In 2 Thessalonians 2:10, Paul reveals the root cause of why this terrorized turbulent world will soon experience the wrath and judgment of God. He simply states…..”they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.” Clearly, Paul is talking about people who have never genuinely fallen in love with the Lord Jesus Christ and his teachings. If you read the verses prior to this blunt statement, you will find that Satan is bringing his kingdom, which includes all nations on Earth with their political-religious systems, to a final showdown with the truth of Jesus Christ.

Satan’s man for this showdown, the Antichrist, will then be revealed and offered to this troubled world as the great peacemaker, who will bring war and terrorism to an end. Isn’t the stated goal of this war on terrorism….a new world order?

I have nothing but compassion for the multitudes who have never truly loved Jesus. Some of them are my friends and family. It hurts deeply when I consider their eternal condition. Jesus has for two thousand years called people to his love and forgiveness. But, a time of judgment is coming, to separate good from evil, to chain Satan and his bandits in Hell for a thousand years.

Tragically, some who once loved Jesus with all their hearts, are today losing their first love for him. I know this, for I was one of them. I know and have experienced the utter confusion of becoming lukewarm, and trying to love Jesus and this world system. I know what it’s like to stiffarm the convicting words of the Holy Spirit within me. I know how it feels to return habitually to the lusts of the flesh and the constant pursuit of the money and pleasures of this world system. And then attempt to twist the meaning of scriptures to ease my conscience, thereby rationalizing my desires for worldly wealth and pleasures.

This twisting of scripture is the perverted contribution that Christian Psychologists and the Health and Wealth gospel gang have made to Christendom. However, I must not blame them for my personal failures. They will answer to the Lord for teaching their lies just like everyone else. I hope and pray they repent for attempting to Christianize the carnal desires that need to die on the cross.

I also know what it’s like to fake repentance and to give lip service to a holy loving God. It’s a horrible thing to lose your first love and then pretend that you haven’t. As I wrote in an earlier article, it wasn’t until I faced open heart surgery and the paralyzing fear of death from a weak heart, that I began to come out of my carnal delusions. This fear that controlled me was the fruit of a sinful mind. But, Jesus was still inside me, reaching out to me. The same Jesus who saved me years earlier was using my fear and self-inflicted heart disease to chasten me and present me with a clear choice. I could love him and walk with him as before or perish.

Jesus broke my spiritual heart when he reminded me that I was sinning against him, that he was killed by the hands of men, and that included me. He reminded me that my sin was separating his relationship with me. For I had stopped hating sin, which is the only thing that can hurt our oneness with him. The shame and sorrow in me hurt so much that it was almost unbearable. He wanted to cleanse me from sin, not excuse or cover it up. Do you know what Jesus wants from us when we sin? Honesty. He knows our fleshly bodies are still a powerful force warring against Him in our new hearts. In my case, I was bringing sin into my heart where he lives. That’s much more dangerous than the sins of the mind and the body.

Another symptom that comes from not truly loving Jesus is the indifference toward the reading of the Bible. You see, when our hearts are pure, his voice jumps from the written pages into our very soul. Listening to his voice come alive through the written word, then becomes more refreshing than anything. We desire it above all other things. But when sin is in control, reading the Bible becomes mechanical or just a religious ritual, if it’s read at all.

Another symptom of a lukewarm heart is the gradual weakening of our longing and looking for the imminent return of Jesus to end Satan’s kingdom on Earth. Our desire to see him face to face, to be with him, diminishes. We become like an unfaithful husband who can’t look his wife in the eye. Christendom is today drowning in indifference toward his imminent return. This is why many who claim to believe in it are willing to take up arms and kill the enemies of America or Western civilization, to protect their earthly riches, pleasures and political freedoms. This willingness to kill one’s enemies is outright rebellion against the teachings of Jesus Christ. Please understand, the time will come that Jesus Christ will kill his enemies. He is the only one who is qualified to execute that eternal judgment, so until he returns we are to demonstrate his love and warn people to flee from the coming judgment.

Please don’t be confused by the biblical commands to Israel to execute criminals, to wage war, and Paul’s referring to civil authorities in Romans 13 as ministers of God, and the teaching of Jesus to love one’s enemies. Civil government of any kind, democracy or dictatorship, is allowed by God to restrain violence and prevent anarchy, in spite of them being created and manipulated against each other by Satan. After all, Nero the nut, who burned Rome and hated Christians, was Emperor when Paul wrote his letter to the believers there. Paul calls us to obey and respect the civil authorities, even the Neros of the world, but not to join with them in their violence, Romans 12:17-21. We are also not to resist or rebel against the Neros or British kings either. For God allows human government only because men reject the government of Jesus Christ. Regrettably, men would rather rule themselves or have others rule over them.

Lukewarm militant Christians have forgotten that followers of Jesus…..”sit together in Heavenly places,” Ephesians 2:6…..”are citizens of Heaven,” Philippians 3:20…..are ambassadors for Christ,” 2 Corinthians 5:20. Have they traded freedom from sin and Satan through the blood of Jesus Christ for political freedom that Satan’s kingdom offers? Are they exchanging eternal life for the riches and pleasures of this life? To me, the answer is heartbreaking. I’ve been there. Have they forgotten these scriptures or have they sadly lost their first love and are not obeying the Lord?

One of my founding fathers, not George Washington, but Paul of Tarsus, has in 2 Thessalonians 1:7-8, declared that Jesus will….”in flaming fire take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ.” This includes everyone that loves not the truth, both those who have never loved Jesus and those who have become lukewarm. You can turn away your ear from what you have just read or you can fall in love with the King of Kings. It’s your call.