unveiling the Rapture (part 5)

The above image is actually a very good representation of that period of time which the Bible calls "the last days," when viewed thus: "The Four Major Cults" represents the beginning of that time period, whereas, "The Kingdom of the Cults" represents the end of that same period of time.  What began about a century and a half ago as a handful of pseudo-Christian cults ~ all of which sprang up within a few years of each other (within one generation), has since become several worldwide movements, involving scores of millions of persons, and possessing  material resources worth billions of dollars: all of which are supposed to represent Christianity; but none of which do in fact represent genuine, that is, Biblical Christianity.

According to Scripture, the phenomenon involving "the Apostasy" (the abandonment of truth once believed) masquerading as Christianity, is a cardinal sign of the "last days."  Today, that Apostasy is not merely pervasive but, in fact, apostate "Christianity" is the predominant expression of religion, throughout what used to be called "Western Society" (erstwhile Christian nations).  It has taken about 150 years or so for so-called "Christian" culture to become so debased that multitudes of professing Christians embrace such things, as are shown in the following videos, as being "Christian" (here pay attention to Hagin's constant 'hissing'), (and here), (and here) (and here).

I repeat, "it has taken about 150 years or so," for the foundations of Christianity at last to be destroyed, throughout what once were Christian lands.  That great Apostasy is one of the cardinal signs of the end of the Church Age.  I'm belaboring those facts, because, not only are they vitally important, in order to understand just where we really are on the prophetic time-clock, so to speak.  But because that the Apostasy is so thorough, so pervasive and so longstanding in contemporary culture, multitudes of professing Christians therefore have not a clue that they are engulfed in gross deception and error.

Now I want to stress the fact that the modern Apostasy positively can be traced back to its roots, that is, to the beginnings of that about 150 years ago.  Many books have been written about a host of factors which together led to the nineteenth-century oftentimes being referred to as the "century (or the Age) of unbelief."  That century (the 1800s) was indeed a time of unprecedented changes in the world.  It was a time when scientific discoveries and technological inventions were so prolific that even many professing Christians were tempted to believe the claims of so-called academics and "science," over against the Bible!  In fact, it was during that very same time period (beginning around the mid-nineteenth century), that the Word of God itself came under attack by numerous influential leaders ~ within the Christian Church! ~ who ultimately succeeded to introduce (1881-5) to the world the first of what has now become a plethora of so-called Bible "versions" (no two of which agree either in substance or in meaning).

Above, I wrote that the book, "'The Four Major Cults' [pictured] represents the beginning of that time period [the "last days"]."  Those two books appearing in that image ("The Four Major Cults," and "The Kingdom of the Cults") are the two 'Gold-standards' of scholarly works pertaining to the identity and nature of modern-day pseudo-Christian cults.  Anthony A. Hoekema (1913–1988) was professor of systematic theology at Calvin Theological Seminary, in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  In his book "The Four Major Cults," he identified the four major (pseudo-Christian) cults as follows:

• Christian Science
• Jehovah's Witnesses
• Mormonism
• Seventh-Day Adventism

Importantly, all of those pseudo-Christian cults were founded within a few years of each other ~ near the middle of the nineteenth century; which is affirmed in the following video, beginning at the 16:50 time marker:

The mid-nineteenth century not only marks the beginning of the modern-day Apostasy.  But, important for our purposes, it also marks the time in history when the First Seal was "opened" in fact.

I am very well aware that by making such a bold claim, the burden of proof is entirely upon my shoulders to prove that my "interpretation" of historical events does most reasonably (compared with other theories of interpretation) explain those portions of Bible prophecy which, I say, were essentially fulfilled in those historical events.

Let me proceed, then, to explain how those events above described answer precisely to the meaning of Scripture, involving the First Seal.  In part 4 of this series, I wrote the following:

"...it is impossible to further understand the meaning of the First Seal (beyond the point at which we have thus far arrived, by logical deduction and inference), without rightly understanding the twenty-fourth (24th) chapter of Matthew...."

It is impossible to decipher the meaning of the First Seal, using only the text in the Revelation, apart from other portions of Scripture (namely, Matthew 24) which were given, by God, to unlock that mystery.  Also in part 4 of this series, I demonstrated that a "one-to-one correspondence" exists between the Seals, in the Revelation, and a certain portion of Matthew 24; which portion I will reproduce, as follows:

"And Jesus answered and said unto them, [First Seal] Take heed that no man deceive you.  For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."

In part 3 of this series, I wrote the following:

"The "rider" on the white horse is not THE Antichrist.  But it truly is that antichrist "spirit" which the Apostle John warned the Church, two-thousand years ago, it was already even then in the earth and waging war against the Church.  But, now, we are shown, in Scripture, that that "antichrist spirit" would come forth in an unprecedented onslaught against the Church ~ at a time shortly before the end of the Church Age, and, so, shortly before the beginning of the Tribulation. 

"Have we seen ANYTHING happening in the church-world that seems to answer to that kind of "unprecedented" spiritual attack against the Church ~ consisting of great spiritual DECEPTION being used to DECEIVE, so as to DESTROY (if that were possible), the true Body of Christ?"

"For MANY shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many."  Jesus was not speaking about the occasional nut-case who advertises himself as actually being "Jesus Christ."  Rather, where Jesus said that "many" shall come in his name, "saying, I am Christ": he meant that those many would (mis)represent themselves as being Christians ~ and, so, by reason of their imitating and yet misrepresenting Christ and Christianity, they would deceive many.

In other words, Jesus's warning points to a time when the Christian Church would come under unprecedented attack from the inside, as it were, in (the devil's) attempts to subvert the Christian Church.  Importantly, Jesus indicated that the beginning of that assault against the Christian Church (which continues unto this day) constitutes the First Seal ~ or, the first part of "the sign of his coming"; which Christ gave in direct answer to his disciples' questions, in Matthew 24:3.

In part 6, I will provide further, and very substantial, proof that this is the correct interpretation of the true meaning of the First Seal.