Posted on 08/26/2010 5:00:01 AM PDT by scottfactor
Bingo ! Ping
Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. Put on the full armor of God, so that you will 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 DARKNESS AGAINST THE SPIRITUAL FORCES OF WICKEDNESS IN THE HEAVENLY PLACES.
Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. Stand firm therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. (Ephesians 6:10-17, Emphasis mine)
The fundamental reason why Islam is "Fine" and Christianity is not is =
The Lord Jesus Christ.
Islam rejects Him as God and as the ONLY savior of all of mankind, Islam also seeks to destroy The Lord Jesus Christ and anyone and every institution that honors and worships Him. Whereas biblical Christianity and Christians, worships, exalts and honors The Lord Jesus Christ as God, and as the ONLY savior of all of mankind = anyone and everyone who will put their faith/trust in Him (and in His finished work upon the cross), and in Him alone for the saving of their eternal souls.
Satan, and all who FOLLOW HIM, in the spiritual realm and upon this world (Including Islam and its followers), HATE and reject The Lord Jesus Christ and perpetually seek to destroy Him (which is impossible because He gained everlasting victory over them all at Calvary, as is demonstrated by His resurrection from the dead because God the Father was completely satisfied with His ONE sacrifice upon the cross for the sins of all of mankind throughout all of history) and everyone who believes in Him for their eternal salvation.
This is THE REASON why the world loves Islam and hates Christians and biblical Christianity = The Lord Jesus Christ.
He is the "Stone of stumbling", and THE ROCK of OFFENSE:
"For this is contained in Scripture: “Behold, I lay in Zion a CHOICE STONE, a PRECIOUS CORNER STONE, And he who BELIEVES IN HIM will not be disappointed.” This precious value, then, is for you who believe; BUT FOR THOSE WHO DISBLEIEVE, “The stone which the builders rejected, This became the very corner stone,” and, “A STONE OF STUMBLING and a ROCK OF OFFENSE”; for they stumble BECAUSE THEY ARE DISOBEDIENT TO THE WORD, and to this DOOM they were also appointed." (1 Peter 2:6-8 Emphasis mine)
The world, it's system, mankind and Satanic forces hate The Lord Jesus Christ because in the end, HE IS GOING TO BE VICTORIOUS OVER THEM, He is going to DESTROY EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING THAT OPPOSES HIM and He is going to establish HIS KINGDOM forever. This prophecy is described in King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and in its interpretation:
(King Nebuchadnezzar's Dream =)
“You, O king, were looking and behold, there was a single great statue; that statue, which was large and of extraordinary splendor, was standing in front of you, and its appearance was awesome.
“The head of that statue was made of fine gold, its breast and its arms of silver, its belly and its thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.
“You continued looking UNTIL A STONE WAS CUT WITHOUT HANDS, AND IT STUCK THE STATUE ON ITS FEET OF IRON AND CLAY AND CRUSHED THEM.
“THEN THE IRON, THE CLAY, THE BRONZE, THE SILVER AND THE GOLD WERE CRUSHED ALL AT THE SAME TIME AND BECAME LIKE CHAFF FROM THE SUMMER THRESHING FLOORS; AND THE WIND CARRIED THEM AWAY SO THAT NOT A TRACE OF THEM WAS FOUND (indicates TOTAL and UTTER destruction). BUT THE STONE THAT STRUCK THE STATUE BECAME A GREAT MOUNTAIN AND FILLED THE WHOLE EARTH.
(The Interpretation Of the Prophecy = Babylon the First Kingdom)
“This was the dream; NOW WE WILL TELL ITS INTERPRETATION before the king.
“You, O king (King Nebuchadnezzar), are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory;
and wherever the sons of men dwell, or the beasts of the field, or the birds of the sky, He has given them into your hand and has caused you to rule over them all. You are the head of gold.
(Medo-Persia and Greece =)
“AFTER YOU there will arise ANOTHER (a second) kingdom inferior to you, THEN ANOTHER THIRD kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.
(Rome =)
“THEN there will be a FOURTH kingdom as strong as iron; inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters all things, so, like iron that breaks in pieces, it will crush and break all these in pieces.
(The Revived Roman Empire =)
“In that you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter’s clay and partly of iron, it will be A DIVIDED KINGDOM; but it will have in it the toughness of iron, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with common clay.
“As the toes of the feet were partly of iron and partly of pottery, so some of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.
“And in that you saw the iron mixed with common clay, they will combine with one another in the seed of men; but they will not adhere to one another, even as iron does not combine with pottery.
(Christs Kingdom Established =)
“In the days of those kings THE GOD OF HEAVEN WILL SET UP A KINGDOM WHICH WILL NEVER BE DESTROYED, AND THAT KINGDOM WILL NOT BE LEFT FOR ANOTHER PEOPLE; IT WILL CRUSH AND PUT AN END TO ALL THESE KINGDOMS BUT IT WILL ITSELF ENDURE FOREVER.
“INASMUCH AS YOU SAW THAT A STONE THAT WAS CUT OUT OF THE MOUNTAIN WITHOUT HANDS AND THAT IT CRUSHED THE IRON, THE BRONZE, THE CLAY, THE SILVER, AND THE GOLD, THE GREAT GOD HAS MADE KNOWN TO THE KING WHAT WILL TAKE PLACE IN THE FUTURE; so the dream is TRUE and its interpretation is TRUSTWORTHY.” (Daniel 2:31-45, Emphasis mine)
The Lord Jesus Christ is God, He is the ONLY person who can save men and mankind from their sin: " And there is SALVATION IN NO ONE ELSE; for there is NO OTHER NAME UNDER HEAVEN that has been given among men by which we MUST BE SAVED.” (Acts 4:12). HE is the ONLY WAY, the ONLY TRUTH, the ONLY LIFE and NO MAN comes to God the Father EXCEPT THROUGH HIM (John 14:6).
This same Lord Jesus Christ is going to completely destroy this world of wicked, godless men, along with the Satanic spiritual forces of evil and darkness that are arrayed against Him and The Lord Jesus Christ is going to ultimately triumph over them all and He is going to establish His Kingdom.
Mankind perversely supports Islam and is "fine with" promoting ISLAM over Christianity because mankind refuses to bow the knee to Christ, because they HATE and REJECT The Lord Jesus Christ, and everyone and everything that believes in and honors Him.
I don’t think so.
Some of us remember growing up under the shadow of The Bomb ...
Sadly, the fortune-tellers, prognosticators, and predictors seem to be blind to the very real and amazing advances God's Kingdom is making through the world. They, like all of us, have their presuppositions. In their case, the fortune tellers, those who try to create maps of the future from God's Word, assume "as gospel" some things that "ain't necessarily so" -- such as, the inevitable global triumph of evil.
Now, if Jesus is Lord, why should we assume that evil doers must triumph? Psalm 2 represents God a giving human plotters just enough rope to hang themselves, then laughing derisively at their self-important impotence.
Those who are emotionally and spiritually committed to, and invested in, the global triumph of evil read their newspapers with those filters in place, cherry-picking the news for the factoids that support their expectations. The sudden fall of the Soviet Union, for example, caught them flat-footed. Their world view did not have room for a whole society, governing hundreds of millions of people, to suddenly and openly repudiate messianic atheism.
It almost seems racist. Those who have decided to serve as unpaid cheerleaders for the other team, those who delight to ballyhoo signs that antichrist is rising to power, are unable to see, appreciate, or applaud God's work in the "global south." Uganda applied the Bible to sexual morality, and the AIDS rate went from more than 30% of the population to single-digit percentiles in a decade -- but Ugandans are not white Americans, so obviously, their experience has nothing to teach us. Chinese Christians increased quietly from a few tens of thousands to nearly 100 million -- but the Chinese are not white Americans, so obviously, their experience has nothing to teach us.
Closer to home, none of the prognosticators seem to be aware of a quiet reformation underway today, one that has transformed millions of families. Good news simply does not register on their radar screens.
And some of these home school families are studying Arabic, Turkish, and Persian, with the goal of evangelizing Muslims. I mean, if Soviet Communism turned out to be a house of cards, that crumbled almost overnight, could God not do the same to Islam? Another question: will we be ready if a billion of our neighbors suddenly lose faith in Islam, and seek credible alternatives? Well, we won't be ready if we're playing fortune-telling games, and assuming our God is powerless to deliver.
Being a fortune-teller must be an awfully sad way to live. May God grant us deliverance from the doomsayer's influence.
Wow. This is one of the most profound questions I've seen around here in a long time.
Thank you very much! I appreciate your support of my article.
:-)
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