Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore, let us go forth to him outside the camp, bearing his reproach. For we have no continuing city here, but we seek one to come.
Select a thought to read by choosing a collection, the month, and then the day:
“And then, the lawless one shall be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of his mouth, and he shall destroy with the appearance of his coming him whose coming is by the work of Satan, with every miracle, and deceptive signs and wonders, and with every unrighteous deceit among those who are perishing because they did not receive the love of the truth so that they might be saved. And because of that, God shall send to them a strong delusion so that they will believe the lie, that they all might be damned who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in unrighteousness.”
Paul, in 2Thessalonians 2:8–12
Satan’s version of our Messiah, Jesus, is coming. In the book of Revelation, that wicked messiah is called “the Beast”, and to him, Satan will give all his authority and power. He will do this in imitation of the Father giving all power in heaven and earth to the Son.
After the Beast appears will come the backslidden holiness preacher called “the False Prophet”. This False Prophet will be key in turning the Beast’s secular rule on earth into a deeply religious matter. He, not the Beast himself, will be the one who demands that every person on earth worship the Beast or die, and he, not the Beast, will utterly deceive all believers who are committed more to the Church than to Christ.
When James said, “Purify your hearts, you double-minded!”, that warning was for us, not the world, for James knew full well that we who do not purify our hearts are in danger of being “turned over to believe a lie and be damned”. This is what God has revealed that Satan, through the False prophet, will do to children of God in the last days who love the forms and fashion of religion more than they love Jesus.
May God help us to search our hearts with His candle, and purify our hearts from every worldly influence, so that we may believe and love the truth!