Posted on 06/22/2019 4:47:59 PM PDT by pastorbillrandles
For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. (2 Thessalonians 2:7)
And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. ( I Timothy 3:16)
There are two rival mysterious spiritual principles working simultaneously in the world today, vying for the hearts of all men.
Paul tells us that both are actively doing a work, building rival kingdoms, developing a following, and leading to a final outcome.
The Mystery of Iniquity, (iniquity is lawlessness) originated in the garden of Eden, and was first annunciated by the serpent when he tempted the first man and woman, telling them that by breaking away from the Creator, they could become “as god, knowing good and evil…”.
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. (Genesis 3:5)
This aspiration to be one’s own “god” and to be able to decide for ourselves what is “good and evil” is the very root of all lawlessness that runs through the fallen heart of mankind. This is the Lie that undergirds all other lies. By this lie the Devil, who is the father of Lies and the original murderer, seduced and diced Adam and Eve and spiritually slew them.
Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it. And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not. ( John 8:43-44)
In the end the whole world will come under a “strong delusion” and believe “the LIE” and thus will be damned.
The core of this lie?
The damning, God sent delusion will allow people to believe that we are all “gods” or that “we are all part of god”. The Creator /Creation distinction will be erased in the minds of the world. The Creator will be rejected, and the world will finally “be as one”. The deceived will ‘realize’ that really we are all one with each other, and with nature and one with the universe.
There is a counter mystery , to the mystery of iniquity, called the Mystery of godliness. It was revealed from the very beginning too, but the fullest revelation of it came in the Gospel of Jesus…“God was manifested in the flesh…”.
This spiritual principle, and revelation from heaven, flies in the face of the mystery of iniquity. It insists to fallen sons of Adam and Eve, “You can not ascend to become a god…you are a fallen creature unable to save yourself… But instead GOD DESCENDED AND BECAME A MAN….”.
This truth underlies the only genuine religion and thus the only real godliness(Devotion to God). God humbled himself, He came down to us bankrupt and ruined sinners, in order to save us. The only possible way we could ever go to heaven, is by God coming down and entering flesh. The Incarnation of God in Christ, is the only cure for the soul.
What corrupted me? Wanting to be “as god”. To determine for myself good and evil, to be master of my own fate to go my own way.
How can that corruption be reversed in my soul? By embracing the God who came down, and who became a man to die for my sin.
“No man has ascended to heaven, but the Son of man who has descended…” John 3:13
The entire world is polarized, and the line runs through the heart of everyman. Either they partake of the “Mystery of Iniquity” and imagine themselves to be ‘as gods’ or ‘part of god’ or that they have a ‘god within’ . This Hindu believe has been becoming popular in the western world with the advent of the Beatles, and of Psychedelic drugs and the consciousness revolution of the 1960s.
The end of this movement is mass allegiance to the Anti-Christ, the ushering in of his short-lived Kingdom of evil (3 and a 1/2 years). AntiChrist will embody all of the ideals of those who receive and believe in the lie. He will seem to be the proof of it, but only for a short time.
On the other hand there is a remnant in the earth who have received and clung to the opposite message; “We are not “gods” nor could man ever be “god”. But the only true God, humbled himself and became a man…for God was in Messiah, reconciling the world unto himself…” . This message is the true cure for iniquity and for the rebellion which has poisoned our spirits.
The embodiment of this movement, is the Lord Jesus Christ, the Shepherd who died for his flock, and the returning King who will soon possess his universe again, and bring in a Kingdom of everlasting righteousness.
This is the spiritual principle of godliness, ( true devotion to God), and the way back into communion with the Creator who we once broke away from.
“All we Like Sheep have gone astray, we have turned everyone to his own way, but the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all..” (Isaiah 53).
Mystery of iniquity...man can be like God
It's happening today in charismatic/word of faith circles.
Thanks to Hagin and Copeland
I knew Copeland did it but I could not find the quotes I had earlier.
My google search results are not turning up the same stuff they used to.
I can sometimes eventually find it, but the messing with searches is becoming more and more obvious
FWIW, I had friends who bought into this stuff and the more I heard from them, that they genuinely believed it and thought Copeland was the end all and be all of Christianity, the more I realized i needed to cut ties with them.
They would not listen to reason or Scripture, so that was that.
Deceptioninthechurch.com. “What’s wrong with Kenneth Copeland”
But instead GOD DESCENDED AND BECAME A MAN….”.
This truth underlies the only genuine religion and thus the only real godliness(Devotion to God).
The strong delusion (it's even capitalized) *is* that a man is God. God designed the ideal man for everyone to follow (emulate), but after 1700 years of settled doctrines and a vast merchandising network of apologetics and confusing and conflicting interpretations (keeps the people needy for perpetual explanations), who is going to recognize him? His visage is so marred that he no longer resembles a man.
The Messiah shows the way: how to live, how to give, how to love. It's not complicated. His burden is light indeed. Freeing. It's going to take a mighty hand to overpower the deathgrip of generational dependency upon the established mindset. Jesus had to operate outside the system in order to teach people and to comfort and heal them. The Messiah is the same as he was yesterday: anti-establishment, wanting to restore good health, dignity, and proper reasoning in order to get things done. Functional or dysfunctional --- it's the difference between day and night.
The serpent was the first Bible preacher. Eve thought his message sounded good, and didn't bother to inquire of the Lord.
God made man in His own image and likeness. Therefore, to see a man who behaves according to the original blueprint is to see God. The man isn't God.
The message that your sins are forgiven, so you can get up now, has fallen upon deaf ears. Following Jesus has been twisted into meaning institutionalized cripples begging for mercy and treats, instead of getting out of bed excited to follow (emulate) him. Nobody has any excuse for remaining on disability. Most prefer disability. The system is big on validating the "need". The spirit of Amalek is the one beating people down daily with the hopeless sinner demoralization schtick.
Meanwhile... The Messiah is the mensch who gets up before dawn to care for his animals, and then moves on to caring for people. It's a full day. Plus maybe a neighbor needs some help with a broken tractor, who knows. Then when he's not cutting the grass or pruning shrubs he can enjoy the wide outdoors fishing, sailing, relaxing at picnics, going on wilderness hikes, climbing mountains and so forth. Like-minded souls are free to join him, and listen to and learn from his many farming and gardening analogies that describe the Kingdom of Heaven.
That's just how he rolls. It's right out of the NT. Simple folks took right to him. The religious experts not so much. They were eager to destroy him before his message and example caused a total system collapse, what with folks standing up and tossing their crutches and grabbing the hoes and loppers and chain saws. In fact, the religious scholars will be livid when they realize that the Good News of the Kingdom has been proclaimed by John Denver.
Psalms 49:4 I will incline mine ear to a parable: I will open my riddle with a fiddle.
(A kinor is the modern Hebrew word for a fiddle, violin.)
He's coming out of left field, just like his father David.
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