Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The Revival of the Nations
Aug 1st, 2012
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;Prophecy;Commentary

In Luke 1:29 Israel is represented by the fig tree. Joel uses the fig tree as a symbol of Israel. In Joel 1:7 we read, “He hath laid my vine waste, and barked my fig tree: he hath made it clean bare, and cast it away; the branches thereof are made white.” The topic surrounding this verse is the coming of Babylon to bring judgment on Israel. The point I am making is that the fig tree is a symbol of Israel.

In Luke 21:29 we read, “And he spake to them a parable; Behold the fig tree, and all the trees.” Here our Lord is giving a parable about the end of the age. He is referring to the revival of Israel in the last days. Verse 30 suggests that when Israel and the nations around it are revived in the latter days you can know that the end is near. “When they now shoot forth, ye see and know of your own selves that summer is now nigh at hand.” 

Verse 31 confirms this interpretation, “So likewise ye, when ye see these things come to pass, know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand.”

Notice the phrase in verse 29, “Behold the fig tree and all the trees,” again this is saying that when Israel and the nations around her return to the world stage we can know that we are in the last days.

For nearly 2000 years Israel ceased to be a nation and was dispersed among the nations of the world.  The same was true of the nations that surrounded Israel in Old Testament times.

When the Roman Empire went into decline it did not cease to exist altogether. It continued in that state of decline for many years as symbolized by the long legs of Nebuchadnezzar’s image.

The Roman Empire existed for many years in the form of the colonial systems that were actually sub- Roman Empires. That colonial system came to an end after the end of WW2. That colonial system involved the British Empire, the German Empire, the French Empire, the Dutch Empire, the Portuguese Empire and the Spanish Empire. These vast colonial systems circled the earth.

After WW2 the whole colonial system disintegrated and out of them the ancient nations that were contemporary with Israel returned to the world stage again.

In the 1950’s the Roman Empire began to be revived when six nations signed the Treaty of Rome. Today the EU states plainly that they are the revived Roman Empire.

In 1948 Israel became a nation once again. The situation Luke refers to in the above verses has come to pass.

Some of those states are Syria, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Lebanon, Jordan and others. The names may have changed but the entities are recognizable.

Last week while the world was distracted by events in Syria another ancient people were revived as a nation again.

Debkafile reported in August 3, “Unnoticed by the world, a Kurdish state last week imperceptibly gained de facto independence. Covering an area of 80,000 square kilometers, it is home at this stage to 7-8 million Kurdish citizens.
The new Kurdistan situated in northern Syria is an extension of the Kurdish Regional Government (KRG) of Iraq and so shares borders with Iranian Kurdistan, southern Turkey and the northern outskirts of the Syrian city of Aleppo.

The Kurds are descendants of the Medes of Daniel’s day, and there are 15- 20 million in Mideast. The Kurds are a non-Arabic people who speak a language related to Persian. Most Kurds adhere to the Sunni Muslim faith.”

Another piece has been added to the biblical end time prophetic scenario.

The End of the Theocratic Kingdom
Aug 1st, 2012
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;The Nation Of Israel;Prophecy

For four hundred years the Lord had sought to establish His theocratic kingdom in Israel. God had sought to rule over Israel through divinely appointed kings. It was, and still is, God’s purpose to establish His kingdom on earth through the nation of Israel with one man on the throne, the second Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ.

However, both Israel and her kings rebelled against God and refused to obey and submit to Him. For four hundred years the lord had sent His prophets warning Israel to repent and return to Him. Lastly He sent Jeremiah and Jeremiah faced the nation on the brink of disaster.

There is a striking similarity between Jeremiah’s day and our own day. This present hour is very much like a replay of the final days of the theocratic kingdom in Israel. As we read the book of Jeremiah it is as if we are looking into a mirror. We live in a society which ignores God. Men plunge headlong into sin and vice and are busy giving expression to their reprobate and depraved minds. In our society justice is breaking down, standards are perverted; right is wrong and wrong is right. God has been replaced by the gods of materialism, sensuality and human ego. We are now so far removed from God’s standards that there are no moral foundations left in our society. There is no fear of God in our society today, evil abounds and has filtered into the church.

About ninety years before Jeremiah the Lord sent Isaiah who said, “Judgment is coming!” Jeremiah said, “its’ here!” Jeremiah warned that the Babylonians are going to come and slaughter you; those who survive will be carried away in chains to Babylon. Jeremiah stood on the edge of a holocaust. Jeremiah was the prophet of the end of the glory days of Israel. Isaiah prophesied at 11 pm, Jeremiah prophesied at midnight.

Today we are standing on the brink of a holocaust; for our society. 

It is midnight!

The Babylonians did come. Judah was slaughtered; the people and the land were decimated.

Jeremiah knew what was coming; he knew that judgment was coming. Jeremiah wasn’t fooled by what appeared on the surface to be a revival. While Josiah was on the throne there appeared to be a great turning to God. Listen to God’s estimate of that situation, “And yet for all this her treacherous sister Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but feignedly, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:10).

Today some TV preachers are acting like we are in the midst of revival. Some churches are being filled to overflowing with church growth methods. Purpose driven churches are multiplying and they are bulging at the seams. They attract the carnal, the uncommitted and the unsaved.

At Rick Warren’s Saddleback church they focus on how to solve the world’s problems in the world’s way. Aids, poverty, illiteracy, leadership and health issues are the agenda. Their goal is to bring peace to the world by solving the world’s problems. Their method is partnering with other groups. Warren has demonstrated by his words and actions that he will partner with anyone to bring the world peace. He will join with Catholics, Jews, Hindu’s, Muslims, atheists, homosexuals and whoever else will join with him. He has called for Evangelicals to be united with the mainline denominations.

Warren started with worldly Christians and unsaved world lings. He fed them the world’s music, the world’s methods and the world’s entertainment. Now they are joining with the world to solve the world’s problems in the world’s way. It is apostasy; it is counterfeit Christianity; it is the ultimate fruit of New Evangelicalism; refuse to contend for the faith, instead dialogue and compromise. 

God has a program for this world.

1.     It involves the proclamation of the gospel.

2.     It brings salvation and regeneration.

3.     It results in transformation.

This program involves separation from the world. 2 Corinthians 6:17, “Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you.”

The world may not understand it and it may not like it but God has no other program for this world at this time.

I believe our society is standing on the brink of a holocaust. I believe the Day of the Lord is at hand. The most distressing thing is that a large portion of evangelicalism seems to be caught up in this last day’s apostasy.

Today’s apostasy is incredibly deceptive as Jesus said it would be, “For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many” (Matthew 24:5). I believe that simply means that many pastors and preachers will come along and claim to speak for Christ but will misrepresent Him.

Today we have apostates who say they are fundamentalist or evangelical but they deny what the scriptures say the church is to be and what it is to do and how it is to do it. They bring the world into the church, they use the world’s methods, and they use the world’s music. They use entertainment to keep the carnal Christians and the unsaved coming back. They fail to ground people in sound doctrine and they fail to preach separation from the world and separation from counterfeit Christianity. The bottom line is that in spite of the large crowds and the outward appearance of success they are destroying the church. It is the ultimate fruit of new evangelicalism. The only way to stop it is to separate from it.

After four hundred years of warning Israel the Lord sent Jeremiah to give a final warning. For forty-two years Jeremiah warned Israel of coming judgment. For forty-two years Israel steadfastly refused to repent. Finally the Lord said to Jeremiah, Judah has crossed the line, their fate is sealed and judgement is now inevitable. We read in Jeremiah 5:23, “But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.”

They passed the point of no return.

We read in 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.” It is now too late! Jeremiah’s message now would be a message of judgment; judgment to a nation that was beyond repentance and doomed to destruction. There would be a remnant who repented but the nation was doomed.

God will punish unrepentant sin. God is angry at sin. Roman’s 1:18, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness.”

America and Canada have declared war on God, by our courts, by our government and by our people.

Our courts 

have ruled the Bible and prayer out of our schools. God has been ruled out of existence by the officially endorsed teaching of evolution.  In the US all Christian symbols must be removed from public property.

The courts have sanctioned and protected homosexuality. Canada has legalised gay marriage. Congress has refused to authenticate that marriage is between a man and a woman. Our society has rejected God’s Word. The courts, government and the people are saying, “God you shut up! We are not interested in what you say. You don’t even exist as far as we are concerned. God don’t try to tell us what to do.” God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah with fire and brimstone for homosexuality. Do you think that He will spare America and Canada?

Fifty million babies have been murdered in their mother’s wombs and the voice of their blood is crying out to God at this moment, and this crime against God is sanctioned by the courts. Four out of every ten babies are born outside marriage which is another defiance of God’s moral law. The foundations of our society have been broken up.

Our people

have turned away from God like Israel of old. Jeremiah 2:13, “For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.” Like Israel of old, Americans and Canadians have turned away from God.

Materialism is the God to whom we bow down; the lust for things by all of society is unprecedented. They are our joy and delight and our satisfaction; they are our broken cistern and that which calls itself the body of Christ is by and large no different.

Pleasure is another god to whom we bow down, it is the only rival to the lust for things. The only cure we know for boredom is pleasure. Much of our lives are spent in front of the TV or a video drinking the wine of the world.

Pornography is an incredible flood that sweeps over society while our streets are filled with nearly naked women. Our society is totally sensual and it reaches into that which calls itself the body of Christ. One survey indicates that 50% of professing Christians are involved in internet pornography.

Moral perversion, pedophilia, drug addiction, drunkenness, brutality and bestiality, in fact our society is filled with violence.

Our governments 

have rebelled against God. Our governments are involved in the attempt to drive Israel off the so-called West Bank in defiance of God’s Word. Our governments have rejected God’s Word at almost every turn. They have said we will not have this God to rule over us.

I believe our society and our nations, like Judah in Jeremiah’s day, have crossed the line and judgment cannot now be escaped. I believe our nations stand on the brink of catastrophe. I believe our society is a sinking ship and we need to rescue as many individuals as we can. We need to preach the gospel with a new urgency!

The signs of a soon coming economic and societal collapse are everywhere. When the house of cards fall the whole end time scenario will quickly begin to unfold. Let me ask you what are you living for? If you are living for the things of this world you will be swept away.

Much of that which calls itself the body of Christ will be swept up in the flood of apostasy that will engulf it. We see that in Revelation 3:17, “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.” Can anyone seriously doubt that this is the evangelical church of the present hour? Matthew 7:21-23 is also a part of this same scenario, “Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? And in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

What should be our attitude in this troubling hour? Notice the attitude of Jeremiah in Jeremiah 9:1, “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” Do we care about souls perishing? Do we warn them with a broken heart? All the while the tears ran down Jeremiah’s face he preached judgement with fire in his bones.

Jerusalem was in laughter, they were having a party. They had advanced far beyond Jeremiah’s outdated ideas; they thought Jeremiah was crazy. The party was on and Jeremiah was the sad sack, and they mocked him. They put him in jail; they shut him up because he was raining on their parade. Our pleas and our tears will not be understood. Our message will not be accepted. We may weep alone, but if we care we will weep.

But weeping is not enough, we have a message and we must declare it. People are perishing and the church is occupied with committee meetings, entertainment, programs and all kinds of activities. We are occupied with banquets and fun and games. We are occupied with our comfort and success. These things are legitimate until they become a priority and replace our God-given commission to reach the lost.

There is hope; there will always be some who will come to Christ.

The hour was late for Judah. Jeremiah 8:20 says, “The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.” The hour is late for our society; the Day of the Lord cannot be far off! For some years now all of the pieces of the end time scenario have been falling into place.

That Old Testament Day of the Lord was a foreshadowing of the soon coming Day of the Lord facing our generation.

After 9-11 we experienced a revival; the attention of the nation focused on God. It lasted for two weeks and then it was over.

During the Y2K scare there was panic as many thought disaster was about to befall us. For several years prior to the year 2000 Evangelist Sam Gipp states that he travelled back and forth across America four times. He preached in fundamental churches and during those years many, many people came to him and stated that they were prepared for disaster. They had their guns and many rounds of ammunition. They had dried food and water stored, and many had a cabin in the woods or a bunker somewhere. But in all those years, the evangelists said, not one person came to him and said there is disaster coming and I have gotten right with the Lord.

One pastor of a fundamental Baptist church says that for 12 years he promoted missions and at the end of that time 12 members of his church joined the military, but not one person answered the call of God to the mission field.

A friend of mine shared with me that he and his wife revisited a Bible conference after 20 years of absence from it. He shared that they were grieved at the change of attitude and the change of atmosphere that had taken place. The emphasis was now, not on the Bible teaching but, on the fun and games. We are living in a period of spiritual decline; spiritual tides are at low ebb.

Israel of old experienced times of great revival and commitment to God which showed itself in obedience and faithfulness. How quickly the change took place in Israel: from commitment to the Lord to worshipping idols. We have seen such a change in recent years, not among liberals or among new evangelicals but among those who identify themselves as a part of the body of Christ, among those who call themselves fundamentalists.

As night descends on our society and as the Day of the Lord is about to bring destruction on an unsuspecting world, there are false prophets who stand in the house of the Lord and tell people, “all is well, we have no worries.”  “For they have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace” (Jeremiah 8:11). They stand before a church filled with the carnal, the uncommitted and the unsaved and they open their Bibles and preach ditties to dummies, and people love it. “A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof?” (Jeremiah 5:30-31).

The hour is late; the Day of the Lord is at hand; the trumpet is soon to sound. It is time for God’s people to get right with the Lord. To the backsliding children of Israel the Lord said, “Turn, O backsliding children, saith the LORD; for I am married unto you.....” (Jeremiah 3:14a). “Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her husband, so have ye dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, saith the LORD” (Jeremiah 3:20, 22).  “But this thing commanded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your God, and ye shall be my people: and walk ye in all the ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto you” (Jeremiah 7:23).

Believer, are you ready or will you be ashamed at His coming?

My friend, are you saved or will you be left behind? The question is not are you a professing Christian; the question is, are you a true disciple of Jesus Christ?     

ISRAEL AND THE LAND
Aug 1st, 2012
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;The Nation Of Israel;Prophecy

God promised the Land of Canaan to Israel. Later the Romans renamed it Palestine. Those who now call themselves Palestinians have no claim to the Land of Israel. There never has been in all of history;

x     a Palestinian people,

x     a Palestinian nation,

x     a Palestinian government

x     a Palestinian language or culture

x     a Palestinian economy

As late as the 1950’s Arabs refused to be called “Palestinians.” Until fairly recently the name Palestinian was given to the Jews living in Israel. During WW2 there was a Palestinian military brigade which was all Jewish. There was a Palestinian Symphony Orchestra which was all Jews. There was a Palestinian Post which was a Jewish newspaper.

Palestinians claim to be descended from a Palestinian people who lived for thousands of years in a land called Palestine. That claim is hoax yet the world accepts this lie as the basis of a false peace that they have attempted to force on Israel for some years now. The purpose of it all is to force Israel off the land that God promised to her.

The Land Promised

God decided that through Abraham and his descendants He would bring salvation and blessing to the world. “Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will show thee” (Genesis 12:1). Bound up in the program of God to bless the world through the Jew is a land. “And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him” (verse 7). The land which the Canaanites once dwelt was given to Israel.

That promise was repeated to Abraham and his descendants many times. We see an example of that in Genesis 13:14-15, “And the LORD said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed forever.” There are three key words in this text;

• ·     ALL
• ·    THY SEED
• ·    FOREVER

The land of Canaan belongs to Israel forever. That is the major issue in the world today! God gave it to them.

In Genesis 13:17 we see the extent of the Promised Land. “Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee.” Notice, “... the length of it and in the breadth of it...” That is all of it.

In Genesis 17:7-8 we see who the land was given to and for how long it was given. “And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee and to thy seed after thee, the land wherein thou art a stranger, all the land of Canaan, for an everlasting possession; and I will be their God.” God cannot lie and He cannot break His covenant! There is no doubt or confusion as to what Israel’s position is in relationship to the land of Israel. God’s Word is crystal clear.

Abraham’s Seed Identified

God said to Isaac, “Sojourn in this land, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee; for unto thee, and unto thy seed, I will give all these countries, and I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham thy father” (Genesis 26:3). The Lord said to Jacob, “And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee I will give it, and to thy seed after thee will I give the land” (Genesis 35:12). The Promised Land was not given to Ishmael through Abraham but to Isaac and Jacob through Abraham. The Lord said in Genesis 21:12, “...for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.” Again not through Ishmael, the descendants of Ishmael have no inheritance in the Promised Land.

Lost Possession of the Land

In Deuteronomy 28 we read that disobedience and unbelief would result in the loss of possession of the land. That loss of possession would be temporary and along with it would come judgment. That judgment would be not only drive them off the land, it would also bring them great troubles and persecution. Israel’s history over the last 2000 years is a shocking record of incredible suffering and devastation.

Believer, be reminded that God will not tolerate sin and disobedience and unbelief in our lives either.

The Promise of Ultimate Restoration and Blessing

In spite of the chastening hand of God on His chosen people He promised that He would preserve them in the midst of the dispersion and tribulations. The Lord also stated that He would restore them to the land, and to the promised blessing. Jeremiah 30:10-11 declares “Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the LORD; neither be dismayed, O Israel: for, lo, I will save thee from afar, and thy seed from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return, and shall be in rest, and be quiet, and none shall make him afraid. For I am with thee, saith the LORD, to save thee: though I make a full end of all nations whither I have scattered thee, yet I will not make a full end of thee: but I will correct thee in measure, and will not leave thee altogether unpunished.” The Old Testament is filled with these promises. God is not finished with Israel.

God’s Promises Cannot be Broken

Jeremiah 31:35-37, “Thus saith the LORD, which giveth the sun for a light by day, and the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a light by night, which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar; The LORD of hosts is his name: If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the LORD, then the seed of Israel also shall cease from being a nation before me for ever. Thus saith the LORD; If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, I will also cast off all the seed of Israel for all that they have done, saith the LORD.”

There is a great struggle going on in the world today; it has been the focus of world attention for over fifty years. This struggle is over Israel’s right to the Promised Land. Islam has claimed the Land of Israel as their rightful possession. The Palestinians are just a means to an end for Islam. The fact is that this whole contest is but an end time expression of the age long conflict between God and Satan. This hatred against God’s people is but an expression of Satan’s hatred for God.

The whole Muslim world is ready to die to remove Israel from the land. The nations of the world are supporting this Islamic quest. The fact is that there is not a nation on earth, including Israel, who is not supporting division of the Promised Land. Israel has tried in vain for decades to give up a significant portion of their land but the Lord has prevented it.

“Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart” (Psalm 32:11).

According to my understanding of the prophetic scriptures the Palestinians will not have a state in the West Bank. In the coming war of Psalm 83 the Palestinians and their associates, Hamas, Hezbollah and Syria will be totally decimated. (Read Psalm 83, Isaiah 17, Ezekiel 35-36 and Obadiah 10, 18 for the record of this coming war)

This war will be followed by the peace treaty of Antichrist. During the first half of the tribulation period Israel will experience peace provided by Antichrist. The war of Ezekiel 38-39 will occur early in the tribulation period but will have little effect on Israel as God will intervene and wipe out those enemies without Israel’s involvement.

During that time Israel will be enabled to rebuild the Temple and re-establish the worship system.

Satan wants the temple rebuilt because he not only wants to be worshipped as God but he wants to be worshipped in the very place that God has been worshipped: in the Temple.

At the mid tribulation point Satan is cast down from heaven and turns on Israel to destroy her. “And when the dragon saw that he was cast unto the earth, he persecuted the woman (Israel) which brought forth the man child” (Revelation 12:13). A portion of the Jews flee to the wilderness. This is recorded in Revelation 12:14, “And to the woman were given two wings of a great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”  A remnant of Israel is hidden and preserved by God for the last three and a half years of the tribulation period. Jesus also spoke of this event in Matthew 24:15-16, “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.”

This would be the wilderness area south east of Judea.

At that time Antichrist and the nations of the world will divide the land of Israel. We read about this in Joel 3:2, “I will also gather all nations, and will bring them down into the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them there for my people and for my heritage Israel, whom they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land.” That will be the battle of Armageddon, the final destruction of Israel’s enemies.

God will have the last say concerning Israel and concerning Israel’s enemies. “Behold, I will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely: And they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (Jeremiah 32:37).

Those who think God is finished with Israel are walking in darkness and have no concept of the program and purposes of God for this world.

God has chosen to bless this world through Israel and He has chosen to place His Son on the throne of David to rule over this world forever. God’s purpose concerning a theocratic kingdom will be realized.

There will be two great victories of our God over His age-old enemy Satan.

The first victory will be in heaven and is recorded in Revelation 12:7-9, “And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” That will occur at the mid tribulation point.

The second victory will be on earth and is recorded in Revelation 20:1-2, “And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years.”

There will then be the final victory as recorded in Revelation 20:10, “And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever.”

Believer, we are on the winning side; the battle may be hot and we may appear to be losing at times but we are on the winning side. “Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, ye righteous: and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart” (Psalm 32:11).