Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Yet Two Comings of Christ ?
Jun 1st, 2009
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy

There are Yet Two Comings of Christ to the Earth

There is a question often asked: “Where in the New Testament does it say there are yet two comings of Christ?”  We respond with another question, “Where in the Old Testament does it say there would be two comings of Christ?”

The fact is that it does not state in so many words in the Old Testament that there were yet two comings of Christ. However the O.T. teaches clearly that there was to be two comings of Christ. The same situation applies in the New Testament, it does not plainly state that there will yet be two comings of Christ, but it does clearly teach that there are yet two comings of Christ.

In the Old Testament we read about Christ (Messiah) coming to die, even the method of His death, crucifixion, is described in detail. In contrast to that we also read that He is coming in glory to rule this world, these are of necessity two separate comings. We have a classic verse that presents this idea, Isaiah 61:2 refers to both comings without any explanation, “To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, (First Coming) and the day of vengeance of our God”, (Second Coming). We have the same principal in Mat. 24, we have, without explanation, reference to both the rapture and the second coming.

In the New Testament we have two irreconcilable accounts of Christ’s coming, the only way they can be reconciled is to realize that they are talking about two separate comings of Christ. They are talking about the rapture and about the second coming.

Christ has two purposes in His comings.

1. At that time the Judgment seat of Christ is to take place and marriage of the Lamb is to be prepared for.

     2. A second purpose is to come to the earth visibly in power and glory to destroy Antichrist, to bring judgment upon an unbelieving world at Armageddon, to rescue Israel’s surviving remnant and to set up the millennial kingdom, Zech. 13:9  Zech. 14:1-4,9.

These two purposes could never fit into one event. They involve a sequence of events and a time lapse.

When Christ comes He will meet the saints in the air and return to Heaven with them. When Christ comes, His feet will “stand in that day upon the mount of Olives”. It is obvious that these are two separate events separated by a period of time.

Jude 14, “....the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment  upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed,...”  That is irreconcilable with 1 Thess.4:17 where we are told that we will “meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord”.  These of necessity must be two separate events.

Christ comes when “no man knoweth the day nor the hour”. Christ comes when “every eye shall see him”. Which is it? They are two separate events.

Christ takes His Bride home to heaven with Him.  Christ comes with His Bride arrayed in fine linen, having been purged at the judgment seat of Christ. These are two separate events.

When Christ comes life will be normal, they will be marrying and giving in marriage and eating and drinking, there will be no expectation of impending judgment. Men will be working in the fields and grinding at the mill.  When Christ comes, men will be hiding in the caves of the earth in fear of the impending judgment of God. These are two obviously different scenarios and two different time frames.

Christ comes when even Christians are sound asleep, Matt. 25:5. No one will be sleeping when the battle of Armageddon is raging and the world is destroyed, and Christ comes, again we have two separate comings.

Christ comes to take the church back to Heaven to be with Him, John 14:3 and Christ brings the church to earth to reign with Him a thousand years, Revelation. 19:11-14, Revelation 20: 4, 6.

As Noah was taken off the earth prior to the flood and lifted up in the ark of safety, and as Lot was taken up to the mountains to escape the judgment of God. In like manner the church, the bride of Christ will be taken from the earth before the awful world-wide wrath of God falls upon this world during the tribulation period.

Woven into the warp and woof of all of the scriptures is the teaching and promises of God that the seed of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will inherit the Promised Land forever. Christ will rule and reign on the throne of David in Jerusalem, He will reign over Israel and the world.

The scripture is also a record of a great warfare that has been raging since the fall of Adam. The battle is over who will rule this world, Satan or God? God is not just going to destroy this world so that Satan cannot rule over it, which would be the defeat of God’s purpose. God had a purpose when He created this world as a home for man, and He will fulfill His purpose.

Psalm 104:5, 148:6, along with other scriptures tell us that the earth will stand forever. At the end of the Millennium, the Heavens and the Earth will be renovated, Psalm 102:26, Rev. 21:1. To teach, as the Amills teach, that the earth is just going to cease to exist, is to attack the program and purposes of God.

Amillenialism is an attack on God’s word, an attack on the purposes of God and an attack on Israel.  It is an attack on the church today, an attempt to confuse the church about what God is doing and going to do in the world. It is an attempt to prevent the church from living in anticipation of Christ’s any moment return, which Paul tells us is a purifying hope. It is an attempt by Satan to discredit what God is doing and intends to do through Israel. It is a source of confusion for the people of God.

The Amillenialists have no message; they occupy their time in discrediting what God’s word teaches. They set up straw men and attack them. What J.N. Darby taught and where he learned it has nothing to do with what the scripture teaches about the premillenial rapture and the whole program of God for Israel. To say that the tribulation period took place in 70AD, and that the Devil is now bound and that we are now in the Millennium is foolishness. Where today do we see the wolf lying down with the lamb, where do we see the lion eating straw like the ox? Satan is not bound; in fact his power and influence are growing by the day.

I acknowledge that there are Amillenialists who are sincere in what they believe, but they are sincerely wrong and are dishonouring God, His word and His purposes and bringing great confusion at a crucial hour in the church’s history.

Replacement Theology is the child of Amillenialism; it replaces Israel and does away with her altogether; that is the program of the devil. Satan hates Israel and has constantly sought to destroy her. He seeks to destroy Israel to prevent God from fulfilling His purposes for Israel. Christ will reign over this world from Jerusalem, ruling over Israel on the throne of David. Satan desires to rule this world in place of God. Amillenialists join with Satan in seeking to reject Israel.

Amillenialism is Roman Catholic Theology, invented when the Roman Emperor Constantine became head of the church. The Roman Church of that day transferred the promises of God to Israel to themselves, making the church and the pope ruler of an earthly kingdom.

When the reformation came, the Mainline State Churches restored some of the great truths that had been lost, for example, salvation is by grace and not by works. The same reformation churches failed to complete the reformation, for example they held on to infant baptism. They also held on to Roman Catholic eschatology. That explains why premillenial eschatology was not taught during the long dark ages of the Roman Church, and why it was not taught during the era of the reformation church. Just as the reformation churches recovered the doctrine of salvation by grace without works, so the Philadelphian Church of the 18th and 19th centuries recovered the doctrine of the premillenial rapture.

The eschatology of Rome, which is seeking to build a world kingdom based on religion, will ultimately produce the world wide apostate harlot church of Revelation 17.

The World Church of the Tribulation
Jun 1st, 2009
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy

The scriptures tell us that in the coming tribulation period there will be two great forces in the world, a world government and a world church. These two organizations will join together in the first half of the tribulation to bring all mankind under the power of Satan’s man, the antichrist, Rev: 13:7. The ultimate goal of this union is to bring the whole world to worship antichrist, Revelation 13:8. 

This Apostate church will be world-wide in scope. It will include all the people of the world, all those who take the mark of the beast; those who do not take the mark will be unable to buy or sell and will not survive. The world-wide scope is also revealed in Rev. 17:1, “The whore that sitteth on many waters:” this refers to the peoples of the world. Verse 15 confirms this interpretation, “The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues”. The coming world church will go far beyond what we now think of in terms Christianity.

In his book entitled, “The Night Jesus Christ Returned to Earth”, Tom A. Hudgens wrote, “Allow me to introduce to you the new Jesus. This isn't the Jesus Christ known to us from the pages of the Holy Bible, rather, this Jesus is a new version cast into the arena of international politics and global social change”

He went on to say, “And, among other things, Jesus brings religion into the picture by declaring, I believe we can show that Christianity is compatible with all other religions. My coming will help to solidify the religions".

What Hudgens wrote is important because his views are widely held by many powerful and influential world leaders.

All of the world’s people and religions will come together to form a new religion.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin wrote, “placing the capstone on all of this is

the ongoing and incomplete work of the New Age Christ”.

Muller, Chardin, Bailey...each of these visionaries, and scores more, call out for a restructured international political system, global economic change, and a social transformation of the globe - all brought about by a New Age Messiah.

CBS News correspondent Andy Rooney closed his program on Memorial Day with the following comment:  “Remembering doesn’t do the remembered any good, of course. It's for us, the living. I wish we could dedicate Memorial Day, not to the memory of those who have died at war, but to the idea of saving the lives of the young people who are going to die in the future if we don’t find some new way - some new religion maybe - that takes war out of our lives.”

The question that arises is, how will the religions of the world, including apostate evangelicalism, come together to accept a new global religion that exalts the new age cosmic Christ?

Understand that the two branches of the new world order will each have dynamic, miracle working deceivers. The antichrist, called the beast will rule over the political aspect of the kingdom. The false prophet, also called a beast, because that is how God views them, will rule over the religious aspect of the kingdom. We read of this religious leader in Rev. 13:11, “and he had two horns like a lamb”, he will present himself as the representative of Christ, but he will do the work of Satan.

We will have a three-fold deception that will bring about this world religion, called the Harlot Church.  Both these beasts will exercise great power, Rev. 13:11-14.  Paul says of them, “Even him, whose coming is after the working of Satan with all signs and lying wonders,” 2 Thess. 2:9.

Not only will the beast and the false prophet deceive the religions of the world, the Lord will also deceive them. “And for this cause God will send them strong delusion, that should believe a lie,” 2 Thess. 2:11.

Let me exhort you, to neglect, to ignore or to disobey God’s Word is to put yourself in jeopardy, in danger of the Lord closing your eyes to the truth, in danger of His hardening your heart.

The Return of Christ Under Attack
Jun 1st, 2009
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy

All around the world Christians are under attack, persecution of Christians is growing rapidly.  Those who teach the primillenial message that the rapture is at hand and that the long prophesied tribulation period will follow, are under attack by some who call themselves Christians.

 Now we have among those who identify themselves as Evangelicals some who are calling for an attack on premillenialists. 

In an April 2009 article in Sojourner's magazine by emerging church leader, Brian McLaren, McLaren clearly has targeted Christians, but not just any Christians. McLaren is talking about Christians who believe Jesus Christ is coming back again, suggesting that these types of Christians are the reason there is no peace in the Middle East. He says what these “end-time” believing Christians are doing is "terrible," "deadly," and "distorted."

Lighthouse Trails Publishers gives us the following information.  McLaren says that he grew up with a dispensational view (the belief that Jesus Christ will return and establish his kingdom on earth) but has come to realize this view is "morally and ethically harmful." He likens this belief system to racism in the 50s and 60s and says:

These doctrinal formulations often use a bogus end-of-the-world scenario to create a kind of death-wish for World War III, which--unless it is confronted more robustly by the rest of us--could too easily create a self-fulfilling prophecy.

It isn't just Bible-believing Christians with whom McLaren is upset - he's also angry about Israel and the very idea that she is a special nation in the eyes of God. This is why he names Christian Zionists and Dispensationalists in particularly, because they tend to be two groups who hold fast to the belief that Israel is indeed a special nation to the Lord.

Tony Campolo, in his book Speaking My Mind, says that "'rigid' Christians who believe in the possibility of Jesus' soon return" are "the real problem for the whole world." According to Campolo, they are to blame for wars, and a host of other evils in the world.

We are witnessing a growing hostility toward Christians and in particularly toward the proclamation of Christ’s soon return. The promoters of the harlot church that will arise after the rapture of the Bride of Christ are even now laying the groundwork of deception that will overtake the Evangelicals that are not truly saved and will be left behind after the rapture.

The Mark of the Beast
Jun 1st, 2009
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy

The Word of God tells us that as the tribulation period opens a world leader will arise as the head of the Revived Roman Empire which we see forming now in the E.U.  John says, “And Power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations”, Rev. 13:7. This man will seem to solve all of the world’s problems. He will bring peace to the Mideast and to the entire world. He will solve the world’s economic crisis; he will solve the agricultural problems. All the world’s armies and police forces will be put under his control. It will seem that the world is about to achieve the long dreamed of utopia.

In order to consolidate his control over every man, woman and child on the planet, we read in Rev. 13:16-17, “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he had that mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name”.

A company named Somark Innovations has developed a new product called RFID ink. Instead of a micro chip implanted in the skin to give radio identification, this new ink can simply and easily be tattooed on the skin where it would be invisible. This new product has now made it possible to quickly and easily move toward the electronic registration of every human being on earth.

This could be used as a passport, as a credit or debit card. By this mark Social welfare and health care could dispensed and taxes could collected. Every aspect of life could be controlled by such a system and in a cashless society it could be made absolutely mandatory to buy or sell.

Changing World Demographics
Jun 1st, 2009
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy

For a culture to survive more than 25 years there must be at least 2.11 children per family, anything less and the culture will die. No culture has ever recovered from a 1.9 fertility rate. For a simplified illustration, if two people have only one child that will ultimately reduce the population by 50%.

In 2006 the fertility rate for the 31 countries in Europe was 1.38, that trend is now impossible to reverse. In a matter of years, Europe as we know will cease to exist. Inspite of these statistics the population of Europe has not declined, due to immigration. 90% of European immigration has been Muslim and in France, for example, Muslim fertility has been 8.1. In not too many years, Europe will become a Muslim culture.

Canadian and American fertility rate has been 1.6. We have passed the point of no return and our culture cannot survive. From 2001- 2006 Canada’s population increased by 1.6 million, 1.2 million of that increase was by immigration.

I believe this disaster is a judgment of God upon our culture because of our disobedience to His word. God , in His word has told us to be fruitful and multiply, instead we have practised birth control. In America alone in the last four decades there have been 50 million abortions, without those abortions, there  would have 25% increase in today’s population. Many of those would be now bearing children.  Many of those would also now be in the work force, bringing greater prosperity to the land.

Armed with Courage
Jun 1st, 2009
Main StoriesA. W. Tozer
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Inspirational

“But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.” James 1:6

When entering the prayer chamber, we must come filled with faith and armed with courage. Nowhere else in the whole field of religious thought and activity is courage so necessary as in prayer. The successful prayer must be one without condition. We must believe that God is love and that, being love, He cannot harm us but must ever do us good. Then we must throw ourselves before Him and pray with boldness for whatever we know our good and His glory require, and the cost is no object! Whatever He in His love and wisdom would assess against us, we will accept with delight because it pleased Him. Prayers like that cannot go unanswered. The character and reputation of God guarantee their fulfillment.

We should always keep in mind the infinite loving kindness of God. No one need  fear to put his life in His hands. “His yoke is easy; His burden is light.”  “Increase my faith; increase my courage. Amen”                                              A.W. Tozer