Antichrist Will Govern Like Adolph Hitler by Dr. Daniel E. Woodhead

The Antichrist will persecute the Jews on an industrial scale like Adolph Hitler did. 1/3 of the world’s Jewish population died under Hitler. 2/3 will die under Antichrist’s reign (Zachariah 13:8)

Adolf Hitler and Heinrich Himmler review SS troops during Reich Party Day ceremonies. (September 1938)

With the rapid growth of government’s power and size it is only a matter of time when they will seek to control all aspects of our lives and initiate a persecution of the Jews and Christians for worshipping Jehovah God instead of the governments caesars. We might be living in the time of superior testing in this regard. Stay true to the Lord Jesus and affirm Him no matter who the governmental authorities say we should worship.

Many have written about their hatred for the Jews from the time of the Bible. Christ said that they would suffer because they did not recognize Him at the time of His visitation. Corporate Israel refused to recognize Him as their long awaited Messiah.

Luke 19:42 saying, “If you had known in this day, even you, the things which make for peace! But now they have been hidden from your eyes.(NASB)

Matthew 23: 37-38 Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were unwilling. “Behold, your house is being left to you desolate!(NASB)

Within the militantly intolerant and violent Nazi Third Reich, Jews were considered to be foul, have shameful lives, and were subjected to horrible treatment. The Nazis wanted to first expel them from Germany and then later to subject them to cruel treatment as well as painful death simply because they were Jews. The Nazis used the same despicable kind of language found in Martin Luther’s The Jews and Their Lies when describing them publicly. It also appeared in Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf. Nazi Germany did not invent anything new regarding the treatment of Jews. They simply amplified the anti-Jewish attitude inherent in European Christianity and its history. The constant “question” which rose in Hitler’s party and later in his administration was, what do we do with the Jews? The issue became known as the “Jewish Question.” They attributed the Jews as the source of all economic and social problems. Their answer was found in 1941which became known as the “Final Solution.

Adolf Hitler was the second leader of the Nazi Party after founder Anton Drexler. He held the roles of Reich Chancellor and sole dictator of the Third Reich from 1933 to 1945. He was the only Head of State to also be in complete and total control of the Armed Forces. He was in complete control of all state affairs in Germany for twelve years.

Adolf Hitler was born in Braunau am Inn, Austria, on April 20 1889. He committed suicide on May 1, 1945. He was born when his father was fifty-two and employed as an Austrian customs official. His father’s name was Alois Schickelgruber Hitler, and his third wife, Adolf’s mother, was a young peasant girl, named Klara Poelzl. They were both from the Waldviertel of lower Austria. Hitler was a resentful, discontented child. He was moody, lazy, of unstable temperament, deeply hostile towards his strict, authoritarian father and strongly attached to his indulgent, hard-working mother. She succumbed to cancer in December 1908 and Hitler was strongly affected by her death.[1]

He tried to attend art school in Vienna and was turned down more than once. He became very embittered at his rejection by the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts, and at that time he adopted a view of life, which changed very little in the ensuing years. It was shaped by a pathological hatred of Jews and Marxists, liberalism and the greater Habsburg monarchy.[2] In Vienna he acquired his first education in politics by studying the demagogic techniques of the popular Christian-social Mayor, Karl Lueger, and picked up the stereotyped, obsessive anti-Judiasm with its brutal, violent connotations and concern with the “purity of blood” that remained with him to the end of his life.

In May 1913 Hitler left Vienna for Munich and, when World War I broke out in August 1914, he joined the Infantry. During the war he was temporarily blinded. As a result of the war wounds, the abortive November 1918 Bolshevik revolution in Germany, as well as the humiliating German military defeat, Hitler was convinced that fate had chosen him. He thought that he would be the one to rescue a humiliated nation from the shackles of the Versailles Treaty, from Bolsheviks and Jews.

Assigned by the German Army in the summer of 1919 to “educational” duties, which consisted largely of spying on political parties in the vastly overheated atmosphere of post-revolutionary Munich, Hitler was sent to investigate a small nationalistic group of idealists, the German Workers’ Party. On September 16, 1919 he entered the Party (which had approximately forty members), soon changed its name to the National Socialist German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) and had imposed himself as its Chairman by July 1921.

Hitler discovered that he had a powerful talent for oratory. He had a hoarse, grating voice. It contained a bombastic, humorless, histrionic tone, which affected his speeches. His speeches captivated audiences by his impassioned conviction and gift for self-dramatization. Many said he was demonically driven.[3] One of the early founders of the Nazi party was Dietrich Echart. As he lay dying in 1923 he made the following statement about Hitler:

Follow Hitler! He will dance but it is I who has called the tune! I have initiated him into the “Secret Doctrine,” opened his centers in vision and given him the means to communicate with the Powers. Do not mourn for me: I shall have influenced history more than any other German.”[4]

Echart was a dedicated Satanist immersed in black magic and an occultist active in the German occultic organization known as the Thule group. Echart claimed to have a “satanic annunciation” through séances letting him know that he was the forerunner of the “Antichrist”. Hitler was obviously not the “Antichrist” but nonetheless he was an “Antichrist”. Echart saw himself as sort of an occult equilivant of “John the Baptist.”

By November 1921 Hitler was recognized as Führer (leader) of a movement, which had three thousand members, and boosted his personal power by organizing quasi-military squads to keep order at his meetings and break up those of his opponents. He was well on his way to developing a cult like following of the German people as their cult leader, the Führer. Out of these squads grew the storm troopers (SA) organized by Captain Ernst Röhm and Hitler’s black-shirted personal bodyguard, the Schutzstaffel (SS). The Führer status grew into a cult-like aura in Germany whose citizens were hungry for substantial leadership after losing the war and experiencing an attempted revolution.

Hitler focused his propaganda against the Versailles Treaty, the “November criminals,” (Weimar Republic’s government who had negotiated the Versailles Treaty) the Marxists and the visible, internal enemy No. 1, the “Jew,” who he claimed were responsible for all Germany’s domestic problems. In the twenty-five-point program of the National Socialists democratic Workers Party (NSDAP) announced on February 24, 1920, the exclusion of the Jews from the Volk community, the myth of Aryan race supremacy and extreme nationalism were combined with “socialistic” ideas of profit-sharing and nationalization. Hitler’s first written utterance on political questions dating from this period emphasized that what he called “the anti-Semitism of reason” must lead “to the systematic combating and elimination of Jewish privileges. Its ultimate goal must implacably be the total removal of the Jews.” [5]

By November 1923 Hitler was convinced that the Weimar Republic was on the verge of collapse and sought to overthrow the Bavarian government in Munich. Bursting into a beer-hall in Munich and firing his pistol into the ceiling, he shouted out that he was heading a new provisional government, which would carry through a revolution against “Red Berlin.” Hitler then marched through Munich at the head of two thousand men, only to be met by police fire, which left sixteen dead and brought the attempted putsch to an ignominious end. Hitler was arrested and tried on February 26,1924, succeeding in turning the tables on his accusers with a confident, propagandist speech which ended with the prophecy:

For it is not you, gentlemen, who pass judgment on us. That judgment is spoken by the eternal court of history. What judgment you will hand down I know. But that court will not ask us; “ Did you commit high treason or did you not?” That court will judge us., the Quartermaster General of the old Army (Ludendorff)., his officers and soldiers, as Germans who wanted only the good of their own people and Fatherland, who wanted to fight and die. You may pronounce us guilty a thousand times over, but the goddess of the eternal court of history will smile and tear to tatters the brief of the state prosecutor and the sentence of this court. For she acquits us.[6]

Sentenced to five years’ imprisonment in Landsberg fortress, Hitler was released after only nine months during which he dictated Mein Kampf (My Struggle) to his loyal follower, Rudolf Hess. Subsequently the “bible” of the Nazi Party, this crude, unsophisticated declaration of primitive Social Darwinism, racial myth, anti-Judaism and lebensraum (living space) fantasy had sold over five million copies by 1939 and was translated into eleven languages.

The failure of the Beer-Hall putsch and his period of imprisonment transformed Hitler from an incompetent adventurer into a shrewd political tactician, who henceforth decided that he would never again confront the gun barrels of army and police until they were under his command. He concluded that the road to power lay not through force alone but through legal subversion of the Weimar Constitution, the building of a mass movement and the combination of parliamentary strength with extra-paramilitary street terror and intimidation. Helped by Hermann Goering, Heinrich Himmler and Joseph Goebbels, his henchmen leaders, he began to reassemble his followers and rebuild the movement, which had disintegrated in his absence.

In January 1925 the ban on the Nazi Party was removed and Hitler regained permission to speak in public. Hitler re-established himself in 1926 as the ultimate arbiter to whom all factions appealed in an ideologically and socially diverse movement.

Avoiding rigid, definitions of National Socialism, which would have undermined the charismatic nature of his efforts, and his claim to absolute leadership, Hitler succeeded in extending his appeal beyond Bavaria and attracting both Right and Left to his movement. Though the Nazi Party won only twelve seats in the 1928 elections, the onset of the Great Depression with its devastating effects on the middle classes helped Hitler to win over all those strata in German society who felt their economic existence was threatened. In addition to peasants, artisans, craftsmen, traders, small businessmen, ex-officers, students and others the Nazis in 1929 began to win over the big industrialists, nationalist conservatives and army circles. With the backing of the press tycoon, Alfred Hugenberg, Hitler received a tremendous nationwide exposure just as the effects of the world economic crisis hit Germany, producing mass unemployment, social dissolution, fear and indignation. With demagogic virtuosity, Hitler played on national resentments, feelings of revolt and the desire for strong leadership using all the most modern techniques of mass persuasion to present himself as Germany’s redeemer and messianic savoir.

In the 1930 elections the Nazi vote jumped dramatically from 810,000 of the previous election to 6,409,000 (18.3 percent of the total vote) and they received 107 seats in the Reichstag (German national legislature building). Prompted by Hjalmar Schacht and Fritz Thyssen, the great industrial magnates began to contribute liberally to the treasury of the NSDAP, reassured by Hitler’s performance before the Industrial Club in Dusseldorf on January 27, 1932 that they had nothing to fear from the radicals in the Party.

The following month Hitler officially acquired German citizenship and decided to run for the Presidency, receiving 13,418,011 votes in the run-off elections of April 10, 1931 as against 19,359,650 votes for the victorious von Hindenburg, but four times the vote for the communist candidate, Ernst Thaelmann. In the Reichstag elections of July 1932 the Nazis emerged as the largest political party in Germany, obtaining nearly fourteen million votes (37.3 per cent) and 230 seats of the 657 total or 35%. Although the NSDAP fell back in November 1932 to eleven million votes (196 seats), Hitler was helped to power by an influential group of conservative politicians led by Franz von Papen, who persuaded the unwilling President von Hindenburg to nominate Hitler as Reich Chancellor on January 30, 1933.

Once in power, Hitler moved quickly to outmaneuver his rivals by ousting the conservatives from any real participation in government. By July 1933 he had abolished the free trade unions, eliminated the communists, Social Democrats and Jews from any role in political life as well as sweeping opponents into concentration camps. The staged Reichstag fire of February 27, 1933 provided him with the perfect pretext to begin consolidating the beginnings of a totalitarian one-party State, and special “enabling laws.” These were ramrodded through the Reichstag to legalize the regime’s intimidatory tactics under the guise of protecting the nation from terrorist’s attacks such as the Reichstag fire.

With support from the nationalists, Hitler gained a majority at the last “democratic” elections held in Germany on March 5, 1933 and with exceptional skill he used persuasion, propaganda, terror and intimidation to secure power. The seductive notions of “National Awakening” and a “Legal Revolution” helped paralyze potential opposition and disguise the reality of autocratic power behind a facade of traditional institutions.

The destruction of the radical SA (Hitler’s personal army) leadership under Ernst Rohm in the Blood Purge of June 1934 (night of the long knives) confirmed Hitler as undisputed dictator of the Third Reich and by the beginning of August, when he united the positions of Führer and Chancellor on the death of von Hindenburg, he had all the powers of State in his hands. Avoiding any institutionalization of authority and status, which could challenge his own undisputed position as supreme arbiter, Hitler allowed subordinates like Himmler, Goering and Goebbels to mark out their own domains of arbitrary power.

A conference of ministers was held on August 20, 1935, to discuss the economic effects of Party actions against Jews.[7] Adolf Wagner, the Party representative at the conference, argued that such actions would cease, once the Government decided on a firm policy against the Jews. The following month two measures were announced at the annual Party Rally in Nuremberg, becoming known as the Nuremberg Laws. Both measures were hastily improvised (there was even a shortage of drafting paper so that menu cards had to be used) and Jewish experts from the Ministry of the Interior were ordered to Nuremberg by plane.

The first law, The Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor, prohibited marriages and extra-marital intercourse between “Jews ” (the name was now officially used in place of “non-Aryans ”) and “Germans ” and also the employment of “German ” females under forty-five in Jewish households.

Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honor

(September15, 1935)

Article 1
1. Marriages between Jews and citizens of German or kindred blood are forbidden. Marriages concluded in defiance of this law are void, even if, for the purpose of evading this law, they were concluded abroad.
2. Proceedings for annulment may be initiated only by the Public Prosecutor.

Section 2
Sexual relations outside marriage between Jews and nationals of German or kindred blood are forbidden.

Section 3
Jews will not be permitted to employ female citizens of German or kindred blood as domestic servants.

Section 4
1. Jews are forbidden to display the Reich and national flag or the national colors. 2. On the other hand they are permitted to display the Jewish colors. The exercise of this right is protected by the State.


Section 5

1. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 1 will be punished with hard labour.
2. A person who acts contrary to the prohibition of Section 2 will be punished with imprisonment or with hard labour.
3. A person who acts contrary to the provisions of Sections 3 or
4 will be punished with imprisonment up to a year and with a fine, or with one of these penalties.

Section 6

The Reich Minister of the Interior in agreement with the Deputy Führer and the Reich Minister of Justice will issue the legal and administrative regulations required for the enforcement and supplementing of this law.

Section 7

The law will become effective on the day after its promulgation; Section 3, however, not until 1 January 1936.[8] The second law, The Reich Citizenship Law, stripped Jews of their German citizenship and introduced a new distinction between “Reich citizens ” and “nationals.”

The Reich Citizenship Law
(September, 15, 1933)

Article I
1. A subject of the State is a person who belongs to the protective union of the German Reich, and who therefore has particular obligations towards the Reich.
2. The status of subject is acquired in accordance with the provisions of the Reich and State Law of Citizenship.

Article 2

1. A citizen of the Reich is that subject only who is of German or kindred blood and who, through his conduct, shows that he is both desirous and fit to serve the German people and Reich faithfully.
2. The right to citizenship is acquired by the granting of Reich citizenship papers.
3. Only the citizen of the Reich enjoys full political rights in accordance with the provision of the laws.

Article 3

The Reich Minister of the Interior in conjunction with the Deputy of the Führer will issue the necessary legal and administrative decrees for carrying out and supplementing this law.[9]

The Nuremberg Laws by their general nature formalized the unofficial and particular measures taken against Jews up to 1935. The Nazi leaders made a point of stressing the consistency of this legislation with the Party program, which demanded that Jews should be deprived of their rights as citizens. Although the Jews were being forced out of the country, after the Nuremberg Laws, the German government began forced deportations of Jews. Most of the deportations were to Poland. Since the Russian Tsars had sent many Jews to the Pale, which was in Eastern Poland and the Ukraine the population of Jews there significantly increased.

During the next four years Hitler enjoyed a succession of domestic and international successes, outwitting rival political leaders abroad just as he had defeated his opposition at home. In 1935 he abandoned the Versailles Treaty and began to build up the army by conscripting five times its permitted number. He persuaded Great Britain to allow an increase in Germany’s naval construction program and in March 1936 he occupied the demilitarized Rhineland without opposition.

One of the first visible anti-Jewish veiled official attacks on the Jews occurred on November 8-9, 1938 and has been called the Kristallnacht. This is a German word referring to the nights of “broken glass.” It was a pogrom in Nazi Germany against the Jews. On a single night, ninety-one Jews were murdered, and 25,000 to 30,000 were arrested and deported to concentration camps.[10] The Nazis coordinated an attack on Jewish people and their property in Germany and German-controlled lands as a part of Hitler’s anti-Jewish policy. The precipitating event occurred on November 8, 1938,when Herschel Grynszpan, a 17-year old German Jew enraged by his family’s expulsion from Germany, walked into the German Embassy in Paris and fired five shots at a junior diplomat, Ernst vom Rath. Two days later, the diplomat died and Germany was in the grip of skillfully orchestrated anti-Jewish violence. In the early hours of November 10, an orgy of coordinated destruction broke out in cities, towns and villages throughout the Third Reich. The consequences of this violence were disastrous for the Jews of the Third Reich. In a single night, Kristallnacht saw the destruction of more than two thousand Synagogues, and the ransacking of tens of thousands of Jewish businesses and homes. It marked the beginning of the systematic eradication of a people in Germany who could trace their ancestry to Abraham in 2350 B.C., and served as a prelude to the Holocaust that was to follow. Hitler did not claim to be responsible for this pogrom although it was fully orchestrated by Joseph Goebbels. Goebbels stated that it was a “spontaneous demonstration of the German people in reaction to the news of the murder in Paris.” [11] Such was the typical Nazi denial of any personal responsibility to Jewish directed atrocities in Germany.

The German rearmament program led to full employment and an unrestrained expansion of production, which was reinforced by his foreign policy successes. The Rome-Berlin pact of 1936, the Anschluss with Austria and the “liberation” of the Sudeten Germans in 1938 brought Hitler to the height of his popularity. In February 1938 he dismissed sixteen senior generals and took personal command of the armed forces, thus ensuring that he had total control of the military for implementing his own agenda. That same year Time magazine named him “Man of the Year.”

As the Nazis marched into Poland on September 1, 1939 the SS and The Gestapo followed after setting up the concentration and extermination camps while rounding the Jews in ghettos. They called the occupied areas the “Generalgouvernement” [12] and the capital was Cracow. It was an autonomous entity separate from the German government led by Hans Frank and run exclusively by Germans or those of German descent.[13] It included Poland and the far eastern areas of Germany. There they immediately began persecuting and killing Jews. The methods first used were machine gunning and firing squads. Soon after the Final Solution was devised in 1941.The first crematorium was operational in Auschwitz in August 1940 but it was not until autumn of 1941 that Zyklon B gas began to be used to expedite the mass murders.

Hydrogen cyanide HCN, prussic acid, is a chemical compound in the form of a powerfully poisonous, volatile colorless liquid with the odor of bitter almonds. Prussic acid is considered a battlefield poison agent. Its action depends on the restraint of cellular respiration as a result of neutralizing the respiratory enzymes. Prussic acid passes through the mucous membranes and the skin, but principally through the lungs, into the blood. It blocks the process by which oxygen is released from red blood corpuscles and the result is a sort of internal asphyxiation. This is accompanied by symptoms of injury to the respiratory system, combined with a feeling of fear, dizziness and vomiting.[14]

Zyklon B was used in Germany before and during the Second World War for disinfection and pest extermination. In the Auschwitz concentration camp as well, it was used exclusively for sanitation and pest control until mid 1941. After the end of August 1941, Zyklon was used in the camp as an agent of mass annihilation.

Extermination camps were killing centers designed to carry out genocide. Between 1941 and 1945, the Nazis established six extermination camps in former Polish territory. Those camps were: Chelmno, Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, Auschwitz-Birkenau (part of the Auschwitz complex), and Majdanek. Chelmno and Auschwitz were established in areas annexed to Germany in 1939. The other camps (Belzec, Sobibor, Treblinka, and Majdanek) were established in the Generalgouvernement (General Government) of Poland. Both Auschwitz and Majdanek functioned as concentration and forced-labor camps as well as killing centers. The overwhelming majority of the victims of the extermination camps were Jews. An estimated 3.3 million Jews were killed in these six extermination camps as part of the “Final Solution.” Other victims included Roma (Gypsies) and Soviet prisoners of war.

 Figure 6. Estimated Number of Jews Killed in the Final Solution. The war against Russia was to be an anti-Bolshevik crusade, a war of annihilation in which the fate of European Jewry would finally be sealed. Early in 1941 Hitler had prophesied:

The forthcoming campaign is more than just an armed conflict; it will lead also, to a showdown of two different ideologies…. The Jewish-Bolshevik intelligentsia, the “oppressor” of the people up to now must be eliminated. [15]

By the end of 1941 the United States had entered the war against the Axis powers. Hitler identified the totality of Germany’s enemies with “international Jewry,” who supposedly stood behind the British-American-Soviet alliance. The policy of forced emigration had manifestly failed to remove the Jews from Germany’s expanded lebensraum, increasing their numbers under German rule as the Wehrmacht moved east.

Hitler was driven to implement the “Final Solution of the Jewish Question” which had been under consideration since 1939. Factors that pushed this decision include the widening of the conflict into a World War by the end of 1941; the refusal of the British to accept Germany’s right to continental European hegemony (which Hitler attributed to “Jewish” influence); failure to agree to his “peace” terms; and the racial-ideological nature of the assault on Soviet Russia. The measures already taken in those regions of Poland annexed to the Reich against Jews (and Poles) indicated the genocidal implications of Nazi-style “Germanization” policies. There were a tremendous number of Jewish people living in Poland at that time. This was due in large part because the Russian Tsars had forced them into the Pale of Settlement in Eastern Russia, Poland, and The Ukraine. The invasion of Soviet Russia was to set the seal on Hitler’s notion of territorial conquest in the East, which was linked with annihilating the “origin of Jewish Bolshevism” and therefore with the liquidation of all Jews under German rule.

As the Red Army approached Berlin and the Anglo-Americans reached the Elbe, on March 19, 1945 Hitler ordered the destruction of what remained of German industry, communications and transport systems. He was resolved that, if he did not survive, Germany too should be destroyed. The same ruthless nihilism and passion for destruction, which had led to the extermination of six million Jews in death camps, to the biological “cleansing” of the sub-human Slavs and other subject peoples in the New Order, was finally turned on his own people.

On May 1, 1945 Hitler committed suicide, shooting himself through the right temple with a Walther 7.65 mm pistol.[16] His body was carried into the garden of the Reich Chancellery by aides, covered with gasoline and burned along with that of Eva Braun his recent wife. This final, macabre act of self-destruction appropriately symbolized the career of a political leader whose main legacy to Europe was the ruin of its civilization and the senseless sacrifice of human life for the sake of power and his own commitment to the bestial nonsense of the National Socialist race mythology. With his death nothing was left of the “Greater Germanic Reich,” which had devastated Europe and killed a minimum of six million Jews during the twelve years of his totalitarian rule.

The Antichrist

The Bible speaks to the future one world leader’s origin, career and destiny. He will be born to a gentile woman and be the last ruler of the Gentile world empires on earth. (Rev 17:15) He will come from the region of Rome (Dan 9:26-27). His birth will be a counterfeit of the Son of God, Jesus the Christ. He will have both a supernatural (through Satan) and a natural conception and birth (Gen 3:15; II Thes 2:9). By the time Anti-Christ comes to office there will be a single government on the earth. (Dan 7:23-24) From this will emerge a division of the world into ten independent states or economic entities. (Dan 7:24) He will kill three of the leaders of the ten while the others submit to him granting him complete control over the earth. The ecclesiastical leader will support him by swaying the masses toward allegiance to him.

Daniel describes him as a willful king (Dan 11:36-39), characterized by self-exultation above all men and self-deification by magnifying himself above even God. By deifying himself he will put himself above all humanity. He won’t desire the love of women and therefore be inhuman toward women. This is in keeping with his similarity to Adolph Hitler:

“His rambling, discursive outpourings were the purest expression of unbounded, megalomaniac power and breathtaking inhumanity.”[1] The enmity of Satan against womanhood continues through Satan’s seed. He will be under the total control of Satan. One of his capabilities will be superb oratory skill while misleading the masses. Consider the following admonitions from the apostle Peter and the Lord’s brother Jude regarding false teachers and how they persuade.

2Pe 2:18 For, uttering great swelling [words] of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error (KJV)
Jude 1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts (and their mouth speaketh great swelling [words]), showing respect of persons for the sake of advantage. (KJV)

This will be his chief satanic enablement. He will be able to sway the masses with “great swelling words.” Ian Kershaw in his biography of Adolph Hitler provided the following quote of his appraisal of Hitler’s oratory skills.

Hitler’s frequently demonstrated diffidence and unease in dealings with individuals contrasted diametrically with his self-confident mastery in exploiting the emotions of his listeners in the theatrical setting of a major speech. He needed the orgasmic excitement which only the ecstatic masses could give him.” Hitler himself quipped that “I must have a crowd to speak. In a small intimate circle I never know what to say.”[2]

Hitler is an example of the power the “Antichrist” will have to sway the masses and convince the world that his “Antichrist” message is to be followed. Hitler possessed a manner of speaking to large masses of people that absolutely captured their imaginations and stimulated within them a tremendously powerful emotion. When Hitler was elated, his normal halting awkward style was transformed into a magical flow of words, delivered with spellbinding effect. In the book, Satan and the Swastika, Francis King says:

Hitler’s public appearances, particularly those associated with the Nazi Party’s Nuremburg rallies, were excellent examples of this sort of magical ceremony. The fanfares, military marches, and Wagnerian music, all emphasized the idea of German military glory. The mass swastika banners in black, white and red, filled the consciousness of the participants in the rally with national socialist ideology. The ballet-like precision of the movement of the uniformed party members, all acting in unison, evoked from the unconscious, principles of war and violence. These were used by the ancients and symbolized as Mars (an occultic symbol). And the prime ritual of the rallies – Hitler clasping to other banners, the ‘blood banner’ carried in the Munich Putsch of 1923 – was a quasi-magical ceremony designed to link up with minds of living Nazis with the archetypal images symbolized by the dead national socialist heroes of the past. The religio-magical aspects of the rallies were emphasized by the fact that their high points were reached after dusk and took place in a “Cathedral of Light” – an open space surrounded by pillars of light coming from electric searchlights pointed upwards to the sky. If a modern ritual magician of the utmost expertise had designed a ritual intended to “invoke Mars” he could not have come up with anything more effective than the ceremonies used at Nuremburg.”[3]

The “Antichrist” will be controlled and energized by Satan. He will honor the god of fortresses, which is Satan. His policy will be “might makes right.” Then with the help of Satan he will take over the strongest defenses in the world appearing invulnerable. Those who give over themselves to his authority will be given status and authority in his kingdom. (Rev 13:17-18) He will divide territory he has conquered among those who are loyal to him and confess him to be god.

________________________________________
[1] Kershaw, Ian. Hitler in IV Volumes. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998. Reprint Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 2005,Vol III , 400.
 [2] Ibid., Vol I, 133.
[3] King, Francis. Satan and the Swastika: The Occult and the Nazi Party. Frogmore Saint Albans, Hertfordshire, UK: Mayflower, 1976, 269-70
 ________________________________________
 [1] Kershaw, Ian. Hitler in IV Volumes. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998. Reprint Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 2005, Vol I , 17-18.
[2] Gilbert, Martin. The Illustrated Atlas of Jewish Civilization: 4,000 Years of Jewish History. New York: Macmillian Publishing Company, 1990, 160-161
[3] Lutzer, Irwin W. Hilter’s Cross-. Chicago: Moody Press, 1998, 65.
 [4] Ravenscroft , Trevor. Spear of Destiny. York Beach, Maine: Weiser, 1982, 61 as cited in Lutzer, Irwin W. Hilter’s Cross. Chicago: Moody Press, 1998, 91.
 [5] Kershaw, Ian. Hitler in IV Volumes. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998. Reprint Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 2005, Vol I, 144-145.
 [6] Stewart, Herman W. Its Your Soul We Want, n.p. 157-58 cited in Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich :A History of Nazi Germany: II Vols. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1959. Reprint Norwalk, CT: The Easton Press, 1991, Vol I, 78.
 [7] Ibid, Vol. I, 232-233.
[8] Noakes, Jeremy, and Geoffrey Pridham. Documents on Nazism 1919-1945. NY: Viking Press, 1974, 463-467 (accessed 8 July 2008) accessible at The Jewish Virtual Library http://World Warw.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/nurmlaw2.html; Internet, n.p.
[9] Ibid, n.p.
 [10] Kershaw, Ian. Hitler in IV Volumes. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998. Reprint Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 2005, 139.
 [11] Shirer, William L. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich:A History of Nazi Germany: II Vols. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1959. Reprint Norwalk, CT: The Easton Press, 1991,Vol I, 430.
 [12] Kershaw, Ian. Hitler in IV Volumes. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998. Reprint Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 2005. Vol III, 245
 [13] Gilbert, Martin. The Illustrated Atlas of Jewish Civilization: 4,000 Years of Jewish History. New York: Macmillian Publishing Company, 1990, 175
 [14] Zyklon B467 (accessed 8 July 2008) accessible at http://Worldwarw.jewishcirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocost/ Zyklon.html; Internet, n.p.
 [15] Kershaw, Ian. Hitler in IV Volumes. New York: W.W. Norton, 1998. Reprint Norwalk, CT: Easton Press, 2005, 339, 343.
 [16] Ibid, 828.

Pondering Payday: Some Summary Thoughts by Dr. Paul Benware

Words have failed each of us at one time or another: as we try and express how we feel about a situation, or in trying to describe something like a majestic sunset. When we talk of the great payday for believers, the Judgment Seat of Jesus Christ, and the awesomeness of that event and the amazing consequences of that event, words are extremely inadequate. The words of the Apostle Paul probably cover the matter for us when he says,

Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him. (1 Cor. 2:9)

And while our words surely cannot adequately describe this significant event, we have used many words over the past months in an attempt to discuss fully this great day for believers. It would seem helpful, at this point, to make sure certain key points will be fixed in our thinking. We offer these twelve truths (six this time and six next time) that relate to “payday” for our continued contemplation. 

#1 – The original purposes of God related to fellowship and rulership will be restored in the future kingdom of God. 

The future kingdom of God (Rev. 20-22) is best understood by looking at God’s original intentions in the creation account (Gen. 1-3). The restoration of fellowship through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross is fairly well understood by most believers, but the restoration of rulership through the Son of Man is often overlooked. Rulership in the coming kingdom is a matter of focus at the Judgment Seat of Christ and beyond. Servants who endure in this life will rule in the next one. (2 Tim. 2:11-13). This emphasis on ruling and reigning with Christ is a theme found in the N.T. and is an issue that will be featured at the Judgment Seat. 

#2 – Salvation is a free gift of God that once received cannot be lost, but rewards can be lost. 

The New Testament distinction between rewards that are earned by good works and salvation, which is a gift from God with no human works involved, is one that must be maintained. Salvation is always viewed as a gift freely given by God based on the cross. This salvation is guarded and made secure by all three persons of the Godhead. Man does not earn salvation, nor can he lose it. Believers may, however, lose reward depending on whether their works are “good or bad.” 

#3 – Sin does not effect our position as children of God but it can affect our present fellowship as well as our future rewarding. 

All sin was fully paid for on the cross by the Lord Jesus. His work of redemption was absolutely complete. This includes sins we may commit today or in the future. While our sins as believers will not remove us from our position as God’s children, we are aware that they do have consequences. These sins, if not confessed, will not only hurt present fellowship, but they will also impact rewarding at the Judgment Seat. So it is unwise and unbiblical to say that since Christ paid for all of our sins, they will not affect what transpires at the Judgment Seat. 

#4 – Rewards are presented as a legitimate and a primary motivation for living the Christian life, but are not the only motivation. 

Too many Christians view rewards negatively, suggesting that they are a poor motivation for serving Christ. It is vital to remember that rewards are presented by Jesus and the Apostles as an important motivation for Christian living. The Apostle Paul informs us that he was motivated by rewards, by the fear of God, by a love for Christ and by the real needs of people. It is improper to suggest that rewards are an inferior motivation. If so, then Jesus and the Apostles got it wrong. 

#5 – The criteria used at the Judgment Seat consists of the standard of Scripture, our faithfulness and our motivation. 

We are not left in the dark as to the standard of evaluation that the Lord will use. The Word of God is central to this evaluation, because in it is revealed the will of God that a believer is to follow. Obedience to the commands and principles of the Word is at the core of our evaluation. Faithfulness is another key criterion, as each believer will be evaluated by what was given to him by the Master. The issue is being faithful, not being famous. Our motivations will also be part of our evaluation. The question will be why we did what we did as we lived for and served the Lord Jesus.

#6 – Believers who live carnally and selfishly have something to be concerned about. 

 

The Judgment Seat is an event where faithful servants are rewarded by the King. But it is also a place where the unfaithful child of God will be confronted by the Master. Not everyone will hear “well done, good servant.” Unfortunately, some will hear “you worthless slave.” Believers who live in self-indulgence and who have not taken seriously living for and serving Jesus Christ face significant loss at the Judgment Seat. Furthermore, the Scriptures inform us that their time at the Judgment Seat will likely be one of shame and grief. Also, there will be ramifications of this in the future kingdom of God. These believers may presently wish to ignore this issue in their lives now but they will not be able to do so in the future. 

As we conclude these summary thoughts, we again should reinforce the central truth of the New Testament that our future rewards and status are largely determined by our present living. Whether it is something we deem minor like “the cup of cold water” given to someone in need or that which is seen as highly important like sharing the gospel or teaching the Word, the Lord Jesus is well aware of what we do or don’t do. It should be our goal to live well for Him all the time, avoid the darkness of this world system and be diligent to “abide” (remain in fellowship) with Him. A great day is coming. 

Six more summary thoughts will be given next time. (A copy of Dr. Benware’s book, “The Believers Payday”, is available at Paulbenware.com.)

Heaven for Real? by Dr. Robert Lightnner

    Yes, it is. We can know this because the Bible tells us so. Jesus said He would go after His death to prepare a place for those who had accepted His substitution for their sins. The stress in Scripture, however, is not on the place called heaven. Rather, Scripture talks more about believers being with Him forever after death. Heaven is life in the very presence of God. Ezekiel the prophet and John the apostle each were given a vision of heaven and they experienced the very presence of God (Ezek. 1; Rev. 1). In addition, John the apostle was used by the Spirit of God to see and write extensively about heaven in Revelation, chapters 21 and 22.
 
    A number of specifics in Scripture reveal great truths about heaven. The glory of God is described with brightness displaying the full manifestation of all God is. There is complete safety, security, and rest in heaven because God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are there. Imagine it! Heaven is not a temporary dwelling place. There is permanence and there is safety there. This heavenly abode of the redeemed is spacious with plenty of room for all who will be there. Indescribable beauty covers all of heaven. There is no darkness at all in heaven.
 
   All of the above and much more characterize heaven as seen by John (Rev. 21). None of the occupants of heaven will ever again experience sin, sorrow, handicaps, or heartaches. Throughout eternity God’s people will experience perfect love, learning, fellowship and service with God Himself. I’m ready! Are you?
 

10 By Any Other Name by Rev. Todd Virnoche

This may sound like a riddle, but what do you call two Popes and eight Cardinals?

“VATICAN CITY — Pope Francis named eight cardinals from around the globe Saturday to advise him on running the Catholic Church and reforming the Vatican bureaucracy, marking his first month as pope with a major initiative to reflect the universal nature of the church in key governing decisions.

The advisory panel includes only one current Vatican official. The rest are cardinals from North, Central and South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and Australia. Many have been outspoken in calling for a shake-up of the Vatican bureaucracy, which was last reformed 25 years ago, while others have tried to clean up the church from sexually abusive priests”

Without any fanfare the newly elected Pope in his first month as the “supreme commander of the Jesuits” and “the pauper pontiff” for the “Faithful” ushered in a new era without a peep from God’s elect. It has been more than 600 years since we have had two living Popes and the Catholics churches division of the globe by region. This new alliance within the hierarchy of the Roman empire; though missed by the masses, has not fallen by the wayside with this writer. The overlooked significance of Israel in the land, the regathering of the Jewish nation from the ends of the earth (Ezk.34:29), the movement to rebuild the temple – on temple mount (Dan. 9:27) and the massive departure from biblical truth and teaching (2 Tim. 3:1-9) has cauterized the conscience of most to a distant reckoning foretold by God in ages past. With worldwide tyranny on the rise and whole hearted applause for it in the press it is no stretch of imagination to connect a few dots and see the framework being assembled before our very eyes. I am no prophet nor am I particularly keen; but the writing has been on the wall much like in the day of Belshazzar in Babylon.

    “Then there will be a fourth kingdom, one strong like iron. Just like iron breaks in pieces and shatters everything, and as iron breaks in pieces all of these metals, so it will break in pieces and crush the others. In that you were seeing feet and toes partly of wet clay and partly of iron, so this will be a divided kingdom. Some of the strength of iron will be in it, for you saw iron mixed with wet clay. In that the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of clay, the latter stages of this kingdom will be partly strong and partly fragile. And in that you saw iron mixed with wet clay, so people will be mixed with one another without adhering to one another, just as iron does not mix with clay." (Dan 2:40-43 NET)

As dismal as this may seem to an average citizen; we need to look up (Luke 21:28). We are not destined for wrath (1 Thess. 5:9) and when the Great Day of the LORD arrives we will have been with Him (1Thess. 4:13-18) and we will arrive with Him (Rev. 19:6-21) and Israel will have peace and know it’s Messiah.

    “In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever." (Dan 2:44 NET)

The Rapture, Part Twelve by Dr. Andy Woods, Copyright 2013

My previous articles commenced a series on the rapture of the church. We began with the question, "What is the Rapture?" This question can best be answered by noting ten truths about the rapture from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. In previous articles from 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, we saw that the rapture is an important doctrine and not something that can be marginalized or explained away as a secondary doctrine. We also noted that the rapture is an event that is distinct from the Second Advent of Christ. We further observed that the rapture will involve the catching up of every believer to meet the Lord in the air, and that the rapture will involve a reunion between living and deceased Church-Age believers. We then began to examine several more points from 1 Corinthians 15:50-58. We noted that the rapture will be a resurrection, will exempt an entire generation of believers from death, will be an instantaneous event, is a mystery, is an imminent event, and is also a traditional doctrine now being recovered.

We then moved on to our second major question, namely, "when is the rapture?" We noted that as we seek to answer this question, we make no attempt at assigning a date for the rapture. Such a practice is forbidden since the Scripture itself assigns no such date. Rather, here we merely seek to answer the question, "when will the rapture take place with respect to the coming Tribulation period?" After briefly defining the various views that theologians have posited in an attempt to answer this question, we stated that the pretribulation position (the church will be raptured from the earth before the Tribulation period begins) posits seven arguments in its favor. We explained that the first reason that the rapture will take place before the Tribulation period even begins relates to the fact that the Tribulation period itself concerns God's unfinished work with national Israel rather than the church. We now move on to the second argument favoring pretribulationalism. The Missing Church

The second reason that the rapture will take place before the Tribulation period even begins relates to the absence of any reference to the church on earth in Revelation 4–19. This point becomes clearer upon considering the broad structure of the Book of Revelation. Revelation 1:19 furnishes the three-part structure of the book. It says, “Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.” “The things which you have seen” consist of John’s interaction with the glorified Christ as recorded in Revelation’s first chapter. “The things which are” comprise the seven letters to the seven churches of Asia Minor as recorded in Revelation 2–3. “The things which will take place after these things” constitute the futuristic section of the book as recorded in Revelation 4–22. That Revelation 4:1 begins this third and futuristic section is evident from the two-fold repetition of the expression “after these things” (meta tatuta), which is the same phrase used to describe this final section of the book in Revelation 1:19. It is in this final section of the book that we discover the most vivid description of the Tribulation period in the entire Bible (Rev. 4–19). Yet, this section contains no single clear reference to the church on the earth during this time period. While the Greek word ekklesia translated “church” is found 19 times in Revelation 1–3 comprising the first two sections of the book, the word is not found a single time in the book’s futuristic section (Rev. 4–22). In fact, the only time in this section that ekklesia is used is when John signs off in the benediction reminding his readers of Christ's exhortation to preach these prophetic truths in the churches (Rev. 22:16). Other than this scant reference to the church, the word “church” is totally absent from the book’s futuristic section. We might inquire as to why? The obvious answer lies in the fact that the church will not be on the earth during this horrific time period having already been raptured to heaven before the Tribulation even begins.

Moreover, in the book’s second section, the following exhortation occurs seven times: “To him who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches” (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22). It is worth pointing out that the nearly identical expression occurs in Revelation 13:9, which is given to encourage those experiencing persecution from the Beast during the Tribulation period. This verse says, “if anyone has an ear, let him hear.” Notice that the familiar expression “what the Spirit says to the churches” is omitted from Revelation 13:9 despite the fact that it is attached to the same expression seven times in Revelation 2–3. We might ask why “What the Spirit says to the churches” is left off in Revelation 13:9 despite its seven-fold prominence in Revelation 2–3? Once again, the answer lies in the fact that the church will not be on the earth during this seven-year time period having already been raptured to heaven before the Tribulation even begins.

Not only is the word “church” (ekklesia) absent from the section of John’s Apocalypse directly pertaining to the Tribulation period, but the concept of the church is missing as well. Paul routinely described the church, or the body of Christ, as consisting of all people from all nations on equal footing as joint heirs in one new man or spiritual organism. According to Galatians 3:28, in the Church Age, “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:14 similarly explains, “For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall.” Thus, national barriers or boundaries no longer positionally divide believers from one another in the Church Age. Today, the preeminent servant of God is no longer national, ethnic Israel but rather the church, or the body of Christ, consisting of believers in Jesus from all nations.

Yet, the Book of Revelation, chapters 4–22 describes a period of time when national barriers will once again be erected as God will again use national Israel as His special instrument to bless the world. Prominently among them will be the 144,000 Jews from the 12 tribes of Israel (Rev. 7:1-8) who will evangelize the world (Rev. 7:9-16). Similarly, during the future Tribulation period, He will appoint two Jewish witnesses, most likely Moses and Elijah (Rev. 11:3-14). Moreover, despite the fact that the church is the object of Satanic opposition in the present age (Eph. 6:10-20), during the coming Tribulation, Satan will relentlessly attack national Israel (Rev. 12:1, 13; Gen. 37:9-10). Thus, not only is the word “church” absent from Revelation’s depiction of the future Tribulation, but the Pauline concept of the church as a body with no national barriers is also absent from this horrific time period. Unlike today, the singular national entity Israel will be the object of not only divine blessing but also Satanic wrath in the futuristic section of the Apocalypse. The only logical explanation for this abrupt transition is that the church has already been raptured to heaven before the events of the Tribulation period unfold.

If the church is ever hinted at or mentioned at all in Revelation’s description of the Tribulation period, she is always portrayed as being in heaven and never on the earth. For example, Revelation 1:20 symbolizes the church as seven lampstands. Theses lamps and lampstands are described as already being in heaven once the events of the Tribulation period begin to unfold (Rev. 4:5).

This missing church concept is not only evident in John’s description of the Tribulation period as recorded in the Book of Revelation, but it is also apparent in virtually all other Tribulation passages recorded throughout the entire Scripture. Thus, no matter how hard one tries, they will not be able to find the church either in word or concept in such passages as Jeremiah 30:7; Ezekiel 38-39; Daniel 9:24-27; Matthew 24-25, etc…The silence is deafening!

In sum, having previously answered the question, "what is the rapture?", we noted the first two of at least seven reasons that affirm the pretribulational rapture view. The first reason is that the Tribulation's ultimate purpose concerns Israel rather than the church. The second reason relates to the concept of the missing church not only from Revelation 4–22, but also from all central and critical Tribulation texts.

(To Be Continued...)

Wealth Inequality and the Bible by Dr. John Pappas

 I received a forward recently with a link to a video titled “Wealth Inequality in America.” I usually ignore such links but this time I thought I would see what this group was up to, so I had a look. There was nothing new in their message, it was the same old covetous message – “we need to redistribute the wealth,” and “something must be done as the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.” As is always the case the leader sets the tone for the nation and the current president is pushing this agenda by demonizing the rich and promoting a culture of favoring the poor.  

How do we as Christians respond – with a Biblical based view. It is common for natural man to covet what another has so God lists covetousness as part of the big Ten in Ex.  20:1-17 (cf., Ten Commandments of Deut. 5:6-21). Fallen man is so self-centered, consumed with self-love, self-righteousness, self-pity, self-confidence, self-sufficiency, self-admiration, and control of everything and everybody. 

This is the characteristic of natural man, and particularly, a characteristic of the last days government. Today there is a movement to control all the money, not just all the banks, but all money regardless of where it is. The humanist wants to control everything - even my money, removing my freedom and responsibility all in the name of social good and social justice.

This attitude is not new; indeed Jesus encountered this attitude in His day. In the parable of the rich fool (Luke 12:13-21), Jesus encounters this attitude and gives an answer:

The Parable of the Rich Fool:

Then one from the crowd said to Him, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me." But He said to him, "Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?" And He said to them, "Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses." Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: "The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. "And he thought within himself, saying, `What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?' "So he said,`I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. `And I will say to my soul, "Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry."'  "But God said to him, `Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?'  "So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." (Luke 12:13-21)

Jesus was telling the man not to covet others money and goods. The man wanted his brother to divide up their inheritance and to do it now! He wanted money now and asks Jesus to act on his behalf by persuasion and mediation instead of handling it according to proper law. The man is asking, in essence, to receive a part of his brother’s inheritance, it ought to be, he seems to imply, "a more equitable distribution."

In Jewish law, the oldest son receives a double portion in order to compensate for all the time spent with taking over the responsibility of the property and the family business (Deut. 21:15-17). Jesus corrects the man (the man commands Jesus to talk to his brother) and tells him, "man, who made me a judge or divider [of the inheritance] over you?" Jesus then calls the action of wanting another's stuff covetousness (Greek ‘pleonexia’. "one eager to have more, esp. what belongs to others"). 

He then tells a parable of a rich man who has to have more at the expense of everything. The Old Testament is full of proverbs connected to this philosophy of dishonesty in order to gain more money, property, and things. It is not that having, desiring, and earning lots of money is a bad thing, but if your life is consumed with money it turns into an idol. The money turns into an ends in itself, it overtakes the person and one is left in the end with nothing but things. One’s things are left to the next generation – you can’t take them with you when you die. It ends up being another's inheritance.

In the same way, this younger brother seems to think that the oldest brother's double portion is not fair and he demands more of his share. Forget about what rightfully belongs to his brother, he wants more of it. He wants more of the money but not more of the responsibility. This is the teaching of the socialist - they want more of everyone's money - they will divide it as they see fit, and they will see to it that they remain in the ruling class and not have to live by the rules everyone else has to live by.

What do I call “wealth inequality in America”? The same thing God calls it – covetousness - sin. This call for more wealth equality is a call by the natural man, the humanist will eventually take over the governments of the end times and in the end their collection of wealth will not save them.  Natural man does not want a Savior, he wants to trust only in himself, so he collects wealth, horses, and chariots (representing a nation’s war strength – Isa. 31:1-2). Natural man, however, needs a Savior not more money and things. That is the message of Scripture:

For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. (2 Cor. 2:8)  

Another word of God? by Rev. Todd Virnoche

"As man thinks so he will do" is a quote I have long heard during my time in Seminary. As benign as this originally appears the roots take us back to the very day in which our ancestors Adam and Eve wrought upon themselves God's wrath; namely death which was the consequence for their insistence to twist God's commandment. Today in the course of our discoveries and deliberations with respect to the vast number of resources that God has provided us with to discern His Word; mankind instead has set off on a path to tone down and invalidate the language God gave specifically to prohibit moral and physical debauchery.

A purposely fractured and manmade manipulation of the King James Bible text has been released under the title of "The Queen James Bible". Why this version? Quite simple... it's no longer governed by copyright. There was no team of scholars, or the painstaking sweat of translation from the original text or even a need within our churches for such a rendition. In 8 verses throughout the Queen James text (Gen. 19:5, Lev. 18:22, Lev. 20:13, Rom. 1:26, Rom. 1:27, 1 Cor. 6:9 and 1 Tim. 1:10 and Jude 1:7) any reference to the sin of homosexuality is removed. The prohibition of such acts removed for ever more by a group of nearsighted pleasure seekers without cause or direction; denying the Word of God which forgives the acts they desperately are trying to bury.

In the garden, when mankind fell, genetically something happen to us… we were translated from moral to immoral; immortal to mortal, from life eternal to death supreme. “ There is a tendency within the church body, especially here in the United States, to forget we were purchased with a price and we are not our own (1 Cor. 6:19-20) and that our bodies are used to glorify our Creator. Sexual sins and especially homosexuality are conceived within the mind and are acted on outside the body; whether by force or compliance these despicable acts compel another individual to error. The scientific community would like us to believe the GLBT crowd is compelled by genetics. If Adam’s error transformed us into sinners; and we are an image of Adam (Gen 5:3) then all mankind is predisposed and destined to error. This error takes many shapes and distorts the original glory mankind enjoyed. Whether you subscribe to ones will to sin; or that we are all sinners… one thing is certain we are all responsible for our actions whether in the mind or outwardly from the body (Rom. 1:32).

In our secular society we teach that nothing is evil; and we approve and applaud an individual’s choice. This too is a corruption of the choice to do what is true and right and just that only comes by way of His implanted Spirit within. In 2 Peter 3 we are warned that evil men would try to deceive many… in Jude we are reminded that they are now among the church; Paul reminds us that ministry would be dismantled… by the same will that caused us to fall originally.

Ministry in the Last Days: But understand this, that in the last days difficult times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. They will maintain the outward appearance of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these. (2Ti 3:1-5)