Lies. What makes up a lie? To lie, you have to know the truth first then choose to not tell that truth. Satan knew the truth in the garden of Eden, he chose not to tell the truth. Satan told a lie so huge its repercussions are felt in every death of every human being. The truth was spoke by God-
Gen 2:16 And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat:
Gen 2:17 But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Truth- …in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
Lie-
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?
Gen 3:4 And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die
Lie … Ye shall not surely die.
Immortality- never dying. Man was created with immortality. That immortality was taken from man and man become subjected to death. Satan lied. Men surely die.
That was the beginning of the lies from Satan against mankind, only the beginning. Today Satan's lies have overtaken almost the entire world in one way or another. We go on living our day to day lives knowing death exists and is our end. We have the hope of living again with immortality and most people hope that happens immediately after death- a lie. If we go on living after death, we have died and retained immortality. God says this-
Gen 3:22 And the LORD God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:
Gen 3:23 Therefore the LORD God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.
Gen 3:24 So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
The tree of life (Immortality) was kept from man. Therefore if man no longer had access to the tree of life- he no longer had access to immortality. Why then do the vast majority believe they do have immortality? Why? Because of Satan's deception, Satan's lies.
The only path to immortality for us is through our Savior Jesus Christ and He told us this--
1Co 15:52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
At the last trump, the trumpet shall sound and….. The dead shall be raised incorruptible.
1Co 15:53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.
1Co 15:54 So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
At the last trumpet sound… this is when we are given immortality again and not a moment before!
You are not going to live right after you die, you are going to sleep. Your mind will cease all thought and who you are is preserved by God, it's a mystery as to how, but God doesn't have to explain anything to us of His miraculous ways. When Christ returns and gives us immortality, we will be raised- the body we possessed will return to existence only now it will possess immortality, no longer subject to corruption. Our minds and our bodies restored to life by a Creator who created the first human being- nothing is beyond our God.
We have to believe this truth, we have to, or else we are caught up in the deceptions of Satan.
God help us to know ONLY truth, to seek ONLY truth! All through Jesus Christ our LORD and SAVIOR, amen!!!!!!! Now and forever!
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CHAPTER XIII. THE BEAST WITH TWO HORNS (continued)
On the basis of these facts, we have these two elements, Republicanism and Protestantism, here united in one government, and represented by two horns like the horns of a lamb. And these are nowhere else to be found ((Note-At this time in 1890 and in One Place)); nor have they appeared since the time when we could consistently look for the rise of the two horned beast, in any nation upon the face of the earth, except our own. This nation must therefore be the power in question."
And yet it will be seen in the end that it has the same nature, in some respects, as the other beast, for "it speaks as a dragon." This is the climax, reached before the history is given, according to what was pointed out as of frequent occurrence in prophecy.
CONTINUED….
Verse 12. "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed."
He exercises the power of the first beast--the same in kind, both civil and religious--and in his sight, as the original means, and as verse 14 reads. He causes the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed.
This last sentence gives the chronology of this beast to a certainty; at least it brings us down to the present century. The deadly wound was given to the first beast in 1798. The wound was healed when the papal government was restored, and another head created to the Catholic Church, as has been shown. Pius VII. was elected in 1800. When the deadly wound was given, the second beast was seen coming up from the earth. And all the work described in the life of this beast, comes down this side of 1800 a. d. One of the most interesting declarations of this prophecy is found in the words--"and causeth the earth and them that dwell therein to worship the first beast." And it is one of the most easily identified. Not only them that dwell in the earth, but the earth itself, is caused to worship the first beast. The expression is so unusual that there can be no mistaking the fulfillment when it is once pointed out. But we shall pass by the interpretation of this point until we come to another branch of the subject.
Verse 13. "And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men." Verse 14. "And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live."
It has been assumed, with little consideration, that these wonders are manifested in the wonderful inventions and improvements in these last days. That these are times of great improvements and inventions, none can deny. Let the reader imagine that the world were suddenly placed exactly where it was threescore years ago, and how could people live? Limited steam navigation, no railroads, no telegraphs, no telephones, not even the common friction match, and hundreds of other common necessaries of life, which were not known a hundred years ago. The middle-aged of the present generation have not the remotest idea how people plodded along at the beginning of this century. If they were suddenly transported to the likeness of a hundred years ago, they would behold a world that they could neither recognize nor understand. But all this has nothing to do with this prophecy. ((Note- Again, this was in 1890! We've come so incredibly far in technology that this holds true even more than ever!))
The prophecy presents miracles designed to deceive, and the deception has for its object false worship. Nothing which is mechanical or scientific can be called a miracle. Others have applied
this prophecy to the papacy itself, and said that the priests have always maintained their ascendency over the people by pretending to work miracles, and thus deceiving them. But the prophecy does not admit of such an interpretation; it does not say that the beast deceived them that dwell upon the earth by pretending to work miracles, but he deceived them by means of those miracles which he had power to do. They are workings with power, intended to deceive, and to turn people away from the true worship of God. As it is said again in this book of Revelation, "For they are the spirits of demons, working miracles." Rev. 16:15. The Saviour prophesied of the same, when, speaking of the days when his second coming is near, he said:--
"For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall show great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matt. 24:24.
These wonder-workings are not strange in these days. Spirit communications, or spirit manifestations, as they have been called, are well known throughout the world, in this century, and especially for the last forty years, during which time they have become prevalent everywhere. Such things have always existed, but they have shown themselves with unusual prominence at certain times. When God was about to deliver his people from the bondage of Egypt, the magicians came forward with their enchantments to resist the message of the Lord to the king, and to counterfeit the miracles wrought through Moses and Aaron. See Ex. 7:10-12, etc. Again, when the Son of God appeared on this earth, the spirits of demons were busily working, possessing the minds of the people, and opposing the truth. The Saviour gave his disciples power over unclean spirits, and told them to cast out demons; and they reported that the spirits were subject to them in this name. Matt. 10:1-8; Luke 10:17-20. And Paul said that in the last days there would be deceivers resisting the truth as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses. 2 Tim. 3:1-9. And again, in discoursing of the second coming of Christ, he said:--
"Whose coming is after the working of Satan with all power and signs and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish." 2 These. 2:9, 10.
It is a fact that these modern wonders, these spirit manifestations, first revealed themselves in the United States, in the western part of the State of New York. And it has been through American mediums that they have gone to every quarter of the globe. There are some who yet insist that there is no reality in these professed manifestations; that they are mere deceptions. That they are deceitful and deceiving, we have no doubt; neither have we any doubt that there is reality in them. And they who deny their reality, who deny that there is power and intelligence in them above that of the mediums, cannot have examined the subject with much care. Some of the most painstaking students, men of the highest scientific attainments, have spent months and even years putting them to the severest tests, and have declared, as the result of their inquiries, that they were not produced by any means within human control. In other words, they confess that they are superhuman, supernatural, or truly miraculous.
At the first, Spiritualism appeared, as it is in fact, an antichristian system, commending itself solely by its physical manifestations. By this means it attracted attention, and though it reviled the Bible and Christianity, and blasphemed the name of God and of Christ, it convinced the multitude that there was power in it, and thousands were turned away from the truth of God to accept its silly fables. That the world was ripe for the deception is proved by the fact that, in a few years, its believers and adherents were numbered by millions. It has been remarked that these miracles are deceitful, and were intended to lead the people to embrace a false system of worship. But the question would constantly arise in many minds, How can that lead to a false system of worship which is so openly irreligious; which reviles all that is esteemed sacred by religious people? To some, and for a time, this seemed a problem too difficult to be solved. But the advocates of Spiritualism have themselves given the solution. They determined that their course was impolitic; that, instead of trying to destroy the Bible and Christianity, it would prove to their advantage to uphold them, and to turn their testimony to the benefit of their system.
To be continued…
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