Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

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January 2010 Issue

Christ is All
Jan 1st, 2010
A. W. Tozer
Uncategorized

One thing the young Christian should be taught as quickly as possible after his conversion is that Jesus Christ is all he needs. When he believes effectively on Christ as his Lord and Saviour he can humbly declare his independence of everyone and everything outside of Christ. This the New Testament teaches with great emphasis and clarity and with fullness of detail. We need not quote any proof text in support of this statement, but suggest simply that the inquirer read the Scriptures to see for himself, especially John, Ephesians, Colossians and Hebrews. One marked characteristic of modern evangelicalism is its lack of assurance, resulting in a pathetic search for external evidence to corroborate its faith. It sets out bravely to declare its trust in Christ, but is shortly overawed by the counter declarations of science and philosophy and before long it is looking hesitantly about for some collateral evidence to restore its confidence.

                 AW Tozer (1897-1963)

Israel Divided
Jan 1st, 2010
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

When David came to the throne of Israel the nation was united under him. United, the nation experienced the blessing of God on every aspect of their national and personal lives. Solomon departed from obeying the Lord and under his son Rehoboam, the kingdom was divided. The kingdom remained divided throughout the rest of its history, with ten tribes in the north and two in the south.

When the nation was reborn in 1947 there was a different kind division. There was, and is to this day a secular - religious division.

The secular people have had, and still have a desire to be like the nations around them. They are basically atheistic and pay only lip service to God. They are willing and ready to give up the promises of God concerning the possession of the whole land. Land for peace is their basic philosophy. They like the nations around them, think they can have peace apart from obedience to God.

The religious people seek to re establish the theocratic kingdom. Though they in many ways seem to resemble the religious leaders of the days of Jesus, yet they have what I believe, is a moving of God in their hearts which will ultimately result in the redemption of the nation.

In recent days this division has grown dramatically as the gap between the secular and the religious has widened. Today there is the threat of a civil war between these two groups. The secular group, led by a majority of government members, is willing to give up Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and allow a Palestinian State to be established. The religious group, led by Orthodox Jews, have been moving into Judea and Samaria and expanding in East Jerusalem.

The division appears to be coming to some kind of a climax as the government seems prepared to uproot the Jews in Judea and Samaria by violent methods. The threat of civil war looms over the nation.

This division of the nation will continue all through the tribulation period. We read about its climax in Zechariah 13:8-9. We learn that ultimately two thirds of the nation will die during the tribulation period and that one third will be redeemed and will have the land restored to them. They will also be restored to a relationship with their God which will never again be lost.

We see two grand and glorious purposes of God in the tribulation period.

The First is the judgment of God on Israel and their ultimate and permanent restoration in the Kingdom of heaven on earth. The throne of David will be restored and all of the promises of God to Israel will be fulfilled. Included in those promises will be the restoration of the twelve tribes which begins to take place as the 144,000 witnesses are chosen in the tribulation period. There will be twelve thousand from each of the twelve tribes.  Only God knows who the twelve tribes are and He will separate them.

The Second is the redemption of a host of gentiles and establishing of the gentile nations in the Millennial Kingdom.  A great host of Gentiles will be saved and martyred during the tribulation period, yet there will also be a great host who will be saved and survive the awful holocaust. This group will go into the Kingdom and form the gentile nations, (Some from every tribe and nation).

The tribulation is the climax of the ages long struggle between God and Satan to take control of men and nations and the earth. The Church has no part in this warfare and will be removed from the earth before it begins. Today, we are waiting for the body of Christ to be completed, when it is, when the last one chosen from the foundations of the world has been saved, Christ will call it home to be in His presence forever.  Are you saved, have you been born again.

Today we watch the nation of Israel as this divisive struggle grows and we see the plan and purposes of God for Israel continue to unfold.

We are amazed as we see the prophecies given to us by God in His Word thousands of years ago actually being fulfilled before our very eyes. God is the sovereign Lord of the universe who writes history before it happens. Fulfilled prophecy proves beyond any doubt that the Bible is God`s Word. You as a child of God can claim the promises of God and by faith and know that God will keep His Word.

Shadows of the Coming Tribulation Period
Jan 1st, 2010
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

Jesus warned of a coming time of tribulation which would be unparalleled in the history of the world. Jesus went on to say that if that day had been longer than the proscribed seven years no flesh would remain alive on the earth. Matthew 24:21-22.

John tells us in the book of Revelation that an innumerable number of men and women will be saved during that time. He goes on to tell us that a vast host of those tribulation saints will be martyred for their faith in Christ. Revelation 7:13-14.

We know from scripture that the closing days of this present age will be a climax in the age long warfare between God and Satan. We know that Satan and his man, the Antichrist will be insane with the desire to kill every believer alive on the earth.

Jesus warned His own that the world would hate them and seek to kill them.

I believe that we are now seeing all around us the climate developing for the coming of Antichrist, and the preparation for the slaughter of countless of millions of tribulation saints.

Tribulation, persecution and martyrdom have been the lot of believers all down the long church age. The intensity has ebbed and flowed, but I believe that today we are seeing an unprecedented persecution of believers world-wide. The mindset of the Great Tribulation is being established. The stage is being set for the environment which will prevail during the tribulation period.

We are told that every three minutes a Christian is being tortured in the Muslim world. We are also told that more than 165,000 Christians will die this year for their faith in Christ, most of them in Muslim countries. It is estimated that 200 to 300 million Christians are now being persecuted.

In Gaza the bodies of Christians are being dug up by Hamas, they state that these dead Christians are polluting the earth. Such hatred is the fuel for the incredible tribulation period and the slaughter of God’s people.

In America and Canada the hatred for believers is growing. Christians are being slandered, mocked and 

censored. This climate has been changing with lightening speed.

In Germany the parents of homeschoolers have been sent to jail.

In the UK there is a proposal before the Parliament which calls for a mandatory criminal background check for parents who want to home school their children.

Statistics tell us that more Christians died for their faith in the 20^th century than in all of the 19 centuries which preceded it. Now we are seeing a tremendous escalation in the killing of believers in the early years of the e 21^st century.

In China the communist government is seeking to eliminate all church activity that is not sanctioned by the state.

In Eritrea thirty elderly women were arrested for praying together.

The following are some quotes from “this is the end of the world as we know it” website.

“Today some 3,000 Eritrean Christians are imprisoned for their faith. Some are in underground and solitary cells whilst some are in ‘secret’ prisons for the ‘disappeared’. However, most are herded into unventilated shipping containers in the desert where dysentery and infectious diseases go untreated. Torture is routine.”

“Increasingly, Christian clergy are being targeted for assassination all over the world. The following are just a few of the recent examples ...”

“A Russian priest who had been highly critical of Islam has been assassinated inside his own church.”

“Leftist guerrillas in Colombia brutally executed a Christian pastor just outside his own home.”

“Two masked members of the al-Shabaab Muslim militia shot and killed a Christian pastor in Somalia as he drove home from a worship service.”

“In India, more than 100 Christians are confirmed dead, 4,000 homes have burned down, and over 50,000 Christians have fled their homes.”

“Hundreds of Muslim villagers in southern Egypt recently burned and looted scores of Christian-owned shops. Christians in Egypt live in a constant state of fear and thousands are being forced to relocate. In fact, the forced deportation of Egyptian Christians from their homes by the government in order to ‘protect’ them is rapidly increasing”.

“All across Europe, ‘anti-proselytizing’ laws are being passed. Not only that, but other laws are being adopted that force Christians to deny their beliefs. For example, the UK government is being forced by the European Commission to eliminate exemptions that allow churches to refuse to employ homosexual staff.”

“Christians there are considered little more than dogs as the following story from The Voice of the Martyrs illustrates ...

The young brown-eyed girl looked up at her mother. What would she decide?

Earlier that morning, the young girl’s mother, their pastor, and twenty-six others in her North Korean village of GokSan were bound and taken before a screaming crowd of Communists.

One of the guards ordered Pastor Kim and the others Christians, ‘Deny Christ, or you will die’. The words chilled her. How could they ask her to deny Jesus? She knew in her heart He was real. They all quietly refused.

Then the Communist guard shouted directly at the adult Christians, ‘Deny Christ or we will hang your children.’ The young girl looked up at her mother.  She gripped her and knowing how much her mom loved her. Her mother then leaned down. With confidence and peace she whispered, ‘Today my love, I will see you in heaven.’

All of the children were hanged.

The remaining believers were then brought out onto the pavement and forced to lie down in front of a huge steamroller. The Communists gave them on last chance. ‘Deny this Jesus or you will be crushed.’ The Christians had already given up their children; there was no turning back.

As the driver started the heavy piece of equipment, the singing from the villagers started softly. “More love, O Christ, to thee, more love to thee”

“Calls for government repression of Christianity in the United States have grown louder than ever before. The Huffington Post even published a deeply disturbing article which calls evangelical Christianity the number one source of domestic terrorism in the United States and that calls on the Secret Service and the FBI to investigate and “infiltrate” pro-life and evangelical Christian groups.

Not only that, but many of the hottest bestselling books in recent years have publicly mocked Christianity.

Just consider the titles of a few recent New York Times bestsellers...

“God is Not Great: Why Religion Poisons Everything” by journalist Christopher Hitchens.

“The End of Faith” by atheist author Sam Harris

“The God Delusion” by Richard Dawkins.

But this anti-Christian sentiment is just not held by a few elitists. The reality is that it has spread too much of the general population.

For example, the following are the titles of just a few anti-Christian threads on one of the most popular political discussion forums on the Internet...

“Dirty, Filthy Christians”: Treatise on the Most Dangerous Death Cult in Human History

How can we destroy Christians?

Christians should not participate in politics.

Attention Heterosexuals! Repent! Jesus Can Finally Make you Gay!

The tribulation period has not begun as yet, but I believe that we are seeing stage being set for that awful day. I am reminded again and again of the words of Jesus, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption (rapture) draweth night”. Luke 21:29.

The hour is late! The Lord is at hand! The trumpet is soon to sound!

ARE YOU READY?                                                                Art Sadlier

The Dry Bones
Jan 1st, 2010
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

In Ezekiel 37 we have the account of the dry bones. In verse 11 the Lord said unto Ezekiel, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel:  behold, they say, our bones are dried, and our hope is lost: we are cut off for our parts.”

The fulfillment of that prophecy is the story the history of Israel for nearly 2000 years. In our lifetime we have seen the dry bones come together again and Israel restored as a nation.

However to this point there is no spiritual life in the nation. The nation is still blind to the truth that Christ is their God and Messiah. In verse 14 the Lord said, “I will put my spirit in you, and ye shall live,” that spiritual life has not come to Israel as yet.

Zechariah tells us in chapter 13 that spiritual life will come to Israel at the close of the tribulation period. We are told that two thirds of the nation will die in unbelief and that one third will be refined and redeemed. “And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It is my people: and they shall say, The Lord is my God.”  Zechariah 13:9. This is the fulfillment of Romans 11:26, where Paul said, “And so all Israel shall be saved”, every living Israeli will be saved at that time.

I believe that at this very moment we are seeing the Spirit of God beginning to move upon some of the Jewish people and that this movement is the beginning of that which will be consummated in Zechariah 13:9.

To this point the Jewish people have generally accepted the fact that the land will be divided and that there will be two states. However in recent days there is a movement in the hearts of some Jewish people to believe God to fulfill his promises to them and fully restore the nation.

The following news article is an example what I believe is the beginning of the movement of God’s Spirit on Jewish hearts.

RCP Director Rabbi Avraham Levin was quoted by Israel National News as explaining to the ambassador that "the past 17 years have proven without a shadow of a doubt that every square inch ceded by Israel to the Palestinians was transformed into a platform of hatred and terrorism."

Levin noted that the land-for-peace formula had now proved to be wrong on at least three different levels:

1. It goes against God's Word;
2. It only produces more bloodshed by encouraging Muslim terror;
3. It harms American interests in the region by emboldening those forces most opposed to democracy.

Rabbi Shalom Gold of Jerusalem told the ambassador about an aspect of the conflict often ignored by the international media: the constant anxiety and suffering of Israeli Jews.

"From the day that we started conceding and withdrawing we did not have one day of rest and peace," said Rabbi Gold. "Why should our enemies want to make peace with us when they see that with terrorism they get what they want? ...Is the triumph of Arab terror one of American interests?"

Rabbi Dov Lior of Hebron concluded by reminding the Americans that their current and continued success as a world power is closely tied to the way they relate to Israel.

"God gave the US the power and influence to affect the rest of the world and supporting Israel is the key to America's success," said Rabbi Lior. Cunningham responded that Palestinian concerns and desires must also be taken into consideration, but the rabbis noted that the situation only started getting bad when Israel and the world started focusing on Palestinian considerations.

Instead, the rabbis urged, the US should scrap the land-for-peace failure and try the approach outlined in the Bible.

This is just one example of a change of expectations on the part of a growing number of Israeli’s. The God of Israel who has miraculously restored His people and has preserved them from a hostile world is now preparing to breathe His Spirit into them.

Today we see in Israel a group of Jews, who in unbelief and fear are willing to give up the long promised land. We are now also seeing the surfacing of a hand full of Jews who are demonstrating some evidence of faith in the promises of God to them and the nation.

Another evidence of this growing remnant of believing Jews is the tenacity with which many Israeli’s are moving in to claim Judea and Samaria as their inheritance. Counter to them is the determination of the Present Israeli leadership to evacuate the so called West Bank and cede it to the Palestinians in fear and unbelief.

This division of the Israeli people is the setting of the whole tribulation period. The stage is being set for the rapture to take place and the program of God for Israel to unfold.

   Art Sadlier