ON WHOSE MORALITY WILL WE BASE OUR LAWS?

Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States inherited English common law from Great Britain.  It has a well-deserved reputation for fair and impartial justice, which is the indispensable foundation of a free society.  Without justice that is fair and impartial, freedom allows the powerful to use their freedom to crush the freedom of all who are less powerful.  Not until a community has built justice and freedom is it able to build the flourishing prosperity available only through the biblical system of private enterprise.

Are you surprised that much of the law that governs Australia is deeply rooted in Christianity?  If you are surprised, it is because, like most Australians, you have been taught to believe the lie that government can be “ secular“, which means separate from religion.  The truth is that there is no such thing as a “secular” nation, and there never can be.  Secular government is an academic fantasy because:

  • all nations must have laws;
  • all laws attempt to define right and wrong (morality); and
  • all morality is a matter of belief (i.e. religion).

All law is enacted morality.  A nation cannot be “secular“, because its laws must be based on someone’s beliefs about morality.  Perhaps the most fundamental and crucial question facing every nation is this.  On whose morality shall we base our laws?

Until recently, our judges based their common law decisions on Christ’s love-based morality – love your neighbour as you love yourself.  Freedom flourished because people loved their neighbour by respecting their freedom.  Prosperity followed because most people in the economy loved their neighbours by offering products that gave good value for money.  Nowadays, judges and politicians change the moral basis of our laws without our consent, and often without our knowledge.  They clearly don’t love us, and we are their neighbours!

These unloving “change agents” base our laws on beliefs that caused all the bloodshed of the French revolution and later Marxist dictatorships.  They are adherents of secular humanism, a trendy little non-theistic religious cult of the inner suburban latte-set.  The cult’s Manifesto says it is centred “solely on human interests and values”, with morality based on “the temporal well-being of man” with no need to refer to a god if there is one.

Perhaps you find it hard to believe that some judges, politicians, academics, and others would deliberately work against the widely held beliefs of our community.  Sadly, the clearest evidence is available.  Professor Manning Clark was quoted as saying of his friend the late Justice Lionel Murphy:

“it had been one of Murphy’s aims to dismantle the Judeo-Christian ethic of Australian society.”
(page 8, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 October 1986).

Murphy’s protege, Senator Gareth Evans, a former president of the Humanist Society and a key advocate of the infamous Bill of Rights, was himself once quoted as saying:

“children want a right to sexual freedom and education and protection from the influence of Christianity.”
(page 11, Sydney Morning Herald, 7 May 1976).

Some of the objectives of secular humanism are to establish:

  • a new world order (one world government)
  • a new economic system (to be run by international bankers)
  • a new race of people (by means of genetic engineering) and
  • a new world religion

All of these are prophesied to be realised under the control of the Antichrist. He is living but yet to be revealed. The UN announced a High-Level International Conference on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine to be held at its headquarters from June 2 to 4, 2025, as the General Assembly emphasised that a two-state solution remains the “only path to lasting peace” in the Middle East. Watch for who is involved in this meeting and its outcome.

Humanism’s aim of one world government is clear from its Manifesto, which states:

“We deplore the division of humankind on nationalistic grounds.  We’ve reached a turning point in history where the best option is to transcend the limits of national sovereignty and to move toward the building of a world community in which all sectors of the human family can participate.  Thus we look toward the development of a system of world law and order based upon trans-national federal government.”

Their fervour for a new world religion has been expressed this way:

“The battle for mankind’s future must be waged and won in the public school classroom by teachers who correctly perceive their role as proselytisers of a new faith.  The classroom must and will become an arena of conflict between the old and the new; between the rotting corpse of Christianity on the one hand, and the new faith of humanism on the other.” (Humanist Magazine, January/February 1983)

They intend to legislate control of Christian churches.  The Humanist Manifesto states:

“Humanism maintains that all associations and institutions exist for the fulfilment of human life.  The intelligent evaluation, transformation, control and direction of all such associations and institutions with a view to enhancement of human life is the purpose and programme of humanism.  Certain religious institutions, their ritualistic forms, their ecclesiastical methods and communal activities must be reconstituted as rapidly as experience allows in order to function effectively in the modern world.”

These statements are a bold attack on the Christian foundations of our freedom.  It’s time for Australians to wake up.  We have been steadily losing freedoms since politicians began using the idea of secular government to gradually replace Christ’s love-based moral foundation for our laws.  As already shown, the claim that government is secular is a lie, because government can’t avoid basing laws on someone’s beliefs about right and wrong.  As the great 20th-century jurist Lord Denning wrote:

“Without religion, there can be no morality, without morality, there can be no law.”

Extracts from an article by Richard Eason entitled Australia’s Priceless Christian Heritage.

Fortunately, Christians who believe the Bible is God’s true history of this Cosmos know the end of the story. Fulfilled prophecies are proof that the Bible is the inspired Word of God. The 300-plus prophecies of Jesus’ first coming to earth were fulfilled to the letter, and the 2000 prophecies of Jesus’ second coming and His transitional Millennial Kingdom are playing out in our lifetime. They tell us that there will be a one-world government ruled by the Antichrist for three and a half years. Christians who are watching for the fulfilment of these prophecies can use them to evangelise and warn unbelievers of the consequences of taking the mark of the Beast.

VICTORIA ELEVATING NEW ANTI-VILIFICATION LAWS TO A STATE RELIGION OPPOSED TO CHRISTIANITY

The Victorian State government (Australia) wants to expand its anti-vilification legislation to include a laundry list of additional attributes, including disability, gender identity, sexual characteristics, and sexual orientation. If such an expansion is passed, it will become illegal in Victoria to offend people who are disabled, trans, non-binary, or “sexually diverse”. Maximum prison sentences will be up to three to five years.

The legal thresholds for what constitutes vilification will be lowered. Currently, one must “incite hatred” to breach the law. Under the proposed changes, however, speech that is “likely to incite” will become a criminal offence. Under such a standard, almost all speech referring to those with protected attributes – regardless of intent or context – could be deemed criminal. This means journalists, writers, comedians, academics, artists and activists will all be open to prosecution.

This new orthodoxy operates on multiple levels. First, it holds that speech inflicts harm equivalent to physical violence, which means stringent controls must be placed on expression. Second, it establishes a hierarchy of moral authority based on perceived victimhood, where some voices are deemed more virtuous than others. Third, it promotes a series of dogmas about identity, privilege, and systemic oppression that brook no dissent. This means debate is off the table.

Melbourne’s beloved Midsumma Festival, which takes place from January 19 through February 9, 2020—during Australia’s summer—draws tens of thousands of participants from the Melbourne metro area, all over Australia, and, increasingly, throughout the world. The city’s Gay Business Association started the festival in 1988 to celebrate the Melbourne queer community’s arts and culture.

Like any religion, this belief system has its own heresies. Questioning the concept of gender fluidity, expressing concern about biological males in women’s sports, or suggesting that factors other than discrimination might contribute to disparities between groups – all these become dangerous utterances, potentially worthy of legal sanction.

Just as heretics once faced inquisitions for challenging church doctrine, today’s dissenters risk social ostracism, professional ruin, and potentially legal consequences for transgressing this new moral code. Victoria’s shift represents a fundamental reimagining of the role of government in a liberal democracy. Rather than serving as a neutral arbiter, protecting the rights of citizens who have equality before the law, the state is now becoming the enforcer of a particular worldview. It’s a vision where the government not only dictates what citizens can say, but what they must believe.

This will just intensify the persecution of Christians which fulfils one of the many Biblical prophesied end-times signs. It will also ensure Australia comes under the escalating judgement of God.

Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:9-13

Taken from an article in The Australian by Claire Lehmann. She is the founding editor of Quillette online magazine.

THE STARK DIFFERENCE: HARRIS AND WALZ VERSUS TRUMP AND VANCE

At a Kamala Harris rally at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse last Thursday. As she delved into a monologue castigating pro-life protections for the unborn, two university students declared, “Christ is King!” and “Jesus is Lord!”

Kamala responded: “Oh, you guys are at the wrong rally,”

Sadly, the liberal university crowd shared Harris’s disrespect for Christians and, allegedly, for Christ. The New York Post reports:

I was pushed by an elderly woman. We were heckled at, we were cursed at, we were mocked, and that’s the biggest thing for me personally,” Beth said. “In reflection of the event, Jesus was mocked. You know, [H]is disciples were mocked, and that’s OK.”

One candidate signaled that the Name of Jesus Christ — the Name at which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess His eternal lordship — is unwelcome speech at any of Kamala Harris rallies.

Contrast that scene with a rally Republican vice presidential candidate J.D. Vance held in Waukesha, Wisconsin, on Sunday. During a lull in his speech, someone in the audience cheered, “Jesus is king!

Vance responded: “That’s right. Jesus is king,” and the Republican crowd erupted in approval.

J.D. Vance rhetorically affirmed, not merely empty praise for Jesus, but the notion that God’s sovereignty supersedes even his own. The phrase “Jesus is King!” recognizes the view that government, and those to whom it is temporarily entrusted, are subordinate to the will of God. Their will is circumscribed by the rights, priorities, privileges, and kingdom rights of Christ the King.

The 79th Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner benefiting women and children in need took place on October 17, 2024, at the New York Hilton Midtown, 1335 Avenue of Americas. The event was hosted by His Eminence Timothy Michael Cardinal Dolan, Archbishop of New York. Both Trump and Harris were to attend but Harris was absent as was her running mate, Walz. Instead, Harris sent a video.

Since its first dinner in 1946, The Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation Dinner has raised millions of dollars for New York’s most vulnerable women and children. The Dinner has featured renowned cultural, business, and political figures, including most major party presidential nominees during election years since 1960.

Trump managed to come across as the more humble candidate. At one point, he declined to tell any self-deprecating jokes, saying, “I guess I just don’t see the point of taking shots at myself when other people have been shooting at me.” But he actually began with a self-effacing quip: “These days, it’s really a pleasure [to be] anywhere in New York without a subpoena for my appearance.” And he humbly admitted, “I went overboard” in attacking Hillary Clinton during his remarks at the 2016 event. 

Kamala Harris broke with tradition to send in a video featuring “Saturday Night Live” alumna Molly Shannon as Mary Katherine Gallagher. Shannon gave a laughless, identity-focused monologue about the importance of electing a woman because women are smarter than men. She closed by calling the incumbent vice president “Momala,” as Drew Barrymore did recently. Secular leftists are looking for a matriarch. Christians bask in the love of the Father and seek no substitute. But, perhaps her video message to the dinner summed up the contrast best. At one point, she lectured Molly Shannon, “You should never let anyone tell you who you are: You tell them who you are.”

Trump offered a second moment in the speech worth remembering. Highlighting the Democratic Party’s increasingly strident anti-Catholic record, Trump quipped, “Instead of attending tonight, she’s in Michigan receiving Communion from Gretchen Whitmer.” (Trump also joked that Governor Tim “Walz isn’t here himself, but don’t worry, he’ll say that he was.” That is, of course, a reference to Walz’s erroneous claims that he served in battle and had been in the Far East during the Tiananmen Square massacre, which Walz explained away by saying “my grammar’s not always correct” and calling himself a “knucklehead”.

America is already under God’s judgement. It was in 2011 when Jonathan Cahn warned the USA about the nine harbingers that God had already sent to the nation. It did not respond and America has further ejected God from all aspects of its life. Will God give America a reprieve if Donald Trump is elected?

The institutions of faith, family, and freedom are still under desperate siege, without revival, America is destined for more judgement. It will only escalate and a level 10 earthquake on the San Andreas fault line is a distinct possibility soon.

JESUS CHRIST ALONE HOLDS YOUR DESTINY

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” John 6:35-40

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died. This is the bread that comes down from heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die. John 6:47-50

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6

As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven, not like the bread the fathers ate, and died. Whoever feeds on this bread will live forever.” John 6:57-58

I could use more Scriptures, but if you do not believe in these, I am not sure why you came to this website.

FORMER P.M. PAUL KEATING: WHAT MOTIVATES HIM?

The former prime minister, Paul Keating has never done an interview quite like this one with Troy Bramston, bestselling/award-winning author and biographer of Prime Ministers Paul Keating, RG Menzies, Bob Hawke, Gough Whitlam.

Paul Keating is seated on a chair in the middle of his office in Potts Point, Sydney. It is not just any chair. It is from the Palace of the Tuileries in Paris, in the period when Napoleon Bonaparte was the First Consul of France. His arms rest on carved wooden griffons with lion heads and he relaxes into a soft cushion of horsehair. Keating ­purchased the chair last year. (The French Government’s Mobilier National, ­attached to the Ministry of ­Culture, had an ­option to acquire the chair but didn’t exercise it). When I arrived at the ­office with ­photographer Nick Cubbin, the chair was ­already in place, isolated from everything else, set against a red-walled backdrop. It is a striking example of French neoclassicism, which draws on ancient Greek, Roman, and Egyptian design, and expresses a philosophy of human progress with a moral and an aesthetic order, and the quest for innate beauty.

When talking about the chair and why he purchased it, Keating made the following statement which reveals a great deal about what motivates him:

The Directoire and to a greater extent the Consulat are the periods of consolidation of the French Revolution – the event that changed all civil life going forward. The lives we all lead today, our liberty and equality, come from that time, that moment. This has always anchored my interest in the ­period. Otherwise, you would have been subservient to some monarch appointed by Godand by a Church that serviced God by collaborating with the monarch. Had you been an ­ordinary person, your life would have been wickedly subordinate, the next thing to being a non-person.

Newly researched documentation on the bloodthirsty Reign of Terror that swept through France in 1793-1794, personified by Robespierre and the Angel of Terror, Saint Just, clearly indicates the high price paid by France for a revolution that brought havoc and thousands of deaths to the French nation. Perhaps one of the best examples is the massacre, better called the genocide, of La Vendée.  General François Westerman of the revolutionary army claimed with pride that, in his efforts to crush the rebellion of the Vendéens, carried out against the abuses and crimes of the Convention, he ordered, by the decree of August 2, 1793, the systematic destruction and burning of the entire countryside, including all crops and the mass assassination of all rebels in sight.

Can we call the massacre at La Vendée a genocide?  The term was used in 1944 to describe the horrors of the holocaust and the drama experienced by the Jews under Nazism. If we relate the number of men women and children slaughtered by the revolutionary army under the banner of liberté, égalité, and fraternité with the total population of France’s western provinces, the number is even higher than what the Jews had to suffer under the inhuman policy of Hitler’s National Socialism. In both cases, there was a deliberate will of extermination.

The French Revolution reveals the titanic struggle between good and evil. Among the first targets of the fury of the revolutionaries, following the dictates of many of the so-called philosophes, were the contemplative religious communities. The blood of innocent people lost in the years 1792-1794 staggers the imagination. The campaign against the Church was as much diabolical as cruel.

The Church before the French Revolution is often represented as having failed to produce the goodness and holiness that is preached in the Gospel. It cannot be denied that there were serious failures among the Catholic bishops and high hierarchical leaders. However, it is also true that many devoted priests and nuns were totally dedicated to a life of prayer and works of charity, who gave up their lives for the faith they professed.

Keating believes that the French Revolution was the greatest event in human history as did Voltaire, Diderot and Baroon de Hobach.

Every sensible man, every honorable man must hold the Christian religion in horror.” Voltaire

Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.Diderot

Religion has ever filled the mind of man with darkness and kept him in ignorance of the real duties of true interests. It is only by dispelling these clouds and phantoms of religion, that we shall discover Truth, Reason, and Morality. Religion diverts us from the causes of evil, and from the remedies which nature prescribes; far from curing, it only aggravates, multiplies and perpetuates them.” –Baron de Holbach

What does Keating say about himself? “I’m definitely an aesthete,” Keating says. “That’s my whole thing. I’ve been an aesthete since I was a boy.” (aesthete: a person who has or affects a highly developed appreciation of beauty, especially in poetry and the visual arts). It shaped his conception of “big picture” style leadership and the attendant dreams of audacious statecraft. He often says leadership is founded on imagination and must be matched with courage. “You must have the imagination,” he insists. “Imagination is everything.” To envision a better future, you need a nourishment of the mind.

Where does the spiritual uplift come from?” Keating asks. “Well, I think it comes from the inner life … you need the bubbling cauldron. Without the ­bubbling cauldron, you can never get the rise. Without the rise, you just do ordinary stuff. But then who wants to do ordinary stuff?”

What does he mean “without the bubbling cauldron you never get the rise”. What nonsense, perhaps he should have gone to university after all. “Not going to university, Keating argues, freed his mind. He sought intellectual nourishment by indulging personal interests

Keating explained that the task of the reformer is to combine imagination with indignation. It demands political battle. “What others would call the warrior statesman,” Keating explains. “Most of these people in history, whether it’s Alexander the Great or whoever were in the business of blood and gore, you know? And in politics, I was in the blood and gore business, fundamentally. But with big ideas always running it.” Winning debates in parliament, putting the blowtorch to opponents in interviews, and slashing attacks on the campaign trail – it was about establishing political hegemony and ­policy authority. “Why do you throw Liberals around like rag dolls?” he asks. “Apart from the fun of it, the importance of it is for the betterment of the economy and society.”

Noting he is “fundamentally a romantic”, led him to an exploration of romanticism in culture. I always inhabited both camps, neoclassicism, and romanticism. ­Neoclassicism with and for its enlightenment ideals, its devotion to reason and perfectionism – much of which informed my calibrated ­approach to economic policy. [And] romanticism opened the yawning vistas of life replete with emotions that cram the human experience – which music goes out of its way to both join and to satisfy. I think I can claim, without refute, that you are much better with both. The culture of reason vying with the culture of feeling. Nevertheless, both share a common ideal: beauty. For as Stendhal said, ‘beauty is the promise of happiness’. I believe this to be true and have believed so always.”

Nowhere in the interview do they get into our origins, religion, meaning, and purpose of life.

WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THE DECLINE IN AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY?

Reports of American Christianity’s death are wildly exaggerated, according to a new Gallup poll. The problem however is that most American Christians (94%) no longer hold to a Biblical Worldview.

Despite years of coverage that Americans have lost their faith, three out of four Americans not only believe in God but belong to a specific religion, according to a Gallup poll released on Good Friday.

By far the largest proportion, 68%, identify with a Christian religion, including 33% who are Protestant, 22% Catholic and 13% who identify with another Christian religion or simply as a ‘Christian,’” Gallup reported on March 29. Another seven percent “identify with a non-Christian religion, including 2% who are Jewish, 1% Muslim and 1% Buddhist, among others.” 22% said they did not identify with any religion.

Faith exercises a pivotal role in most Americans’ lives, with 71% saying that religion is “very important” (45%) or “fairly important” (26%) to them. The share of Americans who placed a high premium on their faith fell below a majority for the first time in U.S. history in 2019.

That does not mean that church membership has rebounded completely: 45% of Americans formally belong to a church, synagogue, or religious congregation. That number fell below a majority during 2020. “Slightly more than one-third of U.S. young adults have no religious affiliation. Further, many young adults who do identify with a religion do not belong to a church,” noted Gallup. “But even older adults who have a religious preference are less likely to belong to a church today than in the past.”

Yet even these numbers may overstate the number of unbelievers, as 69% of Nones (people who do not identify with any particular faith) believe in God, according to a Pew Research Center poll. Still, a separate poll from the left-leaning Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released on March 27, found, “While the percentage of Americans who describe themselves as ‘nothing in particular’ is similar to a decade ago (16% in 2013 to 17% in 2023), the numbers of both atheists and agnostics have doubled since 2013 (from 2% to 4% and from 2% to 5%, respectively).”

The most liberal churches have experienced the steepest losses in membership, numerous reports found. Ryan Burge, research director at Faith Counts, tracked the membership of the major U.S. denominations between 1987 and 2021. “The mainline is just a bloodbath,” wrote Burge last June. “Five traditions are down by at least 30%. The ELCA is down 41%. The United Church of Christ is less than half the size it was in the late 1980s. The United Methodists are already down 31%, but with over 15% of their churches disaffiliating just this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if membership is down 40% or more by this time next year.”

Overall, the data paints a complicated picture. “The trends are clear that we are secularizing in some sense, particularly Gen Z. There is a decline in participation in organized religion and in belief in God, but those are not necessarily the same thing,” Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand. “The one clear thing is that some belief in a higher power is persistent. People can’t shake the idea that the universe didn’t create itself.”

David Closson, director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at FRC, made these assertions. “What we’ve learned from FRC’s own research, as well as George Barna’s research with the Cultural Research Center, is that the percentage of those who hold a consistent biblical worldview is around 6%,” “Thus, it is probably more accurate to say that Gallup is helpfully illustrating the loss of cultural Christianity. But this is an important observation in itself; the percentage of Americans who identify as Christian is decreasing rapidly, which means that basic Christian beliefs will increasingly be seen not only as outdated or old-school but dangerous and subversive. We are still living on the fumes of a post-Christian culture, and this is reflected in the large percentages of Americans who still identify as Christian even though many of them don’t go to church or profess any specific theological viewpoints.”

All parties conceded that America’s religious atrophy and eroding biblical worldview will likely impact the policies enacted at a national and local level. “Compared with all Americans, the unaffiliated are notably more likely to identify as Democrats (35% vs. 29%) and independents (38% vs. 30%), and substantially less likely to identify as Republican (12% vs. 29%),” PRRI noted.

The declining share of Americans who hold a Biblical worldview “shouldn’t matter” when it comes to public policy, but it “ultimately will,” said Backholm. “The First Amendment requires that we treat small groups of religious individuals the same as big groups, but in reality cultural dominance, or the lack thereof, matters. That’s why we see pro-life activists being punished for public speech and business owners repeatedly sued for behavior that was uncontroversial 20 years ago.”

“Being a minority religion has always come with challenges, even in America,” Backholm told TWS. “The politically dominant religion in America is becoming a hybrid of secularism and progressive Christianity defined by the belief that people should be free to do whatever makes them happy.”

“Those who don’t embrace those creeds will have problems,” he warned.

The seven churches in Revelation reveal the church as it is in the last seven years before Jesus returns to Earth first to rapture the Saints to Heaven and then pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world with the Trumpet (Revelation 8) and Bowl (Revelation 16) judgements.

The seventh church, the Church of Laodicea represents the church left behind to face God’s judgement. (Laodicea is a combination of two Greek words (LAO, meaning “God’s people”; and DIKE, meaning “justice or judgment”) Judgement of God’s people).

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.Revelation 3:15-20

It is obvious from this Scripture that those churches preaching the prosperity gospel are in for a great shock when they realise that they will face God’s judgement, but notice that they still have the opportunity to repent.

The church of Philadelphia represents the church that is raptured at the trumpet blast at the opening of the seventh seal. At the sixth seal, we see the celestial signs that precede Jesus’ return. We read “the great day of their (God’s) wrath has come“: “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand? Revelation 6:15-17 The trumpet and bowl judgements follow once the final, seventh seal is removed and the scroll is opened.

How different is the message to the church (Church of Philadelphia) that is raptured and protected from the wrath of God

Philadelphus the “love for a brother” What remains of the faithful Church will be bound in brotherly love by the persecution of earth-shaking proportions.

“He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens, and no one will shut, and who shuts, and no one opens, says this.”  Revelation 3:7

Jesus who is about to rapture His church reminds them that He is God, He is true, and they can trust Him to save them at the appointed time.

Jesus has nothing but compliments for these survivors of the Great Tribulation, his faithful remnant

Jesus says, I have set before you an open door, no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of trial (Rapture) which shall come upon the whole earth (wrath of God).” (Revelation 3:7-13)

“hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (Rev. 3:11 NASB). There is yet time to fall away and lose their rewards.

The concepts of the Key of David, the pillars in the Temple, and being kept from the hour of trial found in the letter to the Church of Philadelphia are references to the Rapture, happening at the end of the Sixth Year of the 70th Week.

DID JESUS COME TO START A RELIGION?

No, He did not. He came to set up a Kingdom and the only prayer He taught us to pray is

Our Father in Heaven, Hallowed be your name, Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven“… only then do we ask for our daily needs.

And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Luke 12:29-34

Next on God’s agenda for His Earth is for Jesus to set up a Kingdom on Earth where Jesus and the glorified Saints will rule and reign for 1000 years. God’s Word tells us exactly how Satan’s rule comes to an end. He is bound in the Abyss for most of Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom. He is released at the end and is still able to raise an army like the sand of the sea to come against Jesus and the Saints. I am reminded here of the time before God destroyed all of mankind except Noah and his family.

The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. And the Lord regretted that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him to his heart.Genesis 6:5-6

How many churches are preparing believers for Jesus’ coming Millennial Kingdom on planet Earth? I would say very few, they are not even preparing them for the coming tribulation. The seven churches in Revelation represent the church in each of the last seven years prior to Jesus’ return and God pouring out His wrath upon an unrepentant world with the Trumpet (7) and Bowl (7) judgments. Also, the six seals show us what will happen on Earth during the last seven years. Let us look at the Sixth Seal and the Sixth Church.

SIXTH SEAL: The celestial signs in the sky that precede the Rapture of the Saints and God pouring out His wrath upon the Earth. The Rapture happens at the trumpet blast and the opening of the seventh seal.

When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand? Revelation 6:12-17

SIXTH CHURCH (Church of Philadelphia – Philadelphus means “love of the brethren“) This is the church that God is going to rapture

And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens. “‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth.” Revelation 3:7-8,10

The seventh church (Laodicea means “judgment of the people,”) This is the church God is going to spit out of His mouth. They will face the wrath of God but note, that God still calls them to repent (Rev. 3:14-22).

They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.Revelation 20:4-6

CHURCHES ARE BEING TAKEN OVER BY DEMONIC SPIRITS

Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith by devoting themselves to deceitful spirits and teachings of demons…” 1 Timothy 4:1

In this verse, where Paul refers to those who “shall depart from the faith,” he is not talking about ungodly individuals who stick their middle finger in God’s face, spit on the Bible, and hate the church. He is talking about believers who will depart from the church, from the truth of the Bible, from the preaching, from prayer, from fasting, and from deliverance and miracles. And the reason they will depart is shocking. They will give heed to seducing spirits. These are evil spirits, and these dark seducing spirits will eventually woo them into accepting “doctrines of devils.”

Doctrines of devils are false religions and other false teachings that dismiss the Bible: idol worship, the worship of man, the worship of objects, the worship of charms and amulets and crystals and horoscopes, etc.; and they will eventually defend every sort of perversion that goes against the Word of God. Church people will literally side with demons, occultism, and witchcraft. If you haven’t seen that come full circle in our time, then you’ve not been paying attention. In short, Paul says there will be demonic activity in the church during the last days that will destroy the church. The influence of demonic activity in the life of the American church is an absolute fact. Demons work to destroy the conscience of their host and have no conscience of their own. A demonic spirit is void of that emotional connection to God, so it causes people to live numb and dry and lukewarm and barren, and in this context, we begin to understand that a demon is nothing more than a person without a body who has taken hold of a human body.

As we see more and more demonic influence in our culture, we need to heed Paul’s warnings. The devil is going hard after the people of God, and no one is an exception. We must buckle up with the armour of God, stick close to His Word, and keep our eyes focused on Christ.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.Ephesians 6:10-12

DO ALL TO THE GLORY OF GOD

Where do I come from? Where am I going? What is the meaning of life?

Science takes things apart to see how they work. Religion puts them together to see what they mean.

I love listening to John Lennox. He is an evangelist extraordinaire. He makes it so simple and at the same time exciting as he reveals God’s truth about the universe He created. Christians will enjoy this video immensely and want to share it with others. Non-Christians will hate it as it challenges their faith to the core.

GOD LOVES YOU, DO YOU LOVE GOD?

Dr. Josh Packard, executive director of Springtide Research Institute, told CBN’s Faithwire about his extensive research into 13-to-25-year-olds, noting studies have long found “religion is good for you.”

God is real and He is concerned about His Cosmos particularly those in it that He made in His image to be in a relationship with Him so it is natural that He responds to those that sincerely call on Him in prayer.

Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.Matthew 7:7

“Faith and spirituality are good for you,” Packard said. “If you’re a person who believes in some kind of higher power and has a connection to that higher power, you’re generally flourishing more than your peers.”

He continued, “Those who pray more tend to be flourishing more in all areas, including their mental health.”

Packard’s comments are particularly stunning when America faces an “epidemic of mental health [crises] among young people.” Meanwhile, there’s also a massive rise in the proportion of “nones” who no longer affiliate with a specific faith or religion.

Data pointing to increased wellness among the faithful is particularly pertinent in the midst of these dynamics, pointing to a potential solution to cultural conundrums.

Packard said there are lessons in Springtide Research Institute’s findings that can inform the culture and churches alike, especially in an era in which faith is being downplayed or diminished.

“Young people would be … better off if more of them had a connection to something bigger than themselves,” he said. “But also, I think a lot of religious institutions and leaders would do well to take mental health into account, so that like faith and belief could be appropriately part of somebody’s overall approach to health.”

While young people might not be aligning with Christianity at rates they once were, Packard said many still see themselves as spiritual, and more than half pray.

While the separation from biblical truth is undoubtedly troubling for Christians, these realities show at least openness to a higher power. And that intrigue could lead to receptive Gospel introductions.

“We see lots of desire from Gen Z to embark on these conversations and explorations of meaning and purpose and, ‘Why am I here on this Earth?’” he said. “So, the desire hasn’t gone away. The exploration hasn’t gone away.”

As Faithwire has extensively reported, countless surveys and studies show the benefits of faith.

Human beings were created to live in fellowship with God. We know from God’s Word that the two people God created, in the beginning, disobeyed God and the consequence of that disobedience was separation and subsequent death.

We also know from God’s Word that God created angelic spiritual beings prior to making mankind and that rebellion by one supreme angelic being named Lucifer, now renamed Satan convinced one-third of God’s angelic beings to rebel with him. Moreover, it was Satan that tempted Eve who then enticed Adam into disobeying God. Satan is now the prince of this world and our prime battle is against him and his demons.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.Ephesians 6:12-13

God has provided all we need to overcome Satan and his demons. God sent Jesus, His Son to pay the price for our rebellion against Him. Once we repent of our rebellion and accept Jesus’ offer of Salvation and submit to Him as Lord then God the Father sends the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, to indwell our spirit and enable us to live the Christian life as our counsellor, comforter, and teacher. Moreover, He teaches us how to pray and will even intercede for us when we do not know how to pray.

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.Romans 8:26-28

God has also told us the end of His Story. Satan is defeated and Jesus is made king and will rule and reign on this earth for one thousand years.

And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death.” Revelation 12:9-11

They (resurrected Saints) came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.Revelation 20:5-6