Luke 17: 20-21
And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should
come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God does not come with
observation, (visibly): Nor shall they say, Look here! or, look
there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is inside you.
Luke 17:20-21 expresses a fundamental truth in the Bible. It is a revelatory scripture. One that is explains a great body of other scriptures, especially Bible prophecy. The cultural norm or viewpoint held by consensus in that time was that the kingdom of God would come in a visible form with the descendant of David sitting on a throne in the nation of Israel. In their minds he was to bring righteousness, justice, mercy, truth and peace to the earth through physical force. Whether that force be earthly, angelic or miraculous is irrelevant. The Son of David would be seated in Jerusalem, in the Middle East, as king to administer it. They got this viewpoint from scriptures like these and many others. What Jesus was doing was correcting that misconception. His answer to the formally educated leaders of that day brings us to an unfortunate reality of the last few generations. These verses of scripture although used by some for certain purposes are almost heartbreakingly ignored as to what they specifically imply. That there will never be a visible\physical government of God on the earth. I call them the most ignored verses in the New Testament. This due to the fact that 99% of today's pastors and teachers emphatically teach that some day there will be visible\physical government of God on earth.
Basically these verses contain two statements. The first corrects a false teaching or belief about certain, mostly prophetic scriptures about the government of God on earth. That it will not be visible\physical. The second, in a highly condensed form show how all those prophecies and promises will come to pass in the world. By way of the government of God being inside of people. Meaning God will work through and with people to change the world for the better. That reveals the problem that confronts our generation. The basic premise that the Pharisees believed is one and the same as most of our formally educated leaders and Bible teachers hold today. Since they believe that kingdom of God is indeed coming visibly. The full import of the second statement; "the Kingdom of God is inside of you." is being high jacked to teach things other than its original intent. Which is: The ancient world, the world that Jesus and his apostles walked in would be transformed because God and his government are inside of individuals. In fact in the proper time and season. So transformed that the hundreds of chapters of promise and prophecy would be able to be fulfilled in any nation that meets the conditions laid out in scripture.
Does the reader see the problem? If all those promises and prophecies about a new heaven and earth are to come to pass because Jesus rides into town on a white horse with a sword in his hand to physically force righteousness on the world. How do his people ever grasp the true nature of the calling and personally develop, then strategize and labor in such a way that will naturally transform the world we live in? The answer is that they can't. If the true follower of Christ has been bewitched into thinking the world has and will grow worse and worse until Jesus comes. Or, if they have accepted teachings that say the only way all those promises and prophecies can come to pass is via a physical intervention by God to destroy evil and somehow miraculously impose goodness. Then why would they even so much as day dream about a calling, knowledge, preparations, strategies and miraculous empowerment from heaven to change it themselves? Without that knowledge the extent of their work would have to revolve around winning souls and "making disciples." Which one way or the other is the right thing to do. Without winning souls and making disciples nothing in God's Word can come to pass. A disciple is not just to learn how they should live though. They are supposed to learn what God's will is for the world. If they do not, they cannot intelligently participate with God in that aspect of his will to transform it.
.....behold, the kingdom of God is inside you.
The Government of God that this article is attempting to described is not what has always existed, but rather what has been prophesied. Furthermore not so much its humble beginnings but rather its ending. In other words: What is Government of God that scripture says was or is to come? How does it come, what does it look like. How does it govern, how does it bring change for the better?
The way Gods government works on earth could be likened to the ultimate grass roots organization. Its only mode of gaining ground is through personal interaction on a strictly individual basis. Truth and reality are employed in this personal interaction that is both divine and spiritual in nature. It is left to the individual to voluntarily accept by faith, or reject both the divine interaction and the truth that is presented. In this sense the Government of God is revelatory, instructive, motivational and administrative on a specifically individual scale. In the broadest sense of this personal relationship God is referred as Father; in which the child is completely dependent upon for every necessity of life. This is the totality of the basis or foundation of the (prophesied) Government of God in the earth. This not only represents it's humble beginnings but also the basis of its end. It is the beginning because God in his sovereignty created moral agents in such a way that limits his control over them to that which can persuade a voluntary change of heart on their part. He cannot change their hearts by physical or miraculous force or coercion. It is the end because God will not and indeed cannot establish moral governance in the earth without the cooperation of men.
If step one in God's program to govern the earth is to get an individual to accept that governance. To birth it into that individual. The next feature or step lays in the physical nature of moral agents. If an individual accepts truth and embraces reality, especially if it came through divine agency. By physical necessity it will have an effect on that individuals behavior. The adulterer will seek reconciliation with their spouse. Parents that cared little about their children will commit themselves to love them and seek their betterment. The womanizer and sexually immoral, the porn user will restrain their appetites and seek a new nature. The politician and the lawyer will stop lying, the thief will stop stealing. The same conditions that brought the behavioral changes will also cause those who have discovered this new way of life to tell others about it. This is done in hopes of bringing others to the same experience. The care and love brought into hearts by Christ's sacrifice and resurrection power will cause these individuals to employ all kinds of means in their efforts to bring others to Christ. In their minds it is an essential part of their faith to see others reconciled to the government of God that they too may find the promise of eternal life. These are the perfectly natural effects of a voluntarily embraced personal relationship with the God of truth and love.
Most true believers at least in theory know that all the resources of heaven are available to these individuals to accomplish these things in steps one and two. The extent of the availability of these resources is based on the individuals faith which in a real sense is based on their experiential knowledge. This is essentially the work of the Gospel which comes through Gods initiation and not mankind's. It is designed to bring the governess of God into the lives of individuals. The majority of modern Bible teachers and pastors generally agree with this. That this is what Jesus meant when he said the Kingdom of God is inside of you. It brings personal salvation and should result in behavior modifications. Yet it's at this stage where Gods agenda for world governess gets high jacked by false teachings about a future visible\physical Government with Jesus sitting on a throne in the middle east. Basically leaving us with a glass half full.
As steps one and two involve a process that God is initiating and intimately involved in with the cooperation of people. The continuation of the same exact process by it's very nature involves cultural and political change. This is quite a bit more complicated than the initial steps because there are so many different factors involved. Perhaps this is one reason why the subject has not been thought through by so many. It is easier to just leave the glass half full so to speak than to bring basic teachings to their fullest extent when it involves very complicated situations in culture and politics. What needs to be understood though is that this process is totally natural to the point of being unavoidable. What effects people personally will quite naturally effect culture and politics. When individuals lives are radically transformed by an intimate relationship with heavenly and eternal things. There will be a physically unavoidable effect in their personal behavior and their relationships. This carries over in exactly the same manner to their political and cultural viewpoints. Again, to deny this is to deny the very nature of moral agents and is tantamount to denying that the faith of Christ has any bearing in the thoughts and actions of individuals who have discovered the grace of God. It would be saying that heavenly and eternal things can be contained in the heart but cannot show themselves in any form or fashion in the natural world. Kind of a ridiculous suggestion but in fact this is the position doctrinally for most Christians as far as their view of the future is concerned.
If one person coming to Christ can change the culture of a family. If the culture of a family is changed, if children are now born to Christian parents. If these people are winning more souls. then the same holds true for a village or a community. If a community or a people groups culture is changed. If a significant minority of them are soul winning evangelical Christians and if a majority of them accept Christian principles in law and government. Then a nation can be changed in the same manner. If a nation can be changed (and their have been nations changed this way,) then the whole world can be changed. There are no brakes on this vehicle except self imposed ones. You cannot intellectually admit to change taking place at a family or local level and at the same time reject the same vehicle's ability to change a nation or the whole world. Yet for the last century the majority of believers have boldly announced that the world is getting worse and worse and will end in a final cataclysmic event that will usher in the Kingdom of God. To the authors knowledge there has never been a more effective propaganda campaign than what the devil himself hatched in the hearts of God's people than the utter falsehood that the world is more evil than it was before. There is no comparison between our world today and the ancient world. To say that there is the height of ignorance or arrogance. The very worst that our world today has to offer was the common practice, the norm of the ancient world. The very best our world today has to offer was only a dream of thinkers and prophets. Even today without any working knowledge of this subject in the hearts of so many of God's saints, the vehicle moves forward. Yes! even though the saints deny any such thing is happening, even when they totally disagree with God and the reality on the ground. Hearts are being changed, cultures are being transformed, and darkness is giving way to light in many nations. The next few paragraphs will look at a working knowledge of this process.
A parable of Jesus about the growth of the Government of God.
Lets begin with the days of the Apostles and one of Jesus's parables about the Kingdom or Government of God regarding this exact process. Jesus was asked by his Apostles what their reward would be for forsaking everything they had and following Him. In Matthew 19 and Mark 10 Jesus answered their reward would be abundant, both in this life and the next, only, with a caveat: "The first would be last the last first." What Jesus meant by this qualification is that those who come to Christ and serve him first will suffer the most. For the most part the earthly rewards that where promised will not accompany those who are the pioneers into new area's with the Gospel. Whenever the Gospel is first introduced it has powerful enemies in high places. The consistent response of these powers that be, wherever the Gospel has or is being introduced, is persecution, murder, genocide and all points in between. However, with the Gospel as its basis, and over time when the Government of God has run it's full course in human affairs. The earthly rewards that Jesus promised become abundant due to the transformation of that nation or area. The powers that be have succumbed to the believers cultural influences. The rule of law, liberty, freedom, justice and the national prosperity that accompanies a nation "that does righteousness" becomes the standard. That is what is meant by the first, (in order) will be (the last) in the inheritance of earthly rewards. While the last in order, are the first in the sense of they inherent the fruits of all the labor of those who went before them. For those who think this confusing. What Jesus is doing is being careful to not minimize the abundant earthly promises of God throughout the Bible and at the same time tempering the expectations of the early Christians with reality. At the end of the next paragraph Jesus will use another saying like this to re-emphasize these things.
There is a parable about the government of God attached to the verses just mentioned that explains the situation exactly as stated. In that parable a farmer hires laborers early in the morning to harvest his fields and agrees with them at the going rate for a days work. He goes out a few more times during the day and finds more laborers and a final time at the end of the day and hires yet more. At the end of the day he pays all of them the going rate for a whole days work. Those who were hired first complain saying. "we bore the full load of the labor in the heat of the day, why are you paying those who only worked an hour for a whole days labor also?" The householder answers them saying. "I am doing them a good deed by paying them for a whole days work." "You agreed with me for a fair wage and I paid it, why are you accusing me of being unjust with that which belongs to me?" The last (basically) get a better deal than the first. The interpretation of this parable is thus: Jesus is the farmer. The vineyard is the world. The labor is the work of the Gospel and the Government of God. The heat of the day and the brunt of the work load are the persecutions, the trails and tribulations of bringing the gospel and the influential power of the Government of God into a new area or nation. The going rate for a days labor is eternal life. Those who are last who's labor was much easier inherit eternal life as do those who did the bulk of the work even though their work was more difficult. Here is the other saying Jesus adds at the end of that parable to clarify that it will be the last getting the earthly rewards that the first laid the groundwork for, many with their very lives. "For many are invited, but few chosen." This is actually the proper Biblical understanding of predestination. That God in his foreknowledge knew that certain peoples or generations would experience the full impact of the Government of God in the distant future. So while many are invited to partake of the wonderful benefits of the Government of God, like in Hebrews chapter 11. Only those who are last (time wise) get to experience the full impact or "fruit" of Gods influence in the affairs of men. In this sense those that are last are the generations the Bible speaks about as "chosen" to inherit these blessings, plus the greater responsibilities that go along with them. Their labor is in a world that is far less hostile, and is far more conducive to righteousness. They become the most influential force in world affairs and they cannot be subdued by the forces of evil. There are other parables or analogies that Jesus used to teach the same thing about the Kingdom (Government) of God. Series of articles on the parables of Jesus about he government of God. However, a glitch in the program prevented all of this from coming to pass. Gods saints remained perpetually in deadly persecutions for well over a thousand years.
Why did God's government take so long to really bear the fruit we now see blossoming in the earth?
This 'glitch" is where the bulk of modern Bible teachers, pastors and Christian colleges are entirely erroneous in their understandings of Bible prophecy as it relates to the Government of God. Yet it is one of the most instructive episodes in all of history as to how God's sovereignty based in his wisdom restricts his actions in establishing his moral governess in the earth to that which is in a cooperative nature with mankind. A little background information will be necessary before the instructive episode can be unfolded though. The progress hindering glitch was called the "Age of the Gentiles." A 2050 year period when four gentile empires ruled over and oppressed Gods people. These empires are named in the book of Daniel by an angel as Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greek and Roman. Since these are history to us precise dates can be attached to them. It began when the Babylonian emperor Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem in 597 B.C. and ended in 1453 A.D. when what had been the capitol of the Roman empire since 333 A.D., Constantinople fell. The last Roman emperor was killed in the battle. Here are some of the prophecies that say God's government would begin to see amazing growth in the earth when this fourth empire ended.
The ages that Bible prophecy and its related history are divided up into are pretty straight forward. The Old Covenant Age began with Moses and ended in 70 AD. This is attested to by much Bible prophecy starting all the way back in the book of Genesis. The New Covenant Age began with the advent of the Messiah in the first half of the first century. The Age of the Gentiles overlap both of these ages. The Age of Promise began when the Age of the Gentiles ended and remains within the scope of the New Covenant Age. Bible prophecy dealing with these ages is generally progressive in nature. When a new vision or prophecy about the same events are given it adds details to the ones that went before it. For instance: In the Book of Revelation's visions about the Four Empires. A further detail is added to the book of Daniel concerning the ten emperors and the eleventh that would mark the beginning of a time period till the end of the forth empire. That detail in Revelation was that those ten emperors would follow Rome's first eight emperors. Then an illustration of an animal with two horns that looked like a lamb but spoke like a dragon was presented. This was a prophecy of the Roman Empires split into an eastern and western branch and its claims of Christianity that immediately followed Constantine's moving of Rome's capitol to Constantinople. All of these details. Who these eighteen Roman emperors were. Who is that nineteenth emperor, the eleventh of the ten in Daniel, the "little horn" that started the war against the saints and overcame them. How the beginning of his reign actually marked the beginning of an often prophesied time period until empires demise in 1453 A.D. This can all be seen in great detail in the article on this website: End Time Prophecy.
Despite the fact that many secular and religious historians call the Roman empires eventual claims of Christianity: "Christendom" or the "history of Christianity." Also calling the imperial churches set up by the kings and emperors of Europe\Asia : "The Church" and "Church history." The Bible says pretty explicitly in its prophecy that the power behind the empire and its institutions was Satan. Accordingly, the empire, all empires for that matter were able to war against the saints and overcome them. As recorded in prophecy beforehand. Revelation 13:7. And it was given to him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindred's, and tongues, and nations..... The instructions in that prophecy given to the saints during this time period was: Revelation 13:10 He that leads into captivity shall go into captivity: he that kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints. AKJV. What this meant was attempts by peoples or nations to win their freedom and the opportunity to possess some of the wonderful promises of God pertaining to this life on earth would be in vain. Indeed it was.
Much has been written about the persecutions, wars and genocide's perpetrated for millennia against real Christians and the peoples and nations where the word of God was growing in influence among them. Much of that history is hidden from view also. I estimate between 50-100 million people were murdered over this fifteen century period. It should be stated clearly that mere handfuls in comparison were murdered for their faith. The persecutions were for all practical purposes political in nature for the very reasons stated thus far. Modern Christians may not understand the political implications of a Biblically founded faith; but kings and dictators both ancient and modern understand it completely. For this reason the Bible was an outlawed book in the empire during most of its existence. One had to have special political connections to be allowed to own one. The common man had no access to it. From the time of the Apostles on the Gospel was spread via preachers who carried some or all of the Bible with them. These documents were hand written and for most of the millennia and a half reign of the Roman Empire after Christ these documents were illegal. They were as ruthlessly destroyed if not more so than the believers who possessed them. Writing these Bibles by hand was a laborious job. One that could not keep pace with the empires attempts to root them out. In centuries to follow this activity seemed a little more confined to some hapless priest or monk reading a Bible they had access to and taking it to heart. It never ended well for the majority of them or the people whom they preached their newly found faith to. On top of this there was no where to flee the persecution. To leave this empire meant going to another that eventually would raise the same persecution. If over a period of a few generations a people group or nation within the empire was transformed by the gospel. The empire's and kingdoms would employ genocide to rid themselves of the "infection."
What exactly brought about the change and how is it one of the most instructive episodes in history?
Two events were the impetus to change the dynamics of all this. The first was the advent of the printing press. Stranger than fiction. The first commercial European printing press went on line somewhere between the dates 1452-1454 AD. Exactly the time the age of the four gentile empires breathed its last in 1453 AD. The first book it printed? Bibles. As alluded to earlier the extent of the ability of the gospel to influence and spread was hampered by a lack of written material. This time though, coinciding with one of many past reformations, the printing press was employed in the spread of written material. While it is noteworthy that the first book ever printed on a European printing press was the Bible, this was not all. Materials such as teachings, tracts and religiously inspired political discourse spread like a wildfire throughout northern Europe. Printed materials went from the production of tens thousands of hand written or wood plate printed per year to the tens of millions via printing presses. For the first time in human history the general public (illegally) gained access to Bibles, and in their own languages to boot. Perhaps the way the empires and kingdoms dealt with this in their past caused them to misjudged the speed at which the new technology aided the spread of what they called treason. Whatever it was though they acted far to late in their plans for inquisition and genocide, (if necessary.) Whereas in times past it took a hundred years for a whole nation to be thoroughly effected by the gospel. Now in a hundred years dozens of area's and a few nations where completely effected. This resulted in the Thirty Years war which decimated northern Europe with estimates of between 7-15 million deaths. However another new first in human history outside of ancient Israel occurred. The peoples and nations in Northern Europe were the general public had access to and were reading Bibles were not defeated in war. States like the Dutch Republic were formed. The thinking that developed there and other places where the general public were reading Bibles was the basis for the foundation of the free world we now enjoy. Which leads us to the second factor that changed the dynamics of all this. The discovery of the America's by Europeans via Columbus in 1492 AD.
The America's, specifically North America offered something to the believer that had never existed. A habitable continent lacking existing empires with large organized armies. Hence the migration to it became unstoppable. In North America what was developing in thought and practice in northern Europe could in fact progress almost unhindered. It did just that. The founding documents of the United States exhibit almost a pinnacle of understanding of the how the Government of God works in the affairs of men. Though amazingly successful in comparison to what the world had always experienced before it, especially in its founding era. All of this was only the beginning of The Age Of Promise. The main events that led to it are what the article intends to use as instructive for future generations below.
The future and how this knowledge should inform our thinking and teaching.
In the Bible the coming of the Government of God that transforms the earth and brings an age of promise is usually looked upon as an event with a date placed on it. (The date being in the mind of God.) The when, what, where and how are one of the mysteries hidden in scripture that were not revealed to ages and generations of men. What is educational about the events in history that fulfilled this prophecy was what failed and what succeeded in bringing this dramatic change. It's not like people didn't always crave for freedom, self rule, the ability to serve God and do what is right according to the dictates of their own conscience. Human beings have always craved freedom from despotic human government, legal slavery, injustice. They have always desired their children's safety and having the right to own property and reap the wages of their own labor. This is something the Bible is full of promise about. Something as noted in the scriptures previously used that Jesus was careful to acknowledge even though he knew his disciples would not partake of it. How to attain to it was beyond the grasp of mankind though and simply having the Gospel story even though God miraculously bore witness to it was not enough.
When the Gospel came to the nations it is beyond argument that all the dynamics that accompany it were in place and being used in the earth from the time of Christ onward. In other words the way God works with man to bring the good news was in full play. All the miraculous power, the work of his mighty angels, the full employment of his providence, the access of his people to miracles never changed. The only difference between the failure of the Gospel and Gods Government to run it's full course in the era 33 A.D. -1500 AD+ and its success in this era that followed was the lack of access to Bibles by the general public. In other words not something miraculous in nature but something "earthly" in nature. The new technology of the printing press and the undeveloped by European standards new world were the main difference between success and failure. All the spiritual and heavenly things remained the same in both eras. The means of success though in this era verses the latter were essentially the work of men. This is not meant to say that God had no part in the employment of these new "earthly means." On the contrary he did! He foresaw it and in that sense ordained it millennia before it happened. What it all shows us is that if the proper means are not employed by men, it does not matter what God can do, failure will result. Not total failure but failure to bear all the fruits God intends for this creation. This highly enlightening historical example can also be drawn out to show that the successes and failures in the last centuries are directly attributable to the means employed by believers. Furthermore it can be shown that the means employed are unavoidably connected to the beliefs and knowledge (or lack thereof) of believers living out their faith.
The foremost issue in the means that Christians are employing starts with what they believe. What is believed will dictate thought processes, actions and strategies. This is the very heart of true or false prophecy, or much more to the point in this age, true or false teaching. Real prophecy as far as its application is concerned is meant to give those who heed it a distinct advantage over the forces of evil. It is by its very nature the ultimate in insider knowledge. False prophecy by its design is meant to give the forces of evil the advantage. It's nature is to lead those who heed it to their own destruction. Now, in this era among most Christians the prophet has been somewhat replaced by the "Bible prophecy teacher," or Bible prophecy teachings. Hence one can begin to see the dilemma that Christians are in today. It is completely in the interests of the forces of evil to have Christians believe that the world is quickly heading towards apocalyptic events that are completely outside the control of believers. That they (believers) have nothing to do with the direction the world takes. This is the exact opposite of the truth and the practical reality on the ground. With their faith firmly established in the veracity of Gods Word. It is the believers efforts and strategies that will determined the course the world takes. If their faith is misplaced and darkness clouds theirs hearts and their vision, then the world will suffer more evil as a result. If they are filled with faith and knowledge and their labors are wrought in wisdom and zeal. Then the world will take a turn for the better. Those who are teaching that the world will get worse and worse and that evil will prevail need to take heed. The fact is that you, as false prophets or teachers of old are leading the saints down a path that separates them from the power and providence of God in the very long term and extremely difficult task of transforming their world. The judgment for this is already written. What ever is sown, that is what will be reaped. Evil will prevail if Gods saints walk in ignorance and sin, how much more so if they believe it is destined to prevail? Evil will prevail if the saints hearts cannot and will not develop understandings and strategies to overcome it. Evil will prevail if the saints have no inspiration to see to it that it does not. Evil will prevail even though all the resources of heaven are available to the believer to transform it for the better; if the believer does not participate with God in the divine agenda. Do you; teacher, or pastor want to be held accountable by God for evil coming to pass? Do you want to be looked upon as Israel of old that believed a false report about the promised land and could not enter into it? You cannot teach any of the various end of the world scenarios and escape the consequences of those teachings. They are by their very design tailor made to give evil an advantage. The transformation of the world is part of the great commission. It is to be wrought one heart at a time. Then those hearts in union with God are to create just and God inspired civilizations that are that city on the hill.
At the current time 90% of active Evangelical\Pentecostal believers hold to teachings that absolve them from their duty in establishing God ordained republics or maintaining the ones that exist. This is the practical effect of misconstruing what the Government of God on earth is and the times and the seasons of Bible prophecy. Obviously this includes the belief that the end of the world as we know it is near. What work is done in the maintenance of these republics like the United States is done not because of a practical faith in Gods Word but rather a selfish fear of loosing the good thing they have inherited from past generations. This my friends is not the way to have the Government of Gods assistance and\or guidance in the fulfillment of the Lords prayer, "thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven." God will work with those who put their faith and corresponding actions in the veracity of his written word. God finds it difficult to aid and help those who's motive is self centered and who cannot perceive what the will of God is for their futures. It is a wonder that the vast throngs of Gods saints cannot even give a practical Biblical reason why it would be God's will to establish and maintain republics like the USA. How about something so practical as the command to procreate and raise godly children? This is one of the fundamental reasons for creating mankind in the first place. You cannot serve God by raising godly children under tyranny such as communism. Those who are ruling will simply murder you and take your children to use them for their own nefarious purposes, i.e. keeping themselves in power. To have the freedom to raise ones children according to the dictates of ones own enlightened consciousness without the interference of the wicked; if that were the only reason, should suffice. Or how about scriptures such as this: "He (the Messiah) will not rest until he establishes justice in the earth." Or: "He will bring justice to the nations." Meaning, he will take the nations of the world and make them just as opposed to the wicked pagan empires that enslaved the ancient world. Friends, this is not possible without the establishment of republics based on the Biblical teachings about human government, like the United States. More people are coming to Christ now than at any other time in history. Due to nothing else but this the world is and will change for the better. As the scriptures teach plus what this article is pointing out. There cannot be any good and just human government without masses of people coming to Christ. However, if these new believers accept an essentially false belief that they are to hope and wait for an event in the future that brings a visible kingdom of God on earth. Instead of the truth, that in Christ they are creators of the future either good or bad. Then the world will see much more evil than it would have otherwise. Gods will will not be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Among the many effects of the many false teachings about the soon end of the world or the misconceptions about what the government of God is. None seem so brazen and detrimental to the welfare of all Gods creatures as the withdrawal of real believers from the political and bureaucratic realms of human government. Christians should be absolutely dominant in all politics. Not as a voting block!!!! In the United States Evangelical\Pentecostal believers are already the largest voting block, if they would actually vote and had people they would actually vote for. No, what is meant is by the statement believers should be dominant in the political realm is that believers should be the majority of politicians and other government offices. In the scripture is says of Christ that he made and open theater of the powers that existed in his day. Are believers in Christ? Is that statement just theoretical in nature? Are not believers the light and the salt of the earth? Can a proper standard of behavior and understanding for lawmakers, politicians judges and bureaucrats be set unless its believers that set that standard themselves? As it stands now in the present time believers are made to look like fools in the eyes of much of the electorate. There are two reasons for this. One is that there are so few of them involved that they are easily marginalized by the powers that currently dominate politics and government. Secondly and sadly, they are easily made to look like fools....well.... because to put it bluntly they look like fools. This is not because believers are somehow inferior. On the contrary in matters of life they are obviously superior. The reason the look like and even act like fools is simply the effect of false belief. The strategies, concepts, teachings, monetary resources, wisdom and hard core long term effort to secure victory over worldly and ungodly men is not, and cannot be within the hearts of those who have a vision completely contrary to the Word of God and the centuries that lay ahead of them. Can you child of heaven even think in terms of even one century ahead? Can you son or daughter of the one who has no beginning or end even conceive of the future outside of what utterly depraved Hollywood producers have fed your mind and hearts with? Outside of all this how is God able to speak to his people and give them purpose and vision for the distant future? The answer is he is not able to in any intelligent way. Does one wonder why the prophets in the Pentecostal circles are so totally useless and inaccurate in their gift? Look no further than the doctrines they believe. How can God tell them of what lies ahead even twenty years from now when they are absolutely convinced in their spirits that "the second coming," ( a phrase that does not even exist in the Bible,) of Christ is immanent? How can God use them as he intended to give his people some inside information so they can prepare for the challenges that lay in the future when their hearts and spirits do not believe nor consider a future outside of a physical\visible government of God on earth? He tries, but to no avail. There are so many disastrous effects of these unsound, unsafe end time doctrines that a whole article could be written just about them. Let it simply be said that the effects of faith in something true or false is as natural as breathing. The effect on the way one thinks and perceives reality; the way one develops spiritually and intellectually cannot be changed unless one changes what they accept as truth. Christians who have accepted false teachings that the promises of God of a transformed world will come by purely miraculous imposition rather than the long term hard work of God's saints will forever be at disadvantage in this world. How much more so when they take the end time prophecies of the last two ages and place them in the future as the fate of the world like all the false religions do? Not only will they never develop, spiritually or intellectually into the transformative agent God wants them to be. They will never be able to compete with the wicked who have a vision for the future; even though that vision is self centered and destructive. It explains how a very wicked and motivated minority of progressives seized the reigns of the free world both politically and culturally from the Christians who founded it. Even though the Christians are an ever growing majority.
There are many wonderful people, ministries and churches that are participating in the world of politics, law, science, education. How much of a greater effect might these have if they were convinced the Word of God is on their side. That they can prevail and overcome rather than play defense holding back the flood of ungodliness? That they might take heart that their efforts are a baton being handed to the next runner and that eventually, whether they live to see it or not. Their efforts will transform the world in which we live for the better. Believers have a purpose in this life that is built upon winning souls and making disciples of those new believers. That purpose so broad and so deep that it that it can defy the imagination. As such, intellectually, I am quite sure many are totally disagreeing with what this article is teaching. Careful though that you are not disagreeing with what is not said or implied as an excuse to not heed it at all. What about the inner man though? What is happening down inside your spirit? Like the disciples who walked with the resurrected Christ yet did not (intellectually) recognize him. They said in Luke 24:32 And they said one to another, Was not our heart burning within us, while he spoke to us in the way, while he opened to us the scriptures? God bears witness to the truth in the spirit of a person whether that person intellectually disagrees with the truth presented or not. Do you really think brother or sister, you have Bible prophecy all figured out? It should at least bother you intellectually that there is nothing that has been said in this article that is not historically true. That the world has been and is being transformed for the better even though evil is in a fight to the death to stop it. That the totality of the basis of this change for the better has been the influence of the Gospel, the Word of God, the providence of God and the miraculous workings of God in the people of faith of all nations. This is not what yours or any body else's end time prophecy teachings said was supposed to happen. That aught to really bother you.
May God open our eye's and hearts.
There are over a hundred chapters of Bible prophecy about a growing free world before the book of Daniel ever uttered a word of end time prophecy. A world in which kings and emperors, dictators and warlords, are being brought to nothing. A world in which there is no more legal slavery and the earthly promises of God made to a hundred generations of saints, unfulfilled in their time, could finally begin to come to pass. This simply could not occur in the ancient despotic world where the poor masses had little to no control of their temporal or even their eternal destinies. The prophecies you will read about in this book promised an era of conditional freedom and prosperity for many nations. They promise God’s people who live in these nations will be free from the fear of oppression, and that they will be able to raise their children as they see fit. They promise the nations and peoples most influenced by the Bible and its principles will be the dominant nations in the world, just as they have been for the last 500 years. None of this occurred when the Messiah came, or with the end of the first covenant age and the horrible destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD. In fact, it got even worse for true believers after that. It certainly did not occur when European empires and kingdoms began to claim Christianity. This all began to occur in a specific year prophesied in Daniel and Revelation, and for a specific reason. The journey you take through “The Bible’s Prophecies about the Free World” is going to change your life and rock the world around you. Nothing will ever be the same.Order you copy of The Bible's Prophecy About The Free World today! Paperback, hardcover or e-book.
1st Corinthians 2:9.....no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no heart has imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him.
© Daniel Martinovich 2008-2022
