Is America Becoming A Post Christian Nation?

True science will always confirm the existence of God! That is great news for a believer, because we never have to worry that science will uncover something that will disprove what the Bible says, because it has never happened and it never will. In fact, it is just the opposite, what the Bible has said is now being verified by science and creates such a compelling case for Christians that what was predicted over thousands of years ago is in fact true. Did you know what one resource all archaeology departments have on hand whenever they make a discovery? The Bible because it has validated the existence and time frames of civilizations more than any other document because of its reliability. It has never been proven to be in error. He is the God who created science.

Proverbs 30:4 ~ "Who has gone up to heaven and come down? Who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of his hands? Who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak? Who has established all the ends of the earth? What is his name and the name of his son? Tell me if you know."

In the end, it will be the LORD who will judge and His judgment will span all of history.

Revelation 11:18-19 ~ "The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth. Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of the covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm."

Verse 18 is one of the most remarkable scriptures in the Bible, because it spans from Jesus' First Coming to His Second Coming. 2000 years of history is covered in just this one verse. This one verse is a collection of many verses. Consider a mountain range. From a distance the mountain range looks like a cardboard cutout. It's just a silhouette of tall jagged peaks but as you begin to approach these mountains, you begin to see shades of color and you begin to see that there are canyons and valleys between these mountains. The same is true with some scriptures. They blend together from a distance, but the closer you get, the greater the detail and the more defined it becomes. This is an example of what is referred to as near/far fulfillment.

Isaiah 61:1-7 ~ "The Spirit of the LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. Aliens will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. And you will be called priests of the LORD, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. Instead of their shame my people will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace they will rejoice in their inheritance; and so they will inherit a double portion in their land, and everlasting joy will be theirs."

But when Jesus read it out loud, listen to what He did.

Luke 4:16-21 ~ "He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him, and he began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."

 Why didn't He finish? Because your life and mine is held back by a comma. In Isaiah 61:2 is says, "to proclaim the year of the LORD's favor and the day of vengeance of our God," this is the title of the Tribulation Period, " the day of vengeance of our God." Jesus preaches the church and salvation to the world. He told His disciples to go forth and preach the gospel to the world. When did you accept Christ? It was during a comma. He saved us by a comma.

It states that the nations were angry, they have always been angry. From the rebellion of man in the Garden of Eden to the culmination of the events in the Tribulation Period, and that the conclusion is very near. Does not the world hate God. Have you seen the news recently. They are arguing right now over Christmas and where or not Nativity scenes are allowed to be displayed. Other things are allowed to be displayed, the crescent moon of the Muslims, to the Star of David are fine, just no crosses or nativities. America is a post Christian nation. Wake Up!

When you throw the 10 Commandments out of the United States of America, it's a post Christian nation. This nation is hanging on by a thread. Thank God the Lord has hold of the other end of it. The nations hate God and they are angry. They rejected Him.

When it says that the time has come for judging the dead, it is talking about their spiritual death not their physical death. They were still alive in their physical bodies but they never had a spiritual life. Because of their rebellion against God, judgment came upon their land and homes as the rest of the scripture references. It would stay depressing if we left this chapter at that. But it doesn't. It ends at a glorious up tempo beat.

Revelation 11:19 ~ "Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of the covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm."

John, a Jewish man, is now telling us that he saw into heaven and saw the temple opened up. None of us understands the magnitude of this. It also says that he saw the ark of the covenant. How did it get there? If you have read your Bible carefully, it has always been there. Hebrews 8-10, it's always been there, it's never left. The Bible says in those chapters, that the ark of the covenant was just a man made copy, it means nothing to God. The temple on earth didn't mean anything to God either. If is did, why didn't Jesus enter into it? If it meant something to Jesus, wouldn't He have taken it from Rome? He visited the temple but He never went inside. He stepped into the Outer Courts, but never inside.

If you being saved was predicated on a temple, then there would be a temple standing today. This is what John is seeing in verse 19. He saw the one true temple that would never go away or be destroyed. Not only did the door to the temple open up, and the veil was pulled back, but he also saw the ark of the covenant.

Hebrews 9:11 ~ "When Christ came as high priest of the good things that are already here, he went through the greater and more perfect tabernacle that is not man made, that is to say, not a part of this creation."

No temple will get you into heaven that is made by human hands. Our salvation isn't in any temple, palace or church is connected to your salvation. Nothing you do or associated with your salvation. You will not go to heaven based on association with anything on this earth. Jesus said the kingdom is within you as long as you ask Him to sit in on the throne in your life. Will you respond to His invitation today? Jesus said He is The Way, there is no other way or ways. It is sad that there are so many in the world today that could care a less about their eternity and more about what is in it for them right now.

Is God speaking to you right now and let Him fix your life today? Repent now, change direction and follow Him. People view God in one of two extremes. He is either too weak with a long beard and doesn't care about anything or He sits in judgment waiting to condemn man into fire and wrath. .But we live in an age of fire and grace. He is fair and just and will bring forth judgment one day but in His love right now He is doing all He can to reach those who still have not accepted Him before it's too late. How you view God determines your actions and reactions. 

Welcome to the Digital Age, Ready to Receive Your Mark?

Perhaps the hardest question any Christian has been asked is "Why does God allow bad things to happen?" While we rest in the knowledge knowing that nothing that happens in this world passes without God's knowledge, we understand that this is now a sin-filled world ruled by Satan for a limited period of time and his purpose is to steal, kill and destroy. So while it may feel fine to blame God, the real person or created being is Satan for why bad things happen in the world. We need to remember that Satan is alive and is real and the blame needs to be placed on him. The biggest lie we fall for is that he doesn't exist and that God is somehow responsible for what is happening. We buy into his deception when we believe that.

The Bible is the only book that promises that all that it contains, all the promises and prophecies will come true in 100% certainty and detail. God has promised that one day evil will have run its course and He will place judgment upon those who have followed in the ways of Satan and rejected Christ, along with the Antichrist, Satan and all his demonic followers. The Bible promises that in the last days in Revelation 13 beginning in verse 11, those who are left on the earth will need to pledge an alliegance to the European Ruler through the taking of a mark on his right hand or forehead. Notice it doesn't say left hand? If the mark is unable to placed on the right hand, it will be placed on the forehead and it will be the same prefix for everyone, even though their numbers will vary. That prefix will be 666. Its like those of us that live in a certain area, all of us have the same area code that identify those of us that live in specific places.

Did you know that in Hebrew the number 6, is represented as man and that 666 is man declaring himself to be god. Just like in Hebrew the number 777 is the complete rule and reign of God of Heaven. 666 is the attempt of man to become like God. The book of Revelation warns us about this. Did you know that in Mexico under the leadership of Vincente Fox, because his key cabinet members are often used to gain access into secure facilities, he wanted to ensure that they were able to be tracked by receiving a mark in the right hand painlessly. This is the brain child of a company called Digital Applied Solutions which has been marketing this product under the name "Digital Angel" and is using the issues of medical illnesses and the premise for making this a product it believes consumers will use. It is the same "Verichip" technology that is being used by vets to scan all those run away pets but as of right now does not have government approval for use in the US at this time. They also lack the tools needed to track location of people must like GPS does but they are working on incorporating the use of RFID to help in the process.

It's amazing when you consider how the Bible is thousands of years old and yet predicts this type of technology would be available to be used in the future and we are watching it unfold before our very eyes. If you are a skeptic, what more do you need? The Lord is coming back. Jesus is coming back and if He said it, you'd better believe it. Jesus must come back unless He is the wrong one.

Matthew 6:9-10 ~ " This, then is how you should pray: "Our Father in heaven, hallowed by your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. "

You ever prayed that prayer before? You know what you are asking for? For God to establish His kingdom on earth. When you pray that prayer you are asking for the return of Jesus Christ to take place. Next time you pray it, pray it and mean it.

Isaiah 9:6-7 ~ "For unto us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this."

Where is the throne of David? It's in Jerusalem but it hasn't been established yet. It will be when Jesus comes. If Jesus does not sit for 1000 years on the throne of David in Jerusalem in a literal sense, He is not the Christ. The Bible teaches that He must come back.

Psalm 93:1-2 ~ "The LORD reigns; he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved. Your throne was established long ago; you are from all eternity."

How long will the LORD reign? Forever and ever! When we say Praise the Lord, we ought to really mean it. We should be thanking God in all things. Jesus is coming one day soon and we need to be thanking Him both now and forever. We know however at this time, that Satan is in control of the earth and what happens here only through God however, and we know that the current state of our world is growing darker wouldn't you agree? Why is that true?

2 Corinthians 4:3-4 ~ "And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God."

Put blame where blame is due. It is Satan who has blinded the minds of those living in this world who does not believe. Don't blame God when people are starving around the world, God is not sending the earthquakes that destroy people lives or sending horrific storms that are killing people. God is not sending those things. This is a world that is repeatedly sold into the hands of Satan. 

John 12:31 ~ "Now is the time for judgment on this world; now the price of this world will be driven out."

John 14:30 ~ "I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me."

John 16:11 ~ "and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world now stand condemned."

Matthew 12:25-26 ~ "Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?" Satan is behind the destructive forces that kill and destroy. Not God.

In the end, it will be the Lord who is worshiped. He is worshiped because He alone is the Savoir.

Revelation 11:16-17 ~ "And the twenty four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying, "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign."

This makes sense when you read it backward. Because you have begun to reign and have taken your great power, (this is something that the world has longed for), the fact that You are the One who is, who was and is to come, You have absolute authority and there is no doubt about it. You are the One and we give thanks to You because you are the Lord God Almighty. The twenty four elders and seated and secure in heaven. We know in prior studies that then 24 elders are none other than a representation of the church age believers from the day of Pentecost to the day of rapture. They are introduced to us in Revelation 4 and are never seen again on earth. In Revelation 19, we see Christ coming back in the Second Coming with His church. How did they get there? Revelation 4:1.

Why the number 24? Study previously what we have gone through but quickly, there were 24 order of priests dedicated and commanded by God in the Old Testament. They were to live before the Lord, doing the work of the Lord. What does the Bible say we are as Christians? We are a kingdom of priests. These 24 elders represent the entire body of church believers from the Day of Pentecost to the Day of the Rapture. The only way you get to heaven, is through faith in Jesus Christ alone not a religious affiliation. It is the same for anyone who calls on the name of Jesus. It is hell without Him literally. Remember this is a future event.

It is the Lord who is worshiped because He alone is Almighty. Who is this in verse 17? He is the Lord, Almighty.

Revelation 1:8 ~ " I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty."

Revelation 1:17 ~ "When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last."

Revelation 1:18 ~ "I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades."

Revelation 4:8 ~ "Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stopped saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come."

Revelation 2:8 ~ "To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the word of him who is the First and the Last, who died and came to life again."

Titus 2:13 ~ "while we wait for the blessed hope - the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ,"

Titus 2:10 ~ "and not steal from them, but to show that they can be fully trusted, so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive."

Isaiah 42:8 ~ "I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols."

Hosea 13:4 ~ "But I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of Egypt. You shall have no other God but me, no Savior except me."

Phil 3:20 ~ "For our citizenship is in heaven, for which we also eagerly await the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ."

 It is a great time to really know who Jesus is! If you are not a Christian, what in the world are you doing? Why don't you know Jesus? What is keeping you from being a Christian because Jesus is everything! There are no second changes when your life ends. There are no do overs. No mulligans. If you are really smart, you will give your life to Jesus today!

Let Us Put the Blame of Evil Things Happening in The World Where It Belongs!

Did you know that the Book of Revelation references all the books of the Bible over any other book in the Bible? You will never understand the Book of Revelation without having knowledge of the Old Testament. When Christians tell you that they don't understand the Book of Revelation, they are announcing to you that they have never read the Old Testament or have an understanding of what they have read in regards to studying the Old Testament. What is concealed in the Old is revealed in the New!

Revelation 11:18 ~ "The nations were angry and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth."

This is a portion of Psalm 2 which is fulfilled by the time we get to Revelation 11:18 and was written over 3000 years ago.

Psalm 2:1-3 ~ "Why do the nations conspire and the people plot in vain? The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. "Let us break their chains," they say, "and throw off their fetters." 

This part of the prophecy has already been fulfilled when they crucified and mocked Jesus, and continues even to this day against Christians and those that speak the truth found in God's Word.

Psalm 2:4-9 ~ "The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath saying, "I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery."  

This portion of prophecy is coming and will be fulfilled during the Tribulation period when the wrath of God is unleashed upon a Christ-rejecting world and when Jesus returns to earth in the Second Coming to establish His kingdom once and for all.

We have just finished studying from Revelation 10:1 to Revelation 11:14 what is known as a parenthetical pause in the chronological events in the story to provide some much need information to the reader of the book and from Revelation 11:15-19 we continue in the events of the Tribulation Period with John again.

Revelation 11:15-19 ~ "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever." And the twenty-four elders, who were seated on their thrones before God, fell on their faces and worshiped God, saying: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry; and your wrath has come. The time has come for judging the dead, and for rewarding your servants the prophets and your saints and those who reverence your name, both small and great - and for destroying those who destroy the earth." Then God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of the covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a great hailstorm"

This portion of scripture introduces us to the coming kingdom of Christ. We are living in the time of the church age believers right now.

Acts 1:9-11 ~ "After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seem him go into heaven."

They watched Jesus ascend into the glory of heaven and we told to go forth and preach the Word of the gospel into the whole world. On the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit came and the church was born. Jesus said that He would be coming back and coming again. We wait for Jesus to return just as the Bible predicts because if He doesn't, He wasn't the Messiah and the faith we have in Him is nothing. But we know that Jesus has fulfilled all the Bible prophecy's up to this point regarding His birth, His death and His resurrection. Sandwiched between His first coming, that is His birth as a baby in Bethlehem to His Second Coming in Revelation 19 as King and Redeemer coming with the saints and the church with Him to earth. In between this time is the Church Age, that is what you and I are a part of and at some point in that time frame, that age will end, and from the day of Pentecost to the Rapture, the church will conclude.

There will be no church in the Tribulation period. There will be the Tribulation saints or the believers who are born again during that Tribulation period. If you are a Christian right now, you will not experience the events we have been studying about that will happen in the Tribulation period. If you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior even while reading this post, God has promised to deliver you from the wrath that has yet to come. The words "wrath to come" does not mean hell. The "wrath to come" is the Tribulation period, when God pours out His judgment and vengeance upon the earth. Today you want to make sure you are a Christian and that you know God personally! Make sure your relationship with God is not a religious position where you think just because you attend church on Sunday and that is it for the rest of the week. You might be able to say that you know God, but can you say with boldness that God knows You?

We are going to look at three major points of why we need to know Jesus today. When Christ comes, the Lord will reign on earth. God will reign on earth.

Revelation 11:15 ~ "The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said: "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever."

Man's attempt to reign as president, as ruler, as king, is coming to an end. Yes, God has established earthly governments in fact in Romans 13, it states the governments in power have been established by God. That is true, whether you believe in that government or not. As Christians, we get a citizenship change or a passport change, as Paul taught in Philippians that our citizenship is now in heaven.

When we tell the world that the end is near, they will not believe that. Because it implies the end of man and the beginning of Christ in the world. The Bible makes it clear. We are running low on angels now. We are down to the seventh angel and he is the last one. There were seven of them, and this is the last one to blow his trumpet. From Revelation 12 to 19, we will cover a brief period of time, in those long section of Scriptures. The attempt of man to reign is nearly over.

Genesis 6:3 ~ "Then the LORD said, "My Spirit will not contend with man forever, for he is mortal; his days will be a hundred and twenty years."

That word was given to Noah and his generation and when Noah proclaimed those words it was exactly 120 years until the flood came. You might not believe the flood happened, but God and history says it has happened. Archaeology says it happened. A great flood happened and turned our world upside down. The word strive or contend in Hebrew means to sail a straight course. God will not always sail a straight course into man's heart. He will not always be speaking to you directly and trying to convince you to come to know Him.

Right now Jesus is enthroned in heaven and He supervises all that is going on in the earth. However there are things going on in the earth that He does not approve of. The time for judgment has not yet come. All of the evil that we see and experience and look at, think of all the horrible events taking place in the world today, we need to put blame where blame is due. That blame is due primarily on man's neck.

James 4:1 ~ "What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don't they come from your desires that battle within you? You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight."

It all begins in the heart. How is it that someone would pepetrate evil against someone else? It comes from the heart. The Bible also tells us that Satan is the god of this age. Little "g". He is not God. He is the upsurper of authority of this age. You want to know why Satan has so much destructive power in the world? It's because man keeps leaving the door open. There are people wondering why their marriages are falling apart and when they back up and realize that they were flirting with someone else who wasn't their husband or wife all this time and now they can see why their marriage is falling apart. There are those who are wondering why their kids are rebelling within their family and they look back and say, "Well we didn't want to ram God down their throats, we wanted them to make their own choices." So they grew up not knowing God and haven't learned anything from the Bible on how to act. When a man leaves his home or family unattended, it goes to mischief. This earth has gone to mischief.

If there is an earthquake today or someone gets murdered today, we can't blame God, this is a world where the evil thereof needs to be directed toward Satan. Jesus says I have come to give you life, and that more abundantly. But the thief, (not a thief but "THE" thief) has come to rob, kill and destroy. Which refers to Satan. Satan loves when you are having a bad day. We know man's reign is about to end and the Lord's reign is about to come upon the earth.

Notice that the camera angle has changed and we are seeing through John's eyes what is happening in heaven. This is what He hears.

Revelation 11:15 ~ "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever."

Some versions of the Bible have dropped the "s" on the word 'kingdoms' and it simply says kingdom. That is an unfortunate translation. If you go back to the Old King James Version, it is as how I have written this portion of Scripture of the Bible. There are a lot of kingdoms in this world. Notice how they will all become the kingdom, dropping the "s". When Jesus comes in His Second Coming, He is going to establish His rule. But some things have to happen first before He returns.

The first was laughable when people read it until it came to pass on May 14, 1948 when Israel became a nation in one day. Now people have zipped their lips. The Bible said before Jesus came back, Israel would have to become a nation again. That happened on May 14, 1948. Not only that the Bible said that God would call all His people back home that had been scattered across the world and bring them back to Israel in unbelief. Not believing in God. When you look at the nation of Israel is is predominately secular and an unbelief in God.

If you keep on going, there will be an unification of Europe. That the European Empire would be resurrected and that is happening today. It is called the E.U. or the U.S.E. the United States of Europe. All these things are coming together. If that is not enough and there are more than 300 scriptures that have already been fulfilled in the most amazing detail that need to take place before the Second Coming of Christ, and in Revelation 13, there will come a time in technology that man will issue a decree to those belonging to the One World Government, of a One World Religion, of a One World Church (which is not really a church at all), will have to pledge alliegance to a European ruler and to a global church and receive a number on their right hand or forehead.

If anyone has ever been to Buckingham Palace in England, there are massive pillars that are out in front of the palace, one for example will be labeled New Zealand, one will be labeled Australia, or India and all of these pillar will label a kingdom, where the crown of England presided over, so one crown sat over the kingdoms where it had authority, so on a very human small scale, think of that and you will be able to better understand that portion of Scripture. Under the crown of Christ, remember He is King of Kings, Lord of Lords, His kingdom will swallow up all the other kingdoms. A singular kingdom will consume plural kingdoms. Human kingdoms even though they have been presided over by God, the human kingdoms will be swallowed up by Christ.