How can we increase our trust in God? One way is to identify some of the obstacles to trusting so that we can deal with them. We can ask God to: (1) make us aware when we fall into these ways of thinking or reacting, (2) deal with things in our hearts that are fertile ground for these hindrances, and (3) give us practical strategies, and grace, to overcome these problems.

Independence and Self-Reliance
I live in the United States. Our American culture fosters an attitude of independence and self-reliance. It values self-confidence rather than confidence in God. It promotes self-esteem, rather than high esteem for God. (We do have great value, but it is not because of any merits of our own. It is because Jesus Christ loves us so much that He gave His life in order to save us.)

The American ideal is the self-made man who can say, “I did it.” This promotes the same attitude that God warned the Israelites against in Deuteronomy 8:10-18. He warned them not to be deceived into thinking that it was their power (or education or brilliance or expertise or hard work) that caused them to succeed.

Sometimes we may have a crisis or danger or an accident or health problems. The result is a “reality check.” All at once, we suddenly remember that we have to depend on God. That’s good. When the crisis is over, we need to keep reminding ourselves of the truth that we have learned instead of allowing ourselves to slip back into our independent, self-reliant, American mindset.

Our school system indoctrinates us with humanist philosophy and assumptions. Even though we know better as Christians, these things can sneak into our thinking, our assumptions, and our responses. We need to become alert to recognize them and to resist them. The Bible tells us to refuse to allow thoughts to remain if they make it difficult for us to know (and therefore trust) God. The Bible says:

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:3-5)

The image is a military one, that of a soldier on guard duty who sees someone and says, “Halt! Who goes there?” Then the soldier makes a decision whether to allow the person to stay or to require the person to leave or to arrest the person.

Humanism exalts itself against the knowledge of God. It tries to make man the center of the universe and the source of salvation, instead of God.

Self-Pity
We live in a culture that encourages people to have a victim mentality. For example, I read a newspaper article about Aristide (the former ruler of Haiti), which said that Aristide was a “victim” of an “addiction to power.” A reporter with that kind of attitude could have said the same thing about Adolf Hitler. However, back in Hitler’s day, the public would not have stood for that kind of nonsense.

Some people really have been victimized. I have two friends who were raped when they were young children. They both decided that Jesus is more important to them than what happened to them. And because Jesus told us to forgive, they forgave their rapists. That turned out to be the key to a process of emotional healing. They were healed through prayer, Scripture reading, and obeying the Lord. God’s Word showed them what they needed to know.

Self-pity is related to humanism. It puts our suffering on center stage instead of God. It says that what happened to us is more important than what Jesus Christ did for us. It says that, because of what happened to us, we don’t have to obey Jesus when He tells us to forgive people and to love our enemies. It puts our focus on ourselves instead of on God. This is a form of idolatry.

How can we truly trust God when we are focused on ourselves? When we look at ourselves, our problems look huge. When we look at God—and how great and powerful and loving He is—then we can see that, compared to God, our problems are small.

The key to overcoming self-pity is (1) to repent, and (2) to make a decision to focus on who God is and how much He loves us—instead of focusing on how we feel. It is also helpful to get our suffering in perspective. Suffering is a normal part of life. Jesus and the apostles often wrote about it. For example, Jesus said:

These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. (John 16:33)

If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you. Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me. (John 15:19-21)

The apostle Paul said:

And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope: And hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. (Romans 5:3-5)

It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him: If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us: If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself. (2 Timothy 2:11-13)

Thou therefore endure hardness [hardship], as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. (2 Timothy 2:3)

And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. (Romans 4:21)

The Book of Acts says that Paul and his companions were:

Confirming [strengthening] the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God. (Acts 14:22)

The apostle Peter said:

Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy. (1 Peter 4:12-13)

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 1:6-7)

The apostle James said:

My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing. (James 1:2-4)

We need to learn to see suffering through the perspective of the Bible instead of the perspective of our humanist, “I have a right to feel good” culture. Then, no matter what we have been through, we will be able to get over it and go on with God. We need to be like the apostle Paul, who said:

Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:13-1)

Circumstances
Another hindrance to trusting God is believing (or feeling) that our circumstances are so overwhelming that even God can’t deal with them in a way that will work out for our good. This is actually a form of idolatry. It is saying that our circumstances are more powerful than God is.

In America, our culture is saturated with the assumptions of behavioral psychology. This is a humanistic teaching that denies personal responsibility for our own behavior. It says that we are at the mercy of our circumstances—that what we do is determined by our present circumstances or by what has happened to us in the past (our past circumstances).

This attitude is demonstrated in the movie West Side Story. A gang member says, “I’m depraved on account of I’m deprived.”

The fatal error of behavioral psychology is thinking that circumstances force people to do things. But circumstances don’t have that kind of power. All they can do is to pressure people into making personal decisions.

If people take the path of least resistance, then they will go in the direction that the behavioral psychologists predict. However, people are capable of making godly decisions, no matter what the circumstances.

People are swimmers—not driftwood. Floating wood follows wherever the current leads. But a swimmer with a goal will swim towards that goal, in spite of the pull of the current.

I knew a young man who was raised in a home where the family was violent and morally depraved. He had no decent role models. He couldn’t read, and he didn’t know anything about God. But he used to watch a TV program called Father Knows Best. As a child, he decided that he wanted to be like the people on that TV show instead of being like the people in his family. When he grew up, he met some Christians, heard the Gospel, and became a Christian.

The martyrs demonstrate that people can make godly decisions in spite of great adversity. Fox’s Book of Martyrs tells of men and women who went to their deaths praying or singing. They were more focused on God and His people than they were on their impending death. For example, John Huss died singing, and William Tyndale died praying for the people.

The God who gave strength and courage to Huss and Tyndale will do the same for us when we need it.

During World War II, in Holland, many of the Dutch citizens began to resist the Nazi regime when they realized that Jewish people were being persecuted and murdered. To be caught helping to hide Jews, meant either prison or death. Diet Eman was just 19 at this time. She and several of her young friends became part of the Christian non-violent resistance movement in Holland. They helped save the lives of many Jews, but it cost most of Diet’s friends, including her fiancé, their lives. But it was a choice they each made—they did what was right, and they trusted the Lord for the outcome. Of this time period, Diet states:

Sometimes people ask me whether I wish I could skip that whole part of my life, if I could live my life over. I tell them I do not. That part of my life was very, very difficult; I cannot think about it today without crying, even though I never cried much at all for most of that time. But I tell people those years of my life were very special, a time when I was very close to God—so close, in fact, I not only knew that He kept His promises, I actually experienced His faithfulness. (Things We Couldn’t Say, p. 325)

We can trust God—no matter what happens. If we are faced with grief or tragedy or sickness or injustice or war or persecution, we can trust God to be with us and to get us through it. The apostle Paul said:

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. (2 Corinthians 2:14)

And Jesus said:

I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. (Matthew 28:20)

The Epistle to the Hebrews says:

[F]or he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me. (Hebrews 13:5-6)

The apostle Paul said:

And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform. (Romans 4:21)

But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Corinthians 15:57)

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed. (2 Corinthians 4:8-9)

What Are We Thinking About?
When you drive on a country road with ditches, you have to avoid going off the road on both sides. Whether you go too far to the right or to the left, either way, you will wind up in a ditch.

Some things in the Bible come in pairs. One statement helps us avoid the ditch on one side of the road, and the other statement helps us avoid the ditch on the opposite side.

When it comes to what we think about, we need to understand both sets of principles. On the one hand, we need to have enough understanding of evil to be able to deal with it. On the other hand, we need to focus on good things—not bad ones. You can see both of these principles in Scripture.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. (Matthew 10:16)

Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices. (2 Corinthians 2:11)

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. (Philippians 4:8)

So we need to have enough understanding of bad things to be able to avoid getting snared by them, but at the same time, we cannot afford to focus on such things. We need to focus on good things (and especially on God and His Word). How can we do that in real life?

We do something similar all the time when we drive. We keep our eyes on the road ahead. But at the same time, we are aware of things to the side of the road, such as a deer or another vehicle that could be a potential driving hazard. Our primary focus is straight ahead (which keeps us safe on the road). However, our peripheral vision takes in other things (so that we are aware of what is going on around us).

Too Much Focus on Ourselves
The apostle Paul warned about a future time when people would be “lovers of themselves.” This would result in a long list of bad attitudes and destructive behavior. Take a look at this list, and see how many of these things you can see in our society today:

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

One form that this self focus takes is the emphasis on “self esteem.” According to Scripture, we are valuable, but the reason is based on God—not on ourselves. We are created in God’s image, and Jesus Christ purchased us by His blood. That is what gives us value—not anything that we can boast of having said or done. Here is what the Bible says about our own natural goodness, apart from the grace of God:

[A]ll our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. (Isaiah 64:6)

The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked: who can know it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence. (1 Corinthians 1:27-29)

Another form that focusing on ourselves takes is self-condemnation. This is more subtle. Because it talks in negative terms, people can overlook the fact that it is another way of focusing on ourselves instead of focusing on God.

If we have repented of our sins, and God has forgiven them, then why are we still beating ourselves up about it? According to the Bible, the devil is “the accuser” of Christians (Revelation 12:10). Why should we do the devil’s job for him?

The Bible tells us to avoid saying destructive things. It says that our words should “edify” people. That means to build them up, as opposed to tearing them down.

Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. (Ephesians 4:29, emphasis added)

That includes what we tell ourselves. When we talk to ourselves, we are both the speaker and the hearer.

As Christians, we should focus on the Lord, and on loving and serving our neighbors. Self-condemnation undermines both of those. It gets our focus on ourselves, and makes us the center of attention. It is actually a form of injured pride because it forgets that our value is in God alone.

We need to focus on God rather than on ourselves. We should try to see people (including ourselves) the way that God sees them, and try to live according to biblical principles. The Epistles can be helpful for doing this. They are pastoral letters written to Christians, and they deal with the practical issues of everyday life.

God’s Power and Faithfulness
We live in a world that is morally sliding downhill. But we can be reassured because where sin abounds, God’s grace abounds even more (Romans 5:20).

If we feel weak or inadequate, then we can be strengthened and comforted by the fact that God told Paul:

My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

God doesn’t play favorites. What He did for Paul, He will do for all of His children. We can rest assured that God’s grace really is sufficient for us. When we are weak, He will give us His strength to go on. We can see this same promise in the Epistle of Jude, which says:

Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. (Jude 24-25)

God has provided everything that we need in order to overcome every obstacle to trusting Him. The apostle Peter told us:

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. (2 Peter 1:3-4)

We can begin appropriating these “great and precious promises” right now. And then we can spend the rest of our lives learning how to live by them more and more consistently. It’s a process and an adventure. We can spend a lifetime doing it here on Earth and then enjoy the fruits of it for all eternity.

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Maria Kneas is a widow and a Lighthouse Trails author. She has written numerous booklets and two books.

To obtain this article in booklet format, click here.

Editors Note: Today, it is common to hear the argument that since Paul quoted pagan poets in Acts 17, it’s OK for Christians to quote those who teach false doctrine. Adherents of the emerging/progressive church and contemplative spirituality have basically turned Acts 17 into a license for a free-for-all kind of “I can quote anybody I like, because Paul did” attitude. In this article/booklet, Mike Oppenheimer takes a close look at this section of Scripture to see if this is really the example Paul was setting and also shows, on the grander scale, the outcome of practices where the Gospel is being diffused and Christianity is being absorbed into the beliefs of a particular culture.

By Mike Oppenheimer

When Paul spoke the Gospel to these religious pagans in Athens on Mars Hill for the first time, he didn’t wait to become friends first to “share his beliefs.” This is an absurd method to abide by. He took the time to explain their idolatry and the truth. No one knows how many chances he or she will get to speak to an unbeliever, so you speak as if it is your only time. You cannot be called an evangelist if your purpose is not to first bring the Gospel but instead to be friends and then give the Gospel. This is not how the apostles conducted their evangelism, nor how they taught the church to. This does not mean we ignore developing friendships, but to grow in a relationship takes time and time is not something that we all have. Friendships are not a necessity to speak the Gospel message. It wasn’t to Peter in Acts 2, and it was not to Paul on his missionary journeys.

There are those today who use Acts 17, Paul’s Mars Hill encounter with the Greek philosophers, to prove that truth is found elsewhere (or everywhere), and the Bible is not the only place that contains spiritual truth. Let’s examine the Scripture carefully and the other poets he quotes to learn the truth on this matter:

Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing). (Acts 17:16-21)

Paul looked at the surroundings he was in, and all he saw was false worship. Athens was famous for their temples that were works of art. There was no other place on earth at the time where so many idols were exhibited. (Idolatry was the very thing that caused God to punish Israel over and over again.) Paul went to his brethren first as his policy was in every city (Acts 17:1-2). He reasoned with them by engaging in an argument from what the Scriptures teach. He also discussed openly the things of God with those who were not Jewish. He did not start with making similarities with the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers; he started with teaching them of the death and resurrection of the Messiah. He did not begin with what they had but what they did not have. It was then that they identified him as one speaking about foreign gods (vs.18), something they had never heard of before. They prided themselves on being hip to the newest philosophy. Their interest perked; they were intrigued by Paul’s message and were eager to hear the latest teaching, so they brought him to explain to others this new teaching.

The Epicureans, named after their founder Epicurus (who lived in 341-270 B.C.), believed the chief end of living was pleasure. They believed in numerous gods who had no influence over the affairs of man, but they did not believe in the immortality of the soul.

Paul’s audience was very hard to preach to; the Epicureans believed everything evolved, as they did not have a concept of creation. The Epicureans believed that the world was made accidentally by atoms which having been in perpetual motion from the beginning had brought this form. Aristotle’s school held “that the world was from eternity, and everything always was from eternity, and everything always was what now it is.”1

The Stoics, founded by Zeno (c. 300 B.C.), believed that God who indwells all things is the world’s soul. God is in all men; all men are brothers. Furthermore, living in harmony with nature brings happiness. Stoics were men of high moral principle, yet they believed that human affairs are governed by fate.

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:22-34)

We have known this as Paul’s appeal to the philosophers on Mars Hill. Paul, though being courteous, does not compromise his message. He started with the idols as false religious worship. Their zealousness in their devotion was superstitious, and Paul points out that they even erected an idol to a god they do not know. Paul now becomes philosopher to them instead of the theologian he would be with the Jews who have the ordinances of God. He appeals to their conscience and reveals to them a knowledge of the true and living God, who alone is to be the object of their adulation. He lays a foundation, instructing them in the primary principle of the Christian faith, that there is only one God. And though they worshipped a myriad of gods, Paul appeals to them on the evidence that some of their poets acknowledged a supreme being—the knowledge of which God has planted in the hearts of all people (e.g. Romans 1:19-20), being that man is made in the image of God and though he is corrupted, still has a conscience of moral right and wrong.

Paul says elsewhere in 1 Corinthians 8:4-5: “[W]e know that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is none other God but one.” To the believers, he instructs in 1 Corinthians 10:19-20: “What say I then? that the idol is any thing, or that which is offered in sacrifice to idols is any thing? But I say, that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to devils, and not to God: and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils.” Paul was considerate to their ignorance in that he did not call their idols demonic. However, with these pagan philosophers he takes a different tack. He tells them we are created beings countering the Greek thought that men were gods.

Paul defines God in vs.24. Some make a big deal out of the Greek word theos being used. Paul uses the common word for God (theos); he did not use any of their gods’ names. The focus is on an unknown god whom they were treating as all the rest. Theos is a generic word; it is not a name but a title. When he used theos, they understood what he meant, that his God (theos) was not any of theirs.

The Epicureans held the view that the world was not made by God. In vs. 24, Paul states that God made the world and all things—that this God could not be confined within temples made with hands, as He is the Lord who governs both heaven and earth. Paul built a foundation first to prove this by reverting to things they could understand.

Therefore, the gods whom they worshipped in their temples was not the true God. Paul’s basis was the Old Testament, Isaiah 66:1-2:

Thus saith the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the LORD.

But to infer the absurdity of their idolatry, he helps them see their own foolishness by appealing to the writings of their own poets. In vs.25, he tells them God does not need anything from man; in fact, we need him, as He is the giver of life. God gives life; He is the fountain of all He gives breath to—both man and beast. Paul also teaches that divine worship is not enacted and established for GOD but for the use of His creatures: He needs nothing that man can give Him; for man only has what he received from the hand of his Maker. Therefore, what they have made for God cannot be a fair or accurate representation of Him.

Vs.26: “[H]e hath made of one blood [meaning Adam] all nations of men.” Paul’s emphasis is to show our common origin and the right way. This same thought appears in Acts 14:17 in the speech to the Greeks at Lystra. Paul is telling them that God is in control, not man. Certainly, these men being knowledgeable on all the beliefs of their day would have heard about the Hebrews belief of Genesis or the flood.

Vs.27: The Gentiles were not familiar with God and His ways and needed a revelation; until then they must grope after God. The true God is Spirit; therefore, He is not an idol and He is closer than they think. In one sense, He is further off because creature and Creator are separate, yet in another sense as Spirit, He is closer. Therefore, Paul is saying they do not know this God he is speaking of, yet He may be revealed to them if they seek him.

In Romans 10:20, Paul quotes Isaiah who said very boldly, “I was found of them that sought me not; I was made manifest unto them that asked not after me.” Paul is giving them a principle that God has made known in times past, for Jeremiah also writes, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). It is in this attitude that Paul appealed to the philosophers on Mars Hill.

Vs.28: “[F]or in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.”

They fashioned a tomb for you, O holy and high one—The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies! But you are not dead; you live and abide forever, For in you we live and move and have our being. (poem Cretica written by Epimenides (ca. 600 BCE)

God is the very source of our existence: the principle of life comes from Him. Therefore, we should not think of God as ordinary man, He cannot die like men. We are dependent on Him for our life. We need to understand that in speaking to philosophers, Paul was trying to give them the meaning of their own poets. What he did not mean is that we are all part of God or God is part of us. What he quoted was directly opposing the views of the Epicureans. Here Paul is citing poets whom they respect and brilliantly turns it on the idolatry they now practice. Paul has made a case that as men we have a necessary dependence on this God we do not know or see. He inserts their own poet’s statements as an added incentive to consider that their worship is wrong. He juxtaposes what was being said in the past for what they practice in the present.

Aratus was also a Greek poet, a Cilician who lived about 275 years before Christ. Paul was well acquainted with his and other writings because of where he was brought up. Aratus wrote a poem called “Phaenomena,” also quoted by Paul. The sentiment is found in several others, being very common among the enlightened philosophers of the day. By saying your own poets, he does not mean poets born at Athens, but merely Grecian poets, Aratus and Cleanthus being chief and in whose “Hymn to Jupiter” the same words occur.

With Jove we must begin; nor from him rove; Him always praise, for all is full of Jove! He fills all places where mankind resort, The wide-spread sea, with every shelt’ring port. Jove’s presence fills all space, upholds this ball; All need his aid; his power sustains us all. For we his offspring are. (emphasis mine)

Cilician poet Aratus also wrote: “It is with Zeus that every one of us in every way has to do, for we are also his offspring” (Phaenonlena 5).

Paul used another pagan source to confirm the truth of the Bible, not the reverse; he was showing them how even their own poets had some knowledge (though corrupted) of the “unknown God.” If he was saying their poet spoke truth, then he would be endorsing Zeus, a false god, contrary to the very thing he was trying to prove.

If Paul meant that we literally are God’s offspring, He would be agreeing with the gods of Greek philosophy. He did not!

This is poetry he quoted—not doctrine or Scripture. Paul meant that all men are God’s offspring in the sense that they are His creation and dependent on Him for life. There is no biblical teaching of the universal fatherhood of God and a brotherhood of all men (John 1:12; and in the book of Ephesians, Paul teaches we must be adopted into God’s family).

Certainly, Paul’s main point is not to build a bridge to them. If Paul wanted to build a bridge, he certainly did not employ the new evangelistic ways we are seeing today. He told them what most would avoid. Paul was not making a bridge to their culture but to people who had various false beliefs on God and life. He used their poets to show a similarity in what he was conveying to be wrong, not what is right. Paul uses their own poets against their idolatry. He is not condoning their poets’ words as truth equal with the Bible’s revelation but dismantles their own views by using the poetry as a point of similarity to the Bible’s revelation.

Vs.29: Paul has taken one point of similarity and dismantled their mindset by concentrating on the unknown God—the real One that they do not know. So there is no bridging to what they believe but what they don’t believe or know. Because of what Paul has presented to counter their idolatry, he brings his argument to a conclusion that “we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.” It is absurd to suppose that the original source of our existence (God) can be like gold and silver or stone and inanimate objects. We are living and intelligent beings; our nature is more excellent than the works of man’s hands, since we are like Him who formed us, so why would we even consider worshipping an object fashioned by men?

Vs.30: Paul’s invitation is for them to repent. This shows that he is not approving of anything they are doing. God is the creator of men, but to identify God with something man has made is ignorance (Romans 1:22-23). He indicts them; calling these wise philosophers ignorant is a strong accusation. In times past, God has overlooked this blindness but no longer. He commands men everywhere to repent, not just the Greeks but all people in every nation. At this point, Paul goes back to the Bible and preaches a righteous judgment coming by Christ who is the only man that was raised from the dead to eternal life.

Vs.32: “[S]ome mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter.” Paul had to change the people’s belief system to bring them up to date with Christ. Their belief system was challenged first. The message of the Gospel goes out with only a few, not many, responding.

The Cross was “foolishness” to the Greeks; they had no background to this concept, especially that of the resurrection. Telling people the Good News of Jesus without telling them what is wrong with their religion or belief system rarely works. The apostles did not do this, and this was not what Paul did at Mars Hill despite that many use it as an example of making bridges. Methods of evangelism that do not deal with the issue of sin in a culture and God’s command to repent are ineffective. You can’t just preach the Gospel if the people don’t understand the language you are using. If they don’t understand the terminology, how can they understand the solution? The bad news from Genesis needs to be presented first before the Good News from the New Testament can be explained, just as Paul did in principle to these Greek philosophers. Paul started with Bible revelation and ended with the Bible’s revelation.

Humanism is the religion of our culture that explains everything without God. Our culture is permeated with philosophies. We live in a “Greek” culture today with evolution, pan-spermea, and various other concepts running rampant.

Instead of doing real evangelism, many model from Mars Hill with the opposite intent. Actually, we have a reverse of Mars Hill. Instead of Christians declaring the true God among the false, we have them accepting the false gods as true ones. They embrace the different religious beliefs as valid and a complement to Christianity. Within this unison stands a God who is still unknown to the lost. It is up to us to proclaim Jesus the Only Messiah to them.

Today’s “progressive Christianity” is not based on the Bible, and it is affecting the entire Christian body, not to mention the lost. “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do” (Psalms 11:3)? We need to rebuild the foundations. It starts with Genesis, and the basics of sin and the history of man—so that the Cross can be understood by a culture that does not know God.

To order copies of Understanding Paul’s Appeal at Mars Hill in booklet format, click here.

Endnote:
1. From Matthew Henry’s Commentary

Editorial Note: Oppenheimer addresses these issues also in his First Nations Movement DVD lecture; Nanci Des Gerlaise addresses this in her book Muddy Waters and booklet Can Cultures Be Redeemed, and Roger Oakland addresses these issues in several of his writings and lectures.

Appendix: What did Paul mean that he became all things to all men?

For though I be free from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, that I might gain the more. And unto the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews; to them that are under the law, as under the law, that I might gain them that are under the law; To them that are without law, as without law, (being not without law to God, but under the law to Christ,) that I might gain them that are without law. To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. And this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be partaker thereof with you. (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

What did the apostle Paul mean that he became all things to all men for evangelism? This is his summation after he describes his goal and those people whom he wanted to reach. He adapted his teaching to their thought in their culture to reach them. He divides the world into the religious with the law (Jews), and the Gentiles, without the law.

According to 1 Corinthians 9:20, Paul was emancipated from the law as a means of salvation, yet he knew how to speak to them because of his former beliefs and life with them (Galatians 4:21). He knew how to put the Gospel to them without compromise and without offence.1

To the Jews, he would observe the Mosaic customs as long as it did not affect his duty to Christ. There was no compromise of principles or the law though Paul was a Jew among Jews. He did not act as a person obligated to the law with the Jews, nor as a lawless person to the Gentiles, but always made it evident he was serving them under the law of Christ.

As I stated earlier in section one of this booklet, in Acts 17 Paul showed the philosophers they were wrong from logic, their own history, and the Bible and explained to them what is right. He used what the Athenians did not know, an altar to an unknown god, to make known to them what he knew. Paul was not complimenting their religious worship as they were idolaters. These religious men of prestige were offended as he told them they would be judged by a man who came back to life. Yet, Paul’s continual quest was to persuade men to turn “to God from idols to serve the living and true God” (1Thessalonians 1:9).

Paul certainly made a distinction (as did Jesus) between those who knew what God required and those in ignorance. Paul even pitted the Gentiles against the Jews to humble them from pride. Rom 2:14-16:

[F]or when Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do the things in the law, these, although not having the law, are a law to themselves, who show the work of the law written in their hearts, their conscience also bearing witness, and between themselves their thoughts accusing or else excusing them) in the day when God will judge the secrets of men by Jesus Christ, according to my gospel” (giving the same summation as he did in Acts 17).

In 1 Corinthians 9:22, Paul said, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit: “To the weak became I as weak, that I might gain the weak: I am made all things to all men, that I might by all means save some.”

If this statement by Paul were isolated from the rest of Scripture, one could assume Paul was willing to do anything to reach the lost, including adopting their lifestyle and compromise his ethics, morals, and beliefs. This is a doctrine that is popularized among the seeker-friendly evangelism crowd today. If we use this logic, then for one to reach a drug addict, he must become one; one cannot reach a drunk unless he becomes a drunk, etc.

When we compare Scripture with Scripture, we find that Paul did not mean this. In order for a doctrine to be biblically sound, it cannot contradict other verses. Paul taught that believers are to “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thess. 5:22). Paul would not have done anything contrary to Christ and His ways in his own life and ministry. Remember he rebuked Peter for compromising of the Gospel when Jewish brethren came to visit him in Antioch. Galatians 2:11-13, speaking of the Judaizers: “for before certain men came from James, he would eat with the Gentiles; but when they came, he withdrew and separated himself, fearing those who were of the circumcision.” Saying to Peter in Galatians 2:14: “If thou, being a Jew, livest after the manner of Gentiles, and not as do the Jews, why compellest thou the Gentiles to live as do the Jews?”

So Paul did not mean that we can act one way with one group of people and another way with another group to win them.

We have good examples that Paul did not act lawlessly among the pagans who were outside the Mosaic law: (Romans 2:14, 1 Timothy 1:9-10). Paul simplified the message, knowing his audience, so they could understand and receive.

Paul explains that he is always under the law to Christ, and he is never free to do things that would be contrary to the new covenant. And in Galatians 5:13, he says, “For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.”

Paul’s liberty in his evangelism was not a freedom to sin or to serve the flesh in any way. Paul was always strict in regard to sin, and he did not allow anything in his life that would bring the result of sin by spiritual carelessness.

Endnote:

1. From Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament.

Mike Oppenheimer is the founder and director of Let Us Reason Ministries—www.letusreason.org, which began in 1994. He has been researching and writing about spiritual deception in the church for many years. His website has extensive information, articles, books, and DVDs.

World Government on the Horizon?

By Tony Pearce

World government. Could it be that we’re heading towards a world government? One of the things I say when I give my prophecy talks is that there are two things happening in the world today:

The world falling apart, and
The world coming together.

These seem to be the opposites, but we clearly see that as things are falling apart, they’re also coming together.

In February of 2023, the World Government Summit took place in Abu Dhabi, in the Middle East, where some very high-up international leaders spoke about the need for a world government. These included Klaus Schwab, who is the founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum. I watched part of his speech there, and one of the interesting things he said was, “There will be certainly what we call the Black Swan [event].”1

What does he mean by that? A Black Swan event is something unexpected that happens and changes everything, and as a consequence of which you’ve got to change the way you live.*

Something big is coming to tip the world into a new world order. That is what Schwab is suggesting. Is it a war? Is it economic collapse? Another pandemic perhaps? He also says:

There are some people who claim that we are now in a de-globalizing world, but actually, I would say, we have to re-globalize this world . . . We have to make sure that we strengthen cooperation because as it was mentioned we are faced with issues that are of existential importance for humankind. Our common future is at stake.2

True! We are faced with problems that carry existential consequences for the human race. If we carry on the way we’re going, we could end up destroying the world and destroying the only place we can live on. So, there is an existential crisis. Schwab spoke about this previously during the 2023 World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, where he stated:

We live in a world of mighty multi-crises. We’re in the midst of a deep systemic transformation process. Many people in a crisis want to go back to the original situation. In the transformation process, you have to manage the change to come out at the end of the situation in a better shape, a different one than the one you were in at the beginning.3

What does he mean by that? He means that the world is in a serious crisis state and that basically the people in this world-government program and in the World Economic Forum are the people who are going to fix it for the rest of us. In other words, they know how to fix the problem. But we, the common people, have got to understand that fixing it doesn’t mean going back to where we came from before the crisis started. There’s got to be a new Global Reset by which we can refix the world in a new way, which in turn would bring a better situation than we were before.

In talking about a global Great Reset, which is what they’re looking for, Schwab talks about it coming through a fourth industrial revolution (also the name of his 2017 book) through the use of new technology. So what exactly does that mean?

The fourth industrial revolution, which is taking place because of the lightning-fast development in technology (e.g., quantum computers being developed), necessitates, in their minds, somebody who’s going to have to control all of that (because the average person—like you and me—doesn’t understand it and doesn’t know how it works). So we need to trust somebody to do the thinking for us and control the world for the sake of humanity.

In an article titled, “How Will the Metaverse Change Our Lives,” Jeremy Bailenson, director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, answers that question. Paraphrasing him here, We can do it safely if you have a world government to do this; otherwise you have people using these technologies to destroy each other, and you’ll also have the technologies themselves which can escape our power to control them.4 That sounds a bit strange. He spoke about quantum computing and about artificial intelligence which is self-replicating.

IS AI A THREAT TO THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY?

What this means is, can artificial intelligence (AI) start creating other intelligences and creating things that will grow out of it and then start controlling us? I don’t know if you have seen the 2004 film called I, Robot. I saw it some time ago. The movie is a fantasy of the future where everyone has a robot. Each robot is basically a kind of slave that does all the jobs for its owner. The robots have to look after their “masters,” but the robots also have intelligence, and they can work out what is needed and wanted from them. The robots come to the conclusion that because of the mismanagement of the world by humans, they are actually destroying themselves. So, the robots say, we are going to take over and tell you what to do.

While this is just a sci-fi fantasy film, it’s an illustration of artificial intelligence (in this case, the robots) taking over and running things. In the film, the hero has to break the power of the now-villain robots to send them back to where they were at the beginning of it all. It’s quite an exciting movie, but it struck me that this is what they’re talking about today with AI. If you let this thing get out of hand, it can start taking on a life of its own.

I recently read about something called Chat Bots where one can talk to a program on the computer, and it talks back and gives advice and so on. What they’re discovering now is that the program on the other end is beginning to take on some kind of personality of its own and tells the participant what to do. Now, presumably, these Chat Bots are taking on the personalities of whoever programmed them, but it seems that this then becomes a self-replicating process, and it may end up controlling rather than being controlled. There is an understandable growing fear of where technology can lead.

At the World Economic Forum, leaders are also talking about implants and wearables that can decode brain activity, control actions; for example, one can just swipe a hand and pay his bills. These devices can detect what’s going on in the mind and can connect to the computer and start working on one’s behalf. Does that sound like a good idea to you?

According to these self-proclaimed world leaders, these implants and wearables can change the way people interact with others, and Klaus Schwab says, “life in 10 years from now will be very different.”5 He also said (and this is most interestingly put), “Whoever can master those technologies will be master of the world.”6

In other words, if someone can get control of these technologies and can start implanting them and putting them on people, he can end up controlling them. Could that be what Revelation chapter 13 is talking about? The mark of the Beast system?

And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he doeth great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, And deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast; saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast, which had the wound by a sword, and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six. (Revelation 13:11-18)

I don’t know, but it’s certainly possible.

SO, HOW IS THIS TRANSITION GOING TO HAPPEN?

Klaus Schwab says it’s going to happen through a threat to humanity like Covid, a Black Swan event. He said that at the time of Covid, we lost people because there were some selfish people who didn’t follow what we told them to do. According to Schwab, if that is you, then you are the problem. And there are some people who are lying to you and making you do the wrong things. You need to give power to the leaders who will look after you and give you what you want and will protect you from danger and from “fake news,” and troublemakers.

In order to get this world into the New World Order, two things have to happen:

• First of all, everyone has to have a digital ID. In other words, everyone has to be on the digital ID system which will contain each person’s information (e.g., government ID numbers, social security numbers, bank account numbers).

• Second, there needs to be complete control over all information outlets, whether it’s the evening news on the television, the written word, or the Internet, including all websites. There has to be control over this sector so that the “wrong” information doesn’t get out and the “right” information gets posted.

Now, a lot of people are advocating for this. In February 2023, there was an article in The Times (in the UK) in which Tony Blair (Labour ex-prime minister of the U.K.) and William Hague (Conservative ex-minister) joined forces to urge the government to roll out digital ID as a fundamental reshaping of the state around technology.7 Another article titled “UK Official ‘Super App’ for Citizen Economic Data Rollout Inevitable, Says Top Banker” stated:

The UK government will eventually roll out a ‘super app’ that houses each citizen’s combined economic footprint, from credit ratings to know-your-customer (KYC) details, a top banker has predicted. This economic digital ID would aim to follow in the footsteps of the swift and widespread adoption of the UK government’s NHS health app.8

Quoting Bob Wigley, the chair of UK Finance, the article adds:

This financial app will be personal and attached to each citizen as we need a wider fully digital economic identity programme.9

In other words, there’s no use one or two people having it, everybody’s got to have it, and everybody’s got to conform to it. Doesn’t that thrill your heart? Probably not!***

There’s another aspect to all this—the health situation. The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed an international pandemic treaty10 through which its 194 member states (representing 198 of the countries around the world) would give WHO greater control over emergency health care decisions (that would include things like vaccine passports, global surveillance, and global-coordinated actions that address “misinformation”) wherever it declares a health emergency. An article by Reuters, which is posted on the World Economic Forum website, states:

Negotiations on new rules for dealing with pandemics are underway at the World Health Organization (WHO), with a target date of May 2024 for a legally binding agreement to be adopted by the U.N. health agency’s 194 member countries.11

The article continues:

For the new more wide-reaching pandemic accord, member states have agreed that it should be legally binding for those who sign up, overcoming early reservations from the United States.12
If such a treaty does come into effect (and there’s no reason to believe it won’t) and WHO declares a pandemic, it could potentially overrule national governments, enforce regulations worldwide, enforce lockdowns, make vaccines compulsory, and issue and enforce vaccine passports. In other words, it would give WHO a whole lot of control. Those who don’t follow these regulations will be going against international law.

It will also condemn and try to stop the spread of what it deems as “misinformation” (i.e., information against their narrative).

Basically, that means they’ve got to control the information sector. It has already happened up to a point during the Covid crisis. Last time a set of guidelines was given to the major media outlets and, in their majority, they accepted them. Anybody who went against it just didn’t get a say in the media. If people from medical professions disagreed with some aspect of the treatment of Covid, whether it was lockdown, mask-wearing, compulsory vaccinations (especially the MRNA vaccines), they were silenced; if they were allowed to speak, they were under the tag of “fake news” with an admonishment to listeners/readers that we shouldn’t listen to them.

Therefore, those who don’t conform to the official information platform and narrative won’t be given an opportunity to share their views. Scientists and experts who doubted the wisdom of the lockdown and of the vaccination strategy were effectively silenced with their research or findings that didn’t align with the government’s narrative on Covid and dismissed as “fake news” and conspiratorial.****

An August 2020 article on WHO’s website titled, “Immunizing the Public Against Misinformation,” states:

Soon after the world started getting used to the terms coronavirus and COVID-19, WHO coined another word: “infodemic”—an overabundance of information and the rapid spread of misleading or fabricated news, images, and videos. Like the virus, it is highly contagious and grows exponentially. It also complicates COVID-19 pandemic response efforts. “We’re not just battling the virus,” said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “We’re also battling the trolls and conspiracy theorists that push misinformation and undermine the outbreak response.”13

What they’re now saying is that this has got to become a legal framework, that, in the event of another pandemic, there has to be control. What this kind of control leads to is a society where certain topics can’t be openly talked about or debated. It’s a control system, and if the pandemic treaty goes through, then the World Health Organization can potentially overrule your government on what happens in your country.

I have mentioned before in other discussions how institutions are using the world’s problems to bring in control systems like the 15-minute cities, control of the media, and also control through Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDC), which means removing cash from circulation.

Speaking of digital currencies, Agustin Carstens, General Manager of the Bank of International Settlements (BIS) in Geneva, Switzerland, which governs and oversees all central banks, has frequently discussed the efforts to introduce digital currencies into all central banks. With digital currency, it’s a given that people and their spending activities can and will be tracked. [Note: Most developed countries have a central bank. In the U.S., it is the Federal Reserve System. The Bank of England is the central bank for the U.K.]

Not only will there be this new power to track, but there will also be the power to enforce all the rules and laws that go along with this major change in the economic system. A 2021 BBC article states:

The Bank of England and the Treasury have announced they are setting up a taskforce to explore the possibility of a central bank digital currency. The aim is to look at the risks and opportunities involved in creating a new kind of digital money. Issued by the Bank for use by households and businesses, it would exist alongside cash and bank deposits, rather than replacing them. No decision has been taken on whether to have such a currency in the UK. However, the government and the Bank want to “engage widely with stakeholders” on the benefits and practicalities of doing so.14

According to an August 2022 article on the World Economic Forum website:

More than 100 countries, including 19 G20 nations, are now exploring central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).15

We are being told that such changes are only for the betterment of humanity. But if you follow it through, what’s behind the plan? It seems that, in the end, there is definitely an intent to drastically change the way things are, so that at some point, we will only have Central Bank Digital Currencies to buy and sell with—the ultimate goal being a cashless society in which traditional bank accounts will be a thing of the past, and everyone will be put on the CBDC database (controlled by the government). In the worst-case scenario, the government could seize assets and control the ability to buy and sell.

You’ve got something like this already happening in China. Those in control are able to program the digital money (currency) so that it can only be spent in some places. If they decide you’re going against the program, they can cut you out of the system altogether. If they do that, you can’t buy or sell. One human rights organization describes what this looks like:

China’s domestic police agencies collect an extraordinary amount of data about people in order to monitor their activities and identify troublemakers. The state’s surveillance is particularly suffocating in Xinjiang, where the authorities use mobile apps, biometric collection, artificial intelligence, and big data, among other means, to control 13 million Turkic Muslims.

The mass surveillance programs in Xinjiang are China’s most visible and intrusive, but they are just one end of a spectrum. Chinese authorities use technology to control the population all over the country in subtler but still powerful ways. The central bank is adopting digital currency, which will allow Beijing to surveil—and control—people’s financial transactions. China is building so-called safe cities, which integrate data from intrusive surveillance systems to predict and prevent everything from fires to natural disasters and political dissent. The government believes that these intrusions, together with administrative actions, such as denying blacklisted people access to services, will nudge people toward “positive behaviors,” including greater compliance with government policies and healthy habits such as exercising.16

What does it say in Revelations 13? There will be a time when there will be a mandatory mark of the Beast. If someone doesn’t get the mark of the Beast, he or she won’t be able to buy or sell. And receiving the mark of the Beast will be coupled with giving allegiance to the Antichrist. Revelation 14 utterly condemns those who take the mark of the Beast because in essence, those who do so will be worshipping the Antichrist.

The same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation; and he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb: And the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever: and they have no rest day nor night, who worship the beast and his image, and whosoever receiveth the mark of his name. (Revelation 14:10-11)

Considering the things we have discussed in this article, we can see how the Antichrist could gain control of the world. He will come to sort out the mess the world is in and use this mechanism (the mark) to control people’s ability to buy and sell. This is not far-fetched to believe as it is already being set up and prepared for implementation.

If everybody is uploaded onto this system, we will relinquish any control over whether we can buy or sell, which means that those who don’t submit to that control can’t enter into society. This is the way it’s going, I believe. The signs are pretty clear.

I don’t want to depress you, but, unfortunately, these things are being set in motion. You can see it. You’ve got crisis on one side, everybody falling apart, the wars, the pollution, the destruction; and, on the other side, you’ve got these people who are working together to bring about a new world order, a global reset, a world government.

WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT THE SITUATION?

Don’t panic. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.” (John 14:1) This is one thing that we can do. We can believe in God and believe in His Word, and we should not be troubled because God’s going to have the last word.

This Antichrist system of control is not going to last forever. In fact, in the scheme of things, it is going to be short lived. According to the Book of Revelation, the maximum time he is going to be in power is seven years. In other words, his “kingdom” is not going to be a long-term solution for man. It will be the Kingdom that Jesus Christ sets up that is going to be long term—actually it will be eternal, and as the apostle Paul explained:

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise. Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. (Ephesians 1:12-14)

What we must do is to choose whom we want to serve. In the Book of Joshua, there’s a verse where it says:

And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. (Joshua 24:15)

And God is saying to the people of the world: “Whom do you want to serve?” Do you want to serve the world leaders I’ve been talking about? Or do you want to serve the Lord?

The people who choose to serve the Lord are going to be in a minority; but a minority with God is already a majority. Therefore, I want to be on the side of the Lord who has the answer and who is the Victor. Let not our hearts be troubled, and let us believe in God.

From the world’s point of view, the worst thing that can happen to someone is death. But for the Christian believer, when we die, we go to be with the Lord forever. In the Book of John, we read the words of Jesus:

In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. (John 14:2-3)

Jesus says, I’m going to come again, I’m going to come again to take you people who believe in me, and you’re going to have a wonderful future.

Unfortunately, those who reject Jesus will have a terrible future. That’s why it’s important now that we get the Word of God out and tell people to believe in the Lord.

And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know. Thomas saith unto him, Lord, we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. (John 14:4-6)

There’s one way to go—through Jesus Christ / Yeshua Ha Mashiach, the only Mediator (1 Timothy 2:5), the Messiah. He is the Way to go; and He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6). He is the One who can bring us to God and give us a glorious future.

So, don’t be troubled, don’t give up, don’t despair. Trust in the Lord. Whatever happens in this world is temporary and passing. World leaders may think they’ve got a lasting solution to the problems of the world, and they may think they are in control; but not only is it not a lasting solution at all, but they are also not in control. Jesus is the only One who has a true and good solution and a true and eternal government and Kingdom. If you believe in Jesus and have placed your trust in Him, you are going to be part of His plan. You’ve got a fantastic future; and nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:35-39).

If you have not made that decision, please make it now. And for those who have, let us encourage our friends, our families, and all the people around us to make this decision.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

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Appendix

AI—The Offering of Perfectibility
By Carl Teichrib from his book Game of Gods

A vast array of technologies and theoretical applications act like the carrot before the horse: Virtual and augmented reality, brain-computer interfacing and the anticipation of uploading one’s mind into an artificial carrier, ubiquitous connection to the global network, cybernetics and chip implants, Artificial Intelligence (AI), robotics and self-replicating machines, nanotechnology, genetic manipulation, chemical switches for mood control and sharpened awareness, and cryonics for those who can afford to invest in a projected reawakening.

Using these technologies and predicting their impact on individuals and civilization, the offering of perfectibility—of forging an optimal species with near infinite capacity through the works of our hands – becomes more than just a tantalizing dream. It becomes a faith.

The other option is to remain as we are, reside in our limitations, struggle for a few decades and die. This is unacceptable.

Thus, science becomes salvific with hope placed in the speculations of what technology may bring.

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Endnotes

1. World Government Summit, 2023 speech by Klaus Schwab, “The State of the World” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cDybeNbFJXE&t=8s), 9:45 minute mark.
2. Andreas Wailzer, “Klaus Schwab Says Whoever Controls AI, Metaverse ‘Will be the Master of the World’” (Lifesite News, February 15, 2023, https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/klaus-schwab-says-whoever-controls-ai-metaverse-will-be-the-master-of-the-world); “Schwab gave a talk titled ‘The State of the World’ at the annual World Government Summit (WGS) in Dubai on February 13, [2023] which was held under the theme ‘Shaping Future Governments.’”
3. World Economic Forum Annual Meeting: https://www.weforum.org/events/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2023.
4. Anna Bruce-Lockhart, “Experts Explain: How Will the Metaverse Change Our Lives?” (World Economic Forum, February 8, 2023, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/02/metaverse-jeremy-bailenson-experts-explain).
5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cYWQHkPFkI.
6. Ibid.
7. Oliver Wright, Steven Swinford, “Give Digital IDs to All, Urge Tony Blair and William Hague” (The Times (UK), February 22, 2023, https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/digital-id-passport-uk-tech-william-hague-tony-blair-3bsrwswmz).
8. Brian McGleenon, “UK Official ‘Super App’ for Citizen Economic Data Rollout Inevitable, Says Top Banker” (Yahoo Finance, UK, February 7, 2023, https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/uk-official-super-app-citizen-economic-data-rollout-inevitable-122119749.html).
9. Ibid.
10. “Pandemic Prevention, Preparedness and Response Accord” (June 28, 2023, Q&A, https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/pandemic-prevention–preparedness-and-response-accord).
11. Emma Farge, “WHO Pandemic Treaty: what is it and how will it save lives in the future?” (WEF website, May 26, 2023, https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/05/who-pandemic-treaty-what-how-work).
12. Ibid.
13. “Immunizing the Public Against Misinformation” (WHO, August 25, 2020, https://www.who.int/news-room/feature-stories/detail/immunizing-the-public-against-misinformation).
14. “Bank of England to Consider Digital Money Plan” (BBC, April 19, 2021, https://www.bbc.com/news/business-56799726).
15. Victoria Masterson, “What Are Central Bank Digital Currencies?” (https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/08/what-are-central-bank-digital-currencies).
16. Maya Wang, “China’s Techno-Authoritarianism Has Gone Global” (Human Rights Watch, April 8, 2021, https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/04/08/chinas-techno-authoritarianism-has-gone-global).

*Banner #1 from the World Economic Forum website. Banner #2 from https://efinancemanagement.com/financial-management/black-swan-event.

**Banner #3 from: https://debatepolitics.com/threads/generation-like.186610.

***Banner #4 from the World Economic Forum website.

****Banner #5 from UK Parliament House of Commons Library: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-9550.

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