REMEMBER THE POOR THAT LIVE AMONGEST YOU

Matthew 5.42″Give to him who asks of you, and do not turn away from him who wants to borrow from you.”

How many times have I walked past a homeless person who asked for some change? This is a direct command of the Messiah in the Sermon on the Mount. If I am to name Christ as my Lord then I must do as he says (Luke 6.46). Once John Wesley was walking down the road on a snowy day and he passed by a woman who was wearing only a very thin piece of cloth. He reached into his pocket and found only a couple of pennies. Suddenly, a realization hit him as he recalled buying a painting earlier that day: the money that would have clothed this poor creature of God is adorning the wall in my house. He never made that mistake again. He made sure he had money on him to give to him who asked. Do you have extra money on you so that you can “give to him who asks of you?”

Matthew 6.3 “But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing”

Jesus said, WHEN you give to the poor. This is not an optional activity. This is standard operating procedure. Giving to the poor is supposed to be normal. Do you regularly give to the poor?

Matthew 25.31-46 “But when the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. All the nations will be gathered before him; and he will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and he will put the sheep on his right, and the goats on the left.Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. ‘For I was hungry, and you gave me {something} to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me {something} to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited me in; naked, and you clothed me; I was sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, and feed you, or thirsty, and give you {something} to drink? ‘And when did we see you a stranger, and invite you in, or naked, and clothe you? ‘When did we see you sick, or in prison, and come to you?’ “The King will answer and say to them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of mine, {even} the least {of them,} you did it to me.’

Then he will also say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave me {nothing} to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me nothing to drink; I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in; naked, and you did not clothe me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit me.’ “Then they themselves also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ “Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Imagine a college professor giving his students the exact questions that were going to be on the test the next day. Imagine if he gave both the questions and the answers. Wouldn’t it be bizarre if one of the students said, “I know he said these are questions and answers but I’m not sure if I really believe him. Does he really expect us to take him literally?” Jesus has already told us what he is going to say on Judgment Day. He is going to divide the people into two categories based on how they treated the hungry, thirsty, strangers, naked, sick, and imprisoned. I am not implying that if we do this one thing then we can “earn” our way into the kingdom but I’m sure of one thing: if we don’t do this we will be thrown into the “eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels.” Do you seek out the hungry, thirsty, sick, strangers, naked, and imprisoned in order to minister to Jesus by providing for their needs?

Luke 6.20, 24 “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God…but woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full.”

When is the last time you visited a poor Christian’s house and thought to yourself, “God must really be blessing this person, look how poor they are.” It is just the opposite. We enter a wealthy Christian’s house and they show us all of their “blessings” from God (big screen TV, Play Station 3, stylish curtains, fancy woodwork, rare paintings, etc.). How did we ever get so confused? Jesus is in the business of flipping everything upside down and we need to adjust our mindset to match his words. He said, “Blessed are the poor” that means the poor are blessed, simple as that. [Note: I am not saying that the poor who live in a constant state of covetousness are blessed. The ones who have to have the most stylish clothes, live above their means, play lotto incessantly, and have satellite hookups to watch worldly entertainment, have not “died to self” and need to repent. I am talking about followers of Christ who are poor]. Do you consider the poor blessed?

Luke 14.12-14″When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you; for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Have you ever done this? Have you ever, even once, thought to yourself, “Who should I have over for dinner tonight, hmm… the Jones are pretty poor, they can’t even afford a car, I think I’ll invite them because they can’t repay me.” Of course not, we think to ourselves, “I’d like to have the Browns over because I enjoy their company and I’ll have a good time.” Perhaps we need to make a mental change here. Will you invite over the lame, blind, crippled even if it makes you uncomfortable?

Luke 19.8-9 “Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, ‘Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.’ And Jesus said to him, ‘Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham.”

The specific thing he mentioned to Jesus was that he gave to the poor and didn’t rob anyone through collecting taxes. Jesus response was simple, ‘Today salvation has come to this house.’ He could have eaten with anyone, why did he choose Zaccheus? Isn’t it ironic that we are not as righteous as this tax collector?

Acts 6:1-3Now at this time while the disciples were increasing {in number,} a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic {Jews} against the {native} Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food.} So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, “It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve
tables. “Therefore, brethren, select from among you seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may put in charge of this task.

The early church took care of widows as part of their daily ministry. In fact, this issue was so important to them that they searched to find seven men who were “of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” This was an important job that needed to be done right and the early church understood that taking care of the poor was crucial. Do we find our top people to take care of our poor, or is the care of the poor an afterthought?

Acts 10.3-4″About the ninth hour of the day he clearly saw in a vision an angel of God who had {just} come in and said to him, ‘Cornelius!’ And fixing his gaze on him and being much alarmed, he said, ‘What is it, Lord?’ And he said to him, ‘Your prayers and alms have ascended as a memorial before God.’”

Why did God send Peter to Cornelius? I’m sure there were plenty of others around that needed to hear the life-saving gospel of the kingdom. However, Cornelius was “a devout man and one who feared God with all his house-hold, and gave many alms to the Jewish people and prayed to God continually” (Acts 10.1). Nonetheless, when the angel spoke to Cornelius he mentioned his prayers and alms had ascended to God and that is why men from Joppa are coming to give you a message. Do your prayers AND alms ascend to God?

1 Corinthians 13.3 “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”

Giving to the poor needs to be the expression of love not some mechanical, heartless endeavor. There is no profit in God’s eyes for grudgingly giving out of obligation. Is your giving to feed the poor done out of love?

Galatians 2.9-10And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, so that we {might} {go} to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. {They} only {asked} us to remember the poor–the very thing I also was eager to do.

The only thing James and the apostles were concerned with was giving to the poor. It is remarkable that taking care of the poor was such a priority for the early Church. Paul is delighted to hear this request because giving to the poor was “the very thing I also was eager to do.” Are you eager to give to the poor?

James 1.27 “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world”

Is your Christianity pure and undefiled? If so then you visit the less fortunate and you are not conformed to the world. Giving to the poor is a central part of being a disciple of Christ. May God grant us repentance in this area of our Christian walk. What excuse can I bring to the Lord of Lords on the Day of Judgment? When he says to me, “Why didn’t you care for the hungry, sick, thirsty, lame, downtrodden, widows, orphans, social outcasts, and imprisoned?” Will I say to him, “they were the lazy poor” or “they would have gotten drunk with the money” or “they would have gambled with it” or “it’s better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish” or “welfare takes care of them” or “I didn’t know.” Then he will say, “‘Depart from me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry, and you gave me {nothing} to eat…” There are plenty of Christians in third world countries slowly starving to death. We need to get outside of our little box and really seek to do what our Lord has commanded.

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The Mystery of the anti Christ.

“And now I have told you before it comes to pass, that when it comes to pass, you may believe.” John 14:29 (NAS)

The Devil’s ulterior motive is to deceive Christians, Jews and all creation to worship him. Since the final destination of Christians is with the Father in heaven, he tries to minimise the number by deception. It looks like he will be very successful for many will be deceived by him. Once they worship the Antichrist (the Devil himself or his incarnate), they will immediately lose their salvation. Therefore, the Antichrist together with his antichrists or agents (false christs and false prophets) will go forth to mislead the Christians. With the many signs and wonders they perform, all mankind will be amazed, and many Christians and Jews will be misled by him into damnation.

“And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors have reached their fullness, a king shall arise, having fierce features, who understands sinister schemes. His power shall be mighty, but not by his own power; he shall destroy fearfully, and shall prosper and thrive; he shall destroy the mighty, and also the holy people. Through his cunning he shall cause deceit to prosper under his rule; and he shall exalt himself in his heart. He shall destroy many in their prosperity. He shall even rise against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without human means.” Dan 8:23-25

The Antichrist is the incarnate of the angel of light (the Devil). He is extremely cunning and has great knowledge of sinister schemes in deceiving Christians. During his rule on earth, deception of Christians abounds and prevails. He wants to deceive all Christians if possible, for he is the enemy of our Lord. He exalts himself to be the messiah; thus he goes forth with signs and wonders to deceive mankind (especially Christians) to worship him. His sinister schemes of deception are extremely effective and these will enable him to deceive many Christians including the very elect. He comes as our Lord’s imitation, thus blaspheming Him. He will be killed by the glorious appearing of our Lord at Rapture.

The Conquerors of the Promised Land

“There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time. And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seventh, and is going to perdition. The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.” Rev 17:10-13

After God had showed Abraham the Promised land of Canaan, He said that it will belong to his descendants as an eternal inheritance, the followings nations were past conquerors of the Promosed land until the days of John at Patmos around 100 AD.

“There are also seven kings. Five have fallen, one is,

The sixth conqueror, at the time of John’s writing, then, was the Romans, who ruled Israel under the name of Syria Palestine until the Mohammaden’s rule in 638 AD.

and the other has not yet come. And when he comes, he must continue a short time

The seventh Ruler is the Mohammadens, who possessed the Promised Land until 1948AD with some breaks in between.

After 1948AD, Israel became a nation and rules the Pormised land for the first time since they were carried away to Babylon by king Nebechednezzar almost 2,500 years ago.

And the beast that was, and is not, is himself also the eighth, and is of the seventh, and is going to perdition.

Israel will once again be conquered and this time by the beast, the 8th conqueror of the Pormised land. This beast is of the seventh conqueror, meaning that he will be a Mohammedan. But his rule will be very short and he will be cast to hell.

Interestingly enough, the 7th. conquerors of the Promised Land (Israel or Palestine) were all Mohammedans (clay – Religious) from Arabs (Political) and then from Turks (Political) and also from Egyptians (Political) spanning a period of almost 1500 years.

From the chart above, the Antichrist must be a Mohammeddan.

Where will the Antichrist come from ?

So I asked, “What is it?” And he said, “It is a basket that is going forth.” He also said, “This is their resemblance throughout the earth: Here is a lead disc lifted up, and this is a woman sitting inside the basket”; then he said, “This is Wickedness!” And he thrust her down into the basket, and threw the lead cover over its mouth. Then I raised my eyes and looked, and there were two women, coming with the wind in their wings; for they had wings like the wings of a stork, and they lifted up the basket between earth and heaven. So I said to the angel who talked with me, “Where are they carrying the basket?” And he said to me, “To build a house for it in the land of Shinar; when it is ready, the basket will be set there on its base.” Zech 5:6-11 (NKJ)

From the above scripture, Wickedness represents `that Wicked’ (2 Thess 2:8) or the great dragon, the serpent of old, the Devil or Satan, whose ulterior motive is to deceive mankind and especially Christians so that they too will not enter into the kingdom of God.

And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:  II Th 2:8 (KJV)

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. Rev 12:9 (NKJ)

The land of Shinar in Iraq is now occupied by the Shia Muslims. The land of the Shia Muslims covers  the land of Shinar, the banks of lower part of the River Euphates and Iran.

Thus, the Antichrist will be a Shia Muslim from Iraq or Iran.

The Ten Horns

They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be remembered no more.” For they have consulted together with one consent; they form a confederacy against You: The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab and the Hagrites; Gebal, Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre; Assyria also has joined with them; they have helped the children of Lot. Selah Ps 83:4-8 (NKJ)

Note: The Palestinians are mainly the descendents of Lot

The ten horns which you saw are ten kings who have received no kingdom as yet, but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.” Rev 17:12-13

The moment Israel attacks Iran, the Antichrist (beast) from Iran will fight back, then all the middle-East nations comprising ot the 10 tribes (see the list above), will fight alongside Iran by attacking and conquering Egypt and Israel.    Read more

The Seven Heads

Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns, and on his horns ten crowns, and on his heads a blasphemous name. Now the beast which I saw was like a leopard, his feet were like the feet of a bear, and his mouth like the mouth of a lion. The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority. And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” Rev 13:1-4 (NKJ)

The dragon gave him his power, his throne, and great authority.

The beast is the incarnate of the Devil or the Devil himself

And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded,

If one of the head was mortally wounded indicates that this head is a human being (or antichrist).

And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, having seven heads and ten horns

The seven heads means seven antichrists will  assist the Antichrist (beast) or Devil incarnate.

The antichrists, who are possibly the incarnates of cohorts of Satan, are the Devil’s agents or enemies of God. A total of seven effective and powerful antichrists (i.e. some Rulers of the rich Arab world, Presidents, Prime ministers of powerful nations, rich individuals and religious leaders) were mentioned in the last days with the `Antichrist’ (man of sin, son of perdition, lawless one, wicked one or Wickedness or the Devil’s incarnate and he is possibly an Iraqi/Iranian ) the most fearful as stated in II Thess 2.

Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour. I Jn 2:18

During the end time, when many antichrists appear to mislead Christians to apostasy, then we will know that the Antichrist (Devil’s incarnate) will be appearing soon.

Only the Antichrist from Iraq/Iran is mentioned in Scripture and he will become the most powerful and fearful among them all. He will conquer all the Arab nations and Jerusalem. He will allow the Jews to come back to build the temple of God. There will be peace and prosperity during his short rule. He will then sit in the temple of God proclaiming himself the `messiah’. Many including Christians will be deceived by him. His 7 special antichrists will be very powerful, rich and influential individuals worldwide, and when the Antichrist appears, they will hand over their authorities and powers to him.

However, true disciples (Elect of God) of our Lord Jesus Christ will be rejected by nominal, worldly, carnal and misled Christians. They will be betrayed by these fearful Christians to the authorities to be tortured and killed as radicals and apostates. During their martyrdom viewed by all mankind, the Holy Spirit will use their mouths to preach the everlasting Gospel. Thus all mankind will have the Gospel preached to them prior to Rapture. These faithful Christians (true disciples) were found worthy to be the elect of God and to be taken from this world prior to the Wrath of Satan.

The Wrath of Satan

And I saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.

The antichrist will be killed by the glorious appearing of the Lord At Rapture.

At Rapture, Satan will be cast down to the earth for good and he will use the dead body of the antichrist for his reincarnation.

So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; and they worshiped the beast, saying, “Who is like the beast? Who is able to make war with him?” And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months. Then he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme His name, His tabernacle, and those who dwell in heaven. It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them. And authority was given him over every tribe, tongue, and nation. Rev 13:5-7 (NKJ)

Hallelujah. Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.

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