MAKERS OF IMAGES

   Even the enemies of God know the return of Christ is true (though they do not want us to know that they know) while thousands and thousands of people in Christian churches get excited about the return of Santa Claus, yet they have no knowledge about the return of Christ. 
   This is because images of Christ have been captured in the minds of people from portraits, photographs, statues, wood carvings, Christmas or Easter greeting cards, manger scenes, or from a corpse on a bent cross.  Thus they can believe in an image  of Christ in their imaginations, yet not believe that Christ is a real person; for their belief in an image is not the same as believing in Christ not seen, and they are therefore deceived to believe they know Christ simply because they know an image:  for that is all the knowledge of Christ they have been taught to believe, or even allowed to know.
   Furthermore, we know that people will worship the image of Antichrist in the future, which is not something new on the face of the earth:  for people have been worshipping images of idols for thousands of years, and therefore their minds have been conditioned to believe in images.
   Even today, some of the most educated people in the world will enter certain churches and religious institutions and go down on their knees in the presence of images of idols, which represent gods that are not living, nor have ever lived, and gods that have no eyes to see, nor ears to hear.  But because they have been deceived, they believe the images represent living gods.  And this is where they are caught in a double-cross:  they have mixed many images with an image of Christ, which means they do not know the difference between the living God of heaven and idols that have never lived!
   When people have been taught to believe that the Bible is forbidden knowledge, except for the priesthood, then the people are under the spiritual authority of men and not under the authority of God; for they have also been taught to believe that these men in priestly garments are holy men:  and it is to these "holy men" they kneel and not to God.
   Please remember that Judas Iscariot saw the face of Jesus for three years, yet Judas never believed in Christ in his heart even though he had head  knowledge of the Lord.
   So then, will people today believe in Christ just because they see an imaginary face of the Lord on a photograph, or on a portrait, or on a statue chiseled from stone, or a corpse on a bent cross?
   God forbid!
   Even after the Lord's resurrection from death, Jesus said unto Thomas the disciple:
      "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed:  blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed."  (John 19: 29)
   Therefore, for more than two thousand years, millions of people have come to believe in Christ without seeing His face.
   Once people believe in Christ by faith, then and only then will they believe in the return of Christ, for then they will know that Christ is not an image that has been captured in their imaginations:  at which time they will stop believing that men of the earth are holy men because they will become followers of God instead of followers of men, the makers of images.
      "Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;"  (2nd Corinthians 10: 5)