Many worldly churches teach that there is a contest between the LORD God
and Satan the Devil ── with the LORD God losing.
by Leonard V Johnson
OUR LORD GOD IS righteous and just! The Apostle Paul ── under diving
inspiration ── writes,
“Therefore remember that you, ONCE GENTILES IN THE FLESH ── who are called
Uncircumcision by what is called Circumcision made in the flesh by hands ──
12) that AT THAT TIME you were without Christ, being aliens from the
commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope and without God in the world.”
– Ephesians 2:11 12.
So, could a just Creator condemn to Gehenna Fire all people who have
died before the glorious gospel message was brought to the Earth from Father
God by our Lord Jesus Christ? (John 12:49; Mark 1:14-15).
What about our peoples who are living in Communist lands, like China? ── They
did not choose to live in a godless nation. Are they “lost” forever?
It is clear from God’s living word that they are not “lost” because
they have never heard or learned the glorious Word of God, the Truth
of God, or the Plan of God! They have not received the magnificent gift
of the Holy Spirit ── the only means by which the LORD God will resurrect
anyone to eternal life ──
“But if the Spirit of Him [our Heavenly Father]
who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the
dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit [which] dwells in you.” – Romans
8:11.
“So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption,
it is raised in incorruption.”
– 1 Corinthians 15:42.
God’s Master Plan For Creating Man
The LORD God’s desire is that all mankind will have an opportunity for eternal
salvation ──
“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, 4) who
desires ALL MEN to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the
truth.”
– 1 Timothy 2:3-4.
Many might say, “O’, everyone is going to be saved by a ‘universal
salvation.’” Yet, God’s living word does not teach this. Notice what
the Apostle Peter wrote,
“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but
is longsuffering toward us, NOT WILLING that any should perish but that all
should come to repentance.”
– 2 Peter 3:9.
In the following verse, he continued,
“But the Day of the LORD …”
Speaking of an end-time event that is spoken about more than any other event
throughout His living word ── the dreadful and terrible Day of the
LORD!
“ … will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away [certainly a reference to Revelation 21:1]
with a roar and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat [asteroids falling and striking the earth, along with erupting numerous
volcanoes because of a massive earthquake?]; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”
– verse 10.
It is the LORD God’s desire and will that all would eventually come to
the glorious knowledge of His Word, Truth, and Plan so that they too would be
saved from the penalty of DEATH. But, sadly, the overall majority of our
peoples in this present evil age WILL NOT repent from their transgressions.
And, there will be some of our peoples that will be thrown into the Lake of
Fire – (Revelation 20:15; 21:8).
The Prophet Malachi, under divine inspiration, speaks of the day that
disproves the false doctrine of a ‘universal salvation’ ──
“’ For behold, the day is coming, Burning like an oven, And all the proud,
yes all who do wickedly will be stubble. And IN THAT DAY which is coming
shall burn them up,’ says the LORD of hosts, ‘That will
leave them neither root nor branch.
2) But to you who [reverently]
fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings;
And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves. 3) You shall
trample the wicked, For they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet On
the day that I do this,’ Says the LORD of hosts.”
– Malachi 4:1-3.
There is no possibility of a resurrection from Gehenna Fire. The LORD God
desires that ALL MEN may attain eternal life. God the Father and our Lord
Jesus Christ are “long-suffering” and not quick to judge us. They desire that
we will accept GOD’S WAY OF LIFE as revealed to us within God’s
living word so that we may eventually become born children of God at
the glorious resurrection.
A Common Belief
Now, many might surmise that certainly the LORD God should give our peoples
from the time of creation on through the Old Testament a chance to be saved,
but TODAY, in our time, we are having our chance to be saved before Jesus
Christ comes back ── or, it will be too late.
Apparently, this is most people's belief. In fact, the other day, my wife and
I were watching a movie, and a Catholic priest was praying over a dead person,
and she had asked me what it was he was doing. And I explained to her in the
simplest terms that the priest was “praying the person into heaven.” Sadly,
most people do not investigate! Because, as they claim, “ALL THESE CHURCHES
CAN’T BE WRONG!”
So, it appears ── even from the Protestants’ viewpoint ── that salvation TODAY
is open to EVERYONE! Dead or alive. Well, God’s living word actually
teaches us concerning this subject. Yet, it is not properly understood
throughout the churches of the world today ── and it deeply concerns every one
of us!
Blinded By the Light
Let us note what the Prophet Moses had said to the children of Israel shortly
after the Lord GOD led them out of the land of Egypt,
“’ You have seen all that the LORD did before your eyes in the land of
Egypt, …’”
The Lord GOD Himself (not Satan the Devil)
“’ has NOT given you a heart to perceive and eyes to see and ears to hear,
TO THIS VERY DAY.’”
– Deuteronomy 29:2, 4.
The Lord GOD Himself had blinded the children of Israel! And, they wouldn’t
even have known they were blind had He not told them! Deceived people ── for
the most part ── don’t know they’re being deceived.
Also notice what will be sung in JUDAH in that day ──
“’ Woe to the crown of pride, the drunkards of Ephraim, … For with
stammering lips and another [language]
He will speak to this people, ...’ 13) But the word of the LORD was to them,
‘Precept upon precept, precept upon precept, Line upon line, line upon line,
Here a little, there a little,’ That they might go and fall backward, and be
broken And snared and caught.”
– Isaiah 28:1, 11, 13. Exactly the way that God’s living word is
written today, precept upon precept, line upon line, here a little and there a
little.
What had the children of Israel done? They had sinned against the LORD God ──
and what did the LORD God do? BLINDED THEM SPIRITUALLY BECAUSE THEY REJECTED
KNOWLEDGE ──
“’ My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. Because you have rejected
knowledge, I also will reject you from being priest for Me; Because you have
forgotten the Law of your God, I also will forget your children.’”
– Hosea 4:6.
Also, notice the Prophet Ezekiel in chapter 20. This is a most important
chapter, it is a summary of all of the LORD God’s dealings with the rebellious
children of Israel. Take special note of verses 11 and 12.
“’ And I gave them My statutes and showed them My judgments, ‘which, if a
man does, he shall live by them.’ 12) Moreover I also gave them
My Sabbaths, to be a sign between them and Me, that they might know that I
am the LORD who sanctifies them. 13) Yet the house of Israel REBELLED
AGAINST ME IN THE WILDERNESS; they did not walk in My statutes; they
despised My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; and
they greatly DEFILED MY SABBATHS. …’”
– Ezekiel 20:11-13.
We come to see what the LORD God did to the rebellious house of Israel,
“’ because they had not executed My judgments, but had despised My
statutes, profaned My Sabbaths, and their eyes were fixed on their fathers’
idols. 25) Therefore I also gave them up to statutes that were not good, and
judgments by which they could not live; 26) and I pronounced them UNCLEAN
because of their ritual gifts, in that they caused all their firstborn to
pass through the fire, that I might take them desolate and that they might
know that I am the LORD.’”
– verses 24-26.
They obeyed statutes that brought death ── the statutes of the Gentile nations
around them.
All throughout God’s living word, we are told of the reason why HE
BLINDED THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL, TO THIS VERY DAY.
“ …’ that they might know that I am the LORD.’”
Yes, the LORD God wants everyone to truly know the glorious, holy, and
merciful family of God ── which at this time consists of God the
Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
However, even though the children of Israel are blinded ── to this very day ──
are they “lost” forever?
Why the LORD God Blinds
Men’s minds are naturally hostile to the LORD God.
“For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life
and peace. BECAUSE the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not
subject to the Law of God, nor indeed can be.”
– Romans 8:6-7.
The Apostle Paul also tells us,
“For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the
flesh.”
– Galatians 5:17. There is a constant battle between the natural carnal mind
(the human spirit within man and God’s Spirit, the very mind and Way of
the LORD God).
Men’s carnal mind remains at enmity against the LORD God. The Apostle Paul
says of himself ── and we as true Christians can relate, especially when we
sin against the LORD God during this journey we have taken,
“For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin.
15) For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I
do not practice; but what I hate, that I do.”
– Romans 7:14-15.
How many of you have experienced that? You want to do what is right, but you
find yourself doing exactly the opposite. Is it just me, or does everyone
share in this experience? I know the Apostle Paul did. He’s owning it up to
himself – here. He’s saying – ‘this happens to me.’
The LORD God has created mankind to need another Spirit ── the
Holy Spirit. Man was created to know what is right in his own eyes,
hence the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. It is by our own carnal mind
that we are blinded to the glorious spiritual knowledge of God ── certainly
not to cause us to perish, but to bring us to repentance. Concerning the
blinded children of Israel, the Apostle Paul said,
“For God has committed them all to disobedience, that He might have mercy
on all.”
– Romans 11:32.
So, the children of Israel are not “lost” forever.
Mankind, like the children of Israel of old, want to do what they think is
right and wrong ── not what the LORD God says is right and wrong. Truly,
“God is love” (1 John 4:8),
and the
“the fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the
Holy One is understanding.”
– Proverbs 9:10. Mankind, because of human nature, reject the
living truth of God so that they unwittingly sin all the more, and
thereby will eventually learn their lesson that much more deeply ── the lesson
that mankind’s six-thousand year self-rule is NOT in accordance to the
commands of the CREATOR OF ALL THE UNIVERSE!
The Building of Godly Character Takes Time
Of all things physical and spiritual that the Lord God has ever created does
not begin to compare with what He is creating in mankind. Godly character. And
this character cannot be created by fiat. The LORD God cannot just speak it
into existence. It must be developed over time. He has said,
“’ Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and
always keep My commandments, that it might be well with them and with their
children forever!’”
– Deuteronomy 5:29. The LORD God knows that the creation of Godly character
within a person takes time – that it must be developed.
Throughout these nearly six thousand years of mankind’s self-rule, mankind has
had various forms of human government: Authoritarian, Democracy, Monarchy,
Oligarchy, Totalitarian, Dictatorship, etc. Mankind, as a whole, is BLINDED TO
THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD. The nations, countries, and provinces around the world
all believe that their governments are right. YET, NOT ONE HAS BROUGHT TRUE
AND LASTING HAPPINESS, PEACE, AND WELL-BEING!
The LORD God has actually given mankind over to a
“reprobate mind, to do those things which are not [proper].”
– Romans 1:28, KJV. And they will, by
having this type of mind, bring to themselves increased misery ── and will,
upon being called by Father God, upon proper repentance, baptism and the
laying on of hands, and receiving the glorious gift of the Spirit of God,
begin learning that the LORD God’s Way ── that God’s statutes, laws,
and judgments are the right way.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, when the time was fulfilled (cf. Mark 1:15), did not
try and disturb the blindness that is over men's minds. In fact, He stated to
His disciples,
“ …
‘To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God; but
to those who are outside, all things come in parables,
12)
so that ‘Seeing they may see and not perceive, And hearing they may hear
and not understand; Lest they should turn, And their sins be forgiven
them.’”
– Mark 4:11-12.
Parables were spoken by our Lord Jesus to actually mask the
living truth from them.
Again, of all the things physical or spiritual that the Lord God has created,
man is superior in his potential future. As well as in his reasoning ability,
and his ability to create. It has been said, and it’s said in various ways by
different people around the world, “Nothing is impossible unless you think it
is.” But, in fact, a man without the LORD God is limited. For our Lord Jesus
Himself states,
“ …
‘with God all things are possible.’”
– Matthew 19:26. IN GOD’S KINGDOM ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE! The LORD God has no
limitations.
When a person has the opportunity to see clearly that his own will has only
resulted in bad results, he will be ready to accept the will of the LORD God
for himself/herself, and will have his/her old self “spiritually buried and
resurrected” ──
“ … do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus
were baptized into His death? 4) Therefore we were buried with Him through
baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the
glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in NEWNESS OF LIFE.”
– Romans 6:3 4.
Are the Majority of our Peoples Still Blinded?
What about the modern-day nations of Israel ── the Anglo-Saxon nations?
Notice the LORD God’s living word concerning this,
“Even so then, AT THIS PRESENT TIME there is a remnant according to the
election of grace.”
– Romans 11:5.
Praise our Lord, GOD MOST HIGH! A few ── the predestined ── have been called
to receive a chance of eternal salvation, but notice verse 7 –
“What then? Israel has not obtained what it seeks; but the elect have
obtained it, and the rest were blinded.”
And this is true also of TODAY in this present evil age. The few predestined,
whoever will, may come to the LORD God, but the vast majority will not,
because they are blinded to the LORD God’s living Word, Truth, and Plan
── believing that their way is better.
Our Lord Jesus never said that everyone in this age is being called to
salvation by Father God. In fact, the Apostle Paul wrote,
“For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the
flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called.”
– 1 Corinthians 1:26. Truly, only those the Father draws to His Son Jesus can
come to Him. – John 6:44.
So, we see in God’s living word that the overall majority of humanity
── from all nationalities and races ── are blinded! Including this world’s
preachers,
“ … many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of
truth will be blasphemed.”
– 2 Peter 2:2. THE MANY – NOT THE FEW. Sadly, the overall majority of our
peoples globally are “in Babylon” or her daughter churches! “MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND THE ABOMINATIONS OF
THE EARTH.”
Truly, the Roman Catholic Church is indeed the largest “Christian” church in
the world, with an estimated 1.378 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of
2021 1
The vast overall majority of this world will remain blinded ── and so blinded
and misled that they will even fight against our Lord Jesus Christ upon His
glorious and powerful return, not recognizing who He is. Because mankind has
been conditioned and has been misled (surely onward from the mid-1950s)
that our returning Savior will be an invading alien force ── an “Antichrist” ── and will fight against Him – Revelation 17:14.
People of this present evil age can only come to God’s Word, Truth, and Plan,
if Father God calls them to our Lord Jesus Christ, blesses them with
repentance, having been properly baptized and hands laid upon them, and
receiving the glorious gift of God’s Spirit – and afterward to truly
“’ seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, … ask, and it will
be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to
you.
10)
For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who
knocks it will be opened.’”
– Matthew 6:33; Luke 11:9, 10.
Only a relative few in number will receive eternal salvation in this present
evil age. And, these people will have the privilege and the glorious
responsibility to help rule, teach, and judge in ‘the age to come’ ── Isaiah
65:17; Matthew 12:32. The Millennium Reign of our Lord Jesus Christ! As well
as after the ‘Great White Throne Judgment’ ── Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:11-13.
The second resurrection of the vast amount that has been blinded since the
beginning, who never was given the opportunity (or never knew enough to be
accountable)! This then is their calling ── Revelation 20:5a.
The Veil Removed!
Again, our LORD God is righteous and just! GOD, who has allowed
spiritual blindness to be upon the overall majority of people that have ever
lived or will ever live until the end of this present evil age ── blinded from
the Law, Precepts, Ordinances, and Judgments of God. Not understanding the
LORD God’s unfathomable grace and mercy ── they will then have their FIRST
CHANCE! YES!! PRAISE OUR MIGHTY CREATOR GOD!
“And He [our Lord Jesus Christ]
will destroy on this mountain [meaning His glorious kingdom]
The surface of the covering over all people, And the veil that is spread
over all nations.”
– Isaiah 25:7.
Friends, it is not a terrible thing for our loved ones, friends, and neighbors
that they are spiritually blinded.
The LORD God’s Master Plan… From the Beginning
truly calls for the complete removal of the veil that is spiritually blinding
the MANY.
A Chance of Salvation
~ the Millennium ~
The LORD God has allotted mankind six thousand years of self-rule on this
Earth. One only needs to study a little world history to see the results! Here
are but a few: The Slave Trade, World War I, World War II, The Black Plague,
The Holocaust, the Irish Potato Famine, Nanking Massacre of 1937.
This present evil age is feverishly approaching a time of unprecedented
tribulation, “such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this
time, no, nor ever shall be” – Matthew 24:21. What happens after this?
“The people who walked in darkness [BLINDNESS] Have seen a great light [the BLINDNESS REMOVED]
… 6) For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government
will be upon His shoulder. … 7) Of the increase of His government and peace
There will be no end, …”
– Isaiah 9:2, 6, 7.
The Prophet Isaiah was inspired by God’s Spirit to record for us this most
awesome prophecy, which spanned from the time of our Lord Jesus’ birth all the
way to His glorious Millennial Rule on this Earth at His second coming! ──
Revelation 20:4.
The veil will be lifted from all people!
“No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and every man his brother,
saying, ‘Know the LORD,’ for they all shall know Me, from the least of them
to the greatest of them, says the LORD. …”
– Jeremiah 31:34.
The rest of mankind,
“who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their
hands, that they should worship demons, and idols”
(Revelation 9:20) are now given their FIRST OPPORTUNITY for eternal
salvation!
Our Lord Jesus Christ, with His angels, and with
“ten thousands of His saints, 15) to execute judgment on all, to convict
all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have
committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly
sinners have spoken against Him.”
– Jude 1:14-15.
Satan the Devil and his demons will be bound for A THOUSAND YEARS, cast into
the bottomless pit, and shut up, and will have a seal placed upon him,
“so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were
finished. …”
– Revelation 20:1 3.
No more shall anyone hurt nor destroy in all of His holy kingdom,
“For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the LORD As the waters
cover the sea.”
– Isaiah 11:9.
The LORD God (the family of God, which at this time consists of God the Father
and our Lord Jesus Christ) will cleanse all people, giving them a new heart
and a new spirit, blessing them with the glorious knowledge of God’s Law,
Statutes, Ordinances, and Judgments – Ezekiel 26:25-27.
Vast Majority of People Saved!
~ the Great White Judgment ~
I referenced this earlier, but notice Revelation 20:4 ──
“And I saw thrones, and they sat on them, and judgment was committed to
them. THEN I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their witness
to Jesus and for the word of God, who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not received his mark on their foreheads or on their hands.
And they lived and reigned with Christ for a thousand years.”
And then here comes all the people who have ever lived or will live until the
end of this present evil age! Verse 5 –
“But the rest of the dead did not live again until the thousand years were
finished. …”
Now, as hard as it is to believe, the Lord GOD, after His Millennial Reign,
releases Satan the Devil and his demons for “a little season”!
Why?
Because, immediately, he goes out to the four corners of the world ── and
causes utter havoc! He will spiritually influence
Gog and Magog (Siberia, China, Russia area) – A THOUSAND YEARS OF
GLORIOUS PEACE WILL INSTANTLY BE SHATTERED! ── but they will be ultimately
destroyed! Dead bodies will be piled high when the ‘Great White Throne’
resurrection occurs!
“Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. 12)
And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books [the Holy Bible]
were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which
were written in the books.”
– Revelation 20:11-12.
This is what we call
THE GREAT WHITE THRONE JUDGMENT, when the vast overall majority of people who have ever lived from the
beginning will be resurrected on planet Earth and will be given their
FIRST CHANCE for eternal salvation! It has been guesstimated by two separate
sources that there have been roughly 117 billion people who have ever lived!
Conservatively – I’m sure.
Notice that just before ── Satan the Devil, along with his demons, who
deceived them (speaking of Gog and Magog), was cast into the lake of fire and
brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet had been cast. And they will
be tormented [spiritually and mentally] day and night for eternal of ages. ──
Revelation 20:10.
SALVATION will now be open to all people ── just as in His Millennial Reign ──
now, multiple billions upon billions more to accept this glorious offer! Now,
this will not be a second chance; rather, this will be their FIRST CHANCE. For
if they were blinded when they formerly lived, they truly never had a chance.
Ezekiel 37, verses 11-14 gives us a glorious picture of how the LORD God will
accomplish this physical resurrection of all people ── here it is speaking of
the “whole house of Israel” as a type ──
“Then he said to me, ‘Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel.
They indeed say, ‘Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are
cut off!’ 12) Therefore prophesy and say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD:
‘Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up from
your graves, …”
No. This BLINDED PRESENT EVIL AGE does not see, nor do they hear, what
God’s Spirit has to say concerning Father God’s glorious gospel message – the
salvation offered and the soon coming kingdom of God!
Oh, but there is coming a time ── when they will! □
1. Roe, A., Is the Catholic Church the largest in the world? NCESC.com, 15
Feb. 2025.
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