WHERE ARE ALL THE DEAD?

I read a news report about a murderer in the United States who was given the death sentence and the family of the victim wished that the condemmned murderer will "forever burn in hell". In many of the funeral wakes I have attended, the pastors invariably comfort their parishioners that their deceased loved ones "are now in heaven enjoying a blissful life with Jesus". Are such beliefs based on biblical truth, or are they adapted by some novelists who popularised these notions on misunderstood biblical verses? We shall soon find out.

The belief that man has an immortal soul started at the Garden of Even when Satan lied to Eve with the statement, "You will not surely die" (Genesis 3:4).  Make no mistake, the Bible is uneqivocal that death is the absence of life - man does not have an immortal soul and there is no life beyond the grave. The Bible uses the word "sleep" to describe all those who are dead. The dead in Christ are not in heaven, neither are the "lost" burning in hell! All true disciples of Christ who are asleep are awaiting the first resurrection at the Second Coming of Christ. The rest of humanity are awaiting for the second resurrection to happen sometime towards the close of the millennium age.

The number of biblical verses supporting the above statements are simply overwhelming, and I shall attempt to quote some of them. Soloman states in Ecclesiastes 3:19-22, 'For what happens to the sons of men also happens to animals; one thing befalls them: as one dies, so dies the other. Surely, they all have one breadth; man has no advantage over animals, for all is vanity. All go to one place: all are from the dust, and all return to dust...For who can bring him to see what will happen after him?'  Only the spirit in man will return to God who gave it (Eccl 12:7b), but the spirit in man is not conscious of its existence, much like our physical DNA. Similarly, David says in Psalm 6:5, ' For in death there is no rememberance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks.'  The Psalmist in 115:17 says, 'The dead do not praise the Lord, nor any who go down into silence.'

The patriarch Job asks in Job 14:14,' If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes (First Resurrection - to become immortal born again spirit being)'  Job knows that God will hide him in the grave till His wrath is past (Job 14:13) - the coming Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord before he will be resurrected to immortality. The prophet Daniel was similarly assured by the Archangel Michael recorded for us in 12:13, ' But you go your way till the end, for you shall rest (die), and will arise to your inheritance (the kingdom of God) at the end of the days.' The same assurance was written by David in Psalm 17:15, 'As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness (born again as immortal spirit sons of God in God's divine Family).'

To put to rest the doubts of those who think that the New Testament era is different from the time before Christ, John 3:13 records the words of Christ, ' No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven.'  The Apostle Peter preached the same after Christ resurrection, ' Men and brethren, let me speak freely to you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.' (Acts 2: 29) ; ' For David did not ascend into the heavens' (Acts 2:34).

But many will quote Luke 23:43, saying that Jesus told the thief on the cross that 'today you will be with Me in paradise'. In the original manuscript there is no comma in the verse but added by bible translators. The correct translation should be, 'Assuredly, I say to you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.'  If Christ had promise the thief paradise on that very day, then Christ lied as He was in the grave for three full days. In fact, Christ did not ascend to heaven as yet when Mary Magdalene saw Him after His resurrection (John 20:17). What Christ was promising the thief on the cross was that since he repented, but was not baptised and did not receive the  gift of the Holy Spirit, he will not be in the first but in the second resurrection towards the close of the millennium age. By then planet earth would have been restored (Acts 3:21) to become a paradise much like before the Fall.

The Apostle Paul affirmed us that Christ has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep (1 Cor 15:20). He (Christ) is the first to awake from sleep (death) and the true church, who is the firstfruits (James 1:18) will follow likewise when He returns. Till then, all the dead - whether in Christ or not - are asleep in the grave (RIP) and their body sees corruption (decay). But those in Christ will be raised to immortality where there is no more suffering and death (1 Cor 15: 50-58). Only an immortal spirit body that has been born again in the likeness of Christ (1 John 3:2) will be able to enter and inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor 15:50).

Coming back to the story of those who wish that the murderer will forever burn in hell, this concept was popularised by novelists in the thirteen century and beyond. Many misunderstood the parable about the Rich Man and Lazarus recorded in Luke 16:19-31. That was not hell fire in the allegory. If it was so, can dipping the tip of a finger in water able to cool the tongue of the rich man in a fiery hell fire inferno? The allegory in Luke 16 is teaching us about humility and stewardship, and a special warning for those who are wealthy not to despise and marginalise the poor.

A passage in Revelation 6:9-11 is often used by those who to support their belief of the immortal soul. But this passage is an allegory to explain that the blood of the martyrs who died for the truth of the gospel will be avenged by God when the time for the numbers of those who are called and chosen has all come into the kingdom of God. Those martyrs who died in righteousness were told to rest a little longer (RIP) before justice is done.  For all died in faith (Hebrews 11:13), including all those in the hall of faith like the patriarchs of old and have yet to receive their promise of salvation.

Alas, do watch and pray for the time is coming when our redemption (from mortality to immortality) draws near (Luke 21:28). The good news is that after salvation, the sons of God will be earth bound to help govern the whole earth. Christ clearly states that in the Sermon on the Mount, 'Blessed are the meek, For they shall inherit the earth'. Those who are overcomers will become sons of God in God's divine Family (Rev 3:21) to form the Government of God with Christ as the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16). That in the nutshell, is the Gospel of the kingdom of God!

WHAT IS THE TRUE GOSPEL?

Many professing Christians assume that they understand what is the true gospel. Sadly, most do not. They assume that the true gospel is about the Person of Jesus Christ. But Christ came in the first century A.D. as a Prophet to bring the gospel of Good News from the Heavenly Father about the coming kingdom of God on planet earth. His first advent was first prophesied by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15. Though Christ is preached in conjunction with the gospel, He is not the gospel. This can be verified in Acts 8:12 when the Apostle Philip preached 'the kingdom of God AND the name of Jesus Christ'. Similarly, the Apostle Paul preached ' the kingdom of God AND teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ' (Acts 28:31).

Throughout the centuries, man has invented many gospels - all false - such as the gospel of grace, social gospel, the gospel of faith healing and many others. There is only ONE true gospel which was preached by all the Old Testament prophets  (Acts 3:21), our Lord Jesus Christ and the early Apostles. Christ Himself started the ministry of preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God after He was tempted by Satan to give up His mission.  Mark 1:14-15 records that 'Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, saying "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel."  He states categorically in Luke 4:43 that it was for this purpose of proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom of God that He was sent (by the Heavenly Father). In fact, most of His parables are in direct or indirect reference to the kingdom of God!

The deception is so strong (Rev 12:9) that the Apostle Paul warned the churches in Galatia not to pervert the gospel OF Christ (Galatians 1:7) - the very gospel of the kingdom of God that Christ came to preach. However, many went on to pervert it by changing it to the gospel ABOUT Christ! Christ preached the gospel even before He walked the road of Calvary. The Old Testament prophets preached the same gospel long before His first advent. The promise land is a typology of the kingdom of God. However, Christ was prophesied to come as a Messenger of the covenant (Malachi 3:1c).

Simply put, the gospel means Good News and kingdom means Government. Thus the gospel of the kingdom of God is about the coming Government of God which will be installed on earth at Christ Second Coming (Daniel 7: 13, 14, 18, 21, 22, 27; Rev 11:15; 20:4). Christ will be the King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev 19:16) and when every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Philippians 2:10-11).

There are four criteria for a kingdom - King (Lord Jesus Christ), territory (earth), citizens (humans who survived the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord) and laws (ten commandments and the law of Christ - Sermon on the Mount). Christ will rule with His disciples who will be resurrected in the First Resurrection (Rev 20:6) and born again as immortal sons of God in the Divine Family (Rev 3:21; 1 Jn 3: 2; 1 Jn 5:1). Many preachers are mistaken thinking that the kingdom of God is within the heart and mind of believers - all base on the wrong understanding and translation of Luke 17:21. Christ was speaking to the Pharisees who will not inherit the kingdom of God. In that verse, Christ was referring to Himself in the midst of them as He is the Divine Representative of the kingdom!

The Apostle Paul consistently preach the gospel of the kingdom of God recorded for us in Acts 14:22; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23 & 31. So did the Apostle Philip in Acts 8:12 where he differentiates the gospel from the person of Jesus Christ. Many sincere preachers quotes 1 Cor 15:1-4, mistaken the gospel (verse 1) to mean that Christ died for our sins (verse3). But they are two separate matters. Christ's role is important as without His death and resurrection, there is no forgiveness of sins and no means to enter the kingdom of God! The other Apostles like Peter (2 Peter 1:11) and James (James 2:5) also preached the gospel of the kingdom of God.

In Acts 3:19-21, the Apostle Peter refers to Christ Second Coming as the presence of the Lord, when all things (lost to Satan and sins) will be restored as the Garden of Eden before the Fall. The Lord Himself preached the gospel in all the cities and villages, synagogues (Matthew 9:35), healing every sickness and every disease among the people and He taught His disciples to do likewise (Matthew 10:7). All those who are the true disciples of Christ are commissioned to do so as recorded in Mark 16: 15-16, ' Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned'.  Can we not take heed?

Matthew 6:33 commanded us to seek first the kingdom of God and the Lord's prayer instructed us to pray, 'Thy kingdom come' (Matt 6:10). But the true gospel has not been preached since the early centuries and when those who do were martyred. But Christ prophesied in Matthew 24:14 that 'This gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end (of the church age) will come'. Are you ready? Do watch and pray that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things (Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord) - Luke 21:36!

WHAT IS THE HOLY SPIRIT?

Millions of Christians from various denominations the world over sing and worship the trinity - Father, Son and Holy Spirit. But is this the true God of the Bible, three-in-one? The fact of the matter is that the concept of trinity is never found in the Bible, it was 'invented' sometime in the fourth century A.D. by the Roman Catholic Church. Revelation 12:9 tells us that the world is being deceived by Satan who does not want human beings to know the real Creator - consist of two Supreme Spirit Beings - God the Father and God the Son, Jesus Christ. There is no  mention of a third God Being! The Holy Spirit is from God, but is not a unique Individual Person like the Father and Son who form the God-Head. Two supreme Persons but one in purpose and unity. Let's consider the facts  straight from the Bible.

1. Genesis 1:2 -The Spirit of God
The Spirit of God is the power of God, for Jeremaih 27:5 clarifies thus,' I have made the earth, the man and the beast that are on the ground, by MY GREAT POWER and by MY OUTSTRETCHED ARM, and have given it to whom it seemed proper to Me.
Similarly, Isaiah 59:1 states, 'Behold, the LORD'S HAND is not shortened, that it cannot save, nor His ear heavy that He cannot hear.'
All these show that the Holy Spirit is God's means for dealing with His creation. Perhaps, it is the Spirit of God that makes God omnipotent, omnipresence and omniscience!

2. Genesis 1:27 - Male and Female
God created human in His image with only two gender - male and female. Satan is trying hard to create a third gender to corrupt mankind. All who follow suit will face the punishment come the day of reckoning.

3. Psalm 51:11 - A Psalm of David
David repented of his sin with Bathsheba in Psalm 51. In verse 11 of the Psalm, David requested God to not take the Holy Spirit away from him. If the Holy Spirit is a third member of the trinity, he would have asked the Spirit of God directly not to leave him instead.

4. Daniel 7: 13-14 - The Coronotion of King Jesus
Daniel 7:13-14 portray the prophecy of the coming Coronation of Jesus Christ (the Son of Man) as the King of kings and Lord of lords by the Heavenly Father (Ancient of Days) in the coming kingdom of God. Even in such a magnificient occasion, there in mention of the presence or involvement of the Holy Spirit throughout the Coronation of Christ and the sons of God in the divine Family.
5. Joel 2: 28 - Pour out My Spirit on All Flesh
One cannot 'pour' a person onto another, let alone on all flesh. God is a PERSON, a supreme immortal Spirit Being and not a blob of nebulous creature like Gasper the Ghost! Those who beg to differ should read the Psalms and Ezekiel chapter 1 carefully.
6. Matthew 6:9-13 - The Lord's Prayer
In the Lord's Prayer, Christ did not teach His disciples to pray to the Holy Spirit. But always to address our prayer request to the Heavenly Father and ask it in the Name of Jesus Christ. Amen. In addition, when the Lord Christ was asked by His disciples when will the end of the (church) age be (Matthew 24:3), He replied, 'But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only.'  Clearly, this indicates that apart from the Heavenly Father, nobody knows. But there is no mention of the Holy Spirit for such an important event!

7. John 1 - The Word
John chapter one records the very beginning even before the universe was created. In the beginning was the WORD, and the WORD was with God and the WORD was God. He (The WORD) was in the beginning with God.
This tells us that before Jesus Christ was incarnated in the flesh, He was named the WORD - literally means the spokesman -  the WORD and GOD THE FATHER existed before everything else was created. There is no mention of a third being, let alone a supreme immortal SPIRIT GOD BEING!

8. John 17 - The Night Before Christ's Crucifixion
Christ prayed to His Father in heaven on the night before His crucifixion. Throughout the long prayer, not a single word was mentioned of the Holy Spirit in the conversation between the Father and the Son. If the Holy Spirit is a member of the trinity, surely He should be a part of the whole salvation plan of mankind!

9.Acts 8:18-19 - The power of miracles
Simon the sorcerer wished to purchased the power of God with money when he saw the miracles the Apostles Peter and John performed on the laying on of their hands to receive the Holy Spirit. Surely, Peter and John would have rebuked them for blasphemy if the Holy Spirit is a God Being. But that was not the case.

10. Ephesians 1:13-14 - The Holy Spirit is a guarantee of redemption
Romans 8:9-17 clearly spell out that only those who have the Holy Spirit dwelling within them (their mind and heart) and are led by the Spirit of God are true Christians who will be resurrected to immortal life as sons of God at the Second Coming of Christ. That is why all true believers have to be baptised by the Holy Spirit of God in order to receive resurrection!
The Holy Spirit is a seed of guarantee from God that this is His promise to all who are true believers. Nobody will use a person as a guarantee, let alone God.

11. Apostle Paul's Epistles
In all of Paul's opening epistles, he greeted the brethren with, 'Grace to you and peace from God our father and the Lord Jesus Christ.'  There is no any mention of greetings from the Holy Spirit in any of his epistles. In fact, there is no record of any dialogue between the Holy Spirit with any other being!

12. Hebrews chapter 1 - Conversation between Father and Son
Hebrews 1 records the conversation between the Heavenly Father and the Son Jesus Christ, but no mention ever of the Holy Spirit. It is about God's vision of establishing His Divine Family for the sons of God to be born into His Royal Family as immortal spirit beings. Satan was mad that he was never offered the privilege, but to mortal human beings.
The trinity is a closed family concept which Satan loves and invented to deceive humans, in an attempt to short change their full potential to become divine spirit beings. God's vision is an open family concept for Him to reproduce Himself by expanding His Family and Government which will never end (Isaiah 9: 7).

13 Passage in 1 John 5:7-8
Perhaps the most problematic passage is found in 1 John 5:7-8 where it states about the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit that bear witness as one. However, these two verses were never in the original Greek manuscript whcih was truly inspired. These were added by Latin Vulgate Translation probably sometime in the fourth century A.D. The Apostle John consistently used the words Father, Son and the Holy Spirit in his original manuscripts.

14 Revelation 1:1 - The Government of God
The beginning verse of Revelation shows the order of God's government in handling the Word of Truth. God the Father handed the scroll of Revelation to His Son Jesus Christ, and Christ in turn handed it to the angel. The latter then gave the vision to the Apostle John who recorded it down in the book of Revelation. There is no record of the involvement or presence of the Holy Spirit. The term Holy Spirit is not a name of a person, but a term used to indicate a place in ancient times!

15. Comforter and Blasphemy
Some defend that the Holy Spirit is a counsellor, comforter and one should not be blasphemed. It is worthy to note that the Holy Spirit is from God but not another God Being, unlike the Father and the Son. God works through His Spirit of power to accomplish His purpose for His church much like a surgeon works on his patient with miniature robot inside the patient's body but under the command and control of the medical expert. Like in ancient times, to reject the emissary sent from the emperor attracts the death penalty. Similarly, to reject the Spirit of truth sent by God is to reject God and that is blasphemous!

Some may ask why is it that the Holy Spirit is addressed as a 'He' in the Bible. The answer is that in the original manuscript written in the Greek language, there is no gender differentiation. The translator deemed it a 'He' but in Romans 8:16, the King James Version (The Authorised Version of the English Bible) translated as 'it'. So there is some inconsistency here in terms of translation.

The concept of trinity originated from Babylon shortly after the death of Nimrod. He was immortalised as Tammuz and together with his mother/wife Semiramis and their son Horus formed the first triad deity. Subsequent religious practises throughout the centuries also uses the triad deity concept in many Western and Eastern religions which the Bible condemns.

Revelation prophesied that God will judge every individual who practices such idolatry when Christ returns to set up the kingdom of God on earth (Rev 11:15), ' MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS, AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.'  (Rev 17:5). Will you take heed and be kept from the day of trial which will come upon the whole earth? Only those who do not bear the mark of the beast will ultimately be born again as immortal sons of God in the Royal Family to rule and reign with Christ the whole earth and after the Millennial Age, the universe!

THE 144,000 SEALED

The 144,000 mentioned in Revelation chapters 7:4-8 and 14:1-5 are the firstfruits called throughout the 6,000 years of man's history who will be born into God's Family as the sons of God. These saints of the first  resurrection (Rev 20:6) will reign with Christ in the kingdom of God when He returns to establish His rule on earth. They have not been defiled by false doctrine (woman represents false church) as they understood and practiced the purity of the truth (religious virgins) as commanded in Scriptures (Rev 14:4; John 4:24).

Noted that the 144,000 were sealed by the Holy Spirit (Rev 7:4; Eph 1:13). They also have the name of the Father written on their forehead (Rev 14:1), much like what Christ prayed to His Father on the night before His crucifixion (John 17:11), and the Apostle Paul who adds, 'I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named' (Eph 3:14-15). The 144,000 do not represent physical Israel but rather spiritual Israel - true Christians - who will be assigned to rule over the twelve physical tribes of Israel under Christ's twelve Apostles during the Millennial kingdom!

These 144,000 saints were from all ages past including those martyrs who died at the hands of the false church mentioned in Rev 17:6. Figuratively, the martyrs who 'cried' out to God for justice were told to wait for the number to be fulfilled (Rev 6:9-11). There are some who will fall away and new members added to the tally to make up the final 144,000 before the close of the church age. Christ warned His true disciples to 'hold fast what you have, that no one may take your crown.' (Rev 3:11). Paul affirmed this point in Romans that, 'blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in' . And so all Israel will be saved. (Romans 11:25-26).

It is worthy to note that the sealing of the servants of God happened just before the Great Tribulation when the angel cried out to the four angels not to harm the earth until the servants of God were selaed on their foreheads (Rev 7:1-3). The forehead represent the mental faculty of man where decisions are made, and that is what differentiate man from animals. It is in the heart and mind that the Spirit of God resides. These are the 'ten thousands of His saints' who will be in the first resurrection (Hebrews 11:35 - better resurrection).

The word 'seal' is mentioned in many passages in the Bible. Jesus Christ first mentioned this in John 6:27 when He said, 'Do not labor for the food which perishes, but for the food which endures to everlasting life, which the Son of Man will give you, because God the Father has set His seal on Him.' The Apostle Paul affirmed this truth in Ephesians 1:13, 4:30 and again in 2 Cor 1:21-22 where it states, 'God has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.'

Christ has said that His church is a little flock (Luke 12:32) and the 144,000 are the firstfruits of salvation (James 1:18; Rev 14: 4). Jesus Christ is the firstborn among them all (Rom8:29). Subsequent harvests will come during the Millennial Age with Christ on the throne as the King of kings and Lord of lords. As firstborn means God's choice, the 144,000 saints from all ethnic background and nationalities are the called and the chosen (Matthew 20:16)  who were predestined (Eph 1:4-5) to become immortal spirit beings as members of His Family. There is no doubt that the firstfruits are members of the true church of God who are called by His name (John 17:11).

THE GREAT MULTITUDE

Many Christians will not believe in a time of the Great Tribulation that will occur, setting the stage for Christ Second Coming. Revelation 7:9-17 mention the "Great Multitude" of people coming out of the Great Tribulation and will not have to undergo the Day of the Lord - the latter is a one year period of God's Judgment upon the earth. The use of future tenses will and shall in these verses indicate that the conversion of this Great Multitude happens only at Christ's Return. The Great Multitude came out of the Great Tribulation are not sealed with the Holy Spirit (as no mention of such), unlike the 144,000 who are sealed with the Holy Spirit which is specifically mention (Rev 7:4).

In Scriptures, the multitude refers to people of all nationality, race and tongue as can be seen in Exodus 12:38. There is no doubt that this refers to a large group of people all all segments of society and could number in the millions, ten of millions or more. The Lord Christ was very specific in His commandments to His first disciples to 'make disciples of all nations' (Matthew 28: 19-20), not just believers who believe that He is the Son of God Who died for their sins. Disciples are more than just believers as disciples are expected to live out Christ's words and commandments in every facet of their lives.

The 'Great Multitude' refers to in Revelations 7:9 are Christian believers and non-believers living at the time of the Great Tribulation from all corners of the globe, but they do not make the grade as disciples of Christ as they fall short of God's standard. They do not have the Spirit of God indwelling within them (no mention of having being sealed) but they repented during the Great Tribulation (time of Satan's wrath) and hence will not have to undergo the one year period of God's Judgment known as the Day of the Lord. The Great Multitude will be protected from the plagues set to unleash upon earth during the time of God's Judgment. The future tenses of will and shall indicate that their conversion is completed only at Christ's Return.

The number is inumerable as the exact figure of people that falls within this group has yet to be determined, kind of fluctuating as more people truly repented and experience true conversion while some have fallen away. This will intensity as the time of Christ's Return draws near. What this means is that some will be added to the list and some will drop out of salvation. Clearly, this shows that the doctrine of once save always saved cannot hold water.

When Christ returns, the resurrected saints will be born again as immortal spirit beings to rule and reign with Christ as the King of kings. But there will also be human beings who survived the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord moving into the Millennial Kingdom. The Great Multitude of people who have just being converted will serve under the sons of God as lords, with Christ as the Lord of lords. They will form part of the structure of human government of each nation on earth under the Family of God, which consist of Christ and the born again sons of God.

It is worthy to note that during the two-and-half year of the Great Tribulation, the Two Witnesses (Rev 11:3) sent by God will have warned the nations to repent to escape the coming Judgment of God. Those who understand Bible prophecies but have not believed and obeyed will repent in time to be part of the Great Multitude. Before the onset of the Great Tribulation, many Christians have been overwhelmed by  'the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful' (Mark 4:19). Sadly, only in adversity will people repent and turn to the true God for help and salvation.

THE ROOTS OF DECEPTION

From the time of Christ and His first Apostles, the true Gospel and all the accompanied truth from the Holy Scriptures were preached to faithful men and women who kept them by handing the truth down through the centuries. But it wasn't easy as detractors fought tooth and nail to destroy the truth as warned by many of the early Apostles in Scriptures. After the close of the first century A.D. with the passing of the Apostle John, things took a turn for the worse. Polycarp, a trusted disciple of John had to fight to defend the true faith.

At the Mount of Olives, Jesus Christ revealed to His disciples the key events to come that will usher His Second Coming recorded in Matthew 24. The books of Daniel and Revelation record corollary accounts of events leading to Christ's return. He prophesied that deceived preachers will preach about Him (Matthew 24:5) rather than His message commissioned by God the Father (Luke 4:43) on the coming kingdom of God. The Apostle warned of this in 2 Corinthians 11: 3-4. Many have turned the Gospel of Christ into a Gospel about Christ (Galatians 1: 6-9).

According to church history, all these falsehood and lies have their roots from Simon Magus, the sorcerer recorded in Acts 8. In A.D.45, Simon founded a competing church in Rome using a mix of Babylonian pagan practices with distorted Christian principles to destroy the true church of God that denied him an apostleship. His ultimate goal was domination of the  world religion and government. The Roman emperor Constantine the Great saw Simon's brand of Christianity as a unifying force for all the squabbling peoples of Europe and proceeded to legitimize the Universal or Catholic Church.

The Universal church, with its new found status from the backing of the Roman emperor began to grow in power and stature. The true church of God became its target for martyrdom. It cast aside the Bible as insufficient and introduced extra biblical doctrines and practices, often a mixture of paganism sourced from Babylon. Such persecutions against the true church of God are prophesied in Revelation 2: 8-29; 12:6, 13, 17; Daniel 7: 23-25, where Rev 12:6 prophesied the period of 1,260 years from A.D. 325 beginning with the Council of Nicaea and ending in A.D. 1585 when Catholic dominance in England ended. Verse 13 of chapter 12 speaks of Satan's attempt to crush the true church of God and the worse that is yet to come during the Great Tribulation (verse 17).

Many left the land of their birth to escape persecution. Among the faithful are God's people known as the Lollards, Paulicians and Waldenses, to name just a few. A wealthy French merchant named Peter Waldo was converted to the true faith and began to preach the kingdom of God as taught by Jesus Christ to His close disciples. The Catholic Inquisition led by Pope Innocent 111 condemned many true church members to martyrdom by burning them alive in 1211, with 80 of Waldo's followers died at the stakes.

The Catholic church forbid the reading of Bible by laymen and made it a crime punishable by death and also made illegal the translation of the Bible into the vernacular for the common folks. After the opening of theological education starting in Oxford and Cambridge, more scholars realised  that the Catholic teachings did not harmonise with the Holy Bible.

Scholars like William Tyndale made great efforts and sacrifices to produce the Bible in the English language. His life was often in danger with threats coming from the Universal church. By the time the King James version came on the scene in 1611 with King James 1 on the throne, Europe had endured two centuries of bloody war over the translation of the Bible. But the harm of heretical teachings among the early church had infiltrated in all quarters of church life save a small remnant belonging to those who are members of the true church of God.

Many had died to give Christians the privilege to read and study the Bible in the English language. However, many are unaware that the interpretation of the Bible had been distorted through centuries of wrong indoctrination from the Universal church. In Revelation 6:2, the Bible warns us of the emergence and spread of a false faith branded in Christianity. Such deception was and still is perpetrated through a mixture of paganistic practices and unbiblical doctrines and humanistic traditions with its origin from Babylon. As warned by Christ and the New Testament writers, the deception started right after Christ's ascension to heaven and the founding of the New Testament Church.

THE TRUTH ABOUT EASTER

Countless millions of Christians the world over celebrate Easter without a clear understanding of the true meaning behind it. The presumption is it commemorates the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. There is only one verse in Acts 12:4 which mentions the word Easter in the King James translation. But the correct translation should be Passover, as was the original meaning of the Greek word Pascha, there is no other meaning attached to the word.

The Passover tells the story of God's deliverence of the nation of Israel from their bondage in Egypt through the ten miraculous plagues. The people of Israel was commanded by God to keep it as a rememberance forever (Exodus 12:14). The Lord's supper was instituted to replace the need to slaughter a lamb as Christ is the perfect Lamb of God whose death has brought about our deliverance from sin and death. There is biblical command to observe the Passover (1 Cor 5:7-8), though in a new spirit, but no such command to observe Easter. Neither the Lord Christ nor any of the early Apostles observe Easter, save the Passover.

It is paradoxical that what the Bible commands, such as the observance of Passover (the 14th day of the first month of Nisan), few do; but no such Biblical injunction to observe Easter, most do. The origin of Easter is derived from pagan religion, with name like Ishtar, later changed to Easter. It has its roots from Babylon which traced back to Nimrod and his mother/wife Semiramis. Nimrod was also known as Tammuz and was worshipped as a god in Babylonian culture. Semiramis was also named Ishtar from which the  term Easter was derived. Ishtar was known as Astarte to the Greeks and Ashtoreths to the Jews - the worship of such goddess was condemed in Scriptures as an abomination to the Lord (1 Samuel 7: 3-4; Rev 17:5)! Their son Horus was also worshipped with horoscope become common practice in modern times. Centuries ago, the Anglo Saxon worshipped their fertility goddess named Eostre, from which the name Easter could have been derived.

After America was founded, Easter was first celebrated as a kind of spring festival to welcome the arrival of warmer climate in the northern hemisphere. Similar term like Lent also came from pagan religious practices and not from the Bible. The symbol of the easter egg is nothing more than an adaptation of the fertility rites of pagan worship and also a symbol of spring for the Europeans. All these are paganistic practices with a Christian logo embossed for credibility. Modern humanistic thinking and reasoning have given it a lift for purpose of commerce and publicity, albeit in the name of God!

The Easter rabbit has its origin from Egypt, where rabbit is a symblol of fertility due to their rapid rate of reproduction. None of these is ever mention in the Bible as these pagan lores predate Scriptures. The Apostle warned in 2 Cor 11: 3-4, 'But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he who comes preaches another Jesus whom we have not preached, or if you receive a different spirit which you have not received, or a different gospel which you have not accepted - you may well put up with it!' Whatever man may conjure up and do, dressing up pagan worship with Christian logo, God is not impressed. The Scripture is clear - man's thoughts and ways are not His thoughts and His ways (Isaiah 55:8).

Truth is, Easter is nothing more than Astarte, also known as Ashtoreth and the queen of heaven. All these originated from the Tower of Babel and the Babylonian system carried on till these last days which God will ultimately punish and destroy. All those who are associated with the Babylonian system effectively carry the mark of the beast and will not be protected from the coming Great Tribulation with all its horrendous sufferings and chaos. There are two church system worshipping God side by side. One is bona fide and the other fake. Those who are called need to wake up from their stupor and be counted to avoid being on the wrong side of the great divide come the day of reckoning!