Date: 1 April, 2012

In this second installment, we will continue to document the evidences surrounding the cause and purpose of the coming Darkness upon the earth, begun in Part One. While we make no claims as being a prophet or having special knowledge (gnosticism), we do read the scriptures and recognize the warnings in both Old and New Testaments about the coming 'latter end', 'end of days', and End Times that tell of the events that presage the return of our Lord and Saviour, Christ Jesus.

Matt. 16:3b: "Do you know how to discern the appearance (face) of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?"

In the news you will read more and more of a polarization that is occuring all over the world. Some will characterize it as a form of class warfare, pitting the rich against the poor. Others will claim it is a war of reason against madness. Whatever the characterization one may use, it is obvious that the world is responding in fear to the uncertainty in the global financial system, the geo-political and social turmoil that is happening in many countries once thought quite stable, including the United States.

In the United States today, indeed in much of the world, a more critical kind of change, at first of a very subtle nature, has been occuring over the past half century. It has only been in the last twenty years that the nature of that change has become increasingly more apparent, to the point that now it is clear and obvious what these changes have wrought upon Western society.

The God of the Bible is becoming the enemy of the people.

The most disturbing aspect of this statement is to whom it applies. It isn't just pointing to the fact that the world is becoming more hostile towards Christianity, but it speaks also about God's own people, the re-emergence of anti-semitism in Europe, and even here in the United States.

Because modern pastors and preachers are espousing spurious doctrinal positions, embracing false interpretations of scripture, even twisting the actual meaning of the Word of God out of all proportion, they demonstrate their contempt - yes contempt - for not only the scriptures, but God Himself. Observe:

Ps. 106:35: ...they mingled with the nations, and learned their practices (works and/or ways),
36: And served their idols, which became a snare to them.

The next statement I am going to make will enrage many Christians. I don't care because the truth needs to be spoken, it needs to be said out loud.

If there is darkness coming upon the United States, and in particular the West, it is because Christians have abandoned their faith, the Law, beliefs, doctrines and tenets, and their God. The above passage from Psalm 106 articulates the primary reason. I said it in Part One, and it bears repeating again and again.

The pastors, teachers and authors of endless and bankrupt "Christian" literature have so polluted the message of the Bible with erroneous ideas, bringing worldly concepts and philosophical beliefs - even fantastic flights of wishful thinking - into God's sanctuary, that they have, in essence, "mingled with the nations and learned their practices..." They now serve the idols of the flesh, the selfish, soulish desires of our base nature.

Christians are as responsible for the coming Darkness as the enemies of God because, as was done in ancient Israel, where God had instructed His people that they should not be joined to foreign brides, nor to their pagan, idol worshipping practices, this is precisely what the Church has done - is doing even now. They have allowed false doctrine, "new" ideas, re-imaging of the gospel accounts and message, heretical writings and more into the canon of what is considered acceptable and useful material and approaches, which shake up the traditional message and ignore the clear warnings in scripture that such things have no place in our midst.

These things, "...their idols", have become a snare unto the people of God.

And as was done in ancient Israel, so shall it happen to the Church: God sent His judgment upon the people of God in those days, often allowing them to be conquered and carried away into exile, into captivity to the land of their enemies. What this means today is that the Church is being destroyed by their enemies, from within and from without, exiled and carried away into a captivity of doctrinal heresy and false beliefs, all rooted in the idea that we, the people of God today, accept that the "old ways" need to be thrown by the wayside to make room for new and improved ideologies and doctrines, borne in the mind of man and based in his own knowledge and wisdom, but without the guidance and correction afforded through the Holy Spirit.

God has said of the End Times Church:

Rev. 3:15: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot.
16: So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit (vomit) you out of My mouth.
17: Because you say, "I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing," and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked...

It is clear, today's Christian leadership believes they are capable of independently "running" Christ's Church. They have begun to believe their own propoganda, their own hype, that today's Church needs to be different, full of new and bold ideas. They want to pursue a course apart from what is outlined in the scriptures, one that says "Yes" to the unbelievers and welcomes them, sin and all, into the sanctuary of almighty God, but without the necessity of shedding the sin life, the "old man sin nature", or repentance. They just need to believe in Jesus and everything will be fine.

But God has said He cannot abide sin in His presence. Therefore, many of these churches are literally standing on their own, having been abandoned by the Holy Spirit and the Author of Life. And like ancient Israel, they are engaged in pursuing "...what [is] right in their own eyes."

There is an underlying and deliberate design to become friends with the world, to show the world that Christians are good people, and that we only want to reach out and love everyone, regardless of their beliefs, regardless of their sin state. They want us to believe sin doesn't matter because we're all God's children and everyone should be able to come into the house of the Lord and worship in their own way, according to their own beliefs, and without having to sacrifice anything.

They insist we just have to do good deeds, treat people well and love everyone. Sin is no longer sin, but honest error and/or a natural human desire or (genetic) trait. And God will look down from heaven and smile that we are being so inclusive and getting along so well. He will then touch each and every one of us and grant us entrance into heaven.

Such a church does not require anyone to change anything about their character, morality or ethics. People coming into this kind of church are finding they don't have to confront any "issues" about their lives to be welcomed, accepted and affirmed by the pastors and members of the congregation. All they need is to believe in Jesus, at least insofar as He was a good shepherd and presented some good lessons we can draw from. We don't even have to agree with everything in the Bible. We don't even need to believe in the divinity of Jesus.

I challenge anyone in such a church to show me where in the Bible it is stated that this is all we have to do. Nor do I find anywhere in scripture the statement I have heard more than one Christian quote: "God helps those who help themselves." If this were true, why then do we need God? What was the purpose of Jesus' life and sacrifice upon the cross? If we can help ourselves through our own "good works", why bother with any of it, let alone teach the truth of the Bible?

And so the Church has helped to create the wretched condition into which the world is sliding ever deeper. The world was never a "friendly" place. Absent Christ, a people will turn to their own devices and construct their own beliefs that rely upon nothing more than what they desire in the moment. Tomorrow, that may change. There is no consistency, nothing is absolutely true and unchanging in such a society. What is acceptable today may become abhorrent and an abomination tomorrow.

How do you cope in such a world as that? Without Jesus, you compromise everything every day because it is the nature of such a society to warp and distort whatever truth they adhere to, depending upon the mood of the current leader over them. Tomorrow, the current truth may become the lie and the enemy of "the People". This is no way to live.

There's no way we're not going down this road, this path that leads to Darkness.

John 9:4: "We must work the works of Him who sent Me, as long as it is day; night is coming, when no man can work."
Is. 55:6: Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near.

Look at the language used here. "...night is coming...", "...while He may be found... while He is near." We are being warned openly that the Lord is going to withdraw His protections, His support, even His presence.

It doesn't matter who gets elected to Congress, who becomes our next President, what corporations do, what other nations do. It's a very sad thing to have to watch, but we all must, as Christians, face the truth if we are going to say we believe what the Bible says about the End Times period. If we are going to say that we believe the End Times are coming, perhaps even in our lifetime, or shortly thereafter, then we cannot escape the reality that the world will not become a better place, but a more hostile place, toward people of faith in general and toward Christians in particular.

Now, before you go off on me, I am not suggesting the Lord is going to abandon His people. That isn't what these passages are saying, directly. For them who are faithful and devoted followers, they have no need to worry. While they may experience persecution, imprisonment and torture, even death, the Lord has promised to be with them "...even unto the end of the Age" (Matt. 28:20b).

It is the rest of the world that needs to be concerned. When the Lord removes His grace from a place or over a situation, things go bad very quickly; darkness descends upon everything and everyone in those places and situations, and madness reigns.

You may be wondering why this has to be so. Why does the world have to descend into Darkness?

Well, it doesn't. But, unfortunately, it is not realistic to think that everybody will wake up from their personal madness and begin to see with clear eyes, and to hear with clear understanding, that they are sinners in need of the saving grace of Jesus Christ.

In the twentieth century, it can be clearly seen how the Church has, little by little, released or lost to government the responsibility for the poor, the downtrodden, the sick and the disenfranchised. The realm in which the Church operated was slowly co opted by government, or seized entirely, as in the case of the Soviet Union, literally taking all control and usurping all services into their hands; the State became the provider of all needs for all the people of Russia and the Soviet Bloc nations under their control. The same thing occurred in China.

In both nations, the God of the Bible was denigrated and removed from society as a belief to be abandoned. While the Russian Orthodox Church remained, the Elders in the church decided to co operate with Lenin, and later Stalin, in order to survive. As a result, they became a defacto informant source for the government against citizens. And it was the only state sanctioned religious organization. True Christians and faithful Jews were imprisoned, and even executed, for their adherence that God reigns supreme, even over governments.

In China the state supported church is a sham and a farse. God is irrelevant, State programs and tenets are taught as virtues to admire and adopt. Jesus is a servant to the State in both cases which, of course, is anathema to what scripture actually teaches. While Catholicism does exist in China, the cardinals are appointed by the State, not the Vatican. You can decide what that indicates. And true Christians are presecuted, arrested, imprisoned, tortured and even executed because they will not bow to the State authority over them in matters of faith.

The warnings abound in scripture as to what will happen to a people who abandon or reject God as sovereign.

Deut. 30:17: "But if your heart turns away and you will not obey, but are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them,
18a: I declare to you today that you shall surely perish."
John 3:36: "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey (believe) the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him."

It cannot be denied that across the Western world, people are abandoning the God of the Bible. Europe and the United States, even Canada, have progressed deeper into a condition of avoidance, at the very least, and in some cases (Canada) prosecution of certain Christian tenets as hate speech - even reaching into the church pulpit to arrest pastors and preachers "caught" teaching these biblical beliefs that are part of the foundation of Christian doctrine. Yet, Muslims can stand in their mosques and preach the destruction of the West as a whole, even encouraging violent jihad (holy struggle) against all who resist Islam.

In certain instances, a single person's views trump the majority opinion when lawsuits are raised to remove Christian symbols and related materials from schools, public buildings, public spaces and even the place where you work. In many of these cases, we find that the majority people don't care if the symbols are there. They are not offended by them. But one person's objections is enough to have them removed.

As we proceed deeper into the bowels of godless society, the enmity for the people of God grows. The cause of their enmity can be multi-fold. Yet, the most important points to focus upon are but few in number, as the primary reason for such growing hatred of God.

First, there is the exclusivity claim in Christianity, that Jesus is the only way to salvation and entrance into heaven. Of all the criticism, this ranks as foremost in the minds of the unbeliever. How can we be certain of this belief in a world filled with uncertainty? The very question exposes the heart of the matter, that these people live in a belief that absolute truth is not possible - even though they insist that there are absolutes in the field of science, to name one area, based on empirical data derived from various experiments and observation. But in the realm of the religiously held beliefs, no such absolutes are allowed.

Second, the rejection that "all have sinned..." and are inclined to evil when left to their own devices argument. People insist they are good people. They point to their deeds, their accomplishments. Yes, they'll say, there are bad people - but they're really just mentally imbalanced.

Third, the "How can a loving God allow so much injustice...", how can He allow such evil to continue? The answer is not popular, and they will reject it regardless of how well it is presented. See point two, above. We are sinners. The evil that exists in the world is of our own making, our own choices. God does not want automatons to bow to His every whim. We have a degree of free will to do as we please. Some choose evil. Throughout History, God has allowed evil to flourish, that men of good conscience may rise up, even be forged under the oppression of this evil, and fight to destroy such cancers that arise.

There's always a reason, an excuse, for evil, except when religion is involved. We get the "religion is responsible for some of the worst atrocities in history" argument. But in the twentieth century alone, two godless nations, China and the Soviet Union, slaughtered over 100 million of their own people in the span of 70 years, not including the wars faught against foreign powers. But socialism, even communism, remains a "viable" option for many in the West. We are seeing the rise of socialist ideas even in the United States, with the best example being the Health Care mandated participation passed by Congress in 2010. Everybody is covered by this government program; we pay in, they take care of us. The Nanny State comes of age.

The simple reality is that the world is growing darker and darker, even as our leaders insist brighter days lie ahead, that prosperity is coming. These are the words of every despot and tyrant ever unleashed upon the people of the nations of the world. And it is a darkened world that is rising, taking shape right before our eyes.

In the third segment, we will cover what Christians, and people who live in fear, should do during such times, what is expected of us in times of crisis and oppression, when the world has seen fit to make an enemy of a peace loving people, to the point of persecution, inprisonment and even execution.

Until then, look to the heavens, and know, that as you see the signs of the times and seasons, the time of our Lord's soon return draws ever closer.