THE COMING JUDGEMENT OF GOD

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One only has to look at how God judged the nation He established for His purposes, Israel, to realise God judges nations. I was reading Amos this morning, he was prophesying during a period of national optimism in Israel (around 700 BC). Business is booming and boundaries are bulging. But below the surface greed and injustice are festering. Hypocritical religious motions have replaced true worship, creating a false sense of security and a growing callousness to God’s disciplining hand. As a result God brings famine, drought, plagues, death, destruction including a violent earthquake. Sadly, none of it brought the people to their knees.

It is no surprise therefore to see the world’s response to God pouring out His Bowl Judgements upon the Earth in the coming last days before Jesus returns to rescue Israel and restore righteousness. The time when He sets up His Millennial Kingdom in the newly restored Jerusalem with the glorified Saints. For more on Jesus coming Millennial Kingdom go to http://www.millennialkingdom.net.

“The fourth angel poured out his bowl on the sun, and it was allowed to scorch people with fire. They were scorched by the fierce heat, and they cursed the name of God who had power over these plagues. They did not repent and give him glory.“ Revelation 16:8-9

Read what happens when God pours out His final, seventh Bowl Judgement:

“The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city (Jerusalem)was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.” Revelation 16:17-21

MAKING HEAVEN ON EARTH IS OUR BUSINESS

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The founder of the Salvation Army, William Booth made this mission statement: “MAKING HEAVEN ON EARTH IS OUR BUSINESS”.

“When we consider that the only prayer Jesus taught us to pray includes up-front “Your Kingdom come, your will be done on Earth as it is done in heaven” Matthew 6:8-10, Booth got it right, and look what he achieved. Making disciples who were totally committed to praying and doing as Jesus commanded.

Sadly, now, like most institutions the Salvation Army has watered down God’s command and has compromised with the world. What is the lead statement on their website?

At the Salvos, we believe in good.

What does good mean to The Salvation Army? “Good is a unique word — a simple yet profound term that takes on different faces and meanings for all of us.

For the Salvos, it is more than a word – it’s a belief. It is helping someone at their point of need, walking alongside a community through and after a crisis, and lending a kind and caring space for someone feeling isolated. And a whole lot more.

At the Salvos, we believe in good for everyone. It is this belief that drives us to find new ways and places where we can make a difference. From times of personal crisis to moments of national grief, we are at work each day, providing support, safety, community, and opportunity.”

God does not get a mention up front and this mission statement is not Booth’s mission statement: MAKING HEAVEN ON EARTH IS OUR BUSINESS but the Mission Statement does get to God.

Why good?

“The meaning of good has been diluted over the years. But at the Salvos, we’ve always believed in the power of good. It reflects our belief in our good God and our calling to share the goodness of God with others. Through our decades of work, we know people can find themselves in hardship anywhere, at any time — be it homelessness or housing stress, drug or alcohol addiction, family and domestic violence, unemployment, financial stress, natural disaster, or another crisis.“

Sydney, Australia church spokesman Major Bruce Harmer says the Salvos offer services to all who are in need, regardless of sexual orientation. “The Salvation Army has worked for many years with gay and lesbian people through their treatment centres and welfare agencies, we have employees who are gay and members of our church who are gay,” he said. “So it’s easy to take one phrase and run with it, but in reality, the Salvation Army is not homophobic.“

In the end times, Jesus told us there would be a great falling away in the church, apostasy, and the love of many will grow cold. Christians need to be prepared for the coming tribulation and be totally committed to God’s agenda for their lives.

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day (The Day of the Lord) shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;” 2 Thessalonians 2:3

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and you shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.” Matthew 24:9-12

Biblical prophecy gives us a picture of the church which God raptures to heaven before pouring out His wrath upon an unrepentant world.

To the Church in Philadelphia (Philadelphus the “love for a brother” What remains of the faithful Church will be bound in brotherly love by the persecution of earth-shaking proportions.

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown.” Revelation 3:8,10-11

Biblical prophecy also gives us a picture of the church that will be left behind to face the coming judgement.

To the Church in Laodicea (Laodicea is a combination of two Greek words (LAO, meaning “God’s people”; and DIKE, meaning “justice or judgment”) Judgement of God’s people

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:15-19

NEXT ON GOD’S KINGDOM AGENDA

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The Kingdom of God has many facets to it. One important phase of God’s Kingdom which many of the denominational/institutional churches have got wrong is Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom. This is difficult to understand for several reasons: 1. The Christian church for the first two hundred years took the Millennial Kingdom position. 2. All of the O.T. prophets were shown the end of the story for Israel with their Messiah ruling and reigning over the nations. 3. Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom fulfills the Abrahamic Covenant, the Davidic Covenant, and particularly the New Covenant given to Jeremiah.

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, 32 not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. 33 For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 34 And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

4. Explicit prediction is given in the Bible of an intermediate kingdom that is one thousand years long when Jesus and the resurrected Saints will rule the nations with a rod of iron. The curse is not fully lifted off the earth as people still die and need to be saved. Satan is bound in the Abyss for most of the thousand years but God allows him one last chance to deceive people on Earth and sadly we know he raises an army of rebellious people, their number like the sand of the sea. That rebellion is quickly put down and God finally destroys this Earth with fire. The second resurrection and the White Throne judgement follow. Only then does John see a new Jerusalem of incredible size descending from a new Heaven onto a new Earth where only the righteous will dwell.

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” Revelation 21:1-3