One of the key things you
learn as a Bible student is that the Bible contains GodÕs own built-in
dictionary.
HereÕs an example: If you
look at Acts 4:25-26, it says, ÒWho by the mouth of thy servant David hast
said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? The kings
of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the
Lord, and against his Christ.Ó
Part of this passage is a
near-direct quotation from Psalm 2, which says, ÒWhy do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain
thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together,
against the LORD, and against his anointed.Ó
Immediately you realize that
the title ÒChrist,Ó which is a Greek word, compares with the Hebrew word
Òanointed.Ó
So the term ÒChristÓ means
ÒanointedÓ and when you read in the Bible about an Òanointed one,Ó youÕre
reading about a Christ.
But notice in Acts 4 it
describes Òthe LordÓ and Òhis
Christ.Ó ThatÕs because thereÕs more than one.
In Ezekiel 28:15, referring
to Satan in his original position as Lucifer, it says Òthou art the anointed.Ó SatanÕs
counterfeit M.O. hinges on him as a Christ and an anointed one.
*****
In her 1994 book, Which
Bible is GodÕs Word?, detailing the
promotion of the Antichrist system through New Age bible versions, Gail
Riplinger writes, ÒHow can Satan deceive the various religions of the world
to join together and worship him? ÔDeceivethÕ implies the true identity of the dragon may be
hidden.
ÒThe book called, Toward a
World Religion for a New Age, tells
us his plan. It says: ÔWhen an appropriate, common vocabulary [and those are the key words, Ôcommon vocabularyÕ] is
developed, each group can help toward a world religion.Õ
ÒTo this end, New Age
literature has changed the names Buddha, Krishna, Lucifer, and all the national
and occult gods, to Ôthe Christ,Õ Ôthe Lord,Õ Ôthe One,Õ and Ôthe Spirit.Õ
ÒAll the new bible
versions, with the exception of the King James Version, are unknowingly making
changes and gradually evolving to conform to this one-world religion.
ÒSo we see Jesus Christ,
Jehovah, and the Holy Ghost, disappearing and becoming Ôthe Christ,Õ Ôthe
Lord,Õ Ôthe OneÕ (capital ÔOÕ), and Ôthe SpiritÕ. . .
ÒWhen you read New Age books
like, The Bhagavad-Gita, or The
Tibetan Book of the Dead, or the
Luciferian The Secret Doctrine,
you will see that Ôthe OneÕ is the god of the pagans and the New Age. . .
ÒEven in Isaiah 14:12, in the
NIV and the new versions, Jesus Christ and Lucifer are being confused. Instead
of putting Lucifer in Isaiah 14, they have the Ômorning starÕ there. We know the Ômorning starÕ is Jesus Christ.
ÒIt is the New Age doctrine
to believe that ÔChrist is the same force as LuciferÕ (Spangler). The new versions continually replace ÔJesus,Õ ÔChrist,Õ
or ÔGod,Õ with the generic Ôhim.Õ
ÒIn Philippians 4:13 where
the King James Version says, ÔI can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me,Õ some new versions
say, ÔI can do everything through him who gives me strength.Õ
ÒWho is this ÔhimÕ? It can be a sort of fill-in-the-blank deity. If you
are a Buddhist, you can fill in ÔBuddhaÕ; you can fill in any name there.Ó
*****
Following Jerry FalwellÕs
death, the New York Times ran a
front-page article entitled, ÒEmphasis Shifts to More Liberal Causes for a New
Breed of Evangelical Leaders.Ó
Close to the end of the long
piece was, if you ask me, the most absolute telling quote about the future from
evangelical leader Andy Crouch. He observed, ÒThe person I just hear about
all the time is (Sen. Barack) Obama because he is seen as spiritually serious,
even if people know heÕs really kind of a liberal Christian.Ó
Obama is a full-blown New
Ager from everything IÕve heard him say or read about him. The scariest part is
heÕs fully aware of this ÒhiddenÓ fact and is cunningly using his ÒSouth Side
Chicago faithÓ to promulgate his real motives.
The Bible says when a
Believer manifests the truth of GodÕs Word, the truth will commend itself to a
manÕs conscience who wants the truth. When it doesnÕt commend itself to someone,
the simple reason is that what theyÕre looking for is something different.
*****
This is something people just
donÕt grasp the reality of: ItÕs your soul that goes to hell and thereÕs a
spiritual fire in the spiritual realm that will torment the soul the same as a
fire in the physical realm will torment the flesh.
Jordan explains, ÒAngels are
real; theyÕre literal, theyÕre just not physical. TheyÕre in a different
dimension. But theyÕre just as real as you and me in their dimension. Now, if
in our dimension, thereÕs something that God uses, and He says, ÔYou understand
this in your dimension? Well, thereÕs some of the same kind of that other stuff
in that other dimension.Õ
ÒThat doesnÕt mean the thing
in my dimension is in that dimension. It means something does exactly the same
thing in that dimension that it does in our dimension.
ÒSo when it talks about
fire, itÕs not talking about a campfire out there burning up sausages or spareribs.
ItÕs talking about fire burning up peopleÕs souls. And itÕs a fire in the
spiritual realm. And itÕs illustrated by the fire in the physical realm. By the
way, it torments, but it doesnÕt consume.
ÒNow where do you know that?
Exodus 3 Moses turned aside to see the bush burned but was not consumed.
ThereÕs a spiritual presence burning in that bush.
ÒThere are two great passages
in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ about the doctrine of eternal
judgment. One is Luke 16 (about the rich man who went to hell and was tormented
by the flame). ThatÕs the doctrinal statement on the intermediate state and
eternal judgment. Mark 9:42-50 is the dispensational viewpoint about it:
Ò ÔAnd whosoever shall offend
one of these little ones that believe in me, it is better for him that a
millstone were hanged about his neck, and he were cast into the sea.
[43] And if thy hand offend thee,
cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life maimed, than having two
hands to go into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
[44] Where their worm dieth not,
and the fire is not quenched.
[45] And if thy foot offend thee,
cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet
to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched:
[46] Where their worm dieth not,
and the fire is not quenched.
[47] And if thine eye offend thee,
pluck it out: it is better for thee to enter into the kingdom of God with one
eye, than having two eyes to be cast into hell fire:
[48] Where their worm dieth not,
and the fire is not quenched.
[49] For every one shall be salted with fire, and every
sacrifice shall be salted with salt.
[50] Salt is good: but if the salt
have lost his saltness, wherewith will ye season it? Have salt in yourselves,
and have peace one with another.Õ
ÒNow thatÕs an interesting
way to describe a place, isnÕt it? ÔWhere their worm dieth not, and the fire is
not quenched.Õ Notice there is obviously conscious torment in this?
ÒSalt is designed to preserve
things. Notice what these people in hell are salted with? The fire they
experience doesnÕt burn them up; it preserves them. ItÕs not like a fire in the
physical realm.Ó