There is a false concept found almost exclusively in Western Christianity—that everyone will be the same in heaven. The Scriptures refute this. Americans seem especially devoted to this concept, but the phrase in our Declaration of Independence that “all men are created equal” was a political statement, not a theological one. This was addressing equal rights under the law, which was one of the greatest and most noble concepts ever promulgated by a government, but it is not true in any other way.

     As covered, the biggest gate of hell was opened into the church when positions of authority in the church became based on the approval of men rather than God. This began in the early fourth century when the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire. Officials of the empire were required to be Christian. This caused all manner of ambitious and evil people to enter the church to gain favor with the government, not because of a true conversion.

Many Christians are expressing that they have never seen the devil so active, seemingly attacking on every single front with no let up. This should encourage us! The greatest revivals in history all came during such times. We are seeing the first signs of another Great Awakening in America, and the greatest days of America can yet be in our future, not our past. There is only one thing we need to do:

As we covered last week, to know the time of our visitation is crucial and to miss it brings judgment. The Lord called the people who could not discern the signs of the times “hypocrites.” To not be devoted to understanding the times and what God is doing in them, reveals that we don't care much for these most crucial issues and that our heart is not really devoted to His purposes.

As I travel, I continually hear about a basic conflict between "seeker-friendly" churches and those who feel they are leading Christians to a deeper or more substantial discipleship. I am personally thankful for both types. I believe both certainly have merit and are even necessary. However, I do not think that it is best for them to be separate, and certainly they should not be in conflict with each other. In fact, they need each other.

As we studied last week, love is the essential foundation for all true discernment. This is why we teach our prophetically gifted people not to trust a negative revelation about anyone they have been hurt or rejected by, but rather resolve to pray for them, grow in love for them, and only accept positive revelation about them until they are healed of any rejection or resentment. Of course, this is a principle and not a law. Principles have exceptions, but we have found this to be one that rarely has an exception.

It is interesting that the last aspect of the fruit of the Spirit is “self-control” (Galatians 5:23). Many Christians, in seeking to become submitted to the Holy Spirit or to eschew glory for anything that is accomplished through them spiritually, often say such things as: “That was not me—that was the Lord.” This may be a noble attempt to not take glory for things accomplished by the Lord, but it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of how the Spirit actually does His work.

Using the Lord’s discourse in Matthew 24 concerning the signs of the end of the age, we have examined a few of the conditions that we may expect to unfold. Again, we are not just studying the signs to know them, we want to also be prepared for them. If we understand them, we will understand all that the Lord is allowing in our lives.