[…] Athens believes that reason alone is sufficient to arrive at a conviction of the existence of God as the “unmoved mover,” or cause of all things. And indeed reason is sufficient for this much. But it can proceed no further. This is the limitation that Paul is alluding to Ro 1:18-21 where he shows that there is sufficient evidence in creation to leave humanity without excuse concerning the existence, and also something of God’s divine nature. But this is only enough evidence to make man accountable to his conscience; it is not sufficient to save him. This must come down from above by grace and mercy in the form of divine revelation, as revealed secret (apocalyptic). Paul calls the gospel itself a revealed mystery (Ro 16:25; Eph 6:19). Only such ‘special’ revelation can recreate the heart in saving regeneration (the indispensable ‘without which not’ of all spiritual life). This is the classic distinction between so-called ‘general’ or ‘natural’ revelation and ‘special’ revelation that can only be mediated by the Holy Spirit (the creative ‘breath’ of God). […]
The Mark of the Beast
But compliance with the mark is a statement of an already existing condition that is only being manifested, namely, total and irreversible spiritual reprobation. The outward mark becomes the sign and seal of an irreversible threshold that has already been crossed. The mark is irreversible only because those that take it show that they have already passed into an irreversible union with the spirit of Satan. The scriptures speaks of those that are ‘past feeling’, and that have grieved the Spirit to the point of no return. There’s a mysterious threshold here that we see again at the end of the millennium. I have reason to infer that the false church in its steadfast resistance to the last prophetic testimony will not be able to repent past a certain point (I think the middle of the week), so that while a multitude that no one can number is being saved all throughout “the tribulation, the great one” (Mt 24:21; Rev 7:14), the false professing church of apostate ‘Christendom’ will have passed into final reprobation and may become some of the most rabid persecutors and treacherous betrayers of the true church.
Dispensationalism & More on “One or Two Peoples of God?”
… With the new revelation has come a new language. But this is where we need to exercise caution. We learn from the doctrine of Christ’s pre-existence that for something to be newly revealed does not mean that it has come newly into existence.; This is an important distinction when we are speaking of Christ and the church. Much has come to light in the gospel that had real existence before the dispensation of the fuller revelation. This applies as much to the ‘body of Christ’ as to Christ Himself and the unity of persons in the Godhead. …
The Two Witnesses of Revelation 11
… Just as the anointed offices of priest and king meet perfectly in Christ in Zech 6:13, so here is the combined witness of Moses and the prophets all pointing to the perfection that is in Christ. This does not mean, however, that I expect the literal Moses and Elijah to show up in the streets of Jerusalem for the final witness, although certain of the same phenomena associated with their ministries are reproduced in the tribulation judgments. It is enough to see that whoever the witnesses are, they come, like the Lord’s reference to John Baptist, “in the spirit and power” of Elijah, not necessarily the literal individual (which creates more problems for interpretation than it solves). …
The Mark of the Beast
… So I see the mark as the antithesis of the seal of God. It is the mark of final reprobation, and in the middle of the week when all restraint is removed, something appears to happen where those that are particularly set against God and His covenant will be utterly given over to the manifestation of sin in the flesh, so that what has happened with the Antichrist is also being released in those that share spiritual union with him. Impulses once only conceived and restrained by government or conscience will now have unhindered expression in the demonic rage against the people of the covenant, both church and Israel. It is part of God’s plan that evil be revealed in the flesh for its exposure that it might be condemned in the flesh. My wife, Connie, suggested to me, and I agree, that it has something to do with God’s intention to educate the universe of angels and humanity through the demonstration that is wrought out in history. …
