suffered to dwell here at the same time. Heaven will be too happy to host us for just three and a half years.  

Folks, this is why you just must be born again (John 3:7) before your earthly time is up! Pray the prayer of all prayers: the one that gets you born again. Are you ready? It must come from the core of your heart, and believing every word. Here we go; say:

Dear heavenly Father, I come to you now, in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins. I believe that You raised Him from the dead (for my justification). I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!

. (…to be continued…)

Read part 3 here

Click here to read part 5

THE END-TIME MARK OF THE ANTICHRIST (III)

(…continued from part 2…)

(III)      Prophet Daniel was the first to reveal the emergence of the apotheotic Antichrist. “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings. 25) And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time” [Daniel 7:24-25]. This impiteous son of the incorrigible Lucifer will, in all probability, ostend a sadomasochistic proclivity. There is nothing stopping him from not being a homosexually oriented beast. He will mirror the egregious warped mentality of Satan, the Devil, his evil father. Isa 37:23; 2Thess 2:4; Rev 13:5; Rev 13:6; Rev 13:11.    

Daniel the prophetic interpreter of dreams

                Daniel 9:24 “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.” Seventy weeks turned out, prophetically, to be a day for one year. 70 times 7= 490 years. Do you know that exactly four hundred and eighty-three years of Daniel’s Prophecy, Jesus ascended unto heaven after resurrection? “Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times” [Daniel 9:25]. This comes to 69 weeks or (69 multiplied by 7) 483 years i.e. seven years short of the prophetic 70 weeks.

The Antichrist and his horned, deceptive prophet.

                He will champion a global armistice: the Antichrist. Prophet Daniel recorded this in the 27th verse of the 9th chapter of his Book, “And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.” Forsooth, I find it hard to believe that many Bible commentaries ascribe the actor of this covenant to Jesus, the Messiah. This is unquestionably the Antichrist. Remember the prophetic warning of Matthew chapter 24? Verse 15 reminds of Daniel’s “abomination of the desolation; verse 21 predicts “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Seven is the number of perfection: God’s number.

                One entity stands diametrically opposed to the Most High. His son of perdition is the consummate evil. Put together the cruel likes of Cain, Nimrod, Antiochus, Kali, Abacha, Idi Amin, Hitler and Nero. The aggregation of the evil proclivities of these people will not come close to 20% of this ultimate evil personified: the Antichrist. He will be given seven years to consummate the flagitious stance of Satanism. Because he needed to present himself as the Messiah, and the word says, Jesus went about doing good, the Antichrist must be a good person initially, for three and a half years. This is the prophetic ‘midst of the week.’ His office will catalyze the world peace that no conqueror had ever engendered.

                                                                                        Something will happen in the middle of the seven years. “But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. 2) For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. 3) 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” [1Thess 5:1-3].

   (…to be continued…)  

Folks, this is why you just must be born again (John 3:7) before your earthly time is up! Pray the prayer of all prayers: the one that gets you born again. Are you ready? It must come from the core of your heart, and believing every word. Here we go; say:

Dear heavenly Father, I come to you now, in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins. I believe that You raised Him from the dead (for my justification). I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!

. (…to be continued…)

Read the 2nd part here

Read part 4 here

THE END-TIME MARK OF THE ANTICHRIST (II)

(…continued from part 1…)

(II)        Romans 5:19 “For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.” ‘Righteous’ is dikaios (dik’-ah-yos) ‘equitable (in character or act); by implication innocent, holy (absolutely or relatively).’ This fairness of justice that covers the born-again person, translates him to the innocency of absolute holiness. How? The legality of it comes from the celestial assizes, the very sphere of eternity. The Bible does not say, “shall ALL be made righteous.” It says, “shall many be made righteous;” and the ‘many’ are definitely the ones who will make the decision to receive Jesus as Lord and Saviour. The first Adam, our pristine parent, brought destruction to mankind. Jesus Christ, the last Adam, must perform the prophetic second coming, which ushers us into eternal life. There is no shred of doubt that the trumpet of the rapture will sound three and a half years into the seven remaining years of the 70 weeks (490 years).

Christian calling is irrevocable Rom. 11:29

                Romans 6:2-4 2) “God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein? 3) Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death? 4) Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” There is a difference between ‘dead’ to sin (v.2) on one hand, and the ‘dead’ of verse 4. While that of the 2nd verse is apothnēskō (ap-oth-nace’-ko) [which comes from apo (apo) -off- and thnēskō (thnay’-sko): -to die, to be dead; metaphorically to be spiritually dead] means: ‘to die off; of the natural death of man;’ ‘dead’ in verse 4 which is nekros (nek-ros’) means: From an apparently primary word νέκυς nekus means (a corpse); dead (literally or figuratively).’ The nekros (i.e. physical)death of Jesus derobed us of the spiritual death resulting from the Adamic original sin. Amen. It becomes, ergo, apropos for us to be seen walking in the engendered ‘newness’ which is kainotēs (kahee-not’-ace): ‘in the new state of life in which the Holy Spirit places us so as to produce a new state which is eternal life.’ The Holy Spirit, the theological earnest of the regenerated soul, is our eternal reassuring terms of divine insurance. It will never expire: for this insurance policy is as eternal as the Holy Spirit. Amen.

How can any of these, of Acts chapter 2, lose the indwelling of the Holy Spirit?

   The Holy Spirit’s indwelling of our spirit realm makes us carriers of Jehovah. What that connotes is that we own the earth: for it says, “The heaven, even the heavens, are the LORD’S: but the earth hath he given to the children of men;” in Psalm 115:16. The Antichrist has his own hegemonic day on this terra firma. There cannot be two captains on earth –the Christians and the Antichrist. So, what is the solution? Rapture! “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” [Romans 11:33].

We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed –Rapture!

                Jesus was the first to intimate us with the rapture. “Then shall two be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Matthew 24:40). Incredible! Paul mentioned it in 1Corinthians 15:51-52 “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, 52) In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”

“one shall be taken, and the other left”

                The book of 1Thessalonians 4:16-17 is more explicit: “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: 17) 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.” Confer Acts 1:11; Titus 2:13; Philippians 3:20-21. We understand, from scriptural view, that rapture is of Divine operative. How long will it last? 

 (…to be continued…)

Folks, this is why you just must be born again (John 3:7) before your earthly time is up! Pray the prayer of all prayers: the one that gets you born again. Are you ready? It must come from the core of your heart, and believing every word. Here we go; say:

Dear heavenly Father, I come to you now, in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins. I believe that You raised Him from the dead (for my justification). I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!

. (…to be continued…)

Click here for the 1st part

Read the 3rd part here

THE END-TIME MARK OF THE ANTICHRIST (I)

(I)          I am truly flabbergasted, each time, to hear and read of the fears prevalent among my Christian brethren, concerning the mark of the Beast –the Antichrist. “They want to use this coronavirus pandemic to inject the chip of the 666-mark into the bodies of unsuspecting populace!” Others warn people not to step out at a particular period of the day, saying, “The powers that be have decided to spray the mark of the Beast into the atmosphere, employing the strength of the 5G internet network.” One evangelist even said, in an article, that the LORD Jesus had told her to tell Christians to get ready to flee to safe places. Reason? The Antichrist had already given the directive to his apostles to forcibly start engraving the mark on people, especially, the Christians. The great tribulation, according to the article, has begun; and Christians, according to what Jesus had told her, are billed to partake of the eschatological tribulation. True is the word of God which says, “My people perish for lack of knowledge.”

   The article even stated that, Jesus Christ told her that Christians should be careful lest they should receive the mark and enter into eternal perdition! Unbelievable! Should we not be careful to whom we give our attentive ears? Merely saying that Jesus said it does not mean that Jesus truly did say it. The disciples asked Jesus about the end time and He taught it to them in the Book of Matthew.

   “And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet” (Matthew 24:6). The turbulence of Covid-19, of wars and of social aberrancy definitely do not actuate the flagitious hegemonism of the Antichrist. It is merely a precursor to his eventual inauguration. How do I know this fact? Jesus was pellucid with the eschatological addendum: “for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.“          

Spirit-filled Christians will not partake of great tribulation

                As at today, the 10^th of July, 2020, the Antichrist, the son of satanic perdition cannot give the mark of his name to anybody. It is not possible. And it is simply because it is not yet his time. The LORD God is in absolute control of global occurrences. Verses 13 and 14 of Matthew chapter 24 reads: “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. 14) And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”

                Verse 13 does not, in any way, underpin the 5^th point of Arminianism, which states that: “believers are able to resist sin but are not beyond the possibility of falling from grace;” simply because one cannot lose one’s toga of soteriology. Romans 11:29 clearly teaches: “For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance.” The Greek for ‘without repentance’ is ametameletos (a-me-ta-me’-lee-tos) means ‘irrevocable.’ Those who must endure are the ones who never received Jesus as Lord and Saviour before the rapture, who must, painfully, pay with their blood, unfortunately. Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9) Not of works, lest any man should boast.” Kauchaomai (kaf-cha’-o-mai) is the Greek for ‘boast,’ meaning: ‘to glory, vaunt.’

                Matthew 24:15, “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:).” This verse, credited to the Lord, Himself, points to a particular world event, when we can say unequivocally that the Antichrist and his afflictive agenda is a reality. That is when the mark will be branded on the people of the world. He will enter into the holy of holies of the Jerusalem Temple and nothing will happen to him, even though he is not the High Priest. Nothing will happen to him because he is “that Wicked one who will be revealed” (2Thess 2:8). The Greek for ‘wicked’ is: anomos (a’-no-mos) meaning: ‘1. lawless. 2. (negatively) not subject to (the Jewish) law. 3. (by implication) a Gentile. 4. (positively) wicked.’ The Jewish law of Jehovah does not affect him because of his different breed of humanity. Confer these verses: 2Thessalonians 2:3-4; Daniel 9:27, 11:31; 12:11

                “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. 22) And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved: but for the elect’s sake those days shall be shortened” [Matthew 24:21-22]. Let us look at some of these words. ‘Tribulation’ is the Greek word, thlipsis (thliy’-psis) meaning: ‘pressure.’ It comes from a root word thlibo (thliy’-ɓō) ‘1. to compress. 2. to squeeze. 3. to press hard. 4. (passively) to be hard pressed. 5. to pinch. 6. (figuratively) to press in against, to crush (in a crowd).’ The next is ‘shortened’ koloboo (ko-lo-ɓo’-ō) ‘1. to dock. 2. (figuratively) abridge.’

                ‘Flesh’ is sarx (sarx’) ‘1. flesh (as stripped of the skin). 2. (strictly) the meat of an animal (as food). 3. (by extension) the body (as opposed to the soul (or spirit), or as the symbol of what is external, or as the means of kindred). 4. (by implication) human nature (with its frailties (physically or morally) and passions). 5. (specially) a human being (as such).’ ‘Saved’ is the Greek, sozo (sō’-zō) ‘to save, i.e. deliver or protect.’ The last word for treatment is ‘Elect,’ eklektos (ek-lek-tos’) meaning:‘1. select. 2. (by implication) favorite.’ God knows that if the Antichrist should be allowed to use the whole seven remaining years of the 70 weeks, even those whom the Lord had preserved for the soteriology would not be able to endure the tribulation.

(…to be continued…)

Folks, this is why you just must be born again (John 3:7) before your earthly time is up! Pray the prayer of all prayers: the one that gets you born again. Are you ready? It must come from the core of your heart, and believing every word. Here we go; say:

Dear heavenly Father, I come to you now, in the name of Jesus Christ. I believe in my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I believe in my heart that Jesus died for my sins. I believe that You raised Him from the dead (for my justification). I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I receive Him as my Lord and Saviour. I give God all the glory. Amen!

 (…to be continued…)

Click here to read the second part