THE LAST DAYS, LAODICEA,
AND FALSE DOCTRINES
7/23/2018
Various passages of scripture describe the
characteristics of people during the final (or last) days prior to the second
coming of Christ and the beginning of the millennial Kingdom of God. One of the most explicit passages can be
found at 2 Timothy chapter 3. It will be
assumed that Paul’s “last days” understanding is referring to the era of time
we are living in today.
2 Timothy 3:1-9 NET But understand this, that in
the last days difficult times will come.
(2) For people will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to
parents, ungrateful, unholy, (3) unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without
self-control, savage, opposed to what is good,
(4) treacherous, reckless,
conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. (5)
They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have
repudiated its power. So avoid people like these. (6)
For some of these insinuate themselves into households and captivate
weak women who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various
passions. (7) Such women are always seeking instruction,
yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. (8)
And just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these people — who have warped minds and are
disqualified in the faith — also oppose the truth. (9) But they will not go much further, for their
foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and
Jambres.
Verse 1:
But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
The Scofield inspired 7-year tribulation period predicted by
most dispensational inspired prophecy people will not happen, at least in the
manner they predict it. Their
tribulation predictions of future events are primarily based on chapters 5
through 16 of the book of the Revelation.
These Revelation chapters have little to do with the end times because
they are a prophetic history of the Church from the days of John until the
present.
However, there may be some dual prophetic implications
concerning the last days which I believe we are currently experiencing. As an example, several of the Revelation
events are metaphorically speaking of the Arab incursions into Europe during
the early church era and today we are witnessing another invasion of Arabs and
Islamic refugees into Europe and the USA but with a different impetus for their
infiltration: the past Libyan war; the
current Syrian war; Angela Merkel’s Zionist influence; George Soros’ paid
radicals and jihadists. This would also
include the Hispanic immigration through the southern coast bordering Mexico.
The earthquakes spoken of in the Revelation are not actual
earthquakes but rather they denote upheavals in politics, finances, and
religious practices. However, we are now
experiencing many earthquakes and volcanic eruptions around the world
particularly in the “ring of fire” which is the land area around the Pacific
Ocean.
Verse
2a: For people will be lovers of
themselves
Most current politicians around the world could be labeling
with this phrase. It could also include
the majority of TV and movie actors and actresses. The west coast liberal leftists can be added
as well as the university type snowflakes who are always seeking a safe space.
Verse
2b: Lovers of money
The word translated as money in this NET version is actually
the word “mammon” which is defined as wealth or riches. Until a gold standard is setup in the world, all
current money (bills, coins, electronic) is fiat (i.e. currency that a
government has declared to be legal tender, but is not backed by a physical
commodity). Fiat is another way of
saying it is fake with no actual value.
Burn a bushel of 100 dollar bills and no one cares only more will be
printed or digitally created.
Denominational paper money and coins constitute the “mark of
the beast”. With the beast being the
International banks along with the Federal Reserve that charge usury on fiat
money. (i.e. the original earth beast of
Revelation 13 was and is the Rothschild banking system which, for a while, was
the money manager for the Vatican beginning after the papacy was restored
following the death of the pope by Napoleon.
All money has an image or a mark.
Matthew 6:24 NET "No one can serve two masters, for either he
will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and
despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.
Everyone needs money, fiat or otherwise, to eat, live,
and survive. However, when the
accumulation of money becomes the primary directive of one’s life then one is
serving the idol of money beyond the functions of normal life. Accumulation of excessive wealth is idolatry.
2b: boastful – one who
brags
2c: arrogant –
exaggerate one’s worth or importance usually in an overbearing manner; showing an offensive attitude
of superiority
Boasting and arrogance are two
similar terms with similar characteristics and is a form or method of lying, usually
about oneself. It is mainly a front or
excuse for a lack of personal accomplishment.
We Live in an Age of Competitive Lying by Dmitry Orlov
Lying is almost always a
manifestation of failure. Even in its relatively innocuous
forms, such as braggadocio and puffery, showboating and grandstanding, it is a
poor substitute for having a favorable truth to tell.
2d: blasphemers – one who
insults or shows contempt or lack of reverence for God.
The Roman
Colosseum along with two churches in Mosul and Aleppo will be lit up by red
lights later this month to draw attention to the global persecution of
Christians.
“Christians are the victims of at least 75 percent of all religiously-motivated violence and oppression,” declared the latest report from Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), the group organizing the event, and moreover “the extent of this persecution is largely ignored by our media.”
The remainder of the list is basically self-evident, but currently
the most important is found in verse 5: They will maintain the
outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power.
The Church of Laodicea
Revelation 3:14-22 NET "To the angel of the church in Laodicea write the
following: "This is the solemn pronouncement of the Amen, the faithful and
true witness, the originator of God's creation: (15) 'I know your deeds, that
you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either cold or hot! (16) So
because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out
of my mouth! (17) Because you say, "I am rich and have acquired great
wealth, and need nothing," but do not realize that you are wretched,
pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, (18) take my advice and buy gold from me
refined by fire so you can become rich! Buy from me white clothing so you can
be clothed and your shameful nakedness will not be exposed, and buy eye salve
to put on your eyes so you can see! (19) All those I love, I rebuke and
discipline. So be earnest and repent! (20) Listen! I am standing at the door
and knocking! If anyone hears my voice and opens the door I will come into his
home and share a meal with him, and he with me. (21) I will grant the one who
conquers permission to sit with me on my throne, just as I too conquered and
sat down with my Father on his throne. (22) The one who has an ear had better
hear what the Spirit says to the churches.' "
The letter to the church in
Laodicea is a description of the church at the present time. Although the bulk of the Revelation is a
prophetic history of the Church, the seven letters to the various churches are accounts
and depictions of the church ages. We
are now living in the last church age as found in the letter to Laodicea.
This church is said to be neither
hot nor cold. This banal lukewarm
church will be vomited out of the mouth of God.
Why are there countless denominations in North America when
we all read the same Bible? Speaking of the Bible, why are there numerous translated
versions of the Bible that don’t all say or mean the same thing?
There are pastors/preachers/church organizations preaching
and performing phony miracles to dupe people out of their money. There are prosperity churches that rarely, if
ever, mention God or Jesus Christ, only preach how to feel good about oneself
and never feel guilty about anything that one does. The group of John Hagee is completely Old
Testament and avid Zionists. The New
Testament Gospel of the Kingdom of God is almost foreign to them.
Many church members have more money than good sense. They have very little spirituality. Church is either not done or is only done
when there is nothing better to do.
God states, “buy gold
from Me refined by fire so you can become rich”. The fire of God burns away the fleshly
desires and thoughts similar to an actual fire burns away the impurities from
gold. The recipient will become rich
with the spirit of God and will be eligible to be clad in white clothing as the
elect. The eye salve of God will open
one’s eyes to the spiritual truth of scripture such as Mystery, Babylon and the
Gospel of the Kingdom of God.
God’s discipline is for corrective purposes to increase one’s
spiritual awareness, because God loves everyone and will eventually redeem
everyone but, “the first may be the last
and the last may be the first.” God
is always there waiting for every person to give a signal and knock.
False
Doctrines
An article recently read contained a list of false doctrines
the writer considered rampant within the church world. Although I agree with most of the list there
are a few that are not considered to be important enough to harass someone
about. A few of my comments will be
written after the listed doctrines.
By the author, “False doctrines abound" such as:
The secret rapture – The rapture is secret in that it will not be
noticed or viewed until after the event.
Sunday sacredness -
Sunday is called the Lord’s Day (i.e. the day Jesus rose from the
dead. It is the day the early church adopted
as a meeting day. There is nothing
sacred about any day in my opinion.
A literal burning hellfire – forever – or as long as you “deserve” - The lake of fire, as previously discussed is
the corrective judgment of God
Freewill - No one has
freewill only a certain amount of God given authority
Organized churches as actual “The Church” - The church is the group of
believers in the Gospel of the Kingdom of God and not a building.
Belief in self
defense – He who lives by the sword dies by the sword. But I say to you,
do not resist the evildoer. But whoever strikes you on the right cheek, turn
the other to him as well.
A False interpretation of the “Judgment” – All people
will eventually be restored to God. The
White Throne judgment is corrective and does not result in eternal punishment.
The worship of a “Killer” God – The answer would require
several paragraphs but as an attempt to be brief: In the law certain crimes were punishable by
death because God did not ordain a prison system and there was no punishment in
the law worthy of the crime, thus God permitted the death sentence which will
allow Him to deal with the issue at the White Throne judgment. God told Joshua to kill many people due to an
infestation of Nephilim DNA. David
finished the task.
A False interpretation of what it means to be “Saved by Grace” – I am not
certain of the writer’s understanding here so I will basically disagree. However, it is by the grace of God and not by
any action of the individual.
A total distortion of God’s character of Love – Again, I am
not certain of the writer’s understanding but God loves everyone and will
restore and redeem everyone – some with a certain period of correction and
training.
Speaking in tongues – The gift of speaking in tongues has
been abused. I have never witnessed
anyone speaking in another language but it may be necessary somewhere in the
world.
The word “Lucifer” has been written into the Bible falsely – This falsehood
has recently been posted. The early
church father, Jerome, translated Helal, son of Shahar which should be literally translated as "shining one, son of dawn”. This phrase is equated with the planet Venus
so Jerome used the Latin term Lucifer which actually translates as Venus. The KJV interpreters used Jerome’s text and
merely transferred the word “Lucifer”.
Christmas and Easter are Pagan holidays – Yes they
are, but no one will listen to any negative comment about either Holiday. In addition, Jesus was not born on December
25.
Communion is nothing more than a useless ritual – Although not
written as a law or a required activity (ritual), Jesus did say, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” There is nothing useless about performing
communion in a correct manner of which many church groups do not perform.
A total distortion of what the Bible says about Divorce and Remarriage – The law of
God allows for divorce if there is a cause, although it does not specify the
cause. The cause cannot be adultery
because that crime is punishable by death.
Either spouse can remarry but if the former wife has remarried and then
divorced the second husband, the original husband and wife cannot remarry (see Deuteronomy
24:1-4).
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