Today we still, as everyday we do, wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to return in the air for us, being that no one knows the day or the hour, all we can ever do is guess... I've posted next month's studies below:
October's Bible Studies
If what Jesus had to say about the Devil is true, then he is something more than just an idea for a Halloween costume.
Even what can appear harmless, might in truth be very dangerous.
{Help me resist evil, Father; I know that I'm human and that sometimes I'm weak and could be tempted to go down paths that would lead me to disaster. Please don't let me be blinded, but to always have Your truths in my heart and mind at all times, I pray. In Jesus' Name.}
Proverbs 18:10- 'The Name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to Him and are safe.'
Let's go to Him in His Word..............
October 1st- Isaiah 11-13 & Ephesians 4
October 2nd- Isaiah 14-16 & Ephesians 5: 1-16
October 3rd- Isaiah 17-19 & Ephesians 5: 17-33
October 4th- Isaiah 20-22 & Ephesians 6
October 5th- Isaiah 23-25 & Philippians 1
October 6th- Isaiah 26-27 & Philippians 2
October 7th- Isaiah 28-29 & Philippians 3
October 8th- Isaiah 30-31 & Philippians 4
October 9th- Isaiah 32-33 & Colossians 1
October 10th- Isaiah 34-36 & Colossians 2
October 11th- Isaiah 37-38 & Colossians 3
October 12th- Isaiah 39-40 & Colossians 4
October 13th- Isaiah 41-42 & 1 Thessalonians 1
October 14th- Isaiah 43-44 & 1 Thessalonians 2
October 15th- Isaiah 45-46 & 1 Thessalonians 3
October 16th- Isaiah 47-49 & 1 Thessalonians 4
October 17th- Isaiah 50-52 & 1 Thessalonians 5
October 18th- Isaiah 53-55 & 2 Thessalonians 1
October 19th- Isaiah 56-58 & 2 Thessalonians 2
October 20th- Isaiah 59-61 & 2 Thessalonians 3
October 21st- Isaiah 62-64 & 1 Timothy 1
October 22nd- Isaiah 65-66 & 1 Timothy 2
October 23rd- Jeremiah 1-2 & 1 Timothy 3
October 24th- Jeremiah 3-5 & 1 Timothy 4
October 25th- Jeremiah 6-8 & 1 Timothy 5
October 26th- Jeremiah 9-11 & 1 Timothy 6
October 27th- Jeremiah 12-14 & 2 Timothy 1
October 28th- Jeremiah 15-17 & 2 Timothy 2
October 29th- Jeremiah 18-19 & 2 Timothy 3
October 30th- Jeremiah 20-21 & 2 Timothy 4
October 31st- Jeremiah 22-23 & Titus 1
- May God bless you greatly as you study His Word! I am so proud of you!! -Rev. Debbie*
What is Tribulation? Why is it gonna happen? For who is it gonna happen?
What is Tribulation?
Tribulation [trib-yuh-ley-shuhn] 1. grievous trouble; severe trial or suffering. 2. Severe affliction, distress, deep sorrow.
Why is it gonna happen?
We know how loving God is, but we have to remember that God punishes sin. If God didn’t need to punish sin, there would have been no reason for Jesus to die on the cross. We’ve all sinned against God, and nothing that isn’t holy can enter Heaven. (Romans 3:10) “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one”. So, because He knew we could never follow exactly His laws, we would all break them at one time or another, Jesus (God’s only begotten Son) was sent into the world to die for us on the cross at Calvary and pay the penalty for every sin we would ever commit. All of our wicked sins were put on Him. He died in our place. God demands perfection from us. Nothing less. When we accept Jesus’ Gift He gave us on the cross, we are washed in His shed Blood, we are forever washed as white as snow. (Praise Jesus!) But there are some people who don’t want His gift. Some who say they don’t need Him. God knows who they are because He knows the hearts of every one of us.
The ‘Tribulation’ will be the ‘Wrath’ of God.
Matthew 24:21- “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.”
For who is it gonna happen?
Nahum 1:2 - “God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on His adversaries, and He reserveth wrath for His enemies.”
(Are you an enemy of God?)
_____________________________________________
After God had Noah, his family, and the animals all locked away safely in the ark, when it started raining, I bet that the unbelievers were banging on the ark saying, "let us in, you were right! We don't want to die!" But it was too late. I bet Noah cried. Like we cry for our unsaved friends and loved ones who we warn and they won't listen. I bet they'll try to get a hold of us after we're already gone, Rapture will already have happened and they'll have been left. I wish more were ready.
WATCH AND BE READY – ARE YOU READY?
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Hi Friends! I want to show you a picture of my apple tree and tell you why I think it's a sure warning of our Lord's soon return!
-Something I want to tell you about, and it sure looks to us like a sign of His soon arrival, is our little apple tree out front. Every year by the month of August, our little apple tree 'Hap' had so many apples on it that we had to cut them off for fear the tree will have a really hard time and the branches might break! (I'm gonna post on here a picture of my apple tree on August 3rd, 2007.) Anyway, today's date is September 25, 2011 and although the tree is full of beautiful leaves, there is not even one apple on it! That does not make sense! My neighbor's Apple tree in her front yard is a regular large size tree and there are not any there either! She always had to invite the neighbor families to pick all they wanted from the tree because there were just too many! Enough for pies galore! This year...only beautiful leaves! My husband, the landscaper, said it's too late now for any apples to start growing. He said he's been seeing this all over with other trees and plants. The vegetation just seems barren. -We see that as a sure sign of His soon arrival. We were blessed and never had the heat waves here in Colorado like other places this year, so the heat factor couldn't have been the reason for it. Things around the world are in no way the same as they always have been. No matter who wants to insist they are. Yes, there are some folks that still say that. (Even after the earthquakes, dead fish washing ashore, dead birds falling out of the sky, etc. Maybe they just don't get out much.)
Our Lord's giving sure signs for those who want to accept them!
Blessings to you and yours! -Are you ready for His arrival? -Rev.Debbie♥
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
"Be Ye Ready Is No Joking Matter" - David Wilkerson - from a dream in 1998
Matthew 24:42-44: "Watch ye therefore for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known what hour the thief would come, he would have watched and not allowed his house to be broken into. Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect."
(Praying) Lord you spoke so clearly to me this past week in a dream. You told me to preach this this afternoon, and I obey you...
I don't get many dreams, and I don't preach on my dreams because I'm a bible preacher, and anything that does not conform to the word of God is to be rejected outright. I'm just telling you how God awakened my soul, how I should preach this more often...I want you to know this is not doctrine, it's not some new revelation, it's simply the Holy Spirit prompting me, and speaking to me about His coming, I don't know want to build any doctrine about it, remember that. I don't have much confidence in dreams, any dream vision or revelation has to absolutely be framed in scripture.
Now having said that, let me share with you without trying to talk to you about doctrine or anything else, just the Holy Ghost talking to me. In my dream I was suddenly awakened by the knowledge that I had been snatched, I had been caught up, and I was in some kind of conveyance, I don't know if it was a chariot, I didn't see the conveyance, but I knew that there were others in it and that there was an angel of the Lord... there was a sense of just racing swiftly thru streets and into houses, this conveyance knew no barriers and I had a sense that I was on my way home, I'm saved, the Lord has come.
I am being gathered by the angel of the Lord, the chariots of the Lord, there are thousands upon thousands, the coming of the Lord is as lightining is from the east to the west...there was a sense of swiftness, but it was almost as I was seeing it in slow motion, this lightning coming, I was seeing it in slow motion, I didn't see a driver, I didn't see an angel, I didn't see the conveyance, I just had a sense, I knew I was being carried and taken and it was moving swiftly, and people were being snatched from homes and from the streets.
And I remember specifically going into a particular home and there were 3 people that I recognized, 2 were friends and 1 was a family member, and we went right by, and there was as sense, a sudden sense, oh God, they were being left behind, and the Lord allowed me to, for a few fleeting moments, to sense the terror of what it would be like to be left behind when the angels of the Lord come and gather His elect from the 4 winds.
I was made to know at that time that even those who call themselves christians, and were not really christians, who despised the grace of God went out and sinned and said I can easily confess, never did forsaking their sin, there was a sense that even though they were sleeping they were aware, there was an awareness that the Lord is coming and there is a sudden moment because I saw hands being raised, people reaching out and waving.
In fact as we kept moving on there were people that were moving and trying to get the attention of this driver, this conveyance, and I was screaming and yelling get out in the open, as if I thought if they were out in the open they could be seen and get caught up but it went swiftly on, but there was a sense that I have never experienced in my life, even though all my life my father taught on the coming of the Lord, my grandfather taught on the coming of the lord, taught about it.
The bible says we shall all be changed, in the twinkling of an eye, suddenly we're going to be changed, the bible says, this corrupt body shall put on an incorrupt body just like His. And the bible says that we are to be prepared and ready, expecting, the bible says He is coming for those who look for His appearing. And those who are expecting, even though sleep they are going to be caught, if it's in the middle of the night.
Now I'm not going to be get into the doctrine of the rapture, when this happens, before the tribulation, middle of the tribulation or after the tribulation, I am just telling you I had a sense of the horror it's going to be for those who knew the gospel, who had one appeal after another, who knew the grace and the mercy of God and they were not ready. They were not taken, they were not gathered in this, and I remember the swiftness of moving, and seeing the people left behind, the conveyance just passing by, and this terrible sense. Lord I know I'm saved, I know I'm redeemed, I'm going home, but those 2 friends and that member of my family... and there was a terror. Two shall be sleeping in a bed, one shall be taken the other left...watch therefore He's coming as a thief in the night. He's coming folks.
There was no sense of speed , there was no sense of traveling, but suddenly I was stepping with everyone around me, we were stepping as out of a cloud,out of a fog, out of time, into eternity, suddenly. There was no sense of being carried out into a cosmos or anywhere else, suddenly we were...Home. We were in eternity and I remember this sense of absolute serenity, as we stepped out into eternity thru this cloud, there was a sense of peace, and all I could see around me people were feeling their bodies, they were feeling their hands, they were caressing their faces, there was no shouting. I didn't see Jesus anywhere,it was just a sense, it happened so quickly, it seemed to be a gathering place, the bible say He's going to gather His elect from the the 4 winds, and suddenly I looked and there were my 2 friends, and my loved one coming thru the cloud and into eternity.
Nobody was looking at each other, nobody, there was no embracing, there was just a peace, an incredible peace, and I experienced it for a moment, I am home, that earth that I was on is gone, I am beyond the reach of satan, there is no sin, there is no possibility of ever being lost, I am eternally His, He did what He said He would do, He said He would come with His angels, He came with His angels, he did everything I preached, everything I said, It's true! He's all sufficient, He's everything that we need!
There was a peace and a a serenity beyond anything I could imagine... and people were just awed, in silence, there was an awe, there was a peace that was absoultely indescribable, and the sense... it was a sense, it's all over, it's all over, it was all... it was all true. That sense of reality and truth - that was not the real world, this is the real world, this is eternity, that's all passed away, it was just a dream, it was just grass, that's what the bible says, the flesh is just grass, it comes up, it withers and it's gone. Time is just a little piece, eternity is a great big realm, God cut a little piece and He gave it to man, with His grace and mercy, saying, here is My grace, My mercy, My glory. He gives you space and time to repent and trust in Him...
But God wait a minute, all of these who didn't come, all of those who were left behind, who thought they were prepared and thought they were ready, they are not here, what about them Lord... they're lost, there was a sense in me, now folks that will not be there but I believe God was letting me feel the sense of this lostness of those who were gone, and suddenly as I was thinking about all those who had not been gathered, I woke up, I sat right up, and these words were like silent thunder in my head- "David, be ye ready is no joking matter." And I lay back in my pillow and God said, "My people are not taking it seriously, they talk about it but they are not taking it seriously, and many, many are going to be left behind- they are not ready... the age of grace is about to end."
A serious prophetic warning to the Church – Bill Wilson – www.dailyjot.com
Revelation 13:12 says of the second beast, the beast considered the false prophet of the antichrist, "And he exerciseth all the power of the first beast before him, and causeth the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed." This is generally considered the verse where the one world religion rises to power under the antichrist. There is a warning in verses 9 and 10: "If any man have an ear, let him hear. He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints." The call for Palestinian statehood is at the very least a type and shadow of these prophecies.
It is not so much the demand for a Palestinian state--one that to date does not recognize the right of Israel to exist; has adopted the terrorist group Hamas; holds to the doctrine of the destruction of Israel; and would cut Israel into two pieces--but that those who are demanding it are called Christian as well as Islamic. AFP reports: "A joint statement by Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran priests pledged their "support for the diplomatic efforts being deployed to win international recognition for the State of Palestine... on the June 1967 borders with Jerusalem as our capital."" As it currently stands, demands for a Palestinian state include the division of Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine.
Islamic eschatology promotes the 12th Imam, known as the Mahdi, to return in the end days and establish the peace and justice of Islam over earth for a period of seven years. During this time, Islamic eschatology say the Islamic Caliphate will be established worldwide and Sharia will be the law of the land. Christians and Jews will be slaughtered or will convert to Islam. Islam believes that the Mahdi will have a prophet. His name is Jesus. The Islamic Jesus will deny Judaism and Christianity and proclaim Islam as the one world religion. This eschatology is strikingly similar to prophecies of the Bible that describe the antichrist and the false prophet.
Those in the Catholic, Orthodox, Anglican and Lutheran churches who are advocating the division of Jerusalem through a Palestinian state are assisting the designs of an Islamic Caliphate, a one world order under a satanic government disguised as a religion. In effect, they are leading into captivity. Revelation 14:2 defines the patience and the faith of the saints as "they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus." Let him who has an ear, hear: Jesus said in Matthew 24:4, "Take heed that no man deceive you." Christian churches joining with Islam to divide Jerusalem will lead to captivity and death. Galatians 5:1 says, "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage."
Tuesday, September 20, 2011
Hello Friends! You're probably getting tired of me giving you videos instead of writing different things. But I see so much value in the videos that I give you. The writers of these videos have become friends over the last few months. Please hear what they are trying to share. If the information wasn't correct, I wouldn't re-post the videos. I don't want you to be bound for hell because I was too shy or embarrassed of the Lord Jesus Christ to open my mouth, and instead just figured everything will work right out on it's own! - (Hosea 4:6) "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge." We all need to wake up! He's coming quickly and so many aren't ready! Repent for sinful living and be ready for His return! It could be at any moment. It's your choice now, your blood will not be on my hands, choose life, that you might live!! If you don't believe it to be true, ask your Lord Jesus to show you! The Rapture is imminent! Please pray and ask the Lord to count you worthy! Tell your loved ones and wake them up too! The time is at hand! -Rev.Debbie ♥
Luke 21:36(KJV) "Watch ye therefore, and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass, and to stand before the Son of man."
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people; And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
THERE IS HOPE FOR THE LOST, DYING, ALCOHOLIC, ADDICT! ....
You Must Be Born Again!!
Hello Friend. It is appointed unto man once to die and then after that the Judgement. EVERYONE will live forever. Heaven If one chooses Christ Jesus, Hell if one refuses to choose Him, therefore remains in their sins. The Dark days ahead are signs of the end of the age noted by famines, earth quakes, floods, wars and rumors of wars.. and the coming 'Great Tribulation' period spoken of in the Book of Revelation. But, The BEST is yet to come for those who know Christ Jesus as their Savior!
YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE BOUND BY SIN FRIENDS...THERE IS A WAY OUT AND IT IS JESUS CHRIST! If you will Repent of your sins and Call upon Him with a broken and contrite heart, He will pardon you and make you a brand new man, a brand new woman.
Call upon Him today for He loves you. It doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done..Jesus Christ Loves you and wants to Save you!
Call on Him today! (while there's still time.) -Rev.Debbie ♥
Saturday, September 10, 2011
AS WE WAIT FOR HIM...
He is coming back for a bride. Brides are in love, they plan, prepare and are consumed with the upcoming wedding, they don't hide things from their Fiancee, they are totally focused on how lovely life will be with him. That is how Christians should be with Jesus and His coming, not half-hearted, filled with sin and unforgiveness, caught up in worldly things and putting the wedding on the back burner as if the bride doesn't care or is too busy to get focused. A groom wants a bride who loves him. Who constantly has him and their future in mind. A bride who waits daily, and watches for the day to arrive when they will be together, forever! A bride who is consumed with thoughts of the wedding and their never ending life together. I truly believe a groom wouldn't want a bride who is getting high, fornicating with whomever they chose, swearing, getting drunk, lying and stealing. Do you think Father God would want a bride like that for His Only Begotten Son? I wouldn't want a bride like that for my son. Some that say they are Christian...sure act exactly like the unbelievers. Weird, huh? Jesus never turned His back on anybody. Why are some turning their backs on Him? It's like...they believe He'll come for them someday, but not this day. They figure that they can behave badly now, He'll forgive 'em. (I mean...He always does, doesn't He?) He won't really care what they do, will He? I mean, "this life is rough", they'll say. "I didn't know!", they'll cry. They'll be left behind when He comes. Why can't they see it? Why don't they want to see? Why don't they really love Him? Why don't they even care? He's almost here. So soon now. Perhaps today, even!
WATCH AND BE READY – ARE YOU READY?
Friday, September 9, 2011
Churches Find End Is Nigh
The Number of Religious Facilities Unable to Pay Their Mortgage Is Surging
ROSEVILLE, Calif.—Residential and commercial real-estate owners aren't the only ones losing their properties to foreclosure. The past few years have seen a rapid acceleration in the number of churches losing their sanctuaries because they can't pay the mortgage.
Just as homeowners borrowed too much or built too big during boom times, many churches did the same and now are struggling as their congregations shrink and collections fall owing to rising unemployment and a weak economy.
Since 2008, nearly 200 religious facilities have been foreclosed on by banks, up from eight during the previous two years and virtually none in the decade before that, according to real-estate services firm CoStar Group, Inc. Analysts and bankers say hundreds of additional churches face financial struggles so severe they could face foreclosure or bankruptcy in the near future.
"Churches are the next wave in this economic crisis," says Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr., president and founder of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, a non-profit civil-rights group, who works with pastors around the country to help churches negotiate better terms with their bankers.
Religious denominations of all kinds have suffered in recent years as donations have declined, with many Catholic parishes closing and synagogues merging their congregations. But the property-financing problems have been concentrated among independent churches, which while seeking to expand lack a governing body to serve as a backstop to financial hardship.
"Religious organizations may be subject to the laws of God but they are also subject to the laws of economics," said Chris Macke, senior real-estate strategist at CoStar. Many troubled churches, he said, are in states such as California, Florida, Georgia and Michigan, which also have some of the highest home-foreclosures rates in the country.
In many cases, churches ran into trouble after borrowing to build bigger houses of worship needed to accommodate growing congregations in once-booming housing markets.
Pastors Rich and Lindy Oliver decided their Family Christian Center needed more space after their congregation rose from a few hundred in the early 1990s to 650 by 2002. The church borrowed $4.2 million and began building a new 1,000-person sanctuary on 11 acres in Orangevale, Calif., including classrooms and a space for adult learning.
Across the U.S., churches are losing their sanctuaries because they can't pay their mortgage debt. Some borrowed too much or built too big during boom times and now are struggling as congregations -- and collections -- shrink.
But when housing prices across California began tumbling in 2006, followed by a surge in unemployment and foreclosures, many congregants moved away, and those who were left reduced their tithing sharply. Meanwhile, the property, valued at $8.5 million in 2002 was appraised at just $2.5 million in 2008.
Stretched to the limit, the pastors stopped making payments. "I just told the bank to take it," Mr. Oliver said. "If you're a church with a piece of property upside down and no one will refinance the loan or lend you more money, there's not really another choice but to walk away."
Bankers and lenders typically are reluctant to "foreclose on God" and seek to work out deals with churches. But none proved possible in the Olivers' case.
These days, Mr. Oliver said his church, renamed The Family Church, was "doing what the rest of America is doing—we're cutting back and simplifying." In November, the Olivers raised $700,000—not nearly enough to rescue the previous church—from donations and personal loans from church members and used it to lease a former furniture store in a strip mall in Roseville, Calif.
Traditionally, lenders considered churches good risks because of the weekly cash flow generated by tithing, as well as the moral compulsion felt by most pastors to pay down debt.
Like many churches, Mr. Oliver used bond financing, not a straight mortgage, to fund construction. Historically, churches wanting to build turned to their governing bodies or to specialized lenders that originated fixed-rate 25-year to 30-year mortgages. During the real-estate boom,
But during the real-estate boom, regional and community banks attracted churches with lower rates on shorter-term loans. At the same time, some bond underwriters began offering churches more money up front if they issued so-called compound-interest bonds. In such cases, churches often paid nothing until the bonds came due years later, but then had to pay both the principal and accrued interest, which often doubled the amount they owed.
Many such bonds come due in the next few years. But with property values down and cash in short supply, many churches won't have the funds to payand will have trouble refinancing. "In 2011 and the next couple of years, we're going to see a big maturity wall hitting these churches," said Scott Rolfs, head of Wisconsin-based investment bank Ziegler and Co.'s Religion and Education practice.
Many churches have also been upended by plain mortgages. Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Sacramento took out a $1.9 million mortgage to acquire a $2.3 million 18,000-square-foot property in 2004 that included a church and two retail spaces. Johnny Zapara, the pastor, had refinanced his own home for $400,000 to make a down payment and expected to pay most of the $17,000 monthly payment with income from retail tenants.
When one of the tenants went out of business and a new one couldn't be found, Vineyard subsidized the payments for two years. Eventually the church ran out of money. and couldn't refinance because the value of the property had fallen sharply.The lender foreclosed earlier this month.
"A building does not make a church. We will find a way to continue," Mr. Zapara said. •
While I'm not speaking of the church in the article in particular, because I've never been there, I'll speak now of churches overall.
Churches, in my opinion, need to be focused on delivering the Word of God, nothing less. People need to hear the Word in these difficult times! Churches can't sway from that! Just so they can preach 'feel good' sermons that are just fluff, totally non-offensive, non-confrontational, politically correct, with no talk of sin, conversion, repentance, heaven or hell, the coming of the Lord in the air, in the clouds, etc.
People need to be fed!
I believe that Ichabod churches won't stand in the hard times.
That's why, we have church at home now, ourselves.
(it's Biblical, see below.)
1 Corinthians 16:19 -"The churches of Asia salute you. Aquila and Priscilla salute you much in the Lord, with the church that is in their house."
(Of course....that's just my opinion. -Blessings!-Rev.Debbie ♥)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
''Enduring To the End'' by, Jack Kinsella (Omega Letter Editor) - www.omegaletter.com
“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. (2nd Peter 3:3-4)
For most of the past two thousand years, the scoffers had a point. In terms of Bible prophecy and the return of Christ, things remained pretty much the same from the close of the Apostolic Era until roughly the beginning of the 20th century.
When Jesus was asked by His disciples, “What shall be the sign of Thy coming and of the end of the world?” He began with a warning against deception:
“Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My Name, saying I am Christ; and shall deceive many.” (Matthew 24:4-5)
That was the first sign and for sixteen hundred years, that was the only sign prophecy-watchers had to work with – the succession of popes claiming to be the physical representatives of Christ on earth.
And all things 'continued as they were' down through the centuries. Until we got to the 20th.
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” (24:6)
Until eclipsed by its successor, the Great War (1914-1918) was called “The War to End All Wars”. It was the first world war pitting the Western Allies against the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires.
Jesus noted that “all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.” What does that mean?
In 1917 the British government approved the Balfour Declaration which said in part;
“His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country.”
A month later, Lord Allenby captured the city from the defending Turks following an intense battle in which Allenby’s forces incurred 18,000 casualties while the Turks lost more than 25,000.
But it took the events of another world war and its aftermath before the prophesied restoration of Israel as a Jewish homeland was realized in May, 1948.
“But the end is not yet.”
“For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” (24:7-8)
The following month, the Soviet Union imposed a blockade on West Berlin. The Western Allies responded to the blockade with the Berlin Airlift to carry supplies over the blockade directly into West Berlin.
The first overflight took place on June 24, 1948, an events historians credit as marking the start of the Cold War. That conflict lasted for a half century without either side ever directly firing a shot at the other – the ultimate rumor of war.
The Cold War was fought around the world in tiny ethnic internal conflicts like those in Africa the two Koreas and the (formerly) two Vietnams. (“nation against nation” = ethnos against ethnos) The Cold War ended with the collapse of the Soviet Union after the First Gulf War.
The First Gulf War was a coalition of kingdoms that ultimately blossomed into what has become, from the perspective of al-Qaeda, a war between civilizations.
“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My Name's sake.” (24:9)
The 21st century has so far witnessed an unprecedented assault on all things Christian or Jew – the Christian for following Christ and the Jew for rejecting Him. At the same time, nobody dares to offer offense to Islam.
“And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another.” (24:10)
Recall Comedy Central’s predicament of a few months back. There was a huge protest by both the Christian and Jewish communities over their proposed cartoon series “JC” that mocked both God and Jesus. The louder the protests, the better Comedy Central liked it.
At almost the very same time, Comedy Central’s “South Park” ran a cartoon featuring Mohammed. The network heavily censored it and even vacated their offices in response to death threats.
“And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” (24:11-13)
The assault on the Gospel needs no comment. It is worth mentioning that the most lucrative business model on the internet is the porn business. Every other day it seems, there is a new report of a family murder-suicide.
“Enduring to the end” in context is a reference to staying true to the Gospel – an increasingly difficult proposition in the brave new 21st century.
“And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.” (24:14)
Do you see the progression? It is an outline of history that begins with the Balfour Declaration and ends with the Gospel of the Kingdom being preached into all the world for a witness unto all nations – an impossibility before the Internet Age and virtually unavoidable since.
Anywhere that the internet is, the Gospel is there. And there are few places left on earth not wired to the world-wide web. But when the Gospel has been preached worldwide to all the nations, then comes “the end.”
But according to the Lord, “the end” isn’t the same event as His Second Coming.
Notice what happens after what the Lord describes as “the end.” His attention shifts to the abomination of desolation that occurs during the Tribulation and His focus narrows to those living in the region of Jerusalem whom He warns to flee.
Note the chronology carefully. First comes “the end.” After “the end” comes the abomination of desolation by the antichrist and after that, the Jews are told to flee from Jerusalem.
“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He shall send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.”
This is NOT the Rapture. This event takes place after the Tribulation. It is neither secret nor signless – all the tribes of the earth will mourn when they see Him coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. This isn't the same event described by Paul in 1st Thessalonians 4:16-18.
“For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
Jesus doesn’t send His angels to gather the Church, He comes for them Personally. The Church isn’t gathered from the four winds or from one end of heaven to the other. It is caught up, first from the grave, and then from the surface of the earth and into the air.
In the Matthew 24:31 event, His elect are gathered from heaven, where they already are.
“And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints . . .”(Jude 14)
So where are we now? We’re somewhere between the Gospel of the Kingdom being preached into all the nations and the Rapture of the Church. That’s a very narrow corridor. The Lord is coming.
“Wherefore comfort one another with these words.” (1st Thessalonians 4:18) •
The unbelieving world needs to see Christians separate and set apart for God's glory!
Why would they feel they need to be a Christian if their living is more righteous and holy then the Christian's living?
They'll think, "if that wicked jerk is going to Heaven, I should be a shoe-in for a place there, too."
They won't see Jesus at all. We have to be Jesus Christ to the world! The world needs to see Jesus in us, Every minute of every day!! As time draws closer to His arrival, we need to draw closer to Him!
My best to you friends! -Rev.Debbie ♥ -
(Just wanted to remind you again, if you're looking for September's Bible Studies,
they were posted on August 30th!
-just 2 days ago, friends!)
Today we still, as everyday we do, wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to return in the air for us, being that no one knows the day or the hour, all we can ever do is guess... I've posted next month's studies below:
![[FORCHURCH]](http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NA-BJ988_FORCHU_NS_20110124180303.jpg)
Call upon Him today for He loves you. It doesn't matter where you've been or what you've done..Jesus Christ Loves you and wants to Save you!
Call on Him today! (while there's still time.) -Rev.Debbie ♥