WE ARE LIVING IN THE AGE OF PROMISE

[Daniel Martinovich]

There was a promised and prophesied age spoken of throughout the scripture where the influence of God's invisible government would be the dominate force in the earth. Where believers would finally be able to serve God without fear and be free from the oppressions that plagued the ancient world. An age of unbelievable prosperity and freedom. We are in that age and it is on display in the nations that are meeting some basic conditions. Yet even though 100's of millions of Christians live and walk in earthly blessings that never existed in the 8000 year history of mankind. Blessings that came through the power of the Gospel, the Word of God and God's providence. Blessings that are not just bestowed but have to be won. Some how some way; 90% of Evangelical \Pentecostal Christians have been bewitched, conned into accepting a lie that we are living in the end times of the last two ages long gone.

This has had two major effects in the world. The first is that a veil has descended over the eyes of believers regarding the hundreds of chapters of promise and prophecy in the Bible regarding age they are living in. Saving and transformative faith comes through the knowledge of God as revealed in his Word. Without people agreeing with God based on the knowledge of his Word. There can be no resulting faith that saves or transforms. This leads to the second effect. Exactly like Adam\Eve empowered Satan to rule the world, by accepting his lies. Christians; more than a billion of them are empowering Satan to be a dominate influence in the worlds politics and culture because they have accepted his lies and not believed the Word of God that says the polar opposite about the future than ALL THE POP CULTURE END TIME TEACHINGS. This is why a very wicked and motivated minority of people have been able to politically and culturally dominate a much larger majority of people that God is actually with. They, Christians have given this power to Satan and cannot take it from him despite all their prayers that God would love to answer....but needs agreement with, and then faith in his Word to effectively answer.

Here, if you are interested are just three of the hundred plus chapters about this age. Pretty amazing that Bible reading Christians in mass cannot see that these prophecies are fulfilled, being fulfilled in this age. Even more amazing that a religious establishment of college educated pastors and teachers across the whole swath of denominational Christianity would consider what is in these chapters and the multitude of others like them to controversial to allow to be taught from their pulpits.

http://wordservice.org/Bible Prophecy/bp4000.htm

 

[Tolworth John]

Where believers would finally be able to serve God without fear and be free from the oppressions that plagued the ancient world. An age of unbelievable prosperity and freedom. We are in that age

I look forward to hearing how you experience this freedom and prosperity when you move to north Korea.

Or maybe you are moving to a muslim country to show them the freedoms and prosperity in Jesus.
Sudan likes to lock Christians in shipping containers, do report back what life is like in them.

 

[Daniel Martinovich]

I look forward to hearing how you experience this freedom and prosperity when you move to north Korea.

Or maybe you are moving to a muslim country to show them the freedoms and prosperity in Jesus.
Sudan likes to lock Christians in shipping containers, do report back what life is like in them.

You didn’t carefully or thoughtfully read my post. I said conditions have to be met and the promises have to be won. The blessings are not simply dispersed from heaven, nor could they be.
The difference between this age and all the previous ages is this: In this age the blessings can be won if certain circumstances are met. In past ages the nesassary circumstances could not be met and therefore the promises could not be won.

Think about that when you are contemplating what I assume is your apocalyptic vision of the future. Your telling entire regions of the world that Jesus is returning to judge the world. Therefore, if they believe that they have no incentive to learn what conditions need met then to work towards that multigenerational goal. Nor can they win the blessings, even if they fight for them. If they manage to meet the conditions so that a fight will win the groundwork for the fulfillment of the promises. Then it would all happen inadvertently. By chance.
Don’t you think God’s people would be more successful if they knew what needed to be accomplished and work in Christ to get there?
Both times I went to Africa and preached in their churches. The most evident thing about them was their complete and total ignorance of the spiritual, intellectual and cultural change necassary to get where they wanted to be. They had no idea of all the steps they needed to take to develope and have what the USA has. They work day and night to skip all of it and enter into their promises land. They had a hard time understanding why I was telling them that historically. Once the general population gets Bibles and then has the Gospel preached in power. It took about a century for the cultural transformation nesassary for them to be able to develope and meet the necassary conditions. I told them very sternly that they are only about 50 years into this and can thwart the whole enterprise if they are not careful. Not the message they wanted to hear. People who want to prosper don’t nesassary want to hear what they have to sacrifice now so their grandchildren can prosper the way a present generagtion wants to.

 

[Tolworth John]

You didn’t carefully or thoughtfully read my post. I said conditions have to be met and the promises have to be won. The blessings are not simply dispersed from heaven, nor could they be.
The difference between this age and all the previous ages is this: In this age the blessings can be won if certain circumstances are met. In past ages the nesassary circumstances could not be met and therefore the promises could not be won.

Think about that when you are contemplating what I assume is your apocalyptic vision of the future. Your telling entire regions of the world that Jesus is returning to judge the world. Therefore, if they believe that they have no incentive to learn what conditions need met then to work towards that multigenerational goal. Nor can they win the blessings, even if they fight for them. If they manage to meet the conditions so that a fight will win the groundwork for the fulfillment of the promises. Then it would all happen inadvertently. By chance.
Don’t you think God’s people would be more successful if they knew what needed to be accomplished and work in Christ to get there?
Both times I went to Africa and preached in their churches. The most evident thing about them was their complete and total ignorance of the spiritual, intellectual and cultural change necassary to get where they wanted to be. They had no idea of all the steps they needed to take to develope and have what the USA has. They work day and night to skip all of it and enter into their promises land. They had a hard time understanding why I was telling them that historically. Once the general population gets Bibles and then has the Gospel preached in power. It took about a century for the cultural transformation nesassary for them to be able to develope and meet the necassary conditions. I told them very sternly that they are only about 50 years into this and can thwart the whole enterprise if they are not careful. Not the message they wanted to hear. People who want to prosper don’t nesassary want to hear what they have to sacrifice now so their grandchildren can prosper the way a present generagtion wants to.

Sarcasm doesn't come across well in print.
The whole prosperity gospel in all its shapes and forms is a lie.

 

[Daniel Martinovich]

Sarcasm doesn't come across well in print.
The whole prosperity gospel in all its shapes and forms is a lie.

That is what I was teaching them. As per American preachers they think the Gospel brings supernatural prosperity and that is their ticket out of perpetual inter generational poverty.
Contrary to that. What I was teaching them is the Gospel\the Word of God brings the long term cultural changes necessary for national prosperity.
They have to become much more culturally moral. They have to believe in and adopt the rule of law rather than the rule of men. ( The few corrupt rich ruling over the poor masses.) Property rights have to be regarded as sacred. Etc etc. They have a difficult time grasping they idea of someone building a business. Sacrificing, working 16 hours a day. Mortgaging anything they own. Going bankrupt along the way. Going without a paycheck but your employees get paid. Staying married to the same person. But then at around 50 years old becoming quite wealthy. The reason they can’t just do that is there is no such thing as property rights. Because once they overcome all those obstacles in life and get a little wealth. Everybody around them wants it, including government officials and feels totally justified in taking it by force because....well they have so much and we have nothing.

Or what is common is so many places still. Their are demonic class and race structures. Where if you are on the lower part of the pecking order, and you do as our business person does. The upper classes will simply have you murdered to keep you in from breaking out of the mold.

When people are so immoral. There is simply no incentive to break the cycle of of the poverty stricken masses because of the examples I just listed.

We in the west were exactly the same. As bloodthirsty, vile, violent , all around evil as ISIS. But we got the Gospel via the grace of God. Then later (much later, 1400 years later.) we got Bibles into the hands of the general public. God was able to work massive cultural change in westerners through that. That has born lots of fruit. Like the end of perpetual despotic government. The end of legal human slavery. Property rights. Rule of law. End of polygamy. End of actual as opposed to figurative idolatry. The list goes on and the wicked seek to bring us backwsrds, but.

Are you saying this is not for the developing world? That God does not want to long term do for them as he has done for us?

 

[Tolworth John]

Are you saying this is not for the developing world? That God does not want to long term do for them as he has done for us?

God wants people to come to a saving knowledge of him and to live that out in their lives.

Two resources you might find interesting.
'The missionary roots of liberal democracy.'
and
'Why Africaa needs Christianity by Matthew Parish'
You'll have top search for this, but it is well worth reading.

 

[Daniel Martinovich]

God wants people to come to a saving knowledge of him and to live that out in their lives.

Well duh. But that is not the dispute here. The dispute is over the extent of how we live that out in our lives.
From What Is The Government Of God?
The way Gods government works on earth could be likened to the ultimate grass roots organization. Its only mode of gaining ground is through personal interaction on a strictly individual basis. Truth and reality are employed in this personal interaction that is both divine and spiritual in nature. It is left to the individual to voluntarily accept by faith, or reject both the divine interaction and the truth that is presented. In this sense the Government of God is revelatory, instructive, motivational and administrative on a specifically individual scale. In the broadest sense of this personal relationship God is referred as Father; in which the child is completely dependent upon for every necessity of life. This is the totality of the basis or foundation of the (prophesied) Government of God in the earth. This not only represents it's humble beginnings but also the basis of its end. It is the beginning because God in his sovereignty created moral agents in such a way that limits his control over them to that which can persuade a voluntary change of heart on their part. He cannot change their hearts by physical or miraculous force or coercion. It is the end because God will not and indeed cannot establish moral governance in the earth without the cooperation of men.

If step one in God's program to govern the earth is to get an individual to accept that governance. To birth it into that individual. The next feature or step lays in the physical nature of moral agents. If an individual accepts truth and embraces reality, especially if it came through divine agency. By physical necessity it will have an effect on that individuals behavior. The adulterer will seek reconciliation with their spouse. Parents that cared little about their children will commit themselves to love them and seek their betterment. The womanizer and sexually immoral, the inappropriate content user will restrain their appetites and seek a new nature. The politician and the lawyer will stop lying, the thief will stop stealing. The same conditions that brought the behavioral changes will also cause those who have discovered this new way of life to tell others about it. This is done in hopes of bringing others to the same experience. The care and love brought into hearts by Christ's sacrifice and resurrection power will cause these individuals to employ all kinds of means in their efforts to bring others to Christ. In their minds it is an essential part of their faith to see others reconciled to the government of God that they too may find the promise of eternal life. These are the perfectly natural effects of a voluntarily embraced personal relationship with the God of truth and love......

As steps one and two involve a process that God is initiating and intimately involved in with the cooperation of people. The continuation of the same exact process by it's very nature involves cultural and political change. This is quite a bit more complicated than the initial steps because there are so many different factors involved. Perhaps this is one reason why the subject has not been thought through by so many. It is easier to just leave the glass half full so to speak than to bring basic teachings to their fullest extent when it involves very complicated situations in culture and politics. What needs to be understood though is that this process is totally natural to the point of being unavoidable. What effects people personally will quite naturally effect culture and politics. When individuals lives are radically transformed by an intimate relationship with heavenly and eternal things. There will be a physically unavoidable effect in their personal behavior and their relationships. This carries over in exactly the same manner to their political and cultural viewpoints. Again, to deny this is to deny the very nature of moral agents and is tantamount to denying that the faith of Christ has any bearing in the thoughts and actions of individuals who have discovered the grace of God. It would be saying that heavenly and eternal things can be contained in the heart but cannot show themselves in any form or fashion in the natural world. Kind of a ridiculous suggestion but in fact this is the position doctrinally for most Christians as far as their view of the future is concerned.
If one person coming to Christ can change the culture of a family. If the culture of a family is changed, if children are now born to Christian parents. If these people are winning more souls. then the same holds true for a village or a community. If a community or a people groups culture is changed. If a significant minority of them are soul winning evangelical Christians and if a majority of them accept Christian principles in law and government. Then a nation can be changed in the same manner. If a nation can be changed (and their have been nations changed this way,) then the whole world can be changed. There are no brakes on this vehicle except self imposed ones. You cannot intellectually admit to change taking place at a family or local level and at the same time reject the same vehicle's ability to change a nation or the whole world. Yet for the last century the majority of believers have boldly announced that the world is getting worse and worse and will end in a final cataclysmic event that will usher in the Kingdom of God. To the authors knowledge there has never been a more effective propaganda campaign than what the devil himself hatched in the hearts of God's people than the utter falsehood that the world is more evil than it was before. There is no comparison between our world today and the ancient world. To say that there is the height of ignorance or arrogance. The very worst that our world today has to offer was the common practice, the norm of the ancient world. The very best our world today has to offer was only a dream of thinkers and prophets. Even today without any working knowledge of this subject in the hearts of so many of God's saints, the vehicle moves forward. Yes! even though the saints deny any such thing is happening, even when they totally disagree with God and the reality on the ground. Hearts are being changed, cultures are being transformed, and darkness is giving way to light in many nations. The next few paragraphs will look at a working knowledge of this process.