Edition 514: March 24^th 2020.

Know who to receive from.

Introduction:

►Don’t miss next week’s important edition – “Foreboding Forewarnings”!

It’s very important to know who to receive from in terms of spiritual things and who not. It can get you shipwrecked or get you sailing away to glory.

The first source of your spiritual knowledge, wisdom and growth is the Holy Spirit.

Stay on the straight and narrow road with the word of God exalted. This will be the road with few people on it. Avoid the wide and winding road with multitudes on it, and many opinions.

The word “doctrine” comes from the root word “dogma.” Yes, doctrine is dogmatic!

The Spirit of the living God has something to say about everything all the time. We need ears to hear and eyes to see. We desperately need the spiritual gift of discernment. (Jeremiah 5:21, Mark 8:18)

The great tragedy is to have eyes that do not see, and ears that do not hear. Sadly, those with no spiritual eyes and ears don’t know they don’t have them. If ever there was a day in which Spirit-led spiritual wisdom is needed, it is today.

In this edition I want to look at the importance of these things specifically related to these end times, and the critical prophetic issues of the day.

These are the days in which multitudes worldwide will be in the valley of decision, or great deception. (Joel 3:14)

We are on the verge of increasing catastrophes and a great spiritual revival.

Tools of the “trade”

The purpose of the teacher is to reveal the word of God by the Spirit of God. The teacher is to be a living revelation, relating God’s word, without changing it, to current situations.

Proverbs 29:18 “Where there is no revelation, (prophetic) the people cast off restraint, but happy is he who keeps the law (word).”

1 Peter 4:11 “If anyone speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God...”

Your spiritual food must cause you to grow well and accurately like a builder using a plumbline. (Amos 7:7-8). You must drink milk, eat meat and your vegetables and then ice cream. (1 Corinthians 3:2, 1 Peter 2:2)

Your food must be well prepared and not be mixed with any toxins. Mixture of truth and error nullifies the truth making it part of the pile of poison. It is the way of the world, and not God.

James 3:11 “Does a spring send forth fresh water and bitter at the same opening? Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring can yield both salt water and fresh.”

Twisted doctrine makes you a twisted person, albeit a bit further down the road.

The teacher:

The teacher must not try to be the leading of the Spirit for others.

The teacher must be: ●one who is able to withstand hardship without complaining. ●He must not be a novice in the things of God. ●His lifestyle must be God-centred and humble before God. ●He must be unafraid of the opinions of man. ●He must be a man of prayer. ●He must be spiritually equipped in the operation of the gifts of the Spirit, particularly the revelatory gifts. ●He must be a radical oddball. ●He must have an air of the authority of God around him. ●He must not be an indecisive speculator offering variable alternatives or opinions. ●He will be known for knowing the word backwards and for being enlightened by the Spirit. ●He will be known by the many people that he has led to victory, and by others who hate him. ●He must know how to rightly divide and apply the word between spirit, soul and body, and between dispensations.

By the way, I reject everything being packaged as “rightly dividing the word” by some of the Revelation 12-sign teachers. It has the dangerous goal of dividing Israel out of the picture.

I reject even what they have right, because it is all of a wrong spirit. It is easy to use what is right in letter, with a wrong spirit of error, which causes great harm down the line.

A very big problem in ministry is personal pride, self-promotion and self-exaltation. You can easily spot a man of self-importance. You can see it in his mannerisms, his words and methods of manipulation, even in his dress.

Many are experts at hiding their pride, but it comes out in the end. That was the sin of Lucifer. “Whoever exalts himself will be abased”. (Matthew 23:12, Proverbs 29:23)

The teacher must know and see exactly where we are prophetically, and proclaim it, looking into it, warning and leading.

►You should always get the feeling that your godly teacher is there to exalt and glorify God and His kingdom firstly, and above all else.

On the Isle of Patmos John received the Revelation. “He fell as dead,” before the vision of the Lord.” Do you see your teacher fall in humility before the Lord? In chapter four John is caught up to heaven. In this single chapter the word “throne” is used fourteen times.

Does you godly teacher enthrone and exalt our Lord repeatedly? Does he speak of the eternal, almighty, holy, high and lifted up One?

The teacher is to transfer and impart knowledge, understanding and the wisdom of God. But know this: With the transfer of these things comes a transfer of spirits. Many times you will catch or pick up the spirit of the teacher, like a virus.

That may be just fine, but with some, you will pick up pride, prejudice, deception, error and the course to being shipwrecked.

The message:

The teacher must teach on Israel, rightly divided, which is Israel: ●Called ●Elected ●Rebelled ●Rejected ●Regathered ●Repented ●Accepted ●Received.

●He must be a regular teacher of the cross of Calvary and the taking up of your own cross daily. ●He must know the power of the resurrection and make it known. Where there is no cross preached, pride, self will, presumption and the spirit of error will be big. ●He must constantly look at the things not seen. ●He must constantly lead you to identify and overcome the world, the flesh (self) and the demonic. ●He must have a legacy of being right and not wrong with prophecy and other doctrine. He must seek the rewards of God and do what generates eternal rewards. ●He must look around at the news events of the world and know exactly what is relevant to prophecy now and what is not. He must have an excitement in him, especially in these days.

The duty of the teacher is to preach, teach and lead in areas of: Encouragement, repentance, correction, training, judgement, things to come, baptism in water and in the Spirit, faith, holiness and all the doctrines of Messiah (Hebrews 6:1-2)

John the Baptist had a message preceding the first coming of the Lord. It was “Repent and be baptised.” The message of Peter was “repent and be baptised. The message of Paul was, “repent and be baptised.” (Mark 1:4, Acts 13:24, 19:4) In some cases it is “repent and believe!”

Why was repentance and adult water baptism so important? It is because repentance is a turning away from, and death to sin and self. Water baptism represents a death to the world. Repentance opens the doors to holiness and pure belief.

These are essential ingredients in the believer’s life, even more so in light of the soon coming of the Lord. Today the worldly Christian is not interested in repentance because it spoils his pursuit of pleasure, and he is not interested in water baptism because he loves the world. He believes in himself above all else.

As we head for the season of the Feasts of the Lord, this should be a most dramatic time in world history – perhaps the culmination of, and change of dispensations.

We are right on the very verge of most significant and dramatic changes and developments in Israel. The godly teacher will know all about it, proclaim it, lead and stand with Israel in these times.

The job of the church has always been to take the gospel to the Jew first. Most teachers, especially of Catholic origin or the Spirit-less churches have done the exact opposite!

The reason the gospel is to “the Jew first” (Romans 1:16), is because God will bring blessing to the whole world through the Jew. Today, many Jews are getting saved, but the overall numbers are still very small. The church, except for a few isolated exceptions, has disobeyed God totally in this and obeyed the deceived Catholic leaders through the church age.

God is now raising up Jews to be the primary evangelists to the Jews. Hearing the gospel from your own people brings a powerful dynamic. (Ezekiel 34:11-13)

The godly teacher will bless God by blessing Israel and facilitating all these things.

As Jews begin to be saved in increasing numbers, so anti-Semitism is increasing rapidly worldwide. It did so just before the Holocaust too. It’s the longest irrational hatred.

No one in history, not one, has ever defeated God’s plans for Israel through the ages. In fact no one in history has ever proved God wrong on anything, and been right about it. Isn’t that food for thought?

The churches with an anti-Israel message or who are silent on Israel, are a stench in the nostrils of God.

The coronavirus message:

Your Bible teacher or church must have a message and response to this crisis. He must know and inform you of the cause, the effects and the solution. (More about that in the next edition)

“Have we been called to this world for a time such as this?” – You bet! (Esther 4:14)

In dealing with this virus be realistic, but do not add to the fear and panic out there.

Obey the authorities in this regard. We, as the church need to show the world that we can stand together and be strong and even offer stability when everything is shaking.

It is the true church that is the light of the world and must lead the way of repentance and turning to God.

As the church our message must cause people to surrender to our Lord. What we have now is a great evangelism opportunity.

The Prophetic Scroll is praying that our regular readers are protected from this virus.

►Watch for it to begin to level off and then start decreasing!

Do you know the way to safety?

It is the way of embracing the fullness of Gods revealed attributes and character including judgement. There is safety in a walk of repentance. This is all part of true deep love in action.

Have you encountered Yeshua as the judge – your judge, everyone’s judge? Do you know the terror of the Lord? (2 Corinthians 5:10) Do you know the fear of God? If you do, “do not be afraid,” you are safe.

I have compiled and summarised the following from the first chapter of the Revelation. Note that every major point speaks of judgement directly or symbolically!

“He washed us from our sins in His blood and He made us kings and priests. To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. All the tribes of the earth will mourn at His coming. I saw the Son of Man clothed down to His feet and girded about the chest with a golden band, His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like fine brass refined in a furnace and His voice like the sound of many waters. In His right hand were seven stars; out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword. His countenance was like the sun. He has the keys of Death and Hades.”

This is our Lord and Saviour. The Bible says that He knows you and your works. Do you see this Lord and know this God?

Does your teacher teach you all about holiness and its importance? In fact holiness is not difficult for the true Christian, because he is holy already – on the inside. It’s easy being holy when you are holy.

It is a most solemn thought that we are upheld and will be exalted by the victor over all sin evil and wickedness!

The deadly teacher:

Be careful out there! The main characteristic of the end-times as mentioned by our Lord is deception. (Matthew 24:4)

There is so much utter hogwash and dangerous deception out there. You need your armour!

Avoid any teacher that denies the baptism in the Spirit. They will be full of pride, blindness, self-will and error.

Avoid any teacher using Syncretism. This blends different spiritual beliefs into one. There are many in this boat. All those who mix the practises of Babylon and Catholicism into the church are guilty of it. Those who try to form a one world religion are guilty.

Right words can be of a wrong spirit and just as dangerous, because they seduce you with their supposed superiority. It is much more important to discern the spirit of the teacher than what he teaches.

Be very careful of people who say that you can’t receive from a particular section of scripture because it is not for the church. The Spirit of God can and does use all scripture to teach. (2 Timothy 3:16, 1 Corinthians 10:11, Romans 4:23, Romans 15:4, 2 Peter 1:20)

Christianity is not about information and religious knowledge. It is about the spirit in those things impacting and changing you.

Today more than ever, accurate true, Spirit inspired doctrine is essential, because of the rising opposition to it through the spirit of error.

Erroneous doctrine often builds upon itself and causes many to be led astray. A classic example of that was the deception of the Revelation 12-sign teachers. They did enormous damage. Some of them continue deceiving and being deceived.

Many ministers continue flogging a dead doctrinal horse, because it is what their denominations teach and require. They pass on dead letter to dead people! These people end up believing and fighting for their deception.

I have seen some who were deceived, with no spiritual gifts, get more and more deceived and end up far from the true God. If you are in error especially where biblical truth is available, it becomes a stronger and stronger stronghold in your life and more difficult to destroy as you go on.

Unforsaken and unrepented error will eventually destroy you spiritually.

I have seen people, my own father for one, who, in old age repented of his unbelief.

If you live till 90 and lived for the devil until 89, can you still live your last year without condemnation or regret? Of course you can. You can “redeem the time” (buy back) that which the devil has stolen.

Be very careful of any teacher, ministry or church that is silent on eschatology, or mocks the end-time message.

2 Peter 3:3-4 “In the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires, saying, where is the hope of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were.”

Finally

Imagine the regret of getting to heaven, being rewarded, and realising that you could have done so much more for the kingdom of God while on earth, and were called to do so much more.

This is the time to be right with God, right with doctrine and wrong with many people of the world.

This is the time to have spiritual eyes and ears seeing and hearing what God is doing.

I took this picture looking over a little waterfall on the Crocodile River, near my home.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!

Edition 513: March 17^th 2020.

The Incredible Journey:

Introduction:

Job 23:10 “He knows my journey; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold.”

Psalm 66:10 “You, O God have proved us; You have refined us as silver is refined.”

When you see that you are on an incredible journey, you are on the road to glory.

The world is temporary and due for destruction. (2 Corinthians 4:18) The spiritual dimension is more real than the physical world, and is eternal as you are, born for unimaginable magnificent majesty.

God planned and called you, before the foundation of the world! Your journey will never end, but it will be fulfilled as you go, culminating at the birth of the eternity of the eternities!

Our journey in a nutshell:

 ●Our journey begins before the foundation of the earth, when we were conceived and planned by God (Ephesians 1:4). ●It moves on to our natural birth into this fallen world. ●It moves on to our death on the cross with Messiah and resurrection in Him (2 Timothy 2:11). ●Then we die or are raptured, which sees our bodies instantly transformed into eternal spiritual bodies with all sorts of qualities and dimensions, too wonderful to express (1 Thessalonians 4:17). ●Our journey then goes on to ruling and reigning with our Lord on this earth, and in the universe (Revelation 20:4-6, 2 Timothy 2:12). ●Our journey “ends” in a new beginning called the eternity of eternities. (2 Peter 3:10-12 Isaiah 34:4)

So our journey begins before the foundation of the earth, and “ends” at the foundation of a new universe and creation.

On your journey you will encounter angels, strange and beautiful, magnificent creatures, pure sound, sight, smell, touch, taste, all knowledge of all things. You will share our Lord’s throne. You will participate in ruling and reigning in the entire universe with Him. You will encounter and experience life on other worlds, all pure and holy.

Please don’t think for one minute that you are unimportant in this grand scheme of things.

Colossians 3:2 “Set your mind on things above, not on things of this earth.”

1 Corinthians 2:9 “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for Him.”

The following verses speak of other worlds: Hebrews 1:1-2, Hebrews 11:3 Isaiah 45:12.

The often-used word “hosts” is Strong’s H6633, meaning “army, intelligent beings”.

How can we be alone in the universe when heaven is out there, angels and incredible beings?

The following verses imply our eternal future in the universe: (Hover your mouse over them)

2 Timothy 2:12, Revelation 22:5, Daniel 7:27, Isaiah 9:7, Hebrews 12:1, Romans 8:19-22.

The amazing benefits:

You are no accident and there is no trivial purpose for your existence...Be holy now it pays great, eternal, incorruptible dividends!

 ●Man’s way to holiness: Try to be good. Work it from the outside to the inside.

 ●God’s way to holiness: You are perfect inside by the new-birth, and now work it to the outside.

Man’s way is cursed and is a failure, and has been from the day dot.

God’s way is the way to eternal riches.

Psalm 119:142 “Your righteousness (holiness) is an everlasting righteousness...”

Psalm 111:3 “His righteousness endures forever.” (When it’s in us, we endure forever.)

So, to get that inner spiritual perfection from the inside to the outside we need to take up our cross daily, and put to death that which is not of God. The Bible way is death to self, the world and the sin created by the demonic forces.

If you die to self, the world and the demonic, what’s left? Nothing much is left, except all the marvels of the kingdom of God, holiness, and a grand, great, glorious future forever and ever.

The end of all things satanic is eternal destruction. The end of all things temporal is destruction. A life’s journey chasing material goods, pleasure, and happiness is the way to great regret.

Hebrews 11:25 “...There is pleasure in sin for season.”

A kingdom journey growing in the knowledge of Him has a deep peace surrounding it with many great eternal rewards soon to manifest.

Our incredible journey means that we have to change and re-prioritise many things as we go down this road of dramatic discovery. We must re-calibrate and re-adjust our lives and priorities. We must be prepared to fall flat (literally) on our faces in repentance and receive correction from the Lord.

The enemy of your journey:

Biblical Christianity is a danger to the world, the self-life and the demonic, all saturated with Satan.

The unsaved hate true biblical holiness, but it is absolute true love. You can only see that when your life is in Him.

We must tear our heart open to God and His word. That produces a change in your thinking and desires. That then changes your words which creates your reality.

You can’t just pray, name and claim prosperity for your greed. You can pray, shout, yell, scream swing from the chandeliers, and get nothing from the Lord. But when you have had your beliefs and thinking radically smashed and changed by the work of the cross, then you will be praying in line with God’s will for you.

When you have no active knowledge of God and His word, you are an island to yourself, adrift in an ocean of uncertainty and variables. Your conscience is in tune with the god of this world and his will you do. You are blind and deaf to the beautiful voice of God and the all the glories of holiness.

The biggest motivation of fallen man is to replace the things of God with materialism. Money is his faith! Modern man wants money, and possessions. He wants pleasure with no pain. “Me now”, is his chant. But true biblical truth and reality is to set your eyes and heart on that which is above.

The world of materialism is temporal. Yes we sanctify what we need to function as believers, but the world is not our source.

Proverbs 23:5 “Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away like an eagle towards heaven.”

Psalm 119:37-38 “Turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in Your way. Establish Your word to Your servant, who is devoted to fearing You.”

The big enemy attack on believers is against the truth. It comes from pulpits, teachers, YouTube ministries (not all), and others who are of the spirit of error.

When no one knows what truth is anymore, value goes out of the window. Truth and value go together. Truth is liberating and never confusing.

Blind acceptance of the world and its ways is a great enemy. Blind acceptance of much that comes from the pulpit is also your enemy. Today you need discernment like never before.

Too many are shallow, and superficial, with no depth, no strong solid foundation, and no cross. They are impersonators of each other, parrots and plagiarists. They are a fake knock-off of the original error, no different to a copy machine. They are phoney forgers with the insight of Polly the parrot.

These mimicking monkeys have a growing group of devoted disciples. They rehash and regurgitate error disguised as truth.

The biblical watchman has a vital role for the church today. In many ways, he is like the eyes and ears of the church, especially as we move into prophetic times like never before. Obviously, the watchman is an enemy of the devil and his world.

Tragically, the ministry of the watchman has become polluted by many false watchmen, and by attacks from within segments of the church itself – especially the denominational, Spirit-less churches.

Of the many rewards and crowns that will be given to believers who meet the conditions, one is specifically for the watchmen and others who watch for the coming of the Lord.

Those who come against the watchers, and there are many, including ministers, are in Satan’s service trying to rob the watchmen of their crown! They are sneaky thieves!

“Take heed no one robs you of your reward!” (Colossians 2:8, Revelation 3:11)

Are you a shining light?

■The world measures success in material terms. ■The Christian will have success measured by eternal brightness!

The ultimate measure of the success of your journey will be seen by everyone, for all eternity. The measure is likened to the brightness of a light.

Daniel 12:3 “Those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the firmament, and those who turn many to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.”

Matthew 13:43 “The righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He, who has ears to hear, let him hear!”

Proverbs 4:18 “The path (journey) of the just is like the shining sun, that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day.”

Ecclesiastes 8:1 “Who is like a wise man and who knows the interpretation of a thing? A man’s wisdom makes his face shine, and the sternness of his face is changed.”

Philippians 2:15 “Become blameless and harmless children of God, without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world.”

Job 11:17-18 (Repentance) “Your life would be brighter than noonday. Though you were dark, you would be like the morning, and you would be secure, because there is hope...”

The Christians measure of your success is seen biblically as your eternal brightness. (Daniel 12:3, 1 Corinthians 15:41, 1 Corinthians 3:13, Philippians 2:15)

Paul compares the things of the material word to cow dung! (Philippians 3:8)

The world’s measure of success is how much cow dung you have accumulated. Your material wealth is the world’s measure.

That’s quite a contrast: A bright godly light or cow dung!

I recall, a long time ago, someone being asked if he could have anything he wanted, what it would be?  He said a red Ferrari. What an absolute idiot! I was not far behind in the “idiot” stakes! Shortly after that I did have a red Ferrari in my garage. It belonged to a friend whose driveway was too high for the low car, so I had it “beautifying” my garage, but without the keys. (At least I did sort-of have a Ferrari for a while!)

I can assure you that my priorities have long since changed – radically. Today if someone gave me a red Ferrari, I’d drive the hell out it and then sell it – now with it being sanctified!

Romans 8:6 “To be Ferrari (carnally) minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

I have lived a thrill-filled life of many incredible journeys into the wilds, forests and deserts of Southern Africa, working on endangered species, always with an element of excitement. I have journeyed to many of the world’s most beautiful places, but none comes anywhere near this spiritual, eternal journey.

We will soon receive the full manifestation of our salvation, new bodies, holiness, righteousness and eternal victory as we are transformed.

1 Corinthians 15:41-42 (The glorious body) “How are the dead raised up? All are not the same...there are celestial bodies and terrestrial bodies. The glory of the celestial one and the glory of the terrestrial is another. There is one glory of the sun and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars. For one differs from another star in glory. So also is the resurrection of the dead...”

Our rewards for what we did on this earth in response to God’s call, will be built into our very being for all to see forever. Our brightness will shine from within us

Job 5:8-9 “As for me, I will seek God, and to God I will commit my cause – who does great things and unsearchable, marvellous things without number.” (Job 37:5-15)

The end of our journey:

The end of our journey as believes is magnificent beyond description.

As we see all these things with our spiritual eyes, we get to the place where we bring others along the journey too. Our job is to assist them in having their eyes opened to this new holy kingdom of glory. We are pearls of great price, and jewels of tremendous value in God’s kingdom.

Malachi 3:17 (The book of remembrance) “They shall be Mine says the Lord of hosts, on the day that I make them My jewels.”

Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation. He has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels.”

Time is your friend or foe:

Psalm 60:4 “You have given a banner to those who fear You, that it may be displayed because of the truth.”

Our time is running out fast. It’s not just that our time is running out, but that the opportunity to shine brightly forever is running out and our ability to influence others. Some will be saved with great reward and others with no rewards at all, but will still be saved. (1 Corinthians 3:15)

Our time here on earth is finite and it’s the “dial” to our eternal brightness!

The average person breathes 672,768,000 times in an 80-yr lifetime. Then he stops, but in reality he lives forever. Each breath can have accumulating value for you!

Our journey takes us more deeply into holiness, honour and beauty, and all things of God, with eternal consequences. It’s time to wake up!

Psalm 13:3 “Consider and hear me, O God; enlighten my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death.”

Psalm 119:18 “Open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from Your word.”

Job 22:28 “You shall declare a thing and it shall be established for you; so light will shine on your ways.”

Finally

I want to assure you that I and The Prophetic Scroll are in this with the main purpose of glorifying our God and His kingdom, and assisting you on your glorious journey.

Acts 20:24 “I do not count my life dear to me, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Yeshua, to testify to the grace of God.”

2 Peter 1:2-3 “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue.”

This incredible journey is an amazing adventure.

Are you an incitement to others to join you on the incredible journey? Are you a “banner of truth to the nations?”

Mix of some of my pix, blended together.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!

Edition 512: March 10^th 2020.

Churches in the tribulation:

Introduction:

I believe strongly in a pre-tribulation rapture of the true church. But not all the church is the church! Many who think they Christians will go into the tribulation.

In this edition, my aim is to help you know that your salvation is secure. But we need to clearly identify what salvation is and what it is not. It’s all very liberating indeed, but also a severe warning to the complacent and presumptuous. Don’t mess with your eternity.

What (who) is the true church?

Simply put, the true church are those genuinely born-again of the Spirit of God, through the redeeming blood and work of the cross of Calvary. They are a “new creation.” This new creation produces changes in that person and produces fruits for all to see.

The original word for “church,”-  ekklesia, means “the called out ones.” That is called out of the world and into the kingdom of heaven.

A true Christian is one who progressively overcomes the world. (1 John 5:4)

Sitting in any church building on a Sunday would be true born-again Christians and professing, unsaved Christians.

A Christian is not one who says he is a Christian, because he is not a Jew and goes to church. Today the church has many professing Christians within it, who are not born again.

It is the true born-again church that will be taken by rapture at the start of the tribulation.

The unsaved “Christian” will go right through into the tribulation period, with all the unsaved.

Presumption – the great big danger for many!

What a terrible thing to presume that you are saved based on the opinions of man and much of the dead church.

Perhaps the best example was Judas. We could presume he was saved, being one of the disciples. He did not endure to the end and allowed Satan to lead him to suicide. (Matthew 10:22.)The Bible says he ended in hell.

I have compiled the following Bible verses with the intention of shocking you. Denying them, or burying your head in the sand, won’t change anything or make them go away.

If you read carefully, you will note many consistencies through these verses. They either directly claim that the people involved were or are Christians. Some verses just imply that.

Please note the gravity and seriousness of all these verses, especially when read together.

Romans 1:28 “Even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.”

Romans 1:32 “These knowing the righteous judgement of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but also approve of those who practise them.”

Romans 2:3-5 “Do you think, O man, you who judge those practising such things and do the same, that you will escape the judgment of God...Do you not know that the goodness of God leads to repentance? But in accordance with your hard and impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourselves wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God.”

Ephesians 4:18-19 “This I say, you should no longer walk as the rest of the Gentiles do in the futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God, because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardening of their heart; who being past feeling (no conscience) have given themselves over to licentiousness to work all uncleanness with greediness.”

Hebrews 6:4-6 “It is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God and put Him to open shame.”

Mark 3:29 (Addressed to the disciples and not the Jews as some claim). “He who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit, never has forgiveness, but is subject to eternal condemnation.”

1 Timothy 4:2 “The Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.”

 Hebrews 3:12-15 “Beware brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God...Today if you will hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.”

Here is a summary of the main points of the verses above:

■ “God gave them over.” ■ “They knew God’s judgement yet approve of the sin”. ■ “They will not escape.” ■ “Their treasure is God’s wrath.” ■“Their understanding became darkened as they hardened their hearts.” ■ “It is impossible for them to repent. ■ “They have eternal condemnation” ■ “Their conscience was seared.”

The messages to the seven churches of the Revelation:

We come now to Gods great summary of all churches. These seven letters speak to seven historic churches, to the church at present and have a powerful prophetic, future message in the plot of the church age.

Every church that ever existed can find its identity within one or more of these seven letters. This is God’s view of His church, the body of Messiah.

Revelation 2:5 (To the loveless church of Ephesus) “Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lamp stand from its place unless you repent.”

Revelation 2:16 (The compromising church at Pergamos) Repent, or I will come to you quickly and will fight against them with the sword of My mouth.”

Revelation 2:21-22 (To the corrupt church at Thyatira) “I gave her time to repent of her sexual immorality and she did not repent. Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of their deeds.”

Revelation 2:23 “I will kill her children with death and all the churches shall know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts...”

Revelation 3:1-3 (To the dead church of Sardis) “...I know your works that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead...Remember how you have received and heard; hold fast and repent. Therefore if you will not watch, I will come upon you as a thief, and you will not know what hour I come upon you.”

† Revelation 3:10 (The church at Philadelphia) “Because you have kept My word to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

Revelation 3:17 (To the lukewarm church of Laodicea) “Because you are neither cold nor hot, I will spew (Lit=vomit) you out of My mouth.”

In these messages to the churches above, God uses some totally politically incorrect terminology. It’s as if He simply doesn’t care at all about offending your feelings!

Here is a summary of the main points:

■“I will remove your lampstand (light). ■“Repent.”  ■“I will cast her into a sickbed and come upon you as a thief and cast you into great tribulation.” ■“I will kill your children with death.” ■“You are dead while you live – repent.” ■“I will spew (vomit) you out of My mouth.”

When you consider the two sets of bullet points above, there is no doubt at all that these so-called Christians will go into the tribulation period. They will not go in the rapture.

I know that is controversial, but you should know that I feel nothing for controversy or offending political correctness.

Of course there is a merciful, forgiving side to our Lord, but that is not what I am dealing with now. You can’t cut out or deny the severe side. In fact those that embrace the goodness and severity of God are most wise and end up being well balanced in God’s scales.

I recall often being shocked when I sat down to study the Bible myself, without the input of others and second-hand revelation. On many occasions it rattled my cage for the good, but I had to change my thinking on many things – also for the good!

Amazingly people don’t want to hear the best news ever. They are too in love with their sin and blinded by it to see what they need. Sin blinds people not only to God, but to the devil and to the beauty and wonder of the kingdom.

Today we have a soft, sleepy, shock-less church. It is cross-less and Spirit-less – with a few wonderful exceptions.

Zechariah 7:12 “Yes they made their hearts like flint, refusing to hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts has sent by His Spirit through the former prophets. Thus great wrath came from the Lord of hosts.”

The reason why all these verses is such a shock to the modern church, is because it, led by the spirit of error, except for some wonderful exceptions, has edited out of the modern gospel all these verses and “hard saying.”

The watchmen:

The true, real watchmen are called and sent of the Lord.

The duty of the watchmen is no just to watch. It is to know what to watch for and what not to watch for. It is to hear and see by the spiritual gifts of revelation. It is to speak the word of God and to shut up!

Many so-called watchmen out there waste their time on things that are of no consequence. And many never tire of being wrong over and over again.

Some self appointed and proclaimed watchmen / Bible teachers are so ignorant of the scriptures, you dare not follow them.

It is time to be discerning. Don’t swallow everything that comes your way. Wisdom spits out much.

Saved by the antichrist or The Christ.

We are fast approaching the greatest drama of all time. The true church will become the greatest object of evangelism, with the most powerful message ever. It will be raptured.
What an incredible message that will be for the world and the Jew!

Christians will speak to the world very soon with one most powerful, united voice. It will be the rapture itself that will speak. That will be the greatest, “I told you so!”  The rapture itself will be the voice of God to awaken Jews and Gentiles!

But then the antichrist and his false prophet will walk onto the stage and begin to draw many away.

There will be a great many who will become converts of the false prophet and antichrist.

At the same time many Jews and Gentiles will accept the true Messiah as the greatest revival of the Jews in history occurs. They will suddenly “see” their Messiah, right next to the antichrist!

God Himself will be the chief evangelist of and to the Jews.

Ezekiel 34:11 “Thus says the Lord God: Indeed I Myself will search for My sheep and seek them out.”

Catholics, other orthodox churches and those without the new birth, will become the antichrist’s evangelists, while Jews become God’s evangelists.

In the tribulation period, there is only a limited operation of the Holy Spirit. The restrainer (The church indwelt with the Holy Spirit) is gone. At the same time the satanic spirit of evil is intensified.

Revelation 12:12 “Rejoice O heavens, and you who dwell in them! Woe to the inhabitants of the earth and the sea! For the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”

2 Timothy 3:13 “Evil men will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.”

How difficult it will be for the tribulation saints to maintain their strength.

The great replacement theology backfire:

Replacement theology essentially replaces Israel with the church, claiming all the promises of God are for the church and all the curses for Israel. They claim that God has finished with Israel and now has only one agent – the church!

Talk about a humiliating backfire!!

God will use Israel in the tribulation period as His evangelists and not the church. The true church will have raptured and the false church will become the evangelists of the antichrist.

They churches of replacement theology, many who will be in the tribulation, are most likely to accept the antichrist and work for his evil kingdom.

Mense, dit is tyd om wakker to skrik!

Our Afrikaans language is very expressive! The above headline means, “People, it’s time to be shocked awake!

Israel is very soon going to be shocked awake – big time! Many churches are already wide awake. The Spirit of God has “electrified” them.

Many churches are going to remain asleep and fall right into the tribulation period, where they will be shocked beyond belief, but because of their own deception!

It’s not all over for them, as many would have you believe. In the tribulation everyone, besides those who have taken the mark, will be able to get shocked into becoming tribulation saints. However their destiny will be the Millennial earth.

Hell is the destination of all those who reject salvation right up to the last point and there will be many!

An unshakable foundation:

What Christians today need is a solid, unshakable foundation. Whatever you build, if not built on a solid foundation will fall when the shaking really intensifies, and its coming soon.

It’s time to fortify your heart!

There is something perceptible and identifiable in the ministry of many of the old-school fire and brimstone preachers. They may not have had their eschatology ducks in line, but back then it wasn’t an issue anyway. They had revelatory insight and power to deliver people from self, the world, and the demonic.

Today there are very few with such a foundation in their lives.

The tragedy of the day is that many of today’s Christians are no different from the world.

As you read the verses in this edition please note that this is no game. I hope you can feel the gravity of it all.

Finally

In the verses I’ve used here, we see many times that God has given over certain people. Personally, when I first studied these verses many years ago, I was shocked indeed. I heard none of them proclaimed in the church.

So, today you can choose your happy, ho, ho, ho Santa Clause Jesus, or the Frankenstein Jesus, or the true Jesus who is full of true love, which includes goodness, severity, holiness, hard sayings, easy sayings, correction, and encouragement all rightly divided and applied.

Job 9:4 “God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened his ways against Him and prospered.”

Do you have that sizzling sort-of feeling that we are getting very, very close to all things breaking out? I hope you do. Time is short my friends, glory is around the corner!

This lion is owned by a friend of mine who was a fashion model; then she became Miss South Africa. Then she ditched that world and bought a game reserve, and has been involved in conservation ever since. I took the picture of this guy yawning, one of five of her lions. I took the picture of the giant sycamore tree in the Ndumu Game Reserve and merged the two together.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!

Edition 511: March 3^rd 2020.

Dangers facing Israel:

Introduction:

Today there are numerous, growing dangers facing Israel. This is due to God’s call upon Israel to be His chosen super-evangelists to the Gentile world in the soon-coming tribulation period and Satan’s resistance to it.

The dangers include wars and conflicts soon to break out in the Middle East, prophesied in the Bible, with Israel in the cross-hairs.

In this edition, I want to delve into some deep, sinister, dangers which are often obscured below the surface, but very real.

I want to look at the very real danger facing you becoming a danger to Israel! And I will look at how you can be a great friend of God and His servant Israel, in these days.  

You can be a glory-rider or a blindfolded rider of the beast to destruction.

Some background:

Christian history relating to the Jews is a sickening disgrace of extreme torture, mass murder and attempted extermination. It’s all a pure manifestation of Satan himself.

Today many in the church have constructed a new blood-libel of lies – Bible verses taken out of context and designed to get rid of the Jews again. Some of these teachers, with Bible in hand, may as well have a Swastika tattooed on their foreheads.

At Israel’s independence in 1948 (Isaiah 66:8), there were 30 Jewish believers in Yeshua in Israel. Today, the number of Jews coming to Messiah is growing very fast in every town and city, mostly caused by Jews evangelising Jews, while many Christians are still full of Catholic-created and inspired replacement theology.

Romans 1:16 “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Messiah, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek (Gentiles).”

“Teachers will incur a stricter judgment, therefore let not many of you be teachers!” (James 3:1) Some self-appointed teachers need to get out of ministry. You can tell who they are by them being in error over and over again.

Replacement theology – replacement reality:

Replacement theology legitimises and sanctions Jew-hatred. It puts God’s apparent stamp of approval on anti-Jew sentiment. But in reality it is Satan’s stamp of approval! It’s always the gullible, and ignorant who get caught out, and tragically, new believers.

Replacement theology developed by the Catholic church, uses Bible verses wrongly applied, to replace Israel with the church. Because it is of a powerful evil spirit, it leads to replacement reality!

Replacement theology has to nullify the prophesied great return to the land and regathering of the Jewish people. It must also deliver Jerusalem to the annals of obscurity, or at least make its status the same as any other city of the world.

Martin Luther refined the Catholic-created replacement theology. Hitler used these beliefs in his attempt to create a new world order with now Jews in it.

Hitler’s Nazi Holocaust was a manifestation of that spirit within replacement theology. The same spirit motivated the Catholic popes to torture and murder an unknown number, (many millions) of Jews in the Inquisitions. They wanted a new world Catholic order!

The ancient spirit behind the inquisitions, and the Holocaust is still lurking in the background, and is about to manifest again, within much of the so-called church.

►Replacement theology uses Bible verses wrongly applied, but also uses the ancient technique of demonising, discrediting and delegitimizing the “enemy,” and therefore makes them the target of attack.

Replacement theology flies in the face of God. It is an attack on the authority of God’s word and Bible prophecy itself.

In effect replacement theology replaces God’s word with pride.

I would like to share with you now a profound, shocking, example of how Satan is at work within a section of the church.

Gross, dangerous, error:

I will not name the individual concerned, because this is not a personal attack on him, and who knows, he may repent. This is a word of correction and warning.

Here is the false, erroneous doctrine presented in his teachings:

■The fall of the Jews began, he says, when “the Jews” stoned Stephen (Acts 7:59-60). Interestingly as Stephen died he prayed that God would not charge this against those Jews.

This was when God cut off the Jews – all of them, he claims – with no scriptural support!

There’s nothing new about this false belief. It is part of the new “blood libel”, anti-Semitic belief that the blood of Stephen now cries out for the Jews to be exterminated. It was a belief of Luther and Hitler.

Firstly, “the Jews” did not stone Stephen; only some did, led by the man who became the apostle Paul after his repentance.

Why cite the stoning of Stephen as a reason to come against and damage all Jews even today? If God set aside the Jews because of their stoning of Stephen, why did He then raise up a new apostle to the Jews? Likewise, how can Gentiles (wild olive branch) be grafted into the true olive tree if it had been cut down?

■Then he claims that the “great apostasy” or “falling away” of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is not speaking of the church at all, but the Jews. He claims that their fall is total and complete.

■Then he presents the crown of error in his false doctrine:

Hebrews 6:4-6 “For it impossible for those once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God.”

His false doctrine claims that this passage above is speaking to the Jews.

This passage begins with the doctrine of Messiah for the church (verses 1 & 2). It is addressed to the church. It is addressed to people who were once partakers of the Holy Spirit and the work of the cross. It is speaking of Christians who have renounced Messiah. It is not addressed to Jews.

Our man of error says that this verse above means that the Jews can never come back to repentance. For them, it’s all over.

Romans 11:1 “Has God cast away His people? Certainly not!” Verse 11 “Have they stumbled that they should fall? Certainly not!”

■In other teachings, this same individual claims that the messages to the seven churches in the opening chapters of the Revelation are not for the church but for Israel. He then cites some of the condemnations in those letters claiming that they are for the Jews, when in fact they are for the churches.

Again his erroneous interpretation is specifically designed to put the Jews down.

■Like the Catholics, he claims that the Jews crucified Messiah, as if they are to be held responsible today. In fact you and I crucified our Lord. He laid down His own life for us.”

■There is another false doctrine doing the rounds that appears on the surface to be quite right. It is called “Rightly dividing the truth.” The bottom line, hidden to most, is that it wrongly divides Israel right out of the picture.

The summary conclusion of all these false doctrines has a collective outcome – cast down the Jews.

This is all a very clear succinct work of the spirit of replacement theology at its core!

At the top of this website I have a line a words, which carefully describes the entire great drama of all the ages – the journey of Israel from being elected, to rebellion, to being rejected, regathered, then repenting, being received and realising Gods plan.

►Here is the link to a presentation I put together, for you. I have included many verses on this miraculous, magnificent plan of God.

CLICK Here.

The deadly danger of biblical error:

Many smaller errors, especially unintentional through ignorance or presumption, are often no big deal, and come right as we go along the road with the Spirit of God leading us. There are some big foundational errors that are absolutely deadly.

Teachers amplify error and it spreads fast and influences the gullible and new believers.

Big error in teachers is of pride and leads to a big fall and big destruction for them as well as their followers.

What amazes me is how some teachers never seem to get tired of being wrong over and over again. They obviously have no concern for the people they lead astray.

The more times you are wrong, the more you will not be believed, and as a teacher, the more people you will be held accountable for leading into error.

Yes, as a teacher, you are your brother’s keeper!

Warning:

There is another Holocaust coming to the Israel, soon. Will replacement theology, anti-Semitism and general-Jew hatred be a part of it again? You bet it will. It is already forming all around us.

The modern Christian Hitler uses Bible verses instead of gas chambers, but his objective is the same! It is to get rid of the Jews, if only theologically, for now.

There are many people out there who have become enemies of Israel over time because of their exposure to the teachings of other enemies of Israel, even in the pulpit.

Evidence does not persuade those with a fixated mind. Amazingly, the Bible says that “even though they see one raised from the dead they will not believe” (Luke 16:31). Israel is about to be raised from spiritual death. (Romans 11:15)

False doctrine or unbelief not repented of and forsaken, can be a powerful force. It becomes spiritually charged and develops into a stronghold and immovable curse.

Listen for and watch for the undercurrent of subliminal, give away signs and comments that point to the anti-Jew spirit. It’s deep inside their heart and leaks out of their mouth.

►I take this opportunity to distance and separate myself and The Prophetic Scroll from all those of replacement theology, anti-Semitism, and anti-Zionism amongst the church, YouTube ministries, and others. (Unless repentance is in sight)

►I also take this opportunity to align and identify myself and The Prophetic Scroll with God’s word, will and plans for Israel now and into the future. Israel, we stand with you, for you, and bless you.

Ezekiel 13:18 “...Will you hunt the souls of My people (Israel) and keep yourselves alive.”

Truth endures, my friends, error does not. Truth comforts, assures and protects, but also brings correction. Truth is your great eternal friend.

God’s will, will be done:

A big danger facing Israel is one very few are aware of or even believe. It is the danger that would prevent them from fulfilling God’s plan for them to be God’s primary evangelists to the nations during the seven-year tribulation period.

Israel is in danger of being drawn into the world-system as an ordinary member of the nations of the world. The truth is - Israel will forever be unique, because God has planned it that way.

Deuteronomy 14:2 “For you (Israel) are a holy people to the Lord your God, and the Lord has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all the peoples on the face of the earth.”

Do you know that God commanded the children of Israel to affix knotted fringes (tzitzit) to the corners of the prayer shawl (tallit). This was to identify them, separately from the world and to remind them of His eternal word and promises tied to them. (Deuteronomy 22:12, Numbers 15:37-41) (That’s them in the image below under “Israel” on the right)

Know this: that those in all forms of replacement theology have tried to write Israel’s death certificate. Satan has directed their hand, but God has written their birth certificate (Isaiah 66:8) and they will live!

Israel has been born as a nation and is about to be born spiritually.

Throughout history Satan has used his people as enemies of Israel, to bring them down, eliminate them and kill them – nothing has changed.

Nothing has changed in the end result. As they proclaim Israel’s fall, they themselves have fallen and been locked out of God’s blessing by the key of David. They all fail and fall miserably and do themselves incredible damage. God’s will, way and word always comes through victoriously.

The tragic church:

A large part of the church has hailed venerated, and glorified many of their heroes. The church fathers (not all) were anti-Semitic hate-filled Jew-haters. Much of that evil spirit has simply infused into, and poisoned some of the church today.

Many people sit before pulpits starving for the reality of God and are fed poison instead.

The world has created a god in its fallen sin-filled image. The worldly church has succeeded in creating a God in its low Jew-less image. Some of these churches, as a result, have become a fraud and a counterfeit.

►Thankfully, many churches have a high and exalted view of God and His word, led by His Spirit, which lifts them up keeping them safe and secure in these dangerous days. Many churches, once in the dark on these things, are now seeing the light and being blessed.

Your church must understand and proclaim God’s word for Israel.

Here are some of the main points from the following verses: Micah 7:19-29, Hosea 14:4-6, Hosea 3:5, Zephaniah 3:13.

●God will have compassion on Israel and will give them the truth. ●He will heal their backsliding and cast their sins away. ●He will beautify them like an olive tree and give them dew and goodness in the latter days. ●The remnant of Israel will be holy.

The tragic nation:

Many nations of the world are anti-Semitic. Some are active and some not. The problem is that government policy rubs off on the masses, particularly those who are under-educated and easy to influence.

Often a government, at the stroke of a pen can cause almost an entire population to be swayed against Israel. I have seen it many times. It does happen the other way around.

Not only is that government distributing God’s curse on its people, but on themselves as well. (Genesis 12:3, Numbers 24:9)

Enlightened self interest is to be pro-God and His word on Israel; be it church or state.

The wise bless Israel.

Finally

Zechariah 12:9-10 “It shall come to pass in that day I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. I will pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they have pierced and will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son...”

If you don’t have the eyes of your understanding enlightened by the living God, you will see things Satan’s way!

Satan wants Israel because God has chosen Israel.

1 Chronicles 21:1 “Now Satan stood up against Israel...”

Zechariah 3:2 “The Lord said to Satan, The Lord rebuke you, Satan! The Lord who has chosen Jerusalem rebuke you!

If Satan can get God and His call out of Israel, and replace it with his evil call to be like him, he has won, but he has lost and will still lose!

My favourite animal – the cheetah. I took this picture during an operation to fit radio tracking collars to these cheetahs on their release into the wilds. This was in the years when they were endangered.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!

Edition 510: February 25^th 2020.

Falling away from what?

Introduction:

2 Thessalonians 2:3 “Let no 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.”

Yes I know what the verse above says. I say there will be no falling away!

There will be no falling away from the faith according to this particular verse, that is. Others do speak of an end-time falling away, but we need to look at all these misconceptions.

We will look at who will fall away and from what and how many will fall away and why.

Be prepared to have your traditional apple cart overturned by our Lord’s truth.

In this edition I will also look at some of the problem verses relating to the pre-tribulation rapture. You will have your hope revived in the pre-trib rapture.

 “Falling away from the faith” – hogwash!

Parrots are not very clever. They just blurt out what they hear. Parrots are also not clever because to blurt out what they hear, means that they sanction and elevate those from whom they hear.

The word “faith” or any derivative of it does not appear in the original text of 2 Thessalonians 2:3 at all (look it up) It is a presumption. Some Bibles like the New King James, which I use, doesn’t use the word faith in this verse at all; and rightly so.

Presumption is fine, but not when it involves an addition or change to the Bible, or violates plain logic. Many cults are built on presumption. You must stick to original word usages.

The idea that this is a falling away from the faith, and is a required end-time sign before the coming of the Lord and the revealing of the antichrist is totally untrue, illogical, and gives rise to other false beliefs.

There are 37 warnings in the Bible against falling away, not all mean the same thing.

The most commonly used “reinforcement” to 2 Thessalonians 2:3 is 1Timothy 4:1. – Wrong!

Let’s look at 1Timothy 4:1 and its “falling away also translated as “depart.”

1 Timothy 4:1 “Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons.”

The big key in the verse above is the word “some”. It does not mean a massive worldwide apostasy. It means some! This is exactly what we have today; some are falling away.

The word “some” is Strong’s G5100 meaning “some one” It does not have a wider application meaning many!

If you read on to the next verse you will see that those who departed from the faith, were a small group who got into the curse of legalism. It was not a general, great apostasy from the faith at all.

We have a major problem now if the great apostasy or falling away is from the faith, and is a sign to be observed before the Lord comes and antichrist is revealed. If that is so, what is the cut off point? Where and when did the falling away from the faith begin? How many need to fall away?

In history we have already seen a great, great falling away from the faith, called the dark ages, created by the Catholic church, resulting in their leaders becoming amongst the world’s worst torturers and mass murderers (Inquisitions).

I say again: The word “great” apostasy is not in the original, and neither is the word “faith.”

If this is the case, we need to look elsewhere for the meaning of 2 Thessalonians 2:3. But first let me throw another spanner in the works of the traditional, wrong, presumed belief!

If we are in the end-time drama now, we should be able to clearly see and identify the so-called great apostasy from the faith.

But the Bible speaks of an end-time outpouring of the Spirit of God in last days. (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17, Isaiah 44:3). This obviously contradicts the traditional “great apostasy from the faith!” There is actually no contradiction because it’s not a falling away from the faith.

Matthew 24:12 speaks of the “love of many growing cold.” But this is clearly a tribulation-period verse. It does not mean a falling away from the faith anyway. It means many will become loveless because of abounding wickedness in the tribulation, before the Second Coming. These are not necessarily believers.

The Bible speaks of grace abounding, where sin abounds. (Romans 5:20)

In the final analysis, we see a thriving, strong end time church (Philadelphia) while at the same time we see many who think they are Christians, while they are actually counterfeits, being spat out by our Lord (Laodicea).

With all of this in mind, we absolutely cannot say that an end time sign is a great apostasy and falling away from the faith.

2 Timothy 3:5 (Perilous times) “They will have a form of godliness, but deny its power...”

The verse above is often cited as proof of the falling away from the faith. It is not! It is speaking of counterfeit or professing Christians. Their “godliness” is outward and without power. You could include in this the modern Spirit-less, cross-less churches, but it is not the church at large.

Worldwide growth of Christianity:

I have gone through the statistics of the Pew Research Centre and others – for your benefit. If you like, simply type in: “Worldwide growth of Christianity” and you will get many sources of these statistics, all saying much the same things.

For your benefit, I have summarised the main points:

Some of the article headings include:

●“Surprising growth trends in Christianity”, ● “Do you think Christianity is dying – No”, ●”How Christianity is growing around the world”, ●”Why the Christian faith is becoming more and more popular”, ●”Mind blowing statistics about Christianity”

The Christian faith rose worldwide by 84% in 2918.

●Spirit-filled, Pentecostal evangelicals are growing the fastest, while non-Spirit-filled denominationalism and related churches are declining the fastest. ● Christianity is growing the fastest in Africa and the eastern nations of the world. ● Christianity is growing faster than the world population. ●In many nations of South America, Africa, and Asia the growth is explosive. ●Southern Africa is seeing growth by ten-fold since 2010. ●Over 10.2 million Muslim have converted to Christianity of late. ●The sale of Bibles worldwide is dramatically rising outstripping any other book ever. ●Bible sales worth $425 million occurred last year. ●Now 100 million additional Bibles are being printed for this year. ●Africa has the largest number of Christians worldwide in 2019, (631 million). ●Rwanda has just had the largest adult water baptism in the world a few weeks ago, with over 100,000 new-convert participants. ●Europe is seeing a decline in Christian conversions.

The big bottom line is that Christianity is growing fast worldwide. Of course I concede that it is near impossible to get accurate figures, but there is far too much evidence, all very similar, to reinforce the overall picture I have presented.

I do concede, and have written much about the falling away of sections of the church, like the non-Spirit-filled denominations and the many counterfeit and fraudulent churches out there, But these do not make up the overall big picture, by any means.

I ask you this: How can 2 Thessalonians 2:3 be talking of an end-time great apostasy from the faith, when the church worldwide is growing substantially. Do you see the problem, and it is massive?

No sir – we have to look a bit further than our noses, and the traditional blindly held, handed down talk from one parrot to another parrot, all flocking together.

This simple little presentation annihilates so many loud and long traditional beliefs! I suspect that many who read this will not change their traditional view. That’s what tradition does to you: It nullifies the truth. (Mark 7:13)

A lesson from history:

We have to dig for the real meaning of the apostasy. And it is a glorious dig for gold!

The original word for “apostasy” is Apostasia (Strong’s G646). It is derived from the root word “aphestemi.” Strong’s G868:  Meaning to “depart”, “physical removal from”, or “to go away”. It has no association with faith in the word meaning itself. Context must be applied.

For those wanting to study this further; look up the word: “aphestemi.”

2 Thessalonians 2:3 uses this term “the apostasy.” The word “the” is in front. That means it is speaking of a specific departure and not a general undefined falling away over time. It is “the departure” that must come first.

“The Day will not come until the departure has happened first...” (2 Thessalonians 2:3) What “Day” is this speaking of?  The Bible uses the word “day” for a 24 hour day, for the entire church age, for the tribulation period, and for the day of the Second Coming. Context must be applied.

The “Day” here, is the tribulation period as a whole.

A very powerful (and true) interpretation of the “apostasy / falling away / departure, is the rapture.

If we (rightly) say that the “Day shall not come until the departure (rapture) comes first and the man of sin is revealed...” That seals the pre-tribulation rapture. It also gets rid of the idea that the antichrist has to first appear on the stage before the rapture can occur.

Here is some powerful food for thought:

►Prior to the King James translation of 1611, (which I will never use, by the way) the Greek word “apostasia” was translated as “departure” and not falling away. It was believed to refer to the rapture of the church. “Falling away from the faith” is a much later doctrine, some 500 years old.

If you want to stick to “falling away” that’s fine, just know that the truth is it’s a falling away from the earth to heaven in the rapture and not from the faith.

Let’s write out 2 Thessalonians 3:2 both ways and notice the difference:

• The present erroneous traditional position:

“Let no man deceive you by any means, for that Day will not come, unless the falling away (from the faith or great apostasy) comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”

• Now the original Bible (truth) position:

“Let no man deceive you by any means, for that Day will not come, unless the departure (rapture) comes first and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition.”

Do you see how dramatically this changes things, and makes such perfect sense?

It cannot be a great (worldwide) apostasy or falling away from the faith, which is undefined in starting point, numbers and ending point. (And has already occurred anyway)

One of the end-time signs is the gospel being preached in every nation. That also contradicts a great apostasy and falling away from the faith, worldwide as many teach.

Ancient biblical keys to therapture:

Our Lord in His word gives some very detailed, clear, descriptions about His coming, both at the rapture and at the Second Coming. We need to take careful note of the differences. You cannot merge them together into one event – the Second Coming.

Carefully note all the descriptive details about the Second Coming in the two verses below and note the words in bold. And then note the details of the rapture verse below it in 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18.

Matthew 24:29-31 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days, the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light. The stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven and then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet. And they (angels) will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”

Revelation 1:7 “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, and they also who pierced Him (Israel). And the tribes of the nations shall mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”

(Many commentators believe that “clouds” in the verse above is a reference to shining glory.)

1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 “The Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel (singular) and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.”

(“Clouds” in this verse above speaks of literal clouds up in the air.)

●We see many cosmic, atmospheric signs, some supernatural, at the Second Coming and none at all at the rapture.

●We see the people of the world “mourning” as they see the Lord coming, slowly, descending, just as He left. There is no such thing at the rapture, which happens in an instant in the air.

●At the Second Coming, every eye will see Him. None, but the raptured themselves, will see Him at the rapture.

●Angels do the gathering of the tribulation saints at the end of the tribulation.

●The Lord Himself does the gathering at the rapture.

Here are some more verses succinctly describing the conditions at the Second Coming. None of these are evident at the rapture – not one!

Isaiah 24:23 (Impending judgement of the earth) “Then the moon will be disgraced and the sun ashamed for the Lord of hosts will reign on Mount Zion and from Jerusalem.”

Joel 2:10 (The day of the Lord) “The earth quakes before them, the heavens tremble; the sun and moon grow dark and the stars diminish in brightness.”

Wrath - for whom?

The tribulation is a unique, never again to be seen, most severe period in world history in which the ●wrath of Satan, the ●wrath of man, the ●wrath of nature, and the ●wrath of God run simultaneously.

Nahum 1:2 “...He reserves His wrath for His enemies.”

1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “...He delivers us from the wrath to come.”

1 Thessalonians 5:9 “God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation...”

The verse below offers a great, wonderful comfort:

Revelation 3:10 “Because you have kept My word to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial (tribulation period) which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.”

Rewards are coming while wrath is being poured out:

What a thought to know that the wrath of God is coming in the tribulation period. At the same time true Christians will be given great rewards in heaven!

Wrath or reward – yikes!

The Christian life is not about striving for rewards, primarily, but never forget that our Lord has chosen to give those that qualify, eternal rewards.

Loving our Lord is one thing, but remember that He loves us intensely and forever.

Psalm 18:20-21 “The Lord rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands, for I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.”

Finally

Those without eschatology in their mix are living without the essential ingredient of hope and excitement. Their God has to be the God of the here and now, and with a world focus.

I took the background picture from a micro-light flying over a section of the 15,000sq km Okavango Delta and inserted one of my pictures of purple gallinules.

Shalom and grow in His Grace!