PROPHETIC GUIDE TO THE END TIMES
How to Approach Biblical Prophecy one of the essential requirements for being able to
receive biblical prophecy is a right appreciation of the
sovereignty and the majesty and the justice of God.
God is always just. He never makes mistakes.
Everything He does is right. Some of you have been
going through situations where you could be
wondering whether God wasn’t making a mistake
or wasn’t being unfair but that’s a wrong attitude.
God is always right. And Ruth and I are going to make
a proclamation as we usually do taken from two chapters of Daniel
Daniel chapter 2 and chapter 4 which declare the
sovereign majesty of God. And I want to begin
on that note tonight. Blessed be the name
of God for ever and ever for wisdom and might are His and He changes
the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those
who have understanding. He reveals deep and secret things. He knows what is in the darkness
and the light dwells with Him. For His dominion
is an everlasting dominion and His kingdom from
generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. He does according to His will
in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. No one can restrain His hand or
say to Him, “What have you done?” Those last verses were the
words of Nebuchadnezzar. He went through a pretty
difficult time to come to that place where he had that realization.
He spent seven years like an animal out in the wild, naked. His hair grew like bird’s feathers his nails like animal claws and he fed on the grass But at the end of seven years God restored everything to
him that He had taken away but he was a different man. He had learned in the
school of God’s discipline and this was his testimony. “Your kingdom is
an everlasting kingdom. All the inhabitants of the
earth are reputed as nothing. You do according to your
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
No one can restrain your hand.” He was the most powerful
monarch on earth at that time. But he came to realize
there was someone infinitely more powerful than he.
It was the God of Israel. And I sometimes ask people and I
just leave this with you as a thought: If, by the grace of God
you reach heaven [and I mean it will be
by the grace of God] whom do you think you’ll
be more likely to meet there? King Solomon
or King Nebuchadnezzar? And I haven’t an answer
to that question but it’s an interesting question.
Maybe you can meet both of them but I don’t know. Anyhow, that’s just something. Now we’re going to come to the theme
of how to approach biblical prophecy. And I want to say that amongst
most Christians that I mix with [and I mix with a lot from different
nationalities, different denominations different backgrounds]
there is an altogether inadequate appreciation of the importance
of biblical prophecy. About one-quarter of the Bible, at
least, must be predictive prophecy. And you cannot afford to neglect
or ignore one-quarter of the Bible and expect to have
all that God has for you. I believe in the days in which
we are living, it is essential to have at least a basic understanding
of the themes of biblical prophecy. Now I recognize that some
of you have been “turned off” by so-called prophets who may have
made predictions in the name of the Lord including the exact date
the Lord was due to return and this is not the first or the
second time that this has happened. It happens from time to time
in the history of the church. But because of that, you’ve
been turned off and you’ve said, “Well, if that’s what prophecy is like
I just don’t want to get involved in it!” Well, that’s a disaster for you because you need an understanding
of biblical prophecy. I want to quote to you now just one verse from
the second epistle of Peter chapter 1, verse 19. Peter has been speaking
about the revelation that he and two other apostles had of
Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration when they saw the honor and the glory that
God the Father had bestowed upon Jesus. And he says, in effect
that was wonderful but there’s something much
more important than that. And this is what he says, We also have the prophetic word
made more sure which you do well to heed
as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the
Morning Star rises in your hearts. So, Peter says, “That revelation we
had on the Mount of Transfiguration was wonderful, it was valid,
it’s recorded now in Scripture, but something that’s much more certain
is the prophetic word of Scripture. And when I say that I mean the
written prophecies of the Bible. I’m not talking about the gift
of prophesying, which I esteem, which I believe in and which, from
time to time, I myself exercise. But prophesying in that
sense has to be judged. And it has to be judged
by the Word of God. But the Word of God
has not to be judged. Every Word of God is pure. His words are like silver, purified
in a furnace of earth seven times. That’s the difference.
The written, prophetic Word of God is totally and absolutely authoritative. And Peter says, “We do
well to give heed to it.” In other words, it’s in our best
interests to pay attention to it. So if we don’t give heed to it we’re
depriving ourselves of something extremely important in
the life of each one of us. He compares it to a light
shining in a dark place. I don’t know how you view the world
around us but for me it is a dark place. And furthermore, it’s getting
darker, it’s not getting brighter. We had that song that said
“Arise, shine, for your light is come and the glory of the Lord is risen upon
you, for darkness shall cover the earth and gross darkness
the nations of the earth.” That’s the condition
of those outside of Christ. Darkness, gross darkness,
increasing darkness. But in the midst of that darkness,
God has given us a light. What is it?
The prophetic word of God. Peter says you better give heed to
that because you’re going to need it. Otherwise, you may be a believer
you may be saved, baptized in the Spirit speak in tongues and
be destined for heaven; but while you’re here on earth
you’ll be walking in darkness because you have ignored the light
that God has provided, the prophetic word. If you walk in darkness it doesn’t mean
you won’t get to heaven when you die. But, it means that you’ll be stumbling
and groping while you’re here on earth you will not understand the
things that are going on around you and you’ll be often fearful and confused because you have ignored the provision
of God which is His prophetic word. Now, I’m going to give you
seven suggested principles for approaching the
prophetic word of God. I didn’t originally have seven, I had
five, but the Lord added two more recently and I’m not superstitious, but
when I get to the number seven I usually feel that’s it. Let me point out something else very important about
this prophetic word of God. Its purpose is to make us aware of the coming of the Lord as an imminent reality
as something real that’s happening. Peter says you need to give
heed to it till the day dawns and the morning star
rises in your hearts. He’s not talking about
what’s happening in the world he’s talking about what’s
happening in your hearts. In World War II I spent three
years in the deserts of North Africa not by choice, let me say. Most of that time we lived by the
sun because we had no artificial light. When it got dark we went to bed
and when it became light we got up. And so, I observed things that
I wouldn’t be observing today. One of the things I saw is that at
certain seasons of the year in the east when the sun is due to rise
the horizon will become luminous it will get quite light in
that part of the heavens. You will think the sun
is rising but it isn’t the sun it’s the morning star called Aurora. And, that star at that
time gets so bright that for a moment you would
imagine the sun is going to rise but it isn’t the sun.
One thing is sure when Aurora rises you know for
sure what’s going to happen next which is, the sun is going to rise. So, Peter says let this Aurora,
this morning star, rise in your hearts because when it arises you’ll
know for sure Jesus is coming back. See, God requires
that every one of us live in the excited anticipation
of the return of the Lord. That’s how every
believer should be living. In Hebrews 9 verses 27 and 28 It says: It is appointed for men
to die once, but after this the judgment Remember, you only die once. And you’re not reincarnated,
the next thing is judgment. I say this because we’ve just come through
countries where Buddhism has prevailed and they teach, of course, this
endless cycle of reincarnation. It’s a lie, it is not true. It is
appointed to each of us to die once and not to be reincarnated
but to await the judgment. As it is appointed for men to die
once, but after this the judgment so Christ was offered once
to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him
He will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation. For whom is Jesus going to appear? For those who eagerly wait for Him. So, are you eagerly waiting for Him? If the morning star
is risen in your heart then you will be
eagerly awaiting for Him. If not, you really don’t qualify for those are the ones for whom
He will appear the second time for those who eagerly wait for Him. Now let me deal with my seven
suggested recommendations for getting the right thing what
you need out of biblical prophecy. We’ll start with the book of
Deuteronomy, chapter 29 verse 29 which contains two
great basic principles for understanding
and applying prophecy. Moses was speaking to the
children of Israel and he said: “The secret things
belong to the Lord our God but those things which are revealed
belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all
the words of this law.” The first point is there
are two kinds of things there are secret things and
there are things that are revealed. There are things that God keeps
secret, He has not revealed them. When I speak on this kind of theme it often happens that somebody
will come up to me and say in effect “What do you believe? Pre, mid
or post?” You know what that means? Will Jesus come at the
beginning of the tribulation the middle of the tribulation
or the end of the tribulation? I always answer, “I don’t know.”
First of all, I’m not embarrassed. Furthermore, in the light
of what is going to happen it may turn out that those are
meaningless questions they just won’t apply You see, I believe that
the day and the time of the coming of the
Lord is a secret thing. It’s only known to one person
in the universe, God the Father. It’s not known to the Son, it’s not
known to the angels, it’s a secret thing. Now, anybody who claims to
be able to reveal that secret thing is a false prophet. By his own lips he
has identified himself. But you see, if people don’t understand
Biblical prophecy, they’ll be taken in. It’s been tragic how many
Charismatics have been fooled by a prediction that
Jesus was coming back in what was it?
October 28th or 29th. I think it was going to be
October 28th the first time but when it didn't happen then
he said he got his dates wrong and it was October the 29th.
I was appalled by the number of serious Christians who
actually began to believe that. Had they known the prophetic scriptures
they would have known it was a lie. Because it’s one of the secret things. One of the temptations we have to
resist in interpreting Biblical prophecy is trying to get God to
reveal the secret things. Because if God
keeps a thing secret it’s a waste of time
trying to find it out. I think much of the interpretation
of biblical prophecy has focused on trying
to get to know secret things. And the result is frustration
confusion and disappointment. When God keeps a secret, believe
me there’s no one can find His secret. Then it says there
are revealed things. Thank God there are revealed things. But it says about them
“that we may do them.” The purpos of Biblical prophecy is not
to make you wiser than your neighbors or to be able to say, “Well, now
we know what’s coming next.” The purpose of Biblical prophecy
is to give you things to do. My experience with God is this
if you obey what He reveals He reveals something more. If you don’t obey what He reveals
He doesn’t reveal any more. Why should He? He says
“Carry on do what I’ve told you and I’ll show you the next thing.” Now in 1958, if you can believe that
people were alive as long ago as that I was in East Africa
in the west of Kenya the principal of a teacher training
college for African teachers. I took my little car and drove seven
miles into the main city there, Kisumu. I was taking my car
in to the garage or the service station
to have it serviced. I had a list of things that
I needed to do in the town. I felt myself very busy. As I walked out of the service
station having handed over the car I felt God said to me, “Not only does your
car need service, you need service, too.” I saw that I desperately
needed oiling and greasing. So I gave up my whole program walked about ten minutes down
to the shore of Lake Victoria Neanza which is the second largest inland lake
in the world and a very beautiful place and at that time very tranquil. I sat down on a bench under
some great, over-arching trees pulled out of my pocket my pocket
New Testament and flipped it open. I wasn’t looking for anything
but I opened at Matthew 24:14 which you’ll be hearing again
in due course, which says: “This gospel of the kingdom
will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations
and then the end will come.” God made it clear to
me at that point, He said “This is priority number
one for My people.” Well, I was in a ministry as principal
of a teacher training college and my primary aim was to
win my students to the Lord so I was not by any
means backslidden. In fact, I believe
I was in the will of God. Hardly ever any student left that
college in five years that was not saved and baptized in the
Holy Spirit. Very, very few. So, I wasn’t wasting my time but I felt the Lord had spoken to me
there was something more important. So I said to him, “Well, Lord
if I’m not yet fully identified with your primary
purpose, I want to be. Will you arrange it?”
I think it took twenty years for the Lord to bring
me to the point where it was arranged, because in
1978 which was the year I married Ruth I began a totally new
phase of my ministry. I didn’t know I was beginning
it, I just did what God told me. God told me, I believe
to start a radio ministry. I had never been interested
in that kind of ministry but I started because
God told me to start on eight stations
in the United States in the English language, with
a budget of $8,000 a month. We really had no idea where
the money would come from. That same radio program is now
translated into nine other languages and is virtually heard all
around the world every day. It’s in four languages of China and is broadcast at least once
every twenty-four hours into China. It’s in Russian, it’s in
Spanish, it’s in Arabic it’s in Tongan, it’s now being
put into Samoan, Mongolian the first actual positive
message of the gospel that’s ever been presented
to the people of Mongolia. That has happened from 1978 until the present time which
is sixteen seventeen years. I had no idea I never thought that program would
ever get outside of the United States or be in any other language
but English. But God did it. He was beginning to develop in
me this primary purpose of God. This gospel of the kingdom shall
be proclaimed in all the world as a witness to all the nations
and then the end will come. When will it come?
When the church has done its job. Since then Ruth and I have
been privileged to minister in very large Bible teaching conferences
in all sorts of improbable places Moscow, to start with and then Alma
Ata. Most of you don’t even know where Alma Ata is. But it’s
the main city of Kazakhstan which is one of the southern
provinces of the former Soviet empire. This year, God willing
we’re going to be in Turkey. We live for that
that’s our purpose in life. But it didn’t all happen in a day
God had to work it out gradually. I want to tell you this if I
had not to the best of my ability obeyed what God showed
me from Matthew 24:14 I doubt whether God would
have ever shown me anything else. Revelation is conditional upon obedience. Would you like
to say that with me? “Revelation is conditional
upon obedience.” If you don’t obey God He
won’t show you anything more. The devil may show you
a great deal, but not God. So, that’s the first
and second principles. Number one, there are secret
things and revealed things. Trying to find out the secret
things is a waste of time. Number two, God reveals
things that we may do them. If we don’t do them He will
not reveal any more to us. The next principle is that
many prophecies are given for a specific time and situation and until we come to
that time and situation we will not be able to
understand the prophecy. So, in Jeremiah 30:3–7 we have a specific prophecy
concerning the restoration of Israel to their own land. Let me say my observation is most
of the prophecies for the end time assume the presence of Israel
as a nation in their own land. In other words, they
could not be fulfilled until the state of Israel was
restored. This is the prophecy. Let me say a dear brother
in the Lord whom I respect some good many years
ago made a statement He said: “The restoration of the
state of Israel could not be from God because if it were from God it
would have produced peace.” I have to say he could not have said
that if he’d been familiar with prophecy. Prophecy says exactly the
opposite. These are the words: “For behold, the days
are coming,” says the Lord “that I will bring back
from captivity [or from exile] my people Israel and
Judah,” says the Lord “and I will cause them to return to
the land that I gave to their fathers and they shall possess it.” Now anybody who has a small
acquaintance with the Bible knows where the land is that
God gave to the fathers of Israel. There’s only one land that
answers to that description it’s a little strip of territory at
the east end of the Mediterranean. Now these are the words the Lord
spoke concerning Israel and Judah. For thus says the Lord “We
have heard a voice of trembling of fear, and not of peace.”
Notice that “not of peace.” “Ask now and see whether
a male is ever in labor with child. So why do I see every male
with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor
and all faces turned pale. Alas, for that day is
great so that none is like it and it is the time
of Jacob’s trouble. But, he shall be saved out of it.” So far from predicting peace when
Israel is restored to their territory the Bible warns us there’ll be a
time of tribulation and anguish without parallel in Jewish history. And when you consider Jewish
history that’s a startling statement. Concerning it the Lord says
not “he will be saved from it” but “he will be saved out of it.” And that applies to a lot of
other situations in our lives. God doesn’t always save us from
things but He saves us out of things. He lets us get into them and
then He saves us out of them. And then at the end of that chapter
there’s the little sort of P.S. in the last verse, verse 24: “In
the latter days you will consider it.” In other words, you
really won’t have any use for this prophecy
until the time of the end. In fact, it won’t have
much meaning for you. But I’ll tell you, as far as I’m concerned
it is exceedingly meaningful today because we live in Jerusalem and we see it all happening
in front of our eyes. So remember, a lot of prophecies
you won’t understand until the appropriate moment. And then one main purpose
of Biblical prophecy is to guide us in what we do and what we
don’t do, it becomes directive. People who don’t know Biblical
prophecy are liable to be praying and trying to do things
which will never come to pass because God has said
they will never happen. If God has said something
will never happen it’s a waste of time
to pray that it will happen or to try to make it happen. I’ll give you a little
example from Matthew 24 and we’ll be returning to Matthew
24 in the next two sessions. Let me say this in case
I forget to say it then if you want to receive as much as
possible from my next two sessions read Matthew 24 and 25. And when you’ve read them read them
again. because we’re going to deal with them in detail
verse by verse. I’m just preempting that
by going to two verses that apply to the situation after the
Jews have been returned to their land. It says in Matthew 24:19–20: “But woe to those
who are pregnant and to those with nursing
babies in those days. And pray that your flight may
not be in winter or on the Sabbath.” So, you would be inclined
in that situation to say “God, don’t let us have to flee.” God says that’s a useless prayer
you’re going to have to flee. Pray within those parameters. Pray that though you may have
to flee it will not be in winter. Why? Because it will
be very tough in winter especially for pregnant women
or women with nursing babies. And, pray that it may
not be on the Sabbath. Why would you pray that it
may not be on the Sabbath? That has no meaning at all
unless there’s a Jewish state. I lived in that country which
was then called Palestine while it was still under
the British mandate. The Sabbath was no different
from any other day. But under a Jewish state
in the area of Jerusalem no one has public transportation
on the Sabbath. The majority of people
don’t travel anywhere. So, a large group of people
fleeing on the Sabbath day would become extremely conspicuous. So Jesus says you’re
going to have to flee. Don’t pray you won’t have to flee but pray that you won’t have to
flee in winter or on the Sabbath day. That’s an example of many prophetic scriptures which
tell us what is going to happen. And if God says it’s going
to happen it is a waste of time to pray that it won't happen
It's a waste of time to try and work it out
so it won’t happen. What you can do is pray within
the parameters of revealed prophecy. That’s number three. Now number four to avoid
wrong prayer or action. Number five is in
a different category. You find the principle
in Revelation 19:10. For the testimony of Jesus
is the spirit of prophecy. We’re not talking about
just the words of prophecy we’re talking about
the spirit of prophecy. And all biblical prophecy
focuses in the Lord Jesus He’s the central theme of all biblical
prophecy from Genesis to Revelation. Jesus said in John John 16 : 8 “When He the Spirit of truth has
come He will guide you into all truth. He will glorify me for He
shall not speak from Himself.” That’s one acid test
of any manifestation whether it’s of the
Holy Spirit or not. If it’s of the Holy Spirit
it will glorify Jesus. It will focus our attention
on Jesus. It will show us it something new we didn’t
see about Jesus. Prophecies that glorify men
are not from the Holy Spirit. In fact, when the Holy
Spirit begins to move if human personalities are
allowed to move into His place and take the center of the stage
the Holy Spirit politely withdraws. He’s done that
frequently in this century. There have been many
moves of the Holy Spirit that were quenched because
men put themselves in the center of the stage
and wanted the focus on themselves. But any true prophetic revelation
will always glorify Jesus. Principle number six, give words
their plain meaning; don’t be too spiritual. If you examine the many prophecies
given about the first coming of Jesus and there must be at least twenty every one of them
was fulfilled literally. He was born of a literal virgin
not a metaphorical virgin. He was literally born in Bethlehem. He literally was called out of Egypt. He literally healed the sick. He was literally crucified
very, very literally nothing spiritual
or metaphorical about that. He was literally buried and, thank
God He literally rose again from the dead. He literally ascended into heaven.
You cannot find one example of prophecies concerning
the first appearance of Jesus that were not fulfilled literally.
There is no precedent there for making prophecy
allegorical or spiritualizing it or interpreting it in some way other than
the plain natural meaning of the words. Now, some prophecies are allegorical and then it’s legitimate
to interpret them allegorically. For instance, nobody supposes
that the king of Greece is a goat or that the king of Persia
was a ram. We know those are allegorical. But where the scripture does not
warrant an allegorical interpretation it is a mistake to make it allegorical. I believe myself as we face the tremendous pressures
and dangers of this latter time that the prophecies concerning this
latter time are going to be fulfilled with frightening literalness. Things are really going
to move out of their place. Things are going to fall from heaven. There are going to be real literal
earthquakes more and more. It’s a mistake to make
what is simple and plain spiritual and allegorical. And another thing I would like to
say just in passing is Israel is Israel. That’s very simple
but it’s very basic. Israel is not the church
and the church is not Israel. If you want a little study on that
subject I have a book somewhere out there I think which
is called Prophetic Destinies Who is Israel Who is the Church?
The English version was called The Destiny
of Israel and the Church. I give there, I think, 79 scriptures applying to Israel
in the New Testament none of which applies to the church. So, please don’t be too spiritual. And that goes for a lot of other things. We won’t go into that but
super-spirituality is a disease. Finally, bear in mind God’s
total sovereignty and supremacy and His total justice.
He is always righteous He never makes a mistake He’s
never said anything that isn’t true. And brothers and sisters He’s
never made a mistake in your life. You may think He has but He hasn’t. One of the things to benefit
from the dealing of God is to acknowledge His
absolute righteousness. So those are the seven principles
that I want to put before you as we begin to approach
biblical prophecy. Number one, there are
secret and revealed things. Don’t waste time trying
to find out the secret things but be sure to obey
the revealed things. Number three, some prophecies
are given for a specific time and will not be understood
until the time comes. Four, prophecy is given very often to keep us from wrong
action and wrong prayer. You see, if God has said something
will happen, it will happen. If God has said something will
not happen, it will not happen. You can spend hours
praying the opposite way but all you’re doing
is wasting time and energy. So if you want to pray sensible
effective prayers, you need to know the parameters of the will
of God revealed in prophecy. Principle number five
the spirit of prophecy is the revelation of Jesus. All true prophecy
given by the Holy Spirit ultimatelyhas one
theme, it’s Jesus. Number six, give words
their plain meaning. And number seven, acknowledge
and bow before God’s total sovereignty. I do not read the Bible
in order to correct God’s ethics. A lot of people do. A lot of
people have got the idea that God is doing something unjust
in the Middle East at the moment. He’s not.
God is always right. Do you think you can
say that with conviction? “God is always right.” Amen. Now then, I want to come to one specific prophecy
of the New Testament and make it a test
case of these principles. It’s a very relevant
and important one in 2 Timothy 3:1-5. 2 Timothy 3:1–5. But know this, that in the last
days perilous times will come. For men will be lovers of
themselves, lovers of money boasters, proud, blasphemers
disobedient to parents, unthankful unholy, unloving, unforgiving
slanderers, without self control brutal, despisers of good
traitors, headstrong, haughty lovers of pleasure
rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness
but denying its power. And from such people turn away. That statement of Paul’s begins with
something unusual in the Scripture. He says “know this.” Usually the Bible simply
says this is the way it’ll be. But Paul is so concerned that
we’ll not have a wrong idea about the last days that he says “know this.”
Be in no doubt about this here is an absolutely established
fact which you cannot change by prayer by pleading
or by any kind of activity. It’s going to happen.
So, bow before this fact. Now, a lot of contemporary Christians
have not really yet absorbed this truth. He says in the last days
which is the period immediately preceding
the return of the Lord and probably half the books of the Bible
have some reference to the last days perilous times will come. Now that word that’s
translated perilous -only occurs in one other
place in the New Testament. It’s in Matthew 8:28 and it
describes two demonized men who came to confront Jesus
when He crossed the Sea of Galilee to the region called Gadara. And it says they
were exceedingly fierce. I want to suggest to you that
that’s a better translation here. In the last days fierce times will come. I believe myself we’re
living in fierce times. But I think they’re
going to get fiercer. Now, to wish otherwise
to pray otherwise to act as if it were not
true is a waste of time. It’s an established fact. In the last days things are going
to get fiercer and fiercer and fiercer. That doesn’t frighten me
I’ve adjusted to it. I accept it as the expression of
God’s wisdom, God’s righteousness. But, a lot of people still act
as if it weren’t going to happen and some ofthose people
are here this evening. You have not yet grasped the fact
that we are confronting fierce times. They’re not going to get less fierce
they’re going to get more fierce. You might say
“You’re just a pessimist.” No, I’m not, I’m an optimist. I’m an optimist because
I believe God has a solution. Do you know what the solution is?
The coming of Jesus. I don’t believe there’s
any other valid solution. No other solution than the establishment
of the kingdom of God on earth. With all respect to the politicians
I don’t believe they have the solution. If they have, I’d like
to know where it is. I pray for politicians, if they’re
political leaders I respect them. But, I do not expect them
to come up with a remedy for the problems of humanity, which are enormous and increasing
poverty, sickness, hatred, war. All these terrible things
that are blighting the lives of millions and millions of people
politicians do not have a solution. Ultimately, I believe the Bible
reveals there will be one politician who will claim to have the solutions
and he will be the antichrist. But his solution will be
worse than all the problems that have ever gone before.
I am not a pessimist. I am not standing here
looking unhappy because I believe that Jesus is coming. But He cannot come until this
condition is fulfilled in the world because that’s what the Bible says. So, if we want Jesus to come
do you want Jesus to come? Well, you have to be
prepared for fierce times because that’s what
it’s going to take. I believe myself God is going
to allow human wickedness to come to its full expression. We will see, if we’re still alive the real, innate evil
in the heart of sinners manifested with an ugliness and a fearfulness that
we can hardly imagine. I believe God is going
to let man, who claims to be able to choose his own
leaders, make their own choice. See, I have to tell you frankly I prefer
to live in a democracy than a tyranny but democracy is not God’s
pattern for government. Democracy is a Greek word just
like humanism, it comes from Greece. It’s corrupted our
thinking, some of us. I was a student of Greek philosophy
before I became a preacher. I didn’t intend to do this
but let me give you Plato’s little picture of five
forms of government. I think, really you
can’t improve on this. Starting with the best
and ending with the worst the best is the rule of one good man. The next best is the
rule of a few good men. The rule of one good
man he called monarchy the rule of a few good men
he called aristocracy. Thank you After that is democracy, the
rule of the people by themselves. Who was it , it was Lincoln who said government by th people, of
the people and for the people will never perish from the earth.
I’m afraid he was wrong. It will. Going still
further, number four is the rule of a few bad men which he called oligarchy. And finally, the rule of one
evil man which he called tyranny. Now, I cannot really see
that that needs any correction. What he said about democracy is
it’s the weakest form of government. But, in my opinion, it’s preferable
to oligarchy or tyranny. But it’s not God’s form of government.
God’s form of government is monarchy the rule of one good man.
And what is His name? Jesus And the rule of a few good
men with Him who are His saints. So I tolerate a democracy and I’d rather
live in a democracy than a tyranny but I don’t believe it’s
the ultimate solution. I don’t believe it has the power to
solve the problems of the human race. I don’t believe that men
and women, basically are capable of choosing
the right leader. If they have, why
haven’t they done it? I’m not criticizing the government I’m just dealing with
human weaknesses. So, what is the end? The end is monarchy. One man. Jesus
who will be King who will lead a righteous rule
who will share His authority with those whom He has
trained through suffering through affliction, through discipline
to share His rule with Him. What do we call those people?
We call them the church. And bear in mind that the word
church is a very poor translation of the Greek word ekklesia, which
is essentially a government assembly. So if we’re members of the church, we’re
members of a governmental assembly which will be headed up
by one righteous man, Jesus. That’s God’s solution. And
I believe there is no other solution. I believe, in a certain sense
if we’re trying to arrange some of the solution we’re
wasting our time and energy. We’ve got lots to do within
the context of God’s revelation. Now, I want to point out two, I think
incontrovertible principles [you may not think them so]
but what we are dealing with is the corruption of human
nature caused by sin. And notice, that when Paul
speaks about fierce times the reason he gives is “men will be” and he lists eighteen
moral or ethical blemishes. The root cause of the problems
in the world is not nuclear fission it’s human character. After all
the atom bomb didn’t invent itself. Men invented it, men used it. Men have invented all sorts of
horrible instruments of destruction. It’s men who use them.
so the root cause of the problems of humanity today sis the moral and ethical corruption
produced in humanity by sin. And if you’ll accept the metaphor
of corruption, which I believe is valid there are two principles
in the natural. All corruption is progressive. It doesn’t get better
it always gets worse. And, all corruption is irreversible there is no way to turn back
the working of corruption. I believe that applies
to the world situation. I believe it applies to the world. The corruption in the
world is progressive. It’s never going to get better
It’s always going to get worse. And, it’s irreversible, there is no way
to reverse the process of corruption. So, all Christian prayers
and schemes and plans that are, whether they know it or
not directed to reversing corruption are a waste of time
and probably money, too. This is why we need
biblical prophecy because it saves us a lot of wasted
time, effort, and money a lot of disappointment. Please understand
I believe as Christians we have an obligation to
pray for our government within the parameters
of the revealed will of God. I was speaking about this once
some good many years ago about the need to pray
for the government and at the end a lady
came up to me, a dear lady and said, “But Mr. Prince,
doesn’t the Bible teach that everything is
getting worse and worse?” I said, “No. It teaches some things are getting worse
and some things are getting better and I’m one of the things
that’s getting better.” You can be one of the things that’s
getting better too, you understand? This is not negative, it’s realistic. You have to live within the parameters
of the revelation of God’s Word. So, let’s note also and
we’ll return to this list but let’s note also that in the last time this passage reveals there will
be a great upsurge of the occult. For instance
in the same chapter that’s 2 Timothy 3, verse 7 Paul said: Now as
Jannes and Jambres resisted Moses so do
these also resist the truth men of corrupt minds
disapproved concerning the faith. Notice the word corrupt. But those two names
Jannes and Jambres are the names of the
two magicians in Egypt that resisted and opposed
Moses and Aaron. And so, when it talks about them
it’s talking about the occult the satanic supernatural. Please bear in mind that Satan is
perfectly capable of working miracles. Any Charismatic who
believes that all miracles necessarily attest
the truth is mistaken. The Bible says in the end
Satan will do great miracles but they’ll not be truth
they’ll be lying wonders. It’s interesting, really, because this
conflict between Moses and Aaron and the magicians was not
fought out on the natural plane it wasn’t a conflict of theology. The battle for us in these last days is
not going to be a conflict of theology it’s going to be a conflict
of spiritual power. That’s the decisive issue.
Let me remind you what happened when Moses and Aaron appeared
before Pharaoh and said “Let God’s people go.” Pharaoh said, “What sign can you
show that this message is from God?” And Moses said to Aaron
“Throw down our rod.” And in the presence of Pharaoh
that rod became a snake. Now you might think that would
convince Pharaoh but it didn’t. He said, Wait a minute. I’ll see
what my magicians can do. He called for them and,
listen the Bible says plainly they threw down their rods
and they became snakes. All right. Supernatural but satanic. That’s not the end of
the story, thank God. Do you know what happened next?
Moses’ snake ate up the Egyptian snakes. I just picture this, it’s so vivid to me. The magicians walked away swith
empty hands, they had no rods. And Moses’ rod was thicker and
stronger than it had ever been. But, it was fought out
on the supernatural plane. I want to tell you for sure. that’s where we’re
going to have to fight. It’s not going to be theology
it’s not going to be merely doctrine it’s going to be who
has the power of God. This was predicted nearly 2000 years ago The prediction is right in force today. The powers of the occult are increasing. Their boldness, their arrogance their claims to superiority
are increasing continually. But, their folly will be
made manifest to all men as was the folly of Jannes and Jambres. Then you go a little further
down here in 2 Timothy 3:13: But evil men and impostors
will grow worse and worse deceiving and being deceived.
You see, that’s the progress of corruption. They’ll grow worse and worse
deceiving and being deceived. No one is such a successful deceiver as the one who
is deceived himself who really believes
his own deception. Because he speaks
with a real conviction. So, and again, where it
says evil men and impostors Now I happened to have learned
Greek since I was 10 years old. I was qualified to teach
it at university level. That doesn’t mean
I’m always right but it means
I’m entitled to my opinion. And so, I want to say
about this 13th verse, it says: Evil men and impostors. The Greek word is enchanters or wailers. It speaks about people who cast
spells by enchanting and wailing. Again, we’re dealing with the occult. This is very real.
Some years ago I date things from
before and after the death of my first wife
and my marriage to my second so this is before. In other
words, a long while ago. A man came to see me and he
said he’d come to apologize to me because he had put a curse
on me and my family. Then he told me, and I didn’t
accept everything he said but I just listened. He said
he was a practitioner of the occult and regarded as the most
powerful wizard in America. And then he told me that he practiced
various forms of occult power but he said, “I’ve come to the
conclusion, much the most successful form of power is in chanting.” That really registered with me. I thought, so when we are singing in
the Spirit we’re releasing God’s power. Then I thought about the Middle East
where I’ve lived for many years and I thought about
the practice of the Muslims. Five times every day from every mosque
and there are thousands of them The muezzin, the thing
that comes out, the chant how many of you have
heard it at least once? All right. I think it’s the ugliest
sound on earth. We worship in a church in
Jerusalem inside the old city which is right next
door to the mosque. Every now and then at
crucial points in the service we have this awful
wailing blaring out at us. But, it doesn’t quench the Spirit
because the Spirit is more powerful. But anyhow, I thought to myself
and I think this is important the area of the earth
that has most persistently resisted the gospel
is the Middle East. It’s because of the presence of
Islam, the Mohammedan religion. What has given them
that tremendous power is the regular proclamation of their
satanic lie five times every day. If that is so, then what is one of the
most powerful weapons that we have? Tell me. Proclamation, that’s right. That’s why Ruth and I always
make a proclamation before I stand up to preach because it releases the
power of God into the situation. I’ve told people I don’t believe
either Ruth or I would be alive today if we had not learned the
power of proclaiming scripture. Because we both passed
through a time of severe illness and in that time we learned
to use proclamation. Let me give you one
of the proclamations. Come on, sweetheart.
It doesn’t take long. Psalm 118 somewhere in the middle of the
psalm, about verses 13 and so on. This starts with a reference to the
devil you’ve got to understand that. You pushed me violently that I
might fall, but the Lord helped me. The Lord is my strength and song
and He has become my salvation. The voice of rejoicing and salvation
is in the tents of the righteous. The right hand
of the Lord does valiantly. The right hand
of the Lord is exalted. The right hand of the Lord
does valiantly. Now listen I shall not die but live
and declare the works of the Lord. The Lord has chastened me severely but He has not given me over
to death.That’s our testimony. The Lord has... The Lord has chastened us severely. We went through a time
of chastening, both of us but He did not give us over to death. And if God doesn’t give you
over to death, you won’t die. There’s no way we can count
how many times we said “I shall not die but live and
declare the works of the Lord.” Some of you probably need to say
the same for various reasons. You’ve been sitting a long while.
Stand to your feet for a moment. Psalm 118:17, it’s
all there in the Bible. We’ll say it once
so you get it right then you’re going to say
it with us the second time. but live and declare
the works of the Lord. Now all of us together:
I shall not die but live and declare
the works of the Lord. What did we say? “I shall not die but live
and declare the works of the Lord.” Amen. Now you may sit down. Amen. So now we’ve seen
from 2 Timothy chapter 3 that thins are not
going to get better they’re going to get worse. It’s
not so much things, it’s people. People are not going to get better
they’re going to get worse. And, the major factor in their
getting worse will be the operation of occult power. That’s exactly where we are today. The occult has come out into the open
and become aggressive and active to the degree which was unthinkable in either the United States
or Britain even twenty years ago. It’s a fulfillment of prophecy.
Now, you could be discouraged. that’s one way to respond.
The other way to respond is thank God it proves the Bible is true! When I was teaching in East
Africa some of my students who wanted an excuse
not to become Christians They say: “I don’t want
to become a Christian there are so many
hypocrites in the church.” I say that may be true but after all, the New Testament shows there
will be hypocrites in the church. So that doesn’t prove the Bible
is false, it proves it’s true. That’s one more reason
for becoming a Christian. I say the same about
what I’m teaching. You think it’s very negative
it’s very dark. But thank God it proves
the Bible is true. And if we can believe the dark
we can also believe the light. But I think frankly if you
don’t believe the dark you don’t really believe
the light either. You cannot be selective. The Word of God is pure.
Every word of God is pure. No word of God is to be set aside. Now let’s go back to
the beginning of 2 Timothy 3 and I want to give this
a very personal application in the life of each one of us. Not excluding brother Prince. It gives this list from verses 2 through 5
Maybe I should read it once more. As I read it, just ask yourself how many of these things are conspicuous
in our contemporary culture. Men will be lovers of themselves
lovers of money, boasters, proud blasphemers, disobedient to parents
Parents, is that true? It’s true for some.
disobedient to parents unthankful, unholy And notice, to be unthankful
is to be unholy. unloving, but that’s not
really the right translation. The old King James had it much
better, “without natural affection.” In other words, even
the normal love that we expect has evaporated in many cases. The love of a mother for her baby
the love of a parent for his children the love of brothers
and sisters for one another. They are evaporating rapidly. without natural
affection, unforgiving [in the margin it says irreconcilable] slanderers, without self-control
brutal, despisers of good, traitors headstrong, haughty, lovers of
pleasure rather than lovers of God Let’s stop the list there for a moment. I want to point out to you that what
you love determines what you will be. That list begins and ends
with what people love. There are three things: love of self love of money and love of pleasure. That really is the cause
of all the other negative features that are listed there. Love of self, love of money
love of pleasure. Why do people love money?
Because they love pleasure because money apparently
will buy pleasure. But, it won’t buy peace
it won’t buy joy. But it will for a little
while buy pleasure. And also, the love of money
is an expression of man’s pride. Because when we have a lot
of money we can be arrogant we can display our wealth we can act as if we’re better
than those who have less. It all hangs together.
But, the root is the first one, love of self. That is what is breaking
up our society today. A survey was carried
out a few years ago as to the average number
of people living lin a household
in the United States today. And do you know what the amazing
answer was? 1.7 persons In other words, less than two persons
can live together today on the average. What’s the reason?
Love of self. “Well, if you don’t like the way I live
I’m going my way, you can go yours.” That has broken up and
is breaking up countless marriages. I tell people who get married
there’s a recipe for disaster and a recipe for success. The recipe for disaster is
“what will I get out of this?” If you get married on that basis
your marriage will be a disaster. The recipe for success is
“what can I give to this?” And if you go in with that attitude
your marriage will be a success. I’ve had two marriages. The first lasted thirty years our present marriage
has lasted sixteen years. Each of them has been
happy and successful. Listen, I am not talking from theory. The surest cause of
the breakdown of marriage and of the family and of society
is the love of self. “You can have what you
like but I’m going my way I’ll do what pleases me.” That
really dominates the thinking of the unconverted
people of this nation today. When marriage breaks
up the family breaks up. When the family breaks
up, society breaks up. The government can spend
millions or billions of dollars to find some remedy
but there is only one, the family. Children were designed
to have two parents. If one of them drops out, you
have an unhappy, frustrated child who will possibly take out
his frustrations on society. I say myself the generation
that has neglected its children is breeding its own
source of judgment. Because the young people
that have not been parented that have no been loved
that have not been disciplined will grow up to plague our
society with violence and hatred. It’s frightening but it’s happening. In this once-blessed
nation it is happening. I became an American citizen by
choice unlike many of you, in 1970. So, I’ve been one
for twenty four years. I have to tell you, the nation of which
I became a citizen doesn’t exist today. It’s totally different.
Ruth was born an American citizen. She says to me when
we return from overseas, “I don’t recognize the
nation in which I was born.” That’s a tragedy.
The root cause, self love. All the other problems
stem from that. Now, let’s give an application. One of the amazing things that Paul
says in this passage in verse 5is about all these people
who have all these problems and incidentally, they’re not problems.
I have to correct myself. I got into the sloppy way of
using contemporary language. God does not save us from
problems, He saves us from sins. When we call our sins
problems we don’t get saved. You don’t have
to repent from a problem you do have to repent from a sin. I mean, I find myself using contemporary
speech and then correcting myself. These are not problems, they are sins. Blatant, evil sins. Now, concerning these people
that demonstrate all these sins Paul says something
truly amazing in verse 5 having a form of godliness
but denying its power. Now he’s given this list. and then he says these people
have a form of godliness The word in Greek
is such that I don’t believe Paul would ever have used it
of any religion except Christianity. He could not have used this word
of any religion that was unchristian. So, brothers and sisters listen to me. These people that Paul is talking
about are professing Christians. They use the word born again. That word has become so glib
I shudder when I hear it. All sorts of people
claim to be born again. But do you know what’s missing?
Their lives have never been changed they’ve never had a radical
change in their lives. What is the power that they deny? The power to change human
lives radically and permanently. I tell people you can join a
church, you can say a prayer you can sign a form
and remain the same. But if you ever meet Jesus
you’ll be changed. I met Jesus in an Army
billet in World War II. I didn’t have any doctrinal
knowledge of salvation. I didn’t know what the gospel
was I was just an Anglican, that’s all. God bless the Anglicans, there’s some
wonderful people amongst them but I was not one of those. I never went to church voluntarily and I didn’t believe the Bible. But one night in the middle
of the night, about midnight I met Jesus with such power that
I ended up on my back on the floor for an hour, first sobbing
and then you know what? Laughing. Believe me, friends
this laughter is not new. It may be spreading
but it’s not new. I didn’t know anything
about spiritual things. There was one other soldier
sleeping in the same billet with me and I was laughing so loud
in the middle of the night on my back on the floor
in my underwear because the Army didn’t issue us
with pajamas. So what could you do? Eventually I woke my friend up. I can still see over
the back of my head I saw him reluctantly get
out from under the blanket and walk towards me
and walk around me keeping a safe distance
a couple of times. He was a good friend. He said
“I don’t know what to do with you. I suppose it’s no good
pouring water over you.” Something in me said, “Even
water wouldn’t put this out.” Well, I thought this
must be the Holy Spirit. It’s not my idea of the
Holy Spirit but it was. And that produced a permanent
radical change in my whole life which has gone on for 24...
-53 years. That's right. Thank you! What do I have
a wife for? Well, many purposes. Let me correct that. Correction: fifty-three years. In 1941 I met the Lord Jesus. I saw my wife looking troubled.
But I thought: what have I done wrong now? I was never the same, never. It took me months to discover
all the changes that had taken place in me. Why? Because I met Jesus. Dear brothers and sisters, if you meet
Jesus you cannot stay the same. You can become religious
you can join a church, you can do all sorts of things
and radically be unchanged. That’s the problem with these
people they deny the power of God to change people radically. That’s why churches are
now admitting homosexuals and ordaining homosexuals.
Do you know the reason why? They say we have to have compassion.
I agree, we have to have compassion. But then they say there’s no way
to change them. That’s the lie. I believe in admitting
homosexuals and ordaining them if they’ve been changed
by the power of God. Ruth and I have a friend
in central Europe was a descendant of the Moravians You know about the Moravians?
Propaply the most significant group that's ever emerged in church history He was a dancer, and most
professional dancers are homosexuals he was a well known homosexual
in his particular society he met Jesus.
And Jesus changed him. Today he’s married, has children
and is pastoring a church. He’s one of the most loving
people I’ve ever met in my life. He’s rightly ordained
because he’s been changed. The problem is, and this time I
think I can use the word problem the problem is the people
who are ordaining homosexuals are not realizing that
Jesus can change people. He changes lots of other people.
He changes liars, He changes cheats He changes people who
are grieving and jealous and spiteful and malicious.
It isn’t just homosexuals. Our mistake is to make
an exception for homosexuals. See, this is exactly what Paul
said they’ll have a form of godliness but deny its power, the power
to change people radically and permanently for the better. This is a very sensitive issue
but it’s very important so I want to give you just three
passages from the writings of Paul. The first is in 1 Corinthians 6:9–11. Do you not know I
find that where Paul says “do you not know,” most
Christians today don’t know. When he says, “Brethren I
would not have you ignorant,” most Christians are ignorant.
It’s surprising. It’s gone on for nineteen centuries and
it doesn’t seem to have changed much. Do you not know that the unrighteous
will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived. Neither
fornicators, nor idolaters nor adulterers nor
homosexuals, nor sodomites And those are, first of all
the passive homosexual and then the aggressive homosexual. nor thieves, nor covetors,
nor drunkards, nor revilers nor extortioners will
inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. So God is not excluding
anyone in that category provided they’re changed. But, he says, and these are beautiful
words, But you were washed but you were sanctified
you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus
and by the Spirit of our God. But, you’ve been changed. I’m all in favor of admitting
prostitutes, homosexuals, murderers drunkards, everything
if they’ve been changed. But it’s unscriptural
to admit them unchanged. And we have a right to demand the
evidence of the change in their lives. Notice what Paul said because
he uses this phrase in three places. He says “such will not
inherit the kingdom of God.” It’s one thing to be born again
and enter the kingdom of God it’s quite another thing
to inherit the kingdom of God. A lot of those who’ve
entered will never inherit because they’re in these categories. Then we turn to Galatians 5 Galatians 5:19-21 Now the works of the flesh
are evident, which are fornication And let me say it’s fashionable
now to call that premarital sex. But that doesn’t change the
nature of the act the least bit. God still calls it fornication. See, one of the devil’s subtle tricks
is to put new labels on old things. So, to kill a baby in its
mother’s womb is wrong but to abort a fetus is different. All they’ve done is change
the word baby to fetus. But some people are
silly enough to believe it changes the nature of the act. No. And some people commit fornication
but they call it premarital sex and they think they can
get away with it. You can't. You cannot inherit the kingdom
of God unless you repent. There may be some of you here
tonight who need to do that. You cannot inherit the kingdom
of God if you’re a fornicator. God doesn’t admit fornicators. Let me say if He did, you’d be worse
off in heaven than you’d be in hell because in the radiant purity of
heaven you would be totally lost. Alright, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness idolatry
sorcery, hatred contentions, jealousies, outbursts
of wrath selfish ambitions, dissensions You notice the majority
of the things in that list are expressions of broken relationships. Then he goes on, envy
drunkenness, revelries and the like. Of which I tell you beforehand
just as I also told you in times past those who practice such things
will not inherit the kingdom of God. Notice, they can be born
again into the kingdom of God but ultimately they cannot
inherit the kingdom of God. They’re excluded.
And then we’ll look in Ephesians 5 verses 3 through 7 Ephesians 5: 3 - 7 But fornication and all
uncleanness or covetousness let it not even be named
among you as fitting for saints. Neither filthiness nor foolish talking nor coarse jesting, which are not
fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no
fornicator, unclean person nor covetous man who is
an idolater has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.
Three times Paul says such a person cannot inherit
the kingdom of God. He says to the Galatians, “I told you
before but I’m going to tell you again.” And I believe, brothers and
sisters it’s time we tell people again. When I became a Pentecostal
fifty-three years ago nobody would ever
consider that a fornicator could get to heaven
without repenting. Standards have changed but
God’s standards have not changed. He’s still the same.
Changing the label doesn’t change
the nature of the act. Some people have said, and
I’ve hear young people say, “Well this is just an experimental
relationship to see if it will work.” That’s self deception because marriage
is not an experiment, it’s a commitment. You can’t make an experimental
commitment it’s a contradiction in terms. Alright. So, if corruption is progressive
and irreversible what is God going to do about it?
Well, praise God, He has an answer. You’ll find it in 2 Corinthians 5:17: 2 Corithians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in
Christ he is a new creation old things have passed away behold, all things have become new
and all things are of God. God does not patch up the old
man, He produces a new creation. The attempt to redeem society without
changing people is doomed to defeat. I’ve heard people talk about
redeeming the performing arts. It depends what you mean. If it means
that maybe in the performing arts you have an opportunity to confront
people with the testimony of Jesus. Praise God. But if you think
that the performing arts can be redeemed without people
being changed you’re deceived. God is not redeeming
the old corrupt nature. It’s destined for His final judgment. God’s remedy is much more
radical it’s a new creation. Those of us who’ve experienced the
new creation understand what it means. I mean, it took me months to discover
what God had done in me in one night. I really couldn’t believe
it but it happened. That’s a new creation. Please
understand, I was not perfect. I’m still not perfect. But, I was
different, that’s what matters. A radical change in your life. So, God’s going to do what? He’s going to bring forth a new creation. If anyone is in Christ
he is a new creation. You cannot be in Christ
and remain the same. Something totally new has
happened that only God creates. Man can reform, man can improve
but only God can create. This is something that God
has to do for us and in us we cannot do it of ourselves. To be in Christ is to
become a new creation. That’s His logical remedy for
the old, corrupt, fallen nature. God is not going to patch it up
He’s not going to improve it. He doesn’t send the old man
to church or Sunday school or teach him the Golden Rule. I got this sentence which is in my mind “God’s solution is execution.” That’s it. But, the mercy is the execution took
place when Jesus died on the cross. Our old man was crucified in Him. You have to know that and you have
to believe it and act in it, and it works. That’s God’s remedy.
It’s a perfect remedy it’s a loving remedy
it’s a merciful remedy but it does not compromise
with sin or with Satan. God will never, never never do that. Out of the new creation God is
going to produce a new people. This is our final proclamation
a glorious one. It’s Titus 2:11–14. We have a practice
when we have a meal we say our grace
which we won’t say now we were in a meeting
once and I said to Ruth “Come up and say the grace,”
and she started to giggle. I mean, she couldn’t stop giggling.
I said, “What’s the matter?” She said, “All these people are hungry
and you’re saying grace in front of them!” So anyhow, we won’t repeat our grace
but at the end of our grace we always proclaim a scripture. The one that gets in first
makes the proclamation. This is one of our proclamations,
Titus 2:11–14: Now, how does it begin?
The grace of God The grace of God that brings
salvation has appeared to all men teaching us that denying
ungodliness and worldly lusts we should live soberly, righteously
and godly in the present age looking for the blessed hope
and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ who gave Himself for us that He might
redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself
His own special people, zealous for good works. So what is God going
to get out of history? His own special people.
That’s why He tolerates all the wickedness and
the tragedy and the suffering. Because God is waiting till
everyone He has chosen for Himself has come to Christ. There’s
another scripture that we say 2 Timothy 2: 10 This is Paul’s motivation. He went through a lot of suffering but he always had one thing
in mind, and it was this: Therefore I endure all things
for the sake of the elect that they also may
obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus
with eternal glory. This is a faithful saying
for if we die with Him we shall also live with Him. If we endure we shall
also reign with Him. If we deny Him
He also will deny us. If we are faithless
He remains faithful. He cannot deny Himself. What motivated Paul?
He had a vision. He said, “I endure all things for the
sake of the elect God’s chosen ones, that they also may obtain
the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.” You see, God has His chosen ones and they come from every
tribe, nation, people and tongue. Until they’ve all been
reached we cannot rest. That’s God’s remedy, a new creation
that will produce a new kind of people that will be fit to share
the throne with Jesus. Brothers and sisters remember
that’s our high calling. God is going to put you through
everything necessary in this life every kind of potential suffering
or trouble or pressure to fit you to become
a ruler with Jesus. Shall we pray in closing? O God, we thank you that
your word is so clear, so plain. There’s no if’s, there’s no but’s. You’ve made the way of life
and righteousness so clear that even fools
will not stumble in it. Lord, we remember what
Jesus said ‘Narrow is the gate and difficult is the
way that leads to life and those who find it are few.’ We pray tonight for all those
gathered here, for ourselves too that we will pass through the narrow
gate and walk the difficult way until we have finished our course. Give us a vision, Lord
each of us of the elect of the chosen ones. Many of them have not
yet heard the word of God. Many of them do not yet have
scripture in their own language. But Lord, we want
to share Paul’s vision. I endure all things
for the sake of the elect that they also may
obtain the salvation Which is in Christ Jesus
with eternal glory. And all Gods' people said: Amen.
God bless you.