How long to Midnight?

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brakelite

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We are presently living in a time of intense war and strife. The past 100 years has seen this planet turned into one vast graveyard as a direct result of war, and compounding disasters in every land and continent. Matthew 24:6 and 7 are being played out before our very eyes. And not only nations are at war, but we also witness sectarian violence, terrorism, gang warfare in our local suburbs, and family violence in our homes. So poignant are the words of Jesus when He described the last days as being as the days of Noah,a time when “the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” Genesis 6:11.

But Matthew also reveals to us a subtle change. After describing a period of war and natural disasters, Jesus tells us that these are just the beginning of sorrows, with the real heavy stuff beginning in verse 9 where He tells us that Christians will be hated of all nations for His name’s sake. The nations, after being at each others throats for millennia, finally find something that unites them. A hatred for God’s people. The reason for this, I believe is clear. Encouraged by their Luciferian rulers, they blame the church for all the troubles that have come upon them. In Luke, Jesus said that the nations would be perplexed at the troubles. They have no solutions, no answers. But why blame the church? Because they have turned to religion as a last resort to solve their problems. Remember the days and weeks following 9/11? Every man, woman, and their pet poodle was in church... out of a sense of surrender, repentance, or love toward their Creator? Maybe but I would suggest more simply out of a sense of self preservation. Why would I say such a terrible thing? Because within a month or two when the hubbub died down the churches began to empty. People realized it wasn't world war 3 the government promised to look after them and chase away all their enemies....they felt safe again. So in the coming crisis people are going to be going back to church. Once again they will find solace and security in 'religion'. But the troubles won't stop...in fact they will increase.
Revelation informs us in chapter 13 that the whole world will worship the beast and its image. Believing it is the will of God and to appease who it believes is an angry God pouring out His last day judgments upon mankind, it is the people themselves who demand that an image be established...an image to the first beast...a union of church and state similar to the medieval papacy, and that the only way to avert annihilation is to destroy the only remaining people who refuse to bow their knee to his authority. This ‘remnant’ the scriptures inform us are they “who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus”. (Revelation 12:17; 14:12)

So how could such a scenario come about, especially in a nation like the United States which has religious freedom enshrined within its constitution? As a member of a minority Christian group, this concerns me a great deal, even though I write from New Zealand, for prophecy is clear that what begins with the second beast, grows to a global threat against any who would dissent from the majority opinion. Power, in the hands of the church, historically has never been a good thing. So if Trump has his way,and gives the church 'power' as he promised, and the church at some time in the future has such influence to enact religious decrees and laws through the state legislative arm, then religious freedom ceases.

Religious freedom in America will then be reduced to something one may practice only by permission. Toleration certainly is far better than intoleration, for I would far rather be tolerated in my religious practice than be bundled off to the nearest gallows or bonfire for choosing to worship God in a manner different than what the government deems ‘appropriate’. But is that what religious freedom in America is? Toleration? If I should come to America and take up residence there, if I should practice my religion, being a member of a minority faith, would I be merely tolerated? Or would I truly be free as your founding fathers intended I should be? You see, to be tolerated is not the same as being free.

Thomas Jefferson said, “God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion.” If religion is between man and God, and not between man and the state, then the state (nor the people who live in the state) has no more right to ‘tolerate’ my religion than I have the right to ‘tolerate’ jogging in Central Park.

The Act of Toleration in Britain permitted religious freedom for everyone, except Jews, Catholics, and Unitarians. The founding fathers of your great nation wanted something better. Having their forefathers live through what amounted to ‘toleration’ during the dark ages in both Europe and Britain, they desired true freedom. Your Bill of Rights states, “That religion, or the duty we owe our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, being under the direction of reason and conviction only, not of violence or compulsion, all men are equally entitled to the full and free exercise of it according to the dictates of conscience.”

Intolerance, as practiced in the former Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and in Europe under the medieval papacy, assumed the right of the state or the church, or a combination of both,to withhold the right of conscience. Toleration, as seems a distinct possibility if the evangelical arm of Christendom gains the reign of government, assumes the right of the state to grant the right of conscience. The rights of religious minorities in this world, regardless of recent history and hurt feelings, are just that, rights. For “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights” and surely, among those “unalienable rights” is the the right to “full and free exercise of it (religion) according to the dictates of conscience”. And not only the right to practice said religion, but the right not to practice religion, of any sort.
This is religious freedom. And it goes way beyond what is constitutional and what isn’t, it is who we are as created beings. And if we should demand that freedom for ourselves, so ought we demand it for everyone else. The states role is not in defining that freedom, nor is it in tolerating it, but solely in protecting it. And the moment the state, or the people, starts down the road of intolerance or tolerance, then religious freedom in its purest form, will get inundated in a tsunami of majority opinion.
 
B

brakelite

Guest
According to Revelation 13, Babylon the Great or Antichrist, will influence the state to introduce legislation that enforces a particular brand of worship. That is what Revelation 13 is all about. Worship. Worship and deception. And this religion I speak of is not a secular/humanist type of religion nor is it Islam, nor is it any other of the worlds main religious branches. The religion of the Antichrist, Babylon the Great, is a form of apostate Christianity. And the entire world is deceived. Jesus warns us time and time again of false prophets, false Christs. That the Christian's greatest enemy is from within the church,not without. Mohamed is not a false prophet. He is a true prophet of a false religion. False prophets are false prophets of the true religion. And the greatest false prophet of them all is soon to come, speaking as a dragon and causing “all both great and small to receive a mark”. This false prophet is a beast. A nation. A nation that has horns like a lamb’s, innocent and Christ-like, but speaks (through its legislation) as a dragon.

To tolerate something, is to put up with that which at some future time you may prevent or prohibit. Professor Robert Alley in his book “The Despotism of Toleration” writes…
“evidence is persuasive that whenever persons advocate some form of a Christian state or argue for the messianic role of the United States as God’s chosen nation, there is a corollary, the introduction of toleration as a principle. And while the implementation may be benign in the beginning, the departure of Madison’s principle of religious freedom as a natural right is replaced with the ‘despotism’ of toleration”.

However distasteful it may seem, however awkward it may feel, all Christians in America should be demanding that Trump rescind without reservation his promise to empower the church, and only then would they vote for him.

Abraham Lincoln once said: “Familiarize yourself with the chains of bondage, (or allow the church to use the state as a vehicle for Christianizing America) and you prepare your own limbs to wear them. Accustomed to trample upon the rights of others, you have lost the genius of your own independence, and become fit subjects of the first cunning tyrant who rises among you.”

When the dragon makes war with the woman and the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus; when ye shall be hated of all nations for Jesus’ names sake; and when he ( the false prophet) cause all both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or forehead , whose side will you be on? Do you truly agree with and support the concept of true religious freedom as an unalienable right, or do you believe certain minority religions are only to be tolerated if certain conditions or agreements met?

The mark of the beast is not a code or tattoo or chip giving people the right to buy and sell. That is not what Revelation 13 is all about. The mark is a form of false worship, and those who don’t submit are forbidden to buy or sell as an inducement to comply. The death sentence will be the final inducement. Upholding true religious liberty, regardless the cost and pain or embarrassment this may cause, is the first step in resisting Babylon the Great. And it starts today. Islam is not the real enemy. Vladimir Putin is not the enemy. Zionism is not the enemy. Even the Banking gangsters are not the enemy. The real enemy is to be found within our own churches. The whole world will not be deceived by a future evil fascist dictator riding across the horizon with guns blazing and aimed at all things Christian, but the whole word will be deceived by a form of apostate counterfeit Christianity, a counterfeit so close to the real, that only by the scriptures can the differences be discerned. And freedom to make that choice must be protected, in whatever country we live in. It is our unalienable right, and everyone else’s also.
 
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Davy

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We are presently living in a time of intense war and strife. The past 100 years has seen this planet turned into one vast graveyard as a direct result of war, and compounding disasters in every land and continent. Matthew 24:6 and 7 are being played out before our very eyes. And not only nations are at war, but we also witness sectarian violence, terrorism, gang warfare in our local suburbs, and family violence in our homes. So poignant are the words of Jesus when He described the last days as being as the days of Noah,a time when “the earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence” Genesis 6:11.

But Matthew also reveals to us a subtle change. After describing a period of war and natural disasters, Jesus tells us that these are just the beginning of sorrows, with the real heavy stuff beginning in verse 9 where He tells us that Christians will be hated of all nations for His name’s sake. The nations, after being at each others throats for millennia, finally find something that unites them. A hatred for God’s people. The reason for this, I believe is clear. Encouraged by their Luciferian rulers, they blame the church for all the troubles that have come upon them. In Luke, Jesus said that the nations would be perplexed at the troubles. They have no solutions, no answers. But why blame the church? Because they have turned to religion as a last resort to solve their problems. Remember the days and weeks following 9/11? Every man, woman, and their pet poodle was in church... out of a sense of surrender, repentance, or love toward their Creator? Maybe but I would suggest more simply out of a sense of self preservation. Why would I say such a terrible thing? Because within a month or two when the hubbub died down the churches began to empty. People realized it wasn't world war 3 the government promised to look after them and chase away all their enemies....they felt safe again. So in the coming crisis people are going to be going back to church. Once again they will find solace and security in 'religion'. But the troubles won't stop...in fact they will increase.
Revelation informs us in chapter 13 that the whole world will worship the beast and its image. Believing it is the will of God and to appease who it believes is an angry God pouring out His last day judgments upon mankind, it is the people themselves who demand that an image be established...an image to the first beast...a union of church and state similar to the medieval papacy, and that the only way to avert annihilation is to destroy the only remaining people who refuse to bow their knee to his authority. This ‘remnant’ the scriptures inform us are they “who keep the commandments of God and have the faith of Jesus”. (Revelation 12:17; 14:12)

So how could such a scenario come about, especially in a nation like the United States which has religious freedom enshrined within its constitution? As a member of a minority Christian group, this concerns me a great deal, even though I write from New Zealand, for prophecy is clear that what begins with the second beast, grows to a global threat against any who would dissent from the majority opinion. Power, in the hands of the church, historically has never been a good thing. So if Trump has his way,and gives the church 'power' as he promised, and the church at some time in the future has such influence to enact religious decrees and laws through the state legislative arm, then religious freedom ceases.

Religious freedom in America will then be reduced to something one may practice only by permission. Toleration certainly is far better than intoleration, for I would far rather be tolerated in my religious practice than be bundled off to the nearest gallows or bonfire for choosing to worship God in a manner different than what the government deems ‘appropriate’. But is that what religious freedom in America is? Toleration? If I should come to America and take up residence there, if I should practice my religion, being a member of a minority faith, would I be merely tolerated? Or would I truly be free as your founding fathers intended I should be? You see, to be tolerated is not the same as being free.

Thomas Jefferson said, “God hath created the mind free; that all attempts to influence it by temporal punishments or burdens, or by civil incapacitations tend only to beget habits of hypocrisy and meanness, and are a departure from the plan of the Holy Author of our religion.” If religion is between man and God, and not between man and the state, then the state (nor the people who live in the state) has no more right to ‘tolerate’ my religion than I have the right to ‘tolerate’ jogging in Central Park.

The Act of Toleration in Britain permitted religious freedom for everyone, except Jews, Catholics, and Unitarians. The founding fathers of your great nation wanted something better. Having their forefathers live through what amounted to ‘toleration’ during the dark ages in both Europe and Britain, they desired true freedom. Your Bill of Rights states, “That religion, or the duty we owe our Creator, and the manner of discharging it, being under the direction of reason and conviction only, not of violence or compulsion, all men are equally entitled to the full and free exercise of it according to the dictates of conscience.”

Intolerance, as practiced in the former Soviet Union, Saudi Arabia, North Korea, and in Europe under the medieval papacy, assumed the right of the state or the church, or a combination of both,to withhold the right of conscience. Toleration, as seems a distinct possibility if the evangelical arm of Christendom gains the reign of government, assumes the right of the state to grant the right of conscience. The rights of religious minorities in this world, regardless of recent history and hurt feelings, are just that, rights. For “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights” and surely, among those “unalienable rights” is the the right to “full and free exercise of it (religion) according to the dictates of conscience”. And not only the right to practice said religion, but the right not to practice religion, of any sort.
This is religious freedom. And it goes way beyond what is constitutional and what isn’t, it is who we are as created beings. And if we should demand that freedom for ourselves, so ought we demand it for everyone else. The states role is not in defining that freedom, nor is it in tolerating it, but solely in protecting it. And the moment the state, or the people, starts down the road of intolerance or tolerance, then religious freedom in its purest form, will get inundated in a tsunami of majority opinion.


Don't have to worry about the Christian Church becoming a government ruling power for the end, it will be the one-world religion the Antichrist will be over that will institute the image and mark of the beast.

God has ordained the final beast kingdom of Rev.13 to come into existence at the end of this world. It will make pruning easier when Jesus returns.

The Fabian Socialists and Communists are both working together to bring all nations under a "one world government" (Lenin said, "The goal of socialism is communism"). This is why the EU was created and why the EU nations are already under Socialist control, and is why South America and Latin America is falling to Marxism, and is also why Marxists are also in high positions in the U.S. and Canada.

Trump really should be the least of your worries. Neither the Democrats or Republicans really like him, mainly because he is not one of them. They don't control him like they did past presidents. Trump has already reversed many of Obama's policies.
 
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brakelite

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Don't have to worry about the Christian Church becoming a government ruling power for the end, it will be the one-world religion the Antichrist will be over that will institute the image and mark of the beast.
I agree. It won't be a Christian church. The trouble is that most Christians will not recognise that the government they are promoting which they believe to be Christian, is in fact an apostate union of pagan statecraft...a counterfeit...and headed by the Roman whore. The current Christian euphoria behind Trump is almost to the point of believing Trump is some sort of saviour of modern Christianity. Yes, Trump is different, but he is still one of the elite. I like the way he ignores the media and politically correct mindset that permeates American society. I like the way he says what he thinks. And he means what he says. Yet to me he is still an enigma. And dangerous to the extent that what he has promised to the church...political power...has never, in all of history, even in theocratic old Israel, worked. And those so-called Christian cronies that are at his feet begging for favours? Nothing but charlatans and pretenders. If their churches were spiritually awake and thriving as they should be, they don't need political favours or civil power to support them. I believe Benjamin Franklin said something very similar. Ben may have been skewed in his thinking on some points of behaviour, but he was right on that.
 
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Davy

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I agree. It won't be a Christian church. The trouble is that most Christians will not recognise that the government they are promoting which they believe to be Christian, is in fact an apostate union of pagan statecraft...a counterfeit...and headed by the Roman whore. The current Christian euphoria behind Trump is almost to the point of believing Trump is some sort of saviour of modern Christianity. Yes, Trump is different, but he is still one of the elite. I like the way he ignores the media and politically correct mindset that permeates American society. I like the way he says what he thinks. And he means what he says. Yet to me he is still an enigma. And dangerous to the extent that what he has promised to the church...political power...has never, in all of history, even in theocratic old Israel, worked. And those so-called Christian cronies that are at his feet begging for favours? Nothing but charlatans and pretenders. If their churches were spiritually awake and thriving as they should be, they don't need political favours or civil power to support them. I believe Benjamin Franklin said something very similar. Ben may have been skewed in his thinking on some points of behaviour, but he was right on that.

Remember what Solomon said that there's no new thing under the sun, what has been shall be again.

Trump somewhat fits the OT role of king Jehu who ended a lot of the old Baal worshippers of Jezebel and Ahab (see 2 Kings 9).