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Bible Prophecy Through The Ages

The True Battleground – Part 1

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The True Battleground
Part 1
By RL Forrest

Table Of Contents

INTRODUCTION
BATTLES OF FAITH
“I AM THE LORD THY GOD”
GNOSTICISM

INTRODUCTION

Today, Biblical Christianity is in the midst of a tremendous battle. This is true even in America, where many of our public institutions were established upon Biblical foundations and faith. Atheistic social change agents have worked continuously to erase all traces of the God of the Bible from our public institutions and from the public mind. They mistakenly believe that they are liberating themselves from what they view as spiritual bondage. But in truth, even their atheism is a faith, a religion, and a spiritual path.


In a recent landmark ruling, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals acknowledged this fact. This decision reversed a ruling by a U.S. District Court which had censored the religious speech of students. The Appeals Court stated, “Cleansing our public schools of all religious expression… inevitably results in the establishment of disbelief – atheism – as the state’s religion.” Christians already know that atheism is a religion of disbelief. Moreover, we know that disbelief in the existence of God results in the belief that man is his own god.

BATTLES OF FAITH


Many of our battles of faith in America have found themselves in the courtroom. The U.S. Supreme Court recently decided not to entertain a case regarding the display of the Ten Commandments at a municipal building in Elkhart, Indiana. (1) This decision let stand a lower court’s ruling that the display of the Ten Commandments was a violation of the United States Constitution. Supreme Court Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, and Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas dissented from the rest of the court. In their dissent, Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote:
“Indeed, a carving of Moses holding the Ten Commandments, surrounded by representations of other historical legal figures, adorns the frieze on the south wall of our courtroom.”
However, Justice John Paul Stevens, defended the Court’s decision to let stand the lower court’s ruling. Justice Stevens wrote:
“Even though the first two lines of the monument’s text appear in significantly larger font than the remainder, they are ignored by the dissenters. Those lines read: ‘THE TEN COMMANDMENTS – I AM the LORD thy God.’ The graphic emphasis placed on those first lines is rather hard to square with the proposition that the monument expresses no particular religious preference.”


As Christians, we know that it is those very words: “I am the LORD thy God,” that are driving a wedge between the Biblically faithful and faithless in this country. It is because of those very words, that our institutions have become battlegrounds of faith. The recent furor over the phrase, ‘One nation under GOD’, in our Pledge of Allegiance, is just another battle in this war. Christians generally can see this kind of spiritual battle clearly in terms of black and white. But can we see the battle when we are dealing with subtle shades of gray? Can we see where the true battleground really is?

“I AM THE LORD THY GOD”

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20: 2-3


God first revealed the existence of the two spiritual pathways to humanity in the Garden of Eden. One way leads to life, and the other to death. There, in the midst of the garden, grew the “tree of life” and the “tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” God had placed Adam and Eve in the garden, then gave them clear instruction on how to survive in that very beautiful place:


“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17


Adam and Eve were given the same choice that we are all given today. There was, and is, a way to eternal life. If you don’t make the choice for life, you will die. From the beginning of time, God has clearly revealed this basic truth to humanity. Yet, Adam and Eve freely discarded God’s word. Moreover, they rebelled against God’s command to obey it. But first, came the serpent.


Satan had already embarked on the road of rebellion. When he came to Eve in the garden, he planted a seed, the lie, in her mind, “Ye shall not surely die.” Even though this statement was a complete contradiction of God’s word, it appealed to Eve’s curiosity, and she continued to listen. Then the serpent appealed to Eve’s pride, saying, “For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3: 4b-5). When Eve saw the tree was “good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise” (Genesis 3:6), she was beguiled. Eve willingly joined the rebellion, followed by Adam. Satan had succeeded in undermining God’s word in the minds of Adam and Eve.


Far-reaching consequences have come as a result of Adam and Eve’s choice. Sin took humanity captive, and death became our inheritance. In Genesis 3:22-23 we read:


“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.”


All of humanity has consequently been born with a sinful nature and separated from God. As a result, we spend our lives, trying to find our way back to God. Although there appears to be many roads that we can travel, there is only one way that will take us back to the one, true God. Sadly, most people never choose that road. Most people will choose at some level to play god themselves, and build their own spiritual road to heaven.

GNOSTICISM

As with Adam and Eve, the quest for godhood and spiritual enlightenment has sparked the curiosity of many throughout the ages. These spiritual seekers have come to be known as ‘gnostics’, and their belief system as ‘gnosticism’.


Today, gnosticism is known by many names, such as Theosophy, and the New Age Movement. But ‘New Age’ thinking is not so new. Its spiritual roots are in the Garden.


Gnostics seek a higher spiritual plane, and find it, through the ‘divine spark’ that they believe lies inherent in themselves and in every human being. The problem, they believe, is not a sinful humanity, but a slumbering humanity, who are totally unaware of who they really are, gods. Once ‘awakened’ to their own divinity, gnostics actively pursue the perfection of their souls through a smorgasbord of ‘spiritual’ foods readily available today in the marketplaces of our ‘global village’. Gnostics are ever-evolving and ascending into the perfection of godhood. It does not matter where gnostics are in their spiritual journey, for once they have been gloriously ‘awakened’, they become spiritual giants, who walk amongst the common masses of humanity.


Gnosticism’s appeal is timeless, playing to our human nature in two very important ways: by enticing our curiosity and inflating our pride. First, gnosticism promises the revelation of deeper spiritual knowledge that is hidden from the common, “less spiritual” masses. Then gnosticism promises spiritual perfection, even personal divinity, to those willing to follow its teachings. In this way, the gnostic can enjoy a spiritual ‘elitism’, gained by his willingness to open himself up to hidden knowledge and his willingness to turn from old, ‘simplistic’ spiritual beliefs, what ever they may be.


“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3

References
(1) Court Refuses Ten Commandments Case, Anne Gearan, Associated Press, updated 5/29/2001

Gnosticism And The Da Vinci Code Part 3

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By RL Forrest

“Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions,
rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.” 1 Timothy 1:4


The Da Vinci Code is a modern story, based on the age-old heresy of Gnosticism. The author, Dan Brown, uses mystery as a tool to entice his audience. He then uses deception to indoctrinate his audience into Gnosticism, the faith of the New Age. Gnostics believe that the divine spark lies within each of us, waiting to be recognized and cultivated. Mankind will enter a New Age when it becomes fully enlightened. This is a message that appeals to the modern audience. By crafting a present-day mystery story, Brown carefully presents this old Gnostic fable dressed in contemporary clothes for his modern audience. As with all Gnostics, Brown seeks to muddy the waters of the Christian faith by surrounding the events of the New Testament and the early church with mystery. By beguiling his audience in such a way, Brown hopes to leave his audience standing precariously on shifting sand, looking for some solid ground. Then Brown supplies a new footing built upon the old Gnostic gospels and endless fabricated genealogies of Christ. By the end of the story the deception is complete.

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3

In The DaVinci Code, Dan Brown mystifies the events of the New Testament by presenting them as mysteries that have yet to be solved. Should we trust the early church fathers that carefully assembled the books of the New Testament? Who are the true apostles of Christ? Can we trust the witnesses in the Gospels? Can we trust Matthew, Mark, Luke and John? Should we trust the Gospel of Luke, or the Gnostic Gospel of Thomas? Questions like these permeate Brown’s story. Why is this so important?

The Gospels and the New Testament tell us who Jesus Christ really is. To the Christian, Jesus Christ is fully God and fully man, the Savior whose coming was prophesied throughout the Old Testament, and fulfilled in the New Testament and in the future to come. To the Gnostic, Jesus Christ was a spiritually enlightened man who was showing people the way to their own personal divinity. The Gnostic Jesus has been stripped of his deity. This is not the Jesus we find in the Bible. The Biblical record and the Gnostic texts are diametrically opposed.

“Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit,
after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
For in Him dwelt all the fulness of the Godhead bodily.” Colossians 2:8-9

The Bible tells of man’s bondage to sin, his death penalty, and his need for a savior. To the Gnostic, man has a divine nature and has no need of a savior, because he can save himself. This is the same lie that Satan used to deceive Eve into rebellion.

“And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die:
For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened,
and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3:4-5

The Old Testament documents many human acts of rebellion against God. We see Adam and Eve’s fall from grace in the Garden. We see their first offspring, the murderous Cain. We see human rebellion in full bloom in Noah’s day with judgement following as a flood. As soon as man flourished on the earth again, he created Babel, and God responded by confusing the languages and dispersing the people. Judgement befell the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorrah in the form of fire and brimstone, while Lot’s wife was turned into a pillar of salt. Even heroes like Moses, Samson, King David, and Solomon fell short. We all do. Sin resides in the human heart and we are powerless to overcome it without a Savior. Jesus does not merely show us the way, He is the way.

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life:
no man cometh unto the father, but by me.” Matthew 14:6

Gnosticism And The Da Vinci Code Part 2

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Gnosticism And The Da Vinci Code
Part 2

By RL Forrest

“Woe unto them that call evil good,and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!” Isaiah 5:20-21


The essence of Gnosticism is the exchange of good for evil. We have seen this throughout human history. We have seen this from the beginning, in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve exchanged what God had revealed to them as truth, for the lie of Satan. There was no arm-twisting, no force, no violence. Satan simply presented God as the liar, the deceiver, the evil force in the world. He deceived Eve into believing that humans were really gods. She chose to believe Satan, as did Adam, and rebellion was born into every human heart since that time.

“Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden: but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to th eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat.”
Genesis 3:1-6

Gnosticism presents God as the creator of the world and the deceiver of mankind. Gnosticism presents God as a being who would keep the world in bondage by hiding the inherent divinity of humanity from every human born into the world. This is the lie that is presented in The Da Vinci Code.

Adam and Eve freely discarded God’s word and rebelled against God’s command to obey it. As a result of Adam and Eve’s choice, sin entered the world with far-reaching consequences. Sin took humanity captive, and death became our inheritance.

Carefully scripted, The Da Vinci Code reads like the mystery novels that have entertained us all. There are heroes, and there are villains. There are clues to be found and deciphered. There is also an underlying truth that has yet to be discovered. We are taken along on this adventure in order to discover Dan Brown’s truth – that the true Gospels are the Gnostic gospels.

Brown portrays the Catholic Church as the embodiment of Christianity on the earth. He cleverly draws on the Catholic church’s history to remind us of the Catholic church’s secretive and sometimes violent past. He then focuses on the modern day Catholic hierarchy with its secret organizations, specifically Opus Dei. He presents a great and sweeping cover-up by the Catholic church of the great spiritual truth which will be revealed gradually through the story. The great villain in The Da Vinci Code is the Catholic church. There is no doubt that Brown will find many in his audience that would agree with this contention. Others would not.

Brown takes us further on this spiritual journey by presenting the Gospels as fabrications of the Catholic church. By casting doubt on the truth of the Gospels, Brown is undermining faith in the Gospels as God’s divinely inspired word. If we lose our faith in the truth of the Gospels, we begin to question the basic tenets of Christianity, including the divinity of Christ. Those in Brown’s audience who are intrigued by those thoughts, would then want to know what the truth really is.

Brown then puts forth Gnosticism as this hidden spiritual truth, which is the basis of his story. Christ was merely a spiritually enlightened human, who tried to liberate humanity with the knowledge that all humans are inherently divine. Brown claims that the Catholic church has done everything in its power to keep this great spiritual truth hidden so that the Catholic organization could retain its spiritual control of the spiritually ignorant masses of this world.

Leonardo DaVinci’s famous painting, The Last Supper, is presented by Brown as an important clue, and a spiritual document that portrays Jesus and a hidden Mary Magdalene next to him, in the chief seat amongst his disciples. Gnostics contend that Jesus married Mary Magdalene and fathered a lineage that Brown calls the real “Holy Grail”. We know that the Catholic church claims direct lineage through the Apostle Peter. Brown further polishes his story by telling how the Catholic church hunted and persecuted not only Mary Magdalene, but all in her lineage in an attempt to wipe them off the face of the earth. The modern day heroine of Brown’s tale is the sole survivor of this royal lineage. She, along with the intellectual hero, fight off the villains and unravel the mysteries showing us all the Gnostic path to divinity.

In the ending scenes of The Da Vinci Code movie, the hero, portrayed by Tom Hanks, declares his past reliance on a divine Jesus Christ when he was a child, but now believes as an adult that the divine resides in us all. Dramatically, on his own, he then discovers the final mystery of the story, the location of the tomb of Mary Magdalene. At Mary’s tomb, he bows down and worships at the altar of human divinity.

Gnosticism And The Da Vinci Code Part 1

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By RL Forrest

Dan Brown’s book and the movie, The Da Vinci Code, have sparked much debate and interest both inside and outside Christian circles. What’s important to remember is that The Da Vinci Code presents a different Jesus and a different gospel that is based on the age-old heresy of gnosticism. To take a look at gnosticism, we must start with its entry into the world, in the Garden of Eden.

“I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the house of bondage.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2-3

In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given the same choice that we are all given today. From the beginning of time, God clearly presented the way of life and the way of death.
“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

Satan entered the garden, and planted a seed – the lie –“Ye shall not surely die”. Although this lie contradicted God’s word, it appealed to Eve’s curiosity. She was enticed, and her mind was opened to it. Then the serpent appealed to Eve’s pride.

“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil” (Genesis 3: 4b-5).

Eve saw the tree was “good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desired to make one wise.”(Genesis 3:6). Eve was beguiled. She willingly joined Satan’s rebellion, and Adam followed behind her. Satan had succeeded in undermining the truth of God’s word in the minds of Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve freely discarded God’s word and rebelled against God’s command to obey it. As a result of Adam and Eve’s choice, sin entered the world with far-reaching consequences. Sin took humanity captive, and death became our inheritance.

“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,
to till the ground from whence he was taken.” Genesis 3:22-23
Consequently, all of humanity has been born with a sinful nature and separated from God. As a result, we spend our lives trying to find our way back to God. There is only one way back to a right relationship with God, and that is by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. God has clearly presented this choice to all mankind. Sadly, most people will not do that. Most people will choose at some level to be gods themselves, and build their own spiritual road to heaven.

As with Adam and Eve, the quest for godhood and spiritual enlightenment has sparked the curiosity of many throughout the ages. These spiritual seekers have come to be known as gnostics and their belief system as gnosticism. Today gnosticism is known by many names, and it is behind all false religions and ideologies, including the New Age Movement. But New Age thinking is not new. It’s spiritual roots are in the garden.

Gnostics seek a higher spiritual plane and find it through the ‘divine spark’ that they believe lies inherent in every human being. The problem, they believe, is not a sinful humanity, but a slumbering humanity who are totally unaware of the ‘god’ within them. Once ‘awakened’ to their own divinity, gnostics actively pursue the perfection of their souls through a smorgasbord of ‘spiritual’ foods readily available today in the marketplaces of our global village.

Gnostics are ever-evolving and ascending into the perfection of godhood. It does not matter where gnostics are in their spiritual journeys, for once they have been gloriously ‘awakened’, they become spiritual giants who walk among the common masses of humanity.

Gnosticism’s appeal is timeless, playing to our human nature in two very important ways: by enticing our curiosity and by inflating our pride. This is the same deceptive trap Satan set in the garden. Once snared, the gnostic is given promises of knowledge and power. Gnosticism promises the revelation of deeper spiritual knowledge that is hidden from the less spiritual masses. Gnosticism promises spiritual power through the cultivation of personal divinity. Throughout the journey, the gnostic enjoys a spiritual ‘elitism’, gained by his/her willingness to turn away from the old, simplistic, spiritual beliefs and by his/her willingness to open up to the unknown.

Gnosticism is a spiritual deception that has been with humankind from the beginning. Gnosticism is a spiritual deception that the Apostle Paul battled in his time, and that Christians are still battling today.

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3
In the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve were given the same choice that we are all given today. From the beginning of time, God clearly presented the way of life and the way of death.

“And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” Genesis 2:16-17

Satan entered the garden, and planted a seed – the lie –“Ye shall not surely die”. Although this lie contradicted God’s word, it appealed to Eve’s curiosity. She was enticed, and her mind was opened to it. Then the serpent appealed to Eve’s pride.

“For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” Genesis 3: 4b-5

Eve saw the tree was “good for food, and pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desired to make one wise.”(Genesis 3:6). Eve was beguiled. She willingly joined Satan’s rebellion, and Adam followed behind her. Satan had succeeded in undermining the truth of God’s word in the minds of Adam and Eve.

Adam and Eve freely discarded God’s word and rebelled against God’s command to obey it. As a result of Adam and Eve’s choice, sin entered the world with far-reaching consequences. Sin took humanity captive, and death became our inheritance.

“And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever: Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden,
to till the ground from whence he was taken.” Genesis 3:22-23
Consequently, all of humanity has been born with a sinful nature and separated from God. As a result, we spend our lives trying to find our way back to God. There is only one way back to a right relationship with God, and that is by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. God has clearly presented this choice to all mankind. Sadly, most people will not do that. Most people will choose at some level to be gods themselves, and build their own spiritual road to heaven.

As with Adam and Eve, the quest for godhood and spiritual enlightenment has sparked the curiosity of many throughout the ages. These spiritual seekers have come to be known as gnostics and their belief system as gnosticism. Today gnosticism is known by many names, and it is behind all false religions and ideologies, including the New Age Movement. But New Age thinking is not new. It’s spiritual roots are in the garden.

Gnostics seek a higher spiritual plane and find it through the ‘divine spark’ that they believe lies inherent in every human being. The problem, they believe, is not a sinful humanity, but a slumbering humanity who are totally unaware of the ‘god’ within them. Once ‘awakened’ to their own divinity, gnostics actively pursue the perfection of their souls through a smorgasbord of ‘spiritual’ foods readily available today in the marketplaces of our global village.

Gnostics are ever-evolving and ascending into the perfection of godhood. It does not matter where gnostics are in their spiritual journeys, for once they have been gloriously ‘awakened’, they become spiritual giants who walk among the common masses of humanity.

Gnosticism’s appeal is timeless, playing to our human nature in two very important ways: by enticing our curiosity and by inflating our pride. This is the same deceptive trap Satan set in the garden. Once snared, the gnostic is given promises of knowledge and power. Gnosticism promises the revelation of deeper spiritual knowledge that is hidden from the less spiritual masses. Gnosticism promises spiritual power through the cultivation of personal divinity. Throughout the journey, the gnostic enjoys a spiritual ‘elitism’, gained by his/her willingness to turn away from the old, simplistic, spiritual beliefs and by his/her willingness to open up to the unknown.

Gnosticism is a spiritual deception that has been with humankind from the beginning. Gnosticism is a spiritual deception that the Apostle Paul battled in his time, and that Christians are still battling today.

“But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.” 2 Corinthians 11:3