Every July 4th Americans celebrate our country’s independence. As we look at what is happening in our country today, it’s hard to close our eyes to the constant loss of freedom and still celebrate independence. But that doesn’t mean we should become cynical and angry! In fact, if we read the warning signs, we can actually allow this to propel us into the greatest times of awakening the world has ever seen! We, the believers, hold the key to what’s coming next!
Americans have been seduced by an antichrist spirit. We call it patriotism; it sounds honorable, even noble; but it is actually a unique form of rebellion and unbelief deeply rooted in the rebellion that took place with Adam in the Garden of Eden! I’m sure this statement makes some of you recoil and possibly question my patriotism. But maybe it’s time we redefine our concept of patriotism so it aligns with Biblical truth.
When our hope is more deeply rooted in our country than our God, it’s not patriotism; it’s idolatry. I have been very politically involved since the mid-seventies. The more I learned about the “Christian right” the more saddened and discouraged I became about the Church’s future and our country’s future. I saw believers more passionate about politics than God. People’s hope for the country was vested in the next election rather than the power of godliness! We had substituted our faith in godliness with a particular political party or politician.
When we think of “antichrist,” we conjure an image of the ultimate antichrist who attacks and openly opposes all things relating to God: Scripture, Jesus, Faith, and morality! That is exactly what the ultimate manifestation of the antichrist will do! However, the antichrist spirit has been at work in the world since the rebellion in the garden. It took on the form of the first global superpower at the Tower of Babel under Nimrod, the first antichrist, when a world leader substituted everything God had taught man with a humanistic doctrine.
From Babel until now, the spirit of Mystery Babylon has been the philosophy of predominant world leaders. Generation after generation, it has grown stronger every day. While establishing myriad laws that promised to make the world safer, the Church slept! Religious leaders ignored the conflict between God’s morals and the world’s morals. In years gone by, they misquoted scripture as their reason for passing laws that subtly replaced God’s Word. The more laws that were passed, the more lawless the world has become.
Lawlessness is the most destructive form of wickedness, but it is woven into the fabric of nearly all political parties and even at the core of most orthodox Christian doctrine. The spirit of iniquity will grow in the world, giving rise to a full-blown Antichrist, the man of iniquity, until all that is of God will be attacked and persecuted.
This insipid evil is currently gaining ground at unthinkable speed. It is unnoticed because it’s not through open opposition to truth but through offering reasonable substitutes for God’s truth. Iniquity was birthed in the heart of Lucifer, and it will be consummated in the heart of a wicked world leader with one goal… to destroy all that God loves: the human race!
Lucifer went from being an archangel to a condemned rebel leader through a process. Ezekiel 28:15 describes that process. “You were perfect in your ways from the day you were created, till iniquity was found in you.” Iniquity is the ultimate pride. It is the claim that our ways are wiser than God’s; our mercy is greater than God; we are more righteous than God; we can be our own gods and create a better world in our own image!
The KJV says in Ezekiel 28:17, “thou hast corrupted thy wisdom by reason of thy brightness.” The word reason has an array of possible interpretations, and almost all sources agree that it represents a downward spiral. One source presents the idea of reasoning, which could be what we would call rationalizing or extrapolation.
Extrapolation is a process of reasoning that starts with something that could be true but then applies that logic in ways that are no longer true, thus the downward spiral. Lucifer looked at his own splendor (brightness), he ignored the fact that he was a created being; therefore, the praise should not go to him for his splendor; it would go to his creator. Extrapolation is like realizing you are right about one thing and using that to argue you are right about everything.
Iniquity is, however, more than the rejection of God’s truth. It goes even further to create substitutions for truth. The substitution is usually something that, as an isolated statement may be true, but when applied to the complexities of life, it is no longer true and will cause more damage than it solves.
Our entire justice system has been dismantled by this process. For example, a murderer’s life is valuable! That is a true statement. All life is precious to God. When that logic follows its course, however, we reach the insane conclusion that the murderer’s life is more valuable than his victim’s life. His rights are protected more than the victim’s rights!
Here’s another common extrapolation: People are the product of their environment. Truer words have never been spoken. But through the process of extrapolation, society reaches the bizarre logic that says if people are the product of their environment, we cannot hold people accountable for their crimes because it’s not their fault.
I could give hundreds of examples where we substitute God’s morals, values, and ethics with humanistic logic, thereby calling God a liar. This is the spirit of iniquity, which exudes from Lucifer, the father of all lies!
Our country is no longer free. We have become slaves to sin and death. We have created yet another extrapolation; freedom means we can do what we want. First of all, our country is a constitutional republic. We have personal freedoms, but our laws are very clear that when our exercise of freedoms violates the rights of others, we are not free; we are criminals.
Our courts have no commitment to justice. We the people have given the power to politicians and judges with track records of voting for iniquity. The laws they pass testify to their commitment to an antichrist spirit! They don’t serve God, they don’t serve the people, they don’t serve the nation; they serve their own greed and lust for power. Yet, it seems the body of Christ never realizes how far we have fallen until it costs our lives.
The global, orthodox church abdicated its responsibility to lead mankind in righteousness. In fact, the Church is rapidly becoming the predominant promoter of iniquity. It is no longer woke to talk about righteousness, godliness, or morality. We substituted the Bible with Freud! We have exchanged the truth for a lie.
It seems that much of the Church in America has substituted faith in Jesus with hope in government. Sadly, the government fails us over and over again. Every problem in our country is caused and sustained by corrupt political and religious leaders. I don’t know if our country will ever recover, but I do know this: countries do not recover. People recover when they awaken unto righteousness. An awakening among believers is the awakening of a country! We hold the key to the future of America and the world! We don’t have to change our country; we simply need to change our hearts!
I hear people all around the world express their hope and belief in one last great worldwide revival. While I hold that same belief, I can assure you that it will not happen the way most believers expect. This will not be the product of a particular church, denomination, or organization. This will be an awakening of individual leaders who fully surrender to Christ choosing to walk in love, and to faith and truth!
Messages like this are challenging to hear. But they are essential. I don’t want this to turn into condemnation. But I do want to awaken every believer! The Bible says, be angry and sin not, Ephesians 4:26. You may have gotten angry as you read this letter. If that anger is focused toward the government or the Church, you are allowing your anger to lead you into sin! If, however, your anger leads you to personal repentance and a commitment to love the truth, you are on your way to an awakening!
With your continued help, Impact Ministries is fully committed to developing political and Christian leaders in America and the world. We are diligently working to raise one billion disciples across the globe. We pledge to continue to promote the Gospel of the Kingdom to the ends of the earth until the body of Christ is ready to invite Jesus to return and rule the earth in righteousness.
Blessings,
Jim