Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Thursday, May 8, 2014
The Coming Empire of the Anti-Christ
The Coming Empire Of The Antichrist!
by David J. Stewart | May 2006 | updated August 2013
Conditioning The MassesWe are living at a time in which it is not only possible for a world dictator of unprecedented authority to emerge—the Antichrist—it is also inevitable. Look at the photo to the right. All those foolish people are committing idolatry by bowing to a statue, a graven image, of Mary—Queen Of Heaven (Jeremiah 7:18;44:17-19,25). Idolatry is a great evil in the sight of God (Exodus 20:4,5; Isaiah 42:8).If people today are foolish enough to worship graven images, then they will surely worship false prophets and the Antichrist when they perform signs and miracles. The Word of God states inRevelation 13:13-14, “And he doeth great wonders ... Anddeceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he (the false prophet) had power to do in the sight of the beast (the antichrist); saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast...” The masses of this world are being conditioned to accept and worship the Beast. Already, millions of people are worshipping the Beast. Millions of people are showing their allegiance to Satan by displaying (flashing) the El Diablo hand-sign.Catholics are so foolish that they blindly believe whatever the Pope says. Sister Faustina was canonized as a saint in 2000. Allegedly, Faustina had allegedly seen an image and hired an artist back in 1934, Kazimirowski, to paint it. The painting was called “THE IMAGE OF DIVINE MERCY” (pictured to left). Notice that the light rays of the Image Of Divine Mercy feature The Great Pyramid (a popular illuminati occult symbol). Jesus' belt separates the capstone from the base of the pyramid, just like on the back of every U.S. one dollar bill.Here is a photo of occult minister, Pat Robertson, making an occult gesture, flashing the Masonic Sign of Fellow Craft, or the Devil's Claw, in a front page photo shoot for Time Magazine on February 17th 1986. Things are not as they appear in society today. My advice to everyone is to be leery of all mainstream media, television, religious and political figures.Rick Warren is another religious fraud, a member of The Council On Foreign Relations. Warren says some really great things, but his purpose as an Illuminati infiltrator is to secretly lead the public to submit to the New World Order. The same is true of heretic, Zionist, fraud, John Hagee. Consider that the Illuminati own and control nearly every industry—the news media, entertainment, most religions, all popular televangelists, music, you name it! The masses are being CONDITIONED to receive, follow and worship the Antichrist.The Illuminati love to recruit ministers and clergy into Freemasonry to deceive the masses. You'd be shocked to learn that 37% of the Freemason lodge are composed of Southern Baptists. Shame! It's is a shame! Psalms 36:1, “The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes.” Does anyone fear God in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC)? To show how effective such Masonic infiltration can be, consider that the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas—Robert Jeffress—met with 300 local ministers in November of 2012 and encouraged them to vote for Mormon sex-cult leader, Mitt Romney. Pastor Jeffress excuse was that Romney is antiabortion and opposed gay-marriage. Albeit, if pastor Jeffress did his homework, then he'd know firstly that Romney is a career liar; Secondly, if Jeffress did his homework, then he would also fully know that EVERY Republican U.S. President since Roe vs. Wade has financially supported abortion, giving billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood and other pro-abortion death groups.mySA (San Antonio's Home Page)
By Abe Levy | September 17, 2012The Dallas megachurch pastor noted for calling Mitt Romney's Mormon faith a cult last year urged a San Antonio gathering of more than 300 area pastors Monday to confront secular culture, which he said was gaining ground through controversial court rulings and socially liberal policies led by President Barack Obama.
The Rev. Robert Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, endorsed Romney last spring despite the preacher's well-publicized remarks that Mormons are not Christians. Jeffress since has said the GOP nominee matches evangelical values better, including his opposition to gay marriage and abortion rights.Why do we as Christian believers have to vote for the lesser of two evils? Why vote for evil at all? I think it is apostasy and sad, tragic and a sure sign that we've gotten away from the God of the Bible in our nation. I won't vote for any evil. It is shocking that Pastor Jeffress would even consider voting for an evil, sex-perverted, teacher in the Mormon religion. There's no Scripture commanding believers to vote, especially if it means choosing a sex-pervert as our nation's President. Shame on any pastor who endorses Mormonism. I won't vote Democrat or Republican anymore, because both parties are evil and corrupt. It's time for us as Christians to take a stand against the wicked world. Jesus never voted, nor did He get involved with politics. Furthermore, I wouldn't want to attend a church with a pastor who doesn't have enough spiritual discernment not to vote for a Mormon leader. If our evangelical ministers will vote for occult members, sex-perverts and sickos, then we are truly ready for the coming of the Antichrist.Today, the Image Of Divine Mercy is worshipped worldwide by apostate Catholics, because the Vatican claims that Sister Faustina saw Mary, who wants us all to worship this image. Nothing could be further from the Truth of God's Word. God explicitly forbids anyone from bowing to any image or idol. Exodus 20:4,5 states, “Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God.”Yet, the Catholic religion has maliciously removed the 2nd Commandment in their official catechism to deceive people. The 2nd Commandment is Exodus 20:4-5. All around the world, people are being conditioned to worship the false prophet, the coming Antichrist and Satan himself. Occult symbols are used because they are very powerful, transcending all boundaries of country, language, age, religion, culture and belief. The Bible teaches in Revelation 13:15 that the Antichrist (aka, the Beast) will demand for the world to worship HIS IMAGE or be killed. Revelation 13:15, “And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed.”Never before in the history of mankind have so many people praised musicians, singers, actors, psychics, magicians, false prophets, et cetera. The antichrist will not appear with horns and a demonic look. Rather, he will appear as a good person, someone who cares, someone who has the answers, and the ability to lead the world. It will be this cloak of deception that will blind the foolish and ignorant masses. Even today, the average person is woefully ignorant concerning the truth!
A One-World System
One-world political government: Revelation 13:7, "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations."
One-world economy: Revelation 13:17, "And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name."
One-world religious view: Revelation 13:11-12, "And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. 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."Again, we are living at a time in which it is not only possible for a world dictator of unprecedented authority to emerge - the Antichrist - it is also inevitable. God's Word states that only seven empires will exist in world history before Christ returns. The verse proving this statement is Revelation 17:10, "There are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space." The five fallen empires referred to by John in this verse are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Medo-Persia, and Greece. The one that ruled at the time John wrote the Book of Revelation was Rome. Rome gradually crumbled as a world power, and met their demise in 486 A.D. No one nation has ruled the entire world since Rome.Please note that there will not be a one-world religion; but rather, a world religious view that will be adopted by all the different religious denominations. That one view is that there are many paths to the light. I recently heard apostate Joel Osteen say on Oprah that Jesus is the only way to Heaven, but then he said that “there are many paths to Jesus.” What a sorry rascal!!! Joel Osteen is a rotten compromiser, as unsaved as the day is long. No man is saved who believes that there are many paths to Jesus. My friend, there is only one path to Jesus and that is faith in THE GOSPEL that Christ died, was buried and resurrected after three days from the dead (1st Corinthians 15:1-4).According to Revelation 13:10, one more final empire would arise, but there would first be a long delay. That global power would be the last, the "ten toes" (Daniel 2:41-42). Please note that this is NOT the "Revived Roman Empire" as some Bible scholars teach. The Bible says that the 7th power will be World Government. It is clear from the events in the world today, that Satan is working relentlessly to form a one-world system, a modern-day Babel, where men unite together in rebellion against their Creator.At Babel, all men united together in sin and rebellion, influencing one another for evil. Genesis 11:7-9 says that they were building a city and a tower. God stopped them. God separated them for their own good. Satan has desired ever since to unite mankind together against God, and to send the Antichrist. With the advent of modern technology, Satan is once again able to unite mankind against God. As the world comes together once again, apostasy abounds.Take a look at the building in the photo to the right. It is theEuropean Parliamentary building in Strasburg, France.The building was modeled upon the famous painting by Pieter Brueghel's 'The Tower of Babel' (pictured left).The European Community created the European Monetary Institute in January 1994, and it is now a single currency. One can easily see the power, threat, and influence of the euro. We are headed towards a "cashless society" where every transaction will be done without physical money. This will give the government unprecedented power over everyone. Christians will be labeled as "terrorists," for preaching against sin. Warrants will be put out for their arrest. They will not be able to buy food without being caught, prosecuted, and even killed (John 16:2).In addition to its growing economic prowess, the European Union has already formulated common foreign and security policies with defense issues. The North American Union is already being formed, uniting Mexico with Canada and the United States. Soon, all defense policies will be made jointly. The European Union is rapidly dissolving the ideas of national sovereignty in a giant step toward Globalism and one-world government. The exact same thing is happening in the United States. Uncle Sam is taking steroids, and he's as corrupt as can be. The Super-state is preparing the way for a more powerful central government, one that will eventually be headed by a world dictator. With the passing of NDAA on December 31, 2011 the U.S. government can now make anyone disappear without a right to legal representation nor trial.President George W. Bush is appointing military leaders throughout his administration in America. FEMA is being completely restructured, allegedly because of the failures which occurred after hurricane Katrina. The truth is that The White Housedeliberately did nothing after Katrina to give them an excuse to overhaul FEMA. Now they're going to militarize FEMA to accommodate their new American police state, and the American people are as naive and complacent as can be. Nationwide, America's local police departments are being militarized into thug squads.The days of officer friendly are over, now you get Darth Vader. 911 was deliberate, and George W. Bush had prior knowledge, which is why he sat there for 5 minutes after being told that the country was under attack. 911 gave the global monsters a pretext to attack Afghanistan, Iraq, and soon to be ... Iran. Americans have MUCH innocent blood on their hands as a nation. American's have already lost many of their freedoms via the Patriot Act, and laws are being passed regularly which are stripping away our rights. Americans are foolish to let this happen.The United States is being maliciously EXPLOITED for the purpose of achieving a one-world government. Our top leaders are as corrupt as can be--filled with lies, stealing, killing, and deceit. Our federal debt is over $9,000,000,000 as of March 2006, and it's only going to skyrocket higher. Record trade gap imbalances with China (a $725,800,000,000 deficit just in 2005 alone) is destroying America's economic future. China is loaning much of that money back to Americans, and we OWE them. The Bible plainly states, "...the borrower is servant to the lender" (Proverb 22:7). Our days are numbered as a nation. You can't squander money, and recklessly spend, without judgment day coming due.The U.S. government will one day default on it's debts, and the only inevitable recourse will be to surrender total U.S. sovereignty and rights to the CFR, UN, and World Bank... in return for a bail out. America as we've known it will be gone forever! In fact, I think we're already at that point. In addition, America's young people are being exploited as paid mercenaries to fight a war that has absolutely nothing to do with America's freedom. My advice to every parent in America, is to do everything possible to prevent your child from going into the military. I'm all for defending America; but, not for our young people being needlessly killed, for the agendas of the occult-inspired elite scum, who have zero loyalty for America.
The Antichrist and the End TimesIn Daniel 9:27, we see this future Fuhrer making a peace contract with the nations of the earth for seven years. During the first half of this Tribulational period, the Antichrist is controlled by Satanic powers (Revelation 13:4). However, during the second forty-two months, Satan incarnates the body of this world dictator (Revelation 13:3). When Satan takes over the physical being of the Antichrist, he begins to call himself god, magnifying himself above every god (Daniel 11:36). How can we know with certainty that we are close to this historical moment?The World Council of Churches was formed in 1948, which would help lay the groundwork for the one-world, ecumenical, ecclesiastical, and false religious system; a counterfeit Christianity as described in Revelation 13:11 and 17:9. For more than fifty years now, the stage has been set for a world dictator to emerge, a man with power and authority far beyond the scope of Nebuchadnezzar or any of his successors. The world anxiously awaits his appearance. I have little doubt that this great imposter is alive and waiting in the wings. How close are we to the fateful day of his appearance? Here is what three citizens have said:"We are in a leaderless world," Walter Cronkite."We have a rendezvous with a world dictator and his appearance may be soon," Julian Snyder.The internationally acclaimed Dr. Paul-Henri Spaak said, "Europe is looking for a man so powerful that he will hold the allegiance of all the people. Be he man or devil we are ready to receive him."However, it is not just a political leader for whom the world is looking. All the major religions discuss the emergence, in the last days, of a powerful and terrifying spiritual figure, someone who will ultimately proclaim himself to be God. Today's widespread New Age philosophy is laying the groundwork for the Antichrist's global religious system. Did you know, for instance, that John Randolph Price, one of the world's principal New Age gurus, says his spirit guide revealed to him that 2.5 billion people may need to be wiped off the face of the earth, for their utopian spiritual dreams to be realized (Revelation 6:8; 9:18; 13:15; 20:4)? Could such an organization claiming a billion followers produce the Antichrist? Definitely!The New Age movement teaches that we are all "little gods." I believe the Antichrist will ride the crest of that belief and give it the credibility it does not deserve. However, the honeymoon for the Antichrist will not last forever. He will suffer a mortal head wound and come to his end, in a battle with Russia (Daniel 11:45). After being incarnated by Satan, he then rises from the dead and declares himself as the god of gods (Revelation 13:3). He demands that every human being worship him under penalty of death (Revelation 13:15). Is it not fitting that today's New Age leaders are already beginning to justify the mass slaughter that will follow?The Antichrist will have more help, too, from someone known as "the false prophet." It is from the leadership of this false prophet, propped up by the revived European Empire, that all such latter-day prophecies emerge. Rome may again be the center of the world economically, politically, militarily, and spiritually. Those currently moving Europe in this direction seem inexplicably drawn to their fate. Perhaps you remember that in 1987, the Belgians minted the first ECU silver coins. Imprinted on them was the bust of Emperor Charles the Fifth, crowned head of the Holy Roman Empire in 1519. Why was Charles chosen to be immortalized on the first-ever European coin? Because of the striking geographical similarity between the European Community and the Holy Roman Empire.But what about the ten toes and the ten nations? Hasn't the European Union evolved past this stage? Yes it has. That is to be expected. Remember that we are speaking of an eventual world government, not a regional one. The European Union began as ten nations. In fact, Daniel 7:24 shows us that a very significant eleventh nation arises. That was Spain. As of May 2006, there are 25 member nations. The European Super-state, I believe, will provide the platform and the structure for this world dictatorship (Daniel 7:23; Revelation 13:7).When Christ returns to establish His earthly kingdom, a grouping of ten kings, or ten divisions, or regions still remain (Daniel 2:44). Interestingly, all of the prime movers behind the globalist dream have divided the world into ten spheres. The Trilateral Commission, the Council On Foreign Relations, the Bilderbergers, the Club of Rome, and others that promote a one-world federation eventually break up the globe into ten regions. One way or another God's Word will come to pass. Only now, after two great European wars have been fought and reunification has occurred, could the promises of the Bible about a world government centered in Rome be possible.Likewise, only now, as we are already in the new Millennium, the 21-century, the computer age, could such a world-government hope to keep track of all the commercial activities of every human being on the planet (Revelation 13:16: 17). What an up-to-date Book is the Bible! With all the GPS (Global Positioning Systems) being implemented, security camerasbeing installed by the tens-of-thousands, RFID chips being placed into everything, microchips smaller than the human eye can see, wireless video cameras as small as a dime... can you image what the next few decades will hold if the Lord doesn't return? The whole of man's knowledge doubles every 8 years; but, the wickedness of man never changes. Increased technology is a double-edged sword, and we will see Chimeras (half human/half animal) creatures in the near future on display for the public.Soon the Rapture will occur, after which a time of unmitigated terror will engulf the globe. "Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble..." (Jeremiah 30:7). Daniel 12:1 describes it as a "time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation." Jesus used almost the exact words in Matthew 24:21, "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world." These things must happen. I believe they are right around the corner. But we should have no fear about them, not as True and Faithful Bible believers.Every believer will be raptured (caught up) into the clouds, to be with the Lord. This happens BEFORE the Tribulation Period occurs. This is termed a "Pretribulation Rapture," and it is Biblical. When these things come to pass, be not terrified (Luke 21:9). Why? Because Jesus said when these things come to pass, "Know ye that the kingdom of God is nigh at hand" (Luke 21:31). This Scripture was spoken for those who will be saved during the Tribulation Period, and will turn to the Word of God for guidance.We, the True and Faithful Bible believers who are prepared, will miss this horrendous hour. We will be gone before any part of the seven-year Tribulation Period begins. We will be caught up in the air to meet Jesus in the twinkling of an eye, according to 1st Corinthians 15:51-54. Then we shall return with the King seven years later to rule and reign (Revelation 20:4). Soon we will hear the shout "Come up hither"! (Revelation 4:1). Then eighty-four months later, the Lord returns with His heavenly entourage, to establish His Millennial Kingdom on earth (Jude 14; Revelation 19:14; 20:4).My friend, the Rapture is near! Just read your daily newspaper or watch CNN or other stations, to see just how close we are to the "Blessed Hope."
The End is Drawing NearerFrom this final group of nations the figure known as the Antichrist emerges and reigns for a brief period--just eighty-four months (7-years). So the question: Is this period way off in the distant future? No! It must be around the corner. Although Jesus said that we wouldn't know the time of His return; He also said in Matthew 16:3..."And in the morning, It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?"Old Testament saints didn't know the exact time when Christ would come; BUT, it was obvious when it happened to those who wanted to see the truth. The world is on the brink of submission to this latter-day power.Take a look at the photo to the right. Why do people worship a statue of a sinful man? Pope John Paul II was a Hell-deserving sinner, like anyone else (Romans 3:10;23). So why do people worship him? It is because Satan, through false religion, has BLINDED the masses to believe many lies (2nd Corinthians 4:4).If people will worship the Pope, who does NO miracles; then they will surely worship the antichrist, who will.The revived Roman Empire is presently assembling and organizing itself under the aegis of the European Union, a federal Super-state that will form the basis for the last one-world government. This dictatorship under Antichrist rules with supernatural power, advanced twenty-first century technological police-state know-how, and unthinkable terror. Is it in the making? Judge for yourself.
The 2nd Coming by Billy Sunday
"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. Wherefore comfort one another with these words" (1 Thessalonians 4:17-18).
THE MEETING here mentioned is to be the greatest meeting the Bible tells us anything about. There have been some wonderful meetings, but never has there been one to compare with this. It was a wonderful meeting the children of Israel had on the shore of the Red Sea, after Pharaoh's pursuing host had been destroyed in the angry waters, and Miriam, the prophetess, with her timbrel, led the people in singing, "Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea" (Exod. 15:21).
And it was another great meeting they had at the foot of Mount Sinai, when the Law of God was given to them amid thunders and lightnings and fire and smoke.
That was a great meeting, too, on Mount Carmel, when Elijah, the sturdy Tishbite, defied the prophets of Bal; and that was a great meeting where David danced before the Ark of God, as it was home into Jerusalem. It was a great meeting when Solomon dedicated the temple, and the glory of the Lord came upon the people, and those were great meetings that were held on the banks of the Jordan when Jerusalem and all Judea went out to hear the man who dressed in camel's hair and wore a linen girdle, and lived on locusts and wild honey.
It was a wonderful meeting when Jesus preached the Sermon on the Mount, and another when He fed the multitude with five loaves and two fishes. And that was a great meeting on the day of Pentecost, when the Spirit came like a rushing mighty wind, and under Peter's preaching about three thousand were converted.
All these were great meetings, and any number of others have been held, both in former times and in our own day. Those were great meetings in the early days of Methodism, when Wesley and Whitefield preached to great multitudes in the fields. Those were great meetings when multitudes were flocking to hear Finney and Moody; and great meetings have since been held by other great evangelists all around the world. But no meeting has ever been held anywhere or in any time that could begin to compare in importance with the greatest of all meetings that is to be held in the air, when our Lord comes to make up His jewels.
That meeting is the one for which all others have been preparing the way. It will be the crowning meeting of all history. The purpose of all that has been done in this world up to the present time has been to prepare for that great meeting in the air.
From Adam, mankind has been marching step by step up a grand stairway leading direct to that meeting in the air. The call of Abraham was one step toward it, and Jacob and his twelve sons were another. Joseph ruling Egypt was another; the deliverance under Moses another; the conquest of Canaan under Joshua another, and so on with every event in sacred history. It was for this Jesus suffered on the Cross to make atonement for sin. It was for this He arose from the dead and ascended into Heaven, where he took His place at the right hand of the Father. It was for this the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost, and it was for this that Churches have been organized and missionaries sent to the ends of the earth.
These things have all been done to prepare the way, and lead up to the meeting which is so graphically described in the text. It was for this meeting God made His plans before He laid the foundations of the earth, and it was of this meeting He was thinking before the morning stars sang together.
We are not told when Jesus will come, but we are told that His coming is sure, and we are charged to watch for it.
Anybody who says that he knows when Jesus is coming is a liar. When they say that they know when He is coming they lie.
Only Jesus and the Father know when the Savior is coming again. Yet the Church today shows as little concern about His coming again as His disciples did about His going away. All this is fully in accord with Peter: "There shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own lusts, saying, Where is the promise of His coming, for since the fathers fell asleep all things continue as they were from the beginning until now?" (2 Pet. 3:3-4).
Jesus not only foretold His going away, but charged His followers to expect His return, and be ready for it: "Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Therefore, be ye also ready, for in such an hour as Ye think not the Son of Man cometh" (Matt. 24:42-44).
Jesus said: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; then shall the end come" (Matt. 24:14).
Before I started to Preach in Omaha God knew the names of every man, woman and child who would be saved as a result Of my preaching - If God didn't know that, He wouldn't be God. And God knew all about the fools who wouldn't be saved, and He knew that all of Omaha wouldn't be saved. I tell you that God is pretty wise to who are going to Hell and who are going to Heaven - The sooner you get that through your head and don't try to sidestep Jesus, the sooner the devil will let go the stranglehold he has upon most of you.
There is not a nation on the face of the earth that has not had the Gospel preached within its bounds. The second coming of Christ is the emphatic doctrine of the New Testament. It is mentioned and referred to more than 350 times, and yet the majority of Church members never heard a sermon on the subject; that is the reason they think so little of looking into the matter themselves.
The Church makes much of Baptism, but in all of Paul's epistles Baptism is only mentioned or referred to thirteen times, while the return of the Lord is mentioned fifty times. This certainly shows which he considered the most important. McCheyne, the great Scotch preacher, once said to some of his friends: "Do you think Christ will come back tonight?" One after another they said: "I think not." Then he solemnly repeated: "Watch, therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come. Therefore, be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the son of man cometh" (Matt. 24:42-44). With such admonitions as this, what right have we to be unconcerned about it and say, as many preachers do, "It is nothing to me; I take no interest in the subject, whatever." Who would care to travel on a train where the engineer would never read his orders? Who would ride on a ship where the captain never looked at the compass? You may call it rubbish, but the disciples called it the "blessed hope."
"Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things I say" If Jesus had said: "I will not return for 2,000 years," nobody would have begun to took for Him before the time was near, but He expects his followers to be always looking for His return. Just as Simeon and Anna watched and waited for His coming, so we should be watching and waiting for His return.
It is not enough to say, "Oh, I'm a Christian; I'm all right." We are not all right unless we obey the command to watch, for it is certainly as much of a command to look for the coming of the Lord as it is to keep the Sabbath holy. Nothing else will do so much to keep us right where we should be in our religious experience. Knowing that the bank examiner may drop in at any moment keeps many a cashier from becoming dishonest. We should purify the Church that it may be the proper Bride to meet the Lord in the air. How pure is the Church today? How pure are the Church members? How pure are the Preachers?
I suppose there would be a mighty scramble to get right with God if you all found out that Jesus was going to return tonight. It wouldn't make any difference to Jesus if you had to do the right thing just because He turned up unexpectedly. You would have to prove to Him that you were on the level with Him, and although you might all be baptized, sprinkled and immersed, there would be nothing doing in the salvation line if you didn't play square with the Lord.
This old world is going to wake up some morning and find that all good men and women have beaten it, and she'll rub her eyes when she finds out that the Lord has been here on the job and taken his own with Him.
Every time I preach and every time you do personal work, I feel that we are helping to bring about the second coming of the Lord, and it sets my bones on fire when I think that the last man or woman need only be saved before this campaign is over in order that the Lord may come. That is my incentive to do the work I am doing. It is my hope that, before I finish here, the Church will be purified as a Bride, ready to meet Jesus, the Bridegroom, in the air.
A little more than twenty years ago Mr. Moody called a convention of Christian workers to meet in Chicago, and that convention was in session there in Moody's church for two months, and out of it came the great Bible institute.
The daily program was to spend the forenoon at the church in prayer and Bible study, and the afternoon and evening in doing practical Christian work.
A man who was my assistant some years ago attended that convention. He told me that one day Mr. Moody asked him to go down among the anarchists, in the hard parts Of Chicago, and hold a meeting there.
"Do the best you can," said Moody, "and some night I'll come down and help you."
My friend said that promise was a continual incentive to him to keep up his courage and do his very best. He didn't know when Mr. Moody would come, and so he looked for him every night, and the harder time he had, the harder he hoped and looked.
This shows how the constant expectation of the coming Of Jesus will inspire and encourage us.
A great many say: "I believe the Millennium will come first, then Christ will come at the end Of it." What people think has nothing to do with it, but what God says has everything to do with it.
Many have missed railroad trains because they believed they would come at a time that did not correspond with the official time card. You will see God's time card if you carefully read the Bible. Not a word can be found in the Bible that gives the slightest hope for the millennium before the return of Christ - but you can find plenty of verses that tell you to look for the coming of the Lord first.
As we look back over the 2,000 years since Christ, how far we seem to be away from the time when the will of God shall be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Every edition of the press seems to make it clear that the devil is still having his way. Look at the reign of wickedness in our great cities in both high life and low. No college has ever yet made a Saint or ever will. Education may improve conditions, but it can never change or cleanse the heart. Look at the lukewarmness and indifference in the Churches everywhere and see what many of them are compelled to resort to in order to keep from going under. See to what schemes and dodges and foolishness some preachers have to resort to to get anybody to go and hear them.
There can be no millennium until Jesus comes; it is His presence that makes the millennium. You might as well talk of daylight not coming until the sun goes down. The millennium cannot begin until Satan has been bound in the pit. Nothing is more certain than that the glory of God shall cover the earth, but it will be after Jesus comes.
Many have an idea the world will grow better and better until the coming of the millennium, and everybody will be converted, and you hear that stuff preached, but the Bible does not teach any such trash.
On the day before the flood there were no doubt many people who were sincere in thinking that the world was growing better, and yet it was so hopelessly wicked that God had to destroy it. Some of the men who married into the family of Lot may have made the same claim for Sodom, only a day or two before its destruction; no doubt Lot's wife was of the same opinion. On the day before the Crucifixion there were men in Jerusalem who undoubtedly agreed with each other that the world was growing better. The world will grow worse and worse. They did eat, they drank, they married wives, they were given in marriage until the day that Noah entered the ark and the flood came and destroyed them all. Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded. But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all.
"Even thus shall it be in the day when the son of man is revealed" (Luke 17:27-30). Lawlessness, vice and crime will increase; Communism, nihilism, anarchy, adultery, divorce, graft, all will continue to grow until they will finally ripen into the anti-Christ.
Source: (HERE)
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