Part 2 Jesus the Coming King
The events that surround the rapture of the church are: a falling away, a departing from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, many having a form of godliness but denying the power of God, and wickedness shall abound, perils times shall be. The signs of the times from Christ our Coming King can be seen in these verses.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
This week we are looking at Seducing spirits and iniquity unto iniquity as the church gets closer to the rapture.
2Th 2:3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for [that day shall not come], except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
1Ti 4:1 Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
This week we are looking at Seducing spirits and iniquity unto iniquity as the church gets closer to the rapture.
Seducing spirits
Watch craft, pharmaceuticals, divination, Ouija boards, and séances seem to be well accepted today as a means to gain knowledge and power. Some may be introduced to these at a very young or even out of curiosity. Some may even find the immediate power they think they are looking for. As they fall into these practices it becomes harder to escape and the seducing spirits have won another soul to the dark side. O it is only a palm reading or it’s just a game. Without a firm foundation many are walking on shifting sand and can be tossed to and fro into the wiles of the devil.
Other seducing spirits may be the desires of the flesh. James 1:14 says, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” These types of seducing spirits are the temptations of the flesh and have been around since the Garden of Eden. John lists these lusts in 1 John 2:15 – 17.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:15-17 KJV)
First we can see the lusts of the flesh. Here the desires of our flesh have been perverted by worldly notions of sexually, psychological, or even psychosomatic pleasures.
It all starts from within. Thomas Goodwin puts it this way;
Our thoughts are the first movers of all the evil that is in us. For they make the motion, bringing the heart and the object together; they are panderers to our lusts, holding up the object until the heart has played the adulterer with it. So in speculative uncleanness, and in other lusts, the thoughts hold up the images of those gods which they create, which the heart falls down and worships. Our thoughts present praise, riches, beauty to the heart until it has worshipped them and this even when the things themselves are absent! (The Vanity of Thoughts by Thomas Goodwin 1600–1680).
These desires can even be absent and only a memory. When we ponder on past desires, pleasures, and feelings we bring back with them the emotional pleasures which cause us to continue to reason on why we should do them. They are in fact seducing us from our purpose, God and a relationship with Him.
Maybe your seducing spirit is the shopping mall, buying things makes you feel better or happy and therefore the pleasure fills a void of being unhappy. Maybe it the movies or television programs from sports and action to romance and fiction. There are other ways to amuse yourself and escape reality like the internet or video games. The list can go on and on.
We must guard ourselves from falling away from our faith, thinking we are godly yet denying the power thereof and seducing spirits which all lead to wickedness and the iniquities of this world.
Iniquity unto iniquity
God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God is still omnipotent, able to heal, save, comfort, and convict the body, soul, and spirit of His creation as the Divine creator and designer of everything. If you deny the power of God you deny His immutable being and characteristics. This is just another sign of iniquity taking over the culture and has an outward symptom of wickedness.
Truly, wickedness is abounding today. Murders, shootings, human trafficking, stealing, and police bashing, which does not include the immoral sexuality of the day to day life of this culture and are now proclaimed to be normal. Iniquity abounds today and influences the culture to turn to self and not to God. Just do it because it feels good is there cry. But the consequences of disobedience are as simple as, what you sow you will reap. When the consequences come the wicked blame God and therefore iniquity abounds unto iniquity as stated in Romans, “because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity;” (Romans 6:19 KJV). Thus perilous times abound due to the circle of iniquity and the consequences thereof. Many grow cold because of the iniquity of this world. They feel as if the world is beyond saving and say, “The end is near I hope the Lord comes soon.”
These are some of the signs of the times surrounding the events of the rapture. Yet no man knows the day or the time.
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:27-31 KJV)
This verse along with John 14:1 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 tell us Jesus will come back for us in a personal and visual and pre-millennial time but also before the seven years of tribulation.
Watch craft, pharmaceuticals, divination, Ouija boards, and séances seem to be well accepted today as a means to gain knowledge and power. Some may be introduced to these at a very young or even out of curiosity. Some may even find the immediate power they think they are looking for. As they fall into these practices it becomes harder to escape and the seducing spirits have won another soul to the dark side. O it is only a palm reading or it’s just a game. Without a firm foundation many are walking on shifting sand and can be tossed to and fro into the wiles of the devil.
Other seducing spirits may be the desires of the flesh. James 1:14 says, “But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.” These types of seducing spirits are the temptations of the flesh and have been around since the Garden of Eden. John lists these lusts in 1 John 2:15 – 17.
Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever. (1 John 2:15-17 KJV)
First we can see the lusts of the flesh. Here the desires of our flesh have been perverted by worldly notions of sexually, psychological, or even psychosomatic pleasures.
It all starts from within. Thomas Goodwin puts it this way;
Our thoughts are the first movers of all the evil that is in us. For they make the motion, bringing the heart and the object together; they are panderers to our lusts, holding up the object until the heart has played the adulterer with it. So in speculative uncleanness, and in other lusts, the thoughts hold up the images of those gods which they create, which the heart falls down and worships. Our thoughts present praise, riches, beauty to the heart until it has worshipped them and this even when the things themselves are absent! (The Vanity of Thoughts by Thomas Goodwin 1600–1680).
These desires can even be absent and only a memory. When we ponder on past desires, pleasures, and feelings we bring back with them the emotional pleasures which cause us to continue to reason on why we should do them. They are in fact seducing us from our purpose, God and a relationship with Him.
Maybe your seducing spirit is the shopping mall, buying things makes you feel better or happy and therefore the pleasure fills a void of being unhappy. Maybe it the movies or television programs from sports and action to romance and fiction. There are other ways to amuse yourself and escape reality like the internet or video games. The list can go on and on.
We must guard ourselves from falling away from our faith, thinking we are godly yet denying the power thereof and seducing spirits which all lead to wickedness and the iniquities of this world.
Iniquity unto iniquity
God is the same yesterday, today and forever. God is still omnipotent, able to heal, save, comfort, and convict the body, soul, and spirit of His creation as the Divine creator and designer of everything. If you deny the power of God you deny His immutable being and characteristics. This is just another sign of iniquity taking over the culture and has an outward symptom of wickedness.
Truly, wickedness is abounding today. Murders, shootings, human trafficking, stealing, and police bashing, which does not include the immoral sexuality of the day to day life of this culture and are now proclaimed to be normal. Iniquity abounds today and influences the culture to turn to self and not to God. Just do it because it feels good is there cry. But the consequences of disobedience are as simple as, what you sow you will reap. When the consequences come the wicked blame God and therefore iniquity abounds unto iniquity as stated in Romans, “because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity;” (Romans 6:19 KJV). Thus perilous times abound due to the circle of iniquity and the consequences thereof. Many grow cold because of the iniquity of this world. They feel as if the world is beyond saving and say, “The end is near I hope the Lord comes soon.”
These are some of the signs of the times surrounding the events of the rapture. Yet no man knows the day or the time.
For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together. Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. (Matthew 24:27-31 KJV)
This verse along with John 14:1 and 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 tell us Jesus will come back for us in a personal and visual and pre-millennial time but also before the seven years of tribulation.