This has been posted before...Its worth repeating - in fact, it may be worth reading on a daily basis, as this generation comes to a close:
Jonathan Brentner
In some ways, I took my rights as a United States citizen for granted. Watching some of them rapidly vanish, at least for a while, has led to moments of despair. “Will this loss become permanent?” I have often wondered. This has been a difficult area for me; one in which I have overreacted at times.
Just last week I read two news events that reinforce just how far away we are from the freedoms we enjoyed just seven months ago. In Indiana, the penalty for not wearing a mask in public can result in up to six months in prison. The Supreme Court ruled against a church in Nevada that sued the state so it could have the same freedom in regard to attendance as casinos. By a 5-4 vote, the Court tossed aside the freedom of worship clause in the Constitution and voted against the church. Both these things make me cringe as I see them as impositions on my freedoms.
This does not imply that we remain silent on these matters nor stand up for our rights (as I am doing here); it’s more a matter of recognizing that we live in the last days of history before the trumpet sounds and Jesus takes us to the place He’s preparing for us in His Father’s house (John 14:1-3). It’s learning not to fret but rather trust the Lord (Psalm 37:7-9).
This could perhaps fall under the previous category, but I think it deserves its own heading. Before this year I could not have imagined that the government could so quickly take away our right to public worship. The governor of California recently made singing in church illegal and then prohibited all church gatherings even to the point of making home Bible studies illegal. Yes, he did.
I always thought this might happen in America, but I never imagined it would start with such widespread acceptance among believers. I applaud the churches in California what are continuing to meet.
I know my future depends solely on the Lord rather than politics or the outcomes of elections. I rest in His sovereignty over all national and world events, especially in the area of politics. Psalm 46:10 has become my “go to” verse as I watch chaos and violent destroy the lives of people of all races. I read Psalms 46-47 at least once a week; someday the Lord will reign in righteousness over this world.
We are not helpless in combating the wickedness we see; until Jesus comes for us, prayer remains vital part of our arsenal in fighting back the demonic wickedness that has overrun cities across the world. One satanist who came to Christ recently wrote about how the prayers of the saints limited him in his previous life.
PERSONAL SAFETY
I always expected that lawlessness and violence would reign supreme during the tribulation, but I did not expect to see such anarchy before it even began, while we remained earthbound.
The violence on the streets in the United States this year has led to the loosening of my grip on personal safety. Although no threat currently exists in the area where I live, I know that my future safely is no longer something I can take for granted. If I travel to another city, will I be safe? Is there a threat that Antifa protestors might stop my car and injure my wife or me? When I go out for walks, I sometimes recall the numerous videos I have seen on social media with innocent people attacked and killed by people belonging to the anarchist groups seeking to overthrow the government of the United States.
I am not fearful for my life nor of what lies ahead; it’s just that my awareness of the transitory nature of this life has grown substantially. I no longer take my personal safety for granted and am taking steps to increase the protection of my home and wife should threats arise where I live.
Despite once thinking I already had let go of the things of this life, I find myself continuing to loosen my grip on this world while tightening my grasp on the biblical promises of Jesus’ appearing, my home in heaven, my reign with Jesus during the millennium, and eternal joy on the New Earth and in the New Jerusalem.
I do not believe that enjoying our freedoms, sports, politics, or a trip to our favorite restaurant are sinful activities by themselves. Although many people idolize these things, especially sports, I believe one can enjoy a good football game without stepping outside the will of God.
For me, this year has reinforced the lesson of 2 Corinthians 4:17-18, which teaches us to focus on “the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal.” If nothing else, the events of 2020 demonstrate the fleeting nature of the things in this world, they can vanish in a moment.
As we watch the seven-year tribulation come at us like an out of control diesel locomotive, we know the rapture must be ever so close, and it is. Even though I hate what is going on in my country and in the world, I recognize that not only does Scripture tell us these things would happen, but they enable us to loosen our grip on a world headed toward devastation and death amid the outpouring of God’s wrath.
It’s a worthwhile trade-off, is it not? We relax our grip on things that belong to our transitory world system and hold on tightly to the eternal joy ahead for us.
Someday soon we will enjoy the pleasures of a restored world during the millennium and the joys of eternity. Until then we groan at times waiting for our hope to become sight (Romans 8:22-25).
Maranatha!!
ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT
Jonathan Brentner
ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT
Jonathan Brentner
Is this it? Are we living in the very last moments before the rapture? Is the seven-year tribulation taking shape before our eyes?
Far too many Christians answer “no” to these questions; they offer an assortment of reasons for their response such as: We have seen lawlessness, wars, chaos, economic downturns, and pandemics before in history; today is no different. We have been hearing about Jesus’ return for decades; our grandparents watched for the rapture, but He has not yet come. Why should we expect Him now? “It’s bad now, but this is not the end of the age,” they tell us.
Sadly, many pastors contribute to this apathy by either remaining silent on matters of prophecy or through their denial of the literalness of biblical teachings regarding the rapture, the tribulation, and Jesus’ future reign over the nations. Some mock our belief that we live in the last days; they accuse us of interpreting prophecy based on current news. “There are no signs of the last days,” they tell us.
The words of Scripture tell a much different story. It’s one minute to midnight and the clock keeps ticking.
Here are a few of the signs that tell us we are ever so close to the end of the church age:
ISRAEL IS FLOURISHING AS A NATION
When I read prophetic passages regarding the flourishing of Israel twenty-five years ago, I placed their fulfillment in the Millennium. While I am certain this will happen to a greater extent during this future time, we already see a blossoming Israel that exports one billion dollars’ worth of produce to the world. Is this not at least a partial fulfillment of Isaiah 27:6, which says Israel would someday “fill the whole world with fruit?”
The promises of Ezekiel 36:22-38 concerning Israel are already springing to life as clear indicators that God intends to fulfill them to an even greater extent soon, during the millennium.
Ezekiel 38:11-13 predicts a prosperous Israel in the last days before the Gog-Magog War, which will become a “hook” in the jaw of Gog that brings Russia and the other nations into the Land of Israel. Such wealth has just occurred in just the past decade; Israel now possess vast resources of oil, natural gas, technology, and even rich deposits of gold according to some reports. The stage is set for this war.
MIDDLE EAST TENSIONS
Tensions in the Middle East continue to escalate. According to a recent story in the Jerusalem Post, Hezbollah is vowing revenge against Israel for a recent airstrike that killed one of its fighters. As for Iran, Amir Tsarfati recently tweeted about the continuous supply of weapons and missiles that continue to flow from Iran in Damascus.
Both Hezbollah and Iran continually threaten attacks on Israel and the United States but it’s unlikely we will see an attack as large as that of Ezekiel 38-39, the Gog-Magog war, which would include Turkey and Russia, as long as Donald Trump remains president of the United States. They know he would retaliate with decisive and overwhelming force should they attack Israel.
The alignment of nations and current unrest certainly points to the near fulfillment of this war as described in these chapters from Ezekiel. Russia, Iran, and Turkey have considerable military forces and weapons in Syria and in Lebanon via Hezbollah, a proxy of Iran.
The economic turmoil in the nations mentioned as participants in the Gog-Magog War make the great prosperity of Israel a tempting target, which will become irresistible once the United States is either unable or unwilling to protect Israel. I believe this war will happen soon after the rapture.
THE NEW WORLD ORDER IS AT OUR DOORSTEP
I could write a long article just on just the looming presence of the New World Order. The globalists that desire to subject the world to their vision of a worldwide government make no secret of this.
This New World Order is the stated goal of the World Economic Forum. Consider this quote from the Fox Business website on June 25:
At a meeting hosted by the highly influential World Economic Forum earlier in June, powerful officials from nonprofits, government, business, academia, labor unions and activist groups announced their plan for a “Great Reset” of global capitalism. It’s a proposal they acknowledged has only been made possible because of the “opportunity” provided by the economic destruction caused by the novel coronavirus.
The January 2021 meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, will feature the “Great Reset” as its overriding theme. World leaders, other than President Trump, view COVID-19 as the perfect opportunity to implement their plans for New World Order. They have no intention of allowing this chance to pass without taking advantage of it.
The Bible tells us that just such a world order will dominate the planet during the tribulation. The intense effort of the world’s most powerful and elite people to make this happen reveals just how exceedingly close we are to this horrific time.
COVID-19
More than any other event in the history of the United States, the response of people to the COVID-19 panic demonstrates the willingness of people to surrender their rights to the government in return for its promise of protection them from disease.
The willingness of the masses to wear masks without questioning their effectiveness tells the globalists all they need to know about controlling people, particularly in America. Even though they have not completely abandoned the changing climate as their rigged rallying cry for their New World Order, their attention has turned to this pandemic as a much more effective way to accomplish their goal of world domination.
The political agenda behind the continued lock downs and wearing of masks becomes clearer each and every day. Both the news media and social media quickly silence the voices of doctors and nurses who report success in treating patients with hydroxychloroquine. Dr. Fauci once touted the success of drug equating it to a vaccine and gave a television interview in which he said masks were totally ineffective in stopping the spread of a virus. Now he has openly reversed course on both these matters despite evidence that overwhelmingly supports his original positions on these matters.
Why would Dr. Fauci and the establishment do this apart from their ongoing agenda that necessitates COVID-19 continue as a threat that opens the door to further government control and eventually a totalitarian world government. It’s all political with the New World Order as their ultimate goal.
The panic related to COVID-19 is politically and media driven; no other reason accounts for the extreme measures we see or the increasing censorship and government control of our lives.
THE MARK OF THE BEAST
COVID-19 is preparing the world for the mark of the beast; it has already made people accustomed to wearing a mask if they want to buy or sell. In the United Stated, we have become a fearful populace so afraid of dying we have ceased to live or enjoy life. People now depend on the government to protect them from disease rather than take any responsibility for that themselves. We do not hear one single word about building up one’s immune system, which is far more effective than wearing a mask in keeping one healthy.
Is this not a necessary step to prepare the world for the day when a vaccine will be necessary for people to buy or sell? Bill Gates has already stated that his COVID-19 vaccine should become a requirement for people to return to their jobs or go out in public or attend sporting events. Just this week he said that life cannot return to normal until the entire populace receives a vaccine. Could this be a forerunner to the mark of the beast that John describes in Revelation 13:15-18?
If the globalists have come this far in their efforts to prepare people of the world for the day when they will not be able to buy or sell apart from this mark, how much closer must we be to the rapture that must occur before the antichrist appears on the scene (2 Thess. 2:1-10)?
A WORLD ENGULFED IN VIOLENCE AND CHAOS
Violence continues to increase exponentially in our world. I can only speak for what is happening in many cities in America. Rioting happens every night in Portland, Oregon, where they recently burned copies of the Bible. They severely damaged the federal courthouse in Portland and their use of lasers permanently blinded several law enforcement officials. These Marxist groups burned down a courthouse in Oakland, California.
In New York City, shootings have increased 220% versus this time last year. Chicago has become a war zone with sixty-five people shot during a recent weekend, ten of them fatally.
Leo Hohmann, investigative reporter, recently wrote this in his article, Civil war is here: But is Trump ready to engage Obama’s street fighters? “President Trump needs to face the facts and realize he is in a war, not just for his presidency but for the heart and soul of America. We are a nation at the precipice of destruction.” I wholeheartedly agree with this assessment.
The violence in America furthers the agenda of the globalists. President Donald Trump represents the last significant obstacle to their goal of world domination.
Violence in the US will not stop after the November election regardless of the outcome; it will continue until it’s either met with much, much stronger resistance than we currently see or the elite achieve their ultimate goal of the “Great Reset.” Biblical prophecy warns us that the latter outcome will prevail in the end and bring with it much death and devastation to the world.
THE SIGNS OF MATTHEW 24
The signs Jesus gave us in Matthew 24:3-14 continue to increase in intensity and frequency like “birth pains,” just as He said they would in the days preceding His return to earth. We have seen lawlessness increase in 2020 more than anyone could have imagined a year ago. The hatred of Bible-believing Christians continues to escalate in our world with very few escaping the impact of the world’s wrath and mocking. Rumors of wars abound as tensions between China and the United States escalate.
As for earthquakes, I recently counted one hundred and four earthquakes over 4.5 on the Richer Scale in a seven-day period, which represent significant earthquakes. Jesus’ prediction of “earthquakes in various places” precisely sums up what we see every week in our world.
I believe the items listed above, along with more I could add, tell us that we live in the last moments before the rapture. It’s highly unlikely we will see these signs reverse and life return to the way it was before these things burst on the scene during the past twenty years and especially in the past seven months.
Does anyone expect to see any of the following news headlines in the near future?
- Iran, Russian, and Turkey Pull out of Syria Thus Alleviating Key Threats to Israel’s Security
- The CDC Announces the End of the COVID-19 Pandemic; Masks and Vaccines are no Longer Necessary
- The World Experiences a Dramatic Decrease in Earthquakes and Famines
- Democratic Governors Open up their States and Pledge to End all Violence in Their Cities
- George Soros Reneges on His Desire to Overthrow the United States’ Government; Will Support the Reelection of President Trump (okay, I know this is really unimaginable)
- The World Economic Forum (WEF) Pledges its Support of Nationalism as the Best Path forward to Solve the World’s Problems,
- The WEF Gives Up on its plans for the Great Reset
- The FBI Brings Charges Sex Trafficking Charges Against Several Hundred Politicians, Celebrities, and Powerful People
No, we will not see these headlines in our papers or on the Internet. Everything we see is moving rapidly in the opposite direction, toward greater chaos and lawlessness.
We live at a unique time in history. Pastors and teachers can no longer ignore, at least with any credibility whatsoever, the multitude of biblical signs shouting to us with the message that we live in the last moments before the rapture.
We are one minute to midnight and the second hand is moving.
Sadly, so very few believers hear the ticking of the clock counting down the last moments of the church age.
No comments:
Post a Comment