Published 20251127 -:- Revised 20251127
Caution! possible spelling mistakes
Scriptures are from Modern King James (MKJV) unless noted otherwise.
Aim
I would like to look at 'What is a Stronghold?' And how to identify a stronghold! Then look at some common major strongholds that are in millions of churches today. Then look at what mechanisms are in place in church teaching to reinforce and support these strongholds.
Why
A friend told us Wednesday afternoon, look up in YouTube, “Declare And Decree”. She had raised the subject at her midweek pray meeting and got a mixed response? We also thought it was a bit 'Off!' Then the same night our bible study leader talked about ‘What is a stronghold'? As she spoke, I believe The Lord showed me some major strongholds in the church. I’m NOT talking about individual strongholds etc. These major strongholds have been strongly imbedded in the church for years, even centuries! Let me show you what I believe The Holy Spirit showed me. Let me know in comments if you have a witness in the spirit to what I am saying.
What Is A Stronghold?
We have a very clear and famous
example given to us by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Corinthians. And
the classic King James Version I think is the best, so let's use it, (and swap
‘exalteth’ to exalts).
2Co 10:3 “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the
flesh: :4 (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty
through God to the pulling down of strong holds;)G3794 :5 Casting down imaginations,G3053 and every high thingG5313 that exalts itselfG1869 against the knowledge of God,
and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;” And most
Christians interpret that; as though Paul is talking about our personal
struggles with our own addictions and unchristian thinking etc. There are
thousands or books on those issues, I’m only looking at Seven Major Strongholds
in the church!
This next step is a bit
long-winded! Let’s look at ‘HOW TO STUDY' the definitions of those key phrases. I have abbreviated the
Thayer's and Strong’s
definitions if there was duplication; and I’ve underlined some significant
wording.
HOW TO STUDY
[A Show and Tell Demonstration! Come around behind me and have a look]
Have you ever seen a Strong’s Concordance? Show them! In the OLD days you would use it in conjunction with your King James Bible. An example is if you find; in a verse a key word or phrase like “strong holds”, and you wonder what it means? You would have to go through all this archaic ‘steam driven method’ of research.
Step 2: In that list for that key word, you then go down the list until you find the verse you are looking for; 2Co 10:4!
Step 4: You then find that particular word number in the Dictionary section! For NT you must look in the Greek section!
Step 5: Finding the number; you then have the Greek spelling; the pronunciation; and the definition of that word!
NB: Now the Thayer's system did much the same sort of thing, and they used the same word numbers Strong's!
Step A Using the “Apostolic Bible Polyglot+” or the “King James Version+” (+ means each have the Strongs’ Numbers)
Step B: In “Bibles” section, see the verse; and beside each word/phrase is a blue number; it’s the Strong’s number!
Step C: You can see; you just slide the cursor over the blue number and the definition appears in a “pop up box"!
eSwrd is also available on your phone,
I-pad, Tablet, PC etc. That was how bible study was done in the ‘Good OLD
Days’. And you should still use that method rather than reading someone else’s
commentary, which could be bias teaching.
Now let’s look at the definitions of those
underlined key phrases in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 above. And as I have said I have
underlined some significant wording.
Strong Holds: Word number G3794, okh-oo'-ro-mah
Strong’s: to fortify, through the idea of holding safely); a castle (figuratively argument): - stronghold.
Thayer: a reckoning, a reasoning: such as is hostile to the Christian faith a decision: such as conscience passes
Strong’s: conscience, conceit), thought.
From Google: Conceit meaning: excessive pride in oneself, also known as vanity, and an elaborate, often far-fetched, metaphor or fanciful idea. It can refer to a person's arrogant self-opinion or etc.
High Thing: Word number G5313, hoop'-so-mah
Thayer: thing elevated, height; elevated structure, i.e. barrier, rampart, bulwark
Strong’s: an elevated place or thing, altitude, or (by implication) a barrier (figurative): - height, high thing.
Exalts Itself: Word number G1869, ep-ahee'-ro
Thayer: to lift up, raise up, raise on high; lifted up with pride, to exalt one’s self
Imaginations: Word number G3053, log-is-mos'
Therefore A Stronghold Is?
Let’s put those definitions together; and virtually make our own amplified bible version of 2 Corinthians 10:3-5.
“A stronghold is basically a belief, thought process or anything on which one relies! Using arguments and reasonings by which a disputant, (the person defending the unchristian argument), they endeavour to fortify their opinion and defend it against their opponent! Their imagination creates reasoning that is hostile to the Christian faith by creating an elevated barrier in their thinking like an elaborate, far-fetched idea! Their lofty unscriptural ideas are backed up with conceit, excessive pride in oneself, shown in the form of a person's arrogant self-opinion! Lifted up with pride, they exalt themself with Poise like a speaker maintaining composure under pressure!” Please keep this list of “significant words” at the read for when I show you some strongholds that are in thousands of Christian churches today.
What Spirit Is Behind It?
[For the MEETING ONLY--- Basically there’re are three spirits; ‘A: The Holy Spirit’, ‘B: The personal spirit’ and ‘C: a demonic spirit’. The Holy Spirit looks after only one Stronghold, I’ll show you in a minute. A person’s own spirit could be antagonistic to the truth of the word of God simply because of fails teaching! Their (Stronghold), they hold that unscriptural rubbish; very dear to their heart and will defend it to the death! Or there is a person who is either demon possessed or demon oppressed; and the demon will use that person in any way to disrupt your witnessing efforts etc. In both B and C the barriers and fortifications rise up with arguments and reasoning that is hostile to the Christian faith! Showing you that it is a STRONGHOLD!]
Well it is unchristian thinking for a start! They are not open to the truth of the Word of God. I don't want to talk about spiritual warfare; you can study some older scholars on that. The experiences I have had over many years have been quite hurtful. Example, street witnessing, you could get abusive foul language or laughter, or even aggressive arguments using scripture to pull you down. One time, standing praying in church, my wife nudged me and said, “I believe the Lord just told me on our trip to Western Australia I have to find a woman in Perth, with RED hair, and tell her Jesus loves her!" WOW, Melbourne to Perth, just for that? I just nodded ‘Ya!’ But guess what, first day in Perth; Joy sees the lady, RED hair! Joy caught up with her and said, “I’m from Melbourne; The Lord told me to tell you that Jesus loves you!” The response was, "YAR! I KNOW! Anything else?" “No, just Jesus loves you”. Joy was really dished in!! I said, "Darling, you could be the tenth person this week to tell her that! You did your job". Basically the spirit of the person is opposed to hearing the gospel, so in their mind they put up walls, fortifications, elevated barriers!
Alternatively the person is obviously demon possessed or demon oppressed, and they can be quite calm with their speech as they pull you down. I experienced that, and it rattled me because I wasn’t really ready for it in those days. A friend told me he was street witnessing with Christian T-shirt, a smile and tracts to hand out. A man walked towards him, ‘with a smile', and said, ‘You’re a Christian right?’ And then said, 'I know jesus too! And I'm going to cut your “f……” wings off!' That would rattle you! Also you can on occasion see demon possessed or demon oppressed people in church, and they may have been in your church for year; and they might suddenly manifest in various ways. The soul aim of the demonic spirit is to disrupt the meeting!
But do you think you would get that same kind of treatment from those you know are your brothers or sisters in Christ? WELL YOU DO! I have found in numerous churches over the years, that I have been laughed at, ridiculed and bombarded with scripture until I am verbally beaten into submission. And no matter how many scriptures you use to defend your argument, you get nowhere! Why? It is because your dear Christian friends have a STRONGHOLD based on ‘Unchristian, Unscriptural teaching; or ‘reasoning that is hostile to the Christian faith!’ It is some unscriptural theological teaching that has crept into the church either recently or centuries ago! And they hold that very dear to their hearts and when it is attacked, they immediately put up their 'Fortress Barriers’. Then proudly defend it with all the distorted, misinterpretations of scriptures they have been taught to use in order to defend those lies.
In Short; "The Spirit Supporting The STRONGHOLD", could be demonic or that person’s unscriptural teaching!
Trust me, every single one of you dear Christians all have a Stronghold! Let me demonstrate with this simple example.
----[What if I said, “Jesus didn’t die on the cross! He simply went into a coma! The miracle was that he woke up three days later”. (What’s your reaction?)- “No, no, no, ALL medical evidence from the symptoms of Jesus on the cross prove he, “gave up the consciousness”, John 19:30, meaning he went into coma!” (What’s your reaction?)- “NO! Go to the scriptures, remember Jesus said, “the little girl is only sleeping”, Mat 9:24! How many times did Jesus say that sort of thing? He said the same about Lazarus in John 11:11! So obviously Jesus just, “went to sleep”, he went into a coma!” (What’s your reaction?)- Then I calmly say, “Nonsense! You just don’t know the scriptures, go home and study it!” (What’s your reaction?)- I have quoted scriptures and medical information and have used all the calm bravado of a lying politician?]--- That is My Stronghold; Full of misinterpretation of scripture, it is, My “Fortress Of Imaginations”!
So, What’s your reaction to that? I would say you would vehemently defend your beliefs against that unscriptural rubbish! Correct? Why? Because you automatically, in your spirit put up a Fortress, a Strong Tower, a STRONGHOLD!
This Is Your True Christian Stronghold
Psalms 59:9 “O my Strength, let
me look to You, for God is my strong tower.
Psalms 59:16 “But I will sing of Your power; yes, I will sing aloud of Your mercy in the morning; for You have been my strong tower and hiding-place in the day of my trouble.
Psalms 59:17 “To You, O my strength, I will sing; for God is my strong tower and the God of my mercy.
Psalms 61:3 “For You have been a shelter for me, a strong tower before the enemy.
Psalms 62:6 “He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my strong tower; I shall not be shaken.
Psalms 71:7 “I am like a wonder to many, but You are my strong tower.
Proverbs 18:10 “The name of Jehovah is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.
Identifying Major Church Strongholds
Trust me there are some Taboo subjects in church and you just DON’T talk about them. You probably know a few, and I have been kicked out of our church for a couple of them. So I will NOT talk about those ‘Touchy’ subjects in this home meeting. I have talked about them in the end of this publication, which you can go to via my Blog Deaconpreachin. There are dozens of personal Strongholds we all know about. But I think there are SEVEN Major Strongholds in churches today, maybe more. These are the Strongholds I wish to talk about, they are: -
- Declare And Decree, (this is first on the list because it is
current.)
- Sunday Vis Sabbath?
- Anti Prosperity And Anti Tithing
- Anti British Israel
- Futurism
- Pre Tribulation Rapture
- Catholic Church of Rome
Declare And Decree
Don’t get me wrong, you can pray against things if they are unrighteous. But remember praying is a two-way deal, you come to God and you tell Him what you think is wrong. Then ASK Him how can it be fixed? And always remember your please and thankyous! And you could remind Him from scripture how cleverly He has done things in the past? But you don’t demand anything of God. Example Declare And Decree!
If you declare something you are making a declaration. Take for example the American Declaration of Independence! They said to England; ‘We’ve had enough! We are no longer subject to The King of England!’ We declare! Now do you remember the story in Acts 19:13 where the seven sons of Sceva tried to ‘piggy-back’ the name of Jesus by saying, “We adjureG3726 you by Jesus whom Paul preaches.” And they really came a cropper! ‘We adjure’is also translated ‘we bind’! Well if someone is in a supposed prayer meeting, and they start spouting off with, “I Declare And Decree, I declare, I declare etc.” And they are supposedly speaking these things into the spirit realm! What then are they actually doing? They are doing much the same as the ‘seven sons of Sceva’, but they are not even using the name of Jesus? VERY THIN ICE!
Now look back at the list of those key underlined significant words above and do you see any of those characteristics in those people praying, ‘I declare’ etc.? Can you see these traits in them, conceit, poise, they are lifted up with pride, their voice is elevated to give a sense of authority; and do they ask any of this in Jesus name? I saw one of them on ‘YouTube’ and she definitely had all those traits! In your imagination, if you put a witch’s hat on her, then she would be quit in character. Read Jude 1:9 “But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the Devil, he argued about the body of Moses, he dared not bring a judgment of blasphemy, but said, Let the Lord rebuke you!” Michael did not have the authority at that point in history. There was a BIG change later! In Rev 12:5 Nearly 2000 years ago ‘Christ rose from the dead’. Immediately after that Satan was thrown down to earth! Rev 12:7 “And there was war in Heaven. Michael and his angels warring against the dragon...verse 11 “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony.” After the resurrection Michael was then give the authority to kick Satan out of heaven.
Decree
Now to the next one “I Decree”? A friend of Joy’s said, ‘a decree is something a king does!’ Well I did a search for the word ‘decree’ and found only 48 verses. One in 2Ch 30:5 referring to a decree to, “come to keep the Passover to Jehovah, at Jerusalem”. Then Nine in Ezra, all by the king ordering the temple to be rebuilt in Jerusalem. Eleven in Esther by the king, some to find another wife etc. But one of them was by Haman, using the king seal to order the death of ALL Jews. And we know Haman got hung for his efforts. Then Job; well we’ll get back to that one. Then some others in Psalms, Proverbs, Isaiah, Jeremiah and several in Daniel, then Jonah, Micah, Zephaniah and Luke. Most of them by kings etc.
Then if we go back to Job, we see that one of his friends Eliphaz made this boast. Job 22:28 “You shall also order a thing, and it shall be fulfilled to you; and the light shall shine on your ways.” In the KJV, ‘order’ is translated as decree. And Fulfilled? Is he suggesting God will answer Jobs’ order/decree? Well later in Job, Eliphaz was told he had NOT said the right thing so he had to repent. Consequently I don’t think God appreciates people giving Him ‘a decree’ that He has to follow up on. I Declare And Decree, smacks of all the haul marks we listed at the start of this talk. Arguments, far-fetched ideas, excessive pride and self-opinionated.
So
Declare And Decree I believe is a STRONGHOLD!
Saturday Sabbath?
We know a pastor who often hammers the subject that the correct day of worship is the Saturday Sabaoth! I have published a talk entitled The Sunday Worship Question. The précis I produced for that was along these lines. “Your Jewish or Seventh Day Adventist and your shipwrecked Friday night! You sleep exhausted ALL day Saturday. You wake up Sunday morning and you think it's Saturday! You’re the only survivor! So you start worshiping every Sunday thinking it is Saturday! Do you go to Hell for worship the wrong day?” Of course not; the apostle Paul tells us in Romans 14:5 “One indeed esteems a day above another day; and another esteems every day alike. Let each one be fully assured in his own mind.” Or you have this verse, 1Co 16:2 “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.” So, it would appear that Paul and his followers came together on the FIRST day of the week, which is Sunday! Your day of worship is between you and God.
We know of a young girl who goes to a church, (not a synagogue or Seventh Day Advent), and they tell her Saturday is the day of worship and if she doesn’t go to church on Saturday, no matter where she is, she is going to hell! And she is not to do any work that day. Her parents reckon it is a ‘cult’, but they can’t seem to be able to reason with her. So what do you think is the ‘Stronghold’? It has come from the dictatorial teaching of the; Argument, far-fetched ideas, excessive pride and self-opinionated pastor. It is also legalistic! And the pastor has ALL his flock under his thumb. And because of his teaching, his flock are also under that same Stronghold. And it would appear that none of them even dare to read the bibles! Or if they do, they have “mental blinkers” on and only see the interpretation they have been taught by their pastor. The issue of misinterpretation and being led by the pastor and not studying the bible yourself, is in millions of Christian churches today! And the flock just do as they are told! The Church of Rome functions under those same rules.
A
Dictatorship church I believe is a STRONGHOLD!
Anti Prosperity And Anti Tithing
There are a lot of arguments
against the ‘Prosperity Message’; and ‘Tithing’ seems to get negatively lumped
in with it. But admittedly the Prosperity Message does get a lot of bad press
because of those ‘Tele-Evangelists’. They hammer their message with lines like,
“Give to our ministry and the Lord will reward you TEN fold!” “You can’t out
give God, he will repay you!” “Donate today to the address below on the bottom
of the screen” Yes that is an absolute disgrace that they “peddle” Christianity
like that. I remember Jesus said something like this, “they’ve received all
the reward they are ever going to get”. Lets not throw out the baby
with the bath water! Hebrews 13:8 “Jesus Christ the same yesterday and today and
forever.” God does not change the way He wants to bless or ‘Prosper’ you.
Personally I KNOW God has blessed our finances, it had to be God looking after
us, and not some shear fluke! And I will give you some scriptures in a moment.
But what do you think is the motivation for the antagonism against Prosperity and Tithing? Ok the ‘Tele-Evangelists’ don’t help. But you try to say the Lord has ‘prospered’ you or your business. Or you say, ‘I think we should tithe to the church.’ Then most church folk will probably take it with scepticism, or laugh you down. My feeling is that God DOES want us to be prosperous! And God’s promises are there in scripture that if we act as we should he can bless and prosper us. But Satan Does Not want us to prosper! So he puts into the minds of our church leaders; Imaginations and arguments and creates reasoning that is hostile to the Christian faith. Which promptly kills the church finances! So the church does not grow as it did in the time of the book of Acts. Farmers understand the principal of ‘seed, time and harvest’! That is why in the third world countries, primarily farming communities, the gospel is flourishing. Now let me show you some scriptures. Let’s first go to the Italian Prophet! (You didn’t know there was an Italian prophet? His name was Malach’i). Malachi 3:6 “For I am Jehovah, I change not.” So God’s principles are always the same! And tithing MUST still be one of them.
Malachi 3:8 “Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, In what have we robbed You? In the tithe and the offering! :9 You are cursed with a curse; for you are robbing Me, the nation, all of it. :10 Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. And test Me now with this, says Jehovah of Hosts, to see if I will not open the windows of Heaven for you, and pour out a blessing for you, until there is not enough room.”
Now let’s go to the New Testament.
Mat 6:3 (WEB World English Bible) “When you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. :4 Give your contributions privately. Your Father sees what you do in private. He will reward you.
Luke 6:38 “Give, and it shall be given to you, good measure pressed down and shaken together and running over, they shall give into your bosom. For with the same measure that you measure, it shall be measured to you again.”
Giving Not Just Money
Mat 25:35 “For I was hungry, and you gave me food; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you took Me in; :36 I was naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”
Act 4:34 “For neither was anyone needy among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the prices of the things that were sold, :35 and they laid them down at the apostles' feet. And distribution was made to every man according as he had need.” (Was this motivated by God; so that in 70AD they weren’t tired to property?)
Act 11:29 “And the disciples, as any were prospered, determined each of them to send for ministry to those brothers who lived in Judea,”
Act 15:29 “that you abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which, if you keep yourselves, you shall do well. Be prospered.”
1Co 16:2 “Upon the first day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him, that there be no gatherings when I come.”
2Co 9:7 “Each one, as he purposes in his heart, let him give; not of grief, or of necessity, for God loves a cheerful giver. :8 And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that in everything, always having all self-sufficiency, you may abound to every good work;”
3Jn 1:2 “Beloved, in regard to all things I pray that you prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers.”
If you want to give to the Lord, call it a love offering, or on a regular basis, 'a tithing’; that is just between you and God.
So Anti Prosperity And Anti Tithing I believe is a STRONGHOLD!
Anti British Israel
Now this is a 'curved ball’
subject for me because I believe the British Israel, (BI), teaching, so
effectively you could say I am bias! I never fully understood BI until I was in
my early 30’s. My marriage had broken up, so I lived with my parents for 12
months till I got my own house. About then dad was asked to lead a study group
on bible prophecy, his favourite topic was BI. Then by my early 40's I asked
the Lord show how to understand the scriptures about BI; “I want to know for
myself please Lord”. At that time I was working night shift and could listen to
the bible on audiotape 6-7 hours each night. I could get through the whole
bible in 6 weeks, and then start a different version of the bible and so on.
And I believe the Lord answered my prayer. There is so much in BI that fills in
all the questions in the bible.
Anyway enough of my sales pitch. The question is why is there so much flack and objection to BI? What I have found over the years is that most people, and pastors mainly, have all these stereotype objections! Like [“BI says this.. BI says that.. it's a replacement theology!.. it’s a racist message.. ALL 12 tribes are now coming back to Israel!.. it's got nothing to do with salvation! So BI is rubbish!”] The problem as I see it is that 99.9% of those objections have nothing to do with BI? I have heard of or seen various books and videos promoting or negatively promoting some kind of rubbish that they call BI. So with all that bad publicity it’s no wonder people are opposed to what they THINK is BI. It is similar to the problem with the Prosperity Message; that is, all that bad publicity, and the whole message gets thrown out with the bath water!
It’s like the joke about an expert from the Department of Agriculture came out to visit a dairy farmer, ‘Smith’. Smith showed him all around his farm, the milking sheds, livestock, everything. Then the expert taped away on his I-pad for about 5 minutes then said, “Mr smith I can show you how you can increase your wool production by 300%! But your sheering sheds will need a complete overhaul!” The expert are the idiots that want to Rubbish British Israel teaching!
What I do know is that British Israel is defiantly a faith message. Some issues you just cannot prove, you just have to accept them by faith! But God has said in scripture these profound unconditional statements about TWO different groups of people! They are the House of Israel and the House of Judah and God has a different role for each of them. Try this go to http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/, it’s a collection of articles written by Jewish scholars. Then do a search for things like; ‘The Lost Ten Tribes’, ‘House of Israel’ or ‘Northern Kingdom’. And you will find they all say something like, “the Ten Tribes were carried away to Assyria and NEVER heard of again! So are the BI sceptics saying that our dear Jewish community, who note every “jot and tittle” DO NOT KNOW that All 12 Tribes HAVE come back to Jerusalem? Are they saying The Jews are so stupid to think the Ten Tribes are STILL Lost? And when you try to explain from scripture, the BI sceptics put up their mental barrier, fortifications and are hostile to the Christian faith. HOSTILE! Because they are opposed to any idea that if God makes a covenant His WILL KEEP IT!
And just because we can’t prove the fulfilment of those prophecies; you CANNOT just say God is a liar. Look at some of my other talks: - British Israel ‘Explained in 10 Minutes - Lesion 0.01, British Israel -- The Unconditional Promises, BRITISH ISRAEL – National Promises and The Lies In The Bible. It’s the same as ‘throwing out the baby with the bath water”. People just wont even listen to you; and if you have come this far with me and have not turned me off! I commend you for at least be interested! So what is Anti British Israel? Are they just opposed to hearing scripture?
So Anti British Israel I believe is a STRONGHOLD!
Futurism
Where did Futurism come from? If you try to discuss that with a futurist believer and refer to some biblical scholars from the past who believed in the Historical interpretation, you will get howled down and the futurist wont even let you start. So lets try a different approach. I went to Google and typed in; “Origin of biblical futurism”. And I got this: “Biblical futurism originated in the late 16th century as a Roman Catholic response to Protestant reformers who identified the Pope as the Antichrist. Jesuit priest Francisco Ribera is credited with creating this system, which interprets many biblical prophecies, especially in the Book of Revelation, as referring to events in the distant future rather than in the past or present. The idea later gained prominence in Protestantism through figures like Samuel Roffey Maitland in the 19th century and was widely popularized in the 20th century by works like the Scofield Reference Bible.” And as sure as eggs if you show that to a futurist believer they will still arc-up with their mental, barriers and fortifications, and say something like, “Rubbish! Futurism was known by bible scholars centuries before that!” But they usually can name any well-known ancient scholars. So what is the STRONGHOLD?
I believe it is popularity and ignorance. Futurism is now so popular; therefore the Historical interpretation is now out of date. People today striving to get the ‘latest model’ of what ever! Such as in this talk that I published The ‘Futurist Interpretation’ Automobile. Hence they are only interested in the latest ‘catchy advertisement’, like latest mobile phone, Hybrid car or the $6.95 deal at MacDonald’s. And they are ignorant of our Christian history; they know nothing of the persecutions of the church from the Roman era through to the papal era. And if they were taught those things in the church or even in school they would have no excuse for not understanding the truth and where God has given use ample prophecy regarding the antichrist. They have been taught a particular teaching so to them it is a precious belief system, foundation or building block on which they balance their lofty tower! You just can't pull out one foundation block of their tower an expect them to change their thinking, because their whole belief system collapses! You can't just find fault in their belief system and do nothing! You must correct it with the truth, the word of God!
Futurism is such a web of interrelated scriptures it is nearly impossible to pull down any one part. I have tried, but before you finish an issue, the futurist will often jumps back to some other part of their beliefs. An example: - [I was once the transport officer in an armoured unit. I was in charge of fuel resupply. I only had 200 jerry cans and I was told our C Squadron, some 200 km away, needed 500 jerry cans of fuel? I said to my CO "I can't do that!" He simple said, "If the system doesn't work; then you work to the system! Then when it all falls in a heap, the bosses will learn from THEIR mistakes! And ONLY THEN will they change the system!” So I went out with 180 cans of fuel, then told the Colonel of C Sqn, ‘I need 15 cans of fuel so that I can get my own vehicles back home!”] So I have started working WITH The Futurist Theory; and follow it through to its conclusions to show the scriptures that MUST Be Altered to make the futurist theory work. I call them “POP-DOC’s”. It will take time but you will win back a lost soul one at a time, God willing! Try these links for example: -
Popular
Doctrine ‘Book-Mark’ [Rev 1:1]
Popular
Doctrine ‘Book-Mark’ [Rev 1:3]
Popular
Doctrine ‘Book-Mark’ [Rev 22:6]
Popular
Doctrine ‘Book-Mark’ [Rev 22:10]
So Futurism I believe is a STRONGHOLD!
Here are some of my other talks that you might find interesting: -
The ‘Futurist Interpretation’ Automobile
REVELATION
- What Might God DO Next
Pre Tribulation Rapture
This theory goes hand in glove with the Futurist Theory. Please NOTE: I am NOT saying, “There is NO Rapture!” The apostle Paul told the Thessalonians the sequence of event for the “Gathering of us All to the Lord", in 1Th 4:15, and in 2Th 2:1 "..the comingG3952 of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him,” The ‘gathering’ is what most people call the Rapture! And MOST people think that after the Rapture the Tribulation starts, that’s why I am referring to it as the ‘Pre-Trib-Rapture!’ BUT 2Th 2:1 says the Rapture happens at the exact same time as the “ComingG3952”. And that word comingG3952 is the word, “parousia, Thayer Definition: 1) presence; 2) the coming, arrival, advent; 2a) the future visible return from heaven of Jesus, to raise the dead, hold the last judgment, and set up formally and gloriously the kingdom of God.” And that same word is used in all these following verses and they all mean the physical presence! [1Co 16:17 ‘the coming G3952 of Stephanas, Fortunatus and Achaicus] [2Co 7:6 ‘the coming G3952 of Titus. :7 ‘by his coming G3952] [2Co 10:10 ‘the bodily presence G3952 is weak] [Php 1:26 ‘my coming G3952 to you] [Php 2:12 ‘my presence G3952 only] ….Don’t just take my word for it, please look them up for yourself!
So the Coming and the Rapture happen at the same time! Therefore there CAN NOT be a Pre Tribulation Rapture!
Now again lets go to a secular source for information about the Rapture. Some key things to look for are: -
Margaret MacDonald, try this link, torahobservantapostolic the-truth-about-the-rapture-the-short-version. She is the girl who was attributed with first seeing the vision of the Pre-Trib-Rapture! Although that is hotly disputed among the Futurist and Pre-Trib-Rapture believers.
“The Rapture theory is a Christian belief that at a future moment, all living believers will be instantly "caught up" to heaven to meet Jesus, joining deceased believers who will be resurrected. This event is believed by some to be a secret, pre-tribulation event that precedes a period of great suffering known as the Tribulation, while others believe it happens at the end of the Tribulation. While the term "rapture" is not in the New Testament, the belief is rooted in interpretations of biblical passages, most notably 1 Thessalonians 4:17 and 1 Corinthians 15:52. This belief is particularly popular within American evangelicalism and has been popularized in works like the Left Behind series.”
Basically most Pre-Trib-Rapture believers see the sequence of events as: - Step 1 The Pre-Trib-Rapture happens, Step 2 ? There is no step 2 because if you are in the Pre-Trib-Rapture your up in heaven for seven years, “polishing the stars”. While down on earth all hell breaks loose for those who have been left behind when the antichrist comes to power etc.!
The huge problem with that theory is this. Here and now before the Pre-Trib-Rapture the scriptures are faithful and true! BUT after the Pre-Trib-Rapture large potions of scripture suddenly become lies! Imagine you have been left behind. FOR what ever reason! And you find a bible and you read this in, Hebrews 13:5 “..for He has said, "Not at all will I leave you, not at all will I forsake you, never!" Therefore after the Pre-Trib-Rapture that becomes a lie, because YOU Have been LEFT And FORSAKEN! And there are dozens more scriptures like that! So how do you tackle the misinterpretation of the scriptures? The moment you do that the Pre-Trib-Rapture believer will put up their, imaginations, barriers with all their reasoning that is hostile to the Christian faith and some elaborate, far-fetched ideas! You don’t want to hurt their feelings and drive them away from the truth? So what do you do?
We have a friend we have known for some 30+ years; she was a stanch Pre-Trib-Rapture believer! We would have bible study with her and her husband, and it would last about 2 hours until we each decided; STOP! Let’s part while we are still friends. About 10 years later we meet her and out of the blue she said, “Adrian I owe you an apology, I don’t believe in the Rapture any more.” My jaw dropped and I asked her what changed your mind? Hopping I would discover some magic formula for bringing others to the TRUTH! She just said, “I just read the bible and the Rapture didn’t make senses any more” WOW? So how do you reach your friend who is caught in the Rapture Stronghold? You need to attack it in the same way as the Futurist Stronghold, with prayer, with patients and I now also use reverse psychology. I follow the Pre-Trib-Rapture theory through to its conclusion to show that it makes absolutely no sense! Try some of these talks that I have produced: -
Popular Doctrine ‘Book-Mark’ [2 Thes 2:3]
[A
THIEF In The NIGHT in English]
So The Pre Tribulation Rapture
Theory I believe is a STRONGHOLD!
Catholic Church of Rome
Some 40+ years ago my mother was touring the UK and was talking to a lady on the bus in London, and I think she asked my mother, “how can you seem so joyful?” And typical mum she grabbed the opportunity to witness to the lady, “I have the joy of the Lord in my heart!” The lady looked down at the floor of the bus and said, “I can never have that again!” Mum, “of cause you can”. The lady said “no because I have been excommunicated from our church” Of cause mum didn't quite understand at the time and said, “nonsense, just go to another church?” The lady said, “No you DON’T understand, I Have Been Cut Off from God Forever by the priest!” Mum said at that point the Holy Spirit welled up inside of her and she fired off with; Romans 8:38 “For I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, :39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Then she put it to that poor lady in gentle local vernacular. “Christ did for you on the cross, He loves you, and no one can snatch you out of his hand!” That dear lady and mum kept in touch for years. But that shows you the Stronghold of dread and terror the Catholic Church has over its flock.
The church of Roman has been around for centuries; they claim the papal seat is the seat of the apostle Peter. Therefore they claim the continuity of the church of roman right back to Jesus disciples. So the priesthood have this aloof air of superiority! They ARE hostile to the Christian faith, they can’t deny they burnt millions of Christian martyrs at the stake! Their teaching has elevated barriers in their thinking and elaborate, far-fetched idea! They are full of conceit, excessive pride in oneself, and an arrogant self-opinion! They try to present themselves as gentle as a lamb; but Matthew 7:15 “Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.” What an amazing prophecy, the priesthood of the Church of Roman are issued a “stole, which is historically made of wool” The most damming thing is that the priesthood do not get to their elevated position without the appropriate years of study. So you would think that after all those years of study, the truth of the Word of God should have touched their hearts? For Martin Luther it did! So are their ALL blind, or too gutless to stand up for the truth?
They have a long history or arguing their point until they wear you down. And in the case of the medieval kingdoms, the Church of Rome just stood their ground until they got their way. But how do you combat the catholic thinking in the minds of the poor souls that are under the catholic thumb? The only real way is with the word of God and prayer. I am sure there are “Manuals On How To Convert Catholics”, but that is not my aim in this talk. But we have identified that: -
The
Catholic Church of Rome I believe is a STRONGHOLD!
The Book Of Revelation Started 2000 Years Ago
He Shall Speak Words Against The Most High
When Did Jesus Become The Messiah
REVELATION - What Might God DO Next
The Sunday Worship Question
The One World Government
CHURCH HISTORY Part 1 -:- [From Christ to The Pope]
CHURCH HISTORY Part 2 -:- [How Did The Reformation Start]
CHURCH HISTORY Part 3 -:- [Who Were The Reformers]
CHURCH HISTORY Part 4 -:- [The New World]
GBY (God Bless Ya!)
Yours Adrian