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Chapter I
The Honor Given to Churchmen in These Closing Days
SCRIPTURE THEME
“This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come…But thou hast fully known my doctrine, manner of life, purpose, faith, longsuffering, charity, patience, Persecutions, afflictions…Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” II Tim.3:1,10-12
We can all agree that perilous times are here. The Earth is suffocating under the weight of sin. In every region of our planet’s biosphere threats to the security of life abound. Man’s science and industry coupled with belligerence, arrogance and greed have set in motion a series of events whose result will bring to an end the perpetuation of life itself simply because of the fact that to defy the laws preserving the security of life is to insure the extinction of life. Jesus Christ gave several prophecies on this final phase of Earth's sinful history. Among them are these words, “Fearful sights and great signs shall there be from heaven.” Lu.21:11. Jesus said that there would be, as a result of these fearful sights, “men's hearts failing them for fear of what is coming upon the earth.” Lu.21:26. What is coming upon the earth? “Behold, the LORD maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste…[Why?]…because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore hath the curse devoured the earth, and they that dwell therein are desolate: therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men left.” Isa.24.
GOD must allow sin to achieve its objective in the Earth that all intelligent life can see the end result from Satan’s so-called liberty against the Holy Law of GOD, as it is written of Earth’s impending future, “I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void [as lifeless as it was in the beginning (Gen.1:2)]; and the heavens, and they had no light. I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly [like waves of the sea]. I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger. For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end [for the earth will be recreated as it was before sin’s infestation (Rev.21:5)]. For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it.” Jer.4:23-28.
As a woman in labor suffers birth contractions, increasing in both their tempo and severity, so is this world in a constant crescendo to global desolation (Rev.20). This impending condition of the Earth is also verified by the fact that “the seven plagues” (Rev.15:8) signal the global extinction of all life: from the world’s water supply turning into blood (Rev.16:3,4) to the sun scorching men with fire (Rev.16:8,9). And without the coming of The “King of kings and LORD of lords” none would escape! But for the sake of the elect, Christ will come (Matt.24:22) and take every faithful man and woman who has ever lived home to His Father’s House in Heaven as He promised (Jn.14:2,3; I Th.4:17; Rev.20:4). At the 1st Advent of Christ He ascended to His Father alone; but at His 2nd Advent the saints will ascend with Him to “Our Father which art in heaven.”
Right on the brink of human extinction at the close of the seven last plagues the greatest rescue of human history will be seen: the coming of the LORD Jesus Christ (Matt.24:30,31; Rev.1:7). His 2nd Advent brings to a close the battle of “Armageddon” (Rev.16:16). “The Saviour,” with His retinue of holy angels, will stand stationary in the sky while the Earth continues its rotation of a thousand miles an hour beneath His feet; and for twenty-four hours the landscape beneath Him will be melting as wax before the fire (Ps.50:3; Mic.1:4; Zech.14:12). But the guardian angels of His faithful children (Matt.18:10) will be ahead of Him gathering the sacred harvest (Matt.24:31): those who followed the leading of the Holy Spirit and believed His Word (Rom.2:13-15). This is “The day of the Lord!” I Thess.5:2.
Despite the many fictitious descriptions of Armageddon, the coming of Jesus Christ is simply the conclusion of the final battle between the lawless church pretending obedience to Christ (I Tim.1:5-11) and the Biblically faithful Church bearing both His obedience to the Sacred Law and His righteous character (Jn.12:48; Rev.17:14). Armageddon is simply the culmination of the age-old death-match between Cain and Abel (Gen.4:8). And before them, the first war in heaven prompted by none other than Satan himself (Rev.12:7; Eze.28:15,16).
These epic scenes of Earth’s plunge to ruin are the direct result of the coming battle that will be waged by the unrepentant church against “they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” Rev.14:12. As Cain demanded salvation according to his method (Gen.4:3-5) whose allowance for sin led him to murder his little brother Abel, so today’s Christianity demands salvation according to their method, whose bold, unapologetic sins against the Holy Law of GOD is leading them to follow in the footsteps of Cain (Jn.8:43-47). In the end of time, the “offering” of today’s conventional Christianity will be seen as the offering of Cain, where “the LORD…had not respect.” (Gen.4:5; Rev.16:10,11).
What men are blind to see during these closing scenes of Earth’s present history is that GOD’S judgments have always matched the degree of sin that men perpetuate (Ps.119:126; Gal.6:7). This method alone enlightens the sinner to his danger (Ps.119:67,71). So when men legislate a law to murder the Commandment keeping saints (Rev.13:15), they will have instead decreed the death sentence upon themselves (Eze.9:10; Rev.18:6), while GOD’S children will be protected until the Saviour comes (Ex.9:6,7,23-26,11:3; Isa.33:14-17; I Thess.4:17). This heaven-ordained retribution is the sole reason why “the seven plagues” take place. They come simply as a result of the whole world uniting to force GOD’S children to share in their sins or they will be executed (Jer.23:10,11; Eze.35:5,6; Amos 2:14).
How Can This Be?
This seemingly unlikely event must rise from the obscurity of a relatively peaceful existence today (Eccl.9:12; Isa.30:13). But Satan’s determination to unite the world in sin against the GOD of salvation (Eph.6:12) has devised a plan to create a wave of fear that will grip the whole human race (Eccl.9:12; Isa.30:12,13). This will bring them in line to his sole objective: to remove Christ from the Earth (Isa.14:14) through the extermination of every Bible obedient Christian (Rev.12:17). And his tool is a simple one: one that has served him well throughout his time as “the Prince of this world” (Jn.14:30). We will review the specifics on this momentarily, but the point is, the threat of human extinction is on the horizon of our day, and the very last temptation for sinful man is simply one of survival (Job 2:4).
Therefore, the closing work of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all its branches is needed more today than at any other time. And without a well-balanced approach to address the various needs of GOD’S faithful people, the result of this lack of preparation will cause the average Christian church to submit to “the children of wrath” (Eph.2:3) right at the very summit of its ordained responsibility to “the truth of the Gospel” (Gal.2:4). |
