For the past five months we have been considering the times we live in. They are insane but the truth is insanity reigns when you consider that one of the meanings of it is failing to deal in and with the real world around you.
We, in America, have been conditioned by the world to perceive reality from a Hollywood mentality where life around us is a script or controlled by technology, and if it doesn’t go our way, or if we don’t like it, we can discard it, write our own script, or find some other arena in which to act out our life. However, in life some actions and results are irreversible and eventually end in consequences. It is for this reason that many rage against the idea that they are not the center of the universe and what they perceive is not going to play out according to script. They become utterly despondent when they can’t control their reality or when reality intrudes into their fantasy world. They are often paralyzed by fear, become cynical towards all matters because fairness seems to elude them, and life becomes a terrible burden too great to bear.
It is hard for many to deal in reality and the more they hide from it, deny it, or rage against it the more their world becomes insane. Today many of those worlds are colliding and what we are seeing emerge is that the tares are standing distinct from the wheat, which implies the time for harvest is at hand. Remember the end-time harvest will take place in the midst of great deception (Matthew 24:30-31).
We know Scripturally that Jesus will send the angels to reap the harvest. In spite of the attempt for people to wish, hope, or even declare the universal concept that all will be saved in the end, the truth stands that there will be a day of judgment and not all will get a pass to enter eternal bliss. There will be a great time of separation of the wheat from the tares. Another way it has been described is as a net going forth to bring all remaining fish from the depths of the seas of the world, and at which time the bad, unacceptable fish will be separated from the good. Meanwhile, the lines are being drawn as greater numbers are being exposed as to the evil world we live in (Matthew 13:24-30; 47-50; Hebrews 9:27).
Since we all live in this insane world, we wrestle with what is true. We might be aware that what we hear is the latest propaganda to keep us from seeing what is real. What we see often becomes a rerun from another incident that may have taken place years before. We begin to realize crisis are often planned and are carried out by what is called “crisis actors.” The stories are designed to promote a wicked agenda, the pictures to emotionally stir people up to some type of pitch in order to be taken out by some wave of insurrection against a “so-called” injustice where the other side is being labeled as the “culprit” so it can become the latest target that will be offered up as a sacrifice to bring “peace” to the world. Keep in, mind Jesus became a peace offering to the Jews from Pilate when he had the Son of Man whipped as a means to save Jesus’ life, but even so the Jewish religious leaders would have none of it and demanded Jesus’ life over that of a notorious prisoner (Matthew 27:16-26; John 19:1-19). That is the way the world is. It uses peace to get people to compromise what is so without realizing there will be no peace. Until Jesus, the real Prince of Peace rules from His throne in Jerusalem, there will be no peace.
It is important to note that the world promotes a peace that will require sacrifice. Whether it is a particular group, those who hold to a certain philosophy, religious ideology, or is an independent thinker, a target will be put on their back as a means to divide and conquer to purge this age of any dissenters that would question their agendas or put a mirror up that would expose them. However, philosophies go back to the rudiments of the world and ideology often to dead, heretical religion.
It is easy to see the “handwriting on the wall.” No one group will be safe from this purging in order to bring peace to an unstable world that could erupt at any time. We have been told everything that can be shaken will be (Hebrews 12:26-29). Man, who avoids to take controversial stands when it comes to truth to maintain his life in some way, will either have to stand or be left behind in the quagmire to struggle until he becomes buried by the tidal waves of destruction.
The truth is, the most dangerous time will occur when they do declare peace for that is when sudden destruction will occur (1 Thessalonians 5:2-3). Meanwhile the targets up front are simple enough: Israel and Christians. Past ongoing sacrifices have been strong families, our children’s lives and souls, values, and truth. Soon Christians, along with their Bible and unbending ways, must be offered up so that the wicked can have a perfect world of peace, “A New World Order,” and it is all because there can be no compromise on a saint’s part with any aspect of the world when it comes to their faith. And just where does this flow end up at? Satan ruling. Where will it end? death, destruction, and hell.
However, as long as delusion serves as reality, hate as a tool, lies as an instigator, compromise as a peace pipe or olive branch, and truth a sacrifice, there will be no clarity as to what is so. Man will be bounced back and forth by the waves unseen powers create with their false reality and wicked causes. He will lose his edge, ability, or means to stand against it and remain standing no matter how many waves of seduction bombards him. His eyes will become dim, his ears dull, and his heart glossed over with indifference towards truth (Matthew 13:15-16; Ephesians 4:14; 1 Timothy 4:1-2; 2 Timothy 4:2-5).
To summarize what is happening now, I am reminded of what the Lord showed Jeannette years ago in visions and dreams. One vision was of the whole world totally wrapped in lies like a ball of twine. In another vision she saw a clock ready to strike 13, the number for apostasy. In a dream she saw in the darkness of night, an invasion of large, black flying “ships” coming upon the earth that were demonic and terrifying. She saw herself flee into the house where she tried to hide in her closet. When she asked the Lord why no one noticed them, He told her they were all in their houses watching TV. She had two dreams that meant the same thing that involved multitudes of people running while screaming and shrieking as they burst into flames. This showed tremendous heresy consuming people, and when a few “firemen” tried to extinguish the fires, they just kept reigniting and screaming. Even though the flames were extinguished on a person with the Word of God, they would reignite because they never really repented and turned from lies to desire, seek and love the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). (The same night that Jeannette had the first dream of people screaming and catching fire a friend’s daughter, a few states away, had the same dream from which she sat straight up in bed, terribly shaken.)
In my last article I talked about the three main attacks of Satan. They are aimed at presenting another Jesus, bringing a person under another spirit and preaching another gospel (2 Corinthians 11:2-4). The question that Jesus directed towards Peter, is the one we must not only properly answer, but believe it as being truth. “Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:15-17). Simple question but it takes heaven to reveal the revelation of who He is. It moves from an intellectual agreement to a heart revelation (Romans 10:9-10). If heaven does not reveal Jesus to a person, they still do not know who He is. They may intellectually proclaim certain words and titles associated with Him but it has no life or spirit in it.
Today the undermining of the person and work of Jesus is so subtle that many are not even recognizing that He is often rendered as a mere man while being totally stripped of His deity. Anytime Jesus is presented in a way that makes Him like a common man simply means a substitute Jesus has replaced Him. This substitute may cause sentiment to arise because of the present notions about Jesus, and make Him seem more acceptable and down-to-earth, but there is no distinction that He is the God/Man who must be obeyed, served, and worshipped. Initially Jesus may have come as a lowly Savior, but He redeemed us on the cross making Him Lord, and was raised three days later by the power of heaven and now sits as High Priest on the right hand of majesty, and will come back as Judge (John 5:22 refer to Revelation 1:9-18; Romans 10:9-10; Hebrews 8:1).
Clearly, the Jesus of the Bible is anything but mere man. His deity was clothed in humanity, His glory subdued by flesh, His power under the control of the Holy Spirit, and His will always lines up to the Father’s will. He did not trust what was in mankind, and He sought the Father in prayer, was led by the Spirit in His ministry, and offered Himself up as a Lamb of God. If He is not lifted up properly, man can’t be drawn by the Spirit to Him in order to be saved; for He is the sole light, hope, and revelation of the Gospel (Luke 4:1; John 1:29; 12:32; 16:13; 1 Corinthians 15:1-4; 2 Corinthians 4:3-6; Philippians 2:5-8; 1 Timothy 3:16).
If another Jesus is presented, the true light of this world that draws man will be taken out of the Gospel. If Jesus is not the only solution to the sin problem, there is no hope for man to see his need to be saved, and choose by faith to believe His redemption. Redemption comes back to Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection which leads to reconciliation with God, and if any of the message is missing or watered down in any way, the revelation of Jesus’ life and power that saves will be missing.
How much Jesus is being lifted up in Spirit and in truth to what the Word sets forth concerning Him in churches and Christians’ lives will determine whether God’s kingdom is advanced in the hearts of men. The Spirit of God will only honor a matter if the truth (the Jesus of the Bible) is being lifted up as the way to God. If the right spirit is not present, there can be no conviction of sin, no awareness of how far away from the mark of righteousness man is, no salvation, and no agreement between heaven and man. There is no spiritual means to interact with God to get His perspective.
When you challenge a Christian about getting involved with what appears a harmless matter because of the spirit that is behind something, they can become insulted because they are operating strictly from the intellect. How could you think they would fall for the lies? However, the problem are not the lies but the spirit. The person does not realize that they are still coming under a wrong spirit even if the interaction seems harmless. The activity is a lure to draw the person into the trap where one becomes open to the influence of the wrong spirit. They may not come out believing the lies, but they will come out with less of an edge to discern towards that which is wrong.
Such people are more apt to come out with tolerance towards what is wrong, while becoming critical towards those who will not move from the standard of righteousness. They can become flippant towards matters that are a bit fudged here and there, compromise with that which seems insignificant, and come into agreement with the spirit of the world in some way without realizing any of it (1 Corinthians 2.11-14; Ephesians 2:2).
The end result of a flippant attitude towards spirit and truth, compromises with the world, and agreement with a wrong spirit is described in Matthew 13:14-15, “And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive. For this people’s heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.”
This may seem a little harsh but remember when a person insists on doing something that is contrary to either the truth of Jesus or the Spirit, they are showing contempt towards God Word, rebellion towards His authority, and disobedience to what is right. Keep in mind, when a person starts from a wrong premise, they can’t expect things to turn out right.
The Bible tells us to come out and be separate from the corrupt ways of the world and its spirit. We are to flee youthful lusts, submit to God so Satan will flee, and follow after righteousness (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Timothy 2:22; James 4:6-10; 1 Peter 2:11; 2 Peter 1:3-4). The truth is that if anything poses any kind of threat to my life in Christ, the purity of the Gospel or ensuring a right spirit, no matter how insignificant it might seem to my understanding, I have only one choice and that is to come out from its temptation, influence, and works, and separate myself unto God in subjection to His way, according to the correction of His Word in righteousness, and in submission to the leading of the Spirit.
In conclusion, to survive these insane times, we must become sober towards the battle, determine to line up to our Commander’s instruction, be vigilant in watching for any movement against the truth, and be prepared to separate from that which would lead to any compromise, while standing sure on what is eternal, true, and right (1 Peter 5:5-9).