A new giant statue installed outside the United Nations headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, is being likened to the End Times “beast” described by the Apostle John in Revelation 13:2. This absolutely gigantic statue is called “The Guardian of International Peace and Security”. What could be the significance of this statue appearing at this time? It looks like the beast of Revelation 13 that just happens to represent the Antichrist who we know will rule the nations of the world during the last 3 1/2 years prior to Jesus Christ’s return.
TheUN Just Put Up A Giant Statue In New York That Resembles A “Beast” Described In The Book Of Revelationand it is painted in LGBT colours
This is what the UN is saying about the statue: A guardian for international peace and security sits on the Visitor’s Plaza outside #UN Headquarters. The guardian is a fusion of jaguar and eagle and donated by the Government of Oaxaca, Mexico @MexOnu. It is created by artists Jacobo and Maria Angeles.
In Revelation chapter 13, we learn that this “beast” that the Apostle John was shown represents the Antichrist which will rule the entire world during the days of the Great Tribulation…
“And they worshiped the dragon, for he had given his authority to the beast, and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” And the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words, and it was allowed to exercise authority for forty-two months. It opened its mouth to utter blasphemies against God, blaspheming his name and his dwelling, that is, those who dwell in heaven. Also,it was allowed to make war on the saints and to conquer them. And authority was given it over every tribe and people and language and nation, and all who dwell on theearth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.” Revelation 13:4-8
Is this just another end times sign? I think it is and Christians need to set their focus on what Jesus is calling them to do to bring in the “end times” harvest. It is a time to speak out boldly, courageously for the truth of God’s word. We know how this is going to play out and we can use these “end times” prophecies in evangelism.
“And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”Matthew 24:12-13
Actor Denzel Washington does not mince words when it comes to his faith in God. And in a recent interview with the New York Times, Washington reiterated that he is a “God-fearing man” while also warning people to not become too self-focused.
“This is spiritual warfare. So, I’m not looking at it from an earthly perspective,” he said in the interview. “If you don’t have a spiritual anchor you’ll be easily blown by the wind and you’ll be led to depression.”
As CBN News has reported, Washington gave his life to God early on, but it took a few years for him to understand the weight of that decision.
“Three times…I think we all go through that. I was filled with the Holy Ghost and it scared me,” he said. “I didn’t want to go this deep…I want to party. It was a supernatural, once in this lifetime experience that I couldn’t completely understand at the time.”
Now, the 64-year-old actor lives out his tenets of faith daily.
“I’m a God-fearing man,” he told NYT. “I try not to worry. Fear is contaminated faith.”
Washington goes out of his way to help others and encourage them.
Actor Corey Hawkins, who plays opposite of Denzel in “The Tragedy of Macbeth,” told the New York Times the actor prays with him. “Sometimes we get talking and you see the preacher in him,” he said. “He’s just a natural-born charismatic leader who is not afraid to talk about his own faults or misgivings or shortcomings.”
Washington has become more outspoken about the pitfalls of social media. “The least we can do is consider what we have done and think about the young people,” the two-time Academy Award-winning actor said. He also recently shared scripture encouraging people not to get too focused on social media.
“The Bible says in the last days — I don’t know if it’s the last days, it’s not my place to know — but it says we’ll be lovers of ourselves,” he said. “The No. 1 photograph today is a selfie, ‘Oh, me at the protest.’ ‘Me with the fire.’ ‘Follow me.’ ‘Listen to me.’”
“We’re living in a time where people are willing to do anything to get followed. What is the long or short-term effect of too much information? It’s going fast and it can be manipulated obviously in a myriad of ways. And people are led like sheep to the slaughter,” Washington added.
His focus has become more heaven-bound.
“There are going to be two lines, the long line, and the short line, and I’m interested in being in the short line.”
During his American Film Institute Life Achievement Award acceptance speech, he was outspoken about His faith in God. Hopefully, it impacted some of the Hollywood stars present. He also warned against the “twitter-tweet meme-mean world that we’ve created for our children.” Be encouraged and challenged.
If you embrace suffering for the glory of Christ you are unstoppable and will bear abundant fruit in this life and receive great rewards in the next.
We are fast approaching the time of Jesus’ second coming when He has warned us that persecution of Christians will escalate. It is therefore important that we build our relationship with the Holy Spirit. He is our counsellor, teacher and comforter. He will guide our every step if we ask Him. With the coming persecution in mind, it is a good time to reflect on the following Scriptures on suffering.
The latter half of Lamentations chapter 3 showsthe purpose behind the book’s graphic depictions of sorrow and suffering. It is to produce hope in the God whose compassion is “new every morning”and whose faithfulness is great even to a people who have been condemned for their own unfaithfulness.“
“Jesus presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.” Acts 1:3
Peter explains in (1 Peter) how Christians should respond when they suffer because of their belief in Jesus. Called the “apostle of hope,” Peter’s primary message is to trust the Lord, live obediently no matter what your circumstances, and keep your hope fixed on God’s ultimate promise of deliverance. Suffering is to be expected, but it is temporary and yields great blessings for those who remain steadfast.
Paul’s opponents were trying to undermine his work, claiming that his suffering proved he was not a true apostle. Paul responds that his suffering highlights his dependence on Christ, as it points to Christ’s strength rather than his own (2 Corinthians 11:23-31).
“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.Therefore do not be ashamedof the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner,but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus“2 Timothy 1:8-9
“As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:5
“Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh, I am filling up what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church,” Colossians 1:24
“Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” Romans 5:3-4
“For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.” 2 Corinthians 1:5
“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” Romans 8:18-19
“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and may share His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”Philippians 3:10-11
“Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord, is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers, so that you may not be judged; behold, the Judge is standing at the door. As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord.” James 5:8-10
“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”1 Peter 5:8-10
“This will be your opportunity to bear witness. Settle it therefore in your minds not to meditate beforehand how to answer, for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you, they will put to death. You will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance, you will gain your lives.“Luke:21:13-17
These statistics are from three different Research organisations.
Less than half of Americans, including just 63% of churchgoing Christians, believe Jesus existed before His virgin birth in Bethlehem, a new study from Lifeway research shows.
A recent survey by Probe Research found that nearly 70% of so-called evangelical Christians disagreewiththe biblical position that Jesus is the only way to God. Also, the percentage of Born Again Christians with a Biblical Worldview has been cut in half over the last decade
Another study from Arizona Christian University published earlier this year, showed that among an estimated 176 million American adults who identify as Christian, just 6% or 15 million of them actually hold a biblical worldview.
The live reenactment of Jesus’ nativity scene held outside the U.S. Supreme Court building in Washington, D.C. on Thursday Dec. 2, 2021. | Christian Post
The Lifeway study, conducted Sept. 3-14 through an online survey of a national pre-recruited panel of 1,005 Americans, shows that only 2 in 5 or 41% of American adults, in general, believe Jesus existed before His Bethlehem birth. Some 32% disagree with the idea that Christ existed before His Bethlehem birth, while 28% say they’re not sure.
Researchers also found that even among Christians who attend church four times a month or more, only 63% agree that Jesus existed before His Bethlehem birth even though many Scriptures from the Bible support that position.
“Prophecies such as those in Isaiah 9 reflect that the Messiah would be the Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and Prince of Peace. While these titles reflect the Trinity, some Americans do not connect the Jesus born in Bethlehem with the Messiah who already existed as God now coming in the flesh,” said Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research.
The religiously unaffiliated were the least likely among respondents in the survey to believe Jesus existed before Bethlehem, with fewer than 15% of them supporting the notion.
And yet in John 6:62 for example, Jesus asks His many disciples at the time: “Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before?
The Scripture further highlights how difficult it was for many of them to embrace the idea of His divinity and pre-existence when it notes in John 6:66 that: “From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
In a 2016 presentation in New York City, the American Bible Society explained that despite the Bible being the most printed and sold book in the world over the last five decades, less than half of practicing Christians in the U.S. spend serious time engaging with their Bible and the rest of the country is even worse.
At the time, Samuel Harrell, director of Project Ignition at the American Bible Society, presented evidence gathered from a six-year assessment of the state of the Bible conducted by the Barna Group which showed that just 18% of the American population 18 years and older read the Bible. Among practicing Christians, only 37% were found to engage with their Bible.
The good news is that Jesus told us that this would happen just prior to His return and that before God pours out His wrath on unrepentant sinners Christians will be taken to Heaven.
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” Matthew 24:9-14
“For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord.“1 Thessalonians 4:16-17
“And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains.” Matthew 24:6-8 and Mark 13:7
Top Israeli defense officials say the country is preparing for the possibility of an armed conflict with regional arch-rival Iran and its proxies.
“We will be prepared to execute operations that haven’t been seen in the past, with means that weren’t in our hands in the past, that will harm the heart of terror and its abilities,” said Defense Minister Benny Gantz.By Associated Press
Israeli army chief of staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi said Tuesday that the Israeli military was “speeding up the operational plans and readiness for dealing with Iran and the nuclear military threat.”
Israel readying for War with Iran, Officials say
Israel considers Iran an existential threat and has warned that it would act with military force if needed to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. Last month Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said that “if a terror regime is going to acquire a nuclear weapon, we must act.”
Addressing lawmakers at a meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Kohavi said the military “continued to act against our enemies in covert operations and missions around the Middle East” during the past year.
His remarks came following a string of reported Israeli airstrikes in Syria. Israel has staged hundreds of strikes on Iran-linked military targets in neighboring Syria in the past decade but rarely acknowledges its operations. It has been said that Iran’s presence near its northern frontier is a red line and that it targets arms shipments bound for Iranian-backed Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and Iran-linked facilities in Syria.
Speaking during a visit to a defense industry factory in the northern city of Shlomi, near the Lebanese border, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that Israel was “working all the time to prevent war — carrying out operations, conveying messages, preventing (a military) build-up.”
In the event of war, he said, “we will be prepared to execute operations that haven’t been seen in the past, with means that weren’t in our hands in the past, that will harm the heart of terror and its abilities.”
From Susa in Iran the ram would be charging northward to Lebanon and Iraq
What we see Iran doing militarily is an “end times” prophecy in the book of Daniel. Iran is the ram charging westward and northward and southward. The two horns represent the supreme leader Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei and General Hossein Salami head of the country’s Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) together they control all political and military power in Iran.
“I was in Susa the citadel, which is in the province of Elam (Iran). And I saw in the vision, and I was at the Ulai canal. I raised my eyes and saw, and behold, a ram (Iran) standing on the bank of the canal. It had two horns, and both horns were high, but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. I saw the ram charging westward and northward and southward. No beast could stand before him, and there was no one who could rescue them from his power. He did as he pleased and became great.” Daniel 8:2-4
We need to watch for the next part of Daniel 8’s prophecy to be fulfilled. Sunni Turkey (Goat) will not tolerate Shia Iran (Ram) claiming leadership of the Muslim middle east. Turkey (previously controlled the powerful Ottoman Empire) considers itself the leader of the Muslim world. Daniel’s prophecy predicts Turkey defeating Iran in what is described as a savage encounter but then we are told Turkey’s bid to re-establish a neo-Ottoman Empire is short-lived. We are not told who comes against Turkey, possibly the UN or a coalition of western nations that do not want to see a revived Ottoman Empire. Russia for one would not want to see a revived Ottoman Empire challenge its dominance in the region. We are told that it is broken up into four nations/kingdoms and it is out of these that the Little Horn (Antichrist) emerges.
Turkey’s attempt to re-establish a neo-Ottoman Empire
“The goat (Turkey) had a conspicuous horn between his eyes. He came toward the two-horned ram (Iran) I had seen standing beside the canal and rushed at him with savage fury. I saw him approaching the ram, and infuriated with him, he struck the ram, shattering his two horns, and the ram was not strong enough to stand against him... Then the male goat became very great, but when he became powerful, the large horn was shattered. Four conspicuous horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.” Daniel 8:6-8
It is only then that the Antichrist (little horn) arrives on the scene and is allowed to dominate the world for an allotted time, three and half years.
“From one of them, a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land. It grew as high as the heavenly host, made some of the stars and some of the host fall to the earth, and trampled them. It made itself great, even up to the Prince of the host; it removed His daily sacrifice and overthrew the place of His sanctuary. Because of rebellion, a host, together with the daily sacrifice, will be given over. The horn will throw truth to the ground and will be successful in whatever it does.” Daniel 8:9-12
Ezekiel 38 also links the Antichrist (Gog) to modern Turkey (and/or its immediately surrounding vicinity). Ezekiel singles out all Islamic nations in the Middle East and North Africa as comprising the vanguard of Gog’s invasion force during the Great Tribulation.
This post is taken from a great article by Shane Idleman: The great shrinking church in America.
It’s clear that many churches have closed or have considerably shrunk in size since COVID-19. Reasons range from “church-goers are still scared to return,” to “they prefer watching live feeds.” But why have bold churches experienced tremendous growth? This issue is much deeper — it’s crystal clear that people are hungry for the truth.
As a church in California located in Los Angeles County, I understand the enormous challenges of pastoring in these dire times. But, if the truth is told, the COVID crisis simply revealed the foundation of many churches, as well as the heart of many pastors. But thank God, there is hope!
Pastors, I’m writing this to you to encourage you to be bold as you lead your congregation through these difficult and challenging times. But this boldness won’t come naturally, it will come supernaturally. It will have a cost:
“Life-giving preaching costs the preacher much — death to self, crucifixion to the world, and the travail of his own soul. Crucified preaching only can give life. Crucified preaching can come only from a crucified man” (E.M. Bounds).
The fire of the Spirit is contagious
On October 25, 2021, we began having church every night at 6 pm for two straight weeks. At times, the atmosphere was overwhelming — a full altar, dozens of baptisms, the demonic realm being crushed and countless lives changed, both in person and through Livestream. As the old-timers used to say, “God heard our cries and showed up!” The key verse for us was Isaiah 64:1, “Oh, that You would rend the heavens! That You would come down! That the mountains might shake at Your presence.” (You can view the services here.)
Speaking boldly is no longer optional, it’s essential. That’s the missing ingredient today. God is no respecter of persons, status, or achievement, but He is a respecter of principles (Acts 10:34). If you seek Him with all your heart you will find Him. Then you will be better equipped to lead your congregation to the Fountain of Living Water once you yourself have drunk deeply. The fire of the Spirit is contagious.
This doesn’t mean that your church will grow; it could shrink, but it does mean that you’ll now have the power of the Spirit resting upon your life. Churches filled with the Spirit do the works of the Spirit. Jesus said that “whoever believes in Me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12 NIV).
If your church doesn’t look like the New Testament church, are you sure that you’re truly “having church”?
Dead is for a graveyard, not a church
The Christian life is to be living and vibrant, not dry and dead. It begs the question: “Where are the rivers of living water that Jesus spoke about in John 7:38?” When it comes to experiencing a spiritual awakening (revival), it can’t be worked up, it must be brought down from heaven.
In Lev. 9:23-24, the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people and the fire came down and consumed the burnt offering. God brought down the fire, but the responsibility fell on the leaders to keep the fire burning. They were to remove the waste but not the fuel. The same holds true for you and me. We must remove the waste of pride and add the fuel of humility.
Ignite your church with prayer meetings and worship nights. Humble yourself and lead the way and find comfort on the altar as you cry out to God for boldness. The two-week event described above was over a decade in the making as we persisted in seeking the heart of God. He truly is a “rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Heb. 11:6). When God chooses to give us a measure of revival in our bondage, worship, humility, and obedience, He will keep the flame going.
The beauty of brokenness
The beauty of brokenness is that humility crushes pride and ushers in the presence of God. Moses spent years on the backside of the desert as God broke and prepared him. Joshua’s humility no doubt came from lingering in the presence of the Lord. Isaiah was completely broken when he cried, “Woe to me! … I am ruined! …. My eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty” (Isaiah 6:5). Jeremiah collapsed and cried out for humility in the people, “My soul will weep in secret for your pride” (Jeremiah 13:17).
The Psalms are saturated with the brokenness of David, and Jesus’ disciples had to be crushed like olives so the anointing oil could flow. Paul had to be knocked to the ground and his eyes blinded by the glory of God before true humility became a mark of his ministry.
Do you sound like a voice “crying in the wilderness” because you’ve been touched by God, or a voice whining in the wilderness because you’re dying spiritually? You can change that today.
We provide the sacrifice, He provides the fire
When you lose intimacy with God, you lose boldness and the Spirit’s fire. Return to Him, and He will return to you (Zechariah 1:3). The strength of your church is in its purity and spiritual power, not in its numbers. God doesn’t need a majority — He is the Majority. We are not CEOs running a business, we are watchmen warning a nation. Prayer can no longer be a footnote at the end of a sermon; instead, prayer and worship must guide the church in these critical times.
How can you receive a measure of revival in these dire times if there is no desperation? God can’t pour into your heart if it’s already full of self: Self-willed. Self-sufficient. Self-made. Self must die in you before God can really live within you.
The greatest hindrance to revival is within your own heart. It’s time to break up your fallow ground and seek the Lord while He still may be found (cf. Hosea 10:12). Again, although we can’t work revival up, God can bring it down from heaven if we prepare the soil of our hearts. We provide the sacrifice — He provides the fire.
Shane Idleman is the founder and lead pastor of Westside Christian Fellowship in Lancaster, California, just North of Los Angeles. Shane’s sermons, articles, books, and radio program can all be found at shaneidleman.com or wcfav.org
My followers know that I believe the church in the end times will be the church as described in the Book of Acts. I promote the church model as modeled by Francis Chan which is House Churches, no paid pastors, and no buildings. Nevertheless, I thought the truths expressed by Pastor Shane Idelman are worth a post.
Imagine what it will be like ruling and reigning with Jesus on this earth during His prophesied Millennial Kingdom. All the amazing technology under development today will be fully utilised.
British Scientists In World-First Fusion Power Breakthrough. The long-held dream of pollution and radiation-free electricity derived from nuclear fusion could be a step closer to reality thanks to a major breakthrough by a team of British scientists.
“We built MAST Upgrade to solve the exhaust problem for compact fusion power plants, and the signs are that we’ve succeeded. Super-X reduces the heat on the exhaust system from a blowtorch level down to more like you’d find in a car engine. This could mean it would only have to be replaced once during the lifetime of a power plant. It’s a pivotal development for the UK’s plan to put a fusion power plant on the grid by the early 2040s – and for bringing low-carbon energy from fusion to the world.”
Imagine the green cities of the future. Plants will be grown in high-rise buildings using solar power and water drip technology. The people living in those cities will have fresh fruit and vegetables available all year round. Electric and solar-powered self-driving vehicles of the optimum size for the number of people and the length of the journey to be undertaken will be requested as required.
FUTURISTIC GREEN CITY
I am presently developing a website http://www.millennialkingdom.net where you will be able to find out all about what God has revealed in His Word, the Bible about His coming Millennial Kingdom. There are some 2000 prophecies about Jesus’ second coming to earth to rule and reign over the nations from a new Jerusalem and Israel. Did you know that new Jerusalem will be on the highest mountain in the world at that time? All nations will go up to Jerusalem in the Millennium.
“And they shall say, This land that was desolate is become like the garden of Eden, and the waste and desolate and ruined cities are become fenced and are inhabited. Then the heathen that are left round about you shall know that I the Lord build the ruined places, and plant that that was desolate: I the Lordhave spoken it, and I will do it.” Ezekiel 36:35-36
“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it,”Isaiah 2:2& Micah 4:1\
Millennial Jerusalem – A new name – The Lord is There
THE FIRST STEP ON A JOURNEY TOWARD UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORY OF THE EARTH ACCORDING TO GENESIS
Featuring over a dozen scientists and scholars, Is Genesis History? answers some of the most common questions about the creation of the world as we know it. How does the world intersect with the history recorded in Genesis? From rock layers to fossils, from lions to stars, from the Bible to artifacts, this fascinating documentary will change the way you see the world. Join Dr. Del Tackett, creator of The Truth Project, as he guides you through the evidence for two competing views—one compelling truth.
Prayerfully consider supporting the ministry of RevelationMedia with a donation today, and they will send you the Is Genesis History? on DVD. Explore bonus footage including a special interview with Dr. Del Tackett on the DVD and share with your friends and family the powerful scientific evidence that supports a Biblical worldview with Is Genesis History? today.
Below is a helpful video. It is an introduction to Biblical Archaeology.
More than three years after Pope Francis sparked a firestorm of religious debate by telling a young boy that his deceased atheist father might still end up in Heaven, a new study from the Pew Research Center shows a majority of Catholic and mainline Christians also believe people who don’t believe in God will go to Heaven.
Did not Jesus say, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6.
“Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” John 3:36
Religious rituals versus relationship with the living God
What are the Christian leaders in these denominations teaching their congregations? What did Jesus accomplish on The Cross on our behalf? Does it account for nothing? And yet we know that without Jesus’ sacrifice our Heavenly Father could not have sent the Holy Spirit to indwell believers to sanctify us and enable us to live the Christian life.
Data for the Pew Research Centre study, conducted Sept. 20-26, was collected from a nationally representative sample of 6,485 U.S. adults.
Pew researchers decided for the first time to tackle deep philosophical questions like the meaning of life, the purpose of suffering, and why bad things happen to people. The national study was released amid a backdrop of major life-changing events for many, most notably the coronavirus pandemic which has claimed millions of lives globally.
In discussing American views on the afterlife, the study showed that majorities of U.S. adults believe in both Heaven and Hell, but significantly more believe in Heaven. Some 73% of respondents reported belief in Heaven, while 62% of respondents reported belief in Hell.
When it comes to Christians as a group, the study showed that the overwhelming majority of all Christian groups supported belief in Heaven. Protestants from historically black and evangelical churches were more likely than mainline Protestant Christians or Catholics to express belief in Hell.
And while 39% of all American adults, in general, believe people who don’t believe in God can still go to Heaven, 68% of Catholics and 56% of mainline Protestant Christians were found to hold this belief compared to 21% of evangelicals and 31% of Christians from historically black churches.
In his Dialogue with Trypho, the 2nd-century Christian apologist, Justin Martyr, summarizes the Christian life in those days:
And we who were filled with war, and mutual slaughter, and every wickedness, have each through the whole earth changed our warlike weapons, our swords into ploughshares, and our spears into implements of tillage, and we cultivate piety, righteousness, philanthropy, faith, hope, which we have from the Father Himself through Him who was crucified… Now it is evident that no one can terrify or subdue us who have believed in Jesus over all the world. For it is plain that, though beheaded, and crucified, and thrown to wild beasts, and chains, and fire, and all other kinds of torture, we do not give up our confession; but the more such things happen, the more do others and in larger numbers become faithful, and worshipers of God through the name of Jesus.
Virtue does not emerge from some inherent goodness or nobility in man. Virtue is God’s grace manifested in men. Left to their own devices, men, and even women, are anything but virtuous.
Dialogue with Trypho, CX
For Justin and the earliest Christians, many things about their newfound faith were probably still unclear. However, what was crystal clear, they knew that Jesus rose from the dead and His claim to be the Son of God was true. They knew that only by repenting of their past life and accepting Jesus as their Saviour and Lord could they receive the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, and have the power to live the Christian life. Godly virtues, faith, hope, piety, righteousness, philanthropy were attainable only by the grace of God. These things were obvious to early believers in Christ.
Further, because of God’s grace, it was possible not only for men to become moral creatures, but it was by His grace that men could live freely. By His mercy, man could be liberated from the powers of supernatural oppression and the oppressive weight of their sins. In this freedom, the Christian had no fear of losing his head (literally), being thrown to wild beasts, put in chains, crucified, burned alive, or otherwise tortured. God’s grace provided the path to both virtues in life and victory over death.
Perpetual revolution” (not reformation) is the explicit doctrine of the foot soldier for the unconstrained vision of man.
As prophesied, men and women who reject any need for divine aid or help and who really believe a new revolution can solve the problem, are taking control of our institutions. Trade-offs are unacceptable for the advocates of the unconstrained view. Only total solutions are acceptable. Perfection is within society’s grasp, any identifiable flaw in the fabric of society must inevitably spur on the next revolution.The problem, of course, with this view, one Justin and the early church Fathers would have roundly decried as heretical, is thatit consciously rejects what it regards as the most detestable doctrines of the Christian faith: original sin and the desperate need for God’s grace.
LIVING ETERNAL NOW 