THE COUNTDOWN

THE COUNTDOWN

                Picture in your mind a series of events that signal the Lord’s return.  Believe in your heart that in His great love, He is giving those who will listen, a countdown of events along with a list of instructions about what He wants His Bride to be like when He comes. Let’s begin with the Hebrew prophets who spoke often about the DAY OF THE LORD and in most cases they speak of unprecedented upheaval.

                But as a prelude to these unprecedented times certain things must be in place. Daniel and nearly all of the Old Testament prophets speak about the end times and one thing stands out. Israel is going to be back in their land in the end time… the antichrist is going to reign in the place of Christ in a Jewish temple and it is in that temple that He will commit the abomination of desolation. Daniel set it up, many of the Prophets added details and then Jesus confirmed it as an end time event by giving it as a sign of His coming. Mt. 24:15, Mark 13:14

                Jesus also tells us that the generation that sees Israel return to their land, will also see all of the other end time events take place. Mt. 24:15, 32-34. In other words near the end of His ministry on earth, Jesus symbolically cursed the fig tree and it withered and died. This spoke of Israel and its rejection of their Messiah and the 2000 years of desolation that would follow.

                However, Jesus gives us a cryptic clue concerning His return. He said that when we see the fig tree come alive and begin to put on leaves again, we who see this will also see His return. Mark 13:28-30, Mt. 24:32-34

                Zechariah speaks of these end time events as well, letting Israel know that this rebirth of Israel will be a difficult time. In Chapter 12:1-3 he tells us that Jerusalem will be a cup of trembling. There will be a siege against it and all the nations of the earth will be gathered against it.

                In Zech. 12:10, Zechariah lets us know the timing of these events because he tells us that they will look upon Him whom they have pierced and mourn forof Him. Zech. chapter 13 tells about the siege that will take place in those days. Two parts will be cut off and perish, but the third part will be left in it and then the Lord is going to refine them as silver is refined and test them as gold is tested. See also Daniel 12:7-10.

                Then in chapter 14, Zechariah speaks of the return of the Lord with His saints. He defeats Israel’s enemies at the battle of Armageddon and then He sets foot on the Mount of Olives and rides into Jerusalem to take up His earthly millennial reign. The rest of Zech. 14 describes the millennium that follows. And if we know all of our end time prophetic scriptures correctly then we also know that these events fit perfectly with all of the end time purposes of God in bringing Satan’s kingdom to an end and ushering in the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The Book of Revelation contains the revealing of these events as Jesus moves from the role of High Priest to the Role of Judge and King.)

                We know these scenarios quite well and so it is with great interest that we watch current events in Israel as they make preparations for the building of the temple in which the coming antichrist will commit the abomination of desolation. Dan. 9:26, 27, 11:31, Mt. 24:15, Mark 13:14, Rev. 13:1-18

                We know from Romans chapter 11that certain Jewish branches were cut off so that the Gentile church could be grafted in. But we are also told that the gentile age will come to an end and then the Messiah will begin to deal with Israel once again. Romans 11:25 Paul tells us in verse 23 that God is able to graft the Jews back in again. He also tells us in verse 15 saying: “For if their rejection be the reconciliation of the world, what will their acceptance be but life from the dead?” Verse 25 tells us that this re-grafting will take place when the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

                Ezekiel speaks of this rebirth of Israel as a valley of dry bones coming back to life and a nation being born in a day, which is exactly what happened in 1948.

                Then in verses 25-29 Paul describes this time when Yeshua will indeed graft them in again and He will purge and purify them. Dan 12:10. He will remove ungodliness so that the Remnant of Israel  (All of true Israel) will be saved and He reminds us that God’s promises to Israel are “irrevocable.”

                So here is the main point that I want to make today. As Israel has reached its 70^th year, we are coming to the climax of the countdown. We see end time events all over the world, but especially in Israel where God has chosen to provide a physical template of the times so that all who are wise will see and understand. But end time events are global in scope and those who study Bible prophecy see them forming rapidly in our day. The birth pangs are about to produce a birth.

                The final countdown was announced across the sky as 4 back to back blood moons all on God’s appointed times occurred in 2014 and 2015 warning both Israel and us, that the time has arrived. This warning included an announcement by Pope Francis that he was forming a global religion. This formation is well under way and we see the religions of the world lining up… making pilgrimages to Rome to kiss the ring and to get instructions. Apostate Protestantism is indeed stretching her had across the gulf to once again reunite with the Papacy. Unbelievable!!!

                We are literally watching a significant portion of the church falling away and going back to Rome! It is astonishing really. We knew it was going to happen. We have known it for 100 years, but we could not imagine how such a thing could be possible. But it is true. Many Protestant churches are relinquishing their protest and going back to Rome as if there were no issues involved in our leaving… that the great Protestant reformers gave their lives often being burned alive at the stake for a truth more precious than life itself. They had identified the antichrist system that had invaded the church and fled from it, and yet many Protestants are now coming back to join the antichrist system, simply because they stopped studying Bible Prophecy. Even sincere Catholic leaders will mourn the fact and admit that Pope Francis is a renegade heretic and that he is leading the church into apostasy.

                So God has flashed His final warnings across the sky in blood moons, in the return of the star of Bethlehem, in various other blood moons and eclipses and global calamities. He has announced it by setting the sign of Revelation 12 in the constellation of Virgo as for the first time in 2000 years, the virgin gives birth to the man child who will rule the nations with a rod of iron even as the dragon goes after the remnant of her seed that keep the commandments of God and hold to the testimony of Jesus. This too has been portrayed in the night sky.

                There is yet another blood moon coming on January 20/21. It will be a super blood moon and I believe that it will remain red longer than any in the past and it will shine over our Capital in Washington. I believe it is a final warning to America. God gave us a little more time to repent and turn to Him, but the nation has rebelled against it as they plunge into even deeper evil. America is being weighed in the balances. And just like the prophet Jonathan Cahn warned us: We are repeating the same harbingers that Israel committed just prior to being taken into captivity by Syria.

                Will America stand or fall? It depends upon two things:

1.       What we do with this period of grace that God has given to us    and repent as a nation.

2.       What we do concerning Israel… and this is pretty iffy, because the Bible does not show any nations coming to Israel’s defense in the final battles, but God Himself. See. Ezekiel 38:8-23.

                But what does this mean to us on a personal level as we see signs like the Beast system forming and the Mark of the Beast technologies being implemented, the religion of the beast forming, the financial control coming on line and global government threatening to take over the moment God withdraws His restraining hand of protection?

                Jesus warns us that of all of the believers who were waiting for His return, only half of them went into the marriage feast while the rest had to go out and buy oil from those who sell.

                We see a parallel to this parable in Revelation 3 where the Laodicean church is pictured with a closed door and Jesus on the outside knocking… and Philadelphia is presented with an open door…just as in the wise and foolish virgins.

                We see this same event in types and shadows on Mt. Sinai. God comes down and Moses goes up. But the rest of Israel is so carnal and idolatrous that a barrier is erected around the mountain so that God’s holiness will not break out and destroy them. A company of 70 priests is allowed to go up part way, but only Moses sees the Lord face to face. He was the only one truly sanctified at that time.

                How exactly to apply these details I do not know, but there is some way in which these scenarios play out throughout scripture. This picture on Mt. Sinai is a picture of the rapture in type and it doesn’t look very good for those who call themselves Christians but remain carnal and idolatrous and unrefined and worldly.

                And yet most of the church parties on, ignoring Bible prophecy and discarding old fashioned words like “sanctification” on the basis that God will never judge us.

                There is a true remnant church in the world today. It is not known by any names or institutions. It is only identified as being the church of the first-born. Heb. 12:23

                In contrast to Mt. Sinai, this church has come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the first-born who are enrolled in heaven, and to God the judge of all and to the spirits of righteousness men made perfect and to Jesus the Mediator of a new covenant and to the sprinkled blood which speaks better than the blood of Abel.” Heb. 12:22-24

                Then immediately after identifying those who have been truly born again, the writer of Hebrews tells us that God is soon to bring about a great shaking saying: “Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” And this expression, “Yet once more,” denotes the removing of those things which can be shaken as of created things in order that those things which cannot be shaken may remain.” Hebrews 12:26, 27.

                What this tells us is that everything that is of this creation will be shaken out. If we are still in the first Adam, we will be shaken out. Any work in our life, whether good or bad, if it has not been made from eternal stuff, it will be shaken out. Only that fruit which the Holy Spirit has produced in us will fulfill the Law. Only that which has been built upon eternal principles and produced by the Holy Spirit will stand the test of time.

                We are reminded that it is Christ in us that is our hope of glory. The big question is: Are we operating by the power of Christ within us or are we still trying to please Him with our own works? Are we still trying to derive our righteousness from the Law, or do we have living water flowing from our innermost being? John 7:38.

                Sanctification is represented by the Holy Place in the tabernacle of Moses. The outer court represents Justification, The Holy Place represents Sanctification and the Most Holy Place represents Glorification. So notice if you will that you cannot enter into glorification (being changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump- what we know as the rapture) without first passing through the realm of Sanctification. Access into the Most Holy Place is found only through the Holy Place.

                Jesus tells us point blank in John 17:17 saying to His Father: “Sanctify them in truth; Thy Word is truth.” And this directly corresponds with the Tabernacle of Moses, where the Word sits on the table of showbread. It also corresponds with Jesus’ statement that unless we eat His flesh and drink His blood we have no part with Him in the kingdom. We must eat His Word and digest it so that it becomes a very part of our lives. (You are what you eat) But there is a particular way in which we eat the Word, for it is not merely intellectual. The light of the Holy Spirit must shine upon it and His incense sprinkled upon it and likewise with our prayers. They must be mingled with the incense of the Holy Spirit. We must pray in the Spirit or our carnal prayers will do us no good.

                Today much of the church has discarded the word “Sanctification” along with everything that goes with it and yet we are told that without sanctification, no one will see the Lord. Heb. 12:14

                So, we are in earth’s final countdown. Our Lord has given us every sign that He told us He would give us in the Bible. We stand on the edge of eternity and the big question we must ask ourselves is this:

                Am I a member of the church of the first-born? Heb. 12:23. Is my name written in the Lamb’s book of life? Rev. 13:8 Am I in the church of Philadelphia or am I still hanging out in Laodicea? Rev. 3:7, 8. Rev. 3:14-20. Am I a wise virgin or a foolish virgin? Is my lamp filled with oil (The Holy Spirit) or am I still trying to slug it out in the flesh according to the Law? Gal. 2:16.

                Jesus told the people that unless their righteousness far surpassed that of the Pharisees, they could not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Mt. 5:20. The people’s jaws must have hit the ground on that statement. The Pharisees represented the epitome of Law keeping. The people were enslaved by their many rules. What could Jesus possibly mean?

                But it is Paul who clears this up for us. There is nothing wrong with the Law. The problem is with us. We can’t keep it. Still some Christians today act as if they are still under the law; even though they claim loudly that they are not. In other words, they think, for instance, that they can lust all they want to and as long as they don’t actually physically commit adultery or fornication they are okay.

                But Jesus pointed out our need of a total transformation of the heart and that can only happen as His Holy Spirit is able to gain control of our lives, producing His fruit in us. Real love for God and love for our fellow humans changes everything. We begin to see people differently… not as objects of lust or hatred or jealousy… but as people who need Jesus just as much as we do.

                So the final countdown is on. Earth’s closing events are rapidly taking shape. God has been flashing His warnings across the sky and in the rapid fulfillment of all that Jesus and the prophets prophesied concerning these last days. We are really without excuse if we remain asleep.

                We are about to enter into the age of Tabernacles when Jesus will once again tabernacle among His people. But only those who have made room for Him to tabernacle in their hearts will be ready to receive Him as King of kings and Lord of lords. Judgment is coming in the form of a great shaking and a great falling away. Everything that is not build upon the Rock and produced by His Spirit will fall away.

                This is not a call to try harder, or a call to be afraid, but a call to give every part of your life to Jesus through His Holy Spirit. Don’t be satisfied with a half-baked carnal life. Surrender your entire being to Him. Allow Him to crucify your flesh so that you will become dead to the world and alive unto Christ. He is able to do exceedingly, abundantly beyond all that you ask or think. Eph. 3:20.

                Live in Galatians 2:20 and do everything by divine appointment. Our salvation is not a product of sweat, but of faith in Him who is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to Him. Heb. 7:25.

                The COUNTDOWN is on!