The Indwelling: The Beast Takes Possession
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But it’s no wonder that many today are confused and that American evangelical Christianity is in a free-fall. Churches focus on experience and rarely teach the Bible or sound doctrine. Believers in Christ need to be tolerant in many areas of our lives (personally, socially, and legally), but we cannot be doctrinally tolerant when it comes to the essentials of the Christian faith.
Years ago, G. K. Chesterton made this powerful statement about being open-minded and tolerant: “You open your mind for the same reason you open your mouth, to find something solid to close it on.” Those who have found Jesus Christ as their Savior have closed their minds on the solid truth that He is God in human flesh who provides the way to God.
The escalation of spiritual deception and confusion we are witnessing today is a another sign of the end times and is setting the stage for the final, ultimate falling away that will be a precursor for the day of the Lord and the appearance of the Antichrist (2 Thessalonians 2:2-3).
How does your church measure up? Does it display a proper balance of tolerance and orthodoxy, or has it slipped into apostasy? If the latter, what can be done to bring it back from the brink, and what can you do to live faithful to the Word of God in an era of pluralism?
TEST YOUR PROPEHCY IQ—ANSWER
For years there have been fear and resistance expressed about any form of government identification (Social Security number, driver’s license, etc.) because they might be the mark of the Beast. But as we’ll see in the next volume, The Mark, those fears are ignorant of Scripture, which indicates that accepting the mark, in whatever form it actually takes, will be a deliberate choice made in the midst of the Tribulation. According to Tim LaHaye, it will be impossible for those who have become believers during this time to “inadvertently receive the devilish mark.”