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I have been wrestling with
something this week. As we work our way through this
four part series… that is already on sermon # 5…we
haven’t even gotten to the Tribulation period yet… which
is the mother of all scary stories.
Some of you are saying to
me…This stuff scares me!...and the reason for that is
likely because it is scary stuff.
It occurred to me:
..some generation…perhaps we
who are alive today… are the generation that will live
right up to… and including the final 7 years of
tribulation. Our study this last Wednesday Eve Bible
Study @7pm showed us pretty clearly that,
virtually, all of the prophesies leading up to the
beginning of the end have already been fulfilled.
Nobody could say that 65
years ago. Now, from the return of the Jews to their own
country… to the military alliances between the
Muslim/Arabs and Russia, to the invention of satellite
television and the internet so everybody can instantly
see what is going on, on the other side of the world.
Every needed piece for the end times to unfold (that
wasn’t in place 65 years ago), is now primed and ready.
So as believers… what should
our response to all of this be?
1) Shouldn’t we
be off in a corner somewhere trembling in terror? No?
2) It’s hard
when you think about your kids and grandkids not to say
either, I’m scared to death for what they might face..
or I’m, just, going to stick my head in the sand and
pretend none of this stuff is in the Bible.
Maybe you’re half tempted to
slip off to some other church where they just preach
“three steps to happiness” sermons… some do…. But
that’s going to be quite a shock… to hear happiness,
contentment, prosperity, and wealth sermons and suddenly
find yourself in a prophesied End Time that you are
completely unprepared for.
It’s amazing to me how many
pastors I know are preaching on this subject right
now…why is that?… it’s not like we all get together and
compare notes…
Q: How do we as believers
intelligently, maturely, study what God’s Word says is
surely hurtling our way and not live in daily fear of
the future?
Let me plant a few
Scriptures in your mind as a foundation before we move
on…
The whole idea of being
God’s child is that your loving Heavenly Father will
protect you in the midst of outside harm. It’s not that
bad things don’t happen to Christians… they do! The
difference is that you have your little hand wrapped in
the great big hand of your Heavenly Father.
Illus: If I told my
granddaughter Kalyn to go out in the middle of the night
and walk from my house to her parents house, alone, she
would be terrified. If, on the other hand, I walked with
her hand in hand she would be virtually fearless…
That’s how it is with you
and God as you face the hardships of this present
life…and that’s exactly how it will be when you face the
approaching end times
Romans 8:15
For you did not
receive a spirit that makes you a slave… to fear, but
you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry,
"Abba, Father." (NIV)
Instead of fear…we are
supposed to have this solid…locked in… trust of our
beloved Heavenly Father that clears our mind for what is
coming ahead…
2 Timothy 1:7 For God has
not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of
power, love, and self-discipline. (NLT)
1 John 4:18 Such love has no
fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are
afraid, it is for fear of punishment…
( I explained to you a
couple weeks ago that the really bad stuff that is
coming is called “God’s wrath” and I gave you several
Scriptures that promise you, as a Christian, will be
saved from that wrath!)
That’s not to say you won’t
have to suffer some stuff… you probably will. But is you
do… you will be doing so with the great big arms of God
carrying you every step! We all are going to be bucking
up against people who are increasingly anti-God right up
until the anti- Christ appears… You may have to suffer
for your faith!...
1 Peter 3:14
But even if you
should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. "Do
not fear what they fear ; do not be frightened." (NIV)
Illus: I have an irrational fear of going to prison…
I’ve spent a lot of time visiting there… and when those
doors clang behind me, I hate it. I left the house the
other morning before dawn and the somebody was walking
in the dark in dark clothes…and I missed them…thank God…
but that mental picture was there… of leaving home to
come to a church… and, instead, spending the next few
years in prison just because my windows were fogged up.
On the other hand… the thought of going to
prison for my faith, (which is more likely to happen to
me than to you)… holds no fear for me at all. (and it
shouldn’t!)
Here’s the thing… As believers… even though we know what
is coming ahead we are supposed to walk straight into
the teeth of it all with the calm assurance that we are
cocooned in God’s care. We are not supposed to hide in
some cave in the mountains… appealing as that might be!
We are supposed to keep busy following the commands of
Scripture right up until the fireworks begin.
1 Peter 4:7
The end of the world is coming soon.
Therefore, be earnest and disciplined in your prayers.
8 Most important of all, continue to show
deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of
sins. 9 Cheerfully share your home…etc.etc… (NLT)
Don’t push the pause button even for a second! And don’t
worry about your kids… instead prepare them for what is
ahead. That’s the very basis for why we are starting the
AWANA program next week. We are going to bury the Word
of God so deeply in our children’s hearts that they are
prepared for whatever comes.
So
let’s say that some of our children do end up on the
front lines… in the final battles for truth described in
Scripture. Would that be something we should flinch away
from…or be proud of?
So…we are not supposed to
live in fear… we are supposed to walk straight into the
teeth of what ever is unfolding ahead of us… We are
supposed to be self-disciplined, and prayerful, and
active in our Christian walk holding on tightly to our
Heavenly Father’s hand!
There is another mindset
that we are specifically told to have… that I want to
focus on for the rest of this sermon…
Luke 21:7
“Teacher,” they asked, “when will all this happen?
What sign will show us that these things are about
to take place?” … 9 And when you hear of wars and
insurrections, don’t panic. Yes, these things
must take place first, but the end won’t
follow immediately.”… 11
There will be great earthquakes, and there
will be famines and plagues in many lands,
and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous
signs from heaven… 25 “And
there will be strange signs in the sun, moon, and
stars. And here on earth the nations will be in
turmoil, perplexed by the roaring seas and
strange tides. 26 People
will be terrified at what they see coming upon the
earth, for the powers in the heavens will be shaken.
27
Then everyone will see the Son of Man coming on a cloud
with power and great glory. 28
So when all these things begin to happen, stand and look
up, for your salvation is near!”
All right…. so we are back
to the scary stuff now…followed by the final great
triumph… remember what your attitude is supposed to be?
_______________ But here is the other mindset I was
talking about:
V: 34
“Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by
carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this
life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware,
35 like a trap. For that day
will come upon everyone living on the earth.
36 Keep alert at all times.
And pray that you might be strong enough to
escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of
Man.”
You are supposed to remain unafraid, you are supposed to
place your trust directly in your Savior but that is
not the same as saying: “You put your hand in Jesus’
hand and stick your head in the sand under his sandals.”
You are supposed to be vigilant to the approaching End
Times… not fearful just very, very, aware. There is
never a day that goes by now but what the news articles
don’t give you clues to the approaching end times…
Friday August 28th Bloomberg
News
By Bill Varner
Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- The
United Arab Emirates has seized a ship carrying North
Korean-manufactured munitions, detonators, explosives
and rocket-propelled grenades bound for Iran in
violation of
United Nations sanctions, diplomats said….
Does that story matter?…
Only if an atheistic, communist regime supplying arms to
a sworn enemy of Israel determined to blow them off the
map, who is listed in Psalm 83 as one of the territories
that will come against Israel in the big battle to
come….matters.
Had those arms gotten
through they might very well have been in soldiers hands
when Iran joins the military power from the north to
fight Israel. Other shipments are getting through.
Watch out!
Don’t let your hearts be dulled by carousing and
drunkenness, and by the worries of this life. Don’t
let that day catch you unaware…
From the new September issue
of Newsmax magazine…
President Obama has made
two trips to the Middle East, yet shunned visiting
longtime ally Israel. His speech in Cairo raised
eyebrows as it heaped praise on the religion of Islam
but offered only criticism of the United States, Israel,
and Western colonial powers… for mistreatment of
Palestinians. Obama then made perhaps the oddest
statement about his presidential policies so far: “ I
consider it part of my responsibility as President of
the United States to fight against negative stereotypes
of Islam wherever they appear. American Jewish leaders,
disturbed about the new thrust, attended a White House
meeting in July. Obama told them he intended to “put
daylight” between the United States and Israel because
close US-Israel ties had blocked “progress” in talks
with the Palestinians.
Does that story matter? Only
if you are concerned that the Bible prophesies that “all
the armies of the world” will come against Israel in the
end…and with God’s help Israel will defeat all of
them…and it will take seven months just to clean up the
dead bodies of the enemy. I sincerely pray that we, as a
country, stay on the right side of prophesy and God’s
plan for the End Times!
V: 34
“Watch out! Don’t let that day catch you
unaware, 35 like a
trap. For that day will come upon everyone living on
the earth. 36 Keep
alert at all times. And pray that you might be
strong enough to escape the
coming horrors…
This from :Guardian.co.uk
: Tuesday August 25th 2009
Barack Obama on
brink of deal for Middle East peace talks
• US to
adopt much tougher line over Iran's nuclear ambitions
·
Israel to freeze
construction of settlements on West Bank
• France and Russia offer to host Middle East peace
conference
Barack Obama
is close to brokering an Israeli-Palestinian deal that
will allow him to announce a resumption of the
long-stalled
Middle East peace talks before the end of
next month, according to US, Israeli, Palestinian and
European officials…
Every
president, (Democrat or Republican) since George Bush 1
has made this their goal. According to the Bible, it is
a complete waste of time… and maybe even worse…
I gave you
some examples a couple weeks ago of the correlation
between events here in the US and our attempts to give
away Israel’s (God’s) land…
1) October 1991: George Bush
1, opens Madrid Conference to broker Israel’s land for
peace on the same day the “perfect storm hit New
England
2) August 1992: Madrid
Conference moves to Washington D.C. and the peace talks
resume, the same day, Hurricane Andrew hits Florida.
3) January 1994: President
Clinton meets with Syria's Assad to give up the Golan
Heights…. The same day… a huge earthquake hit Southern
California.
I gave you eight examples
that day… they come from a book called Eye to Eye
(Facing the Consequences of Dividing Israel) by William
Koenig. He writes an online newsletter out of Washington
DC. This guy is not a Jim Jones Kool-Aid drinker… He
graduated with a graduate degree in journalism from
Louisiana Baptist University. How about this:
4) The day President
Clinton’s pending impeachment broke in the news:
December 12th 1998, he was in Israel trying
to finalize a land for peace agreement with Yasser
Arafat.
5) On October 15th
1999 as Jewish settlers were being evicted from the
West Bank, Hurricane Irene hit North Carolina… the
Hector Mine Earthquake rocked the Southwest… and the Dow
had it’s biggest drop in 10 years… all on the same day.
6)
You remember the bursting of the Nasdaq bubble in 2000.
On January 4th
PM Ehud Barak was in West
VA. The Nasdaq lost 600 billion in value, March 26th,
Clinton meets Assad, another 17% loss, April 3rd
Defense Secretary Cohen is in Israel, Nasdaq largest
point drop in history… Again on April 11th
Clinton and Barak, a loss of 2.1 trillion from the
Nasdaq.
If you are an investor… it
might be wise to keep an eye on political news as it
relates to Israel.
7) On October 2nd
2001 President George W Bush said that a Palestinian
State was “part of the vision if Israel’s right to exist
is respected”… In the next 3 weeks the anthrax scare
cost the government 3 billion dollars.
Is all the stuff just
“conspiracy theory” nonsense?? Maybe…maybe not…
8) On February 3rd
2003 President Bush once again said he was going to
again push the Israeli/Palestinian peace talks. That
same day the shuttle, Colunbia, broke up 39 miles above
Texas… All the news sources reported the same thing… the
breakup began over a place called Palestine, Texas… (now
that’s just too weird??)
Speaking of conspiracy
theories… why in that UK article about President Obama’s
secret peace deal did it mention the Europeans? What do
the Europeans have to do with End Times?
A whole lot of people who
read the book of Daniel became very concerned with the
startup of the EU. Remember that image in Daniel…. the
head down to the feet and toes? Every power on that
image has come and gone including the legs of the Roman
Empire. What remained, to fulfill prophesy, was the feet
and ten toes which are supposedly a resurrection of the
Roman Empire. With the EU’s startup with it’s ten
permanent members… people added 1 and 1 and came up with
two.
Here’s an actual poster used
by the EU to promote it’s theme:
Look at that poster
carefully…. Why would anybody use that theme: “One voice
many tongues” and then clearly advertise that with a
famous 16th century picture of the tower of
Babel. Wasn’t the Tower of Babel something God brought
down because mankind was trying to elevate themselves
into the place of God. Isn’t the whole idea of Babel a
synonym for rebellion against God?
And why, people ask, did
they invert the ten stars so that instead of stars they
look like pentagrams? Sam you are being ridiculous. The
EU was set up to bring Europe together in unity around
shared business and a single currency…perhaps eventually
a single government…. Exactly!
Today’s 2 trillion dollar
question: why, why, why… would the EU build their new
Parliament headquarters in France to look like:
I’m not a conspiracy
theorist but I do believe there is an evil one who is
working very hard to shape the world for what he sees as
his final showdown against God. Each time he tries to
beat God…he loses… and he will this time again…once and
for all…but this time we who are sitting in this room
may very well be a part of it all…
Don’t be afraid…but don’t
live with your spiritual head in the sand either…
All of prophesy has already
unfolded… right up to the beginning of the End.
Luke 21:34
“Watch out! Don’t let your hearts be dulled by
carousing and drunkenness, and by the worries of this
life. Don’t let that day catch you unaware,
35 like a trap. For that day
will come upon everyone living on the earth.
36 Keep alert at all times.
And pray that you might be strong enough to
escape these coming horrors and stand before the Son of
Man.”
If you have not made preparations by asking
this coming King of the Universe to forgive your sin and accept him
into your life as your Lord… you are not prepared for what is coming
ahead…
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