No one can escape the fact that our culture is transforming into a culture of death.
With acts of murder occurring on a daily basis, whether through abortion, terrorism, or neighbor against neighbor, the fact is that murder is quickly becoming the number one choice many are using to take care of their problems.
From a prophetic view point, the culture of violence and death is to rise up as a witness to our departure from God’s Holy Spirit, paving the way for the arrival of the Antichrist. Speaking of the end times, Jesus taught that violence and murder would increase with spouses, parents, children, friends, neighbors, and the religious (Matt. 24:10; Mark 13:12; Luke 21:16; John 16:2).
The everyday occurrence of violence is a clarion call to Christians to return to living with the power of the Holy Spirit. For those not Christian, it is a witness that without Christ, there is no fixing of the world’s problems. Our only viable solution is to take the words of the apostle Paul to heart: “Furthermore, knowing the time, now is the moment to awake from sleep. For now our salvation is nearer than when we believed” (Rom. 13:11).
Steve Magill, author of the book, Revelation and the Age of Antichrist, writes that the end times will be characterized by a Christianity without the Holy Spirit. The departure of Christians from the Holy Spirit results in the removal of God’s character of love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control from our culture. The result is the opposite of these and the everyday violence we now see. As we continue to live without the Holy Spirit, the violence and death will continue to increase, become more frequent, even more violent.
With the lack of God’s character within our world, it should be obvious that a society without God does not work. Can we fix the ills of the world? Only if we fix our own hearts … and that must start with those who claim the name of Christ (2 Chron. 7:14). Five of the seven churches in the book of Revelation were called to hear the Spirit’s voice and to repent. The same call is given today to those claiming the name of Christ: hear and repent. Let us heed that call. Written by STEVE MAGILL for CharismaNews
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