Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

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June 2007 Issue

Astonished Reverence
Jun 1st, 2007
A.W. Tozer
Uncategorized

“Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for my soul.” Psalm 66:16

In my own being, I could not exist very long as a Christian without the inner consciousness of the Presence and nearness of God! I can only keep right by keeping the fear of God on my soul and delighting in the fascinating rapture of worship.

I am sorry that the powerful sense of godly fear is a missing quality in churches today.

The fear of God is that “astonished reverence” of which the saintly Faber wrote. I would say that it may grade anywhere from its basic element – the terror of the guilty soul before a holy God – to the fascinated rapture of the worshipping saint.

There are few unqualified things in our lives but I believe that the reverential fear of God, mixed with love and fascination and astonishment and adoration, is the most enjoyable state and the most purifying emotion the human soul can know. A true fear of God is a beautiful thing, for it is worship, it is love, it is veneration. It is a high moral happiness because God is!

Dark Clouds With A Silver Lining
Jun 1st, 2007

Uncategorized

These are dark, dangerous days for Israel.  Four fierce and increasingly belligerent enemies are threatening her. Hamas, Hezzbollah, Syria and Iran are talking war and preparing for war. Iran is rushing toward attaining nuclear weapons to annihilate Israel.

To make matters worse, political instability is gripping Israel with Ehud Olmert’s government in danger of falling. Missiles are raining down on Israel daily from the Gaza Strip. The call to destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities is growing louder by the day. At this time Israel’s PM Olmert is seemingly willing to make any concession for peace. Just as a peace agreement seems at hand, civil war breaks out between Fatah and Hamas, again delaying a peace treaty. It appears, at least to me, that after decades of attempts to bring about the peace, and after many near misses, the peace will not come until Antichrist appears out of Europe to make a false peace happen. Before this happens the Church will be called away. We are living under the Sound of the Trumpet.

The Coming of Antichrist
Jun 1st, 2007
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

Today there are two prospective kingdoms on collision course. God has appointed a man to rule this world, Luke 1:31-33, "And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

Satan has also chosen a man to rule the world. Revelation13:4-8, "And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him? And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.   We have two rulers on a collision course, Jesus Christ and Antichrist. One of the most significant events of the last days is the rise of Antichrist. He will be the most rebellious, anti-God, human being who will ever appear on the face of the earth."

The Person of Antichrist

1 – He is an intellectual genius Dan. 7:8 “In this horn (antichrist) were eyes like the eyes of a man”. Eyes refer to intelligence in scripture, the capacity to view a situation, to understand it, and to use the situation to advantage. He will be a man with incredible intellectual capacity.

2 – He will be an outstanding orator. He will sway the whole world. Leadership is based upon the ability to speak and sway men. Dan. 7:8 “A mouth speaking great things”, Dan. 7:20 “A mouth that spoke very great things”. Men and women everywhere will be attracted to him, will like him, will trust him and follow him. They will say, this is the kind of man the world has always needed, he is our kind of man.

3 – He will be a master politician. First he will captivate the Revived Roman Empire but after 3 ½ years he will rule the whole world. In Rev. 6:2 we see him with “a bow” and no arrows; he uses political means to conquer the whole world. Dan. 11:21 “And he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries”. The world will say, “this is our man”, “he is a good guy”, “he can get things done”, “he thinks like I do”.

4 – He is a commercial wizard. He will bring unprecedented prosperity to the whole world. Initially it will appear to be for all. Dan. 8:25 “And through his policy also he shall cause deceit to prosper in his hand”. He will control such institutions as the World Bank, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations. He will use them to develop a prosperous world economy, men will love him because he initially puts money in their wallets. Revelation18 describes prosperity for a few, such as the world has never known. Everything that is sold anywhere in the world will be under his control. "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name" (Revelation3:17).

5 – He will be a military genius. The greatest military genius the world has ever known. Dan. 7:23 “… and he shall devour the whole earth and tread it down and break it in pieces”. When civil wars and unrest arise, he will say, “Give me control of your police forces and your armies and I will take care of the problems”. By the time the world wakes up it will be too late! Revelation13:4 “Who is able to make war with the beast?”.

6 – He is a religious leader. “All that dwell on the earth shall worship him” Rev 13:8. Also 2 Thessalonians 2:4, "Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God."

The Transitions of Antichrist

In the first half of the tribulation period he appears to be a benevolent, charismatic, popular leader. He has something to please everyone. He totally deceives Israel, the Church and the nations. Even when he kills and brutalizes people, they will think he has a good cause in what he does.

In the second half of the tribulation period he turns against the harlot church and utterly destroys it.  Revelation 17:16, "And the ten horns which thou sawest upon the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire." He turns against those who come to Christ and refuse to worship him Revelation 13:15, "And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed." Counterfeit christianity will be slaughtered. 

He turns against Israel Zechariah13:8, "When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place, (whoso readeth, let him understand:) Then let them which be in Judaea flee into the mountains. Let him which is on the housetop not come down to take any thing out of his house: Neither let him which is in the field return back to take his clothes. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck in those days! But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day: For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be."

Finally he turns upon Christ Daniel 8:25, "And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he shall magnify himself in his heart, and by peace shall destroy many: he shall also stand up against the Prince of princes; but he shall be broken without hand."

7 – His fate 2 Thessalonians 2:8, "And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:"

Understand three things:

I. The church must be raptured before Antichrist appears on the scene. 2 Thessalonians 2: 1-3, "Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him. That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition."

II. There are no signs for the rapture, it is imminent event that could happen at any moment.

III. There are a multitude of signs in scripture that now indicate that Christ’s Second Coming is drawing near. However we know the rapture must precede the second coming so the rapture must be near at hand.

The stage is set for the tribulation period to begin and Antichrist to appear on the scene.

There are many situations in our world today which indicate Antichrist is about to appear on the stage, but that is a topic for another day!

The Revived Roman Empire
Jun 1st, 2007
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

Nearly 3.500 years ago God promised Israel in Deuteronomy 28 that He would bless them and make them the head of the Nations if they would obey Him and trust Him. In David’s day it actually happened. God also warned Israel, if they refused to obey and trust Him He would bring awesome chastening upon them, at least for a period of time. That chastening began in the seventh century B.C. Israel was set aside and the gentile nations began to dominate and oppress Israel. Luke 21:24 tells us about that time, “And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations; and Jerusalem shall be trodden down by the gentiles until the times of the gentiles be fulfilled.” Notice the phrase, “The times of the gentiles”. During these times Israel would be set aside and the gentile nations would be ruling the world, they would have supremacy over the Jews.

In Daniel Chapters 2 and 7 God gave Nebuchadnezzar and Daniel each a vision, these visions brought the same prophetic message. The message told of five great empires which would rule the world during the time that Israel would be set aside, from 586 B.C. until Armageddon. Today the Times of the Gentiles are still in effect as we see the gentile nations still oppressing Israel. In our lifetime we have seen Israel being restored but that restoration is not yet complete.

Only a sovereign God can write history before it happens.

The Bible tells us that Rome would be the fourth empire and that after a long period of time, a fifth empire would rise out of the Roman Empire.

This fifth empire is pictured in Daniel 7:7, "After this I saw in the night visions, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; and it had great iron teeth: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it: and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns.”

We see this fifth and final kingdom as ten horns rising up out of the head of the Roman beast, we refer to it as the Revived Roman Empire. Today the E.U boldly and clearly states that they are the Revived Roman Empire.

Notice what Daniel’s prophecy said would happen to the Roman Empire. Daniel 2:40 “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron, forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things; and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise”. Notice, “as iron that breaketh all these,” this is what Rome did as it came to power in the first century B.C. Then notice “shall it break in pieces.” This breaking up of the Roman Empire began in 486 A.D. However fragments of the Empire of Rome would continue for a long period of time, as indicated by the long legs of Nebuchadnezzar’s image in Daniel 2.

The Roman Empire would continue in the form of the British, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch and Belgian Empires, all sub Roman empires.

In Dan 2:40 it not only says that the Roman Empire would break in pieces but that it would “bruise”.

I believe this bruising took place after World War II when the Roman sub-empires were forced to give up the Roman colonial system all around the world. Every one of the sub-Roman empires was involved. Immediately after this the E.U. was born as the treaty of Rome was signed in 1958. The E.U. is the embryonic form of the coming Revived Roman Empire. At almost the same time Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948. The stage was set for the last drama of the “Times of the Gentiles” to unfold. Israel soon will be back where she was when God left off dealing with her, under the Roman Empire. When Antichrist comes on the scene, Israel will be under both the Roman Empire and a Roman Emperor.

In Fact it will be the Roman dictator (Antichrist) who will sign a peace treaty which will allow Israel to rebuild the Temple and re-establish the levitical worship.

Bible prophecy lays out the details of this last day’s scenario, toward which our world is rushing:

• A Peace Treaty for Israel.
• A World Government
• A World Church (the Harlot)
• A Global Economy
• A Kingdom for Antichrist

All of this will unfold through the Revived Roman Empire.

The Woman and the Beast
Jun 1st, 2007
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

We see a graphic symbol of a coalition which will dominate the world in the first half of the tribulation period (Rev 17:3). We see a woman riding on a beast. Who is this woman? In the book of Revelation there are three women who are symbols of religion.

First in Rev 12:1 the woman is the symbol of Israel (cp Gen 37:9, 10).

Second in Rev 19:7 we see a woman who is the wife (bride) of Christ (the Lamb). This woman is the symbol of the true church of Christ.

Third in Rev 17:3 we see a woman who is called a harlot. A harlot is a woman who is unfaithful to her husband and causes others to be unfaithful. This woman is the symbol of Apostate Christianity. This is Christianity which claims to represent Christ but is unfaithful to Him and to His Word.

Satan has two driving passions (Isaiah 14:13, 14); 1 – to rule over all of creation and 2 – to be worshipped in place of God.

His final attempt to accomplish this in the last days will be made through the Harlot and the Beast, through apostate Christianity and the kingdom of Antichrist, through a world church and a world government. These two entities are now in the formative stages.

A World Government is now being fashioned; the infrastructure is rapidly forming all around us. It will not be fully realized until Antichrist appears, and proceeds to bring it to full fruition.

A World Church is the second entity which is rapidly forming in our world today. It started slowly in the twentieth century and has been gaining momentum until it is now like a snowball plunging downhill. If you honestly examine the broad base of the Ecumenical movement you will find, denial of the Deity of Christ, denial of the Virgin Birth, denial of the efficacy of the shed blood of Christ and denial of the authority of God’s Word. The Ecumenical movement is Apostate and to identify with it is to enter into union with Apostasy.

My heart is grieved to see churches and individuals, who formerly held to sound doctrine, now moving toward Ecumenism. There are a few who are sounding a warning but almost no one is listening.

Two verses which relate to this issue are Matthew 24:4, 5 where Jesus said the great sign of the last days would be religious deception, ecumenism is very deceptive. The second verse is Revelation 18:4 which is spoken to believers involved in the Ecumenical (Harlot) Church during the tribulation period, (this seems incredible and demonstrates the deceptiveness of Ecumenism). The call is “Come out of her my people.”

Dear Brother or Sister in Christ, if you are associated with a church or a group involved in Ecumenism, heed your Lord’s words, “come out of her my people”.