Volume 25, Issue 2
WisconsinChristianNews.com
Page 19
Four Horses... (Continued from Page 16)
First, we see that it is addressed to the ecclesia. Sec- ond, the subject matter is two-fold – the coming of Jesus Christ and our gathering to Him. Third, we see that Paul is writing to bring clarity to the subject be- cause they had been shaken and disturbed by con- trary teaching. In fact, Paul says that those who had believed the teaching contrary to what he taught had been deceived (verse 3). What teaching had Paul previously given on this sub- ject? That previous teaching is found in 1 Thessaloni- ans 4:13-18: “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who have fallen asleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.” This is what Paul is referring to in 2 Thessalonians 2:5. Those of you who utilize the KJV will notice a dif- ference in translation between the KJV and the NASB in verse 2. The latter uses the phrase “the day of the Lord.” While the former uses the phrase “the day of Christ.” The Greek word should be translated “Christ” and not “Lord.” This adds unnecessary confusion. The day of Christ is in view. The NASB means the same thing and that is denoted by using Lord instead of LORD. In the many places of Scripture where the sec- ond coming of Jesus is mentioned the phrase is al- ways “the day of the LORD” or as in Revelation 16:13-14 the “great day of God, the Almighty”:
“And I saw coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs; for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them to- gether for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.” What is in view here is the rapture of the ecclesia and the timing of that rapture. Paul wrote 1 & 2 Thes- salonians in part to address and reaffirm his previous teaching concerning the return of Jesus for the saints. Now, a final word on this passage from 2 Thessalo- nians 2. Verse 3 is very important. It has been misin- terpreted longer than I’ve been a believer. I will not likely convince anyone who holds a different view than I do about the timing, but I am going to state my view once again. Verse 3 of 2 Thessalonians 2 says that before Jesus raptures the ecclesia there will be a great falling away. Notice in that same verse that there is a comma and then this statement: “and the man of lawlessness is revealed,” comma, “the son of destruction.” Most read- ers will say that this verse is saying that before the rap- ture occurs two things must happen – the great apostasy and the identification of the Antichrist. Is that how we are to read the text? I do not believe it is. Verse 3 is simply giving us information chronologi- cally. In other words, there is a gap of time between the apostasy which precedes the rapture, and the re- vealing of the Antichrist, which happens after the rap- ture. Many people who hold to a rapture view that opposes the pretribulation view use this text to make their argument. This verse simply does not say what opponents of the pretribulation rapture view thinks it says. There are many other places in Scripture where pe- riods of time are marked by commas or by a conjunc- tion such as “and” Isaiah 61:1-3 is an example. “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because
the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the broken- hearted, to proclaim liberty to captives and freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD and the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn.” In verse 2 we find a tremendous gap of time. In fact, it is now approximately 2000 years and counting. In Luke 4:14-21, Jesus demonstrated that gap of time. “And Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about Him spread through all the sur- rounding district. And He began teaching in their syn- agogues and was praised by all. And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sab- bath, and stood up to read. And the book of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him. And He opened the book and found the place where it was written, ‘THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD IS UPON ME, BE- CAUSE HE ANOINTED ME TO PREACH THE GOSPEL TO THE POOR. HE HAS SENT ME TO PROCLAIM RELEASE TO THE CAPTIVES, AND RECOVERY OF SIGHT TO THE BLIND, TO SET FREE THOSE WHO ARE OPPRESSED, TO PROCLAIM THE FAVORABLE YEAR OF THE LORD.’ And He closed the book, gave it back to the attendant and sat down; and the eyes of all in the syn- agogue were fixed on Him. And He began to say to them, ‘Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.’” There is another gap right here in Revelation 6:8. There we read that the Antichrist will be revealed whom the Lord Jesus will destroy. There is at least a gap of 3.5 years, perhaps more depending on your eschatological views. I’ve labored this point to lay a foundation for you to see the connection between these seal judgments, especially this second seal judgment of the Red Horse and what it brings. I believe we are seeing the precur-
sor to this judgment. We are witnessing a normaliza- tion, a conditioning of sorts, to massive evil – school shootings, night club shootings, shootings at concerts, and in malls, and every other place people gather in large numbers. People are being prepared for the ar- rival of a time of global slaughter so that they will turn to the Antichrist for salvation. I also want to point out to you before we go further that the Greek word for “slay” used in 6:4 can also and more accurately be interpreted as “butcher” or “slaugh- ter” of an animal in an act of sacrifice (Strong’s #4969). The verse then reads that men would butcher one an- other in an act of sacrifice. Acts of sacrifice are only done as a part of worship. Some might say, well that has never happened in America. We have never ritually sacrificed any person. That is simply not true. People are ritually sacrificed by worshipers of Satan ever day in America. There are tens of thousands of survivors of satanic ritual abuse living among us. I spoke with and prayed for one yesterday. The brutal slaying of now approximately 70 million unborn human beings is a sacrifice in blood to the god of convenience, fear, and self-centeredness. Murder- ing unborn humans in the womb is satanic ritual sac- rifice and the evil ones who worship Satan receive it as such. TO BE CONTINUED Signed copies of Mike’s book, “The Four Horses of Revelation 6: A New Prophetic Interpretation” are available from the author by sending your money order or check for $23 which includes shipping cost to: Dr. Mike Spaulding Pastor, Calvary Chapel of Lima www.cclohio.org www.drmikespaudling.com
Depressed People Of the Bible: Lonely Elijah
By Jeff Zaremsky May 2024 Loneliness is a big problem today. We can still ex- perience loneliness even if we live in large cities surrounded by people, or even if we use social media to connect with people from all over the globe. Not only can we still be lonely with social media and large communities, we might experience loneliness be- cause of them. Being around people and connecting with people through an electronic device is not the same as face-to-face interaction or one-on-one communication. When we are depressed, it is common for us not to want to be around other people. Like Elijah, we might want to isolate ourselves in a cave for forty days, but part of God’s solution was sending Elijah out with a mission to be in contact with other people. Once, before my wife and I met, she battled with depression. She found that part of her solution in- cluded getting involved with a local congregation, speaking with the minister and his wife, and getting involved in helping people who were in need. This gave her social interaction and gave her a purpose and a mission. It moved the focus off of herself to those whom she could be helping and placed her in a setting where she could be ministered to. As she ministered to others, she prayed for God to go before her and use her. As she saw the needs of others, it caused her to pray more than usual and to pray more for others than about her own needs. Thus, a cyclical process was taking place. She connected with God for help and ministering, then ministering to others caused her to connect even more closely with God. All of this was extremely healing for her. Being part of a local congregation and using our God-given talents in ministering to others will help prevent depression. Even before God drew Elijah out of the cave and sent him on a mission, He first spent time with Eli- jah. It might seem logical that being with other people is the solution to loneliness, but that is not the solu- tion. We can have lots of friends and still be lonely. We can have no friends and not be lonely. The real solution to loneliness is making a mental choice to be content with whatever is our current sit- uation. Loneliness is more a state of mind than a lack of friends. God is always with us, thus in reality we
are never really alone. While that is a reality, it takes faith to believe and accept that. If you don’t have enough faith at the moment to believe that the God
came very depressed. Being Jewish and from New York City, she was experiencing culture shock living in the mountains in the deep south in the 1980s. She was lonely and was grieving not having a husband or children. As we have learned, those things in them- selves are not enough hits to cause depression, but they were factors. For several months she didn’t feel like eating, and she had a hard time sleeping. This of course just made matters worse. Barbara couldn’t figure out what was wrong, and she didn’t even real- ize she was depressed. One of the department heads at the hospital knew something was wrong and encouraged (pushed) her to go to Wildwood Lifestyle Center in Wildwood, Geor- gia where she learned how to think right, eat right, and live right. In three weeks of following the pro- gram her depression left. Learn more about Elijah, and other depressed peo- ple of the Bible in the book “Depressed People of the Bible,” available where most books are sold. Author’s Disclaimer: The information I will be sharing is not intended for diagnosis or treatment of depres- sion. It is a biblical reflection on people throughout the Scriptures who dealt with depression and how God carried them through it to healing and purpose.
of the universe is right there with you, ask Him to give you more faith. He will give you more faith and He will give you the ability to believe and accept His promise of His presence with you. He loves you just as much as He loved Elijah. There may be times when there is no person who un- derstands our situation or no
one who cares about us. Sometimes that is reality and other times it just feels that way. Either way, God always cares and God always understands. Even during those times when we are physically or emotionally isolated from any humans who care about us or who understand our situation, we can still be content and not lonely. Elijah was all alone, except for God, when he was by the Brook Cherith eating nothing but bread delivered by ravens for many months, if not years. Yet, there is no record of his being lonely or depressed at that time. Elijah
chose to accept his situation and thus chose not to be lonely. He chose to be content. Paul, who had years of isolation, wrote from prison: “Brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things. …I have learned to be con- tent whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the se- cret of being content in any and every sit- uation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:8,11-13 NIV). Regardless of your situation I encour- age you to choose not to be lonely, to choose to be content, to choose to believe that God is with you and that He will give you the strength you need. Barbara Gurien was working at a hos- pital in Jellico, Tennessee, when she be-
Defeat Depression! with ‘Depressed People Of The Bible’
The new book by author Jeff Zaremsky
Get your copy today. Available wherever good books are sold, including My Pillow’s MyStore.com, BAM, Barnes & Noble, Amazon.com or order from your local Christian bookstore!
Made with FlippingBook Converter PDF to HTML5