CHRISTIANITY - A MAN-MADE RELIGION?

As I travel around in cyber space, I come across an atheist or two and this seems to be their mantra. “Christianity is just a man-made religion” or “The Bible is just written by man, it’s all just fiction.”

Is it?

 It suits the pride and wilfulness of Man to believe that there is no God because that raises the matter of accountability, so Man does not “like to retain God in their knowledge.” The Bible indicates that the end result of Mankind denying their Creator is that they will tend towards homosexuality.  Isn’t that what we are increasingly observing?

Was the Bible written by men? Actually, yes it was; but men who were anointed and inspired by the Spirit of God and that makes God the real Author.  God is a Spirit and He works in the world through the willing co-operation of human vessels. Scripture is God-breathed. Those who have been anointed by the Spirit at any time can understand how this works.

Anyone who has objectively and intelligently researched the subject would have to be convinced of the authenticity and inspiration of the Bible.

Fulfilled prophecy  

Many events concerning individuals, cities and nations, minutely foretold in the Bible, have been, and are being, fulfilled. Recent and current events can be understood in the light of Bible prophecy, e.g. the regathering of the Jews to their homeland and subsequent events in Israel; most particularly concerning Jerusalem and the Temple Mount. The current push to divide the Land of Israel is foretold. Most remarkable is the many Old Testament prophecies concerning the central figure of the Bible – Jesus Christ – His birth, life, ministry, message, His death and resurrection. Apart from the hundreds of surface prophecies there are multiple prophecies locked into the types and shadows in the Old Testament which find their fulfilment in Jesus show the on-going plan of God for the Church and the world. Still to be fulfilled are the prophecies concerning His Second Coming and reign on Earth. The Holy Spirit continues to bring revelation out of the pages of the Bible in a way that no other book can.  The Bible explains why the world is the way it is and gives the answer  for the many and complex problems humanity faces.

The Unity of Scripture

Though written by [about] 40 people [the authorship of some books is uncertain] over a period of about 1,500 years, the Bible is one Book. The Old Testament points to and prepares the way for the coming of the Messiah [the Christ]; the Gospels record His Birth, ministry death and resurrection. The rest of the New Testament interprets the meaning of His coming into the world and looks toward His 2^nd Coming and the New [renewed] Heavens and Earth – the Kingdom of God “On Earth as it is in Heaven.” The Old and New Testaments complement one another.-

The New is in the Old concealed, the Old is in the New revealed.

Though written by human writers, it is evident that God Himself superintended, directed and dictated the Bible books. Therefore the Bible is God’s Word.  That is what the Bible claims for itself and there can be no other explanation.

“knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:20,21.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God..” 2 Timothy 3:16

The Witness of Archaeology

Archaeologists have uncovered the sites of many towns named only in the Bible; also inscriptions confirming many Bible events. Not all of the characters in Bible stories have been mentioned in other ancient writings, but what has been found supports and adds detail to the Bible record. New evidence continues to be unearthed that confirms the truth of the biblical narratives.

Age and Number of Ancient manuscripts

The number of ancient copies of the Scriptures far outweighs the number of copies of other ancient writings which are taken to be authentic. E.g. two factors are taken into consideration when ascertaining the reliability of manuscripts – the number of manuscript copies in existence and the time span between when the original copy was first written and the oldest existing copy

                                                Manuscript Copies                          Time Span

Caesar’s Wars                                    10                                           1,000 years

Plato                                                      7                                              1,200 years

Aristotle                                               5                                              1,400 years

Homer                                                  643                                           500 years

New Testament                                24,000                                       25 years

Given these numbers, one wonders why some people readily accept that the other writings are authentic, yet balk at the New Testament. ” The Gospels and other books of the New Testament were written by men who walked with Jesus and were witnesses to the events they wrote about. As the Apostle Peter states “For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty.”

Sir Frederick Kenyon former director and principal librarian of the British Museum, stated concerning the New Testament:-“…the last foundation for any doubt that the Scriptures have come down to us substantially as they were written, has now been removed”

Jewish scribes copied the Old Testament Scriptures with extreme care.  Every word, syllable, letter and paragraph was checked and counted.  If a mistake was made they started again.  The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls has confirmed the accuracy of the Old Testament as we have them in our Bible today. Christianity did not come from a vacuum but is the continuation and fulfilment of all that was promised in the Old Testament Scriptures.

The Witness of History

The writings of historians confirm some of the Biblical events. e.g. Josephus a Jewish historian wrote about Jesus in AD 90, "Now there arose one Jesus, a wise man who performed surprising works, a teacher of men. He was the so-called Christ. When Pilate, acting on information supplied by the chief men condemned him to the cross, those who first believed did not cease to do so, and the tribe of Christians which had taken their name from him is not extinct today."

Roman historian Tacitus wrote in about AD 115 "They got their name from Christ, who was executed by sentence of the procurator Pontius Pilate in the reign of Tiberius."

 

The Bible Code

It has been discovered that there is a Code in the Bible, which describes historical and recent events and names of notable people. Thousands of instances of the Code have already been discovered using high-speed computers. The Code is in Equi-distant Letter Sequence [ELS] i.e. words spelt in equal distant letters, en-coded in the Hebrew test. Existence of the Code has been confirmed and acknowledged by scientific institutes. Sir Isaac Newton and others believed in the existence of the Code, but it was only with the arrival of computers that their theories were able to be confirmed. This is a truly amazing discovery and should quell any lingering doubts as to the inspiration of Scripture. However Michael Drosnyn author of “The Bible Code” and a determined atheist somehow manages to attribute it to a space man from another world, which only goes to show how wilfully blind people can be.

The Power of the Bible to Transform Lives and Influence Society for Good

A compelling case for the inspiration of the Bible is the countless lives that have been transformed by reading the Scriptures and encountering the Christ of the Bible, and the strength of societies who uphold its principles.

Notable sayings:

Abraham Lincoln: “I believe the Bible is the best gift God has given to man.”

W.E. Gladstone: “I have known ninety five of the world’s great men in my time, and of these eighty seven were followers of the Bible.”

George Washington: “It is impossible to rightly govern the world without God and the Bible.”

Sir Isaac Newton: “There are more sure marks of authenticity in the Bible than in any profane history.”

Thomas Huxley: “The Bible has been the Magna Charta of the poor and oppressed. The human race is not in a position to dispense with it.”

 

On a personal note:  After over 40 years of studying the Bible, I am totally convinced of its inspiration. It has truly been ” a light to my feet and a lamp for my path.” In times of difficulty the Spirit brings up just the right Scripture to guide or comfort me. Its promises shine through the dark places and give faith and hope for the future and the Presence of the Christ of the Bible is ever with me. The Bible is a book like no other. As the Holy Spirit breaths on it, Truth continues to pour from its pages. In the area of Typology, one can see that the patterns which God has laid down in the nation of Israel were fulfilled in Jesus and are being fulfilled in the history of the Church. God is working in history towards a goal – the Kingdom of God on Earth as it is in Heaven. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would lead and guide us into all truth and show us things to come, and He does - through the pages of the Bible. The Word and the Spirit are the witnesses to Truth that God has given us. The Bible has stood the test of time and is still the world’s best seller. Jesus said “Heaven and Earth may pass away, but My Word will never pass away.” 

THE ANVIL OF GOD’S WORD

Last eve I paused beside a blacksmith’s door

And heard the anvil ring the vesper chime.

Then looking in, I saw upon the floor

Old hammers worn, beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,” said I,

“To wear and batter all these hammers so?”

“Just one,” said he, and then with twinkling eye,

“The anvil wears the hammers out you know.”

And so,” I thought, “The Anvil of God’s Word,

For ages sceptic blows have beat upon,

Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard,

                                                 The Anvil is unchanged, the hammers gone.”

By John Clifford

 

 

 

THE RAPTURE RUMOUR

The following is from my new book "Endtime Insights - The Cloud Moves on", soon to be published. As it could be a bit long for a blog, I will do it in two or three parts.

          There’s a rumour of a “Rapture” about to happen any minute now. The trumpet will sound and all the Christians, those alive and the resurrected dead in Christ, will be whisked away to the bliss of Heaven, and the world will degenerate into utter Godlessness under an antichrist.

 

          Now I confess that the thought of an imminent Rapture has a great deal of appeal. Who wouldn’t want to go to Heaven and leave this mess behind with all of its pain and uncertainty, its injustice? A lot of other people think so too. Millions of dollars are made on DVDs, TV series and books which feed the rumour, telling of the horrors that await those “left behind.”

 

          At the turn of the century as the new millennium approached, there was a fever of excitement. We were told by popular tele-evangelists that there was only a “sliver of time” left before it would all happen. As millions suddenly disappeared, planes, trains and cars would go haywire and crash if the driver happened to be a Christian. Then all those raptured would enjoy a big celebration in Heaven while the people of the world, including all their unsaved loved ones would serve the antichrist on Earth or else!

 

          I bought it all once – for about ten years. I thought it was the most exciting thing that could ever happen and of course, like all Christians, I wanted to see Jesus. I even dreamed about it and when I read that Enoch was raptured by faith (Hebrews 11:5), I wondered how could one work up enough faith to be raptured. Here I come Lord! I had much to learn. There were some things that didn’t quite gel in this teaching, like Revelation 4:1 being the Rapture of the Church, but after all I was only a comparatively new Christian and others must know better than I.

 

          Then I heard a tape by a favourite teacher of the Word called Bob Mumford. He said that he had all his charts drawn up – Antichrist, Rapture, Marriage Supper of the Lamb etc, he had it all worked out, then he had a shattering revelation after which he burned all his charts because he realised that it’s not going to happen like that.  I was intrigued and I wanted to know more. Bob didn’t elaborate, but I gathered it had a lot to do with the types of the Old Testament which was a favourite subject of mine, so I set myself to see what he had seen. It took some time, but the pieces began to fall into place and I saw that the Lord was taking the Church toward a destination in the Earth. I saw that the glory of the Lord filling the Earth was dependant on the people of God possessing the Promised Land. (Numbers 14:21) I came to understand that this was about reclaiming the Earth for God - recovering our lost inheritance.

 

          I wrote a rather long manuscript of a parallel study of the three main Types but something wasn’t quite right towards the end. I was resorting to works. The Lord said “Learn more of My Grace.” When I had the revelation of the meaning of the rent veil and the finished work of Christ the last piece fell into place and I saw the whole picture.

I can now say unequivocally that there is NOT going to be a rapture at any minute now. Burn your charts, seek the Lord and ask the Holy Spirit to show you. Exciting things ARE about to happen even more exciting than a rapture. The Church is going to rise up in the power and glory of the risen Lord and bring in the Kingdom. Then the Lord will return to take up His throne.

          The prophetic picture of this great event is seen in Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem on that last Passover:- He descended from the Mt of Olives with His retinue of disciples plus others from the surrounding villages. The crowds in Jerusalem went out to meet Him because that’s the way a king was welcomed into a city. Then together they all escorted Him back into Jerusalem. Even so at the Second Coming, the Lord will return with ten thousands of His saints and “we who are alive and remain” shall be caught up together with the resurrected saints to go out to meet the King and escort Him back to the throne. That’s the Rapture of the Church – at the time of His Coming. When the Lord of Glory enters this Earth’s atmosphere, everything will come alive and Creation will be renewed. (Romans 8:19 – 23) Yes there is going to be great conflict ahead but we will be ready and we will win. Am I saying that we’re going to be here for the “Tribulation?” No! I’m saying that we’re going to be here for the Glory and the Victory.

 

          When it comes to end-times, there is a lot of talk or debate about whether there will be a “pre-trib” or “post-trib” Rapture, the main concern for some seems to be whether they will go through the anticipated Tribulation or not.  But I wonder if that is supposed to be the focus for the Christian. Should it not be rather “Have we finished the job Jesus gave us to do?”

 

“....make disciples of all the nations....teaching them to observe all things I have commanded you:”Matthew 28:19,20

 

          There are at least 50 nations in the world which are less than 5% Christian. The Chinese “Back to Jerusalem” movement is dedicated to doing all they can to finish the job, pledging their lives to it. Of them it could be said “....they loved not their lives to the death”

(Revelation 12:11) They believe that Jesus won’t come back until the Great Commission is completed. If all the Church was like minded, and if all the energy and resources that go on preaching an imminent Rapture, went into prayer for the nations and working together to evangelize them, we would be a lot closer to His coming.

           

          It is asserted that Jesus will rapture the Church out before the tribulation, because we are “not appointed to wrath” and it is true that those in Jesus do not come under the judgement of God for sin, but when God sent judgement upon Egypt, where were His people?  They were still in the land and God looked after them.  He didn’t have to evacuate them first in order to judge Egypt. In the judgement of Noah’s day, the people of God were kept safe in the Ark which is a type of Christ. It was the others who were “taken away” in judgement. Noah and his family came through the Flood and inherited the Earth – a very different Earth, cleansed by the Flood.

 

          It matters a great deal what we believe about end-times. God’s will is accomplished through His people. If we don’t have a vision for taking the Earth for God, then it won’t happen. Christians who believe in an imminent rapture tend to opt out of involvement in the world. In the meanwhile satan is having a heyday. Abortion, same sex marriage, euthanasia drugs, lawlessness, all kinds of godlessness is on the increase with very little opposition from the Church. Preachers need to be inspiring their congregations to stand up and be counted and make a difference. This is God’s world and Jesus said “Occupy till I come.” We are assured of victory if only we will fight. This is a battle which has to be fought on many fronts. Rapture-at-any-moment makes for popular exciting teaching, but is it right?  I don’t think so. Rather it tends to immobilize the Church. We are supposed to be the Army of God. We are supposed to wage spiritual warfare for the nations and also to stand up for the principles of the kingdom here in the Earth.

 

          It is often said that nothing remains to happen before Jesus comes again. Here are a few things that haven’t happened yet:-

         

          * The Church has to complete the Great Commission.(Matthew 28:18-20). This is on the basis of the fact that all authority in Heaven and Earth has been given to Jesus.That authority has been delegated to the Church to exercise in His Name to bring down the strongholds of the enemy and to set the Earth free.

 

          * Elijah must come first and restore all things. (Read Matthew 17 1-13) This is not a literal return of the Prophet Elijah, but the Spirit that rested upon Elijah coming upon the end time Church to challenge the powers of darkness and turn the world back to God. John’s arrival on the stage of history was a partial fulfilment of this prophecy. “Elijah” prepares the way for the 2^nd Coming of Christ just as the Spirit of Elijah resting on John prepared the way for His 1^st coming. According to Acts 3:21, the heavens must retain Jesus until the time of the restoration of all things. I have written about Elijah more fully in “The Other Bible Code.”

 

          * The Church must rise “to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:13) and become “a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing …holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:27) The Word says that it will. It certainly hasn’t happened yet. But it will!

 

          * The Church has to demolish the gates of Hell. Jesus said:

          “I will build My church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

          (Matthew 16:18)

 

          Our understanding of this Scripture in the past has been that the Church will stand against any attack of the enemy. We are the ones valiantly holding the fort till Jesus comes. However in warfare do gates attack or are they attacked? Our position has usually been defensive when we should be on the offensive. We are here to bring down the strongholds of the enemy and the gates of hell will not stand against us. Jesus is building a victorious Church which will obliterate hell’s intrusion into the Earth. This is in line with the promise God made to Abraham

          “..thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies.”  Genesis 22:17 KJV

 

          Abraham’s seed after the natural did just that. The journey to and possession of the Promised Land is a type or prophetic picture of the Church enforcing Christ’s victory over satan and establishing the Kingdom in the Earth.

 

          I have written about this further in the section in this book “Reclaiming the Earth for God” and also in my other books, “The Fall of the Gates of Hell” and “The Other Bible Code.”

                                      --oOo--

          So the Word shows that there is much to happen yet before the return of Christ; however it will be a quick work once we get the vision.“The ploughman shall overtake the reaper.” (Amos 9:13) This will be our finest hour!

           Studying the Types show that they lead to Victory and Glory for the Church and to a great harvest. They don’t accommodate a runaway Church. Moreover the Word says that all things in heaven and earth have been reconciled to God by the blood of the Cross of Christ. (Colossians 1:19,20) This has yet to be brought into manifestation.

 

           Some people have endeavoured to fit the Rapture into the Types, e.g. Joshua taking the people into the Promised Land is a picture of Jesus taking the raptured saints into Heaven etc: But to arrive at the true meaning of a Type we have to look carefully at what was being portrayed. Going into the Promised Land involved warfare and overcoming the enemy. Is that how we get into Heaven? The Promised Land, as I’ve shown elsewhere is not a picture of Heaven. We don’t have to fight to get in there. It is a picture of the Earth which we have to possess for the Kingdom. That is what we have to fight for; that is what the Great Commission is all about – making all the nations Jesus disciples.

 

          The Types are to be fulfilled in the Church in the Earth. It is regrettable to say the least that people accept the Rapture- at -any -moment teaching without question and then fit all other end time teaching around it. It has become a “sacred cow” not open to question. This kind of teaching closes people’s minds to what the Spirit is trying to show the churches. The more it is promoted, the longer it will be before Jesus returns.

 

          In God’s plan for the Church as shown in the Types, the Church is still on the wrong side of Jordan. The ministries in the Church should be preparing the saints to be warriors with a vision to take the Land for God, not trying to make them more comfortable in the wilderness as so many preachers and teachers are doing. Out in the wilderness the people complained and grumbled because things weren’t just as they wanted them to be. e.g. they complained about the daily diet of manna, but if they’d just gotten on with the assignment they’d been given, they could have been feeding on milk and honey and all the fat of the Land. If we “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness” i.e. get on with our assignment of bringing in the Kingdom, then all the things we have prayed and longed for and more, will be ours.

                                                                   ******

WHY DO THE NATIONS RAGE

PSALM 2
"Why do the nations rage,
The kings of the earth set themselves,
And the rulers take counsel together,
Against the LORD and against His Anointed saying,
'Let us break their bonds in pieces
And cast away their cords from us'"

In the closing days of this Age, we are seeing an unprecedented break down of morality and Biblical values as the Antichrist spirit rises in the Earth. Nations which once honoured God are casting off restraint.
Humanism, which denies God and places Man at the centre, was born in Eden when our first parents choose to turn away from God and to be their own god, deciding good and evil for themselves. We see the consequences of that all around us as nations carve out their future without reference to God.
The boundaries which God set for the good of Mankind are  increasingly being cast away. The Clinton administration celebrated the twentieth anniversary of the legalisation of abortion. Today in some U.S. and Australian states, an abortion can be had right up to the day of birth. Restraints on human sexuality are being thrown out and people who cling to traditional Christian values are being called 'judgemental' or 'homophobic' or 'old fashioned'.
Recently in Australia Peter Singer was made a Companion of the Order of Australia, an award supposed to be given for service to Australia or humanity. Some of the things he promotes are abortion, infanticide, bestiality, euthanasia and argues for experimentation on the mentally disabled, instead of animals. He argues that mentally disabled should be involuntarily euthanased. [incidentally he helped write the Greens manifesto]
Proverbs 22:28 says
"Do not remove the ancient boundaries
which your fathers have set"
The boundaries are there for the good of all, to stop us sliding into complete amorality and the breakdown of civilization.
 PSALM 2 [continuing] God says,
"Yet I have set My King
On My holy hill of Zion.....
You are My Son, today I have begotten You,
Ask of Me, and I will give You
the nations for an inheritance
And the ends of the earth for Your possession"

The nations rightfully belong to Jesus. He ransomed them with His Blood. The Bible teaches that satan is the 'god of this world' and because of that people are in spiritual blindness. As someone has said, "All that will save us is a national spiritual awakening." The Church is called into spiritual warfare to bring the nations out of darkness into light.
Any promise made to Jesus is a promise to His Body, the Church.We can ask for the nations for the Kingdom. Jesus commissioned us to make all the nations His disciples and He doesn't tell us something that can't be done. We don't have to stand around and watch the disintregation of our world. History shows that when the people of God do battle against spiritual forces in Jesus Name, they win.
Jesus died for all people and God loves all people and doesn't want any to perish.

 Isaiah 60 holds a prophecy for the people of God, yet to be fulfilled.
"Arise, shine,for your light has come,
And the glory of the LORD is risen upon you.
For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth,
And deep darkness the people;
But the LORD shall arise over you,
And His glory will be seen upon you.
The Gentiles shall come to your light,
And kings to the brightness of your rising....." AMEN

PROPHECY BEING FULFILLED

A Newsletter from the Australian Prayer Network reports:-

A UNIQUE GATHERING IN JERUSALEM

Muslim background followers of Jesus from various Middle Eastern countries met with their Messianic Jewish and Christian counterparts at a recent conference held in the Old City of Jerusalem at Christ Church, the oldest Protestant Church in the Middle East. Although similar conferences have been held over the years in the Middle East, this is the first time such a gathering has been held in Israel. Attendees "At the Crossroads" gathered in the context of Isaiah's vision of a highway that will run from Egypt and Israel to Assyria—a model of worship and partnership for Christians across the region that will lead to the Middle East becoming a "blessing on the earth."

This is the fulfillment of a significant prophecy from
Isaiah 19:23-25.

"In that day there will be a highway from Egypt into Assyria, and the Assyrian will come into Egypt and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians will serve with the Egyptians.

In that day Israel will be one of three with Egypt and Assyria, even a blessing in the midst of the land.

whom the LORD of hosts shall bless, saying, 'Blessed is Egypt My people, and Assyria the work of My hands, and Israel My inheritance.'"

What exciting days we are living in.

HASTENING THE DAY

Hi there and thanks for joining me.  The theme of this BlogSpot will be the Coming of the King.  Most of us are aware that things are “hotting up” as we see prophecy continuing to be fulfilled before our very eyes. Right now we see people declaring that the world is going to end today, a man claiming that he is Jesus Christ and Benjamin Netanyahu in America battling to preserve Israel from being divided, not to mention the series of devastating earthquakes, all of which Christians know are signs of the end of the age.  I would like to share with you some of the things the Lord has shown me concerning the times in which we are living for, while no man knows the hour or the day, we should certainly to be able to “discern the signs of the times.” Matthew 16:3

I am one who doesn’t believe that the “Rapture” will happen any minute now.  There are few things that have to happen yet: e.g. The Church will rise “unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.”[Ephesians 4:13]; “Elijah” must come first and restore all things;” [Matthew 17:11] and, most importantly, we have to complete the Great Commission [Matthew 28:18-20]. We are to look for and hasten the coming of the day of God. [2Peter 3:12].

I’m all for hastening the day and the coming of the renewed earth “in which righteousness dwells;" when God shall wipe away all tears and there shall be no more crying pain sorrow or death.[Revelation 21:4] When I look at our sad world and the terrible things that are happening, the pain and the suffering, the hate and man’s inhumanity to man, I long for that time and I know you do too..  So how do we hasten the day? We need to first establish some precepts which will help us to see the way ahead. Stay posted.  Blessings   Val

NEXT;  WHOSE WORLD?