Continuing
from yesterday… may God bless us and help us LEARN all truth! We need
understanding, we need help for these last days when things will be happening
so fast. Please, we beg you, LORD, please reveal to us what we need to be known
by You and to know You. All through Jesus Christ, our Lord!
*******
(Excerpt)
p 3
-- THE BATTLE OF THE GREAT DAY OF GOD
ALMIGHTY -- Part 4 --
Three
powers in opposition to God, His law, His sanctuary and His people are
symbolized in the last half of the book of Revelation
-
the dragon in Chapter 12;
-
the beast in 13:1-9;
- and
the false prophet in 13:11-17.
Rev
12:1 And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with
the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve
stars:
Rev
12:2 And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to
be delivered.
Rev
12:3 And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red
dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his
heads.
Rev
12:4 And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did
cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready
to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born.
Rev
12:5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with
a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Rev
12:6 And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath a place
prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and
threescore days.
Rev
12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against
the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels,
Rev
12:8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in
heaven.
Rev
12:9 And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the
Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the
earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Rev
12:10 And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation,
and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the
accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and
night.
Rev
12:11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of
their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.
Rev
12:12 Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to
the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short
time.
Rev
12:13 And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he
persecuted the woman which brought forth the man child.
Rev
12:14 And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she
might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a
time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
Rev
12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water as a flood after the
woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood.
Rev
12:16 And the earth helped the woman, and the earth opened her mouth, and
swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast out of his mouth.
Rev
12:17 And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with
the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the
testimony of Jesus Christ.
Rev
13:1 And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of
the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns, and
upon his heads the name of blasphemy.
Rev
13:2 And the beast which I saw was like unto a leopard, and his feet were
as the feet of a bear, and his mouth as the mouth of a lion: and the dragon
gave him his power, and his seat, and great authority.
Rev
13:3 And I saw one of his heads as it were wounded to death; and his
deadly wound was healed: and all the world wondered after the beast.
Rev
13:4 And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and
they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to
make war with him?
Rev
13:5 And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and
blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two
months.
Rev
13:6 And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his
name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven.
Rev
13:7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to
overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and
nations.
Rev
13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are
not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the
world.
Rev
13:9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
Rev
13:11 And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had
two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon.
Rev
13:12 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.
Rev
13:13 And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from
heaven on the earth in the sight of men,
Rev
13:14 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.
Rev
13:15 And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the
image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not
worship the image of the beast should be killed.
Rev
13:16 And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and
bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
Rev
13:17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or
the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
In the hour of the battle of the great day of
God Almighty, frog-like spirits proceed from each of these powers for the
purpose of influencing a worldwide unity against God. (Rev. 16:13-14)
Rev
16:13 And I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of
the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the
false prophet.
Rev
16:14 For they are the spirits of devils, working miracles, which go
forth unto the kings of the earth and of the whole world, to gather them to the
battle of that great day of God Almighty.
"There will be a universal bond of union,
one great harmony, a confederacy of Satan's forces." (Ms. 24, 1891) What then is the
manifestation of evil as symbolized as "frogs" in this prophecy? This
manifestation is declared to be "spirits of devils."
Of what
this symbolic representation - frogs - could mean, I have meditated long. In
the book of Revelation the symbolism used by God to represent the prince of
evil is the dragon. It is stated clearly to be "that old serpent, called
the Devil and Satan." (Rev. 12:9) And in Rev. 20:2 the statement is made
that the angel "laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil and Satan."
The
connection is clear; the power operating under the symbolism of the dragon in
his warfare against the "woman" and "her seed" is the same
intelligence which used the medium of the serpent to deceive the first woman.
But now in the battle of the great day of God Almighty, the representation of
the work of the "spirits of devils" is changed to the symbolism of
"frogs."
God does
not alter His prophetic symbols arbitrarily - He is saying something in this
change! So I asked myself the questions - How do frogs catch their prey? What
types of sounds do they produce? The answer to these questions led me to the
conviction that here in prophetic symbolism is represented the modern
Charismatic Renewal. The very wording of the prophecy demands that a common
spiritual force, possessing and thus unifying the religious divisions of
mankind, will work for the unification of the leadership of the whole world.
The frog-like forms come forth from all three of the basic symbols of the last
half of the book of Revelation - the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet.
That which
at one time was only a hallmark of traditional Pentecostalism has now entered
the major bodies of Protestantism and the Roman Catholic Church. To illustrate
the whole change in attitude that has taken place in the last decade, The Toronto Star (June 9, 1973)
tells of the reaction to the charismatic movement in the Anglican Church of
Canada. Tom Harpur, StarReligion
Editor, wrote: Holy horror is the only way to
describe the reaction with which top Anglican officials here once greeted the
news that some members, including several Metro clergy, were ''speaking in
tongues.'' Now, the bishop himself, Rt. Rev. L. S. Garnsworthy, has begun a
''dialogue'' with those of his diocese involved in what has come to be known as
a charismatic revival.
On the
same page of "Religion in the Star" another article noted that the
then Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr. Michael Ramsey, in addressing a massive
ecumenical Congress in England, spoke enthusiastically of the
neo-Pentecostal movement noting that, it was cutting across all denominational
lines, and indicated he found in it "an encouraging sign" for the
future of Christian unity. Harpur observed,
p 4
-- "Many call it 'the third force' in addition to Protestantism and
Catholicism." The prophecy of God's word tells us that the same spirits of
devils that came out of the dragon, have also permeated the beast and the false
prophet, and come out of them also. The same dragon who gave his power and seat
to the beast (Rev. 13:2) and who is speaking through the False Prophet (Rev.
13:11) now is transformed into an angel of light "working miracles"
through these same religious bodies. (Rev. 16:14)
The
Charismatic Renewal entered the Catholic Church in 1967, and has grown into
such a force that it was recognized by the late Pope Paul VI. Following a mass
in St. Peter's on May 19, 1975 conducted by Cardinal Suenens for the Annual
Charismatic Conference which met in Rome instead of Notre Dame University for
the Catholic Holy Year, the Pope entered the assembly and gave his greetings to
the conferees. He closed his message with the words - "Glory to the Lord,
hallelujah!" - and before leaving, embraced and kissed Cardinal Suenens.
Suenens reacted by stating simply - "the Pope opened his arms and heart to
the charismatic renewal." The day previous - Pentecost Sunday - at a
pontifical mass presided over by Pope Paul VI in St. Peter's "the sound of
tongues and charismatic singing filled the massive nave of the ancient mother
church of Roman Catholicism." (Christianity
Today, June 6, 1975, pp. 45-46)
In July,
1977, an interdenominational conference on Charismatic Renewal was held in
Kansas City, bringing together Catholics, Lutherans, Baptists, Episcopalians,
Mennonites, Presbyterians, Methodists, and Messianic Jews. President Carter
acknowledged this conference as a "Powerful force" in American life,
and one that has led to a "new level of Christian unity" in this
country. The Rev. Larry Christenson, chairman of the Lutheran Charismatic
Renewal Services, told one general session of the conference that Catholics and
Protestants are all a part of the "special army of God" and that the
Charismatic Renewal is a "network of outposts strategically placed
throughout the land ... that the Lord can count on in the day of battle."
(RNS, Week in Religion, Aug. 12,
1977)
There can
be no doubt as to the objectives that those who are involved in the Charismatic
Renewal have in mind. They consider it "the most tremendous outpourings of
the Spirit ever known in the history of the church." Catholic-Protestant
sponsors of a rally of Charismatic Christians called "Jesus 78" in
their joint statement - noting there is still substantial disagreement and
division among themselves - declared: "Since we are experiencing this
grace in such abundance today, since the Holy Spirit has already done so much
among us to make us one, it is easy to believe that He will continue to move
powerfully among us and our churches to make us fully one in faith." (RNS. March 3, 1978, p. 3)
This is
the same theme of the Full Gospel Business Men's Fellowship International
(FGBMFI). Founded in 1952 by Demos Shakarian, a former California dairy farmer,
it has grown to 1,400 local chapters, attracting 500,000 persons to weekly and
monthly meetings in 43 countries. This fellowship does not attempt to become a
church, but supports all churches.
Reporting the FGBMFI's Rome-European Conference in 1974 in their official
magazine - Voice (March, 1975)- the remarks of Fred Ladenius, Press Secretary to the late Paul VI,
were featured.
Before the
Rome conferees, Ladenius declared - "There is only one church."
Commenting on the charismatic experience, he said:
p 5
-- As people marvelled on the Day of Pentecost, so they marvel today.
"Here is his fellow speaking in tongues, but he does not belong to a
'Pentecostal' church." But today even the Methodists speak in
tongues. How can this be possible? Catholic priests, sisters and laymen are
speaking tongues. How can this be possible? "God is pulling some grave
errors," the doubters say. But I want you to know that He is not the God
of 1925 but of 1974! He is indeed manifesting Himself through ''all flesh.'' (Voice, p. 6)
And to
what are they looking? Let Ladenius again
comment: We ask God's forgiveness. Catholics and
Protestants alike have committed grave errors. But all that is past. Now let us
give Him our confidence and our trust. Let us put everything in His hands
and "look for Him as our soon coming King. (Ibid.)
But who
will come as "King" to fulfill the expectations of these involved in
the Charismatic Renewal? We have been told:
Fallen angels upon earth form confederations with
evil men. In this age antichrist will appear as the true Christ, and then the
law of God will be fully made void in the nations of our world. Rebellion
against God's holy law will be fully ripe. But the true leader of all this
rebellion is Satan clothed as an angel of Iight. Men will be deceived and will
exalt him to the place of God, and deify him. But Omnipotence will interpose,
and to the apostate churches that unite in the exaltation of Satan, the
sentence will go forth, "Therefore shall her plagues come in one day,
death, mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for
strong is the Lord God who judgeth her." (TM, p. 62)
PUTTING IT
ALL TOGETHER, we see that the objective of Satan is to "sit also upon the
mount of the congregation in the sides of the north." (Isa. 14:13) This
"mount of the congregation" - Har Mo'ed in the Hebrew; Har-Magedon in
the Greek - is none other than Jerusalem, the city of prophecy and conflict.
Here in the "last remnant of time" (GC, p. 561) that fallen angel will seek to have himself
enthroned on what will be hailed as the "throne of his father,
David." But when all the world thus bows led on by the "apostate
churches" Omnipotence will intervene, and then will begin the "war of
the great day of God Almighty," in which Babylon the great will come
"in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of the wine of the
fierceness of His wrath." (Rev. 16:19) And in the book of Revelation, a
supreme question is asked - "Who shall be able to stand?" (Rev. 6:17)
And the answer is found in Rev. 14:1 - "And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on Mt. Zion, and with Him an hundred and forty-four
thousand, having His Father's name written in their foreheads." (See Rev.-
3:12 for application.)
Rev
3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,
and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and
the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out
of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.
*******
Extended
information on - The modern Charismatic Renewal…
Charismatic
Christianity (also known as Spirit-filled Christianity) is a form of
Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit, spiritual gifts, and
modern-day miracles as an everyday part of a believer's life. Practitioners are
often called Charismatic Christians or Renewalists. Although there is
considerable overlap, Charismatic Christianity is often categorized into three
separate groups: Pentecostalism, the Charismatic Movement and Neo-charismatic
movement. According to the Pew Research Center, Pentecostals and Charismatic
Christians numbered over 584 million or a quarter of the world's 2 billion
Christians in 2011.[1]
While
early Pentecostals were often marginalized within the larger Christian
community, Pentecostal beliefs began penetrating the mainline Protestant
denominations from 1960 onward and the Catholic Church from 1967.[7] This
adoption of Pentecostal beliefs by those in the historic churches became known
as the charismatic movement. Charismatics are defined as Christians who share
with Pentecostals an emphasis on the gifts of the Spirit but who remain a part
of a mainline church. Also, charismatics are more likely than Pentecostals to
believe that glossolalia is not a necessary evidence of Spirit baptism.[6] The
movement led to the creation of independent evangelical charismatic churches
more in tune with this revival of the Holy Spirit. Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa,
California is one of the first evangelical charismatic churches in 1965.[8] In
United Kingdom, Jesus Army, founded in 1969, is an example of the impact
outside the US.[9] Many other congregations were established in the rest of the
world.[10]
In 2011,
there were an estimated 584 million Pentecostal and Charismatic Christians
worldwide. They made up 9 percent of the world's population and 27 percent of
all Christians. There were 279 million Pentecostals and over 300 million
Charismatics (the figures for Charismatics include both the Charismatic
Movement in the historic churches as well as the neocharismatic movement).[1]
Pentecostal and Charismatic Christianity is second in size only to the Roman
Catholic Church.
*******
Far from
something in the past, the Charismatic movement has become something accepted.
It is now mainstream religion, accepted so much that it is scarcely noticed any
longer.
The following is one
of many various news articles out there on the internet. Is it true? It's an
opinion piece but there are facts involved.
I'm including it
because I think we need to recognize how alive and well the *FROGS- spirits of
devils* are today. They are croaking wildly in the world today.
Excerpt-
'Sixty-one percent
of Pentecostal pastors surveyed in 2016 planned to vote for Trump, and they are
a force on Trump’s “evangelical advisory board.” And notably, the
Pentecostal-Charismatic media consistently gives the president favorable
coverage. Unlike the evangelicals who see Trump as a necessary, but
distasteful, conduit for their policy preferences, sincere theological
conviction drives many Pentecostal-Charismatic Christians to see the president
as a prophetically foretold leader.
The
Pentecostal-Charismatic movement overlaps with evangelical traditions in many
ways, especially in their conservative ideas about political issues such as
abortion, marriage and prayer in schools. But the groups are historically
distinct — until the mid-20th century, Pentecostals and their Charismatic
descendants weren’t routinely grouped with their evangelical counterparts.
Trump is popular in
certain corners of Pentecostal-Charismatic Christianity because, while he
flouts many traditional evangelical moral standards and political preferences,
he uncannily demonstrates deep affinities with certain Pentecostal-Charismatic
subcultures. Here are five historic subcultures and theologies that explain why
some Pentecostal-Charismatics proudly support Trump.'
Follow the link to
read the entire article.
In the above excerpt
from William Grotheer's article he says this--
'PUTTING
IT ALL TOGETHER, we see that the objective of Satan is to "sit also upon
the mount of the congregation in the sides of the north." (Isa. 14:13)
This "mount of the congregation" - Har Mo'ed in the Hebrew;
Har-Magedon in the Greek - is none other than Jerusalem, the city of prophecy
and conflict. Here in the "last remnant of time" (GC, p. 561) that fallen angel will
seek to have himself enthroned on what will be hailed as the "throne of
his father, David." But when all the world thus bows led on by the
"apostate churches" Omnipotence will intervene, and then will begin
the "war of the great day of God Almighty," in which Babylon the
great will come "in remembrance before God, to give unto her the cup of
the wine of the fierceness of His wrath." (Rev. 16:19) And in the book of
Revelation, a supreme question is asked - "Who shall be able to
stand?" (Rev. 6:17) And the answer is found in Rev. 14:1 - "And I
looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on Mt.
Zion, and with Him an hundred
and forty-four thousand, having His Father's name written in their
foreheads." (See Rev.- 3:12 for application.)
Rev
3:12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God,
and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and
the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out
of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name. '
So putting
it all together, what are we waiting for right now in 2018? What prophecies are
left to be fulfilled concerning all this?
The
tabernacles are yet to be planted in Jerusalem, the gathering of the leaders
world-wide in Jerusalem bound by a common thread of the false Christ working
miracles drawing them together, has yet to happen. The stage is set though. The
players are getting put into position. So little remains until this all
happens. We watch Jerusalem and know the signs are unfolding right before our
eyes. Will we choose to remain blind to
this truth? Will we choose to hide from truth in favor of our spiritual,
emotional, mental comfort? Or will we choose to know and comprehend truth and
in doing so invite the spiritual assault of Satan and all his minions? Will we
trust in the Lord with all our hearts and lean NOT unto our own understanding?
Proverbs 3:5 Believing His truth in His
word when all around us we can only understand so little. People strive to understand, but we have to
lean into the LORD, not ourselves.
All
through our Savior, Jesus Christ NOW and FOREVER!
Amen.
