Welcome, everybody, here, second hour today. I do have a doctrinal message in which we'll be looking at several scriptures, beginning in Proverbs 25, to kind of lead into the message. I have somewhat of a lengthy introduction. I'm returning today to our ongoing expose of Kingdom Now, or Dominion Theology, also known as Dominionism, which is a heretical system of doctrine that has actually become a common thread of unity between Charismaniac Pentecostals and its new apostolic movement on one extreme and a branch of non-Charismatic Calvinist Presbyterian Reconstructionists on the other extreme, all of whom, well and also some non-denominational groups in the middle there, all of whom have bought into and based their entire worldview on a most unbiblical and, I believe, dangerous system of biblical interpretation known as post-millennialism, which consistently interprets the prophetic passages of the Bible in an allegoric and a spiritualized sense, rather than literal, to arrive at an entirely preconceived, presupposed, preferred conclusion, what they prefer for a conclusion, that Christ's return for his own will not take place until after a kingdom age, hence the term postmillennial, Christ returns after the millennium, and that the Lord Jesus will not at any time reign bodily and literally here on this earth, as we believe, as I believe, very clearly the Bible teaches. But actually Christ's earthly kingdom is characterized by Christ reigning spiritually from heaven through his saints here on the earth, And that His death on the cross, they believe, and His resurrection, has actually made the way for Christians to take dominion of the nations of the earth, along with all societal institutions and governments thereof. And actually, they believe that this is the intended meaning of Revelation 5, verse 10, which says that we shall reign on the earth. They believe that's now, that we are to be reigning now on the earth. And they also believe that we must do that. We must gain control of the governments of this earth before Christ's return. And actually, indeed, in order to make his return possible. They believe that we must basically seize the governments of the world so he can return. As a side note, all of this is very, as I mentioned before, very Roman Catholic concept. And what these fools don't realize is actually that the Vatican already beat them to it. I mean, really, Or perhaps some of them do realize it. Maybe that's why Kenneth Copeland and Paula White and Benny Hinn and others are flocking to Rome to kiss the Pope's ring and to join his ecumenical agenda. I'll come back to that later. Those that hold to this very preconceived, forced view intentionally reject a literal interpretation of the scriptures and they spiritualize, they allegorize them instead because this this approach produces their desired outcome. That's why they do that. They wrongly and they foolishly see postmillennialism as a more victorious eschatology, they say. More victorious than the premillennial eschatology that is demanded by a literal interpretation of the scriptures, which we believe Christ returns first and that he will reign and set up his kingdom here on the earth. And a premillennial return, that's what we believe. That's what the Bible teaches. And so this study began as an expose of the so-called New Apostolic Reformation, or the NAR movement, which arose, as we said, as we showed, among Pentecostals in the late 1990s and has grown exponentially since. It's very popular now, and which holds Kingdom Now, Dominionism, as one of its core doctrines, along with other heresies. For instance, first that the offices of apostles and prophets are being restored to the church, And two, that a great end time transfer of worldly wealth from the wicked to the righteous is what is in store for the righteous. Although in this message, I'm refuting dominionism as promoted by both Pentecostals and Reformed Calvinist Reconstructionists. There are many other facets, of course, of Pentecostalism itself that really need to be exposed and warned about as well. that we're not going into a present, but that I may come back to in the near future, especially since that movement as well is exploding on a global scale, even among Catholics, and in complete collusion with the Vatican and Rome, as actually one of Pope Jorge Bergoglio's tools of building an ecumenical global religion. And some of the battles the Lord's called me to, he has drawn me to and he's shown me the great relevance of this proverb, Proverbs 25, verse 26, which says, A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring. A righteous man falling down before the wicked is as a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring. That proverb can have broad application including, for instance, to cowardly preachers thinking that they have to conform their message, their influence, and their church organization and their polity to the dictates of the wicked federal government in Washington, D.C. and its IRS-Gestapo enforcement arm, which, of course, out-of-control government agency has no jurisdiction in a true New Testament church that operates under the sole authority of the scriptures. But as it applies to this topic, I simply borrow from that wording of the Proverbs to say that the charismatic Pentecostal movement has always been a troubled fountain and a corrupt spring of spiritual buffoonery, trickery, snake oil charlatanism, and a counterfeit Christianity that blatantly misrepresents the person and the work of the Holy Spirit, that exchanges the true gospel of Christ for a false gospel of greed and materialism, abated with vain illusions and empty promises of a health, wealth and prosperity that exchanges the true worship of God in spirit and in truth with emotionalism and chaotic fits of mindless ecstasy, as one writer puts it. That exchanges a true repentance and regeneration of the new birth for a faked manifestation of trained babbling and non-discernable gibberish as supposed evidence of salvation. And also that twists and perverts the scriptures and substitutes blatant heresies, false prophecies, and an experiential religion for sound doctrine grounded in God's Word, the Bible. All of this is from the very pit of hell itself. Before exposing some of the serious errors of the Calvinist Presbyterian R.J. Rushduny and his more reserved, less maniacal, non-Pentecostal I want to come back momentarily to some of the extremes of the so-called New Apostolic Reformation. I mentioned before Peter Wagner, the so-proclaimed Pentecostal apostle and founder of the NAR movement, and its chief promoter until his death about a year ago, or just over a year ago. Wagner, of course, was not chosen and appointed by the Lord Jesus as an apostle, nor had he seen the Risen Lord, nor had he performed any mighty miracles, all of which as we discussed previously, our qualifications of a biblical apostle, which office, of course, we also said the Bible says was foundational. It was only to function during the early formative days of the Church, as we covered in previous messages in the series. Instead of being chosen and appointed by the Lord Jesus, Wagner, his apostleship was actually confirmed in 1995 by two women who prophesied that he had received an apostolic anointing. A second alleged prophecy was given in Dallas in 1998 during a very bizarre ceremony. All their ceremonies are very bizarre, which Wagner now considers, before his death, considered his ordination. And the alleged proof of Wagner's apostleship, in his view, came in 2001, when Wagner says God told him to make an apostolic decree where he was to pronounce the end of mad cow disease in Europe. which he did pronounce. Unfortunately, though, ten years later, doctors and veterinarians were still diagnosing the disease in Europe among both animals and people throughout Europe. So, sorry, Mr. Wagner, no proof there of your apostleship in that mighty miracle. As further proof of their complete lack of apostolic authority, even with all of their false prophecies and faked signs and wonders aside, while these alleged apostles the New Apostolic Reformation movement, if you're qualified to set the Bible aside and proclaim new spiritual truth, they aren't even actually capable of basic wisdom or spiritual discernment. One of the most wretched examples of this also comes from C. Peter Wagner himself, who was publicly embarrassed, along with fellow NAR apostles Bill Johnson, John Arnott, Che Ahn, and Rick Joyner, when a wretched imposter, Mr. Todd Bentley, that this team of heretics proudly and presumptuously ordained as a fellow apostle, was just a few short days later exposed as an adulterer, drunkard, liar, and a complete charlatan. Bentley was a self-proclaimed evangelist from Canada, who, by the way, is covered in tattoos, and who I'd venture to say never presented the true gospel of Christ to anyone, had been conducting a series of alleged revival meetings down in Lakeland, Florida, that was hailed as an outpouring of the Holy Spirit, allegedly, and attracted huge crowds from all over the world, great attention on Pentecostal media, TV networks like God TV and TBN network, with multiple alleged reports of healing miracles being done, including several allegations of people being raised from the dead, along with other most bizarre manifestations including Bentley's going out of the way to project the tough guy facade by kicking and punching sick people that came up for prayer, weird stuff like this going on. This is Pentecostalism, just weird stuff. Apparently, because knocking people down like Benny Hinn does was not sufficient to slay them in the spirit. So he maybe knocked down and kick them while they're down, I guess. I don't know. crazy stuff going on in these so-called Pentecostal churches. As usual, in these revival meetings, there was almost zero Bible teaching or preaching offered at these meetings. Instead, Bentley told what were later described as hyper-violent stories about his own manifestations of the Spirit. Smashed tables and doors were common results of his charismatic experiences in his stories. One particularly violent episode And his story occurred soon after his alleged conversion, in which Bentley claimed that after he was saved, it was revealed that he was also possessed by 25 demons. After he was saved, he said, possessed by 25 demons. This obvious contradiction of a true Christian being saved and involved by the Holy Spirit, at the same time possessed by multiple demons, is scripturally impossible. But this, of course, this impossibility went completely ignored by these alleged apostles, Wagner and his apostate apostles. Bentley also proclaimed that God had instructed him in these Revival meetings not to preach about Jesus, but instead to stress the supernatural, is what he claimed. These are Bentley's own words. He said, I told the Lord, why can't I just move in healing and forget talking about all that other stuff? He said, he says, God said, because Todd, you've got to get the people to believe in the angel. I said, God, why do I want people to believe in the angel? Isn't it about getting people to believe in Jesus? He said, the Lord said, the people already believe in Jesus, but the church doesn't believe in the supernatural. This one statement, in and of itself, is a direct contradiction of God's Word and is directly from the pit of hell, which C. Peter Wagner and his fellow alleged apostate apostles lacked the basic discernment and understanding of Scripture to see or to recognize. Horrible. In fact, I'd venture to say that most of you here in church today actually have far more spiritual discernment and understanding of the Scriptures than any of these alleged Pentecostal apostles. By the way, the Apostle Paul refused to boast about his own supernatural experiences And he told the Corinthians that he determined to know nothing among them save Christ, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Paul and the other true apostles would no doubt have condemned Bentley as a heretic rather than confirming him as an apostle. Instead, toward the end of these revival meetings, Wagner called his fellow big-name apostles together to Lakeland to induct and to ordain Bentley as one of their own fellow apostles. The following quote as from one account of the event. And by the way, you can watch the video on YouTube and see all this stuff going on. Crazy stuff. Here's the account. Peter Wagner is the first speaker during Bentley's commissioning. He asks three of the other assembled apostles, Bill Johnson, who was pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, California, Che Ahn, who was pastor of the H Rock Church in Pasadena, and John Arnott, who was founding pastor of the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, which was the home of the notorious Toronto Blessing revivals. Same stuff going on up there. He asked him if they perceived the grace of God given to Todd Bentley as an evangelist to lead the Lakeland outpouring. Each affirms that they do. Wagner then affirms Bentley through a prophecy regarding the blessings that he claimed the Lord was about to pour out on Bentley's ministry. His exact words were these as he blessed Todd Bentley, I take the apostolic authority God has given me and I decree to Todd Bentley, your power will increase, your authority will increase, your favor will increase, your influence will increase, your revelation will increase. I also decree that a new supernatural strength will flow through this ministry. A new life force will penetrate this move of God. Government will be established to set things in their proper order. God will pour out a higher level of discernment to distinguish truth from error. I don't see that here. And any of these guys, new relationships will surface to open the gates for the future. He then turned the mic over to Cheyenne and somebody else. I won't read all that. Other prophecies were given about Todd Bentley. And of course, as a matter of public record, these false prophecies were never fulfilled. These were all false prophecies, of course. Not long after his commissioning, Bentley's ministry went down in flames as he was exposed as an adulterer, a liar, and an occasional drunkard. It's also a matter of public record, by the way, that all of these alleged miracles were later shown to be frauds. There was, in fact, not a single documented miracle resulting from the Lickman Revival. The conservative Christian publication, World Magazine, asked Bentley's ministry organization for a list of names of those who had been healed, and after a long wait, and persistent demands. World Magazine eventually received a list of only 12 names and they investigated and found that of those people that had allegedly been healed, they had all since died from the ailments that they had allegedly been cured of during their wait. They'd all died in that time. And so ABC's Nightline also ran a segment on Bentley and the Lakeland revival and reported that not a single medical miracle could be verified. complete embarrassment to the cause of Christ. And so I went into some detail there just to highlight just a few of the horribly deviant and completely unbiblical practices of the fraud, the fakery, and the charlatanism that is sadly all too commonplace in the Pentecostal NAR movement in general. John says in 1 John 4, verse 1, Beloved, believe not every spirit, But try the spirits, whether they are from God, because many false prophets are gone out into the world. And we can say without reservation and on the authority of God's Word that the spirit that's moving in these meetings in Pentecostal churches is not the Holy Spirit. As stated earlier, all of this is idolatry in the very pit of hell itself. It's the very type of strange fire that Aaron's two sons, Nadab and Abihu, were burned to a crisp at God's altar were daring to offer before God. We read in Leviticus 10 verse 2, and there went out fire from the Lord and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. And I personally, I have to wonder just how few of those among both the leadership and the sheep in these types of churches actually possess true salvation. I have to wonder that. Back to the purpose of this message, which I'm again focusing on dominion theology. There are many Christians also that rightly reject the idolatry of Pentecostal charismania and its alleged apostolic reformation, but that have still been taken captive and blindsided by this aberrant, dominionist belief system and false view of Christ's kingdom, which actually, as I said, has affected their entire worldview and their approach to politics and their view of America itself. has caused them to turn a blind eye to the great evils and machinations behind the organized crime syndicate that really is the American federal government and of its murderous military global imperialism that they should instead be very much aware of and opposed to, but which they instead fully support. So as stated, Dominion theology is primarily a political ideology of conquest based on the Preterist eschatology of Postmillennialism, as revived actually in the 1970s by Roussos J. Rushduni and his followers. Rushduni was a Calvinist Presbyterian. And Postmillennialism, again, is the belief that most Bible prophecy is Preterist, but they believe that most Bible prophecy has already been fulfilled, and therefore we are not to wait for Christ to return to set up His Millennial Kingdom reign on this earth because we are now already in that kingdom era, which began when Christ conquered Satan at the cross. In other words, they believe now is the time when Revelation 5, verse 10 must be fulfilled, which says, we shall reign on the earth. They believe that we are supposed to be reigning on the earth now. Repeating a quote from Peter Wagner, N.A.R. apostate, the practical theology that best builds a foundation under social transformation, is Dominion theology, sometimes called Kingdom Now. Its history can be traced back through R.J. Rushtuni and Abraham Kuyper to John Calvin. He said, victorious eschatology makes a convincing argument that the biblical prophecies concerning the last days or the end times were literally fulfilled at the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. The end times mark the ending of the Old Covenant and the beginning of the New Covenant. Jesus literally will return to the earth in the future, but none of the signs of Matthew 24, 4 through 34 are expected to precede his return, because they have already occurred. He said, this is known by professional theologians, which of course he didn't qualify himself as a professional theologian. This is known by professional theologians as the partial preterist view of eschatology, and it is the view with which I personally identify. That's what Wagner said, and obviously as I said, Wagner is not referring to himself here as a professional theologian, which is good since most of us assembled here are probably better theologians than he was. I actually forgot to start my recorder on this one. Gotta start it over, sorry. Hopefully that thing's working back there, right Matt? Okay, all right. We'll pick it up from there forward on that recorder. But again, Wagner refers to Presbyterian Calvinist Roussos J. Rushtuni and other followers of his who hold to this heretical eschatology, which was in fact spawned by the Vatican's Jesuits in the 1600s to confute the belief of the Reformers that the Pope was the Antichrist. This system says that the Pope can't be the Antichrist because all that was fulfilled long ago. We are in the Kingdom Age now, they say. I mentioned that in the early 1990s, our family attended a church in Tampa And we joined, actually, for a matter of time as members of that church that also held this doctrine. It was a post-millennial church where Rush Dooney was very highly esteemed and venerated. I mentioned to Brother Josh Fletcher the other night, I actually personally met and conversed with Rush Dooney on one occasion. He was a very debonair, intellectual old gentleman. I was invited to a reception in his honor at one of the elders' homes. This man, Rushdie, when he had a library, as I mentioned to Josh, of over 10,000 books, he had read them all cover to cover, and he was first and foremost a historian. I believe his master's degree was in education. He was a historian, an educator, and he was a great promoter, actually, of Christian homeschooling. In fact, Rushdie is credited with being the father of Christian homeschooling, the homeschooling movement. He actually preached once during his visit to our church. It was a very dry, collegiate-type lecture with very little scripture, almost none that I recall. And for the most part, it was a detailed history lesson about the Marquis de Sade. The Marquis de Sade, who was S-A-D-E, Marquis de Sade. He was the most corrupt, wicked, and a godless French nobleman back in the late 1700s. who was infamous for his libertine view of sexuality that, unfortunately, in today's culture would be very popular. But as for Rush Dooney's version of Dominion theology, known as Reconstructionism, through which its adherents seek to reconstruct a Christian society, much as the Puritans did, based on Old Testament civil law, is what they're trying to do, what they believe we're supposed to do. A central piece of Rush Dooney's doctrine which Presbyterians also somewhat hold to, is called Covenant Theology, which makes no distinction between the Church and Israel. It holds that the Church has actually become spiritual Israel. Rustany then took that to the next logical step, beyond traditional Covenant Theology, to what he called Theonomy, that the Church and eventually the society under its rule would be governed by the same laws as Israel, subject to the same curses and inherited the same blessings as Israel. And as such, then, Rushduny taught, and the Post Mills still teach, that Christians are still obliged to honor the Mosaic civil laws, and are therefore obliged, as their Christian duty, to bring the nations into subjection to that body of law. That's what they teach. That's called theonomy. Rushduny wrote a massive 1,600-page, two-volume treatise titled The Institutes of Biblical Law, which he patterned after Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. It's an extensive study, actually, of how the Ten Commandments are to be applied to modern society. And as such, Rush Dooney advocated such things as the tithe to a state-sanctioned church rather than public taxes to finance social welfare programs, voluntary slavery for restitution of crimes rather than imprisonment, They also advocated, and many of them still do, capital punishment for blasphemy, witchcraft, heresy, adultery, and homosexuality. Capital punishment. Many of them advocate that. Forget the New Apostolic Reformation. I mean, this would all be ground for a new Protestant Inquisition. John Calvin himself would be very proud of his pupil there in Rousseau's Rushton, would he not? However, I'd have to say that if we were to implement capital punishment for heretics, and if he had not died in 2001, Mr. Rush Duny himself would actually have had to get in line for execution, along with all the fake apostles of the New Apostolic Reformation. So that took some doing and some time, but the foregoing part of the message explains what Dominion Theology is and what some of its positions are. I wanted you to be aware of it as a warning to you. I turn to Colossians chapter 1 and 2 Timothy chapter 4. I need to spend the rest of this message and perhaps one more refuting both Dominion Theology and some of its outworkings and how it's being applied in current American politics and foreign policy. I need to state up front here that there is most definitely a present spiritual aspect or a present reality to Christ's kingdom. There is a present reality to Christ's kingdom here and now, just as there has always been. And as the redeemed of the Lord, we have been called out of the darkness of this world and translated already as citizens and subjects of that kingdom. As Paul says here in Colossians 1, verse 13, he says, who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son. I believe that's past tense. We are already translated into Christ's kingdom. in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins. However, the fact that Christ has always been king over his creation, and that as born-again saints of God, we are now his loyal subjects, does not alter or in any way diminish the fact, as clearly taught throughout the scriptures, that at one future date certain, the Lord Jesus will return gloriously and triumphantly to this earth where he will, as Immanuel, God with us, personally reign on this earth for a thousand years, which Paul then refers to over here in 2 Timothy 4, verse 1, where he says, I charge thee therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, when? At his appearing and his kingdom. Paul says here in this verse, the Christ's millennial kingdom, where the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, as we read in Revelation 11, verse 15, will ultimately not be established until His appearing, which is His return. The word there, youth of Christ appearing, is the word epiphaneia, which means His advent or His visible manifestation here on this earth. That word Epiphania is used six times in the King James Bible. Once of Christ's first advent, we see over in 2 Timothy 1, verse 9. Paul says, "...who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began, and is now made manifest by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ." That's that word, epiphania. who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." Here that word is used of Christ's first advent, his first appearing. But in chapter 4, Paul says that Christ will appear a second time, at which time the judgment seat of Christ takes place. The saints are judged, as Paul says in Romans chapter 14 and 2 Corinthians chapter 5, at the judgment seat of Christ, where Paul says that we shall all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. which is what Paul means here in this verse, where he says that Christ shall judge the quick, meaning the living, and the dead. That's the judgment seat of Christ. I believe at that time we will be rewarded with various positions of responsibility in the kingdom. Christ's kingdom reign will be established in which we will reign with him for a thousand years, as John states in Revelation 20. And if you'll recall, I presented proof last time we discussed this topic, why Revelation 20, that passage, must be interpreted literally. And we'll come back to that maybe next time a little bit and talk about some other arguments about that. But according to that passage in Revelation 20, the unsaved are not raised at that time, or at this time Paul's referring to, or for this judgment. Jesus referred in John chapter 5, verse 28 to 29, to two different resurrections. He said, the hour is coming, John 5, 28, in which all that are in the grave shall hear his voice and shall come forth. They that have done good unto the resurrection of life, and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation. So Jesus referred there to two resurrections, just as John clarifies in Revelation chapter 20 that those two resurrections are actually separated by the thousand years of Christ's kingdom reign on the earth. So, Paul says here in 2 Timothy 4, that Christ will appear a second time. at which time he will judge the saints and he will establish his kingdom reign. And then, pursuant to that charge and that reminder of coming judgment and possible kingdom rewards, Paul says to Timothy in verse 2-4, preach the word. Be instant in season, out of season. Reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. Why, for the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine. But after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers having itching ears. Both the teachers and the pupils, by the way, having itching ears. And they shall turn away their ears and the truth shall be turned unto fables. There are many today who will not endure sound doctrine on this issue and many others who refuse to take the Bible at face value for what it clearly says because it just doesn't teach their preferred view of victorious eschatology. It's not the kind of victory that they are looking for. And so they spiritualize the Bible and they twist it to say what they want it to say instead. And that's how they come up with this preterism and this post-millennial view. And so actually much like the Jews who rejected Christ because he wasn't the type of Messiah that they had been expecting. Today's kingdom now promoters have actually been turned aside to fanciful fables of preterist post-millennialism because it provides them with the kind of victory they're looking for. And so there are actually many reasons, I began looking at last time, many reasons that it must be seen that this entire dominionist scheme and ideology is completely unbiblical, diametrically opposed to the teachings of the Bible when the Bible is rightly interpreted. I was going to go into two of those reasons. It's getting a little bit late. I may only do one. But I'm going to talk a little bit about why dominionism is unscriptural and therefore heretical. Last time, I touched briefly on the fallacy of the preterist post-millennial eschatology or the approach to Bible prophecy upon which this entire system rests and relies, and on preterism's allegoric, spiritualized, interpretive approach to all of the Bible. I've also focused several previous messages on that topic that folks can listen to online, and I'll come back in part two next time. However, I want to focus first on Dominionism's effect on the gospel itself. So for today, the first reason I want to talk about the kingdom now, Dominion theology is unscriptural, and therefore heretical, is that Dominionism perverts the gospel of Christ and promotes a false gospel of political conquest. Turn to John 18 and Matthew 25, please. As mentioned last time, just as C.I. Schofield's dispensationalism misdefines and perverts the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus referred to as being a separate gospel of the kingdom for the Jews, so have the Dominionists also created a perverted view of the gospel of the kingdom. Dominionists emphasize that the gospel of the kingdom is a gospel of political conquest, that we're to take over the political kingdoms of this world. And they also teach that one main purpose of Christ's death on the cross and resurrection three days later was to defeat Satan's earthly dominion, which they say the devil acquired at the fall of Adam, when Adam fell into And they say, as a result of Christ's atonement on the cross, therefore, Christians are now enabled and called to take dominion. In other words, to conquer the civil governments of the nations of the earth, and to impose Christian, theocratic civil government among the nations of the earth, based on God's law, whichever portion that they think we're supposed to apply. which, by the way, they also say we must do before Christ's return and in order to make his return possible. It also emphasizes that Christians must engage in a high level of social and political activism as their necessary Christian duty to take dominion and to bring glory to Christ. And as also mentioned previously, Peter Wagner's NAR version of dominionism includes what they call a seven-mountain mandate. Seven-mountain mandate which they claim is a divinely inspired strategy for taking dominion of the nations by taking control of the seven most influential societal institutions, which they call mountains. They identify those as civil government, media, family, business and finance, education, church and religion, and arts and entertainment. Actually, this particular seven mountain strategy was first proposed by Bill Bright of Campus Crusade for Christ. And this may all sound great to those who would like to seize power and to control the world, but both in its eschatology and in its application and perversion of the gospel, this entire scheme of dominionism has no basis whatsoever in scriptural truth. There is not a single verse in the Bible, unless you can show me one, Old Testament or New, that in any way indicates that Christ's atonement on the cross had at its purpose the conquest and takeover of the societal institutions of this world. Not one verse in the Bible says that. Or that we as Christians are mandated the responsibility of ushering in Christ's kingdom through any means other than through prayer and confrontational evangelism. which we are most definitely called to. Jesus did say, pray, thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We're to pray that. We are to be out confronting people with the gospel as we try to do in this church. And so we are to do that. But there's nothing else in the Bible, in any way, says that we are mandated the responsibility of ushering in that kingdom in any other way through political activism. Nowhere in scripture is there any connection between Christ's atonement and finished work on the cross and any such societal purpose or mandate. Further, there is not a single verse in the Bible, Old Testament or New, that in any way indicates that as Christians we have been mandated to transform or to take control of the societal institutions and civil governments of this world in the present age, whether it was atoned for on the cross or not. There is no biblical mandate for us to do that. Though several times in the book of Acts, Luke writes about Paul's preaching of things concerning the kingdom of heaven, the kingdom of God. And all through Paul's writings, 16 times, Paul mentions the kingdom of God. But nowhere in Paul's writings does he give any instruction, any directive, or even any suggestion that Christians are assigned the task or should even attempt to infiltrate, to supplant, or to replace the governments of this world with either ecclesiastical or theocratic government. To the contrary, the Lord Jesus said here in John chapter 18 that His kingdom is not presently of this world. Pilate asked Him here in verse 33, Aren't thou the King of the Jews? What was Jesus' answer? In verse 36, Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. He said, if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the Jews? Then he said, but now is my kingdom not from hence. I would suggest that we should be very careful to note that word now in this verse. Now is my kingdom not from hence, because a day is coming. And, in fact, the Lord Jesus did teach of a coming day in which His kingdom would be of this world. He, in fact, instructed His disciples, as I said, to pray, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We're to pray for that to happen. But He also indicated that that kingdom would not come in this present age, and that it would not come until His future return. In Matthew 25, verse 31, He said, When the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him." Of course, which Preterists spiritualize. And they say that He came through the armies of Rome to conquer Jerusalem in AD 70. Which is, of course, we'll come back to that. Utter hogwash. Jesus said, Matthew 25-31, When the Son of Man shall come in His glory. That's His epiphany, alright? That's His appearing. Paul talked about it in 2 Timothy 4-1. And all the holy angels with Him. Then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations. And he shall separate them one from the other, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. And then shall the king say to them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. When do we inherit that kingdom? At his coming. at his glory, when the Son of Man shall come in his glory with all the holy angels with him." Turn please to 2 Thessalonians chapter 1. In this chapter, to comfort Christians enduring the tribulations of this world, Paul said he looked forward to that very day, using almost the exact words that Jesus used back in Matthew chapter 25. In 2 Thessalonians chapter 1, Paul says, verse 6, so that we ourselves glory in you and the churches of God for your patience and faith in all your persecutions and tribulations that ye endure, which is a manifest token of the righteous judgment of God. He says that ye may be counted worthy of the kingdom of God for which ye also suffer. You're suffering for the kingdom of God. Then he says, verse 6, seeing it as a righteous thing with God to recompense tribulation to them that trouble you, He says, and to you, verse 7, who are troubled, rest with us. This is where your comfort is, Paul says. When the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 9, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power. Verse 10, when He shall come to be glorified in His saints. and to be admired in all them that believe. He says, because our testimony among you was believed in that day. What did Jesus say? When the Son of Man shall come in His glory and all the holy angels with Him, then that kingdom will be instituted. That is the day of our victory, when Jesus returns in glory with the holy angels with Him. And that is the day that Christ's kingdom will be established And that also is the way it will be done. That is the day Christ's Kingdom will be established, and that is the way it will be done. By Christ's glorious return, and the holy angels with him, taking vengeance on them that know not God. Paul does not comfort the Thessalonians that are going through these trials and tribulations with the promise of any future day when we will happily eradicate persecution of Christians by taking over the societies and institutions of this world. By the way, he also doesn't try to comfort them with any false hope of a deliverance by any preacher of rapture either. The only comfort given here to these saints going through tribulation is in Christ's glorious return to execute vengeance on them that know not God, that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. And we are to persevere until then. That's what we're called to do. That is the day that we're looking for. And until that day, we can be expected to suffer. in that furnace of affliction we talked about a couple weeks ago. But for now, in this present age, Lord Jesus said that we are not of this world any more than He is of this world. He didn't say that we're assigned the task of taking over the world because we've been called out of it. First He said in John chapter 14, verse 16, I will pray the Father and He shall give you another comforter that He may abide with you forever. Verse 17, he said, even the spirit of truth, John 14, 17, whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him. Jesus said, but ye know him, for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. He said in John 15, verse 18, if the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. He said, verse 19, if ye were of the world, the world would love its own. But because ye are not of the world, but have chosen you out of the world, Therefore, the world hateth you." We are not going to prepare the world for Christ's return by taking over the nations and implementing theocratic rule under the civil law of Moses and by putting the heretics and the false prophets and adulterers and sodomites to death by stoning, as was advocated by the Calvinist postman, R.J. Rushton. Christianity cannot be enforced by civil government. at the edge of the sword or at the point of a gun, which is basically what they're espousing. The entire scheme is a perversion of the message of the cross and the purpose of the gospel that has no scriptural support whatsoever. Please turn to Matthew chapter 28. The only way this scheme can be made to appear to be supported from scripture is by twisting the scripture to say what they do not say. And they do that in many places. As mentioned last time, they start here by perverting the Great Commission itself. Matthew 28, verse 18. We read, And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Verse 19, Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Verse 20, Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. Dominionists cite to verse 19, where Christ says that we are to teach all nations, which they say means we are supposed to take control over and implement God's law in the civil governments of every nation on earth. The immediate problem, of course, with their exegesis is they ignore the remainder of that verse. It says, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. When he said, teach all nations, the Lord Jesus obviously did not have the civil governments and the seven mountains of societal institutions in view, or in mind, as these obviously cannot be baptized. This is a perversion of the Lord's command to preach the gospel to all the world, and it is a perversion of the gospel itself. We are, of course, called and authorized to go into all nations and make disciples from among the people of every nation. But we're also to do so by calling them to salvation through repentance and faith in Christ, not by implementing theocratic government, but by preaching the everlasting gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, as we read in Revelation 14, verse 6. So dominionism perverts the gospel of Christ, and it promotes a false gospel of political conquest. I've got more to go into. I want to talk about how dominionism is man-centered and humanist rather than Christ-centered. But I've got quite a bit left here. I believe what I'm going to do is save this for next time since it's getting a little bit late. And we'll wrap it up right there. We'll go into that next time. And let's go ahead and pray. And then we'll have our fellowship dinner together. Father in heaven, Lord, we do thank You for Your Word. I thank You for the comfort it gives us. We thank You, Lord, that You have put everything for us in black and white. I just pray that you give us all discernment to discern truth from error, to care about truth from error. Help us, Lord, to understand these things, to be aware of them, and to be ready always, as we're exhorted in Scripture, to give an answer to them that ask of the hope that is in us. And to those who have been led astray by this false theology, this false eschatology, I pray you help us, Lord, to be able to be equipped to correct them. and perhaps set them on the right path. Help us all to be on guard against all these false doctrines. In Jesus' name we do pray. Amen.