As we look at the world around us, the signs of the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ are everywhere. Jesus said "As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it also be in the days of the coming of the Son of Man." What were the days of Noah like? Iniquity and sin abounded, especially sexual perversion, materialism, satanism, violence, and hatred of God. Today, these things are running rampant throughout the world. The computer age and satellite transmission are two other signs of His return.
Never before in the history of man have we been able to communicate worldwide as we can today. That, along with the technology to keep track of every human being on the face of the earth, is rapidly leading us toward Revelation 13, and the Mark of the Beast.
As we look at the European Union, and its rapid advancement, we are seeing before our very eyes the rise of the former Roman Empire as prophesied in the books of Daniel and Revelation. But the greatest sign of Jesus’ soon return is the establishment of the nation of Israel in 1948. After 2500 years of exile, Israel is back in her own land, with her own political, financial, social, and military institutions. It is truly a modern day miracle. But God had prophesied it in His Word hundreds of years before it ever happened, especially in Jeremiah chapters 30 through 33, and Ezekiel 36 and 37. Israel is God’s timepiece for the fulfillment of end-time events.
But what about the Church? How does it fit into all of this? What are we to look for?
I. Where Are We Now?
To answer the above question, "Where are we now?", I want to use the Jewish Feast of Trumpets as an analogy in describing the Church’s position as it relates to our present day and end-time events. It is not my purpose in this teaching to explain the seven Jewish feasts, which are Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Yom Kippur and Tabernacles, although I will say that Jesus fulfilled the first four when He came the first time, and He will fulfill the last three for Israel, as well as the Church, before, and when, He returns the second time.
The Feast of Trumpets took place in the fall of the year, at the beginning of the Jewish Civil Year, and in the seventh month of the Jewish Religious Year. It began with the sounding of the trumpets, by the priests, from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. When the people heard the trumpets sound, they dropped everything they were doing and came home to prepare for Yom Kippur {the Day of Atonement}. It was the beginning of the 10 days of "awe" or "repentance," called "Yomim Noraim. These were High Holy Days for the Jewish people as they prepared to meet with God and receive His forgiveness and blessings for another year. Yom Kippur was the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people, and still is today.
Three things highlighted this day of Trumpets.
1. Repentance. They were to prepare themselves, spiritually and physically, to meet with God on Yom Kippur. They were to forgive others, make good wrongs they had committed, and purify themselves in every way.
2. The ten days between Trumpets and Yom Kippur were to be "days of remembrance," calling to mind his or her place in the universe, and the part each played in God’s plan for the world. It was a time to recall the past, to envision the future, and to take a personal inventory.
3. It was the time to receive a new "revelation of God"; a spiritual awakening. When the shofar sounded, these words were spoken. "You who are asleep, wake up! You who are in a trance arise! Search your doings and repent; Remember your Creator!" This reminds us of what the great Jewish apostle Paul said in Ephesians 5:14. "Awake, sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."
Today, the Church is in "Trumpets". God has sounded His call of repentance to the Church as He prepares us for Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) and meeting with Him in the Most Holy Place. It is true that our sins were forgiven when we were saved, but the Church today, as a corporate body, is filled with sin, iniquity and unpreparedness to meet with God. There must be a purging of the Church from sin, the world and the devil before Jesus can return for His Bride. Ephesians 5:26, 27, in speaking of the Church, says: "That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish."
As we look at today’s Church, it is anything but holy. It is an embarrassment, not only to those who love and are trying to serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but to God also. There is as much sin in the Church as there is in the world. Many who claim to be born-again lie, cheat, steal, commit fornication, adultery, have homosexual and lesbian affairs, and continue to go to church and act like everything is alright. At the same time, many ministers are compromising God’s Word, afraid to offend the people and lose their crowds, offerings, prestige and positions.
There is another gospel coming out of the pulpits today as the false shepherds lead the sheep down paths of destruction with their "fuzzy, feel good prosperity messages", while the prophets prophesy falsely that everyone is going to be blessed, regardless of the lifestyle they live. The message of repentance, of a real hell, and a real heaven, are rarely spoken of. It is an abomination to God. We have taken the holy Word of God and tried to use it to meet our own perverse, selfish ways and lusts. So, where does all of this take us?
II. What Is Going To Happen?
A separation is now taking place in the Church as we prepare to enter into God’s very Presence. For many years, especially since the early 1960's and the Charismatic Movement, we have been in the Outer Court where the gifts of the Spirit and the ministries have been operating, and where the stream of God’s mercy has been flowing. It has been a wonderful time, and many great things have happened as we have seen people, saved, healed, baptized in the Holy Spirit, delivered from demons, etc., but even much of this has been perverted as the people began to worship the gifts, ministries and ministers. But now the time has come for change.
God has been preparing us for what is about to happen for about the last 15 years. We are about to go from the Outer Court into the Most Holy Place, into the very Presence of God. The Lord is coming to His church in His Manifest Presence. We have never seen or experienced anything like what is about to happen. The Brownsville Revival, the Toronto Blessing, the Houston, Texas revival, etc. have only tasted of what God is about to do. It is going to be a worldwide visitation, not just localized. The essence of God’s glory, which is His holiness, is about to invade His Church, and this time we won’t be glibly saying "Oh, Daddy God!," we will be on our faces in absolute holy fear, awe and repentance. God is about to invade His Church with "judgement" and "blessings"; judgement for those who will not repent and blessings for those who have chosen to live for Him. Both judgement and blessings have already begun to take place and will accelerate quickly in the next two to three years.
In this time of "Trumpets" we need to repent, ask forgiveness from those we have hurt, and reflect on our past, present, and future. Secondly, we need to ask God what His plans for us are, so that we can fulfill His purpose for us on this earth. Thirdly, we need to ask for a new revelation of God. We need to develop an intimate relationship with Him and make that our continuing top priority. We need a personal spiritual awakening so that we will be prepared for what is ahead. We want to be a part of God's blessings, not of His judgement that is coming.
KRAKATOA
In order to more vividly describe the judgement that is going to take place in the Church, I want to use as an illustration a volcanic eruption called "Krakatoa". Krakatoa was the most violent volcanic explosion ever heard or seen on our planet. It was a small island in the Sunda Strait, between Sumatra and Java in Indonesia, which connected the Java Sea and Indian Ocean. It had several volcanic mountains.
In May of 1883 an eruption began which seemed like any other. It was heard 100 miles away, smoke rose 7 miles high and ash fell up to 300 miles away. People did not think much about it, but what they didn’t know was that it was only a introduction to what was about to come.
On Sunday, August 26, 1883 the island became hidden behind a black vapor. Exploding sounds began to take place, along with lightening. The third explosion was the worst. It was the loudest noise ever heard on earth. It was heard 3,000 miles away by the Coast Guard, on the island of Rodrigues. It took 4 hours for the sound to travel that far.
Five cubic miles of earth were blown into the heavens. Seventeen miles up, the ash was swept by hurricane-like winds around the earth. It was two years before the dust settled back to earth. Sunsets became blood red. The sun was not seen over Boston, Massachusetts for two years. It was called the Krakatoa Sunset. The world temperature dropped 13 degrees. People were not killed by the ash or gasses, as is usually the case, but by a 150 foot high tidal wave that swept 10,000 miles around the world, killing 36,000 people. It drove the warship Berow 2 miles inland. What is coming to the Church is going to be a spiritual Krakatoa of major proportions. God is about to clean house.
Jeremiah 4:19-22 describes the Church today:
My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.
God tells us in Hebrews 12:25-29 what He is going to do in these last days.
ee that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven: whose voice then shook the earth; but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear: for our God is a consuming fire.
Church Volcanic Eruptions
In the 1980's, especially 1987, 1988, there were eruptions and explosions of ministries in the Church, as Jim Bakker, Jimmy Swaggart and others fell because of sin and lack of repentance. There have been other cases since then, but these, like Krakatoa, have only been an introduction. The major blast is soon to come as God exposes leaders who have not, and will not repent of their greed, lying, cheating, adultery, fornication, etc. Again, like Krakatoa, a black vapor hides God’s true Church at the moment, but the exploding sounds, lightening, and noise is about to erupt into the greatest explosion ever heard or seen in His Church. It is interesting that earthquakes cannot trigger volcanos, but volcanos can trigger earthquakes. The eruption that is coming is going to trigger a worldwide earthquake {spiritually speaking} that will shake the Church to the core. Everything that is not tied to Jesus Christ will be swept away. This is going to create a tidal wave of God’s Spirit that will inundate His Church and reveal His glory.
III. The Results
As I said earlier, this move of God will take us into His very Presence. Those who have remained faithful to Him are going to experience the greatest and most blessed times of their lives, in every way. There are going to be miracles like we have never seen as God manifests His power to His people who have waited and prayed so long for this time to come. God has signed our "Emancipation Proclamation" and we, as the Church, are about to go free from the bondage we have been in for so long. We are the generation that is going to see, and experience, the glory of God.
When we enter this next move of God, (using the Most Holy Place in the Temple to describe what is going to happen), three things are going to take place. We remember, in the Most Holy Place of the Temple in Jerusalem was the Ark of the Covenant and God’s Shekinah (His glory). In the Ark was Aaron’s rod that budded, the hidden Manna and the Tablets of the Covenant. Each of these represents what God is going to do in this last move of His Spirit in the Church.
1. Aaron’s rod that budded, represents the true leadership of the Church that will be revealed. Those God has not chosen to be His leaders will be exposed and rejected, by Him and the Church. Ephesians 4:11-13.
2. The hidden Manna represents God’s Word. He is going to unlock the mysteries of His Word that have been hidden for centuries. Revelation knowledge will explode in the Body of Christ. Daniel 12:4.
3. The Tablets of the Covenant represent pure doctrine being restored to the Church. Ephesians 4:14.
The Lord is going to have Himself a glorious (literally, miracle working) church, and a Bride that will present herself to Him in purity and holiness, clothed in garments of righteousness.
How Do We Prepare?
What must we do to prepare for this soon coming move of God?
1. Repent, if need be. It must be a true repentance, turning from your sin and totally committing your life to God.
2. Get in God’s Word. Study, meditate on and memorize His Word. Be a bold witness for Him.
3. Ask God to establish your boundaries in your family, work, lifestyle, ministry, etc. God has specific boundaries for each person. If we get out of these it won’t work. Don’t try to keep up with the Joneses. Be what God made you to be.
4. Be obedient to whatever God asks you to do. Sometimes, it will take great faith, but He will take care of you.
5. Be willing to give up tradition, your doctrine (not God’s true doctrine), your ministry, denominationalism, if need be, in order to adjust to God’s Word and plans.
6. Ask the Holy Spirit to give you greater discernment, and don’t regard everything others are saying or doing as holy, or ordained of God. There is much deception in the church today, especially in leadership and ministries.
7. Ask the Lord to network you with those who are truly His. Look for, and at, their fruits, and ask God to let you see with His eyes, not only with your natural eye.
A counterpart to Pentecost is soon to take place, and the world will know that there is a God and that He has a Church that will do His will. You don’t want to miss being a part of this one. It is going to be glorious.
We are living in the greatest time in the history of the Church, as we look for, and anticipate, the soon return of our Lord Jesus Christ. We will have all of eternity to live in total bliss when this life is over. So don’t waste your days and years in sinful, self-centered, lustful living, winding up in an eternal fiery hell, when you can love and serve your Creator and be blessed with the riches of heaven. The choice is yours! Which will it be?
In conclusion, I pray these teachings have answered the question of how Jesus Christ could be the Son of God, and yet become a man. And if you don't know Him as Savior and Lord, I pray that you will confess you are a sinner, ask His forgiveness, and ask Him to save you and give you eternal life. May God's richest blessings be yours! |
