Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

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December 2011 Issue

Heaven is a Wonderful Place
Dec 1st, 2011
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

The disciples looked for heaven, Jesus had told them "I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that where I am there ye may be also." John 14:2,3 As a result of that promise, those first disciples lived and laboured and died in anticipation of going to be with Jesus in Heaven.

What will Heaven be like?

The truth is we do not fully know what heaven will be like. "… eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him."

First we need to understand that God has deliberately chosen not to give man a full description of Heaven. You can’t expect a child to eat their meat and potatoes if you also put a piece of chocolate in front of them. If we had a full vision of Heaven, we would be too dissatisfied with this earthly home to live here.

Second it is implied that finite beings could never grasp the glory and beauty of heaven and all its wonders. Heaven is so marvelous, so wonderful, that we do not have the capacity to even imagine what it is really like.

And yet, although the Lord has not given us a full description of Heaven, a full view, He has pulled back the curtain just a little to allow us to peak into Heaven. He gives us a few phrases, just a few words to whet our appetite about the wonders of Heaven. The word Heaven is recorded 550 times in Scripture. Let’s take a peak into Heaven.

The Foundations of the walls are made of precious gems; the Walls are made of pure jasper (diamonds). The Gates of the city are each composed of a single large pearl. The Buildings and Streets are made of pure gold, like glass. Heaven is a beautiful place!

There is no need of the sun or moon, the Lord Himself lights the city with His glory and that glory radiates through the clear gold of the buildings and streets.

In Heaven there are no dirty streets, no litter, no bad odours and no pollution. There is nothing which is not pleasing to the senses. Heaven is a pleasing place!

More wonderful than all of its physical beauty, God the Father will be there.

We will be with Him "…behold the tabernacle (dwelling place) of God is with men, and He shall dwell with them and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." Rev. 21:3

We will see Him Exodus 33:20 says "… thou canst not see My face; for there shall no man see Me and live."1 John 4:12 says "No man hath seen God at any time …" However, when we are glorified and our sin nature is removed and we become absolutely Holy, that will change our situation. Jesus said, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God" Matt 5:8 Someday in Heaven, wonder of wonders, we will stand before God and see Him. In Rev. 6:6 we see a great multitude of saints before the throne of God, worshipping and saying, "Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth."

Jesus will be there. We cannot imagine the thrill of standing in His presence, the thrill of looking on His glorified face, the thrill of being with the One who died for us.

What an indescribable joy to be with our Saviour and Lord, to gather around His throne and sing His praises with all the saints of the ages.

As we come to Revelation 12:12, we read, "Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them". We can hardly imagine the joy of the inhabitants of heaven when Satan is cast out of heaven. We can almost hear the praises and hallelujahs as the courts of heaven ring. Not only is Satan cast out of their presence forever but the signal is given that the final overthrow of Satan is now underway. I suspect those who are in heaven have a clearer perspective of the awfullness of sin and Satan. The blackness of Satan is contrasted by the holiness of God which they can behold as we cannot. The hundreds of millions of men and women deceived and cast into hell by the deceptions of Satan and the affront he pours out upon a Holy God. The pain and anguish and sufferings upon the people of God, all purposed and brought about by this evil dragon. What joy fills all of heaven as he is reckoned with.

The Lord Jesus Christ will be glorified in all three heavens, again cause for more rejoicing!

The trumpet could sound at any moment and that unbelievable thrill will be our instant experience!

"And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. And And they shall see his face; and his name shall be in their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign forever and ever" (Revelation 22:1-5).

Satan's Great Desire
Dec 1st, 2011
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

In Ezekiel 28:16 Lucifer is called the “covering cherub.” Evidently he was created to hover over the throne of God and guard the holiness of God. From his vantage point he observed the glory of God and the worship that He received and the way He ruled over heaven and earth. Lucifer determined that he would take the place of God and be worshipped and rule as God ruled and was worshipped.

We read about that great desire in Isaiah 14:13-14, “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”

Satan has been driven by that desire ever since that time. By the permissive will of God Satan was able to tempt Eve and through Adam bring the human race under his control. He was also able to lead a large contingent of angels in a rebellion against God.

This contest between God and Satan has continued as Satan has struggled to consolidate his kingdom and remove God from His throne altogether.

Satan’s first attempt took place at the tower of Babel. Satan works to accomplish his purposes through men. We read about this attempt in Genesis 11:4, “And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”

This first attempt was an attempt to establish a “One World Government,” and a “One World Religion.”  That first attempt failed as God came down and confounded their language.

Satan is planning one more attempt to establish his kingdom and actually replace God altogether.

Satan has three goals to achieve his desire, a world government, a world church, and the destruction of Israel. That sums up his program, and it will unfold in the tribulation period. It is now beginning to unfold even prior to the tribulation period. We see these scenarios now well under way.

1. A World Government. There is, and has been for some time now, much maneuvering to set the stage for world government. That coming world government will be based in Europe where the antichrist will suddenly appear and take control of ten European nations as a base for his government. The World Government will not materialize until the mid tribulation point. The turmoil in Europe at the present time is setting the stage for antichrist to appear and take control of Europe. This present situation is unfolding in Europe just as foretold by Daniel.
   
2. A World Church. We have watched for some years this coming world church forming through the ecumenical movement. The present apostasy of evangelicalism is a major step in this direction. When the Bride of Christ is raptured this counterfeit harlot church will rise to fill the earth and rule for 3 1/2 years with Antichrist.Satan will use this harlot church to bring the world to worship his man, the antichrist, whom he will indwell.

      3. The Destruction of Israel. It is hard to comprehend the level of hatred in the world against Israel. Men are satanically inspired by Satan to hate Israel. This hatred of Satan for Israel is the focal point of the age long war between God and Satan.

The reason that Satan wants to destroy Israel is found in 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 knows that God has promised to restore Israel to her land and to send Christ (Messiah) to rule over Israel from the throne of David in Jerusalem. That would mean an end to Satan`s hope of ruling over this world in place of God.  Satan rightly knows that if he can destroy Israel God will not be able to fulfill his promise and he would defeat God.

There will always be an Israel, God has proclaimed it and Israel`s enemies will be destroyed instead of Israel. Today we are watching the unfolding of the cataclysmic war of the ages. This war is between God and His adversary, Satan. It is a spiritual war and it being fought by the hands of men, by demons and by angels.

We are now standing on the threshold of the exploding of a great conflict that will dramatically unfold and climax with the coming of Christ from heaven seven years after its beginning.    

The Great Apostacy
Dec 1st, 2011
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

The church of the first half of the twentieth century was a strong church, not a perfect church, but a strong church. It was a church that was separated from the world and separated from error. It was a church that was deeply committed to Jesus Christ and to His Word. I am old enough to remember those great days. The number of such strong churches today has great diminished.

Paul warned us that the in last days there would be a departure from the faith, a falling away from the truth once professed. We call this departure from the faith “apostasy.” We know that all through the church age there have been those who have fallen away from the faith; however this departure from the truth is to be accelerated in the end of the age.

Over the last few years we have seen this apostasy virtually explode. The whole process began in the late 1940’s with the birth of New Evangelicalism under the leadership of Dr. Harold Ockenga.

Dr. Ockenga stated that:   

“Neo-evangelicalism was born in 1948 in connection with a convocation address which I gave in the Civic Auditorium in Pasadena. While reaffirming the theological view of fundamentalism, this address repudiated its ecclesiology and its social theory. The ringing call for a repudiation of separatism and the summons to social involvement (compromise) received a hearty response from many evangelicals... It differed from fundamentalism in its repudiation of separatism and its determination to engage itself in the theological dialogue of the day. It had new emphasis upon the application of the gospel to the sociological, political, and economic areas of life (a corruption of the gospel).”

New Evangelicalism began with a departure from God’s Word; it began with compromise, though it continued to preach much truth from God’s Word;  The seed of destruction was sown in the departure from separation, the departure from separation from the world and separation from Liberalism and its’ errors. The fact is that separation is the very essence of Christianity. The church is made up of the “called out ones.” Believers are called out of the world, called to be separate from the world, called to be separated unto Christ.

When a person rejects separation, that person rejects Christianity as delineated in the Word of God, even though they may continue to hold to much truth from God’s Word. Their lives will ultimately come undone.

“Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty” (2 Corinthians 6:17-18).

John 15:18-19, “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” That is the essence of what it means to be a Christian.

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15).

New Evangelicalism was born as a reaction against separation from the world and separation from apostate liberalism. It was born in compromise and from that moment onward New Evangelicalism has trod the slippery downhill road of apostasy.

We have watched as the apostasy of the Evangelical Church began slowly with seemingly small compromises. The Church Growth movement extended compromise in the 1960’s with the philosophy of pragmatism; anything that will fill the church is good. From that beginning the user friendly movement blossomed and brought the world into the church. Along with that came easy-believism which added multitudes of pseudo Christians to the church.

The music of the world, the methods of the world, the philosophy of the world and the entertainment of the world began to permeate the church. The tragic thing is that these evangelicals can’t recognize what they have done. 

They are Laodiceans, and they are blind to what Christ demands the church is to be. To the Laodiceans Jesus said, “Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked”(Revelation 3:17). In their blindness they go right on playing church, waiting to be spewed out of the Lord’s mouth and be caught up in the coming world church.

In the last few years the next stage of the apostasy has begun. Today many churches have been affected with some degree of eastern mysticism involving contemplative meditation. This involves blanking the mind to allow God to speak to you. The problem is that such meditation is unbiblical and opens the soul to the entrance of demon spirits.

The following is a definition of contemplative meditation:

 [Contemplative Spirituality is a belief system that uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness (the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all).

Common terms used for this movement are “spiritual formation,” “the silence,” “the stillness,” “ancient-wisdom,” “spiritual disciplines,” and many others.]

This apostasy is flooding into the evangelical church.

There are two accreditation organizations for Seminaries and Bible Collages, the Association of Theological Seminaries, and the Association for Biblical Higher Education. Both associations require schools that wish to be accredited to include Spiritual Formation within the school’s infrastructure. What does that mean for these 350 some seminaries and Bible colleges? It means that if they want to receive and maintain their accreditation, they are going to have to incorporate Spiritual Formation (i.e., contemplative spirituality) into the lives of their students.

These seminaries and accredited Bible Colleges are the most dangerous places for Christians to be, from a biblical point of view. The enemy has come into the camp. These schools can only produce apostate pastors. The only source left to produce godly pastors is to be found among schools that have not sought accreditation and in church based bible schools that have not apostatized.

Our world is involved in a tremendous spiritual warfare today. The most intense aspect of that warfare is focused on the Church of Jesus Christ. One of the most effective ways of destroying the Church is to cut off the supply of godly pastors.

Today there are a great number of Christians who have no church in their town attend because of the penetration of new evangelicalism. Pragmatic Christianity, the purpose driven movement, and contemplative meditation have destroyed many churches.

I have come to hate New Evangelicalism with a passion because I have watched it destroy the Church of Jesus Christ. For sixty years I have watched this process unfold. The essence of New Evangelicalism is compromise, the abandonment of separation. That compromise has been a slow process, an inch at a time. Very few have contended those compromises and as a result the church is now miles from where it ought to be. The only way to stop New Evangelicalism is to separate from it. Separation is God’s remedy for apostasy.

There is a principle that seems to play out in the affairs of God’s people. “God’s blessing on your ministry is not an indication that God is pleased with all that is transpiring in your ministry.” You may have God’s blessing as you build a great church for His glory, or as you establish a great ministry, or as you establish a great missionary program. The fact is that if you do not teach and practice and inculcate the principle of separation into that ministry, it will sooner or later come undone. God’s blessing is not His approval on all that we are doing.

The life of Solomon is a classic example.

God’s blessing was upon Solomon’s rule though Solomon did not practice separation. Solomon married wives who were worshippers of false gods. Ultimately, Solomon’s rule brought the curse of God upon the nation of Israel and left it divided. What began well finished badly because the principle of separation was abandoned.

“....whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” God’s payday is not on Friday! Loss of separation will ultimately bring great loss of blessing.

God’s blessing on your life is not His approval on all that is going on in your life. The Lord may allow us to learn some very hard lessons at a very high price, perhaps even to the point of the loss of eternal rewards. He has given us His Word and His Spirit to reveal it and interpret it to us. Our responsibility is, with great desire, to discover the truth in His Word and to respond to that truth.

Remember our ministries and our lives greatly affect those around us, and even beyond that by extension, the lives of their families and associates.

I would respectfully exhort those churches that are still holding to the truth of God’s Word and to the plan and purpose of Christ for the church. Do not lose your zeal for Christ; do not lose your commitment to God’s Word; do not lose your passion for the lost; do not lose your commitment to propagate the gospel, do not lose your commitment to separation. It is possible to be orthodox and to be spiritually dead, to be sound in doctrine and spiritually dead.

Today, we have apostate Laodicea on the one hand and spiritually dead Ephesus on the other, neither is acceptable to the head of the church. The Lord said He would spew apostate Laodicea out of His mouth and that He would remove the candlestick of spiritually dead Ephesus.      

The Hour is late
Dec 1st, 2011
Art Sadlier
Uncategorized

Israel`s disobedience brought the Old Testament “Day of the Lord” judgment as the Babylonians came and brought great destruction in 587 BC. That Old Testament “Day of the Lord” was a foreshadowing of the final great “Day of the Lord” judgment in whose shadow we now stand.

God`s mercy and longsuffering finally ran out and He sent Jeremiah to pronounce that His forbearance had come to an end. We see that pronouncement in Jeremiah 5:23, “But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.”

They had passed the point of no return. There is a sign on the banks of the Niagara River which says, “Past Redemption Point.” You can hear the thundering waters of the mighty falls.

You can see at that point that the river turns into a raging, wild, swirling of white water.

For any soul that passes that point in the river all hope is gone, their fate is sealed. They will be crushed by the waters on the rocks below the falls.

That was Israel’s position when Jeremiah brought God’s final message to rebellious Israel. Jeremiah 7:16, “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make intercession to me: for I will not hear thee.” The hour was late, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved” (Jeremiah 8:20).

As we approach the final great “Day of the Lord” our world has hardened their hearts against God. The world has trampled on God’s Word at every turn. Our world has become like Sodom. Our world has defied God concerning His people Israel. Only God knows when our world will pass the point of no return if it has not already passed that point.

All of the signs around us seem to indicate the judgment of God is about to fall. Only the Lord knows the timing of that catastrophic hour, next week, next month or next year, it can’t be far away!

I feel like casting caution to the winds as I observe what is happening in our world at this very hour. Ezekiel said, “Blow the trumpet and warn the people.”

In Europe the final stages of preparation for the coming of Antichrist are falling into place. The turmoil in Europe is the exact scenario Daniel forecast for the appearing of Antichrist.

In America the signs of disintegration and turmoil are everywhere, only blinded eyes cannot see what is coming. Warnings of destruction by EMP attacks are shrugged off. Economic, political and social collapse is looming on the near horizon. America does not fit into the end time scenario and is actually in the way of that scenario’s unfolding. The stage is set for America’s demise.

In the Mideast the preparations for the war of Psalm 83 are racing into place. The only situation that needs changing is the movement of Jordan into the anti-Israel camp. News reports indicate that the Arab spring is about to overtake Jordan, watch for a radical Islamic government in Jordan.

My friends the hour is late! Before that great “Day of the Lord” begins the trumpet will sound and Bride of Christ will go to the Father’s house. The rapture is a sign less event that does not depend on fulfilment of prophecy, we only know that it occur prior to the “Day of the Lord.”

I have never felt such a sense of urgency to warn those who are unsaved. Now is the time to come to Christ in repentance and faith. Choose now before it is forever too late! Choose now between eternity in heaven with all of the blessings of God upon you and eternity in the lake of fire.