Most recently in this series, we’ve been looking at the struggle between Jesus and the Pharisees that punctuated his entire ministry. We found that many of the Pharisees seemed motivated by their connections to the pagan religious systems that had filtered down from the days of Babylon and Nimrod and Semiramis. The Jewish version of this emerging cult gave birth to Kaballah and its offshoot, Gnosticism. It has continued through the centuries, ensconced in the inner trappings of the secret societies, including the higher levels of modern-day Masonry. This struggle did not end with the conclusion of Christ’s earthly ministry. It continues to this day – with implications for even the End of the Age.
Implications
Now, comprehending the nature of the struggle between the Pharisees and the Son of God, it becomes easier to understand Jesus’ words of condemnation found in the eighth chapter of John’s Gospel. It is there we find that Christ draws a clear distinction between the world system, – Satan’s Kingdom, on the one hand; – and the Kingdom of God on the other. After all, this is a struggle that actually began in the Garden, was joined in earnest in Babel, – worked through the pagan systems of Babylon, Egypt and the Middle East, – and proliferated around the world. It finds its expression in the religions of the East, the cults, Islam, Mormonism, among the Jehovah’s Witnesses, in Kabbalah and Freemasonry and the Secret Societies. It lives today in the New Age attempt to bring forth the next one to bear the ‘christ consciousness’. It lives on in the emerging hyper-ecumenicalism of the day.
Let’s understand the nature of the ‘Beast’ that lies on the other end of this struggle. If you recall, the knowledge provided by the Kabbalah, for instance was divided into two parts; – earthly and spiritual. As we look through history we can find increasing evidence that practical knowledge in the arts and sciences, was it seems, passed down through the secret societies with their ties to the occult. Alan Alford, author of When The Gods Came Down, is among many that builds the case that “there is plentiful evidence of an esoteric belief system flowing down through secret societies during the last two thousand years.”[i] A report in Cutting Edge Ministries details how the revelation of very specific and advanced knowledge is passed on via the occult secret societies. These include advances in the areas of astronomy, physics, medicine, mathematics, the arts and even psychic capabilities. At least that’s the teaching of the occultists. It is no secret that many of the greatest scientific minds through the ages have been intimately acquainted with the occult. Marcel Vogel, a key inventor of IBM computers claims he got his inspiration from a psychic dream. It is interesting to note that Vogel went on to found Psychic Research Inc. While working on configuring crystals he “saw in a vision a shape that he later discovered was the Kabbalistic Tree of Life,” – from which he developed a “Kabbalistic Tree of Life Crystal Healing Wand.”[ii] The founders of Apple Computers are said to be tied to the Theosophical mindset.[iii] Thomas Edison himself is known to have extensive ties to the House of Theosophy.[iv] Others dabbling in similar studies include Henry Ford, Alexander Graham Bell and Albert Einstein.[v] To take this farther, there are rumored connections to a possible connection with an ‘alien’ / demon / Nephilim presence that is providing all of this incredibly sophisticated knowledge.
So this is a struggle that has gone on from the dawn of man. And Jesus, when he faced off against the Pharisees, understood that they were acting as agents of Satan in this War of the Ages. With this in mind let’s look at Jesus’ confrontation with the Pharisees as described in John’s Gospel. Jesus had just been talking about His intimacy with the Father. But they are (probably purposely) not getting it. “Then they said to Him, ‘Where is Your Father?’”. So Jesus tells them. “You know neither Me nor My Father. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also.” (John 8:19) He was drawing a clear distinction between their vision and His; – between man’s kingdom and God’s.
Yet He offered them freedom. “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:31-32) But they could not see their bondage, so they pleaded the fact to Him that they were descendants of Abraham. But he tells them that they are slaves of sin. He goes on. “I know that you are Abraham’s descendants, but you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you. I speak what I have seen with My Father, and you do what you have seen with your father.” (John 8:37-38) Now He was making their condition clearer. They were plotting to kill Him, so He told them, “You do the deeds of your father”. (v 41) They protested: ‘“We were not born of fornication; we have one Father—God.’ Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and came from God; nor have I come of Myself, but He sent Me. Why do you not understand My speech? Because you are not able to listen to My word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe Me.’” (John 8:41-45)
The Pharisees were just what Christ said they were; operatives of the Satanic Party. They had chosen their rebellion. It is the same with the great movement that exists today to set their own pretender on the throne of the Messiah King. The Prince of this world has blinded the eyes of those in rebellion. Still they also do not seek to hear or know or follow the truth. Instead they serve themselves and their own rebellious ways. The amazing thing is that we can now see that Christ’s struggle and our struggle with the Antichrist are one and the same. We fight the same foe; – an enemy that refuses to recognize the Messiah / Son, – or honor the Father. Their rebellion has made them blind to the ways of God and deaf to His words. As Jesus told the Pharisees: “He who is of God hears God’s word’s; therefore you do not hear, because you are not of God”. (John 8:47)
Still God did not allow Satan’s plan to succeed until God’s appointed time. Jesus made it clear in John 10:17-18: “I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself”. But Satan was deceived when he was allowed to engineer Jesus’ death on the Cross. Instead of Satan’s victory it signaled his complete defeat. This was Christ’s total victory over sin and the supreme example of God’s love for us. It came as the result of a long chain of evil choices, made by men exercising their free will to pursue their own selfish ends. Yet in the end, the evil of men was made to serve the divine will, making possible our salvation.[vi] Christ’s resurrection was the sign of that victory. “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28)
Although ultimately defeated, the rebellion continues until it is finally put down; – first in the Tribulational reign of Antichrist and later in the final rebellion after the 1,000 year rule of Christ, known as the Millenium. Satan’s reign of terror will commence in full flower only after the rapture of the Church. It is that for which all these evil forces are striving. He employs the process of sowing spiritual, physical, and intellectual chaos in order to thwart God’s plan for human salvation and advance the cause of his own End Times rule.[vii] That goal of course is a One World Religion / Government.
To that end the dark forces of paganism have infiltrated even Christ’s Church, – as he said they would. They came in subtly, with the best of intentions; – to expand the reach of the Faith by making it more pagan-friendly to those being compelled to join. The compromise had its price. It watered down many of the essentials of the Faith. Pagan ritualism and ceremony crept into Church practice, replacing salvation through faith. That ritualism remains strong in the Church of Rome and Eastern Orthodoxy. So the leadership at Rome, allied with some of the Protestant denominations is laying the groundwork for a unification of all religions. But according to the Bible, it is only an individual called the False Prophet, a religious leader working in conjunction with the political leader, the Antichrist, that will be able to unite all religions in the Last Days. New Age visionaries and Catholic theologians both see a role for beings from other worlds in the emerging New World Order. Chaos is descending from many quarters. This is nut-so stuff, but it is a little uncomfortable when we realize just how intimately all is connected. Prophecy scholar Perry Stone believes that it will be an apparition of ‘Mary’ occurring in Jerusalem that will bring us to the establishment of the One World Religion. The way is well prepared by a Church no longer grounded in the Truth of God’s Word. Without the anchor of the Scriptures anything becomes possible. That anchor is well eroded.
Whatever the cause or circumstance of the critical event; all agree that it will follow a time of crisis. Muslim, Christian, Jew, New Age, even Mayan’s believe that a New Savior comes; And that he will make his appearance following a time of unprecedented crisis. The Illuminati have hatched a plan to create that crisis. It is to drive the world to the unity they seek. Wars and earthquakes and famines and diseases and an alien presence will fulfill the expectations of all religions; – Islam, New Age, Popes and Imams – as well as the prophecies given by Daniel & Jesus & John.
Then, led by the False Prophet, that One Religion will be revealed. It will be inextricably connected with the rise of the political power of the Beast / Antichrist. “Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name.” (Revelation 13:1) This political beast will be “mortally wounded” and revived. This could refer to one of the “kingdoms” that comprise this system, – or to the physical antichrist himself.[viii] And so the world, witnessing this miracle will be drawn to worship this beast as god. “And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’” (Rev 13:3-4) And the Beast that will rise will be a composite of the empires that came before; Greece, Persia, Babylon. And the Beast too, will be the man that is the fully demonic expression of satanic rebellion.
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{We’ve done it again; taken up too much space to run an installment of JOURNEY TO FAITH. Hope to see you next week..}
[i] Alan Alford quoted from an interview for the Daily Grail, Rense, monitored December 3, 2008
[ii] Atlantis: The Quest For Power, Vogel Crystals, December 23, 2008
[iii] David Bay, An Ancient Secret Society Killed Jesus Christ, Cutting Edge News #2032, 2004
[iv] Katinka Hesselink, Famous People and the impact of the Theosophical Society, 2006-2008
[v] Found in the book by HP Blavatsky, The Key To Theosophy
[vi] CS Lewis, The Problem of Pain, 1996, pg 111
[vii] Again, these are common theological themes. I consulted a summary by Rev Mark Perkins, The Life of Christ – Spiritual Perspectives – Part I, Denver Bible Church
[viii] John MacArthur, The John MacArthur Study Bible, notes on Revelation 13, found on pg 2009
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