by
Bill Perkins
As
the world gently rotates on its pre-ordained axis, the majestic calm of each
new morning gives all God's creatures new hope. The past is over and all
things
are new. Yet looming in the not-too-distant future is a fast- approaching
horror that will forever change the morning calm. This horror is not confined
to
one area of the world, not restrained to one country, and not restricted to
nonbelievers. It is the dawning of the scripturally prophesied era of total
global
godlessness, the time when God allows the world to be led by Satan
himself-right to the point of annihilation.
For
this reason, rejoice, 0 heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and
the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath,
knowing
that he has [only] a short time (Revelation 12:12).
But
before the clock strikes midnight on God's prophetic clock, the world is a
stage being set for the final dramatic act. Satan won't jump out of the sky
and
demand that the world worship him. He knows better. He's had 6000 years of
practice using the same old lies. In fact, the two most common lies today
are
the two lies recorded in the book of Genesis some 6000 years ago: 1) You will
not die (reincarnation) and 2) you can be God (New Age principle). There's
a
lot of truth to the adage that says if you repeat something long enough,
eventually people will believe it.
Satan
also knows better than to move too quickly. The master of deception, he is
slowly, meticulously, fitting together a global noose that will eventually
allow
him total control of the world. With that control, he can compel people to
worship him. From the beginning, that's what he's always wanted.
But
you (Satan) said in your heart, I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne
above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the
recesses
of the north I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself
like the Most High (Isaiah 14:13,14),
He
even had the audacity to try to persuade Jesus to worship Again, the devil took
Him to a very high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world,
and
their glory; and he said to Him, All these things will I give You, if You fall
down and worship me (Matthew 4:8,9). But what he couldn't get Jesus
to
do, he will succeed in forcing the whole world to do.
The
man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts
himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes
his
seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God (2 Thessalonians
2:3).
And
he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free
men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand, or on their
forehead,
and [he provides] that no one should be able to buy or to sell, except the one
who has the mark, [either] the name of the beast or the number
of
his name (Revelation 13:16,17).
That's
total global control. But how is this possible? How could the world, with its vast
size and diversity, be moved to the point of total control by
one
force? Can the British and the Chinese bank together? Can the Jews and the
Muslims worship together? Can the Africans and the Japanese agree to be
governed
under the same authority? Not unless God's permissive will allows it. And He
will.
God
currently allows a delicate balance of good and evil in the universe. We live
in a period defined by most scholars as the "Church Age," during
which
the
Holy Spirit is present on earth and offsets Satan's every move. Even with the
rapid growth of seemingly unrestrained evil, Christianity nevertheless
continues
to grow in numbers and maturity. For every depraved act, there is a righteous
deed. As evil builds upon evil, Christianity builds on the Rock.
Both
evil and good are increasing proportionately on the scales until the day when
God removes the counterweight, leaving evil no restraint.
For
the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only he who now restrains [will do
so] until he is taken out of the way (2 Thessalonians 2:7).
This
balance will come to a screeching halt when God removes the Holy Spirit,
containing the true Body of Christian Believers, from the earth, formally
ending
the Church Age. Then and only then will Satan have his prophesied day of
unrestricted godlessness-if only for a time.
Woe
to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great
wrath, knowing that he has [only] a short time (Revelation 12:12b).
Until
that time, and as evil grows, Satan desires to influence ungodly deeds to his
advantage. After all, he is the "god" of this earth. The god of this
world
has blinded the minds of the unbelieving, that they might not see the light of
the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Corinthians
4:4).
Whether it's in the political, economic, or religious arena, Satan continues to
gain more and more control. His followers, knowingly or unknowingly,
are
getting the earth ready for his takeover. As for the last 2000 years, the true
Church-and specifically the American Christians with their world-wide
influence-is
still his nemesis and therefore his target. Satan has worked hard to compromise
the testimony of these Western saints. And it really hasn't
been
that difficult. His chief weapon? Appealing to mankind's sin nature, something
God warned Christians to guard against.
For
all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and
the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world
(1
John 2:16, emphasis added).
The
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life can all be
enticed with one thing: money. Through the lure of money, Satan has achieved
in
one generation almost everything he needs for total control. Christians and
non-Christians alike are embroiled daily in the evils of misplaced priorities.
It's
not too difficult to understand how non-believers are led astray. Satan is
their father. Not surprisingly, they trust their father and their father
has
lied to them.
You
are of (your) father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.
He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth,
because
there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own
[nature;] for he is a liar, and the father of lies (John 8:44, emphasis
added).
It
may be easy to see how non-Christians are suckered in by Satan, but it's
downright embarrassing that Christians are so easily deceived. We should know
better.
Yet we often fall for the same lies as the non-Christians: "Have it
all" and "have it now." And nowhere in the world is this more
obvious than
in
the United States, the home of the most economically viable body of believers
in the world. Satan has to compromise the nation that was built on Christian
principles
and, in its early years, led by godly men who openly trusted God.
Because
of the Christian foundation laid by the founding fathers, the 1800s in the
United States saw great revivals. Men like Jonathan Edwards and D.L.
Moody
led tens of thousands to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. By the middle of
the nineteenth century, Christian ideals, principles, and influence
permeated
every corner of the U.S. The nation had come through a long depression that
helped build strong families which depended on God. Even the vast
majority
of non-Christians were aware of God and acted on biblical morals. America was
great because America was good. And America was good because she
was
founded on the Judeo/Christian principles found in the Bible.
Do
not be anxious then, saying, "What shall we eat?" or "What shall
we drink?" or "With what shall we clothe ourselves?" For all
these things the Gentiles
eagerly
seek; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek
first His kingdom and His righteousness; and all these things shall
be
added to you (Matthew 6:31-33, emphasis added).
Yet,
within just 50 short years, Satan has managed to spiritually derail the most
solidly Christian nation in the world. Today, in the 1990s, a majority
of
believers totally misses the Christ-centeredness taught in the Bible. Instead,
they have allowed Satan to slowly and gently steer them away from biblical
principles
and entice them to center their lives around what they want and what they think
they should have. Few American Christians diligently seek out
what
God would desire in their lives.
Satan
knows better than to try to trim the top of the tree in order to ensure lasting
changes. Rather, he works from the bottom up and he began deep within
Christendom.
In the 1950s, seminaries began turning out liberal pastors who openly defied
the Doctrine of Inerrancy of Scripture. By the 1960s, this watered-down
doctrine
began to take its toll. With cracks in its biblical foundation, the church
began to have less and less influence. More and more people looked
to
the government, not God, for meeting housing needs, training their children,
regulating their lives, and settling disagreements. And, there to fill
the
gap, was Satan, disguised as "bank credit" to provide the "good
things" in life. Christians fell for the ruse hook, line, and sinker,
seeking every
material
possession available as if they were managing their own money instead of acting
as stewards of God's assets. Today in America, it seems that Christians
and
non-Christians differ little in their emphasis on material possessions.
Larry
Burkett, who teaches Christians how to manage their money according to
scriptural principles, has often said that he can tell a great deal about one's
spiritual
condition and priorities by analyzing his or her cancelled checks. It's easy to
see the order of our priorities by looking at where we spend
our
money.
"Number
one" of God's Ten Commandments warns us: "You shall have no other
gods before me" (Exodus 20:3).
Satan
has done a masterful job of turning money-and what it can buy-into our god of
choice and he has used it to preoccupy Christians while he systematically
dismantles
our foundations. American Christians choose to forget biblical principles and,
as a result, spend money on misplaced priorities, which can be
translated
"ungodly purchases."
Optional
debt, that debt which we create by borrowing in order to have something sooner
rather than later, is one good example of misplaced priorities by
American
Christians. For instance, a car loan represents optional debt. If we desire a
car so badly that we can't wait to save the money to purchase it,
then
we take on optional debt. If we charge a vacation, a washing machine, or a
television, and don't pay the entire bill when it comes due, we add to
our
optional debt. It would be easy to argue that acquiring optional debt is pure
and simple sin because it circumvents, rather than waits on, God's timing
for
provision.
Of
course, not all debt is optional debt. And borrowing is not an across-the-
board evil. But God does warn us about the realities of borrowing money
unnecessarily:
"The
rich rules over the poor, And the borrower [becomes] the lender's slave"
(Proverbs 22:7).
There
are times when, because of unforeseen circumstances, a person may need to
borrow money just to feed his family. Or a medical cost may come out of
nowhere.
But that's not why most people borrow. Christians, just like non-Christians,
borrow to have it now rather than later. They elect to circumvent
God's
provision and to operate on their own timetable rather than God's.
This
is not a gray area. Having tons of debt is not of God-, therefore, it is of
Satan. And it has cost the Christian community dearly: billions of dollars
annually
in interest alone. Billions of God's assets wasted because of undisciplined
lifestyles.
Let
your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you
have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever
forsake
you" (Hebrews 13:5, emphasis added).
Subtly
using the lust of the eyes, Satan has tied the fiscal hands of Christians in
the most economically influential nation in the world. Many American
Christians
are knee-deep in the world's system. Because of this, they have to walk to the
world's beat, making it that much easier for Satan to orchestrate
his
evil plans.
Combining
both the lust of the eyes and the pride of life, Satan has used money to
achieve his goal of splitting apart the foundation of the family unit
in
America. God charges men with three primary jobs: provision, teaching, and
protection. Satan knows Scripture; he quoted it out of context to Jesus in
the
desert. His evil scheming has worked so well that today, the average Christian
man in America has failed in all three areas. And because of that, America
has
lost its godly direction.
The
most basic duty of the husband is to provide for his family. The Bible puts it
in rather harsh terms: But if anyone does not provide for his own, and
especially
for those of his household, he has denied the faith, and is worse than an
unbeliever (I Timothy 5:8, emphasis added).
Worse
than an unbeliever! But God tells us He will reward the hard-working,
Christ-centered husband: When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands, You
will
be happy and it will be well with you (psalm 128:2, emphasis added).
Even
more interesting is the following verse, which is also part of the reward for
the hard-working husband: Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine, Within
your
house, Your children like olive plants Around your table (Psalm 128:3, emphasis
added).
God
promises that if a man is diligent, works hard, and trusts Him, he will be
rewarded by his wife being at home. In fact, in his letter to Titus, Paul
specifically
said women should work at home.
Older
women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips, nor
enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, that they may encourage
the
young women to love their husbands, to love their children, [to be] sensible,
pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, that
the
word of God may not be dishonored (Titus 2:3-5, emphasis added).
In
the Old Testament, the husband is commanded to stay home with his new bride.
When a man takes a new wife, he shall not go out with the army, nor be charged
with
any duty; he shall be free at home one year and shall give happiness to his
wife whom he has taken (Deuteronomy 24:5).
That
gave the husband a full year at home to not only get to know his wife, but also
to teach her spiritual things-which is his God-ordained responsibility.
And
if they desire to learn anything, let them ask their own husbands at home; for
it is improper for a woman to speak in church (1 Corinthians 14:35).
The
husband providing for the family, with home as the foundation, used to be as
American as the stars and stripes. And this was a major deterrent to Satan's
grand
plan until he used, again, money and easy credit as a vehicle to break up the
family. Impatient, and wanting to have more, there are husbands have
sent
their wives to work outside the home, and there are wives who have entered the
work force of their own accord. And once outside the home, and outside
the
husband's protective covering, Satan has pounded away on wives with lies from
the feminist movement.
Too
many Christians see nothing wrong with women working outside the home-merely
for more money. The most precious asset God gave man, a loving help mate,
seems
to be worth more in purchasing power than for that purpose God
intended-becoming a supporting wife. Satan has simply made it a priority to get
mom
out
of the house, and with her has gone the family. The sensitive and supportive
side of the marriage has poured the best part of her day into pursuing
the
material things for which husband and wife can't wait. And by so distracting
the guard of the home-front, Satan has been able to take easy shots at
other
areas of the family: it has been open season. Satan knows Scripture charges men
with the responsibility of elevating their wives to the highest degree.
Husbands,
love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for
her (Ephesians 5:25, emphasis added).
Satan
has worked hard to get husbands to equate love with the value of material
presents given to their wives. But God equates love with patience. Love
is
patient... (I Corinthians 13:4a).
Impatience
to have material things has in America today given Satan a wedge with which to
begin dismantling the family unit. Many wives, when working outside
the
home, often must expend their best energy and attention on the job, leaving
little for husband and family. Rather than her day peaking at home, she
crashes.
Emotionally and physically drained, she becomes far less the wife and mother
she wants to be or God intended her to be.
The
toll has, of course, been devastating. Satan has been able, in many cases, to
enter the home through drugs, ungodly music, unsafe friends, advertising
propaganda,
and hundreds of other ways. The love and pursuit of money in our nation and the
consequences thereof bear out the truth of God's Word: For
the
love of money is a root of all sorts of evil, and some by longing for it have
wandered away from the faith, and pierced themselves with many a pang
(1
Timothy 6:10, emphasis added).
Divorce
is as commonplace among Christians in America as it is among non- Christians.
Incredibly, one of every two "Christian" marriages ends in divorce.
And,
despite the extra income provided by working wives, the number one reason cited
for divorce is money problems. But, in truth, money has not been the
problem.
The
children of Christian homes, the building blocks of future Christian
strongholds with value far exceeding rubies, have been severely neglected.
These
children
have paid a great price for moms who are gone during the day and whose
sensitivity is dulled at night. Women, who have been equipped with a special,
God-given
love for their children, often don't have the sensitivity to pick up on the
little signals after shouldering the responsibilities and priorities
demanded
by their jobs. And when they do pick up on such subtleties, they're often too tired
and exhausted to exert more than a token effort at resolving
the
problem. And deep down, women know this, so guilt reigns. All because husbands
want "things" more than they want to serve God.
The
man of the family-not the woman, not the church-is also charged with teaching
his family. And the most important thing he is to teach his children is
spiritual
truth. Yet many Christian men allow their kids to be shuttled to and from
schools that forbid the mention of Jesus' name while actively promoting
the
godless principles of Satan.
Many
schools themselves are in a free-fall downward toward total depravity, teaching
everything and anything but Jesus Christ. Public schools more and more
emphasize
social engineering and less and less emphasize the basics such as science,
math, and history. Today, schools don't "educate," they
"train." The
new
Outcome-Based Education and Goals 2000 programs teach children not to think for
themselves, but to react. And they teach that the correct reactions
are
based on an atheistic worldview; God can't be mentioned.
Perverted
so-called lifestyles and activities are given equal credibility with the
traditional family. This redefining of family structure contributes to
rampant
drug abuse and crime. Rapes devastate lives daily. Negative, non- Christian
peer pressure is strong. The instruction offered at many public schools
advocates
New Age and occultic thinking, which are satanic in origin. Tragically, many
Christian parents continue to send their kids to these kinds of
schools.
And that's exactly what Satan wants, because Christian schools, and especially
home schools, can be a major deterrent to his plan. The problem,
however,
is not with the schools, but with the Christian fathers.
God
is clear in his instruction to fathers: And you shall love the LORD your God
with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And
these
words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart; and you shall
teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you
sit
in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you
rise up. And you shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall
be
as frontals on your forehead. And you shall write them on the doorposts of your
house and on your gates (Deuteronomy 6:5- 9, emphasis added).
Teaching
children is supposed to be an all-day affair, with the entire process overseen
by the husband. A typical child's day should be oriented around
God,
Scripture, and praise. But by using tools such as debt, working wives, and the
ever-present enticement to buy more things, Satan has kept most husbands'
eyes
off of the Lord and away from the truth.
The
third and the most important accomplishment of Satan as he readies the world
for his control has been the demise of the husband's role as a protector
of
his family. God warns that our biggest battles are against spiritual forces.
Put
on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand firm against the
schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against
the rulers ' against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness,
against the spiritual [forces] of wickedness in the heavenly [places]
(Ephesians
6:11-12, emphasis added).
Today,
it is difficult to locate a man in America who teaches the Bible to his family
the way God intended; prays with his family morning, noon, and night;
or
is a living testament of faith by trusting God in every facet of life. How few
men really understand, biblically, where they have been, where they now
are,
and where they are going.
Satan
has succeeded in neutralizing America, a once-great Christian nation. In the
past, this great country has been used by God in so many wonderful ways.
But
now, the United States is no longer a hindrance to Satan's grand plan. Instead,
America has become a tool of evil conquest. Worldwide, she actively
promotes
an environment for Satan to control the world. America's leaders are corrupt,
her finances on borrowed time. Satan has, sadly, won this battle
by
compromising Christian men with misplaced priorities.
Worldwide,
Satan is still being checked by the Holy Spirit as thousands of new believers
come to a saving knowledge of Jesus, mainly in Third World countries.
But
to Satan's credit, his worldwide noose is ever-tightening. And when that day
comes, when the restraint is lifted, the big lie will unfold, and a new
era
will begin: the prophesied era of total global godlessness.
And
then that lawless one will be revealed whom the Lord will slay with the breath
of His mouth and bring to an end by the appearance of His coming; [that
is,]
the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power
and signs and false wonders, and with all the deception of wickedness
for
those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to
be saved. And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence
so
that they might believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who
did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness (2 Thessalonians
2:8-12).
And
America, which seems to be growing into the daughter of the Babylonian system,
will come to its end. Some have even suggested that the following verses
may
actually be written about her demise:
After
these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great
authority, and the earth was illumined with his glory. And he cried out with
a
mighty voice, saying, Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! And she has become a
dwelling place of demons and a prison of every unclean spirit, and a
prison
of every unclean and hateful bird. For all the nations have drunk of the wine
of the passion of her immorality, and the kings of the earth have
committed
[acts of] immorality with her, and the merchants of the earth have become rich
by the wealth of her sensuality And I heard another voice from
heaven,
saying, Come out of her, my people, that you may not participate in her sins
and that you may not receive of her plagues; for her sins have piled
up
as high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back even as
she has paid, and give back [to her] double according to her deeds; in
the
cup which she has mixed, mix twice as much for her. To the degree that she
glorified herself and lived sensuously, to the same degree give her torment
and
mourning; for she says in her heart, I sit [as] a queen and I am not a widow,
and will never see mourning. For this reason in one day her plagues will
come,
pestilence and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for
the Lord God who judges her is strong. And the kings of the earth, who
committed
[acts of] immorality and lived sensuously with her, will weep and lament over
her when they see the smoke of her burning, standing at a distance
because
of the fear of her torment, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the
strong city! For in one hour your judgment has come. And the merchants
of
the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargoes any more;
cargoes of gold and silver and precious stones and pearls and fine linen
and
purple and silk and scarlet, and every [kind of] citron wood and every article
of ivory and every article [made] from very costly wood and bronze and
iron
and marble, and cinnamon and spice and incense and perfume and frankincense and
wine and olive oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep,
and
[cargoes] of horses and chariots and slaves and human lives. And the fruit you
long for has gone from you, and all things that were luxurious and splendid
have
passed away from you and [men] will no longer find them. The merchants of these
things, who became rich from her, will stand at a distance because
of
the fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great
city, she who was clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned
with
gold and precious stones and pearls; for in one hour such great wealth has been
laid waste! And every shipmaster and every passenger and sailor, and
as
many as make their living by the sea, stood at a distance, and were crying out
as they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What [city] is like the
great
city? And they threw dust on their heads and were crying out, weeping and
mourning, saying, Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships
at
sea became rich by her wealth, for in one hour she has been laid waste! Rejoice
over her, 0 heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, because
God
has pronounced judgment for you against her. And a strong angel took up a stone
like a great millstone and threw it into the sea, saying, Thus will
Babylon,
the great city, be thrown down with violence, and will not be found any longer.
And the sound of harpists and musicians and flute-players and
trumpeters
will not be heard in you any longer; and no craftsman of any craft will be
found in you any longer; and the sound of a mill will not be heard
in
you any longer; and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any longer; and
the voice of the bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any longer;
for
your merchants were the great men of the earth, because all the nations were
deceived by your sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and
of
saints and of all who have been slain on the earth (Revelation 18, emphasis
added).