It is all about equal rights, the gay “marriage” lobby keeps telling us. We just want the right to marry, like everyone else.
That is what they are telling us. But that is not what they mean. If same-sex “marriage” becomes the law of the land, we can expect massive persecution of the Church.
As my friend Jennifer Roback Morse notes in the National Catholic Register, “Legalizing same-sex ‘marriage’ is not a stand-alone policy . . . Once governments assert that same-sex unions are the equivalent of marriage, those governments must defend and enforce a whole host of other social changes.”
The bad news is these changes affect other liberties we take for granted, such as religious freedom and private property rights. Several recent cases give us a sobering picture of what we can expect if we do not actively embrace—and even promote—same-sex “marriage.”
For instance, a Methodist retreat center recently refused to allow two lesbian couples to use a campground pavilion for a civil union ceremony. The state of New Jersey punished the Methodists by revoking the center’s tax-exempt status—a vindictive attack on the Methodists’ religious liberty.
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As the summer months begin, our beaches and malls will be filled with people who are sensually and provocatively dressed. Only God knows how many millions of people will look, lust, and sin throughout these summer months! We need to be reminded that Jesus said, "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:28) Sensuality and immorality are the norm for these last days, just as it was when the Lord judged the entire world with a global flood in the days of Noah. When Jesus was asked by His disciples about the signs of His coming, He responded, among many things, "But as the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." (Matthew 24:37) A study of the culture of Noah’s day, as revealed in Genesis 6, demonstrates that global immorality was so common that the Lord "saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." (Genesis 6:5) This verse is a commentary on the previous verses. In Genesis 6:1-4 we are told that during the time of a global population explosion men were looking upon the women and saw that they were "fair" (the Hebrew word means they saw them as being "beautiful."). The Bible tells us that "the sons of God" were having sex with the "daughters of men" and that result was an offspring that were "giants." (Genesis 6:1-4) The surface reading and consideration of these verses does not reveal the real story behind the days of Noah. The term "sons of God" is sometimes a reference in the Bible to angels. (Job 1:6) In this case, because of the wickedness associated with their activity, we are forced to conclude that this is a reference to fallen angels – demons. So, in the days of Noah, demon possessed-men and women were motivated to commit lewd immoral acts with other men and women, so that the physical offspring were "giants." The word "giant" in Hebrew means "fallen ones." In this case, the offspring of the immoral activity in Noah’s day yielded not physical giants, but spiritually giant sinners. Therefore, this context demands that we conclude that these sinful, immoral parents, who were being influenced by demons, were giving birth to children who were controlled by the same demons, and, like their parents, were grossly immoral.
Luke also reminds the Bible reader that the last days will be like the days of Lot in Sodom when "it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all." (Luke 17:28-30) A study of Genesis 18-19 reveals that God patiently waited until the sin of homosexuality had a firm grip upon the entire city of Sodom. When the two angels from heaven entered Lot’s house that fateful night before its destruction, all of the men "compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter." (Genesis 19:4) This militant homosexual crowd demanded that Lot deliver the two men to them so they could sexually abuse them throughout the night. In Genesis 18:20 the Lord revealed the grief of His heart when he declared that "the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and … their sin is very grievous." Even after the angels supernaturally struck these men with blindness, "they wearied themselves to find the door." (Genesis 19:11) Apparently, even after divine judgment they were still determined to enter Lot’s house to carry out their lustful desires. In a similar way, after three and one-half years of the harsh judgments of God during the Tribulation Period, in which at least one-half of the world’s population will be killed (Revelation 6:8; 9:15), those who survive will not want to give up their sexual immorality. (Revelation 9:21) Note that the immorality of those living in the Tribulation will be directly connected to demon worship, violence, the occult (which includes mind-altering drugs), and theft. (Revelation 9:20-21) Therefore, we must conclude that our world today is globally running toward its appointment with the judgment of God during the Tribulation!
In many ways the U.S. is leading and influencing the world with its immorality as we export our rock music, movies, and pornography to the nations of the world. As you travel to other nations you can hear this godless music and see the sensual fashions that are now permeating the world!
The rapid moral disintegration of America is frightening. In March two reports were released that give us a window into the gross depravity of America. World magazine reported that 26 percent of American girls, ages 14-19, "have at least one sexually transmitted disease." (World, March 22/29, 2008, p.18) That means that one out of every four American teen girls you see in public, on average, has a sexually transmitted disease! A more shocking survey indicates "that well over half of American teens now engage in oral sex." (U.S. News & World Report, March 10, 2008, p. 60) Many global surveys indicate that there is a shocking rise in sexually transmitted diseases in the mouth, and oral cancer, due to the increased risks people (ages 16-40) are taking by engaging in oral sex. "The frequency of oral sex among those engaging in casual hookups is a virtual epidemic in the making." (U.S. News & World Report, March 10, 2008, p. 60) Apart from the moral and spiritual implications of these reports, it is plain to see that a heath-care crisis is in the making that will dwarf the Aids epidemic. One can only begin to imagine the impact this will have on health care costs and availability. America is about to discover what God means when He warns: "Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." (Galatians 6:7-8) Notice that in the previous chapter the Apostle Paul lists the first four works of the flesh as "adultery [extra marital sexual activity], fornication [all forms of premarital sex], uncleanness [moral impurity], [and] lasciviousness [morally filthy]." (Galatians 5:19)
Where is the church in all of this mess? Where are the voices of the men of God who need to sound the warning to their spouses and children? Where are all of the Sunday school teachers, youth workers, and pastors that should be faithfully proclaiming what the Bible has to say about sex? The church is to be salt and light in the midst of the spiritual darkness of a nation. However, statistics indicate that many pastors and church members are morally no different than the world. Tragically, the church has become a part of the problem rather than a part of the solution to bring about a spiritual turning back to God! More than ever before we need men of God who will proclaim and model moral purity in our homes, churches, communities, and nation!
Let us turn to the eternal moral values of our Creator and examine what He has to say. Some people think that since the Bible is an old book with old-fashioned standards it is no longer relevant for living in the 21st century. However, God’s moral standard has not and will not change. All of God’s standards of morality are founded upon His holy character. God is holy. This means that God is morally pure. He cannot sin. He hates all sin. His holiness has not changed, and will not change because He is perfectly and infinitely holy! God has declared, "For I am the LORD, I change not." (Malachi 3:6) Therefore, God’s standard for sexual conduct is the same for all people, cultures, and times. Remember that He is holy and He created us. Therefore, if we violate His laws we will pay the consequences, someday, somewhere, and somehow!
God’s standard is set forth in Hebrews 13:4, "Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge." This simply means that God has ordained that sex in marriage is precious in His sight. God brought together the first man and woman and commanded them to multiply. (Genesis 1:26-28; 2:21-25) It is His ordained plan and pattern for sex between the husband and wife in marriage to reproduce (Genesis 1:28), to bring pleasure (Proverbs 5:15-20), and to fulfill the sexual appetite of their spouse. (1 Corinthians 7:1-5)
Let us examine nine biblical imperatives to promote sexual purity:
We must fear God!
This is where everything in our lives must begin and end. Psalm 111:10 says, "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom." Proverbs 3:7 adds, "Be not wise in thine own eyes; fear the LORD, and depart from evil." Proverbs 16:6 declares that it is the fear of God that causes men to "depart from evil." The word fear communicates that we should be in awe of God and that we are also respectfully afraid of Him. Do you fear God? If not, why not? Is it because you do not know and believe what the Bible teaches about the One who made you, watches you, and controls your next heartbeat and breath? The Bible states that "the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings." (Proverbs 5:21) Are you aware that God sees everything you do, knows everything you think, and knows what makes you tick? None of us can hide anything from God! The Lord has declared, "Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD." (Jeremiah 23:24) Your spouse may not see you while you are flirting with another person at work or looking at pictures on the Internet. Your parents may not know you are engaging in sexual immorality with your friends or date, but God does!
When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar’s wife to have sex with her, he responded, "How then can I do this great wickedness, and sin against God?" (Genesis 39:9) When the moment of sexual temptation came to this godly man, he was not focusing upon the beauty of the woman or the opportunity for him to enjoy some forbidden physical pleasure. Instead, he was able to run away from this temptation because he loved and feared God! Pleasing God was more important to him than satisfying and gratifying his body for a fleeting moment.
If you are not in awe of the Almighty God who has all power, knows everything, is always present everywhere, and yet cares about you, then you are in deep trouble! You can learn to fear God by reading the Bible and constantly asking yourself as you read every verse, "What does this teach me about God?" Unfortunately, most people who call themselves Christians want to use the Bible to manipulate God, or play "Lets Make a Deal," so He will bless them. We should read the Bible to get to know God so we can live for Him and please Him. This is how real Christians live! For example, this was the highest ambition of the Apostle Paul, who exhorted all believers to follow his example. (Philippians 3:7-17)
2. We must realize we are wicked and
vulnerable to immorality!
Jesus taught that all sexual immorality comes out of the heart of man. (Matthew 15:19) We cannot blame God, our parents, society, or anyone else. The Bible exposes the one who is at fault with these words, "Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed." (James 1:13-14) The truth that we might like to escape or avoid is that the tendency toward sexual immorality is a part of everyone’s sin nature. Please consider this, "Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man." (1 Corinthians 10:12-13) Even godly King David fell into this sin and tried to cover it up with another sin. (2 Samuel 11:1-27)
Therefore, no matter how godly you might think you are, you are very foolish if you think that you are not vulnerable to any particular sin, including sexual immorality. If you think that you are above committing any particular sin, you are denying the truth of the Word of God and are vulnerable to that sin by letting your guard down. Every true believer is wise to agree with God that his own heart "is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (Jeremiah 17:9) This was the testimony and experience of the Apostle Paul. Read Romans 7:15-25.
3. We must feed our conscience the Bible and heed its warning concerning purity!
Our Creator has made every one of us with a built-in warning system for our soul – the conscience. This conscience either accuses us when we sin or excuses us when we are pleasing God. (Romans 2:15) "The conscience, however, is not infallible. Nor is it a source of revelation about right or wrong. Its role is not to teach us moral and ethical ideals, but to hold us accountable to the highest standards of right and wrong we know. The conscience is informed by tradition as well as by truth, so the standards it holds us to are not necessarily biblical ones (1 Corin. 8:6-9)." (John F. MacArthur, Jr., The Vanishing Conscience, p. 38)
Therefore, in order for our conscience to function in such a way as to promote godliness and purity, it must be informed by the written revelation from God. We must feed our conscience the Word of God so that it will shame us, convict us, and bring guilt when we sin against God. This is what makes Psalm 119:11 work: "Thy word have I hid in mine heart [conscience], that I might not sin against thee." The Bible trains the conscience toward godliness and moral purity. While we feed the conscience the standard of God, we must at the same time guard our conscience from being exposed to immorality that would defile or contaminate it. (Titus 1:15) We live in a society where most people foolishly think they can expose their minds to all kinds of violence and immorality with no affect upon them. They think they can entertain themselves with sin and not be affected with it. We shall not know until we get on the other side of eternity the damning role that television and the entertainment industry in Hollywood has upon our society. Please read Proverbs 4:23-27. Here God warns us to guard what goes into our minds through the gates of our ears, eyes, and other senses. We need to daily practice Psalm 101:3, "I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes."
The reason that the statistics indicate that the members of our churches are living just like the world is because they have very weak consciences. They are not hiding God’s Word in their hearts, and they are not refraining from exposure to the moral filth of the world. How can we expect anything else?
4. We must understand where the road
of sexual immorality begins.
A person does not just wake up one morning and decide that he will commit an act of immorality. It always starts with lust, a sinful desire in his heart. James 1:15 tells it all: "Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death." (James 1:15) The root of every immoral act can be traced back to a gaze that turned into a lustful desire, accompanied by an immoral meditation, which eventually leads to an action to carry out that lustful desire. The Bible repeatedly warns us to not underestimate the controlling power of sexual lust. Proverbs 6:27-29 illustrates that it’s like playing with fire. No one has been physically created so that they can carry fire around in their pocket. Likewise, we have not been spiritually created to play around with mental immorality!
The Bible repeatedly sounds the alarm that looking at nudity or a sensually dressed woman is dangerous. (Leviticus 18:6-18; 20:17-21; Proverbs 6:25-26) All sin is addictive, and pornography is not an exception! Don’t look and lust. Like all other sin, sexual immorality will take you further than you want to go. It will keep you longer than you want to stay. It will cost you more than you want to pay. Sin is a cruel master that enslaves its subjects. It controls. It destroys. It kills. Sexual lust and immorality bind their victim "with the cords of his sins." (Proverbs 5:22) Jesus said, "Whosoever commits sin [keeps on practicing a sin] is the servant [slave] of sin. … If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed." (John 8:34, 36)
5. We must remind ourselves where the road of immorality ends!
All sin is deceptive. It always looks good and inviting. It promises pleasure but never reminds you where it always leads. God’s warning about the results of sexual immorality reverberates throughout the Holy Scriptures. Proverbs 6:32 sounds God’s trumpet alarm, "But whoso commiteth adultery with a woman lacketh understanding: he that doeth it destroys his own soul." God attempts to write this message of warning upon our hearts by giving us many colorful and graphic pictures of the tragic result of immorality. When a person involves himself in sexual immorality, he becomes a "shipwreck" (1 Timothy 1:19); is like an ox being led to the slaughter (Proverbs 7:22); is compared to a fool who is being led "to the correction of the stocks" (Proverbs 7:22); is like a bird that is hurrying into a trap that will take its life (Proverbs 7:23); and has entered into the door of the house of death that leads to hell! (Proverbs 7:24-27) The deceptiveness of sin focuses our attention only upon the pleasure offered by sin. All sin brings pleasure "for a season." (Hebrews 11:25) However, the sinful road that advertises pleasure on its many billboards ultimately leads its victims around a blind curve and plunges them into the valley of death. Sexual immorality leads to painful and deadly diseases, broken homes and broken lives, a desensitized conscience, abusive behavior, unfulfilling, selfish lifestyles, and most tragically, it disrupts fellowship with a holy God. Like all other sin, it never delivers what it promises.
6. We must remind ourselves that we are to be different from this sensual world!
We live in a world where sensuality has become the model and desire of many around us. Millions of men and women want to look sexy. They have bought into the mindset and lifestyle that is being promoted in all of the entertainment and advertisement industries in our sensual culture. Some women dress in public and church like the prostitutes dressed 60 years ago! Statistics report that men of all ages are committing mental adultery every day, and many times a day. We are living in a culture that is wallowing in a selfish and sensual lifestyle, living for a few brief moments of self-gratification. The truth detailed about the last days in 2 Timothy 3:1-7 is a commentary on our age. This text reports that the last days will be dangerous because of the self-centeredness of the age that will culminate in various forms of hatred, violence, deception, lawlessness, and immorality. These people are "ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (2 Timothy 3:7)
As believers in Jesus Christ we must daily remind ourselves that God has called us to be holy. God commands, "Be ye holy; for I am holy." (1 Peter 1:16) Our ultimate aim is to be like Christ. Therefore, there is no room for sensuality or immorality in the mind or body of the believer!
In the Apostle Paul’s day the Corinthian believers were living in one of the most aggressively sensual cultures in the ancient Roman world. The city of Corinth was one of the most important and influential cities of its time. It was located in a strategic position to attract commercial traffic from all over the ancient world. It was at the base of a mountain on which was located the temple of Venus, the Greek goddess of love. This temple was known all over the ancient world for its 1,000 beautiful temple prostitutes, dedicated to leading the worship of Venus by providing their immoral services in honor of this goddess of love. All of these factors ultimately played a part in Corinth becoming one of the most prolific sensual and immoral playgrounds of the ancient world. Consequently, Corinth became a magnet for homosexuality and all other forms of deviant sexual behavior. The Lord called the Apostle Paul to graciously establish a church in this wicked city. During his ministry Paul wrote several letters to the believers at Corinth, exhorting them concerning moral purity. In one of these letters he reminded them that they had been purchased by Jesus Christ and belonged physically and spiritually to Him. As believers in Jesus Christ, we are to view our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, our bodies should not have any part in sexual immorality which would defile this temple and bring shame upon our Holy Lord Jesus. (1 Corinthians 6:15-20)
7. We must not forget the role of Satan and his demons in immorality!
An examination of several Biblical texts reveals that Satan and his demons have a long history of involvement with immorality! They played a major role in the sexual immorality that manifested itself in the days preceding the global flood in Noah’s day. According to the context of Genesis 6:1-13, demons contributed to the moral corruption, wickedness, and violence in the global rebellion against their Creator. The Apostle Peter (2 Peter 2:4-5) and Jude (Jude 6-7) confirm this observation. Demons promote nudity and the lack of moral shame. Note that the demon-possessed man that was living in the tombs in Luke 8 was naked (verse 27) and was not ashamed as he appeared before others. According to 1 Timothy 4:1-2, demonic influence plays some part in the numbing of people’s consciences, so that nudity and immorality do not bring guilt, shame, or remorse. In light of this, it is most revealing to note that after Jesus cast the demons out of the man in Luke 8 it brought about a dramatic change in his life. When the people of his community looked at him after the demons were cast out, they observed that He was "sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed, and in his right mind." (Luke 8:35) When the demons were gone, his spiritual eyes were opened and his conscience was restored so that his shame caused him to clothe himself.
It is very important that all servants of God take note that Satan has many weapons to tempt God’s people to fall into sin, bringing disgrace to our Lord. (Ephesians 6:10-18) The Lord reminded the Apostle Peter. "Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat." (Luke 22:31) The Bible pulls back the curtain of the spirit world to reveal that Satan loves to sexually tempt the person whose spouse is not meeting their sexual needs. (1 Corinthians 7:2-5)
The prevalence of sexual immorality among pastors and professing believers is all too common in these last days. We would do well to note that the promotion of sensuality, pornography, and immorality are all on the demons’ daily "to do" list in this world system where Satan is the prince. (John 12:31) We would be wise to note that those who have given themselves over to promote or participate in sensuality, pornography, and immorality are in some way influenced by demons. Behind all of the beautiful, and luring temptation to mentally and physically enjoy illicit sexual pleasure is the laughing, deceptive, cunning, damning, and deadly trickery of demons who, like their master, love to destroy personal lives, marriages, testimonies, churches, and the spiritual light that exposes these workers of darkness.
The power of Satan and our own sin nature can only be resisted with a greater power – the power of God. We must fight this spiritual warfare with God’s armor, not ours! "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand." (Ephesians 6:12-13)
Please recognize that in this analogy of putting on the armor to defend ourselves against the darts of Satan, we are exhorted to put on "the breastplate of righteousness." (Ephesians 6:14) The Roman soldier knew how important the breastplate was. It protected the vital organs in his chest. It was the primary target of his enemy! Likewise, when Satan tempts us with sensuality, pornography, and immorality, he is aiming for our spiritual heart! Think about that! Putting on the breastplate of righteousness means that we must know and practice God’s righteous standards of morality! We should long for holiness and moral purity in our lives, families, and churches. This will be reflected in how we dress, what we read, what television programs we watch, what kind of music we listen to, what places we visit on the Internet, and what we desire in our hearts!
8. We must practice the Biblical imperative to RUN from sexual temptation!
Sexual temptation is powerful. Proverbs 6:27, 28 asks, "Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one go upon hot coals, and his feet not be burned?" When you touch something that is too hot, you must drop it immediately. Our body is not made to withstand high temperatures. Likewise, we are not spiritually made to focus upon something that arouses our sexual desires. Remember that Jesus said, "Whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart." (Matthew 5:28)
When you see something that is sexually tempting, do not keep looking or it will be too late. Like touching something that is too hot, it only takes a moment to be seriously injured. The Bible exhorts us to "flee fornication" (1 Corinthians 6:18) and "youthful lusts." (2 Timothy 2:22) To flee is to run! Mentally and physically we must remove ourselves from the presence of sexual temptation. A few seconds of lusting can lead to a lifetime of tragedy and disappointment.
9. We must not forget that in a moment we could be standing before our Holy Judge!
Those who claim that they are saved and are not living a holy and pure moral life, both mentally and physically, are not watching for the coming of the Lord Jesus! The potential for our rapture into the presence of our holy Lord Jesus at any moment will have a purifying effect upon us. "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is, And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as he is pure." (1 John 3:2-3) The apostle Paul concluded his life with these words, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them that love his appearing." (2 Timothy 4:7-8) Please note that Paul connected personal, righteous living with those who were looking for Jesus’ coming.
It is obvious that the world and many in the church do not believe that "the judge standeth before the door." (James 5:9) If they did, our world and churches would not be tainted with sensuality, pornography, and immorality!
What can you do if you have already fallen into the trap of immorality? First, cry out to God for forgiveness. (1 John 1:8-10) Begin to live a life of repentance. Turn from sin and to Christ. "Walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:16-21) Seek God’s face, and daily look for the coming of the Lord. Begin to saturate your conscience with the biblical admonitions and warnings that are mentioned in this newsletter. Recognize your weakness toward this sin, and understand that this is spiritual warfare for your soul! Demons are using sexually tempting things to lure you into their damning trap! Remember that the person who yields to sexual temptation "destroyeth his own soul." (Proverbs 6:32) This is why Jesus said that sexual temptation requires a serious response. (Read Matthew 5:28-30.)
As proclaimed by Biblical history and prophecy, a nation that descends into the pits of immorality has departed from the Rock of life and salvation and has built their life and nation upon the sands of sin that will destroy them all!
When people talk about famine, most Americans, and others in the West, do not consider the subject seriously because they live in a land of plenty. For many decades now most of us in the rich nations of the West have enjoyed food imported from around the world. The variety and availability has been delightful. Furthermore, in recent years the United States of America has been the bread basket of the world. However, is it possible that this is all about to change? Is it really possible that global famine is the forecast for all, including the advanced, affluent nations of the West? Let us examine both the Biblical and secular forecasts of global famine.
In response to His disciples’ question about the signs of the end of this age, Jesus warned that famine would accompany the natural disasters, ravages of war, and diseases that would be a part of the birth pangs that would thrust the world into the Tribulation. (Matthew 24:7-8) In light of this revelation it is not surprising to note that according to the Apostle John, global famine will be so serious at the beginning of the Tribulation that it will take a man’s entire daily wage to buy about one quart of wheat. (Revelation 6:6) For example, if a person’s daily wage was $100.00, it would mean that a bushel of wheat would sell for about $3,200 at the beginning of the Tribulation! It is selling now for about $9 a bushel. Think about that for a moment!
In light of this, it is most interesting to examine what is being reported in secular circles about the approaching global famine, and how close it may be. According to the United Nations there are currently 830 million people in the world that are malnourished. Famine kills more people annually than Aids, tuberculosis and malaria combined. (Peter Huck, www.nzhearld.co.nz, March 29, 2008) However, many sources indicate that the situation is about to get much worse because "the world is facing the most severe food price inflation in history as grain and soybean prices climb to all-time highs." (Peter Huck, www.nzherald.com.nz, March 29, 2008) According to UN records, global food prices have risen 35 percent in the last year. The World Bank estimates that global food prices have risen by 83 percent the last three years. (The Roanoke Times, April 23, 2008, p. 7) This current dangerous inflation of food prices is putting the availability of food out of reach for millions in poverty around the world. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown recently commented, "Tackling hunger is a moral challenge to each of us and it is also a threat to the political and economic stability of the nations." (The Roanoke Times, April 23, 2008, p. 7) It is important for us to know what factors are creating this food crisis and the forces behind the approaching global famine.
First, the inflation of fossil fuels in recent years, 79 percent in the last 12 months, has encouraged many nations to create and invest into a program of converting food, such as corn and sugar cane, into alternate fuels. In the U.S., 24.7 percent of the corn crop was used in 2007 to make ethanol. The increased demand for corn has driven up the domestic price of corn, and consequently also inflated the price of milk, eggs, and meat because of the escalated cost of feed for animals and poultry. In South America some countries are doing the same thing with sugar cane. The UN projects that the current manufacturing of food into fuel is creating an "unforeseen and unprecedented hunger crisis." (Peter Huck, www.nzherald.co.nz, March 29, 2008) However, if we do not develop alternative fuels it will cause the cost of fossil fuels to increase and thereby drive up the cost of food. Just image what the price of food would be should gas reach $10 per gallon!
Another reason for the inflation in cost for food is the world’s population boom and the shift of that population from the farms to the factories. World population is now increasing at the alarming rate of 1.5 million per week. A swelling global population is demanding an ever dwindling food supply. The food supply in some cases is shrinking because more farmers are leaving the rural areas for employment in urban communities. "More than half of the world’s population lives in urban areas, and the number is increasing as developing nations grow." (USA Today, April 16, 2008, p. 2A) Furthermore, people’s diets are beginning to change as a result of this shift from the farm to the urban areas. In two of the world’s most populated nations, China and India, the booming economies are increasing the middle class, which is now able for the first time to afford more meat and dairy products. For example, the Chinese in 2001 ate just 44 pounds of meat per capita. However, now they eat about 110 pounds per capita. This change in the availability and demand of better food is driving up the global cost of food. In some cases some nations, which exported rice in the past, have now put a ban on exporting rice to assure that they have enough for domestic use, shaking up the balance of rice production and availability. This is also driving up the price of rice. During a five-week period this spring rice more than doubled in price, and its availability is currently limited in some areas in the U.S. Furthermore, this has had a critical impact upon the survival of some nations. For example, Bangladesh, which annually produces 28 million tons of food grain, meeting about 95 percent of their domestic needs, was hit by a cyclone last December that destroyed their rice crop, valued at $600 million. Imported rice inflated the price of rice 70 percent, making it impossible for many in Bangladesh who live on less than $1 a day to survive. (Raja M, "Asia faces growing rice crisis," www.atimes.com, February 14, 2008) Also, in Asian countries, the population shift from the farm, and the growth of urban housing, means less land, less water, and less labor for growing rice. Rice is a very labor-intensive crop that demands a lot of water. Therefore, as the production of rice goes down, it forces the price of rice up. This is critical because rice is a dietary staple for more than half of the world’s 6.6 billion people.
Another factor causing the inflation of food is related to the change in weather patterns caused by global warming and the impact of natural disasters like drought, high winds, fires, and floods, which not only destroy structures, but crops. The unpredictable weather patterns, along with the dramatic increases in the costs of fuel and fertilizer are forcing many out of farming and into the factory. As mentioned above, this is a dangerous trend that is setting the stage for a very serious shortage of food and even higher prices for the shrinking food supply.
Add to these problems the mysterious collapse of the honeybee populations in North America. These bees naturally pollinate about 30 percent of all the produce consumed by Americans. If this situation with the bees continues to deteriorate it could have a devastating effect upon the production of food in North America!
Another issue that is creating a ticking time bomb with the production of food is the serious depletion of the underground aquifers. This vast supply of underground water is being pumped up to irrigate crops in China and India, and other parts of the world where there is an increased demand for the production of food. Many scientists are warning that these aquifers are being depleted to a dangerous point that could cause them to become contaminated with the seepage of salt water from the nearby oceans, or they could just simply run dry, leaving farmers that rely upon this water with no crops to feed the hungry. When these aquifers are contaminated or run dry, billions of people in China and India could be one crop away from mass starvation!
The United States at one time was the bread basket of the world. However, in recent years the United States has been a net importer of food. We import more food from the rest of the world than we produce at home! Like the rest of the world, we are turning our farmland into parking lots, shopping malls, residential developments, and factories. We are raping our top soil to raise corn to burn in our tanks so we can drive our cars to work and to the mall. While we are focusing on being energy independent, we are creating a greater dependency upon something that is more important to sustaining life, food! We are contributing to a great food crisis. America’s greatest resource may not be oil, but our farmland. Perhaps we would do well to demand that those who want to raise the price of oil, who live in arid or frigid lands, pay more for the food that they import from us and the rest of the world. Food is a more valuable resource than oil!
However, perhaps the most dangerous factor that is increasing the potential for a global famine is a virulent wheat fungus called Ug99 [the name of this wheat fungus comes from the place and time of its appearance in Uganda in 1999], an old wheat fungus that has re-emerged with a vengeance. Debora Mackenzie of the New Scientist Environment states, "This thing has immense potential for social and human destruction." (Debora Mackenzie, New Scientist Environment, www.newscientist.com, April 3, 2007) We must remember that wheat is the number one global food staple.
This fungus is destroying about 80 - 90 percent of the wheat crops where it appears. The spores of this fungus are being carried by wind from East Africa across Yemen, and are presently in Iran. "Affected countries and the international community have to ensure that the spread of the disease gets under control in order to reduce the risk to countries that are already hit by high food prices. … Countries east of Iran, like Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan, all major wheat producers, are most threatened by the fungus and should be on high alert. … It is estimated that as much as 80 percent of all wheat varieties planted in Asia and Africa are susceptible to [this fungus]." (www.fao.org, March 5, 2008)
This fungus was a global problem about 60 years ago. At that time scientists developed three varieties of wheat that were found to be resistant to this wheat fungus. However, now this fungus has mutated so that most of the wheat being grown is no longer resistant to it. It is only a matter of time before this fungus could attack the entire global wheat crop. Researchers fear that it could take eight years to develop a new variety of wheat and to produce enough seeds for the global crops to replace the current varieties being used today. And, Ug99 is mutating so fast that it may be practically impossible to stay ahead of it. As one researcher, Chris Dowsell of the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, said, "All I know is that what blows into Iran will not be the same as what blows out of it." (www.environment. newscientist.com, April 3, 2007) Furthermore, it has been discovered that the spores of this fungus can attach themselves to clothing and be transported to a previously unaffected area. With global travel as it is today, it is feared that Ug99 could be either accidentally or purposefully introduced to an unaffected area as a form of agricultural terrorism. According to a reporter for The Prairie Star, Dale Hildebrant, "about one-half of the winter wheat and 75 to 80 percent of the spring wheat acreage in the U.S. is planted in varieties that are susceptible to Ug99, putting about 1.4 billion bushels of annual wheat production at risk. … And even if a new resistant variety
Was ready to be released today it would take two or three years’ of seed increase in order to have enough wheat in the world." (Dale Hildebrant, "Future world wheat crops threatened by Ug99 stem rust, " www.prairestar.com March 13, 2008)
All of this means that ug00 has the immediate potential to force the price of wheat up so fast that the poorest people in the world will starve due to the famine. Wheat prices went up 14 percent last yer and are rising sharply in the first quarter this year.
Those of us who know Bible prophesy know where all of this will end. According to revelation 6:5-6, the current average of a man’s day’s wage being $100, wheat would cost about $3,200 a bushel at the begging of the Tribulation! This translates into a major, unprecedented global famine!
Most of the time, as believers in Jesus Christ and the Word of God, we talk about the Rapture of the church and say that we believe it is imminent. However, if we really do believe that, we should expect that world conditions are rapidly moving in the direction of setting the stage for the opening events of the Tribulation, which follows the Rapture. In light of the prophetic Scriptures, we should take these warnings from the secular agricultural researchers seriously. However, an honest analysis shows these current problems are in part due to the failure of these same researches who have made serious mistakes in the creation of sterile hybrid seeds. Furthermore, this problem is intensified by the abusive application of fertilizers and pesticides by farmers who are forced to increase yields to compensate for the dramatic cost increase in producing their crops. In revelation 11:18 the Lord has warned that He will "destroy them which destroy the earth." Those of us who literally interpret the prophetic Word of god know where all of this is really going. The world’s hope is invested in scientific technology. Our hope is bound up in the person of Jesus Christ and the righteous administration of His coming kingdom. Many prophetic passages promise that mankind will experience a perfect environment that will promote perfect and abundant agricultural production of food during the kingdom. (see Amos (9:13)
According to the Bible we should recognize that bread and all food sources are a gift from our Creator, the Lord Jesus. (Matthew 6:11) We really have no control over the production of food. It is in the hand of our God. He controls the weather and the water. He is the giver of life. He is the Lord of the harvest. The Lord demanded that Israel recognize this each year with the feast of first fruits. (Exodus 23:16, 19; 34:22) During this feast Israel was commanded to bring the initial produce from their fields, and especially the first grains of wheat (Exodus 34:26), to the Lord at His temple. This was an act of thanksgiving and an expression of supplication that the Lord of the harvest would bless the remaining harvest to His people.
The Scriptures abundantly illustrate and teach that the Lord of the harvest does use famine as a means of judging people for their sins. He withholds food and water from those who will not honor Him and bless His name. (Leviticus 26:26; Ezekiel 4:16-17; 5:16-17) In the days of Joseph, God called for a global famine to display His power and to perform His will in calling the family of Jacob to Egypt to fulfill His plan. (Genesis 15:12-16; 41-46; Psalm 105:16-17)
While we are exhorted to be watching for the imminent return of our Lord Jesus (Matthew 24:42) and to be spiritually ready to stand in His holy presence (Matthew 24:44), we are also exhorted to "occupy" until He comes for us. (Luke 19:13) This means that we are to be about His business until He comes, and it also means that it is normal and natural for us to care for the needs that sustain life. Those who watch over and provide for their families have a responsibility to provide both the spiritual and physical needs of those who are under their care. 1 Timothy 5:8 says, "But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." This context addresses the God-given responsibility of leadership in the home to provide for the physical necessities that sustain physical life for the family. While we are exhorted by our Lord to not be anxious about our needs for tomorrow (Matthew 6:30-34), we are encouraged to be like the ant who stores up her food for the winter. (Proverbs 6:6-11) The Bible states that it is foolish to spend up all that a person has. (Proverbs 21:20) The wise will lay aside for the difficult times that are coming. This is what God instructed Joseph to do in Egypt. It is very important to note that God did not demand that Joseph store food for his own family, but in his case for the nations that would face the global famine.
Reading this newsletter and considering these prophetic realities that are approaching this generation could cause all of us to be filled with anxiety about the approaching global famine. What should we do? How should we react? Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 6:30-34. We must not be filled with anxiety about the approaching famine. Our God is in complete control! For the righteous that follow His Word, the Lord gives the following promise, "They shall not be ashamed in the evil time: and in the days of famine they shall be satisfied." (Psalm 37:19) However, this promise, and many others like it, does not excuse the responsibility we have to prepare for the difficult days that lie ahead! In his commentary on Matthew 6:30-34, John MacArthur, Jr. states, "Making reasonable provision for tomorrow is sensible, but to be anxious for tomorrow is foolish and unfaithful. God is the God of tomorrow as well as the God of today and of eternity." (John MacArthur, N.T. Commentary, Matthew 1-7, p. 427)
It is my conviction that each leader in the home and church needs to act upon the warning of the prophetic Word of God. We are commanded to occupy until Jesus comes. Our ultimate goal must be to faithfully serve Him and to provide the spiritual and physical food that is needed for those who look to us for the spiritual and physical provisions of life. I am thoroughly convinced that the church will not go through the Tribulation. However, please remember that when the Tribulation begins global famine will already be a reality. (Revelation 6:5-6) In light of current global developments mentioned in this newsletter it is apparent that we are facing the real threat of global famine in the near future. We must be ready for the Rapture at any moment. However, we must also be ready for the difficult days that lie ahead until that blessed day comes. May our blessed Lord give us all the wisdom to know what to do in these perilous days in which we live. Do not be anxious. He is the Lord of the storm. Pray for wisdom. Watch for Jesus. Win the lost! Confess your sins. These are exciting days in which we live! (Read James 1:2-5 and do it!)
"And say to Archippus, 'Take heed to the ministry which you have received in the Lord, that you may fulfill it… remember my bonds'" (Colossians 4:17,18ff).
This personal footnote at the closing of Paul's letter to the Colossians deserves a closer look. Perhaps in this word of exhortation to Archippus someone may see an application to their situation today.
The ministry (as Scripture intends it) was not, and is not, a position of privilege or class distinction. It was never intended to be a professional office for someone to aspire to, the way one might train to be a doctor or a lawyer.
But our situation today is very different from Paul's time. In Churchianity Today, ministry is often equated to position, influence, title, rank, special privileges, and the most coveted of all prizes: financial remuneration. Unfortunately this mindset is not a 20th century phenomenon. By the middle of the second century the post-apostolic church was already beginning to divide itself along the lines of the "ministers" and the "regular people". Less than 100 years after the last apostle died, after only one or two generations, the priesthood of believers began to be eclipsed by a clergy/laity distinction that continues unabated to this day.
The message to the masses is that ministers are special and to be treated differently from the laity. Depending upon the organizational hierarchy, some ministers are even more special than others. Because we have permitted ministers to receive special treatment, people who crave special treatment are all the more attracted to the ministry of Organized Religion
The situation in the Early Church was quite different. In those days, answering the call to ministry was to accept suffering, hardship, and possible death. Their example was Jesus, the Suffering Servant, and realizing that the disciple is not above His Master, they counted the cost and did not seek the ministry for self-serving purposes.
Someone like Archippus had to be encouraged to fulfill the ministry God had given him. Why? Because it was not something anyone would pursue on their own accord. People did not pursue ministry in the Early Church; ministry pursued them. Ministry was not organized into a hierarchy, and it offered them little or nothing in terms of financial or material reward. It promised little or nothing in the way of fame, recognition, or privilege.
This probably accounts for the reason why, in those days, the Harvest was truly plentiful, but the laborers were few. Today the self-appointed laborers are so many that they are trampling all over the Harvest. The professional clergy and the attitude it brings has become a liability to the Lord of the Harvest, not an asset. They have become a hindrance to the Harvest instead of a help; and today, rather than pray for more laborers to go forth, we might be better off to pray for some of them to go back home and sit at the feet of Jesus for awhile.
For Archippus, it was not a matter of trying to make something happen, or create a ministry where none existed, or start a new church, or anoint himself to do something he wanted to do. He had already received a ministry from the Lord. The precise nature of this ministry, and what he was called to do, we have no way of knowing. It may have been something that, to our eyes, was grand and noble. More than likely, it was something small and seemingly insignificant.
All we know for sure is that Archippus had received a ministry from the Lord, and he had not, as of yet, fulfilled it. Archippus knew it, and Paul knew it, and now everyone in Colossae knew it. He was called to something, and had received something from the Lord, but it was dormant, stagnant, inert, still waiting to be put to use. How ironic that the ones who have nothing to say are the most likely ones to be found preaching; they are the ones itching to speak, hankering to be on the platform - while those who genuinely have something to contribute have to be prodded and encouraged to share their wisdom. This is, perhaps, a built-in safeguard against the pride, arrogance, and high-mindedness that so often tempts, and too many times taints, those who have seen and heard something from the Lord – or merely think they have.
Moses certainly knew something of that reluctance to go forth. The work of the Cross was so thorough in him that he begged God to send someone else. This kind of humility and self-abasement is admirable, and to be preferred over a self-confident swagger; but if we persist beyond a certain point then our protests become false expressions of humility and real disobedience. When Moses persisted in his unwillingness to go, God became angry with him because his humility went beyond its reasonable limit and became something akin to fear. A truly humble person is not for or against a certain course of action. He is indifferent to the thing, and is only concerned for what God would have him to do, whether it be agreeable or disagreeable.
In like manner, Timothy had to be encouraged by Paul. "Stir up the gift that is within you by the laying on of my hands... for God has not given us the spirit of fear… be not ashamed of the testimony of the Lord" (II Timothy 1:6-8ff). Paul does not tell Timothy to pray for a better opportunity, or passively wait for God to rise up within him and overwhelm him. Timothy needed to exercise the gift. He needed to stir it up. He had something to offer, something to contribute. Paul's exhortation was not to persist in false humility or passive waiting, but to be proactive, to stir it up, and serve the Body of Christ as a faithful steward. According to Paul's assessment, it was not a spirit of humility that held Timothy back, it was a spirit of fear.
Archippus, like Moses and Timothy, needed some prodding and pushing. Archippus knew there was a calling on his life, and he knew he had received a ministry from the Lord. As content as he may have been to live life in the shadows, Paul would not allow him to continue to ignore that calling from God without some word of reminder, of correction, of encouragement to pay attention to it and see that it was completed.
There are some who, far from the extreme of seeking out ministry for their own ambitious ends, are content to passively wait for God to fulfill everything in His own time. They will do nothing to hinder it, but they will do nothing to help it, either. While this is commendable to a certain extent when compared to the compulsive hast of the ambitious, it is probably motivated more by timidity and fear. Once a person has received their ministry from the Lord, the humble and patient waiting for it is finished. There was a time when Paul could resort to the desert of Arabia to be alone with the Scriptures and humbly wait for further direction, but when the Spirit finally did send him forth, he went without hesitation, without reservation.
Now Paul says to his fellow laborer Archippus, "Take heed to the ministry which you have received from the Lord that you may fulfill it." It must be fulfilled by someone, and the one to fulfill it is the one who has received it. You cannot fulfill the ministry that I have received from the Lord, and you cannot tell me how to fulfill it. Likewise, I cannot fulfill the ministry you have received from the Lord, nor can I tell you how to fulfill it. Paul did not tell Archippus or Timothy how to fulfill the ministry they had received. His counsel was very wise: stir up the Gift, pay attention to what you have received from the Lord, and the Spirit will show you how to proceed. But proceed you must; do not bury it in the ground like the unprofitable servant, but invest it in the Body of Christ right away.
We are not suggesting that carnal methods can be utilized in fulfilling the ministry, but it must be fulfilled and discharged – not by the might or power of the one who is called, but by the same Spirit of the Lord Who issues the calling. Those who have received a ministry from the Lord must actively seek Him for how, and when, and where, to fulfill that ministry (this assumes we understand WHAT the ministry is, and what it is not). Once something is given by the Lord it becomes a sacred trust and a holy stewardship to the one who has received it. Like Frodo who was charged with taking the ring of power to Mount Mordor, the responsibility for the stewardship cannot be shrugged off or left to others.
If every brother and sister in Christ would take heed to the ministry they have received of the Lord, and fulfill it, we would have no need of a professional clergy at all. It should be apparent that the unwillingness of every member of the Body of Christ to fulfill their individual calling has created a vacuum in the priesthood of all believers that others are only to eager to fill with an imposed hierarchy. In all fairness, it should also be recognized that many of the "laity" are quite content to remain "laity", and actually prefer to have some Moses climb the mountain on their behalf and give them a word from God each week. They may call it a "church", but it is nothing more than a cult of carnal co-dependency, a place where blind leaders can practice their leadership skills on blind followers. May it never be so with the Lord's Ekklesia.
For those who have a heart along the lines of Archippus, Paul's final admonition is: "Remember my chains." And this last word, immediately following the exhortation to fulfill what God has called you to do, is a very potent reminder of what Paul suffered on behalf of his ministry. Following his own advice cost him his life. He was not afflicted with Italian suits, Rolex watches, facelifts, cars, jets, and homes; but like his Master, he embraced the Cross and died daily so that others could live. His ministry was characterized by self-denial, not self-indulgence.
Archippus is mentioned only once more in Scripture. A few years later, when writing to Philemon, Paul sends his greetings to "Archippus, our fellow soldier" (Philemon 2). If Paul greets him as a fellow soldier then Archippus must have certainly followed Paul's exhortation to fulfill the work God had called him to. He was fighting in the trenches, not criticizing from the sidelines of the battle. I pray that all those who have received something from the Lord will take heed to it, and fulfill the work of the Lord in a manner that brings glory, not shame, to the Lord of the Work.
A Prostitute Loves Christ in the House of a Pharisee
Loving Extravagently
I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love. (Luke 7:47, NLT)
Women have a large part to play in the New Testament story. They funded Jesus' earthly ministry (Luke 8:1-3). They were also the most faithful of His disciples, staying with Him to the bitter end. But of all the women mentioned in the New Testament, none can compare with Mary of Magdala.
Magdala was a city along the sea of Galilee. It was a very unclean town—filthy and unkempt. It was also known for its rampant prostitution. Many of the city's young girls grew up learning how to sin. Mary was one of them. At a young age, Mary learned the dark trade of selling her body for money. She became a harlot . . . a woman of the night.
Little did anyone know that this hopeless, sinful, demon-possessed prostitute was destined to meet the Lover of her soul. And as a result, she would be heralded by women and men in every century.
By using a bit of consecrated imagination, I would like us to return to the first century and meet this incredible woman and her encounter with this incredible Lord.1
It is the year A.D. 28. Like most people in Palestine, Mary of Magdala has heard the grand reports of a miracle-working prophet named Jesus of Nazareth. Everywhere He goes, Jesus heals the sick and casts out demons. Mary hears that Jesus will be visiting the town of Nain in Galilee (Luke 7:11-17). So she makes haste to be there.
At this point in her adult life, Mary is a desperate soul. Since she was a young teen, she has made her living as a prostitute. She suffers from depression and suicidal tendencies. For years she has been vexed with evil spirits. Seven to be exact (Luke 8:2). All of her adult life she has known nothing but torment, degradation, and utter defilement (see Matt. 12:45).
The day has come. Mary sets out for Nain to find Jesus. As soon as she enters the city, she meets a large crowd. And she spots Him. She is riveted by the authority with which He speaks. She also detects a graciousness and a purity that she has never before witnessed.
Jesus finishes His message and begins praying for the sick who are before Him. Without any timidity, Mary approaches Him. Jesus looks upon her with uncommon familiarity. In a flash of Divine revelation, the Lord remembers . . . He remembers that she was chosen to be part of His glorious Bride before the foundation of the world.
As He puts His hands upon her head, Mary weeps. With uncommon authority, the Lord utters this simple word, "Evil spirits I command you to come out of her, never to enter her again!"
Immediately, Mary lets out a loud cry and collapses before Jesus as if she were in a coma. Those looking on wonder if she is dead. The Lord assures them that she is just sleeping. An hour goes by, and Mary awakens. When she rises from the ground, she feels clean and whole. She can only remember feeling this way in the innocence of her childhood, when she was a little girl. She begins to weep.
Mary looks for Jesus, but He is gone. She is told that He has been invited to a Pharisee's home for dinner. With tears of deep gratitude and joyful anticipation, she heads off to find Jesus. She has with her the most valuable asset she owns. A small vial filled with costly perfume that hangs from a leather necklace around her neck. This vial represents her savings account. The money has come from her trade. Without forethought or deliberation, she wishes to give it to Jesus as a gift . . . a token of her gratitude.
As she diligently inquires the exact whereabouts of Jesus, someone points to the home of Simon the Pharisee. Simon has invited the Lord to be his guest for dinner. Let's walk into Simon's home and see what's happening there.
Simon is quite intrigued by this famous prophet named Jesus. He has heard many stories about Him. Simon belongs to the class of "non-sinners" called Pharisees. They are the self-appointed monitors of the Kingdom of God. They are the self-proclaimed and self-anointed experts at sin management. They are beyond sin in their own eyes, and their "ministry" is to make sure that others keep sin to an absolute minimum. Simon and his Pharisee friends are now afforded the opportunity to interview the Nazarene prophet up-close and personal.
Jesus is the guest of honor. Simon, however, ignores all of the common courtesies of an Eastern home. He fails to greet Jesus with a kiss. He doesn't anoint His head with oil. He also fails to wash His feet. Note that Simon has in his home the very God who he has been serving all of His life. Yet He is pathetically unaware of it. Jesus makes no mention of Simon's neglect as a host. Instead, He graciously reclines at the table with Simon and his friends.
The door opens, and in walks Mary of Magdala. She is uninvited. Yet she enters unashamedly.2
As Mary enters, she quickly spots Jesus. And she begins to weep. She walks straight over to Him and positions herself into the highest place possible—at His feet. As she kneels before Jesus, her tears fall upon His feet. She opens the vial of valuable perfume that's suspended from her neck and pours it out upon the feet of Christ. She anoints His feet with the perfume, mixing it with her tears. She then does something outrageous. Scandalous even. She begins to kiss his feet! And she does not stop. (In the Greek, the thought conveyed is that she "smothers" his feet with kisses.)
What happens next horrifies both Simon and his fellow Pharisees. She unbinds her hair and turns it into a towel. She then proceeds to wipe the Lord's feet with it. (In that day for a woman to unbind her hair in public was no small scandal. It would be akin to a woman going topless in our day.)
The Pharisees are in shock. They are mortified. Her attire makes clear that she is a prostitute. A sinner. There's no question about it. And they are livid. Why? Because Jesus, this so-called prophet, does not stop her from engaging in what they consider to be shamelessly erotic acts: Unbinding her hair and kissing His feet.
Please note: Jesus never rebukes her.
The Pharisees think to themselves that Jesus cannot possibly be a prophet. If He were, He would not allow this sinner to perform such disgraceful acts. Jesus perceives their thoughts. But He doesn't seem to care what they think. The Lord knows exactly who she is. She is part of His glorious Bride—chosen in Him before creation. And she is doing what the Bride was designed to do: She is loving Him shamelessly. She is loving Him passionately. She is loving Him extravagantly. And your Lord is not offended!
Never in all of His ministry has the Lord been loved like this.
What is Mary doing? She is simply returning the love that He poured upon her earlier that day.
What are Simon and the other Pharisees doing? They are passing judgment upon her. In their eyes, they are in a different class than this woman. She is a sinner. They are non-sinners. They are also engaging in something far worse: They are unwittingly passing judgment on the God who they are trying to serve!
Jesus launches into a parable: "There are two men who owed money. One owed a great deal; the other owed very little. The money lender had a wide heart, and he forgave them both." Jesus then turns to Simon and presses him with this query: "Simon, which one will love the most?"
Simon answers reluctantly: "I guess the one who owed more."
Jesus commends Simon for a correct answer. He then proceeds to reprove Him: "I came into your home, and you did not greet me with a kiss. This woman not only kissed me. But she has kissed my feet, and she has not yet stopped. Simon, you didn't anoint my head. But this woman has anointed my feet with her life's fortune. Simon, you didn't wash my feet. But this woman has washed my feet with her tears and she has dried them with her hair. This woman's many sins are forgiven. So she loves much. But the person who has been forgiven little will love little."
In this little parable, Jesus turns the tables on this Pharisee. Simon is the one whom God doesn't approve. Simon can't appreciate God's love even when it's sitting at his own table. Herein we are faced with one of the great truths of the gospel: If you are not part of the class called "sinner," then you are out of favor with God.
This story gives us great insight into the heart of a Pharisee. A Pharisee is someone who is completely out of touch with the fact that he is a sinner. A Pharisee sits in the seat of the Almighty and judges others as being sinners. A Pharisee does not view himself as a sinner, though he is guilty of the greatest of all sins—self-righteousness and judgmentalism.
In the words of Brennan Manning, "No greater sinners exist than those so-called Christians who disfigure the face of God, mutilate the gospel of grace, and intimidate others through fear."
Nothing can bring salvation but repentance. And for the spiritually smug, that's quite a hard commodity to come by. Thus there is no salvation for a Pharisee . . . unless he comes to grips that he is a sinner. For only sinners have a chance in the Kingdom of God. The self-righteous forfeit it all together.
A careful survey of the Gospels will reveal this one penetrating truth: Jesus Christ was the friend and defender of sinners. It was the tax collectors, the thieves, the prostitutes, and the adulterers that He welcomed into His Kingdom. It was to the highly religious, the self-righteous, and the morally upright (and uptight) that He leveled His severest criticisms. For such had disqualified themselves from the Kingdom of God.
Your Lord was a specialist at inducing the fury of the self-righteous, religious elite. Speaking of Christ's radical message of the Kingdom, Brian McLaren writes, "It was the most religious who seemed to get the secret message of Jesus the least, and the least religious who seemed to get it the most " Presumably, this is the reason why the stories in the Gospels (let alone the Old Testament) are not peopled with the morally upright. We're quite hard-pressed to find moral heroes in most of them.
Now let's put a modern Christian in that room with Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the Pharisees. A self-righteous Christian, mind you.
"Um . . . Lord Jesus, did she ask you to forgive her? I didn't hear her say she was sorry for living as a prostitute. How do we know if she has really repented, Lord? Do you mind if I interrogate her for a bit please?"
Such is the spirit of a Pharisee. And we have not so learned Jesus Christ.
Repeat: The greatest sins above all else are self-righteousness and judgmentalism. These will bar one from entrance into the Kingdom of God.
In this connection, there is only one person in the universe who has the right to be self-righteous. It is Jesus Christ! And there is no such spirit within Him. Thank God that our Lord is not self-righteous. For if He were, none of us would have any hope!
I am deeply impressed that the Lord demanded nothing of Mary. Instead, He received her shameless act as proof of her love for Him. Mary loved Jesus at great cost. She loved him in the presence of judgmental Pharisees . . . in their home, uninvited. She "pressed into the Kingdom of God violently" and loved her Lord unabashedly and without shame (Matt. 11:12; Luke 16:16). But what I find even more jolting is that Mary was completely confident that Jesus would receive her act of adoration. She had no fear of Him, only love. This observation alone is quite telling.
Luke closes the curtains on this scene with the Lord saying to Mary, "Your sins are forgiven. Your faith has saved you; go in peace."
Throughout the many years that I have been a Christian, I have made the following observation: You'll never know if self-righteousness is in your heart until something tragic happens to a fellow Christian that you know. When somebody you know (or know of) falls short, makes a mistake, or you pick up an ugly rumor about them, it is at that moment that a self-righteous spirit—if it exists—will rear its head.
To be self-righteous and judgmental is to disqualify yourself from the Kingdom of God. It is to deny the fact that you are a sinner who is hanging by a cobweb of grace . . . just like the rest of us. If you get in touch with your humanity, you will make an important discovery. That you are just as fallen as every one else and just as undeserving of God's mercy as everyone else. Such a revelation should remove any judgmental bone in your body.
I find this story so very encouraging on many levels. But the point that I am most impressed with is in who Mary Magdalene was. To my mind, she embodies the very depths of the Fall. She is a harlot, sold into sin, possessed by seven devils. Yet despite all of that, she was chosen to be part of the Bride of Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world—holy and without blame.
Even more startling, despite her tragic condition, she believed that she was worthy to love the Lord Jesus Christ. Somehow, Mary touched His grace. Somehow, she saw His love for her. And with an unbridled audacity, she accepted His forgiveness and she loved Him with a blind passion.
She didn't get hung up on her tragic and pitiful condition. Instead, she received His love. And that love returned back to Him. Mary's love for her Lord was but a reflection of His driving love for her.
The story ends with the Lord telling her to "go in peace." And in peace she went. In fact, she followed the incarnation of Peace for the rest of her life (Eph. 2:14). For she became one of the Lord's most faithful disciples (Luke 8:1-3).
The devotion that Mary had for the Lord Jesus is remarkable. For it lasted beyond the Lord's earthly life. After Jesus dies, we find her loving Him beyond the grave. All that remained was the lifeless corpse of the God whom she loved. Yet . . . this devoted woman was following Him still. Blindly and just as passionately. Though He were dead, she was still taking care of Him (Mark 16:1).
What a lesson for us who do not see Him. What utter devotion. She loved Him even though He were dead. Perhaps this is the reason why she was given the high privilege of being the first witness to the resurrected Christ (John 20:13-16).
Indeed, Mary of Magdala is a study in undying love. I ask you: What provoked such unending devotion? It was simply this: Mary believed the Lord's opinion of her! She took His opinion of herself rather than her own. In so doing, love was awakened within her own heart for Christ.
The resurrection scene contains strong echoes of the garden of Eden. The first Adam found his bride in a garden. When she came forth from his side, Adam named her "Woman" (Gen. 2:23). But by his sin, the first Adam ended his life in a grave (Gen. 2:17; 5:5).
The Last Adam, Jesus Christ, was put to death in a grave, and He was raised in a garden (John 19:40-20:15). In His resurrected state, the first eyes to see Him were Mary's. His words to her are revealing. He said, "Woman" (John 20:15).
When Mary recognized the Lord, she sought to embrace Him. But it wasn't yet His wedding day, so He restrained her (John 20:16-17).
What a beautiful picture. The first Adam found his bride—the first woman—in a garden, but he turned that garden into a grave. The Second Adam found His Bride—the second woman—in a garden which was once a grave.
Who, then, is Mary Magdalene? She is you and she is me. Deeply fallen vessels. But chosen in Christ before time . . . holy and without blame . . . a part of the loveliest girl in the world.
If Mary of Magdala could love her Lord and enjoy His presence boldly, flagrantly, extravagantly, shamelessly, and without inhibition, then so can you! And so can I. Therefore, the next time you feel condemnation over your past, please remember this one thing: The first person to lay eyes upon the resurrected Lord was a former prostitute.
God chose Mary Magdalene from the foundation of the world, knowing the kind of life she would live. And He chose you and me from the foundation of the world, knowing full well all the mistakes we would make this side of the veil.
Because of that horrid death on Calvary, there is nothing between you and your God. The Lord has eliminated all barriers. So open up your heart to His love. He longs for His Bride to have a dauntless faith that believes what He believes about her despite what she has done in her past. Such a faith produces an outrageous adoration for Him. This is the lesson that Mary Magdalene teaches us.
Do you doubt His love? Then lift your eyes to that hill upon which Christ bled and died. Get a good look at the cross. Therein lies the undisputable proof of His passion for you. The cross is unmovable. The blood of God was shed for one reason: He loved you with an unspeakable passion.
You have a Lord who wishes to cherish you. Neither your fallen nature nor your sins are an obstacle for Him. He has dealt with them thoroughly, completely, and willingly by His death and resurrection.
I say it again. Open your heart to the Lord's overwhelming love, and you will be able to love Him like Mary did. Always remember: This God of yours allowed a prostitute to love Him extravagantly in the house of a Pharisee. Such is the wonder of the sacred romance into which every believer has been swept up.
Footnotes:
1. According to most traditional scholars and the testimony of ancient church history, Mary Magdalene is the unnamed woman described in Luke 7:36-50. She is not to be confused with Mary of Bethany who anointed the Lord in the home of Lazarus near the end of Jesus' life.
2. Private life was virtually unheard of in Jesus' day. The doors of homes were often wide open for friends, beggars, and even the curious to march in at a whim.
This is an excerpt from Frank's book "God's Ultimate Passion"
As I travel across this great nation and speak in its conservative evangelical churches, I have been privileged to speak with many Americans, both secular and spiritual, concerning their worldviews. Consequently, I have observed that most Americans are suffering from a very bad case of “Titanic mentality.” They think that economically the U.S. is big, powerful, and luxurious, like the Titanic, and will never lose its superpower status! They cannot envision an America that is not a superpower and a major player on the global, political, economical, and military scenes. However, those who are delirious with this ailment have forgotten world history and are oblivious to the prophetic Word of God. Both secular history and the prophetic Word of God indicate that the U.S. in her current state cannot survive much longer as the world’s only superpower. An honest evaluation of the current state of affairs of the U.S. should lead one to conclude that America is spiritually, morally, and economically bankrupt! To ignore this is both tragic and dangerous in the light of the Biblical context of these last days!
In this brief article I hope to share with you some very alarming facts about the current economic situation in the U.S. and demonstrate what this means in the light of the overall context of “end-time” developments. Finally, we will turn to the Bible for some sound counsel concerning what we should all do in light of where all of this is going. It is imperative that we heed the warning signs and make preparations for the economical storm that is approaching this nation and the entire world. Jesus is coming soon. He could come today, and we would not need to be concerned with the approaching economical storm. However, He also taught that we should “occupy” until He comes! (Luke 19:13) This means that we must prepare to live here in this world until He comes for us.
Have you ever attempted to share the facts with a person, only to have them ignore the information because what you are saying is too painful for them to grasp or consider? In general, this happens to me every week! I am proclaiming the detailed prophetic Word of God that paints a very bleak and hopeless future for our world outside of Jesus Christ’s return at the end of the Tribulation, when He will right all that is wrong with our world. I know very well that the overwhelming majority of people who hear the prophetic Word of God do not really believe that it is true, or that the final phase of the Church Age is here, and that the most horrific time known in the history of man is about to unfold. For most people, even true born-again believers, this is too painful to grasp or accept. I am convinced that it is even more painful for the average believer in America. This generation of Americans has developed and is enjoying one of the most affluent societies in the history of man. We might not like to admit it, but we really enjoy our creature comfort, and do not want to imagine life without them. Most of us have not known what it is like to really be hungry, cold, or homeless! Therefore, there is a tendency to reject any serious consideration that we are living at a very dangerous hour when all of these creature comforts could be taken away in a very short period of time.
While no one can predict the exact nature and time of the catastrophic collapse of the United States’ economy, it is painfully clear that it will happen. As you examine the current economical indicators in the context of history and the economic demise of the previous governments that have gone bankrupt before us, there is no way to ignore the fact that history is about to repeat itself. What makes this even more frightening is that the U.S. dollar is considered to be the standard currency exchange of the global economy. For many decades now the nations of the world, on the international level, have traded goods and made investments in U.S. dollars. Therefore, it is projected that the collapse of the U.S. dollar could literally destroy not only the economy of the U.S., but the global economy as well. In light of the prophetic context of these last days this is extremely significant! Let us examine the facts.
One would think that everyone understands that when expenditures continually and grossly exceed income that this is a recipe for financial disaster. Yet, this current U.S. generation, from the White House to their house, seems to believe that borrowing a lot of money is good for the economy, and good for America. Unfortunately, borrowing money is like sin; the immediate results are very gratifying. However, the day of reckoning will come! The Bible has warned us, “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” (Galatians 6:7) Many Americans have borrowed so that they can enjoy the good life. They are in love with material possession and creature comforts and have ignored the counsel of the Bible and are risking their temporal and eternal future for the glitter and glamour offered by this world.
When you look at the enormous national, state, local, corporate, and personal debt in the U.S., it is obvious that we are rapidly approaching the day of financial reckoning! The U.S. government debt is now more than $9 trillion and is growing at a rate of $1.4 billion per day! (That’s about $1 million per second, or $30,000 annually for every American.) Our government is borrowing about $1 billion per day from foreign investors, mainly nations in the Middle East and Asia. The U.S. now owes China over $1 trillion dollars! While we are borrowing money from Islamic nations and China, they are also investing heavily in the U.S. economy. Mortimer Zuckerman writes, “Foreigners own more than half the federal debt, about a third of corporate bonds, and 13 percent of the U.S. stock market. This represents an accumulating claim on the future output of the United States and foretells an increasing flow of dividends and interest payment abroad.” (U.S. News & World Report, August 6, 2007, p. 64) We are slowly selling America to our enemies. We might not like to admit it, but they could bring about the collapse of the U.S. dollar on any given day by calling for payment of their loans to the U.S. government.
However, this is only part of the bad news for the federal government. When one calculates what Uncle Sam owes to Americans in the future entitlement programs promised to them (Social Security, Medicare, etc.), you can add another $40 trillion in future payments. What most Americans do not know is that for many decades congress has been spending money out of the taxpayers’ funds that have been collected for their future share of Social Security and Medicare. We have been hearing a message of warning from our government about how these programs will be in trouble in the future. However, they are not reporting that big government spending is to blame for this projected shortfall. If, in the years when there was a surplus in these entitlement accounts, Congress had invested this money, we would not be in the predicament that we are in today. However, they chose to spend these funds on other budgeted items or programs without any consideration to repay them to the entitlement accounts. Furthermore, instead of putting on the brakes and halting this dangerous slide into financial bankruptcy, Congress has hastened the pace of the slide toward our day of reckoning. In 2003 Congress passed the Medicare prescription drug bill, which some estimate will cost the government another $1 trillion in the next decade. Now, we hear some of the presidential candidates promising Americans more government help by offering a national health insurance program. Is anyone asking, “Where will this money come from?” What most Americans do not realize is that while these promises sound good and may bring temporary solutions to some very important needs, they will, in the long run, destroy our economy and way of life, as we know it. Responsible leadership should be speaking the truth, sounding the warning, and helping every American see that we need less government spending and involvement in our daily lives and financial affairs. We cannot control the misfortunes and misconduct of Americans with government spending that has no way of knowing who really deserves assistance and who does not.
Our government has encouraged Americans to follow their example of borrowing and spending. Chuck Missler writes, “The United States has truly become a nation of debtors. In recent years the level of household debt in America has surpassed the level of household income, so for the first time in our collective history, we owe more money than we make. Consumer debt in America (credit cards and other consumer lending not including mortgages) has risen to a record high of about $2.5 trillion. Today the average US household has more than $9,000 in credit card debt and spends more than $1,300 a year in interest payments.” (E-mail from Chuck Missler, September 18, 2007) Look around you! The indications that we have reached the point of debt saturation in this nation are all around us. Look at the “fast-cash” institutions that are popping up everywhere. People are paying enormous interest rates so they can have a one-week advance on their paycheck. This is a clear sign of financial desperation. Look at the rebates and extended warranty programs being offered by the auto industry. This is only a short-term solution to attract buyers for the overstocked new car inventory. However, this short-term solution will create a long-term financial problem. The U.S. auto industry is in serious financial trouble. Several years ago the government bailed Chrysler out of bankruptcy. However, can they depend on Uncle Sam to do it again?
There are also many other signs that the business and consumer sectors are facing a very critical financial crisis. America has evolved into an economy that is excessively consumer oriented. The ballooning national trade deficit is forcing us to borrow $800 billion annually from foreign investors.
The lending institutions are in trouble because of the bad loans that have been made over the last decade and the dramatic increase in personal bankruptcy, fueled by the collapse of the housing market and overextension of credit card debt. Cheap interest rates, sub-prime mortgages, and rapid appreciation of housing have created a false sense of wealth and security that has lured too many lending institutions into making loans to Americans who could not really afford a house loan. Many of these loans were made without a significant down payment. Now, with many properties being devalued by as much as 20 percent, and the floating interest rates rising, almost 1 million Americans have been forced to default on their home mortgages in the last year. And, we are being told that in 2008 we will witness a marked increase in defaults on mortgages. All of this sounds familiar! In the 1920’s there was a housing boom that began in Florida that suddenly ended in 1928, the year before the stock market crash that began the Great Depression.
While the general public focuses upon the people who are losing their homes, they forget that this is affecting all of us because of what this is doing to the banking and lending institutions. “With housing prices falling for the first time since 1991, a chain reaction has begun. Bundled mortgages sold to investors as interest-paying bonds are falling in value. Major credit rating firms warn that loan delinquencies may be much worse than anticipated because when homes become worth less than the loan, the owners cannot sell or refinance their way out of trouble. … With more than $1.8 trillion worth of securities backed by sub-prime mortgages created since 2000, banks and investors are suffering losses that are exposed every week, affecting the overall confidence in the credit markets.” (Mortimer Zuckerman, “Credit Crunch,” U.S. News & World Report, August 13-20, 2007, p. 76)
In reaction to all of this financial gloom, consumer confidence is down, unemployment is up, the U.S. stock market has continued to be more unpredictable, and precious metals prices are soaring. All of this indicates that Americans, at least those who are following all of this, are getting very nervous about the immediate future of the U.S. economy.
In my travels abroad in recent years I have noted that foreigners are more concerned about the U.S. economy than Americans. I believe that this is because most Americans are not aware of their economic surroundings and developments. Many are not concerned because they trust the government to fix the problems. Their Titanic mentality forces them to reject any notion that the U.S. economy could suffer a complete meltdown. In spite of the negative economic indicators, Americans in the last decade have exhibited a very positive confidence in a weak and bankrupt U.S. economy. However, that is now beginning to change. Consumer confidence is eroding here in the U.S., and it is even weaker abroad!
Because people at home and abroad are losing confidence in the U.S. administration’s ability to control the federal debt in a way that is fiscally sound, the dollar is falling, or to put it another way, inflation is roaring back with a vengeance. The U.S. dollar has devalued 60 percent since 2001! This can be seen in the sharp rise in food, grain, oil, and precious metals. Oil prices have increased from a little less than $20 a barrel in 2002 to an all-time high at $100 a barrel a few weeks ago. Gold was $250 an ounce in 2001 and today is selling for a little over $900 an ounce. There are some other factors that are driving up the price of food, grain, oil, and precious metals up. However, analysts believe that the biggest cause for this inflation is the collapse of the U.S. dollar.
What has caused the collapse of the U.S. dollar? The answer to this question may surprise you. The dollar is falling because our government has cranked up the printing presses and is flooding the world with new crisp dollars. Since the new Fed chairman took over, the public has not been informed, as they were before, about how much money the government is printing and releasing in world markets. However, before they stopped reporting, we know that they printed about $1 trillion in 300 days! In comparison, the U.S. government, from the time of its beginning until 1974 printed the first $1 trillion. Since the dollar is no longer backed by precious metals there are no restraints on how much money the U.S. government can print. However, everyone knows that if you rapidly increase the volume of dollars in the world that the value of all U.S. currency will be proportionately decreased. Those who operate in the investment sectors realize that the U.S. is acting in an irresponsible way as it tries to print money to reduce the runaway national deficit. While the government may be acting in its own interest, they are, in effect, destroying the wealth of Americans by devaluing the currency.
With the U.S. government and the general public showing no signs of financial restraint, it appears that we are rapidly moving toward a time of major economic crisis. Many believe that we have already gone too far and that any changes introduced now would be too late. On the basis of what has happened in history to other nations who have been in a similar economic situation, there are two things that are coming in the immediate future. As consumer confidence continues to erode here at home and abroad, it will, at some point in time, cause the buying power of the dollar to decline so rapidly that it will set in motion hyperinflation. Prices on general commodities will rise rapidly and sharply over a very short period of time. For example, in 1923, Germany faced this kind of devastating inflation. Millions of Germans found out that they were not able to use their lifesavings to buy a postage stamp! The German government printed 100 million Mark bills that eventually became worthless. Many Germans used their worthless currency to start fires in their stoves. Admittedly, this would be the worse case scenario for the U.S. However, we could just see the dollar fail enough to make the U.S. so weak that it could no longer sustain its military presence around the global and would need to restrict federal spending to the point that the U.S. would cease to be a global force to be reckoned with. This is basically what happened to the former Soviet Union in the late 1980s. The Soviet currency became so weak that the USSR was forced to surrender its position as a super power. Should this take place, it would make our world a very unsafe place for us and our allies, such as Israel. Who would stop Russia and Iran? Who would stop the advance of radical Islam? No one!
Furthermore, since the U.S. dollar has been used as a world currency in global markets, we can expect that, at some point in time, on any given day, no country will want to retain their U.S. dollars and will move their financial holdings to the Euro or some other more stable currency. When that day comes, there could be a mass movement on the part of all nations to get rid of their U.S. dollars. No one would want to be caught holding the worthless paper notes. This sudden panic sell-off of the U.S. currency could cause the meltdown of the U.S. economy in a day or two!
When this happens it is highly likely that the world would satisfy its quest for the creation of a New World Order – a One-World government. For many decades many global leaders have been waiting for the day when the last super power dies so they can usher in some international form of government. Many believe that the collapse of the U.S. economy would create this kind of opportunity. Revelation 17-18, which pictures the future One-World Government as a beast, and the global false religion, Islam, as a harlot, would indicate that this future International government would be very sympathetic to Islam. According to Daniel 7:24 the Antichrist, pictured as the “little horn,” will be preceded by “the 10 horns,” which is the One-World government. This would mean that the One-World government will precede the Antichrist’s covenant with Israel that begins the Tribulation. When this takes place it will spell trouble for the U.S. and Israel.
In light of all of this, it is most interesting to note that according to Revelation 6:5-6 the Tribulation will begin with a time of economic depression. According to this text it will take a man’s entire day’s wage to purchase enough bread for one person. Should the U.S. economy fail, it would, as estimated by many, bring about a global economic depression. Since the U.S. is the world’s largest and richest consumer, it stands to reason that all of the other countries, like China, who export many goods to the U.S., would be financially crippled.
Therefore, it is very important to note that the beginning of the Tribulation Period, the appearance of the Antichrist, and a global economic depression are all linked together in the Bible. Should the economic collapse of the U.S. be the event that triggers this series of prophetic dominoes to fall, it is also important to note that all of this is connected to the Gog and Magog war in Ezekiel 38-39. In this future invasion of Israel, Russia and Iran will lead an Islamic force against Israel because of the wealth in Israel. (See Ezekiel 38:12-13.) It is also very interesting to observe the cooperation of Russia and Iran at a time when Iran is openly bragging about her future destruction of Israel. In light of the fact that everyone knows that Israel is an ally of the U.S., some have concluded that this invasion of Israel by Russia and Iran would not take place unless something has happened to the U.S., leaving Israel vulnerable to her enemies.
In light of the larger prophetic context of the end-times, it is apparent that we are very close to very dramatic events that are about to trigger a series of events that fall like prophetic dominoes, thrusting the world into the Tribulation Period. Please keep in mind that the Rapture precedes the Tribulation. Therefore, we should be spiritually preparing ourselves for the moment when we will stand in the presence of our holy Lord Jesus. Are you saved? Have you trusted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior?
Do you believe that Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary? Do you believe that He lived a sinless and perfect life? Do you believe that He died for your sins, shedding His precious blood as God’s lamb for your redemption? Do you believe that He bodily arose from the dead and is now in heaven? If you have answered yes to all of these questions, then you are still not saved! You must believe, but you must also repent of your sins. You must turn from your sin and surrender your life to Jesus Christ as your master and Lord. The Bible says, “That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God has raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For whosoever shall call upon the name of Lord shall be
