最近接连传来极端穆斯林份子大规模屠杀平民的恐怖袭击，那些常人难以理解的年轻男女们抱着同归于尽的心态向着一群正在吃饭看戏享受的陌生人，甚至熟人大开杀戒。在对恐怖份子的谴责和无辜死者的哀悼之余，也让人反思。很显然，他们这样做是出自宗教的虔诚，他们以神和来生的名义向世俗和今生开火，有谁能阻止他们呢？是用枪炮吗？是用人本的教化吗？事实已经证明，而且会继续证明，这些都无有功效。
我们原本也生活在世俗与今生，是基督以神和永生的名义把我们呼召出来，让我们觉悟了来世的权能，并开始传扬天国的福音。然而我们从来不是用恐吓、用屠杀、用死亡来宣扬天国，而是以基督的爱、饶恕、舍己来见证福音。但在这日渐世俗化的世界，特别是在美国这个世俗享乐的“人间天堂”，天国的福音好像越来越不讨好，在晚间娱乐节目档里，提到“天国”那是一个标准的笑话。现在，这个“笑话”被一群人用如此骇人的方式强行推到世界新闻的头版头条。这既是对世俗主义者的当头棒喝，也是向我们基督徒发出的号角声。
圣经《启示录》中宣告了末世敌基督者上场的顺序，先是假先知出来混乱神与永生之道，然后是大淫妇出场，这大淫妇就是建立在金融贸易基础之上的现代文明，是世俗主义、人本（无神）主义、享乐主义的集合。《启示录》也宣告了敌基督者下场的顺序，与他们上场的顺序正好相反，大淫妇首先被烧掉，她用来迷惑世人的纸醉金迷的生活方式，将在旦夕之间烟消云散。接下来，最后被灭掉的，才是假先知，就是那假冒神的名义，用假冒的天国来迷惑人的先知。这是一场属灵的争战，号角已经吹响，你预备好了吗？
Lately a series of
random massacres were carried out by Islamic extremists. A group of young men
and women, with a martyrdom mindset totally strange to modern society, randomly
opened fires at strangers, in some cases, coworkers, who were simply out enjoy
their lives at dinner table and concert hall. While we condemn such atrocity
and mourn for the victims, we cannot help but asking why. It is obvious that
they deem the killing of lives as a religious mission. In the name of a god
and a world to come they opened fire at infidels and at this world at large.
Who can stop this surge of martyrs? By guns and bombs? By educating them in
humanity? All these measures have been proven impotent against such religious
zeal, not convinced? You’ll
surely see more evidences coming our way.
We were out trying
to enjoy life in this world before, it is Christ who called us out to live for
God and for eternity. As soon as we’re convinced of the power of the world to
come, we started to spread the gospel about the kingdom of God. Yet we didn’t do it through threatening, through mass
murders, through death sentences, but through love, forgiveness, and public
service demonstrated by Christ. However Christianity is met with increasing enmity
from the secular world, especially within the US who championed the human
effort of pursuing happiness on earth by showcasing the “American dreams”. At popular night shows, any mention of ‘kingdom of heaven’ would be considered a standard joke. Now
this ‘joke’ starts to take over the headlines in
absolutely no-joking, but shocking way. This, I think, serves both as a wake-up call
for mainstream humanists and a trumpet sound for us Christians.
In the Revelation of
Jesus Christ, it foretells the order of each antichrist enters into the world:
first the false prophet came out to confuse God and His heavenly kingdom, then followed
by the great prostitute, who represents the modern civilization built upon the
riches afforded by the world wide trade, and upon the ideology combined
secularism, humanism, and hedonism. The same Revelation also foretells their
order of exit, which reverses their order of entrance: first the great
prostitute will be burnt up, the luxury life style she uses to seduce the
nations will go shipwreck in a moment; after which, it comes the destruction of
the false prophet, who confuses the nations with a false god and a false heaven.
We’re standing in
the high heat of a battle ground, Christian soldiers, have you heard the
trumpet sound?
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