Randall Walton
“These things” of which Jesus spoke have surely begun coming to pass in ever greater evidence in the past few years. We fully understand the oft repeated argument that men have been saying the same thing for centuries, that the end is close at hand! Every generation has had its Jeremiahs and doomsday preachers. Date-setters and other would-be prophets have existed for ages, so what’s new?
One very outstanding point to ponder today is the irrefutable fact that modern issues are no longer confined to towns, villages, city-states, nations, or a single continent. Today’s problems are global, involving “all that dwell upon the earth” (Kindreds, tongues, nations, small, great, rich, poor, bond, and free (Rev. 13:7,16). What the League of Nations was unable to accomplish toward creating a “one-world” mentality, the United Nations Organization has done.
With a World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and a General Assembly which includes the majority of the nations on earth, parochialism is a thing of the dim past. And with a preponderance of totalitarian voices proclaiming victory over “reactionary” governments, the discerning eye should be able to make out the handwriting on the wall. This tired planet with its billions of hungry, groping inhabitants is about to make a rendezvous with the angel of disaster, destruction and death.
Internal and external forces are at work in every free country of the world to bring an end to the liberty and individual freedom which has so wondrously blessed mankind during the past two(?) centuries. Religious, political, economic and educational freedoms are all at stake, not only in our beloved country, but throughout the entire world! Some nations are closer to the brink than others, of course, but if we could only measure the degree of personal liberty enjoyed by people on a global scale today and compare that with yesterday’s generation, we would be shocked at the results.
Since World War II, the free people of the world have apathetically viewed nation after nation being subjugated under the tyrannical feet of the communist overlords. The barbarian strategies they have employed should have come as no surprise to the rest of us, for their plans to conquer the earth were made public one hundred years ago. Subversion, intrigue, and terrorism are all a part of the demonic scheme to conquer mankind and stamp out all semblance of religion except that of communist ideology.
We are not predicting a communist takeover of our free society. We are stating that this is the goal of the Red dictatorship, and it is quite obvious that the warlords of the U.S.S.R. are becoming more influential universally than ever before. It is no secret that they have used the U.N. as a springboard to infiltrate many hundreds of spies and subversives into every state of the Union. It is no secret that many of their atheistic philosophies have gained a foothold in our country. It is no secret that they have taken advantage of our soft under-belly of liberal politics to obtain and reach many of their long-term objectives.
It is more than mere coincidence that several of their published goals for overtaking the world have already been implemented in our country. We will mention here only a few:
* Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and T.V.
* Present homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
* Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
* Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture, education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
* Infiltrate the press.
* Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
* Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents.
These are but a few of the stated aims of the evil empire of communism, but they are enough to demonstrate the degree of influence their subversive agents have already had upon the American scene, because we can clearly discern their working throughout our entire nation.
Alexander Solzenitsyn vividly warned us of the dangers of our dissipating moral standards in a speech: “Through decades of gradual erosion, the meaning of life in the West has ceased to be seen as anything more lofty than the ‘pursuit of happiness.’ The concepts of good and evil have been ridiculed for several centuries. The West is slipping toward the abyss, losing more and more of its religious essence as it thoughtlessly yields up its younger generation to atheism.” Sad, but true.
With the proliferation of T.V. evangelism and the widespread use of radio by which to spread the Gospel, you could almost believe that this refuge from tyranny was wrong. But we must be aware of the quality (or lack of it) of the majority of the religious programs on the airwaves. There is a great amount of shallow religious entertainment being viewed, but little of the Gospel. There is a tremendous amount of charisma, but little of Christian values. Much excitement and fanfare attract multitudes, but little of the power of an apostle is witnessed. There are tricks, gimmicks, promotions, merchandising, advertising, fund-raising, project pushing, but little of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. And all of this God-lessness helps to promote a condition of darkness – spiritual darkness – in which poor man is unable to see the Light of the world.
While millions of Americans are playing their religious games and being entertained by their favorite “gospel star,” state governments are busily engaged in passing legislation to assume authority over the raising and caring of their children. Under the pretext of “child abuse,” many states are now able to summarily take children from parents and put them wherever they so choose.
It is very true that child abuse is a monumental problem in society, and it is also one of the signs of the last days. However, parents who believe there are occasions when a child needs a spanking for discipline and correction stand in jeopardy of losing their children for alleged abuse. Other states have enacted plans to “care for” all children under the guise of proper health care.
And while most of us slept a few years ago, Executive Order No. 32 became law, an act which provides for the establishing of a dictatorship by Presidential decree. Under the terms of that law, every person in the nation would be mobilized, property and possessions seized, and all activity – economic, social and political – would be under the direct jurisdiction of the Executive Branch of the federal government – in the event of war or other national emergency! Thus, totalitarianism could become a fact in this country without the help of the Communists.
Before anyone rushes out to organize a protest march or to form a line of pickets, let us remind you that these tragic events are a part of the cataclysmic program to be carried out in these days as foretold in God’s word. No one can put a stop to the awful happenings about to unfold before our eyes.
But we can be prepared to endure them and to remain faithful to our Saviour. One of the great tragedies of this hour is the lack of preparation of most saints. Too many consider their religion a weekend affair with an occasional mid-week get together.
Spiritual maturity is an absolute necessity. Just as physical maturity is the result of a process of growth and development, so it is with Spiritual maturity. In Paul’s classic I Corinthians 13, he states this very succinctly: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I thought as a child, I understood as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
That statement is connected with the foregoing verses regarding LOVE. Paul makes it plain that without love (called charity in the KJV), a person’s life is practically worthless. He evaluates it in importance above gifts of the Spirit, sacrifice, and faith. At the same time, he equates the acquiring and practice of love as a state of maturity. And no wonder! Love is not only a divine attribute, John said that God is love! He is the very personification of this marvelous fruit of the Spirit. The person who has this quality has God.
Moreover, there are many degrees or stages of love. Jesus demonstrated love in its perfection. He also showed that it is not a static, emotional feeling, but is active, moving, deliberate. It is demonstrative of the God nature or character. Paul said we are to PUT ON love (charity, Col. 3:14), and he also said we are to PUT ON the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14). To put on (literally to be clothed with) love is to put on Jesus Christ. The putting on of Jesus is not an instantaneous act. It takes time to divest oneself of the self nature and to be clothed with the Jesus nature, yet this is that state of maturity to which every one of us must grow.
To accelerate this growth it is necessary that we be filled with the Holy Spirit. One of the outstanding qualities of the saints in the early church was that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4, Acts 4:31, Acts 13:52). The fruits of the Spirit cannot be produced without the divine working of the Spirit of God within the heart. Try as assiduously as you may, you cannot bring to perfection any of the divine qualities by your own efforts and work. Only as we yield ourselves – our will, our lives, our thoughts and desires – to the unction and direction of the Holy Spirit will we ever reach the state of glory and godliness to which God has called His people.
In addition to these things, God points to His word, the Scriptures, as a part of the means to attain our high and heavenly calling. The Scriptures are a key to unlock the treasures of heaven. By our adherence to the divine principles set forth in the Word of God, we gain stature, strength and stability. It is not enough to attempt to follow the cold letter of the law; God never intended that we become robots or automatons who respond in a mechanical manner to whomever gives the commands. God looks for people whose hearts are in love with Him, who obey Him because they adore Him, not merely because the law demands compliance – or else! “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus said in John 14:15. If you don’t really love Him, attempting to obey His commandments is not beneficial. The LOVE must come first – keeping His words, then, is no real problem.
Friends, time is at a premium. God’s people need now to apply these things to their lives so that no matter what befalls, they will remain faithful to the Lord. Difficult times are just ahead of us. Are you prepared? Are you ready to face the supreme test of your faith? If you cannot answer in the affirmative, let us urge you to waste no time in making your calling and election sure, for already the wheels of destruction are beginning to turn and it is time to be ready.
“These things” of which Jesus spoke have surely begun coming to pass in ever greater evidence in the past few years. We fully understand the oft repeated argument that men have been saying the same thing for centuries, that the end is close at hand! Every generation has had its Jeremiahs and doomsday preachers. Date-setters and other would-be prophets have existed for ages, so what’s new?
One very outstanding point to ponder today is the irrefutable fact that modern issues are no longer confined to towns, villages, city-states, nations, or a single continent. Today’s problems are global, involving “all that dwell upon the earth” (Kindreds, tongues, nations, small, great, rich, poor, bond, and free (Rev. 13:7,16). What the League of Nations was unable to accomplish toward creating a “one-world” mentality, the United Nations Organization has done.
With a World Bank, International Monetary Fund, and a General Assembly which includes the majority of the nations on earth, parochialism is a thing of the dim past. And with a preponderance of totalitarian voices proclaiming victory over “reactionary” governments, the discerning eye should be able to make out the handwriting on the wall. This tired planet with its billions of hungry, groping inhabitants is about to make a rendezvous with the angel of disaster, destruction and death.
Internal and external forces are at work in every free country of the world to bring an end to the liberty and individual freedom which has so wondrously blessed mankind during the past two(?) centuries. Religious, political, economic and educational freedoms are all at stake, not only in our beloved country, but throughout the entire world! Some nations are closer to the brink than others, of course, but if we could only measure the degree of personal liberty enjoyed by people on a global scale today and compare that with yesterday’s generation, we would be shocked at the results.
Since World War II, the free people of the world have apathetically viewed nation after nation being subjugated under the tyrannical feet of the communist overlords. The barbarian strategies they have employed should have come as no surprise to the rest of us, for their plans to conquer the earth were made public one hundred years ago. Subversion, intrigue, and terrorism are all a part of the demonic scheme to conquer mankind and stamp out all semblance of religion except that of communist ideology.
We are not predicting a communist takeover of our free society. We are stating that this is the goal of the Red dictatorship, and it is quite obvious that the warlords of the U.S.S.R. are becoming more influential universally than ever before. It is no secret that they have used the U.N. as a springboard to infiltrate many hundreds of spies and subversives into every state of the Union. It is no secret that many of their atheistic philosophies have gained a foothold in our country. It is no secret that they have taken advantage of our soft under-belly of liberal politics to obtain and reach many of their long-term objectives.
It is more than mere coincidence that several of their published goals for overtaking the world have already been implemented in our country. We will mention here only a few:
* Break down cultural standards of morality by promoting pornography and obscenity in books, magazines, motion pictures, radio and T.V.
* Present homosexuality, degeneracy, and promiscuity as “normal, natural, healthy.”
* Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity which does not need a “religious crutch.”
* Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture, education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
* Infiltrate the press.
* Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
* Emphasize the need to raise children away from the negative influence of parents.
These are but a few of the stated aims of the evil empire of communism, but they are enough to demonstrate the degree of influence their subversive agents have already had upon the American scene, because we can clearly discern their working throughout our entire nation.
Alexander Solzenitsyn vividly warned us of the dangers of our dissipating moral standards in a speech: “Through decades of gradual erosion, the meaning of life in the West has ceased to be seen as anything more lofty than the ‘pursuit of happiness.’ The concepts of good and evil have been ridiculed for several centuries. The West is slipping toward the abyss, losing more and more of its religious essence as it thoughtlessly yields up its younger generation to atheism.” Sad, but true.
With the proliferation of T.V. evangelism and the widespread use of radio by which to spread the Gospel, you could almost believe that this refuge from tyranny was wrong. But we must be aware of the quality (or lack of it) of the majority of the religious programs on the airwaves. There is a great amount of shallow religious entertainment being viewed, but little of the Gospel. There is a tremendous amount of charisma, but little of Christian values. Much excitement and fanfare attract multitudes, but little of the power of an apostle is witnessed. There are tricks, gimmicks, promotions, merchandising, advertising, fund-raising, project pushing, but little of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ. And all of this God-lessness helps to promote a condition of darkness – spiritual darkness – in which poor man is unable to see the Light of the world.
While millions of Americans are playing their religious games and being entertained by their favorite “gospel star,” state governments are busily engaged in passing legislation to assume authority over the raising and caring of their children. Under the pretext of “child abuse,” many states are now able to summarily take children from parents and put them wherever they so choose.
It is very true that child abuse is a monumental problem in society, and it is also one of the signs of the last days. However, parents who believe there are occasions when a child needs a spanking for discipline and correction stand in jeopardy of losing their children for alleged abuse. Other states have enacted plans to “care for” all children under the guise of proper health care.
And while most of us slept a few years ago, Executive Order No. 32 became law, an act which provides for the establishing of a dictatorship by Presidential decree. Under the terms of that law, every person in the nation would be mobilized, property and possessions seized, and all activity – economic, social and political – would be under the direct jurisdiction of the Executive Branch of the federal government – in the event of war or other national emergency! Thus, totalitarianism could become a fact in this country without the help of the Communists.
Before anyone rushes out to organize a protest march or to form a line of pickets, let us remind you that these tragic events are a part of the cataclysmic program to be carried out in these days as foretold in God’s word. No one can put a stop to the awful happenings about to unfold before our eyes.
But we can be prepared to endure them and to remain faithful to our Saviour. One of the great tragedies of this hour is the lack of preparation of most saints. Too many consider their religion a weekend affair with an occasional mid-week get together.
Spiritual maturity is an absolute necessity. Just as physical maturity is the result of a process of growth and development, so it is with Spiritual maturity. In Paul’s classic I Corinthians 13, he states this very succinctly: “When I was a child, I spake as a child, I thought as a child, I understood as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.”
That statement is connected with the foregoing verses regarding LOVE. Paul makes it plain that without love (called charity in the KJV), a person’s life is practically worthless. He evaluates it in importance above gifts of the Spirit, sacrifice, and faith. At the same time, he equates the acquiring and practice of love as a state of maturity. And no wonder! Love is not only a divine attribute, John said that God is love! He is the very personification of this marvelous fruit of the Spirit. The person who has this quality has God.
Moreover, there are many degrees or stages of love. Jesus demonstrated love in its perfection. He also showed that it is not a static, emotional feeling, but is active, moving, deliberate. It is demonstrative of the God nature or character. Paul said we are to PUT ON love (charity, Col. 3:14), and he also said we are to PUT ON the Lord Jesus Christ (Rom. 13:14). To put on (literally to be clothed with) love is to put on Jesus Christ. The putting on of Jesus is not an instantaneous act. It takes time to divest oneself of the self nature and to be clothed with the Jesus nature, yet this is that state of maturity to which every one of us must grow.
To accelerate this growth it is necessary that we be filled with the Holy Spirit. One of the outstanding qualities of the saints in the early church was that they were all filled with the Holy Ghost (Acts 2:4, Acts 4:31, Acts 13:52). The fruits of the Spirit cannot be produced without the divine working of the Spirit of God within the heart. Try as assiduously as you may, you cannot bring to perfection any of the divine qualities by your own efforts and work. Only as we yield ourselves – our will, our lives, our thoughts and desires – to the unction and direction of the Holy Spirit will we ever reach the state of glory and godliness to which God has called His people.
In addition to these things, God points to His word, the Scriptures, as a part of the means to attain our high and heavenly calling. The Scriptures are a key to unlock the treasures of heaven. By our adherence to the divine principles set forth in the Word of God, we gain stature, strength and stability. It is not enough to attempt to follow the cold letter of the law; God never intended that we become robots or automatons who respond in a mechanical manner to whomever gives the commands. God looks for people whose hearts are in love with Him, who obey Him because they adore Him, not merely because the law demands compliance – or else! “If ye love me, keep my commandments,” Jesus said in John 14:15. If you don’t really love Him, attempting to obey His commandments is not beneficial. The LOVE must come first – keeping His words, then, is no real problem.
Friends, time is at a premium. God’s people need now to apply these things to their lives so that no matter what befalls, they will remain faithful to the Lord. Difficult times are just ahead of us. Are you prepared? Are you ready to face the supreme test of your faith? If you cannot answer in the affirmative, let us urge you to waste no time in making your calling and election sure, for already the wheels of destruction are beginning to turn and it is time to be ready.
*******************************************************
P.S. Executive Order No. 32?
Could it Possibly be?
- NATIONAL SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/NSPD 51
- HOMELAND SECURITY PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE/HSPD-20?
Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/05/20070509-12.html