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COMFORT ONE ANOTHER
by John Shriver
Why is the earth warming? Why are climates changing? Where do UFO's come from? Why are prophets spreading gloom and doom stories and predictions about the future? Why are psychologists, psychiatrists and mental hospitals doing a roaring business during this decade?
To answer the above questions and bring peace to troubled hearts today we need, first of all, to establish some basic facts. These facts are as follows:
There is one God, Creator of the heavens and the earth and Author of the Holy Bible which is the story of His creation and Himself (Deuteronomy 6:4.)
God is eternal (Deuteronomy 33:27.) He always has been and always will be. Before the heavens and the earth were created, God lived in His abode with myriads of angels. There were angels of many different ranks and responsibilities. They were created beings and servants of the Most High God,
God created the world, the heavens (we call them "space") and every living thing (Genesis 1:1.) They were "good" and lived together in the perfect Garden of Eden in perfect harmony.
Lucifer was a high-ranking angel in the abode of God. He was called "The Morning Star" and the Bible tells us he was beautiful and powerful and had much authority under God. But Lucifer had a change of heart and said, "I will be like the most High" and challenged God's authority (Isaiah 14:12-14.) For this disobedience (which was called "sin") Lucifer was cast out of God's abode and his domain became the earth and the space between heaven and earth (called "space"). The Bible describes Lucifer as "the old devil, the serpent, Satan, the evil one, prince of the air, god of this world, a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour and an angel of light" (Revelation 12:9; 2 Corinthians 4:4; 1 Peter 5:8.)
In Genesis we read the account of the devil who appeared in the form of a serpent. He convinced Eve she did not need to obey God. In fact, he told her that if she obeyed him, she would be like God and would know good from evil (Genesis 3:1-5.)
Consequently, Eve ate the fruit which God had forbidden and disobedience ("sin") came into the perfect creation. From that time on, mankind had to work for his living, and the animals were wild and afraid of him.
Sin and the sin nature passed to all the creation. Beasts became vicious and wild, weeds choked the gardens and man began to hate, kill and destroy one another (Genesis 3:17,18.) Satan was more than a fallen angel. With that one act of deception, he became the archenemy of God.
God promised Adam a "Deliverer" who would conquer Satan, undo his evil, and bring the creation back to its perfect form (Genesis 3:15.)
God also killed a lamb, shedding its blood to provide a covering for Adam and Eve. Thus blood became the cleansing factor, or the way in which man could approach a holy God and have his sins covered (Genesis 3:21.)
The rest of the Old Testament Scripture is the story of the preparation and anticipation of that Deliverer. Satan opposed God at every turn and the sin nature of man carried on the evil. It became so bad that the Gentiles were given up in unbelief and the Jews became the chosen people of God and the race through which the Deliverer would come. So from the time of Abraham until after Jesus died, was buried, rose again and went to Heaven, God was
dealing with the Jews. The Gentiles were called "dogs" (Matthew 15:22-27.) The Jews then looked for the Messiah, a Saviour, the very Deliverer God had promised back in early Genesis.
After 4,000 years this Messiah was born. John 1:11 tells us that
"He came unto His own (the Jews) and His own received Him not."
Instead of receiving Him as their Messiah and entering into a beautiful and perfect Kingdom, as He had promised, they crucified Jesus Christ. Even today orthodox Jews will not acknowledge that Jesus Christ was truly their Messiah.
Jesus Christ did die on a cross (Matthew 27:27-51.) He was the Son of God and had been sent by God as the perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. On the cross He shed His blood so that sin no longer needed to be covered by the blood of a perfect lamb, but could be taken away forever.
Because Jesus was rejected and the Kingdom which He offered was rejected, the Jews were then set aside as a nation and God brought in a new era called the "Dispensation of the Grace of God" (Ephesians 3:2.) No longer would God deal with Jews only. Now the Gentiles were invited to enjoy forgiveness and blessing from God. This new dispensation is also called a "Mystery" because it was not prophesied in the Old Testament Scriptures (Ephesians 3:3.) Oh yes--it was in the mind of God because He is all-knowing, and knew His Son would be rejected, and His Holy Spirit would be rejected. But it was not made known to man (Ephesians 3:15; 3:2.)
When Paul came on the scene--in the book of Acts--we find Jesus in Heaven, sitting at the right hand of God. The Jews have rejected Jesus, the Kingdom has been set aside and God is now dealing with Jew and Gentile in the same manner (Romans 11:32.)
Some of the things in which Jews and Gentiles (the entire world) are alike are as follows:
"Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved."
This salvation is a free gift from God. Ephesians 2:8,9 tells us:
"For by grace are ye saved, through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God; not of works lest any man should boast."
NO ONE can earn salvation by doing good works (Romans 4:4-5.)
You receive salvation only by faith in Christ and it is a free GIFT (Romans 6:23.)
Paul wrote many of the books of the New Testament. He is the one to whom God revealed this "Mystery Dispensation." Ephesians 3:3. What he writes is direct revelation from God for the world of today. Not for the world in Noah's time, or in David's time or in the time Jesus walked on the earth—but for TODAY!
The Bible tells you, that now you have believed in Christ, you are called a "Christian." (Acts 11:26; Acts 26:28.) As a Christian, Paul tells you that you are:
So why are people afraid today? Why does gloom and doom spill over amongst those who are Christians, those who belong to God? I believe it is because we read in the Old Testament Scriptures and the four gospels that there is a terrible day of judgment coming. Indeed that is true, but remember with whom God was dealing during the time of the Old Testament and the four gospels? He was dealing with the Jews ONLY--NOT the Gentiles (Matthew 15:24.)
When the "Day of Jacob's Trouble" (Jeremiah 3:7) called the "Great Tribulation" (Matthew 24:21) takes place, the Christians of this Dispensation (which began when Paul began preaching to the Gentiles) will NOT be involved in any way.
How do I know that? How can I be sure of that? We are told clearly that as long as the Christians are on this earth those terrible things cannot happen (2 Thessalonians 2:7.) But after the Christians are "taken away" then all "hell will break loose on this earth." Where will you be? Where will I be? If you have believed (trusted) Jesus Christ as your Saviour, then your hope is the same as mine. 1 Thessalonians 4:16-18 tells us:
"For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first: [those who have died as Christians]. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord."
Paul then tells us those wonderful words which can bring peace to any fearful heart:
"Wherefore, comfort one another with these words."
But why are all these strange things happening today?
2 Thessalonians 2:7 tells us that the "mystery of iniquity doth already work. . . ." Satan knows his time to rule the earth is coming to an end and he is going to do all he can to hinder the Christian, frighten the Christian, and persuade the world not to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. That verse goes on to tell us: "only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way." The word "letteth" means "restrains," so we could read that as saying: "only he who now restrains, will restrain until he be taken out of the way." This tells us that the Christians will be taken out of the way. The next thing that happens is revealed in verse 8:
"And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming; Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all POWER and SIGNS and LYING WONDERS."
After the Christians are taken up into heaven, how do you think the disappearance of millions of people from the earth is going to be explained? Satan has already worked that one out. Most people believe that UFO's contain people from outer space. I believe they are created by and contain demonic beings from outer space--not humans! Remember that Satan is the "prince of the power of the air." Satan is now setting the stage to explain the disappearance of the Christians. He is still the god of this world and is deceiving people. Why are there so many stories of angelic visitations now? Notice that people who have angelic visitations almost always end up worshipping the angels. The Bible warns us that Satan is also transformed into an "angel of light." Worshipping the creature (angels) more than the Creator is not of God, but of Satan.
Why are "after death" experiences being reported now? They are all beautiful experiences whether or not the person involved is a Christian. Satan would have you believe that all people go to the same place when they die and that it is a peaceful, wonderful event. Don't be tricked into believing what a "roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" puts into your mind. Satan is a liar and the father of lies (John 8:44), and is even successful in convincing the Christian of his lies.
After the Christians are "taken away" into Heaven to be with the Lord forever, then the dispensation of the Grace of God is finished! ENDED! (Romans 11:25.) God will then take up with the Jews again right where He left off when He set them aside and the prophecies recorded in the Old Testament book of Daniel and the four gospels will be fulfilled. There will be 3 ½ years of peace when a ruler will take over the world. Under him there will be one world government, one world currency, one world language and one world religion. People will trust this one world leader even to the point of worshipping him. The Bible tells us that he is "AntiChrist" and empowered by Satan (2 Thessalonians 2:4; 1 John 2:18.)
Then will come 3 ½ years of terrible judgment (Daniel 12:11), and after that the great wars that are written about in the Bible. Following those wars (Revelation 20:3), Satan will be bound by God in a bottomless pit for one thousand years and Jesus Christ will rule the earth with a rod of iron. (Revelation 13:15.)
Remember, your comfort is that this happens after the Christians are "taken away."
After the one thousand years will come the terrible judgment of the unsaved. Satan himself will be cast into a lake of fire which Matthew 25:41 tells us is "prepared for the devil and his angels (demons). Now we are looking way ahead down the trail--but after that will come the new heavens and the new earth. The earth will be restored to the style of the Garden of Eden where it all began and "the lion shall lie down with the lamb" (Isaiah 11:6-8.)
In Paul's day, the people in Thessalonica were afraid and worried because they had heard rumours, and false prophets were talking about the end time. Do they sound like people today? They were fearful of having to go through the terrible time of tribulation. Paul wrote to them in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3 and he said:
"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall NOT come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."
The word "falling away" does not mean "falling down" but rather "taking away." This is talking of the "taking away" of the Christians before the son of perdition (Satan, the Wicked One, the man of sin) is revealed. Then Paul goes on into the verses which I quoted earlier about us being taken out of the way before that Wicked One is revealed. Paul also writes towards the end of that same chapter:
"Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father which hath loved us, and hath given us everlasting CONSOLATION and good hope through grace, COMFORT YOUR HEARTS and stablish you in every good word and work."
We might say again here as Paul said later in the same letter,
"Wherefore comfort ye one another with these words."
Once you have received Jesus Christ as your Lord and Saviour, the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart and you belong to Him forever. It is very clear that there is nothing that can remove you from the love of God (Romans 8:38,39)), and you are sealed until the day of redemption. There is a judgment for Christians which will take place immediately after we are "taken away." That judgment has to do with our life on this earth and we will be rewarded for those things which we have done that have been pleasing to God. 1 Corinthians 3:12-15 tells of this judgment and even if you have no rewards, your salvation is sure and you will enjoy the glories of heaven for all eternity.
Satan is at work today. He has power to change the weather. He has power to make people ill. He has power to heal people from illness. He has the power to send UFO's to earth. He is called the "prince of the power of the air" (Ephesians 2:2.) He is performing lying wonders to deceive the world. Because we are living under grace, he is permitted by God to cause havoc on the earth. Do not be deceived but also do not be afraid. Paul writes in 1 Timothy 1:7
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind."
--Pastor John Shriver, Northside Bible Church, Joondalup, W.A.
©2002 John Shriver/Northside Bible Church. Permission is given to copy this article in its entirety free of charge insomuch as all copies distributed are complete and offered free of any charge.
All Scripture quotations in this article are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE: KING JAMES VERSION
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