August 13, 2013
Chaos! ... Death! ... Destruction! .... Is that
what you think about concerning the end of the world? ...
Armageddon? ... The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?
... Sadly, when people visualize all of these things, they seem to only
see the horror .....
Let me, for a moment, challenge this dark reaction.
... First of all, we Christians know that God is a merciful God. ...
In the midst of the coming catastrophe, He will give each and every
soul the choice to be saved through His grace. ..... And for those of
us who make the right choice, I believe the coming 'end of the world'
will, in reality, be the beginning of a radical new kind of life! ...
The coming future world God has for us ... after the 'birth pains' are
finished ... will be all about life, and life abundantly ... a life
with Him for all eternity!
Now, to clearly understand what God intended for
our future, we need to recognize that He laid it all out for us in the
Bible.... In fact, the Bible contains God's agenda for the future of
planet Earth, and for all of us who dwell here.
So, first of all, how do we know the Bible is true?
... Besides being the inspired Word of God, it has proven itself over
the centuries. ... As an example, let's focus on just one major prophecy.
... By itself, it is perhaps the most astounding evidence of the fact
that we are seeing the approach of the end times of planet Earth and
the coming of Jesus Christ to establish His new kingdom ... and that
proof comes in a single word ... Israel! ... When it became a
state on May 14th, 1948, most considered it to be a modern-day miracle.
... But it also fulfilled a 2500 year-old prophecy in the Book of Ezekiel,
chapter 37. ... In short, never a nation has existed ... then not ...
then again existed ... except Israel! .... Amazing!
Prophecy is simply defined 'as history written in
advance' ... the nation of Israel being a classic example of this fact.
... Knowing that nearly one-third of the Bible is prophecy, we only
have to look to unravel what is yet to come. ... There are approximately
1000 prophecies written in the Bible, and over half have been fulfilled
... without a single error! ... It's NEVER been wrong!
So what about the remaining half? ... These will
occur in the end times, which I believe we are now moving into. ...
Besides the miracle of Israel, we are about to witness many, many more
in the next moments and hours of the coming days.
For further proof as to the accuracy of Bible prophecy,
let's look for a moment at the predicted facts that Jesus of Nazareth
was , and is, the Messiah. ... Think about this ... There are 109 Old
Testament prophecies regarding the Messiah, and He fulfilled every one
of them! ... No one else has even come close! ... The following are
just a few examples ..... He was born of a virgin in Bethlehem - predicted
700 years before ... He was spirited away to Egypt as a young child
... He healed every kind of disease, particularly restoring sight to
the eyes of a blind man ... He was betrayed by a 'familiar friend' for
30 pieces of silver ... He was hung on a cross between two thieves ...
He was resurrected on the third day after His crucifixion, as He Himself
predicted six times in the Gospels ... and on and on .....
Now knowing beyond any shadow of a doubt that Biblical
prophecy IS true, let's look at a few more prophecies, or signs, of
the very near future ... the end times .....
Globalism (one-world government) - After World War
1, we saw the League of Nations. .. Then, after World War 2, the United
Nations. ... Now we are seeing signs of a unified world system - that
which the Bible refers to as the future "Babylon" ..... Even
our own President Obama uses the term "World' & 'Global' government
on a regular basis. ... Just look around! ... We see all sorts of things
coming to pass to make this global coalition of nations a reality ...
The United Nations, Nato, G-20, G-8, the European Union, the Trilateralists
(the money folks who could care less about any borders) ... and even
world religious leaders are echoing this sentiment . ...
So we see a 'political' Babylon on the horizon.
... But there will also be a 'religious' Babylon in these last days.
... As mentioned before, many leaders are calling out for a one-world
religious unity. ... It will happen, and when it does, it will evolve
into a massive conglomerate of false spirituality. .... Revelation 17
& 18 gives us a clear picture into these two coming realities ...
the world government & religious systems.
So when will this happen? ... Ultimately not until
the Church ... and by that I mean the sum total of all TRUE believers
in Jesus Christ, is 'raptured' ... taken up instantaneously to Heaven
... and when that happens, with the restraining power of the true Church
gone from the Earth, there will be nothing to stop this massive global
merger of the world's religions ... and then of course will be the appearance
of the false prophet who will set in motion the blasphemous idol worship
of the Anti-Christ exactly predicted in chapter 13 of Revelation.
Now I know many people say that the Bible assures
us we can't know the specific time that Christ will return to the earth.
... That IS true. ... But on the other hand, why would Jesus, as we
are told in the Gospels, have given us an exhaustive list of events
that will precede His return, if He didn't want us to use that information
... If He didn't want us to watch the times and to discern them so we
could recognize the signs of His coming soon?
One of the great questions that has plagued academics
and philosophers over the centuries is this one ... 'How can I truly
know that what I know is true?' ...... Well, I have a suggestion for
them, and for any of you who wonder ....... You can know for sure what
you know by basing your knowledge on those things that God has chosen
to reveal. .... And the only way you can do that is by relying on His
Word, the Bible. ... Reflecting back to the beginning of this writing,
we saw that of the 1000 prophecies given, that over half have come to
pass ... and without error! ... How much proof does one need to know
that the other half will also come to pass without error. ... If you
are still fighting within yourself to not accept these facts, then it's
only because you want NOT to believe it. ... How sad & tragic is
that!
So, it IS going to be the beginning ... a beginning
of a radical new way of life where we will all be happy ... no sickness
... no tears ... no wars ... no anger ... only joy & jubilation!
... Pretty hard for us to even imagine, isn't it? .... But it is coming
because the Bible said so! ... I just hope and pray that each of you
choose to accept Jesus as your Savior so that you, too can share in
this wonderful new beginning that is just around the corner. ... Hallelujah!
Until next time,
Red