Turning The Other Cheek Is Literal Or Symbolic?

To Turn The Other Cheek When Hit On One Side Means What?

Question : Did Jesus Teach Pacifism When He Told Believers To Turn The Other Cheek When Hit On One Side?

Answer : Pacifism is the belief that war and violence are unjustifiable and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means.

What Jesus said in Matt 5:39, "But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also." is based on the following context that shows how we as the followers of Jesus must not be like a worldly person who seeks for vengeance, but as the Sons of our Father in heaven we must reveal His perfect character to the world around us which do not know it at all and will nether come to see the beauty of God unless we act what we have inside us. We become perfect when we let out that perfection of the character of our Father God in our spirit to influence and rule over our soul which will automatically control our outward actions that will glorify God (Eph 4:22-24). Even the thief who hanged on the cross near Jesus first mocked Jesus for being weak but then seeing how He did not behave like they are with cursing and swearing for the torture they were given to die, but instead seeing how He responded with love and forgiveness of the Heavenly Father for all the wrong they did against Him, immediately he realized that Jesus was not just a man who is a criminal like them who is dying for his own crime done, but He is LORD who had come to earth with a mission to save sinners like himself who are dying for his own sins and is returning to heaven victoriously to take them heavenward in to the Kingdom of God which will one day rule the earth, immediately he requested Jesus to remember him when He comes in to His Kingdom, thus mercifully Jesus saved that criminal for eternity to be with God in heaven (Matt 27:44; Luke 23:39-43).

What does this show to us? If we do not resist the evil person who slaps us on our right cheek by expecting the Lord to deal with him and then keep our attitude in a meek way by having committed ourselves to God to help us overcome that evil that come against us with the good nature of our Heavenly Father which is inside us, then we glorify God for having saved us and making us His children, and to have given us the privilege to serve Him by being like Him on earth as He is in heaven (Rom 12:21; 1 Peter 2:23; 1:15). If they call this as pacifism and meekness which people consider as weakness, then they are mistaken because God acts for the one who waits for Him to act on their behalf (Isa 64:4). That is why God says, if we are so vulnerable to the evil that comes against us just because of showing His character of heaven on earth against evil doers, then those who try to exploit our meekness as though it is a weakness will have to face God who in His time will take heavy vengeance against them who act against us (Rom 12:19; Jude 1:7; Deut 32:35; Lev 19:18; Psa 94:1; 99:8; Isa 35:4 61:2; Jer 51:36; Nah 1:2). If we are meek and do not act against evil, God who is in control of the whole universe will start to act on our behalf against evil. This is actually told by Jesus for a personal application in our Christian lives, but it is not told to the governments of the world to act passively when seeing evil rise up its head to destroy human lives who are created in the image of God and hence should be protected by the government of the land with love and care. The governments of the world are kept by God to be an avenger of God to execute wrath on him who practices evil (Rom 13:4). If the governments of the world act in a evil way against the very people whom it should protect, soon God will overthrow them for their evil and will reinstate someone who will protect the people of that nation (Prov 12:7; 13:6; 14:11; 21:12).

So pacifism has been encouraged by Jesus for the Christians as much as it is possible for them to practice in their personal lives according to their faith (Rom 12:18; Luke 6:29, 35-36). Whether pacifism fits others outside the Christian circle or not, but it is something to be practiced within the faith people of God as their response to the goodness that God has shown to them in their lives by saving them from sins freely to justify them before Himself in order for them to show mercy like Him to others who do not deserve it.

The phrase "whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also" can be taken as a literal thing to do first of all because it does hold the meaning of being meek before evil doers believing that the sovereign hand of the Lord will reply on our behalf instead of us acting by reacting is a valid interpretation. Literally showing the other cheek of our face to our enemy might infuriate him to think that you are mocking him for his evil actions, so it is better to thoughtfully keep our attitude in our heart in love towards the evil doer and not literally show our other side of our cheek for him to unnecessarily hit you again. In short, God wants us to patiently wait for Him to act on our behalf and does not want us to defend for ourselves but commit ourselves to God. If we start to defend and take vengeance against one who has hurt us to make things straight out for ourselves, then God will not fight for us.

St. Augustine the great theologian and Father in faith explains and exposits below the Scripture that Jesus spoke about turning the other cheek when we are hit by someone: 'Moreover, if we pay attention to the words of the precept, and consider ourselves under bondage to the literal interpretation, the right cheek is not to be presented by us if the left has been smitten. Whosoever, it is said, shall smite you on your right cheek, turn to him the other also; Matthew 5:39 but the left cheek is more liable to be smitten, because it is easier for the right hand of the assailant to smite it than the other. But the words are commonly understood as if our Lord had said: If any one has acted injuriously to you in respect of the higher possessions which you have, offer to him also the inferior possessions, lest, being more concerned about revenge than about forbearance, you should despise eternal things in comparison with temporal things, whereas temporal things ought to be despised in comparison with eternal things, as the left is in comparison with the right. This has been always the aim of the holy martyrs; for final vengeance is righteously demanded only when there remains no room for amendment, namely, in the last great judgment. But meanwhile we must be on our guard, lest, through desire for revenge, we lose patience itself—a virtue which is of more value than all which an enemy can, in spite of our resistance, take away from us. For another evangelist, in recording the same precept, makes no mention of the right cheek, but names merely the one and the other; Luke 6:29 so that, while the duty may be somewhat more distinctly learned from Matthew’s gospel, he simply commends the same exercise of patience. Wherefore a righteous and pious man ought to be prepared to endure with patience injury from those whom he desires to make good, so that the number of good men may be increased, instead of himself being added, by retaliation of injury, to the number of wicked men.' (Epistle 138.)

Thus the bottom line is, never retaliate when evil comes to make you bad by appealing to your soul nature, but rather allow the Spirit of God to control your soul's peace through denying yourself and allowing your spirit to rule over your soul. Thus in showing the good character of your heavenly Father you are overcoming evil with the good character that the Father God has given within you to glorify Him. We may never know how God can change evil men through displaying His glory through us when we are meek enough to let God work for us.

Much Blessings.... 

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What Does The Bible Say About Illegal Immigration?

Does God Want Freedom For Illegal Immigrants Or Deportation And Severe Punishment For Breaking The Law?

Question : God said in Romans to obey the Government. Those that entered the US illegally did not obey the laws or the Government. They are law breakers and as such should be deported...

Read Romans 13 it says that a Government with Godly Authority will protect and laud those who do good and will punish those who do evil; when a governments protects the lawless and pernicious or becomes so themselves and ultimately punishes the law abiding then they may have power (as does a man with a gun to your head) but they do NOT have Godly authority; the individual then has the right to decide if indeed they will follow.

Further, you cannot strip Scripture from context to make a point neither can you ignore the rest of the counsel of God.

Was Paul oppressing, Onesimus when he sent him back (a slave) to Philemon (the slave master); telling them to reconcile in Christ, implying but never insisting or commanding that Onesimus should be freed? Read the book of Philemon if you have not, it isn't very long.

Note, throughout the NT, the Apostles are never told to bring people to the nation of Israel or Rome for that matter but rather to GO to the nations to bring the Gospel message so the family of God would increase.

Also for your consideration...

Lev 19:33-36 — "33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God."

sojourn [n. soh-jurn; v. soh-jurn, soh-jurn] Spell Syllables

Synonyms

Word Origin

noun 1. a temporary stay:during his sojourn in Paris.verb (used without object) 2. to stay for a time in a place; live temporarily:to sojourn on the Riviera for two months.

Ex 12:48, If a stranger shall sojourn with you and would keep the Passover to the LORD, let all his males be circumcised. Then he may come near and keep it; he shall be as a native of the land. But no uncircumcised person shall eat of it.

Ex 12:48 is just one biblical example wherein the foreigner/alien must adhere to the law of the land.

Further, even Moses asked to enter Edom, and when he was refused he went around. Numbers 20.

My interpretation of scripture is based on taking ALL of Holy Writ into consideration. Further, we are to submit to the government but the President is acting beyond his powers, he is not merely being unfair but is acting lawlessly regarding the GOVERNMENT and because we live in a Representative Republic I can speak out against that while I also pray to God to thwart the efforts of those who are in power (not authority). Further the Peter passage supports what I said regarding Romans; emperor, governors, etc. are to punish evil and praise those who do good, that is GODLY AUTHORITY, when they laud evil doers (or become so themselves) and punish those who do good they may have power but not GODLY AUTHORITY (1 Peter 2:14). Further, in supporting the lawlessness of the president, or in ignoring it, we use our freedom to cover up evil. Rightly dividing the word is important.

"It is blasphemy to call tyrants and oppressors God’s ministers…. When magistrates rob and ruin the people, instead of being guardians of its peace and welfare, they immediately cease to be the ordinance and ministers of God, and no more deserve that glorious character than common pirates and highwaymen." — Jonathan Mayhew (1720 – 1766), Congregational minister at West Church in Boston

So tell me, were the American Colonists ungodly in fighting against the despotic rule of the King of England? DID they WRONGLY interpret Scripture? Because their understanding was the same as mine, that when the leaders do not act as outlined in scripture then they can be rebelled against because they are wicked.

Scripture is plain and yet it is direct and specific; Vengeance and defense are not the same; conflating the two certainly shows a lack of discernment and Scriptural understanding.

Without debate I will tell you, pacifism is not biblical; Jesus speaks of Peacekeepers, those who would take action to ensure peace, as in dispelling wickedness from the midst of the people/community/nation so as to live under God's rule and command to His glory rather than peace-lovers who resist any and all action even capitulating to wicked men so as to uphold a standard of non-violence; you will see this, upheld with Scripture and through the teachings of Church Fathers...

I do thank you and pray that we both receive divine discernment so as to understand better the Lord and His Word that we may carry out His will, ALL to His glory. Peace and grace to you through Christ Jesus.

Answer : "33 ‘And if a stranger dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat him. 34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God." (Lev 19:33-34, NKJV). God's heart for all humans is to treat and love even other strangers as one born among the people of God if they are committed to a particular country and want to work hard for its excellence.

We should delve deep to understand this Phrase, Scripture tells us that "...we shall not oppress a stranger, for we know the heart of a stranger -- we were strangers once, too." (Exo 22:21). The earth is the Lord's and the fulness there of the world and they that dwell therein (Psa 24:1). God is the one who has drawn the boundary of all nations for the purpose that they might come to seek Him and find Him in their lives to go to heaven and be eternally with God forever (Acts 17:26-28). As Christians we should show mercy in a better way to those who are erring in their lives so that we could reflect of who are in Christ in a better way to the world that is in error. Personally God saved us from sin when we were His lawless enemies (Rom 5:8, 10), as God has shown His love to us who deserve nothing of it, we must have a tender heart of compassion personally towards those who sin and have become lawless in their lives because of their unregenerated heart condition as the natural sons of Adam. We too would have been there, if God in His mercy have not saved us and have caused our heart to be changed through His love and mercy towards us. So regarding illegal immigration we as Christians should not have a harsh attitude towards them, but instead we should concentrate to reach people with the gospel of Christ because that is the only reason God put a boundary and divided the nations, He wanted those individual nations to seek God and find Him which has no chance to happen when the world comes together to build a tower of Babel for themselves (Psa 33:12; Gen 11:1-9). The law of the land God has set up to judge the law breakers, so may the government take care of that (Rom 13:1-7). We as Christians should not worry too much about it because we should realize our short pilgrimage on earth and our eternal home in heaven which is our real country (Psa 84:5; 39:12; Heb 11:13-14; 1 Peter 2:11; Heb 12:22-24). As we have a dual citizenship now, we should not concentrate too much on the temporal aspect of our lives in the earthly nation we are born to miss the eternal blessing of heaven which is our permanent country of our eternal citizenship (Col 3:1-4). Our head must be in heaven, our feet only must be on earth but our hands must be working for God where ever we are living as God's child in any nation in the whole wide world. We are just in the world temporarily and not part of the world system because our heavenly Kingdom rules over us where Jesus is the King over us who are kings under him (Rev 19:16; 1 Peter 2:9).

Onesimus was sent back to Philemon not as a slave, but more than that as a beloved "friend and a fellow laborer" in Christ for Paul and also he expected more than that from Philemon (the slave master before but now expecting a changed man Onesimus in love as a Brother in Christ); thus telling them to reconcile in Christ. Paul is not only implying but also insisting and commanding in apostolic authority, but also appealing to Philemon for Christ's love's sake that Onesimus should be considered as a dear Brother both in the flesh and in the Lord (Phile 1:1, 8-9, 16). The apostles always expected a kingdom mindset to the people they entrusted the gospel and told them to expect the Kingdom Blessings right from the hand of the Lord.

The apostles never spoke about love but rather walked in love considering all their brothers in all other countries as one family in Christ under one Heavenly Father in heaven (Eph 3:14-15). So taking the gospel to a gentile land was no big issues because they knew God has his extended family and people of God in all the nations around the world who are His (Gal 3:28-29; Acts 18:10). The apostles mind worked beyond the national boundary with the love of Christ working within them (2 Cor 5:14; Rom 1:13-15), if they had a mind with prejudice the Lord broke it through much chastisement and made their heart tender to carry the gospel of Christ to all the nations (Acts 10:9-23; 10:34-35; Rom 15:15-16). God wants a apostolic mind set for all the children of God through whom He wants to make an impact in this generation like never before. Get ready for a paradigm shift in your thinking to carry the gospel to the world, and thus by thinking differently break out of your shell which limits you with nationalistic and regionalistic thinking that paralyses you to become ineffective Christians, which also keeps you away from fulfilling God's perfect will for your lives. As much as the gospel is carried to other nations, equally we also need to empower the various nationalities that come from other countries through the pentecostal fire of the gospel and thus help them also to make them reach their own people in their nations and raise up indigenous missionaries with in their land to reach their own people (Acts 2:5-41; 8:26-40; 6:1-7). Unless a nation gives a freedom to receive strangers in a particular land cordially and give them a special status equally to live among them, we cannot easily touch these people in other countries easily to affect their fellow citizens in their own native land with the gospel of Christ in their lives. So we need a better immigration policy to empower people of all nationalities around the world. They must be able to stay short or long term in the land where there are opportunities to work, educate and establish themselves.

The rules of interpretation of the Bible should be in three simple steps, first apply the meaning of the verse directly, if it makes sense even though it is hard to accept better understand that the direct meaning of the Scripture is right. Secondly, if the meaning of the verse cannot make sense and a hyperbole is seen, then take it figuratively, metaphorically, historically, etc... to relate it with other Scriptural meaning to apply it for practical living, and thirdly if it still doesn't make sense it will be good to spiritualise the text and use it for applying it practically in various areas of our lives. Keep your mind to read contextually after these three main rules are applied.

If the above rules of interpretation is applied then our interpretation will be true to the context of the Bible for which God intended it to be used originally.

According to our rules of interpretation when the following Scripture speaks about, "34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself; for you were strangers in the land of Egypt, " (Lev 19:34) does it not compare between a stranger and a local citizen and says the local government to willingly give the strangers a local citizenship status if the strangers are willing to dwell among the Israelites to serve them? Yes this is what this Scripture reveals, but also it says the local citizens must love these strangers as not only fellow citizens but as themselves. God's love for people of all nations was so great even in those days of the Old Testament that he was asking the citizen to be vulnerable enough to love even the strangers like that. Not only that he was referring to the Israelites status as strangers when they first inhabited the land of Egypt for survival where God took care of them through moving the heart of local citizens who were actually heathens to show favor and grace to make them survive as one family of God under Him even from the days of Abraham. God wants the same love to be show to the strangers of other nations around them who wanted to live in their land. So it not a temporary stay during his sojourn or a stay for a time of two months.

Yes foreigner/alien must adhere to the law of the land to avail the privilege of the land because one law was given both to them and the local citizens to follow (Exo 12:48-49). The Bible says, "For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him." (Rom 10:12), so we as Christians with God's heart how much more we should have a heart for strangers to be received and well fed in our nations and tell them the gospel if opportunity arises as the boundaries of the nations are slowly beginning to diminish in this earth as it is becoming a global village through the internet communication and free travel and trade in this inter-dependent world of our generation. The Church should be in the forefront to receive strangers because God even told that He might test them by sending angels in disguise as He had done for the forefathers of Faith in the Old Testament times (Heb 13:2).

When Moses request was denied to let the Israelites who were their blood Brothers pass through their land by Edom who was Esau's Descendents, actually these Edomites were refusing not Moses but God's instructions given to Moses which was given to them as a test for them, to test whether they will be ready to help their Brothers who are passing as a strangers through their land. Not only they were not willing to help them temporarily, but they were even ready to fight them violently if they will come in to their land. Thus they failed the test miserably before God, after that Moses along with the Israelites did not fight against them because they knew vengeance belongs to God and that He will answer them rightly and fittingly in His time (Num 20:14-21; Deut 2:1-8; Ezek 25:12-13; Amos 1:11; Rom 12:19; Deut 32:35-39). But this does not in any way justify that the word 'strangers' are are those who pass a couple of days in the land they were in and will leave it because most of the slaves or servants who in modern term are skilled workers were kept in the houses of their master and stayed with them for years together after which if they wished to continue with their master willingly they were given the rights to be the part of the family of the house they served or else go as they pleased (Exo 21:1-11; Josh 9:21-27; Deut 20:10-11; 21:10-14). Lev 19:33-36, "33 “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. 34 You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." In the above verse when God talks about stranger who sojourns in the land of Israel and the native born of the land, God compared the days in which the Hebrews were living in the land of Egypt as strangers in which they stayed not just for 2 or 3 days but 400 years (Gen 15:13; Exo 12:40-41; Acts 7:6; Gal 3:17). This shows clearly that a stranger is any one who stays with the citizen as a worker earning wages for their living for a extended period of time or even indefinitely as the citizen of the land.

When a President commits error in his high calling and office, we can only pray and commit to God the President who is doing such a thing. God will soon intervene in to the matter because God is the one who says the He raises people from the dust (1 Sam 2:8), and by one's strength no man shall prevail against the Lord (1 Sam 2:9; Psa 75:7). Also those who are passionate for their country shall also pray that the next President might be a godly person who will stand for God's ways and righteousness.

There is no authority except God who in His sovereign will brings people to become the leader or President of a nation, state or even a town and villages. But just because we find error in the ways of a President of a country and we do not like him, should not make us rebel against the office God has instituted and have chosen the person to be put in to that high office. See here is what the Bible says, Romans 13:1-7 makes it abundantly clear that God expects us to obey the laws of the government. The only exception to this is when a law of the government forces you to disobey any command of God (Acts 5:29). Thus the only biblical reason to violate a governmental law personally in our lives is if that law violates God's Word. When Paul wrote the book of Romans, he was under the authority of the Roman Empire, led by perhaps the most evil of all the Roman emperors, Nero. Under that reign, there were many laws that were unfair, unjust, and/or blatantly evil. Still, Paul instructed Christians to submit to the Roman government because God is the one who instituted it. But it is completely within the rights of citizens to seek for change in immigration laws peacefully as countries like USA are representative Republic and a democracy.

If it is your conviction that an immigration law is unjust, do everything that is legally within your power to get the law changed: pray, petition, vote, peacefully protest, etc. As Christians, we should be the first to seek to change any law that is unjust and harsh against immigrants. At the same time, we are also to demonstrate our submission to God by obeying the government He has placed in authority over us. "Be subject for the Lord’s sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God." (1 Peter 2:13–16). It is God who will judge the government that presides over people and it is not our duty to rebel against the government when we find that the laws that the present government has brought or trying to bring someday in the future is unfair, unjust, and/or even blatantly evil.

We as Christians do not defend ourselves or take vengeance in the New Testament because God has told that it is His duty to do that, and those who do not adhere to this standard will bring judgment on themselves according to the Scripture (Rom 13:2; 12:18-19). Do not be overcome by evil of anger which leads to sin, but overcome evil with good thoughts and actions towards the enemy in Jesus name (Rom 12:20-21; Eph 4:26-27). Even the Antichrist kingdom and the man of sin who will lead in to captivity and will kill all saints with the sword would be able to do it because God will grant him with power to make war with saints and overcome them, so with the worldly government it is God who allows something to happen against which we cannot rebel against saying that they who are in the government or kingdom are using the power in a ungodly way and so there is not GODLY AUTHORITY for them (Rev 13:7-10). Power and authority cannot be separated, but according to God He has promised to judge each person who has used power in a wrong way in the future and also He has told that if He sees something wrong and evil, He will intervene at the right time to remove them once their calling time to rule gets over in the time table of God (Acts 17:30-31; 2 Peter 3:9). God expects even the king or leaders of the nations to repent and humbly look towards Him for the answer for all their crisis that they will face in their tenure. Christians should never raise up a militant army to fight against the government or terrorist to take law in to their hands in the name of God, because God has separated the Spiritual government and the worldly government separately from the beginning of time (Matt 22:21; Mark 12:17). Even when we form a Christian government over a nation, still the political outfit cannot come under the Church but under the world government only, that is why Jesus did not fight when he was unjustly denied justice but just declared that He is indeed a King coming from the government of heaven (Matt 27:11-14; John 18:33-38). Remember, we are to follow the footsteps of Jesus who became to us a example for us to walk and receive glory and honor for it one day from our Father God (1 Peter 2:21-23).

Just read the beautiful way in which Jesus suggested all Christians to maintain their attitude towards any person including their President or Leader whom they do not like may be because their behavior or policies that are neither right nor good in many areas of their rule, " 43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, 45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. 46 For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? 47 And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? 48 Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matt 5:43-48). The President of a country is more than a neighbor, he is the first family member or in other words the head who represent all of its citizen. How much more we should apply the principles Jesus spoke to our lives to maintain a Christian attitude towards our countries President or Prime Minister who represents each on of us before the world. We must love, bless, do good, pray for those leaders whom we think are acting against God's ways, so that we too can be like our Heavenly Father and reflect His great Character now. The peace of the land where we live and the laws of the land are in the hands of God who has said that He will act if we choose to pray and not rebel by our own strength against the government God has put in place (Jer 29:7; 1 Tim 2:1-2; 2 Chron 7:14).

Many religious moments in the past have become a political movement once they took law in their own hands. Many murders in the name of God has been done due to hyper religious men who took law of God in their own hands to rebel against the local authority of the land. The Church and the Government are two different things, the Church is the government of God with in the world system but not of it (John 17:11, 16), while the government of the land is a system of God which has instituted the government of men to rule the earth (Gen 1:26; 9:3-17; Psa 115:16). If you try to mix both, then you can never understand the significance of the Church put by God within the world which is dark to affect the world with its light of the message of the gospel of the Kingdom, and fish for men in the world who are ready to believe and transfer themselves in to jurisdiction of the heaven's Kingdom authority and rule on earth over themselves and their families (John 9:5; Matt 5:13-16; 1 Tim 3:15; Matt 4:19; Mark 16:15; Acts 16:30-31).

We Christians are told to stand individually for righteousness of God in our personal lives and be a light in the darkness of the world, and that blessedness of God will follow us who are spiritual individuals to be blessed on earth and be a blessing in our lives to others (Luke 6:22-23, 32-36; 5:6). So may we in the end time not be ruined by a political movement of religious Christianity but rather let us grow spiritually to be blessed and be a blessing to our generation.

If you think vengeance and defense are different in the New Testament term, how will you be able to explain away the passage Jesus told, ""But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." (Matt 5:39) which actually means ye resist not evil but overcome evil by doing good towards the one who act as your enemy or whom you think as your enemy. The Spirit of the New Testament is different from the Spirit of the Old Testament. The Old is based on law and the New is based on love. I speak to you seeing the Old through the Spirit of the New. When John the apostle was immature in his young spiritual life when he was initially learning from Jesus of how to love people who are different, he actually wanted to call fire from heaven against the Samaritans who were indifferent in their thinking towards them and did not receive them when passing through their area with love and respect due to the prejudice and animosity the Jews showed against them for centuries together for their wrong belief (John 4:19-22). But Jesus told him to learn how Jesus the Son of Man did not come to destroy men's lives harshly for their mistakes but to save them from it through showing the Love of God to them (Luke 9:51-56). Seeing Jesus demonstrate His love for these unworthy people drew them greatly towards the true God of Israel, having learnt to value the priority that should be given to the love of God to reach people of all nations with the love of God, Apostle John later became to be know as the Apostle of Love within Christendom. Having learnt these lessons of the mind of God Apostle Paul said, "28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Gal 3:28; C.Ref Col 3:11). In other words, Paul wants all Christian nations or Church or families to establish their life of law based on spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to all mankind as the prime purpose of their existence and that includes any kind of immigration law too which should work towards furthering the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ in all the lands of the earth.

Pacifism is the belief that war and violence are unjustifiable and that all disputes should be settled by peaceful means. If Christians do not stand for non-violence and peace making as the most preferable way of solving all issues in life as much as possible, then who will stand on earth to show the Character of God to those people who are in darkness and who do not know God in the world (Matt 5:9, 43-48; Rom 12:18)? The government of the land are put by God, and therefore when they think that evil is done by someone who need to be stopped from increasingly affecting others, they will initiate wars to keep peace in this world as all the government of the world are indirectly used by God to judge evil and wickedness in the present world (Rom 13:1-4; Eccl 3:3; Exo 15:3; Prov 16:7; Isa 45:7). The Church government should stand for peace always and should neither speak for or against a government of the land, but rather pray that whatever government comes in the land it must execute God's righteousness and stand for truth of the Word of God to thus not promote evil against it. As the Church on earth, we should pray always that whatever government comes to rule over the land we live, it must be supporting the gospel to move freely in the nation to affect the world with its eternal benefits and blessings. The Church will start to rule over the government of the world only when it stands on its knees before God who will start to rule over the nations through His sovereign hand of power through His Church on earth as it is in heaven (Psa 22:28; 47:8; Eph 3:8-9, 10-13; Matt 6:10; Eph 2:2; 6:12, 19-20; Col 2:15; 1 John 5:19; 2 Cor 4:4). When we demonstrate and try to use our mind instead to stand against wickedness, we will fail repeatedly. I am not saying that we should not peacefully demonstrate and show what we think about any issue together as a Church and show to the local government, instead I am emphasizing that the prayerful leading of the Spirit's guidance is necessary and mandatory for definite victory for the Church on this earth.

So the bottom line is God does want freedom and mercy to be shows to Illegal Immigrants and not deportation or severe punishment for breaking the Law of the land if they are genuinely seeking for the good of the land. If our Christian life is any indication of how God thinks towards strangers and His enemies, also considering His earlier instructions which He has given to the Israelites as a political nation in the Law of Moses on how to treat and show mercy to strangers, definitely God does wants any government of the world to show mercy to strangers if they seek for asylum or permanent residentship for working hard and raising their economic standard to live according to the law of the land. America is such a land where men from all nations have come to establish one nation under God and proclaim the freedom of Christian living to the whole wide world.

I pray that you also come to know the difference and be benefited by the way we should see it. Thanks that you will pray that God might show me more by opening up my lack of insight in to the Scriptural areas where I still do not understand as I ought to, as I have always been a student of the Word of God and still will be until the end of my life. God bless you and your family and all your friends!!!! 

Much Blessings..... 

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Will Antichrist Bring Peace Or Turmoil On Earth?

When Will Peace On Earth Be Shattered During The End Time?

Question : Thanks for your end time view of "Real Pre-Trib Rapture" that fits the Scriptural basis to explain everything. My questions is, In the end time events when will it be peaceful for all the people of the world and when will the torture of Antichrist will take place. I am not yet clear regarding this, so can you please clear this up.

Answer: Greetings in Jesus wonderful name! The world will be more and more shaken by the Lord from heaven as loveless and lawless life of humans begins to increase further and further in this planet earth during this end of end time (Isa 2:19-21, 12, 17; Heb 12:25-29; Matt 24:6-7, 12). As the deceptions of the devils increase more than ever in this end of end time, God has clearly warned all the believers not to get succumbed in to it because of lack of knowledge of the Word of God and thus perish before time uselessly without fulfilling God's purpose for our lives on earth (Matt 24:4-5). God will start to reveal His shaking of earth to bring down human's pride through famines, pestilences and earth quakes in various places which the world's media usually attributes to global warming or such false theories except accept that these are acts of God who wants all humans to turn to Him for salvation (Matt 24:7). I think only insurance companies accept these as acts of God and thus do not pay those insurers their money back as they will lose everything they own in such a case.

But no matter what the shaking that God will do when the beginning of sorrows takes place (Matt 24:8), all the nations on this earth will try to bring their own solution to prevent these things from taking place rather than accept the Lordship of God and His Christ during these times. Hence the end time buzzword for all politician on this planet earth will be "Peace and Safety!" (1 Thess 5:2-3), by which all will try to deny God's role in the end time event of Daniel's seventieth week (Daniel 9:27). All the nations and people who do not know their God will hate the nation of Israel because of the problems they will face to establish the city of Jerusalem as their eternal capital (Zec 12:3; Dan 11:32-33). The nations around the world will be gathered together and a peace covenant Antichrist will make with them all deceitfully to act as though he wants the Jews of the nation of Israel to be favored with a Third temple for it to worship and establish their religious capital as Jerusalem, when in fact his heart will think otherwise to gain a standing for himself in the whole wide world as a man of peace. So the end of the end times will begin with this covenant that the Antichrist makes on for the nation of Israel with all the nations of the world (Dan 9:27). The whole world except the people who know their God will be deceived to believe that peace and safety will prevail in the whole wide world because of this man whom the Scripture reveals as a man of sin and thus being noted as the Antichrist.

So here is the artificial deceitful peace saga of Antichrist to the whole wide world that will lull them spiritually in to sleep during the first three and a half years until the abomination of desolation which is the exact three and a half year where Antichrist will begin to come inside the third Jewish temple and sit in the holy of holies or the holiest place of the Inner court to declare himself as the god of the whole wide world (2 Thess 2:3-4). Until this point of time the lull of spiritual sleep that has happened will suddenly get serious in the whole wide world as Antichrist will begin to take over other nations by his tyranny and force through instilling fear around the world. He will actually conquer three other powerful world confederacy under him and the world will then join with him. Then he will begin to establish a religion in which he will want the worship of all people for himself, during this time a false prophet will arise to help him take a world wide census and seal all the people with a mark to make them trade for living (Rev 13:11-18).

Just after the abomination of desolation and before the seal of the mark that Antichrist will enforce upon the whole wide world, the Church will be raptured to the New Jerusalem which is our Father's house in which mansions are prepared for us to stay (John 14:2-4). God gave peace on earth through Jesus' birth to all mankind and it got established later by His body on earth which is the Church so until the rapture happens to take the Church out it will be peaceful green line of peace of God's favor that mankind will experience from God because of the Church on earth (Luke 2:14), in this time there will be a great increase in material prosperity of nations around the world. But once rapture happens it will become a red line on earth which indicates that turmoil of tyranny from Antichrist and the sorrows of great destruction from the wrath of God will begin to take peace totally out of the world throughout the earth until Jesus comes again in His Second Coming to this earth to destroy the evil Antichrist and establish the kingdom of God for a thousand years in which He will forcefully maintain peace supernaturally in all the earth (Rev 19:15, 19-21; 20:4-6).

The nation of Israel will realize that they have been deceived by Antichrist only after the abomination of desolation and the rapture of the Church to some extent, but only before the war of Armageddon they will fully understand and cry out for the Messiah's help to come and save them all of them from the Annihilation of Antichrist (Zec 12:10-11), during which time Jesus and His glorious armies of God from heaven will come and defeat the whole army of Antichrist totally.

The nation of Israel will be given a false peace of safety and security by Antichrist right from the day he will make a covenant with nations to make way for the Jews to build a third temple to worship on Mount Moriah where the Old first and second temples once stood (Dan 9:27; Ezek 38:11, 14-16). By the way this false safety and peace that Antichrist gave will be shattered right from the day of abomination of desolation for the true spiritually devoted Jews, but for the political minded Jews it will get totally shattered before the day of the battle of Armageddon when the Antichrist with a world army will come to destroy the nation of Israel and take plunder (Ezek 38:11-23; Rev 19:19-21). Here are 50 reasons I have given why Ezekiel 38-39 is the Battle of Armageddon : http://www.apostolicrevelation.info/2009/05/ezekiel-38-39-and-battle-of-armageddon.html, and this will prove beyond a doubt that the final war between good and evil will be the day of battle done in Armageddon, and therefore it cannot take place until the end of the 70th Week of Daniel come at the Second Coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So the red line of peacelessness that starts after the rapture of the Church in Daniel 70th Week will continue till Jesus comes and destroys Antichrist in the war of Armageddon. Because Christ has been exalted and rules over the Church in all the nations of the earth (Matt 28:18), the green line of peace and rest cannot fully be taken away from earth until the Church which is Jesus Christ's body will be taken out of this earth during rapture of the Church after which all hell will break loose on this earth (1 Thess 1:10; 2 Thess 1:7-10; Rom 5:9-10; 1 Peter 1:5; Rev 2:22; 3:10; Luke 17:26-37; 21:34-36; Matt 24:36-44, 26-28, 20-21; Mark 13:32-37; 2 Peter 2:6-11; 1 Cor 6:19; Heb 3:6; 1 Cor 12:27; Gen 19:14-26). This is what Apostle Paul said when he talked about the world's peace within the 2nd half of the Daniel's 70th Week, "3 For when they say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape." (1 Thess 5:3, NKJV). The same sudden destruction told by Paul the Apostle was referred by Jesus as the Great Tribulation in his speech for the end time believers (Matt 24:20-22), He also greatly warned all the end time believers of the Church which is His body to be vigilant enough right after the abomination of desolation and flee away from Jerusalem physically (Matt 24:15-16), because God has promised that during that time and season, rapture will take place (Matt 24:27-28). Actually three and half years after the covenant of Antichrist has been established to make the Jews peacefully worship in their eternal capital of Jerusalem, exactly in the middle Antichrist will break his word and will try to rule from the temple sitting as god (2 Thess 2:1, 3-4, 5), this is what is called as the abomination of desolation (Dan 9:27; Matt 24:15). When the Antichrist starts to rule on earth, by that time the Church will be adorned and rewarded during the Judgment seat of Christ in heaven (2 Cor 5:10), followed by marriage of Christ with His Church in heaven after which supper or marriage celebratory feast will take place (Rev 19:7, 9). Glory to God!

Much Blessings....

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My Testimony Of The Assurance Of Salvation

The Permanent Confidence Of Salvation 

By Abraham Israel 

"Whatsoever God doeth, it shall be for ever." (Eccl.3:14).

In my life, the confidence of salvation came very late. But I was saved at the age of seven. I know of that day, I sat in our Church which was a makeshift thatched roof arrangement we had, because the big thatched Church we had before that time was set on fire by some miscreants just some months before. I began to pray in the afternoon time, but that was a unique day I can never forget. I was praying and a clear understanding came to me that I was a sinner in need of the Savior Jesus whom I had heard our aunties and Sunday school teachers speak regularly in the Sunday class and in the Church meetings, as I was born and brought up in that very place.

Then I felt a great remorse come upon me, I clearly understood at that time that the reason Jesus died on the Cross was because of my sin which I committed against God. Then as I continued praying for a long time, the very picture of Jesus Christ hanging upon the Cross with wounds on His hand and feet, and blood oozing all over the wounds and His whole body appeared in a vision just before my eyes. It broke my heart still deeply and I prayed and prayed until a great joy came flooding in to me, filling my childish heart with peace that cannot be described. Later my mother told me that I prayed until late night and that she called me to come and sleep, but I refused and continued to pray till I fell asleep.

But as I was a naughty guy when I was young, I then continued in my life as usual. We used to go to so many retreats and children's camps regularly as Dad was a missionary Pastor. At that time because we were children, the teaching of the commandments would be the prime thing that they would teach. According to their teaching if we again start doing some evil things, we would lose our salvation. So I would attend the spiritual meetings and feel like I was saved and then after I would come back to home and the normal life would start, then the so called salvation experience received during the retreat would dissipate in to thin air. This went on till the days of my late teens in which I became a hypocrite. But praise God, one day when I was hearing and singing a simple song which said, "Lord, you are changing me....", something supernatural started to happen inside of me as I kept singing it softly over and over again with a broken heart for my hypocrisy towards the Lord. Tears started to swell up in my eyes which I tried to wipe again and again, exactly at that time the Spirit of the Lord touched me and the assurance that I was was changed forever came over me. My dad who saw me how I would act well after retreats and revert back to the same old life said this time, "Let us see, how long this will continue....". Hallelujah! But things changed to the extent that all the people who had seen me before were surprised at the sudden change that the Lord gave me in many areas, one of which was extreme anger which would always lead to unforgiveness. No turning back, the Lord has continued to change me from faith to faith by giving me grace upon grace, to reach one level of glory to another level of glory always move forward progressively! Praise God that whatever the Lord does shall be forever!

Although I got saved at the age of 7, in the home Church where I grew they do not give baptism for children who profess faith, as it was kept for teenage and adults only. It has nearly taken for me more than two and half decades from the day of my new birth in Christ Jesus to take a conscious decision of profession, after which I took baptism at 32 before my marriage on 20-12-2011 through a Pastor friend. Jesus Himself took a long time to become a perfect adult and then be a priest of God at the age of 30, after which He identified Himself before others to take the Baptism of John (Matt 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22; John 1:24-34). Levitical priests served for 25 years, from age 25 to age 50, according to Numbers 8:24,25. So it is better to think consciously and take a decision of profession, but that should never limit children who have faith to be encouraged to take Baptism. There are great spiritual blessings that comes with obedience to the Lord's command to identify oneself as a disciple of Jesus and take Baptism in water (Matt 28:18-20). I believe that the earlier is better once we come to realize that we are saved from sin and have received the eternal life of God as a free gift from Him (Acts 16:30-34; Eph 2:8-9). Glory be to God for His gift of salvation given to us freely, and the permanent confidence of salvation that comes to us through believing His word and seeking His voice, and finally the clear conviction that He gives to us to take the Baptism in water which is nothing but a public confession of who we had become already in Christ to the world around us. More than ever there is not a iota of doubt within me now every day about my salvation which I have received from the Lord Jesus Christ that it will stay for eternity with me no matter what struggles of life I go through.

I praise God that I could not save myself but Jesus saved me and I received it with joy, I believe according to what Jesus has promised in His Word, my salvation is eternally secure in His hand and My Heavenly Father's hand because the eternal life that He has given me makes me to never perish from the Father's Presence again no matter what, and that nobody in the entire universe, humans or angels or any beings and doings could ever be able to snatch me out of My God's Hands forever and ever (John 10:27-29). If I did not save myself and God saved me and have promised me that no one including me can snatch that salvation He has given to me out of His hand, how could I ever get lost because of my own doings or unworthiness (2 Tim 2:13; Rom 8:31-35, 37-39). God knew my past, present and future before it had even started, and still He chose to save me in Christ Jesus because of foreseeing me through His Love for me, then how can I ever lose Him who promised never to lose me (Jer 1:4-5; Acts 15:18; Isa 46:10; 45:22-25). His hands are bigger and stronger than anything I could ever imagine, and I have come to believe by the experience of my Salvation and the conviction that comes through His Word and His Spirit that I can never be lost for eternity from God who has saved me by His everlasting grace, and above all He has promised to keep me saved by His power till my very end (Deut 33:27; Isa 53:1; 52:10; 59:1; John 12:38, 39-40, 42, 46, 47-48, 49-50; 1 John 3:24; Php 1:6). Just a food for thought! GLORY BE TO GOD NOW AND FOREVER!

Much Blessings..... 

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How Could God Judge When A Person Dies Before Hearing The Gospel?

How Could A Just God Save The Murderer, But Yet Allow Their Victims To Go To Be In Hell?

Question : Jaimashi Brother. I am not a regular attender in Church, although I was born in a Christian family. One of my friend who used to be a christian is no more a Christian, and now he says that he is searching for a true God. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God, but I can't convince him with logic because he has a question. He says that suppose a man killed someone and by the grace of God if later on the murderer accepts he is a sinner and accepts Christ as his Savior then he will get in to heaven. But what about the victim? He is already dead, if he has not died then he might also would have got the opportunity to learn the gospel and accept Christ as his Savior and would have gone to heaven.

Answer : Greetings to you in Jesus wonderful name dear Brother. Glad to know that you are a Christian and want to defend the faith that has been given to you by God. A Christian cannot be saved for a time and be unsaved afterwards, as their action did not save them from sin and death but Christ is the one who saved them eternally by what He has done for them (Heb 5:9; 9:12; 10:12, 14). Jesus has promised that those who come to Him saying that they are sinners in need of salvation will no way be ever cast out or taken away from the eternal package of salvation that they have already received, nor will any devil or even their own unworthy and unfaithful actions can revoke God's free gift, and they will never perish but may miss their eternal reward of glory and honor (John 10:27-30; Eph 2:8-9; 2 Tim 2:13; Rev 22:12). When a person is born again once for sure, as promised by God he is immediately sealed with the Holy Spirit which is put within him as a guarantee that he will rise up on the day of redemption which is the rapture of the Church (Eph 1:13-14; 2 Cor 1:21-22; 5:5). So your friend might not have been a true born again Christian or else he might have been a believer but would have got back slidden in to doubt and unbelief because of relating his faith to his unexpected situations of tragedy in life and wrong friendship (Heb 10:35-36, 39; 1 Cor 15:33-34). If he is true born again person, he will be convicted by the Holy Spirit to turn back or else will face loving chastisement from God to turn him back in to the right track (John 16:7-11; 1 Cor 11:30-32). We cannot convince another person either to accept the faith or turn back to it by our logic or intelligence because God through His Son Jesus is the one who starts the faith in a person and ends it (1 John 5:4-5, 18; Heb 12:2). But the best thing we can do is to first pray for them (1 John 5:16), then lovingly speak and demonstrate the supernatural life, signs and wonders to convict them like Elijah did for the Israelites if opportunity arises (James 5:16-20) and finally answer their questions and give reasons to them to make them understand why we continue to believe in the Christian faith (1 Peter 3:15, NASB). Some believers might even die without lack of repentance on their part to pursue and continue in the battle of faith for reward because of rejecting God's grace, mercy and love totally yet their soul will be saved (Heb 6:4-8; 1 Cor 3:13-15; 2 Cor 5:10).

I believe that your friend might have been a very religious namesake Christian or would have been a Christian by tradition, this is why he is now really searching for the true God who saves (Acts 4:12). Your friends logic of reasoning is one way many get stumbled in doubt and unbelief. One thing we must first understand, no matter when a human dies God will not judge him based on what was not revealed to him, or else God will be unjust judge who is unreasonable which is not right because of the revelation of God to all humans through nature, word of the Gospel and conscience within them (Rom 1:18-20; Acts 17:29-32; Rom 2:14-16, 1-6). The dark world of Satan and his demons want to paint a very harsh picture about God in the mind of people to make them think that He is very unreasonable and a hard master so that they will continue to be kept under the power of darkness and deny them their life line of Salvation by their own foolish reasoning (Matt 25:24-26; Rom 1:20-21; Psa 10:4; 14:1; Col 1:13). Every human who has attained the age to reason good and evil with a stable mind which is know as age of accountability which varies from child to child based on their upbringing, will have know an urging to seek God for forgiveness of sins, and those who deny and suppress it because they are doing wrong are actually making a decision again truth to stay in darkness the rest of their lives which will lead them to hell fire someday when they die unless they come to realize they are sinners in need of the Savior Jesus sent from heaven to save all sinners (Rom 2:28-32; John 8:24; Mark 2:17; Matt 18:11). So from what we have seen from the Bible, when a person dies being murdered by someone, he already has been given enough time according to God's sovereign knowledge to choose God, gospel and salvation, unless they are less than the age of accountability in which case they will be automatically saved by God due to their ignorance (2 Peter 3:9; Gen 3:5; Deut 1:39; Num 14:28-30). God is never taken by surprise of anybodies demise because He knows their end from the beginning (Isa 48:3-8; 46:9-10), He is more like a movie director who knows the story line and keeps watching the movie again with his friends from heaven, and who is not surprised by the changes and the sorrowful or great ending in it as he knew it beforehand. God is such a omniscient spiritual movie director except that He does not influence individuals decision but suggests them with good things in their lives to be saved from sin to have life and friendship with Himself (Psa 14:2-3). So whoever dies by murder we cannot assume wrongly and act as though we know more than God to tell that the victim might have got saved if he would had lived and have received the gospel of Christ later.

To the murderer who got saved later in the above scenario might have done those things in ignorance as Paul the apostle did and the thief on the Cross did, and God has the right to show His mercies to save him and take him to heaven (1 Tim 1:13; Luke 23:39-43). The thief on the Cross who got saved at the last moment must have been a criminal who might have murdered many people (Matt 27:38, 44; Luke 23:39-43), but he got saved before he died and went to heaven as a righteous man because he realized that he was a sinner and needed the perfect Savior in Jesus who died for him (Rom 3:23-26). Many of those victim whom he killed might have gone to hell. How could a just God forgive this murderer and let him in to heaven while his victim might be in hell fire? As I have explained above, all those individual victims who have died through him, had their own choice until their death to choose God before they died and reject their self life of sin and pleasure, but they did not voluntarily do that. If they have rejected God at that time of grace and mercy that He has showed to them while they lived freely, then God cannot be blamed as unjust for their fault to reject God and end up in hell fire (2 Peter 3:9). For every human who is born on this earth it is earlier the better to accept themselves as sinner and receive God's way of salvation because tomorrow might be too late. We never know when we will die and go on to be judged by God (Heb 9:27), so to go to heaven and be with God we must first realize that we are sinners and that we need the Perfect Savior Jesus who died for us to set us free from sin and as a result of it receive eternal life of God. No matter how serious our sins are, it will all be washed away by the blood of Jesus who paid for it through giving his own life to redeem us (Acts 20:28). I pray that your friend might be saved through your answer or reason of your faith in Jesus name. Continue praying for the salvation of your friend, sooner or later, one day he might get on to his knees and call upon the name of Jesus to be saved (Rom 10:9-13).

Much Blessings....

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The Church Will Leave, Then The Tribulation Saints Will Be Valiantly Martyred

Is It The Perfect Will Of God To Rapture The Church Before The Great Tribulation?

Question : I have read your Q & A article titled, 'When Will The End Time Tribulation Start?'. It is very interesting to know how God has planned to take the Church just after the abomination of desolation, but before they could be caught by the Antichrist to be pressured to take his mark or else die. The Church will overcome deception to be raptured by understanding the times and seasons that will be revealed to every believer personally by conviction of the Holy Spirit from the Father God because we are not in darkness (1 Thess 5:5-11). Even just with a literal understanding of what Jesus spoke to the Church, we could understand the Book of Matthew Chapter 24 better through what you have revealed and I understand that if the gospels was only given to the Jews for their understanding, God would not have placed it all in our hands to read and expect it all to happen. It is a perfect lineup with Scripture than any other Pre Tribulation, Post Tribulation or Mid Tribulation theory. But this one doubt came up to me from reading the verse in Revelation 13:5-10 which says, "5 And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. 6 Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. 7 It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. 9 If anyone has an ear, let him hear. 10 He who leads into captivity shall go into captivity; he who kills with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." My question is, if God has already given the saints in to the hands of Antichrist for forty two months which starts from abomination of desolation to the end of 7 years, then why should God rapture the Church against His own will?

Answer : Greetings! It is a very deep question that you have touched. From the above verses that you have quoted itself, you are right in saying that God gives His authority to rule over the entire earth in to the hands of Antichrist for three and a half years leading up to the battle of Armageddon in which God will defeat him and will throw him in to the lake of fire forever. But from the abomination of desolation see the sequence in which Antichrist will take over the entire earth in to Satan worship through deception first and then tyranny. From the day of abomination of desolation which is the exact middle of the Daniel's 70'th week will start the second three and half years in which Antichrist will seat himself as god in the temple to rule over the entire earth, he will first at that time will start to declare in defiance by opening "his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven." This will start from Jerusalem as Jesus has already told all the people who see it to flee away from it expecting rapture to take place anytime after that (2 Thess 2:3-4; Matt 24:15-20). There will be a short time after this for him to take a census over the entire earth and bring all the people as his subjects to force them to take a mark and worship Satan, and also Antichrist will make himself be worshiped by all people. God has forewarned and revealed his children to be ready at this point of time because this short time will be strategically used by Him to rapture the Church away from the Great Tribulation that will succeed it immediately. This is why Jesus told the believer of the end time to flee from Judea which is Jerusalem when they see the abomination of desolation take place in the Jewish temple, which is actually the starting point of the deception of Antichrist that will start and cover the whole world in a matter of months or even within a month (Matt 24:15-21, 23-28). Jesus told all the believers of the end time to flee Jerusalem because later He himself explains in a metaphoric language that the rapture will happen like a lightning starting from one end of the earth to the other, and as a result all the dead and the living born again believers will be strengthened and changed in a moment of time to have a glorious immortal body to fly out of this earth like eagles rising up to the sky line to be with Jesus forever and ever (Matt 24:27-28; 1 Thess 4:16-18; Isa 40:28-31).

So after the rapture of the Church only then God grants the Antichrist authority, "7 ...to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. 8 All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world." If the Church has been taken up before it is enforced with the mark of the beast or face death by Antichrist, then who are the saints that God is speaking about in the above verses? We know that all the believers will be taken up in the rapture who are born again because of the paid blood of Jesus with which He has redeemed them (Acts 20:28; Matt 25:1-13). The above people who are left behind people will not have real faith but will have been religious enough to have a form of godliness but denying the power of God to let it change them within their heart spiritually (2 Time 3:5). These left-behind name sake christians who had all the knowledge of God about the rapture as they were within the Church physically and not spiritually, will repent when the mass disappearing of people will be announced by the world media. Immediately they will submit their lives to God and become a saint by faith and patience to follow Jesus literally even if it costs them their very lives (1 Peter 2:21). They will not accept the 666 mark of the beast which is the number of his name (Rev 13:16-18), and therefore many millions of saints will be beheaded by the sword at that time for their faith (Rev 13:9-10).


We could ask, then why Jesus said the believers to watch and pray (Mark 13:32-37), the answer is because Jesus wanted all those inside the Church before the rapture to understand and check their heart by submitting themselves to God to know within them that they are truly born again, as the spirit of lawlessness within the Church of the end time will make it hard to understand one's spiritual status by one's action, and therefore believers and unbelievers will begin to sleep with religious act will hide themselves within it even until rapture happens (Matt 24:40-44, 45-51; 25:3-5; Rom 8:9; 2 Cor 13:5-6; Jude 1:3). The anointing—the oil of Scripture—is directly related to the Holy Spirit’s work in our life (2 Cor. 1:21-22). The Holy Spirit’s anointing makes us sensitive to God and his still small voice (1 John 2:20). We must understand that the anointing oil of the Holy Spirit will be present with the believer while unbelievers will not have it. So all the unbelievers and believers will start to sleep together spiritually at the time of arrival of Jesus. Jesus himself has revealed that He might delay to take the Church away from the bride's house which is the earth to the Father's house in New Jerusalem of heaven until the moment of Antichrist tyranny upon the Church believers will be about to come upon them (John 14:1-4; Matt 25:6-13). I believe though the authority over the earth will be handed over to Antichrist by the withdrawl of the Holy Spirit conviction at the middle of Daniel's 70th week (2 Thess 2:6-8; John 16:7-15), yet the power over the saints or in other words power over the Tribulation-saints will be "granted to him [a little later over a few months or within a month] to make war with the saints and to overcome them," and at that time he will also be given complete "authority ....over every tribe, tongue, and nation" as the Church will not be present under him (1 Thess 1:10; 2 Thess 1:6-10).

So even in the above Scripture you have shown, the Church will be raptured first before the Tribulation saints will go through the Great Tribulation and come out victorious by martyrdom (Rev 7:13-17; 14:9-13; 20:4-6). It is revealed again and again in the Scripture that the only perfect will of God is to rapture the Church before the Great Tribulation starts (Rev 3:10; Luke 21:34-36). This why I choose to call this concept of rapture that God reveals in the Scripture as the Real-Pre-Trib Rapture because it will start some time after the abomination of desolation, but just before the Great Tribulation which Antichrist will kick in!!!!

Much Blessings... 



 

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