What in the World is Going On? Part II

What in the WORLD is going on?
Part 2
5-28-23

Last week we discussed the introduction of conflicting ideologies in the Garden of Eden, and how that has continued to wreak havoc in the world ever since.

We also discussed the importance of John 8:31-32
John 8:31 Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.
John 8:32 And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."
Conversely, if we are NOT abiding in His Word, will we or even CAN we know the truth???
The answer is no! Apart from Jesus, who IS the way and IS the truth, and IS the life, as revealed in His Word, we can never know the truth or be free!

We also discussed how ALL things pertaining to life and godliness are found in the knowledge of Jesus as recorded in Scripture.
2 Peter 1:2, John 1:1-4, John 5:39

We discussed that we should be like the sons of Issachar:
1Ch 12:32 of the sons of Issachar who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their brethren were at their command;

And we discussed the importance of Christians not being people who are triggered (violent explosion just waiting to happen).

What's the best way to avoid that?
1Pe 3:14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. "AND DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THEIR THREATS, NOR BE TROUBLED."
1Pe 3:15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
1Pe 3:16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.

This week we will be discussing Agendas, end goal, of the two (and there's only two!) ideologies;
God's agenda: Truth
vs
Enemies agenda: Everything else!

We'll start with God's agenda. As we read last week,
Isa 46:9 Remember the former things of old, For I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me,
Isa 46:10 Declaring the end from the beginning, And from ancient times things that are not yet done, Saying, 'My counsel shall stand, And I will do all My pleasure,'
Isa 46:11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.

Fun facts:
These were not idle words! Consider vs 11 above;
Isa 46:11 Calling a bird of prey from the east, The man who executes My counsel, from a far country. Indeed I have spoken it; I will also bring it to pass. I have purposed it; I will also do it.
This passage references a particular man in history. His name was Cyrus, the ruler of the Persian Kingdom.

See Isaiah 44:24-45:7
Isa 44:24 Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, And He who formed you from the womb: "I am the LORD, who makes all things, Who stretches out the heavens all alone, Who spreads abroad the earth by Myself;
Isa 44:25 Who frustrates the signs of the babblers, And drives diviners mad; Who turns wise men backward, And makes their knowledge foolishness;
Isa 44:26 Who confirms the word of His servant, And performs the counsel of His messengers; Who says to Jerusalem, 'You shall be inhabited,' To the cities of Judah, 'You shall be built,' And I will raise up her waste places;
Isa 44:27 Who says to the deep, 'Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers';
Isa 44:28 Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid." '
Isa 45:1 "Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held— To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:
Isa 45:2 'I will go before you And make the crooked places straight; I will break in pieces the gates of bronze And cut the bars of iron.
Isa 45:3 I will give you the treasures of darkness And hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the LORD, Who call you by your name, Am the God of Israel.
Isa 45:4 For Jacob My servant's sake, And Israel My elect, I have even called you by your name; I have named you, though you have not known Me.
Isa 45:5 I am the LORD, and there is no other; There is no God besides Me. I will gird you, though you have not known Me,
Isa 45:6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting That there is none besides Me. I am the LORD, and there is no other;
Isa 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I make peace and create calamity; I, the LORD, do all these things.'
Isa 45:8 "Rain down, you heavens, from above, And let the skies pour down righteousness; Let the earth open, let them bring forth salvation, And let righteousness spring up together. I, the LORD, have created it.
Isa 45:9 "Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, 'What are you making?' Or shall your handiwork say, 'He has no hands'?

God describes Cyrus's military career and capture of the Babylonian empire in detail through the prophet Isaiah.

Here's the amazing thing though, Isaiah records this detailed prophecy 150 years before it happened!
God called Cyrus by name, which means God even decided what Cyrus would be named, AND God outlines his military career and exploits before they happened, so God carefully orchestrated his military exploits, all the while describing them in past tense!

Tradition records that when Cyrus arrived at Babylon several days after his general conquered the city, Daniel met him at the city gate with the Book of Isaiah in hand and showed Cyrus these prophecies with his name on them!
Cyrus was so blown away that he freed the Jewish captives immediately and assisted them in returning to their homeland.

Never forget that if God has an agenda, IT WILL COME TO PASS!!!!!!!
Despite what you may see with your eyes that might suggest otherwise, GOD IS IN CONTROL!

What is God's agenda for man?

Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Gen 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.
Gen 3:8 And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden.
Gen 3:9 Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?"

In a word, FELLOWSHIP!
But not just as He fellowshipped with Adam and Eve in the beginning, something much better!
Col 1:24 I now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ, for the sake of His body, which is the church,
Col 1:25 of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God which was given to me for you, to fulfill the word of God,
Col 1:26 the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.
Col 1:27 To them God willed to make known what are the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles: which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Col 1:28 Him we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus.

Rev 21:1 Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.
Rev 21:2 Then I, John, saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
Rev 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God.
Rev 21:4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."
Rev 21:5 Then He who sat on the throne said, "Behold, I make all things new." And He said to me, "Write, for these words are true and faithful."
Rev 21:6 And He said to me, "It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts.
Rev 21:7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son.

God's agenda, if you will, is the redemption, restoration, glorification, and unification of mankind to Him in Christ Jesus for the purpose of eternal fellowship and the mutual love between God, who IS love, and all who come to Him through Jesus Christ by faith.
John 4:23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.
John 4:24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."
John 4:25 The woman said to Him, "I know that Messiah is coming" (who is called Christ). "When He comes, He will tell us all things."
John 4:26 Jesus said to her, "I who speak to you am He."

That's the short version of God's agenda; To love and be loved and worshiped in return.

So what about the enemies agenda?
As we read last week, Jesus said in John 10:10
John 10:10 The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

The enemy seeks to separate God from His creation. To steal, kill and to destroy that which God loves. John 3:16...

His weapons start with pride and include doubt, confusion, division, outright lies, lies woven with partial truths, hatred, murder, envy, strife, adultery, idolatry, etc.
Gen 3:1 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?"
What seems like an innocuous question is actually something never seen before by man; Questioning what God said.

Gen 3:2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;
Gen 3:3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' "

Gotcha!.....

Gen 3:4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. It is only at this point that the devil makes an outright contradiction of God's command...
Gen 3:5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
Gen 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, pride of life.
1Jn 2:16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

Satan uses anything at his disposal to distort the truth and drive people away from God. Nothing is off limits!

He is relentless, tireless, ruthless, deceptive, prideful, rebellious, immoral, degenerate, full of hate, wrathful, and power hungry. One of his strongest weapons is to use our own ungodly desires against us!
Jas 1:13 Let no one say when he is tempted, "I am tempted by God"; for God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He Himself tempt anyone.
Jas 1:14 But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed.
Jas 1:15 Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.

He is the god (little g) of this age and desperately wants to hang on to that title, even though it is a temporary position! (see Rev 12:9, & 20:1)
He is the accuser of the brethren who accuses us day and night before the throne of God.
He is the coming antichrist, the red dragon, the serpent of old.
He was a murder from the beginning, and remains so to this day.

Hell was created for him and his fallen angels, not for man. Yet his desire is to drag as many as he can there.

These are just some of his methods and titles but the goal is always the same, he only comes to steal, kill, and destroy!

Competing ideologies with the associated competing agendas is the root of everything we see going on today.

How can we be sure of which is which?
Mat 7:12 Therefore, whatever you want men to do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.
Mat 7:13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.
Mat 7:14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Mat 7:15 "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.
Mat 7:16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles?
Mat 7:17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.
Mat 7:18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.
Mat 7:19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 7:20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

The most complex appearing situation or topic can be evaluated by this simple truth: You shall know them by their fruit!

This is a foundational truth that applies to understanding our times from a Biblical perspective.
And it doesn't just apply to false prophets! This principle applies to agendas and the details at work to bring them about.
Gymnast
Builder
Boxer

Pick a news story, virtually any news story, listen to the report AND assess the manner in which it's presented, and you can likely tell what ideology is being supported!

Along with knowing that God has an agenda (which Satan opposes) we also need to be secure in the knowledge that God has a schedule and a timeline associated with it. Nothing happens by chance or blind luck!

There are events that happen at the end of our history that are being prepared and propagated right now!
Last week we discussed Genesis 11, how Nimrod, the first recorded world dictator, unified humanity AGAINST God's command to multiply and fill the earth (spread out) by building a city and a tower to make a name for themselves in direct defiance to God's will.

God confounded their language, thereby sending them throughout the earth.

That was a picture of what will transpire during the tribulation period when there will be a global government, religion, commerce, and power structure of the devil's making.

God disrupted his plans in Genesis 11, because it wasn't time yet!
However, the devil has never abandoned his plan for full control which we call Globalism! One worldwide power control system with a single wicked ruler will be a reality, but only in God's timing. It appears the time is closing in rapidly...

There have been two primary entities that stand in his way:
The United States and Israel. These two nations have to be dealt with in order to bring about the enemies agenda.

There is actually a "trigger" in the Bible that sets into motion the events that wrap up history.
That trigger is the Nation of Israel!

Every born again believer has a part to play in the kingdom.
If we are to be effective in the kingdom we must:
Be born again!
Abide in His Word and be His disciples
Know the truth and be made free
Know them by their fruit
Put on the whole armor of God
Stand!