[John Elliott] The specter of end-time
events is growing around the world. Items in the news remind us of the prophecies
that Jesus gave on what we call the Sermon on the Mount. Let's go to Mathew 24 and just look at a few
highlights of somethings that He said would happen around the time of the end, the end
of this age. He was queried about when this would take
place and He described, in general, some of the things that would be happening. In Mathew 24:3, He was asked, "Tell us, when
will these things be? What will be the sign of Your coming, and
of the end?" The end, the end of what? The end of the age. The age is the present evil age, the age of
Satan's reign as the god of this world. Down in verse 7, it says, "For nation will
rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilences, earthquakes
in various places." Dropping on down to verse 12, "And because
lawlessness will abound, the [agape] love of many will wax cold.” And we believe that that is speaking to those
who are the called. Many are called, few are chosen because of
lawlessness according to God's way will begin to permeate and people will become self-focused,
they will be lovers of themselves more than lovers of God. Dropping down of verse 21, we see, "For then
there will be great tribulation,” when Jesus says something is great, that means it is
really big and tribulation itself is something very, very intense. So this great intensity of trials and tribulations
“such as not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor ever shall
be.” This is the worst of the worst, it will never
be as bad as this that He's describing. “And unless those days were shortened, no
flesh would be saved alive.” Okay? Now, when we look at words like that, these
are words of truth, it will happen that way. There will be no variation to what Jesus Christ
said will happen. The end of World War II introduced something
that had not been fathomable before. And that was a weapon that would be able to
eventually, in mass, destroy all life off the face of the earth. Which would then match what Jesus warned would
be possible and it would actually take place and that was the development of first, the
atomic weapon, the A-bomb. But that rapidly escalated into super yield
weaponry of hydrogen and other types of thermonuclear weapons that have gotten larger and larger,
and then those have proliferated. Along with those proliferations, intermediate
weaponry, not so big and not so powerful, but things under the ocean, things in the
air, things on the land, things that individuals, things that satellites, things that robots
can do have escalated and mushroomed. Until almost every country around the world
is arming itself to the teeth, everyone's getting in on the new sophistication and the
threats to human survival are growing. So when we see these in the news and we see
the specter that overshadows the survival of humanity is growing darker, we then ask
ourselves some questions, don't we? “What is happening here? What is the timing of things? What will happen to me?” The purpose of this sermon is to examine what
is happening to us in relationship to world events and biblical end-time prophecy. We are given an insight there by Jesus Christ,
and in other prophecies in the Old Testament and the New Testament, that give us an idea,
an indication in general of some of the things that will take place. We heard special music today, "Suffer the
children, let them come unto me for of such are the Kingdom of God." How do we equate that with His other words
of the end time, of the worst of the worst? And as we look forward to that and we say,
"Wait a minute. Jesus Christ loves little children and of
those are the Kingdom. He loves the Church and He gave Himself for
us, but this terrible horrible time is going to rain down on humanity.” I want to show you today that end time prophecy
speaks to two different groups in two different ways. And it's really all about encouraging us to
be in the right group that's in the right place at the right time. Does news alarm you? Do you dive into news sometimes? Do you look into politics? Do you try to figure out how to solve all
the problems that exist in this world? World news actually describes lawlessness
on a global scale, that's what we're looking at. We're seeing through a lens as the called
out ones, the ones with God's Holy Spirit, the ones aligning themselves with the Kingdom
of heaven, we're seeing a display of the lawlessness of Satan’s society. And we're to sigh and cry for that. And as we see it, we say, "Oh, oh, ah, it's
bad and it gets worse." You and I see a world driven by a God that's
planning the annihilation of itself and it's heart-rending. You and I are bombarded with escalating lawlessness
on every level, almost every story, everything we see. And with it comes associated crises along
with the withholding of blessings from Almighty God and the intervention of miraculous shall
we say cursing or spankings? So that mankind could repent if they want
to. Let's go to 2 Timothy 3:1. 2 Timothy 3:1, of that mindset, we have a
description and we are encouraged not to be part of it. “But know this, that in the last days”
the end times, the last days, the last days of what? The last days of this age, the age of lawlessness,
“perilous times will come.” As the margin says, “dangerous times will
come.” The Greek word here, chalepos, something like
that, or chalepos, it means “reducing the strength. Days will come that reduce the strength or
difficult days or dangerous days, or by implication furious days, fierce days, perilous days,
days of peril.” Perilous because it says, "For..." Here's why, “men will be lovers of themselves,
lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors,
headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” This is a tendency within Satan society as
he influences that and we see it in the news. At the same time, you and I are called out
of this world, "Come out of her, my people, lest you share in the penalties of her sins,
the plagues that will come upon." You see there the dichotomy, the differentiation,
the different categories, and throughout the Scripture when it talks about prophecy, it's
always, "Come out, repent, be separate, be godly, be of God." Lawlessness brings crises and they get compounded,
the crises get so stitched together and compounded that they cannot be solved. They cannot be unworked. They must be simply removed. It's starting to feel like the end time is
arriving, isn't it? And sometimes, we might focus on that and
say, "Ooh, what's up? Maybe I better listen to somebody or figure
out, you know, where the dates on the calendar are and exactly what's happening so I can
maybe prepare and I can be ready to defend myself and I'm going to have storage and stockpiles
and somehow I can be ready to survive." What is the end? What lies ahead for humanity? More specifically, what lies ahead for you
and your family? More importantly than all of those is what
will become of your opportunity to be a firstfruit with Jesus Christ? See, that's what it's really about. We can get all dismayed and distracted by
the things that will go on and the chaos and forget that we are here to be preparing to
be the Bride of Christ. We are the solution that God the Father, has
appointed to assist His Son. Christ, and His Bride will solve these issues. The title of the sermon today is “World
Events and End Time Prophecies.” The point here of world events and end time
prophecies is for us as the people of God, the eventual firstfruits, the eventual Bride
of Christ, to understand how world events and end time prophecies are to be understood
and how are they are to motivate us and what they are to motivate us for. So what exactly is prophecy? Let's start there. The Greek word for prophecy, propheteia, means
an utterance inspired by God from the lexicon. When we say prophecy, what we're saying is
something inspired by God. The prophets of old were inspired to write
things. Jesus Christ gave the words from the Father. The apostles, all the Bible was given by inspiration
of God and written down. A prophet, the Greek noun prophḗtēs, something
like that, is the person who in the Old Testament spoke under divine influence and inspiration. And The Complete Word Study Dictionary says
this, "This included the foretelling of events or the exhorting, reproving of individuals
or nations." We often think of prophecy as just the event. "Ooh, what's going to happen?" But why? What's the purpose of prophecy? It was “the exhorting and the reproving
of individuals or nations.” United Church of God has a booklet, You Can
Understand Prophecy. Now, what is the underlying purpose of prophecy? It says this, "Prophecy is an integral part
of the Bible. Through it, God reveals Himself,” number
one, “His plan for humanity,” number two, “and why we are here." Now, if we come back for a moment from the
fear, the speculation, the wanting to know to those three points: God reveals Himself,
His plan for humanity, and why we are here, prophecy is something that you and I can benefit
from. If we consider these three pillars of prophecy
if I can call them that. Prophecy lets us know about God and about
the Messiah's coming, two comings of the Messiah. You know, we had the prophecies speaking of
the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh but we also have the prophecies of Him coming
with dramatic power. And the plan of God is shown in part by His
comings. It's a vital element of his plan to bring
mankind into a God family. That is the goal and anything that interrupts
that goal of God will not be permitted to be in the Kingdom. God is using certain individuals at certain
times and thus, we have an early calling, an early opportunity. Just as Israel did as a physical nation, we
are the Israel of God now who have an early calling. And we need to be about our Father's business,
developing that fruit for the Kingdom, developing as children, developing as a potential Bride
for Jesus Christ. The future prophecy brings hope for mankind. We think about the destruction. We read the destruction and say, "Oh, no." Actually, future prophecy, the end times speaks
of the beginning of something else. And it's kind of like if a mother is going
to have a baby and baby's out to here, what do you focus on? Birth pangs and labor or baby? Oftentimes when we look at end times prophecy,
we just do the birth pangs. It's all about how much is it going to hurt? Where am I going to be? And how long is it going to last? How do I get out of it? And we forget that the end is all about the
beginning and the beginning is us with Christ. It's the solving, it's the solution, it's
the blessing, it's the salvation of mankind, the saving of mankind from certain death. Jesus, it says, in Luke 8:1, traveled about
from one town to another proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God. We're about the good news of the Kingdom. We shouldn't be associated with the bad stuff
and the grinding down and the near annihilation of humanity, we're not part of that. We look upward we're part of a different country. The Kingdom of God and the focus of God's
message, the purpose of prophecy, is all the same. It's about God, It's about His Kingdom, it's
about hope, it's about life, it's about His rule, it's about a divine family, it's about
an opportunity to be elevated from flesh to spirit. God has an objective the prophecy promotes
if we will listen to Him. Prophecy isn't just about bad things happening
though that's what our selfish carnal focus is. "It's about me. Oh, no, problems are coming." God promotes one thing through prophecy, sonship. That's what prophecy… if you read all the
prophecies if you just look, it's right there in all the prophecies. "Here's what's coming, don't be like that,
here's what's coming, repent of that." To Israel, spiritual Israel, all the parables
of Jesus Christ, you know, Revelation, even the events from God spanking humanity is right
there but “they did not repent of their deeds.” God wants sonship for all now, an eternal
life for all of mankind who desires it. The overwhelming purpose of the Father, the
Son, and the Bride is repentance. Repentance, spiritual growth, becoming children
of that family. Let's look at Mark 1:14-15. Mark 1:14-15, “Now, after John was put in
prison,” yes, there are challenges, “Jesus came to Galilee preaching the gospel of the
kingdom of God, and He said, ‘The time is fulfilled, the kingdom of God is at hand.’" “Everybody get a gun and a sword, defend
yourselves, survive.” No, no, he said, "Repent, and believe in the
gospel." In another place, it says to “obey the gospel.” You know, God is about a certain way of life,
a godly way of life. The Kingdom is coming and those who enter
it in a sense take it by force of repenting, of overcoming, of winning against Satan, of
winning against human nature. If we look in chapter 6 of Mark, verses 17…
or verse 7. Mark 6:7, "And He called the twelve to them,
began to send them out two by two, gave them power over unclean spirits. And He commanded them to take nothing on the
journey…” Verse 10, “He said to them, ‘In whatever
place you enter a house, stay there, depart from that place. And whoever will not receive you nor hear
you, when you depart from there, shake off the dust from under your feet… Assuredly, I say, it will be more tolerable
for Sodom and Gomorrah than for you in that day!’” This word goes out and the message is clear,
those who want it are in a unique group traveling towards a better resurrection, a first resurrection. You and I are honored and privileged to have
the gifts. The gifts from the Father of Lights come upon
us now, those favors of a calling, nobody can receive a calling except those it was
planned for from the foundation of the world. A calling faith, Jesus said, "Your eyes have
been opened, they see, your ears, they hear, but others, not so." We have received those favors then coupled
with repentance, and if we go through this process, which the term grace is referring
to, this multi-favored process, we then receive forgiveness coupled with God’s Spirit where
he partners and mentors us and we grow together as children and were raised with Christ. What a beautiful thing that you and I are
involved in if we are involved in that. If we're not involved in that, we have the
end time prophecies. We have the end time record of what will take
place to mankind. We don't want to be about that. In 2 Corinthians 6:17, 2 Corinthians 6:17,
"Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive
you. And I will be a Father to you, and you shall
be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.” Does that sound like the group that the end
times is going to collapse in on and crush and send off into chaos? “You shall be my sons and daughters, and
I will receive you.” Jesus said, "Let the little children come
to Me for as such are the kingdom of God." Certainly not, we don't fall into that category
at all if we are true to this calling and purpose. Lawlessness is the underlying theme of world
news and end time prophecies, it's lawlessness. The lawless one, the lawless works, the lawless
deeds, the lawless Satan, the god of lawlessness, the demons, etcetera, etcetera. It all goes together and from individuals
to governments, you see self-promotion, greed, corruption, atrocities, death, and it's coming
to a downward end. It's documented in the book of Revelation. But the Bible also has a contrasting theme,
it's called lawfulness. Lawfulness. And the lawful are in a totally different
group. It involves conversion, godliness, hope, sonship,
eternal life. Let's go to Ephesians 1. Ephesians 1, we'll start in verse 17 through
19. We look here about what God is doing with
us. Ephesians 1:17 says, "That the God of our
Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you..." something different than the world, "the spirit
of knowledge, wisdom, revelation, and the knowledge of Him,” understanding about God,
His way of life, and the wisdom that's from above. The wisdom that's from above puts us on a
different track. Verse 18, "the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling,” not the fear
of His calling, the worry, but “the hope of His calling what are the riches of the
glory of the inheritance of the saints,” it doesn't get better than this. In a time of gloom and doom for everyone else,
we are looking for the baby. And yeah, there's some birth pangs, there's
some difficulties, just look at the prophets, look at the apostles, look what Christ went
through, read Hebrews 11. Sure, there are challenges to our faith but
this is who we are. In verse 19, "what is the exceeding greatness
of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power”. Sometimes, we think we're in this alone, "Oh,
no, there's bad things coming." The God of this universe is our God who loves
us, we're His children. He is leading and guiding us through the valley
of the shadow of death. Humanity is becoming increasingly godless. When was the last time you heard God in the
news? When was the last time you heard God almost
anywhere? Mankind is shunning themselves from God, and
as we read in Romans, the result is they have this debased mind and they do things that
are just nuts. When you and I look at the end of Satan's
age, it's dangerous to those not of God. All right, biblical prophecy, by the way,
primarily is not about world events. It mentions world events and we see those
in the news and that helps us realize where we are as far as where this track is headed. But end-time biblical prophecy is rather about
the Kingdom of God and about God, about His plan and how we need to respond. You know, if you stop and think about it,
the biggest end time prophecies that you and I live, learn, and celebrate are the annual
Holy Days, it's all end time prophecy. Think about it. Jesus Christ resurrected, firstfruit. You and I as the potential Bride of Christ
go through the Days of Unleavened Bread putting sin out of our lives now as we grow towards
the harvest of the firstfruit. And when we come to Trumpets, we are reunited
with Christ, that is the feast that pictures the resurrection as Paul shows in 1 Corinthians
15. It shows that when Christ returns at the seventh
trumpet, we will rise and meet Him, and we will be with Him. And that's followed by the Day of Atonement,
the removal of the god of this age and the removal of all that destructive mindset. Ushered in by the time when we will assist
Christ and bring a wonderful world tomorrow throughout what we picture at the Feast of
Tabernacles and the Eighth Day, Last Great Day. This is all end-time prophecy and beyond,
and we live it, we celebrate it. Even this Sabbath observance is an end time
prophecy. This is about the baby, this is about the
solution, this is about the coming Kingdom of God as it were. So worries about the end of the age rather
than focusing on the coming of the new reign of God on earth is a little bit humanistic,
it's a little bit selfish. We should be focusing and anticipating what's
ahead. Let's look in Romans 8:18-23 about where our
focus needs to be. Romans 8:18, the apostle Paul who is writing
here knows all about end of life scenarios, he knows all about stoning, he knows all about
being beaten up. You know, going… appealing to a Caesar who
is often the head, demented, essentially and just ravaging people and killing them in coliseums
in Rome. And he's taken there. This is the guy writing this, right? And his focus isn't about any of that, he
never mentions it. His focus is on what it should be. Romans 8:18, "For I consider that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed
in us." “In fact, I won't even mention many of the
sufferings of this present, that's not even my focus,” he essentially says, by not focusing
on it. The glory that “will be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation…” okay, now
we get into some interesting words here, “expectation of the creation.” Everywhere it says creation here or creature
here, it's the exact same word in the Greek. If you go to the King James Version, what
we call the Old King James or the Authorized Version, I think they use a better interpretation
of which is the creature, the human, versus which is the creation. “The earnest expectation of the creature,”
the individual… what is your earnest expectation? “Eagerly awaits for the revealing of the
sons of God.” That's where our mind should be. We should be looking forward to being sons
of God, focus on what we will be and how we can solve the world's problems with Jesus
Christ. “For the creature was subjected to futility,”
you and I, guess what? We're getting old. Did we hear some news that some people are
getting older and having more health problems? We're “subjected to futility,” in the
flesh “not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope.” You and I have the hope of the resurrection. “Because the creature itself also will be
delivered from the bondage of corruption” you and I when we die we go back to dust through
a process of corruption and we “will be delivered from the bondage of corruption”
or death “into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans
and labors with birth pangs together until now.” Yes, it's difficult. “Not only that, but we also who have the
firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for
the sonship, the redemption of our body. For we are being saved in this hope.” You and I with that focus can go forward,
we can build the fruit, we can develop the relationships with God and with each other. We can become mature spiritually, we can be
ready to be raised from the dead. You and I have a wonderful opportunity here
to be focused in difficult times just like Paul, be focused on what we need to be focused
on. Jesus said in Mark 13:33, "Take heed, watch
and pray, for you do not know when the time is." Okay, let's just stop there for a moment,
when is the end? When will Christ return? He said, "You do not know." Okay, can we just leave it at that? I know there are so many people who want to
interpret and figure it out in little groups here and some guy there, and this guy's got
it all figured out, somebody is coming on a Holy Day or Sunday or who knows? You do not know when the time is. So why would we spend energy and time focusing
on something we can't know? Is just a question. In Luke 21:34, "Take heed to yourselves, lest
your hearts be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness, cares of this life, and that
Day come upon you unexpectedly. For it will come on as a snare upon all those
who dwell on the face of the earth." You and I dwell on the face of the earth,
it's going to come like that, "Oh, I wasn't expecting that." “Watch therefore,” watch what? Watch, the Greek word, means to “be vigilant
in awareness of threatening peril.” And this is a spiritual watch. We're to be in anticipation, we're to be watching
inwardly and praying always, people of prayer. Doing that means, He says, "that you may be
counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass, and to stand before
the Son of Man." Oh, those end-time events looks like we could
be counted worthy to escape them if we're focused on the things we ought to be focused
on. But if we're focused on trying to figure out
when the end is coming and how to avoid it, it's going to be a snare. You know, even if you perfectly understand
how and when the prophecies will be fulfilled, it is nothing. As Paul said here in 1 Corinthians 13:2, "And
though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge… but if
I haven't developed [agape] love, I am nothing." So really, what does it matter? What does it matter? The only date that you and I are really interested
in is being resurrected with Jesus Christ, so we need to be vigilant. Humans are brilliant at preparing for all
kinds of things. We can prepare for quizzes when we're in school. We can prepare for careers. We can prepare for a date, get all just perfect
in preparation, for a wedding, plans go on for months. I mean, we are really good at that kind of
stuff. Preparing for retirement, the 401(k), you
know, whatever, preparing for emergencies and preparing for the end time, why not throw
that one in there? You know, stash a few things, focus on that
a little bit, it's just so human, isn't it? And when you walk back everything I just described,
they're all pretty self-centered, aren't they? Some need to be but it's my career, my health,
my test, my girl, my guy, my wedding, you know, my health, my retirement, my end time
survival. We're not so diligent at preparing for events
that are about others, God and neighbor. Preparing for the Sabbath, we probably prepare
for weddings a lot more than we prepare for the weekly Sabbath. Preparedness to assist poor might not have
put that on the budget, might not have the readiness, the kit, the whatever, the funds
to go help people. Preparing to be a firstfruit with Jesus Christ
might not be on the self-list. See, that's on God's list, that's what Christ
died for, that's what God the Father created us, that's why “He gave His only begotten
Son,” that's on their list. But sometimes, it's not on our list and the
purpose of prophecy is to promote that being on our list, to promote godly conduct. In Titus 2:11, we see this brought out. Titus 2:11-14. Titus is hiding today, here it is, Titus 2:11,
“For the grace of God" or the favors of God “that brings salvation” yes, that
calling, faith, the conversion, the repentance, the forgiveness, the baptism, the Holy Spirit. And God leading and guiding us and growing
fruit in us as we are on the vine and we grow that spiritual fruit through Jesus Christ
from God the Father, yes? That favor of God “that brings salvation
has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we
should live soberly, righteously, godly in the present age,” here we are in this age,
here's our focus, “looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God
and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every
lawless deed” we're not supposed to be part of that group, that mindset, “and purify
for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.” His own special people were not part of those
end time destruction scenarios. If we are His special people living soberly
and righteously and performing with zeal the good works of God's Spirit. The Bible was written to provide something
that never interests most humans, let's notice it in 2 Timothy 3:16. You'll see from time to time, "Well, this
thing happened in the news of biblical proportions." You heard that lately, haven't you? Some of the fires that ravaged places or the
temperatures or some of the calamities. You'll even hear the news like, "Oh, biblical
proportions, on a biblical scale." Really? That's all they want to know about the Bible,
though. Don't give me anymore because see, in 2 Timothy
3:16, it says, "All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for
doctrine, reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Oftentimes, humans want to use the Bible for
other things, personal curiosities, inquisitiveness, “Who... how was this done? How was that done? When did that happen? How could that have been?” You know, etcetera, etcetera, things the Bible
is not written in a way to answer. But the things that is written in a way to
answer are these. That you and I have something “…for reproof,
correction, instruction, and righteousness that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly
equipped for every good work.” Humanity doesn't look to the Bible for that. It's easy to get concerned about Matthew 24
and Jesus prophecies of the end time and skip Matthew 25. You know, He continued on, didn't He? And He continued on and His focus in Matthew
25 was that half the Church wasn't developing the fruit. The Bride, 5 of the 10 virgins weren't focused,
they weren’t... “I don't know you, you're not Mine. I don't know who you are” essentially. And when it came time for the wedding supper,
the door was shut. They hadn't developed the wheat, the fruit
of the Holy Spirit, in another part of that chapter. They hadn't developed into sheep instead of
goats in another part of the chapter. But for the other half of the wise virgins,
they had developed the wheat, they had become the sheep, the godly children. They had fulfilled God's purpose for calling
them at this time, for giving His Son as our Passover so that we could be firstfruits with
Him in the Kingdom. Something that's still profitable to figure
out when Jesus Christ will come. But Jesus said in Mark 13:32, "But of that
day and hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor Me," He says, "the Son, but
only the Father." "Oh, but I know. I know. I'm smarter than Him. I think He's going to come on the Day of Pentecost. I think He's going to come on the Day of Trumpets. I think He's going to..." I don't know. We come up with all this stuff. Jesus said no one will know and then he gave
the parable of the 10 virgins and guess what? None of them knew. He said He comes at midnight when humans are
asleep and in the parable when everybody is asleep, nobody knows. So nobody is going to know, period. Prophecy is not given to know when events
will occur but why events will occur. If we can understand prophecy as to the why
then we benefit from prophecy. And the why is, “come out of her, my people.” The why is that you and I have a particular
calling that we need to be about and we need to “put on the armor of God” and “having
done all to stand” to stand. For those who are unprepared spiritually,
Amos 5:18 says this, "Woe to you who desire the day of the Lord!” Everybody wants to know when Christ is coming. “Woe to you who desire the return of Jesus
Christ!” It's what it says. “For what good is the day of the Lord to
you?” You don't want to be in that group. He said, "It will be darkness, and not light." Jesus Christ is upfront with us and in all
of His parables, He says, "Look, here's what I want you to do. Please, please, please do it because the opposite
has to be done if you don't." Merely watching the news of the atrocities
of Satan's era is not preparing spiritually. We don't, for instance, see the apostles talking
about the terrible politics of the Roman Empire, the horrible deeds in Judea, and Palestine,
the bad leadership, the corruption, sinful government, etcetera. They were focused on preparing the Bride while
all that was going on around them and they witnessed it and they sighed and cried for
it but their focus was always being the Body of Christ, a separate entity. God, the Kingdom of God, godly children, repentance,
sonship, life. So you and I in looking forward to end time
events. And when we see world news and we see the
prophecies beginning to coincide with what we see going on in the world, you and I need
to be urged and encouraged to further repent, to further grow, to be busy about our Father's
business, to be more obedient to God. The way to be ready is to be vigilant about
conversion, about converting, about becoming more like children of God. More fruits of God, more like lambs, like
Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God, more like the lights in a world, more like salt of the
earth. In conclusion, God’s inspired teaching,
prophecy. It includes knowing God's plan of salvation
along with Satan's attempts to undermine it, it's always there. It promotes repentance to good works, it gives
hope of the Kingdom of God. Also, it highlights our responsibility to
be fulfilling the gift of Jesus Christ of having a Bride, a helper. One who is Christ-like, one whom the Father
can give to Him to assist in solving all the problems that exist on planet earth. But what will happen to me in the end time? You know, that does come up, we are human. “Perfect love casts out fear” and if we
really are developing the love of God, we won't be worrying about such things. The end time and its events are not about
the children of God, they are about somebody else, the children of the devil as John states. I'd like to just give you a couple of passages
about the Church's future during the gloomy end times. The end time again isn't about the saints. You know, they get buffeted a bit but it's
the end of Satan. The saints are about the beginning, the saints
are about reigning, the saints are about Jesus Christ stepping in with the Bride and halting
what's wrong in the world. Isaiah 26:21, “For behold, the Lord comes
out of His place to punish the inhabitants of the earth for their iniquity;” who does
that refer to? He's coming to punish the inhabitants of the
earth for their iniquity, He's not coming to punish you. Luke 21:36, "Watch therefore, and you pray
always that you may be counted worthy to escape all these things that will come to pass… escape the things that will come to pass,
and to stand before the Son of Man." And finally, Revelation 3:10, "Because you
have kept My command" which is love as He has, "to persevere, I also will keep you from
the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the
earth." We have a bright future. Even though the world has dark days ahead,
we are called “the light of the world” and we have hope. We have blessings, we have a God, we have
power. And as we march forward, let us be strong
and focused on preparing to fulfill that which God called us to, be His children, be the
Bride for Jesus Christ. And if you do that and if you focus on doing
that, God will handle all the details of what lies ahead for you.
